Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Creamy Asparagus and Peas Pasta





Asparagus is my daughter’s favorite vegetable.  Sadly most of the year is it too expensive for us to enjoy fresh.  This fall we bought some freeze dried asparagus, we have loved it. I really like that it cooks up bright green.  It doesnt' take too long to cook so be careful not to over cook it. 
 

These days simple dinners are what we are making and this creamy asparagus pasta fits the bill.  Ready in about 15 minutes it is a perfect for a busy night.
 
Creamy Asparagus and Peas Pasta
printable recipe
5 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups freeze dried asparagus
1 cup freeze dried peas
2 tablespoons freeze dried onion
1/2 lemon, juiced          
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 pound fettuccine pasta
3 tablespoons heavy cream
5 ounces shredded Italian three-cheese blend

1.       Place bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until bacon is evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally while cooking. Drain the bacon grease from the pan, and transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
2.       Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and stir in the fettuccine and freeze dried peas; after cooking 5 minutes add asparagus and onions.  Cook, stirring often, until fettuccine are tender and veggie are bright green and tender, about 12 minutes. Drain well. Return to pan.
3.       Stir in cream and bacon and bring mixture to a simmer.
4.       Sprinkle cheese blend over the mixture and allow to stand until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes; stir cheese lightly into the fettuccine and vegetables to serve.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Guava Cake






 Over the summer my Grandmother turned 90 so she had a luau with Hawaiian food, hula dancers, and fake palm trees.   For dessert she had Guava Cake.  I’ve never been to Hawaii (sigh) so I had never had this delicious cake before.  I searched the internet for an awesome recipe and after finding a promising one tried to make it.  Long story short, it was a horrible disaster.  My mom even told me the cake was terrible. 

I worked on the recipe improving the week points and adapting it to use ingredients I could actually find in the local grocery store.  And the resulting cake is delicious.  I made it earlier this week as a late birthday cake and realized that I had never shared the recipe.  It isn’t really made from food storage but it is delicious. 

Guava Cake

Cake layer
1 box white cake mix
1 (12 oz.) can guava concentrate juice , defrosted.  Buy this by the frozen orange juice.  I buy the Hawaii’s Own Brand.  If all you  can find is the Guava Strawberry frozen juice concentrate, it will work fine.
1 (3 oz.) box strawberry Jell-O mix

Cream layer
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
tsp. vanilla
1 package cool whip thawed


Guava glaze layer
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Remainder of guava concentrate


For cake: prepare cake according to directions except use 1/4 cup guava concentrate plus enough water to equal the water required on the package directions. Add I package Jell-O and stir to combine. Cook in 9x13 inch pan according to package.
For cream layer: in medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat. With a spatula, slowly fold in cool whip. Refrigerate until read to use.
For glaze layer: heat remainder of guava concentrate in a saucepan. Add sugar and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Set aside to cool

Assembly: cool cake completely. Spread on cream layer. Drizzle on glaze. Let cake set over night. Serve cold.





Thursday, November 29, 2012

Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake






I really love breakfast, but I don’t really love mornings.  Consequently my family ends up eating breakfast foods a lot for dinner.   This breakfast casserole is one of our favorites.  It can be make 100% from your food storage or you can supplement with some fresh ingredients.  Oh and I’m pretty sure that the spinach cancels out all the calories and fat from the sausage and cheese (don’t I wish).   
 
Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake
6 biscuits, cooked, cooked and cut into 1" pieces
6 large eggs, beaten (3/4 cup scrambled egg mix plus 1 ½ cup water)
2 1/2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoons Freeze Dried Onion, rehydrated and drained.
1 cup freeze dried sausage, rehydrated and drained
1 cup freeze dried spinach, rehydrated and drained
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1.  Butter a 9 x 11- inch baking dish.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together scrambled egg mix plus water,  half and half, salt, pepper and hot sauce.
3.  Place biscuit pieces into pieces into prepared dish.
4.  Top with spinach, onion, sausage and half of cheddar cheese. Pour egg mixture over all and top with remaining cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
5.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6.   Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until casserole puffs and center of casserole is set. If top of casserole is browning too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil during baking process. Allow 8 to 10 minutes of resting time before serving.

