Real Food Storage Resources (not MREs)

The history of the world is the record of man in quest of his daily bread and butter. ~Hendrik Van Loon

Food storage can be a real relief even if it's as simple as a few home-cooked casseroles stocked in the freezer for those "bad days," or a cabinet full of cans of chicken noodle soup when you have a cold.  Becoming prepared can seem like an overwhelming task, but it can be as simple as buying two cans of diced tomatoes and putting one in storage and the other in the kitchen.  Continue this with the rest of the grocery list.

Strive to have 72 hours worth of ready to eat food.  Then make it a week's worth and eventually 4 week's worth.  Next multiply that by 12 and I'll bet you will have a year's supply of food.  Do the same with paper products, hygiene, first aid, etc.

Of course storing a year's supply depends on whether you have the room.  Maybe you only have space for 72 hours or a week--it's okay to do what you can.  There is peace in knowing you can "shop" your pantry and not have to run to the store for every little thing!

Here are some sites I return to again and again for food storage knowledge and inspiration:

The Family Homestead is a site I enjoy exploring for inspiration.

http://thefamilyhomestead.com/
LDS Church Provident Living site runs the whole gammut of preparedness training.  I personally have used this site to buy a year's worth of food storage.

http://www.providentliving.org/

Provident Living is a source for food storage purchases.  They teach about preparedness and gardening and much, much more.

http://providentliving.com/

Food Storage Made Easy is your food storage 101 class for newbies.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/

Preparedness Skills

Random Sampler of Great Ideas!  (Ensign, June 1974) Has a ton of useful information beginning with how to dehydrate all kinds of food from the garden and even meat!  It explains how to smoke and can fresh caught fish.  I get a thick sales paper each week in my mailbox that must be put to some use or thrown away.  An idea is given to turn newsprint into bundles that can be stacked and used like wood.  (Or make these cute pioneer haysticks with newspaper that I found at Martha Stewart).  Whether a camping enthusiast or survivalist wannabe, learning how to cook using a tin can is a useful skill.  Instructions are given for recipes, a buddy burner, stove and oven.

Food Storage Rotation

For the real enthusiast, the question is how to keep up with the food storage and rotate it out so that nothing spoils and is wasted.  "Tracking Our Food Storage," by Leslie O. Anderson (Ensign, Feb 1996) uses a system much like the old library cards where each section of food storage has a card or slips of paper that you pull when you take something from that shelf.  Then you put the slips with the grocery list and replace the items.

Grateful Living: Reflections on HOME

This is my post to share a touching story and lovely quotes about the most important place in a person's life--their home...

Best Snowflakes on the Block
It is Christmastime on our street. The homes are decorated with tinsel and many-colored lights. Some windows frame beautifully decorated trees, and well-shaped wreaths hang on the doors. At one home, however, a little confusion of homemade snowflakes congregates in the picture window. They are hung in childhood fashion (not in the adult perfection of other windows nearby) and whisper a special secret about the occupants of that home.

I want to share a secret with you. The secret is that children are more important than picture windows; that fingerprints and boot-drips and carpet stains aren't nearly as important as a child's self-esteem. Those little white snowflakes tell me something more. They tell me that smashed bouquets of dandelions adorn that kitchen table in the springtime and are loved as if they were the most beautiful of imported orchids. They tell me that a pet potato bug in a box can live there unmolested, that helping with a bug collection is just as important as doing the wash, that viewing the first violets of spring with a child's hand in yours is better than a shiny floor, that listening to a child's fears is more important than television, that children's art is more beautiful than the greatest of the old masters.
Oh, they do tell a special story, those snowflakes.
(Sherlene Parker, Ensign Dec. 1976)

A small house well-filled is better than an empty palace. ~Thomas Haliburton

Houses that express comfort and well-being can go a long way toward making us feel at home in the world. ~JoAnn Barwick

Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there.  ~Jacqueline Kennedy

Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free...Amish song

'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
~Pa, Little House in the Big Woods

