Eat What You Store... I do, and It's All Good!

When most people think of food storage, they have visions of going into debt to buy a ton of 30 year shelf life foods that even the zombies wouldn't eat when they finally come to get us all.

I think of food storage more in the way our depression era ancestors did.  They were some very smart and resourceful people who made it through some very hard times.  Food storage should be a way to save on groceries, not go into debt. Your food should taste good and be good for you.  There is no reason you can't store the foods your family eats every day, use it, and save money in the process.

I regularly cook from foods stored in my basement.  I use a lot of canning jars not just for canning, but to vacuum seal dry goods such as pasta, rice, oatmeal, dry beans, spices, chocolate chips, sugar, flour.... you get the picture.  When something you use is on sale, buy more of it to store away for future use, and you will always have it for the sale price.  I can't tell you how nice it is to go down to the basement to "shop" for the ingredients to make dinner.

To vacuum seal your dry goods, you will need a vacuum sealer with a tube, and would also need the jar sealer accessory.  The jar accessories come in wide mouth and regular mouth sizes.  I don't recommend getting a handheld vacuum sealer, it wont have the power to get the job done long term.  Go on a buy a good counter top one.  It will definitely pay for itself in the long run.  You can probably find a good used one on ebay.

This is one of the Jar accessories

This is one of the counter top vacuum sealers with the tube, but mine is different. I have an older version.

I cook with my food storage daily.  It is so much easier.  Here is a video I took a while back that shows how I cook with my food storage.  The pork was frozen.

Like our Depression era ancestors, I garden, do a lot of canning, and I make a lot of my own mixes which only makes meal preparation that much quicker and easier.  When you make your own mixes, you know exactly what is in it.  It's cheaper, and it's the stuff you use regularly.  I buy my ingredients in bulk from Sam's Club to make my mixes with.  Below is a jar of Onion Soup Mix, Ranch seasoning mix, and taco seasoning mix.

I even buy meats on sale and can it for later use.  A pint jar of ground beef is about equal to a pound of ground beef and it's cooked and ready to go into your chili, tacos, spaghetti sauce... whatever.  The other benefit to caning your meat over freezing it is that when you lose power for extended periods of time, you wont lose your meat storage... and it's already cooked!  It takes a lot less energy from your precious generator to warm it up.  If you decide to can meat you need to be sure to use a pressure canner and follow the instructions carefully.  You don't need a fancy pressure canner.  This is the one I use.  You can probably find a good used one online.  I prefer the simple stove top kind that I would still be able to use in the event of a power outage.

Here are the recipes for the above mixes:

*Double them for a pint jar, and Quadruple them for a quart jar*

Taco Seasoning:

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sea salt

Put ingredients into a jar and shake.

Dry Onion Soup Mix:

2/3 cup dried, minced onion

3 teaspoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake.  I’d recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use. 

Use 4 tablespoons in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.  Store this in a dry, cool place. 

Ranch:

5 tablespoons dried minced onions

7 teaspoons parsley flakes

4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

For dip:  Mix 2 tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt.

Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend.

Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit...

I made some muffins for breakfast yesterday and again today using the same basic recipe (different add ins) with one very healthy and frugal adaptation.  I replaced the oil with bean puree.

I made the bean puree from dry navy beans I cooked in my crock pot over night.  This morning, I threw them in the blender and added just enough water to make them a pour-able consistency.  The recipe called for 1/4 cup of oil which was replaced with 1/4 cup of the bean puree.

Just place the unused bean puree in a jar in your refrigerator for all your baking needs, and replace the amount of oil the recipe calls for with an equal amount of bean puree.

The only difference I notice is that the muffins are much more filling and stick to your ribs.  My family did not suspect a thing.  The only thing they said was that the muffins were good.

Soaking then rinsing your beans before cooking them eliminates that uncomfortable gas problem.

You can use any type of beans to make your puree.  I just recommend matching the color of beans to the desired finished product. Black beans may work in chocolate cake, but wouldn't work in this recipe.  

Even canned beans would be healthier and more filling than oil.   Dry beans of course would be your most frugal and healthy option.

Here is an easy basic Muffin Recipe:

Basic Muffins

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil (or bean puree)

Mix ingredients together. Spoon into greased muffin cups, 2/3 full. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes. Makes about 12-15 muffins.

Add In's

Bacon or Ham – Reduce sugar to 2 Tbsp. and add 1/2 cup chopped bacon or ham
Blueberries – 1 cup
Cherries or cranberries – 2/3 cup of cherries or cranberries, mixed with 2 Tbsp. of sugar first
Dried fruit – 1/2 cup apricots, currants, peaches, figs, prunes, raisins or dates
Nuts – 1/3 cup chopped
Cheese – 1/2 cup grated cheese and 1/8 tsp. paprika 

If you are using dried fruit in you muffins there is no need to reconstitute it before adding it to your batter which causes the fruit to disintegrate in your muffin.  The batter reconstitutes your fruit just fine and gives you a much better end result.

I served grapes with my muffins this morning.  Where I live, it is difficult to get organic grapes so to remove the pesticides, I soak the fruit in a pot of cold water with about a cup of white vinegar in it and swirl it around for a few minutes.  Then, I rinse the fruit in cold tap water and let it drain before serving.  You would not believe the grime left in the water when your done.  This picture doesn't show it, but trust me, the water was grimy!

Post note on Nov 6th... my cornbread came out awesome using beans instead of oil!