This post will explain the differences between a pressure canner and a steam canner, and why you’ll definitely want to learn how to use a steam canner. Watch the video below, Wildflowers!
Canning Tomatoes Video Workshop
If I had to preserve one recipe for the rest of my life it would be tomato sauce, and this post will explain why and how you can too.
Tomatoes weren’t my first canning project but they will likely be my favorite, most frequent, and are absolutely the most versatile.
My first canning project that I completed and repeated over and over on my own was applesauce. I was pregnant and realizing that I had a genuine desire to make homemade food for my baby and applesauce turned out to be a beginner friendly first.
From applesauce I ventured forth into the canning world and by the time I had a six month old, I was finally into the swing of motherhood, Baby S was napping reliably, and it was summertime.
Tomatoes are not hard to can. They do however have two points that make them a tiny bit more difficult than, say, apples.
Tomatoes have skins that either have to come off or get processed up so the subsequent sauce is smooth and delicious. If you’ve not cooked much, and there’s no shame if you haven’t, you wouldn’t know that there’s a couple ways to peel and process tomatoes, and if you are an experienced canner, I have a great post about exactly that right here.
The second point that makes canning tomatoes a bit different is their acid level. Canning safety relies on several elements, one of which is the acid level of the foods in question.
Foods are safe to water bath can when they are naturally acidic (more acid than a 4.6 on the pH scale) or by the addition of an acidifier like lemon juice or vinegar. Foods like lemons and strawberries are around a 2 on the acid scale (very acidic) and foods like green beans are around a 6 (not acidic).
Tomatoes are interesting because they have a widely known reputation for being acidic, except they actually aren’t. Tomatoes have been hybridized for many years to develop qualities shoppers were looking for like hardiness, the ability to be transported long distances, size, and so on. The consequence of bigger, sweeter tomatoes is that they aren’t as acidic as they used to be years ago.
Most tomatoes today are much closer to the cusp of being safe to water bath can with an acid level of a 4- 4.6. The magic number is 4.6. You want all foods inside the canning jar to be an acid level of 4.6 or lower (lower means greater acid…I know, kinda confusing).
Because of the fact that modern tomatoes (even if you grow your own heirloom, organic, super fancy, this still applies) canning tomatoes requires the addition of an acidifying ingredient like citric acid (a white, flavorless powder you get at the grocery store) or lemon juice (bottled so it is a standardized acid level) or vinegar (also standardized).
By following a modern, tested, and trusted recipe that follows USDA protocol for safe canning, you simply avoid any worry that your tomatoes won’t be shelf stable after canning them.
These two elements, the skin and the acid, are what make tomatoes a bit different than canning other beginner friendly recipes.
If you are new to canning, (maybe never tried it at all, or maybe tried it a time or two) I have an awesome resource for you.
I’ve created a video workshop that is super affordable and perfect for a beginner who has never canned at all.
In the video workshop you can watch crystal clear, professionally edited (no wobbly iphone videography!) videos exactly HOW to start canning at home.
I designed the workshop to feel like you are at home with me canning right by my side.
A great canning cookbook is nice but being able to SEE what’s happening is invaluable.
The canning tomatoes video workshop shows you how to preserve tomatoes safely and easily AND it teaches you the smart ways to peel or process them in a food mill.
There’s a whole beginner module that explains the canning process, gives great info about jars (holy cow there are a ton to choose from!), safety information so you know you’re doing it right, and more. That whole module is explains everything so even if you don’t cook, you can learn how to can. Honestly, that beginner module is worth it’s weight in gold and in some ways, is the most important part of the course.
After you take the course, you can apply what you learn to tons of other recipes. I’m all about teaching TECHNIQUES rather than just a single recipe- you will be able to apply the techniques I teach you to tons of other canning recipes. Believe it or not, canning peaches isn’t that different than canning tomatoes 😉
If you’re not sure about taking an online workshop, here’s what it looks like inside one. There’s no homework, no time limit, no deadlines; you have forever access to a locked “classroom” full of videos, checklists & PDFs you can print off, an ebook, and more.
