Life without Mexican food is no life at all.

image by Daquella manera

I grew up with that sentiment posted on the refrigerator, and it’s become my mantra. A future without Mexican food is pretty dismal.  Since tortillas, both corn and flour, are staples in Mexican cooking, then, it stands to reason that it’s a vital skill to learn, and since we already have plenty of beans stored, we’re more than halfway ready to serve up a tasty, hot Mexican combo platter!

Tortillas are also a heck of a lot easier to cook than bread.  There.  I said it!  I have to plan my day around baking bread, but with less than a half dozen ingredients, hot homemade tortillas can be ready to eat long before that bread dough is on its second rise!

Now, I’m hardly a master tortilla maker.  Sometimes my tortillas are too thin, sometimes too thick, but practice makes perfect, and that’s what our Skill of the Month is all about!

To get started, reader Emily S. sent me a link to a really terrific food blog, What Megan’s Making, and a recipe for tortillas that Emily really likes.

Here’s a recipe that Suzie Brown, manager of the Honeyville Farms store in Salt Lake City, shared with me.  She uses shortening, which, as you know, has a very impressive shelf life.

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

1 t. salt

1 c. water

Combine all ingredients together.  Mix till smooth.  Form a small ball of dough, approximately 2″ across, and roll into a circle using a rolling pin.  As each tortilla is finished, you can either cook it in on a dry griddle or in a frying pan with some oil.

With tortillas, you can make tacos, burritos, tostadas, tortilla chips, quesadillas, wraps, and those crunchy little tortilla strips that restaurants put on top of salads to make them look fancy!  I’ve even seen tortillas covered with Nutella!  Tortillas are quick, versatile, and delicious.  I think you’ll thank me later for making you learn this skill!

And, be watching for a tortilla-related giveaway later this week!

<script src=”http://forms.aweber.com/form/38/473556438.js” type=”text/javascript”></script>

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Perhaps, not a really-appetizing name, but appropriate and amusing.  This may not be overly-practical for a post-disaster scenario (no freezer), but it can save a boatload of cash in the meantime.

image by >>>WonderMike<<<

When you cut up an onion, what do you do?  Usually, slice off the root and stem ends, cut it in half, then peel off the papery skin (and usually one layer of onion), and toss those in the trash before making something yummy. Right?

How about carrot peelings, broccoli and asparagus stems?  Tater peels? Stringy bits peeled off celery?  They all go into the trash (or compost heap) right away.

Instead  of that, here is a trick that will save you some money (to use for other preparations) and provide you with a delicious addition to your meals.  Take all that ‘veggie waste’ and stick it in a zip-bag in your freezer. (Go light on pepper-scraps and dark greens – they can get a bit overpowering. Don’t ignore the papery onion skins.  They make for a great color.  When the bag is full, pour it into a stockpot, cover with water, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, and in about an hour, you have a very good vegetable stock that can be used right away, or frozen, and fast-breakdown compost material with the cooked veggie remains.

If you also toss your chicken bones, skin and fat (or other meat bones, or shrimp-shells, etc) into another freezer bag, thaw, brown in a pan and add to the broth for another hour or 2 for chicken stock.  This isn’t the ‘Classical Technique’, but you don’t really want to add fat/meat products to your compost pile.)

I hope that this is of some assistance.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by trekkyandy

I tried a new chili recipe recently and decided to play around with it a bit.  I dehydrated the tomato sauce, kidney beans, added a few seasonings and stored it in my pantry for about a month.  When I decided one night to make one of my family’s favorite meals, Chili and Rice, I added four cups of water to the dehydrated chili mixture and was amazed!  I think it was one of the best pots of chili I’ve ever made!  Give it a try.

2 cans tomato sauce

2 cans kidney beans, drained

1/4 c. chopped yellow onion*

1 T. chili powder

1 t. cumin

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/8 t. ground black pepper

In a food dehydrator, dehydrate the tomato sauce, kidney beans and chopped onions.  To dehydrate the sauce, spread it evenly on two fruit leather trays and dry until it can be easily peeled up and no moisture remains.  The dehydration time for these three ingredients varies from dehydrator to dehydrator, but plan on at least six hours.

