Food Storage for the Rest of Us

Week 6 - Fettucine Alfredo

2012-02-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

I'm now all caught up on blogging!

I love fettuccine alfredo, but it's so unhealthy. So when I found a recipe for a low fat alfredo sauce, I was really excited.

Here's the recipe:
1 cup vegetable broth
2 cups fat free milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. flour (I added a little more to thicken it faster)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I added a little more)

Heat the broth, milk, and spices. Add the flour and cook on medium until thick. Remove from heat and add cheese. Serve over noodles.

It was awesome. Really easy to make, and it tasted as good as the real thing. The broth gave it kind of an odd color, so next time I might try using all milk instead. This recipe makes enough to cover a 1 lb box of pasta. I served it with garlic bread and homemade soda.

Week 5 - Fried Rice

2012-02-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

I'm still behind on my blogging, but Week 5's entry is fried rice. It's an oldie but a goodie.

Week 4 - Lemon-lime Soda

2012-02-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

After my successful root beer endeavor, I decided to try my hand at a sprite substitute. I used this recipe. It was pretty good, but I think next time I'll cut back on the lemon juice. It was a bit strong.

Now if only I could find a decent Dr. Pepper substitute. (or a source of caffeine free Dr. Pepper in 2 liter bottles. I've seen it in the cans, but soda cans are BPA-lined.)

Week 3 - Root Beer

2012-02-04T10:20:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late, but here it is. I really made it in week 3; I just didn't blog it until now.

I made homemade root beer, and it's super easy.

1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. root beer concentrate
1 liter carbonated water

Boil water. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Add concentrate; stir until well mixed.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. (It takes several hours to cool.) Gently mix the syrup with the water.

I have a soda stream machine, which is basically a water carbonater. (They sell soda syrups to go with the soda makers, but I don't like the flavor and I'm not really interested in all the artificial chemicals.) So I just took some regular water (purified by reverse osmosis to be fluoride-free, but you could use tap water instead) and carbonated it. If you don't have a soda machine, then seltzer water or club soda from the store works, too. Then I added the syrup. It tasted just like Trader Joe's fancy root beer in the glass bottles.

Week 2 - Lentil and Grain Soup

2012-01-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

One of my neighbors gave me a jar of homemade soup mix for Christmas. The jar had lentils, split peas, rice, and (I think) barley, plus some spices. Then it was just add water, carrots, celery, garlic, and chicken. Since I'm a vegetarian, I left out the chicken.

I made this for lunch today. I didn't have any celery, so I used celery salt instead. I tossed in a handful of dried carrots, sprinkled in some garlic powder, and left it to cook. In a little over an hour, I had a hearty, filling soup. It tastes like it's missing something, but I'm not sure what. It's really good, though. I'll have to ask for the recipe. Next time, I think I'll cook it in vegetable broth instead of water; that might give it a richer flavor.

It made a huge pot. Even after eating a generous bowl, I still had enough to fill two quart-sized mason jars and a little extra. I stuck one jar in the freezer and the other one in the fridge. I'll be eating the refrigerated one for lunch tomorrow. (And probably the next several days. Three cheers for a cooking vacation!)

Week 1 - Applesauce

2012-01-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm a day late blogging this, but I did make it during the first week of the year, so it still counts.

My sister bought some apples a few months ago and stuck them in the fridge, intending to use them to make apple crisp. (It's kind of like apple cobbler, but without the nasty soggy bread texture. I hate cobbler. But that's neither here nor there.) Then she forgot about them. Then she got into a car accident and has been staying with our parents for the past three weeks. (She's fine, but she has no car, so it's more convenient for her to stay there.)

So, since the apples were getting to the end of their useful life, I decided to use them yesterday. I cut them up, threw them in the crock pot with some orange juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Two hours later, I had applesauce. Delicious.

New Year, New Beginning

2012-01-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

Last year's resolution to cook primarily from food storage and blog about it failed miserably. So, I'm paring down the project for this year. I'm going to cook at least one food storage meal per week and blog about it. That way, at the end of the year, I'll have 52 tried and true recipes. (Assuming no repeats, but I'm guessing there will be repeats.)

