Pizza Pockets
1 recipe white bread dough, or frozen or refrigerated dough
Pasta Sauce
Dehydrated peppers, onions, and mushrooms
Cheddar cheese (optional)
I used the same sauce that I use for pasta, but only half as much. The leftover sauce can be used for pasta, or frozen and used another day.
Spread out the bread, and fill with sauce and cheese. Fold the dough like a burrito, pinching the edges. Bake for about 15 minutes, until browned.
The cheese keeps this from being a true food storage meal. There is such a thing as freeze-dried cheese, but I haven't dared try it yet.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Food storage meal #1: Pasta
Food storage meal number 1:
Pasta with tomato and vegetable sauce
1 jar Pasta sauce (I use Prego, which I buy on sale for about $1.25 a jar)
Dehydrated mushrooms, peppers, and onions
1 pound pasta. I buy this in bags when they are less than 70 cents a pound, or in the bulk bins at Winco for 73 cents a pound
Put the sauce in a saucepan, add the dehydrated food and cook until heated. Pour over cooked pasta.
Pasta with tomato and vegetable sauce
1 jar Pasta sauce (I use Prego, which I buy on sale for about $1.25 a jar)
Dehydrated mushrooms, peppers, and onions
1 pound pasta. I buy this in bags when they are less than 70 cents a pound, or in the bulk bins at Winco for 73 cents a pound
Put the sauce in a saucepan, add the dehydrated food and cook until heated. Pour over cooked pasta.
This is before it's cooked. It looks better afterward, I promiseSprouts
A neighbor gave me a jar and some seeds for sprouting for Christmas. I used to sprout seeds, but I was using cloth over the top of the jar to drain the water, and it doesn't work very well. This one has plastic canvas over the top, and it's a wide-mouth jar. It works beautifully.
To sprout seeds:
Put seeds in jar and cover with water. Soak for 12 hours if using large seeds, and 6 hours for small seeds. Rinse. Rinse 2 or 3 times a day until the seeds sprout and sprouts grow to desired length.
Sprouts are ridiculously good for you. They have vitamins, proteins, amino acids, and minerals. I keep seeds in my food storage because they are a good source of fresh food in case we can't go the the grocery store.
I usually sprout wheat because I have a lot of it. I put sprouts in bread, which gives it a nutty texture. They also go in soup, rice dishes, bean dishes, and can be eaten plain.
To sprout seeds:
Put seeds in jar and cover with water. Soak for 12 hours if using large seeds, and 6 hours for small seeds. Rinse. Rinse 2 or 3 times a day until the seeds sprout and sprouts grow to desired length.
Sprouts are ridiculously good for you. They have vitamins, proteins, amino acids, and minerals. I keep seeds in my food storage because they are a good source of fresh food in case we can't go the the grocery store.
I usually sprout wheat because I have a lot of it. I put sprouts in bread, which gives it a nutty texture. They also go in soup, rice dishes, bean dishes, and can be eaten plain.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Granola
After months of loving oatmeal, my kids have decided that granola is now the best breakfast food ever. Granola's price is way out of our budget, but it's really easy to make. I made a visit to the bulk bins at Winco, and only got as much of the nuts and craisins as I needed, so it turned out pretty inexpensive.
Coating:
1/3 cup oil
1/4 C brown sugar
1/3 C honey (may need more)
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
Granola:
4 cups oats
1 cup of chopped raw nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds)
Raisins or dried cranberries to taste
Mix dry and wet ingredients seperately, then combine. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for about twenty minutes, stirring halfway through. Store in an airtight container.
This cost me under three dollars, and the girls love it. It is good with milk, or eaten plain. I especially love it, because it requires no fresh ingredients; it can be made entirely with food storage items.
Coating:
1/3 cup oil
1/4 C brown sugar
1/3 C honey (may need more)
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
Granola:
4 cups oats
1 cup of chopped raw nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds)
Raisins or dried cranberries to taste
Mix dry and wet ingredients seperately, then combine. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for about twenty minutes, stirring halfway through. Store in an airtight container.
This cost me under three dollars, and the girls love it. It is good with milk, or eaten plain. I especially love it, because it requires no fresh ingredients; it can be made entirely with food storage items.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Honeyville Giveaway
I'm shamelessly pimping a website giveaway. Because I really, really want to win.
Honeyville Farms is giving away 3 sets of freeze dried food in #10 cans. Each set has six cans, and has a variety of fruit, vegetables, or potatoes.
The website for the giveaway is http://honeyvillefarms.blogspot.com/ and the giveawy is open until Monday.
