A ward member approached me with wanting a list for a 72 hour kit. I told her I would email her one. Looking around I got kind of excited. Through the years we have been variously ready with our 72 hour kits. I got real excited a couple of months ago and started getting them ready again (the food in our old ones was OLD), but never got them completely put together. So now I want to share with you links I found.
Red Cross list - probably the most complete, basic list.
Emergency Binder - list or 72 hour kit items and other things such as birth certificates and passports to keep in a binder. It also has items to put in a car kit and places for emergency phone contacts. They suggest you keep this in a fire/water proof safe you can take with you.
Milk Jug 72 hour kit - This is a fun little kit that you could change to fit you. It is only the food part of the kit.
Wing Stove - While looking at the info of the milk jug kit they listed a wing stove to warm up your food. You can find these several place on the internet for various prices.
Make Your Own Stove - While looking for the wing stove I found this cool website that give you information for making a number of small, portable stoves and information about using them.
Usenet 72 hour Kit List - If you are really into preparedness you might want to check this out. It has an extensive list on putting together a 72 hour kit.
First Aid Kit - If you want to make your own instead of buy one.
72 Hours.org - This is a fun little site to read and learn from.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Zucchini
Last year we planted zucchini. I'd always hear about how you only plant one because you will get tons. And we got...none. So this year we planted more plants and the plants are producing! I love it! Rex brings a few zucchini in and I either slice them or grate them and then freeze them, but not before making something fresh with some of it! I've found an awesome recipe for zucchini and I agree that this is the BEST zucchini bread.
BEST ZUCCHINI BREAD
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. all-purpose (white) flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. clove
2 1/2 c. zucchini, shredded (about 3 medium zucchini)
1 c. pecans, chopped
4 eggs (or 1/4 c. powdered eggs + 1/2 c. water)
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
Measure and sift together the first eight dry ingredients and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, sugars and oil. Blend thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture while stirring. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in zucchini, pecans and lemon zest. Pour batter into two greased 8 or 9 inch loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
with her own NOTES: To make this recipe healthier (but just as tasty!), I cut the oil measurement in half with applesauce (1/2 c. oil + 1/2 c. applesauce), leave out 1/2 cup of the white sugar, and use 1 cup liquid eggs (like Eggbeaters). To save time, sometimes I substitute 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice in place of the ginger, allspice and clove. If your garden produced more yellow squash than zucchini, you can substitute part or all of the zucchini with shredded yellow squash (I cut the squash in fourths, length-wise, and remove the seeds before shredding.) with virtually no difference in taste. I like to use my food processor to shred the zucchini because it keeps the zucchini from getting soggy the way it does when grated by hand.
You can find it http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/2009/07/the-best-zucchini-bread/.
This morning I am trying it with 3/4 c pumpkin and 1/4 oil instead of the straight oil. I'll let you know how it works. I have also been using only whole wheat flour (no white) and love it!
Freezing Your Harvest
I was reading Organic Gardening this morning while we were waiting for Gavin to go to school. Found a good article on freezing your garden food. Did you know you can freeze tomatoes whole and the skin comes off easily afterward? I didn't know. So I thought you might find this information helpful as well. This is not the same article that was in the magazine, but in some ways it had even more info: Freeze With Ease. I also found Freezing Basics. And then I even found Your Harvest Guide. None of these are extremely detailed, but they do give a lot of good info.
And just for fun I found Garlic for Beginners. I'm wondering if it is too late to plant garlic right now or if it is the perfect time. I'll be looking at that the next couple of days.
And just for fun I found Garlic for Beginners. I'm wondering if it is too late to plant garlic right now or if it is the perfect time. I'll be looking at that the next couple of days.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Food Storage Inventory
Last night in the city near us a fire was raging. Over 1200 homes were evacuated. My thoughts and prayers went out to the people in those areas. My thoughts were also heavy on my 72 hour kits and how our home is situated for emergency visitors. I do not know if this last challenge was written before now. I suspect it was, but I find the timing of it very appropriate. Here is the last challenge for the 7 day challenge.
Your family and friends are starting to figure out that you have a great food storage. Your mother-in-law (or friend, or grandma, or fill-in-the-blank) just called you this morning and asked if she could come by later today and check out your preps. She is interested to learn how much you have, and how you rotate it all. She even hints that she might want to purchase some food for you for a gift.Once you organize, tidy, and inventory your food storage you are DONE the challenge and can celebrate however you choose, whether it be with a dunford donut (Julie) or a big gulp (Jodi). You may just want to go out and get cracking on your “To-Buy” list now that you have determined what preps and food you still need.
Daily Limitations and TasksToday’s Tasks:
- Organize your kitchen pantry and any food storage areas in your home
- Evaluate where your appliances are in your home to make cooking with food storage easier
- Move some of your long term food storage up to your kitchen area to encourage you to use it more
- Check your water supplies, refill any empty containers
- Inventory your long term food storage items (you may use our calculator)
- Inventory your three month supply items (you may use our worksheet)
- Look at your Disaster Kits, do you need to swap clothes out? Rotate food? Do what you can now and make a list of anything you may need to buy
Today’s Limitations:
- For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants … UNTIL YOU ARE FINISHED!
Advanced Tasks:
- Make cute labels for your buckets, shelves, etc. (label tutorial | bucket labels)
- Make a complete list of what you still need to buy (long term AND three month supply) so that your guest can purchase some of it for you for a gift.
- Review all of your week’s report cards and compile them into one list of future things to do/buy
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Weeping and Wailing
Taking great liberties with Jeremiah chapter 9:
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Patty's house, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the water storage, because our body odor has made us cast out.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Patty's house, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the water storage, because our body odor has made us cast out.
20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Patty, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your children of emergency wailing, and every one her body hygiene.
Yes, in our house there was great wailing as the children came home and I don't blame my children. This wasn't a fun challenge, but it was even less fun than it could have been. See, I had not adequately prepared my family. I never even thought of telling them this challenge was coming up. My mind was wrapped up in other things and obviously the challenge would affect me more than them so why worry. Besides they had done so well when we lived for a month on our food storage.
I've been reading Counseling with Our Councils. Most of it applies to ward councils, presidency meetings etc., but part of it applies to families and you could even apply it to work settings.
So as the afternoon wore on I realized that we would have to have a family counsel. Over dinner we sat and talked. One child refused to come to the table at first. We talked about what we had learned about the challenge so far. We talked about how things would be different if this was a real emergency. Then we talked about what happened when we lived on our food storage last spring. Boy were my eyes opened! Why had we never sat down as a family and discussed that? Oh, we said things to each other here and there, but never had a discussion specifically about what we liked, didn't like and what was learned.
By then it seemed everyone had calmed down about things. So we took a vote. Would we continue on with the challenge? Or would we quit the challenge and work on some things that we had been negligent on? There was not a single vote to continue with the challenge and all supported in helping me get things prepared.
So what do we need to do?
Yes, in our house there was great wailing as the children came home and I don't blame my children. This wasn't a fun challenge, but it was even less fun than it could have been. See, I had not adequately prepared my family. I never even thought of telling them this challenge was coming up. My mind was wrapped up in other things and obviously the challenge would affect me more than them so why worry. Besides they had done so well when we lived for a month on our food storage.
I've been reading Counseling with Our Councils. Most of it applies to ward councils, presidency meetings etc., but part of it applies to families and you could even apply it to work settings.
So as the afternoon wore on I realized that we would have to have a family counsel. Over dinner we sat and talked. One child refused to come to the table at first. We talked about what we had learned about the challenge so far. We talked about how things would be different if this was a real emergency. Then we talked about what happened when we lived on our food storage last spring. Boy were my eyes opened! Why had we never sat down as a family and discussed that? Oh, we said things to each other here and there, but never had a discussion specifically about what we liked, didn't like and what was learned.
By then it seemed everyone had calmed down about things. So we took a vote. Would we continue on with the challenge? Or would we quit the challenge and work on some things that we had been negligent on? There was not a single vote to continue with the challenge and all supported in helping me get things prepared.
So what do we need to do?
- Buy and fill more 5 gallon water containers. Having 55 gallon drums is nice. It stores a lot of water well, but even with the pump it isn't the easiest thing to use. By having more 5 gallon containers we can scatter them throughout the house better.
- Get a disposable toilet. There are several to choose from. You can get a seat that goes on a 5 gallon bucket. There are cardboard toilets. And camping toilets you can buy from the store. You line these with bags and have chemicals of some sort to take care of odor etc. Why get them? Because even if you are trying to conserve by not flushing for liquids you will go through a lot of water just for toilet needs. Your basic 2 week supply isn't going to last 2 weeks.
- Update our 72 hour kits. It's time to change when my 15yo can get into his change of clothes and find that it will fit my 9yo. It's certainly time to change when you realize that can of chili has been in there for 5 years! Our new goal, ok well, our old goal that never got done, was to change out things at conference time. We have renewed motivation this time.
- Now that we have chickens we have to remember water storage for them as well.
- We also need to figure out a system that works for us for filtering fresh water found in canals, rivers and lakes.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Keep Trying
During my class someone told me that I do this food storage thing well. I can't remember the exact words. It doesn't really matter. I often get uncomfortable about this kind of thing because sometimes teaching a class on something is so much easier than living it. And having a "testimony" of an idea doesn't mean you always live according to it.
I have some friends who think I must pray all the time, because when they want answers to questions I will tell them that it is important to get their own answers to prayers. I tell them this, because I have found it to be true. There are no better answers than the ones I get from God. I find that when I make prayer a real part of my life that the days and moments are so much better.
Like most everyone else though, I go through periods of being prayerful which alternate with periods of my prayers not even reaching the ceiling because I just haven't put enough thought and heart into them. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father continually puts forth his hand to welcome me back each time I'm in one of those slumps.
It's the same thing with food storage. There are times I use my food storage a lot. Procrastinator that I am, those classes I teach really get me going! Other times I am concerned with being healthy and using my food storage in my daily meals. And then, like with prayer, I get into slumps when we eat pretty unhealthily.
Life is line upon line. We work little by little on praying, food storage, spending money wisely, exercising, reading scriptures, being Christlike. None of us are perfect and few of us are experts, but if we do our best, Christ takes care of the rest.
Doctrine & Covenants 12:3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.
I have some friends who think I must pray all the time, because when they want answers to questions I will tell them that it is important to get their own answers to prayers. I tell them this, because I have found it to be true. There are no better answers than the ones I get from God. I find that when I make prayer a real part of my life that the days and moments are so much better.
Like most everyone else though, I go through periods of being prayerful which alternate with periods of my prayers not even reaching the ceiling because I just haven't put enough thought and heart into them. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father continually puts forth his hand to welcome me back each time I'm in one of those slumps.
It's the same thing with food storage. There are times I use my food storage a lot. Procrastinator that I am, those classes I teach really get me going! Other times I am concerned with being healthy and using my food storage in my daily meals. And then, like with prayer, I get into slumps when we eat pretty unhealthily.
Life is line upon line. We work little by little on praying, food storage, spending money wisely, exercising, reading scriptures, being Christlike. None of us are perfect and few of us are experts, but if we do our best, Christ takes care of the rest.
Doctrine & Covenants 12:3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Oats Class
Here are the handouts from my oats class this morning. I'll have them copied for tomorrow and will hand them out at church as well. Because we are online I won't copy and paste everything here - some of it I will just post the links.
Rolled Oats and Steel Cut Oats – Is There a Difference?
Oats - All About Grains
Using oats in Cooking
Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats Made from 100% natural whole grain Quaker quality rolled oats, Old Fashioned Quaker Oats add extra fiber and a heartier texture because the oats are larger. Patty’s note: old-fashioned or “rolled” oats can be exchanged with quick oats in baking. The old-fashioned just make things a little chewier.
Steel Cut Oats Made from 100% whole grain oats that are steel cut, rather than rolled, they offer you a hearty texture and a rich, nutty taste. They're a great option for baking. Patty’s note: in the grocery store steel cut coats tend to be a little more or a lot more expensive. If you have your own adjustable wheat grinder you can make your own “steel cuts oats” by grinding oat groats on an coarse setting. Both the groats and the steel cut are often available at grain supply stores much more cheaply.
Quick Oats Quaker Quick Oats are also an excellent choice for baking as they are also made from 100% natural whole grains. They tend to add a slightly thinner texture than Old Fashioned Oats, as Quick Oats have been cut 2 to 3 times prior to steaming and rolling in order to cook in just 1 minute.
From Quakeroats.com
Recipes
Patty's note: To make room on my handout I reworded some of these recipes so they may not be exactly as linked. I also did not copy all of the comments/reviews for recipes, just a few that were interesting to me. Also, I have not tried all of them, though I have tried most. I just wanted to make sure to share a good variety of recipes.