Tip:  You can rehydrate the sausage, onion and spinach all together.  Place in a large bowl and cover with very hot water.  Let sit about 10 minutes until sausage is fully rehydrated.  Drain well. 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Harvest 72 #10 Shelf for $229. The best price ever.


If you have been building your food storage you know that shelving is an important part of any food storage plan.  I had been eyeing the Harvest 72 #10 for years before I bought one. I wish I had bought it sooner.  I put my first one up and bought two more right away.  If you have been eyeing the Harvest 72 too now is the time to get one. Shelf Reliance is currently has them on sale for $229!  $229 (I paid a lot more then that for mine)  if I had more room I'd buy another one.   


What I love about the Harvest 72 #10


  • It keeps my food storage organized.  It is easy to find what I need and inventory what I have.
  • It holds a ton of food storage.  Before I had my harvest #10's  my storage strategy was to leave everything in boxes and stack it up.  It seemed to me that it was the most space efficient way to store my stash.  When I set up my first harvest #10 I was so excited to see that I could fit much more in the shelf then I could stacking boxes.  
  • It is reasonably easy to put together.  I'm not really very good at building and I put mine together with the help of a rubber mallet and the directions in the box.  It took me about an hour to put mine up. 


Buy Your Harvest Shelf Here.

The Details: 

Harvest 72” #10  Sale Price: $229.00
The sale will end on December 16th at Midnight or while supplies last.
*The Harvest 72” #10 is not available in Canada or Puerto Rico. To get the promo price, orders for this item needs to be placed through the Back Office with the Catalog ID number 11949.
Catalog ID: 11949
Retail: $459.99
HP Price: $264.99
Description:

The Harvest 72" #10 is a revolutionary food rotation system offered by Shelf Reliance. Designed to hold 112 gallon size cans, this system offers versatility and convenience by taking the hassle out of can storage. The Harvest 72" #10 features patented front-loading technology that automatically rotates cans on a first in first out basis. This unique food rotation system guarantees a more organized pantry or storage room in minutes. 

Tech Specs
Dimensions Capacity Up to 112 gallon-sized cans
Height 72"Depth 24.5"Width 36.5"

  • 58 food label magnets included
  • Large tracks hold up to 7 gallon size cans



Features
Buy Your Harvest Shelf Here.


Some Food Storage Shelf Photos to drool over




What others are saying about the Harvest 72  #10



  1. Never going back

    I just finished putting my #10 cans in my new shelves and I love it. I previously had my #10 cans in boxes, which held 6 cans each. This shelving system got rid of 18 1/2 of my boxes!! Talk about freeing up space on my shelves. My husband was a bit skeptical (only because of the price). He knew they'd be great but wondered if it was worth the money. Now, he's telling me to order a regular harvest one that will hold all sizes of cans. I can't wait to get my other one in so that my pantry and cupboards will be organized. I'll never go back to storing cans the old way again.
    Quality
    C.Miller  3/21/12
  2. Great for organization!

    This shelf had been sitting in our basement for several months because we are planning to move. We finally broke down and put it together last night and now I'm sorry we waited so long. The assembly went very quickly. It's so nice to have the cans out and visible instead of in boxes. Initially I was concerned about the plastic components, but it seems to be very sturdy.
    Quality
    JessO.  3/12/12
    1. Fantastic Product!

      I can't believe how many gallon cans this system will hold! We now have our storage out of the boxes that were cluttering our garage and rotating like they should be. Thank you for the great customer service. We will be back to buy these for our married kids this Christmas.
      Quality
      c. johnson  10/29/09


Buy Your Harvest Shelf Here.