The Canning Tomatoes Video Workshop is a screamin’ deal at just $29!
Not sure what you’d do with jars of delicious, wholesome homemade tomato sauce?
If I had to can ONE recipe for the rest of my life, it would be tomato sauce.
Canned tomato sauce can be dinner in about 5 minutes: Just open a jar of sauce, warm, and pour on top of pasta.
By investing an hour or two to can a batch of tomato sauce now, you can have a dozen or more jars of sauce ready to be transformed into:
- Tomato soup (just add a little cream!)
- Pizza sauce
- bread stick dip
- Spaghetti sauce
- Stromboli filling
- Lasagna
- Spaghetti squash topping
- Sauce for roasted vegetables like eggplant
- Stew and crock pot meals
- Sloppy Joe’s
- and more!
I want you to grab this workshop at the amazing price of just $29 and learn how to make all this with just one base recipe + the video workshop.
Free Canning Basics Course
If you have wondered about canning, thought maybe you’d like to try it out, but didn’t know how to start, this post, and free canning basics course is for you.
I have created and updated a rad little course that teaches a beginner the basics of canning and it is completely free.
There are three main areas that cause a newbie trouble when learning about canning and this course addresses all three.
The Free Canning Basics Course teaches the canning process which is essentially what happens when, and for how long.
When I started canning, this was the part that caused me the most grief. A good cookbook is a helpful start, but there’s no way for it to SHOW you what happens when. There’s no shame in admitting that, hey, you don’t really cook all that often and having 3 pots going on the stove at once is kind of overwhelming. Really, no shame from this girl. I am here to tell you (and explain, in detail in the course) that canning is WAY LESS COMPLICATED than cooking a big family dinner.
I always say that I’d rather can every single day than cook Thanksgiving dinner once. The basics course teaches you what is supposed to happen when and how to be efficient with your time at the stove.
The Free Canning Basics Course teaches a beginner about safety. This is one reason that lots of people don’t decide to learn more about canning; they are afraid of making themselves sick. For good reason, too: You could make yourself sick if you just made up a recipe in your head, poured it into some canning jars and stuck in on a shelf. In this course, I explain the 3 amazing elements that are indeed a science, not an art, that are actually really comforting for a beginner to understand, that make canning work. Canning requires high temperatures, high acid foods (like strawberries, tomatoes, vinegar, etc), and the absence of oxygen (created by the submersion in the boiling water bath) to create an other-planetary-like environment inside the jars where no germs can grow. This trifecta is proven and tested by the USDA and you and I will ONLY be using safe recipes and procedures.
The Free Canning Basics Course will detail (in a helpful video with pictures 🙂 the equipment you’d need to get started. This is a valid concern many newbies have; they think they won’t have all the gear you need to get going. I really love this module for two reasons. I have a couple savvy little tips that save you from buying the gear you don’t need AND I think it leaves most people feeling like they already have most of what they need…because they do. You don’t need 25 different pots and pans to start canning…you just need 2 pots and a saucepan. The course will explain exactly what you can use, what you can skip, and smart ways of avoiding space-hogging equipment.
It also will teach you which items you need to order from Amazon or grab at your local grocer to have on your shelf for when you are ready to can your first…second….and every batch thereafter. What the heck is canning salt? What kind of vinegar do you need?
I’ll tell you in The Free Canning Basics Course 🙂
Canning is preparing hot foods that are high in acid (either naturally or by the addition of high acid ingredients like vinegar…hello pickles!) and putting them into hot jars. You then put a lid on and submerge the hot jars into hot water and let them boil for a specific length of time. Then, a vacuum seal is created and no air can get in and no germs that that might have been inside are able to live.
What can you can? Well, it will be hard to rein in my enthusiasm as I list so bear with me.
