100% Food Storage: Whipped Cream??? Dream Whip!!!

 

The toddler and I made a recipe today that called for 1 1/4 c heavy whipping cream.  What to do?  What to do?
I came across this issue a couple weeks ago with a different recipe, and had tried to improvise... which wasn't a 'winner'.  

So today - needing whipped cream - I grabbed some evaporated milk and the last bit of heavy cream powder (which doesn't whip up to heavy cream but is only good for cooking and baking... but I was guessing it may be good in the evaporated milk to make it more like cream when I whipped it?)

After I put those into the mixing bowl I suddenly spied something I had totally forgotten I had stocked!!! 

Dream Whip!!!!  AHHHHH. 

Dream Whip - 1 package mixed with 1/2 cup milk and some vanilla equals a substitute for whipped cream or Cool Whip.

I added some packets to the evaporated milk mixture I already had in the bowl.  I *should* have just used the milk I already had mixed and in the refrigerator - which I did use some - but I wouldn't/couldn't waste the can of evaporated milk I already had in the mixing bowl, so we went with it.

A little more vanilla to (taste test) and we were good to go!

Yay for Dream Whip in the food storage.

 

100% Food Storage: Homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

100% food storage:  Last grocery shopping trip was in November 2023 and today is February 28, 2024

A favorite recipe of ours which happens to be almost 100% food storage items even if you aren't living on food storage at the time.  I've posted this recipe before - and most recently back on January 13th, which is the last time we had it.  This photo is really blurry because I was snapping a super fast picture of my soup before I ate it.

Earlier today I made a loaf of my daily bread and used that to make oven-baked grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup.  It was absolutely delicious and so perfect for a chilly night.

This is some butter, oil and dried minced onion.  Off to the side is a large can of tomato sauce, which I've put the dried basil and thyme into.  The small red cap is the top of the chicken base I used to make broth.

 

 

Baking soda, broth, flour and evaporated milk

 

Mixing in the evaporated milk.......

 

Warming through after the baking soda and sugar was added along with the milk

Homemade Tomato Soup

5 T butter
1 T oil
3/4 c sweet onion, diced  (Used 1/4 c dried, minced onion)
3-4  cups worth of fresh tomato puree (approximately) or crushed or pureed tomatoes in a can - 28 oz. (Used 28 oz can sauce, plus leftover tomato paste (about 1-2 oz. and an extra can of tomato sauce - about 12 oz.)
1/2 t dried basil 
1/4 t thyme
3 T flour
1 3/4 - 2 cups chicken broth (bouillon, homemade or canned)  (Used 1 1/2 - 2 T chicken base and 2 cups water)

1/4 t baking soda
2 T sugar
12 oz. evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and basil/thyme. Simmer about 10 minutes. 

Combine the flour into the broth and whisk or beat with a fork until smooth.  Add to the soup, stirring constantly. Simmer on low 10-15 minutes.  Add the baking soda, sugar, milk and salt and pepper.  Heat through and serve.

 

*Note:  If you are using fresh tomatoes, plunge them into a pot of boiling water for 1 minute, then into cold water and slip the skin off before chopping up and adding them to your blender to puree.  If you are using canned, diced tomatoes you have the choice of blending them smoother OR leave them chunky for a soup with body.  If you are using puree from a can, no need to use a blender at all.

 

I usually substitute what tomato products I have on hand or want to use up.  I mix and match amounts of fresh tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes, crushed, puree, sauce, paste... 

 

 

 

 

 

More information on planning and planting a Victory Garden (Free)

In 1943 Americans were urged to plant a garden to feed their families.  Seems like it's prudent advice for today as well.  There is a lot of information about planting 'out there' but if interested, here is the original guide of "ABC of VICTORY GARDENS" - Official Guide.  

