Welcome to MasonNation
Big Red Kitchen® is dedicated to teaching busy singles, couples, and families how to design healthy, delicious, and time-saving meals for fresh eating at home or on the go. I MasonATE my kids lunches, leftovers, office meals for Himself, snacks, and freezer meals. To me, the Mason Jar is a storage vessel plain and simple and that is all. No canning. No preserving. No hot water baths. No boiling. No sterilizing. No sealing. Just screwing. Screw. Screw. Screw. All ya gotta do is screw. That’s it.
Mason Jar Meals, Just Screw It
Why to…How To…Need to…
Part I
Part II
Mason Jar Meal Tutorials
1 hour, 3 salads, 6 meals- How to make 3 classic salads for fresh, healthy, on-the-go eating
Mason Jar Meal Videos
The fastest way to “rice” cauliflower- paleo friendly
breakFAST/Brunch
Eggnog Muffins
Teeny Tiny Cinnamon Rolls
Pigs in a Blanket Pancakes with Maple Fried Apples
Self-Buttering Biscuits
Peaches and Cream Coffee Cakes
Mini Jar Quiche and Go’s
Appetizers
Mini Quesadillas and Cinnamon Sugar Chips
Samosa Bites
Shrimp Louis
Salad
Classic Wedge
Salmon Niçoise Salad
Chicken Cobb Salad
Yam and Chickpea Salad
Chicken Ramen Salad
My Favorite Kale Salad
Salad Bites for Picky Kids
Lunch
How to Carry Your MJMs
Mini Quesadillas and Cinnamon Sugar Chips
Chicken Cordon Bleu
White Castle-Like Sliders
Corn Dogs
Cheese Steaks
Stromboli
Homemade SpaghettiOs with Mini Meatballs
Lazy Lasagna
Pastiera di Pepperoni
Mini Paleo Pizzas
“Small Plates”
The Simplicity and Design of a MJM- Roasted Grapes, Red Pearl Onions, Eggs, and Shrimp- 1 roasting pan, 4 delightful small plates
Mini Paleo Pizzas
Dinner
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Cheese Steaks
Curry in a Hurry with Cilantro Lime Rice
Stromboli
Creamed Chicken
Snacks
Cookies and Cream Popcorn
GAP: “Grab a PINT”
Layering snacks that can be made in less than 10 minutes in PINT size Mason jars for on-the-go snacking.
Smoked Salmon Roll-ups- Paleo
Egg Salad Boats- Paleo
Spicy Shrimp Rolls- Paleo
Mediterranea Style Salmon Salad Cups- Paleo
Dessert
Cinnamon Sugar Chips
Eggnog Muffins
Peanut Butter Pies
Teeny Tiny Cinnamon Rolls
Non-melting Mason Jar Brownie Sundaes
Mason Jar Whoopie Pies
Beverages
Monkey Milk-Chocolate Banana Milk
Neapolitan Milk
Sparkling Cucumber Mint Coolers, non-alcoholic
Frozen Cocktail Mixers you Make: Piña Colada
Holidays
Eggnog Muffins
Doggie Treats
Pupcakes
On Storing Leftovers
Thanksgiving
Mason Jar Meal Tips
Tip #1 Options over Obstacles- a summary explaining the many options MJMs provide.
Tip #2 On wrapping your Jars for picnics
Tip #3 A Mother’s Getaway Plan- on filling the fridge with beautifully designed MJMs before leaving home
Tip #4 Mason Jar Mise en Place for fast and organized stir-frying
Another way BRK is Keepin’ it Glassy!
Robin Sue
42 Comments
I want to make mason jar dinners to send to my daughter when she is deployed on a ship. Do you have any recipes that would be appropriate that would last and be safe to ship to her?
Hi Beth,
This is a tough one. The items cooked or placed in the jar are not “canned” or preserved other than refrigeration. You can bake a cake in the jar and if you top it, it will seal for it to keep for a very short time- like a week for the shipping, but no longer (this is how I sent my hubby’s birthday cake with a can of frosting), this is not proper canning and the food is still at risk for spoiling. The jars would be very heavy to ship as well. When my husband was deployed, I did all kinds of baking, making of trail mixes, made beef jerky, and other treats, packaged them in zip top bags, wrapped in bubble wrap, and shipped items that way with good results. Hopefully she will be eating well on the ship and would enjoy some homebaked threats from home! Thank her for her service to our country!!
Warmly,
Robin Sue
Hi Beth Schaus
here is a suggestion that might work just fine. If u want to ship food that could perish pack it with dry ice. I know that medical medicines and some foods are done this way for shipping and if packed right can last a long time. U could even google for more info on using dry ice and food. Hope this helps you.
hugs
Leean
What brand are your 8 oz canning jars that you can freeze?
Hi Natalie,
I freeze all the brands. The short 8 ounce widemouths are Kerr.
Enjoy!
Robin Sue
Robin,
Thanks so much. What a great idea! Typically how long will these keep in the fridge? Do you cook them on a weekly basis?
Christie
3-5 days depending on the food. Some go right in the freezer for future use. I do keep a rotating supply going weekly.
enjoy!
Robin Sue
Once I get the delicious meals to work for my lunch how do you suggest I eat them? Straight from the jar or dump the contests into a bowl or plate?
