Transcript Using Your Food Storage

Jennifer Reynolds
Tempe South Stake Canning Specialist
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This may seem obvious, but it is the one of the main reasons
that food storage does not get used. Start by storing foods that
your family already eats. Then when you want to add a new food
to your storage, learn how to use it so it won’t just sit on your
shelf gathering dust.
We eat the same main dishes about 80% of the time because of
taste, habit, awareness, familiarity, etc. Using your food storage
can be as simple as creating a list of dishes eaten and liked by
your family. The created list should be at least 10-20 dishes
long. Look in your pantry and see what you already are using on
a regular basis.
To get started, create 30 days of menus to help your family plan
your 3-Month Food Storage supply. This will help you figure out
what your family will eat, and what you need to put in your food
storage.
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How to create 30 days of Menus:
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1. Write down breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack menu's that your family will eat. Don't make 5course meals. Simple meals are best! You can repeat meals over and over again. Make a list of
things you see in your pantry already to help with menu planning (see pantry list next slide).
2. You will need to convert recipes with perishable foods with other foods. Use dry, canned, and
packaged foods in most meals. Most food storage recipe books use a combination of shelf foods
and perishable foods.
3. List all of the ingredients of your menus. If you can't use a spreadsheet, just write ingredients or
items down and add them up on paper (see menu planning in subsequent slides).
4. Create 25% of your menu's with prepared foods like stews, soups, pasta meals, pancake mix or
items like Bisquick. This will help in short term disasters or emergencies.
5. Use some long-term foods (wheat, rice, dry beans, etc.) in your menu planning as well.
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6. Don't think of these menu's as an "end of the world" project, but an everyday one that you can
easily resupply and stock up on.
7. After you come up with the 30 menus, then multiply all ingredients by 3 to become your 3month food storage supply.
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Rotating food storage is the best way to ensure that the food you have stored will be edible
and as fresh as possible when you need to use it.
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Rotation allows your family to get accustomed to eating stored and dehydrated food which is
essential in emergency situations.
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Tips for rotating your food storage:
◦ Keep small amount of your food storage in your kitchen. Stock your kitchen shelves with
small containers filled with egg mix, powdered milk, dried beans, wheat, rice, etc. This will
serve as a subtle reminder that you have these items without taking up your whole kitchen.
Stock your shelves with your ready-made items as well. The more you see these items the
more often you will use them. (We made a pantry shelf- next slide).
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The best way to rotate your food storage is to use it to make food on a regular basis for
yourself and your family. Incorporate food storage items into you favorite recipes. This will
form a great habit for rotating and will help you easily substitute your food storage items in
every day recipes.
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Make a one-week menu consisting only of items in your food storage and then live on it.
This exercise will really put your food storage to the test. After completing this exercise you
will have a better idea of what might be lacking to make your year supply complete.
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Learn new cooking methods to expand what you can store in your food storage supply (i.e.
Pressure Canning, Wet-Pack Canning, Food Dehydrating, etc.)
http://www.reynoldsnet.org/preparedness/Cooking_Methods.html
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Our family created this pantry shelf due to our small
pantry and as a reminder for us to rotate our food
storage.
These shelves are installed on the back of your existing
pantry door and they have the advantage of adding
more space in your pantry, displaying all of your food
storage items in "clear" easily accessible containers.
Not only does this help reduce the
need for having clumsy #10 cans
in your pantry but now these items
are within reach so you don't
forget to use your food storage.
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After you created your 30-day menu of meals your family likes, think about ways you can incorporate
your ready-made items and long-term food storage items into each recipe. Which of the dishes could
include the addition of basic food storage items?
For Example:
Meat Loaf
Add rice and/or wheat berries and/or dry beans.
Chili
Add wheat and/or rice
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Add wheat.
Stroganoff
Serve over rice. Add wheat berries to sauce.
Hamburger Macaroni
Add dry beans.
Stuffed Green Peppers
Add rice and/or wheat.
Chicken Tonight
Add cooked dry beans.
Chicken Enchiladas
Use dry milk base.
Shepherd’s Pie
Add cooked dry beans.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Add rice and wheat.
Chicken Divan
Add wheat. Serve over rice.
Ham Fried Rice
Add wheat.
