Week 38 It's sweet stuff this week!

Week 38: SWEETNERS Honey, Karo, Molasses, etc. Counts towards sugars.

Sugar

White sugar is a good all around sweetener. It can be stored in large buckets and used for just about everything. As anyone who has ever lived in a tropical environment will tell you, sugar stored with high humidity will clump up so be sure to store it in a very dry environment.

Brown sugar has a touch of the processing syrup still in it, or remixed in later. Brown sugar will stay softer longer and has a richer flavor than white sugar. If you are adding this instead of white sugar to a recipe, expect to decrease the liquids a bit.

Syrup is slightly altered sugar that is formed into a liquid that resists crystallization. Only store this if you are used to baking or cooking with it already.

Molasses

Molasses is produced from both sugar beets and sugar cane. The benefit of using molasses over sugar in baking or cooking is the extra nutrients molasses contains. Although most bakers will be most familiar with molasses in gingerbread cookies, you can substitute it anywhere honey or maple syrup is used.

Agave

Agave nectar or syrup is made from the agave plant native to northern Mexico and southwest US. Agave has many nutrients and a very mild flavor. It resists crystallization well and can be used in place of honey in baking.

Honey

Honey is produced by honeybees and has been used as a sweetener since early Egyptian times. Honey has many nutrients and has very distinctive flavors based on what flowers the bees visited to create the honey. Honey can crystallize especially if the honey was harvested in fall or in a dry climate. It is easy to re-liquefy by placing the bottle in warm water though it is perfectly usable in crystallized form.  Honey can also be used for first aid purposes.

Maple Syrup

Like honey, maple syrup can vary in flavor and color depending on the source plants. Maple syrup is graded on color and flavor and the darker syrup is stronger in flavor and color. Maple syrup can be used where ever honey or agave are used but it will impart a distinct flavor.

Our food storage would get pretty boring if we didn't have some sweet stuff in it!  So please don't forget when we are cooking with beans and other of our food storage staples add just a little sweet stuff to help with the flavor.  Have a great week!

Week 37 - Beans Beans and more Beans!

Week 37: BEANS Dry bean, peas, legumes, 100 lbs per person.

WHAT TYPES OF BEANS CAN I STORE IN MY LONG TERM FOOD STORAGE?

There are all types of beans.  My favorites to have on hand are: White, Black, Kidney, and Pinto beans.

WHY SHOULD I STORE BEANS IN MY LONG TERM FOOD STORAGE?

Beans give you a lot of bang for your buck.  They are low in cost, cholesterol free, low in fat, and high in fiber, protein, carbohydrate, folate, and many trace minerals.  In fact, because they are high in fiber and low in fat, they can actually help lower your cholesterol.  And my favorite-now brace yourself-you can actually use these as a fat substitute which will really come in handy.

WHERE SHOULD I STORE MY BEANS?

Store it in a cool, dry area.  Unopened it will store for 30+ years.  Opened, it will last a couple of years.

HOW MANY BEANS SHOULD I HAVE IN MY LONG-TERM FOOD STORAGE?

For a one year supply, you need about 60 pounds of dried beans or legumes per person per year, or about 5 pounds per month.

WHICH TYPES OF BEANS AND HOW MUCH OF EACH SHOULD I HAVE IN MY LONG-TERM FOOD STORAGE?

It depends on your preferences, and what you would use.  But I store more white beans (they work the best in baked goods), followed by black beans (we like Mexican food), and then equal amounts of pinto and kidney beans.

WHERE CAN I PURCHASE BEANS FOR MY FOOD STORAGE?

If you want to save a little money, you can visit your local LDS Cannery and can it yourself.  Or, you can purchase a case of PINTO beans online already canned through LDS Distribution Services Online.  Unfortunately, you can’t purchase white or black beans online through LDS Distribution Services Online-but it IS available at LDS Canneries.

(Taken from everydayfoodstorage.net)

Key Points

• Beans, peas and lentils are the richest source of vegetable protein and are a good source of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber.
• Utilizing dried beans and soaking them overnight is the best way to get the true bean flavor and a smooth texture
• When legumes are eaten with grains, nuts or seeds, a complete protein can be formed which can suitably replace meat, fish, poultry, eggs or dairy.
• Legumes aren’t just used for soups. Some other uses are:
  • Grind into bean flour for white sauces
  • Mash up cooked beans to replace butter/oil in recipes
  • Grow into sprouts for a fresh “vegetable”
• One easy way to start using dried beans is to use them in place of canned beans in your normal recipes (see conversion chart below)
• Generally, legumes will keep indefinitely when stored in a cool, dry place.
• Determine the quantities of each food item you will need to store. For more information, see BabyStep 4.

