Why Do Mormons Store Food?

A few weeks ago my sweet friend Julie asked me to write a post for a blog called MormonWoman.org for which she is a contributor/administrator. The site is not an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but if I understand it right, its purpose is to give just a glimpse into the lives of LDS women and to help dispel misconceptions that people may have about Mormon women. Anyway, she asked me to write a post about why Mormons store food and I thought I would share it here:

http://mormonwoman.org/2009/08/28/ask-a-mormon-woman-why-do-mormons-store-food/

Naturally, writing a post all about how important I think food storage is and encouraging others to store food made me feel like a major hypocrite, since I haven't been giving much time to my food storage or this blog as of late (I guess if you're here, I don't have to point out how long it's been since my last post). But I thought maybe I could redeem myself by doing a new post right after I'm done with this one. Even though I haven't been posting, I have been trying some new fun things that I'm excited to share... as soon as I get back from Disneyland in a couple of weeks. I know, once a bum always a bum, I guess. But since I don't really think anyone reads this blog anymore, it probably doesn't matter anyway.

Strawberry Leather Forever

If you or your parents watched a lot of infomercials in the early nineties, this will look awfully familiar to you:

My parents had a bunch of those products: the Snackmaster food dehydrator, the Jet-Stream Oven, the Bamix.... I can't really talk when I personally have spoken the words, "I would like to order a set of Miracle Blades," but you know how most of those purchases go. You use them a few times before you discover that you actually can live without them and after storing them for a decade or so you give them away, throw them away, or sell them for five bucks in a yard sale.

So it should come as no surprise that as soon as I mentioned that I was interested in purchasing a food dehydrator, both my parents and my in-laws offered me the Snackmaster collecting dust in their respective garages. With their offers I could hardly justify the $200+ price tag of the dehydrator I really wanted--the Excalibur--when my primary reason for choosing it over the Snackmaster was so that I could have square trays for fruit leather instead of those pesky donut-shaped ones.

Though I was certain that a fifteen-year-old piece of Ronco couldn't possibly be worth anything, I decided to try it out on some strawberry leather, just so I could say I tried it and insist on buying the Excalibur. And of course, it made really awesome, totally delicious, all-natural fruit leather. Shaped like a donut. Really, I was very pleasantly surprised by the result and since this dehydrator didn't cost me anything, I'm trying really hard not to let the shape bother me too much.

I really didn't mean for this post to be about the dehydrator; I really wanted to talk about what a great thing fruit leather is. It's so easy to make, it tastes great (we've also made peach leather which was good, but I liked the strawberry significantly better) and it doesn't contain all the artificial coloring and sweeteners of the Betty Crocker variety so you don't have to feel so guilty about feeding it to your kids (or eating it all yourself).

Here are some tips I picked up through internet research and through my own experimentation (and failures):

- You don't really need to add any sweeteners or anything; just puree the fruit and pour it onto your drying trays. That said, I followed this "recipe" for strawberry leather and I think it turned out pretty well:
2 cups pureed strawberries + 2 tablespoons honey + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- If you do decide to sweeten your fruit, do it with honey or corn syrup, as sugar can sometimes crystallize in storage.

- After you've prepared your puree, all you have to do is pour it onto your dehydrator trays. You can either cover the regular trays with plastic wrap or use these nifty fruit roll sheets. Then just dry it until it's no longer sticky and it peels away easily. In the Snackmaster, this can take anywhere from about 6 to 9 hours.

- If you don't have a food dehydrator and don't want to buy one (though you could probably find a real cheap one at a thrift store) you can dry fruit leather in the sun on baking sheets lined with plastic wrap. Just make sure you cover them with cheesecloth or nylon netting to keep bugs out of the leather but without touching it. Pick a day when the sun is hot and the humidity low and allow 1 to 2 days to dry.

