In order to eat what you store, you must store what you eat.

How many days of the week do you eat meat? How much of that can you store? What if the power goes out? How will you save all the meat that you have frozen?

That’s a lot of tuna fish, canned chicken, canned ham, TVP, and dried beef in your basement. And all of that can be expensive, too. If you want to store a pound of meat for every day of the year, that is 365 pounds of meat. Whew!

I’ll say again: In order to eat what you store, you must store what you eat.

What we need is an economical way to store a variety of meat that isn’t over-processed and tastes like an aluminum can – or SPAM.

The answer: Bottle your own!

Buy your meat in bulk when it is on sale or markdown, bottle it yourself, and only use what you need. You won’t need a lot of freezer space, and you can reuse your bottles. It is both economical and practical. You can bottle nearly any kind of meat, except for processed things like hot dogs and turkey ham. Don’t worry about rotation, either – the shelf life is three years and you can rotate an entire year’s worth by using only two jars per week. This isn’t SPAM we’re talking about, or other processed meats with excessive salt and things like sugar, msg, and other miscellaneous parts (eww). It tastes nothing like canned chicken from the store, nor is it like the funky dry beef chunks in canned stews. This is real chicken, ham, pork, and beef that you’ve selected yourself. The meat is tender, juicy, fully cooked, and fantastic. You won’t need to worry about defrosting it, and it works for a last-minute meal, too.

I first learned of this from Wendy DeWitt of Everything Under The Sun. I suggest reading through her instructions, as well. She has great ideas on how to store, rotate, and use the meat you bottle. She deserves credit for many of the instructions you see here.

You must use a pressure canner (not cooker) to bottle meats. Have your gauge tested at your local County Extension Office every year to be sure of safety and accuracy. You can also ask them at what pressure to can your meat, depending on your altitude. A good canner is a wise investment that will last forever. Check your canner and stove manuals before trying this on a glass-top stove!!! (I’d like to note that both Wendy and I have glass-top stoves and have done this with no problems. BE CAREFUL and do not slide your canner around on the stove; carefully put your cold and empty canner on the element and do not move it at all. After removing your bottles and waiting for the canner to cool completely, carefully lift it off – it is very heavy – to empty the water. This is no guarantee for your stove’s safety, however, so I wanted to provide this warning!)

A pint bottle will hold 1 pound of meat, a quart will hold 2 pounds. Invest in some good jars when you first start canning and reuse them; old or cheap jars can crack under the pressure needed.

You don’t need to cook your meat before you bottle it, nor will you add any water.
(The exception is ground meat, which turns out better if you brown it first, then pack it in water.)

Wash your jars and rings. You don’t need to sterilize them.

In a small pan, boil the lids for about 2 minutes to soften the seal. You’ll notice how I switch direction on every other lid to prevent them from sticking together so much.

Put your raw meat into clean jars. Fill jars with ½” headspace. Add ¼ to ½ tsp of salt (no other spices).

Make sure the rim of the jar is completely clean before you put the hot lid on, and put the ring on finger tight.

Pour about three inches of water into your canner and place the tray inside. Place your jars in the canner on the tray.

Screw down the canner lid, making sure the top is even, and turn your stove on high. Don’t put the weight on the pressure valve until steam has spouted out of the valve for about 10 minutes. This expresses the air out of the jars and the canner. After venting the air, put the weight onto the pressure valve or close the pepcock (depending on your type of canner) to start building pressure.

When the gauge gets to the correct pressure, begin timing 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts for all meat except for fish, which is 90 minutes for pints and 105 minutes for quarts. You will need to start turning down the heat to keep the pressure stable and may need to continue turning it down while it is cooking. Never leave your canner during this time! When the pressure drops or increases, a vacuum effect causes the juices in the jar to be pulled out. Keep the gauge at the correct pressure. Be prepared in advance so you do not have to leave the room!

