FEBRUARY IS “LET THEM EAT (FOOD STORAGE) CAKE!” MONTH!

We’ve started this month right with the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake.  Mmmm….it makes my mouth water just thinking about it!  Remember, I’m doing this because there is more out there than just cake mixes people! L-O-T-S!  And when you are cooking more from scratch you a) have more control over the ingredients and b) you have more opportunities to use your food storage and c) can do it for a lot cheaper!

But I realized that I have gotten a little ahead of myself because you know I’ll be using a lot of beans in place of butter and oil.  Why? Well beans are CHEAP, from your dry beans you can make the equivalent of a can of beans (which is about a pound) for under 20 cents! Has anyone seen what a pound of butter costs these days?  Last time I checked it was around $3 a pound-good grief.  Plus, beans are virtually fat free, full of protein and fiber which means less calories and they make you feel full!  No joke!  I can eat one piece of cake made with beans instead of oil and feel FULL.  Before I could eat 2 (or 3 or 4) and not feel satisfied.  Plus, beans make a very moist product and I promise there is no bean taste!  And just because I know you’re wondering, I don’t use powdered butter or shortening because for the most part it isn’t cheaper than using fresh plus it lacks the protein and fiber of beans.  So, I want to make sure you all understand how to use the beans and how to be successful at it because I’m BIG on YOU figuring out how to do this with YOUR recipes.

TIPS FOR USING BEANS FOR OIL AND BUTTER

1. If your recipe calls for oil, you are going to use a bean puree.  What is a bean puree you ask?  It’s simply cooked beans with enough water to whirl in your blender.  If you want a simple way to try this, take a can of beans (the entire can) and dump it in the blender and blend it.  Done.
2. If your recipe calls for butter, you are going to use cooked, drained beans.
3. For substituting beans for both butter and/or oil you are going to use a 1:1 ration.  That means if your recipe calls for 3/4 C. oil, you are going to use 3/4 C. bean puree.  If your recipe calls for 1 C. butter you are going to use 1 C. beans.  You’ll use the same measurements for beans as your original recipe says to use for either the oil and/or butter.
4. When wondering which beans to use-you are going to match color for color.  If it is a chocolate cake, use black beans. If it is a spice cake, use pinto beans.  If it is a white cake, use white beans.  Now, here is the tricky part…you can also use white beans in chocolate cake but you can’t use black beans in your white cake.  Your family will wonder what all of those black specks are.  To be safe, you can use white beans in almost anything.
5. Now, you’re going to add the beans however your recipe says to use the butter and/or oil.  So, if your recipe says to cream the butter with the sugar-you’re going to cream the beans with the sugar.  If your recipe says to add the oil to the dry ingredients, you’re going to add the bean puree to the dry ingredients.
6. If you are using beans in something like brownies or cookies that are supposed to be chewy, the beans will not make it chewy-it will be cake like.  So if you’re family is big on chewy that doesn’t mean you have an excuse not to use beans.  It just means you need to use half oil/butter and half beans.  It will still be chewy and you’ll still be saving money and adding fiber and protein!  Remember, I’m not big into all or nothing-even a little or half is better than nothing and it’s important that your family likes what you make!

Use beans for breakfast, dinner and dessert with my Everyday Bean E-Cookbook!

Help Spread the Word!

I love it when you share my tips and recipes for food storage!  Do me a quick favor, if you like what you see please share it on facebook, pinterest, or blog about it!  And make sure if you link to me, either use the word “food storage” or “Everyday Food Storage” to link back to me.  Thanks-it makes all the hard work worth it!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Okay, I had a lot of people asking how they could purchase JUST the dehydrator racks for their Sun Oven.  So I looked into this and discovered that you can!  It’s $44 dollars (that INCLUDES shipping) for the three racks that instantly turn your Sun Oven into a well functioning solar dehydrator. If you’d like to order yourself a set, CLICK HERE.