You can preserve in jars things like…
jam | jelly | syrup – not just for pancakes- think in drinks, on ice cream… | conserves (fruit & nuts!) | fruit & alcohol (like cherries in wine!) | pickles | pickled pearl onions for garnishing a cocktail | applesauce | fruit butter | slices of peaches, pears, etc. | shrubs | marmalade | pickled mixed & spiced vegetables like escabeche | hot sauce | salsa | marinades for meat | tomato sauce and every incarnation of tomato you can think of | roasted bell peppers | bread & butter pickles | and MORE
Canning is NOT using a pressure COOKER like an instant pot (though I hear those are great for tough cuts of meat!), it is NOT just putting food into jars and sticking it in the fridge, and it is NOT fermenting sauerkraut on your counter in a jar (great idea though!).
There are countless advantages to canning your own produce but here is the short list of why I LOVE it and why I know you will too:
-
Canning saves a ton of time.
-
Canning saves money.
-
Canning allows you to have wholesome produce ready to eat year round.
-
Canning helps you eat sustainably.
-
Canning eliminates the worry about mystery ingredients or allergens– canning jars are literally and metaphorically clear.
-
Canning is easy. Hot food goes into hot jars, which goes into a hot water bath. Done.
-
Canning helps you eat more produce, that tastes better, that you got to CHOOSE.
-
Canning gives an enormous sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
I want to invite you all to join this super valuable, FREE online course now!
If you’re not sure about the whole “online course thing” I don’t blame you. Here’s a little walkthrough of what it will look like inside. There’s no homework, no deadlines, and you don’t have to enter your credit card information or anything like that.
Join me today and learn how to can your own jams, salsa, applesauce, pickles, roasted veggies, and more!
This post is featured on my favorite blog hop!
How to Avoid BPA
This post will explain how to avoid the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A, or more commonly known as BPA, which is a dangerous substance. Avoiding it is pretty simple; read on for the how-to! 
Ever since I was pregnant with my first child, I started to worry about health, whereas before, I couldn’t have been less interested. As I read and learned, and grew larger and larger with my baby on board, I realized that since I hold no science degree, have just limited time, and really am not qualified to read and genuinely understand lengthy scientific journal articles and thus make solid conclusions, I was in a tight spot. In order to avoid some of the scary, or at least uncertain ingredients you buy with the prepacked everything at the grocery store, a person would have to spend a TON of time reading, researching, vetting, and otherwise fretting to determine if what they or their children were about to consume was dangerous or not.
For me, the solution was deciding that I would do my best to just buy and consume fewer prepackaged foods.
I’ll pause right there and fully, wholeheartedly admit that I am far from packaged-food free. There are a great many foodstuffs that I buy in a package- I haven’t the desire or time to make EVERYTHING we eat at home from scratch. I wouldn’t expect you or anyone else to either, but my goal with this post is to show you one way to reduce one avenue of BPA consumption. I’m not an all-or-nothing girl. Rather, I am a one-step-at- a-time mama. Step with me!
I came across a great article from Mother Earth News that was fairly easy to understand and outlined one major issue that I knew I could address, and help you address also. The article explained that BPA (bisphenol A), an endocrine disruptor which is linked to several cancers, obesity, ADHD, infertility, and type-2 diabetes, is commonly used in the plastics used to package foods. You probably already knew that, or had a rough idea anyway, that BPA is bad, and it is used in plastics that often are in contact with food. You also probably have noticed that there are a great number of grocers and companies claiming they carry foods in packages that are “BPA-Free” which sounds really nice.
The trouble is, that as Mother Earth News explains, BPA-Free doesn’t actually mean it is safe, or that it is actually free from BPA. The findings of the study were “alarming” and explain that, “67 percent of the cans tested (129 out of 192) contained BPA-based epoxy in the body and/or the lid.” Furthermore, “BPA was found in private-label cans sold at both Target and Walmart, the largest grocery retailer in the United States. In their private-label products, 100% of Target cans (5 out of 5), and 88% of Walmart cans (7 out of 8) tested positive for BPA-based epoxy resins. Our survey revealed that neither of these two major retailers has policies in place to eliminate BPA in canned food, unlike competing grocery retailers.” 
