I like to consider myself a prepared person. I bring plenty of snacks, extra clothes, and an alternative activity idea in case the first one doesn’t work out.

The days of feeling like I have it all together due to rudimentary mommy preparedness concepts are over now. I have now upped my game to the NEXT LEVEL into full blown survival mommy by purchasing a pressure canner.

I personally believe now it the time for mothers to start thinking the same way the mothers who lived through the Great Depression era. Every prepared mom needs a pressure canner and if you don’t have one, you are missing out big time!

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Why Every Prepared Mom Needs a Pressure Canner

Pressure canners can be used to preserve low acidic foods into shelf stable pantry ideas that can be stored for years.

The biggest reason I love my pressure canner is the confidence it allows me to have these days. No matter what happens in this crazy world, I will be able to feed my family a complete meal.

1. Pressure Canners = Food Security

If you have a pressure canner and know how to use it, it means you have more food security.

We purchase our meat in bulk from local farmers. This has been instrumental in feeding the family high quality grass-fed meats without going absolutely broke.

I can usually find beef for around $8.99 a pound if I buy a 1/4 or 1/2 cow from a local farmer. It’s also so nice to shop from my freezer instead of having to run to the store more often.

Having that much meat in the freezer is a pretty sizable investment in food. So we were sure to purchase a generator and keep extra jerry cans of fuel around to protect this investment.

If a bad storm ever rolled around and knocked the power out for a week, we won’t lose our meat.

Lately however, I have been pontificating on preparedness for deliberate extended power outages. We are living through extraordinary times and when you have world leaders warning of global food shortages, you take steps while you still have access to affordable food.

Here in America we are seeing the sabotage of our energy sector and the burning down of food manufacturing plants. I do not believe any of this is coincidence. It has become more important than ever for me to strategize to protect my family’s supply chain.

2. Nutritious meals become fast food!

Most of us have days where we just don’t feel like cooking. On these days, I used to just go out to eat or order food to be delivered.

However, I have recently developed a lot of food sensitivities which makes eating out not the best option for me.

Since I purchased my pressure canner, I have been experimenting in cooking dinners in bulk, and then canning the leftovers.

I even invested in a giant cast iron dutch oven so I can make a sizable amount of roasts, soups, and chili, all of which can be later pressure canned.

I also have been loading up quart-size jars with raw meat, veggies, and broth. I am excited to be able to pop one of these open this winter, cook up some rice, and enjoy a nutritious fulfilling meal without having to put much thought into it!

3. Your food budgets becomes smaller

For many families, reducing the food budget is a matter of life or death right now due to inflation. We don’t know when this will end but inflation has become a global problem.

I imagine things will only get worse by this winter, so moms need to be on the offense during these summer months when food is plentiful and you can get it locally.

I am trying to hit up a local vegetable stands as much as possible and every week put up food in pantry for this winter. Where before canning was more of a hobby for me, I am now working toward making it a lifestyle.

The worst thing that happens is you get a little board of eating canned meals. But if it gets to the point where meat is $20 a pound, you will be really happy you did the work ahead of time.

Pressure Canning Supplies

I purchased an All American Pressure Canner because I liked that it had a pressure dial on it. So far it has been very easy to use. I also grabbed a book called The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning, which contains tons of information as well as yummy recipes.

As part of my preparedness planning, I have been collecting more books. I like the idea of having homesteading information always available to me. If something was to ever happen to the internet, I wouldn’t be caught without valuable knowledge on many different topics.

Books can be expensive so as I go along this journey of becoming more self reliant, I find myself collecting a book here and a book there.

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I also stocked up on canning lids and plan to keep a solid amount of these stored at all times.

I have noticed that Wide Mouth Quart Mason Jars are becoming harder to find in local stores, so whenever I find any, I purchase them. In fact, it is a good idea to start your jar collection now.

You don’t want to be frantically searching for jars when the rest of the world figures out what you have already known for some time.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to live in the country to take steps to secure food for your family. Even if you have no experience canning or preserving food, now is a great time to learn a new skill such as pressure canning.

You don’t want to wait for rolling power outages or food shortages to have food preservation skills. Pressure canning is one if the least intimidating options once you get started.

There are lots of type of pressure canners and I recommend getting a bigger one, as it does take a good portion of your day to can it properly, so the more you can do at once, the better.