I Went to the Cannery and It Wasn't Scary!

I wanted to do a photo journal of my experience but it wasn't really that kind of thing.  I'll have to use my writing skills to paint a picture in your mind of how fun this was!

First, to get the cannery.  I'll give you my "women's" directions.  Get off the freeway at 1600 N. in Orem.  Turn right.  Turn right again at the Harley Davidson place onto Geneva road.  You'll go under the freeway and then through a light.  Turn right at Center Street which has no light.  There is a big building on the corner with a word that starts with C..... Codex?  The cannery is the next building on your left, a sprawling off-white building with tinted windows and doors.

If you go to the back of the building I think that's the bishop's storehouse.   The cannery is on the side of the building you can see from Center Street.  It is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-7.  The doors say "Home Storage Center" on them.

There are three ways to buy food at the cannery.  1. You can buy prepackaged items.  2. You can buy items that you package there yourself in any quantity you choose.  3.  You can buy items in bulk, which will need to be repackaged at home.  Example: Giant bag of oats.

For numbers 1 and 3, you can totally have kids with you.  The nice senior missionaries load your order on a cart for you and it's all really quick.  You can pay with a credit card or cash or a check.

If you want to package items yourself, you can't have anyone younger than 8 years old with you.  The only reason you would want to package items yourself is if they don't sell them already packaged.  It doesn't save you money.  I decided to do dehydrated carrots and onions because they are only sold in bulk.  I didn't want a giant bag of them, I just wanted 6 #10 cans of each.  (I did everything in 6s because that's what fits in a box.)

I turned in my order form and then I had to watch a video about washing my hands really well and wearing a hair and beard net.  (They didn't make me wear the beard net.  Thank heavens.)

I put on my hairnet and apron, then sterile gloves.  There were two senior sister missionaries with me the entire time so I never got confused on what to do.  They put the labels on the cans for me.  Then we poured the contents into the cans.  Nothing complicated.  The bulk package of carrots actually fills 8 cans, and even though I only wanted to buy 6, I had to fill all 8.  Before I was finished, two people already claimed those cans.  There is a shelf of already canned stuff anybody can buy that is just extras from people's orders.

After each can was filled, settled, and filled a little more (to within 1/4 inch of the top) I got to add an oxygen pack to each one and put a lid on top.  The machine to seal the cans was only scary the first three times.  You just set the can on a platform, pull a lever, wait for it to do its thing and then remove the can.

The onions were a little more complicated.  The bulk ratio chart said one bag would fill 12 cans.  It ended up filling 17 cans, which made it a way better deal.*  I ended up buying the whole bag, and they also sent the last bit home with me because it wasn't enough to fill a can.  When you buy the whole bag like that, you have to pay for the cans and lids.  Cans are 80 cents and lids are 10 cents.  Oh and the oxygen pack is another 10 cents.  So it adds only slightly to the cost.    And now I never have to go can onions again for a very long time.  But I would.  It was fun!

There were people there canning things that you can buy pre-canned.  It is the exact same cost.  I don't know why they would do that.  The sisters told me some people do it for family home evening because they want their kids to be involved.  I would love to bring my kids there when they are older.  They also offer tours of the cannery and bishop's storehouse which would be really fun to see.

That is my experience at the cannery.  You will never find any nicer or more helpful people in the world except, of course, at the temple.  My only regret is not keeping my hairnet.

*You may have noticed I now had a box with only 5 cans of onions in it, but I also bought a small bag of dry milk and hot chocolate to sample so it filled that extra space.  ALL IS WELL!

This is the phone number of the cannery: 801-785-0997
This is the phone number if you have questions about their products.  801-537-5947
Order form information HERE.

People with allergies: They have an order you have to follow if you are canning anything with milk or wheat.  Those things always come last so there will be no cross-contamination.  That place is so sparkling clean it reminded me of a hospital.  Sterile and orderly!

Child Safe Kits

This is probably not the sort of preparedness talk everyone is expecting, but I thought I would share anyway. A few weeks ago, my husband and I met with a Life Insurance agent who gave us a free Child Safe Kit.

If you don't know what that is, it is basically a trifold pamphlet that you fill out with a description of your child. You include a recent photo (they suggest you update these kits every 6 months, I believe) and it has an ink strip for your child's fingerprints. You can request as many as you need from this link, for FREE. http://www.childsafekit.com/request.aspx

I highly recommend everyone get these.

Cheap cans at Smiths!

There is a fantastic sale going on at Smith's right now for canned goods (and others), and if you use a coupon it's even better and comes with a free adrenaline rush.

