Everything Under the Sun--Wendy DeWitt

How To Plan For and Use Your

Three Month’s Supply

(or Year’s Supply)

What if getting your food storage and saving tons of money on your monthly grocery bill went hand in hand? It can and it does!! The following information from Wendy DeWitt (thanks Wendy!!) has completely changed the way I think about food storage. It is part of my every day life and I love it!! It actually saves me time and money.

I hope that as you realize how easy and cost efficient this can be, you will be motivated to become more prepared. I want to be prepared because I would MUCH rather be the one loaning toilet paper or bread than the one begging for it!!

Go to www.providentlivingis fun.blogspot.com for more information.

(My personal ideas have my name after them. The rest are from Wendy DeWitt--Noelle Ray)

EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN

Putting the Foods You Love Into Food Storage

by Wendy DeWitt

everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com

What’s for dinner? An age old question. But in times of crisis, that question becomes even more significant. Experience has shown that when disasters hit, having a supply of food and water can be life saving. But it doesn’t take a natural disaster to need food storage. Personal economic disasters happen every day and the choice to pay the mortgage or buy food becomes a reality. It is essential for every family to have food storage in order to survive whatever crisis may be ahead.

There are many questions and concerns about food storage. What should you buy? What will it cost? Where do you store it? How do you cook it? What about rotation? The following information answers all of these questions and more. It will give you the knowledge you need to put the foods you love into your food storage.

THE SYSTEM

This system is based on a worst case scenario, meaning there would be no running water or electricity. This scenario also assumes that families will be on their own and will not be banding together at churches or schools. There are many circumstances that would require isolation from other people, not banding together. Don’t put your family at risk by assuming that you will be eating someone else’s food.

(My motivation for doing food storage is also money savings and convenience. I don’t often run out of things because I buy most non-perishable items once or twice a year. My food bill averages out because

I do that with almost everything. For example, I buy salsa, tuna, mustard, ketchup, peanut butter, and canned goods once or twice a year when they are on sale.)

I dislike buying things that I can’t use now because it seems like a waste of money to me. I don’t want to buy food that won’t help my monthly food bill. Grocery items go on sale a few times a year. If you know when those times are, you can stock up for your three month (or year) supply and save money!!--Noelle

Organization: How much food do you need? This system answers that question down to the last teaspoon of salt. Take 14 note cards and write down 7 breakfasts and 7 dinners that you would like to have once a week for one year. There are 52 weeks in the year, so you will be having these meals 52 times. Write on the left side of the card everything it takes to make the meal and on the right side everything multiplied by 52. Don’t forget to add the water you will need for cooking. My food storage has 14 dinners (x 26 weeks) 7 breakfasts (x 52 weeks) a daily loaf of bread (x 365 days) and a variety of desserts. This is a very simple system that saves time and money because you only store what you need and will eat. It can easily be adapted from a years’ supply to a 2 weeks’ supply or a 3 months’ supply. The individuality of this system is also helpful for people with food allergies.

Organize all of the information from your cards into a notebook. Make a chart or table that alphabetically lists all the foods from your recipe cards. My table has 5 columns. The first column lists the food item. The next lists all the meals that food item is in. The third column lists how many cups, cans or jars are needed. The fourth lists how much of that item I have and the fifth, how much I need to buy.

The equivalency section at the end of the book gives you the information you will need to create your table. The equivalency page is an alphabetical listing of common foods and how their amounts translate into pounds, quarts, containers or #10 cans.

Cost: The cost of using this system depends upon your menus. It can cost about one dollar per day per person if you shop wisely and bottle your own meats. This would include 2 cups of breakfast, 2 cups of dinner and a loaf of bread every day.

Storage: One person’s year supply will usually fit under a twin size bed. Remember that heat and moisture can destroy your food so keep it inside your home.

Rotation: Food storage rotation is a once a year event with this system. Your food storage notebook shows how much food is stored, where it is stored and when it was purchased. Once a year, check your notebook to see if anything is expiring that year. (Because long shelf life is important, the shortest shelf life in my food storage is 3 years.) For vacuum sealed foods, visually check each jar to be sure it is sealed. Open one jar of each vacuum sealed item to check for freshness and then reseal it. If anything on your list is close to expiration, take it out, put it in your kitchen pantry for daily use and replenish your storage with fresh food. A food storage slush fund of even $10 a month will give you $360 after 3 years. Keep in mind, the food storage that goes from your storage into your pantry is going to cut your grocery bill.

Meat Rotation: If you are storing one pint (or quart) of meat per day, you will bottle 365 jars of meat. While this sounds like a lot, I once used 3 pressure canners to bottle 150 pints of meat in 12 hours. To rotate, place 50 jars of bottled meat in your kitchen pantry and place the rest in your food storage. If you use 3 jars per week, those 50 jars will be gone in about 4 months. You will then bottle 50 more jars, place them in your food storage and take out another 50 jars for your pantry. Your entire stock will be rotated in about 2 years. If you use 2 jars per week, it will take about 3 years to rotate your supply.

