Food Storage for the Insanely Busy

(especially those working 9 to 5)

One common complaint about traditional food storage foods is "They take so long to cook!" Everyone's busy, and sometimes it's hard to find time to cook from scratch -- especially if you're away all day and get home exhausted, in search of a quick, easy dinner. If this sounds like familiar, this newsletter's especially for you. It focuses on

• Foods you can prepare ahead of time
• Foods you can prepare in just a few minutes
• Foods you can prepare from make-ahead mixes

All of these recipes are geared to fit a schedule where you only have a few minutes to cook -- in the evening, the morning, or right before dinner.

The Crockpot is Your Best Friend

 

If you have no time to cook, but you'd like dinner to be ready the moment you walk in the door, the crockpot is your best friend! The crockpot is wonderfully well-suited to preparing whole grains and legumes that require long, slow cooking. It's perfect for dishes like soups and stews, too. These taste great on a cool autumn afternoon! Here are some easy make-ahead meals for the crockpot that you can prepare the night before, let cook on low all day, and have ready for dinner the minute you walk in the door. Notice that all of these recipes follow a common pattern: the night before, you start the ingredient(s) that require long cooking (like beans or tough stew meat). Before you go to bed, you add the other ingredients and turn the crockpot to low. Your dinner cooks all night and the next day, and is ready when you are. Once you understand this pattern, you can adapt similar recipes to the basic method, making it easy to fix dinner ahead, with only minimal effort.

Baked Beans with Ham. About 6 or 7 pm the night before, put ingredients 1 C dry white beans and 3 C water in crockpot and turn to high. Before you go to bed, drain the beans, set to low, and add 3/4 C catsup, 1/4 C molasses, and 1 tsp dry mustard. In the morning, check and add water if necessary. Let cook on low all day.
Chili. About 6 or 7 pm the night before, put ingredients 1 C dry pinto or kidney beans and 3 C water in crockpot and turn to high. Before you go to bed, drain the beans, set to low, and add 1 large can stewed tomatoes, 1 lb cooked, crumbled hamburger, and chili powder, cumin, and garlic to taste.
Beef Barley Stew. The night before you want to serve the stew, put 1-2 lbs stew meat,1 can mixed vegetables,1/3 C dry barley, beef bouillon to taste, and 1 quart water in the crockpot on low. In the morning, add 1/2 T cornstarch that's been mixed with a little water. Let cook on low all day.

"Dumping" Dinner

This section offers recipes for dinners you can prepare in minutes, using canned, frozen, and dried foods that are easy to keep in your food storage. You just "dump" in the ingredients, then let them marinate or cook in the same pot, making for fast, easy cleanup. (All canned goods are drained before use.)

Colorful Summer Bean Salad

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C oil

1/2 C vinegar

1/2 C water

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Worcestershire

3 cans beans, your choice (try garbanzo, kidney, & black)

1 can green beans

1 can corn

1/2 of a chopped onion

Combine ingredients and marinate.

Minestrone Soup (makes lots!)

1 can green beans

1 can corn

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can kidney beans

1 small pkg macaroni

1 lb hamburger, cooked & drained

handful of chopped carrots (optional)

1 quart water

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp beef bouillon

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Combine ingredients in large soup pan and cook until macaroni and carrots are done.

Turkey-Noodle Casserole (serves 4)

1 can turkey, drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 can peas (save the rest for soup)

1 cup dry noodles (or small shells or macaroni)

1/8 C dried or 1/2 fresh onion, diced

1/8 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in covered casserole and microwave for 25 minutes on high.

Make-Ahead Mixes

Another way to use your food storage is to prepare dry mixes ahead of time, especially for things you like to bake (bread, muffins, cakes, pancakes, etc.). Just combine all of the dry ingredients for a recipe in a Zip-Loc bag. For even more convenience, add a label that tells the remaining ingredients and gives instructions. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Flatbread

This recipe for Italian flat bread (focaccia) is remarkably versatile and easy to make.

Mix:

1 1/2 C flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp of rosemary, basil, red pepper, or any seasoning you like -- or combine seasonings!

To make the flatbread:

Combine the mix with 1/2 C water & 1/8 C oil. Mix til it forms a ball. Pat it out on a small cookie sheet or pizza pan and let rise 1/2 hr. Bake in 425 oven for 15 minutes.

Variations: This is good with parmesan or grated cheddar cheese on top. Try tomato sauce and cheese, and you've got pizza. You can try other toppings, too.

Add an additional 3 T sugar (1/4 C total) & omit savory spices for sweet bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon, raisins, dates, icing, anything you like.

Basic Muffins (1 dozen)

Mix:

1 1/2 C flour (preferably whole wheat)

1/4 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

2 Tbsp powdered milk

To make the muffins:

Combine the mix with 1/4 C oil, 1 egg, and 3/4 C water. Bake at 375 for 10-14 minutes, til done.

Variations: The variations are infinite. Try about 1/2 C of almost any fruit; 1/2 C nuts; and/or abt 1 tsp of any sweet spices you like.

BBQ Beans, Sourdough, and Food Substitutes from Food Storage

expanded food storage

Really Easy Barbeque Beans

These beans take maybe 5 minutes of hands-on time, and taste really good on a chilly day. They're also very inexpensive. Good with hot cornbread!

• The night before you want to serve the beans, put 2 C of small white beans in a crockpot, then add enough water to cover the beans by about 3 inches. Cook on low all night.
• The next morning, drain the beans and rinse. Using a 1-cup measuring cup, measure 3/4 C barbeque sauce, then fill to the top with molasses for 1/4 C molasses. (This way, the molasses won't stick to the measuring cup, making for easy cleanup.) Dump the mixture into the crockpot and stir.
•  Let the beans cook in the sauce all day on low, and they'll be ready for supper.

Yummy Sourdough Bread

 

Sourdough bread is easy and inexpensive to make (cost ranges from about 20 to 30 cents for a big round crusty loaf). Although the time from start to finish is long, the hands-on time is minimal.

1. First make a starter. Mix 2 C flour with 2 C water and 2 T yeast. Let the starter sit for two days, stirring occasionally.
2. Dissolve 1 T salt in 1 C water. Add 2 C starter and 5½ C flour. Stir and knead into a ball.
3. Let rise overnight at room temperature.
4. The next morning, punch dough down and form into two round loaves.
5. Let the loaves rise for about 4 hrs. (Sourdough takes a long time to rise but it isn't fussy.)
6. Put a pan of water in the oven and preheat to 400. Bake bread for 35 minutes.
7. Replenish the starter by adding 1 3/4 C water and 1 3/4 C flour.

Low-cost Substitutes from Food Storage

You can use standard food storage items to make some useful, low-cost substitutes.

Note: the following ideas come from the Tightwad Gazette, a series of books by Amy Dacyczyn.

A Dozen Eggs for Twenty Cents

Did you know there's a whole-grain egg substitute you can use in baking that has no cholesterol and costs about twenty cents for a dozen "eggs"? It's soybean flour!

1 egg = 1 heaping T soy flour + 1 T water

 

I tried this in muffins, and it worked! A pound of soybean flour costs sixty cents out at Good Earth Natural foods, and 12 heaping tablespoons of soy flour measured 5 oz, so a dozen soybean "eggs" costs just under twenty cents. Plus, the soy flour has no cholesterol, and it provides high-quality, complete protein.