Canning Pinto Beans

I recently received the following request from a reader …

Request:  I wish you would share your recipe for canning beans.

Answer:  Here’s what I do:

1.        Wash beans and drain.

2.      Add washed beans to a big pot and put 3 times as much water as you have beans.  For 7 quarts of beans I use between 6 – 7 cups of dried beans.

3.      Bring pot of water and beans to a boil and let boil for 3 minutes.

4.      Turn heat off, put a lid on the pot and let sit overnight.

5.      Wash and sterilize jars and get lids and rings ready for use.

6.      Fill each jar ¾ full of beans.

7.      Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart (1/2 teaspoon salt for pints).  Here’s where I add any optional things like cayenne pepper and/or seasoning meat.

8.     Fill each jar to within 1 inch of top of jar with liquid from pot … finish with water if not enough liquid from pot.  (I always have to add additional water.)

9.      Remove air bubbles, clean rim of jars, add lid and ring.

10.  Place in pressure canner and process at 10 lbs of pressure for 90 minutes.  (For pints process at 10 lbs pressure for 75 minutes.)  (Consult a reputable canning book for pressure poundage for canning in your altitude as it may be different than mine.)

11.   Remove from canner and let sit for 24 hours.

12.  Remove ring, wash outside of jar, label and sit on pantry shelf.

patsi

A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

My pantry is intentional, purposeful, simple, practical, frugal and what works for my family.  It’s the food items and household supplies that keep my household running smoothly ready and available when they are needed.  It’s my contribution to our family’s economy and my work-from-home ‘job.'

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This Is Why! ... part 2

Part 2

Before I start sharing specifics of how I keep a well-stocked pantry in this series, I want to share where what grocery money we currently have is coming from.

Remember from the last post this is our situation …

Recently my husband and I received the news that one of our monthly expenses … health insurance, was going to increase substantially.  In the same month we also received news that our income was being reduced substantially as well.  Double whammy!  Our first reaction was dismay, our second reaction was to pray and then we set down with our budget and started making changes to accommodate our new financial situation.  When all was said and done, we had some good news and some bad news … the good news was that we could still pay our bills each month … the bad news was that there was nothing left in the budget for groceries.

Where is our grocery money coming from since we don’t have anything left in the budget for groceries?  Here's what we're currently doing ...

We have a set amount budgeted for auto gasoline and for utilities.  Whatever … if … anything is left from these categories, we use for groceries.  Sometimes its $5, sometimes it might be $10, other times it might be a bit more and then sometimes there’s nothing left.

Also, as we make the last payment on a debt, instead of snow balling that amount into the next smallest debt, we are using it instead for groceries.  By doing this we are slowing down the pace at which we can pay off our debt, but it does allow us to have something each month we can count on to work with.  For instance, we have several medical bills and are making monthly payments on them.  This month we made the final payment on one which will give us $20/month that we can actually depend on/call our grocery budget.  It’s not much, but it’s a start and we are praising God and asking Him to bless us and give us wisdom in spending it.

In addition, we are selling things to supplement what we have to spend whenever possible.

Right now, these are the ways we’re getting the money we spend on groceries.  These methods supplemented with our well-stocked pantry, is how we are able to provide food for ourselves during this lean time … and we are doing good.  So many have expressed concern over our situation and have offered help to us in various forms.  My heart is full and overflowing with love and appreciation for your offers, but we are okay.  Sure, there are things that we would like to have but can’t during this season due to this situation, but that is okay too.  We are taking our needs and wants to God and laying them at His feet in prayer.  So please understand, we are doing good, we are okay … please don’t worry about us.  The only thing I would ask that you do is lift us, and any others who you know that may be going through something similar, in prayer to our Heavenly Father. 

So, how did I get a pantry stocked well enough to be able to weather our current financial storm?  I’ll start sharing specifics on that in part 3.  The goal is to post a new entry every Wednesday ... but don't be upset if it's a day early or late ... I'll do my best to stay on track, but I lead a very busy life ... which is helpful in dealing with this situation ... get busy and stay busy!

Until the next time ...

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You might be interested in my other blogs ...

Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine 

From This Heart of Mine  

A Special Series...

This is Why … having a well-stocked pantry is important and 100 ways that will help you have one too!

by patsi norwood (c) 2015  All Rights Reserved!

Recently my husband and I received the news that one of our monthly expenses … health insurance, was going to increase substantially.  In the same month we also received news that our income was being reduced substantially as well.  Double whammy!  Our first reaction was dismay, our second reaction was to pray and then we set down with our budget and started making changes to accommodate our new financial situation.  When all was said and done, we had some good news and some bad news … the good news was that we could still pay our bills each month … the bad news was that there was nothing left in the budget for groceries.

For a lot of people not having money for a grocery budget would be catastrophic, but for us it was a bump in the road.  Why?  Because of our well-stocked pantry!

I grew up watching my mama keep a well-stocked pantry.   When I married and we started our own family I mimicked what I had seen my mama do, year after year, day in and day, I watched her keep her pantry well-stocked all the while providing food for her family from it every day.  My pantry today looks different from hers then, but the principle is still the same … stock the things your family will eat when you can so that you don’t have to worry about how to feed them when you can’t.

Our well stocked pantry has given us time to prayerfully think through and come up with a course of action to balance out our incoming income with our outgoing expenses.  It has allowed us to not have to panic.

This is why keeping a well-stocked pantry is a priority for me; in fact, if you read my blog, A Working Pantry, you will know that I consider it my full time job and my contribution to our family’s economy.

So how do I keep a well-stocked pantry?  How did I get my pantry to the point that I don’t have to worry about how to keep my family feed during life’s unexpected?  That’s what this special series is all about.

When I started this project, it was with the intention of turning it into an e-book to sell, but the more I think and pray about it, I think that I would rather make it a special series and give it away free … in case there are others out there who find themselves in a similar situation … whose finances just can’t be stretched any further but yet you still have to feed your family.  It is to those whom this series is dedicated.  May it be a blessing to you as you walk this path.

Please feel free to share about this special series … it’ll be starting next week.

Until the next time ...

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You might be interested in my other blogs ...

Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine 

From This Heart of Mine