How to Cook an Old Rooster

There comes a time in the life of every chicken-keeper when you have to make some tough decisions. When laying hens get over two years of age, their rate-of-lay drops precipitously. Unless you want to start buying your eggs from the store and run an elderly chicken retirement home, you need to have another generation of pullets coming into lay and to butcher the old birds.

Our main laying flock will be two years old in the spring, so their days on our homestead are unfortunately numbered. The rooster of that flock became a vile jerk and only seemed to get worse with age, so he met his end before the rest of the bunch. He attacked any human - other than me, usually - who dared to enter his domain. He was rough on the ladies in his harem and had recently started to aggressively attack any chicken who dared to eat when I scattered treats in their run. It was time for Mr. Rooster to go.

Mr. Rooster was calm on his way to the killing cone. He was such a
gorgeous Buff Orpington, but was a complete tyrant. 

The problem with old chickens is that they tend to be tough. You definitely will not want to fry an old, heritage breed bird unless you like leathery chicken. An older rooster or retired laying hen calls for being cooked for a long time over low, moist heat.

Here are the two ways I used our tough bird: Rooster and Dumplings and Bone Broth. The broth from an older, heritage breed bird is outstanding, and lends great depth of flavor to these simple preparations.

Rooster and dumplings

Enjoy!



Rooster and Dumplings

1 whole rooster or stew hen
3-1/2 t. salt, divided
3/4 t. pepper, divided
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. ground red pepper

FOR DUMPLINGS:
3 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t. salt
4-1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. poultry seasoning
1/3 c. shortening
2 t. bacon drippings
1 c. milk

Place the chicken in a large, heavy pot such as a Dutch oven. Cover with water and add 2-1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper, garlic powder, thyme, and red pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. You want to cook the chicken very slowly so it isn't tough. Cook for about 5 hours at a very low simmer.

Remove the chicken carcass from the broth; cool slightly, and then pull the meat from the bones. Skim the fat from the top of the broth. Chop or shred the meat and then add it back to the broth. Reserve the bones for making bone broth (see following recipe). Add remaining salt and pepper to broth, taste, then adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and poultry seasoning in a medium-sized bowl. Cut in shortening and bacon drippings until the mixture is crumbly throughout. Add milk and stir until everything is moistened.

Roll dumpling dough out on a floured surface to 1/8" thickness. Cut into 1" squares.  

Return broth mixture to a boil, then drop the dumplings one at a time into the broth. Go slowly and stir gently to make sure they do not break or stick together. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring often, for 25 minutes.


Note: If you aren't using an old bird, you do not have to cook it so long. Two hours would probably be sufficient for your typical broiler chicken. The broth will not be as flavorful, though, so you might want to supplement the broth with a chicken bouillon cube.


Nutritious Bone Broth

2 chicken carcasses - you only need the bones
Water
Salt and pepper
2 T. apple cider vinegar
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled

Take the chicken carcasses and put them in the bottom of a 6 qt. slow cooker. Cover with water, add 1 t. salt and pepper to taste, and other ingredients. Cook on low for 24-48 hours. The combination of long cooking and the vinegar will help dissolve the healthy minerals from the bones. I usually cook this for 48 hours and remove the garlic cloves after the first day. Cool and freeze in freezer-safe containers.  Use in any recipe that calls for chicken broth. 

Using Your Food Storage: The Little House Cookbook

One of the fun things we did on our mini-vacation to southwest Missouri was visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's house.

Laura Ingalls Wilder House
Mansfield, MO

It was a treat to tour the home Laura lived in when she wrote her famous "Little House" series of books. I was an obsessive fan of the "Little House" books as a child and only slightly less obsessive as an adult.

Needless to say I spent more than I probably should have in the museum bookstore. In my bag of Laura-themed paraphernalia, I came away with this.

The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories

I've always wanted to know how to prepare the foods mentioned in the books and all the iconic recipes are there. Now, however, I read The Little House Cookbook through the lens of preparedness and realized just how useful this it is.

• The meals are simple, using staples from food storage, game from hunting, or produce from the garden. How do you make hasty pudding, jackrabbit stew, or stewed dried fruit? Now I know. One thing I appreciate is how simple all the recipes are. They use just a few ingredients and many of them come straight from our food storage. This is ideal from a preparedness point of view. 

• Many of the meals were originally cooked over an open fire or fireplace. The recipes have been adapted to modern cooking appliances, but they could easily be turned back to the originals in a grid down or camping scenario. Just make sure you have the appropriate cast iron cookware. 

• How about making things we usually buy? This book gives recipes for making vinegar from apple cores, rendering lard, and crafting hard cheese.   

This cookbook is so much fun for a Laura fan and it proved that I can find prepping related items anywhere, even on vacation!

