Food Storage Desserts-Recipes!

Here are the recipes for the dessert class. Also, I wanted to mention some items before you read on. With food storage I'm always concerned about being able to make anything I want with items solely from my food storage. As such, I'm always looking for ways to incorporate everyday items, long term. Before the recipes, here are some less common items found in food storage and where to find them.

Butter-You can find canned butter HERE or if you're fancy you can find out how to bottle your own HERE.

Chocolate chips and nuts can be vacuum sealed and left on your shelf for eons with THIS method.

Unflavored gelatin is shelf stable and is an inexpensive substitute for eggs. You can find it in bulk HERE.

Also-A little plug for wheat grinders. I've got a little hand crank one and it doesn't do a very good job, but I keep it for back up. However, should you get your hands on an electric wheat grinder, it will literally rock your world and you will NEVER, let me say that once more-NEVER want to use white flour again.

Here are the instructions for each component of the APPLE ENCHILADAS. It's a little long-winded and time consuming, but I feel it's a good exercise in learning how to make everything from scratch from your food storage.

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

1 cup reconstituted apples approximately (can use more or less, according to taste) (these are the dried apples that you can buy in the #10 at the cannery-they're great for snacking too!)

1/3-1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

3/4 c. water

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix sugar, cornstarch, water and nutmeg in a microwave-safe 2 quart casserole. Microwave (high), covered with lid, 5-6 minutes or until thick

Powdered Sugar

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Combine the two and process in blender until powder forms.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 c. instant non-fat powdered milk
1/2 c. boiling water
2/3 c. sugar
3 tbsp. Butter

Place all ingredients in blender container. Process at high speed until smooth. Use in any recipe calling for the commercially sold sweetened condensed calories.

Homemade Tortillas

2 cups flour (I use 1 cup white & 1 cup wheat)*If you don't have finely milled wheat, I would recommend straight flour, otherwise the tortillas are too heavy and dry out too easily.

1 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons shortening (I used Crisco butter flavored) (use one extra tablespoon for wheat tortillas)

½ – 1 ½ cups water

Mix well, rest dough 10 minutes. Knead 5 minutes. Rest dough 10 minutes. Make into 8 balls, let rest 10 minutes. Roll balls until the tortillas are paper thin. Cook on a hight skillet without any oil (at about 425 degrees or lower). Turn tortillas until lightly browned and freckled. Store in plastic bag.

Apple Enchiladas

Apple pie filling from recipe above or 21-ounce can apple fruit filling (can substitute other dehydrated fruit)

6 (8-inch) flour (or wheat) tortillas

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

sweetened condensed milk& powdered milk for drizzle

Spoon fruit filling & about 2 tablespoons condensed milk evenly down center of each tortilla; sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Roll up, and place, seam side down, in a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish. Bring butter and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Pour over enchiladas; let stand 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Drizzle with more condensed milk and powdered sugar.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies-Nestle Tollhouse recipe

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs (see recipe below for gelatin substitute)

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition (you wont need to beat the eggs if using gelatin, just add and combine). Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Using Gelatin:

The gelatin is less expensive than powdered eggs (3 cents each), has an indefinite shelf life and works well in most recipes. 1 tsp gelatin = 1 egg. Combine 1 teaspoon of gelatin with 3 tablespoons of cold water and stir until dissolved. Then add 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of hot water and stir. When using your recipes, decrease the liquid called for in your recipe by about ¼ cup to compensate for the added water from the “egg”. (I purchase plain gelatin from BulkFoods.com)

Homemade Marshmallows Recipe- Martha Stewart

2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let it stand 30 minutes. Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan; place over low heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals. Clip on a candy thermometer; raise heat to high. Cook syrup without stirring until it reaches 244°F (firm-ball stage). Immediately remove pan from heat. With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to incorporate.Generously dust an 8x12" glass baking pan with confectioners' sugar. Pour marshmallow mixture into pan. Dust with confectioners' sugar; let stand overnight, uncovered, to dry out. Recipe makes approximately 40 marshmallows.

No Egg Zucchini Brownies-Courtesy of Verna Rogers

2 Cups wheat flour

¼ cup cocoa

1 ½ cup sugar

¾ teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated zucchini

½ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ cup nuts if desired

Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, soda and salt. Blend zucchini, oil and vanilla in a blender. Mix wet with dry ingredients. Pour into greased and floured 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Top with chocolate icing when cool.

