Saturday, March 31, 2012

Where do I put my food storage? I built my own rotating can rack

Recently a reader, Fawn, shared this awesome idea with me.  She installed tilted shelves under the snack bar in her kitchen. 

She has always wanted rotating shelves but didn't have anywhere to put them.  Living in a small space with a very small pantry and no basement, her options were very limited.   So she got creative and with the help of her handy husband converted the shelves under her kitchen snack bar into a rotating shelf. 

She fills the shelves from the back (where the counter over hangs and the stools are -- not really easy access, but not too hard either).  Then she takes out the cans she needs from the front.

Very cleaver!
Thanks for sharing Fawn!


If you are interested in reading more about it visit her blog: Granny In a Nutshell.
Photos in this post are used with permission. 


You can share you great food storage organizing ideas too.  Fill out the form below and I'll be in touch.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Reader Recipe: Mashed Potato Pie


Reader Recipe: Mashed Potato Pie    
Submitted by: Erin Black 

This recipe is basically a gravy with veggies and chicken served over mashed potatoes. I use whatever I have on hand or in my pantry. I sometimes use FD product and sometimes frozen products. It's fast and filling. Sort of like a chicken pot pie but it's on mashed potatoes instead of in a crust.

Printable recipe

3-4 cups prepared Potato Beads or leftover Mashed Potatoes
FD  Veggies  (I use peas and carrots mostly)
FD Chicken slices
1 can Chicken Broth
1/2 c Flour
1 cup milk
chicken bouillon
salt and pepper

Set veggies and chicken in very warm water to soften while you make the gravy.
Make a Gravy: Heat your broth over medium heat. Use an electric blender to combine the flour and milk. When the broth is boiling add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth and thickened. Use chicken bouillon and salt and pepper to taste.

Turn heat down to low and add veggies and chicken. Stir to combine and serve over mashed potatoes. YUM!   

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Where do I put my food storage? In my coat closet

When you live in a small space and have little area that can be designated “storage” it is sometimes difficult to find a place for your food storage.   But it is possible. 

Jade is in the same situation many of us are.  She has a limited amount of space.   


About a year ago, She moved all of their coats out of the coat closets, and into our own bedroom closets.

She now has a better place to store my food storage and water!  She is saving her pennies for a Harvest, but in the meantime this works well for her family.

She makes sure to write what is in our boxes and the shelf life.

Thanks for sharing Jade!


You can share you great food storage organizing ideas too.  Fill out the form below and I'll be in touch.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Reader Recipe: Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole


Reader Recipe: Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole    
Submitted by: Michelle Jolley   
Printable Recipe      


1 can chicken (I use Kirkland brand)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 c. sour cream powder
1 c. water
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
4 T. butter
1 T. poppy seed, plus more for top
1/8 t. garlic salt (optional)   
    


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, mix the sour cream powder and water to make sour cream.  Mix in soup, garlic salt, and poppy seed.  Stir in chicken.  In another bowl, melt butter and add crushed crackers.  Stir.  Put 1/3 of cracker mixture in a layer on the bottom of a casserole dish (8 x 11 works well).  Spoon the chicken soup mixture on the crackers.  Put the remainder of the crackers on top.  Shake some poppy seeds on top.  Bake 25-30 min. or until edges are bubbly and crackers are beginning to golden.  Serve over cooked rice.          You can add more or less poppy seeds and crackers/butter depending on how crunchy you like it.  

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Reader Recipe: Potato Gnocchi


Reader Recipe:  Potato Gnocchi         
Submitted by: Shelley Jordan  



This is a simple recipe with few ingredients, all of which should be in your food storage.  The original recipe is from my Taste of Home Cookbook.  My kids LOVE this - one likes it with marinara and the other with alfredo.  I like it with a little kick so I choose a spicy sauce or add a little red pepper flakes to it along with some veggies.  It’s also very filling so don't eat too much!

Potato Gnocchi
Printable Recipe  

4 medium potatoes, peeled (or about 1-1/2 cups THRIVE Freeze Dried Potato Chunks)
1 egg, lightly beaten (or 1 THRIVE Powdered Egg, reconstituted)
3 teaspoons salt, divided
1-3/4 to 2 cups all purpose flour (THRIVE White flour)
3 quarts water

Cook potatoes in boiling water until soft - about 20 minutes for Freeze Dried.  Mash.  Reserve 2 cups of Mashed Potatoes; save left over for another use.  Stir in egg and 2 teaspoons salt.  Gradually beat in flour.

Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead 15 times. Roll into 1/2 inch wide ropes. Cut ropes into 1-inch pieces. Press down with a lightly flour fork.
Before Cooking

In a large pot, bring water and 1 teaspoon sale to boil.  Cook gnocchi in small batches in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or until dumplings float to top and are cooked through. Removed with a slotted spoon. Serve immediately with marinara or your favorite sauce.

During Cooking


Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Will Freeze Dried Cheese Melt on Pizza?


  If you interested in food storage you have probably wondered the same thing. 

Let's be honest.  As much as I love powdered cheese, it just won't work on my pizza.  I need real mozzarella cheese, in a pinch I can use cheddar on my pizza, but I absolutely can not use powdered cheese. 

But will freeze dried cheese melt on pizza? 

Yes it will.  But first you are going to rehydrate it. 


How to Rehydrate Freeze Dried Cheese:
    •  Measure the amount of freeze dried cheese that you want to rehydrate.
    •   If you want 1 cup fresh cheese then you need 1 cup of freeze dried cheese
    • While stirring, slowly drizzle water over cheese until the cheese won’t accept it anymore. 
    • If the water starts to puddle on the bottom of the bowl you have added too much, don’t worry just pour it off.
    • You want the cheese to be moist but not soggy.   Don’t drowned your cheese just moisten it.
    • After the cheese is moist, store in an air tight container, like a zip lock bag, then refrigerate it for 1 hour or overnight. 
    •   I like to rehydrate what I think I will need for one week and keep it in the fridge.

Back to the pizza. 

My husband LOVES pizza hut pan pizza.  I am generally too cheap frugal to buy it. So when I found this recipe I was excited to see if we liked it.  The crust is made from food storage ingredients, and if you use sauce from your food storage and freeze dried cheese and sausage, this is a 100% food storage recipe.   Bottom of Form

100% Food Storage Pan Pizza
Makes:  3 pan pizzas
1 1/3 cup warm water (105 degrees F)
1/4 cup non-fat dry milk (or ½ cup instant dry milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon dry yeast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for dough)

½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
9 ounces vegetable oil (3 ounce per pan)
butter flavored cooking spray

Pizza Sauce:  I used canned Hunt’s 3 Cheese.  If you want to make your own,  I like this pizza sauce recipe  made from tomato powder. 

2 cup Mozzarella Cheese  (2 cup freeze dried mozzarella cheese rehydrated)

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes.  Add oil and stir again.  Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed.  Knead for about  3 minutes in your Kitchen Aid or 10 minutes by hand.    

Cover with saran wrap and place in warm area.  Allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until double.  

Or you can do a quick rise is a warm oven.  Heat your oven to the lowest temperature.  In my oven that is 175 degrees, then TURN THE OVEN OFF.  Place dough in the oven and let rise for 20 minutes, or until double in size.  

Or if you are in a super hurry you can skip the rise.  The pizza won’t be quite as good but it will still be fine.  If you are skipping the rise be sure to let the dough rest for 5 minutes after you need it before you roll it out.

Divide dough into three balls.

In three 9" cake pans, put ¼ cup oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans.  It is okay of the circle of pizza dough is slightly smaller than the pan.  When it bakes it will fill up the pan.

Spray the outer edge of dough with cooking spray.   Lightly dust the crust with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F

For each 9 inch pizza:

Pizza after dough has baked 10 minutes and sprinkled with spices.
Bake pizza without topping for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and carefully add toppings. 

  •  Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge.
  •  Distribute 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce.
  • Place toppings of your choice and then top an additional 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. 
I did add more cheese after the sausage. 

 Return pizza to the oven and cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown.

Recipe adapted from:  Pizza Hut Original Pan Pizza

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Chocolate Chip Macaroons


My grandmother loves coconut.  When my grandfather was alive he used to limit the amount of coconut she ate, because it was bad for her somehow.  Now that he is gone she eats it whenever she wants.   Every time I make macaroons I think about her. 

A few weeks ago I was making Macaroons to take to a Shelf Reliance party and I wanted them to be a little more exciting.  So I added chocolate chips, and the cookies turned out amazing.  The party guests were fighting over the last macaroon. 

Chocolate Chip Macaroons
5 Tablespoons Hot Water
½ cup chocolate chips

Place Macaroon Cookie Mix in a bowl and add water, blend with wire whisk.  Fold in chocolate chips.  
Let mixture stand for 5 minutes in bowl.
Shape and drop cookies onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Cherry Chocolate Cookies

 
I love the combination of cherries and chocolate together.  Recently I purchased freeze dried cherries and the first thing I made was cherry chocolate cookies.   Yummy!

