Sep 29, 2015

OCTOBER TEMPORAL CHALLENGE: Storing Meats and Canning Supplies

                       When planning for a three-month supply, consider the meals your family would eat. Make a list of the meats you would need and the total quantity of each.  Options for storing those meats would be:

            1. Canned or bottled.  Possibilities include chicken, beef, tuna, turkey, ham, pork and beans, corned beef, etc.  Pressure-canning your meat is also a good option, especially when good sales are being offered. The USU extension services offer detailed instructions on canning meats:

http://extension.usu.edu/utah/files/uploads/Canning/Guide 5 - Canning Meats.pdf

            2. Freeze-dried. These meats have the advantage of long-term storage and reduced storage space.

            3. Freezing meats.  Some helpful and important hints on freezing can be found at:

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/preservation/hgic3064.html

The downside of freezing meats is the possibility of power outage. If you have access to dry ice or block ice fit them around the food in a way that it won’t make a mess when it melts. A full freezer will hold its temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if half-full).  If your freezer is not full, group packages so they form an “igloo” to protect each other. When the power comes back on, check each item separately.  Throw out any food that has an unusual odor, texture, or feels warm to the touch.

            4. If practical, consider the possibility of raising animals such as chicken or beef.  Grass-fed and range-raised animals are the healthiest for eating.

Calculate what supplies you would need for the next canning season and have them on hand.  This may include lids, bottles, a spare rubber ring for your pressure cooker, salt, vinegar, sugar, pectin, spices, etc.

OCTOBER SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE: Increase your fast offering this month or make a meat or healthy-protein donation to a local food bank.

Matthew 25: 35  “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat….”

Matthew 25:37   “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee?”

Matthew 25:40  “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto   me.”

Moses 7:18  “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.