Cheese!

I like to buy cheese when it is $2 per pound or less. My family likes cheese a lot, and eats it in vast quantities. So, when it is on sale at the aforementioned price, I like to stock up. Luckily, cheese lasts quite a long time in the refrigerator, and even longer in the freezer. If I freeze it, I like to shred it first (if it didn't come shredded), put it on cookie sheets in the freezer until it is frozen, then bag it. Then when I need it in a recipe, I just put the cheese in frozen. Smith's has cheese on sale right now. 8 oz for 95 cents, if you buy 10 participating items (I bought 10 cheese).
Someday I plan to buy wax so that I can wax my own cheese. Someday...

Easy Rhubarb Dessert

Easy Rhubarb Dessert

4 cups rhubarb, sliced
1 cup sugar
1 box white cake mix
1 3 oz box strawberry Jell-O
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter, melted

Place ingredients in 9 x 13 inch baking dish in order given. The cake mix and Jell-O go on dry. Water and melted butter on top. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Child Friendly Wheat Bread

I developed this recipe from my Whole Wheat Bread recipe to be more friendly toward my not-quite 1 year old. I wanted it to not include the honey or egg, and to have less sugar.

Whole Wheat Bread for Children

6 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ¼ T yeast

1 tsp baking powder

2 1/3 cups lukewarm water

1 T salt

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 T oil

2 T brown sugar

1 T molasses

1 ¼ T bottled lemon juice

Mix 3 ½ cups flour, yeast, and baking powder together in an electric mixer with dough hook attached. (On a KitchenAid, you should never exceed speed 2 when using the dough hook.) Add water all at once, and mix for one minute, scraping sides as needed. Cover with a dish towel, and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, applesauce, oil, brown sugar, molasses, and lemon juice, and mix for one minute. Add remaining 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing between each cup. Beat until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl (mostly), about 10 minutes. If after 11 minutes dough has not come away from the edges of the bowl, you may add additional flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time. The dough should feel a little sticky, but soft.

Preheat oven for 1 minute (at any temperature), then turn off oven. Divide dough, and, with oiled hands, place in 2 oiled 8x4 inch bread pans. (You may shape the dough if you wish, but it is not required.) Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes, or until dough reaches the top of the bread pans. Do not remove bread from oven. Turn oven on to 350ºF, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove bread from pans, and cool on racks.

Note: This recipe must be made in an electric mixer. If you make it by hand, you will need to use a lot more flour, which will give you a much tougher dough.

Granola

I made my usual granola recipe yesterday, but I changed the baking directions. Usually I cook it for about 2 hours at 225, stirring ever 15-30 minutes. Yesterday, though, I cooked it at 325 for about 30 minutes before I realized I had it at the wrong temperature. Then, because I wasn't able to stir it as often as I thought I should, because my kids needed my attention, I shut off the oven and just left it there. The result was that the granola stayed in clumps, and that it wasn't as crispy as it typically is. It was wonderful! Thus, my new baking directions were born.
This granola recipe is a very simple one. I love granola with nuts, dried fruit, and coconut. This does not have any of that. I add it after if I really want it. But, it is delicious just as it is as a breakfast cereal (either warm or cold), with yogurt, or as a dessert with ice cream or chocolate chips.

Granola

14 cups oats
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
1 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbs. vanilla

Mix oats, salt, and cinnamon together in a very large bowl (or 2 large bowls). Add remaining ingredients, and mix until combined. Spread on 2 cookie sheets. Put in oven set at 325 for 30 minutes. Turn off oven. Remove cookie sheets from oven and stir. Put baking sheets back in oven. The oven should be off, but still hot. Allow to sit in oven for 2-3 hours. If oven cools down, you may turn it back on to heat the oven, then turn it back off again.

Mac 'n Cheese

I just made my kids Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for lunch. Instead of adding milk like the recipe says to, I left in a little of the water, and added a spoonful of powdered milk! Delicious! (That is if you can call boxed mac 'n cheese delicious.)

3 Month Supply Step 2: Take Inventory of Food You Already Have

After determining what food you need for your 3 month supply, you need to determine what you already have. I like to do this on a spreadsheet (Excel or OpenOffice).
In a column next to what you know you need, mark how much you already have.
Examples will follow soon!

Coupons!

I am not big into coupons. If I really enjoyed the Sunday newspaper, then the coupons would be an added bonus. As it is, I do not get the Sunday newspaper, and therefore no coupons from it. I realize there are other ways to get coupons. Maybe I'm just lazy.

But, today I bought 10 boxes of cereal for $8.50! First, the cereal was on sale at Smith's for $1.25 each. Then I used 2 manufacturer coupons, and 2 store coupons. Very cool how that works. By the way, I only buy cereal if it is 10 cents an ounce or less. In other words, if the box is 18 ounces, I'll only buy it if I can get it for $1.80 or less.

Other things on sale this week at Smith's that I bought: large eggs are 79 cents a dozen (I plan to freeze these to use in baking; never tried it before, but I'll let you know how it works), and a pound of cheese is $2.50 (not a terrific deal, but a decent one).

3 Month Supply Step 1: Determine What Foods You Eat Regularly.

• First determine what you eat. Make a list of your family's favorite meals and snacks. Some people keep a paper on the refrigerator and write down what they eat. Some people compile a binder of their favorite meals. Others make a list by asking each family member their favorite foods..

