Yes You Can! Using Our New Dry-Pack Canner

Fall is in the air reminding us it's time to squirrel away a few nuts for the winter. This process is made very easy by the new dry pack canner our ward owns. A quick trip to the cannery on Friday yielded cans and lids in convenient cardboard boxes for storage, plastic lids and oxygen packs. Deborah delivered the canner that evening. Saturday morning we bought a few bags and boxes of oats, barley, lentils (regular and red), soup mix, instant milk, jasmine rice and basmati rice from our local grocery store. In an hour we had labeled and canned 24 large cans and cleaned up after ourselves.

The canner comes with simple directions. The web address links to a video showing how to operate it. Also helpful is the church's Provident Living website that talks about long-term storage. Find it here.

Easy Fried Rice

Fried rice is a good way to use up leftover vegetables, small bits of meat and your stored rice. The recipe is loose. You can use what you have and what your family likes. Following is a basic recipe.

2 C COLD cooked jasmine rice (long-grain is also fine)
1/2 C pork or chicken
1-2 T oil (peanut or vegetable)
1 clove garlic
diced onion
diced celery
diced peppers
1-2 eggs
vegetables (peas, bean sprouts, cooked carrots, or ?)
green onions
1-2 T soy sauce
1 tsp fish or oyster sauce (optional)
1/2 to 1 tsp Sriracha* (optional)

Heat oil to almost smoking, add meat until cooked. Remove from pan. Add onion and celery, then garlic. Cook briefly. Add rice. After it is coated with oil, break beaten egg into center of pan and stir until cooked. Add sauces. Add vegetables and cooked meat. Heat until hot throughout. Stir in sliced green onions.

Serves 2-3

*Sriracha is a very hot chili sauce found in the Asian section of most stores. It has a bright green cap. It is inexpensive. It can really perk up the flavor of whatever you are cooking, but be warned. A little goes a long way.