God bless this house And all that's in it

A garden of flowers Some books for the hours

Sweet dreams Good Health

and Love, glorious love. ~unknown

“...I remember thinking how often we look, but never see...we listen, but never hear...we exist, but never feel. We take our relationships for granted. A house is only a place. It has no life of its own. It needs human voices, activity and laughter to come alive.” 
― Erma Bombeck, A Marriage Made in Heaven: Or Too Tired for an Affair

Storing Wheat

Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, 

And back of the flour, the mill, 

And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower,
The sun and the Father's will.  ~Anonymous

Here's a good tip on Storing Wheat, from an old Ensign magazine:

"We purchased four shelf boards, and by stacking the three-pound cans we made a wall bookshelf.  These we painted the same color as the wall.  The total cost was seven dollars.  We have a lot of fun when friends compliment us on our new bookshelf.  We tell them there is more there than meets the eye--food for the body as well as food for the spirit.  They are amazed when we tell them about the 420 pounds of wheat stored there."  ~Bernice Ketner  Above is a picture found on Pinterest which gives a similar idea.

Quick Mix Sausage Balls

These sausage balls are so easy to make and because you can freeze them, you always have something delicious for last-minute company to chow down on or to take to any gathering.  The sausage balls shown is a before-shot.  

I like to use parchment which I use several times before throwing away (this recipe makes a lot).  I actually find that these sausage balls bake up even better after they have been frozen, if that makes any sense.  I do not know if it is because the mixture and flavors have had time to meld.  I now prefer to have sausage balls with any type of breakfast menu rather than sausage by itself.  It really makes the sausage go a long way.  I promise to remember to eventually have an after photo (I keep forgetting)!

My sausage balls are made with a homemade baking mix I like to call Quick Mix.  My Quick Mix recipe uses wheat flour so it is a little bit healthier! (Find homemade Quick Mix and other recipes found on My Quick Mix post).

Quick Mix Sausage Balls
3 cups baking mix
1 lb. hot ground pork sausage
10-oz. pkg. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Combine mix, sausage and shredded cheddar in a large bowl, pressing mixture together with hands.  Shape into 3/4 inch balls and place on lightly greased baking sheets (or use parchment).  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Yield: about 8 dozen.  Sausage balls may be frozen uncooked.  Bake frozen balls at 400 degrees F. for 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

I collect "Quick Mix" recipes, or it's sometimes just called baking mix.  I have even heard it called Missouri Mix--it has many different names.  My original recipe comes from an old Southern Living Magazine.  But it is my goal to find as many different, useful, and delicious recipes to use with my Quick Mix as possible and would love to hear of any others out there, so please let me know!

Love Affair with Pantries

I've had a love affair with pantries since I was a little girl. My next door neighbor had this whole closet right off the kitchen where she kept all her food.  This looks very much like the pantry she had in her early 1950's home. It's the type I want the most if I had a choice.  How convenient to just enter a room and be able to see everything you have at a glance!  I think all kitchens should have this included in the house plans.

My Grandma's kitchen had several mysterious rooms.  There was a mud room with a deep sink and updated with a washer and dryer. A screened-in porch where I'm sure many a pea was shelled and maybe used as a sleeping porch (the room was later closed in as an extra guest room).  Grandma had a lovely butler's pantry that she kept a giant, ancient freezer chest.  The room had windows in the alcove area and a built-in china cabinet.  But the most mysterious and unusual room was a long narrow closet that was her pantry.  From top to bottom the closet was lined with sturdy shelves.  It reminded me of the one the chauffer took a can of salmon out of in "Driving Miss Daisy." 

In The First Four Years, by Laura Ingall Wilder, Almonzo built the most amazing pantry in their new home.  The description includes flour bins!  I love to study the illustration shown in the book. 

Before Pinterest, I kept magazine clippings such as these, organized in a notebook, as inspiration for my ultimate pantry (I apologize for the picture's graininess.)  I've seen the first couple of pictures pinned on Pinterest that I clipped from a Martha Stewart Magazine years ago. 

