Tennessee Gun

Tag: jar

  • Review Mason Jar Sprouting Lid

    Review Mason Jar Sprouting Lid

    Review Mason Jar Sprouting Lid
    Buy at Amazon

    Since wheat is such a large part of my food storage plan, I try to sprout it occasionally to keep my family accustomed to the taste and texture of different ways to eat bulk wheat.

    One of the problems I have when I sprout is not straining the wheat properly and having a white mold grow in my sprouting jar.

    When I saw a $5 Mason Jar Sprouting Lid on Amazon I thought I would try it.

    This lid made sprouting using mason jars much easier – I could fill and drain the jar without having to take the lid off –

    It was much simpler than my old method of using a piece of cheesecloth and a rubber band.

    It is also easier to clean – and I imagine that it will last as long as I will.

    For those that don’t want to use a store-bought solution – I imagine you could drill a bunch of 1/8 inch holes in a plastic mayonnaise jar lid.

    Sprouting is a great way to get more nutrients and use out of seeds, and seeds are generally easier to store than many other foods, so I feel that this is a win.

    However, if you don’t want to buy a lid like this, I think you could probably improvise a mason jar sprouting lid using a Parmesan cheese lid.

  • How to Make a Mason Jar Mini Hamburger Press

    How to Make a Mason Jar Mini Hamburger Press

    52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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    I know some people in my life think I am crazy because they don’t get why I do the things I do, but I really have a master plan.  You see, while some of my little projects and experiments don’t always work out, or turn out to be inefficient – the process keeps my mind lubricated and trains it to see new solutions to problems.

    The other day while looking for new things to try I came across a link to a technique of using mason jar lids as mini spring form tart pans (Yes I will share later), and my mind jumped to “that’s awesome, I would never have thought of that – I wonder if I could adapt this to something else…. HAMBURGER PRESS!) – As the comedic marriage counselor says men’s brains are waffles, women’s brains are spaghetti – my brain is a mess, so lets use our mason jar hamburger press

    So anyway, I got out a wide mouth mason jar ring and two new lids.

    I then balled up some hamburger, and tried to make patties.

    I learned that by inserting the first lid outside up, placing the hamburger on it, and then topping with the other lid outside in, the process went better – by having the smooth outside touch the meat, it slid out much better.

    While this made burger patties that are the size of sausage patties (….new idea…) it is very easy, and I think would be a great way to make sliders from dinner rolls.

    Anyway, it was a quick thought I tried out my Mason Jar Hamburger Press and I liked it, hopefully it is useful to you.

  • Organization Tip: Mason Jar Salt Lid

    Organization Tip: Mason Jar Salt Lid

    Organization Tip: Mason Jar Salt Lid
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    The Parmesan cheese lid article was so popular I figured I would show you a similar tip for wide mouth jars.  I present to you the mason jar salt lid tip.

    The top of a 26 ounce salt container just happens to be the same size as a wide mouth mason jar.

    The top and the bottom are formed, with the body being wound around them.

    If you feel the container, you will feel a “lip”.  If you carefully cut the top along this lip – you can press it down over the top of a wide mouth mason jar and screw the ring over it.

    This isn’t as easy as some of the other lid tips I have shared with you, but it is a good way to store opened salt.

    As I said in the video, I only use this mason jar salt lid for containers I have already opened – but it does make it easier to store salt without it getting moist and hardening.

    I used this the other day after a snow storm – I used some stored salt in these containers to try to remove some stubborn ice spots since I took all my shovels to the land.  I know that table salt is not the same as road salt, but the work similarly (just more expensively) – it worked though and I could get to work.

  • How to Make Sprouted Grains and Beans at Home

    How to Make Sprouted Grains and Beans at Home

    Sprouting Wheat and Beans
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    We all know that nothing is free, especially food storage, finding foods that are cost effective, and long storing generally means you have less of the two V’s – Variety and Vitamins.  Sprouting wheat and weans is a way to add both.  I used to associate sprouts with homeopathic medicine practitioners, vegans, and yuppie soccer moms, but once I got over my initial prejudice I have learned that it’s simple and cheap to add sprouts to my food tool-box.

    Sprouted Grains and Legumes are Healthy

    Studies show that sprouts have 3 to 5 times the vitamin content of the seed they sprouted from. And as for Vitamin C, sprouts have over 30 times the vitamin C content of the original seed. Wheat grain sprouts have a lot of vitamins and also have a good amount of protein and enzymes.  The great thing about wheat is that due to the enzyme actions in the seed as it sprouts, your body is much able to use the nutrients inside.

    There are all sorts of recipes online for sprouts, and I would suggest you try a couple now and see how easy it is to incorporate sprouts into your everyday food.  Personally, I like adding them to my salad, but my favorite way of using them is feeding them to my chickens and eating the eggs they produce…. 

    How to use Sprouted Wheat

    • Add either chopped or whole to  homemade bread
    • Add to oatmeal or other whole grain cereal
    • Stir into cooked rice
    • Added to rice pilaf.
    • Kneaded into pizza dough.
    • Chopped and added to cookies.
    • Add to muffins, pancakes, waffles (Like our whole wheat pancakes)
    • Mix in to casseroles, stuffed peppers, meatloaf, meatballs, pasta sauce, mushroom and sprout sauce.
    • Add to sandwiches
    • Sprinkled on yogurt.
    • Sprinkled in salads.
    • Stir fried

    How to Make Sprouted Grains

    Equipment:

    • Wide Mouth Jar (or something similar)
    • Nylon Net or Cheesecloth + Rubber band (to cover the jar & keep the cover in place)

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 cup wheat berries
    • Water

    Directions:

    1. Rinse ½ cup of wheat berries.
    2. Put the wheat berries in a wide-mouth quart jar.

    *Don’t put too many berries in the jar – no more than ½ cup per wide-mouth jar.

    1. Add 2 cups of room temperature water.
    2. Place nylon net or cheesecloth over the jar opening.
    3. Use a heavy rubber band or the metal jar ring to hold the nylon or cheesecloth in place.
    4. Soak 12 hours, then drain.
    5. Thoroughly drain the water – shake a bit to remove most of the water.
    6. Keep the jar out of direct sunlight.
    7. It needs the air, so keep cheesecloth as a lid.
    8. Each morning and night rinse the wheat berries with room temperature water, drain again.  Taste after each soaking, Some keep the liquid drained off and drink it, I have done this, but I don’t very often, I don’t like the taste.
    9. 36 to 48 hours after the first soaking, Walla! You have germinated wheat or if you continue the process for a day or two more you have sprouted wheat.

    Storing Wheat Sprouts

    Replace the nylon net or cheesecloth with plastic wrap or the metal jar lid to help keep it moist but not wet.  Store in cool place for no more than 5 days