Canning Ham

I had previously purchased a large Farmer John ham for about 60% off cost with the idea of canning the meat. I cut off large chunks of the ham, diced it into 1" pieces and placed into a heavy pot with some water. While I prepared the jars for canning, I brought the water up to a simmer, which created a nice ham broth. I wasn't cooking anything, but wanted heat up the ham to process it.
I divided the ham between five jars, poured in the broth, and processed the bottles at 10# for 90 minutes.
So simple, and much better than anything I can purchase in a metal can. We now have canned ham that can easily be added to soups, casseroles, scrambled eggs and other foods.

What to Store and Where

I've been thinking about my feeble attempts of securing a three month supply of food. Like others, I've a hodge podge of items in the pantry... brown rice, canned chicken, tuna, soups, canned beans and chili. Lots of sugar and a nice store of chocolate in various forms have their own spot on the shelf. All purpose white flour, small blue boxes of jiffy corn mix (for flavorful waffles),yeast, honey and peanut butter to spread onto bread. Or just to eat from the container in a pinch. There are many cans of fruit cocktail, and packages of raisins and dried cherries. I've also dozens of #10 cans of hard winter wheat, dried non-fat milk, potato flakes and popcorn. Popcorn is easy to pop, and everyone loves popcorn. I've discovered that freeze dried raspberries and strawberries are really quite good. Freeze dried green peas make a nice snack upon which to nibble mindlessly, and the dried carrots cook nicely in soups.
I've been sorting through my kitchen cupboards, laundry room (a nice pantry with shelving there), and other nooks looking for mini-larder areas. I even purchased four large gizmos that elevate a bed; I want to slide boxes of canned diced tomatoes underneath.
But my nagging question is "what do I do with this mix of food?"

So I'm beginning my seven card file ~ recipes for seven days of meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I've played with a few food storage meals. I'm working on a chicken pot pie, and think that will work with a little tweaking. Canned beans and brown rice, of course. A chicken tex/mex casserole would be easy enough to concoct.
So this is what I'll be doing in the next couple of weeks... experimenting with filling dishes which are simple enough to produce, while supplying calories, nourishment and comfort. Of course, the big trick is to know exactly what I need in my storage down to the last 1/4 tsp. of salt for each of the meals.
There are several helpful sites with different plans to help one be organized... many of them have downloadable pdf files that need to be purchased. Here is a link with a simple plan to help you create your meals and the foods to make them. It takes just a little time to stay organized once you've chosen your meals.
Stay on top by making notes of what foods you need to replenish as you use them.
What are some of the meals you've planned from your food storage?