I Dare You To Eat It

“YOOOOU, USE YOUR FOOD STORAGE?”

Yes, I really  use my food storage and it saves me money EVERY SINGLE WEEK! For example, last week I picked up a Costco roasted chicken ($5.99?) and served it with…something…and something else. I don’t remember. (Dang…where was I headed with this?)

Oh yea! The next day I put the whole leftover chicken, bones and all, in my crock-pot, covered it with water, and set the temperature on high heat. After 3 or 4 hours of gentle boiling, I drained all the broth, returned it to the crock-pot, and separated the juicy chicken pieces from the muck and bones. Then I added about 2 cups of diced carrots and 2 cups of diced celery to the broth and set the heat on low. A couple hours later, when the vegetables were just starting to get tender, I threw in about one and a half cups of dry macaroni from my long-term storage, a few shakes of dried parsley flakes, and a little salt and pepper. As soon as the macaroni was cooked I stirred in 1 cup of dry powdered milk so that the soup would be extra creamy and fresh tasting.

Because the soup took so little effort and time to prepare, aaaaand I happen to have way too much white flour on hand, I experimented with a new bread recipe and was able to serve a simple supper of hot chicken soup and freshly baked bread. http://www.mormonchic.com/recipe/recipebox/pages/bread_yeast.asp

All in all, there was no cost to this meal that easily served my family three times. The chicken was leftover from the night before and the fresh vegetables were leftover from who knows when. The ingredients that came from my food storage were the white flour, oil, honey, salt, you know–for the bread, and the macaroni, powdered milk, and spices for the soup. That seems free because I didn’t have to spend fresh money.

So, eating food storage doesn’t have to be weird! In fact, nothing could be more normal than homemade chicken soup and fresh bread. And I like knowing that I can prepare a satisfying meal from the supplies in my home. Even if I didn’t have the leftover roasted chicken and fresh vegetables I could have made a similar soup using my dehydrated carrots, onions, and canned chicken chunks. No, it wouldn’t be exactly the same, but it would be familiar and something I know my family could enjoy, especially if there wasn’t another option.

Using my food storage right now means I’m also getting a tiny bit better at the whole homemaking gig. I’m still not a fantastic cook but I know how to use the food we’ve got stored and I’m really enjoying the financial advantages that always come from provident living. If you haven’t tried this, just set a goal to cook one dish that uses either wheat, rice, beans, pasta, or potatoes in combination with normal, everyday, ingredients from the grocery store. If you need a little help with finding a recipe you can check out the recipe page on this website for ideas that will get you rolling. I think you’ll discover that using your food storage really isn’t so scary after all! Like I always say, if I can do this, anyone can do it. Just ask my friends.

I don’t really get into the subject of water storage when I give my food storage presentations, but that’s only because I’m pretty sure everyone already knows how to USE water and expert information on its emergency storage is readily available at www.providentliving.org, www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/water , and www.redcross.org/service/prepare .

For my family, we like to store our emergency water in those big, $50.00, blue plastic drums. Roughly, we’re planning on 2 gallons per person, per day, for two weeks. We’ve also purchased the $10.00 pumps that fit the drums and try to remember to change the water every 6 months, with General Conference. That doesn’t always happen but it’s a convenient reminder and we’re trying to do better.

Another little step we’ve taken hasn’t cost us a penny and I love that we don’t have to babysit or rotate the supply. Every time we empty a bottle of liquid dish soap, we fill it full of water and label it as SOAPY. Then I find random corners in the kitchen, basement, or garage where I can stash the containers, and forget about them. This way we easily add additional emergency water to our storage that would be especially great for washing up and also help to extend our fresh water supply.

This is my daughter, Hailey.

(She’s the other variable in our very complex and ever changing twin equation…oh, I’m just kidding…they almost never fight anymore…that was a freaky little glitch…only lasted about 8 years…we’re totally beyond it…waiting for the Church magazines to call us any day now.)

Hailey has loads of good stuff ahead of her. This Spring she’s graduating from Brigham Young University and she’s preparing to serve an 18 month mission for the LDS Church.

(Which reminds me, after one of my food storage presentations in Las Vegas, a woman who was not affiliated with the Mormon Church was totally generous in her praise of the system for building and using food storage and then expressed frustration that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn’t doing more to share this clearly inspired counsel on provident living. I told her, with a hug, that the Mormons ARE trying to share this message on provident living, and much much more. I told her that’s why we have over 52,000 missionaries serving all over the world!)

