I Dare You To Eat It

Normally, I don’t think of my food storage as an emergency supply. My focus is on PROVIDENT LIVING. And….everyone said it only rains here! (Not this week, Virginia.)

President Spencer W. Kimball emphasized the practical concepts when he taught, “Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program. We could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivation a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward.”

However! Tonight, when the evening news reported more freezing rain, temperatures continuing to drop below freezing, and snow throughout the weekend with another arctic blast expected on Sunday, I felt a lot of peace knowing that my daughter’s little rental cottage is well stocked with food that could be shared with our neighbors.

Storms happen. Building and maintaining a viable food storage simply means we are better able to deal with those storms and help others in times of need. I’m so glad that more and more people are beginning to see that logic, and opportunity. I’m thankful for the inspired leadership which has been actively teaching the principles of provident living for decades!

From the All Is Safely Gathered In pamphlet:

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.

We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. (A warm hello to new readers visiting this site from China, Finland, Bolgaria and South Africa!)

We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings, Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to extablish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.

We realize that some of you may not have financial resources or space for such storage. some of you may be prohibited by law from storing large amounts of food. We encourage you to store as much as circumstances allow.

May the Lord bless you in your home storage efforts. The First Presidency

What’s not to love?

I’ve been spending time with my daughter in Oregon and now, just when it’s time to drive back to Salt Lake, the weather has turned into a record breaking nightmare. All the roads are covered with ice, the wind is causing pipes to break, and schools are closed everywhere.

With nowhere to go, we cooked ourselves into a freezing frenzy. Using normal recipes, combining long-term storage ingredients (rice, dried beans, peas, pasta, instant potatoes) with three-month ingredients (basic canned soups, sauces, spices) AND fresh ingredients (meat, vegetables and dairy), we cooked for about 4 hours. (PLEASE STOP SNOWING!)

Now, there are 78 individual servings, all neatly wrapped, bagged, or bundled in her freezer. And most of the dishes are done. Bean enchiladas, meat loaf slices,  macaroni minestrone soup, citrus curry pork and rice, BBQ chicken, turkey n’ gravy, split pea soup and killer fettuccine had better be her favorites! She’s thinking she’ll mention the food when she advertises for a roommate.

$$$ per month, includes utilities and entrees!

Thanks to my good friend, Laurie, for sending me an email about a grocery store in Utah that is offering 50 pound bags of white or red wheat for $16.00. I guess you have to go on their website (www.maceys.com) and pre-order, email only, to get this great deal. It seems like the price is about half what you would normally pay.

Years ago, I took an excellent series of classes, from a true food storage maven. Anne taught me that in Utah, because of how dry the climate is, bags of wheat may be slid into a large Rubbermaid garbage can, stacking about 3 or 4 bags on top of each other while the can is laying down, on its side on the ground, and then you just stand the thing up and pop the lid on.

Something to think about if you need to buy wheat and are short on funds or the time to get it canned. We’ve done this in the past and then gone back and canned the product later.

I’m so glad we began buying wheat when our children were little. Even though we didn’t have extra money, we just kept buying a little bit every few months and slowly, over the years, our supply grew into the amount suggested by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What we learned during 25 years of marriage is that we never seemed to have ‘extra’ money. So starting early made a huge difference.

As I’m writing these blog posts I’m able to share the little bits I’ve learned about building a food storage that can simplify the daily routine, starting right now, and also bless family and neighbors in times of need. My tracking website tells me that I’m getting traffic from Canada, Great Britain, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Russian Federation, Czech Republic, Romania, Panama, Australia, and Denmark. I’m thrilled and amazed!

If anyone is interested in learning more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the inspired counsel that encourages provident living, please visit www.lds.org or www.providentliving.org for more information. I’m thankful for both spiritual and temporal guidance that encourages all members, over 13 million worldwide, to organize their families and prepare a minimal amount of storage. When it comes to something as vital as food, it only makes sense to maintain a plan that is independent of what the government and grocery store can provide.

I’m almost afraid to say this but the book should FINALLY be printed and available by next Friday! Mike was at Franklin Covey early Saturday morning for a press check and now all the covers are ready and waiting. If we can’t trust Franklin Covey to be on schedule then… I don’t know.

Once we have the books we’re going to try to get all the orders shipped and delivered as soon as possible. Thank you and more thank you, to everyone for your patience, encouragement, and support in this book project!

Provident living? It’s time.

But as you can see from the picture, I’m able to cook 4 cups of wheat in 10 cups of water with a tablespoon of salt, for 12 cups of whole wheat berries and still have plenty of room in this new slow cooker. My life is so cool. I’m trying to cook this much wheat about every ten days so that I always have it prepared and ready to add to recipes. The very first step to eating wheat is to start cooking wheat.

Here’s a short list of new recipes I’ve found. They all sound wonderful. I can’t tell you how sick I am of Ranch dressing.

www.phoenixmag.com/dining/recipes/200807/summer-wheat-berry-salad/ for Summer Wheat Berry Salad

http://able2know.org/topic/11173-1 for Citrus Chicken Wheat Berry Salad

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/salads/sesame-ginger-wheat-berry-salad/ for Sesame-Ginger Wheat Berry Salad

http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=8933 for Wheat Berry Vegetable Salad

http://hiphostess.wordpress.com/category/recipes/salads for Arugula, Goat Cheese & Green Olive Wheat Berry Salad (love the name, photo looks like heck, I should talk)

Now this is the way to introduce your family to wheat berries.