From Martha Stewart Magazine

This is a great organizational idea for keeping up with and rotating food storage and supplies.  Another great idea comes from Ensign magazine for using an easy pocket chart system where even children (and husbands) can help.

From Martha Stewart Magazine

This is a great idea for those of us who must keep our storage in the garage or basement.



Here is an excellent way to use space inside the walls.  I love it cause you can see what you have, and yet it's still kinda hidden and there's the old-fashioned feel of a screen door.  Of course I don't find screen doors like this practical anymore on my front and back doors and opt for more energy-efficient storm doors, so getting to use a screen door somewhere in the house is nostalgic and you can often find them discarded and needing just a little TLC.

This pantry is what most new homes provide and is the simplest and least expensive for those of us who have an extra traditional closet to use.  I've seen a lot of good ideas on Pinterest for organizing pantry items using this storage system.

from Southern Living Magazine

I include this picture just because it is so inspiring.  Maybe one day I'll get my act together and have such an array of home-canned items.  Right now I'm lucky if I get jam or jelly done each year.

How to Freeze Grated Cheese

Lately, I've been trying really hard to stick to a strict grocery budget--after all, when you purchase and eat food, what do you have to show for it?  I'd rather not waste money on food that might get thrown out.

However, it can be tough to purchase items for a two-week period and realize someone just made a snack with the cheese you needed for Thursday night's dinner, (especially when they could have eaten what you prepared for snacks!)  So I try to pre-prepare for my family's meals as much as possible.  

I have started using a permanent marker to label everything that goes into the pantry and fridge for a specific purpose.  That doesn't mean everything is labeled--just what absolutely cannot be used up before I need it.

I remembered that I can go ahead and shred my cheese and spread it out on plastic wrap on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer.  It only takes a few minutes to harden enough to place in a freezer bag and store in the freezer.  Shredding is a good job for one of the kids to do, but you might want to freeze it yourself to ensure it gets properly stored.

Zesty Tomato Soup is a fabulous last minute meal.  Just keep some frozen Monterrey Jack Cheese on hand and cans of tomato soup and some oyster crackers in the pantry.  It's seasoned with chili powder.  It really takes tomato soup up a notch!  I would serve this to last minute company or when having the girls over for lunch. 

Freezing Blueberries

I love fresh-picked blueberries (as long as someone else picks them--ha, ha!)  Picking berries is something you should do with your children or grandchildren or friends at least once.  The great thing about blueberries is how well they freeze and how good they taste whenever you pull some out of the freezer to bake (or pop in your mouth!)

Blueberries should not be washed prior to freezing.  

They have a natural waxy coating that protects them when freezing, then rinse the berries before using in a recipe.  I rinse my blueberries after defrosting them in the fridge so I don't wash before freezing.

Spread them out evenly on wax paper on a cookie sheet in the freezer.  It doesn't take but about 15 minutes for them to be firm enough to put in quart-sized freezer containers.  Containers rather than bags will prevent the berries from getting squashed.  Whenever you need a handful, the berries are nice and loose and ready to use, or pre-measure blueberries for your favorite recipes before freezing.  In airtight containers, blueberries will keep up to a year in the freezer.

I place the amount I'll need in the refrigerator to defrost.  Then I rinse them gently in a strainer or colander under cold water.  This prevents your batter from becoming stained blue.  I use my frozen blueberries in pancakes, smoothies, and muffins.  Gently toss blueberries with a little flour before stirring them into batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.  The blueberries taste so fresh and delicious all winter long.

Here's some helpful tips:

To make a hands-free berry bucket, punch holes in a plastic ice cream container and thread a long piece of string through each hole.  Then tie the string ends and slip the whole thing over the head.  The container hangs down in front, allowing both hands to pick berries.

Blueberries should be picked when they are dry.  If there is dew or rain on them, they will get soft and not last as long after picking.

Be sure to pick deep-blue blueberries for the best flavor.

When purchasing already picked berries 

Look for fresh berries that are firm, dry, plump and smooth-skinned and relatively free from leaves and stems.