Various download formats available - all free: https://archive.org/details/abc-of-victory-gardens/mode/2up

 

 

 

https://archive.org/details/abc-of-victory-gardens/mode/2up

 

 

 

100% Food Storage: Macaroni Salad

 Last grocery trip was November, 2023.  Today is February 27, 2024.

 

Macaroni Salad

8 oz. macaroni, cooked and drained
2 T dried celery pieces (or 2 ribs fresh)
1 T dried minced onion
1/4 c diced/chopped dill pickles
1/4 c diced/chopped sweet pickles
2 c mayonnaise (or substitute part Miracle Whip)
salt and pepper
mustard to taste (about a teaspoon)
1 t sugar
*if you use only mayo and no Miracle Whip, add some paprika, and a dash of garlic powder and onion powder, maybe even a little celery seed.  (Mayo doesn't have spices or sugar added, but Miracle Whip does).   Chill for at least 2 hours minimum for the flavors to meld.  Up to 4-8 is even better.

 

 

100% Food Storage: Breaded Pork Chops

 

 

A quick fly-by post - dinner last night.

Pork chops from the deep freezer
Spices from the pantry
Homemade Bread Crumbs using 'leftover' breads I've tossed into a Ziploc into the freezer whenever we have ends, a couple pieces no one wants to eat, bread getting stale, etc.

Onto a foil lined pan with oil... baked at 400 or so until crispy and golden brown.

 

You can use almost any seasoning you like.
Seriously.
Even just salt and pepper is good.
I used salt, pepper, some woodfired garlic and a little onion powder

 

The leftover bread and ends torn and tossed into a food processor

100% Food Storage: A 'vintage' style chicken stuffing casserole, topped with my favorite pot pie filling

 100% Food Storage:  Last grocery trip was November, 2023.  Today is February 26, 2024.

 

 

Again, I almost didn't take ANY photo of dinner, but at the last second, grabbed my phone and got one picture right before I finished dishing some up to eat.  :)

This is a mixture of two different recipes I've made for years.  I knew I wanted to use up a bunch of bread I had in the freezer (more on that in a second).  I also had some packages of cooked chicken mixed with the vegetarian chicken from the #10 cans I posted about previously.  The first thing that comes to mind when I want to use up our leftover bread is a simple 'comfort' casserole that is a stuffing/chicken casserole.

Bread from the freezer

Ever since my husband and I were very first married, I've taken the ends of the bread, or bread that is starting to get hard or stale, and popped it into a Ziploc in the freezer to use later in recipes. You should never throw our or waste any food - because you can always make something else from it.

 

The Ziploc(s) of various breads in our freezer come from all breads - all year long.  White, wheat, Keto, store bought, homemade... everything.  Usually this is the bread that will get used at Thanksgiving for stuffing.  But I also use it to dry out to make bread crumbs by blending it in the food processor.  This is used for 'breading' things like pork chops, etc. 

I also make this casserole a couple times a year; usually with Keto bread because normally we are a low carb, keto, sugar free family.

This time we have all kinds of bread to use. And I decided to make a triple batch.  I tripled the batch and then put 2 of them back into gallon sized Ziploc baggies in the freezer for future meals.

 

This is a spice/herb mixture for the stuffing.
We've never, ever been one to buy the 'Stovetop Stuffing' brand mixes from the store - but that's basically what this is, as the original recipe most people use starts with a box or two of Stove Top.

 

Choices for chicken

Fresh, frozen, freeze-dried and reconstituted, canned, home canned... whatever you have to work with.

 

The original grandma recipe is simple:

Stove Top Stuffing Mix(es)
Chicken breasts - boneless
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1 empty soup can of water per box of stuffing used

Mix the stuffing mix, spices and the water and soup.  Place in a greased casserole dish.
Lay the chicken breasts on and salt and pepper or even add cheese to top.
Bake until the chicken is done.

Serve.