Helpful Hints

Here is a basic summary of Do’s and Don’ts.

BEAN DO’S:

• Store dry beans in a cool, dry place.
• Lightly rinse packaged dry beans; sort through them and remove any pebbles, seed pods, leaves or twigs.
• Soak your beans! It reduces cooking time by about one half, and saves vitamins, minerals and proteins which can be lost during prolonged heating — exceptions are lentils, split peas and black-eyed peas which may be cooked from their dry state.
• Soak beans in plenty of water. Use a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of water to beans (seechart for soaking times).
• Place presoaked beans in a pot and cover with fresh, cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer them for the indicated length of time until they are soft and tender.

BEAN DON’TS:

• Store dry beans in the refrigerator.
• Add baking soda to hasten soaking or cooking time as it will decrease the nutritional content of the beans.
• Add salt or any product high in calcium, magnesium or acid to the soaking or cooking water or beans will not soften (products with these elements should be added to cooking water or any recipe calling for partially cooked beans only after beans have reached desired tenderness).
• Use microwave to cook dry beans – microwaving is fine for reheating beans that are already cooked, but dry beans need to be simmered slowly in lots of water to soften, tenderize and rehydrate properly.

Lentils

• Lentils have a high nutritional value, second only to soy beans in protein content.
• The lentil is a cousin of the bean and is used as an additive in soups/chilis.
• There is no need to soak lentils.

Dry Soy Beans

• Dry soy beans provide an excellent source of protein.
• They are light tan or yellow in color.
• Standard soaking methods apply.

Dry Split Peas

• Types include yellow and green. Yellow split peas have a milder flavor and are good to use when you want to hide the richer, green pea flavor.
• Dry split peas are most commonly used in thick soups and stews.
• There is no need to soak split peas.

Dry Beans

• There are a large variety of dry beans, some include black, red, pinto, kidney, garbanzo
• Dry beans are very versatile. Store the varieties that your family normally eats.
• In general the larger the bean the longer they need to soak; and the longer you soak beans, the faster they cook.

Dry Lima Beans

• The lima bean, also known as the chad bean or butter bean, is a large disk-shaped bean. Lima beans originated in Peru and have been grown there since 6000 B.C. The name comes from the capital city of Peru, Lima.
• Lima beans make a great side dish flavored with butter and salt.
• Standard soaking methods apply.

(taken from foodstoragemadeasy.com)

Enjoy your week!  

Week 36 - Vegetables

Week 36: VEGETABLES 150 lbs per person per year. Can or freeze from garden or purchased fresh, or buy canned.

Purchase or preserve fruits and vegetables to supplement your core foods.(taken from food storage madness)

Key Points

• While not critical for sustaining life, fruits and vegetables are a welcome addition to any food storage program for the health benefits, variety, and to help you save money on your day to day grocery shopping.
• There are three different options for obtaining your preserved produce:
  • Grow your own and dehydrate/can/freeze it yourself
  • Purchase it in bulk and dehydrate/can/freeze it yourself
  • Purchase commercially preserved fruits and vegetables

Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables

• We HIGHLY recommend learning to grow your own foods. This can range from just planting a peach tree and growing some tomatoes in a container, to a full-fledged farm-type situation.
• Our favorite method to use for growing vegetables is square foot gardening which allows you to grow a LOT of veggies in a small space.
• If you have space and don’t mind the mess fruit trees and vines can be a great cost-savings. You can also try to ask neighbors with fruit trees if you can pick their excess fruit.

Our next door neighbor has a wonderful peach tree so I have already asked if I could have peaches from the tree and I will make peach jam for them and us!  They were so excited when I asked that we got to talking about food storage and the different things we can do with what we have!  I can't wait for the peaches to be ready!   