Berries should be deep purple-blue to blue-black; reddish berries aren't ripe, but may be used in cooking.

Stay away from containers with juice stains, which may be a sign the berries are crushed and possibly moldy; soft, watery fruit means berries are overripe.

Fresh berries should be stored covered in your refrigerator and washed just before using.  Use them within 10 days of purchase.

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough (rotation recipe)

This is one more way I'm able to rotate my food storage wheat.  I love this pizza dough--it's easy enough for a beginner and always turns out great!  You can use whatever oil and salt you have on hand, but I prefer the taste of olive oil and sea salt.  I like to let my yeast sit for about 3 minutes and make sure it's active.  (Keeping an opened jar of yeast safely in the fridge will keep it fresh).  It's so good, I barely got a shot of the pizza :0)

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough
1-1/2 teaspoons yeast
3/4 cup warm tap water (not scalding)
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons honey
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/4 teaspoons sea salt
Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, honey, olive oil, and salt; mix well. Knead for several minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat.  Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free space for one to two hours or until double in bulk.  Punch dough down and roll to shape.  Yield:  dough for one 15-inch pizza.

Here's a good tip on Storing Wheat, from an old Ensign magazine:

We purchased four shelf boards, and by stacking the three-pound cans we made a wall bookshelf.  These we painted the same color as the wall.  The total cost was seven dollars.  We have a lot of fun when friends compliment us on our new bookshelf.  We tell them there is more there than meets the eye--food for the body as well as food for the spirit.  They are amazed when we tell them about the 420 pounds of wheat stored there.  ~Bernice Ketner  Below is a picture found on Pinterest (originally icanmakethat.com) which gives a similar idea:

Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, 

And back of the flour, the mill, 

And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower,
The sun and the Father's will.  ~Anonymous

My teenage son sticks his nose up at homemade pizza even though I think I do a pretty good job.  However, I'm looking for really great pizza recipes and have been collecting some on Pinterest.  Do you have a killer pizza recipe that you think my son would like?  Send me the recipe today!

Follow Heather Allen's board Cook: Pizza on Pinterest.

Use-It-Up Whole Wheat Bread (rotation recipe)

This is a great food storage rotation recipe :0)

This great-tasting bread helps me rotate my food storage wheat supply so the wheat (if stored properly) will maintain it's optimum nutrients.  This uses only wheat and yet the loaf is soft, easy to slice, and tastes delicious--like buttery honey.  You shouldn't need any dough enhancer with this recipe as long as your wheat is in good condition (not too old).  As shown, I like to make mini-loaves to share or to make a meal of soup or stew special.  Mellowed cheese and a mini-loaf of bread can turn even canned soup into a gourmet treat.

Use-It-Up Whole Wheat Bread
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
2 c. warm water
1/4 c. honey
2 t. salt
3 T. oil
5-1/2 to 6 c. whole-wheat flour, divided
1 T. butter, melted

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water, (hottest tap water, 105 to 110 degrees).  In a large bowl, combine 2 cups warm water, honey, salt and oil.  Stir in 2 cups of whole-wheat flour, mixing well.  Stir in yeast mixture.  Now the mixture should be the consistency of cake batter.  Add more flour, 1/2 cups at a time, to make a fairly stiff dough.  Don't put too much flour in because you can knead in more, if necessary.  
2. Sprinkle a little flour on a board or clean counter or pastry cloth; knead dough 10 minutes.  
3. Shape dough into a ball.  The dough should be fairly smooth.  
4. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray; place dough in bowl and spray the top of the dough. Let rise 45 minutes or until double in bulk.  This can be done by placing plastic wrap loosely over bowl, and placing in an oven that was briefly heated at 175 degrees, (turn oven off before placing dough inside).  Place a small bowl of water in warmed oven to keep it humid.  After dough has risen, punch down, divide in half and knead a little; let rest 10 minutes.  
5. Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in two 8" x 4" greased loaf pans.  (see below one way to form a loaf of bread).  
6. Split top; drizzle with melted butter.  
7. Cover each loaf with plastic wrap, and let rise in oven with bowl of water until double in bulk, about 30 minutes.  
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes for metal pans, and 325 degrees for glass bread pans (adjust time for smaller loaves).  Cook slightly longer for glass pans.  About half-way through, loaves may need to be vented with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.  Bread should sound hollow when tapped on the top and bottom of the loaf.  Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire racks.  Yield:  2 loaves or 5 mini-loaves.

