Chicken Noodle Soup--Meal in a Jar

If you are new to making Meal in a Jars please read this how to post about How to Make a Meal in a Jar--Two Methods. 

Chicken Noodle soup is my kids all-time favorite meal.  They always eat it well without complaining (insert happy dance here).    

I’ve been making Chicken Noodle soup for them using freeze dried Thrive Foods for about 5 years and just recently realized I could speed up the process by making a bunch of Chicken Noodle Soup meals in a Jar.   So I made 12.  

Best idea ever.  Now I have a bunch of meals ready to go that I know my kids will love that only take 10 minutes to make.  Love it.

  
Chicken Noodle Soup in a Jar
For printable recipe and mason jar labels see below.

1 cup Freeze Dried Chopped Chicken

2 Tablespoons Chicken Bouillon

1 tsp Chef’s Choice Blend

1 tsp Salad Blend

½ cup  Celery

¼ cup Carrots

1/4 cup Freeze Dried Onions

2 cups Egg Noodles

8 cups water (to be added during cooking)

Jar Directions:  Layer ingredients in a wide mouthed, quart-sized jar, shaking the dry powder ingredients into the bulkier items. Top with an oxygen packet (300 cc) for longer-term storage, or seal with a food saver.  Cover with a new canning lid and hand-tighten the metal ring. 

Cooking Directions:  Add contents of jar to 8 cup of rapidly boiling water.  Stir well.    Simmer 10 -12 minutes until noodles are soft.  

A note on Food Safety:

The Meal-in-a-Jar method is a form of Dry Pack Canning.   The food inside the jars is preserved because the food is free of moisture and oxygen, the lack of which inhibits bacterial growth.  Jars should be stored in a dark environment to prevent any nutritional degradation due to light.  

When packing your jars remember to always

• Sanitize all equipment before use. Be sure to dry all equipment thoroughly before using.
• Wash hands and or wear food handler’s gloves.
• Keep work area clean and dry. 
• Use either method 1 or method 2 to remove the oxygen from your jar.

Read more:

Printables: 

Recipe Card
Regular Mouth Mason Jar Label
Wide Mouth Mason Jar

Interested in Learning More about Making Meals in a Jar?  Join my meal in a jar facebook group.

How to Make a Meal-in-a-Jar Using a Food Saver OR Using Oxygen Absorbers

I’m excited to share of my favorite Meal-In-A-Jar recipes with you.  I’ve been making these easy recipes for my family for just over a year and I love how easy they are to prepare.  I am concerned about the quality and nutrition in the foods my family eats but I don’t always have time to cook from scratch, these Meal-In-A-Jar recipes have become the solution for my family.  

How to Make a Meal-in-a-Jar:   Two Methods

Method 1:  Use a Food Saver to Seal the Jars

Step 1:  In a clean, dry quart jar, layer ingredients. Shake the powder down into the jar if needed. 

Step 2:  Place the lid on the jar.  Don’t add the ring. 

Step 3:  Attach one end of the hose to the accessory port and the other end to the jar sealer.  Place the jar sealer over the jar.

Step 4:  Turn on your food saver and remove the oxygen from the jar.  

Step 5: Remove the jar sealer (it is easier to unhook the hose from the jar sealer first), add label and ring, store in a cool dry place. 

Method 2:  Use Oxygen Absorbers

Step 1:  In a clean, dry quart jar, layer ingredients. Shake the powder down into the jar if needed. 

Step 2:  Wipe the top of the jar with a paper towel to remove any powder.

Step 3:  Top with a 300 cc oxygen absorber. Seal tightly. 

Step 4:  The lid should seal within a few hours.  Add label and date.  Store in a cool, dry place.

I purchase my oxygen absorbers from Amazon.  Oxygen absorbers are a onetime use product, they can NOT be reused, if the jar does not seal after one hour remove oxygen absorber and discard.  Then add a fresh oxygen absorber and reseal. 

A note on Food Safety:

The Meal-in-a-Jar method is a form of Dry Pack Canning.   The food inside the jars is preserved because the food is free of moisture and oxygen, the lack of which inhibits bacterial growth.  Jars should be stored in a dark environment to prevent any nutritional degradation due to light.  