Using Your Food Storage: Black Bean Burgers

When a Facebook friend of mine raved about the easy bean burgers she had made for dinner this week, I knew I had to get the recipe. It's kind of strange since I am such a lover of red meat, but I really like bean burgers. I don't make them very often because all my recipes are rather time consuming. My friend's version, however, is quick, easy, and just so happens to use a food storage staple, vital wheat gluten.

Vital wheat gluten is the most important ingredient you can add to 100% whole wheat bread to help it turn into a fluffy, delicate loaf instead of a dense brick. It can also be used to make faux meat ("wheat meat", a.k.a. seitan), though I've never done that before. Vital wheat gluten  has a shelf life of 7-10 years, making it a good candidate for your long term food storage.

I made this recipe on a weeknight and it was indeed as quick and easy as my friend claimed. There was a delicious contrast between the crispy exterior and creamy inside of the bean burger. A burger that is healthy, delicious, and uses items I always keep in my food storage? I'm sold!

Bean burger and sweet potato fries. Yum!

Black Bean Burgers (Recipe adapted from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook)

1-15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed (OR about 1-2/3 c. cooked black beans [2/3 c. dry])
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
Salt to taste
1/4 c. water
1 T. tomato paste (OR tomato powder reconstituted according to package directions)
1/4 c. finely chopped cilantro (OR substitute another herb to your taste)
2 cloves of garlic, minced (OR 1/4-1/2 t. garlic powder)
1/2 small onion, grated (OR 1-2 T. dried onion, rehydrated and then finely chopped)
1/2 c. vital wheat gluten
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
Olive Oil
Buns

Mash the beans with a fork or potato masher in a mixing bowl. It's OK to have a few chunky bits. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, water, tomato paste, cilantro, garlic, and onion and mix.

Add the gluten and bread crumbs, kneading with your hands until everything is well-mixed. Divide the mixture into six pieces and form into 1/2" thick patties.

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook the patties in batches (don't crowd them in the skillet) until brown, about 3-5 minutes. Flip the patties and cook the other side. Serve on buns. I like mine with mayonnaise and jalapeno mustard. :)

Is it Possible to Make Artisan-Style Pizza in 5 Minutes?

Here comes an admission that I find pretty embarrassing: I regularly buy frozen pizzas.

We reserve such pizzas for crazy days like the one we'll have tomorrow. Mondays start bright and early at our house since we have to get ready for a visit from Sweetie Pie's speech therapist. That means I have to get all of us bathed and dressed (as well as vacuum up the graham cracker crumbs that mysteriously got ground into the living room carpet) by 8 AM. There is also a piano lesson for The Thinker and separate basketball practices for The Thinker and Mini Me. (Did I mention that basketball practice is a 45 minute drive from our home?) In between all the appointments, I manage to squeeze in homeschooling and laundry.

Frozen pizza just fits our schedule on days like that.

But what if it was possible to make homemade pizza in the same amount of time it would take to bake a frozen pizza? What if you could save money, cut out preservatives, and break yet another link to the processed food industry? Oh, and did I mention it would taste far better than frozen fare?

Enter the book Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day. After I read an article on this quick method of making homemade pizza in Mother Earth News, I decided to spend part of my February prepping budget on the book.





The method literally could not be easier. Mix up a four ingredient pizza dough, all from your food storage. Refrigerate. Use any time within 14 days.  The refrigeration actually improves the dough, making it easier to handle and giving it a bit of a sourdough flavor. Plus, you can make enough dough for eight+ pizzas at once, saving you time and dishes to wash!


Here's the recipe for a basic crust. This will make enough dough for four, 12-inch pizzas:

1-1/2 c. lukewarm water
1 T. yeast (instant or dry active - doesn't matter)
1 t. table salt
3-3/4 c. unbleached, all purpose flour (The authors of the book say the recipe won't turn out right if you use bleached flour.)

Add water to a large mixing bowl or other container. Add yeast and salt, stir. Add flour and mix until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic or a loose lid (you don't want it to be perfectly air tight). Allow to rise at room temperature for about two hours. Refrigerate for up to 14 days or use right away. The dough is easier to handle after it has been chilled.


This pizza is designed to be baked at high temperatures on a baking stone,which gives the crust its wonderful texture. You can also use a heavy duty baking sheet if you would prefer.

You can use canned pizza sauce if you like, or do what I did and make sauce ahead. I took 2-28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes and seasoned them with minced garlic, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper. I simmered the mixture over low heat for two hours. I then measured out 1/3 c. portions (enough for one 12" pizza) and froze them individually. Now all I have to do is quickly defrost however many bags of sauce while I preheat my baking stone for 30 minutes at 550 degrees.

