So when Jenny contacted me….OFFERING to show me how to make freezer meals, I had to take her up on her offer. After all, wouldn’t you love to have an expert come to your kitchen and help you cook something?! Well I figured you might, which is why I convinced her to let me tape it and show it to all of you! In these videos she’ll show you how to make DELICIOUS freezer pizzas that you can use at any time. Jenny has been on Good Things Utah and was even approached by the Rachel Ray show (RACHEL RAY!) to be on but had to reschedule due to a baby on the way. She has awesome ideas and is a GREAT teacher!

How-to Make Freezer Pizza: Part ONE

How-to Make Freezer Pizza: Part TWO

Click HERE to visit Jenny’s blog to get the written instructions for this recipe. Or you can also check out her NEW book “Fabulous Freezer Meals” for this and MORE fabulous freezer meal recipes!

Have you ever wondered which wheat grinder I use and why? Well check back on Wednesday to SEE (yes, ANOTHER video) what and why I use it….and why you’ll love it as well!

© 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

This is my new favorite done in 15 minutes meal (when I make my rice in the pressure cooker)! It tastes great, is kid friendly, and works for company as well. It’s this easy…

HAWAIIAN MEATBALLS & RICE

(use as many of the ingredients as you’ll need to feed your family)

Rice
Meatballs
Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce (or any other BBQ sauce…that is just my favorite)
Pineapple Tidbits, drained

Cook Rice. While rice is cooking, cook meatballs. After meatballs are cooked toss and coat with bbq sauce and pineapple tidbits and warm through.

© 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

It would be easily served with Tator Tots or potato chips and then a vegetable tray where they can pick their own veggies.  (Notice I filled half my plate with them to try and make up for my chili dog creation!

Chili Dogs in a Blanket
1 can Chili (or homemade chili)
2 T. dehydrated onion
1/2 C. Shredded Cheese (optional)
2 oz. Cream Cheese (optional)
4-6 Hot Dogs (cut into thirds-lenth wise)
EZ Bread Dough (Click HERE for the recipe) 

Mix bread dough according to directions and let rise until doubled.  In the mean time, combine chili, dehydrated onion, and cream cheese and heat until the cream cheese is melted.  Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick and using something circular (about 5 inches in diameter), cut out circles from dough.  Keep rolling dough out and cutting until dough is gone (like you would for biscuits).  Put a thin layer of chili mixture on dough circles, followed by cheese, and a hot dog piece.  Fold side pieces together and pinch all edges together.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

© 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

You know me, I like to EASE my way into things and I think the best way to start emergency cooking is to see what you ALREADY have that can be made with shelf stable items in case of emergency. (Keep in mind that I only see this as a FIRST step, we’ll be covering other things like dutch ovens and solar ovens….but let’s just EASE into this! Now, please keep in mind that the first few days of a natural disaster you will be busily cooking and using the food in your fridge and freezer before it goes bad. But, of course, after your fresh and frozen food as been used up you’ll want to have shelf stable food (meaning the food that doesn’t need to be refrigerated) to eat. As I was thinking about this I realized that a lot of people spend a lot of money on food like this, but if you don’t have the money you can buy shelf stable meals at any grocery store (and when it’s on sale some times it’s as cheap as 88 cents!). Chicken helper is one of the easiest to make from shelf stable items because it even says on the box that you can substitute a can of chicken in place of the fresh chicken. (Which also, if you think about it is a good idea because you’d use less fuel cooking the meal if you don’t need to first cook the chicken.) Obviously, the milk you can use powdered milk but you may be perplexed about what to do about the margarine. This may not be the best thing to try putting beans in. However, I did discover that olive oil (or any oil) works just as well and that you don’t have to use as much oil as it calls for margarine. So not only are these meals great to keep on hand for an “everyday emergency” or when a baby-sitter or husband who doesn’t like to cook needs to cook but also for a natural disaster. I love it!

Here is what I did to make it work:

The recipe originally calls for:
1 lb. uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 T. margarine or butter
1/2 c. hot water
2 c. milk

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Melt margarine in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until outsides turn white.