Instant Oatmeal ala-Home
3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats
Salt
Small sized Zip Baggies
Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender and blend on high until powdery. Set aside in a small bowl, and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. If you're using a food processor, you can do the 1 cup of oats in one batch. Put the following ingredients into each zip baggie: 1/4 cup un-powdered oats, 2 Tbsp. powdered oats, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Store in an airtight container.
To serve: Empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water - for thinner oatmeal, use more water. Patty’s note: this is way too thin for our family. We put in another 1-8-1/4 more of oats.
Variations:
Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal- add 1 T sugar, 1/4 t cinnamon, and 2 T chopped dried apples.
Sweetened Oatmeal- add 1 T sugar or 1 packet 'Equal' artificial sweetener.
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal - add 1 T brown sugar & 1/4 t cinnamon
Oatmeal w/Raisins & Brown Sugar - add 1 T packed brown sugar and 1 T raisins.
Health Nut Oatmeal - add 2 T wheat germ
Fruit & Cream Oatmeal - add 1 T non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 T dried fruit
Fun Fruit Oatmeal - To each packet, add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.
Confetti Oatmeal - add 1 t decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.
S'More Oatmeal - add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 T Milk Chocolate Chips.
Cookies n Cream Oatmeal - add 1 crushed Oreo cookie and 1 T non-dairy coffee creamer.
Exploding Oatmeal - add 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 t 'Pop Rocks' candy.
Patty's note: we discovered that you can make "flour" out of banana chips as well. You can add this to you oatmeal packets for more flavor.
From The Dollar Stretcher
Foods to flavor oatmeal and/or oatmeal packets: honey, flax seed meal (nutty flavor, fiber and nut Omega-3 fatty acids. ( Patty's note: This is meal, not the whole seeds. You want to buy it already milled or grind them yourself. Don't grind them in a wheat grinder - that can cause a problem. I purchased a small, cheap coffee grinder that I used only for flax), chopped nuts, maple syrup, coconut flakes, pineapple chunks, mango, banana, cocoa powder and peanut butter, wheat germ, dates, sea salt, cranberries, vanilla - powdered or liquid.
Ideas from Coach Levi
Baked Oatmeal I
1/2 c vegetable oil
3/4 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 t salt
1 T baking powder
3 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c raisins
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
Beat together oil and sugar. Mix in eggs, milk, salt, baking powder, oatmeal. Beat well then stir in raisins. Pour into a lightly grease pie pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, preheat oven to 350°.
Bake in preheated oven until firm, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.
Suggestions from comments section: substitute applesauce for oil.
Oatmeal Pancakes
3/4 c quick-cooking oats
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sugar
1 egg
1 c buttermilk
3 Ts butter, melted
In a bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda and sugar. Combine the egg, buttermilk and butter; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown.
Health Nut Blueberry Muffins
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c wheat flour
3/4 c white sugar
1/4 c oat bran
1/4 c quick oats
1/4 c wheat germ
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 c blueberries
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 banana, mashed
1 c buttermilk
1 egg
1 T vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 12 c muffin pan, or line with paper muffin cup.
In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, oat bran, quick-cooking oats, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently stir in the blueberries and walnuts. In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed banana, buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix just until blended. Spoon into muffin cup, filling all the way to the top.
Bake for 15 to 18 min. or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly touched.
Suggestions from comments section: use all wheat flour instead half wheat and half white, substitute applesauce for oil, use wheat bran instead of oat bran, add 1 t cinnamon and 1/2 t nutmeg or replace the banana for pumpkin and blueberries for chocolate chips.
Banana Oat Muffins
1 c rolled oats
1 c all-purpose flour
1 T rolled oats
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter, soft
1 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 c mashed ripe banana
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c rolled oats
4 T brown sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
2 T butter, chilled
1/4 c chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 12 muffin c or line with paper muffin liners.
Place 1 c rolled oats in a food processor and process until ground. In a large bowl, combine ground oats with flour, 1 T rolled oats, chopped walnuts, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the banana and vanilla. Stir in sour cream. Mix oat/flour mixture into egg mixture. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans.
To make Topping: In a small bowl, combine 1/3 c rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in 1/4 c chopped walnuts. Generously sprinkle muffins with topping.
Bake for 25 to 30 min. until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Suggestions from comments section: reduce butter 1/4-1/3 cup, substitute wheat flour for white. Substitute extra banana for ½ the butter and nonfat plain yogurt for sour cream
Harvest Fruit Bars
6 oz diced dried mixed fruit bits
1-1/2 t apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
1 c chopped banana
2/3 c orange juice
1-3/4 c whole wheat flour
1-1/2 c Oats
1/2 lb butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c chopped nuts
Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, combine dried fruit, banana, orange juice and 1 t of apple pie spice; set aside.
In medium bowl, combine flour, oats and remaining 1/2 t apple pie spice; mix well. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugar together with electric mixer until creamy. Add oat mixture; beat until crumbly. Reserve 3/4 c mixture for topping. Press remaining oat mixture onto bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
Spread fruit evenly over crust to within 1/4-inch of edge. Add nuts to reserved oat mixture; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over fruit; pat down lightly.
Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely; cut into bars. Store loosely covered.
Cook’s Notes: If using old fashioned oats, decrease orange juice to 1/2 cup.
Mama's Granola (from internet friend)
1.5 c canola oil
1.5 c honey
8 c rolled oats
1 c raw sliced almonds
1 c raw walnuts (broken)
1 c flake coconut
1 c raw sunflower seeds
1 c powdered milk
1/2 c whole wheat flour
Pour oil into 4c measuring cup. Add honey. Set aside. Mix dry ingredients. Pour in honey & oil; stir until well blended (no dry spots).
Turn into large broiler pan. Bake in pre-heated 300° oven (middle rack) 30 min. Take out and pour back into same mixing bowl. Stir. Return to pan. Bake 15 min & repeat process one more time. (TOTAL BAKING TIME: 1 hour)
When finished pour back into bowl to cool, adding raisins or chopped dates, if desired. Stir occasionally as it cools down.
Heart Healthy Granola (from internet friend)
Mix in large bowl:
6 c of rolled oats
2/3 c wheat germ
2/3 c of brown sugar
1-t cinnamon
2/3 c chopped almonds pinch of salt
2/3 c large seeds (sunflower,pepita, pumpkin)
2/3 c small seeds (flax and sesame)
Mix in small bowl:
2/3 c of canola oil
1/2 c of honey
2 t Vanilla
Combine both mixtures, spread on a large, deep oiled pan. Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through, until golden.
Pour granola back into bowl and stir while granola is cooling. This helps it to dry completely. once completely dry you can store it in an airtight container. Dried fruit may be added after baking.
Patty’s note: These two recipes come from friends. They taught me to play with it. Exchange some nuts for others. Add a little bit less oil. Use almond extract instead of vanilla. Add mini chocolate chips after it cools.
Peanut Butter Granola
Mix &; heat in 4-cup glass jug for 4 min. on HIGH:
1-1/2 c white sugar
1-1/3 c margarine
1/2 t vanilla extract
2/3 c peanut butter
1/2 t salt 1 c water
Mix in large bowl:
12 c rolled oats 1 t cinnamon
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix quickly and well. Put onto two small greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 325° for 25 minutes. Exchange cookie sheets in oven, cook 10 minutes.
Turn oven off and let granola dry for several hours. Store in closed jar on kitchen counter and watch it disappear.
Honey-Lime Granola w/ Almonds
2 T frozen limeade concentrate
1 small lime, zest and juice
3 c rolled oats
1 c sliced almonds
1/4 c wheat germ
1/2 c unsweetened coconut
1/2 c oat bran
3 T flax seeds
1/2 c honey
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 250°. Lightly grease a foiled-lined baking sheet. Mix oats, almonds, wheat germ, coconut, oat bran, and flax seeds in a large bowl. Whisk together honey, vegetable oil, limeade concentrate, salt, vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice in a separate bowl. Pour liquids into oat mixture and stir well. Spread oats on to the pan.
Bake until golden brown and lightly crispy, about 1.5 hours, stirring every 15 min. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Fruit & Oat Smoothie
1 T Quick Oatmeal
1 c cold Skimmed Milk
1 large Banana
1 c frozen Fruit
Place all ingredients in blender for about 1 minute until smooth. If desired, sweeten to taste.
Patty’s note: to make more smooth, puree oats in blender to make flour and then add the rest of the ingredients.
ABC Meatball Soup
MEATBALLS:
1 lb extra lean ground turkey breast or 90% lean ground beef
3/4 c Oats
1/3 c barbecue sauce or catsup
SOUP:
48 oz. reduced-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1/4 c alphabet-shaped pasta
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables (do not thaw)
Heat broiler. Lightly spray rack of broiler pan with cooking spray.
Roll mixture into 24 meatballs. Arrange meatballs on broiler pan. Broil meatballs 6 to 8 inches from heat about 6 minutes or until cooked through, turning once.
While meatballs cook, bring chicken broth to boil in 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pasta and frozen vegetables; return to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 8 minutes or until vegetables and pasta are tender. Add meatballs and cook 1 minute. Serve immediately.
Patty's notes: I skipped half a paragraph from the original about the forming of the meatballs. I didn't find it necessary.
Shanghai Meatball Soup
MEATBALLS:
1-1/2 t minced fresh ginger or 1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 lb ground turkey
3/4 c oats
2 T lite soy sauce
1 T dry sherry. optional
2 t sesame oil, optional
1/2 t black pepper
SOUP
29 oz. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 c water
1-1/2 c halved pea pods
1-1/2 c bean sprouts
1 c thinly sliced carrots
1/4 c green onions
Spray rack of broiler pan with cooking spray or oil lightly.
In large bowl, combine meatball ingredients; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into 1-inch meatballs; place on rack of broiler pan. Broil 6 to 8 inches from heat 7 to 10 minutes or until cooked through.
In 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, combine meatballs with chicken broth and water; bring to a boil over high heat. Add pea pods and carrot; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Turn off heat; add bean sprouts and green onion. Serve immediately.
Patty's note: this was a favorite at our house.
Oatmeal Baked Chicken
(3 1/2lb) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
1 1/2 c quick oats
1 T paprika
1 T chili powder
1 t salt
3/4 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t pepper
1/2 c milk
2 T butter
Coat a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a shallow bowl or large resealable plastic bag, combine oats, paprika, chili powder, salt if desired, garlic powder, cumin and pepper. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with oat mixture. Place in prepared baking dish. Drizzle with butter. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 45-50 min. or until juices run clear.
316 calories, 146 mg sodium, 62 mg cholesterol, 24 gm carbohydrate, 28 gm protein, 12 gm fat.
Suggestions from comments section: substitute chicken breast cut into strips for 35 min.
Onion Meat Loaf
2 eggs
1/2 c ketchup
3/4 c quick oats
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 lb ground beef
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, ketchup, oats and soup mix. Crumble beef over mixture; mix well. Shape into a round loaf.
Cut three 20-in. x 3-in. strips of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Crisscross the strips so they resemble the spokes of a wheel. Place meat loaf in the center of the strips; pull the strips up and bend the edges to form handles. Grasp the foil handles to transfer loaf to a 3-qt. slow cooker. (Leave the foil in while meat loaf cooks.)
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until a meat thermometer reaches 160° F. Using foil strips, lift meat loaf out of slow cooker.
Southwestern Chicken Salad
3 c cubed, grilled chicken breast
1/4 c diced yellow bell pepper
1/4 c diced green bell pepper
1 T minced, pickled, jalapeno chillies
1/4 c chopped cilantro
1 T minced garlic
1/2 c diced red onion
1/4 c diced jicama
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sour cream
1 T fresh lime juice
1 T fresh orange juice
Salt & pepper to taste
2 c Steel Cut Oatmeal
Preheat oven to 300°. Place oatmeal on a baking sheet, with sides, in preheated oven. Toast, stirring frequently, for about 20 min. until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Place in heat proof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Allow to sit for about 20 min. or until just tender but not gummy. Drain off excess liquid. Place drained oats in a clean kitchen towel and tightly squeeze to remove any remaining moisture.
Combine chicken, oatmeal, onion, jicama, peppers, cilantro, garlic and jalapeno in a mixing bowl.
Whisk together mayonnaise and sour cream. Beat in lime and orange juice and stir into chicken mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve on a bed of lettuce.
Serves 6. Calories:327, Total Fat:12.7, Sat. Fat: 3.7, Sodium: 0.3 Carbs: 35.8, Protein: 17.4
Patty’s note: in place of the peppers and onion I added a drained can of Rotel. Also, make sure NOT to overcook the oats.