Pinto Bean Fudge

1 cup cooked, soft pinto beans, drained and mashed or the reconstituted equivalent of re-hydrated refried beans (I used uncooked beans, threw them in the crockpot and then when they were soft, I processed them in a blender)

¼ cup milk

1 tbsp vanilla

2 pounds powdered sugar

6 oz unsweetened chocolate (you can vacuum seal the chocolate in a jar)

6 tbsp butter or margarine

nuts, chopped optional

In large bowl, stir beans and milk together, adding enough milk to resemble mashed potatoes in consistency (when I did the beans from scratch, I ended up not even using the milk because they were the perfect consistency after blending, so be cautious when adding your milk); stir in vanilla. Melt chocolate and butter and stir into bean mixture. Add nuts, if desired. Gradually stir in powdered sugar to get it well blended. Spread onto lightly buttered 9-inch baking dish or form into two 1 /2 rolls. Chill 1 to 2 hours. Cut into pieces. Refrigerate.(I added about 1 cup of chunky peanut butter to this recipe)

New Class Tonight!!! Food Storage Desserts!

Come join me for a FREE Food Storage Class tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Macey's Little Theatre in Provo. I've whipped up some fabulous treats and desserts for tonight's class. Here are just a few items that we'll be sampling:

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Fudge (made with pinto beans believe it or not!)
Apple Enchiladas
Homemade Marshmallows (made from scratch from items in your food storage pantry)
And lots more!

There will also be a contest for BEST FOOD STORAGE DESSERT! The winner will get a gift card from Macey's!

Please email me at siufanua@juno.com with any questions!

Taste testing MRE's & a GIVEAWAY!

A little while back we had an emergency FHE. I told the fam that they had 3 minutes to grab everything they would need for a long trip because we had to leave our house immediately. I set the timer and we all went to work. After the buzzer went off, we rushed into the car and took off to our designated family meeting place. It was interesting to see what the kids brought (a bucket, a stuffed animal, a pair of shorts and underwear). It was more interesting to see what we had in our 72 hour kits to survive on. What an eye opener! While I had done a really great job on packing clothes, food, blankets, tents, etc. I had failed to pack many other things that would help our family in an emergency. For instance, we had no water (I managed to find only 1 bottle in the diaper bag) and I forgot to pack any formula for the baby. We were also missing a shovel, matches, a water purifier and the list goes on. We were able to cook a decent meal from what I packed and we had a fun time testing the MRE's. It was so helpful to us to see how our 72 kits would work and better yet what wouldn't work. We made a list then and there of things that we would need and added them to our kits.

I added this information for two reasons. First as a reminder to try out your kits and secondly to do a little plug for MRE's. Now MRE's aren't glamorous and all, but they're very lightweight, last a looooooong time and most of them are really good (some of the meals already come with heating elements-how great is that?). I also like them because they're ready to eat. If you're in an emergency, the last thing you want to do is think about what to make. You need something fast and nutritious. Now, I wouldn't go all crazy and only have MRE's in your food storage, but it's a nice add on.

Now for the fun part-test tasting. I purchased 3 MRE desserts from Emergency essentials (I think they were $1 each).

The first was a Chocolate Chunk Brownie-very good, definitely a keeper.
The second was a Filled French Toast- Like a little cake, kind of dry, has a syrup in the middle, pretty good. Nice for a snack.
The third was the Almond Poppy Seed Pound Cake-Really great lemon & poppy seed favor. A little dry and crumbly. But probably a close tie with the Chocolate Chunk for yummy goodness. I wonder if it might be too crumbly for a kit though. Our kits are always squished in the back of the car.

And a little F.Y.I. On my Yardsalemonkey site I'm doing a giveaway. You can enter up until midnight tonight. Click HERE to go directly there.

Get your food storage on! Thursday, January 8th.

I've got another class in the works at Macey's. I'll be teaching you how to start the day and New Year's on the right foot. I've got recipes for granola, power muffins (also known as peanut butter and jelly muffins), blender wheat pancakes and breakfast cookies. The class will be on Thursday, January 8th at 6:30, so mark your calendars.