1.  Mixture is ready to knead.

2.  Knead with the palm of your hand.

3.  Place in a greased bowl.

4.  Spray dough with nonstick spray and cover with plastic (forgot to take the after photo!)

5.  After punching dough down and letting it rest for 10 minutes, split the dough into two or more loaves and form it into a loaf or roll it out as shown.

Then roll it up like a jelly-roll.

Pinch ends under.

Place loaf in a greased pan.

6.  Split the top with a sharp knife and drizzle with melted butter.

7.  With sprayed plastic on top, return to oven and let loaves rise double in size.

8.  Now the loaves are ready to go into a preheated oven.  I put the little loaves on one large cookie sheet so they are easier to take in and out of the oven.  Smaller loaves do not take as long to bake.

Wheat Quick Baking Mix (rotation recipe)

I use this baking mix recipe as a basis for so many other recipes.  It is just like Bisquick, only better!  Though it lasts for six weeks, I go through it pretty quick because I have so many great recipes.  It's one of the main ways I use up my wheat and POWDERED MILK purchased from the Cannery.  That is why I call it a rotation recipe because this recipe helps to use up my old food storage which I replenish on a regular basis.

"All grain is good for the food of man...Nevertheless, wheat for man."  Doctrine and Covenants 89:16-17

I grind several #10 cans of wheat at a time.  I store these in doubled freezer bags in the freezer.  I also keep a container of ground wheat in my fridge.  When this container is empty, I refill it with wheat from the freezer.  I try to make whole wheat bread and Bread-for-Beginners wheat rolls as well as my Honey Wheat Muffins on a regular basis.  I've tested a lot of recipes for whole wheat and choose only the best-tasting for my family so we'll eat lots of it.  This recipe helps to use up wheat and it also tastes great made with butter-flavored Crisco :0)

Wheat Quick Baking Mix
8 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup non-instant powdered milk
1/3 cup baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups Crisco shortening (or butter-flavored Crisco)
Combine dry ingredients; mix well.  Cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.  (Mix may be stored up to 6 weeks).  Package for gift giving and present with the following recipes.  Yield:  15 cups.

Wheat Quick Biscuits
1 egg, beaten
1 cup water or milk
2 cups Wheat Quick Mix
Combine egg and water in a mixing bowl; mix well.  Add Wheat Quick Mix; stir just until moistened.  For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle.  Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges are brown.  Serve with syrup.  Yield:  Eight 4-inch pancakes.

See these fabulous Quick Mix Recipes!

Wheat Quick Christmas Coffee Cake
Wheat Quick Sausage Balls 
Wheat Quick Pancakes
Perfect, Easy Biscuits (7 Up Biscuits)

How I store my Wheat Baking Mix in the fridge.

Do you have a favorite baking mix recipe to share?  I am always looking for more to try out and include in my collection.

Blog Index, page 2

Provident Living
Disaster Preparedness
Alabama's Worst Storm Ever
Real Food Storage Resources (not MREs)

Camping
Girl Scouts
  SWAPS
  Girl Scout Favorite Things

  Some Favorite Campy Things, Camping part 2 (3 swaps)
Boy Scouts

  Camping, part 1 (Camp Songs)

  Art Badge Camp
  How to Love Scouts
  Homemade Firestarters

Camp Cookery
  Easy Outdoor Cooking Recipes

  Some Favorite Campy Things, Camping part 2
  Dian Thomas Rules!