To store, combine the sauce, beans, onion and seasonings in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, a Food Saver bag or even a Zip-Loc bag, depending on how long you wish to store it.  The sauce can be rolled up or even torn or cut into small pieces to better fit into the jar.

Cooking the dehydrated chili is a dream.  Pour the dry ingredients in a large saucepan or pot, along with four cups of water.  Cook over medium heat for at least 15-20 minutes or until the beans are completely rehydrated.  You can add cooked meat or canned tomatoes at this point, if you wish.  As the chili heats, the sauce thickens quite nicely, but you may want to add a bit more water for a thinner consistency.  Of course you can cook this in your Sun Oven!  Just place the ingredients in a covered pot and set outside in your oven for a couple of hours. 

Serve alone, over rice, topped with grated cheddar cheese, saltines, tortilla chips, sour cream, or your own preferred chili toppings.

*As long as you’re dehydrating this amount of onion, you might as well dehydrate a whole lot more.  Chop enough onion to fill the rest of your dehydrating trays, and you’ll be a step ahead the next time you need chopped onion.

© 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

I came across this recipe in a recipe exchange over at Lucianne.com last year.  I wish I knew who posted it because I’d love to thank them  personally.  Pay attention to the various spices and herbs used.  They’re the key to the recipe, and a good reminder that part of our food storage needs to be a variety of spices and herbs.  Enjoy!

Rice & Beans With a Bam!

1 T. olive oil

½ c. chopped onion

½ c. chopped red bell pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ c. water

1 t. chili powder

½ t. salt

½ t. ground cumin

½ t. dried oregano

¼ t. dried coriander

¼ t. ground red pepper

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

3-4 cups cooked, hot long-grain rice

1 oz. or more cheddar cheese

Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium  heat.  Add onion and bell pepper, and cook five minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic and cook one minute more.  Add water and remaining ingredients, except for the rice and cheese.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer ten minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Put rice on plates and top with bean mixture and cheese.

© 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by Anonna

I have been buying my wheat, on occasion, from Grandpa’s Grains, a family farm up in Idaho.  A couple of days ago they shared these two recipes with me, and since they can both be made utilizing typical food storage ingredients, I had to share.  Start soaking those pinto beans now!

Mock Pumpkin Pie

2 c. pinto bean puree
3 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
9-inch unbaked single piecrust
**I would also suggest red and yellow food coloring as well to make it look more like a pumpkin pie. It comes out a light brown color without any food coloring.**

Make your pinto bean puree by soaking the beans in 5 times more water than the amount of your beans. You may either soak them overnight or boil them for 2-3 minutes and let stand for 1 hour. Drain off the water, rinse (to drain off some of those bean sugars that cause gas) and cook by a low boil for about 40 minutes until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Allow to cool. Drain, rinse, and put in a blender adding just enough water to blend them into a smooth, thick paste with no chunks (about 1/4-1/2 cup). Scrape down the sides occasionally.

Add remaining ingredients (except piecrust) to blender in order given. mix well, then pour into piecrust. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degree and continue baking for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center of pie filling comes out clean. Cool. Garnish with whipped cream, if desired.

Pinto Bean Fudge

1 c. cooked pinto beans, drained and mashed into a thick paste.
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
2 lbs. powdered sugar
pecans or walnuts (optional)

In large bowl, stir beans and milk together, adding milk until the mixture resembles mashed potatoes; stir in vanilla. Melt chocolate and butter or margarine and stir into bean mixture. Gradually stir in powdered sugar. Knead with hands until well blended. Spread into lightly greased 9-inch baking dish or form into two 1 1/2-inch rolls. Chill 1-2 hours before serving.

(Recipes from Godfrey, Crystal. I Can’t Believe It’s Food Storage)

© 2009, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

My magical Four-Grains Mixture!

Oh, goodie!  With three grains lessons behind us, the time is finally here to share with you what my family calls our four grain mix.  I’ve been waiting for this moment.  This mix of grains is so versatile and healthy, but most importantly it is YUUUUUMMY!  The grains I put in this mix are, drum roll please, soft white wheat, brown rice, oat groats and kamut.  I mix these four grains together, and grind them into a fine flour.  You can use this mix in place of all-purpose flour.  Here is the recipe for this fantastic combo.