Oat Crusted Fish
vegetable oil for frying
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c milk
4 (6 oz) fillets cod
2 T flour for coating
2 c quick oats
salt and pepper to taste
Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
In a bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Coat cod fillets with flour; shake off excess. Dip cod in egg mixture; allow excess to drip off. Coat with oats.
Place fish one at a time in hot oil; fry about 2 1/2 minutes, then turn over, and fry about 2 1/2 minutes more. Remove to paper towels. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Comment: I seasoned the fish with salt, pepper and garlic powder before coating in flour - makes it much more flavorful.
Patty's note: I mistakenly gave credit to McCann's on the handout for this.
Salad Crunchers
2 c old-fashioned oats
1/2 c butter, melted
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
1/3 c wheat germ
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t seasoned salt
In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well. Spread into an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
Fabulous Homemade Bread
1/2 c warm water
.75 oz active dry yeast
1/4 c bread flour
1 T white sugar
2 c quick oats
2 c whole wheat flour
4 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 Ts salt
2/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c vegetable oil
10 c bread flour
In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 1/2 c warm water, 1 T sugar, 1/4 c bread flour, and yeast. Let grow for about 5 minutes. It will bubble almost immediately.
Measure oats, 4 1/2 c warm water, whole wheat flour, salt, 2/3 c sugar, and 2/3 c oil into the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a dough hook for 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed slightly, and begin adding bread flour 1/2 to 1 c at a time until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Humidity determines how much flour you need before the bread pulls away from the edge of the bowl. It is normal for the dough to be sticky.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Shape loaves, and place in greased six 8 x 4 inch pans. Let rise until dough is 1 inch above rim of pans, usually 1 hour.
Bake at 350° for 35 min., or until tops are browned. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Herbed Oat Pan Bread
2 c water
1 c quick oats
3 Ts butter
3 3/4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
.5 oz active dry yeast
2 t salt
1 egg
TOPPING:
6 T butter
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t dried basil
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t dried oregano
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil; stir in oats. Remove from heat. Stir in butter; cool to 120-130°.
In a bowl, combine 1-1/2 c flour, sugar, yeast and salt; set aside. Beat in oat mixture till moistened. Add egg. Beat on medium speed for 3 min. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 min. Cover and let rest for 15 min. Punch dough down. Press dough into a greased 9X13 pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 min. Brush with 4 T melted butter. Bake at 375° F for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining butter. Combine cheese, basil, garlic powder and oregano; sprinkle over bread. Bake 10-15 min. longer or until brown.
Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1/2 c butter, soft
1/2 c butter shortening
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t salt
3 c rolled oats
1 c raisins
Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
From comments: sub butter for shortening and cook 9-10 min
Servings: 36 Calories: 144, Total Fat: 6.3, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 100, Carbs: 20.5, Fiber: 1.1g, Protein: 2.1
Lemon Oat Shortbread
1-1/3 c powdered sugar
1 lb butter, soft
4 t grated lemon peel
2-1/2 c flour
2 c oats
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and lemon peel with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add combined flour, oats, baking powder and salt; mix well. Divide dough in half; wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until firm.
Heat oven to 325° F. Remove one portion of dough from refrigerator. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 10-inch square. With sharp knife, cut into 30 rectangles (each 3 inches long and 1 inch wide). Transfer rectangles to ungreased cookie sheets; prick each three times with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.
Cook’s Notes: If using old fashioned oats, increase the flour to 2-3/4 c.
Cake Mix Cookies V
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c butter
2 eggs
1 yellow cake mix
2/3 c quick oats
Preheat the oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix butter and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in cake mix, quick oats, and walnuts. Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass that has been buttered and dipped in sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 min, or until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 min. before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tropical Lime Oat Bars
14 oz low-fat sweetened condensed milk
3/4 c macadamia nuts, chopped
3/4 c sugar
½ c butter, soft
2 c oats
1-1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt (optional)
1/2 c light sour cream
1/2 c fresh lime juice
2 t grated lime peel
1/2 c shredded coconut
Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan with cooking spray.
In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add combined oats, flour and salt; mix until crumbly. Reserve 1 c oat mixture for topping; transfer to wire rack. Press remaining oat mixture onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes.
In same bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime peel; mix well. Pour evenly over crust.
In medium bowl, combine reserved oat mixture with coconut and nuts; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over filling, patting gently.
Bake 30 to 34 minutes or until topping is light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered in refrigerator.
Patty's note: excellent time to use your homemade sweetened condensed milk.
Swedish Oatmeal Lace
1/2 c butter
1/4 c sifted flour
1/2 c white sugar
3/4 c quick oats
2 Ts light cream
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease and flour baking sheets. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add rest of ingredients and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to bubble.
Remove from heat and stir briskly for a few strokes. Drop by rounded tfuls about 4 inches apart on well-greased and floured baking sheet.
Bake only 5-6 cookies at a time. Bake for about 5-6 minutes until golden brown.
Cool wafers for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove carefully with spatula and place over rolling pin, glass, or mug so they curl and become firm. If cookies harden before they can be removed from cookie sheet, reheat in oven again a few seconds to soften.
Note: Do one test to check oven temp and quantity of batter. The bigger the cookie, the more fragile. Use 1/2 tsp for test.
Skin Soothing Milk Bath
1/2 c. powdered milk
1/2 c. powdered buttermilk
1/2 c. cornstarch
2 T. honey powder (or honey)
1/2 c. rolled oats, ground
2 T. Sweet Almond oil (extra virgin olive oil can be substituted)
1 t. of fragrance oil or essential oil of choice (may be omitted for a clean, milky scented bath, or you may add vanilla extract or other flavored extract instead for scent.)
Blend all the ingredients until well mixed. Store in an air-tight
Patty's note: I believe I got this from All About Food Storage.
Patty"s note: One last thing. The question was asked in class about storage of granola. I don't have a problem with storage because it is gone so quickly. I thought that items such as the lime juice granola or the peanut butter granola may not store as well. In putting this on my blog I reread notes a post made by one of my granola recipe friends. Flax seed and wheat germ do not last long because of the oil in them. If you want to store your granola for longer then you may not want to use them.
Rolled Oats and Steel Cut Oats – Is There a Difference?
Oats - All About Grains
Using oats in Cooking
Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats Made from 100% natural whole grain Quaker quality rolled oats, Old Fashioned Quaker Oats add extra fiber and a heartier texture because the oats are larger. Patty’s note: old-fashioned or “rolled” oats can be exchanged with quick oats in baking. The old-fashioned just make things a little chewier.
Steel Cut Oats Made from 100% whole grain oats that are steel cut, rather than rolled, they offer you a hearty texture and a rich, nutty taste. They're a great option for baking. Patty’s note: in the grocery store steel cut coats tend to be a little more or a lot more expensive. If you have your own adjustable wheat grinder you can make your own “steel cuts oats” by grinding oat groats on an coarse setting. Both the groats and the steel cut are often available at grain supply stores much more cheaply.
Quick Oats Quaker Quick Oats are also an excellent choice for baking as they are also made from 100% natural whole grains. They tend to add a slightly thinner texture than Old Fashioned Oats, as Quick Oats have been cut 2 to 3 times prior to steaming and rolling in order to cook in just 1 minute.
From Quakeroats.com
Recipes
Patty's note: To make room on my handout I reworded some of these recipes so they may not be exactly as linked. I also did not copy all of the comments/reviews for recipes, just a few that were interesting to me. Also, I have not tried all of them, though I have tried most. I just wanted to make sure to share a good variety of recipes.
Instant Oatmeal ala-Home
3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats
Salt
Small sized Zip Baggies
Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender and blend on high until powdery. Set aside in a small bowl, and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. If you're using a food processor, you can do the 1 cup of oats in one batch. Put the following ingredients into each zip baggie: 1/4 cup un-powdered oats, 2 Tbsp. powdered oats, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Store in an airtight container.
To serve: Empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water - for thinner oatmeal, use more water. Patty’s note: this is way too thin for our family. We put in another 1-8-1/4 more of oats.
Variations:
Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal- add 1 T sugar, 1/4 t cinnamon, and 2 T chopped dried apples.
Sweetened Oatmeal- add 1 T sugar or 1 packet 'Equal' artificial sweetener.
Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal - add 1 T brown sugar & 1/4 t cinnamon
Oatmeal w/Raisins & Brown Sugar - add 1 T packed brown sugar and 1 T raisins.
Health Nut Oatmeal - add 2 T wheat germ
Fruit & Cream Oatmeal - add 1 T non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 T dried fruit
Fun Fruit Oatmeal - To each packet, add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.
Confetti Oatmeal - add 1 t decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.
S'More Oatmeal - add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 T Milk Chocolate Chips.
Cookies n Cream Oatmeal - add 1 crushed Oreo cookie and 1 T non-dairy coffee creamer.
Exploding Oatmeal - add 1 tsp. sugar, and 1/2 t 'Pop Rocks' candy.
Patty's note: we discovered that you can make "flour" out of banana chips as well. You can add this to you oatmeal packets for more flavor.
From The Dollar Stretcher
Foods to flavor oatmeal and/or oatmeal packets: honey, flax seed meal (nutty flavor, fiber and nut Omega-3 fatty acids. ( Patty's note: This is meal, not the whole seeds. You want to buy it already milled or grind them yourself. Don't grind them in a wheat grinder - that can cause a problem. I purchased a small, cheap coffee grinder that I used only for flax), chopped nuts, maple syrup, coconut flakes, pineapple chunks, mango, banana, cocoa powder and peanut butter, wheat germ, dates, sea salt, cranberries, vanilla - powdered or liquid.
Ideas from Coach Levi
Baked Oatmeal I
1/2 c vegetable oil
3/4 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 t salt
1 T baking powder
3 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c raisins
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
Beat together oil and sugar. Mix in eggs, milk, salt, baking powder, oatmeal. Beat well then stir in raisins. Pour into a lightly grease pie pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, preheat oven to 350°.
Bake in preheated oven until firm, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.
Suggestions from comments section: substitute applesauce for oil.
Oatmeal Pancakes
3/4 c quick-cooking oats
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sugar
1 egg
1 c buttermilk
3 Ts butter, melted
In a bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda and sugar. Combine the egg, buttermilk and butter; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown.
Health Nut Blueberry Muffins
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c wheat flour
3/4 c white sugar
1/4 c oat bran
1/4 c quick oats
1/4 c wheat germ
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 c blueberries
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 banana, mashed
1 c buttermilk
1 egg
1 T vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 12 c muffin pan, or line with paper muffin cup.
In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, oat bran, quick-cooking oats, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently stir in the blueberries and walnuts. In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed banana, buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix just until blended. Spoon into muffin cup, filling all the way to the top.
Bake for 15 to 18 min. or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly touched.
Suggestions from comments section: use all wheat flour instead half wheat and half white, substitute applesauce for oil, use wheat bran instead of oat bran, add 1 t cinnamon and 1/2 t nutmeg or replace the banana for pumpkin and blueberries for chocolate chips.
Banana Oat Muffins
1 c rolled oats
1 c all-purpose flour
1 T rolled oats
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter, soft
1 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 c mashed ripe banana
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c rolled oats
4 T brown sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
2 T butter, chilled
1/4 c chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 12 muffin c or line with paper muffin liners.
Place 1 c rolled oats in a food processor and process until ground. In a large bowl, combine ground oats with flour, 1 T rolled oats, chopped walnuts, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the banana and vanilla. Stir in sour cream. Mix oat/flour mixture into egg mixture. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans.
To make Topping: In a small bowl, combine 1/3 c rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in 1/4 c chopped walnuts. Generously sprinkle muffins with topping.
Bake for 25 to 30 min. until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Suggestions from comments section: reduce butter 1/4-1/3 cup, substitute wheat flour for white. Substitute extra banana for ½ the butter and nonfat plain yogurt for sour cream
Harvest Fruit Bars
6 oz diced dried mixed fruit bits
1-1/2 t apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
1 c chopped banana
2/3 c orange juice
1-3/4 c whole wheat flour
1-1/2 c Oats
1/2 lb butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c chopped nuts
Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, combine dried fruit, banana, orange juice and 1 t of apple pie spice; set aside.
In medium bowl, combine flour, oats and remaining 1/2 t apple pie spice; mix well. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugar together with electric mixer until creamy. Add oat mixture; beat until crumbly. Reserve 3/4 c mixture for topping. Press remaining oat mixture onto bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
Spread fruit evenly over crust to within 1/4-inch of edge. Add nuts to reserved oat mixture; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over fruit; pat down lightly.
Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely; cut into bars. Store loosely covered.
Cook’s Notes: If using old fashioned oats, decrease orange juice to 1/2 cup.