Canned/Bottled

• You can bottle a wide variety of things such as salsa, pie fillings, applesauce, juice, spaghetti sauce, almost any fruit or vegetable, pickles, all sorts of jams and jellies, etc.
• If you can get fresh fruits/vegetables for free or at a significant discount, then canning them yourself can save you a LOT of money over cans from the store.
• Home-bottled foods have less preservatives, taste better, and you can adjust the amounts of sugar you use to fit your family’s preferences. So we feel like it is worth it to can them on your own even if you have to purchase the produce.
• Bottling can be a fun bonding experience with friends/family and also it is a great way to build up your whole year supply of items all at one time.
• If you choose to purchase cans of fruits and vegetables, you can either purchase a extra few cans each time you shop until you have built up your year supply or stock up when there are good sales.

Dan and I have kids in California that we love to go and visit.  Each time we go down during the summer months we pick up fruit and vegetables from the farms that sell them.  We try to freeze them to use during the year! One of my favorite ways to cook vegetables is to grill them on the bbq.  

Homemade applesauce is the best!  I raised our kids on it.  I thought I would share the recipe with you.

HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE 4 med. apples 3/4 c. water 1/4 c. sugar (brown or white) A few shakes of cinnamon Peel, core, and cut the apples into quarters. Put cut-up apples, sugar, cinnamon, and water into a 2-quart saucepan. Cover and cook at medium heat (simmering) for 15-20 minutes. Let apples cool, then mash them with a fork. 4 servings.

NO COOK APPLESAUCE

6 apples
Cinnamon, to taste
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. water
Blender

Peel and chop apples. Mix all ingredients in blender. Enjoy!

Week 35 - Sugar!!!

Week 35: SUGAR 100 lbs per person. Buy an extra 25 lbs

Sugars and Long Term Food Storage

(Taken from be prepared.com)

There are several types of sugar that are suitable for long term storage.  Sugar is particularly sensitive to moisture so it is critical to keep it dry.  Aside from that it’s important to store it with the usual guidelines:  Cool, Dark, and Dry.  Sugar has an indefinite shelf life, though some folks say to use it within two years.  Microbes can’t grow in it and it doesn’t mold or anything.  Good stuff!

Granulated Sugar

This is what you see all over the place at the store and is the cornerstone of your storage plan.  It won’t spoil and if you store it dry and cool it will store forever and a day.  If you happen to get it wet it will cake up and get all hard and crusty.   Just smash it up again and voila, you’re in good shape!

Powdered Sugar

This is good stuff and a cornerstone for icing, frosting, and the like.  It’s actually the exact same stuff as granulated sugar which has been ground even finer.  Sometimes the refinery adds corn starch to prevent caking.  If you let moisture in, it will cake up and you won’t be able to get it back to then fine powdery condition you’re used to.  Life goes on.  Since you now know it’s the same stuff as granulated sugar, just use it for that instead!

Brown Sugar

I gotta say, this is one of my favorite kinds of sugar.  It’s basically granulated sugar with molasses and a bit of caramel coloring.  It comes in Dark and Light variants.  Dark has more molasses and thus a darker color and a stronger flavor.  Brown sugar is different from other sugars in that it is supposed to be moist.    That means you can’t dry it out.  Best bet is to store it the same as other sugar but leave out the  desiccant.

Honey and Long Term Storage

I love honey.  I think it’s one of the ultimate long term storage sweeteners.  It’s natural, you can easily produce it yourself, it’s healthy, and it keeps forever.  And it tastes so darn good.  The only problem is figuring out what to buy.  My preference is to buy local honey if I can’t produce it myself.  If you can’t find local honey, look at the store but be careful.  You MUST buy honey that is labeled pure.  You want to get filtered honey if possible over liquid honey as the process to liquefy the honey after initial filtering destroys most of the nutrients.

Honey stores forever, just keep it dry and away from air.  Over time honey can darken which can intensify the flavor but is otherwise nothing to be concerned about.  Store it with your other food and you should be fine.

There are several places on line that you can buy bulk sugars.

BePrepared.com

BulkSuger.net

Costco.com

As always watch your local stores for the sales on sugar.  Be sure and storage it in air tight containers.  Dry, dark place works the best!  Remember that sugar if it's not stored in an air tight container it will absorb the smells around it. So if you storage it in your garage it might taste like car fumes, motor oil or something that you keep in side of your garage.  

You can also buy air tight containers at several places on line and locally.

BePrepared.com

Amazon.com - has great prices for air tight containers

Have a great Labor Day tomorrow!  Stay Cool!