Cooking from the pantry – Dried Apples

I’ve been stocking my pantry with dried fruits and veggies the last 6 months.  Now that I have these supplies, I am learning to use them in my everyday cooking.  It is easy to be a good cook with fresh dairy, produce and meats.  It is harder to make “just as good” dishes from your pantry.  However, after Ike I became determined to learn.  I want our family to have some normalcy during times when / if we can’t get groceries.  The time to learn these skills is before the event… not during the event.

Being a good pantry cook can bring comfort to family, friends and neighbors who have lived off cans of high sodium soup and chips.  I have a gas stove top and had fuel during our 2 week elect outage during Ike.  Had I had these pantry cooking skills before the storm and my pantry been better prepared, life would have been more pleasant.  Instead, we lived on canned green beans, canned chili, prepacked pasta mixes and freezer items as they thawed.  This may sound OK, but it was very different than our normal meals.  Packaged stuff is not the same as home cooked.  And the ingredients are different – more preservatives and salt.  So you have stress from the situation and your body is also reacting to a change in diet.  Not good.

Today I experimented with dried apples for the first time and they were great.  You toss a couple of handfuls of dried apples into boiling water and they plump up / become soft.  I drained the water, added butter, brown sugar and cinamon.  Used this as a fruit compote to top whole wheat pancakes.  I made the pancakes from whole wheat, buttermilk powder, sugar, baking powder/soda and an egg.  I have egg powder I could use if we don’t have fresh eggs.  I wrapped the apples in a pancake and it tasted just like apple pie.  So so good.

These required no prep except boiling water.  Much easier than using fresh.  And I could not taste the difference.  I could tell from the texture these will be great in apple crisps and apple pie.  We also eat them dried as a chip snack.

Here’s a couple of pics:  one of the apples cooking and one of  hubby’s plate to take to work.

For other ideas see: worksformewednesday.

Pantry Remodel

We’ve been in our house 2 years and the built-in pantry shelves were about to fall down.  We finally decided to take them out and put up steel shelving.  We had three freestanding steel shelves custom made by a guy in Brookshire Texas for $240.  They are huge and simple to put together.

This weekend we are taking out the old shelves.  Now I know why they didn’t hold my can goods.  They are made from compressed cardboard…..no joke.  I can easily snap the support boards across my knee.  Since I’ve been cooking with wheat berries and other bulk foods, our pantry has been a mess.  I’ve had most stuff on the floor b/c the shelves would collapse under the weight.  And I couldn’t find anything without a major search endeavor.  Not anymore.  I’m getting 46 sq feet more in shelving and will be able to stack like never before.

My other shelves were only 11 inches deep. Take a look here: http://houstonmom.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/img_0436.jpg .  One of the new is 24 inches deep, and the other two are 18 inches deep.  Too much of my pantry was walk around space  .  Builders are not designing houses for people who cook, but for those who keep a few light weight boxes of cereal and bags of Doritos on hand.

Here are the in-progress pics.  Don’t drop by this weekend, things are all over the place!

Pantry Seafood Enchiladas

Today I’m joining frugal Fridays. Pictures at bottom of post…

One thing I’m incorporating into our meals is pantry cooking.  It is economical and rotating your pantry items keeps you from tossing expired food.  It also is an option when you don’t have fresh items on hand, but want a home cooked meal.  There are so many frugal reasons to cook using your pantry items.

With couponing and getting ready for hurricane season, I have a plethora of pantry items.  However, I’m not accustomed to cooking from the pantry, but have relied on fresh items for my recipes.  That is changing and I will be a gourmet cook with canned items soon.  One recipe that inspired me was the Prudent Homemaker’s Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.  I modified this recipe for seafood enchiladas.  A couple of months ago I stocked up on canned crab and shrimp at a Walgreens sale.  I also purchased a large bag of corn tortillas and rebagged into smaller portions for future use -storing in freezer.

The thing I like about the Prudent Homemaker’s recipe is that it does not call for sour cream and is still creamy.  Since I didn’t have any thawed meat and was out of sour cream, it was a good time to experiment.