 

SUBSTITUTIONS I USED TO MAKE IT FROM MY FOOD STORAGE

For the 'stove top' stuffing spice mixture, I threw together a mixture from 3 different 'recipes' of sorts.  It's really just parsley, thyme, poultry seasoning, chicken bouillon, etc.  You can do a quick internet search to find one you like.  I used all dry spices from the cupboard along with some 'chicken base' instead of dry, crushed bouillon cubes or powder.

My bread was of course, from the freezer.  You can also just cut up or tear up your daily homemade bread.  I don't bother drying mine out in the oven, I always use it fresh.

The chicken was reconstituted 'vegetarian' Auguson Farms fake chicken, mixed with some precooked chicken.

I used a lot of bread this time around, but only one can of soup so I decided to make my favorite pot pie filling and top it with that.  That is the creamy filling with some carrots and peas you see in the photo above. 

The filling is from a recipe I've posted many times over the years - my favorite pot pie.   This time I used 1/3 of a can of peas from food storage, along with 1/2 a jar of home canned baby carrots.

 

 

Old Fashioned Turkey Pot Pie

1 10 oz. package mixed carrots and pea's or all veggies
1/4 c butter
5 T flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t poultry seasoning or sage
1/8 t pepper
2 c chicken or turkey stock (or use 2 cups water and 2-3 boullion cubes)
1 c milk
3 c chicken or turkey
1/3 c chopped onion or 4 green onions, chopped completely and cooked until tender in a bit of water
1 c cooked and diced potatoes (or use canned or dice and cook them with the onions)


Prepare the pea's and carrots (or mixed veggies). I like to cook them in the microwave while I prepare the rest. Melt butter in saucepan. Blend in flour, salt, poultry seasoning or sage, and pepper. Gradually add stock and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and smooth. Add vegetables, turkey and cooked onions and potatoes. Pour into a greased shallow baking dish. Make a biscuit topping and top the vegetable mixture. Bake at 425 degree's for 25 minutes until the top is golden brown. About 6 servings.

Biscuit Topping;

Mix

1 1/3 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Cut in
2 T butter
3 T shortening

Add 1/2 c milk (scant) and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. If it's too wet and sticky add one or two more tablespoons of flour. Pat down on a lightly floured surface and roll out to the shape of your baking dish. If you prefer you can cut into wedges or squares and simply top the vegetable mixture that way too. (Up to you!).

 

 

 

 

 

100% Food Storage: the old 1942 Victory Garden Plan released to help families put food on their tables during the war

In 1942 the Illinois State Council of Defense released a plan of recommendation to families to plant a 'victory garden' to support food for their families during the war and the shortages.  (You also may want to plant your own foods because of food safety... just sayin'.)

It was met with such success, the Illinois Victory Gardens program's "Food For Victory" was recommended to the United States Department of Agriculture by the Men's Garden Clubs of America as a model plan for the other 47 states to follow.  It was voted the most efficiently organized plan in the nation.

I have had a copy of this plan in my files for years, but with gardening on the brain of pretty much everyone, I thought I'd put it on my site.

 

 

 

 

 

Stanford University:  https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/scientists-have-developed-vaccine-protect-tomato-plants

University of California:  https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/grow-and-eat-your-own-vaccines

 

100% Food Storage - Our Daily Bread

 100% food storage - last grocery trip was November 2023, today is February 22, 2024

 

 

We've had the chili and sloppy Joes (I posted about previously) for the last 2 days for dinner.  I also threw together a side dish pasta one night - tortellini, pesto and black olives.  We had the rest of that yesterday with lunch.  That brings us to today - which we still have chili (it was a really big pot full) so I'll vacuum seal it and put that in the freezer for some time next week again.

Today a quick post about our 'daily bread' I mention a lot.  The mixture is 3 cups flour (whatever you have on hand), about 1/2 - 1 t dry yeast, 1-2 t sugar, 1 t salt and about 1 1/2 cups of hot water.  All amounts are a quick 'throw in' to a food safe bucket and quickly stirred until there is no dry flour and it's all mixed in.  Put a lid on it, and pop it into the refrigerator.  This can be made into any bread/bun/pizza/rolls/foccaccia, etc. as needed - either the next day or let it hang out in the fridge for up to a week.  It gets more like a sour dough the longer it sets (days 4+). 