Honeyville Farms is giving away 3 sets of freeze dried food in #10 cans. Each set has six cans, and has a variety of fruit, vegetables, or potatoes.
The website for the giveaway is http://honeyvillefarms.blogspot.com/ and the giveawy is open until Monday.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The meal method
I had a "duh" moment this weekend while looking for food storage recipes.
I came across several websites written by people who have a great method for beginning your food storage. Start by naming five meals that can be cooked with storeable items, and store enough ingredients to make each meal five times.
This will give you 25 days of food storage.
When you have the first 25 days, name five more meals, and store enough to make each meal five times. Then store enough to make each meal ten times each. That would be 100 days of dinners in your food storage, which is more than three months.
Ideally, you would eventually have enough to make thirty meals twelve times each, or fifteen meals twenty four times each. If you add enough for breakfast and snacks, that's a full year of food storage.
Why did I not think of this?
I came across several websites written by people who have a great method for beginning your food storage. Start by naming five meals that can be cooked with storeable items, and store enough ingredients to make each meal five times.
This will give you 25 days of food storage.
When you have the first 25 days, name five more meals, and store enough to make each meal five times. Then store enough to make each meal ten times each. That would be 100 days of dinners in your food storage, which is more than three months.
Ideally, you would eventually have enough to make thirty meals twelve times each, or fifteen meals twenty four times each. If you add enough for breakfast and snacks, that's a full year of food storage.
Why did I not think of this?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Homemade oatmeal packets
My kids eat oatmeal for breakfast almost every single day. When my little one wakes up, the first word out of her mouth is often, "O-meal?"
I buy the oatmeal packets when they go on sale. They are one dollar per box, or ten cents per packet. They eat three or four packets per day between the two of them, so we use three boxes per week. This means that I spend $156 dollars per year to feed my kids breakfast, plus the milk we put on the oatmeal. This isn't a lot, really, for breakfast for an entire year. I was pretty sure that I could reduce it significantly, though. Plus, those packets only go on sale every few months, and what happens if I run out before then? I don't have the room to store a full year's worth of boxes of oatmeal packets, so then I have to make it on the stove. Making oatmeal on the stove is cost-effective, but it is a lot less convenient.
During the caselot sales in September, I bought fifty pounds of quick oats. I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew I'd figure something out. I definitely wasn't prepared for how much room fifty pounds of oats takes up; I used three and a half five-gallon buckets to store them all.
I paid $18 for the oats.
Today, I went to the Honeyville Farms store in Brigham City. I paid $23.70 for cans of freeze-dried blueberries and strawberries. I then sat down to make homemade oatmeal packets.
Oatmeal packets:
1 3 pound canister of quick oats
take two cups of these oats and put them in a blender until they are powder
Add 1 cup of sugar
2 T salt
Add fruit; raisins are cheapest, but other freeze-dried fruit works well.
Shake the container until the oatmeal is mixed. Add the oat powder and shake again.
Optional add-ins: powdered coffee creamer, powdered milk, cinnamon
To use: boil 1/2 cup of water and add to 1/3 cup oatmeal mix.
I made about 100 ounces of this in two large oatmeal cylinders, one with strawberry and one with blueberry mix.
Cost: before adding fruit, a canister of this mix costs me under a dollar. After I added the fruit, the price went up to about three dollars per canister. Each canister will make approximately 32 servings. The same amount of oatmeal in packets would cost about twice that amount.
I love this method because it saves money, it leaves out the preservatives and artificial flavoring, it allows me to make exactly as much oatmeal as my girls want to eat, and it means we can choose our flavors. I've always wished I could buy the blueberries and cream oatmeal all by itself. This way, I don't have to be the first one to open the box to get my favorite flavor.
I buy the oatmeal packets when they go on sale. They are one dollar per box, or ten cents per packet. They eat three or four packets per day between the two of them, so we use three boxes per week. This means that I spend $156 dollars per year to feed my kids breakfast, plus the milk we put on the oatmeal. This isn't a lot, really, for breakfast for an entire year. I was pretty sure that I could reduce it significantly, though. Plus, those packets only go on sale every few months, and what happens if I run out before then? I don't have the room to store a full year's worth of boxes of oatmeal packets, so then I have to make it on the stove. Making oatmeal on the stove is cost-effective, but it is a lot less convenient.
During the caselot sales in September, I bought fifty pounds of quick oats. I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew I'd figure something out. I definitely wasn't prepared for how much room fifty pounds of oats takes up; I used three and a half five-gallon buckets to store them all.
I paid $18 for the oats.
Today, I went to the Honeyville Farms store in Brigham City. I paid $23.70 for cans of freeze-dried blueberries and strawberries. I then sat down to make homemade oatmeal packets.