And…in case you didn’t get to catch my latest food storage showing on Studio 5-you can catch it below.  I ventured into the world of chocolate meringues and discovered a great way to make them look (and taste) even more delicious! Food storage and gourmet collide once again. Think of them as fudge chocolate meringues.  They are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, gluten-free, fat-free, and about 10 calories a pop.  Now we’re talking! To view the food storage video, click HERE.

If you’re wondering where to get powdered egg whites, currently you can get them from Honeyville Grains.

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

January Q&A continues!  This may be my most commonly asked food storage question yet-What is the nutritional analysis of the EZ Wheat Bread recipe?  Well, after trying to check a lot of calorie counters online-none of which would give me extra brownies points for whole wheat flour (because we all know whole wheat flour is not the same as all-purpose flour).  I had a registered dietitian look it over and do all the math.  So here it goes (this is based on 17 slices per loaf-so obviously if you cut them thinner or thicker it will be different.)

Calories: 103
Fat: 1g
Protein: 4g
Fiber: .8g
Carbs: 19.5g
Sugar: 3g

In her words: This bread is inline for an “average” store bought sandwich bread. Other good points are that it is Low in saturated fat, Very low in cholesterol, High in selenium, and High in thiamin.

To see if she was correct I compared the nutritional data to Grandma Sycamore’s white bread (which I think is a close comparison to same texture, density, etc.) and it is very similar (calorie and fat wise).

Next we’ll tackle the cost analysis of the EZ wheat bread!  Stay tuned!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

If you’re doing a lot of Christmas baking (or if you don’t because it never seems to come out right) it’s worth investigating the two letter word in baking-HIGH ALTITUDE.  Cookbooks and most recipes are written for SEA LEVEL which is not a huge portion of US.  So…if you can’t figure out why your brownies never turn out or why your cake and muffins are flat or why your candy (CANDY ESPECIALLY is very sensitive to high altitude since water boils at a lower temperature the higher up you go-that means your soft ball and hard ball stages are actually lower than 240 and 260 respectively speaking) doesn’t turn out-you need to download my latest handout for HIGH ALTITUDE.Why does altitude matter?

At any altitude above sea level, the air pressure is lower. This lower air pressure can cause 3 major types of problems in your baked goods for elevations 3,500 feet above sea level.

1. Lower air pressure allows baked foods to rise faster. Leavening agents such as yeast, baking powder and baking soda create large gas bubbles that expand rapidly. The large bubbles can weaken the structure of baked goods and cause cakes and breads to collapse unless recipe adjustments are made.

2. Water also boils at a lower temperature (2 degrees per 1,000 foot increase), which affects both baking and cooking

3. Liquids evaporate faster at high altitudes so foods such as cooked frostings and candies will become harder more rapidly.

What can you do about it?

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to resolve high altitude baking issues. I’ve created a two page handout for you that you can download and keep with your cookbooks, on your fridge, or anywhere close that you can pull out and use. It covers cakes, candy, popovers, cookies, muffins, and anything you’d need to adjust for high altitude.

Click HERE to download the high altitude baking handout!

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

I’ve been dieing to see if beating powdered egg whites from my food storage actually works (especially, since a local tv chef told me it wouldn’t…) and I was so pleased to see that it DOES! Since then, I’ve tried it in these cookies, Divinity (will post on that later), waffles, and soon a Lemon Chiffon cake. So if any of you are brave enough to diet through the holidays, are trying to give up gluten, or are looking for a creative and easy alternative to rice krispy treats…this is the cookie for you! Don’t believe me?  Check out all the reasons why I love this cookie!

1. GLUTEN FREE
2. Very low calorie. You can have FIVE for the price of ONE chocolate chip cookie.
3. Few ingredients (only 6 to be exact)
4. Low-fat
5. Can be made entirely from your pantry! (No refrigerated ingredients required)
6. Gourmet looking and tasting.

Plus, don’t they look really delicious? (Think a cookie that melts in your mouth!) Because beating egg whites can be scary (it was for me, for an embarassingly long time…*ahem* you know..until I tried it in powdered form) so I also made a how-to video so you can see how truly easy these gourmet cookies are to make!

