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

So we’ve talked about a lot of cakes thus far and I’ve shared a lot of tips for food storage like how to use beans for butter and oil and adding whole wheat.  Who can forget the super easy Molten Lava Cake, Banana Dream Cake, or the irresistible Tropical Orange Cake.  So far all of these cakes have been great after dinner treats but in my husband’s family, they have a saying “Life is short eat dessert first.”  So how do you feel good about eating cake during the first meal of the day?  Yeah, you you call it a MUFFIN!

So today I’m sharing the BEST muffin recipe ever.  They actually rise and rise really well.  Like what you would buy from a store!  You can tell from the picture that they are moist and have great texture.  I also picked up a new trick for using freeze dried fruit!

BEST FOOD STORAGE MUFFIN RECIPE….EVER!

Best-Ever Food Storage Blueberry Muffins Recipes

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Recipe type: Breakfast

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 12

Start eating dessert first with this wonderful food storage breakfast that combines the best of both worlds-cake and nutrition!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or white bean puree)
• 1 egg (1 T. dry egg powder + 2 T. water)
• 1/3 cup milk (1 T. dry non-instant milk powder or 2 T. dry instant milk powder + 1/3 C. water)
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (1 1/4 C. freeze dried blueberries)
• TOPPING (optional)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil or bean puree into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. If you are using beans and powders for both milk and water, simply measure your bean puree and fill the rest of the cup with water. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

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2.2.1

CRYSTAL’S TIP FOR FREEZE DRIED FRUIT

Guess what….if you’re going to put freeze dried fruit in something like this-don’t bother trying to hydrate them. They get way too fragile and will stain everything you do purple-in the case of blueberries. Go ahead and just throw them in as they are and they will hydrate in the product and be much easier to stir.

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.

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

And since Valentine’s Day is TOMORROW-I’m going to show you a yummy one bowl Strawberry Cupcake recipe that will be pink WITH OUT artificial colors and delicious. I’ll even show you a very easy yet adorable decorating tip (think super crafty mom meets the practical mom that can’t spend all day on Valentine’s cupcakes) for your cupcakes. Of course, we’ll be using food storage and a lot of it! Whole wheat, powdered milk, powdered eggs, beans, and freeze dried strawberries. That is pretty much something from EVERY category….now that is LOVE!  And of course because I love you, there is another video this week for you to watch that will show you exactly how easy it is to do, decorate, and wrap!

Food Storage Valentine Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe

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Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 24

These cupcakes contain no artificial flavors or colors-it is the REAL deal and will use food storage from every main food storage category!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (1 3/4 C. allpurpose and 1/4 whole wheat flour)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (YES, tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1/2 C. bean puree)
• 1 cup milk (3 T. dry instant milk powder or scant 1/3 C. instant milk powder + 1 C. water)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs (1/4 C. dry egg powder + 1/2 C. water)
• 1 3/4 C. freeze dried strawberries, pulsed in blender

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl sift flour and sugar, baking powder and salt and other powders if you are using powdered eggs and milk and hydrate the strawberries in water necessary to hydrate your milk and egg powders.
3. Add butter or bean puree, milk and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
4. Add eggs and strawberries, beat for 2 more minutes.
5. Pour batter into prepared cupcake pans, filling 2/3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (If using beans, these almost work better without liners-just spray the cupcake pans with non-stick spray and fill)
6. Cool. Frost with cream cheese or whip cream frosting. If using whip cream frosting the cake must be refrigerated.

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2.2.1

BEANS?

If you’re confused why I’m saying to use beans in place of butter get my instructions for successfully using beans for butter and/or oil.

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.

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

My all time favorite breakfast is crepes and hardly ever are the stars aligned where I have cream cheese and fresh strawberries for the ultimate filling….especially in the winter (sorry, I’m not usually in the mood to spend $2+ a pound for strawberries).  So, I came up with this filling.  It’s a close second in my book and actually, my husband liked it better than the fresh strawberries.  It has a nice “fresh” taste with a lot of combined fruit flavors and is really easy to whip up.  And of course, I topped it with some Raspberry Syrup-I wasn’t kidding when I said it was my new favorite!

Sunshine Crepe Filling

4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 T. orange marmalade (don’t worry, it doesn’t taste “marmalad-ey” it just helps to give the orange flavor)
1 T. sugar
1 medium banana
1 1/2 – 2 c. freeze dried strawberries (hydrate only half and add the other as dry)

Blend ingredients in blender.



I also know, that some people are very scared of making crepes because they seem hard, or maybe at least fragile to make. So I did a quickie (and I mean quickie) video of how to do it, check it out below!

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

While experimenting with freeze dried berries, I HAD to try it in a pie. I’ve always been confused why pies are so big in the Summer when it’s ridiculous to bake a pie in 100 degree weather. I mean I understand that is when the fruit is in season…but wouldn’t it be so much better to make the berry pie in the winter/spring when you’re itching for something to remind you that Summer WILL come? Yeah, that is what I thought. So if you’re itching for confirmation that Summer is coming, you’ve got to try this sweet and tart, ultra-easy berry pie-with some ice cream on top, of course!

Taste of Summer Apple Berry Pie

Crust
1 prepared pie crust

Filling
2 1/2 C. dehydrated apple slices, hydrated
1 C. freeze dried blueberries, hydrated
1 C. freeze dried raspberries, hydrated
1 T. lemon juice
1/3 C. granulated sugar
3 T. cornstarch

Topping
1 C. oats
1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 C. butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans, if desired
Vanilla ice cream, if desired (but let’s be honest, we all know you desire it!)