Mama's Granola (from internet friend)
1.5 c canola oil
1.5 c honey
8 c rolled oats
1 c raw sliced almonds
1 c raw walnuts (broken)
1 c flake coconut
1 c raw sunflower seeds
1 c powdered milk
1/2 c whole wheat flour
Pour oil into 4c measuring cup. Add honey. Set aside. Mix dry ingredients. Pour in honey & oil; stir until well blended (no dry spots).
Turn into large broiler pan. Bake in pre-heated 300° oven (middle rack) 30 min. Take out and pour back into same mixing bowl. Stir. Return to pan. Bake 15 min & repeat process one more time. (TOTAL BAKING TIME: 1 hour)
When finished pour back into bowl to cool, adding raisins or chopped dates, if desired. Stir occasionally as it cools down.
Heart Healthy Granola (from internet friend)
Mix in large bowl:
6 c of rolled oats
2/3 c wheat germ
2/3 c of brown sugar
1-t cinnamon
2/3 c chopped almonds pinch of salt
2/3 c large seeds (sunflower,pepita, pumpkin)
2/3 c small seeds (flax and sesame)
Mix in small bowl:
2/3 c of canola oil
1/2 c of honey
2 t Vanilla
Combine both mixtures, spread on a large, deep oiled pan. Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes, stirring 1/2 way through, until golden.
Pour granola back into bowl and stir while granola is cooling. This helps it to dry completely. once completely dry you can store it in an airtight container. Dried fruit may be added after baking.
Patty’s note: These two recipes come from friends. They taught me to play with it. Exchange some nuts for others. Add a little bit less oil. Use almond extract instead of vanilla. Add mini chocolate chips after it cools.
Peanut Butter Granola
Mix &; heat in 4-cup glass jug for 4 min. on HIGH:
1-1/2 c white sugar
1-1/3 c margarine
1/2 t vanilla extract
2/3 c peanut butter
1/2 t salt 1 c water
Mix in large bowl:
12 c rolled oats 1 t cinnamon
Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix quickly and well. Put onto two small greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 325° for 25 minutes. Exchange cookie sheets in oven, cook 10 minutes.
Turn oven off and let granola dry for several hours. Store in closed jar on kitchen counter and watch it disappear.
Honey-Lime Granola w/ Almonds
2 T frozen limeade concentrate
1 small lime, zest and juice
3 c rolled oats
1 c sliced almonds
1/4 c wheat germ
1/2 c unsweetened coconut
1/2 c oat bran
3 T flax seeds
1/2 c honey
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 250°. Lightly grease a foiled-lined baking sheet. Mix oats, almonds, wheat germ, coconut, oat bran, and flax seeds in a large bowl. Whisk together honey, vegetable oil, limeade concentrate, salt, vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice in a separate bowl. Pour liquids into oat mixture and stir well. Spread oats on to the pan.
Bake until golden brown and lightly crispy, about 1.5 hours, stirring every 15 min. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Fruit & Oat Smoothie
1 T Quick Oatmeal
1 c cold Skimmed Milk
1 large Banana
1 c frozen Fruit
Place all ingredients in blender for about 1 minute until smooth. If desired, sweeten to taste.
Patty’s note: to make more smooth, puree oats in blender to make flour and then add the rest of the ingredients.
ABC Meatball Soup
MEATBALLS:
1 lb extra lean ground turkey breast or 90% lean ground beef
3/4 c Oats
1/3 c barbecue sauce or catsup
SOUP:
48 oz. reduced-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1/4 c alphabet-shaped pasta
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables (do not thaw)
Heat broiler. Lightly spray rack of broiler pan with cooking spray.
Roll mixture into 24 meatballs. Arrange meatballs on broiler pan. Broil meatballs 6 to 8 inches from heat about 6 minutes or until cooked through, turning once.
While meatballs cook, bring chicken broth to boil in 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pasta and frozen vegetables; return to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 8 minutes or until vegetables and pasta are tender. Add meatballs and cook 1 minute. Serve immediately.
Patty's notes: I skipped half a paragraph from the original about the forming of the meatballs. I didn't find it necessary.
Shanghai Meatball Soup
MEATBALLS:
1-1/2 t minced fresh ginger or 1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 lb ground turkey
3/4 c oats
2 T lite soy sauce
1 T dry sherry. optional
2 t sesame oil, optional
1/2 t black pepper
SOUP
29 oz. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 c water
1-1/2 c halved pea pods
1-1/2 c bean sprouts
1 c thinly sliced carrots
1/4 c green onions
Spray rack of broiler pan with cooking spray or oil lightly.
In large bowl, combine meatball ingredients; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into 1-inch meatballs; place on rack of broiler pan. Broil 6 to 8 inches from heat 7 to 10 minutes or until cooked through.
In 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, combine meatballs with chicken broth and water; bring to a boil over high heat. Add pea pods and carrot; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Turn off heat; add bean sprouts and green onion. Serve immediately.
Patty's note: this was a favorite at our house.
Oatmeal Baked Chicken
(3 1/2lb) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
1 1/2 c quick oats
1 T paprika
1 T chili powder
1 t salt
3/4 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t pepper
1/2 c milk
2 T butter
Coat a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a shallow bowl or large resealable plastic bag, combine oats, paprika, chili powder, salt if desired, garlic powder, cumin and pepper. Dip chicken in milk, then coat with oat mixture. Place in prepared baking dish. Drizzle with butter. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 45-50 min. or until juices run clear.
316 calories, 146 mg sodium, 62 mg cholesterol, 24 gm carbohydrate, 28 gm protein, 12 gm fat.
Suggestions from comments section: substitute chicken breast cut into strips for 35 min.
Onion Meat Loaf
2 eggs
1/2 c ketchup
3/4 c quick oats
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 lb ground beef
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, ketchup, oats and soup mix. Crumble beef over mixture; mix well. Shape into a round loaf.
Cut three 20-in. x 3-in. strips of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Crisscross the strips so they resemble the spokes of a wheel. Place meat loaf in the center of the strips; pull the strips up and bend the edges to form handles. Grasp the foil handles to transfer loaf to a 3-qt. slow cooker. (Leave the foil in while meat loaf cooks.)
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until a meat thermometer reaches 160° F. Using foil strips, lift meat loaf out of slow cooker.
Southwestern Chicken Salad
3 c cubed, grilled chicken breast
1/4 c diced yellow bell pepper
1/4 c diced green bell pepper
1 T minced, pickled, jalapeno chillies
1/4 c chopped cilantro
1 T minced garlic
1/2 c diced red onion
1/4 c diced jicama
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sour cream
1 T fresh lime juice
1 T fresh orange juice
Salt & pepper to taste
2 c Steel Cut Oatmeal
Preheat oven to 300°. Place oatmeal on a baking sheet, with sides, in preheated oven. Toast, stirring frequently, for about 20 min. until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Place in heat proof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Allow to sit for about 20 min. or until just tender but not gummy. Drain off excess liquid. Place drained oats in a clean kitchen towel and tightly squeeze to remove any remaining moisture.
Combine chicken, oatmeal, onion, jicama, peppers, cilantro, garlic and jalapeno in a mixing bowl.
Whisk together mayonnaise and sour cream. Beat in lime and orange juice and stir into chicken mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve on a bed of lettuce.
Serves 6. Calories:327, Total Fat:12.7, Sat. Fat: 3.7, Sodium: 0.3 Carbs: 35.8, Protein: 17.4
Patty’s note: in place of the peppers and onion I added a drained can of Rotel. Also, make sure NOT to overcook the oats.
Oat Crusted Fish
vegetable oil for frying
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c milk
4 (6 oz) fillets cod
2 T flour for coating
2 c quick oats
salt and pepper to taste
Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
In a bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Coat cod fillets with flour; shake off excess. Dip cod in egg mixture; allow excess to drip off. Coat with oats.
Place fish one at a time in hot oil; fry about 2 1/2 minutes, then turn over, and fry about 2 1/2 minutes more. Remove to paper towels. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Comment: I seasoned the fish with salt, pepper and garlic powder before coating in flour - makes it much more flavorful.
Patty's note: I mistakenly gave credit to McCann's on the handout for this.
Salad Crunchers
2 c old-fashioned oats
1/2 c butter, melted
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
1/3 c wheat germ
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t seasoned salt
In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well. Spread into an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
Fabulous Homemade Bread
1/2 c warm water
.75 oz active dry yeast
1/4 c bread flour
1 T white sugar
2 c quick oats
2 c whole wheat flour
4 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 Ts salt
2/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c vegetable oil
10 c bread flour
In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 1/2 c warm water, 1 T sugar, 1/4 c bread flour, and yeast. Let grow for about 5 minutes. It will bubble almost immediately.
Measure oats, 4 1/2 c warm water, whole wheat flour, salt, 2/3 c sugar, and 2/3 c oil into the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a dough hook for 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed slightly, and begin adding bread flour 1/2 to 1 c at a time until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Humidity determines how much flour you need before the bread pulls away from the edge of the bowl. It is normal for the dough to be sticky.
Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Shape loaves, and place in greased six 8 x 4 inch pans. Let rise until dough is 1 inch above rim of pans, usually 1 hour.
Bake at 350° for 35 min., or until tops are browned. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Herbed Oat Pan Bread
2 c water
1 c quick oats
3 Ts butter
3 3/4 c flour
1/4 c sugar
.5 oz active dry yeast
2 t salt
1 egg
TOPPING:
6 T butter
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t dried basil
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t dried oregano
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil; stir in oats. Remove from heat. Stir in butter; cool to 120-130°.
In a bowl, combine 1-1/2 c flour, sugar, yeast and salt; set aside. Beat in oat mixture till moistened. Add egg. Beat on medium speed for 3 min. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 min. Cover and let rest for 15 min. Punch dough down. Press dough into a greased 9X13 pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 min. Brush with 4 T melted butter. Bake at 375° F for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining butter. Combine cheese, basil, garlic powder and oregano; sprinkle over bread. Bake 10-15 min. longer or until brown.
Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1/2 c butter, soft
1/2 c butter shortening
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t salt
3 c rolled oats
1 c raisins
Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
From comments: sub butter for shortening and cook 9-10 min
Servings: 36 Calories: 144, Total Fat: 6.3, Cholesterol: 19mg, Sodium: 100, Carbs: 20.5, Fiber: 1.1g, Protein: 2.1
Lemon Oat Shortbread
1-1/3 c powdered sugar
1 lb butter, soft
4 t grated lemon peel
2-1/2 c flour
2 c oats
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and lemon peel with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add combined flour, oats, baking powder and salt; mix well. Divide dough in half; wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until firm.
Heat oven to 325° F. Remove one portion of dough from refrigerator. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 10-inch square. With sharp knife, cut into 30 rectangles (each 3 inches long and 1 inch wide). Transfer rectangles to ungreased cookie sheets; prick each three times with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.
Cook’s Notes: If using old fashioned oats, increase the flour to 2-3/4 c.
Cake Mix Cookies V
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c butter
2 eggs
1 yellow cake mix
2/3 c quick oats
Preheat the oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix butter and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in cake mix, quick oats, and walnuts. Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass that has been buttered and dipped in sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 min, or until golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 min. before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tropical Lime Oat Bars
14 oz low-fat sweetened condensed milk
3/4 c macadamia nuts, chopped
3/4 c sugar
½ c butter, soft
2 c oats
1-1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt (optional)
1/2 c light sour cream
1/2 c fresh lime juice
2 t grated lime peel
1/2 c shredded coconut
Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan with cooking spray.
In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add combined oats, flour and salt; mix until crumbly. Reserve 1 c oat mixture for topping; transfer to wire rack. Press remaining oat mixture onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes.
In same bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime peel; mix well. Pour evenly over crust.
In medium bowl, combine reserved oat mixture with coconut and nuts; mix well. Sprinkle evenly over filling, patting gently.
Bake 30 to 34 minutes or until topping is light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered in refrigerator.
Patty's note: excellent time to use your homemade sweetened condensed milk.
Swedish Oatmeal Lace
1/2 c butter
1/4 c sifted flour
1/2 c white sugar
3/4 c quick oats
2 Ts light cream
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease and flour baking sheets. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add rest of ingredients and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to bubble.
Remove from heat and stir briskly for a few strokes. Drop by rounded tfuls about 4 inches apart on well-greased and floured baking sheet.
Bake only 5-6 cookies at a time. Bake for about 5-6 minutes until golden brown.
Cool wafers for 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove carefully with spatula and place over rolling pin, glass, or mug so they curl and become firm. If cookies harden before they can be removed from cookie sheet, reheat in oven again a few seconds to soften.
Note: Do one test to check oven temp and quantity of batter. The bigger the cookie, the more fragile. Use 1/2 tsp for test.
