Squash II and Pork Taco Meat

I'm so excited to have some more squash canned. The other day I used a jar of the first batch and made soup from it, yum. It was a simple soup, yet, so delicious. I simply heated the squash, drained the water, added butter and put it in the food chopper. I pureed it until smooth and returned it to the pan. At that point I shredded a small bit of cheddar cheese in it and mixed that up when melted. It made a thick, creamy, beautiful yellow soup with a good aroma and crisp taste.

Squash for Soup

Here is a pic of the pork taco meat mix I made while in Memphis, carted back here to Arlington and canned right after I got back this month.

Canning Meat

Here are some pics of the meat I've been canning. I had a leftover roast, a lot of taco meat, and decided to throw sloppy joe mix into the canning spurt.

Taco meat and cubed roast beef for stew.

Sloppy Joe mix. Yum!
Half pints, the perfect size for 2 4-ounce portions. 

Oh, my. The Mess!

Canning Roast Beef

I caught a good sale on roast beef the other day and am in the process of canning them tonight.  There were 2 roasts in the package, and after cooking to medium in the oven, they fit into 3 quart jars.  While the beef is canning, I've got a nice pork roast cooking in the oven.  I think it will end up yielding about 3 quarts, also.

Update: finished the canning. Ended up having 4 jars of pork roast. I had to really whack at that lovely roast. It was too big to work with well, and there weren't nature fissures in the meat along which to divide it.

Here's a picture to tempt your taste buds.  Pork is on the left and in the back. Beef is on the right.

Looking at the roast beef, I see a lot of fat in there.  I'll have to trim the fat off better the next time and use less oil in browning.  Really wasn't thinking about how much fat would end up in the broth. I think these will be eaten first because I have no clue how long the jars can be stored before that lovely fat goes rancid.  Mmmm, maybe a six-month limit will be placed on these beef roasts.

Speaking of rancid fat. My Dad in his zeal and going-to-Sam's-Club days, bought oil in 5 gallon containers.  He built a lovely little rack for it that tips over to allow you to fill another container. Gads, I couldn't believe how heavy 5 gallons of oil is!  It's gone rancid, and I can't even lift the thing to throw it away.  Going to have to empty it some to get it in the trash. Bleh. What a chore.