You don't have to knead it, as it forms it's own gluten by the length of time it hangs out.  Just take it out and make it into whatever you need that day.  I usually do bread, as I make sure we always have fresh bread on hand for sandwiches and toast.   When I use the dough, I immediately throw in some fresh flour, water, salt, sugar and yeast and pop it into the fridge again. 

We always have a loaf on the counter and a bucket of new 'daily bread' in the refrigerator.

I primarily use my pullman loaf pan and when I take the time to let the dough warm and raise, I get a nice, full, squared off loaf.  Honestly, I rarely take the time (or HAVE the time) to let it raise.  I do a 'no work' daily bread.  I take it out of the fridge, pop it into the loaf pan and generally only let it set long enough to pre-heat the oven to 375.  It raises to a daily loaf with a rounded, regular top.  When I have the time to let it sit long enough to raise higher, it will fill the pan like this.....

 

100% Food Storage - Garlic Focaccia

 

 

Just a 'side' of bread to go with the chili last night but... it was so good and so easy.  Zero work. 

My 'daily bread' was tossed from the bucket in the fridge into a buttered pan.  I used my fingers to squish it out and into place.

Topped with some home canned butter and lots of garlic, a sprinkle of garlic salt... and then mozzarella cheese. 

I was going to have to go into long term storage to find some freeze dried mozzarella but I got lucky and found I had food vacuum sealed a couple bags of mozzarella and they were in the deep freezer.  Yay!

I popped it into a 375 oven for about 25 minutes and... done!

My 'daily bread' bucket dough from the fridge, finger smooshed into a pan, with canned butter and garlic

 

Topped with mozzarella and going into the oven

100% Food Storage - using the #10 can Auguson Farms vegetarian beef - Chili and Sloppy Joes

100% Food Storage:  Last grocery trip was November 2023.  Today is February 19, 2024.

Previous post was re-hydrating the imitation (vegetarian) beef and this post is a quick fly-by post of two of the things made with it.  The chili was for now and the Sloppy Joes were put in food seal bags and vacuum sealed for the freezer for dinner later this week.

 

Starting to mix in spices and ingredients to make Sloppy Joes

 

I've posted my regular Sloppy Joe recipe in 2008 and 2014 - maybe another time or two as well. Here it is again but this time I used food storage.  The ground beef - use frozen or freeze dried, or imitation vegetarian.  You can leave the turkey or sausage out and just double the beef.  Minced dried onion and using dry powdered milk or evaporated milk.

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. ground beef
3/4 lb. ground turkey (or mild sausage)
1/2 large onion, diced
4 T chili powder
6 T bbq sauce
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 c ketchup
2 T sugar
1 c milk
4 t vinegar
1 1/2 T flour
salt and pepper


Brown the ground beef and turkey with the diced onion. Add the rest of the spices and simmer 5 minutes. Serve on buns. 

 

And... chili!
I posted the recipe just a couple years ago in 2022 - here:  https://www.housewifebarbie.com/2022/01/homemade-chili-best-one-ive-ever-found.html

This time around I used the imitation beef from food storage.  I did use a package of homemade mild sausage from the deep freezer.  Minced dried onions and the very last 1/2 fresh onion I had.  Green pepper was diced and frozen previously.  I had a can of black eyed peas to use in place of the refried beans and I used regular black beans, with some extra chili powder and cumin.  Diced tomatoes were in the pantry and I had a little bit of tomato paste in the fridge to use up so I added a few tablespoons of that as well!