“Discount retailers (commonly known as ‘dollar stores’) were among the laggards in transitioning away from BPA in can linings. Our testing revealed that 83 percent of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar private-label cans (5 out of 6) and 64 percent of Dollar General private-label cans (9 out of 14) were coated with BPA-based epoxy resins. This is espe- cially a problem because discount retailers are often the major retail outlet in low-income communities—which already face the highest levels of BPA exposure.” That’s pretty darn alarming, right? The study did find some bright points, as “Amy’s Kitchen, Annie’s Homegrown (recently acquired by General Mills), Hain Celestial Group and ConAgra have fully transitioned away from the use of BPA and have disclosed the BPA alternatives they’re using. No BPA-based epoxy resins were detected in any of the cans tested from these brands.”
Unfortunately, that’s about all the good news from the study.
The types of linings of cans in the store are numerous, and I’ll directly quote the words of the study from www.toxicfoodcans.org to explain. “Five major coating types were identified among the 192 cans tested: acrylic resins, BPA-based epoxy, oleoresin, polyester resins, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) copolymers. We know very little about the additives used in these compounds to give them the properties that make them stable and effective can linings. Our research does demonstrate that there are multiple formulations of most of these compounds, but there is no way to determine the specific chemicals used or how they are produced.” Currently, there is NO WAY TO DETERMINE the specific chemicals. The study goes on to say “18% of retailers’ private-label foods and 36% of national brands were lined with a PVC-based copolymer. This is clearly a regrettable substitute, because PVC is a polymer made from vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen.”
The other take away that I think is the most powerful for you, busy reader, is that, “93 percent of Americans tested have detectable levels of BPA in their urine, suggesting that people are consistently exposed and re-exposed to BPA through the chemical’s presence in foods and from other sources.”
If you’ve just skimmed so far here’s the Wildflower’s Digest version: BPA is bad because it is linked to some pretty scary things like cancer. BPA is a plastic (though hard to see) liner inside cans of store-bought food. There are other BPA-like substances (also linked to causing cancer) that are called “BPA-Free” that also line many food cans. Eating foods packaged in cans lined with BPA or BPA-like substances leads to the consumption of BPA.
Here’s how I do my best to avoid this problem.
I learned how to can. Not very glamorous but 100% true. Canning has a really lame reputation as being old-fashioned (it is so cool!), dangerous (definitely not & absolutely not as dangerous as BPA!) time consuming (I’ll all about efficient & fast) and difficult (easy!). On my blog, I share a wide variety of tutorials about all manner of handmade & homemade food & craft education but canning is the one thing that benefits me day after day.
I’d like to invite you to jump start your desire to eat more healthy foods. Join the Healthy Meals Quicker Challenge and in 3 days you will be ready to start canning and avoid BPA!
It might be easy for some to stop by the farmer’s market every few evenings to grab the fresh produce you plan to eat but let’s be realistic, shall we?
Our meals aren’t always planned.
We rarely have time to shop- sometimes I don’t have time to Amazon Prime!
You are super busy.
Most of us don’t live in the salad bowl of the nation where produce is growing and fresh in stores 10 months of the year. Lots of us have pretty slim pickings at the grocery store October through March, if not longer.
The produce that is available in the store might have traveled a REALLY long ways to get there and might not taste that awesome as a result.
Canning is THE tool I use to preserve fresh fruits and veggies when they are fresh, inexpensive, and plentiful.
If the idea of preserving your own foods into clear glass jars (that are TRULY BPA free) has your interest, let me tell you a few things.
Canning can be fast– many batches of a dozen jars or more can be done in under an hour.
Canning is safe– we can only high acid recipes and techniques that are tested and proven by the USDA.
Canning is easy- Many recipes are just a few ingredients, and the process is SIMPLE once you’ve watched it a few times. I always say that I’d rather can every day of the year than cook a Thanksgiving dinner once.
Canning saves money– Imagine how much you’d save when you consider cutting food waste AND eating homemade. Canning doesn’t take a ton of equipment- you probably have almost every item you’d need already!
Canning saves time. An hour or two invested now means night after night of ready-made pasta sauce or wholesome salsa that is COOKED IN ADVANCE.