Young Women Camp (i.e. Girls' Camp)

  Young Women's Camp
  Young Women Favorite Things

Southern State Parks
  Southern Reflections, Camping part 3

  Monte Sano, Huntsville, AL

Gardening
Freezing Herbs
And the Lord Planted a Garden ... Gen. 2:8
How to Make a Compost Heap
Freezing Blueberries
How to Care for House Plants
Rx for Houseplants
Nesting, It's A Chick Thing Book Review
(especially about taking care of after-gardening hands)

Once-A-Month-Cooking (OAMC)
Freezing a Batch of Soup
Relief Society OAMC Activity
Ham Dinner Slices
Freezer Slice and Bake Cookies
How to Freeze Grated Cheese

Food
Hamburger Gravy Over Rice
Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice
Cooking 101:  Substitutions for Wine and Liquor
No Whine Meal Time
Zesty Tomato Soup
Mellow Meals
Old and New Favorite Recipes
Gobble Good Turkey Casserole!
So Easy Granola
Kid-FRIENDly Meals

The Legacy of Meal Planning

The Legacy of Meal Planning, 2
Honey Wheat Muffins
Pearly Shell Chicken Salad
Weight Watchers Four Ingredient 10 Minute Recipes
Three Day Chili
The Best and Prettiest Slaw
Steve's Perfect Sweet Potato Pie
The Best Banana Bread Recipe
Feels Like Christmas Pecan Mocha Fudge
For Seasoned Cooks
Chicken Pillows (aka Chicken Packets)
Poultry Seasoning Mix
Chicken Divine (Broccoli)
Bean Chimichangas (Baked)
Writing My Own Cookbook
Teaching Children to Cook
Christmas Coffee Cake
Peanut Butterscotch Morsels
Yankee Corn Sticks
Creamy Italian Dressing in a Jiffy!
Tater Tot Casserole
Quick and Easy Bierocks
The Lady's Chicken Nuggets
Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes
Vancouver's Best Salad and Jiffy Pizza Sticks
George Foreman Grill
Foil Packet Dinners
Perfect, Easy Biscuits
Quick Mix Sausage Balls
Pinterest Recipes I've Tried (and my adaptations)
Vintage 1941 Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vintage Desserts: Brownie Pudding
Favorite Store-Bought Baking Mixes
Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries
Quick and Easy Piping Bag for Gingerbread Cookies (White Frosting)
How to Make Meatballs the Same Size
Quick Starts to Your Family's Day

Dinner

Foil Packet Meals

BBQ Chicken Legs
Simple Oktoberfest Meal

Other Meals

Paula D's Chicken Nuggets

Breakfast for Dinner

Homemade Blueberry Pancakes

Can Plan

Zesty Tomato Soup
Camp Stew
Shoestring Tuna Salad

Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice

Hamburger Gravy Over Rice

Gobble Good Turkey Casserole

OAMC  (once-a-month-cooking)

Bean Chimichangas (Baked)

Ham Dinner Slices

Related Cooking Posts

Writing My Own Cookbook

Teaching Children to Cook

Emergency Lunch Kit

I found this neat idea in Gifts That Taste Good, p. 103 (ISBN 0942237099).  This made a great gift for a college Christmas care package.  I just used a scrapbooking tag maker to make my tag, although the book includes a pattern for the tag and cross.  I also used a strip of cheese cloth to make my bandage.  Here are the soup and crackers recipe that go in the box.  You can also include a red mug.

Potato Soup Mix
1-3/4 cups instant mashed potatoes
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
2 tablespoons instant chicken bouillon
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried whole thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing until completely blended.  Store in airtight container.  Yield:  about 2-1/2 cups of mix.  To serve:  Place 1/4 cup soup mix in a soup bowl or mug.  Add 1 cup boiling water and stir until smooth.  Let soup sit 1 to 2 minutes to thicken slightly.