Fresh Ingredients

15  8″ tortillas

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced *optional

1 cup combination of celery and or onion, diced *optional

Storage Ingredients

1 cup dry pinto beans, (3 cups cooked)

1 cup leftover cooked rice

1 cup cooked whole wheat berries

1 can cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 oz.)

1 can diced green chilies (7 oz.)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Soak pinto beans in 5 cups of water for 24 hours. (Change water once or twice during that time.) Drain. Thoroughly rinse softened beans and then cook in a slow cooker set on low with 5 cups of fresh water for approximately 8 hours, or overnight. (If I have them available, I like to add one minced clove of garlic and 1 cup of diced celery and/or onion to help flavor the beans while they cook, but it’s not necessary.) When beans are soft and fully cooked, drain the cooking liquid.

Mix beans with all the other ingredients and spoon 1/3 cup of filling into center of each tortilla. Fold in two sides slightly to close ends and then roll the opposite sides over filling. Wrap every other one in waxed paper (to prevent them from freezing into a burrito-block) and store in freezer bags.

To serve, microwave for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with any combination of grated cheese, diced tomato, sour cream, sliced olives, and cilantro.

This is where fast food meets food storage. I highly recommend that everyone try these little sliders! With my schedule, I NEED to have meals that can be ready in minutes. Having these burritos prepared ahead of time means we enjoy the advantages of instant food while we’re using our food storage.They take very little effort to prepare, are virtually vegetarian, high in nutrition, supplying whole protiens with the combination of rice, beans, and whole wheat, cost pennies a pop, AND they taste terrific. One of my daughters likes to take them to work so that she can actually enjoy the lunch she microwaves. I think you’re going to like this one!

NOT REALLY! 

A wheat grinder is a great ‘mommy tool’ but there are countless creative ways to use wheat besides just grinding it into flour. My very best strategy for using the wheat from our food storage is to simply cook it and then add it to normal recipes. (Click on the recipe section for a few examples.) If you Google major cooking sites like the Food Network and search ‘wheat berries’ you’ll find at least fifty tasty suggestions that incorporate whole wheat into soups, salads, sides, and main dish casseroles.

As I’ve mentioned before, I set a goal for my family where I serve something prepared with whole wheat berries at least once a week. Besides the obvious health and nutritional benefits, I want my family to be very comfortable and even enjoy eating the wheat we have stored. I want wheat to be a significant part of our regular diet.

So, don’t be discouraged if you haven’t purchased a wheat grinder. I believe that when it comes to our food storage budget, the most important investment has got to be the FOOD. And even in an emergency, a wheat grinder is something that could easily be shared.

Fresh Ingredients

2 lb. ground beef, or substitute 2 cups cooked whole wheat berries for one lb. of the meat

1 medium chopped onion

Storage Ingredients

1/4 c. vinegar

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. catsup

1/2 tsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)

1 can water

Brown beef with onion and drain fat. Add all the other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over hot rice and garnish with grated cheese, kidney beans, shredded lettuce or cabbage, diced celery, diced tomatoes, diced avocado, sour cream, and corn chips.

Thank you to my friend Kris for sharing this family favorite recipe. Back in the early 70’s it won a weekly contest in the Deseret News!

Fresh Ingredients

4-6 pork sirloin boneless chops

1/2 c. onion, diced

1/2 c. celery, diced

2 Tbsp. butter

Storage Ingredients

2 c. rice

1/2 c. golden raisin

1/2 c. orange marmalade

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 can chicken broth (14.5 oz.)

1/2 c. evaporated canned milk

1/4 c. rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. curry powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Cut pork chops into 1″ chunks. Saute onion and celery with butter in a large frying pan until just slightly cooked. Remove vegetables and add pork chunks to frying pan and quickly brown on high. Mix all the ingredients and transfer to a lightly oiled 9″ x 13″ cake pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

This is a great one pan meal deal. I’ve made the full recipe and divided it into small freezer bag portions for many delicious microwaveable lunches or dinners. I love being able to steam carrots and broccoli and have an instant homemade meal, from food storage! If you want to be extra fancy, garnish with a little fresh orange zest, toasted slivered almonds, or cilantro on top.

Storage Ingredients

2 c. cooked whole wheat berries

3/4 c. Cream Of Wheat (non-instant variety)

1/2 tsp. salt

4 c. water (1-2 c. dehydrated milk powder may be added for extra creaminess and nutrition)

Bring water and salt to a boil. (Or, if using milk, bring just to a boil.) Gradually add Cream Of Wheat, stirring constantly with wire whisk until well blended. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, uncovered, 2-1/2 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Add cooked whole wheat berries. Serve with brown sugar or honey and milk.

This is a crazy little hot breakfast porridge that isn’t quite as intense as a bowl of whole wheat berries, straight up. The leftovers can be stored in a square cake pan and cut into pieces, sort of like bread pudding, (right) and microwaved on an as needed basis all week long.