Four-Grain Mix

3 cups soft white wheat

1 cup kamut

1 cup brown rice

1 cup oat groats

 Place in grinder, and grind to a fine flour.  Use this mixture to replace all-purpose flour.  Store flour in fridge for 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

I told you before that you can use soft white wheat in place of all-purpose flour, so why bother adding all those grains?  I have a few reasons I do this.  First, is the taste.  It really does add some great flavor to your baking.  Second, nutrition.  I’m not a total health nut, but if there’s an easy way to feed my family healthy options, I do it.  For me, this is an easy way.  Now, soft white wheat is healthy, but each of these grains add a variety of nutrients that you wouldn’t get from just one of them.  The last reason I add these grains is for rotating my food.  I want them in my food storage, so I need to use them and rotate them.  I use my food storage in my daily cooking.

Okay, let’s be specific about how you would grind and store these grains.  You have a couple of options for storing them.  I personally use some of these grains by themselves as well as mixing them together, so I store them all individually.  If you are only going to be using these grains as a mixture, then go ahead and mix them in a container and store them on your shelf.  Make sure it’s an air tight container so bugs don’t get in.  Just give it a good shake before you use them so the grains are incorporated well. 

Once you have them mixed and are ready to bake, throw them in a wheat grinder and make a fine flour.  Use what you need then store the rest in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.  You can make up a bunch of ground flour ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer to make it easier to use.  Let’s face it, if something isn’t easy to do, then most of us won’t do it.  So, make it easy on yourself.  It’s just as fast to grab the whole grain flour from the fridge as it is the all-purpose flour from the shelf.  You do lose a little nutrition by not baking right after grinding, but it’s still better than white flour, by far.  If you will use the flour within about a week, you can store it in the fridge.  If it’s going to be longer, store it in the freezer for up to three months.

What if you don’t have a grinder?  It’s time you found a friends who has one!  Just go grind some at their house, go home and store it in your freezer.  If you can’t find a friend, then maybe you need to ask Santa for one for Christmas or keep an eye out for a used grinder on Craigslist or in thrift stores.  I’m afraid I really don’t have grinding solutions for you other than using a wheat grinder.  We’ll talk about wheat grinders in a week or two.

Now that you have your ground flour, what do you do with it?  Smell it.  Oh, isn’t that heavenly!  (Don’t inhale too deeply or you’ll end up with flour up your nose.  That is not heavenly!)  Again, you can use this flour in place of all-purpose flour in any recipe.  Just keep in mind that, for the most part, you will have a little heavier product.  For example, your muffins might be a little more dense or may not puff up as much on top or your pancakes might be a little less fluffy.  But oh, it’s worth it!  I would suggest starting by only replacing half of your flour with the four grain mix until you are used to it.  If it’s freshly ground, tap it down a little in your measuring cup to get an equivalent amount as you would with white flour.  You might need to add just a touch more whole grain flour than you do with the white.  It might take a little practice, but stick with it.  You’ll get it.

Hopefully, you made it to the end of this long post!  There’s just so much to share.  I’ll share two recipes this week and would  love to hear if anyone tries them and what you think.  Happy eating!

Banana-Nut Muffins

Preheat oven to 400° F.  Line 18 standard size muffin pan cups.  Beat together butter & sugar very well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Beat in bananas until smooth.  Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, & baking soda.  Alternately stir flour mixture and buttermilk into egg mixture until dry ingredients are just moistened.  Stir in nuts and vanilla.  Do not over mix batter; it should not be completely smooth.  Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling two-thirds full. Bake until lightly golden.  Transfer muffin-pan cups to a wire rack to cool slightly. Turn out onto rack. Serve warm or cool completely and freeze.

Note:  You can use half whole grain flour and half all purpose.  Different flours will give you different moisture, just adjust your liquid or flour to make it the right consistency. 

© 2009, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

SurvivalMom’s Italian Meatball Soup

Mix together in a medium size bowl:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

2 T. milk

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 t. Italian seasoning

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Heat up a large skillet.  Add 3 or 4 tablespoons oil to the heated skillet.  Form meat mixture into small meatballs.  Brown in oil, remove from pan and set aside.