Rating:  Hubby liked it and would have this dish again.  I also enjoyed the meal.  Little kids who are picky would not enjoy this.  It was not as good as using fresh cream and fresh seafood, but for using mostly items from my pantry it was 4 stars.

Recipe:

I combined 3/4 can of chicken soup and a can of evap milk into a bowl.  I added about 2 tablespoons of dried onion flakes and a  dash of garlic powder.   Then I soaked 4 tortillas in this mixture.  You could stretch this to make 6 enchiladas.

In another bowl combine shrimp and crabmeat (both drained).  Add 1/4 can of cream of chick soup.  Season with parsley, garlic and pepper.

Wrap seafood mixture with tortillas to make enchiladas.  Place in baking dish.  Pour sauce mixture and top with cheese.  I used fresh cheese, but also have freeze dried cheese I could use if my refrig was out.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  It would also be good topped with fresh chopped green onions and cilantro.

Are you ready to be quarantined?

We’re hearing about swine flu again.  Personally, I’m not alarmed unless it mutates and becomes really nasty.  But this bug is a good reason to look at what our government is telling us to do.  I can’t believe I just said that.

I checked out the gov’t preparedness site they recommend keeping a 2 week supply of water and food.   I think a 90 day supply is more prudent.   Here’s a small portion of what  they say:

Stock a supply of water and food. During a pandemic you may not be able to get to a store. Even if you can get to a store, it may be out of supplies. Public waterworks services may also be interrupted. Stocking supplies can be useful in other types of emergencies, such as power outages and disasters. Store foods that:

• are nonperishable (will keep for a long time) and don’t require refrigeration
• are easy to prepare in case you are unable to cook
• require little or no water, so you can conserve water for drinking

Polenta from Popcorn

Last week I made polenta for dinner using my popcorn.  See here for post about buying bulk popcorn for other uses.  It was an experiment that turned out to be a success.  I had no idea how much popcorn to use, so I started with 2 cups.  It was WAY too much (I served as a side dish).  It made two pans of polenta.  One pan served 5 adults / 2 kids.  I gave the other to my friend and she fed 4 adults.  And the amazing thing about this dish is it is sooooo cheap I don’t even know how to calculate the cost.  As long as you have a heat source and water, you could make this recipe from pantry/shelf items.  It does, however, take a while to cook so it might be a good dish for the pressure cooker, but I’d need to research before I tried.

First I measured my corn and ground in my blender.  I left a course grind b/c I didn’t want the texture to resemble cornbread.

In large pot, I added 2 cups meal, 2 heaping teaspoons salt and 6 cups of water – brought to a boil.   Then I reduced heat and simmered for about 30 minutes, adding water when it looked dry.  Once it was tender, I added a stick of butter and package of Sargento parm cheese.  Seasoned with garlic, pepper and a little more salt.  If you had not butter or fresh parm cheese, you could substitute olive oil and kraft parm cheese from the jar.

At that point, you could eat but the texture would not be firm.  The second step is to let cool and add eggs (I used 2).  Pour in a casserole and put in fridge until time for your meal.  Then bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.   I topped mine with jar red pasta sauce and served with chicken and salad.

What would you do in 30 minutes????

I read a thought provoking article from preparednesspro on how fast grocery stores could be depleted in the event of a major emergency. See full article here.

“If there ever is a cause for a run on the grocery stores, the supplies will be depleted in thirty minutes. That’s it.  One half hour warning is all you will have to get more food, more water, more produce, more seeds, more medical supplies, etc.—you and the rest of your community.  Yet in that thirty minutes, your local stores will only be able to supply less than 1% of your community with the goods they would need or hoard.  Do you really want to risk that you’ll be a part of that lucky 1% and that you’re fast enough to get all of your necessary goods available in that one half hour?”

I am concerned because our society is not ready to deal with emergencies.  Hurricane Ike really changed me because I saw people standing in FEMA lines 48 hours after the storm.  These people were desperate.   Desperate people are very dangerous.  We also got a glimpse with the “pandemic”.  People were paying $90 plus for masks on the black market or standing in line to buy one from the drug store.  In fact, they were in the drug store (where sick people go for meds) with no mask breathing in the germs which terrified them so.  We are a reactionary society.

