By Kellene Bishop
Yes, there is a relatively panic-free way to approach having a sufficient supply of food for everyone I intend to feed. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that the best way to eat an elephant is over easy, right? Just kidding. The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time; so I’m going to share with you a few of my methods of attacking a chore that might otherwise seem a bit overwhelming to the point of paralysis. I believe you’ll find these suggestions helpful regardless of where you are in your own preparedness efforts.
12 Month Supply: First of all your end goal should be having one year’s worth of supplies regardless of what Principle of Preparedness that you’re considering—medications, hygiene products, paper products, clothing, water, etc. Why a whole year? Because, any crisis that’s serious enough to make you start living off of all of your supplies is very likely to take at least a year from which to recover. And if it’s going to be longer than a year, you’ll need a year of ramp up time to get a full-blown garden growing for you to live off of. Earthquake, unemployment, infrastructure collapse, EMP, economic crisis, act of war, etc.—all of these instances are very likely to take at least a year to recover and restore life back to “normal”—if that soon. (The EMP studies give an estimation of three years minimum to get the power turned back on.)
Break It Down Into Meals: When folks are just starting out, I suggest that they come up with 30 recipes for the meals that you know your family loves and that you have everything you need to make that meal 12 times. You can change that number as you see fit though such as 15 dinner recipes made 24 times, etc. I like the 30 dinner recipes minimum, to create 12 times in order to avoid running into appetite fatigue—you know, getting tired of the same thing again and again. Regardless, break down your task into meals. The more familiar you are with the meals and the more your family likes your meals the less stress it will be for you, and I’m sure we can all agree that less stress amidst a crisis is preferred.
Start With Breakfast: When I first got started with the Food aspect of Preparedness, I focused first on just ONE meal a day for the year—breakfast. Breakfast is a relatively easy meal because, just as we do in our normal life, everyone usually has a limited, comfortable repertoire for their breakfast menu. You know—pancakes, oatmeal, crumb cakes, scrambled eggs, yogurt, easy quiches or breakfast casseroles, toast and fruit, etc. Breakfast doesn’t take as many ingredients or as much thought as dinner does—at least not in my experience. When I first started out, I focused solely on having enough breakfast items first. I can’t tell you how relieved and happy I felt when I finally achieved having 365 breakfast servings for each person I planned on feeding for a year and you will too when you get to that moment where you can just cross that off your list. Worst case scenario, I knew that I had hearty, stick to the ribs, calorie dense meals to start off the day.
Then Dinner: Next are your dinner supplies. After reading several historical accounts in which food and other resources were scarce such as during the Depression, Europe during WWII, and way of life in 3rd world nations, I realized that 3 meals a day may be more of a luxury. So, the next thing I focused on completing was a year’s supplies of dinners based on the 30 recipe strategy mentioned above.
It’s actually really simple to put all of the ingredients for a particular dinner in a square, 4-gallon bucket with a tight fitting lid. My husband will frequently come home and say “Honey, what’s for dinner?” and I’ll simply direct him to just go select a bucket. Not every meal works out this way, but a lot of them sure do. For example, I’ve just created a new recipe for my upcoming cookbook that uses the ramen noodles (not the seasoning pack that comes with them), canned beef chunks, some seasonings, and some freeze-dried veggies. So I have everything I need but the freeze-dried veggies in the bucket, including seasonings and I’ve taped the entire recipe with clear packing tape inside the lid so that even if I’m not around to make the meal, someone else can easily follow my directions with majority of the ingredients right there. (I don’t include the veggies because they stay best, unopened, in their original #10 can. I regularly use the ingredients in the cans and mark the ones that are open and just rotate through them.)
My rule of thumb to everyone is that they should have all of the shelf-stable fixings for the favorite “Birthday Dinner” of each member of their family. I haven’t managed to conquer Lobster Stew quiet yet, but for the most part, there’s not a “favorite” meal of my household and family members that I haven’t been able to make from shelf-stable foods. That will make you happy and less stressed in making it, and it will make the rest of your family less stressed when they eat it.
Now the Luxury of Lunch: As I got the dinner needs met for our family for a year, I then started expanding to easy snacks and meals that I could throw together for lunches that didn’t require any effort other than perhaps warming something up. Hearty soups, chicken salad on crackers, ham salad sandwiches with Swiss cheese, open-faced pizza sandwiches on homemade wheat bread, hard boiled eggs and fruit, etc.; nothing too glamorous. (I can also rely on “leftovers” so long as I can safely preserve the leftovers from breakfast or dinner.)