Goldfish and raisins and candy-OH MY!

One of the many reasons I think lots of people don't get into food storage is it's lack of variety. The food storage basics are wonderful for many reasons, but they're meant to be the backbone of your storage; not the whole enchilada. What if you could have more than just wheat, milk, beans and rice? What if you could add cookies, raisins, chocolate chips, crackers, etc.. and the list goes on and on? And I'm talking about storing these items for as long as your wheat does. And I'm talking about storing these items inexpensively. Wanna know the trick? It's easy.

Did you know that by using a vacuum sealer, you can seal pretty much anything in an air-tight Mason jar and have it last for years and years to come? Basically, you use a vacuum sealer (you need one with an attachment port), sterilize some jars and lids and plop your items into a jar (one note, jar usage is for dry, shelf stable items, never perishable or powdery). Cover your jar with just a lid and pop your jar attachment over the top. Instructions may vary according to which type you have, but you'll need to vacuum seal until you hear the "plink" (or the lid being sucked in; you've pretty much heard the same thing when you've opened a jar before). And voila, you're done! If you want to know the nitty-gritty on the process, then you'll need to visit Wendy DeWitt's blog, scroll down half-way to the bottom and under Food Storage tips you can get the details of what to do. Fabulous, fabulous ideas!

Also, my friend Mrs. 101 listed a deal on her site for a vacuum sealer, it looks like a good one too. You can click HERE for the link. Please email me at siufanua@juno.com if you have any questions.

Dear Food Storage Peeps:

I've added yet another site to the blog-o-sphere, Yardsalemonkey, you can check it out HERE. It's a site filled with ideas for pinching your pennies, local deals, this and that, you got the picture. Email me at siufanua@juno.com with any questions or good deals that come your way and I'll post them. Enjoy.

Chicken and Beans

I know this post is starting to sound a little "Hicksville", but the truth is, I've been bragging about pressure canning for eons. It saves money, it saves time and it is easier than easy (can you even say that?). And it's very, very safe. The whole "blowing your head off thing" is the thing of the past. My suggestion is to purchase a new (or newer canner). My favorite is a weighted canner because you never have to get it tested (Oh, yes, you can get a canner with a pressure gauge, but the prob. is that you have to get it tested all they time because they're, well, "testy"). I have a Mirro and I got it on Ebay for around $60. I could go on and on about how to use one, but your best bet is to read the manual (not rocket science at all) and check out the USU Extension website or email me at siufanua@juno.com. with any questions. I frequently bottle chicken, ground beef, spaghetti sauce and the other day I came across someone who also bottles up beans, so they're ready to go when you need em'. I got this great info. on pressure canning and the loverly picture from one of my favorite sites, One More Moore.

The chicken in the pictures is pre-processed. Each quart jar holds approximately 2 lbs. of raw chicken.

After putting in the bottles, it goes into the pressure canner for 90 minutes of processing.

When it's done, it's fully cooked and ready for soups, stir-fry, salads, casseroles, sandwiches and nibbling. Makes whipping up a meal easy-breezy.

Dried beans from your storage can also be bottled. After soaking overnight, stick 'em in the jars, add dried onions and salt, fill with hot water and process for 45 minutes. Beans. Ready to pour into soups etc. And SO inexpensive.

****UPDATE**** Snapfish books

The deadline for putting your Snapfish books in has been extended to Saturday, November 22nd. I just did mine and it turned out really well. I'm going to give it to Mr Manly (the husband formerly known as Fabulous) for a Christmas present. Don't tell him, okay?

What's the Deal-ee-o?

Okay, so the title is a little corny, but the truth is, Food Storage Diva is a little bit of a cheapskate and finds it hard to pass up a good deal. So, when I see a good deal or a freebie, I'm going to go ahead and post it. Oprah had a segment on "Cleaning Up Your Messy House" and part of the organizing and cleaning is an offer for a *FREE Snapfish book (it does say that you'll need to pay shipping). Take a look at the picture. Isn't that a sweet deal? I'm making one for a Christmas present. You do need to apply for a coupon by midnight tonight and have the book finished online by this Sunday, but it's well worth the time and effort. Aren't these books like $30 or $40 bucks anyways? Here's the linkage to the site. Enjoy!

