I Dare You To Eat It

….and I quote:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others. (All Is Safely Gathered In pamphlet, www.providentliving.org)

Maybe food storage reflects our stewardship and charity. Investing in provident living, many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are choosing to be part of a worldwide team, prepared with extra food, “so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.”

The goal has always been sharing, not hoarding. Let’s choose now to make the necessary preparations, both spiritual and temporal, which will enable us to say yes if the Bishop needs to call for our food storage. That’s the team I want to be on.

Yes, you really can make furniture from your food storage. Here’s the recipe for a highly attractive accessory table.

4 cases long-term food storage

1 wood round, 30″ diameter from Home Depot or craft store

1 table skirt, 90″ diameter

1 glass table topper, 1/4″ thick, polished edge, 30″ diameter *optional

Stack four cases of food storage. Top with wood round. Cover with table skirt. Finish with glass table topper if desired. (hey kids)

One or two of these food storage accessory tables work well as nightstands beside a bed, in the corner of a living room flanked by two sofas, or between a pair of reading chairs. It’s a perfect spot for a lamp, family photo, and a few good books. No one has to know that you’ve found another excellent way to use your food storage.

Fresh Ingredients

2 small zucchini, diced

1 1/2 c. frozen mixed vegetables

2 cloves crushed garlic

Storage Ingredients

1 c. macaroni

3 cans chicken broth (14.5 oz.)

1 can crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning (15 oz.)

1 can kidney beans (15 oz.)

Boil all the ingredients together just until zucchini and macaroni are tender, about 8-10 minutes, being careful not to over cook. Divide into serving bowls and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Heidi said I could share this recipe. You can visit her site at www.franticallysimple.com This is flat-out the best minestrone soup I’ve ever tasted and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to prepare. You have to try this recipe and tell me what you think. Cozy never tasted so good.

My visiting teachers are coming in the next fifteen minutes so I thought I would quickly tell you about my visiting teaching field trips to the dry pack cannery. I totally believe in preparing the message each month, having a prayer before as a companionship, and praying together as sisters in the home. I also believe that visiting teachers can offer to help lift a bit of the load. I actually think it’s fun and interesting to work together. So, in addition to doing the monthly sit-on-the-couch thing, sometimes I invite all the sisters I visit teach to join me at the cannery. The work is easier when there are many hands and besides that, everyone looks great in a hairnet.

Fresh Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef

15 10″ tortillas

toppings: baby spinach leaves, grated cheese, diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and Ranch dressing

Storage Ingredients

2 c. cooked whole wheat berries

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. chili powder

* 1 packet of taco seasoning may be used as a substitution for individual spices

Brown ground beef and drain fat. Stir in the cooked wheat berries and spices. Spoon meat mixture onto warm tortillas and top with fresh baby spinach, grated cheese, diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and Ranch dressing.

During one of my food storage presentations a woman shared how she substitutes cooked whole wheat berries for ground beef. She seasons it just as you normally would for tacos to create a very healthy vegetarian alternative. If that sounds too hard core, consider giving this recipe a try. I made them for my daughter that lives in Oregon and she thought they were amazing. Hippie tacos is her name for our little culinary invention. Guess she’s in the zone.

The book, I Dare You to Eat It, has over forty every-day recipes that combine long-term storage ingredients with items routinely purchased from the grocery store. People who know about these things have told me that I shouldn’t print those recipes on this website or I’ll be “cannibalizing” the book. Now that’s scary.

What I can do, in good conscience, is share all the new recipes I find…and I would love you to help. I’m always on the hunt for recipes that are easy to prepare and use a portion of the long-term storage ingredients (wheat, rice, beans, pasta, and potatoes) in combinations with short-term storage (three-month supply) ingredients. It’s okay if these food storage recipes call for a few fresh ingredients. The prophet has never asked us to stop going to the grocery store. Sometimes we make food storage harder than it needs to be. I’m trying to make my food storage as normal as possible and the fresh ingredients make all the difference in the world.

If you have a recipe you would like to share, please send it to me! With as few as only six recipes in each of the five categories of wheat, rice, beans, pasta, and potatoes, you can have a month’s worth of menus compiled. Then, all you need to do is purchase the specific recipe ingredients (bottled, canned, or dried) in groups of three and your three-month supply will be completed and ready to be used.

Besides the fact that the prophet has asked us to live this way, the advantage of having meals organized for at least the next three months is incredibly liberating and actually frees up time, every single day.

Tomorrow, or the next day, I’ll try to post the recipe for Hippie Tacos. Peace out.

But what about just buying lots of miscellaneous foods?

That’s the method some people use for building their food storage, which is fine if it works for them. I’m not an especially creative cook. I need to plan my meals and practice cooking a relatively small number of dishes in order to become comfortable with the preparation, and fast.

Besides that, in the event of an emergency, I don’t want to be trying to figure out, under pressure, what to cook with random ingredients. We don’t do that when we plan meals for vacations. The food for a trip to the mountains, lake, or cabin is planned well in advance with extensive lists. We purchase only the ingredients we’re actually planning to serve. Why would we plan so carefully for vacations and then plan to wing it during an emergency?

Even if you start with only one dinner, buy all the ingredients that can be stored in groups of three, and then make a specific plan for eating it, like the first Monday of each month, you will become more organized, more prepared, and more capable. As soon as you have one recipe organized into the process of food storage, move on to a second and third meal, and then just keep going.

Every time I use my food storage it’s like a cooking fire drill. Why wait for the emergency?