Those are all good ideas. I keep meaning to make a large batch of spaghetti sauce and can it. Do you think it is better to brown the burgher on the side and freeze or just put it in the sauce and can it all together? I could actually have canned the jambalaya also. And Deb's comment about losing power to the freezer is spot on. We have power outages here from time to time and the people in the surrounding area were without power last year for almost two weeks. I guess if you kept the freezer door shut it might last. The only greens I have in the freezer are kale, broc, and green beans. I make kale bread by crushing the frozen kale to small bits. Takes about 16 ounces for a loaf or two. It is better to freeze first and crush after. Can't crush it fresh and if you pack it too tightly in the bags then you can't crush it as it freezes into a lump.
I also see the value of canning meats; same point Deb made. You can have a freezer full of meat but if the power fails??? Oppppps. So the question is do you prepare the meat then can or can raw. I am sure the canning process changes the texture and taste which freezing (at least until it gets freezer burned) doesn't.
I put up food for just myself and my DH. My children and grandchildren have very different tastes so it is wasted on them. Especially bean dishes except maybe for chili.