Choc. Chip Cookies
Add oatmeal and wheat flour.
Pancakes
Make mix using dry milk, wheat flour, and oatmeal.
Vegetable Soup
Add beans, rice and wheat berries
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The Mesa Home Storage Center carries 22prepackaged items in #10 cans, minipouches and in bulk which are a great
resource for your long-term storage supplies.
You can also purchase many of these items
from the LDS Distribution Center and have
them delivered to your home:
http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595
_10557_3074457345616706237_-1_N_image_0
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I will be giving tips for using some of these
basic food storage items today.
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Why store wheat?
Whole-wheat flour contains more minerals and
vitamins then white flour.
Whole wheat contains B vitamins, which are
necessary for healthy nerves.
Whole-wheat foods provide more fiber than do
food made from white flour.
Whole wheat helps you loose weight! The
bounteous fiber keeps you fuller longer, cuts
absorption of calories, cleans out impurities,
requires more chewing, takes half as much to fill
you up and takes longer to digest.
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Use wheat in recipes your family already likes, then it is not totally unfamiliar
and you know the recipe is good.
The term wheat grain, wheat berry or wheat kernel all refer to the same
thing- the entire wheat grain that you get when you buy wheat.
Try wheat in dessert recipes first- who does not like a cookie?
If a recipe calls for white flour, you can usually substitute it for whole wheat
flour. If you’re nervous about the recipe turning out tasting too “wheaty” than
you can use half white flour, half whole wheat flour. Hard white wheat tastes
more like white flour, than hard red wheat.
It’s best to use wheat flour when you can disguise it in recipes using brown
sugar, molasses, chocolate, or recipes that use fruit or vegetables, such as
bananas, applesauce, carrots, or zucchini in breads, cakes and cookies.
Use whole-wheat flour in recipes that call for oats or oat flour. Oats have a
hearty flavor that helps disguise the flavor of whole wheat.
If you are allergic to wheat use almond or rice flour as a substituteHoneyville, Bobs Red Mill, and Amazon good source for purchase!
Have a great breakfast in the morning by cooking
wheat berries in a thermos or slow cooker
overnight. Add dried fruit, spices and sweetener as
you would with oatmeal. (1 c. wheat, 2 c. boiling
water, ½ tsp. salt).
 Out of pasta? Substitute wheat berries
for pasta in your favorite pasta salad.
The salad will be far more nutritious,
and you’ll save money.
 Add wheat berries to your favorite soup for extra
nutrition or substitute for rice or barley.
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In most recipes, cracked wheat can be used
instead of rice or nuts. Cracked wheat can also
be used as a meat extender or substitute.
Crack wheat in small amounts (1/4 c. at a time)
in your blender using the pulse option.
Cook cracked wheat by bringing 1 c. wheat and 2
c. water to a boil and cook 10-20 min.
To use as a substitute for meat, just add ½ c.
cooked cracked wheat for every pound of ground
meat.
Great list of other ideas for using wheat- Popped
wheat, wheat grass, wheat sprouts, etc. (Handout provided
today- http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/10/23/7-great-ways-to-use- wheat-without-awheat-grinder/ )
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Why store dried beans?
Dried beans are cholesterol free, low in fat
(only 2-3%), and high in fiber, protein,
carbohydrates and contain many trace
minerals.
Beans can help lower your cholesterol
because they are high in fiber and low in fat!
Each ½ c. serving of dried beans provides 6-7
grams of protein.
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Dried beans should be soaked before cooking to restore
moisture, reduce cooking time and to cut down on the gas they
produce. Quick soaking: for 2 c. dried beans and 10 c. water and
heat to boiling and let boil 2-3 min. Remove from heat, cover
and set aside for an hour (beans should be triple in size). Discard
soaking liquid and rinse beans and cook as normal.
Our family pressure cans our beans in just 30 min without
presoaking! For 2 c. of beans, add 6 c. water and bring up to
high pressure and cook for 30 min. This method works best for
older beans as well.
Beans are great as a side dish, used in chili’s, as a protein or
thickener in stews and can be used as a substitute for butter,
margarine or oil.