BOTTLING MEATS

(Caution: If you have a glass-top stove, you may want to use a propane camp stove outdoors to bottle meats. I have a glass top stove and have had no problems, but I still need to caution you.)

Bottling your own meats is extremely easy and it’s what makes this food storage system so unique. It’s real chicken in your sweet and sour and real beef stew. The meat is tender, juicy, ready to eat and needs no freezing or refrigeration...just like your tuna fish from the store. The shelf life is at least 3 years, but the process is so easy, you may want to rotate your meats more often to be sure the nutritional quality is high. You can bottle any kind of meat; chicken, turkey, beef, hamburger, fish, ham…I’ve even had moose.

Pressure Canners: You must use a pressure canner to bottle meats. Pressure cookers will not safely can meats. Canners come in quart sizes, meaning they hold a certain amount of liquid quarts, but don’t purchase anything smaller than a 15 quart canner, which will usually hold 7 quart jars.

For used canners, check the internet. If you buy a used canner, be sure to have the gauge tested at your County Extension Center or buy a new gauge. This will ensure that you are cooking at the right pressure and your food will be safe. Try to avoid canners with the rubber gasket in the lid because the gasket will eventually leak. A good canner will have a metal to metal lid, a pressure gauge, a pressure release valve, wing nuts to hold the lid down and an inside tray. A canner is a great investment even if you’re not doing food storage because canning meat will save time (no more defrosting chickens) money (shopping the sales) and a good canner will last forever. I have one that is over 70 years old and it still works.

Canning Meats: A pint bottle will hold 1 pound of meat, a quart will hold 2 pounds. Jars from thrift stores or yard sales are fine for vacuum sealing dry foods, but not for bottling meats. Old jars might crack under the pressure. Invest in some new jars when you first start canning and reuse them over and over.

Many books will tell you to cook the meat before you bottle it. With the exception of ground meats, I prefer the raw pack. Put your raw meat and ¼ to ½ tsp of salt into a clean jar. Jars do not need to be sterilized. Fill jars to ½” from the rim. No other spices should be added. With the exception of ground meats, no water is added to the meat. In a small pan, boil the lids for about 2 minutes to soften the rubber seal. Make sure the rim of the jar is completely clean before you put the heated lid and ring on. Tighten the ring down finger tight. Pour about three inches of water into your canner and place the tray inside. Place your jars in the canner on the tray, screw down the canner lid, making sure the top is even, and turn your stove on high. Don’t put the weight on the pressure valve until steam has spouted out of the valve for about 10 minutes. This expresses the air out of the jars and the canner. After expressing the air, put the weight onto the pressure valve. In desert altitudes, can meats at the 10 pound mark. For other altitudes, check your manual. If you have an older canner, there may not be a weight but there will be some kind of pressure release mechanism. Keep this mechanism open to express the canner then close it to begin your pressure. When the gauge gets to the correct pressure, (according to your altitude) begin timing...75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts (Fish is 15 min longer). This is the formula for all meats. You will need to immediately start turning down the heat to keep the pressure stable and continue turning it down over the allotted time. Keep the gauge at the correct pressure. When the pressure drops or increases, a vacuum effect causes the juices in the jar to be pulled out. Do not leave your canner. At the end of the 75 or 90 minutes your heat should be at a very low level and you will then turn the heat completely off. Don’t move the canner; just let the pressure go down on its own. When it’s back to zero, release the pressure valve (or remove the weight) take off the lid, put the jars on the counter away from cool drafts and wait for them to seal. You’ll hear a “plink” when the lids seal correctly. If a jar doesn’t seal, you can either refrigerate it for later use or re-bottle it using a new lid. When they are cool, wipe the bottles clean, remove the ring and put them back in the box for storage. Ground meats have a better texture if you brown them first, pack loosely in the jars, cover with water and process. When canning cooked meats like leftover turkey, add a soup broth before canning. Ham makes very little juice, so don’t worry if the juice doesn’t cover all the meat. Don’t bottle spiral cut hams, use a shank cut and don’t add salt. Don’t bottle turkey hams or other processed meats like bologna or hot dogs.

Canning Beans

We never used to eat our dry beans. I just didn’t think about it soon enough. By the time I thought how nice it would be, it was too late. But a friend mentioned canning the beans to have them ready in a moment. Wow!! They are so good. I can about 14 quart jars every few months. I sometimes add beans to my bread for extra protein. Please follow your Pressure canner’s instructions. But here is how much to put in per jar.