- When you pour your fruit puree onto whatever drying tray you're using, make sure you spread it to an even thickness!!! This is very important. If you don't, some areas will be brittle when some are still gooey and you will end up throwing it in the garbage or letting your kids scrape it off and lick it off their fingers. Seriously, do the best you can to get it nice and even and about 1/4" thick like this:


- I found that in the Snackmaster 2200 (I'm not sure if other Snackmaster models have different diameters) it took about 1-1/2 cups of puree for it to come out just right.

That's all I got. What fruit leathers have you tried?

Blender Wheat Pancakes- No Wheat Grinder Needed!

Throughout my quest for good, working food storage recipes, I've run across several different blender wheat pancake recipes. And after trying them, I can see why:

-You don't need a wheat grinder to make them, so they're a good way to try out whole wheat in your diet without making a major investment.
-They're essentially a "one-bowl" recipe. Using fewer dishes always puts a smile on my face.
-They're more filling than regular pancakes, so you don't overeat. Actually, I still overeat because I like them so much (and I'm really more of a waffle person than a pancake eater) just not as much as I would regular pancakes.
-They're delicious! Even my eighteen-month-old, whom I've decided to start calling "Picky-Picky," likes them. You would never know they weren't made with white all-purpose flour. Honest.
-Do I have too many bulleted lists in these posts?

Anyway, I've tried several different recipes with minor variations and this is my favorite so far. It's from Family Dinner Cookbook by Debbie Harman.

Blender Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:
-1 c. wheat
-1 c. milk
-1/4 c. melted butter
-2 eggs
-1 tsp. salt
-2 tbsp. sugar or honey
-1/4 tsp. baking soda

Blend wheat and milk in a blender for about five minutes, scraping sides of blender if necessary. [This particular recipe actually says to just blend the wheat by itself, but I think it works better when you blend it with the milk.] Add butter and eggs. Blend until well mixed. Add remaining ingredients and blend on high until mixed. Pour batter onto hot greased griddle. Cook until bubbles appear all over and edges start to brown. Flip and cook other side.

Tips:
-Make sure your griddle is at the right temperature (about medium-low) before you start pouring pancakes or bad things will happen. I'm sure that's obvious to anyone who regularly makes pancakes, but I had to find it out the hard way.
-If you want to cut down on your prep time, measure out the sugar, salt, and baking soda for several batches at a time into individual resealable bags so that all you have to do is dump it in when you go to make a batch. And if you really want to be a hard-core food storage user, you could even measure out your powdered eggs and milk ahead of time so that you only have to measure your wheat, water, and butter. Just make sure to adjust the amount of liquid accordingly.

The Perfect Containers

When I lived in Arizona my friend Jamie, a food storage/emergency preparedness guru, got me hooked on these storage containers from Wal-Mart:


I know, nothing special, right? And as always, not a super-flattering picture either. But here's why I like them. First of all, they hold the contents of a number ten can perfectly. Second, they have a lid like this:


As you can see, it has a small spout for pouring things like sugar and a larger opening for larger particles like potato pearls or refried bean flakes. Third thing I like about these containers is that I never have a hard time finding what I'm looking for. I have a lot of number ten cans in my pantry that all look really similar and sometimes I have a hard time finding the one I need or the one I've already opened. But having the items I use often in these transparent containers really saves me the hassle. And one last thing that I like about them is that the labels from the LDS cannery fit right on the front of them so I have the nutrition/preparation info when I need it.


Yes, I am aware that these containers don't really do anything that a number ten can doesn't do, but my obsessive-compulsive side is at peace when I open my pantry and see a nice row of uniform, neatly labeled, transparent storage containers. I know, I need help.

Canning Butter: No Canning Equipment or Experience Necessary!

That's right, you can can or bottle butter for your long-term food storage. And you don't need any special canners or know-how. Trust me, I have neither. You might think that for my first crack at solo canning I would choose some kind of fruit or vegetable, but I know that when it comes right down to it, butter is the food I can't live without. Actually, there are a couple of good reasons I decided to can butter (besides its deliciousness):

- You can buy butter that's already canned, but it's very, very expensive.
- The only alternatives I know are reconstituted butter powder and butter-flavored shortening and I can't imagine spreading either of those on my toast.
- YOU DON'T NEED ANY CANNING EQUIPMENT! Did I mention that already? That's the most exciting part, for me.
- Having butter in your year's supply really opens up a lot of options for food storage meals. Or if nothing else, you can use it in your kids' macaroni and cheese.
- If you have your butter stored in jars, you don't have to waste precious freezer space or worry about your power going out and ruining all your precious frozen butter.