Skin Soothing Milk Bath
1/2 c. powdered milk
1/2 c. powdered buttermilk
1/2 c. cornstarch
2 T. honey powder (or honey)
1/2 c. rolled oats, ground
2 T. Sweet Almond oil (extra virgin olive oil can be substituted)
1 t. of fragrance oil or essential oil of choice (may be omitted for a clean, milky scented bath, or you may add vanilla extract or other flavored extract instead for scent.)
Blend all the ingredients until well mixed. Store in an air-tight
Patty's note: I believe I got this from All About Food Storage.
Patty"s note: One last thing. The question was asked in class about storage of granola. I don't have a problem with storage because it is gone so quickly. I thought that items such as the lime juice granola or the peanut butter granola may not store as well. In putting this on my blog I reread notes a post made by one of my granola recipe friends. Flax seed and wheat germ do not last long because of the oil in them. If you want to store your granola for longer then you may not want to use them.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Case Lot Sales
Case Lot Sales are here or are coming, depending upon the store. I found an excellent resource to help you in deciding where to buy items: Prepared LDS Family. This woman has created a table of some every day priced foods and case lot priced foods so that you can tell who has the least expensive foods. It also lists brand names and packaging. It's 18 pages, but I was able to print it doubled sided, two pages to a page so there is not so much printing and paper. (I don't recommend that small if you need larger lettering).
What interested me was that it showed that one store didn't fit all needs. Here are some things to consider when purchasing your food:
LDS cannery bulk bags
LDS cannery cans
Warehouse Stores
Sales and Caselot Sales
What interested me was that it showed that one store didn't fit all needs. Here are some things to consider when purchasing your food:
LDS cannery bulk bags
- Often (not always) the cheapest on dry goods
- Need to find a way to package long term
- Need to purchase buckets and other items to store long term
- Can be heavy and hard to carry.
- Can be hard to open if stored in buckets with regular lids. (Gamma seal lids are wonderful to have on the bucket you are currently using!)
LDS cannery cans
- More expensive than bulk dry goods, but in small amounts it is often the cheapest
- No need to package when you get home for long term storage.
- No need to purchase any packaging to store them or oxygen packets, dry ice etc. to keep them from bugs
- Rodents have a hard time getting into them
- May rust, especially in humid climates or damp basements
- Easier to handle and open
Warehouse Stores
- Often the lowest prices in some items
- Need membership to shop there
- Limited selection of items or brands
- Can buy as much as you want
- May need to find a way to package long term
Sales and Caselot Sales
- On some items there is no better time or place to get the lowest price
- Variety of items and brands
- Often limited in amount bought, either by store or by stores stocking enough items for sale
- May need to find a way to package long term
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Finance Websites
I'm sitting here at Education Week enjoying myself. In one of my classes this morning I was told about some good financial resources. I immediately thought they would be good to post here. So while I was taking a lunch break I happened upon a computer lab I could use and ducked right in.
The teachers here are limited on the websites they can recommend to the students. Our teacher, Brother Sudweeks, told us though, we are blessed to have a couple that are approved and are really good. Not surprisingly they come through the church. If you are familiar with provident living at all you are probably aware of the first one: providentliving.org.
The second site comes through BYU and has a lot of info on it. I haven't had a chance to really look through it yet, but I'm excited to do that when I get home. It is personalfinace.byu.edu. It helps you to create a budget, learn about investing, allows you to download information from workshops. you can even find the info from the class I am taking this week, but I'll have to link you to thatlater since I need togo eat lunch.
Have fun!
The teachers here are limited on the websites they can recommend to the students. Our teacher, Brother Sudweeks, told us though, we are blessed to have a couple that are approved and are really good. Not surprisingly they come through the church. If you are familiar with provident living at all you are probably aware of the first one: providentliving.org.
The second site comes through BYU and has a lot of info on it. I haven't had a chance to really look through it yet, but I'm excited to do that when I get home. It is personalfinace.byu.edu. It helps you to create a budget, learn about investing, allows you to download information from workshops. you can even find the info from the class I am taking this week, but I'll have to link you to thatlater since I need togo eat lunch.
Have fun!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Historic Nauvoo Bread Recipe
I've been away for 2 weeks on an LDS church history tour. While in Nauvoo we were able to visit the Family Living Center. Here we saw demonstratins of weaving, learned how to make a barrel and pottery and even got to sample bread. When I tasted the bread and found out there was a recipe for it online I thought this would be my next blog post. It was yummy.
Nauvoo Bread
Nauvoo Bread
5 cups hot water
1 ½ Tbs salt
½ cup potato flakes
½ cup oil or shortening
½ cup sugar
2 Tbs yeast
1 cup powdered milk
5 cups whole wheat flour
5 – 9 cups white flour
Combine hot water, shortening, potato flakes, powdered milk, and sugar. Stir to dissolve shortening. When temperature is tepid, add yeast. Mix in 5 cups whole wheat flour and salt. Stir to a smooth sponge. Add white flour to make smooth and elastic dough while kneading for 15 minutes. Let rise until double (about 1 hour), punch down and let rise again. Shape into loaves and allow to rise. Bake in 375 degree over for about 35 minutes.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Milk Class
Sometimes I think when you feel calm about something like teaching a class then you ought to worry. Last night as I had 6 nine year olds jumping all around to the music of G-force for a birthday party I wasn't worried about my class. This morning as I Stood in front of everyone my mind went blank. It didn't help that I'd misplaced my notes. (Yes, found them on the floor of the car when we got home). Or that after reading my recipes now I find many typos. Luckily, that's all over with!
I'm posting the recipes here, but will have hard copies of that tomorrow at church if you prefer it. All recipes use non-instant milk powder unless noted.
Milk Tips
The best way to use your powdered milk is to add water and drink it. You can add a little bit of reconstituted milk to the milk you regularly drink to get used to it. Just use a greater ratio of it to regular milk as time goes on. It is best served cold - make it the night before. Add a little bit of vanilla or sugar to improve flavor if desired.
The easiest way to mix it is add the powder to half the water you want to use. When the powder is fairly well mixed add the rest of the water.
Use about 1 cup non-instant milk powder for every 2 c instant milk powder in recipes. That will vary, but it's a good rule of thumb.
I use an emulsion blender to mix my milk. It's quick and easy. (If you attended my class then know things don't mix up quite as quick as I did them. Rex let me know afterward that some of the stuff wasn't quite mixed up).
Types of Powdered Milk
A few weeks ago I was making copies at Office Max. There was a lady there making copies for the powdered milk class she was teaching. Thanks go out to her for this information:
Regular nonfat (non-instant)
● More expensive, but you use less product.
● Sold by LDS cannery and other companies
●Takes less room to store
● Best flavor shelf life is 3-5 years. Will store 10+ years if stored right, but taste will start to go down.
Instant nonfat
● Cheaper to buy, but you use twice as much
● It is run through a second process so it is easier to mix
● Best flavor shelf life is 3-5 years. Will store 10+ years if stored right, but taste will start to go down.
Whole
● This runs around 4% milk fat
● Short shelf life - some sources recommend storing refrigerated
Whey Based
● Morning Moo is an example of this
● Made from sweet dairy whey with vitamins A & D added
● Dissolved in tepid hot water and then cold water can be added (about 1 part hot to 7 parts cold)
● Cannot be used in puddings, ice cream and yogurt (won’t set up)
Soy and Rice Based
● Available for those who have allergies
● Generally expensive and hard to find
Recipes
Whole Milk
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup powdered milk
Evaporated Milk
1 Cup water
2/3 Cup powdered milk
Buttermilk or sour milk
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup powdered milk
1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice
Buttermilk
To 1 Cup milk add 1 Tbsp. vinegar Or lemon juice and let stand for five minutes.
Buttermilk
1 Cup non-instant dry milk
3 Cups slightly warm water
½ Cup commercial or previously made buttermilk
Shake or beat until blended. Cover and allow to stand at room temperature until clabbered, 6 - 12 hours. Refrigerate after clabbering. Makes 1 quart. Note: Buttermilk will keep in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 weeks. It may be frozen. It will be necessary to use a fresh start of buttermilk occasionally.
Drinkable Powdered Milk
To improve the flavor of powdered milk, mix it half and half with whole or 2% milk. Another suggestion would be to try adding a little sugar or vanilla to enhance the flavor. Let it chill several hours or overnight before drinking.
“Eagle brand” Sweetened Condensed milk
1 Cup hot water
2 Cups sugar
4 Cups powdered milk
1/4 Cup butter
Blend very well in blender. May be stored in the refrigerator or frozen.
Condensed Milk
½ Cup hot water
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup powdered milk
Blend thoroughly in blender. Can be stored in refrigerator or frozen.
Sweetened Condensed Milk (Office Max sister) - this is the recipe from class
1 c water
2 T butter
2 c sugar or splenda
2 c dry milk powder (non-instant and not an alternative) or 3 c instant
Bring water, butter, and sugar to a boil. Add milk powder and blend till smooth. Refrigerate. Will store well in fridge for up to one year. Makes 1 quart.
Whipped Evaporated Milk
1 Cup evaporated milk
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Thoroughly chill evaporated milk. Add lemon juice and whip until stiff. Sweeten with 2-4 Tbsp. sugar, and flavor as desired. Makes 3 cups.
Patty's note: I didn't succeed in making this. I assume the milk needs to be cooler and one class member tells me that the lemon juice is quite notifiable.
Whipped Topping
3 ½ T. dry milk
1 Cup boiling water
2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp. cold water
2 - 4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Dissolve the milk in the cup of water and scald. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Combine the scalded milk, dissolved gelatin and sugar. Stir and chill in the refrigerator until it jells. Now beat the mixture until it acquires the consistency of whipped cream. Add the vanilla and whip again.
Orange Julius
2 Cups orange juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ Cup dry milk powder
½ tsp. vanilla
½ Cup crushed ice
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until ice is totally crushed and drink is smooth.
Patty’s note: use orange drink from cannery as a substitute to orange juice.
Tropical Shake
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 medium banana
1 Cup skim milk
1 Cup orange juice
Crushed ice
Mint, optional
Chill all ingredients thoroughly. Blend undrained pineapple for 2 minutes. Add banana and blend until smooth. Blend in milk, then orange juice. Pour over ice. May garnish with mint.
Cocoa Mix
15 Cups instant powdered milk
1 Cup cocoa
1 ½ Cups sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
Makes enough for 10 quarts or 40 1-cup servings.
To use the mix:, add ½ cup of mix to 1 cup hot water for a warm drink or ice cold water for chocolate milk.
Buttermilk Vanillla Syrup
1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
Heat sugar, milk and butter; bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat; add vanilla and soda. Stir well. Mixture will become very foamy. Syrup can be served immediately over pancakes or waffles. Can also be served over strawberries or other fresh fruit. Leftovers can be refrigerated and heated for later use.
I meant to share this in class. I made this with powdered buttermilk and without. I like the regular buttermilk better as it is thicker, but the powdered version does still taste good.
Homemade Cottage Cheese (Office Max sister)
2 c water
3 T lemon juice or vinegar
3/4 c dry milk powder
Blend water and milk powder in a saucepan until it starts to steam, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. (Or place in microwave until it foams and rises to top of bowl.)
If using instant milk bring water to a boil, remove from heat and then stir in milk with a whisk.
Drip juice/vinegar around the edge of the pan and gently stir. Milk will immediately start to curdle separating into curds and whey. Let rest 1 minute.
Pour into colander. Rinse with HOT water, then rinse with cold water and break apart into as small of curds as you want (about 1 minute until no whey drips). Makes a bout 1 ½ cups curds.
Add sour cream or yogurt to make it creamier. Add salt to taste.
If you didn't like this in class please try it again on your own. After tasting the class version I thought it was pretty nasty. Rex said he liked it. Remember to add just a little salt to start with. Also add just a touch of yogurt and built up. I don't like it near so creamy as I made it in class.
Homemade Pudding Allrecipes.com
Pudding Mix:
2 3/4 c milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
Pudding:
2 1/4 cups milk or water
1 egg, beaten
1 T butter or margarine
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
Combine pudding mix ingredients; store in an airtight container. For pudding, combine 1-1/4 cups mix and milk in a 2-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount into egg; return to pan. Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; add butter and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into dishes; cover and chill 2-3 hours.
For chocolate pudding: Add 3 T baking cocoa to 1-1/4 cups pudding mix before mixing with milk.
Patty’s Alteration of Homemade Pudding
Pudding Mix:
2 3/4 c milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
4 T butter powder
4 T egg powder
1 ½ T vanilla extract powder
Combine pudding mix ingredients; store in an airtight container.