In a large pot, combine these ingredients:

16 oz. can chopped tomatoes

16 oz. tomato sauce

1 c. water or beef broth

2 t. instant beef boullion (omit if using beef broth)

2-3 t. sugar or 1/2 t. sugar substitute

1 cup each, sliced carrots, celery and zucchini

1/2 to 1 cup chopped onion

1/4 c. fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1/2 t. Italian herbs

Bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add meatballs and cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Top each serving with grated mozzarella or freshly ground parmesan cheese.  Serve with warm, crusty buttered bread.  Oh my gosh, I am so in the mood for this!!

© 2009, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

kamut bread photo by Kaeru

So, have you put to use your new knowledge of grains?  I hope so.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can read my past  articles here and here!  This week I’m going to talk about kamut.

Kamut comes from the ancient Egyptian word for wheat.  It has a rich, delicious, buttery, almost nutty flavor and a chewy texture.  It does contain gluten, but many wheat-sensitive people eat it without having any reaction.  The kamut kernels are two to three times larger than those of wheat and are 30% higher in protein.   You can use the ground up grain to make wonderful breads and pancakes.  It adds so much flavor to your baked goods!  You can also cook up the grain and use it in grain salads.  Kamut flour also works well for making pasta.  

I’d like to share a great roll recipe with you.  (Recipe is at the bottom of this post.)  My mom found this recipe, and we have tweaked it over the years to make it just how we like it.  Try it, and let me know what you think.  They’d be great with your Thanksgiving meal!

I should probably share with you how to take care of these grains.  It won’t do much good if you can’t use it later because it has bugs in it or the flour goes rancid. If you have your grains in whole form, you can store them for 30+ years in a bucket with oxygen absorbers.  Bugs can’t live in this environment.  Once it’s ground, you will need to use it right away for best for optimal nutrition or put it in the fridge for up to two months.  You can freeze it for up to three months.  Once you crack the grain, it has natural oils in it that can go rancid.  This is what you will taste in many store bought wheat breads.  There’s a big difference in taste from store bought and homemade bread made with freshly ground grains. 

Okay, hopefully I didn’t overload you but gave you the pertinent information.  I’m so excited to share with you next week about oat groats.  Yum!

Crescent Rolls

© 2009, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

photo by olgucz

This is a terrific homemade Mexican Rice dish that I’ve been making for years.  It could be made in a Dutch oven if you were cooking outdoors, but typically, I make it on my stovetop in a large, covered skillet.  The beauty of this recipe is that, first, it’s authentic, and second, it can be made using whatever ingredients you have on hand and seasoned just the way you prefer.  Every ingredient should be in your food pantry.  As if that weren’t reason enough to make a batch tonight, it’s quick and can be used as a filling for burritos.  If your gang is particularly hungry and you need the quickest possible meal, add chopped up chicken, beef or pork to the rice while it simmers.  Warm a few flour tortillas, and dinner is served!  Ole! 

SurvivalMom’s Macho Mexican Rice

2 cups white rice or 2 cups Super Rice mixture 

3 T. olive oil 

3 c. water or chicken broth 

2 T. tomato paste, or more if you prefer 

2 cloves of garlic, pressed 

1/2 t. salt or more, to taste 

Customize to your own preferences by adding any or all of the following during the simmering time: 

1/2 – 1 tsp. cumin 

1 t. chile powder 

canned green chilies 

1/2 c. frozen or canned corn 

1/2 cup of salsa or chopped canned tomatoes 

chopped onion 

sliced black olives 

chopped cilantro, fresh or dried 

In a 10″ skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the rice and mix until slightly browned.  Be careful to not burn the rice.  Add the water or chicken broth, tomato paste, salt, and garlic.  Stir until the tomato paste is dissolved, then add any or all of the additional ingredients.  Bring mixture to a simmer and cover with a well-fitting lid.  Continue cooking for 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked but not mushy.  Serve piping hot.  Optional:  Top your finished rice with sour cream or grated cheddar cheese.