 

Homemade Chili

4-5 slices bacon
1/2 lb. mild Italian sausage (crumbled)
1/2 lb. ground beef
2 medium onions
3 t minced garlic (fresh)
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 can medium green chilies, diced
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 T chili powder
2 cans (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (15.5 oz.)  Bush's Black Chili Beans
1 can (16 oz.) refried beans
salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in a pan until crispy and break up with your spatula.  Add the sausage and ground beef and brown it - adding the onion towards the end.  During the last 2 minutes of cook time, add the garlic. Turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients to a crock-pot or slow cooker of choice; or you can slow cook the chili on the stove all afternoon too.  Up to you.  But in the crockpot or a large pot, put the green peppers, green chilies, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, tomatoes and beans.  Add the meat and onion mixture.  Stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slow cook all day or at least 3-4 hours if you can wait that long. 

100% Food Storage: Vegetarian Meat Substitute, Beef (flavored)

 100% food storage and what's on hand:  last grocery shopping trip was November 2023.  Today is February 19, 2024.

  

Although I have roasts and some ground beef in the deep freeze, in order to make the meat go further, and to use up and rotate out the oldest cans in our long term storage, I'm opening and using the first things I had bought when I felt the need to start food storage (Spring of 2012 - and knew absolutely nothing... and had zero money to spend).  The 'vegetarian' (soy) fake meats were cheap and came in a little kit so I became the proud owner of vegetarian beef, chicken and taco meat.  I've already posted about the taco meat (yay) and chicken (meh, it's fine).  But last night I opened the beef (flavored).

My husband walked through the kitchen just as I opened the can.  He peeked over the edge, smelled and announced, "Mmm... dog food!"

Yeah, it does look like puppy chow. 

I decided to make a large batch.  You use 1 part fake beef to 2 parts water, bring to a boil, and simmer for a couple minutes.

I made a large pot of it, which I then turned into a big pot of chili, and the rest made into a batch of Sloppy Joes.

Here is what the imitation beef looks like in the can upon opening.

 

And after reconstituting with water...

It does not taste like beef.

It doesn't taste bad, but it just has a very bland, taste.  I added beef base (bouillon) to it while it was cooking, which helps a little bit.  I also added some salt and pepper. 

The soy/beef takes on whatever you are making with it - which is why it's good for 'taco' night - the taco seasonings are perfect for imitation beef.  However, made into chili, it was really good too!  And the sloppy Joe's were a little different tasting than normal (since I usually use ground beef and ground mild sausage or chicken sausage) but it too was good.   But plain reconstituted imitation beef?  Not really beef like at all.  It likes spices and sauces and flavorings.

 

100% Food Storage: Pizza Night (pepperoni, chicken alfredo and jalapeno popper pizzas) and a quick 'shopping' trip to my pantry

100% food storage and what I had on hand... last grocery shopping trip was November, 2023.  Today is February 18, 2024.

 

Yesterday I did a quick 'shopping' trip to the 2-3 year storage pantry.  
Flour, black olives, alfredo sauce and green olives.
Pizza night!

 
I used my 'daily bread' that I have talked about a hundred times (but mention again because I always have new readers here for the first time that might not know) that is in a bucket in the refrigerator that I pull out to make whatever I need that day - be it bread, rolls, buns, garlic bread, pizza, etc. 

I don't have any fresh/frozen spinach in the freezer any longer so it was time to break into the #10 can in long term storage.  They are... fine.  It's just like using parsley, as it's the same size.  When I can get fresh spinach from the early spring garden planter, that will be nice!  The chicken was a mixture from the freezer of pre-cooked chicken mixed with some of the long term storage reconstituted vegetarian fake chicken I used a couple weeks ago and cooked a bunch of, then food sealed and froze for future meals... like this.  This pizza was the last of the fresh mozzarella from the deep freezer as well. I'll look to see if I have any smaller food sealed bags, but if not, I'll have to go to the long term storage to get freeze dried mozzarella out.

Here is me making a Chicken Alfredo Pizza.

