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.

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

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.

Multi-Level Dehydrating & Baking Rack for Sun Oven

A simple, effective way to use a GLOBAL SUN OVEN to dry and dehydrate with the power of the sun. Easily stackable wire racks allow up to 3 layers of drying or dehydrating. Can be used for baking 3 layers of cookies, tarts, breadsticks, cinnamon rolls, flat bread, pizzas, or fish. (Alright, this is awesome just for baking cookies and cinnamon rolls, let alone dehydrating too!)

Comes with a set of 3 stackable racks and one roll of unbleached, silicone coated parchment baking paper.

Want to learn more about Sun Ovens-what they are, how to use them, or to take the mini Sun Oven class, click HERE for all of my Sun Oven information!

Hurry and take advantage of this amazing Sun Oven deal!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Another commonly asked food storage question is how long will short term food storage cans last.  In fact, my best friend called me just last week to know if some discounted fruit snacks that were close to reaching their best by date were safe to buy and eat.  So, what do I mean by short term food storage cans?  Well, I’m talking canned items you would purchase at a grocery store like canned corn, canned green beans, etc.  If you’ve noticed these items have a “best by” date printed on the can.  Is the food still good to eat after the best by date?  It is important to understand what the USDA is talking about when they put these definitions on cans so we know how long we can safely keep it in our food storage!

USDA FOOD DEFINITIONS FOR FOOD STORAGE:

• A “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before the date expires.
• A “Best if Used By (or Before)” date is recommended for best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• A “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been determined by the manufacturer of the product.
• “Closed or coded dates” are packing numbers for use by the manufacturer.

WHAT ABOUT MANAGER SPECIAL ITEMS IN FOOD STORAGE?

Now, what if you saw some meat in the “Manager Special” section of the meat department reaching it’s “Sell by” date that is a great deal that you’d like to either add to your freezer for some food storage or to can.  Is that safe to buy and use in food storage or will it “expire” on the date indicated on the packaging?  Well, lucky for you and me the USDA requires the sell by date to be a few days before the product is likely to become rancid and unsafe for consumption.  The USDA has already figured that most of us buy meat to use within the next couple of days (assuming proper storage).  To check out USDA’s chart of how long product will last in your fridge with proper storage, click HERE.

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Have you ever been stumped by how to turn one of your own recipes into a food storage recipe?  Well, you’re not alone!  During this q&a month, I’ve had a lot of people ask me about specific recipes they have and how they would convert them for food storage.  Because of this, I’m happy to announce that I’m going to make helping you with YOUR recipes a regular part of my blog!

Here is how it will work…

You email me at everydayfoodstorage (at) gmail (dot) com a recipe that you have that you have always wished I would look at and turn it into a food storage recipe.  Each week I will pick one recipe to experiment with, perfect, and blog about! Don’t worry, I’ll still be sharing a lot of MY OWN recipes, posting videos, etc.  I just want to show you that ANY of YOUR recipes can use food storage (not just my own magic recipes) and successful tips for how you can turn even more recipes into food storage recipes.

Since next month I’ll be focusing on cakes, I’d especially love it if you sent me a cake or muffin recipe to convert.

Stay tuned for more exciting changes!  WAHOO!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

I get asked quite frequently “which is the best dehydrator?” And why not? There are so many wonderful things you can do with a dehydrator and they are so easy to use and there are so many to choose from.   Plus, when paired with a good Food Saver you can store your dehydrated products for a very long time making your own food storage! So how do you know which dehydrator you should buy?

Well in a perfect world these are the things you want to look for in a dehydrator…

1. The dryer not on the top or bottom.  You see a dehydrator works by blowing warm dry air on the food allowing the water to evaporate from the product.  However, if you have the blower or dryer on the top or the bottom it won’t dry your food evenly.
2. A dial that allows you to control the heat.
3. A built-in on off switch

Um…so those are really the only things you want to look for in a dehydrator perfect world…where price is not an issue.  Fortunately, there is a dehydrator that has this…unfortunately it is only in one brand-The Excalibur.  Sounds fancy just in the name, doesn’t it?  There is a fabulous lady in my neighborhood that I work with who actually has a top dryer dehydrator (like a Nesco) and a back/side dryer (Excalibur) and put them to the test to see which worked best.  Well it isn’t surprising that the Excalibur dehydrator dried the food in a faster amount of time and created a better product that was evenly dried.

