Self - Reliance Tip of the Week - May 10, 2013 - Chocolate Cake in a Solar Oven

Hello Everyone!

We all make mistakes when we are learning something new. It is no different when you are in the process oflearning how to use food storage!

I made some chocolate cake in my solar oven!

I made some mistakes.

You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyGrP6Y9VU4&feature=youtu.be

Self Reliance Tip of the Week - May 1, 2013 - Italian Dressing Mix !

Sometimes when it comes to self-reliant thinking, you have to improvise. 

One of our favorite "food storage friendly" meals is Pasta Chicken Salad. Here is the recipe:

1 pint canned chicken

1 Box whole wheat penne

1 can olives

1 to 2 Tomatoes (or 1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes if fresh isn't available)

1/2 c fresh celery sliced (or 2 T dehydrated)

1/2 C fresh grated carrots (or 2 T dehydrated

1 pkg Italian Dressing mix (and vinegar and oil that goes with it)

Olive oil 

Parmesan cheese

Prepare Italian dressing according to package directions set aside. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse and cover with olive oil and put in the fridge. If you have dehydrated veggies, hydrate according to directions on the can and set aside. Drain olives and tomatoes. When noodles are cool, add veggies and chicken. Top with Italian dressing and mix well. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before eating. Yummo!

I had a small dilemma when I went to make it for dinner last night. Where did I put my Italian Dressing mix? It is time to improvise! I found this recipe and it was a wonderful substitute. In fact  I think it had more flavors than the mix I usually have on hand from the store.

Italian Dressing Mix

1 T garlic salt

1T onion powder

1 T white sugar

2 T dried oregano

1t. ground black pepper

1/4 t. dried thyme

1 t. dried basil

1T dried parsley

1/4 t. celery salt

2T Salt

In a small bowl, mix together the garlic salt, onion powder, sugar, oregano, pepper thyme, basil, parsley, celery salt and regular salt. Store in tightly sealed container.

To prepare dressing, whisk together 1/4 C white vinegar, 2/3 C olive oil, 2 T water and 2 T dry mix.

This was an easy family favorite to change to a "Food Storage Friendly" meal.

Self Reliance Tip of the Week - April 16th Peanut Butter Breakfast Energy Balls

I found this recipe book for shelf stable recipes. If you don't know where to start as far as using foods from your storage, this recipe book is an excellent place to start. You can print it for free at this link:

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/fsme/docs/SHELF-STABLE-RECIPE-BOOK.pdf

This recipe has been excellent for our family!! It is a good breakfast or snack recipe.

Peanut Butter Breakfast Energy Balls

2 C rolled oats

2T chia seeds (loaded with vitamins!)

1/2 c unsalted peanuts or walnuts

1/2 C brown rice syrup or honey

3/4 C peanut butter melted

Optional ingredients:

chocolate chips, dried fruit, flax seeds, wheat germ, cocout, m&ms, banana chips, 

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together oats, seeds, and nuts. Add brown rice syrup or honey  and mix to combine. Add melted peanut butter and mix until moistened. At this point you can fold in  1/2 c add ins. If making these when you have power, you can press into a 13/9 in pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 min or press in a pan and chill for 60 minutes. If you are without power, roll into balls. These do not need refrigeration. 

Self Reliance Tip of the Week - April 3 Dehydrate 2 Store !

Well, for those familiar with "Self Reliant Tips of the Week" we are beginning again!

What are these tips? Well, they are tips for those who are inside and outside of our faith that want to be better prepared for emergencies; be it temporal or spiritual. 

If there are any questions you may have or would like to learn about something but do not know where to begin, let me know and I'll see what I can find out. 

This week's tip:

I found the most wonderful website that talks about dehydrating food. For those of you who like to coupon and can get frozen corn on sale at a crazy-cool price, but don't have room in your freezer for it, this site is for you. 

If you've never dehydrated and don't know where to start or if it is worth you effort to look into purchasing a dehydrator, this site is also for you. 

It is: http://www.dehydrate2store.com/

It is awesome!!! If you have dehydrated food and you need recipe ideas she has tons of recipes and videos to choose from. 

Go ahead and give it a try. You'll be glad you did!

New Home for Tips of the Week!

Hello all! I will be posting "Self Reliance Tips of the Week" on this blog. Be sure to share with friends and family so they won't be coming to your house in case of an emergency!!

Running Foxes