Yesterday, I called Hailey and asked if she could catch a ride to Salt Lake with a friend so that she could come home and try on some skirts I found while I was doing a little shopping. Her first question was, “Where did you find them?” I told her that they came from the RACK.

(Gosh, I hope she understood that I meant the rack at Deseret Industries…as in the Church owned and operated secondhand thrift store…now, I’m wondering if she may have misunderstood  my answer and thought I meant the Rack, as in the clearance store owned and operated by Nordstrom…hmmm…I sure hope not…Hailey doesn’t love recycled clothing…poor thing.)

I found three PERFECT skirts for her mission!

(I hope she doesn’t see this post until after we’ve had the argument…she’s going to say, Mom, these are the only clothes I’ll be wearing every day for 18 months…don’t you think they should at least start out nice and new? I’m going to say, Hailey, these are the only clothes you’ll be wearing every day for 18 months, who cares if they aren’t nice and new!)

Each skirt only cost me $3.00 or $4.00! Two are black and one is a nice charcoal gray. They’ll go with everything and two are even washable.

(I love shopping at secondhand stores…the D.I. is my favorite…the Piggy Bank in Scarsdale New York, or the Pig, was pretty amazing also…even when I was in High School, one of my friends reminded me that I had once told her that anyone can find beautiful clothes at Nordstrom…that doesn’t take skill…there’s no sport in fishing in a planted pond…reverse snobbery.)

One of Hailey’s favorite things to say to me is, CHILL-LAX.

(Chill out and relax…most of the time I should…I bet I’m going to hear it when we talk about saving money on her missionary wardrobe.)

I love Hailey!

Fresh Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup ricotta cheese

8 tsp. butter

1 cup Romano cheese, grated

Storage Ingredients

1 cup instant potato flakes

1 tsp. salt

3 cups flour

Prepare instant potatoes as directed on package. Combine potato with eggs and salt and whip until fluffy. Add ricotta cheese, butter, Romano cheese and flour. Knead until smooth. Shape into 1/2″ rolls and cut into 1″ lengths. Make impression with thumb in each piece, then lightly dust with flour. Drop into boiling water and cook only until they rise to the surface. Drain and serve with your favorite red sauce, cream sauce, or both!

***NOTE: Before cooking, gnocchi may be frozen on a cookie sheet, then placed in a plastic bag to store for up to a month in the freezer.

KILLER CHEESE SAUCE

Fresh Ingredients

1 cup butter

16 oz. cream cheese

2 c. whipping cream

Storage Ingredients

1/2 tsp. dry minced garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients and heat very slowly. Stir until smooth and pour over pasta.

RED SAUCE WITH SAUSAGE

Fresh Ingredients

1-2 lbs. mild Italian sausage

Storage Ingredients

2 jars spaghetti sauce (1 lb. 10 oz. each)

Bake or saute sausage as instructed on package, until fully cooked. Slice and add to jarred sauce. Heat and serve over pasta.

This recipe for homemade gnocchi makes two pans full of potato dumplings, smothered in a deliciously rich, creamy blend of cheese, cream, tomato, and sausage. Everyone, including very little children, absolutely loves it. I like to prepare the gnocchi days ahead of time, keep them frozen in the freezer, and then boil them about 20 minutes before we’re going to eat. I also prepare both the cream sauce and the red sauce with Italian sausage slices the day before and slowly warm them ahead of time.

After boiling the gnocchi, I drain and divide them equally between two 9 x 13 inch cake pans, cover each with the Killer Cheese Sauce, and store in a warm oven (300 degrees) until ready to serve. When we’re ready to eat, I also like to garnish the cream sauce with a little additional grated Parmesian cheese and chopped fresh basil or Italian parsley. I serve the red sauce separately so that the guests may help themselves and select the amount of meat they prefer. The preparation for this dish takes some work, mostly ahead of time, but is sooo worth the effort.

All this talk about food storage for wedding gifts has made me want to share an experience. As the economic outlook grows gloomier, I can’t help thinking of people trying to finance their son’s or daughter’s wedding reception this year, with limited funds. I’m hopeful they’ll find ways to cut costs on the big day.

We’re all about the budget weddings around here. $5,000.00 was the limit we set for each of our girls. After all, the sealing in the temple is the part that really matters. Everything else is just a fun party.

Right or wrong, here’s a brief list of the Do’s and Don’ts that worked for us.