Stir in hot water, milk, Sauce Mix and uncooked pasta. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender. Remove from heat and uncover (sauce will thicken as it stands)

Here is what I did:
1 12.5 oz. can cooked chicken, undrained (undrained there will be about a 1/2 c. of broth)
1 1/2 t. olive oil
1/2 c. of broth (from the can-why throw it out? It just adds more flavor)
2 c. milk (2 c. water + 1/3 c. powdered milk)

Combine chicken, broth, oil, water, dry milk powder, and sauce mix in skillet (you’ll need to use a whisk to combine everything). Add in uncooked pasta and stir. Heat until boiling, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender. Remove from heat and uncover (sauce will thicken as it stands).

*You could also use a can of peas for some color or add in other spices (garlic, lemon pepper, etc.) to flavor it differently.

© 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

I found this recipe from one of my favorite people in my ward cookbook. Don’t you just love ward cookbooks?! They are so condensed with wonderful tried and true recipes. I, personally, love Chicken Cordon Bleu (calories aside…so sorry if this is tempting your New Year’s diet but I just couldn’t resist) but it can be really time consuming and intimidating to make! So you can guess how happy I was to make this in no time at all and have it taste just the same! Plus, you can make exactly 1 1/2 cans of Condensed chicken soup from magic mix, with out any waste while using your food storage, so easy!  I even made this for some friends and they couldn’t stop raving about how wonderful it tasted.

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

8 boneless chicken breasts
8 thin slices of ham
8 thin slices Swiss cheese
1 1/2 cans cream of chicken soup (1 1/2 C. Magic Mix, 1 1/8 C. Chicken Broth (either from a can, bouillion, or liquid from canned chicken), 1 1/2 t. Dry Parsley, Dash of Onion Salt-Bring together over high heat, stirring constantly until thick)
1/2 c. water
1 box Stove Top for Chicken Stuffing

Layer chicken, cheese, and ham in a baking dish. Mix soup with water and pour over chicken. Melt 1 cube of butter in saucepan. Add stove top stuffing with seasoning. Sprinkle over top. Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer. 

© 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

Well ring in the new year with a challenge! I’m starting a new series with “advanced” or as I like to think of it as “next step” food storage. In this post, I’ll cover pasta making. It’s actually quite fun, tasty, and exciting to experiment with noodle making (think of the possibilities-spinach noodles, tomato noodles, etc.) Not to mention you can add wheat flour to them for a fraction of what you’ll pay in the store for “whole grain pasta,” be rotating through your food storage, and becoming more self reliant. But, the best part is, kids LOVE to help! I did this video at my parent’s house and my nieces and nephews (though not in the video) were fighting over who got to roll the next noodles. So give it a try, you’ll be pleasantly surprised-and using more of that food storage of yours!

Basic Pasta Making Recipe

1 egg (2 T. dry egg powder + 2 T. water)
2 T. milk (scant 1/2 t. dry milk powder + 2 T. water)
1/2 c. white wheat flour
1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Stir ingredients together in bowl. Using hands, knead dough until a hard ball of dough forms. (If dough is too dry slowly add water in SMALL amounts-a couple drops at a time.) Allow dough to rest, covered with a damp paper towel for 10 minutes. Roll in pasta maker according to pasta maker directions.

© 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

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Pomegranate Chicken

1 c. unsweetened pomegranate juice (from about 5 large pomegranates or from store bought juice)
3 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. dry rosemary (or about double for fresh)
1/2 t. fresh grated ginger (I don’t peel mine and you can freeze leftover whole ginger in your freezer, just grate what you need)
2 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (really the richness of thigh meat is needed in this recipe)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. pomegranate seeds (optional)
fresh rosemary or parsley sprigs

In a 9×13 baking dish, combine pomegranate juice, soy sauce, rosemary, ginger, and garlic. Coat chicen wit marinade. Cover, refrigerate 8 hours or over night.

Drain off and reserve marinade. Arrange chicken pieces slightly apart in baking dish. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven about 30-45 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade. (Your chicken will be dyed red due to the pomegranate juice so you’ll want to use a thememometer for doneness, it should be 165)

Transfer chicken to platter and keep warm. Then pour drippings into a 1 1/2-2 qt. pan, stir in cream. Bring to boil over high heat and boil rapidly until sauce is slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup. Spoon sauce evenly over chicken. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and rosemary sprigs. Serve over Pomegranate Rice.