Awesome food storage class & more taste testing

Okay, so the food storage lady that I worship, Wendy DeWitt, is going to be doing a food storage class here in Salem, Utah! She's that taught me how to put virtually anything in a jar (cookies, raisins, chocolate chips, candy, crackers, coconut, etc, etc, etc) and make it last for years. She also taught me about 52week meal planning, bottling butter, pressure canning and lots more. Here is the info if you want to attend:

November 13th, 2008 7-9 p.m.
Salem Community Center
Call 423-2770 ext. o (to put your name on the list)
$2 at the door
Take the Spanish Fork Exit

I'll take notes and post the info later. I have a link on the side if you want to check out what she already has on the web.

And now for the taste testing (that's the best part right?).......
Here's an alternative to powdered milk: Parmalat. This is shelf-stable milk that has a 6 month shelf life (you likely can use it after that, but you'll lose some nutrients). It's pretty darn good too. When it's nice and chilled, you might not notice any difference from the fresh stuff. Now, don't just take my word for it, you can buy a box (quart size?) for about $1.50 at Wallymart and try it yourself.


And yet another favorite food storage item to report on, Freeze Dried Ice Cream Sandwiches.
Mountain House has oodles of freeze dried foods and I HAD to try this one and it was sooooo good. Even though they were crispy (well, for heaven's sake, they are freeze dried) they are worth having some around. Throw some in your 72 hour kit, or keep a small box around for when you're stuck in a bomb shelter and have nothing better to do. Whatever. But you can try one out at Emergency Essentials in Orem for about $2 each.

Home made tortilla chips and ideas for using your powdered milk.

Before I get to the tortilla chips, I wanted to answer a question about canning milk, and the question came about because of children not liking to drink powdered milk (me too!). So I'll offer some kid-friendly tips for drinkable powdered milk and a link to an interesting article on canning up milk in a pressure canner. First off, here are some suggestions for using the powdered milk.

*Use Nestle's strawberry quick or chocolate syrup to the milk or even a little vanilla. I've never had any complaints after that.

*Make use of your milk in french toast, pudding, shakes and smoothies, etc. My family doesn't seem to notice the taste there either.

*For adults, try using a whey based "powdered milk" like Morning Moos, it has a creamier taste. (I say adults because the whey based milks don't contain all nutrients of regular powdered milk-who knows, check the content and perhaps you can mix the whey product with reg. powdered milk and still get enough of what the itty-bittys need).

*Try a boxed milk. My oldest is lactose intolerant so we store Costco's Vanilla Soy and the kids like that too. The shelf life is 1 year. There is also a real milk called Parmalat and it has the same shelf life as the soy. The Parmalat has peaked my interest, so as soon as I get my hands on one I'll give you the 411.

*I've read that evaporated milk in a can can be diluted and used as regular milk. Not sure on that haven't tried it yet. Maybe if it's really chilled....

*Lastly, I've found an interesting article on canning your own milk in a pressure canner. From what I've read you can use store bought too. I'm going to try some next time I use my canner. I'll give a full report after. Till then, you can read all about it HERE.

Now, for the tortilla chips. I've added the recipe for Cinna Strips, but for plain, simply omit the shaking of all things sugary. I used the recipe for tortillas that I posted HERE. You can use store bought, but the homemade are unbelievable and worth at least a try. The wheat tortillas were great in this recipe too, kids loooooved them.

Fried Cinna Strips (use plain for regular tortilla chips)

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

10 flour tortillas (8")

vegetable oil

In a large resealable plastic bag combine sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg, set aside. Cut tortillas into 3"x2" strips. Heat 1 inch of oil in a skillet or electric fry pan to 375º. Fry 4-5 strips at a time for 30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. While still warm place strips in plastic bag w/ sugar mixture; shake until gently coated. Store in airtight container. Yield: 5 dozen

I can't believe it's not butter! Oh, but it is and it's dang good!

