Living on Food Storage 2024: Last night's dinner - steak and potatoes, and homemade Texas toast

Draining the 3 jars of potatoes

 

Food Storage isn't just 'canned' such-and-such or dehydrated or freeze-dried; it's storing foods in all different manners.  This includes your refrigerator and freezers of course.  Last night's dinner came from our freezer and canned goods, as well as my homemade 'daily bread' I've been making every day.

We did not plan on eating from food storage yet, so there was no special prepping or last minute 'buying up' of anything.  I do however, keep a well stocked pantry and freezer on any given day and that's what has been a blessing through this time.  

My last regular, normal, average grocery shopping trip would have been around the first week of November.  I did a 'baking ingredient' shopping trip on 25th in which I bought items I needed to do my Christmas cookie baking.  Then on November 26th I stopped into the grocery store with the 3 year old and 1 year old with me to pick up a couple items as I promised the 3 year old we could buy his favorite orange/tangerine juice. 

Side Comment:  We picked up his juice, some salad ingredients, a couple other items, and as a special treat, he picked out some Johnny Pop's Organic Rainbow Fruit Pops.  On a normal shopping trip I probably would have hesitated and not bought them because they are a bit expensive and I would have tried to talk him into a cheaper option or said the dreaded 'oh, maybe next time' and I'm so so so so so happy I did not.  It was a small grocery trip that day and I splurged and knowing what I do now, I'm so thankful I said 'sure'.  

The weather has been so cold he hasn't wanted them often, but about once every week or two - so we've had this special treat in the freezer for both him and his teething baby brother... such a blessing and it makes me smile.   YES I can make my own homemade version when/if I need to but it's the little things like having these in the freezer when I least expected to need/want them that makes my heart glad. 

Little did I know that would be my last grocery shopping trip for months. 

Last trip to the grocery store was November, 2023.  It's now February 10, 2024.

Last night's dinner was a splurge.  After 2 months of hell, we had a tiny bit of good news and I guess I felt the steel band around my chest loosen just enough that I decided to raid our deep freezer and pull out some frozen steaks.  I'm so happy and blessed that prepped and stocked our freezers when we could!  These steaks were from Sam's with a date of August 2023. 

Paired them with the last of a bottle of Dale's Seasoning and Marinade I had in the pantry.  I do have another bottle in the 2-3 year food storage pantry as it's almost exactly like my 'homemade' marinade I've been using since 1996.

Steaks marinating

The potatoes:  Regular readers know that for the past 20+ years we've chosen to be primarily and usually not only sugar free but low carb and typically keto.  But God put it on my heart to can potatoes for the days ahead - so strongly that I couldn't ignore it.   We love potatoes!  We just don't eat them often in our regular daily meals because of the starch and sugar. 

But I knew that if and when we felt it was time to eat from our food stores, I would be so happy to have potatoes!  So can, I did!  They have been so awesome to have on hand over the past 2 months! 

 

Last night, with the steaks brought out and thawed from the deep freezer, I made roasted potatoes faux 'Lipton Soup Mix' style.  We've been making them this way for about 30 years now - first with the store bought envelopes of the soup mix and over the past 20 years, with the homemade faux version - ever since I learned the ingredients in a lipton onion soup mix and how easy it is to make my own version.

Grilled the steak, roasted the potatoes and cut up the homemade daily bread in nice, thick 1" slices, slathered them with home canned butter and grilled those as well for a side of Texas toast.

 

 

I first posted a homemade version of an Onion Soup Mix in February of 2008.  Since then I basically make it the same except no sugar, and I started to add celery seed almost immediately - and sometimes parsley if it was going in a dish that the green flakes added a visual perk to. 

Basically you just need these for a homemade Lipton Onion Soup Mix

 
Dried minced onion - about 1/4 cup
Beef bouillon granules or pounded cubes - I use about 1 or 1 1/2 T beef base or use about 4-5 cubes, crushed
Onion powder - 1/2 teaspoon or so
Celery Seed - 1/4 - 1/2 t will do
Option:  a little sugar or parsley

 

About 10 years ago I started to keep a container of dehydrated onion in my pantry in a jar.  When I can use these, I crumble or chop them instead of store bought dried minced onion because the flavor is better and bumps it up a notch. I don't measure anything anymore, but the above measurements are pretty close.  You can add a dash of sugar if you usually eat sugar as the typical American palate is used to sugar or corn syrup being in literally almost everything so you might be used to it having just a dash (1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon) in your mix.

Toss your diced potatoes with oil, the season mix and some salt and pepper if you wish - bake at 400 until golden brown and as crispy as you like yours.