Pomegranate Rice

2 green onions, chopped with the tops (cut the white in half and shop horizontally)
1 T. butter
1 c. long grain rice
2 t. grated fresh ginger
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. roasted salted pistachio nuts, shelled (or you could sub in coarsely chopped cashews)
1 c. pomegranate seeds
lemon peel strips (optional)

In large saucepan cook green onions in hot butter over medium heat 3-5 minutes or just until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice, ginger, and cinnamon. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until rice begins to brown.

Carefully add broth to rice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer covered, 14 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

Stir in nuts and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle with lemon peel.

Putting both recipes together:

In the morning do the following:

• grate 2 1/2 t. fresh ginger (using 1/2 t. for the marinade and reserving 2 t. for the rice)
• get chicken in marinade and soaking in your fridge for 8 hours
• open pomegranate and empty seeds (you’ll need 1 1/3 c.- 1 c. for the rice and 1/3 c. for the chicken)
• chop 2 green onions and place in the fridge for later
• check and make sure you’ve all the needed ingredients (running to the store in the morning is a lot easier than doing it while you’re making dinner)

In the evening:

• Get your chicken cooking
• Start your rice
• While the rice is cooking prepare side dishes (I did asparagus and artichokes- but you could do  nice salad, green beans, etc.)

Presentation:

On a large platter overlap chicken thighs around the edge.  Fill the center with rice.  Pour chicken sauce over chicken and garnish with pomegranate seeds.  Place sprigs of rosemary in between the chicken thighs and one in the center of the rice.  Place lemon strips on top of rice.

© 2009 – 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

I realize most people don’t like meatloaf…but I think it’s just because they’ve never had GOOD meatloaf before!  Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of nasty dried out globs of meat trying to pass as meatloaf (of course all of these were AFTER I moved out of my parent’s house).  I guess this week is turning into a sort of “My Mom’s Favorites….or at least my Favorites that my Mom makes”  It must be because I’m gearing to go home for Thanksgiving and dreaming of all those things I hope she makes while I’m home!  Anyway, the reason why I love this meatloaf reason (besides the fact that it is DELICIOUS, uses a surprising amount of food storage and will leave you wanting more) is that it can turn into an entire oven meal.  One way to be responsible in the oven is to use that energy you’re paying for to cook as many things as possible (not to mention it means little work for you!) I usually serve it with baked potatoes and baked butternut squash (simply cut the butternut squash into 4-6 pieces and place in a 9×13 pan and bake during the meatloaf) I also like it because one of the things I like to do when I buy ground beef is to make “meatloaf packets”  I mix everything together in a ziploc bag (I don’t even bother with dirtying a bowl) and then when it’s time to bake, I simply throw the meat mix (thawed) into the pan and bake.  It’s one of the easiest meals ever and usually the meal I make for others for that exact reason!

Mom’s Meatloaf

1 ½ lb. Hamburger

¾ C. Oatmeal

1-2 Eggs (if you use powdered eggs (3 T. dry egg powder) use an extra can of tomato sauce as the liquid)

1 pkg. onion soup mix

¼ C. non-instant dry milk powder

1 can tomato sauce

(you can also add in dehydrated carrots and dehydrated bell pepper as well-about 1/4 C. each)

Mix together and bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Goes great with potatoes and butternut squash.

*Shopping Tip: Most people, when purchasing a butternut squash, buy one that looks very picturesque (i.e. very large on the bottom and little on top) actually you want to choose a butternut squash that is as close to the same size on the bottom as on top so that you get more vegetable!

© 2009 – 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

Pumpkin Bread Bowls
Mirien C.
Makes 4 medium bread bowls—I double this recipe for our family
Ingredients
2 T. instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups warm water
4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup oil
6 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use white wheat)
Yellow, red, and green food coloring