Happy 2012, everyone!

Blessings from the Pasta Fairy

2011-09-23T14:41:00.001-07:00

Whenever my sister finds a random box of whatever (pasta-roni, ramen, au gratin potatoes, rice, mac and cheese, etc.) in the back of the cupboard that she has forgotten about, she declares it a blessing from the pasta fairy. A lot of what food storage is all about is planning so that the pasta fairy's blessings are scheduled and controlled instead of serendipitous.

The pasta fairy has blessed me richly this week. I've been too tired to do any real cooking, so I've raided the boxes in the back of the cupboard. I've had red beans and rice, top ramen, soup, and fruit. All without having to go to the store or make something from scratch.

Making stuff from scratch is great, but it's not always feasible, especially given the time constraints of modern society. So, here's to the pasta fairy!

Day 225 - Hash Browns

2011-08-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm back! I survived the bar exam and I'm out of excuses for neglecting this blog. I re-did my budget yesterday, and I realized that I really need to get back into using my pantry bounty instead of rushing off to takeout or the deli counter at the grocery store all the time. So, it's back to cooking.

My mom had 6 huge bags of freeze dried shredded potatoes. She decided to share the wealth, so I ended up with one of the bags. The potatoes have been sitting in my cupboard for a while, and yesterday, I decided to see if I could turn them into hash browns. It worked!

First, I reconstituted the potatoes by boiling them for 15 minutes. (If you use fresh or frozen potatoes, you can skip this step.) Then I put them in a strainer and pressed out the water. This is important in order to make the potatoes crispy. Then I heated up some oil in a frying pan. I thought I might have added too much, so I poured some out. I put the potatoes in, added some salt and pepper, and started to fry them up. It turns out that I shouldn't have poured the oil out because I had to add some more. I fried the potatoes until they were crispy, and then I flipped them over and repeated the process. Delicious! I served them with some cheesy scrambled eggs and had a tasty diner-style breakfast for dinner.

Day 135 - Fried Rice

2011-05-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to finish law school yesterday. This means I'm all out of excuses not to cook.

Dinner tonight is fried rice. (Well, technically Jen is cooking it, but I'm blogging it anyway.)

Heat oil in a wok. Add a bunch of cooked rice and fry up. Add green onions and scrambled eggs and soy sauce. Cook until crispy. Serve topped with edamame.

Enjoy!

Update

2011-05-13T13:16:00.001-07:00

I could blame the lack of posts since March on the Blogger crash that apparently ate a lot of people's hard work, but it's just that I haven't been posting lately.

My very last paper ever for law school is due in a few days. It's been a crazy semester, and I haven't had time to cook.

I don't know how much cooking I'll manage while studying for the bar exam, but I'm going to blog what I do manage to cook here. (Maybe.)

Starting Over

2011-03-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been crazy these past few months! Since I last updated, I've posted a law review article on SSRN (still waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on a case before I can publish), moved to a new apartment, written three papers for school, attended an out of town academic conference, increased my hours at work, and had a minor relapse of my adrenal problems.

This hasn't left much time/energy for cooking or blogging about my nonexistent cooking. I've been eating way too much takeout and way too many tv dinners. I have to start paying back my student loans in June, and that hit to my budget makes me want to weep. (It's nearly three times my rent!) Takeout and tv dinners are expensive, so I've become extra motivated to eat my food storage again.

I have a draft of my next article due on Saturday, so obviously no cooking is going to happen before then. Starting Sunday, it's back to the food storage. I'm going to cook in bulk on Sunday afternoon so that my "fast food" will come from the freezer and not from Subway.

Day 21 - Crock Pot Applesauce

2011-01-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I went to a symposium sponsored by the law journal that I'm an editor of. I was one of the volunteers who helped put on the event. (My help was a minor part. Most of the work was done by the organizers.) There were tons of apples left, so I was able to take them home. Happy applesauce!