Create your lunch menu with two things in mind—conservation of physical energy combined with a high calorie count—because if we were to ever find ourselves in a TEOTWAWKI scenario, we’re going to be worn out from all of the physical labor that will be required of us just to keep the household running. Doing laundry by hand, gardening, tending to animals, mending clothing, etc. When I read of all of the things that my great-great grandmother got done in a day, I’m amazed she was anything more than skin and bones. This kind of work will require a minimum of 3,500 calories each day just to maintain body weight. For the more labor-intensive chores which my husband is more likely to be doing such as cutting firewood, butchering, mending fences and shelter, security measures, etc., the body will require a minimum of 5,000 calories per day just to maintain body weight. So keep this in mind when you’re creating menu items. Remember though that there is a difference between empty calories and calories that do a much better job at fueling the body. I’ve invested in premium quality powdered greens, sprouts, whole grains, and legumes to provide quality calories for the body now as well as in the future.
Familiar Foods: Having the supplies you need is just one component of successful Food Preparedness. Being sure that your family is familiar and comfortable enjoying those foods is the other half and it’s CRITICAL! Just as the saying goes “10 minutes before the prom is not the time to learn to dance” it also hold true with trying to feed foreign foods to your family members—regardless of whether or not they are 4 years old or 40. Like it or not FOOD is a comfort and the period of time in which you’re enduring stress and uncertainty is NOT the time to spring “healthy sprouts” and scrambled eggs from a powder. Not only will your family be much more receptive to foods they know, but the person who prepares them will be much less stressed. I can tell you that when it’s time to feed the stressed out masses is not the time to try working with the foods you’ve never prepared before. Talk about stress! That’s enough to stress me out today with all of the technological comforts that I have to enjoy, let alone when you don’t know when the next paycheck will come around, or when the roads will be open for travel again, or when the power might come back on. Having the familiar foods on hand will also help you ease into using some less familiar foods. For example, I love to make “wheat meat” aka seitan, but making a chili or a taco soup using wheat meat exclusively is a disaster in the making for several reasons, not the least of which would be the digestive discomfort that’s sure to follow. Instead, start adding wheat meat into your soups or casseroles a little at a time now so that not only does the family come to enjoy the health benefits of it, but they can also slowly get acclimated to the taste.
Comfort Food: Last but not least, let’s be sure to remember to have on hand the supplies necessary for providing your family with comfort foods. You think you need a “drink” after a long day at work at the office now? Wait until you have a day in which your basement is flooded, or you missed every 4 legged morsel of food that you tried to shoot, or the day that you barely escaped demise at the hand of looters and marauders. Whether it’s a special savory dish, sweet dish, favorite drink concoction or homemade cookies, you’d best be prepared to have a years supply of “self-medication” available for your family.
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Thanks for this great article Kelleene…this seems a lot more organized than what I’ve been doing…just buying things we use but in no particular rhyme or reason. BTW..thanks for your reply yesterday about my 1st time canning the chicken today..YOU SAVED ME! I remember seeing it on your page now a while back. It turned out beautiful and we can’t wait to taste it!
We are all going to get a bit thinner. Buying stuff is dead easy. I think may get a bit sporty soon. Not much of a silver living but it could be worse.
You got water?
You got food?
You got sanitation?
You got a generator and fuel?
You got a grill and fuel?
You got a solar oven?
You got security
Get busy if you don’t have these things. I think time is getting short for the USA and we may see riots in the urban areas.
I’m like Skipper from the Penguins of Madagascar. “I come in peace,for now”
Great info, I’m planning on double servings for my men and 1/2 servings for myself as I don’t eat much. However I do want to over estimate then I know even if I have to cut back serving sizes I will be covered. Does that make sense? Our breakfast meals are somewhat more simple than yours as we mostly just eat oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, biscuits or frybread and maybe once in awhile bacon or ham. My men are easy when it comes to meals thank goodness. We also do not eat 3 meals a day but we do eat 2. I am planning for 3 meals so we can count on the extra calories which we will probably need when TSHTF.
Be sure to take into account the calories for yourself even though you don’t eat much, Steph.
