Write a commentRecently I was introduced to the technique of food canning by my daughter, Jamie. She showed up to my house one day with a box filled to the brim with tomatoes. She set it down on the counter.
“Do you have a crockpot?” she asked.
“Well, I do but I rarely use it,” I said, as I started to dig through my cupboards. I found it and plugged it in. “What do you need it for?” I asked.
“I’m making sauce,” Jamie said, as she carried in a case of Ball canning jars into my kitchen.
As she began to prepare the tomatoes, she explained to me how much healthier we could be not only by consuming organic products, growing our own vegetables and herbs but also by canning them. 
Now, this certainly isn’t a new concept. Canning food has been around for generations after generations, but it somehow has gotten lost in our modern generation where we are more apt to buy pre made food rather than take the time to cook it ourselves. Jamie reminded me not only how much healthier it is to actually put time and effort into our food, but to also preserve it for a future healthy option.
The tomatoes settled into the crockpot and were left there for eight hours. One they were ready, Jamie and I poured the sauce into jars and began heating them until they sealed. It was easy, time efficient and most of all, it was a fun activity to do with my daughter.
Now, I’m completely hooked! I’ve started to buy tomatoes every week from local farms. I have a house filled with tomato sauce in every flavor imaginable such as garlic, garlic fennel with pepper flakes and roasted red pepper.
