How To Prepare Your Stored Foods In New And Interesting Ways

[Ken K7KBJ]

Last night's session of the Northern Nevada Preppers Group Net has been posted.
We talked about How To Prepare Your Stored Foods In New And Interesting Ways.

Here's your link:   http://www.nnpg.net/121918_radio.shtml

[Jerry D Young]

Thank you, Ken.


Below are some of my additional thoughts on the subject, plus the things I said I would post.

[Jerry D Young]

This topic is important to me. I am one of the those that can wind up with serious appetite fatigue pretty quickly. While there are some dishes that I do that the left-overs are no problem and I can eat on them for a week or more. Other foods, left-overs or not, I simply do not want more than once in a while. So I plan my food storage to make sure I can have the variety I want and need to maintain both good physical health, but also the mental health that comes with being able to eat what you want when you want. At least to a degree.


One of the keys is to have a variety of foods in storage to start with. While Mountain House meals can be excellent, there are limited variations. The same goes with the other LTS (Long Term Storage) food suppliers. Both freeze-dried and dehydrated choices. Even with thirty or forty different meals, and doing a bit of modification to them, that is still a very limited diet. My approach is to stock very few actual meals for LTS (though I do have some). I do use the camping pack meals for the field, along with MREs and several other items that I do not keep in my LTS stocks. Instead of the meals, I stock individual food items, plus the adjuncts and other items needed to create a huge variety of different dishes. This allows me to avoid appetite fatigue, as well as simply being able to pick and choose what I want when I get a food craving.


Another thing that I include in LTS food stocks is comfort food. This is a variety of foods that simply make me feel better. Chocolate, of course, is one. But I also keep stocks of the ingredients I need to make my favorite chili, favorite meatloaf, French Honey (for biscuits), and a few other items. Some sweet, some not. These, I believe, are an absolute necessity if you have children, or picky eaters.


A couple of key items to have large stocks of in food LTS is high quality fats such as coconut oil, and sugar in various forms. Regular granulated sugar, but also honey, a couple of types of syrups, and some other options. The addition of a small amount of extra fat and/or sugar to some dishes will make them much more palatable to people that may already like that dish, but are simply tired of eating it so often in its normal form.


Now, some of the items I mentioned I would post. Note that I use "approximately - ' ~ ' " quite a bit. This is because food producers seem to have a tendency to change package contents as well as package sizes in various ways to help avoid raising the 'apparent' price of a product. The price per ounce or other measurement of the product goes up but the package price will be almost the same since there is less of the product inside. Therefore, the ' ~ ' in front of many of the package sizes. I use the 'standard' size, which is close to what it will be and will usually not make too much difference in the outcome of the recipe.


Also note that I usually purchase good quality food products. Sometimes even high end. But most of the time less expensive options can be used, as long as you have tried the product and know that it is acceptable to you. Many store brands really are the same product with a private label as a well-known nation brand. Other times and other products, the house brand is really not a very good product. So if you want to use lower priced items to store, check them out before you spend the money for something that the animals are going to get because you simply cannot stand to find another piece of corn stalk in your cream style corn that is kind of gunky anyway.


First, my Ten (tin) can soup:
3 ~16oz cans diced tomatoes (not stewed tomatoes or tomatoes with seasonings)
3 ~16oz cans diced potatoes
1 ~16oz can whole kernel corn
1 ~16oz can diced or sliced carrots
1 ~16oz can early young sweet peas
1 ~12oz can Hormel roast beef and gravy (a second can makes for a more nutritious soup, but one is okay)
1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes
3 medium bay leaves (more or less depending on size and strength of flavor)
2 to 3 beef bouillon cubes according to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

To one cup of water in a 6-quart or larger pot add the onion flakes, bay leaves, and bouillon cubes.
Turn the stove burner on to begin to heat the water and initial ingredients while opening the cans.
Using a side cut can opener, open each can of vegetables and add the contents to the pot.
Using a side cut can opener, open the roast beef. Using a knife or spoon break up the larger chunks of meat and add the contents of the can to the pot.
Use some of the liquid from the pot to rinse all the gravy from the can into the pot.


Stir well and brink to a simmer, stirring occasionally. After about an hour do a taste test. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer another one-half-hour.
Serve with crackers, cornbread, or home baked bread made from storage items.


Note: If a side cut can opener is used the metal cans and lids can be washed and used for non-food items. If a wooden drawer pull is added to the lid the larger cans make good substitute pots and pans for field use.




 [font=]French Honey Biscuit Spread[/font]
[font=] [/font]
[font=]2 Tablespoons Butter[/font]
[font=]½ cup sugar[/font]
[font=]¼ cup white Karo syrup[/font]
[font=]¼ cup water[/font]
[font=]1 egg, well beaten[/font]
[font=]3 – 4 shakes of ground nutmeg  [/font](I like considerably more)
[font=][/size] [/font]
[font=]Melt butter in skillet[/font]
[font=]Mix together remaining ingredients[/font]
[font=]Pour into buttered skillet[/font]
[font=]Bring to a boil, stirring often[/font]
[font=]Reduce heat to bring to a hard simmer until the syrup is a deep transparent amber color and thickened  [/font]to a coarse texture (will be the consistency of orange marmalade)
[font=][/size]Let cool slightly (be very careful as this stuff will cling and burn deep if on the skin or tongue)[/font]
[font=]Serve on hot buttered biscuits [/font]
[font=]Serves 3[/font]

I will add a few other things later.


Just my opinion.

[Ken K7KBJ]

Jerry, thank you for all the additional information. This is very handy !