Canning

I have just finished cleaning the baked on mess off of my stove after the last round of canning. Every time I do this, I wonder about the sanity of the project. Sure, we have boxes of applesauce, tomatoes, green beans, apple pie filling, grape juice, and peaches. But how much would that really cost if I just bought it at the grocery store?

Especially if you have to purchase the produce, canning doesn't make sense economically these days. Here are a couple of reasons why I still do it:

1) Some things you just can't get at the store. Homemade grape juice and applesauce are so much better than the store bought variety. It's worth the extra effort, at least at our house.

2) If I don't factor in time, it really does help with the family budget. I'm going to be home with the kids anyway, why not use some of that time to do something productive - and hopefully teach the kids to be productive, too!

3) I love having a garden, and gardening automatically leads to canning.

4) I have lots of wonderful family and neighbors who love to give us their extra fruit - how could I say no to that?

Supermarket Savings Tip

I just started using this tip and it's amazing I didn't come across this idea a long time ago.

When buying produce in 5 pound bags or 3 pound bags, weigh two or three bags and pick the heaviest.

Today I bought a 5 pound bag of apples that actually weighed 5.75 pounds! Of course you may only find a bag that is 5 1/3 pounds but that's still more than 5 pounds. I haven't yet found a bag that is less than the marked weight.

Let's do the math.

• 5 pounds of apples hand selected (additional time)
• $1.37/pound
• total cost $6.85
• 5 pound bag of apples
• $5.47 total cost
• actually 5 3/4 pounds
• and faster too!
• Savings $1.38
• plus the extra 3/4 pounds 
• plus the shorter time in the store (time is money!)

My 3 year old shopping assistant is usually very helpful, but lately he's had the "gimme's." So speedy shopping is essential for my own sanity!