Jul22010
SurvivalMoms Group Project: Stocking up on dinners
Any food storage newbie stopping by this blog got a wealth of information when we brainstormed ideas for breakfast foods. I’m glad I asked for your help because there were suggestions I had never thought of. Let’s continue this group project by putting together more food storage ideas. The next main meal to tackle is dinner.
Why not lunch? Well, in a survival situation, one in which you are pretty much 100% reliant on your food storage, preparing three meals a day may not be the best course of action or even possible. Instead, a very hearty breakfast, an early afternoon lunch, and leftovers or snacks for dinner may make a lot more sense.
image by crd!
To get these ideas rolling, my suggestion is to plan on a meal of soup and bread once a week. Just about every soup mix is made up of ingredients that can easily be converted to dehydrated and/or freeze dried versions for the longest possible shelf life. For example, a basic soup of veggies and pasta can be “survivalized” by substituting dehydrated carrots, celery, onions, and bouillon for fresh veggies and canned broth. When you stock up on wheat, yeast, and other ingredients for homemade bread, you end up with a meal that is nutritious, filling, and easy to store in your long-term pantry, and who would turn up their nose to a big bowl of homemade soup and hot, buttered bread?
Why not canned soup? Canned soup and other canned entrees have their place in storage, but at some point you have to ask yourself, “What happens when all these cans are gone? Then what?” I have plenty of canned entrees in my storage for the same reasons I stock up on freeze-dried entrees. They’re inexpensive, easy to prepare, and very convenient. However, long term food storage must have, at some point, ingredients at its core. With just a dozen or so ingredients, you can make many different types of soup. Additionally, those ingredients will be versatile enough to be used in other recipes. There’s very little versatility in a can of ravioli or cream of broccoli soup!
So, what other dinners can you suggest whose ingredients can easily be stored long-term? It’s your turn now!
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FernWise
In my area, cabbage can usually be grown (or at least survives out in the garden without problems) all year. So my survival meals rely on that a whole lot! My 'standard' storage meal is rice or noodles – call 'em lo mein noodles if you want to! – topped with stir-fried cabbage and any other veggies handy (onions and carrots which store well) with any bits of meat available, or cashews/peanuts/almonds (all so easily stored!) and seasoned with soy sauce, or bean paste, or hot sauce, or even a bit of worchester sauce (it covers the flavor range of oyster sauce, if you add a bit of sugar, but stores better).
With 5 spice powder and some stored soy sauce and sweet and sour sauce, as well as flour to make the wrappers, you can make great eggrolls. Add smoked pork or ham or mushrooms for protein, and they are a meal, albeit a meal that takes a larger amount of oil to make.
In the late spring, I make dolmades – stuffed grape leaves. They can be vegetarian and stuffed with rice and pine nuts, or they can be stuffed with rice and meat. They can be 'dressed' with just a bit of oil or with a lemon and egg sauce if you are in an area with citrus. Me, I'm really going to miss lemons when I have to rely on food storage!
TexasT
How do you store nuts?
Shotzeedog
Here is my storage menu of ideas for things to make with my storage foods. Biscuits, Pancakes,Popovers to fill,pie crust for meat pies (pasties or pot pies) cornbread,tortillas, Rice with meat & vegs casseroles, Fried rice with chicken or hamburger,Rice & Beans, Baked beans with ham or bacon,Pea soup with ham or bacon, Hot Potato Salad with bacon,Spaghetti with hamburger or meat sauce,Mac & cheese, Lasagna with hamburger or meat sauce, Chili with meat sauce & beans, Swiss cheese ham & potato casserole,Spanish rice with hamburger & beans, Stew with beef chunks, Potato or Rice Au Gratin with ham or spam,
Shotzeedog
… Potato or rice au gratin with ham or spam, Shepherd pie with hamburger, beef chunks or meat sauce, Ouiche with ham, spam or bacon, Salmon or Tuna Patties, Burritos with hamburger & refried beans, Tuna rice casserole, Omelets with ham , spam or bacon, Chicken & stuffing & gravy, Swiss steak with beef chunks, Pizza with pepperoni, or chicken & artichokes or bacon & onion, Corned beef, cabbage & potatoes, Corned beef Hash, Tuna or chicken salad, hamburger or chicken enchiladas. I have pressure canned chicken, hamburger, pepperoni and meat sauce I also have freeze dried storage foods. I am looking forward to what others come up with.
Melinda
My hubby makes a dish he nicknamed cold pasta salad. It has cubed chicken breast, pasta, carrots, potatoes, green beans and corn. A storage/survival version could go meat-free and use dehydrated veggies and stored pasta. Bouillon, condiments or herbs could boost the flavor. It could be served cold in the summer or warmed in chilly weather.
LizLong
Amazon recommended a book called "Dinner is in the Jar" and I think it's a great resource for preppers. Instructions for making the meals start with "remove oxygen absorber".
The subheading is "quick and easy dinner mixes in maxon jars of mylar bags. The author seems to be LDS since she says to go to your local cannery for mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. I'll try to type specifics of recipes later, but my littlest one is "helping" me type.
LizLong
Meals include "Italian cheese and sausage calzone", "taco soup", "pizza" and "biscuits and chicken gravy". A lot of things I wouldn't have thought of! There are some add ons listed to put in the meal in addition to the dehydrated items, but those are mostly meat and chicken, and you can substitute TVP (she even suggests it in the intro). Ingredients for black beans and rice are dried refried bean chips, dried sweet corn, dried minced onions, taco seasoning, rice, chicken or beef bouillon, black beans, and baking soda with an add on of diced tomatoes. Several recipes call for dehydrated sour cream, but I'm not opening up my #10 container to use a few cups! I can add it in later.
I'm going to just store the book with my dehydrated ingredients in the storage room. The book includes labels to copy and put on the jars for every meal.
FernWise
In my area, cabbage can usually be grown (or at least survives out in the garden without problems) all year. So my survival meals rely on that a whole lot! My 'standard' storage meal is rice or noodles – call 'em lo mein noodles if you want to! – topped with stir-fried cabbage and any other veggies handy (onions and carrots which store well) with any bits of meat available, or cashews/peanuts/almonds (all so easily stored!) and seasoned with soy sauce, or bean paste, or hot sauce, or even a bit of worchester sauce (it covers the flavor range of oyster sauce, if you add a bit of sugar, but stores better).
Barbara
Some soups can be made "different" by adding milk to make it a cream soup. (Vegetables, chicken and noodle soup is good this way.)
To change things up from bread to go with it, there's biscuits, home made crackers (which are lovely) corn bread, various pan breads and scones.
Don't forget cold soups and fruit soups made with canned milk.
Christina
We can our homemade soups in the pressure canner. Now is the beginning of the harvest season in our area. I barter with our local CSA farmer for seconds and use that to make soups. Here's an easy soup to make with either fresh or dried peas (which are in season right now).
Sweat a clove of chopped garlic and chopped small onion in a bit of olive oil. Add a bit of salt, pepper. Keep stirring. Add about 1 Tablespoon of your favorite curry powder. Add about 2 cups peas (can be freshly shelled, frozen or dried and rehydrated). Add four cups of Chicken or Vegetable broth. Let simmer away until peas are mushy. Take off heat then blend with a stick blender; or in a blender. Serve with a fresh seasonal greens from your garden and a dollop of yogurt.
You can increase the amount of soup and can for storage. See standard pressure canning charts for time and setting.