At the end of the processing time you will turn the heat completely off. Don’t move the canner or touch the valves; just let the pressure go down on its own. When it’s back to zero, release the pressure valve (or remove the weight), take off the lid, put the jars on the counter away from cool drafts and let them cool completely. You’ll hear the beautiful plinking sound of success when the lids seal. If a jar doesn’t seal, you can just refrigerate it for later use. (Have some bread or buns and some barbecue sauce handy – you’ll want to break one open even if they all seal!) After they are cool, remove the ring, wipe the bottles clean, and put them into your pantry or back in the box for storage.

This is my beef after it is done. I just used beef stew meat for this, and used boneless skinless chicken breasts for the chicken you see pictured. This meat is so good that we look forward to the diet days that we get to use it!

As a busy wife, mom, and entrepreneur, I barely have time to write for my own blog, let alone read others. So, when I find one that ultimately saves me time AND money, I take notice.

Deal Seeking Mom is one of those blogs.

While researching Deal Seeking Mom for my shopping list this week, I saw this wonderful article by Ponn Sabra, who blogs for American Muslim Mom:

From Confused Coupon Criticizer To Coupon Connoisseur-in-the-making

Think Strategic Shopper, not Cheap Couponer. CouponMom.com found that 47% of women who use coupons are educated, affluent women who choose to use coupons, not necessarily out of necessity but for the savings.

As busy as I am, I find coupon shopping a valuable addition to my weekly schedule.

Again, from Ponn Sabra:

Have you ever thought the following?

* I don’t have time or patience to clip and organize coupons,
* I can never save enough money to make it worth my while,
* I’m too brand-loyal to even find value from coupons,
* My family eats too much red meats, dairy, and fresh produce; coupons will never make a dent in my grocery bill,
* Searching circulars is too much work,
* Organizing a whole week’s menu is mind-boggling,
* I despise getting newspaper ink on my hands (no, really…),
* Ugh…all this coupon lingo is so confusing, and [...]

To answer the broader question, does couponing work?  

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or, in this case, 6,000 diapers:

That was three truckloads, and that truck is full; cargo, back seat, AND front seat and floor.
All while six months pregnant.

I always joke that I got my baby at a discount.

I MADE about 30 cents on every pack I walked out of the store with.  I used the overage to buy breast pads, formula, and other expensive baby stuff that I needed.  I’ll probably still have diapers left over after “Little Brother” (baby #2) and could sell anything left for at least $5 a pack, although I will likely give them away to friends.  As a matter of fact, I give a ton of food and other stuff away to our local church missionaries.  I get Similac, Enfamil, and Good Start formula for less than half price. I stock up on organic baby food carrots at 25c – 50c a jar. (I make the rest of my babyfood at home.) Dot liked the store’s carrots better than mine, but she ate anything I mixed with them! I guess if I cooked my carrots to oblivion she might have eaten those, too. They are good for carrot cake now that she has outgrown them.

I like to brag when I entertain 6 to 17 people every month, including dessert and lots of leftovers, that I fed the entire crowd for less than $20. I have well over a years’ worth of cleaning supplies and health & beauty items that I either got for free or made money on. We eat pasta once a week, and I have a mountain of it, too, getting it for free or close to it.

Some say you can’t be brand loyal while using coupons, but I’ve found that not to be true in most cases.  My deodorant and DH’s body wash are the the only brands that I haven’t found for free (yet), but I certainly get them for less than half price.  All three brands of shampoo our family uses, I get for free, as well as our favorite toothpastes, which I will NEVER pay for again.  Same goes for free bandaids, and free toothbrushes which I have coming out my ears.  (Great for hygiene kit service projects.) I even get my Sonicare replacement heads at a discount, thank goodness.  DH’s Miracle Whip, my Hellman’s Canola Mayo, and Mom’s mayo with no soy and no egg yolks, were all on “The List”.  Our favorite cereals are stacked up in my pantry, and the most I’ve paid is $2 a box.  Campbells’ soup is on sale with coupon all of the time, I think ours were around 50c a can.  (Only one or two varieties that we can eat.) I usually get 12-packs of Coca-Cola products for less than $2 each; once I got 8 packs for $4!! 

