Week 46 & Week 47

Week 46: TREATS FOR BAKING Cocoa, coconut (gets old) nuts ( store in fridge gets rancid) chocolate chips.

Storage Of Nuts And Seeds

If you buy the best and freshest nuts available, in season, you can store them until the next year's harvest. Unshelled nuts may be held at room temperature for a few months, sometimes as long as six months, except in very warm weather.

Formerly, I stored my reserve supply of nuts in the freezer, where they remained stable and fresh-tasting. We never observed any loss of flavor or texture. Of course, nuts do not freeze, even in the freezer, because their water content is very low.

When a food is frozen, its water content expands, causing bursting of the cell walls, and spilling of the contents, thus destroying the cell. When the food is thawed, a loss of texture is observed. A loss of nutrients also occurs, due to oxidation. Decomposition speedily follows thawing if thawed food is not used immediately. There is also some deterioration which occurs while the food is frozen.

Nuts do not contain enough water to expand and burst the cell walls. Nuts which have not yet been harvested seem to suffer no damage from being stored at freezing temperatures and remain fertile after having been exposed to below freezing temperatures. The question is, does the situation change after harvesting, and can the freezing temperatures then have adverse effects?

Calvin Arnold, director of Agricultural Research in Monticello, Florida, says that freezer storage is the best way to maintain the quality of pecans, in or out of the shell. He says that if they are frozen soon after harvesting, they can last several years. He warns that you should not ever try to refreeze them after thawing. This would seem to indicate that changes do occur as a result of freezing.

In March 1977, I read a report in Consumers Digest which led me to change my practice of storing nuts. This report pointed out that nutrient loss is caused by very high and very low temperatures, and that freezing temperatures particularly destroy Vitamin E. Since Vitamin E is a significant factor in nuts and seeds, I decided to discontinue the storage of nuts in the freezer. Results: excellent!

As of this writing, November 1981, I have just finished last year's supply of shelled pecans, which had been stored in moisture-proof pliofilm bags in my refrigerator, and started on my fresh supply. Amazingly, they both tasted about the same: fresh, tasty, crisp and flavorful. There was no sign of rancidity and no loss of flavor or texture from the year's refrigerator storage at about 42 degrees.

We buy our seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin) as needed, usually five or ten pounds at a time, from Jaffe or the health food store, and store them in the refrigerator of course. We use more than sixty pounds of sunflower seeds in a year (two people), so we don't attempt to buy the whole year's supply at one time. We use sesame and pumpkin seeds in quite small quantities.

If you are still "sold" on storing your nuts in the freezer, you might compromise by storing a several months' supply in the refrigerator and the balance in the freezer.

Chestnuts are quite perishable. They lose moisture and spoil. If fresh, they will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to a week.

Fresh coconuts, in the shell, will keep at room temperature for a month or more. They will keep longer, in moisture-proof pliofilm bags in the refrigerator, depending on how fresh they are. After a coconut is opened, the coconut meat will stay fresh a few days in a jar, submerged in the liquid from the coconut, or submerged in water. For longer storage, fresh grated coconut can be submerged in the coconut liquid and frozen in containers.

Dried coconut may be stored in the refrigerator, in a moisture-proof bag, for a month or longer; in the freezer, almost indefinitely. It is never a good idea to store food in the freezer more than six months to a year.

Peanuts, shelled or unshelled, will keep in moisture-proof containers in the refrigerator for at least several months. Peanut butter is a different story, of course. If you use peanut butter, it is best to make it or get it fresh in very small quantities, as peanut butter, or any nut butter, is subject to rancidity. If necessary, nut butters may be stored in the refrigerator for about a week.

(Taken from rawfoodexplained.com)  


Cocoa powder - if you store the cocoa powder in air tight containers.  The shelf life is 15 years!  Cocoa powder prices seem to keep going up so if you have a chance buy some while it's on sale.  Now is a great time, lots of stores have all the their baking items on sale right now.  