Parmesan-Herb Nibbles
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Fine Herbes (in grocery spice section)
1/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large bowl, sift together first 4 ingredients.  Stir in herbs.  With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter and cheese until mixture resembles a course meal.  Stir in egg yolks and water.  Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness.  With a paring knife, cut dough vertically into 1-inch wide strips; cut 1-inch wide strips horizontally to make small squares.  Carefully lift squares from surface with flat side of knife and place on greased baking sheets.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely before storing in airtight container.  Yield:  about 6 dozen squares.
Tip:  I didn't have the patience to roll out the dough to make the nibbles.  I formed the dough into a log and put in the freezer for about an hour, long enough for the butter to get solid again.  Then I sliced the log into 1/8 inch slices and baked as mentioned.


Here's the instructions from the book on how to wrap the package (p. 123).

Bean Chimichangas (Baked)

This is a great vegetarian (and food storage) meal.  They are so fast and easy to make.  Plus they're very healthy because you bake the chimichangas instead of frying them.  They are seriously good!  Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Bean Chimichangas (Baked)

16-ounce can refried beans

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/3 cup medium salsa

1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix

one-half of a (5-ounce) package yellow rice mix, cooked

5, 10-inch flour tortillas (Our Best Bites has a great tortilla making tutorial!)

shredded lettuce 

salsa

guacamole

sour cream

Stir together refried beans, cheese, salsa, and taco seasoning mix.  Stir in rice.  Place 1/3 cup mixture just below center of each tortilla.  Fold opposite sides of tortillas over filling, forming rectangles; secure with picks.  

Place on a baking sheet and coat both sides of chimichangas with cooking spray.  Bake at 425 degrees 8 minutes.  

Arrange on lettuce.  Serve with salsa, guacamole, and sour cream, if desired. Chimichangas can be frozen in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bags fro up to 3 months.  Yield: 2 to 4 servings.

Chicken Pillows (aka Chicken Packets)

Here's a great Once-A-Month Cooking Recipe (also known as freezer food storage).

Chicken Pillows (Packets)
2 cups chopped chicken or 1 large can chicken
3 to 8-ounce cream cheese, to liking
green onions or chives, if desired
2 tablespoons milk
salt to taste
2 cans crescent rolls
1/2 cup crushed crouton crumbs, (optional)
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

Mix chicken, softened cream cheese, green onions, milk, and salt in a medium bowl, (mixing with hands works best) to make filling, (can be frozen at this point for later use-thaw before using). 

Roll out the crescent rolls into the triangles.  Fill on triangle with mixture and then place another triangle on top.

Mash the sides together with a fork.  Continue with all the rolls.  Place on baking sheets and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve either hot or cold.

I prefer to pinch two triangles together.  

Place the filling on one end.

If desired, dip each packet in melted margarine or butter.

Coat with crushed, seasoned crouton crumbs.  Place on baking sheets and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve either hot or cold.

Here's the triangle pillows.

Here's the packets.

A New Twist On Pioneer Hay Sticks

None of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books were more frightening to me than The Long Winter.  (Though the plague of grasshoppers On the Banks of Plum Creek was pretty terrifying!)  I could not imagine being cut off from civilization for so long that people became seriously malnourished!  Laura's future husband, Almonzo, and his brother fared a little better due to the fact that they had stored a large amount of wheat to plant in the spring.  Soon it became apparent that they would have to share with the other townspeople--a perfect example of the necessity of food storage.

In The Long Winter, the coal soon ran out since no train was able to get through the blizzard and Pa ingeniously began to use the hay as fuel that they had stored for their animal's food to last throughout the winter.  "Here is your breakfast fuel, Caroline," Pa said, laying his armful down by the stove.  "Good hard sticks of hay.  I guess they will burn all right."

Laura was a big help making the hay sticks with her father who was soon becoming seriously discouraged about their predicament.  My Little House Crafts Book 0439059585 is a fun little book of crafts that Laura describes in her Little House series.  The book shares how the hay sticks were made.  However, I chose to share a similar craft that we can more easily make and use today.

I found this idea in an issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.  Simply reuse newspapers to make firestarters.  "Tightly roll a sheet of newspaper, bend it in half, twist the ends together, and fasten with twine.  Keep a basketful by the hearth and you'll always be ready to heat things up."  These are very similar to the hay sticks that Laura and her pa made.