A pepperoni and green olive pizza - still have some pepperoni in the deep freezer, and the sauce is homemade from storage items (posted recipe last week) and have food sealed bags in the deep freezer.  The Parmesan on top is the 'green top canister' you buy at the store - I have one in the fridge and a couple in our 2-3 year storage.

 
This one is a jalapeno popper pizza - I used mayo with Ranch dressing mix powder sprinkled on for the base.  The last of the mozzarella cheese, real bacon crumbles from the deep freezer (bags you buy at Sam's or Costco or the grocery freeze for use whenever you need them or you could use imitation bacon bits from long term storage).  I topped with some cheddar - grated from a block I had in the deep freezer.  When the cheddar is completely gone I'll switch to the freeze dried in the #10 cans.  Jalapenos are from food storage - the glass jar of mild jalapenos you can buy anywhere and store forever in your fridge.

Mr. Husband is also taking leftovers to work for his lunch/dinner.

 

100% Food Storage - hits and misses on sour cream powder, stored Velveeta, canned Queso (taco night)

100% Food Storage:  Last grocery trip was November 2023.  Today is February 17, 2024.

 

 

FIRST TRIAL:  did it work?

 

Yesterday was rough, and I had zero interest in coming up with dinner but... it has to be done.  That's one of the good things about the meat in food storage - whether it's canned, home canned or freeze dried, it's already 'cooked' and ready.  It just involves heating it up, reconstituting it or just adding it to whatever you are making.

Taco night it is.

The first thing I'm going to note for my future reference are the FAILS.

I know it's so, so difficult to have sour cream when you are living on 100% food storage.  I do have sour cream powder in my pantry but it's one of those food storage items that is more for baking and cooking than it is for actually trying to make 'sour cream'.  Cookies, cakes, beef stroganoff, yes... actual sour cream?  No.  BUT... I wanted to try something new to me to see if it would work.

Spoiler alert... it didn't. 

Sour cream powder has the fat taken out.  I saw a can of shelf stable 'table cream' in the pantry and thought to myself "I wonder if I could mix that with the sour cream powder to get a sour cream taste/flavor with the creaminess of the actual table cream, which would provide the 'fat' for taste and texture?"

The texture was great.  The smell and taste however were not anything even remotely close to sour cream.

Determined to try a couple more things before failing completely, I tried to add some lemon juice.  Nope.
I tried a little vinegar.  Nope.

Those were my best guesses.  I then covered it and let it chill for 4 hours to see if the flavor would improve.  It didn't.

I asked for other family member input and we all agreed it was a cross between 'cucumbers' and 'cheese'. 
I had some on my tacos.  It made me enjoy them less.  I didn't like them. I ate them (not wasting food) but I didn't like them.
I threw out the fake sour cream.  
Fail.

OTHER FAILS:  I am trying to use up and rotate out 'older' products and also test out what is storage-safe and a complete waste of money.  While getting the table cream out of our 2-3 year pantry for my sour cream trial, I spied a box of Velveeta that had been pushed to the back, and had another product sitting on it - so that it was completely missed this whole time and I didn't even know it was there. 

Velveeta was 'original' style and best by date was December 2022.  So, it was just over 1 year past. 
Opening it up, it stuck to the foil and basically was pulling apart in huge pieces, and looked like rubber.  (Granted, it kind of does anyway... it's not a real quality food product to begin with!  But it was a trial to see what options I could store for 'cheese' variety.)

It had a very slight 'off' smell - still edible, still fine and safe to eat if we needed to, or if it would have been mixed in with pasta to make homemade mac and cheese in an emergency food situation, but since we are not in that "we have turned into Venezuela" situation YET in this country, it wasn't a food I was ok with eating (yet) or serving to family.  It went into trash.  *NOTE*  I've been VERY happy with the tightly sealed, smaller envelope style packages of Velveeta style cheese sauce.  But the boxed Velveeta isn't sealed well enough through the sealed foil to store very long.  I would not want to use it past it's best-by date unless we absolutely had to.