I read a couple of slightly different methods for bottling butter and came up with this:

1. First, put all the jars you will be using (I used half-pint jars) into a 200-degree oven and leave them there until you're ready for them (at least 5 minutes).

2. Put all the rings and lids into a pot of gently boiling water. (I'm not sure of the reason for this, if it's just to sterilize them or if it's to get them hot, so I just left them there until I needed them.)

3. Melt the butter over low heat. Or maybe you should start doing this first. It actually took longer than I thought, so I probably could have gotten everything else ready while it was melting. If you're lucky like me, you'll have a lovely assistant like this to stir the butter for you while you read blogs or watch TV or whatever.


4. When the butter has all melted, pour it into the jars, leaving about 1/4" at the top. The easiest way to do this is to pour the butter into a pitcher and then use the pitcher to pour it into the jars. I found that out the hard way.

5. Take a damp cloth and wipe any butter off the tops of the jars. This is very important for getting a good seal on the jars and if I'm not mistaken, an important step when you're canning anything.

6. Put the lids and rings on the jars and let them sit to cool. As they cool, the jars will seal and
the lids will eventually "pop" as they form an indentation in the middle. If you're like me and you're really afraid that the jars won't seal, you'll stand there and obsessively push on all the lids to see if they've sealed yet. If you push on a lid and it pops back up, it hasn't sealed yet. Be patient or go do something else while you wait. Here is what it will look like at this point:


7. When the jars have sealed and the butter is at room temperature, shake all the jars and put them in the fridge. Take them out and shake them every ten minutes until they've solidified. Once they've set up, you don't have to worry about them separating anymore.

Here is a picture of my finished butter:


I did three pounds of butter and that's what I got out of it, plus a few tablespoons that ended up on the counter. (I started out pouring the butter straight from the pot into a funnel that my not-so-steady-handed, 3-year-old assistant was holding.) So I think that if I hadn't lost so much, three pounds of butter would have filled seven half-pint jars pretty well.

Butter has an official shelf life of 2 to 3 years, but one of my sources said that she has some cases of butter that are six years old and are still perfect.

One source also said that you should use high quality butter (land o' lakes or better). I used the Kirkland Signature butter from Costco, and I think it turned out fine. I think you have to worry more about the quality when you are canning margarine (which you can also do by this method), since cheap margarine sometimes contains water and separates easily. If you have any doubts about the quality of the butter or margarine you're using, start with just a pound. If it looks okay and hasn't separated after a month or so, go ahead and do some more.

Try it! It's fun, easy, and makes you feel like you know something about canning. And as if this post wasn't long enough already, let me just end with a picture of a couple of cows made out of butter. When my three-year-old saw it she said, "Hey look, that's me when I was a baby cow! You was a big cow."

Where's the Beef?

Sorry about the little lapse in posts there. I promise I'm still committed to this blog (for all three of you who read it besides me). Today I thought I would post about the wonder that is canned beef chunks. Has anyone ever tried these things? They're awesome! (Note: this is not the same as canned ground beef, which I've heard is kinda scary and dog food-ish. Please tell me if I've been misinformed.) Aside from frozen meat, it's the best way that I've come across to add meat to your long-term food storage. (Again, any other ideas are welcome!) It comes in 12-ounce cans of cubed, fully-cooked roast beef packed in beef broth. Okay, so I guess I don't really have any information to add to what the front of the can says, except to say that they taste really good! Here is what it looks like out of the can in all of its beefy splendor:

*Please don't let the poor photography in this post deter you from ever trying this meat. I'm not the Pioneer Woman, okay? I've come to terms with that. Just believe me when I say that it tastes better than I make it look.