Stephanie, what is frybread? Is it like a fried biscuit? Thanks… also Kellene you do a great job not only in promoting us to get ready but also in your kind and even way of teaching without preaching. And…may we expect to see you on the upcoming new season of Preppers? I noticed last night that they had revisited some past preppers for updates of sort. Thanks again, you’ve earned jewels in your crown…Bill
Another name for it is a “scone” or Navajo fry bread or elephant ears. I always ate them with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on them or with chili, onions, and cheddar cheese on top. Yum!
I better not be seen on the upcoming season of Preppers. I specifically forbade them from using me in this upcoming season. I’m very leery of just how “sane” they will be based on reports I’m hearing lately. We’ll see soon enough though. New season starts on the 13th of Nov.
You will be working much harder and need more water and food than you do now. Keep that in mind.
Hey Kellene. Love the article. Now after doing some small practice runs
Our lunch will be the big meal. The reason for this… You
have already started your fire for breakfast and some heated water for daily
chores…so why not get lunch started. I read where the women
cooked large lunches…then kept the left overs heated until supper in
a hay box. Where they could add to some more “something” to stretch it.
Throw in some bread and walla supper. I know we want our fires out by bedtime.
And hopefully the cooking stuff cleaned up….lol
The idea of cooking and cleaning in the dark doesn’t sound fun or smart.
I like the idea of the recipe under the lid!
As always thanks for all your help!!
It actually makes sense for the lunch to be the big meal…you will all sleep better with that being the case and the middle of your day will require the most physical energy. Good idea!
My mom does this every weekend! She cooks a simple quick breakfast then starts lunch around 9am and keeps the food warm. We have lunch and then dinner and only really cooks once a day! It’s a great idea!
Thanks Kellene for your website, for your wonderful information and for the way you present it! I am learning so much from you. I’m soooo new at this. Started only three months ago and it’s not easy! Especially with such a limited income. But alas we push foward! Thanks again!
I’d like to share a true story with you. Both my parents grew up during the Great Depression and knew what food shortages and food rationing was all about. My mom joined the LDS church in 1961. In 1970′s she and my dad (not a member)began their preparation for food storage. They understood hard times could hit, again with the economy, job loss, or any other problems(we lived in San Francisco). They stored a 2 year supply of foods. In 1975 my dad, a bay area truck driver went to work one day and walked into the back of his long trail to load it and suddenly couldn’t see. He was rushed to the hospital and later regained some of his eyesight, however it was enough of a loss that it placed him on permanent disability. We later learned he had MS of the the optic nerves. My dad’s employer had quit paying his share of the medical insurance, so all medical bills were paid by my parents out of their savings. My dad figured he had another 20 years before he thought of retiring and I was only 12 at the time. What a shock it was to go from earning 2,000 a month to SSI at 500 a month, 1975 numbers. Our house payment was over half that. Thank God for Food Storage right? Well, let me tell you, thus began the journey into food storage cooking for my mom. It was a REAL doomsday experience. Those first six to twelve months of eating food storage was a night mare. She didn’t know who to prepare most of what she had stored, didn’t know how to flavor it, didn’t know how long to cook it, didn’t know what ratio of water to product to use, didn’t know, didn’t know anything.
I remember she had made something she named tvp-lentil soup, anyway it was brown and didn’t smell good at all. My dad looked at me and quietly sad, ” I’ll try it, and if I die, run, and run hard!” One time, she made split pea soup and burned the bottom of the pot ,didn’t know it and stirred it into the remaining soup, on top of that she had mad enough for left overs for nearly two weeks. For years I couldn’t eat it split pea soup, the thought of it made me sick. There were many more food storage disasters. This is all funny now, but it wasn’t then, it was life and death for a 12 year old. We survived, but it was hellish that first year. When I married I told my husband that we would eat from our food storage daily, I didn’t want what happen to me to happen to our children. They were going to grow up knowing food storage and I WAS going to know how to prepare it the right way. We’ve been married 30 years now, and some of my family’s favorite meals are straight from food storage! There is a you tube video titled “Food Storage Night” with four young boys waiting for dinner, it brings back a lot of memories for me, I lived it. So, the best advice I think I can give, know what you’re storing and know how to prepare it, it makes a world of difference. Thank you for allowing me to share.
I truly appreciated your story…we think it will be easy and natural to put meals together….thank you for the reminder that it is not!
Hi Kellene! Love your articles! Keep up the great work!
I want to know how you package your ingredients for your meals that go into your buckets. Do you “seal a meal” the amount of every ingredient for that meal separately? I would also like to know if all of your flour (white or wheat) is in cans. I was hoping i could use the “seal a meal” and an oxygen absorber for flour, biscuit mix, cornmeal, and pancake mix. Would it last long like that? Thanks for all you do!
