Basic Food Storage Tips

Simply Prepared ecourse Module 8, Chapter 1: Basic Food Storage Tips 1

Welcome Welcome to the written lesson from module eight, chapter one! In this chapter, I m going to help you with a few tips and tricks for using your basic, life sustaining food storage foods. You don t have to use them every single meal, or even every day, but you should use them somewhat regularly. Why You Should Use Your Food Storage As you buy food storage, you might be tempted to stick it on a shelf and forget about it. But there are two reasons I don t want you to do that! The first is that you want your family to be used to eating the food you store. Serving unfamiliar foods in time of crises isn t smart psychologically. But it can be dangerous physically as well. If your family is not used to eating whole grains, beans and other basic foods, these things can wreak havoc on their digestive system. This can be dangerous, especially if quality medical care isn t available. The second reason I strongly encourage you to use your food somewhat regularly is because if you don t use it, you will waste it. I ve met many people who thought they d eventually get around to using the food they had stored, but never did. It is sad! You might say, Oh, we ll eat it when it gets closer to the end of its shelf life. But, if you don t want to eat it now, you won t want to then either! And if you wait, you ll need to eat it more often to get through it in time. Say you have a full year s supply of food and it has an average shelf life of 15 years, you only have to eat it every 15 days or so (or more often, but not as 100% of what you are eating). But if you wait until year #13 or #14, you will be forced to eat it almost every day in order to get through it. 2

So, eat it now! Learn to cook with it and incorporate it into your family s diet. Your meals don t always need to be made with 100% food storage! Make rolls with your food storage to go with your fresh soup. Or make refried beans with your food storage to go with your fresh enchiladas. Then, just once a month, or even just a few times each year, try making a full meal from 100% food storage. Wheat Wheat is the most basic and versatile whole grain that you can store. It has a high nutritional value and protein level. Each piece of whole wheat is called a wheat berry or kernel. Wheat becomes flour Wheat is where flour comes from. If you put dry whole wheat berries in a grain mill (aka wheat grinder), you get whole wheat flour. This means that if you know how to use flour, you can use wheat! But this isn t the store bought all purpose white flour you get at the grocery store. That flour has had all the nutrients stripped from. It is a simple carbohydrate (not a whole grain) and basically just adds calories to your food, not nutrients. Whole wheat flour is full of nutrients. Flour (store bought white or home ground whole wheat) has a short shelf life, but wheat berries have a very long shelf life (25+ years). Storing wheat and a grain mill will provide your family with flour whenever you need it. You can find links to four different grain mills in the related products section of this chapter when logged into the ecourse website. Two of the mills are available at low prices exclusive to members of this ecourse. Wheat can be hard or soft. 3

Hard wheat has more protein and is better for making breads. Soft wheat has less protein and is better for pastries and pastas. Wheat can be red or white. Red wheat is what most people think of when they think of wheat. It is dark brown in color, and has a somewhat bitter taste. It works best in rustic, artisian or other hard breads. Recipes that call for hard red wheat flour sometimes call for slightly more sugar to help mask the bitter taste. Finished breads look like what most people think of when they think wheat bread. White wheat is golden in color and naturally sweeter and less bitter than red wheat. It works best in pan loaves, rolls and other soft breads. Finished breads look more similar to breads made with 100% white all-purpose flour but still have all the nutritional content of red wheat breads. You can make breakfast cereal with wheat. You will need to soak your wheat berries overnight and then rinse them. In the morning add 3 cups of water per cup of wheat berries and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 hour. Add honey, milk and freeze dried fruit. If you don t want to do the overnight soak, you can crack your wheat first by putting it in a blender (1/2 cup or less at a time) and pulsing it a few times. Rinse it, add three cups water and then simmer for about an hour. Use wheat instead of rice Add 2 cups water to every 1 cup wheat berries. Simmer for 45 minutes. The softened wheat berries work well anywhere you would use rice. Use wheat as a meat substitute Wheat gluten has a lot of protein in it. Through a lengthy process, you can separate the gluten from the rest of the wheat to create a substance that is similar to hamburger (and with just a much protein) called seitan. This is not for beginners. If you want to learn more about this process search How to make seitan meat substitute online. 4