Instructions: It seems like a lot of steps, but these are really pretty easy. They can be made the day before you use them. I use my Bosch mixer, knead for 10 minutes, and skip the first rise in #3. But for those who don’t have bread mixers, follow the steps below.
1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Add the salt, oil, and flour and combine.
2. Knead the dough on a floured tabletop, adding more flour if needed, until it is smooth and elastic but not sticky or soft.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn it over once, then cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise just until it has doubled in bulk (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours).
4. Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into four portions, and remove a small piece of dough from each portion for the stems.
5. Shape each pumpkin by grasping the dough from the bottom, stretching it upward, and gathering it on the top. Repeat this process until you have a uniform ball. Then firmly pinch together the gathered dough in the center and turn over the ball. Now gently squeeze the middle of the pumpkin to make it stand as tall as possible.
6. Place the pumpkin on a parchment-paper-lined sheet pan. Grease one end of a toothpick and insert it into the dough stem so that it protrudes an inch from the top. Stick the other end into the pumpkin top. Then cover each pumpkin with plastic wrap and let it rise to twice its size.
7. Uncover the risen dough. Holding the stem, slowly twist the toothpick to loosen it but don’t remove it.
8. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of water with 30 drops of yellow and 6 drops of red food coloring. Transfer a half teaspoon of the mixture to a small saucer and stir in a drop of green food coloring.
Use a small pastry brush to paint the stem green (the brush should not be too wet). Gently apply a coat of orange to the globe using a larger brush and long, soft strokes. Let the paint dry for about 2 minutes.
With a sharp knife, lightly score the dough to create the pumpkin’s vertical grooves (adults only).
9. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and bake the bread until it sounds hollow when you tap the crust, about 35 to 40 minutes.
10. Set the pumpkin on a cooling rack and twist the toothpick to remove it. If the crust seems soft, cool the bread completely, then bake it for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Before serving, slice off the top of the pumpkin and pull out the bread from the inside, leaving the bowl about 1” thick on the sides and bottom. Fill with thick soup.

Note: I’ve tried coloring the dough orange with food coloring before baking, but I’ve found that painting it on before baking looks much better.

Witches’ Brew (Split Pea and Barley Soup)
Mirien C.
My kids love this soup—maybe because we’ve always called it witches’ brew. It’s warm and filling—perfect food to eat before trick or treating. It’s so easy, too. Just put everything in the crockpot and forget about it until it’s time to eat.

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dried split peas
1/2 cup barley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
9 cups water or chicken broth
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 potatoes, diced (I don’t peel them!)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 T. dried
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients in a large slow cooker and stir until well combined. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Add more water if soup is too thick. Serve in bread bowls.

TIME TO VOTE!

If you don’t remember the other three, you can check them out below…

Contestant #1: Pumpkin Sloppy Joes

Contestant #2: Jock-o-lantern Pot Pie

Contestant #3: Chili Getti

Remember, you’re deciding which dinner MY FAMILY should eat for Halloween and the winner gets “Deceptively Delicious” (one of my favorite cookbooks!).  It’s easy to vote, just leave a comment for which recipe my family should eat! (If you missed the story, my husband and I “debate” every year about what the “proper” Halloween Dinner is-either Spaghetti or Chili Bake…so this year, I’m brining it to the masses and letting you decide with a third party option!)

Want to enter the Fanatic Friday recipe contest? November will be all about Thanksgiving favorites. Did you know that even the Pilgrims were counseled to have a year supply of food? There’s no better way to celebrate them than to make things for Thanksgiving that use items from OUR one year supply. Have a food storage recipe that would be perfect to serve on Thanksgiving? Please share it with us at fanaticfridays@gmail.com! For more information on the contest click HERE.

© 2009 – 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.

Chili Ghetti

1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
2 15 oz. cans chili
3 1/2 c. tomatoes, chopped (or 2 15 oz. cans stewed tomatoes, chopped)
8 oz. spaghetti, cooked and drained
3 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c. chopped onion ( or slightly less than 1/4 c. dry onion)

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a 9×13″ pan. (You could also just mix them together in the pan to save a bowl.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min. or until warmed through.

Want to enter the Fanatic Friday recipe contest? November will be all about Thanksgiving favorites. Did you know that even the Pilgrims were counseled to have a year supply of food? There’s no better way to celebrate them than to make things for Thanksgiving that use items from OUR one year supply. Have a food storage recipe that would be perfect to serve on Thanksgiving? Please share it with us at fanaticfridays@gmail.com! For more information on the contest click HERE.

© 2009 – 2010, Crystal-Everyday Food Storage. All rights reserved.