© 2009 – 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries here at TheSurvivalMom about the Sun Oven.  If you’ve read our FAQ and Lisa’s information here, you might be thinking, “Sun Oven cooking, huh?  How out there do you have to be to put that shiny thing out there for all the neighbors to see?  Some of them will probably think, “Is she trying to signal UFOs?”  I got some really weird looks when I first started using it.  That’s for sure.  So, that’s what the back yard is for!

I’ve owned a Sun Oven for about one year, but have only started cooking in it  the last few months.  I love it!  I’m consistent with having home-cooked dinners every night at our house, but during the Arizona summers, all that baking would heat up my oven and my house along with it.  To keep my family happy, I would do it anyway.  Sure, you can get away with a crock-pot meal or a pasta salad here and there, but I only have so many recipes for those.  So, I was thrilled when Paul Munsen from Sun Oven International came to Phoenix to teach several classes on solar cooking.  I learned so much during those classes and it took away some of my hesitation in using my Sun Oven.  So, I began to bake.  And bake and bake!

I now use the Sun Oven for about 60% percent of all my baking and for even some stove top dishes.  It has made a huge difference in how my house feels on those hot days, and I still feel great about what I am feeding my family.  I’ve made cookies, bread (lots of it), cobblers, casseroles, rice, pasta, (still perfecting those last two), an amazing roast, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, a cream chicken sauce, rolls, and I’ve even dehydrated some cherries.

So, let’s say you’re a beginner.  Where should you start?  First you’ve got to have some type of solar oven, or at least be friends with someone who does. We recommend the Sun Oven for all the reasons listed in the FAQ and from our own personal experiences with it.  Bread is great to begin with.  You can make it really easy on yourself by buying frozen bread dough from the store, or you can use my recipe below and have fresh whole wheat bread, or white bread. Your pick.  You can bake two full size loaves side by side in your Sun Oven.  I baked one loaf of whole wheat bread and a mini loaf of banana bread the other day.  Both turned out great.  The banana bread took a little long to bake than the whole wheat bread but was devoured more quickly.  Just follow the instructions here  for setting it up. 

I prefer to heat up the oven about a half hour before the bread is ready to go in.  If you’re making homemade bread, that pre-heating time is about the same amount of time your bread needs to do its’ final rise.  With the oven temperature at 350 degrees, it will take about 45 minutes to bake.  I’ve been using my bread machine to mix up a batch of bread dough each morning.  Then I take out the dough, shape it, and place it in my pan to rise.  While it’s rising, I set up my Sun Oven and preheat it.  Once the bread is finished rising, I pop it into the Oven.  I love have fresh bread and a cool house to go with it.

The main thing to remember about the Sun Oven is that it’s an oven!  It gets hot!  This has a sealed chamber that gets much hotter than other solar cookers.  Mine stays steady at 350 degrees if I track the sun.  If you just set it out there in the morning and face it south it will act like a crock pot.  In fact, I used my crockpot liner to make my roast in.  It was actually done before I was ready for it, and the roast was the best!

Check the Sun Oven tab above for more information and visit the official Sun Oven website.  You’ll be able to purchase your Sun Oven right here at TheSurvivalMom blog for just $225, which includes FREE shipping.  Ordering information will be available by the end of the month, so check back often! 

As an added bonus for you, our readers, here is one of my very favorite bread recipes.

Chrystalyn Trimble’s Whole-Wheat Bread Then enjoy.

1 1/4 c hot water
1 tsp salt
3 TBL oil
3 TBL honey
3 TBL powdered milk
3 TBL vital wheat gluten
3 c whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast

Place ingredients in a bread maching in order given.  Select dough cycle.  After it’s mixed for five minutes, the dough should be soft, but not too sticky.  If it’s too sticky, just add a little more flour.  When bread machine is done, take out dough and form into a loaf.  Place in greased bread pan and let rise for about 30 minutes.  Preheat Sun Oven.  When oven temperature has reached 350 degrees and the bread has risen about 2 inches above the bread pan, quickly place it inside the Sun Oven on the tray.  Bake about 45 minutes, adjusting once to capture the best sun.  When finished cool on cooling rack.

© 2009, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.