The meat is really tender and flavorful and it's very versatile, too. Here are some of the things that I've done with it:

-BBQ Beef Sandwiches: Just drain off about half of the liquid, shred it up, and simmer it with your favorite barbecue sauce. Serve it on a toasted bun and you have dinner in about five minutes.

-Taco/Burrito meat: Shred it up with a little bit of the liquid and combine it with a can of pinto or kidney beans, a can of green chilies, and a can of diced tomatoes. Simmer it on the stove for 5-10 minutes (remember, the meat is already cooked) and it's ready to go. I think it tastes really good as is, but if you want, you can add additional seasonings like cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, or whatever you want. Just spread it on a tortilla and top it off with whatever you have on hand--cheese, sour cream, lettuce, salsa, guacamole... you know what you like. We've also eaten it nacho-style over corn chips. It may not look like much but I promise, the flavors will pleasantly surprise you.

-Soups and Stews: This meat is awesome for making your favorite beef stew recipe more food-storage friendly. And again, the meat is already cooked, so it saves you a lot of cubing and browning time. Sorry I don't have a recipe to post; I'll be on the lookout for a good one.

-French Dip Sandwiches: I tried it out in this recipe from The Essential Food Storage Cookbook and it turned out great! The au jus in this recipe is the best I've ever had. Here is the original recipe (fabulous as is) with my adaptations in blue:

Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

Ingredients:
-1 to 3 lb. beef roast (or 1 to 3 cans of roast beef chunks, drained)
-2 cups water
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-1 teaspoon dried rosemary
-1 teaspoon dried thyme
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 teaspoon pepper
-1 bay leaf
-10 hoagie buns
-10 slices Swiss cheese (or provolone, if you prefer a milder flavor) -I also like to add 1 or 2 (4-ounce) cans of mushrooms, drained or if you wanted to get really fancy you could saute 6 oz. sliced mushrooms in a little butter to go on top. Mmmmm.... butter.

In a crockpot, stir together water, soy sauce, and seasonings. Place roast in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 5 hours). [If you're using the canned beef, you only need to cook it for 2-3 hours, just so the flavors can all blend together.] Remove meat from broth and thinly slice or shred with fork. Keep warm. Strain broth and skim fat. Pour broth into small cups for dipping. Slice through buns and lay open on baking tray. Line one side of each bun with a slice of Swiss cheese. Broil 2 minutes or until lightly browned and cheese is melted. Fill each sandwich with beef and cut in half on a slant. [My husband and I also like to slather some dijon mustard onto the bun.] Serve hot with dipping broth.

Canned roast beef chunks are a wonderful food storage item. The only problem (which I know, I probably should have mentioned at the beginning of this post) is that I don't know where to buy them anymore. I used to buy the Costco brand from the aisle where they keep their canned tuna and chicken, but then I moved and now I shop at a different Costco where I haven't been able to find them. The last time I bought them was about a year ago. I'm not sure if Costco stopped selling them globally or if for some reason my Costco just doesn't carry them. Does anyone have any idea? Does your Costco have my beef chunks? Are there any other companies that sell this product? Am I going to have to buy a pressure canner and start canning my own? (Please say 'no.') Any info on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

To Bread or Not To Bread

As I mentioned before, I grew up not really liking whole wheat bread or for that matter, whole wheat in general. So the decision to start making my own whole wheat bread was a tough one for me to make. It took a lot of evidence to convince me that homemade bread 1) was not difficult to make 2) was not time-consuming 3) did not taste like cardboard (I know, I'm childish). Here are some reasons why I made the change from store-bought to homemade:

-Making bread is the easiest way to rotate through long-term food storage items. For example, the recommended amount of oil to store for one adult for one year is 10 qts. So for my husband, my kids, and me that amounts to 40 qts. (We count our kids as adults when we calculate our amounts. Better to be overprepared than underprepared.) I know you can count things like mayonnaise and salad dressing toward that amount, but even then it seems like a lot to rotate before it goes bad.
-Homemade whole wheat bread is delicious. And I don't just mean delicious for health food. It's moist, soft, spongy, and I would take it over white bread any day. And even my picky kids like it!
-Making your own bread is cheaper. To make one batch of bread dough according to the recipe below (which makes 4 loaves) costs a little over $4. That amounts to just a little over a dollar a loaf. You can't beat that, especially for high-quality whole wheat bread.
-Whole wheat bread is infinitely more nutritious. If you've studied nutrition at all, you know that eating white flour is basically just eating empty carbs. Bread made from freshly ground whole wheat retains its nutrients. And it's more filling, so you don't find yourself overeating as much.
-Making bread can be easy, fast, and fun. The recipe I use takes a little more than two hours (and that includes a significant amount of time when you're not actually doing anything) from start to finish and it makes four loaves of bread. That's enough for my family for about a month. (I know, a lot of families eat more than a loaf a week.)
-Eating bread that you made yourself is extremely rewarding. It's like eating vegetables that you grew yourself (not that I've ever had that experience). And for me, it helps to absolve some of the mom guilt that I feel when I let my kids eat Cocoa Puffs.


This is my favorite whole wheat bread recipe. It's from The Essential Food Storage Cookbook. (Have you noticed that I like this cookbook?) I'll put my comments in blue.


Whole Wheat Bread

6 c. hot water
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
1 to 2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten [I know they sell this at Macey's; I haven't looked anywhere else]
1/2 c. powdered milk (optional)
6 c. whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. yeast (my favorite is SAF instant yeast)
2 tbsp. salt
10 c. whole wheat flour
butter
[I also like to add 1 heaping tablespoon dough enhancer]

Mix hot water, oil, honey, [and definitely measure the oil first so the honey will just slide out of your measuring cup]vital wheat gluten, powdered milk, and flour [and dough enhancer]. At this point the batter should be lukewarm so it doesn't kill the yeast. Add yeast. Gently mix to blend and then let it sit to sponge about 10 minutes. Add salt.

While stirring, gradually add additional whole wheat flour until the dough begins to "clean" the bowl. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the the bowl, continue to add flour. You can test for enough flour by gently touching the dough with your finger. If dough sticks to your finger, add flour and keep kneading. When the dough barely does not stick to finger, stop adding flour.

Knead on low speed for 8 minutes. [When you are done, it will look about like this:]



Turn dough onto an oiled surface (do not use flour). Turn dough a couple of times to coat with oil. Cut dough into quarters. I like to weigh each quarter so they are all 32 oz (2 lbs.) each. [I've never done that, since I don't have a kitchen scale, but I find that using dental floss to quarter the dough makes for fairly even loaves.] Shape each quarter into a loaf and place in a bread pan that has been sprayed with oil. Cover and let dough rise 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours [until it looks about like this:].

A good place for bread to rise is under the lights on your range.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 26 to 28 minutes or until internal temp reaches 190 degrees. You can gently push a meat thermometer through the side of the loaf into the middle for a temperature reading. Remove from oven and brush tops with butter. Let loaves sit 5 to 10 minutes before gently removing from pans. Cool on a wire rack.

[Now, I know I probably should have come clean before now, but I have to confess that I've never actually made this bread before without the aid of my Bosch mixer. The Bosch is easily my favorite kitchen appliance of all time and it kneads bread effortlessly to perfection. But the Bosch is a post for a different day. I guess what I'm saying is that I can't tell you what kind of an experience you'd have making this without a good mixer like a Bosch or a Kitchenaid. I know that pioneer women kneaded their bread by hand, so it can be done. If I knew for sure that anyone was interested, I would give it a try, but if not I'll continue to cheat with my Bosch.]


This dough is amazingly versatile. I've used it to make cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, breadsticks, cheddar onion bread, and caramel pecan pull-aparts. I'll post the how-to's later. If anyone else has any tips, questions, or complaints about making bread, please feel free to share!