Do shop at the Deseret Industries. We found Sarah’s 100% silk, vintage 1950’s, ballet skirt, wedding gown for $12.00! (thaaaat’s what I’m talkin’ about)

Don’t plan multiple receptions. Sarah was married in the late afternoon and the reception was in the evening. We didn’t have any type of wedding breakfast or brunch. Our family went to a private dinner at the Lion House with his family the night before and it was very peaceful and sweet.

Don’t spend money on bridesmaid dresses and tuxedos. Who wants to wear matching outfits? Some traditions just matter…less. Sarah’s new husband wore really nice khaki slacks, a white linen shirt, and flip flops to their backyard reception. Who says that the bride should be the only one that gets to pick their own special look on the big day? All the men were jealous of Michael.

Do try to borrow someone’s yard or find a location that will be very inexpensive. We were really, really fortunate because one of my clients, and dear friends, was willing to help us out. Good luck with that.

Don’t spend money on centerpieces for the tables or expensive food. We used the desserts for the centerpieces. I asked my sisters and closest friends to bake their very best cakes, supplemented with a few favorites from Market Street Broiler and Granite Bakery, and served each lovely confection on a cake pedestal. I borrowed china dessert plates from everyone I knew and bought the water goblets at the dollar store. We rented some of the tablecloths and had toppers made from fabric that was only one dollar per yard.

Do spend money on good music. Sarah hired the Joe Muscolino band and thought it was definitely worth the investment.

Don’t spend money on expensive or elaborate invitations. It all ends up in the trash. We found a good photographer for a great price (Duston Todd Photography) that captured just the right feeling Sarah and Michael wanted and traded my design service with a small local company, Everything Tasteful, for the simple but still unique look.

We didn’t pay for any flowers beyond the bridal bouquet and two modest arrangements. Our nextdoor neighbor owns a fabulous flower shop (Roots) and she surprised Sarah with a wonderful arrangement for the gift table.

There wasn’t any wedding video and Sarah hired one of her friends from B.Y.U. to be the photographer for the night.

There also wasn’t any wedding cake. Instead, we served: Linda’s Triple Layer Lemon Cake, Carolyn’s Amazing Banana Cream Pies, Virginia’s Apple Pudding Cake in honor of Grandma Romney, Kathy’s Luscious Pumpkin Cake, Stephanie’s Very Best Carrot Cake, Linda’s Famous Cream Puffs, Khaliel’s French Lemon Cream Pies, and oh so much more. Who cares about wedding cake when you have all that to choose from?

In the end, it was a wonderful reception, we were able to stay completely within the budget, and we all enjoyed a great celebration. Everyone’s situation is different, but my point in sharing these details is to suggest, and illustrate, that there are ways to design a wedding reception that doesn’t break the bank.

This is something I started doing years and years ago. I found it was the only way to enjoy a day of rest, especially since we’ve made it a tradition to invite other families to our home for dinner on Sunday.

Here’s my theory. We get to know people better when we share our homes and food with them. Appearances at Church can be tricky. I want to have a little time with people, get to know them, let them see who we really are, amid the chaos, and hopefully let my daughters learn from their examples. I honestly believe that the wonderful goodness of so many people, in about a dozen different wards, gently rubbed off on our children. So everyone, thanks for that! I think you’ve helped my daughters appreciate what it means to be a ward family.

But the practical side of this adventure is that the preparation of the meal, or the dining room, or lack thereof, MUST NOT become the focus. Sometimes I go for it, and cook my brains out but I consider one of my truly shining moments to be the time I served Campbell’s tomato soup and grilled cheese toast to the …..well, let’s just call them the….Importants.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to impress them so I didn’t even try. I just gathered my courage and invited them to dinner. It was a very interesting social experiment. I felt liberated and had fun with it!

So. For this week, we’re into Wednesday, I’ve invited a new family with seven children to dinner on Sunday, AND the main course and dessert are already prepared and waiting patiently in the freezer. And yes, I am serving something from food storage. With most of the preparation out of the way I probably will have time to vacuum. (Ew. Our Labradoodle sheds like crazy!)

One reason any of this matters is that my food storage helps me with the never-ending need for meal preparation. Because I’m not constantly re-designing or re-engineering our daily meals, and I’m not running to the grocery store every other day (like I used to), I actually have MORE time to focus on bigger objectives!

Fresh Ingredients

2 lb. lean ground beef

2 eggs

Storage Ingredients

Stove Top Stuffing Mix, for chicken or herb variety (6 oz. box)

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz.)