Follow this link  and sign up with Campbell's for their $1 off 5 coupon for condensed soup (used for like every casserole or even enchiladas). This comes off of the sale price of .49 (when you buy 10 of the qualifying items) making each can .29! Green giant canned veggies, canned diced tomatoes, refrained beans, and other items are are also .49 (after buying 10).  Also, their Land of Lakes butter (1 lbs.) are currently $1.99 (dropped from $5something) (after buying groups of 10....again...). Though not ideal for long term storage- butter can be frozen up to 9 months before it starts degrading in quality. Not too shabby!

And while you're out, pick up a case of water. It's cheap, and picking one up every week or so gradually helps set up your storage.

Church Distribution and Cannery Services

I buy a lot of my food storage through Costco and the regular grocery store, but for long-term supplies the cannery has some great prices.

Two things to know about the cannery.  First, you can order quite a few items online for a flat shipping rate of $3 anywhere in the United States.  This is a fabulous deal.  The church makes it really easy to purchase items that will help you stay alive without a ton of frills.

Here is the link if you want to check out prices.  Brother Williams says the milk is way better than it used to be and it is a fraction of the price of other milks.

We are lucky to have one of the only 12 remaining canneries in the country still in full operation. (Lindon Cannery) Because of this, we can purchase anything on this order form.    (Choose English pdf from the Home Storage Centers with Self-Packaging Opportunities link to see the order form.)  When I've gone to the cannery in the past I bring my filled out order form to make things super quick.  Here is the cannery info:

UT-Lindon

801-785-0997

940 W Center St Lindon, UT 84042

Two Recipes Using Evaporated Milk

Evaporated Milk is on sale at Costco this month.  The numbers I remember in my head are that it was once 13-something and it is now 9-something for a 12-pack.  That is a great price!  When you think of how often you need 1-2 cups of milk for a recipe, you can see how useful this stuff is.  No need to dig into your powdered milk supply, yet.

Here are two recipes I use monthly to rotate my supply of evaporated milk.

First is this Skillet Creamy Macaroni and Cheese from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I only use one kind of cheese, though.  I usually serve this with broccoli and applesauce.  This is a meal I could have a year's supply of if I could figure out the cheese...  though the cheese and butter aren't absolutely necessary, I suppose.

Skillet Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/2 cups water, plus extra if needed
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 12 ounces (about 3 cups) elbow macaroni
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
• 6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks
• Ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring 3 1/2 cups water, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, the macaroni, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the macaroni is tender and the liquid has thickened, 9 to 12 minutes.
2. Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk, the cornstarch, mustard and hot sauce together in a small bowl, then stir into the skillet. Continue to simmer slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
3. Off the heat, stir in the cheddar and Monterey Jack, one handful at a time, adding water as needed to adjust the consistency of the sauce (I didn’t need any additional water when I made it). Stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

The second recipe is this Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup from Recipe Girl.  This is a great recipe to use up 1 or 2 cans of chicken.  (I buy kirkland.)  We talked about the difference between freeze dried and dehydrated vegetables.  For onions, carrots and celery, I'm going to say to go with the cheapest because they are in so many recipes and they aren't really the "stars of the show".  The cannery sells bulk-dried carrots and onions.  Fresh carrots, onions, and celery also last pretty long so they could be counted on for your three month supply.  I buy the big bag of homestyle noodles at Costco so I can make this lots and lots of times.

roasted chicken noodle soup

Yield: 10 servings (serving size 1 cup)

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 50 min

Absolutely my favorite chicken soup recipe, ever.

ingredients:

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced or thinly sliced carrots
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups diced leftover roasted chicken
1 cup evaporated milk
4 ounces (2 cups) uncooked wide egg noodles
fresh thyme (optional)

directions:

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic clove; sauté 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour, oregano, thyme and poultry seasoning over vegetables, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Add roasted chicken, milk and noodles, and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

For this recipe, I use the whole can of evaporated milk and add a bit more broth.  My favorite broth is this base from Costco for around $6. There is both chicken and beef.  It makes the equivalent of 38 cans of broth, or 19 quarts.  It is the ultimate space saver for food storage.  And it's organic and reduced sodium and all that exciting stuff.  It is only shelf stable until you open it, though.  There are other Better than Bouillon options in powder form that remain shelf stable even after opening.     

  

"I Have a Year's Supply of Food For My Family"

I cannot WAIT until I am able to say those words.  "I have a year's supply of food for my family."  I know it will take a lot of diligence, planning, and creativity, but I truly believe we can do it.

This is space is a way to share ideas and cheer each other on toward our goals.

Ideas for posts:

Recipes using food storage ingredients
Good deals around town
Creative ways to store items in your house
Skills you are are learning
Scriptures or talks that teach and inspire

Using labels for your posts will help us to find posts more easily. Examples of labels: "Recipes Using Wheat"  "Dinner Recipes" "Menu Planning" "Organization Ideas" "Spiritual Preparedness" "Budget Planning"  "Dutch Oven"  Obviously some posts would have multiple labels that apply.

Thanks in advance for your contributions.  We all have much to learn from each other!