The crust is rolled out to 1/8th inch thick and is topped with about 1/3 c. of pizza sauce and whatever else you like. I used 1-1/2 oz. turkey pepperoni and 3 oz. fresh mozzarella.

The trickiest part of the process is baking the pizzas, or rather, transferring the crust and toppings to the baking stone without it sticking to your pizza peel (I don't have a peel so I used a baking sheet like this one.)

Turkey pepperoni and fresh mozzarella pizza

After about eight minutes in the oven, I became nervous about the pepperoni burning so I took the pizza out. That was a bit too early as the crust wasn't quite as crispy as it could be and the cheese should have browned more. I'll get all the ins and outs figured out with practice. Even so, the pizza tasted amazing! The kids snarfed it down so fast you would have thought they were in a competition. And would you believe that a 1/4 of this pizza is only 225 calories and 7 grams of fat?

This was so quick and easy to make, I think it is safe to say that we've kicked frozen pizza to the curb.

Here are some resources if you're interesting in trying this method out:

• Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois. The book has many different crust recipes (including whole wheat!) and topping ideas. 
• "The Secret to Incredibly Easy Homemade Pizza" in the February/March 2012 Mother Earth News. This gives more details about the recipe than I wrote above. 
• "Pizza-Making Supplies: Build Your Arsenal", also from Mother Earth News. Links to kitchen items you'll find handy for this recipe. 
• http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/  The authors' website. Good information here, too. 

Using Your Food Storage: Chocolate Caramel Graham Crackers

Looking for a quick and easy treat for your sweetie this Valentine's Day? Look no further!

These Chocolate Caramel Graham Crackers taste like buttery chocolate-covered toffee and best of all, I didn't have to go to the store to be able to make them.  All the ingredients are ones I have as part of my three month and/or long term food storage. Try it - I promise you'll love it! 

If you can stop after only eating two pieces, you have far more self-control than I do! 

Chocolate Caramel Graham Crackers - Slightly adapted from a recipe published in the January 2003  Gourmet magazine

12 graham crackers (If you don't have graham crackers in your food storage, you could even make your own!)

1-1/2 sticks of butter

1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

1/8 t. salt (If you use salted butter, feel free to skip this.) 

1-1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat your oven to 375. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, leaving a 2" overhang it each end. Line the bottom of the pan with the graham crackers. 

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add brown sugar (and salt, if using) and cook, whisking constantly, until the butter and sugar are smooth and well combined. The mixture be separated at first, but a minute of whisking over heat will bring it together. Pour over crackers, spreading evenly. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 10 minutes. 

Scatter chocolate chips evenly over crackers and bake in oven until chocolate is soft, about 1 minute. Remove pan from oven and gently spread chocolate. Sprinkle nuts over chocolate and cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Then pop the pan in your freezer for 15 minutes. 

Lift the crackers from the pan by grasping both ends of foil. Peel foil from crackers and break them up into chunks. Devour!

Supposedly these crackers will keep, chilled and layered between waxed paper in an airtight container, for two weeks. I wouldn't know since they've never lasted that long at my house!

Using Your Food Storage: Crockpot Sloppy Joes

I've been meaning to share this recipe with you all for the longest time. This is the best version of sloppy joes that I've ever tried and it uses a slow cooker, the favorite appliance of harried homemakers everywhere. You know what's even better? Using food storage will streamline the preparation of this meal and make it come together very quickly. Try it - you won't be disappointed.










Crockpot Sloppy Joes
Recipe adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

1 lb lean ground beef (OR 1 pint of home-canned ground beef, drained)
1 onion, finely chopped (OR approx. 3 T. dry onions, rehydrated according to package directions)
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped (OR about 1/4 c. dry bell pepper, rehydrated according to package directions)
1 large rib celery, finely chopped (OR about 2 T. dry celery, rehydrated according to package directions)
1 clove of garlic, minced (OR 1/4 t. garlic powder)
1-6 oz. can tomato paste (OR 3 oz. tomato powder mixed with 3 oz. water)
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. firmly packed brown sugar
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. dry mustard
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. chili powder
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Dash of cayenne pepper
Buns for serving

If using fresh ingredients: Brown beef in a skillet with onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. When the meat is cooked through, transfer the mixture to your slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

OR

If using food storage: Heat the canned meat and rehydrated vegetables together in a skillet. When the mixture is warm, transfer it to your slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients, and proceed with recipe.

Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours. If you let it cook past 5 hours, keep an eye on it because it might start to get overcooked on the sides, depending on how "hot" your slow cooker cooks.

Ladle mixture on buns and enjoy.