Hi Jill,
It depends on the meal. Some we can eat right from the jar, like the pastas and such. Salads we like to eat from a plate or bowl. Enjoy!
Hi Robin Sue,
These MJMs look delicious! I’d like to try a few, but have a few questions. We don’t need to transport them as we eat lunch at home, but it would be a huge timesaver not to have to prepare something new every day. We don’t have a microwave and , so I was wondering if you’ve ever reheated them in the oven or toaster-oven. Or would it be better to prepare up to the baking step and then refrigerate or freeze at that point to be baked later?
Thank you!
Some of these can be made up to the baking step then baked later. But if you do need to bake up don’t put the frozen jar into the hot oven. One reader places her frozen jars in a cold oven then slowly heats the oven and has not had a jar break that way. I would losely cover the jars with foil to prevent drying. These would be hard to eat out of very hot jars- so be careful and use a towel or potholder, or pour them out fo the kids. The salads and fruit cups would be much easier of course. Hope you have fun!
Thanks
Robin
I was wanting to send a gift in a mason jar to my family back home in Tennessee (military spouse, living in Texas). I know it will be cold around the holidays, but do you have a suggestion on what Mason Jar Meal would be best to ship- do you think the eggnog muffins? I want to attach a few of your mason jar recipes included in the package. Any ideas would be helpful- thought about just trail mix or something lol
Becca,
sine the meals are not preserved as they wold be in canning, they would be unsafe for long term storage at room temp. You are right to do a trail mix, or any other mix. I have a nice hot cocoa mix, cherry simmer, and rice mix on this site- give those a try!
Thanks
Well I have to say I find the whole concept of MJM’s as the best idea I have seen!
Liked the Fillmore Container page on FB
I want to get into doing this. i am a single senior. would this work for me? i love to cook and hate to eat and the pre-made store items are just icky…so what do you think, would it work for me?
Vivian
This would work well for you. Make enough to store in the fridge up to 3-5 days or some can even go in the freezer for 3 months. Enjoy!
This whole thing is new to me, but I love, love the idea. The fruit jars thus far are my favorite – beautiful food!
I like to use a 2 pint or sometimes a 1 Quart Mason Jar, make a label with the persons name I am giving it to and print my 16 Bean Soup recipe and place it along with a small zip lock (from the craft store) bag of the needed spices, and the beans for a family size portion of the soup.. I am loved by my family and friends by doing this and am often invited over when they cook the soup…
I love this idea! Can’t wait to try.
This sounds good since the kids are gone it has been hard just to cook for two.
Liked the Fillmore Container page on FB
My favorite Mason Jar meal are the Salads. It is so much easier to take them to work in a mason jar and they look nice.
I LOVE, LOVE, Love the salads ,,,So easy and so fresh!!!
Who could ask for more.
I love the salads ideas. I cannot wait to try them.
Love this! Would love to win the starter kit to get going! I will start with salad and then move on to pasta!
My favorite recipe is chicken ramen salad.
I love, as well as my kids, the corn dogs. So easy and much better than what you buy in the stores. We have to try putting in a stick next time.
I love all these ideas. I’m considering using a few of these recipes for a weekend stay in a hotel. There will be 6 of us, so restaurants would add up fast (and no free breakfast!). I think I can store enough of these in the mini-fridge to save a ton of money.
Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca,
We have done this to save money and it does work nice esp if the hotel has a microwave in the room. Also, sometimes they may give you an extra fridge- worth a try!
Hello! Just found your site and am excited by all the wonderful ideas! Can’t wait to try them. I’m also curious about the picture you have at the top of the Mason Jar Meals entry of the lid stamped with “Big Red Kitchen” — how did you do the stamping? Do you have a punch? I would LOVE to find something like for my mom who cans and preserves like mad in the summers
Thank you!
Hi Debbie,
Thank you! For the metal dome lids that I punched I used a set like this…
http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Punch-Piece-Letter-Numbers/dp/B003F0QR4A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351150882&sr=8-2&keywords=metal+letter+punches
It does alter the interior of the lid- the white protective coating is compromised and the lids rust, so they are for decoration. Here is what I would do… use an unstamped lid for the canning then once the jar is sealed place a stamped lid over the unstamped lid and screw on the ring. Hope it works out!!
Robin
Love your site and the MJM are fantastic. Just by coincidence I was on etsy.com and saw a seller with the same pix of the mini cinnamon rolls. I’m not trying to cause trouble but they seemed to be your pics (though maybe they are stock?) – thought you should know.
Thank you! I’ll see what I can do about that.
I would like to make plum pudding in mason jars. How would I do this? Would I put the lids on as I steam them or after. Also, how long will they keep? Plum pudding used to be aged for a long time so maybe they will keep a long time in the sealed jars. Please share your opinion with me.
I have not made plum pudding but I would leave the lids off and use foil. Also I do not preserve my food in jars and just store them in the firdge for 5 days or the freezer up to 3 months.
I love these ideas and recipes. My question is…how do you bring these with you when they need to be refrigerated? Ex. Smoked salmon and egg snack.
I carry them in a neoprene wine carrier for short times away from refrigeration, or put them in an insulated bag with ice pack if I am away for a longer time.