GLUTEN-FREE FOOD STORAGE MERINGUES

3 egg whites (1 T. powdered egg whites + 3 T. water)
1/8 t. cream of tartar
1/8 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
3/4 C. sugar
1 C. mini chocolate chips (or nuts, dates, raisins)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Mix in sugar 1 T. at a time until stiff peaks form. Using two spoons, drop spoonfuls of meringue on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Then turn oven off and allow to sit in oven for 90 minutes. Store in air tight container.

If you’re wondering where to get powdered egg whites, currently you can get them from Honeyville Grains.

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Sorry, I’m a day late on this post.  I just returned from Kanab, Ut (the greatest earth on show!) for my grandfather’s funeral.  I appreciate all of your condolences to me and my family.  He was a great man who loved God, his country, and his family (especially-there are a lot of us!) and he will be greatly missed!  In keeping on the family theme….our family is known for huge Thanksgivings-growing up my mom would cook Thanksgiving dinner for 40+ people (all family from out of town-that is how good her Thanksgiving dinner is).  So in case you’re in charge of any part of Thanksgiving Dinner, I hope you find these tried and true tips, recipes and food storage helps handy this weekend!

Also, make sure you are signed up for my mailing list (over on the right hand side of my blog) so you can get an early showing of the Black Friday food storage specials and information on how you can win a copy of Michael Buble’s newest Christmas album this weekend!)

FOOD STORAGE THANKSGIVING HELPS!

• *MOST IMPORTANT* Download my Thanksgiving Time Saving Tips Handout for more recipes and tips!
• Del’s Pie 101 Mini Class
• Food Storage Mock Pecan Pie (made with, you guessed it BEANS from your food storage!)
• Blender Impossible Pumpkin Pie
• Del’s Sour Cream Apple Pie
• Easy Butterscotch Creme Pie
• Classic Pumpkin Pie-Food Storage Style
• Berry Apple Pie
• Easy Dutch Apple Pie
• Aunt Naomi’s FAMOUS Rolls (a Thanksgiving CLASSIC at our house) including a video on how to shape the rolls.

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Well, I’ve been waiting a LONG time for the right time to share these food storage videos (so long I may just look pregnant, though I’m not right now that I was able to do with Augason Farms. It was great fun helping to develop these food storage recipes and also show some great ways to use your food storage BEEF tvp. (I should also mention, that this is NOT my kitchen-I WISH! It’s the kitchen they use at Augason Farms for their classes)

TANGY BBQ PINEAPPLE SANDWICHES

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

MOUNTAIN MAN STEW

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

SLOPPY JOE PIZZA

WARNING: This video is over 15 minutes long…so make sure you’ve got time to finish it! It also goes over Augason Farms WONDERFUL bread mix as well as some more foods storage tvp.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Alright, so if any of you are tired of buying cold cereal and would like to know how to use more of your food storage to have as cereal (outside of the obvious oatmeal) this is the post for you! I have a new favorite cereal and it comes straight from my food storage. Now, I’m not going to lie to you when I was younger (like 5) and we were living off of food storage out of necessity I hated eating this cereal and in fact it was one of the biggest things that scared me about food storage when I first began. However, I’m very happy to report I’ve figured out how to make whole wheat cereal absolutely delicious…you heard me….delicious!

First you need to catch up on how to cook whole wheat kernels. I like to do mine in my pressure cooker (see video below) because it takes half the time of the stove top method…

STOVE TOP METHOD FOR COOKING WHEAT KERNELS (OR BERRIES)

1. Measure 1 cup and place in a strainer. Wash the wheat berries thoroughly under running water, even if they were packaged.
2. Place them in a medium saucepan and cover with about 2 inches of water. Cover and let them soak overnight.
3. Drain the water in the morning and rinse the wheat berries once more.
4. Add the 3 cups of water and salt to the wheat berries and bring to a vigorous boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until they split open and turn chewy.