1/2 cup barbecue sauce or ketchup

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients and shape into an oval loaf in a sprayed or oiled 9 x 13 inch baking dish. If desired, top with additional barbecue sauce, ketchup, or chili sauce. Bake for 1 hour.

This recipe (Kraftfoods.com adaptation) is the quickest way I know to whip up a classic family meal, using ingredients from both a three-month supply and long-term food storage. Instant mashed potatoes and canned corn are perfect sides and take only minutes to prepare.

We also love to use the leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches. Just microwave a couple slices topped with your favorite cheese and serve between toasted bread spread with a little mayo, ketchup and mustard. Topped off with pickles and tomato, I’m NOT thinkin’ Arby’s.

I think we’ve always tried to be conservative at Christmas time. The one year we really splurged and bought each one of our four older daughters an iPod, they wept. Check that, while simultaneously screaming and laughing, tears just poured down their cheeks. Easily, one of our greatest successes, but certainly not standard practice around here.

This year I felt like we should start at conservative and then cut that number in half, considering everything. My husband, on the other hand, said that he was feeling like we should be even more conservative and cut the amount to be spent on gifts in half again. I agreed, with some hesitation, and suggested that he be the one to write that email.

Even though I was initially worried, I have to admit that the weeks leading up to the big day were so much more peaceful because there simply wasn’t very much to plan, shop for, and wrap this year. On Christmas eve I felt a little stress and weirdness, phantom pain, about our simple pile of gifts and wondered if our daughters would forever have messed up lives because we didn’t give them enough presents.

On Christmas morning, we all took turns watching each member of the family open their couple of gifts. And guess what? Everyone was fine! People were genuinely happy and appreciated what they received. One daughter even suggested that we could go with even less next year. I think we all learned something.

Turns out we really don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy the season of giving, love for each other, and our love of the Savior!

I think it was my dear friend Khaliel who told me years ago that you can’t teach children responsibility without giving them responsibility. Khaliel raised nine children! She knows what she’s talking about.

During this week before Christmas, I’ve asked each of my children to plan, pay for, and prepare one family breakfast, dinner, and dessert. We’ve made a schedule and assigned out the days sooooo that everyone can enjoy the vacation. (see?) And, if they choose to, the kids are more than welcome to use anything from the family food storage. ($!)

Saturday night’s dinner was my husband, Mike’s, turn and he served canned chicken chunks with cream of chicken soup (milk/water) over toast. That’s it. But everyone loved it! Both the canned meat and soup were from our three-month supply. Next!

Sunday was my daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Michael’s, turn and they made curry chicken and vegetables over rice. The rice was from our long-term supply, and the packaged peanut curry mix was from her own three-month supply. (yes!) The chicken and vegetables were all fresh from the grocery store.

Monday was Samantha’s turn and she prepared spaghetti with a side of corn. The pasta is a long-term storage item. The jars of marinara and canned vegetable were from our three-month supply and the ground beef was from the freezer. Spaghetti is always a winner with the family and Samantha didn’t have to spend a dime.

Tuesday was Rosemary’s turn and she prepared a knock-down great meal from food storage. She toasted rolls with provolone cheese and topped them with sliced green peppers and onions that had been lightly sauteed in a little fresh garlic butter. Then she heated canned beef chunks from our three-month supply and made brown gravy/dipping sauce from a dry packaged mix for the filling, and garnished her French dip sandwiches with fresh cilantro. A side of warm baked beans (canned, three-month supply) and a crisp ranch style green salad, made tonight’s dinner the perfect family meal, on a cold winter night.

So my son-in-law was joking about using Spam (eek!) for our Sunday brunch. I was serving Eggs Benedict with our killer cheese sauce and wanted to use the canned meat from my three-month supply instead of buying ham or bacon. (There’s so much shame in using this product, I’m glad he pointed out the Oliver Twist humor.)

Eggs Benedict

Fresh Ingredients

English muffins

grated cheese

diced tomatoes

diced green onion

eggs

Killer Cheese Sauce:

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup butter

8 oz. cream cheese

dash garlic salt

Melt sauce ingredients slowly over low heat and whisk until smooth.

Storage Ingredients

1 can Spam

Slice Spam into thin strips and saute’ until edges are crispy. Toast English muffins. Top each muffin half with two slices of meat, poached or fried eggs, and grated cheese. Then spoon on a little warm cheese sauce and finish with diced tomato and green onion.

I wanted to take a picture of the finished product but there was no way to hold back the crowd. Almost everyone had seconds and my darling son-in-law, bless his heart, had thirds.