Chocolate Chips -  Here is what Hershey’s has to say about how to store chocolate.

Q. How should I store chocolate?

A. Solid chocolate products will maintain their quality if well wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place (55-60°F). While refrigerated chocolate is certainly safe to use, we don’t recommend it. Chocolate kept in the refrigerator may “sweat” when brought to room temperature and may not melt properly. Cocoa is considered a non-perishable item which should maintain quality if stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed container.  Even if the taste or texture changes some, it could be used for baking.

I have only mentioned a few things that would be good to store to make your food storage goodies taste a little bit better.  One of my favorites is raisins.  We love raisins at our house.  We for sure have them in our food storage!  Have fun exploring the different treats to store.  There really are so many and it's really the best to store what your family loves.  


Week 47: GRAINS Rolled Oats, Corn Meal (In fridge) Cream of wheat. (Rotate this, does not store). Counts as a grain. 

Listed below in order of desirability for storage are the forms of oats most often found in this country. Rolled and cut oats retain both their bran and their germ.

Oat Groats

These are whole oats with the hulls removed. They are not often found in this form, but can sometimes be had from natural food stores and some storage food dealers. Oats are not the easiest thing to get a consistent grind from so producing your own oat flour takes a bit of experience.

Steel Cut Oats

Also known as Irish or pinhead or porridge (but so are rolled) oats. These are oat groats which have been cut into chunks with steel blades. They're not rolled and look like coarse bits of grain. This form can be found in both natural food stores (sometimes much cheaper) and many supermarkets.

Rolled Oats

These are also commonly called "old fashioned", "thick cut" or "porridge" oats. To produce them, oat groats are steamed and then rolled to flatten. They can generally be found wherever oats are sold. They take longer to cook than do the quick cooking oats, but they retain more flavor and nutrition. This is what most people will call to mind when they think of oatmeal.

Quick Cooking Rolled Oats

These are just steamed oat groats rolled thinner than the old fashioned kind above so that they will cook faster. They can usually be found right next to the thicker rolled oats.

Instant Rolled Oats

These are the "just add hot water" or microwave type of oat cereals and are not at all suited for a long term food storage program. They do, however, have uses in "bug out" and 72 hour food kits for short term crises.

Whole Oats

This is with the hulls still on. They are sold in seed stores and sometimes straight from the farmer who grew them. Unless you have some means of getting the hulls off, I don't recommend buying oats in this form. If you do buy from a seed supplier, make certain that they have not been treated with any chemicals that are toxic to humans.

Quinoa

Quinoa is yet another of the grains that is not a true cereal. It's botanical name is Chenopodium quinoa (pronounced "keen-wah"), and is a relative of the common weed Lambsquarter. The individual kernels are about 1.5-2 mm in size and are shaped rather like small flattened spheres, yellow in color. When quinoa is cooked, the germ of the grain coils into a small "tail" that lends a pleasant crunch. This exotic grain should be thoroughly washed before cooking in order to prevent the cooked product from tasting bitter. There are several varieties of quinoa that have color ranging from near white to a dark brown. The larger white varieties are considered superior and are the most common found.

Corn/Cornmeal Shelf Life:

Cornmeal: Between 6 and 18 months. Store in a cool dry place to help prolong this.
Corn: 8 years or more if stored in a sealed airtight container with an oxygen absorber.

Corn/Cornmeal Uses:

Dried corn can be used as a vegetable in stews, popped into popcorn, or ground into flour or cornmeal. Corn flour is most commonly used to make corn masa which is a dough used to make tortillas. Cornmeal (fresh ground or store bought) can be used to make delicious cornbread or corn cakes. It can also be made into hominy or grits. 

(taken from foodstoragemadeasy.com)


I raised my family on steamed white rice with a little sugar, butter and a tiny bit of milk.  My children still come home and ask for my rice.  I have several cans of white rice in my food storage.  Plus a few cream of wheat cans. My family also likes to have breakfast for dinner.  So we enjoy our white rice and cream of white!!  


I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.