Make Your Own Meal Mixes in Mylar Bags

Whether you want to stop eating processed foods, or save money, making your own
mixes save time, money and are just better for you.
These originally are jar mixes but I use them in mylar bags and add oxygen
absorbers for quick meals for food storage!





INGREDIENTS
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup beef bouillon powder
2 tablespoons onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon garlic powder

CHILI MAC
1 lb ground beef
1 cup water
1/2 cup macaroni noodles, raw
2 (14 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup hamburger, helping mix

STROGANOFF
1 lb ground beef
2 cups water
1/2 cup hamburger, helping mix
2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream

POTATO BEEF CASSEROLE
1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup water
6 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup hamburger, helping mix
QUICK LASAGNA
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup hamburger, helping mix
1 onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 (16 ounce) cans tomato sauce
3 cups lasagna noodles, uncooked, broken in bits
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded


DIRECTIONS

Mix the ingredients together and store in a mylar bag with an oxygen absorber

With a sharpie write the additions and directions on the bag:
.
CHILI MAC:.
Brown ground beef and drain.
Add remaining ingredients.
Combine well and simmer 20 minutes or until macaroni is cooked.

STROGANOFF:.
Brown ground beef and drain.
Add water, mix, and uncooked egg noodles.
Simmer 20 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Stir in sour cream and serve.

POTATO BEEF CASSEROLE:.
Brown ground beef and drain.
Add rest of ingredients.
Simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove cover and cook until excess water has evaporated.

QUICK LASAGNA:.
Brown ground beef and drain.
Add mix, onion, water, tomato sauce, lasagna noodles and parmesan cheese in large skillet.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer.
Simmer for 15 minutes or until noodles are cooked.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
Turn off heat and let cheese melt.

Bisquick like Mix:
9 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk solids
2 cups shortening (which does not
    require refrigeration)

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and sugar three times. Add dry milk. Mix well. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or two knives until mixture looks like cornmeal. Store in covered container at room temperature.

Use in recipes just as you would "bisquick"

Source: images.search.yahoo.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

What a wonderful idea to put shelves in between studs in the basement! Perfect idea and very frugal!

Food Storage Beef Stroganoff

1 cup dried onions 1 cup water 1/4 cup olive oil 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 4 to 6 cups water 1 Tbsp. dried garlic 8 to 10 beef bouillon cubes 3 cans (4 oz each) sliced mushrooms, with liquid 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce 3 Tbsp ketchup 2 cans (15 oz each) beef chunks, with liquid 1 cup dried sour cream, reconstituted with 1/2 cup water 10 cups water 1 tsp salt 6 cups uncooked wide noodles Rehydrate onions in water for 15 min. Drain. Pour olive oil into a large pot on high heat. Add onions, cook for 2 min. Add flour, salt, pepper, mix well with oil and onions, then pour in 4 to 6 cups water and continue to mix. Add garlic, bouillon, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and liquid from beef chunks. Turn heat down to medium and continue to stir and thicken for 30 min. Add beef, being careful not to break apart chunks. Stir sour cream into the stew. Boil 10 cups salted water in a large pot. Add noodles and cook until tender. Drain well and then serve beef mixture over noodles. Makes 4-6 servings.

Cookie Storage

Ah, don't forget about yummies in your food storage! What a great idea! I found this on none other than Pinterest, my fav! I loved this idea, I am going to try it here and I will post my pic's this weekend. I just loved the idea!

Source: todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Ok blog readers, so we are working hard at building our food storage. Now, they emphasize eat what you store, store what you eat. I don't know about your family but mine love sweets! Sugar! So we are always TRYING to keep a decent storage of chocolate, cookie making supplies, chocolate, sugar, etc. I am sharing some of my families favorite treat recipes along with the links of where they came from. Enjoy, and don't forget to add CHOCOLATE to your food storage ;)

Source: somethingswanky.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Source: bakersroyale.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Source: somethingswanky.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Source: soapmomskitchen.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Source: cravingsofalunatic.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

Source: tasteofhome.com via Diana Allen - on Pinterest

No Wheat Grinder?

Sometimes we don't realize that there are plenty of ways to use our wheat even if we don't have a wheat grinder of mill. Here are just a few ways to think about using wheat and remember just do a couple at a time, too much wheat at one time can cause digestion problems:( *Add wheat to soups and stews in the crockpot (stretches and fills tummies) *Wheat Berries - add some wheat berries to a pot of boiling water, bring back to boil,after about 45 min. drain off water, put in a container in the fridge, tastes great added on top of ice cream, yogurt, bananas, can use in place of nuts. *Grow wheat grass - very easy to do *Popped wheat - use your wheat berries and cook in a skillet with a little oil, you cover with lid and shake, in about 4-5 min it will be lightly toasted and adding a little cinnamon sugar after drained on paper towel, these are a great snack! *Cracked wheat - put wheat kernels into a coffee grinder, pulse a few times, has a resemblance of steel cut oats, cooks quicker and can be used as a filler in ground beef or again in soups or stews.