Add 1 cup of dry beans to a quart jar or half a cup to pint jars. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but they expand. Rinse the beans well and fill the clean jar with water and soak overnight. I like to drain the water and wait a day until they start to sprout a little (not necessary, but they will have more vitamins and be more digestible, just rinse them once or twice during that day until you see a tiny sprout). When you are ready to can them, add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt to the quart jar and fill about 1 inch below the lower rim with water (1 1/2 inch under the top of the jar). Beans tend to foam, so I don’t fill them as much as other things. Follow the directions on the PRESSURE CANNER. (You must use a pressure canner). Mine requires 11 lbs of pressure for 90 minutes for quart jars and 75 minutes for pint. --Noelle

SOLAR OVEN COOKING

It is not uncommon in emergency situations for the power to be out. With a solar oven, if the sun is shining, you can cook. Have backup sources of fuel, such as wood or propane, but in sunny climates your solar oven will be your main source of cooking. Solar cooking is clean, it keeps the heat out of your kitchen, it’s delicious and, best of all, it uses a free source of energy. You don’t want to waste precious food when times are bad, so you should practice cooking with your solar oven to know what you’re doing. The recipes have been included in this booklet to show the variety of foods that can be stored and how to cook them. Every recipe in this booklet was made in a solar oven.

With solar cooking, you can’t start dinner at 5:00, so you may want to do what our ancestors did; have breakfast in the morning, a big meal in the afternoon and a light snack before bed. If possible, have two solar ovens so you can be cooking dinner in one and baking breads or desserts in the other. Cooking times and temperatures are always approximate and will depend upon how your oven is placed, the time of day and cloud cover. A general rule is that foods will cook in about twice the usual amount of time. Don’t try to cook too much at one time. Larger amounts of food will cook faster if you divide it up and put it into smaller pots or cut foods into smaller pieces. Grains and beans need about ¼ less liquid because very little moisture escapes in solar cooking. There are other uses for your solar oven such as pasteurizing water, killing infestations in grains or dried foods, sanitizing dishes, drying firewood, sprouting foods, and decrystallizing honey or jams.

Some good safety rules are: germs can’t grow at 120 degrees, water is pasteurized at 150 degrees, foods will cook at 180 and water boils at 212 . Remember, no matter how you do your cooking, there is a danger zone for foods. Some foods left at temperatures between 50 and 120 for 3 or 4 hours can grow harmful bacteria and carry a risk of food poisoning.

Cookware: Measure the inside of your oven before buying any pots or pans. Using dark pots with tight fitting lids will absorb the heat and your cooking will go faster. In addition, your foods won’t have to be stirred as often. This is important because opening your oven drops the temperature by 50 to 100 in just seconds. Smoked glass cookware is good because you can see your food without opening the oven. Cast iron is great on partially cloudy days because it holds the heat. Cloudy days are good times to cook foods that just need a gentle simmer. The intermittent sun will provide enough heat to simmer soups and stews. Don’t use stainless steel or shiny aluminum pans which reflect the heat instead of holding it in. If all you have is aluminum, you can cover it with a dark cloth. Mason jars painted black work well. Put a strip of masking tape from the top of the jar down to the bottom and up the other side. Paint the jar and remove the tape. This allows you to see inside the jar while cooking. Using sunglasses will help you avoid the glare from the reflectors and always use pot holders.

ROCKET STOVES

Rocket stoves, because of their design, allow you to use 75% less fuel (wood) than a normal fire and will be

invaluable in your food storage. I was able to boil 2 cups of water for 20 minutes using just a handful of small

sticks and a match. Rocket stoves come in all sizes but the idea is the same. You can buy them or make your

own. Making your own will cost under $20. A version of the one pictured in the center can be made for almost

nothing. (Notice the large flame being created with just a few sticks.)

You will need:

A number 10 can (#10 can)

4 (10 ounce) soup cans...like chicken noodle or tomato soup

Ashes or vermiculite for insulation

A small grate or rack

Tin snips and gloves

Using a can opener, open the #10 can and empty the contents, keeping the lid you cut off. Cut a hole the exact

size of the soup can into the side of your #10 can near the bottom. (This is where the elbow will come out.) Make

all of these holes as exact as you can.

To make the elbow, take a soup can and cut off the top. Take a 2nd soup can and cut off the top and bottom.

Carefully cut a hole in the side of the 1st can (at the bottom) and slip the 2nd can into the hole. Put your elbow

inside the #10 can and bring the end of the elbow (2nd can) out of the hole you have cut into the side.

To extend the elbow upwards, take a 3rd soup can, remove the top and bottom, cut it completely up the side and

squeeze it together to fit it into the top of the 1st can. Adjust it so it comes to an inch from the top of the #10 can.

Fill the can around the elbow with your insulation to about 2 inches from the top.