Karen
I put the entire package in the FoodSaver bags. For example, I use Rice-A-Roni for one of the recipes. So when I get it cheap, I bring it home, and zap the entire box in a FoodSaver bag so that I can still see what it is. Everything is individually packaged in jars or bags in the bucket.
Don’t use an oxygen absorber in anything that needs to be active with gluten or rising such as baking mixes. You’ll ruin the rising factor.
thanks for the article, love the idea of meal buckets, question about baking mixes and flour where you say not to use oxygen absorber….does sealing them in jars with food saver do the same thing by ruining the rising factor since you are taking out the oxygen?
also I do have some flour in #10 cans from cannery and they have you put in the OA…..is it going to not rise for pancakes, bread etc? I like to add some white flour to my fresh whole wheat flour?
thanks
The OA size that that cannery is fine for the #10 can. Most go overkill on the size of OA. The cannery is required by USDA to put in an OA.
Flour via Foodsaver–I actually don’t do it because it’s a fine powder, but I DO store my flour in jars after I get it home to lengthen the life of it. I have a huge glass jar (about 5 gallons) that my Mom handed down.
was it through this site that I learned about oven canning? I am trying to find the site and I have already done some oven canning , but I don’t remember the order of how I did it. Do you have the recipe? I can’t find it ..thank you for sharing and all the great idea’s.
A neighbor of mine gave me some walnuts that she had oven canned, 80 year old woman was moving. I was amazed because I had never heard of it before. She put them in the oven for one hour at 150 degrees in regular canning jars and new lids. Three years later, they were just starting to turn.
I can guarantee you that because she oven canned them, she created a rancidity that you do not need in your body. You don’t take the rancid nature of canola oil either but it’s there, I assure you. It’s the rancid oils/fats that actually cause heart disease. I wish folks would apply common sense about stuff like this.
Nope, as I ABHOR oven canning. Heat is the enemy of food preservation…so why would I want to heat something that didn’t need to be cooked and then try to store it long-term?
Cooperative Extension Service DOES NOT recommend oven
canning in their Master Food Preservation classes.
Neither do I–though I wish I could say that I cared one fig what the extension services and USDA had to say about food preservation though. But they’ve been wrong far too many times. Guess even a stopped clock is right twice a day though.
Kellene I love your website. I am going to can chicken that I had purchased from Zaycon Foods. What is the shelf life of caned chicken?
I don’t usually give a shelf-life on items because it’s so contingent upon the storage conditions. I will tell you that mine are easily 8 years.
Thank you so much. Your ideas are the highlight of my day! I love the idea of meals in buckets. I saw a video of dry meal ingredients in vacuum sealed jars that sounded good too. In the video dry ingredients were layered in jars and all that was necessary was to add to a pot with water and cook. I’m guessing instructions could be taped to the front of the jars.
Do you have any suggestions as to how to proceed with stocking up plans when your husband doesn’t share your views on the necessity? Mine feels life will stay pretty much as it is and items we need will always be available.
I’m proceeding on my own but I wish I knew a way to get his support.
Don’t make it about “preparing”. Make it about stabilizing your buying power. What husband doesn’t like to save money??
Funny that you would say “make it about stabilizing your buying power.” I teach a similar “30 recipe” concept when I teach couponing classes. Many folks shy away from “preparedness” or food storage but I tell them that if they plan their meals out, a week at a time or better yet a month, then shop and buy foods that are on sale and use coupons, buy multiples at the lowest price, they will realize the biggest savings. After a while they have a stockpile and don’t even realize they are practicing preparedness. It’s kind of a sneaky way to help more people become more self-reliant. Better yet they save money while doing it.
I was thinking about that idea as well. I’ve seen in gift shops canning jars layered with all of the ingredients for a pot of soup or stew and all you have to add is water. I think that would take up a lot less space than buckets, and I worry about cans of freeze-dried veggies and stuff because there are only 2 of us, so once I open a can we’d be eating that just about every day because I wouldn’t want to have a bunch of open cans – they just wouldn’t stay fresh.
You can make your own meals in a jar easy, peezy. As for Freeze-dried, it’s keeps taste, texture and nutrition for 18 months after being opened. There may be “only 2″ of you now, but I doubt that that’s how it will be later. I easily rotate through my freeze-dried goods. They help me to stabilize my dollar and to get better nutrition in my produce than what’s in the stores without having to pay for organic.