Using Your Food Storage: Wheatberry Salad

When I saw this recipe in the American Profile insert in our local paper, I immediately knew I had to pass it on. Not only is it based around wheat berries, something most preppers have in abundance, but many of the other ingredients are also commonly found in people's food storage. I store things like Dijon mustard, pecans, and Worcestershire sauce as part of my three month supply and I grow both sage and thyme in my herb garden. I'm sure you could even use dry celery and apples in place of fresh. I can't wait to try this recipe out!

Wheatberry Salad

2 c. wheat berries (ie. wheat kernels)
4 qt. water
1 c. diced celery
1 lb roughly chopped smoked turkey or rotisserie chicken
1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 c. dried cranberries
1 c. chopped pecans
3 T. walnut or corn oil
2 T. cider vinegar
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 T. chopped fresh sage or 1 t. dried
2 t. fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 t. dried
1 t. salt
1/2 t. coarsely ground black pepper


Place wheat berries in a large pot; add water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain in a colander and cool.

Place wheat berries in a large bowl; stir in remaining ingredients. Serve cold or at room temperature. Serves 10.

Fresh from the Garden: Raspberry Bars

We grow the Heritage variety of red raspberries. Heritage produces two crops of berries, one in June and one in September. If you cut the canes back in late fall/winter, however, it will produce one, larger crop in the fall. That is our preferred method of management which means that we are still in the midst of our raspberry harvest.

I've used a lot of our raspberries to make the following recipe for raspberry bars. Beware! The recipe makes a large amount of these very rich, completely irresistible bars. There's something about that tang you get from the fresh raspberries that makes these bars addictive. Don't say I didn't warn you if you find your pants a little snug the day after you make these!

Raspberry bars

Raspberry Bars (slightly adapted from this recipe on allrecipes.com)

1-1/2 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1/2 c. coconut oil (You can substitute shortening for this, if you wish.)
1/2 c. shortening
1 egg
4 c. fresh raspberries
3 t. cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch pan.

Combine 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in the coconut oil and shortening and then blend in the egg. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the cornstarch and berries. Place mixture over dough in pan. Crumble the remaining dough over the tops of the berries.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the top is slightly brown.              

Fresh from the Garden: Tomato-Jack Salad

This recipe couldn't be easier, and yet it is one of my family's favorite ways to eat vine-ripe tomatoes. My mom came up with this combination 20+ years ago and we've been consuming it in mass quantities ever since. The zesty dressing, sweetly acidic tomatoes, and the creamy spice of the cheese are wonderful together.

I'm happy to share with you one of my family's secret recipes. Just promise me you won't try this with bland, grocery store tomatoes, OK? That would be a sacrilege. :)

I used Roma-type tomatoes because that is all I had at the moment. Slicer-type
tomatoes are much better, but, trust me, this was still pretty good. 

Tomato-Jack Salad

Ripe tomatoes
Pepper Jack Cheese
Italian dressing (If I'm using bottled dressing, prefer to use one that is labeled "zesty" or "robusto". It enhances the spicy kick.)

Alternate slices of tomatoes with thin slices of pepper jack cheese. Drizzle dressing over the top. You can serve immediately, or let it sit for a bit to increase the lusciousness.

Fresh from the Garden: Basil Pesto

It's the world's klutziest woman checking back in. :) I got a new accessory today - an arm sling.Turns out I separated my right shoulder and I get to have my arm in a sling for a month while it heals. And, yes, I am right-handed. Thankfully, I have plenty of Advil in my stockpile (that I got for free with coupons, thank you very much!) and I still have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Sometimes if you don't laugh, you'll cry.

With that out of the way, here's the latest edition to my "Fresh From the Garden" recipe collection - pesto. I know, I know. Pesto isn't exactly new and innovative. But when it is made with garlic and basil from your own garden - oh. my. gravy. So delicious! My kids practically lap it up. 

This pesto recipe is the best one I have found. The simple step of blanching the garlic keeps it from being too strong and overpowering. The spicy basil and pungent garlic are in perfect balance with the creamy pine nuts. Dang it. I've made myself drool just typing this.

Pesto fresh from the food processor

Basil Pesto
Adapted from The Best Recipe  (An A+ cookbook that I highly recommend.) 

3 medium garlic cloves (unpeeled)
1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted (In a pinch, I've used almonds, walnuts, or even pecans)
2 c. packed basil leaves
7 T. extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1/4 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Thread the garlic cloves on a skewer. Lower skewered garlic into a pot of boiling water. Boil for 45 seconds and then run garlic under cold water to stop the cooking. Remove from the skewer, peel, and mince.

Place basil in a freezer bag. Pound with something heavy (I use the flat side of my meat tenderizer) until the leaves are bruised. This step really intensifies the basil flavor.

Place all ingredients except cheese in work bowl of food processor; process until smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in cheese plus salt to taste.