Oatmeal packets:
1 3 pound canister of quick oats
take two cups of these oats and put them in a blender until they are powder
Add 1 cup of sugar
2 T salt
Add fruit; raisins are cheapest, but other freeze-dried fruit works well.
Shake the container until the oatmeal is mixed. Add the oat powder and shake again.
Optional add-ins: powdered coffee creamer, powdered milk, cinnamon
To use: boil 1/2 cup of water and add to 1/3 cup oatmeal mix.
I made about 100 ounces of this in two large oatmeal cylinders, one with strawberry and one with blueberry mix.
Cost: before adding fruit, a canister of this mix costs me under a dollar. After I added the fruit, the price went up to about three dollars per canister. Each canister will make approximately 32 servings. The same amount of oatmeal in packets would cost about twice that amount.
I love this method because it saves money, it leaves out the preservatives and artificial flavoring, it allows me to make exactly as much oatmeal as my girls want to eat, and it means we can choose our flavors. I've always wished I could buy the blueberries and cream oatmeal all by itself. This way, I don't have to be the first one to open the box to get my favorite flavor.
Meals for the next two weeks(ish): 12-11 to 12-23
Went to the grocery store today; first trip in ten days. I was hoping to make it fourteen days, but we ran out of cheese three days ago, and I ran out of non-cheese meal ideas.
Grocery total: $42.92. I will get at least twelve meals out of this, using what I have in my food storage already.
Four dollars of the total was on stuff that I really didn't need at all; I bought a package of treats, and a block of swiss cheese just because we like it.
Meal plan for the next twelve days (items I bought today are in bold and italicised):
Sat: Taco salad: tortillas, cheese, ground meat, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips, and olives, if there are any left over from another meal already
Sun: (meal with family.)
Mon:. BLT: homemade bread, bacon, lettuce, tomato, miracle whip. Fruit salad: oranges, canned pineapple, whipped topping
Tue: potato pancakes with eggs and leftover fruit salad
Wed: baked fish with sweet potatoes and salad: lettuce, tomato, oranges, orange dressing
cook an elk roast for three meals
Thurs: Empanadas (recipe TBA)
Fri: pulled elk buscuits, side of salad or fruit, whichever is left
Sat: Stroganoff: elk, mushrooms, sour cream, onion, pasta, beef bullion
Sun: baked oatmeal with bacon, or eat with family
Mon: Chicken and rice soup
Tue: chicken quesadillas: tortillas, chicken, salsa, sour cream, spanish rice
Wed: creamed tuna on bread with side dish TBA
Thurs: freezer meal
Grocery total: $42.92. I will get at least twelve meals out of this, using what I have in my food storage already.
Four dollars of the total was on stuff that I really didn't need at all; I bought a package of treats, and a block of swiss cheese just because we like it.
Meal plan for the next twelve days (items I bought today are in bold and italicised):
Sat: Taco salad: tortillas, cheese, ground meat, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips, and olives, if there are any left over from another meal already
Sun: (meal with family.)
Mon:. BLT: homemade bread, bacon, lettuce, tomato, miracle whip. Fruit salad: oranges, canned pineapple, whipped topping
Tue: potato pancakes with eggs and leftover fruit salad
Wed: baked fish with sweet potatoes and salad: lettuce, tomato, oranges, orange dressing
cook an elk roast for three meals
Thurs: Empanadas (recipe TBA)
Fri: pulled elk buscuits, side of salad or fruit, whichever is left
Sat: Stroganoff: elk, mushrooms, sour cream, onion, pasta, beef bullion
Sun: baked oatmeal with bacon, or eat with family
Mon: Chicken and rice soup
Tue: chicken quesadillas: tortillas, chicken, salsa, sour cream, spanish rice
Wed: creamed tuna on bread with side dish TBA
Thurs: freezer meal
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Menu 12-1
Ran to the store for milk, tortillas, sausage, and mushrooms. Revised menu for the next week or so:
Wed: elk roast and au gratin potatoes
Thurs: french dip with leftover elk and canned fruit
Fri: mashed potato soup with sausage
Sat: pasta alfredo with mushrooms and italian chicken
Mon: bean burritos
Tue: tin foil dinners
Wed: baked oatmeal and sausage
Wed: elk roast and au gratin potatoes
Thurs: french dip with leftover elk and canned fruit
Fri: mashed potato soup with sausage
Sat: pasta alfredo with mushrooms and italian chicken
Mon: bean burritos
Tue: tin foil dinners
Wed: baked oatmeal and sausage
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