PRESSURE COOKING YOUR WHEAT KERNELS (OR BERRIES)

Once you’ve cooked up your wheat kernels, the cereal is very easy to do. But it must be done in this order (this was my mistake as a 5 year old)

WHOLE WHEAT CEREAL

1. Put warm wheat kernels in your bowl.
2. Pour a little bit of honey on top and stir to coat. (This is the important step, if you wait to put the honey in after you’ve put in the milk the honey just swims around in the milk and you lose the wonderful taste of honey mixed with the wheat.)
3. Pour in milk (get brave and try some powdered milk).
4. Add in freeze dried strawberries or any other freeze dried fruit.

Oh my! It’s so delicious. Everyone go try it and let me know how you like it!

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

This is by far the easiest and most delicious of all the food storage recipes! I like to put this jam on sandwiches, waffles, crepes, ice cream…pretty much I could put this on any food and I think it would taste good. (Okay, maybe not ANY food but A LOT of foods My sister-in-law makes this jam all of the time and it is a great way to ease your way into food storage canning and making your own sauces, jams, salsas, etc. Of course I have a how-to video for you to watch. So enjoy, and watch for good sales on berries or use the berries in your garden! ENJOY!  The best part is you don’t need anything special to make freezer jams.  You can use any freezer safe jar or plastic container.

MCP Pectin Freezer Strawberry Jam

Print

Prep time: 30 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Super easy and delicious strawberry freezer jam! Make sure to use the recipe included with whichever pectin you choose to use!

Ingredients

• 3-1/4 cups prepared fruit (buy about 2 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 box
• MCP Pectin
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
• Directions:
• RINSE clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
• CRUSH strawberries thoroughly, one layer at a time. Measure exactly 3-1/4 cups crushed strawberries into large bowl. Stir in lemon juice. Stir in pectin; let stand 30 min., stirring every 5 min. Stir in corn syrup. Gradually add sugar, stirring until well blended. Stir an additional 3 min. or until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
• FILL all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

Instructions

Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe

2.1.7

FREEZER JAM HELPS

MCP Pectin-click HERE for more information

Ball Freezer Containers-click HERE for more information (I use the 16 oz. size)

SHARE WITH US!

Make sure you come back tomorrow to learn how you can make cooked jam with out any added pectin! (It’s also my new favorite jam, so you won’t want to miss it!) What kind of jam are you planning on doing with your friends? Let us all know over at my facebook page!

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

And of course, here is my favorite kind of jam-the no sugar added kind! Why? Because I love that it tastes more like the actual fruit. It can be tarter than regular jam, but I like a little tart. I did my nectarine jam this way and it is awesome! The best way is warmed and over ice cream. It tastes so fresh, I can tell it’s going to help me get through those gray dull winter days!

NO SUGAR ADDED JAM

It’s just as easy to make jam with no added sugar and oh so delicious!

THINK CANNING ISN’T “IN” THINK AGAIN!

Preservation Statistics: Food preservation continues as an upward trend. Recent stats show:
• In 2008 and 2009, Ball Corp., the longtime maker of Mason jars and other canning equipment, experienced a 30 percent increase in retail sales. The trend continued with a 10 percent increase in 2010.
• In a recent survey conducted by Ball Corp. 50 percent of the respondents were under age 50, with 26 percent under age 35.
• Fifty-five percent of American home cooks plan to can this year, and of those, nearly 97 percent will be canning more than previous years, according to a recent survey of its community by Allrecipes.com, the world’s #1 food site.
• According to the Nielsen Company, sales of canning supplies in Canada have increased 70% year over year.

THAT’S RIGHT-THAT MEANS CANNING IS FOR YOU!

SHARE WITH US!

Make sure you come back tomorrow to learn how you can make cooked jam with out any added pectin! (It’s also my new favorite jam, so you won’t want to miss it!) What kind of jam are you planning on doing with your friends? Let us all know over at my facebook page!

© 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.