Homemade Beef Stock! Oh My!!

Ok, if you have looked at my blog you know I love to can. I found these at Kroger's the other day. I was so excited! I could finally make beef stock!

What I did was put the shank in the oven on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees until it was brown. I rinsed the bones off and put them in the crockpot. When the shank was brown I added it to the crockpot.

 



I then  put in some scraps of onions peals, celery and carrots that I had froze for stock. I poured about 1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar on the bones and shank and let it sit for about an hour.

 

 Then, I filled the crockpot up with water and put it on low and cooked it for 24 hours. Then you just strain it and the liquid left is your beef stock. You can freeze it. I am going to can mine. Will post how to do that another day. Tomorrow I will post about my meal plan and prepping! Till tomorrow hope everyone has a great day!!

Blessed!

How has everyone been? Hopefully great! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband and such great friends! We all met up in Vegas! We toured the Grand Canyon, the strip in Vegas, and Red Rock Canyon! It is amazing how even if we have not seen or talked to each other in a long time we get together and it is like no time has passed! I love it! Here are some pics from our excursions!

This is from the High Roller!

Lunch with my Love!



The girls and I goofing off!

Goofing off on the Strip!

The men at Red Rock Canyon

The girls and I in the High Roller!

My love and I on the plane.

Great Friends!

My Love and I at Red Rock!

Red Rock Canyon

Another pic from inside the High Roller!

 



Till next time hope everyone has a blessed day!

Sad days on the Homestead!

Ok, Anyone who knows me knows I would love to live in the middle of no where and have a farm. Since, that has not happened I make due. I plant my garden every year and I have chickens. My chickens are like my pride and joy! I have Buff Orpingtons! They are just so darn cute! Anywho, Everyone knows how crazy our weather has been! Like nuts! So, a couple of chickens ended up with a type of chicken pneumonia! EEEKKK! I lost 2 hens and a rooster. Then, yesterday low and behold another down! So now I have lost a total of 3 hens and a rooster! I am praying that the sickness has been contained and no more of my sweets get sick! Here is a pic of my sweet ones!

Till next time have a blessed day!

Canned Chili

I hope everyone had a great New Year so far! I know here it has been very cold. So, I made like a lot of chili! I don't know who I thought was coming to eat. Anywho, Since I have three hunters in my house and a lot of deer meat in my freezer, I don't have a lot of room in my freezers for leftovers. With that being said, what was I to do with all of this leftover chili? Can it!! Yeah! Yeah! All you have to do is put your lids, rings and jars in water and bring them to a boil. This will sterilize them.

Also, keep your chili hot. Next, put a funnel in the jar and fill it up with chili up to an inch of the top.

 

 

 

Next, wet a cloth or paper towel with vinegar and wipe the rim off with it. This gets all the food particles off so it can seal properly. Then put the lid and ring on.

 

 

 

 

Next, you are going to put them in your pressure canner. Remember to follow the directions for your pressure canner.

 

 

 

 

Also, don't forget to vent for 10 minutes before putting the weight on. Process pints at 11lbs of pressure for 75 minutes for a dial gauge and 10lbs of pressure for a weighted gauge. You can also make this in quart and pressure can for 90 minutes.

 

 

 

 

And voila' canned homemade chili! Hope you enjoy! Till next time hope you have a blessed day!



 

 





Canned Chicken Stock

Whoa it has been a looonnnnggg time since my last post. A little too long if you ask me. It seems another year has come and gone. It amazes me how time flies when you get older and time seems to stand still when you are young. I was looking at my blog and noticed that I had told you I would post how to can your chicken stock. So here goes. In the last blog post I told you how to make chicken stock in your crockpot. (this is also the same for turkey stock. I always save my turkey carcass from thanksgiving. Then make a batch of turkey stock. I use it the same way as chicken stock.) Now to can your chicken stock you have to have a pressure canner. It is not safe to can in a water bath. So, first you need to put your jars and lids on to boil. This is going to sterilize them. You also want to keep your chicken stock hot. You can do this by leaving it in your crockpot after your strain it. (and wash out your crockpot so none of the things you just strained out get into your stock.

 

 

Next, you will get one of your jars out. Put a funnel in the jar to help your stock to go into the jar and not your counter. Then fill up your jar with stock up to an inch of the top.

 

 

 

Make sure you wipe the lid off with a cloth or paper towel dipped in vinegar. This gets all the particles of stock off the lid to help it seal better. After that put your lid and ring on your jar.

 





 

 

After you have canned all your chicken stock place in your pressure canner per your canner's instructions. Remember to vent for 10 minutes before putting on the weight. You will can your chicken stock at 10 lbs for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.

 

 

And voila' you have homemade chicken stock! Till next time have a blessed day and a Happy New Year!

Homemade Chicken Stock

I hope everyone is having a blessed week! I know it has been a while since my last post. What can I say Life Happens! I have something real cool for y'all today. It is easy homemade chicken stock. It is sooooo simple so here goes. Whenever you have chicken (roast chicken, fried chicken, etc.) SAVE the bones! Just put them in a ziplock till you need them. Also save your leftover vegetables. Like the stuff you would usually throw away. Like the outsides of the onions or the ends off celery. Put these in a ziplock. You could even put them in the same ziplock as your bones if you have room. When you are ready to make your stock, get out your crockpot. That's right your crockpot.

Then you put all the bones and vegetables into the crockpot. Once you have done that you put a little bit of Apple Cider Vinegar. I don't measure it I just pour a little bit in it. If you have to measure put 1/2 cup in the crockpot over the bones and vegetables. Let this sit for about 30 minutes. Then you are going to fill the crockpot with water. Next, you going to turn on the crockpot on low and let it cook for 24 hours. I usually just let it run over night till the next evening. After, the 24 hours turn the crockpot off. Then strain the liquid into a bowl. Voila! You now have homemade chicken stock!!! You can store it in the refrigerator, freeze it, or can it. I will show you tomorrow how to can it! Till then I hope you have a blessed day!

Things to Make With Your Homemade Yarn!

Well, I hope everyone is having a blessed Sunday! Here are two of the things I have made with my Homemade yarn. One is a bracelet. How I made it was did a basic single stitch and made two to three rows depending on how thick you want your bracelet. I then tied some thin leather on one end in a loop. On the other end I sewed a big button. Make sure you loop is big enough for your button but not two big that it comes out too easily.

Next, I made a pot holder. I used the same principal as the bracelet. I just added more rows. I kept adding till the pot holder was as big as I wanted it. I didn't have a good picture of the pot holder. The picture wasn't very clear. There are other things you can make with your yarn. These are just the two that I have done. If you do not know how to crochet look it up on youtube! They have some really good videos to help you learn or refresh your memory! I hope you like these ideas! Remember Christmas is just around the corner! Till next time hope you have a blessed day!