Canned white Queso:  It was the popular Rico's brand and I've posted a couple weeks ago when I opened and tried other cans of it and the yellow cheddar version.  I think this is the last can of white queso in the 2-3 year storage pantry and knowing it probably wasn't going to be at its top quality, I grabbed it as an "OPEN AND TRY" with no expectations task.

And I was right.  It looked fine, tasted... fine and was... fine.  But it was also just a little bit off in flavor just enough that in order to use it without hesitation, I'd want to mix it in with the taco meat to form a nacho dip, or use in hot pasta, etc.  

Honestly, I think I'm being a little too judgemental over the canned Rico's cheese because even when it's freshly bought and brand new, I have issues with the chemical 'taste' that comes through.  I have a very, very sensitive nose that can smell chemicals and preservatives better than most, so I think the canned cheese (2021) is fine for everyone... else. 

But, I have small packs of Velveeta in the regular pantry I can use if I need to in the near future.   I tossed the can.

ON TO DINNER:

I've already posted about this product - but we had more of it last night.
Vegetarian, (imitation) Taco Meat.
Surprisingly good (see previous posts for more in depth chit-chat about it).

 

TACO SAUCE:  Regular readers know we always keep homemade Taco Bell style taco sauce on hand... always.  I haven't bought taco sauce in years and years because homemade is just so easy and tastes better.

We ran out a few weeks ago and I just hadn't made up another batch yet.    This is a 'half' version of my regular recipe, as I make the whole 3 cup version, using the whole little can of 6 oz. tomato paste, and keep it in glass jars in the refrigerator. 

HOMEMADE MILD TACO BELL SAUCE

Just grab a saucepan and add;

1 1/2 cups water
1 t corn starch

Stir until dissolved. Add;

1/2 a can of tomato paste (use 3 oz.)
1 1/2 T vinegar
2 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/2 t cayenne pepper
Heat to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Cool.

To make a hotter version, add another teaspoon of chili powder, and another 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne - but I wouldn't serve it to children, it's far too spicy and 'burny' for little ones.  To make it even milder for the little ones, leave out the cayenne all together.  A nice mild, taco bell flavor sauce all can enjoy.

100% Food Storage and Freezer - Burgers!

Last grocery shopping trip was for Christmas baking ingredients in November 2023.  Today is February 15, 2024.

 

Just grilled burgers tonight for dinner - courtesy of the deep freezer. Not store bought though - regular readers know I grind my own beef.  So, last spring and summer, roasts were bought (Costco and Sam's).  I then grind them myself into ground beef and package them in food sealed bags, weighed, and write with a Sharpie on the package how much is in it, for future meals.

I also came up with this cheeseburger/hamburger spice mix about 20 years ago and we've used it ever since.  When it runs out we just fill up the container again.  The container is an old spice bottle with the 'recipe' wrote on a piece of paper and clear packing tape around it. 

 

The food sealed bags of ground beef look like this, straight out of the freezer. 

100% Food Storage: Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Soup

 

Had absolutely NO idea what I was going to make for dinner.  As I stood in the kitchen thinking, I decided something to go with the fresh loaf of 'daily bread' I made this morning. 

Soup.  A hearty, thick, creamy soup.

Busy with The Littles, and not sure what kind of soup I'd make, I started with the basics.  Dehydrated celery in a pan with some water.  Heat it.  Onions.  I had 1/3 of an onion in the fridge to use up (I bought onions in October or November and still have 2 or 3 left).  1/3 was not enough so I added about 2 teaspoons dried, minced onion.  Let that come just to boiling, turned off the heat and left them while I finished doing...  all the things.

Back in the kitchen later.  What next.  What kind of soup do I want to make?