Alternatively, you can simply add bouillon to cooked, cracked wheat berries for a meat extender. It won t taste as close as the seitan, but takes far less work. Wheat can be sprouted Wheat sprouts are a great way to get some veggies into your food storage if you have chosen just the basic calorie method. You can also grow wheat grass with wheat. But these things aren t for beginners. You can find a link to a book on sprouting in the Related Products section of this chapter when logged into the ecourse website. Other Grains Wheat is the most commonly stored food storage grain. But there are other options! Oats There are four types of oats you can store and all are highly nutritious and are all considered whole grains. 1. Oat groats These are the full, untouched grain. They look similar to wheat berries. You can crush them with a grain flaker (similar to cracking wheat), or grind them into oat flour. 2. Steel cut These are oat groats that have been cut into chunks with steel blades. They are not rolled. They look like course bits of grain. 3. Rolled oats These are made by steaming oat groats and them rolling them flat. They take less time to cook than oat groats or steel cut oats, but more time than quick cooking oats. 4. Quick cooking Oats These are rolled oats that have been rolled a little flatter to reduce the cooking time. Rolled and quick cooking oats are a good choice if you need a grain that takes less water and fuel to cook. 5

Oats can be used for breakfast cereal, cookies, granola bars and pancakes. Oats can also be sprouted. Rice Rice can be brown or white. Brown rice is considered a whole grain. It provides a lot of fiber and nutrients. You can find brown rice in long, medium, short, basmati, red, purple, and even more varieties. It is very difficult to store long term. Due to the oil content, you should not can brown rice with an oxygen absorber. Plan on a shelf life of 6-12 months. White rice is any variety of brown rice that has had the bran and germ removed. It is not considered a whole grain and is not as nutritious as brown rice. However, it has a very long (30+ year) shelf life. Rice can be instant or non-instant Instant rice is simply rice that has been fully cooked and then dried before packaging. It has a shorter cook time for this reason. Instant brown rice tends to have a longer shelf life (4-8 years) and can be packaged with an oxygen absorber. Rice is something most people are familiar with cooking and the instructions on the bag are typically sufficient. It is a stable in Chinese dishes, and great in soups, casseroles or as a side dish. Corn Did you know that when you grind popcorn in a grain mill, you get cornmeal? Since popcorn can be white, yellow, red or blue, so can your cornmeal! There are also two other types of dry corn: flint and dent. All are quite similar though some say that the flint variety makes the best cornmeal and 6

dent makes the best masa. Popcorn is the easiest to pick up at your grocery store! Dried corn will last around 8 years, properly sealed. Cornmeal (corn you ve put through a grain mill) will last 6-18 months. In addition to cornmeal, dried corn can be used in soups and stews, and popped into popcorn. You can also use ground corn to make cornbread, pancakes, hominy or grits. Beans Dry beans are the most common legume that is stored as part of a basic food storage plan. Beans are a great source of vegetable protein and fiber. When eaten with grains, nuts or seed, you will be getting a complete protein. Beans can also be used to help lower your cholesterol levels! Clean & Rinse Your Beans Beans will often come with pebbles, leaves, twigs etc in the package. Make sure you pick through and then rinse them before using them. Soak Your Beans Beans should be soaked before being cooked. This allows for shorter cooking times (and less use of fuel). It also saves vitamins, minerals and proteins that are damaged during prolonged heating. It will also help your beans cook more evenly and ensure they get tender all the way through. Quick soak Put beans in a large pot and add 3 cups water for every 1 cup beans. Bring water to a boil, remove from heat and allow the beans to sit for 2-4 hours. Drain and discard liquid. This method helps dissolve some of the gas-causing substances. 7

Overnight soak Put beans in large pot or bowl and add 3 cups water for every 1 cup beans. Let soak for 10-16 hours. Drain and discard liquid. Beans and Salt Do not add salt (or bouillon) to the water when soaking or starting to cook your beans. It will prevent them from softening. Add salt once the beans have become almost soft enough just right before they are done cooking. You can, however add aromatics such as onion, garlic or bay leaves. Cooking Beans Beans will double or even triple in size once they are cooked. One cup dry beans = 2-3 cups cooked beans! To cook beans, put your pre-soaked beans in a large pot, add any aromatics (onion, bay leaf, garlic etc), cover each cup of pre-soaked beans with 2 cups fresh, cold water, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer (you should barely be able to see movement in the water). If you plan to use the beans in pasta salad or something similar, leave the lid off as they will better keep their shape / skin. If you plan to use the beans in a soup, casserole or burritos leave the lid on (and add slightly less water). Check the beans after one hour and then every 15 minutes after that. Depending on the size, variety and age of the bean, they will likely take 1-4 hours to completely soften. Don t turn up the heat and rush them. Quick cooked beans are harder to digest! Note: The amount of time needed to get them soft will depend largely on the age of the beans. The older beans get, the longer they take to soften. I once had to simmer 30 year old beans for over 15 hours to get them soft! This means that while beans do have a long shelf life, it is important to rotate through and use your beans often. If you leave them on your 8