Canning makes it easy to eat healthy– there’s no added sugar in tomato sauce, or artificial ingredients, or imitation-fruit pieces. The foods you can still count as food.
Canning makes it easy to avoid allergens. I like to say that canning jars are clear both literally and metaphorically. You get to decide what goes in the jar and what stays out.
The satisfaction of opening a can of store bought canned food is that it is convenient. It seems cheap and easy. The flavor isn’t amazing, the quality is dubious, and after it is eaten it is probably forgotten.
The satisfaction of opening a jar of homemade pasta sauce you made yourself is enormous. The sauce is wholesome, flavorful, fragrant, and delicious. Imagine if you canned your own jam. Would you forget about those jars of goodness on the shelf and waste them? Toss the jar out with a spoonful left inside? No way! Every bite is savored and enjoyed.
Giving canned foods is the ultimate way to show your appreciation for a loved one. It bypasses the materialistic trap that most hostess gifts present and truly represents your gratitude.
I could go on and on about how canning is the ticket out stress city but I want to SHOW you.
I want to help you avoid BPA, eat healthier foods faster, and gain enormous satisfaction from canning your own produce. Join me in the 3 Day Healthy Meals Quicker Challenge!
Still not convinced you should can? Take the quiz to find out!
How to Make a Shower Curtain with a Vintage Tablecloth
This post will share how you can transform a vintage tablecloth with a few simple sewing steps into a farmhouse style, completely unique shower curtain.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that purchasing through those links is a way for you to help support your favorite blogger with no impact on your checkout price. I’d never recommended a product I didn’t use and love myself.
The thing that you have to know about vintage tablecloths is that they are often roughly showered curtain size. You also need to know that because you’ll be sewing the tabs (those fabric loops that connect to the rod) at whatever interval you want, you can make a tablecloth fit a shower.
You may have to hem, and that is ok.
The advantage of using a vintage tablecloth is that they are pre-washed and thus preshrunk, they are often inexpensive (though I have passed up many a gem printed with giant roses that were just a bit too much for my budget), and they are probably not being used as a tablecloth. Also, a tablecloth is already hemmed, most likely, which means your sewing project will be completed in no time.
In addition to a vintage tablecloth, you need double fold bias tape (which you probably can score for not that much at a second-hand store, or new via Amazon. This is a long strip of fabric that is folded hot-dog style twice, and the edges are treated so they won’t fray. It is a small price to pay for a really easy tab solution. You could absolutely use something like a hemp rope, gingham ribbon (melt the cut edges with a lighter carefully, just a touch) or you could make your own fabric tabs.
You will need:
Vintage tablecloth (that links to new and used ones on Amazon)
Use a shower curtain as a simple guide for marking where you will sew your tabs. If your table cloth is really wide, you might mark your marks 9 inches apart while the standard, store-bought shower curtain is probably spaced 6 inches. IT IS OKAY IF THIS HAPPENS. Your curtain will just be a bit more “ruffle-y” than standard. Who wants to be standard, anyway? Not me.
Use a pen or pencil to mark where you will sew your tabs.
My shower curtain was actually a bit narrow, as compared to standard, but I have a clear plastic shower curtain on the inside and it doesn’t make any difference.
The length of the tabs you cut from the double fold bias tape will be determined by how long you want/need the shower curtain to be, which of course is determined by the size of your tablecloth. I cut my tabs 8 inches, which made a 4-inch space between the shower rod and the hooks to the top the shower curtain. You could do twice that or more- think cafe curtain but in shower curtain form- and if you have a great tablecloth to use, I bet it would look amazing!
Use matching thread and a universal needle and remember to back stitch. Sew tabs along the top of your vintage shower curtain. Hang and admire!
See how mine is a touch narrow? Also, see how it doesn’t matter at all? Easy peasy, right?
Happy sewing, Wildflowers!
I know lots of you might be new to me; I’m Jenny and I am a huge fan of saving time and money by creating things at home for yourself.
I wanted to show you another super cute, lightening fast home decor project I created recently! How adorable is this burlap garland?
Read that post here!
If you want to learn how to sew, check out the courses HERE!