Take the lid that you cut from the #10 can and cut a hole in the center just large enough for your soup can to come

through. Push this lid over the soup can and onto the insulation.

To make the “shelf” for your wood, take your 4th soup can and cut off the top and the bottom. Cut it up the side,

flatten it out and cut it into a 3” x 3 3/4” piece. Shape this piece into a small "T", making the top of the T 3” wide

and the bottom 2 ¼” inch wide so it can just fit inside your 2nd soup can. Making it into a “T” keeps the shelf

from going all the way into the soup can.

The small grate or rack goes on top of your #10 can to hold your pots or pans as you cook.

I have a stove called a Volcano Stove II. It can use propane, wood, or briquettes. With 15 bags of briquettes, you can have a hot meal every day, plus you can use it to cook Dutch oven meals when camping. Check it out on Youtube-Noelle

FOOD STORAGE TIPS

Baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, cocoa: These are some of the items you don’t need to can or vacuum seal. Keep them in their original containers or you can place them in buckets with lids. Baking powder test: 1 tsp in 1/3 c hot water = water fizzes.

Brown sugar: 2 Tb Molasses, 1 cup white sugar. Mix with pastry blender until blended. You can also vacuum seal brown sugar in mason jars to keep it fresh for years.

Butter (almost) 1 pound shortening (butter flavored works) ½ tsp salt, 1 2/3 c condensed milk

Whip the shortening and the salt until light. Add the condensed milk a little at a time and blend.

Butter canned: Check the internet for best prices. 12 oz can, 24 Tb or 3 sticks of butter.

(Wendy used to teach canning your own butter, but she doesn’t any more. Because it is a low acid food, the risk of botulism is too high. One thing I read said that one really bad jar of bad butter containing botulism could kill an entire city (if everyone ate a little). That seems a bit dramatic, but I am not risking it. --Noelle)

Cheese canned: Check the internet for best prices. A Velveeta tasting hard cheese that can be shredded or sliced, comes in an 8 oz can. Minimum 5 year shelf life.

Corn syrup: 1 c sugar + 2 c water. Cook in canning jar in solar oven about an hour or until thick.

“Eggs” from unflavored gelatin (Knox): Buy in bulk at bulkfoods.com. In all the recipes in this book I have substituted unflavored gelatin for the eggs. The gelatin is less expensive than powdered eggs (as little as 3 cents per tsp) and has an indefinite shelf life.

1tsp gelatin =1 egg, 1 oz gelatin = 12 tsp, 1 pound gelatin = 192 eggs.

Making one egg: Combine 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin with 3 Tb of cold water and stir until dissolved. Then add 2 Tb of hot water and stir. When using your own recipes, decrease the liquid called for in your recipe by about ¼ cup to compensate for the added water from the “egg”. I have already done this for the recipes in this book.

Eggs: Storing fresh eggs for up to 1 year. Rub warmed mineral oil on your hands and coat the entire surface of the fresh egg with the oil. Replace egg in carton with the point down. In cold climates they can be stored in a cool, dark place. In warmer climates, place in the refrigerator. Rotate once a year.

(I really like fresh eggs so we have decided to raise chickens. We buy food for them, but we also give them our table scraps--they eat a lot of things. Eggs are very good for you and would be a great protein to have in an emergency. We have about six families in the ward that raise chickens. It is pretty easy and doesn’t take up much space. --Noelle)

Milk: Powdered milk: If you have electricity, powdered milk is best if you use warm water, mix with a blender and chill overnight.

Buttermilk: 1 c water, 1/3 c dry milk, 1 Tb vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit 5 min.

Condensed milk: ½ c hot water, 1 c sugar, ¼ c dry milk, 1 c water. Place in canning jar with lid and shake until thoroughly blended.

Eagle Brand: 1 c hot water, 1/3 c corn syrup,1 2/3 c sugar, ¼ tsp vanilla, pinch of salt, ½ c butter, 2c dry milk. Place all ingredients except butter in canning jar with lid and shake until well blended. Gradually add the butter and shake each time until well blended.

Evaporated: 1 c water, 2/3 c dry milk. Whole 1 c water + 1/3 c dry. Skim: 1c water + ¼ c dry milk.

Milk on the shelf: Technology has given us real milk that sits on the shelf and has at least a 1 year shelf life. It comes in quart containers, available in whole, 2%, vanilla soy, almond and rice milk.

Peanut butter: 2 c peanuts and 4 Tb honey OR 2 ½ c peanuts and 2 Tb butter - salt to taste. Blend until smooth. This really needs an electric blender but it can still be done without one.

Rice: If your rice goes rancid, set it out for 2 or 3 days and rinse with water.