We eat very little prepared food due to a number of food allergies (and other health reasons), but I am still able to find the no-salt no-sugar vegetables on sale with a coupon, and I get my frozen veggies for less than 50c a bag.  I know people that eat ONLY organic food and they say that coupons are still worth it to them.  You tend to see the sales cycles on produce and meat, too; I freeze and can meat when it is on sale, and pick which stores have the best prices on produce that week. 

I pay $5 a week for four newspapers (one for each family member), but I check what is coming out in the paper first before I buy them.  This week I only got 2 papers, and some weeks I get none.  You don’t clip the coupons, either, just file by date; the best sites tell you what date and what insert to find the coupon you want, so you only clip what you need.  To get the most savings, you should make space for some stockpiling; about 12 weeks worth will coincide with sales cycles, although I know people that make it work without it.  I personally store food and other supplies for a year, following the advice of my church leaders.

For more tips on why and how to get started saving money with coupons, be sure to read Ponn Sabra’s article.

Happy Bargain Hunting!

1. I went through all of my inserts and clipped any coupon under $1 (the store’s limit for tripling) that I thought I might like to use. I saved larger coupons and other deals for another time, unless it was important to match it with a sale this week.
2. I printed out applicable store coupons. A Full Cup is a great resource for this.
3. I sorted the coupons by store sections. I didn’t take the time to write up a detailed list, nor worry about store prices at this point.
4. Arranged for babysitting! For big trips like this, it is best to not have to worry about the kids, unless they are old enough to help.
5. I emptied my truck and loaded a large cooler with a couple of blocks of blue ice inside.
6. I ate lunch right before I went into the store.
7. I first picked up everything I wanted that had a limit of one per transaction and placed it into my cart.
8. I had a raincheck so I picked up those items next; I had one other coupon that I thought there might be a problem with, so I got those items, too.
9. I shopped one store section at a time, deciding what would be a good deal (or what I was willing to spend) until I had twenty to forty coupons to use with the items in my cart.
10. I had three sections of coupons; ones for items that were in the cart, one for coupons that I decided not to use, and one for coupons I hadn’t shopped for yet.
11. I went to the checkout, starting with one of each of the “one per transaction” items, and as mentioned above, added all my “problem” items to the first transaction. I then added more items until I had twenty coupons to triple. I made sure the rain check was on top and pointed that out to the cashier before he rang my order up. With a small transaction, it went quickly and I didn’t hold the line up.
12. I informed the management (who knows me well) that I’d be returning for the cart that still had items in it, and took my purchased items out to the car. The cooler came in handy here; I always have one in the car, but being prepared with blue ice inside meant I could relax and not worry about rushing. (I still saved the frozen section for last.)
13. Again, shopping another isle or two, I would add items to my cart. I’d then do another transaction, remembering to add the “one per transaction” items to the order first, then adding items until I got to twenty coupons to triple. Another trip to the car (good exercise and time to grab a sip of a cold drink) and another return to the store. I did this six times total.
14. About selecting items for a transaction: If you expect overage on an item, be sure to make up for that with the cost of other items. It is always best not to draw attention to the overage by ending up with a negative total at the end! Also, if you are stacking a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon on one item (this is the right way to use the coupons and most stores honor this) try to be sure you have another item that isn’t using a coupon. If you end up with more coupons than you have items, registers sometimes have trouble with it, even though you are using them properly. One answer to this is a coupon that is for two items; that gives you an extra item in the transaction! Of course, you can always add items that you need to buy without a coupon. (gasp!)

The cashiers and managers were cheering me on, and the customers behind me were impressed, rather than impatient due to someone trying to use a hundred coupons at once. Smaller transactions are always the key. Managers rarely care that you come back through the line for more transactions, and are more willing to help with problems if you aren’t holding up the line forever and frustrating other customers. So whenever you are using a lot of coupons, split them up! Allow plenty of time so you can have a relaxed trip, and allow other customers to go ahead of you while you work with multiple transactions. Being prepared can make for a fun and rewarding grocery shopping day!