When I think of food storage, I think about a lot of things. First I think about what I have in storage and whether or not I'll like using it when disaster strikes (this is a major motivation factor for me, the reason I'm always trying new recipes, learning new cooking methods etc.). The second thing I think about are things that I have in my food storage that would be a comfort to me and my family. For instance, I've been canning up lots and lots of chocolate chips, M&M's, granola bars, goldfish crackers (all in vacuum sealed jars-more on that later) and butter because I know that at one point in time these will come as a great relief in times of stress. These items will also add just a little something to the everyday routine of wheat, wheat and more wheat. And so I introduce you to another one of my favorites: Butter In A Can. Yes, Butter In A Can, sweet, beloved and yummy butter in a can. I've tested it, tried it in recipes and it is fabulous. BTW, it's spreadable and gorgeous, not powdered, although the powdered kind can be very handy. It can be pricey, but I feel it's always worth it to carry a few cans to round out your storage. You can link HERE to purchase, but as I am affilated with no company if you find it cheaper somewhere else, by all means. I think it's also on sale at Macey's in Provo.

Did you know that you can also can up butter and margarine in jars? Here's a recipe that I've tried and it works well too. Please email me with any questions (I have found that butter works much better than margarine in this recipe):

1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.

3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

4. Stir the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle; pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave ½” of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids “ping” shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 15 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

7. Canned butter should store 3-5 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. It does last a long time. Canner butter does not “melt” again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

Here's the dessert that I made for the food storage class; it was even better with the homemade tortillas! All the ingredients were made from food storage items, including the butter (Did you know that you can bottle butter or buy it in a can? It's soooo good. More on that later). Also I added instructions for how to make powdered sugar out of regular sugar. This is a really great idea to help you expand your food storage more and to help you out in your everyday cooking if you're in a pinch for powdered sugar.

Apple Enchiladas

1 (21-ounce) can apple fruit filling

6 (8-inch) flour (or wheat) tortillas

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

powdered sugar and milk for icing (pass around bag for texture)

Spoon fruit filling evenly down center of each tortilla; sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Roll up, and place, seam side down, in a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish.

Bring butter and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Pour over enchiladas; let stand 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

Homemade powdered Sugar (you can mix this with a little milk and drizzle over the enchiladas if you're like me and could use a little sugar overkill)

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine the two ingredients and process in blender until powder forms.

New class on this Thursday, 18th at 7:00, Maceys in Provo!

Hey food storage fans, I've gotta another class coming up this week on Thursday. You can sign up at Macey's or I believe you can call the store directly to do so. I'm doing an entire Mexican meal from food storage. Enchiladas made with Red Feather cheese and homemade flour and wheat tortillas, Spanish rice in a rice cooker, refried beans from dehydrated flakes, a dessert enchilada and tortilla chips (these are so thin and crispy from scratch and well worth the effort!). I'm posting the recipe for the tortillas here with the tutorial, and I'll post the rest of the recipes after the class. Here goes:

Homemade Flour Tortillas (can be altered for wheat tortillas)

2 cups flour (use 1 cup white flour & 1 cup wheat for wheat tortillas)

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons shortening (I used Crisco butter flavored)(Use one extra tablespoon for wheat tortillas)

1/2-1 ½ cups water

Mix well, rest dough 10 minutes. Knead 5 minutes. Rest dough 10 minutes. Make into 8 balls, let rest 10 minutes. Roll balls until the tortillas are paper thin. Cook on a high skillet without any oil (at about 425 degrees or lower). Turn tortillas until lightly browned and freckled. Store in plastic bag.

First up we've got the flour, baking powder, salt and shortening all mixed up here. The process is similar to making a pastry crust. Work in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture has little clumps the size of peas. Then add your water slowly until the mixture is moist and starts to form a little ball. And you want it moist enough to be pliable, but not as moist as a bread dough would be (Now the recipe calls for 1/2 -1 1/2 cups water so you need add your water a little at a time and stop when it is workable). Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and then knead for 5 minutes. Then the dough needs to rest for another 10 minutes (Whew! This dough sounds like me!). It should look like this when peacefully tucked away in a container to keep from getting dry.

Then here we are after we have divided the dough in to little balls, and as you guessed it, let it rest again for another blessed 10 minutes.
Are we there yet? Why yes. Now we get to roll the dough out. Now, in order to get a nice circular shaped tortilla instead of the square, misshapen tortillas that I first made, you need to remember two very important things...Here goes: 1. You need to work from the center out and turn the dough before each roll (or you can work your rolling pin around the dough in a circle-my preference because it seems like too much work to take your hands off the pin and turn it, then roll it) and 2. You need to keep your surface lightly dusted at all times so the dough will actually keep a circular shape and not keep snapping back everytime you roll it out. This guy is about half-way there.