Pudding: 2 1/4 cups milk or water
1 1/4 c + 2 ½ T pudding mix
Flavorings as desired
Combine mix and milk in a 2-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil for 1 min. Turn heat to low. Cook for 2 more min. stirring constantly Remove from the heat; add flavoring. Mix well. Pour into dish; cover and chill.
The first version of the pudding is flufflier. The powdered version is more dense.
Yogurt (Office Max sister)
3 3/4 c warm tap water
1 cup dry milk powder
2-4 T plain yogurt (LIVE CULTURES REQUIRED)
1. Combine the warm water with the powder and place in a medium saucepan.
2. If desired add 1/3 c sugar and 1 T vanilla extract for vanilla yogurt. Also try other flavorings.
3. Heat the milk mixture to 180 degrees or until small bubbles form on the side of the pan and the milk begins to rise up -about 5 minutes. (Patty’s note: I’ve also done this in the microwave for about 4 minutes).
4. Pour the scalded milk into a pitcher and allow to cool to 100 degrees - about 50 minutes. (Patty’s note: I usually wait till it drops below 120 degrees - where the heat will kill the cultures). Remove the yogurt start about halfway through the wait or it will shock the starter. When the milk has cooled mix the yogurt into the milk.
5. Pour into a clean quart canning jar and cover with lid. Wrap the jar in a towel or blanket and place in a cooler. Be sure it is wrapped tight without any room for air to circulate around the jar. Pack it snug. Let the yogurt sit for 9 hours.
6. Remove the jar. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
7. Note: you can place a couple of T of your favorite jam in the bottom of the glass jar before pouring in the un-set yogurt.
8. Save a bit from this batch to use as a starter for your next batch - then you don’t have to buy the yogurt again. At least not for a little while. Eventually you might want to use a fresh starter as the taste will get stronger with each batch (about every 3-4th time).
9. You can buy a large container of yogurt and freeze the unused portion in ice cube trays to use for later yogurt.
10. Chill
Sour Cream
Set strainer in a large bowl and line strainer with thick paper towel or cheesecloth. Pour in plain yogurt, cover with paper towel. Let sit in fridge for 6 hours.
Cream Cheese
Follow directions for sour cream except let set overnight.
Fruit Smoothies
2 Cups bottled fruit with juice
1 - 2 drops almond flavoring Or 1 T lemon juice
4 T dry milk
3/4 c water
Sugar to taste
Put ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add ½ tray of ice cubes and blend until smooth. (Use almond flavoring with cherries and large stone fruits, lemon juice with berries.)
Variations:
To use fresh fruit, use one cup of fruit and 1 cup of water and sweeten to taste.
In place of the 3/4 cup water and 4 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk, use 3/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp. dry vanilla pudding.
To add a bit of zing, add the juice of 1 grapefruit to any of the above recipe flavors.
Try using several different fruits together, such as bananas and strawberries, strawberries and pineapple, peaches and apricots, etc.
When using bananas, you may use the ones which have turned dark brown, then use less sugar, as the bananas sweeten the drink well.
One other thing.
I shared some recipes for Magic Mix in class. I have not tried using it, but because it had to do with milk I shared the recipes for it. It comes from USU Extension. Do It Yourself with Mixes
I'm posting the recipes here, but will have hard copies of that tomorrow at church if you prefer it. All recipes use non-instant milk powder unless noted.
Milk Tips
The best way to use your powdered milk is to add water and drink it. You can add a little bit of reconstituted milk to the milk you regularly drink to get used to it. Just use a greater ratio of it to regular milk as time goes on. It is best served cold - make it the night before. Add a little bit of vanilla or sugar to improve flavor if desired.
The easiest way to mix it is add the powder to half the water you want to use. When the powder is fairly well mixed add the rest of the water.
Use about 1 cup non-instant milk powder for every 2 c instant milk powder in recipes. That will vary, but it's a good rule of thumb.
I use an emulsion blender to mix my milk. It's quick and easy. (If you attended my class then know things don't mix up quite as quick as I did them. Rex let me know afterward that some of the stuff wasn't quite mixed up).
Types of Powdered Milk
A few weeks ago I was making copies at Office Max. There was a lady there making copies for the powdered milk class she was teaching. Thanks go out to her for this information:
Regular nonfat (non-instant)
● More expensive, but you use less product.
● Sold by LDS cannery and other companies
●Takes less room to store
● Best flavor shelf life is 3-5 years. Will store 10+ years if stored right, but taste will start to go down.
Instant nonfat
● Cheaper to buy, but you use twice as much
● It is run through a second process so it is easier to mix
● Best flavor shelf life is 3-5 years. Will store 10+ years if stored right, but taste will start to go down.
Whole
● This runs around 4% milk fat
● Short shelf life - some sources recommend storing refrigerated
Whey Based
● Morning Moo is an example of this
● Made from sweet dairy whey with vitamins A & D added
● Dissolved in tepid hot water and then cold water can be added (about 1 part hot to 7 parts cold)
● Cannot be used in puddings, ice cream and yogurt (won’t set up)
Soy and Rice Based
● Available for those who have allergies
● Generally expensive and hard to find
Recipes
Whole Milk
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup powdered milk
Evaporated Milk
1 Cup water
2/3 Cup powdered milk
Buttermilk or sour milk
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup powdered milk
1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice
Buttermilk
To 1 Cup milk add 1 Tbsp. vinegar Or lemon juice and let stand for five minutes.
Buttermilk
1 Cup non-instant dry milk
3 Cups slightly warm water
½ Cup commercial or previously made buttermilk
Shake or beat until blended. Cover and allow to stand at room temperature until clabbered, 6 - 12 hours. Refrigerate after clabbering. Makes 1 quart. Note: Buttermilk will keep in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 weeks. It may be frozen. It will be necessary to use a fresh start of buttermilk occasionally.
Drinkable Powdered Milk
To improve the flavor of powdered milk, mix it half and half with whole or 2% milk. Another suggestion would be to try adding a little sugar or vanilla to enhance the flavor. Let it chill several hours or overnight before drinking.
“Eagle brand” Sweetened Condensed milk
1 Cup hot water
2 Cups sugar
4 Cups powdered milk
1/4 Cup butter
Blend very well in blender. May be stored in the refrigerator or frozen.
Condensed Milk
½ Cup hot water
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup powdered milk
Blend thoroughly in blender. Can be stored in refrigerator or frozen.
Sweetened Condensed Milk (Office Max sister) - this is the recipe from class
1 c water
2 T butter
2 c sugar or splenda
2 c dry milk powder (non-instant and not an alternative) or 3 c instant
Bring water, butter, and sugar to a boil. Add milk powder and blend till smooth. Refrigerate. Will store well in fridge for up to one year. Makes 1 quart.
Whipped Evaporated Milk
1 Cup evaporated milk
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Thoroughly chill evaporated milk. Add lemon juice and whip until stiff. Sweeten with 2-4 Tbsp. sugar, and flavor as desired. Makes 3 cups.
Patty's note: I didn't succeed in making this. I assume the milk needs to be cooler and one class member tells me that the lemon juice is quite notifiable.
Whipped Topping
3 ½ T. dry milk
1 Cup boiling water
2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp. cold water
2 - 4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Dissolve the milk in the cup of water and scald. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Combine the scalded milk, dissolved gelatin and sugar. Stir and chill in the refrigerator until it jells. Now beat the mixture until it acquires the consistency of whipped cream. Add the vanilla and whip again.
Orange Julius
2 Cups orange juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ Cup dry milk powder
½ tsp. vanilla
½ Cup crushed ice
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until ice is totally crushed and drink is smooth.
Patty’s note: use orange drink from cannery as a substitute to orange juice.
Tropical Shake
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 medium banana
1 Cup skim milk
1 Cup orange juice
Crushed ice
Mint, optional
Chill all ingredients thoroughly. Blend undrained pineapple for 2 minutes. Add banana and blend until smooth. Blend in milk, then orange juice. Pour over ice. May garnish with mint.
Cocoa Mix
15 Cups instant powdered milk
1 Cup cocoa
1 ½ Cups sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
Makes enough for 10 quarts or 40 1-cup servings.
To use the mix:, add ½ cup of mix to 1 cup hot water for a warm drink or ice cold water for chocolate milk.
Buttermilk Vanillla Syrup
1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
Heat sugar, milk and butter; bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat; add vanilla and soda. Stir well. Mixture will become very foamy. Syrup can be served immediately over pancakes or waffles. Can also be served over strawberries or other fresh fruit. Leftovers can be refrigerated and heated for later use.
I meant to share this in class. I made this with powdered buttermilk and without. I like the regular buttermilk better as it is thicker, but the powdered version does still taste good.
Homemade Cottage Cheese (Office Max sister)
2 c water
3 T lemon juice or vinegar
3/4 c dry milk powder
Blend water and milk powder in a saucepan until it starts to steam, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. (Or place in microwave until it foams and rises to top of bowl.)
If using instant milk bring water to a boil, remove from heat and then stir in milk with a whisk.
Drip juice/vinegar around the edge of the pan and gently stir. Milk will immediately start to curdle separating into curds and whey. Let rest 1 minute.
Pour into colander. Rinse with HOT water, then rinse with cold water and break apart into as small of curds as you want (about 1 minute until no whey drips). Makes a bout 1 ½ cups curds.
Add sour cream or yogurt to make it creamier. Add salt to taste.
If you didn't like this in class please try it again on your own. After tasting the class version I thought it was pretty nasty. Rex said he liked it. Remember to add just a little salt to start with. Also add just a touch of yogurt and built up. I don't like it near so creamy as I made it in class.
Homemade Pudding Allrecipes.com
Pudding Mix:
2 3/4 c milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
Pudding:
2 1/4 cups milk or water
1 egg, beaten
1 T butter or margarine
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
Combine pudding mix ingredients; store in an airtight container. For pudding, combine 1-1/4 cups mix and milk in a 2-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount into egg; return to pan. Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; add butter and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into dishes; cover and chill 2-3 hours.
For chocolate pudding: Add 3 T baking cocoa to 1-1/4 cups pudding mix before mixing with milk.
Patty’s Alteration of Homemade Pudding
Pudding Mix:
2 3/4 c milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
4 T butter powder
4 T egg powder
1 ½ T vanilla extract powder
Combine pudding mix ingredients; store in an airtight container.
Pudding: 2 1/4 cups milk or water
1 1/4 c + 2 ½ T pudding mix
Flavorings as desired
Combine mix and milk in a 2-qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil for 1 min. Turn heat to low. Cook for 2 more min. stirring constantly Remove from the heat; add flavoring. Mix well. Pour into dish; cover and chill.
The first version of the pudding is flufflier. The powdered version is more dense.
Yogurt (Office Max sister)
3 3/4 c warm tap water
1 cup dry milk powder
2-4 T plain yogurt (LIVE CULTURES REQUIRED)
1. Combine the warm water with the powder and place in a medium saucepan.
2. If desired add 1/3 c sugar and 1 T vanilla extract for vanilla yogurt. Also try other flavorings.
3. Heat the milk mixture to 180 degrees or until small bubbles form on the side of the pan and the milk begins to rise up -about 5 minutes. (Patty’s note: I’ve also done this in the microwave for about 4 minutes).
4. Pour the scalded milk into a pitcher and allow to cool to 100 degrees - about 50 minutes. (Patty’s note: I usually wait till it drops below 120 degrees - where the heat will kill the cultures). Remove the yogurt start about halfway through the wait or it will shock the starter. When the milk has cooled mix the yogurt into the milk.
5. Pour into a clean quart canning jar and cover with lid. Wrap the jar in a towel or blanket and place in a cooler. Be sure it is wrapped tight without any room for air to circulate around the jar. Pack it snug. Let the yogurt sit for 9 hours.
6. Remove the jar. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
7. Note: you can place a couple of T of your favorite jam in the bottom of the glass jar before pouring in the un-set yogurt.
8. Save a bit from this batch to use as a starter for your next batch - then you don’t have to buy the yogurt again. At least not for a little while. Eventually you might want to use a fresh starter as the taste will get stronger with each batch (about every 3-4th time).
9. You can buy a large container of yogurt and freeze the unused portion in ice cube trays to use for later yogurt.
10. Chill
Sour Cream
Set strainer in a large bowl and line strainer with thick paper towel or cheesecloth. Pour in plain yogurt, cover with paper towel. Let sit in fridge for 6 hours.
Cream Cheese
Follow directions for sour cream except let set overnight.
Fruit Smoothies
2 Cups bottled fruit with juice
1 - 2 drops almond flavoring Or 1 T lemon juice
4 T dry milk
3/4 c water
Sugar to taste
Put ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add ½ tray of ice cubes and blend until smooth. (Use almond flavoring with cherries and large stone fruits, lemon juice with berries.)