Thank you Kellene, we all need little helpful hints now and then to keep us on the right track..
Thank you for your time and effort to teach us these techniques. It is appreciated
Hi Kellene,
Just wanted to thank you for your tireless work you do for the benefit of all of us. Your website is my “go to” place for answers to many questions and I have learned soooo much!
I also wanted to share a recipe that I came across that would be perfect for food storage. I came across it because I am doing an autoimmune paleo diet now. It is not my recipe and not sure if you permit links so – the name of the website is health-bent and the recipe is Paleo Maple Pumpkin Custard – ALL shelf stable ingredients and absolutely wonderful.
Sounds yummy!!!
Thanks, Kellene! As usual, you’re spot on! Loved the “eating an elephant” quote. I’ve been using it with my kids for years! I agree that breakfast and lunch should be the biggest meals. We’re pretty well covered for food storage, water is getting there. Every time we empty a bottle, I wash it out and re-fill it with water. Hubby is getting more serious about getting started canning. He’s reading your blogs and I think he’s even been a little surprised to see that you’ve covered things that had only vaguely registered in his thoughts about prepping. [Translation: I've told him about your blogs and ideas, but he never "heard" what I said, When HE started looking over your blogs - THEN - he "discovered" the great ideas you've been putting forth!]
Anyway – THANKS again for all your work in bringing information to us!
HELLPPP! I canned hamburger last nite & then realized this morning that I only did it for 60 minutes, not 90! what can I do, if anything, at this point?? I’m sick over this…
Yikes! I’m sorry to tell you this, Jennifer, but depending on how long it sat out and whether or not you’re certain the jars sealed, I’d suggest you heat through all of this hamburger, seal it up in bags, and then start eating it. I wouldn’t recommend trying to reseal it. And I’d be SUPER cautious in eating it again without cooking it all the way through to ensure no bacteria are thriving in it. The only thing that saves you from having to throw it all out is that you cooked it prior to canning it, right? Otherwise you really would need to throw it all out.
Speaking of canning meats, do they have to be fresh or can you defrost the meat and then can it? I have a freezer full but worry about my 20 year old freezer kicking the bucket and losing all of that meat. Also, after the big derecho storm we had this summer where so many lost power for a week or more, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just start thawing it out and canning it.
You can can meat that’s been frozen.
My life event was two years ago, my husband was hurt in an accident at work and couldn’t work for nine months. We ate out of our stockpile and its nothing compared to what it is now that I have improved it. The stockpile saved our bacon as our income was cut by 2/3 immediately. The disaster doesn’t have to be anything big. It can be a personal SHTF and you’ll need the peace and security of having food on hand. I call ours our personal hedge against inflation. Good article.
I’m wondering about the Sodium content of all this canned and processed food. I have high blood pressure and can’t take all that Sodium, so besides rinsing off all the food and throwing away the liquid, what else can I do to bring down the Sodium content of this or any other canned food meal?
Your options are to create your items from scratch, can your own, or to purchase low sodium versions of foods available to you.
Sandy, both my hubby and I really have to watch sodium content which is one of the big pluses of freeze dried foods and the taste is so much better than “store bought” foods. We use our (FD) almost every day. Also, potatoes are a good item to “absorb” some of the sodium… We eat a lot of one dish meals but we’re seniors and that’s much easier than if one has childre still at home.
Last night I cooked a bit of bacon just for seasoning added fresh chunked potatoes and the FD spinich… sooo good! Lol Left overs tonight were still good 
Also, just this week I made my own rice-a-roni and was really pleased with the results
Kellene, how soon can we expect your cookbook to be available? I would love some new ideas for shelf-stable meals. I feel like I’ve gotten in a rut lately and I know you will have some awesome meals. I go through your site regularly looking for recipes I haven’t tried yet but can hardly wait for the book. Can we pre-order? If so, how? Great article, it is probably the most logical way to getting started for folks that feel overwhelmed. Thanks for all you do.
Just read about active with gluten I just bought 50lbs of flour sealed each five lbs in bag with oxygen absorber should I open them and take it out?
I would remove the OA, yes.
Thanks for another great article. One quick question. What is your advice to safely store leftovers without electricity? And other opened items that would usually go in the refrigerator like mayo, salad dressing, jelly, etc?