Shortening: I have substituted shortening for the oil in all my recipes because of the longer shelf life. Oil has about a 2 year shelf life, unopened shortening has 10+ years. If you can still find the hard lid shortening (not foil lids) they have an indefinite shelf life. Store shortening in a cool, dark place. Opened shortening has a less than one year shelf life. After opening shortening, melt it in the microwave or solar oven, pour it into mason jars and vacuum seal it for a longer shelf life.

(I store coconut oil that I buy in 6 gallon buckets. You can divide it up in 1/2 gallon mason jars (you can get them at Basha’s) and suck the air out with a food saver attachment. Use it for cakes, frying--anything that calls for vegetable oil (expect salad dressing). It lasts three or four years in AZ and it is a good stable oil. It has been given a bad name by the soy industry, but in reality, it is good for you and has a good shelf life. I buy mine at www.soaperschoice.com . It is about $1 per lb. plus shipping. If you combine shipping with about 10 other people it saves a lot of money because you can get it trucked in. Just call the company.--Noelle)

Tomato powder: ½ cup powder mixed with 1 cup water =1 c tomato sauce. Less water makes tomato paste and more water makes tomato juice. Shelf life is 10+ years.

Vacuum sealing foods: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0XWoeWRDdI or search for Wendy DeWitt Food Storage Seminar part 8 of 9. She shows how she does it). Many foods with high oil or high sugar contents cannot be stored in #10 cans because of the interaction with the metal (Chocolate chips, nuts and raisins for example). You can significantly increase the shelf life of your foods by placing them in mason jars and using a Food Saver and a Jar Sealer attachment to vacuum the air out of the jars. Put your ingredients in a mason jar, put a lid on the jar, place the jar sealer attachment over the lid and start the machine. If a jar won’t seal, try placing one lid down and one facing up or heating the lid in boiling water. The jar can be opened and resealed over and over. If you take the lids off carefully, they can be reused indefinitely. You can seal nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, brown rice, cornmeal, candy bars, egg noodles, poppy seeds, dried apricots, malt-o-meal, cookies, granola bars...just about anything in the pantry. Shelf life should be 3 years or more if you keep the foods cool. Remember, the warmer the temperature, the shorter the shelf life.

You cannot vacuum seal foods that need refrigeration…only foods that sit on your pantry shelves.

Don’t vacuum fine powders….they gum up the works of your machine. If you want to seal powders, put a plastic or zip lock bag in your jar, fill the bag, express the air, zip lock it then vacuum seal.

A new Food Saver can be expensive. Used ones are easy to find online and are very inexpensive. Just be sure it has the port hole on top of the machine where the jar sealer attaches. Jar Sealer attachments come in regular and wide mouth.

(You can also buy lots of cake mixes, or rice mixes, macaroni mixes, brownie mixes, etc and take them out of the box and put them in the jars. Just poke a small hole in the bag and then suction the air out. Noelle)

(I always save my 2 liter bottles to store things like oats, rice, wheat in. Just rinse them out well and then wait until they dry. I cut one 2 liter bottle in half and use it as a funnel to pour in the dry food. Add an oxygen packet or food grade diatomaceous earth to keep the bugs away).

(I get nice buckets at all the bakeries at the grocery stores. You can store lots of dry foods in them with oxygen packets or diatomaceous earth. Just ask them if they have any. You can easily wash them out.)

Water: I store water in the 55 gallon plastic barrels. You can add 1 tsp of household bleach for every 5 gallons of water, but most city water supplies already add sufficient chlorine. 2 - 3 of these barrels per person will fill most water needs for cooking. Store in the garage or on the north side of the house.

(Alan Martindale, who is in charge of Mesa water supply, came and talked to our stake about storing water. It was amazing!! He said the best way to store drinking water is to buy bottled water in CLEAR water bottles (not cloudy ones such as milk bottles). Try to buy a flat every time you go to the store until you have enough. They are about ten cents per bottle on sale. You can also clean out your 2 litter pop bottles. Add 5 drops of bleach to each bottle. Don’t plan to drink your pool water. It has so many minerals (because of evaporation) that it will cause dysentery. If possible, still store 55 gallon buckets for sanitary uses, but for drinking purposes, water bottles are convenient and taste better. It is also a little easy to share the water bottles with neighbors. --Noelle

Yeast: Yeast has an indefinite shelf life in your freezer or one year on the shelf. ALWAYS test your yeast before adding it to your dry ingredients. Add the yeast to warm (not hot) water and wait a few minutes. The mixture will start to bubble and smell good. Add this to your dry ingredients.

(This is a great idea to have on hand if you are out of yeast)--Noelle

Everlasting Yeast

1 quart warm potato water

1/2 cake yeast or 1/2 tablespoon dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons flour

Stir in all ingredients and put in a warm place to raise until ready to mix for baking. Leave small amount of Everlasting Yeast for the next time you make bread. Keep in cool place and add to the Everlasting Yeast all of the above ingredients except the yeast. Do this each time and you will never run out of yeast. Now add the Everlasting Yeast that you took out and make the bread the way you always do.