This recipe calls for powdered butter.  If you don’t have powdered butter or just prefer to use fresh you can use 1 cup (2 sticks) fresh butter but don’t add the additional water. 




Cherry Chocolate Cookies







*When baking with butter powder it is very easy to over bake. Be careful to remove cookies from the oven when they are set but not yet golden brown.

1 ¼ cup butter powder plus ¼ cup water (or 1 cup butter)

½ c brown sugar

½ c sugar

1 egg

¼ tsp almond extract

2 ¼ cups flour

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup freeze dried sweet cherries

3/4 tsp baking soda

1. Cream together butter (with the water), sugars, and egg.

2. Add all other ingredients and mix.

3. Drop by large round spoonful’s on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes, until edges are light golden brown.

5. Let stand on cookies sheet for 2 minutes cool before removing.


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Chocolate Dipped Freeze Dried Strawberries




Chocolate dipped freeze dried strawberries are a delicious are easy treat.  This is one of the easiest recipes ever.  

Chocolate Dipped Freeze Dried Strawberries
½ bag chocolate chips, the best quality you have 
15 Freeze Dried Whole Strawberries

  1.  Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat until the chocolate is melted.  It is important to only microwave 30 seconds at a time because chocolate chips retain their shape in once melted and it is difficult to tell if they are melted.  
  2.  Carefully dip the freeze dried strawberries in the chocolate.  Place on waxed paper and allow drying.  


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Where do I put my food storage? Pantry and unfinshed basement



 Sara has two main places where she stores her food storage, her pantry and her unfinished basement.

Pantry—Sara utilizes all of the space in her pantry.  I love how she hangs things from the doors.  This is a great way to keep small things organized and handy. 

Tin foil and saran wrap are hung on one of the doors and she uses a shoe hanger to hold her mixes and other small items on the other door. 

Unfinished Basement--The bulk of Sara's food storage is located in her basement.  Most of her food storage is food purchased from the grocery store using coupons or during the case lot sales.  


Thanks for sharing Sara!  

You can share you great food storage organizing ideas too.  Fill out the form below and I'll be in touch.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Happy Pi (3.14) Day!


Every year on March 14th we celebrate Pi day by baking a pie. 

Want to join in the fun? 



 Pie Crust Made with Shortening Powder




 Pink Lemonade Pie

 Apple Cranberry

 Pumpkin Pie

 Pecan Pie

 What kind of pie are you going to make/eat today?

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Cheese Burger Pizza



This is one of my family favorite pizzas.  I love the tangy sauce.  My kids love the cheese burger taste.   This is a great way to start incorporating food storage ingredients.    

Have you ever cooked with freeze dried cheese?  If not check out this video from Chef Todd showing how to rehydrate freeze dried cheese perfectly.  





Cheeseburger Pizza
Based off of Grilled Cheeseburger Pizza from the Taste of Home

  • 1 12-inch pizza crust (see recipe below)
  • 1 cup freeze dried ground beef, rehydrated (or 1 cup cooked crumbled ground beef)
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
  • ¼ cup freeze dried onion rehydrated (or 1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced)
  • 1/2 cup dill pickle slices
  • 1 cup freeze dried shredded cheddar cheese, rehydrated (or fresh)
  • 1 cup freeze dried shredded mozzarella cheese, rehydrated (or fresh)
  • 1 cup shredded lettuce
Directions
  • Preheat oven and pizza stone to 400 degrees.
  • Bake pizza crust on pizza stone until firm but not browned, about 10 minutes. 
  • Meanwhile, combine ketchup and mustard.
  • Spread over crust to within 1 in. of edges. Top with  ground beef, onion, pickles and cheeses.
  • Return pizza to the oven and bake 10 minutes. Until the crust is brown and the cheese is melty. 
  • Remove from oven and sprinkle with lettuce. .
Pizza Crust
1 1/4 cup hot water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 table spoon oil
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour (1 1/5 cups wheat 1 1/2 cup white)
melted butter
1.     Preheat oven with pizza stone in it to 400 degrees. 
2.     Pour hot water in mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast to dissolve. Add sugar, salt,  oil. Stir to combine
3.     Gradually add flour.  Mix well. Knead in mixer for 5 minutes.  The dough should be firm not tacky and soft to the touch.  Let dough rest in bowl until the pizza stone is preheated.
4.     Remove pizza stone from oven and brush with melted  butter
5.     Form crust on stone. Be careful the stone is hot.  The dough should be spread thin enough to cover the entire stone.  
6.     Bake crust without toppings for 10 minutes. 
7.     Add toppings bake 10 minutes.