Here's my applesauce recipe:
5 lbs apples
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional, to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, to taste)

Peel, core, and cube the apples. Put in a crock pot. Add juice, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir. Cook until the apples are soft (approx. 5 hours on low or 2 1/2 hours on high). Mash. Serve warm or cold.

This recipe is really forgiving. Once, I was out of orange juice, so I used lemon juice and water and added extra sugar. I don't measure exactly and it still turns out well. The kitchen smells amazing while it's cooking!

Day 19 - Dehydration

2011-01-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

I didn't use my food storage much this past week because of poor planning and a really busy week. However, on Wednesday, a few people from my church got together and swapped ideas on how to dehydrate food. I learned how to use a food dehydrator to make dried apples and fruit roll ups. (They also talked about beef jerky, but I didn't pay attention because I'm a vegetarian.) Apparently, you just slice it up, toss it in, and turn on the dehydrator overnight. I tried some of the apples, and they were amazing! It almost made me want to ask for a dehydrator for my birthday.

Day 16 - Fried Rice

2011-01-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

Fried rice is ridiculously easy to make. I put some rice in the rice cooker. When it was ready, my sister fried it up in a wok with soy sauce, green onions, salt, pepper, and eggs. Then I cooked up some edamame (young green soybeans) and tossed it in. You can also add meat, tofu, or veggies if you like. We usually make up a big batch so we can have leftovers.

Day 14 - Au Gratin Potatoes

2011-01-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

New goal - blog more frequently! Sorry about that. Anyway, Day 14 (Friday, January 14, for those keeping score) was au gratin potatoes. My sister had a box in the pantry that has been there forever. I had a long day at work, and I figured that since those potatoes had been sitting there for months, she wouldn't miss them. I made them for dinner, and now I owe her a box of au gratin potatoes.

That's the beauty of food storage. It doesn't have to be survivalist foods in #10 cans or 5 gallon buckets. It can be regular food from the grocery store that's sitting in the pantry.

Days 6-13: Life got in the way

2011-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't been very good about using my food storage this past week. I got sick, then school started, then things got a little busy at work. I did make tacos one night out of tortillas I had in the fridge (they come in a huge package and keep forever, so that's sort of food storage) and beans I had in the freezer, so it wasn't a total failure. (I supplemented the tacos with fresh ingredients.)

My wallet doesn't appreciate going out to lunch every day and grabbing dinner in the school cafeteria before class. (I spent $5 on a modest salad on Monday!) So, I'm going to plan better for next week.

If I use my food storage for dinner tonight, I'll blog it. Otherwise I'll add Day 14 to the list of "life got in the way".

Day 4 and 5 - Yogurt

2011-01-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

I've been swamped, so I haven't had time to blog my efforts. Last week, I had some milk that was nearing the end of its life, so I figured I would turn it into yogurt. I have successfully made yogurt from powdered milk, but this was my first try from regular milk. It failed spectacularly, and I don't know why. Oh, well. Live and learn.

Day 3 - Cream of Mushroom Soup

2011-01-03T15:34:00.001-08:00

I ate leftovers today. However, I'm posting my tried and true cream of mushroom soup recipe because it might be useful to someone.

As I mentioned before, I have to be careful about which canned foods I eat because of how chemicals in the can linings affect my endocrine system. Well, I love casseroles. Cream of mushroom soup is an essential ingredient in many casseroles, so I had to find an alternative.

Here you have it, Cream of Mushroom Soup-stitute: (My sister Jen coined the name.)
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
3 Tbsp flour (I use whole wheat flour to give it a firmer texture, but white flour works, too)
1/2 cup broth (I use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian, but you could use beef or chicken, too)
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
(You can also add mushrooms if you like, but I don't bother. It works just fine without.)