BREADS

The question most often asked about solar cooked bread is, “Does it brown?” The answer is yes. It bakes and browns beautifully. As with all other foods, breads take almost twice as long to cook in a solar oven. They will bake in a cooler oven (200 ) but hotter ovens are best. Cooking times and temperatures will always depend on how hot your solar oven is. Pint references are connected to cooking in pint jars.

365 Loaves of Bread Whole Wheat Bread - 1 loaf per day

2 c wheat (3 c flour) x 365=730 c (12 c / #10 can)

61 #10 cans white wheat

1 c water x 365 = 365 c (16 c / gal)

23 gal of water

1 ½ tsp salt x 365=547 tsp (117 tsp/container)

4 2/3 containers of salt

2 Tb melted shortening x 365=730 Tb (17 Tb/c, 2 ¼ c/#)

19 # shortening

¼ c sugar x 365=91 c (2 c=1#)

46# of sugar

1 Tb yeast x 365=365 Tb = (48 Tb/#)

8# of yeast

(My mom told me about an AMAZING no-knead bread. So, if you don’t have a bread mixer, try it out. It takes a lot of waiting time -- not actual work and the bread turns out great. Here are some directions: http://www.aresrocket.com/bread/) --Noelle

CEREALS

You will need to add the separate serving of ½ c water + 1/8 c dry milk and 1 Tb sugar to your totals.

Granola makes 5 cups or 3 pint jars.

3 c oats, 1/3 c honey, 1 c sliced almonds, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ c shortening, ½ tsp salt, ½ c raisins.

Melt the shortening. Place all the ingredients (except raisins) in a large bowl and mix well. Spread onto a shallow pan (or put into 3 uncovered pint jars) and bake until browned (60 minutes or longer). It shouldn’t have to be stirred but you can turn the jars half way through. Watch it closely so it doesn’t burn. For jars, add the raisins and place a lid and ring on the jar as soon as you remove it from the oven. The jar will seal and keep the granola fresh for weeks. For pans, let it cool, add the raisins and store in airtight containers.

Grape Nuts makes 4 cups.

6 c whole wheat flour (4 c wheat), 1 c brown sugar, 2 c buttermilk (2 c water + 2/3 c powdered milk + 2 Tb vinegar or lemon juice.) 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt

Mix everything in a bowl, press onto 2 cookie sheets and bake until dry (1-2 hours) Grind with a meat grinder to the size of grape nuts and bake again until golden brown. Cool and store in airtight container.

Oatmeal makes 1 cup.

½ c rolled oats (or quick), 1 c water, pinch of salt.

Place salted water and oats in separate canning jars or covered pots and heat. When heated, add warmed oats to hot water and cook to desired consistency. Serve with milk and sugar. Add raisins or dried apples.

Rice Cereal or Rice Pudding makes 4 cups.

1 ½ c rice, 4 c water, 1 tsp salt, 3 Tb sugar. Pudding: 2 “eggs” ½ c raisins, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp vanilla.

Place salted water and rice in canning jars or covered pots and place in solar oven. When water is hot, add warmed rice and cook for 40 to 50 minutes or until rice is done. Add milk and sugar. For rice pudding, add 2 or more “eggs”, sugar, raisins and nutmeg to the hot rice. Stir well and return to the oven, repeating the process until rice is thick like pudding. Add vanilla and stir. Add ½ c milk if desired.

Wheat Cereal makes 1 ¼ cups.

½ c wheat + 1 c water.

Soak overnight. (1 or 2 more c of water will be needed to cook). Place water, soaked wheat and pinch of salt in a jar or pot with tight fitting lid. Cook 2 hours. Add water as needed.

MAIN DISHES

Beef and Beans makes 8 cups. Start early....beans take a long time.

1 pound washed pinto beans (2 ½ c) 7 c water, 1 pint bottled beef (undrained), 2 tsp salt, 2-3 Tb dried onion, ½ tsp thyme, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp basil, 1 tsp parsley, ¼ tsp pepper, 1 bay leaf.

Place water in covered pot and heat to as close to boiling as possible. Add beans. Cover and soak out of the oven for 1 hour. Do not drain. Add all other ingredients and simmer 4 -5 hours or until done.

Beef Soup makes 12 cups.

1 pint bottled beef (undrained) 8 c water, 4-8 tsp (according to taste) beef soup base, 1 c dehydrated diced potatoes, 1 c dried carrots, ½ c dried celery, 2 - 3 Tb dried onion, 1-2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 bay leaf, ½ - 1 tsp thyme.