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Place crust in 9-inch glass pie plate; flute edges (that means you crimp the edges around the top of the pan). Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until crust is set. Cover edge of crust with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake 6 to 7 minutes longer or until crust is golden. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 15 minutes.
2. In large bowl, gently toss filling ingredients, making sure to drain any excess water from hydrating berries. Spoon filling into pastry-lined pie plate.
3. In large bowl, beat topping ingredients with electric mixer on medium-low speed until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling.
4. Line cookie sheet with foil. Place pie plate on foil-lined cookie sheet (this is essential because sometimes the filling can bubble over and if it does it will burn on the bottom of your oven….which is no bueno). Cover pie with foil; bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°F; bake 45 to 50 minutes longer or until bubbly. Remove foil from pie; bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, 2 to 3 hours. (I actually didn’t have mine cool all the way because I like my pie warm with ice cream.)

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

And possibly, my favorite of all. Only because I LOVE fresh strawberries on vanilla ice cream and this is as close as I can get in the winter!

Strawberry Syrup
1 1/2 c. freeze dried strawberries
2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. lemon juice

Mix ingredients together in blender until smooth. Serve over pancakes, cheesecake, ice cream, angel food cake etc.

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

So why just stop at raspberry syrup? Freeze dried berries also come in blueberries (full of anti-oxidants) and strawberries (check out the recipe for strawberry syrup on Wednesday’s post!)! Not to mention that real blueberry or strawberry syrup (not that Hershey’s strawberry FLAVORED syrup) is extremely expensive and in some areas hard to find. Now you can make it from your food storage for cheaper and have it taste FRESH. (Have I mentioned that I love the freeze dried berries because they taste FRESH?!

Blueberry Syrup
1 1/2 c. freeze dried blueberries
2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. lemon juice

Mix ingredients together in blender until smooth. Serve over pancakes, cheesecake, ice cream, angel food cake etc.

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

I have to say that this is my NEW favorite topping on almost everything and that I’m drooling just writing this post!  It is so easy to make (just blend it all in the blender…and you know how I LOVE my blender), is entirely delicious and tastes FRESH.  In the bleak of the winter it’s nice to have a slight taste of heaven.  Especially, if you’re like me and your all time favorite dessert is vanilla ice cream with fruit (or fruit sauce, as the case may be) you will love having this around!  But remember, it tastes good on so many other items: cheesecake, french toast, trifle, and the list goes on and on!   

Raspberry Syrup
(makes about 2 cups)

1 1/2 C. freeze dried raspberries
2 C. water
1/2 C. sugar
1 T. lemon juice

Blend ingredients in blender.  If you want it warm, make sure to transfer it to a microwave safe container and heat until warmed through.

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

We’re moving up in the world! My good friend sent me this recipe, it was like it was meant to be! Not only have I tried a MILLION (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) muffin recipes trying to find one that is light and fluffy but I was also in the middle of all my freeze dried berry experiments. With a couple of modifications this recipe became PERFECT for food storage….AND delicious (as in the BEST homemade muffins I’ve ever made/eaten). I even brought these to a luncheon and they were devoured-whole wheat, oats, beans, freeze dried berries and all!  p.s. I’m pushing you guys and only listing the beans for the recipe, if you haven’t tried it by now-you’re entirely missing out! If you’re still nervous, you can watch a video of how I cook my beans and store them in smaller amounts for baking by clicking HERE.  And remember, using beans in place of oil and butter doesn’t change the taste and it actually IMPROVES the texture, making it very moist, light, and fluffy!

Low-Fat Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs (1/4 c. dry egg powder + 1/2 c. water)
2 cups sour cream
1/2 c. + 2 T. bean puree
2 cups light brown sugar
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups blueberries (1-1/2 c. freeze dried blueberries, hydrated and drained)
2 tbsp. sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners. (This recipe won’t work without them.) In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sour cream until thoroughly combined. Add bean puree and brown sugar. Stir in the oats. Fold in the flour mixture and then, very gently, fold in the berries. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Drop a generous pinch of sugar onto the top of each muffin.

Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, or until the edges are medium brown and the tops are firm. Cool for 5 minutes; then remove muffins (in their papers) and finish cooling them on a rack. Makes 2 dozen muffins.

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Alright, so if you didn’t have the time to try the blueberry pancakes, you’ll definitely have time to try this one! Freeze dried berries are a perfect compliment to almost any cereal. My personal favorite is the corn flakes with freeze dried raspberries. It reminds of my summer trips to visit my brother in Portland where we would just go out to his backyard and pick raspberries and add them to our cornflakes. The best thing is that you don’t need to rehydrate them first because your milk will do it for you and the flavor is so fresh! If this sounds like a weird concept, just walk down the cereal aisle because this idea isn’t new. But you’ll notice that those cereals with the freeze dried fruit (which usually tastes bland) costs a whole LOT more! These berries are full of flavor and taste great!

Here are some of my family’s favorite combinations:
Cream of Wheat with freeze dried Blueberries (we call this purple cereal, since my 2 year old is obsessed with colors)
Cheerios with freeze dried Strawberries and fresh banana slices
Frosted Mini Wheats with any of the freeze dried berries
Special K with Blueberries (they actually have a version of this with little (and I mean little) blueberries specs on the flakes…this is soooo much better!)

© 2010 – 2011, Crystal. All rights reserved.