To substitute beans for oil, margarine or butter in baked goods,
match the bean with the color of the treat your making, so the
color doesn’t change. For example, black beans work great in
chocolate-based baked goods and white beans work great in
yellow cake. Just mash the beans and add to your favorite recipe!
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Non-instant dry milk requires more mixing to hydrate- use a
wire whisk or powdered drink mixer for more agitation for
rehydrating.
Use powdered milk in any recipe calling for milk by adding the
dry powdered milk to dry ingredients and the necessary water to
the wet ingredients.
Powdered milk is great in any baking recipe, in smoothies,
dressings and pudding as well.
The best part of using powdered milk is you can use it to make
buttermilk, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk
which we don’t typically have on hand.
For drinking, mix half powdered milk with regular milk to get the
family used to it and then increase amounts once they are used
to it. Also add vanilla or other flavoring for improved taste.
If you have older powdered milk, do not throw it away, you can
still use it in cooking without a noticeable difference in taste. It
can also be used as a fertilizer in your garden!
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Why store Oats?
Oats are a great source of fiber, thiamine and
iron.
Oats are great as a cereal for breakfast! Oats can
also be used in breads, granola, cookies, as a pie
topping and so much more!
“Quick” or “rolled” oats cook faster then “whole”
(old fashioned) oats.
Oat flour is a great substitution for those with
gluten allergies.
Add freeze-dried fruits to your oats recipes esp.
granola for a delicious treat.
Rolled:
Whole:
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Generally the darker the rice the more nutrients it
contains. Rice is great as a side dish. It can be used in
soups, in drinks and as a dessert. It can also be used like
wheat as a meat extender.
I sauté long-grain rice in a couple of Tbs. of oil until
translucent before adding liquid. This speeds up cooking
time from 20 min to 15 min. General rule of thumb is 1
part rice to 2 parts water.
Cook rice in beef or chicken broth instead of water for a
delicious change.
Mixed cooked rice with a variety of things liked sliced
mushrooms, sautéed onions, bacon, silvered almond or
grated cheese. Add herbs to the cooking water when
preparing rice.
Rice flour is also a good substitute for those with gluten
allergies. Just blend rice in wheat grinder to make flour
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I added dried fruits and veggies to our basic year supply to
provide variety and more options especially for breakfast
and snacks.
Using potato flakes instead of making mashed potatoes
will save you time in cooking and cleaning. They are great
to use in bread recipes for a lighter, fluffier loaf.
Dried onions, celery and carrots are a great staple to have
on hand for making soups and stews and can speed up the
cooking process since they rehydrate quickly.
Dried fruits are a healthy alternative to potato chips and
are a great snack for road trips. They can be used in any
recipe and are a great way to spruce up your family
recipes.
Apple slices can be rehydrated and then put in a blender
to make your own applesauce. This is a great substitute
for oil in recipes as well.
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There are many recipe books available using your long-term food storage items and here are
some of them.
My personal favorites are posted online on my website along with tips for using basic food
storage items: http://www.reynoldsnet.org/preparedness/Recipes.html
◦ Mesa Home Storage, “Basic Food Storage Cookbook” (no longer available but scanned on my
website)
◦ Crystal Godfrey, “I can’t believe it’s Food Storage”
◦ Vicky Tate, “Cookin’ with Home Storage”
Food Storage Made Easy-70 food storage recipes that ONLY use the items included in the
church’s one month basic supply kit. That means the only ingredients needed to make all of
these 70 items are wheat, flour, fat (oil or shortening), sugar, powdered milk, macaroni, quick
oats, pinto beans, and salt. (http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/fsme/docs/SHELF-STABLERECIPE-BOOK.pdf)
Emergency Essentials- http://beprepared.com/education/food-storage-recipes.html
“New Ideas for Cooking with Basic Food Storage”:
http://www.ldspreparedness.com/Files/cookbook.pdf
Utah Home Storage Center, “Food Storage Recipes”: http://www.mormonshare.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/08/BasicFoodStorageRecipes2.pdf
University of Utah, “Cooking with Food Storage Ingredients”:
https://extension.usu.edu/cache/files/uploads/Cooking%20with%20Food%20Storage%20Ingre
dients%206-07.pdf
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Visit my preparedness webpage for more tips:
http://www.reynoldsnet.org/preparedness/