Variations:
To use fresh fruit, use one cup of fruit and 1 cup of water and sweeten to taste.
In place of the 3/4 cup water and 4 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk, use 3/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp. dry vanilla pudding.
To add a bit of zing, add the juice of 1 grapefruit to any of the above recipe flavors.
Try using several different fruits together, such as bananas and strawberries, strawberries and pineapple, peaches and apricots, etc.
When using bananas, you may use the ones which have turned dark brown, then use less sugar, as the bananas sweeten the drink well.
One other thing.
I shared some recipes for Magic Mix in class. I have not tried using it, but because it had to do with milk I shared the recipes for it. It comes from USU Extension. Do It Yourself with Mixes
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Mesa Cannery Cookbook
I have to apologize for not updating lately. I let life get in the way.
My kitchen has been a disaster area for the last couple of weeks as I have been trying various powdered milk recipes for my class on Saturday. I may post some of the recipes from the class some time later.
For now I am going to post the link to the Mesa Cannery Cookbook. I came across it some time ago. When I was looking for powdered milk recipes I did a search for it again. I thought I would let you all see it. You are welcome to print it for personal use, but not for money (you can charge for the cost of printing only). I called down there to make sure that was OK last year some time. They asked that the name of the cannery NOT be printed with it. I know, that seemed kind of odd to me too.
Anyway, here is the link http://www.jl4c.org/provliv/mesa_cannery.zip When you click on it a box will come up asking about opening it. You can either click on looking at it or saving it. If you want to keep it on your computer make sure you click on that save option.
My kitchen has been a disaster area for the last couple of weeks as I have been trying various powdered milk recipes for my class on Saturday. I may post some of the recipes from the class some time later.
For now I am going to post the link to the Mesa Cannery Cookbook. I came across it some time ago. When I was looking for powdered milk recipes I did a search for it again. I thought I would let you all see it. You are welcome to print it for personal use, but not for money (you can charge for the cost of printing only). I called down there to make sure that was OK last year some time. They asked that the name of the cannery NOT be printed with it. I know, that seemed kind of odd to me too.
Anyway, here is the link http://www.jl4c.org/provliv/mesa_cannery.zip When you click on it a box will come up asking about opening it. You can either click on looking at it or saving it. If you want to keep it on your computer make sure you click on that save option.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Powdered Milk Class
I just wanted to announce, in case you haven't heard it yet, that I will be teaching a powdered milk class on July 10th at 9am at the church. (Those not in our ward are welcome to attend, but I'm not comfortable posting the address here - you'll have to email me. We are in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley).
I've been learning to use my milk and practicing. Last night I made yogurt. Today I am making sour cream. We'll also have some taste tests of different milks so you can see what you like without buying it all first.
I've been learning to use my milk and practicing. Last night I made yogurt. Today I am making sour cream. We'll also have some taste tests of different milks so you can see what you like without buying it all first.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Top 10 Things I Learned Living on Food Storage For a Month
I just wanted to share some of my thoughts after living on food storage for the month. I apologize for not updating sooner (can it really be that long?).
Top 10 Things I Learned Living on Food Storage For a Month
10) It's wise to try long term storage foods before you need to use them because you may use a lot less or a lot more than the recommended storage amounts. Our family went through a lot more oats and a less wheat than I would have guessed. Every time I went looking for recipes it was the oat ones I ended up choosing and the oat ones that didn't last long in our house. Since none of us like regular oatmeal I never would have guessed that.
9) Homemade granola, granola bars and peanut butter bars do not last long!
8) Sometimes when thinking about living on food storage people get thoughts of people hiding in bunkers and never being able to come out for months. Yes, that may happen, but I suspect that in most cases our food storage will be used as staples. For example if you are using it because you've lost a job then there may be occasions when you pick up a temporary job. This might give you just a little extra money to buy a donut you've been craving at that bake shop. Or perhaps there is a trucking strike - neighbors may trade you some zucchini for some toilet paper. Don't get so worried about being prepared in the worst case. Just do what you can, little by little as the Lord directs you personally.
7) You don't have to be in misery when you eat food storage. You can store chocolate, popsicles, frozen fruits, powdered sugar, marhmallows and other things to make treats.
6) Fruit punch and chocolate milk are not a waste like we formerly thought. We had some stored, but found it is a lot easier to live without fresh milk and orange juice when we had the chocolate milk and orange punch.
5) Spices are a good thing to have on hand. And condiments.
4) A good attitude is the best sauce. If you are positive about living on what you store the food tastes that much better. Even more important, good attitudes help you find the best, easiest and tastiest ways to prepare your food.
3) Store a variety of things. You may like peaches, but if you have nothing but peaches they get old real fast.
2) Living on food storage helps you clear out things in your freezer that you've forgotten about. It's a good way to rotate it.
1) If living on food storage for a month puts you into shock then you are either eating out all the time or you are storing the wrong things. What are the wrong things? They are the things you wouldn't normally eat.
If you don't like pears, but think they would be a good item for your food storage because you found them cheap, then pears are the wrong thing. If you eat a frozen pizza for lunch every day, but you store frozen carrots and salmon because it is more healthy, then carrots and salmon may be the wrong thing.
In your 3 month storage you should be storing what you normally eat. When it comes time to live on your storage you may miss fresh fruits and veggies, fresh milk or a Big Mac, but if you store what you eat then life really doesn't change that much.
Top 10 Things I Learned Living on Food Storage For a Month
10) It's wise to try long term storage foods before you need to use them because you may use a lot less or a lot more than the recommended storage amounts. Our family went through a lot more oats and a less wheat than I would have guessed. Every time I went looking for recipes it was the oat ones I ended up choosing and the oat ones that didn't last long in our house. Since none of us like regular oatmeal I never would have guessed that.
9) Homemade granola, granola bars and peanut butter bars do not last long!
8) Sometimes when thinking about living on food storage people get thoughts of people hiding in bunkers and never being able to come out for months. Yes, that may happen, but I suspect that in most cases our food storage will be used as staples. For example if you are using it because you've lost a job then there may be occasions when you pick up a temporary job. This might give you just a little extra money to buy a donut you've been craving at that bake shop. Or perhaps there is a trucking strike - neighbors may trade you some zucchini for some toilet paper. Don't get so worried about being prepared in the worst case. Just do what you can, little by little as the Lord directs you personally.
7) You don't have to be in misery when you eat food storage. You can store chocolate, popsicles, frozen fruits, powdered sugar, marhmallows and other things to make treats.
6) Fruit punch and chocolate milk are not a waste like we formerly thought. We had some stored, but found it is a lot easier to live without fresh milk and orange juice when we had the chocolate milk and orange punch.
5) Spices are a good thing to have on hand. And condiments.
4) A good attitude is the best sauce. If you are positive about living on what you store the food tastes that much better. Even more important, good attitudes help you find the best, easiest and tastiest ways to prepare your food.
3) Store a variety of things. You may like peaches, but if you have nothing but peaches they get old real fast.
2) Living on food storage helps you clear out things in your freezer that you've forgotten about. It's a good way to rotate it.
1) If living on food storage for a month puts you into shock then you are either eating out all the time or you are storing the wrong things. What are the wrong things? They are the things you wouldn't normally eat.
If you don't like pears, but think they would be a good item for your food storage because you found them cheap, then pears are the wrong thing. If you eat a frozen pizza for lunch every day, but you store frozen carrots and salmon because it is more healthy, then carrots and salmon may be the wrong thing.
In your 3 month storage you should be storing what you normally eat. When it comes time to live on your storage you may miss fresh fruits and veggies, fresh milk or a Big Mac, but if you store what you eat then life really doesn't change that much.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Dishes, Dishes, Everywhere
I think I'm about to toss all the dishes out and live only on paper plates and cups! When I said that living on food storage wasn't that hard I lied. OK, well I didn't lie. The cooking part is pretty easy, but the clean up is much more work. I'm only exaggerating a little.
There is more dish washing when you aren't eating out, aren't buying your pizza crust or your pie crust. There is also more dish washing when you are re-hydrating carrots or onions etc. Often you can just mix in food (like milk or eggs) and then add extra water, but some foods just don't work that way. So I obviously didn't have my 3 month supply of dish washing soap, but even if I had it wouldn't have lasted since we run through it more.
So I'm doing lots of hand washing and I'm searching the net for homemade dish washing soap. So far the two recipes have left tons of film on the dishes - love this hard water. I'm almost thinking it's worth the water softener.
Have we really been living on our food storage?
Someone asked me the other day if we have really been able to live on what we have stored. The answer is yes - with the exceptions I mentioned at the beginning and sort of one other. Rex had a couple of meals provided by work when they were in the middle of crunch time at work. I had a meal served at a meeting I went to. Brady had a meal at a birthday party.
The one thing I felt guilty about was the muffins. Brady had a marching band garage sale fundraiser. We bought muffins to sell at the garage sale. I debated and debated on how many to buy. The sales were downright pitiful. So the kids and I each had one of the leftovers. After the garage sale we took all of the leftover stuff to DI, along with the rest of the muffins. The volunteers appreciated those muffins. But I'm feeling guilty about that so we are extending this month long experiment by one day.
So now you know.
CERT class
I just finished the CERT class and I'm glad I did. I was pretty nervous about it, but it was really nice to get the hands on practice of what to do in an emergency. When I first looked at the length of the class (21 hours) I wasn't so excited about it. But after having gone through it I wish we could have had more hands on. Luckily, once you have been through training you can go to other CERT disasters to practice more.
Car Kits
For those in our ward who missed it - we are working on car kits this year. Every once in awhile we will be announcing suggestions of items to get in your kit. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to get everything together so if you just concentrate on 1 or 2 items to put in your kit then it won't be quite so bad.
So this week be on the look out of whatever container you would like to store it in. Backpacks are a great thing to grab and go, but depending on what you are putting in your kit they may not have enough room. You may want to consider putting a 72 hour kit in a backpack and then storing that in a larger box with items such as flares of booster cables.
There is more dish washing when you aren't eating out, aren't buying your pizza crust or your pie crust. There is also more dish washing when you are re-hydrating carrots or onions etc. Often you can just mix in food (like milk or eggs) and then add extra water, but some foods just don't work that way. So I obviously didn't have my 3 month supply of dish washing soap, but even if I had it wouldn't have lasted since we run through it more.
So I'm doing lots of hand washing and I'm searching the net for homemade dish washing soap. So far the two recipes have left tons of film on the dishes - love this hard water. I'm almost thinking it's worth the water softener.
Have we really been living on our food storage?
Someone asked me the other day if we have really been able to live on what we have stored. The answer is yes - with the exceptions I mentioned at the beginning and sort of one other. Rex had a couple of meals provided by work when they were in the middle of crunch time at work. I had a meal served at a meeting I went to. Brady had a meal at a birthday party.
The one thing I felt guilty about was the muffins. Brady had a marching band garage sale fundraiser. We bought muffins to sell at the garage sale. I debated and debated on how many to buy. The sales were downright pitiful. So the kids and I each had one of the leftovers. After the garage sale we took all of the leftover stuff to DI, along with the rest of the muffins. The volunteers appreciated those muffins. But I'm feeling guilty about that so we are extending this month long experiment by one day.
So now you know.
CERT class
I just finished the CERT class and I'm glad I did. I was pretty nervous about it, but it was really nice to get the hands on practice of what to do in an emergency. When I first looked at the length of the class (21 hours) I wasn't so excited about it. But after having gone through it I wish we could have had more hands on. Luckily, once you have been through training you can go to other CERT disasters to practice more.
Car Kits
For those in our ward who missed it - we are working on car kits this year. Every once in awhile we will be announcing suggestions of items to get in your kit. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to get everything together so if you just concentrate on 1 or 2 items to put in your kit then it won't be quite so bad.
So this week be on the look out of whatever container you would like to store it in. Backpacks are a great thing to grab and go, but depending on what you are putting in your kit they may not have enough room. You may want to consider putting a 72 hour kit in a backpack and then storing that in a larger box with items such as flares of booster cables.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Fun With Food Storage
I always thought of food storage as drudgery. Something you only did when you had no money and were in the middle of a disaster. I've come to find out that you can have fun with your food storage.
One of the ways to have fun with it is to have a theme dinner or party. You could choose your favorite movie or TV show and have food that goes along with it. Now I won't recommend a specific show or movie, but for a TV show, like um...Lost, I might have Shepherd's Pie (Jack Shepherd), "Dharma" Green Beans and "Dharma" Peanut Butter bars. I'll share 2 recipes that you could use - even if you don't watch the show.
There is only 1 thing for which I use vegetable beef soup and that is Shepherd's Pie. I really don't stock up much of it because of that. And during this month I had not one can. So I did a search for it, found a recipe and then modified it for long term and short term food storage.