Another thing we may be facing is serious inflation.  I heard Glenn Beck talking about it on his radio show.  A caller was asking him what to do if you don’t have money to buy gold.  Glenn responded that folks should get extra groceries if they have any extra money because with the type of money our gov’t will print to pay for the spending, we will have major inflation.  He said next time you’re at Walmart, buy extra food that you normally eat if you have any extra funds.  This is a major news guy saying it on the radio.  It makes all the sense to me that major or hyper inflation is on the way, so why not get extra home commodities while the price is low and they are available.  You can get 50 pounds of rice at a major warehouse for about $25.  That is so cheap and will make a lot of meals.  If you don’t have a warehouse membership, then go to an Asian market.  I got 50 pounds of broken jasmine rice at the Houston Hong Kong market for less than $25.  This has a wonderful flavor and unique texture.   Of you might pay a small amount more to get the same amount of rice at walmart.

We’re also seeing attacks on our food supply from government and corporations.  I’m usually pro-corporation.  I worked for one 16 years and one currently employs my husband.  However, I’m concerned that the major food corporations are doing downright evil things with our food and to our soil.  In addition, the gov’t is trying to pass laws making it harder on local farmers.  We’re also using our land and water supplies to produce food used in fuel production such as ethanol.   We are raping our land / aquifers and will pay one day.  I don’t know when, but I do believe we will see food shortages in America during my lifetime.

I love looking inside people’s…..

pantry!  Yes, I’ve admitted before that I’m weird.  My friends are laughing because I’ve asked most of them if I could take a peek.   Is this nosy or what?  I’m not a hypocrite when it comes to pantry visitations because I’ve given tours of mine many times.  And at least I don’t ask the balance on their mortgage or how much money they have saved.  Friends and family, you could have it much worse.

For the ones who stockpile, I’m interested in what I can learn from others.  For the ones who don’t, I want to help them get started…. if they show an interest.  I have friends / family who have no interest in having this stuff so I try to leave them alone… except for one loved one who is going “hmmmm” right now.

Not only do I love looking inside my friends pantries, I love looking at these fabulous online pantries.  Check out this one.  This lady was in the news.

http://myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/

I am impressed with this pantry

This is the most amazing pantry I’ve seen.  And more amazing is the story that comes with it.  I stumbled on her blog while looking at a recipe that uses ramen noodles.  Because of her husband’s job situation, she has been feeding her family from her stocked pantry for about 2 years.  And she cooks incredible means using pantry foods.  That is a challenge.  We have the luxury of fresh dairy, meats and produce.  I don’t know how gourmet I’d be without these items.  Enjoy her story….

What does it mean to be a Survivalist???

Most of my friends and some of my family already think I’m weird, so I don’t have much to lose with this post.  In fact, some of my friends have decided they want to be “weird” too.  Sometimes you have thoughts about life that are not the norm.  One of mine is that of a “survivalist”.  There are varying degrees of this mentality.  I’m probably somewhere in the middle.   For example, we do not have a compost toilet, but I did get face filter masks that I found on clearance at HEB  (just in case the bird flu hits:) ).  I can hear you laughing….

I’ve been debating whether to share this with you, but it is just so good I’m willing to go for it.  There is a podcast I’ve been listening to:  http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/.  I like this guy b/c he doesn’t tell you what to do, but gives his opinion about being prepared and you can take it to whatever degree works for your family.  I also like his stance on what are the highest risks we might face – he is one of the more realistic “survivalists” I’ve ran across.  For example,  he suggests have a higher chance of facing a job loss than the bird flu, and need to prioritize our preps accordingly.  But preparing for the first might also help you with the latter.

The survivalist mentality is not about living in fear that something might happen.  It is actually the opposite.  It is living knowing you’ve done your best to prepare your family for uncertainities in life.  No different than putting money into your 401K, life insurance or other “normal” things our society does to prepare for the future.

Here’s what Dave is buying me…

This is so cool.  It stores can food and uses a rotation system.  FIFO method for my accounting friends.  I’m putting it in my storage room.

Hot Buy Harvest Food Rotation System