But, you really want the tortillas to be paper-thin. So keep rolling until you can easily see through it (can you see the grain of the table underneath?). Now your'e ready for fryin'.


You need to pre-heat your pan (and it should be super hot, about 425 degrees). Place the dough on your pan, wait a few seconds and flip. Keep flipping until the dough is nice and freckled. And, drum roll please, here is the finished product:

Enjoy!

Cheese in a can...Are you sure?

Oh yeah, I'm sure, and it is good. It's shredable, meltable and has a really nice, mild flavor. It is a bit on the pricey side ($3.99/can), but for me, it's worth getting a few cans for the long run. I mean, what good is food storage without all the ingredients to make a decent pizza? Seriously, we've had this cheese many times and it works well in recipes and the kids like it too. I may be doing a demo on it in one of my food storage classes. I know they carry this Read Feather cheese at Macey's, but I think you can get a single can from MRE Depot too if you're not a local and you just want to try it out. Check out the Macey's ad on Wednesday as well, I think they're either having a case lot sale or food storage sale; good deals either way.

Email me!

I don't yet have an email link on this site but, you can email me at siufanua@juno.com if you have any questions. Also, I'll be teaching another food storage class on September 18th. I'd like to do more in depth on pressure cooking, maybe some cheese and yogurt from powdered milk, do more on the meal planning and perhaps try the canned cheese (really yum by the way). The content is not set in stone, but I'll post with more info later. Thanks for all who attended the class, I really appreciated your input and ideas, I learned something too!

I'm teaching a class this Thursday at 7:00 in the Macey's little theatre (Provo). If you want to attend, you can go in and sign up or I believe that you can call the service desk and have them add you to the list. The class is all about making fun foods with your food storage (like fudge and tootsie rolls) and also about different ways to add items like nuts, candy, raisins to your inventory by vacuum sealing them in jars. I'm also teaching how to bottle butter. Post if you have any questions.

Awww Honey!

Here are some awesome facts about honey and why you should be using yours:

* In an archaeological dig in 1905, vessels that were uncorked by the archaeologists still contained honey that was almost liquid but still preserved it's scent after thousands of years. That means that honey lasts a long, long time making it a SUPER item for your food storage.

*Honey is antimicrobial. Sweet!

*Honey contains less calories than refined sugar and can be easily substituted for sugar in almost any recipe!

*Even if your sugar has crystallized, you can heat it and it'll be as good as new.

So...If you have lots of honey stashed and you haven't used it, now is the time.

A quick tip for getting the kids to drink powdered milk

I can't remember where I got this tip, but it's mine now-ha! I regularly use my powdered milk in any recipe that calls for milk and none is the wiser. However, drinking it straight can be a little bit tricky for the kids and adults-me included. It has come to my attention that Morning Moo's is very drinkable, and others may have come across some that are very easy on the palate. That being said, what do you do with year's supply you already have in storage? The answer is easy my dears, simply store syrup, chocolate or strawberry and add it to the mix before serving. The transformation is amazing and your kidlets will eagerly gulp it down. I have chocolate syrup in my food storage cache for that reason alone, and I assure you, the shelf life is very long.

Fuuuuuuuuudge!

Here's a food storage recipe for fudge that I tried out last week. It turned out really well, despite the fact that the secret ingredient was----pinto beans! Yup, good old refried beans. No bean taste or weird texture at all-I swear. Next time, I think I'm going to add some other ingredients, maybe some peanut butter to the mix with some Reese's peanut butter cups sprinkled on top. Here's the recipe:

PINTO BEAN FUDGE

1 cup cooked, soft & mashed pinto beans (can also used canned or reconstituted)

¼ cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 lbs powdered sugar

6 oz unsweetened chocolate

6 tablespoons of butter or margarine

Stir beans and milk together, adding enough milk to resemble mashed potatoes in consistency: stir in vanilla. Melt chocolate and butter and stir into bean mixture. Add nuts. Gradually stir in powdered sugar to get it well blended. Spread onto lightly buttered baking dish or form into two 1 ½ inch rolls. Chill 1-2 hours. Cut into pieces and refrigerate.