Mix all ingredients in large covered pot and simmer for several hours.

Beef Stew makes 8 cups Creamy or Tomato style. 1 pint bottled beef, 1 recipe cream of mushroom soup (using beef soup base instead of chicken soup base) (Tomato style: 1 c tomato powder + 2 c water=2 c tomato sauce) 1 c dried carrots, 2 Tb dried onion, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp thyme, 1 c diced potatoes.

Use the beef juices and water to make the cream of mushroom soup. (Or make the tomato sauce). Place all ingredients in large covered dish and simmer several hours.

Chicken Alfredo makes 10 cups.

1 recipe Alfredo sauce, 1 pint bottled chicken (drained) 1 pound spaghetti noodles, 8 c water, 1 - 2 Tb parsley, ½ - 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper.

Make the Alfredo sauce. Heat salted water and spaghetti in separate large covered pots (or canning jars w lids). Add warmed spaghetti to hot water, cook 15 - 20 min. and drain. Stir noodles, sauce, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper and chicken together gently and return to oven for 20 min. or until hot.

Chicken Creole makes 10 cups.

1 ½ c rice + 3 c water + ½ tsp salt (5 c cooked rice) 1 pint bottled chicken (drained) ¼ c dried celery,

¼ c dried carrots, 1 bay leaf, 1 c tomato powder + 2 c water, 2 Tb dried onion, ½ tsp sugar, ½ tsp seasoning salt, ¼ tsp pepper, 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 3 Tb cornstarch, 1 c water, ¼ c dried parsley optional: ½ c dried mushrooms.

Split the 3 c water, ½ tsp salt and 1 ½ c rice between 2 canning jars, cover and cook about 40 min. Hydrate vegetables. In a large covered pot, put vegetables, tomato sauce, bay leaf, sugar, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire. Cook 30 - 45 min. Put the 1 c water or broth and cornstarch in another jar and shake until smooth. Add chicken and cornstarch mixture to vegetable mixture and cook uncovered until thickened. Serve over the rice.

Chicken Delight makes 9 cups.

1 ½ c rice, 2 Tb beef soup base, 3 Tb dried onion, ½ recipe cream mushroom soup, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper,

2 c water, 1 pint bottled chicken. Optional: ½ c dehydrated mushrooms.

(May use broth and water to equal the 2 cups liquid.) Mix all ingredients in a large covered pot. Cook in solar oven for 4 hours or until rice is cooked. Remove lid and cook another ½ hour or until browned.

Chicken Fricassee makes 6 cups of broth and 8 cups of potatoes.

4 tsp chicken soup base + 4 cups water, 4 tsp dry onion, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ½ c white flour and water as needed, 1 pint bottled chicken (undrained) 6 c instant potatoes + 4-6 c water.

Combine the 4 cups of water, soup base, undrained chicken, onion, salt and pepper in a large covered pot. Place the 5 ½ c of water in another covered pot (or jars) and heat both pots in solar oven until hot. Take out the broth and slowly add flour and water mixture. Return to the oven to thicken. Take out the pot of hot water and stir in instant potatoes. (Make sure they’re nice and thick) Place the potatoes on a plate, scoop the center to the sides, making a “bowl” and spoon the chicken and broth mixture into the “bowl”.

Chicken and Rice makes about 12 cups.

1 recipe cream of mushroom soup, 1 Tb lemon juice, ½ tsp salt, 2 c rice, 4 c water +1 tsp salt (Don’t add salt if broth is used) 2 Tb dried onion, 1 pint undrained bottled chicken, ¼ tsp pepper, 1/3 tsp paprika

Optional: 1/3 c dried celery and ½ c sliced toasted almonds.

Add broth and water to make 4 cups. Add the rice to the liquid and cook in solar oven about 40 minutes or until done. In a large covered dish, mix the cream of mushroom soup, lemon juice, onion, paprika, pepper, salt, chicken and cooked rice. (And optional celery and almonds) Cover and bake until done.

Chicken Soup makes 12-14 cups.

8 tsp chicken soup base + 8 c water, 4 tsp dried onion, 1 c dried carrots, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper

1 pint bottled chicken (undrained) ½ c dried celery, ½ c dry rice. Mix all ingredients and simmer.

Chili makes 12 cups.

1 pound (or 2 ½ c) washed pinto beans , 7 c water, 1-2 tsp salt, ¼ c dried onion, ½ -1 tsp garlic powder, 3-4 Tb chili powder, 3 tsp cumin, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 Tb sugar, 1 pint ground beef, 2 c tomato powder + 5 c water.

Place water in a large covered pot and heat to as close to boiling as possible. Add beans. Cover and soak beans out of the oven for 1 hour. (Use soaking water to cook beans) Cook beans in covered dish 4-5 hours. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until done.