Yield: Enough pesto for 1 lb pasta

Note: If you are using this pesto on pasta, save back a cup or so of the pasta cooking water and add it to the pesto. This loosens up the pesto just enough and the starch in the cooking water helps the whole thing "meld".

Penne alla pesto - yummers!

Fresh From the Garden: Cucumbers in Dressing

This is a recipe my mother-in-law makes frequently during the summer for family get-togethers. It's sweet, creamy, and has a nice zip from the vinegar and dill.

I used green onions, dill, and cucumbers from our garden. Hubby Dear teased
me that I was a slacker for not making the mayo from scratch, too! 

Cucumbers in Dressing

1 c. mayo
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
4 t. white vinegar
1 t. chopped fresh dill
3 green onions, chopped
4-6 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced

Mix together the first four ingredients in a large bowl. Gently stir in the remaining ingredients and chill for at least an hour before serving.

Fresh From the Garden: Blackberry Cobbler

I apologize for the formatting issues you may see on this and other recent posts. I'm having issues with Blogger working, period, much less formatting correctly.
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I'm starting a new category of posts - Fresh From the Garden. These posts will feature recipes that are based on seasonal garden produce. Many of them will also be food storage-friendly.





Blackberries! We're getting inundated and I love it!


Now that I've canned 24 half-pints of blackberry jam*, I've started freezing pint containers of blackberries for cobblers. Here is a quick and easy cobbler recipe that my family really enjoys.




Fresh out of the oven and ready to devour



Blackberry Cobbler
Slightly adapted from this Betty Crocker recipe

2 1/2 cups blackberries
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
A dash of vanilla extract
A stick of butter, melted


In a medium bowl, stir together blackberries and sugar. Let stand about 30 minutes or until fruit syrup forms. My firm, fresh berries needed a little help releasing their juice, so I had to gently press a few of them to get the syrup going. If you are using frozen, thawed berries, you may not need to do that. Preheat oven to 375°F.

In another medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and vanilla. Stir in melted butter until blended. Spread in ungreased 8-inch square pan. Spoon blackberry mixture over batter.


Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until dough rises and is golden.



*If you want to track my progress, check out the "Harvest 2011" box in my sidebar. I'm keeping a tally of what I add to my pantry or freezer from our garden.

Using Your Food Storage: Chicken Cobbler with Caramelized Onions

Hubby Dear was on-call from 5 pm Friday until 7 am Monday. That meant that every person that showed up at our hospital with ailments large or small was seen by him. Needless to say, we didn't see very much of him over the weekend and he was very worn out by this morning.

To thank him for his hard work providing for his family, I made one of Hubby Dear's favorite meals today. Chicken Cobbler with Caramelized Onions is rich, comforting, and, of course, can be made entirely from your food storage. I use refrigerated piecrusts as a time-saver, though of course you can make your crusts from scratch if you are so inclined.

My photography does not do this dish justice. Try it - you (or your significant other) won't be sorry!

Digging in

Chicken Cobbler with Caramelized Onions

1/3 c. butter (or canned butter or canned clarified butter/ghee)
2 large onions, diced (or 1 c. dry onions, rehydrated)
1/4 c. flour
1-12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
1 T. chicken bouillon granules (or 3 bouillon cubes)
1/4 t. pepper
3 c. coarsely chopped cooked chicken (or 1-2 jars/cans of chicken)
3 T. chopped fresh parsley (or 3 t. dry parsley)
1-15 oz. package refrigerated piecrusts (See recipe below to make from scratch)
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese (freshly grated or the stuff from the green can)

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion, and saute 20 minutes or  until caramel colored. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Gradually stir in evaporated milk and chicken broth. Add bouillon and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in pepper, chicken and parsley. Pour chicken mixture into a lightly greased 10 inch deep dish pieplate or a round casserole dish.

If you are using pre-made piecrusts, unfold them and press out fold lines. Sprinkle 1 piecrust with pecans and Parmesan cheese. Top with remaining piecrust. Roll into a 14 inch circle; press edges to seal. Cut into 1/2 inch wide strips. Arrange strips in a lattice design over filling, reserving any extra strips.

Bake at 425 for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Place remaining strips on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cobbler.


Pie crust - makes two crusts
Adapted from a recipe from Crisco

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening, chilled
4-8 tbsp ice cold water

Blend flour and salt in medium mixing bowl.

Cut chilled shortening into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut chilled shortening cubes into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle half the maximum recommended amount of ice cold water over the flour mixture. Using a fork, stir moisture evenly into flour.  Add more water by the tablespoon, until dough is moist enough to hold together when pressed together. Divide dough in two. Shape into disks, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for thirty minutes. Roll each disk out into  a 12" circle and proceed with recipe.