Melt butter in a saucepan over Med-Low heat.
Stir in flour a little at a time until smooth, then remove from heat.
Add broth and milk a little at a time, stirring to keep mixture smooth. Then, stir in mushrooms.
Return to heat and bring sauce to a gentle boil; stir constantly until sauce thickens.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once it's finished, this functions like a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. If you need to reconstitute it, add a little less liquid than your casserole recipe calls for; this soup is a little runnier than the canned stuff.

Day 2 - Red Beans and Rice

2011-01-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

I love red beans and rice. Unfortunately, I've always had difficulty cooking beans. I would faithfully soak them overnight and cook them all day and they would still come out tasting like pebbles. Until now.

I had a box of Zatarain's red bean seasoning, so I decided to give it a go. I put my beans in to soak yesterday morning right after I finished my cracked wheat cereal. That helped tremendously. It looks like I need to soak my beans a full 24 hours in order to get them to work.

This morning, I drained the beans and followed the directions on the package. Three hours later, I had seasoned red beans with bell peppers. The directions said to add smoked sausage, but I left that out. I added some rice and had a New Orleans style meal.

I figured it would taste the same as the boxed red beans and rice, but it didn't. It tasted like it was missing something. I added some cumin and chili powder, but that didn't help much. It made a ton of leftovers, so I'll play around with the spices some more.

In all, though it tasted a bit bland, I'm marking this one as a success because I was finally able to get the beans to cook properly. I've been trying to do that for 5 years!

Day 1 - Cracked Wheat Cereal

2011-01-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

Wheat.

I have eleven cans of wheat in my apartment. The only thing I could think of to do with my wheat was grind it into flour and make bread. Don't get me wrong, I like bread, but that's an awful lot of bread.

When I was a kid, I loved cream of wheat. My dad would make it for breakfast on Saturday mornings and we would sweeten it with brown sugar and syrup. As I grew older, I found that I couldn't eat cream of wheat for breakfast. I have hypoglycemia, and the refined carbohydrates turned straight into sugar when I ate them, wreaking havoc on my blood sugar levels.

While I can't tolerate refined grains very well, I can eat whole grains. So, I set out to find a whole wheat cream of wheat. I found a recipe for cracked wheat cereal, and it's amazing. It tastes so much better than the original.

3/4 cup wheat berries
1 1/2 cup water

Crack the wheat. Some people use a hand grinder, but I'm lazy and I used my blender. I made a half recipe and stuck the wheat berries in a mason jar instead of the blender jug. (My blender fits mason jars perfectly; I love it!) I ground them while I was boiling the water. It doesn't need to be as fine as flour; having chunks is fine.
Once the water is boiling, add the cracked wheat to the water and cook for 15 minutes.
Sweeten to taste and serve.

That's it! Totally easy. I do have some comments on the recipe, though. I think it needs more water. After about 5 minutes, the water had soaked up, and it was starting to resemble glue. It started to stick to the bottom of the pan, so I added more water. Then I had to add some more later. I didn't measure how much more I added, but it was probably about 1/2 cup. Also, it needs salt.

This one gets two thumbs up. It takes a while to make, so I'm thinking I'll make a big batch up and refrigerate the leftovers so I can just heat some up in the microwave in the morning.

About Me

2011-01-01T10:03:00.001-08:00

Food is a very personal thing. Cuisine differs across cultures and across families. Different religions ask their followers to adhere to dietary codes. People have their ideas on what constitutes healthy and unhealthy food. So, since I'm blogging about food this year, I'll share a little bit about myself so you know where I'm coming from.

I try to eat healthy food because I feel better when I do. However, like everyone, I have my food vices. Most notably, I love gummy candy and French fries. (Though not together; that would be gross.) Read more »

Welcome!

2011-01-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, and welcome to Food Storage for the Rest of Us! The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my adventures and misadventures as I try to turn my food storage into food.

For those not in the know, food storage is a colloquial term for preserved or shelf-stable food that is intended to last for long periods of time. Think canned food, freeze-dried food, and buckets of grains. (However, it's more expansive than that, and I'll touch on that in later posts.)

There are a lot of stereotypes about people who store food, so I'm going to start off with what this blog is not: Read more »