Shepherd's Pie
1/2 cup dried carrots
1 cup cold water
Add water to carrots. Drain off excess water after 20 minutes.
--------
2 T died onions
1/2 c + 2 T hot water
Add water to onions. Drain off excess water after 15 minutes.
--------
3 cups potato flakes
1 t salt
1/4 cup butter (optional)
1 cup milk (3 T dry milk powder + 1 cup water)
3 cups boiling water
Mix together dry ingredients (including milk powder). Add rest. Stir together with fork. Mix in butter, 1 T finely re-hydrated onions and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
-------
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb lean ground beef
2 T flour
1 T ketchup
3/4 cup beef broth
Can of green beans, drained
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown together onions and hamburger till onions are clear and hamburger is browned. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add ketchup and beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add carrots and beans. Salt and pepper to taste.
Spread the ground beef and carrot mixture in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Peanut Butter Bars
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (or 1 cup white sugar + 1 T molasses)
2 eggs (2 T egg powder + 4 T water)
1 c peanut butter
2/3 t soda
2/3 t salt
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats
Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and eggs. (No need to blend together egg powder and water. Just add both to the mixing bowl). Add peanut butter, soda, salt, and vanilla. Blend in flour and oats. This will be thick. Press in a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Adapted from Peanut Butter Fingers in the "Heartland Favorites" cookbook.
Fudge Topping for peanut butter bars
1 can sweetened condensed milk ( 1 cup dry powdered milk, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup hot water, 1 T butter, thoroughly mixed in blender)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
butter
Heat the milk, chocolate chips and butter over low heat in a sauce pan. Stir until blended and pour over crust.
Note: The recipe doesn't list butter other than on the note for the sweetened condensed milk. So one time I added 1 T butter and the other time I added none. I didn't see any difference so I will skip the extra butter from now on.
Another note: (I'm must be really LOST). Until writing this down I didn't notice that the fudge topping was supposed to be added before baking. My family liked it anyway, so do it however you would like.
From "I can't Believe It's Food Storage"
EDIT: After tasting the shepherd's pie I have to say I thought it was too sweet. So I've edited the recipe to take our 1/2 the carrots and add some beans.
One of the ways to have fun with it is to have a theme dinner or party. You could choose your favorite movie or TV show and have food that goes along with it. Now I won't recommend a specific show or movie, but for a TV show, like um...Lost, I might have Shepherd's Pie (Jack Shepherd), "Dharma" Green Beans and "Dharma" Peanut Butter bars. I'll share 2 recipes that you could use - even if you don't watch the show.
There is only 1 thing for which I use vegetable beef soup and that is Shepherd's Pie. I really don't stock up much of it because of that. And during this month I had not one can. So I did a search for it, found a recipe and then modified it for long term and short term food storage.
Shepherd's Pie
1/2 cup dried carrots
1 cup cold water
Add water to carrots. Drain off excess water after 20 minutes.
--------
2 T died onions
1/2 c + 2 T hot water
Add water to onions. Drain off excess water after 15 minutes.
--------
3 cups potato flakes
1 t salt
1/4 cup butter (optional)
1 cup milk (3 T dry milk powder + 1 cup water)
3 cups boiling water
Mix together dry ingredients (including milk powder). Add rest. Stir together with fork. Mix in butter, 1 T finely re-hydrated onions and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
-------
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb lean ground beef
2 T flour
1 T ketchup
3/4 cup beef broth
Can of green beans, drained
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown together onions and hamburger till onions are clear and hamburger is browned. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add ketchup and beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add carrots and beans. Salt and pepper to taste.
Spread the ground beef and carrot mixture in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Peanut Butter Bars
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (or 1 cup white sugar + 1 T molasses)
2 eggs (2 T egg powder + 4 T water)
1 c peanut butter
2/3 t soda
2/3 t salt
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats
Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and eggs. (No need to blend together egg powder and water. Just add both to the mixing bowl). Add peanut butter, soda, salt, and vanilla. Blend in flour and oats. This will be thick. Press in a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Adapted from Peanut Butter Fingers in the "Heartland Favorites" cookbook.
Fudge Topping for peanut butter bars
1 can sweetened condensed milk ( 1 cup dry powdered milk, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup hot water, 1 T butter, thoroughly mixed in blender)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
butter
Heat the milk, chocolate chips and butter over low heat in a sauce pan. Stir until blended and pour over crust.
Note: The recipe doesn't list butter other than on the note for the sweetened condensed milk. So one time I added 1 T butter and the other time I added none. I didn't see any difference so I will skip the extra butter from now on.
Another note: (I'm must be really LOST). Until writing this down I didn't notice that the fudge topping was supposed to be added before baking. My family liked it anyway, so do it however you would like.
From "I can't Believe It's Food Storage"
EDIT: After tasting the shepherd's pie I have to say I thought it was too sweet. So I've edited the recipe to take our 1/2 the carrots and add some beans.
Friday, May 21, 2010
It's Cannery Time
I was feeling domestic yesterday - something that doesn't happen very often. With the cannery coming up tomorrow I thought it would be a good thing to share what I did and learned yesterday. I made 4 different foods made from products from the cannery and it was so easy.
First I made granola. I shared a couple of recipes for making granola back in April. Yesterday I made the Heart Healthy Granola, only this time instead of using honey I used maple syrup. I am not much of a maple fan, but this granola was yummy with only a light touch of maple.
Then I got on a roll thinking I would make granola bars. For some reason I always thought this would be complicated. It's not. It's even easier to make than the granola because your don't have to turn it midway when cooking. I made Easy Granola Bars posted at allrecipes.com. I didn't add the melted butter.
While making the granola bars I discovered that I didn't have any more sweetened condensed milk. I've seen several recipes for this and I always thought I would try it, but haven't yet because I don't use it all that much and because I thought it would be hard or time consuming. So yesterday I pulled out the recipe and told myself that from now on I'm going to have to read the recipe right away because sometimes things are so much easier than you would assume.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup water
2 T butter or margarine
2 cups sugar or splenda
1 cups dry milk powder(non-instant and not Moo's Milk) OR 4 cups instant
Bring water, butter and sugar to a boil. Add milk powder and blend till smooth in a blender. Refrigerate. Makes 1 quart. Will store in refrigerator for up to one year.
And last I have been thinking I really ought to see if I can use those dried carrots from the cannery. I've been worried that they would taste nasty so I've had in mind I only had them if worse came to worst. Yesterday I was in the mood though. I had been thinking of a dish I had some time ago with chicken and carrots, but I could find the recipe. I can't even remember where I found it. So I looked through recipe books and online and came up with a mix of several I found. I got real creative with the name.
Chicken Carrot Rice Dish
4 chicken breasts
2/3 c dried carrots
2/3 c brown rice
1 pkg dried mushroom onion soup mix
2 t basil
2 2/3 c chicken broth
1 c water
1 c onion
1 T oil.
pepper and salt to taste
Saute onion in the oil. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. I was going to cook this on high for 4-6 hours in the slow cooker, but realized after 2 that it was going to be done in time before I had to leave the house. I finished it off with 10 minutes on high in the pressure cooker. If you should try this in the slow cooker I'd love to hear how it turned out and if the 4-6 hours was a good estimate on time.
If you see me at the cannery tomorrow never fear. I haven't given up on my month long experiment. I'm just concerned about getting to the cannery in June and I'd like to replenish what we are using now. We'll just not be using it yet.
Things on my list after this experiment:
good can opener - those big cans are harder to open than the small
more oats - we use more oats than the year supply lists call for
more spices
more dried fruit
more nuts
First I made granola. I shared a couple of recipes for making granola back in April. Yesterday I made the Heart Healthy Granola, only this time instead of using honey I used maple syrup. I am not much of a maple fan, but this granola was yummy with only a light touch of maple.
Then I got on a roll thinking I would make granola bars. For some reason I always thought this would be complicated. It's not. It's even easier to make than the granola because your don't have to turn it midway when cooking. I made Easy Granola Bars posted at allrecipes.com. I didn't add the melted butter.
While making the granola bars I discovered that I didn't have any more sweetened condensed milk. I've seen several recipes for this and I always thought I would try it, but haven't yet because I don't use it all that much and because I thought it would be hard or time consuming. So yesterday I pulled out the recipe and told myself that from now on I'm going to have to read the recipe right away because sometimes things are so much easier than you would assume.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup water
2 T butter or margarine
2 cups sugar or splenda
1 cups dry milk powder(non-instant and not Moo's Milk) OR 4 cups instant
Bring water, butter and sugar to a boil. Add milk powder and blend till smooth in a blender. Refrigerate. Makes 1 quart. Will store in refrigerator for up to one year.
And last I have been thinking I really ought to see if I can use those dried carrots from the cannery. I've been worried that they would taste nasty so I've had in mind I only had them if worse came to worst. Yesterday I was in the mood though. I had been thinking of a dish I had some time ago with chicken and carrots, but I could find the recipe. I can't even remember where I found it. So I looked through recipe books and online and came up with a mix of several I found. I got real creative with the name.
Chicken Carrot Rice Dish
4 chicken breasts
2/3 c dried carrots
2/3 c brown rice
1 pkg dried mushroom onion soup mix
2 t basil
2 2/3 c chicken broth
1 c water
1 c onion
1 T oil.
pepper and salt to taste
Saute onion in the oil. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. I was going to cook this on high for 4-6 hours in the slow cooker, but realized after 2 that it was going to be done in time before I had to leave the house. I finished it off with 10 minutes on high in the pressure cooker. If you should try this in the slow cooker I'd love to hear how it turned out and if the 4-6 hours was a good estimate on time.
If you see me at the cannery tomorrow never fear. I haven't given up on my month long experiment. I'm just concerned about getting to the cannery in June and I'd like to replenish what we are using now. We'll just not be using it yet.
Things on my list after this experiment:
good can opener - those big cans are harder to open than the small
more oats - we use more oats than the year supply lists call for
more spices
more dried fruit
more nuts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Quick Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes
Last night I was going through my new issue (June/July 2010) of Healthy Cooking (Taste of Home) and came across a recipe that I thought would be good to use for food storage. Quick Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes. I modified it to work with our storage (and left out the raisins) and they tasted really good. I thought I would share it with you and include the substitutions I made:
Quick Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups buttermilk (2 cups mixed powdered milk plus 2 T white vinegar)
1/2 c egg substitute (2 powdered eggs)
2 T canola oil
1/2 c flour
2 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup raisins
In a small bowl, combine oats and buttermilk: Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in egg substitute and oil; set aside. (When you make "buttermilk" with vinegar you are supposed to let it sit a bit before using. Because this was already sitting then I just mixed the milk powder, water and vinegar and then added the oatmeal and let it sit.) (There is no need to mix your powdered eggs and water in a separate bowl. When it comes time to add the egg substitute just add the amount of water your egg directions call for to make 2 eggs, but don't add the powder.)
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. (Now, add the egg powder). Stir in the wet ingredients until moistened. Add raisins.
Pour batter by heaping 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle coated with cooking spray. Turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.
Note: I play around with how much fat to add on a lot of recipes. I suggest not doing that with this recipe. This morning I doubled this recipe and forgot to double the oil. I had a rough time with the pancakes sticking to the pan until I realized my mistake and added what I had forgotten.
A couple of years ago I had a lot of pears and got tired of canning them. I came across a Pear Syrup recipe at USU extension that was a lot easier than I thought it might be. It was wonderful on these pancakes.
Quick Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups buttermilk (2 cups mixed powdered milk plus 2 T white vinegar)
1/2 c egg substitute (2 powdered eggs)
2 T canola oil
1/2 c flour
2 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup raisins
In a small bowl, combine oats and buttermilk: Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in egg substitute and oil; set aside. (When you make "buttermilk" with vinegar you are supposed to let it sit a bit before using. Because this was already sitting then I just mixed the milk powder, water and vinegar and then added the oatmeal and let it sit.) (There is no need to mix your powdered eggs and water in a separate bowl. When it comes time to add the egg substitute just add the amount of water your egg directions call for to make 2 eggs, but don't add the powder.)
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. (Now, add the egg powder). Stir in the wet ingredients until moistened. Add raisins.
Pour batter by heaping 1/4 cupfuls onto hot griddle coated with cooking spray. Turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until second side is golden brown.
Note: I play around with how much fat to add on a lot of recipes. I suggest not doing that with this recipe. This morning I doubled this recipe and forgot to double the oil. I had a rough time with the pancakes sticking to the pan until I realized my mistake and added what I had forgotten.
A couple of years ago I had a lot of pears and got tired of canning them. I came across a Pear Syrup recipe at USU extension that was a lot easier than I thought it might be. It was wonderful on these pancakes.
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