Using Your Food Storage: Spicy Raisin Flats

Before I got married to Hubby Dear, I went through my Mom's recipe collection and copied all her best recipes into a little cookbook of my own. Not surprisingly, these old-fashioned favorites are some of my most frequently used recipes.

And then there's this recipe:

My copy of the recipe for Spicy Raisin Flats

I vaguely remember my Mom making these cookies when I was a kid, but it has been at least 20 years since I've cooked or eaten a Spicy Raisin Flat.  I remember them as dense, sweet, bar cookies full of warm, spicy flavor. And the best thing? They can be made entirely from food storage.

My original copy of the recipe was missing a few key pieces of information: how long they cook, at what temperature they cook, and the quantities of the glaze ingredients. I just winged it and it turned out fine. I've re-written the recipe for clarity and to reflect my "winging".

Warm out of the oven

My kids absolutely LOVED these cookies. The Thinker said they taste like Christmas.  See if you agree.

Spicy Raisin Flats

Spicy Raisin Flats

1 c. raisins
1 c. water
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 egg (or 1 T. dry egg powder + 2 T. water)
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 t. milk (can be reconstituted dry milk or even water in a pinch)

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine raisins and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until only about 1/4 c. of juice remains. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together shortening, both types of sugar, and egg. (If you are using powdered eggs, just add the water at this point.)

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and powdered egg (if using).

Mix the flour mixture in with the shortening mixture. Then add in the raisin mixture. Spread on a greased, rimmed cookie sheet and bake until set, about 15 minutes. These cookies are meant to be moist and soft, not crispy.

In a small bowl, slowly add just enough milk to the powdered sugar to make a thin glaze. Ice the cookies while they are still hot. The more glaze, the better these cookies taste. Allow to cool, cut, and serve.

Using Your Food Storage: King Ranch Chicken

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to casseroles.

I don't care how far the humble casserole is from "haute cuisine". I love throwing together leftovers or miscellaneous pantry items and watching them magically come together into a hot, flavorful meal. It's hard to go wrong, especially if the end result is covered in cheese!  

Here's a tried and true casserole recipe that is, of course, food storage-friendly.

One thing you have to consider with this recipe is that it calls for corn tortillas. There are several substitutions you could use for fresh, store-bought corn tortillas.

First, corn tortillas do freeze well. Stack the tortillas with pieces of waxed paper in between them and then place in a freezer bag. Simply thaw them before you use them. I like to wrap them in a paper towel and gently defrost them in the microwave. 

Second, you could add masa harina to your food storage and make your own corn tortillas. Here's a recipe for that.

Third option: use flour tortillas instead. They are easy to make from scratch and use ingredients pretty much everyone stores. Here's a recipe. 

A fourth, advanced option: make your own masa by 'nixtamalizing' corn kernels then use the masa to make tortillas. You have my full respect if you do this for a lowly casserole!   

Is it pretty to look at? Not really. But my family thinks it is pretty tasty!

King Ranch Chicken

King Ranch Chicken, adapted from a recipe published in Southern Living


1 large onion, chopped OR about 1/3 c. dry onion, rehydrated
1 large green bell pepper, chopped OR about 1/2 c. dry peppers, rehydrated
Vegetable oil
Cooking spray
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts OR 1 pint home-canned chicken OR 1 can of commerically-canned chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can diced tomato and green chiles (Rotel)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas (fresh, frozen and thawed, or homemade)
8 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese OR freeze-dried, stored waxed cheese, canned cheese, etc.


Sauté onion and bell pepper in a large skillet coated with a bit of oil over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.Stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients; remove from heat.

Tear tortillas into 1-inch pieces; layer one-third tortilla pieces in bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with one-third chicken mixture and one-third cheese. Repeat layers twice.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Using Your Food Storage: My Favorite Pancake Recipe

I don't cook breakfast very often - FYOF (Find Your Own Food) is my rule for breakfast - but I do regularly cook breakfast-type foods at other times of the day. If TSHTF, I expect we'll be eating pancakes much more often. Not only can they be made entirely out of food storage, but they also are easy to cook on top of your gas stove, woodstove, grill, or campfire, providing you have the appropriate cookware.

I've been looking for the perfect whole wheat pancake recipe and I think I've finally found it. The pancakes turn out light and fluffy with none of the hard bits of wheat I always seem to get when I try one of those blender pancake recipes. They are sweet, with a pleasant, light, nuttiness from the wheat. I never thought I'd say this, but I actually prefer these pancakes to the recipe I've used for years from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Maple syrup and butter on whole wheat pancakes? Heavenly!

Try out these pancakes! They are super yummy, no matter what time of day you make them.