shelf for 25 years, it will take a LOT more water and fuel to make them edible. If you need to add additional water, boil the water separately first. Do not add cold water to cooking beans or they will get tough. Once the beans are almost done, add salt (or bouillon) to taste. Store beans in their cooking liquid for the best flavor. Once you ve used all the beans the cooking liquid can be used later as a base for soups / sauces. Use a hand blender (or even just a fork) to mash beans into re-fried style beans. Using beans as a fat replacement Beans can be used in place of shortening, butter or margarine in baked goods. Simply cook them without any aromatics or salt. Puree them once soft and substitute one cup fat for one cup pureed beans! If you are making dark baked goods, use black or even pinto beans. If you are making lighter colored baked goods, use navy or lima beans. Bean Flour You can put dry beans in a grain mill to create bean flour. Bean flour works great as a thickener in soups and stews! Simply add it in a tablespoon or so at a time while whisking. You can also use bean flour to make your own cream of soups. Simply add 4 tablespoons of white (navy, lima) bean flour to 1 ¾ cup water in a small saucepan. Add 4 tsp bouillon and then simmer while whisking for 2-3 minutes. It is delicious and far healthier. Sprouting Beans Just like grains, beans can be sprouted. If you are up for this more advanced use of beans, you can find more information in the book I link to 9

in the Related Products section of this chapter when logged into the ecourse website. Other Legumes Beans are the most common legume choice in a basic food storage plan, but just as with grains, there are other options! Alfalfa Alfalfa is typically eaten as a sprout and is great on burger or sandwiches, in salads or even soups. It is extremely healthy. Lentils Lentils look like small, flat beans. They come in lots of colors (red, green, yellow, brown etc). Lentils can be cooked and then used in everything from sweet salads to savory soups. If you are interested in learning to use lentils, you can find a link to an article: 25 ways to use lentils in the Helpful Links section of this chapter when logged in to the ecourse website. Powdered Milk How Milk Powder is Made Milk can be turned to powder by spray drying or drum drying. Spray drying is preferred as it produces much more even particles which allow the milk to be far more soluble. 10

In addition, the heat treatment with spray drying is not as intense as with drum drying so the taste is not as altered. But spray drying is more expensive so it isn t as common. Most dry milk has been drum dried and this accounts for the not-soappetizing taste. If you want good tasting powdered milk, ask the companies you are considering if their milk is spray or drum dried. Powdered Milk Options There are many different powdered milk options out there! Most food storage companies offer powdered milk, but it is often called lots of different things. You will find Instant Milk, Powdered Milk, Milk Powder, Non-fat Dry Milk, Non-Instant Dry Milk, Powdered Milk Alternative etc. Unfortunately, there is no consistency between the names. One company s milk powder might be a completely different product from another company s milk powder which might be the same product as a 3rd company s non-fat dry milk. The only way to be sure you are actually getting real 100% milk is to read the labels. Some powdered milks are not 100% milk, but unfortunately their name doesn t always clearly indicate that. So read the label. If you find one of the following ingredients on the label, Dairy whey Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil Corn syrup solids it is not 100% milk! This means it isn t as healthy and it won t work right in your baking because of the extra shortening and / or lack of the milk protein in it. You won t be able to make cheese or yogurt with it. I highly suggest that you make sure whatever milk you choose is 100% milk! 11

