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

Okay, Diana get’s total food storage brownie points.  Not only does this recipe use great food storage ingredients, it  was also baked in the Sun Oven! Diana got this recipe from http://sunoven.com where they have a lot of great Sun Oven Recipes for you to try.

Sun Oven Applesauce Muffins/Cupcakes

Ingredients

Topping:

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat would work great as well!)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg, at room temperature (1 T. dry egg powder with 2 T. water)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (1/2 cup white sugar with 1/2 TBS
molasses mixed in)
1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce (made from my food storage
dehydrated apples then blended in blender)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup milk (1 1/2 TBS powdered milk plus 1/4 cup water)

Equipment

Two muffin pans with six indentations each with cooking spray,
silicone muffin molds and a baking pan, or a combination.

Preparation

Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat. Spray muffin tins or molds with
cooking spray.

Topping:

Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir in butter until
blended.

Muffins:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking
powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until well combined. Set
aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and the egg
until thick and pale brown, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the applesauce,
melted butter, and milk, until blended. Use a wooden spoon to stir
the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients until moistened.

Fill the prepared tins three-quarters full. Sprinkle topping over
each muffin. Bake in Sun Oven until muffins are lightly browned,
about 40 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of one muffin
should come out with a crumb or two attached.

Makes 12 to 18 muffins.

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 you link either the word “food storage” or “Everyday Food Storage” back to me.  Thanks-it makes all the hard work worth it!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

I would be remiss if I left out a really great apple pie recipe.  And this is a GREAT apple pie recipe. What better way to end pie week than with the pie Del would make on Thanksgiving!  (If you missed her pie class on Monday, click HERE!)  This is Del’s mother’s recipe and her favorite kind of apple pie. We brought it to a recipe swap at Relief Society and come home with a completely empty plate…not even crumbs! Give it a try…and of course we changed it to include food storage.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Preheat oven to 375
1 pie crust for 9” pie
2 eggs (2 T. Dry Egg Powder + 1/4 C. Water)
1 cup sour Cream
1 cup sugar
4 TBS all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt

3 – 4 cups peeled, chopped and cooked apples (*note from Crystal, it is faster to re-hydrate dried apples. Place 2 1/2 dehydrated apple slices in 3 1/2 C. boiling water and let stand for five minutes, discard excess water )

In a large bowl beat eggs then add sour cream and sugar. Put in 4 TBS flour, vanilla, & salt and mix well. Stir in apples, and then pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes

Crumb Topping

3 TBS butter – melted
¼ cup brown sugar
6 TBS all purpose flour

Mean while combine brown sugar, flour, & butter with wire whisk or whisk on mixer until crumbly (should look like small peas)  After 20 minutes cooking take pie out and top with crumb topping, then return to oven and continue cooking for 20 – 25 minutes.  Cool, cover and store leftovers in fridge.

Make sure you check back for more great pie recipes…and DEFINITELY enter this giveaway!

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

You know how I LOVE themed Family Home Evening lessons and an FHE for Pioneer day (July 24th, the day the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley) is no different!  I think it’s so important to teach our heritage to our children so they know the strength of past and present pioneers.

Click HERE for a link to a great Pioneer Day Family Home Evening lesson and read below for a fun dessert!

This dessert is SO delicious and SO easy when you use your apple slices.  Apple slices make any baked apple dessert a BREEZE to make.  Just think…no peeling, slicing, worrying about your apple slices turning brown!  You simply hydrate the apples in hot water for 5 minutes and follow your recipe. A total life saver when you are short on time…although…aren’t we all? Another great reason to turn your baked apple recipes into food storage recipes every time!

Apple Brown Betty

Filling:

2 C. boiling water
4 C. dried apple slices

Topping:
1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1/4 C. oatmeal
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. butter

Pour boiling water over dried apples.  Let stand at least 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix dry topping ingredients together, then cut in butter.  Place apples and any remaining liquid in a greased 9-inch square baking pan.  Sprinkle topping over apples.  Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

© 2009 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Okay, today and tomorrow I’m going to put up some very DELICIOUS (and amazingly EASY) recipes that you can make for your honey on V-day instead of eating out (expensive!). Personally, I decided a looong time ago that I HATE eating out on V-day so I always make a nice meal at home. If you need ideas for a gift, make sure to check out Food Storage Made Easy or for some great coupons for date ideas go to The Obsessive Shopper

Considering the recipe I made uses applesauce this is a great time to learn how to make applesauce from your dehydrated apple slices (see it’s so easy to make any recipe a food storage recipe!) It is easy, delicious and no one will know! You can use this in baking to substitute for oil or as a snack.

Applesauce-Food Storage Style!

To reconstitute apple slices use equal parts of dried apples to boiling water. For example:
2 cups dried apples 2 cups boiling water
Let: this set at least 5 minutes.

If you put this mixture through the blender you will have applesauce. For variety add 3 tbsp. Cinnamon Heart Candy to the mixture before you let it set or try some Cinnamon (about 2-3 t.) and Sugar (about 3-4 T.) mixture in it.

With the only thing consistant about gas and food prices is the fact that they are consistantly going up, my husband and I have been doing a lot more dates at home. It is so easy to swap baby-sitting with a neighbor (or if you kids are old enough, eat up stairs while they play downstiars) and spend some one on one time together with little effort and for CHEAP! (and of course some food storage mixed in This meal was SO delicious, easy and cost me about $4.00 to make. That wouldn’t even feed my husband and me at a fast food restaurant!

Grilled Pork Chops with Apple-Cranberry Sauce

Again, a great time to practice cooking with an alternate heat source! The topping is simply 2 C. applesauce (I made mine from the dehydrated apple slices) and 1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce (NOT jellied). The topping looks so gourmet with the chunks of cranberry and apple and takes NO time to make!

Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Potato pearls are great but I have heard of people not liking them. I want to suggest to you to add in some sour cream or cream cheese and butter to them. You add those ingredients into normal mashed potatoes so why not the pearls/flakes? If you really want to fake out the family, make sure and beat them just like you would “real” mashed potatoes.

3 cloves Roasted Garlic, chopped (I roast mine on the grill while I’m grilling the meat. You will need to turn them frequently so they don’t get burned. It will cook in about 3-4 minutes)
1 T. fresh rosemary spriggs or 1 t. dried rosemary
1/2-3/4 C. Sour Cream
2 T. Butter

Add the above ingredients to your 1 batch of potato pearls (directions are on the can). Beating your potato pearls or flakes gives it a great consistency and adds in a little air for that whipped creamy texture. It’s a great way to disguise using potato pearls instead of regular potatoes.

**Oh and before I forget, the girls over at Food Storage Made Easy told me that the Wondermill Wheat Grinder will be going up in price on the 15th. If you’ve had your eye on one make sure you send you significant other to THIS LINK to purchase it before prices go up!!

© 2009 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

I was very happy to discover just how easy it is to use dehydrated apples in apple pies. In fact, not only are they easy…they are DELICIOUS! I can honestly say I will NEVER go back to peeling, coring, and slicing apples EVER AGAIN for a delicious apple pie. Making an apple pie from dehydrated apples saves time (takes only 5 minutes to get the apples ready and most of that time is just the apples sitting in boiling water), makes a smaller mess, and is just as delicious. HOORAY!! Once again food storage makes life easier (and just as delicious)!  So give it a try at your Thanksgiving Feast…no one will know you did anything different.

DUTCH APPLE PIE

One pre-made pie crust (you can make your own or I like those pilsbury ones that aren’t in a pie crust)

Filling:

2 cups dried apples firmly packed 2 cups boiling water.

Pour over apples and let set for at least 5 minutes.

Mix together:

1/3 cup sugar 2 tbsp. Flour

½ tsp. Cinnamon

Add to the apple mix and continue cooking until thick. Stir constantly to prevent scorching. Pour mixture into pie shell and dot with 1 tbsp. Butter

Topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup butter

Cut in till crumbly. Sprinkle over the apple mixture and place in 350ºF oven for 55 minutes.

For more tips and tricks for using food storage in your everyday recipes, please visit www.everydayfoodstorage.NET

© 2008 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

© 2008 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

I’m so excited for a week dedicated to Zucchini! It is seriously one of my favorite vegetables and I love it when my plants get producing! Here is the best zucchini bread on the planet! It’s a perfect bread to hide whole wheat in because it uses brown sugar (which makes it moist and dark) and it has spices in it like cinnamon. As always, you can’t taste the wheat and it so moist, it literally melts in your mouth. You’ve GOT to try this!

**Tip before you begin** If you have a very large zucchini (anything bigger than 6 inches) make sure you scrape out the seeds before you grate it. The larger the zucchini gets, the harder the seeds are.

Brown Sugar Zucchini Bread

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil or 1/4 C. applesauce (click HERE to watch the video on how to make applesauce out of your dehydrated apples, this is what I needed the applesauce for.
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg (1 T. dehydrated egg + 2 T. water)
1 1/2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (you don’t have to have this, but it does add a very nice flavor. Remember the zest is only the yellow part. If you grate the white skin underneath the color, it will be very bitter)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Grease an 8 by 4 by 2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, oil/applesauce, and sugar. Cream the mixture until smooth. In a separate bowl combine flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Add the egg to the creamed mixture and mix until incorporated. Add the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time until all is incorporated, and the batter is smooth.

Fold zucchini, and lemon zest into batter.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle nuts on top (this toasts the nuts and creates a fabulous flavor and makes the bread look SO gourmet!). Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown or when skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the bread, warm, with butter.

For more tips and tricks for using food storage in your everyday recipes, please visit www.everydayfoodstorage.NET

© 2008 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

With the only thing consistent about gas and food prices is the fact that they are consistently going up, my husband and I have been doing more dates at home. It is so easy to swap baby-sitting with a neighbor (or if your kids are old enough, eat up stairs while they play downstairs) and spend some one on one time together with little effort and for CHEAP! (and of course some food storage mixed in This meal was SO delicious, easy and cost me about $4.00 to make. That wouldn’t even feed my husband and me at a fast food restaurant!  Oh, how I love my food storage!

Grilled Pork Chops with Apple-Cranberry Sauce

Again, a great time to practice cooking with an alternate heat source! The topping is simply 2 C. applesauce (I made mine from the dehydrated apple slices from my food storage) and 1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce (NOT jellied). The topping looks so gourmet with the chunks of cranberry and apple and takes NO time to make!

Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Potato pearls are great but I have heard of people not liking them. I want to suggest to you to add in some sour cream or cream cheese and butter to them. You add those ingredients into normal mashed potatoes so why not the pearls/flakes from your food storage? If you really want to fake out the family, make sure and beat them just like you would “real” mashed potatoes.

3 cloves Roasted Garlic, chopped (I roast mine on the grill while I’m grilling the meat. You will need to turn them frequently so they don’t get burned. It will cook in about 3-4 minutes)
1 T. fresh rosemary sprigs or 1 t. dried rosemary
1/2-3/4 C. Sour Cream
2 T. Butter

Add the above ingredients to your 1 batch of potato pearls from your food storage (directions are on the can). Beating your potato pearls or flakes gives it a great consistency and adds in a little air for that whipped creamy texture. It’s a great way to disguise using food storage potato pearls instead of regular potatoes.

© 2008 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.