Now, if you have a Nesco (like me) don’t fear!  Nesco’s dehydrator (a top drying dehydrator) works-good enough.  Especially, if you’re not an avid dehydrating family.  However, I will admit that I am saving my pennies for an Excalibur.  Why?  Because my eyes have been opened to all the things you can do with a dehydrator…and honestly, it’s amazing. (READ: more great posts and videos on this to come!)

So in the meantime- if you’re looking for a great deal on an Excalibur you can

1. buy it off Amazon-let’s be honest Amazon is always cheap plus you don’t pay sales tax or shipping.
2. if you’re in Utah-I have seen them at Costcos in the Summer
3. you can always check garage sales, family members, and ksl classifieds (if you’re in Utah)

Other options for dehydrators are…

1. if you have a convection oven (not a conventional oven) you can use that as a dehydrator.
2. you can also dehydrate foods in your Sun Oven!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

This is actually an interesting question about store bought 72 hour kits-one I’ve pondered myself.  They are EVERYWHERE-Costco, Wal-Mart, and pretty much any big food storage company sells one.  It seems like such an easy way out of making your own-who wouldn’t want to just buy one and have it all done?  Well considering all the questions I got, I bought one (from a company that shall remain nameless), consulted my expert on emergency preparedness friend (Debbie Kent from www.peaceofpreparedness.com) and now have an educated opinion….so buckle up…you know me, I’ll give it to you straight and this may be a bumpy ride!

This is what I’ve learned about store bought 72 hour kits…

1. They are EXTREMELY pricey-you could definitely make your own for less money.
2. I got a “deluxe” model to try out, thinking well if it has that much stuff and costs so much it must be great….and you know…have all the items fit in the backpack and not weigh a million pounds (I exaggerate, of course) because of course they put this together for people like you and me so we wouldn’t have the headache of putting together our own.  NOT TRUE!  The items DID NOT all fit nor was the backpack anywhere as light as it should be for a regular person to carry it.
3. I also loved that it came with a red backpack-what else screams emergency better than a RED backpack?  Unfortunately, the backpack was so cheap the zippers barely work.  So, I’m also hoping that if I have to hike in this thing it will actually stay together weighing as much as it does.
4. I also noticed that a majority of the items in the kit could easily be found at your dollar store for a fraction of what I paid through the “deluxe” home 72 hour kit from a store.  (Debbie Kent agrees with me on this fact-which is one of the major reasons she says to make your own!) In fact, I’d say you could find BETTER items at your dollar store, I know I just found liquid skin at my dollar store and stocked up for all of our 72 hour kits and first-aid kits.
5. It comes with stuff you don’t need.  Somebody explain to me why I need a wing stove and a mess kit if I’m going to be eating 3,000 calorie bars (also included in the kit).  When I asked Debbie Kent about it-she said that is the number one mistake in those store bought kits-the wing stoves.  Because you don’t need it if you’ve got the 3,000 calorie bars, you’re just taking up needed space and weight with it.
6. Buying one of these pre-made kits doesn’t mean you’re in the free and clear!  You still need to add personal to you items (clothes, feminine hygiene products, baby items, etc.) plus you have to put it all in the backpack anyway.

BLAST!  I wish there was an easy way out of the 72 hour kits…but at least you didn’t just spend hundreds of dollars to test it out like I just did!  If you want to know what SHOULD be in your 72 hour kit so that you can make ones for your family download Debbie’s 72 Hour Check List.  Also, make sure and look through Debbie’s other great information HERE.

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

IT’S HONEYVILLE GRAIN’S BIGGEST FOOD STORAGE SALE EVER! SAVE 20% ON YOUR ENTIRE ORDER* from Thursday 1/12/2012 through Tuesday 1/17/2012. Stock up and save on all of your favorites, and try some of our great new items. Simply enter coupon code 2012 during checkout. ORDER NOW! SALE ENDS ON TUESDAY the 17th of January.

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/

It’s time to do a little housekeeping in the massive Honeyville warehouses. That means our biggest sale ever and a great opportunity to stock up. From Thursday 1/12/2012 through Tuesday 1/17/2012 you can save 20% off your entire order*. To receive your instant discount, enter the coupon code “2012″ in the coupon code field on the second page of the checkout process. Be sure to click on the Apply button to activate the discount. Act now as this discount is only good from Thursday, January 12, 2012 through Tuesday, January 17, 2012.