• Next, make a list of what ingredients, and quantities, are needed to make these meals and snacks. Since this is to determine what to store, you only need to list what you plan to store. Some people only include canned foods here. Others include frozen or refrigerated food. You may list each teaspoon of salt, or only items that you use most of a container of at once.

Just do what makes sense to you!

Rhubarb Pineapple Jam

I have 13 rhubarb plants growing in my backyard. So my friend and I tripled this recipe today.

Rhubarb Pineapple Jam

5 cups chopped rhubarb
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, including the juice
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3 oz package strawberry or raspberry flavored Jell-O

In large saucepan, combine rhubarb, sugar, and pineapple; mix well. Bring to boil. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 30 minutes. Stir in Jell-O until dissolved. Pour in containers and store in refrigerator or freezer.

Solar Activity

Yesterday while listening to the radio I learned that the sun is increasing its activity, and that this could affect technology, and shut off electricity. I'm not a scientist, and I really didn't understand what it was talking about, but I found it rather interesting.

So what does this have to do with food storage? Nothing, but it made me think about how much we rely on electricity for the necessities of our lives: light, heat, transportation, food. It affects every aspect of our life, really, in some direct or, more commonly, indirect way. Power outages are a common result of any natural or man-made disaster. I know that I need to look at ways that I can improve my alternatives to my regular ways of life. (And get in better shape so that I could bike the 70 miles to check on parents if I ever needed to.)

In case you're interested, here's some websites that talk about this increased solar activity:

http://www.physorg.com/news195297437.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0609/Coming-to-Earth-soon-Nasty-solar-storms
http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/experts-warn-solar-storms-could-harm-power-grids/19509502

Boston Baked Beans

This is currently my favorite summer bean recipe. It is perfect for barbecues. I like doubling this recipe, then freezing it in dinner-size portions.
Always add acidic ingredients (tomatoes, vinegar, etc.) after beans are soft. Otherwise the beans will not continue to soften.


Boston Baked Beans

1 lb. dry red beans
2 tab. molasses
3 tab. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 onion, chopped
4 slices cooked bacon, 1 cup cooked diced ham, or cooked ham bone (optional)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

1. Sort beans to remove foreign material (like rocks). Rinse beans with water, and drain. Cover beans with water, and let soak 6-10 hours. Drain water. Rinse with water and drain.
2. Add molasses, brown sugar, salt, onion, bacon or ham, and dry mustard. Stir. Add enough water to cover about 2 inches over beans, or to mostly cover ham bone. Simmer for 2 hours, or until beans are soft, adding additional water as necessary.
3. If you are using a ham bone, take the meat off the bone, being careful to remove all bone and other non-food material from the beans. Add tomato sauce and ketchup, and simmer for another 30 minutes or so, adding water if necessary. Be sure to not add too much water at this point, because you want it to be a good consistency when done.
4. Season to taste with salt, pepper, prepared mustard, and/or molasses.

3 Month Supply of Food

It is a good idea to have a 3 month supply of foods that you eat regularly. 3 basic steps can help you achieve this goal. I will detail each in future posts, giving ideas on how to complete the step.

1. Determine what foods you eat regularly.
2. Take inventory of food you already have.
3. Purchase food to make your 3 month supply complete.
   

Easy Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Mix canned chicken with barbecue sauce. Cover a pizza crust or roll (cut in half) with a small layer of barbecue sauce. Pile on the chicken, followed by your choice of cheese. If using a pizza crust, cook as usual. If using a roll, broil in oven or toaster oven until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Crepes

I love crepes because they are so versatile. They can be be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, or dessert. The recipe below is for a very basic crepe. If I am making it for dinner, I would use all wheat flour. If I am making the crepes for breakfast or dessert, I would use 1/2 and 1/2 wheat and white flour, and would add a little vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon. If I am making the crepes for someone who eats gluten free, I would use all rice flour.

Crepes

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (4 1/2 tab. powdered milk, 1 1/2 cups water)
1 cup flour (wheat, white, or rice)

1. Put the eggs and milk in a blender, and blend.
2. Add the flour and blend until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping sides of blender as needed.
3. Put the blender in refrigerator, and chill for 30 minutes.
4. Attach blender to base and blend for another few seconds.
5. Heat a small fry pan over medium heat until hot.
6. Grease fry pan (even if it is non-stick).
7. Take the fry pan off the heat, and pour a small amount of batter into fry pan, while rotating the pan so that the batter will cover the entire pan. If you pour too much batter in, pour the excess batter back into the blender.
8. Cook over medium heat for about 30 seconds.
9. Flip the crepe over and cook for an additional 15 seconds.
10. Serve with your favorite fillings and/or toppings.

Fillings/Toppings
applesauce, peanut butter, pureed fruit, berries, peaches, chicken, fish, ham, steamed vegetables, cheese, cottage cheese, white sauce, powdered sugar, lemon juice, pudding

My favorite dinner filling: cottage cheese and canned salmon, topped with a thin white sauce with garlic powder, parsley, rosemary, and pepper mixed in.

White Sauce

Basic White Sauce

2 Tab. margarine or butter
2 Tab. flour
1 cup milk (3 tab. powdered milk, 1 cup water)

Melt margarine in small saucepan. Add flour, and stir. Remove from heat. Slowly stir in milk. Stir with a whisk, until no clumps remain, being certain to scrape sides. Heat to boiling, over medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil and stir one minute. Turn heat to low until ready to serve.

Thin White Sauce
Decrease margarine and flour to 1 tab. each.

Thick White Sauce
Increase margarine and flour to 3 tab. each.