Old Fashion School Lunch Rolls

Oh my goodness these are amazing! I just made these this afternoon. I can't stop eating them! They are the best!

2 1/2 POUNDS of flour I bolded that so you would see it's not cups!!
1/2 cup dry milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
1/4 cup instant yeast
3/4 cup melted, cooled butter or shortening (room temperature)
3 cups lukewarm water

Sift together all of the dry ingredients. Mix well, add yeast, lukewarm water, and cooled melted butter. Beat in kitchen aid on low for 15 Minutes, VERY IMPORTANT!

It will look sticky! It is suppose it, don't worry.
Let rise.
Roll out onto lightly floured surface to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Cut out rolls with cutter or can use pizza cutter for square rolls. Place on greased pans. Let rise again.

 Made 5 pans worth of rolls! I think now I would have made mine bigger but these are perfect for little hands!!

Bake at 350 degrees until done (depending on the pan I did about 12 min) butter tops. Makes about 65 rolls!

End of School Year Pizza

We have made it a tradition to have pizza for lunch at the end of every school year on the last day, usually the kids have a half day. In the past I have just had it delivered but I wanted to be more frugal and well we just like homemade better.

Here is my whole wheat pizza dough recipe.
2 c. warm water
4 Tbsp. yeast
 2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. oil
5 1/2 to 6 cups whole white wheat (I usually do 2 cups white and the rest whole wheat)
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp. garlic powder

Dissolve yeast in water and sugar. Add oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Beat with mixer 2- 3 min. Stir in rest of flour. Knead, let rise for 10 min. Punch down; let rest for 5 min.
Shape into 2 large pizzas or we do a jelly roll size pizza, just easier!
Add sauce and toppings of your choice bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 min.

Here is ours we had for lunch today just cheese and pepperoni, before we cooked it.

And here it is all hot and out of the oven.

Cheap Way to Build Food Storage

One of my favorite stores to just go see what I can find is Big Lots! I like to go at least a few times a month to see if I can find any really great deals usually on food. Well I lucked out tonight. I ran over there and look what I found! Gossner shelf stable milk that's good for two more years! For only $1.00! Also 8 packs of individual Jif Peanut Butter To Go for only$1.00. I bought all they had. Then I was very lucky to find this canned ham my kids absolutely LOVE! I bought all they had of those too. They were only $.85 each. These are all great and cheap and perfect for 72 hour kits.

Family Favorite Freezer Recipes

Well, I am going to put up a more in depth post with our family favorite freezer recipes. I am working from home now and am able to have a little bit more time getting a little more organized and boy do I need to work more on our freezer! I have been doing freezer cooking for about 11 years. I love it! It is a great way to be organized, plan a menu and stick to it, and of course save a ton of $$$ on your grocery budget.
These are just a few of our favorites. Recipes to follow soon. I will be cooking these over the next few days and posting pictures.

Mexichicken
Chicken Broccoli
sloppy Joes
Mexican Beef and Rice
Russian Stew
Twice Baked Potatoes
Enchilada Pie
Breakfast Burritos
Wild Rice Chicken
Stromboli
Chicken Spaghetti
Manicotti
Lemon Chicken

Food Storage Beef Stew

1 cup dried onions
1 cup dried carrots
3 cups water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups water
1 can (15oz) green beans, with liquid
1 can (15oz) corn, with liquid
8-10 cubes beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. dried garlic
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. kitchen bouquet
salt and pepper
2 cans (15oz) beef chunks, with liquid
Mashed potatoes
Rehydrate onions and carrots in 3 cups water for 15 min. Drain. In a large pot on high heat, add oil, onions and carrots, saute for 1 min. Sprinkle flour in and lightly brown. Add 3 cups water and stir until thickened. Add green beans, corn, bouillon, garlic, worcestershire sauce, kitchen bouquet, salt and pepper to taste. Turn down heat to medium low. Add beef and juice, being careful not to shred the chunks. Cover and simmer for 30 min. Serve stew over prepared mashed potatoes.

Make Your Own Dehydrated Potatoes

I just had a mix of red and yukon potatoes  (5 lb).