When packing your jars remember to always

·         Sanitize all equipment before use. Be sure to dry all equipment thoroughly before using.

·         Wash hands and or wear food handler’s gloves.

·         Keep work area clean and dry. 

·         Use either Method 1 or Method 2 to remove the oxygen from your jar.

Meal in a Jar: Chicken Chili

Every month I teach meal in a jar, make and take classes.   So when my friends Jodi and Julie gave me a meal in a jar as a gift I was super excited to try it.  My family loved it.  

This June I've been using this recipe in my classes.  It has been a huge hit.     

I always seal my meals in a jar using a food saver.  This month I used this recipe from Your Thrive Life for Thrive Chicken Chili. 

Click the above link to see the recipe:  
Here are the printables to go with the recipe that I created. 
Printable Recipe 

Printable Recipe Cards to attach to the jar

Printable circle labels to put on the top of the jar

Meals in a Jar: Breakfast Taquitos

Breakfast is a tricky meal to plan in your food storage.  Most people I know eat a variety of not storage friendly foods for breakfast, like cold cereal or fresh fruit smoothies.  My family really likes to eat eggs in the morning which is great for my food storage because I can absolutely store eggs.   We really love the scrambled egg mix (or the Ova egg crystals).

The recipe based on a fresh recipe from Our Best Bites, and it translates beautifully into a meal in a jar recipe.  You will need fresh tortillas to make it.  Tortillas can easily be made from scratch.

Breakfast Taquitos

Printable Recipe

 

·         9 T Scrambled Egg Mix

·         1/4 C Sour Cream powder

·         1/4 tsp kosher salt

·         1/8 tsp black pepper

·         1/4 tsp garlic powder

·         3/4 C Monterrey Jack cheese FD

·         2 T mixed bell peppers (dehydrated)

·         2 T onions FD

·         2 T Thrive chopped cilantro (optional)

 Needed for making

·         1 ½ cups cold water

·         8 6″ flour tortillas

·         cooking spray or olive oil

 Instructions:

·         To create a meal in a jar mix; layer ingredients in a quart sized mason jar.  Add an oxygen absorber and seal. 

When ready to make the meal

·         Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

·         Mix scrambled egg powder, sour cream powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and COLD water, let mixture sit to rehydrate about 10 minutes.

·         When skillet is hot, add egg mixture to pan. Using a rubber spatula, gently scrape bottom of pan and fold eggs over to scramble. Remove from heat when slightly undercooked.

·         Warm tortillas in microwave to ease rolling process or heat in skillet with butter or oil. Working with a few  tortillas at a time, place a scant 1/4 C egg mixture into the center of each one and roll up into a cylinder.

·         Place rolled tortillas on prepared baking sheet, seam-side down, so they are not touching each other. When all tortillas are rolled and filled, lightly spray tops with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.

Meals in a Jar Monday: Potato Sausage Soup

This is my family's favorite meal in a jar so far.  My kids and husband loved it.  This recipe was created by fellow consultant Amber Spackman (you can shop from Amber here).   We have made this recipe a couple of times, both on the stove top and the crock pot, both ways work great.

Meal in a Jar Potato Sausage Soup

Printable Recipe
 

In the Jar


4-5 TBSP. Chicken Bullion

1 TBPS parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1 C. F.D Sausage
1 C. Dehydrated potato chunks
1/3 C. F. D. celery
1/4 C. F.D. onions
1/3 C. Dehydrated carrot dices
1/3 C. F.D. peas
 

Added when making:
1/2 cube butter

3 Quartz water
 1/2 cup flour

1 cup Thrive Instant Milk (pre mixed)

Boil contents of the jar in 3 quarts water for 10 to 15 minutes, until the carrots and potatoes are soft.   

Meanwhile create a roux by melting the butter over low heat, gently whisk in the flour.  Add 1 cup Thrive Instant Milk (reconstituted before adding).  Stir over low heat until thick and bubbly.  Add to the soup and mix well.  Heat 1-2 minutes more and serve.