Whole Wheat Pancakes, recipe from Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook

2 c. whole wheat flour (freshly ground is best)
2 t. baking powder
4 T. sugar
5 T. dried whole egg powder
6 T. non-instant, non-fat powdered milk
1/2 t. salt
2 c. plus 5 T. water
4 T. oil

Sift together dry ingredients. Add water and oil; stir until moist. Cook on a griddle or pan at medium heat. Serve with butter and syrup or whatever floats your boat. Makes 12-5" pancakes.

Using Your Food Storage: Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

One of the blogs I have followed for years is that of Ree, the Pioneer Woman. She's famous now, having a cookbook, romance novel, and children's book to her credit. Reese Witherspoon is even reportedly signed on to play her in a movie based on her life. I feel proud that I found and loved her long before Hollywood beckoned. It's a sign of greatness on my part, don't you think?

One of her recipes that I make is a casserole called Chicken Spaghetti. It's pure American comfort food. I made a huge pan of it for my neighbor after she had a baby and amazing things started happening. Bags of produce fresh from their garden began to show up at my front door. Neighborly acts of kindness abounded. It was a good thing. The Chicken Spaghetti started it all.

The key to the goodness of Chicken Spaghetti is the copious amount of sharp cheddar cheese in the recipe. Did you know that you can easily have cheese in your food storage? If not, take a look at the following video:







Cheese is such a major part of our diet that I intend to store a lot of waxed cheese. You can read more about waxing cheese yourself  here.



Chicken Spaghetti and Green Beans Amandine - all from food storage!


Give this recipe a try and tell me what you think about it!

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti, Food Storage Style

1 or 2 pints or cans of chicken, shredded  into medium sized chunks
1 lb spaghetti, noodles broken into thirds
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided  (fresh, freeze-dried, canned or stored waxed cheese) 
¼ cup finely diced green pepper OR about 2 T. dry peppers, rehydrated
¼ cup finely diced onion OR about 2 T. dry onion, rehydrated
1-4 oz. jar diced pimentos, drained
1 can of chicken broth OR chicken bouillon prepared to make 2 cups of broth
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
⅛ -1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Salt And Pepper, to taste (Hold off on the salt if you use bouillon)

Cook spaghetti until just al dente. Combine cooked spaghetti with remaining ingredients, reserving 1 c of the cheddar cheese. Place mixture in a greased 9 x 13" dish and top with the reserved cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Using Your Food Storage: Dirty Rice

I love it when I cook a great meal for my family and no one knows it's from food storage! I made food storage-friendly dirty rice the other day and thought I would share this simple and tasty recipe with you.

In case you are not familiar with dirty rice, it is a dish that hails from Louisiana. I spent three years in Louisiana as a teenager, long enough to pick up a cute southern accent and a predilection for Cajun food. The accent didn't stick around very long after I moved away, but I still love Cajun food. The version of Dirty Rice that I make gets its "dirty" look from ground beef rather than the chicken giblets and liver that are traditional.

One thing I should mention is that this recipe includes a bit of ground red (cayenne) pepper. We don't think it is spicy - my children scarf it up without complaint - but I have some relatives with weaker palates that would think I was trying to kill them. If you are sensitive with heat, start off with just a little cayenne or skip it and add Tabasco to taste at the table.

Dirty Rice - savory and delicious

Dirty Rice

1 lb lean ground beef (OR 1 pint canned ground beef, drained OR freeze-dried beef or TVP, reconstituted)
2 garlic cloves, minced (OR 2 t. garlic powder or freeze-dried garlic)
2 celery ribs, chopped (OR 1/4 c. dry celery, rehydrated according to package directions)
1 medium onion, chopped (OR 3/4 c. dry onion, rehydrated)
1 T chopped fresh parsley (OR 1 t. dry parsley)
1 green bell pepper, chopped (OR 1/2 c. dry bell peppers, rehydrated)
1 t. salt (Omit if using bouillon)
1/4 t. ground red pepper or to taste
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 T. Worchestershire sauce
1 c. white rice
1 can beef broth (OR bouillon prepared to equal 2 cups. Omit salt if using bouillon.)
3/4 c. water

Cook ground beef and next 5 ingredients in a large skillet or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. If you are using canned beef and reconstituted dry vegetables, simply cook together until items are warm.

Stir in salt and next 3 ingredients; stirring well. Add rice, broth, and 3/4 c. water, stirring well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 to 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir as necessary to prevent sticking to the pan and add a bit of water if it gets too dry before the rice is cooked through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Enjoy!

Using Your Food Storage: Beef and Barley Soup

The recipe that I'm going to share with you today is one of my family's favorite winter meals. The ingredients are so simple that it might seem boring, but I promise you that this recipe is transcendent. This soup has such a wonderfully beefy flavor. And if you serve it alongside a slice of bread made from wheat you ground yourself? It's divine!