Well I decided to take on the dreaded task of dehydrating some potatoes and hope that they turn out.  I started with washing the potatoes, then put them through my food processor.

Bring large pot of water to a boil, immerse potatoes in bring back to a boil and blanche for 8 minutes. Take out and place immediately in a bowl of ice cold water (it works best with a metal basket or colander). Place a single layer on towel and blot dry. Place on dehydrator trays and let process for 24 hours.

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

I know this is really bad but I love Duncan Hines Cake Mix !! So I still get my duncan hines  and use my food storage and make it somewhat healthy here is the recipe for these really yummy cupcakes.

1 box devils food duncan hines cake mix
6 Tbsp egg powder + 9 Tbsp water (or you can use 3 eggs)
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup mashed black beans

mix all ingredients, pour into cupcake liners in muffin tin. Bake 350 for 20 min.

Hot Chocolate Butter Cream
My kiddos love lots of frosting (who doesn't)
so we doubled this recipe for the frosting.
1 cup shortening (we use butter flavored)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 single serving hot chocolate mix or 2 Tbsp. of your own hot cocoa mix
whip until mixed well.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

2 cups canned pumpkin
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup oil
4 eggs (I used powdered eggs)
3 1/3 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup ground cloves
I added 2 cups chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees, mix ingredients well, pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake for 60-70 min. 

Emergency Preparedness Checklist

         Over the next few months I am going to focus on emergency preparedness and getting things other than food ready. There are so many things we need to do to be prepared other than having a 72 hour kit and a long term and short term food storage.
         How many of us think about our shelter, how to repair our car if there are not any stores open and available or repair something in our home?
         The following topics will be my focus and if anyone else has tips or ideas to share please do so!

*Food Gathering
*Shelter

*Heat Sources

*Transportation

*Emergency Power Source

*Automotive Maintenance/Minor Repairs

*Large and Small Tools

*Water (potable and non potable)

*Sanitation

*Alternate Methods for Washing clothes

*Personal Hygiene/Bathing

*Bedding
*Important Documents/Records
*Scriptures, Books, Journals
*Cookware/utensils
*First Aid
*Money/Exchange (Items to barter)
*Pets

Amish White/Wheat Bread

2 cups warm water
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
6 cups bread flour (I used half white all purpose and white wheat flour)

In kitchen aid mix water, sugar and yeast, proof. After proofed, add remaining ingredients. Using dough hook, mix until dough comes clean off the bowl. Take out and oil the bowl lightly. Place wet tea towel over bowl and let double in size. Usually after 1 hour punch down, lightly knead onto floured surface and separate into two greased loaf pans, let double again with towel over pans. Bake 350 for 30 min.

Food Storage Chicken Pot Pie

Adapted from a standard one dish pot pie recipe I used quite some time ago and converted it using food storage ingredients

2 cans chicken, drained (I used leftover chicken, shredded in this one)
2 cups freeze dried mixed vegetables, rehydrated
1/4 cup dehydrated onions
1 can cr. chicken soup (can make your own)
2 cups homemade bisquick like mix
1/2 cup milk (1 1/2 Tbsp. powdered milk + 1/2 c. water)
1 egg (2 Tbsp powdered egg + 3 Tbsp water)
Heat oven to 375, mix chicken, veggies, onion, cream chick soup together and place in 8x8 in pan. In a separate bowl combine bisquick, milk and egg. Will be like pancake mix consistency, pour over chicken mixture, bake for about 25 -30 min uncovered. We served ours with canned peaches. YUM

Food Storage Chicken Alfredo

4 cups cooked noodles

1 cup hot tap water

1/4 cup creamy soup base                                                  

1 cup freeze dried chicken

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup freeze dried asparagus (optional)

4 slices chopped bacon (optional)

Cook and drain noodles. Set aside. Reconstitute chicken and asparagus. Mix creamy soup base in hot tap water in saucepan. Add parmesan, bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add asparagus and bacon to creamy soup mix. Serve over hot cooked noodles

Make Your Own Gluten Free Hamburger Helper

Recipe adapted from my-extraordinary-life.blogspot.com

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
3 cups water
1/2 cup milk

Spice Packet-
1 tsp brown rice flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp bouillon powder
1 Tbsp dried onion
1 Tbsp parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp thyme
1 1/2 cups elbow noodles 

Place all spice packet ingredients in a snack size ziploc bag, place that inside a small ziploc bag and seal

Label, stack and store.

To cook: Cook ground beef or use a can of beef chunks, add water, milk, noodles  and spice packet into pan. Heat on Medium Low for 12-15 min, stirring every few min until pasta is tender. Add cheese, enjoy! Recipe adapted from