This month they are featuring brand new Gourmet Soups in the #10 cans. They have Broccoli Cheese and Creamy Potato Cheese and they’re simply out of this world. They’ve got a shelf life of 3 to 5 years in the sealed #10 can, but these guys never last in my home storage. We always find an excuse to work them into our meals. Good stuff. We also have a new Freeze Dried Meat and Poultry Supply from Wise Foods. These are great kits. Each one has a variety of 60 servings of Freeze Dried Meats that are conveniently packed into 4 serving Mylar pouches. A great buy on some premium protein. Take a look at all of their new additions.

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/newproducts.aspx

Another item that I love to purchase from Honeyville is their GLUTEN! Check it out by clicking HERE.

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

This is a great question, How do I cook from scratch (and therefore food storage) as a working and/or single mom?  Well first, let me say-yeah for you for trying to cook from scratch with such little time and such a harried schedule.  But let me also say it is entirely worth it!  Why? Well outside of the obvious reasons that it’s cheaper and healthier, you’re also more likely to have family dinners together which studies show can help a girl’s image of herself, reduce the risk of drug and alcohol abuse among children, and help your kids get better grades.  It can also provide a great training ground for your kids to learn how to cook, help, and work together.  So why is this worth fighting for?  Because, in a nutshell, it provides a great way to multi-task many different things together-just in cooking…and cooking together!  That is one of the biggest reasons I love cooking!

So now that you’re sold on the idea of cooking from scratch I also know it can be harder to do with little time, so let me give you my best tips for getting it done.

1. Get the entire family involved!  Get the kids chopping, slicing, stirring, and HELPING.  You don’t have to do everything yourself and in fact you shouldn’t=the lessons a child learns while cooking are priceless!
2. Make a menu!  Cooking from scratch requires good PLANNING! (If you want my help menu planning-you can check out my MENU PLANNERS)  If you’re planning ahead you can get chicken in your fridge thawing the day before you need it, do some chopping the night before, etc.
3. Going along with a menu-you can get your chopping done for all the meals you’ll need on a Saturday (or which ever day you have a block of time) AND have your kids help!
4. Learn to love freezer meals!  My friend Jenny Stanger (she did the video on making your own freezer pizzas with me) has a wonderful book all about making your own freezer meals and a freezer meal blog.  The wonderful thing about freezer meals is that it involves more than just dinner-you can make your own freezer cinnamon rolls (yes, you could be one of those “perfect moms” who serves cinnamon rolls in the morning!), freezer rhodes rolls, you can even freeze RICE to make your meal making even faster!
5. Make the slow cooker your best friend!  One of my favorite slow cooker cookbooks is by Stephanie Ashcroft and is titled 101 Things to do With your Slow Cooker.  She even has tips in the beginning for how to convert any and all of your recipes to use a slow cooker.  Nothing beats coming home and having dinner done.
6. Make mixes to save time!  My favorite cookbook for mixes are Make a Mix or even Dinner is in the Jar.

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.

Have you ever pondered this question yourself?  Well you’re not alone!  I get asked this all the time and I’m about to let you in on one of the biggest food storage secrets out there…..are you ready….

Most food storage companies are re-sellers (meaning there are a few companies that actually produce the food and they resell it to other companies who repackage it and put their own label on the cans) So…in the end you should purchase what ever is CHEAPEST.  Make sure to compare weight and price as each company fills the cans to different weights.

How do I know this?  Well I’ve consulted for different food storage companies and talked to enough other people “in the know” to know that this is true.  Case and point-Powdered Eggs.  There is actually only one company approved by the USDA to powder eggs and can them.  So do the other companies get the powdered eggs?  They purchase from the manufacturer and relabel.  Now you may be asking, “why do different companies say different amounts of dry egg powder equal an egg then?”  Well, if you tell people to use 3 T. dry egg powder opposed to 1 T. you’ll go through your can a lot faster and have to buy more.  It’s a cheap marketing trick-that’s why you have to be educated when you’re purchasing your food storage!

© 2012, Crystal. All rights reserved.