I have celery and onions cooked and tender now.  Opened freezer.  Mushrooms!  I had sliced and food sealed mushrooms last Fall.  Grabbed one.  Added it (frozen) to the celery and onions mixture, and put it on simmer.

Back to... all the things with the 3 and 1 year olds.

Ok.  Back to the kitchen.  Soup. 

I have a small pan with with celery, onions and mushrooms in about an inch of liquid.

Another pan on the stove... scoop in a few tablespoons of flour.  Added a few tablespoons of butter. 
Heat the rue and whisk.

Grabbed a 1 1/2 pint jar, filled it with 1/3 whole milk powder and filled the rest to the top with cold water.  Shake shake shake.  Added to the flour/butter rue.

Got out the heavy cream powder.  1/2 the jar with heavy cream powder, the rest to the top with cold water. Shake shake shake.

Added to the pan.  Whisked until it came to a bubbling boil.  Reduced heat.  Added 1 T chicken bouillon base and 1 1/2 cups water. Whisk.

Cheese drawer.

3/4 of an 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
3 oz. cheddar, cubed
6 slices American Cheese

Whisking and stirring until it's melted.  Add in the celery/onion/mushrooms.

Ok now we have a thick, creamy mushroom and cheese soup...  it needs... bacon!

Into the freezer and grabbed the bag of crumbled real bacon bits (the sam's club bag which I have 2 more in the freezer - woohoo!).

And... heat through.  Serve!

Onion
Celery
Mushrooms

Butter
Flour

Milk powder
Heavy Cream powder
Chicken bouillon base
Water
Salt and Pepper
Crumbled real bacon
Cream Cheese
American Cheese
Cheddar Cheese

100% Food Storage: Homemade Buns (the 3 ingredient artisan bucket bread with a couple additions and made into buns)

Last grocery trip was November 2023.  Today is February 12, 2024. 

 One thing I've mentioned often over the past 2 months is "my daily bread"  as in, "... give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses..."   Because I wasn't planning on living on food storage (especially not 100% what we had on hand) at the time, I wasn't prepared with extra bread so I immediately got out my food grade bucket and used my old artisan bread 3 ingredient recipe to start making a daily 'bucket bread'.

As the days and weeks went by I improvised to the original recipe and now I usually make it with flour, sugar, salt and yeast although I still play around with it and sometimes add some egg (powdered) or milk (powdered).   You can find more photos and the original recipe here:   https://www.housewifebarbie.com/2024/01/living-on-food-storage-artisan-bread-no.html

Here is what it looks like when I mix the flour, yeast, a bit of sugar and a bit of salt in the bucket with some hot water.  I simply put the lid on and pop it into the refrigerator.  I take it out the next day (or sometimes a day later - it can live in the fridge for up to a week) to make whatever the bread item is we are having that day/night.

 

This basic dough is usually made into our 'daily bread' for toast, buttered bread, grilled cheese and other sandwiches.  Sometimes it's garlic bread.  Sometimes it's a garlic bread ring, monkey bread or pizza.  Other times it's buns or rolls.

Tonight it is buns to go with the homemade chicken, feta sausage patties on the grill.

My Daily Bread
Bucket Bread

3 cup flour (any kind - this is a mixture of all purpose leftover from Christmas baking, and home-ground white wheat berries (hard white) I ground myself a couple weeks ago).
1 t salt
1-2 t sugar
1/2 - 1 t yeast
1 1/2 - 2 c hot water
I think in today's dough version I had added a tablespoon of whole egg powder and a bit of dry milk powder to it. 

Bucket was in the refrigerator yesterday and last night.  Brought out today, grabbed bits of the gooey dough and formed into balls, using just a light dusting of flour on my hands.  Let set in a warm spot about 30 minutes while I preheated the oven to 375.  Baked for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Removed from oven and after snapping a really fast photo, rubbed them lightly with butter.

 

 

 

 

Here they are literally about 10 seconds out of the oven...........  right before I rubbed butter on them.