Where do I begin? First off, I’m blaming Sprouts, a local grocery store, to start. One day strolling through the store a couple of years back just to pick up one item, I noticed beautiful organic strawberries on sale for 99¢ a carton. OMG! What a bargain! As I rounded the next isle of the produce section, the grocery store had large irresistible yummy sweet potatoes priced for .99¢ a pound—rather than the regular cost of $2.49!
With no root cellar as in days gone by—especially in Florida where a shovel full of dirt may draw water and a strong hurricane may take your electricity out for weeks—the freezing option was clearly dicey at best. Canning seemed like a great alternative. Not to mention some glitches in the supply chain. Real life villains’ Bill Gates, now the largest farm-land owner in the United States, with millions invested in lab-grown Frankenfood. And the other Real-life Bond Villain, Klaus Schwab, of WEF notoriety pitching how bugs will be our dinner and how we will totally learn to like eating them. NO. Thank. You!
So, I asked my partner in crime, “Do you wanna give canning a try?”
“Yes,” was the answer. As Ethel said to Lucy, “I Can’t Help It, Eating Is My Hobby.”
And, as I said back to my friend Ellen, “What do we have to loose?”
Step two: Ordering a 23 Qt. canner. It arrived on my doorstep in a big box in a timely manner. Now what??
I kept saying to myself this canning adventure definitely had a learning curve. You know that relationship between cost/output and how long it takes to acquire a new skill or knowledge? Although I had made jam from time to time over the years, the pressure canning thing was something that had intimated me. I had heard horror stories growing up about the dangers of pressure cookers. The organic strawberries from Sprouts were quickly turned into a luscious batch of strawberry jam sans high fructose corn syrup. But for the sweet potatoes, I needed a crash course in the finer points of pressure canning.
Enter YouTube. This highly helpful modern “education” platform is a great go-to. It most certainly gives you a hand when learning a new skill whether fixing your garage door opener, repairing a washing machine or learning how to pressure can. I speak here from experience. Real people, as you know, walk you through whatever your issue, using their expertise and experience on with just about any subject. I found videos from “Pioneer Women”, “Preppers” and healthy, helpful Canning sites. Bingo!
In all seriousness, food is more than just a hobby, not to disregard poor Ethel. Our food and what we ingest is a foundational pillar in our well-being. It drives our energy. It nourishes our cells in every part of our physical body and gives us a robust vitality—all designed by the Creative Source. There is a partnership with the Earth. No amount of creative chemistry designed to LOOK like food can give us what Mother Nature’s bounty provides. Period.
The last two years learning to can have been fulfilling. We watched videos on how to do beef stew. And, it’s delicious, btw and easy! We canned spaghetti sauce. We found asparagus on sale and canned it. After all it’s so expensive for a can and an excellent vegetable for health. We canned white potatoes, and of course the sweet ones. We have even ventured to hamburger and turkey. It didn’t stop there. Out of the kitchen we have produced Strawberry and Mango-Raspberry jam. We made Ginger Marmalade using homegrown ginger. We tried our hand with Lemon Curd, again with excellent results. Oh and I can’t forget the delicious Cranberry Sauce which is NOT just for the Thanksgiving table. lol Our latest, canned success, was fresh peaches.
We use wholesome ingredients. No preservatives. No mysterious ingredients you can’t pronounce or can’t identify. Canning is simply the way our Mothers, Grandmothers and Great-Grandmothers preserved the fresh bounty of wonderful, health-giving and nutritious food that have kept humanity going for generations.
So, don’t drag your feet—get to work and try something new! You will be pleasantly surprised.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
~Hippocrates
About Cathrine Silver
Cathrine Silver, HC, AADP, is a Shaman, Certified Holistic Health Counselor, and intuitive in private practice in Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida. She works collaboratively with clients on their desires regarding disease through a process called biological decoding. She writes about relationships, spirituality, and loss and help others through theirs. Suffering through her own loss in 2005, Cathrine motivates and empowers others to be the heroes in their own lives, becoming fully responsible for their own happiness, joy and well-being.
Cathrine holds a degree in Speech Communication from the University of Washington, is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and holds certifications in Reiki, Matrix Energetics, Hypnosis, Biological Decoding and Grief Counseling and is a Shamanic practitioner. She is the author of the book, Riding the Light Beam: How Any Woman Can Find the Hero Inside.
www.Cathrinesilver.com (Website)
www.cathysilver.me (Blog)
cathysilverhealth@gmail.com (email)
Cathy Silver Holistic Healing (Facebook)
Cathy Silver, HC@CSilverWellness (Twitter)
Cathrine Silver (LinkedIn)
Decoding Our Lives Podcast – Pending
Filed under: 2024, Alternative Medicine, Buy local, Canning food, Change, Choices, choice point, Connection to the Earth, Eating Right, Empowerment, Food for Thought, fruit, Getting what we want in Life, Good Eats, Good News, Health and Healing, Healthy Living, How to stay healthy, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Living our truth, Love and purpose, Making Jam, Mother Nature, Pressure Canning, Self-Empowerment, Self-help, Self-love, Transformation and empowerment, Well-being | Leave a comment »