Instant Milk vs Non-Instant Milk Once you ve found a real milk option, you will need to decide between instant and non-intant milk. Many companies offer both and both options can be real milk or a milk alternative. The difference is how easy they are to use. Instant milk is usually puffed with air which makes it easier to mix with water. But this also makes it a less cost effective option. It often costs more per can (to pay for the puffing ), AND you need more powder per cup of water (because there is more air in the powder). In most cases, instant milk will taste better (as a glass of strait milk) than non-instant powdered milk. Non-instant powdered milk is typically drum dried and is not puffed with air which makes it difficult to mix with water. It requires more stirring and chilling before it can be served as milk and typically doesn t taste as good as instant milk. However, non-instant milk is a more cost effective option because the lack of air in the particles means you can fit more in each can. It typically costs less per can AND you need less powder per cup of water. Many people think that instant milk doesn t work as well as regular powdered milk in baking, but this is not true. As long as it is 100% milk, and not a milk alternative, it works just great. Plus, it has the added benefit of dissolving in cold water. Most non-instant powdered milks must be dissolved in warm or hot water (which again, affects the taste!). Good tasting powdered milk? Many milk alternatives taste pretty good, but they aren t as healthy for you and won t work as well for cheese or in baking or yogurts. My favorite 100% milk product is Thrive Instant Milk. It is spray dried and tastes as close to fresh milk as anything I ve tried. It is the only milk I store for drinking purposes. However, it is also quite expensive. 12

For this reason, I do store other milk (non-instant) for baking purposes since the taste doesn t matter as much there. Beyond the glass of milk Powdered milk can be used to make many other dairy items. You can find many conversions in the back of the recipe book bonus as well. You will also find a link to an article I wrote a while back on making ricotta cheese with powdered milk (food storage lasagna anyone?) in the Helpful links section of this chapter when logged into the ecourse website. Powdered Eggs Give them a try! I actually owned whole powdered eggs for about 2 years before I got up the courage to try them. They just sat in my freezer (they keep longer there) staring at me each and every day. Finally, one day I was out of eggs and had to make a dessert for a church function: a cake actually. I had 3 kids 2 yrs old and under at the time and they were all sleeping. I did not want to wake everyone to head to the grocery store. I decided to be brave, say a little prayer and use my powdered eggs. The cake turned out great! I thought: Well, maybe that is just because it was for a church function and God needed them to turn out. I m sure powdered eggs would ruin my favorite cookie recipe! So, I made a batch of cookies with them the next day and they were perfect! And the best part: I could eat the cookie dough b/c there were no raw eggs! I haven t found much difference between brands of whole powdered eggs so I suggest you simply get what is cheapest! 13

Conversion Tip Many people tell me that powdered eggs don t seem to work in their baked goods. When I quiz them about how they are using them, I find out that they aren t converting from fresh eggs to powdered eggs quite right. Most recipes call for 1 large egg, but unfortunately, many powdered eggs labels show 1 serving as 1 medium egg. This means that if you add one serving of powdered egg, you aren t adding enough egg! A large egg = around 1.3 medium eggs. So, if your powdered eggs say that 1 tablespoon = 1 medium egg, add a heaping tablespoon instead and you should be good to go! Other than baking While I love my whole powdered eggs in baking (in fact I prefer them to fresh), I don t love them as scrambled eggs or in omelets or breakfast casseroles etc. For that, I use powdered scrambled eggs. I have to admit, the only brand I ve tried is Thrive, but I really like them. They are the only brand I ve found that is truly 100% eggs without anything added. They are far more expensive than the whole powdered eggs, but they really taste great. They are still just 100% whole eggs, but are processed differently (similar to the difference between spray and drum dried milk), so they taste better. More Tips If you are looking for more tips for using basic food storage foods, I highly suggest Jodi and Julie s Food Storage Made Easy ebook. You can get it at a great discount as a member of this ecourse and will find a link and coupon code when you click on the Discounts link in the ecourse navigation bar. 14

Jodi and Julie know their stuff when it comes to basic food storage. They are real life, personal friends of mine and I often seek out their advice and support. I can t recommend their ebook highly enough. Take Action! Make something this week with your Basic Food Storage! Pick one basic food storage item and give it a try this week. Pick up a bag of beans at the grocery store or pull out one can of wheat! I d love to hear how it goes in our Facebook group! What s Next: If you plan to store food using the Basic Plus or Recipe methods, you will be adding fruits, vegetables and meats to your storage. In Module 8, chapter 2 I will give you tips for using these items in your recipes and cooking! 15