One of the main ingredients in this soup is barley, which is a great addition to your food storage. If the only barley you've ever had is the mushy stuff in canned vegetable beef soup, you're in for a treat! Barley has a mild nutty flavor and a pleasant chewiness. If you don't have any barley on hand or have some sort of weird aversion to it, I have also made this recipe using egg noodles. I just throw them to cook in with the soup about 15 minutes before the soup is done.

I have listed the food storage substitutions for the fresh ingredients below. If you use all food storage ingredients, especially canned beef, I have written revised directions. You don't need to brown the already cooked canned beef and you can allow the dehydrated vegetables to rehydrate in the soup while you cook it.

Beef and Barley Soup, adapted from a recipe published in Cooking Light magazine

2 lb beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (OR canned beef [home-canned or store-bought])
2 t. vegetable oil
2 c. chopped leek  (OR 2 c. chopped onion OR about 1/2 c. dry onion)
2 c chopped carrot (OR about 1 c. dry carrots)
4 garlic cloves, minced (OR 2 t. freeze-dried garlic OR garlic powder)
6 c. water
1-1/2 t. salt (Omit salt if using beef bouillon. Reduce according to taste if you're not using reduced sodium broth.)
1 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
4 bay leaves
2-14 oz. cans less-sodium beef broth (OR beef bouillon prepared to yield 4 cups broth)
1 c. uncooked pearl barley

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add half of beef; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining beef.

Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add leek, carrot, and garlic; saute 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Return beef to pan. Add water and next 5 ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour. Add barley; cook 30 minutes or until beef and barley are tender. Discard bay leaves and serve.

Food Storage Items Only Directions:

Omit browning beef and sauteing vegetables. Place liquid ingredients, an additional cup to 1-1/2 cup water, seasonings (omit salt), and vegetables in Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Drain liquid from canned beef and cut beef into 1" chunks, if necessary. Add beef and barley to the soup. Cook 30 minutes or until barley is tender. Taste broth for salt and add additional salt if necessary. Discard bay leaves and serve.

Using Your Food Storage: Quick Red Bean Stew



Stew simmering away

 Hubby Dear had a very long, hard day at work yesterday. His job is stressful on the best of days, but he got in a heated situation with a difficult colleague and it ruined his day. (Editorial comment time: I don't understand why some women want to be treated as equals in the workplace but demand special treatment and privileges because they are a woman. Sometimes you just have to suck it up, buttercup, and do the job you were hired to do. But what do I know? I'm "only" a stay-at-home mom...) When he came home depressed and discouraged, I knew just how to cheer him up. How about a bowl of warm, savory stew seasoned with the essence of summer?

My Quick Red Bean Stew uses food storage-friendly ingredients and gets its delicious flavor from the addition of a generous dollop of basil pesto. I make and freeze pesto from my garden every summer. I cannot describe to you how wonderful it is to have the goodness of fragant basil captured for use in the dead of winter! I freeze my pesto in ice cube trays; one batch of pesto fills 5 cubes. I store the frozen cubes together in a ziplock bag and simply pull out what I need for a given recipe. I use two cubes for this recipe.



My kind of frozen assets



Unfortunately, it appears that it is not safe to can your own pesto. Bummer! I'd love to be able to make my pesto shelf-stable. The stuff you can buy at the store is OK, I guess, but it has a bunch of fillers added to it and does not taste remotely as good as homemade.

I think the stew helped to get Hubby Dear out of his funk. The chocolate ice cream he chased it down with might also have had something to do with it, but I'd like to think it was mostly the stew!

Enjoy!

Quick Red Bean Stew, based on a recipe published in Cooking Light magazine

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms OR about 1 1/2 c. dehydrated mushrooms, rehydrated according to package directions*
1 cup diced carrot OR about 1/3 c. dehydrated carrot dices, rehydrated according to package directions*
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained OR about 2/3 c. dry kidney beans, cooked
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14-ounce) can beef broth OR beef bouillon prepared to equal 2 cups broth, according to package directions
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons pesto (homemade, homemade frozen, or commercially canned)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (fresh or the sawdust variety in the green can that lasts forever)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and carrot; sauté 4 minutes. Adjust sauteing time as necessary if you're using rehydrated products (you don't want your veggies super-crunchy or mushy). Stir in water and the next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Stir in pasta; cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is done. Stir in pesto; if you are using frozen pesto, stir it around a little in the stew and give it some time to thaw before serving. Sprinkle each serving with cheese. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups stew and 1 tablespoon cheese)

*Here's a helpful reference when converting your recipes to use dehydrated vegetables: https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/all_about_dehydrated_vegetables.htm