Oh boy! Think I made a mistake, Kellene. I just read the post that you tell not to use OA for storing flour. I did for some basic flour but not my bread flour. How do you suggest storing flour long term? mylar bag with no OA? Also, I have 4 bags of white potatoes in my kitchen that I want to store. Is there a way to peel, cut and jar them? Thank you for always guiding me!
I don’t recommend storing flour long term because it’s loses its nutrients over time quickly. The ONLY way that I would have any flour stored in my house would be in #10 cans. Nutrients are critical NOW and they will be that much more critical in a serious crisis scenario.
You can can potatoes. Look at Canning Granny’s page on Facebook or her blogspot site.
Kellene, I am having a problem waxing cheese. Perhaps it’s just the cheese. I have your article, DVD and all the proper tools. I have been waxing cheddar cheese but it seems to be too oily. So now I’ve put cheese cloth over the wax and am waxing again. Do you think this will do it? Am loving the idea, but getting frustrated trying to get it sealed so it won’t mold. Have a few that are molding so am going to take wax off and shred it cuz I do have pounds and pounds of the cheese. Any other suggestions? Thanks for your help.
You need to let the cheese dry longer. Remember, weeping afterwards is normal too.
If you do get periodic mold, just take off the wax there, blot with vinegar, dry, and then re-wax.
Hello there!
I want to be sure I understand about the flour and baking mixes in storage….do NOT use an oxygen pack, correct? If so, is there a way to store said items without
worry of bugs, etc? Is it better to store whole wheat and grind what you need? If so, can you store the whole wheat with oxygen packs?
I just came across your site, and am totally addicted!
Thanks for such great information.
diane
Diane, I think this more recent article will help answer your questions clearly. I know it’s a lot of pieces of info to correlate and can feel overwhelming but hopefully this will help. http://preparednesspro.com/how-long-will-it-last/ I’d also suggest that you look up “diatomaceous earth” on here as well. There’s one article entitled “Excuse me, is this your worm” (I know…dumb title) but I believe that DE will be an asset to your grains storage issues and it’s cheap and it’s good for you but bad for the bugs. Hope this helps.
Kellene, my family and I just started seriously prepping recently. We are trying to figure out how much we need to save back for 20 people for a year and honestly we are a little overwhelmed. Is there a way to determine how much we should be saving? Thanks I love your website and FB posts I read them everyday!
Check out this article I wrote Janette. http://preparednesspro.com/do-you-have-enough/ The search bar is your friend on here. I’ve written over 700 articles on this site. You’ll also want to read this one that I wrote specifically for beginners so that you can become familiar with The Ten Principles of Preparedness. http://preparednesspro.com/prepping-for-beginners/
I am so glad I found your sight. It is nice to see people be prepared without all of the scare tactics.
I was totally inspired by this post. While I store lots of ingredients that I use weekly, I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to build up my yearly supply with recipes – and include every ingredient. I sat down this afternoon and went through my recipe collection and made note of the recipes I thought I could store everything (granted, I’m going to have to branch out in the dairy category).
I buy meat when it’s on sale and freeze it in meal-sized portions, but I’ve never been comfortable with storing it that way for the the disaster-type situation. I have tried store-bought canned chicken and tried it in a couple of our favorite recipes, and I can’t taste a difference, but the texture is off. My hubby on the other hand thinks it smells like tuna, and absolutely cannot get over that fact when he is eating it – and tells me never to use canned chicken. But I want to venture into the canned chicken arena. (As well as other meats, but I don’t have the same issues with them).
Here’s my dilemma. One of my hubby’s favorite meals is just a simple pasta dish with Alfredo, artichokes and chicken. Perfect for shelf stable, right? I usually cut the chicken into 1 inch sized pieces and brown it in some olive oil. It has a “formed” texture, and distinct taste, even in the Alfredo. The canned chicken I’ve tried seems to be more shredded (granted I have never canned my own), so I’m wondering if it is possible to retain the solid pieces and even brown them after canning. Any tips?
When you can your own chicken you will NEVER go back to canned chicken again. Be sure to look up the article(s) I’ve written on Zaycon foods and enroll for their e-mails. It’s a DANG AWESOME set up that they’ve got with great quality proteins for great prices. I got 120 pounds of all-natural, hormone free chicken breasts for FREE in October as an example. (Of course you can get step by step directions for canning the chicken on here too. I put it in as BIG as I can in the jar and can it. That way my chicken turns out into bigger pieces that I can do things with.