Chili-Mac Makes 10 cups (add more water or broth if it’s too dry)

2 c macaroni, 2 Tb dried onion, ¼ tsp garlic powder, 2 Tb chili powder, 1 ½ c tomato powder + 3 c water (3 c tomato sauce) ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, 1 pint bottled ground beef.

Add beef broth and water to equal 3 cups of liquid. Add water and tomato powder to make tomato sauce. Add liquid, tomato sauce, macaroni, garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper and ground beef. Cook until macaroni is done.

Goulash makes 14 cups.

3 c macaroni, 6 c water, 2 c tomato powder + 6 c water (6 c tomato juice) 2 tsp dried onion, ¼ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, 1 pint ground beef (undrained) 1 can of corn (undrained.)

Heat the 2 c water and salt in solar oven until very hot. Cook the macaroni in the water about 20 min or until done. Do not rinse. Add rest of the ingredients to the macaroni, return to oven and cook until done.

Macaroni and Cheese makes 10 cups.

4 c macaroni, 8 c water, 10 Tb mac + cheese powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/3 c dry milk + 1 ½ c water, 2 Tb butter, ½ tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper.

Heat the 8 c of salted water and the macaroni in separate containers. When the water is hot, add the macaroni and cook for 15 - 20 min or until done. Drain. Add butter, cheese powder, salt, pepper and milk.

Rice-a-Roni makes 8 cups.

2 c rice, 1/4 - 1/3 pound spaghetti (1 cup of 1" broken pieces) 1 Tb. dried onion, 2 tsp dry parsley, ½ tsp dry ginger, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, 4 Tb shortening, 4 tsp chicken soup base + 4 c water, optional:

1 pint jar chicken, ½ c sliced toasted almonds and ½ c each dried carrots and celery.

In the solar oven, heat the shortening in a large pot. Dutch ovens are great but this can also be done in several canning jars with lids. Break the spaghetti into 1" pieces. When the shortening is hot, stir in the rice and broken spaghetti and cook until browned. (Jars can cook on their sides for this) Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and cook for 40 - 50 min. or until done.

Shepherd’s Pie makes 12 cups.

1 can corn (drained) 1 can green beans (drained) ½ recipe tomato soup, 2 Tb dried onion, 1 tsp salt,

¼ tsp pepper, 1 pint bottled ground beef (drained), 3 c instant potatoes + 3 c water (4 c potatoes)

Make the tomato soup. Heat 4 c water in jars or covered pot until very hot. Mix the ground beef, corn, green beans, tomato soup, onions, salt and pepper into a covered pot. Take the water out of the oven and wrap it in a dark cloth to keep it hot. Place the meat mixture in the oven and bake 45 min. or until hot. When it’s done, mix the instant potatoes and the hot water and spread on top of the meat mixture.

Spaghetti makes 10 cups.

1 pound spaghetti noodles, 1 recipe marinara sauce, 1 pint bottled ground beef or sausage (drained) 4 c water, 1 tsp salt.

Make marinara sauce and add drained meat . Heat salted water and spaghetti in separate covered pots (or use caning jars) add spaghetti to hot water and cook 15 - 20 min. Mix sauce and noodles.

Sweet and Sour Chicken makes 7 - 8 cups.

1 pint chicken, 1 1/3 c rice, 2 2/3 c water, 1 can pineapple, 2/3 c vinegar, 1 1/3 c sugar, 4 Tb cornstarch,

4 Tb soy sauce, 1 tsp Molasses, 1 Tb. dried onion. (opt. ½ c sliced almonds, ¼ c dehyd. celery.)

Heat the rice and water in separate jars. When hot, combine and cook until done. (Heat bottled chicken at the same time.) Put the pineapple juice, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, soy and molasses into a qt jar. Shake well and cook in solar oven. Cook and shake this sauce repeatedly until thickened. On the bed of cooked rice place the heated chicken, almonds, pineapple, and hydrated celery. Pour sauce over the top.

Taco Soup makes 12 cups.

1 pint bottled ground beef or sausage, 1 can corn, 1 can kidney beans, 1 29 oz. can stewed tomatoes, 2 c water (OR 1 c water and 1 c tomato sauce) 2 - 3 Tb taco seasoning, 2 Tb onion, ¼ tsp garlic.

Place all ingredients in covered dish and let simmer.

Tamale Pie makes 10 cups.

1 pint bottled beef or ground beef (drained) 1 c tomato powder + 2 c water = 2 c tomato sauce

½ pound (1 ¼ c) washed pinto beans + 3 c water + 1 tsp salt (3 c cooked beans) 2 Tb dried onion, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp oregano, 2 Tb chili powder, ¼ tsp pepper.

Topping: 1 2/3 c cornmeal, 1 2/3 c white flour, 2/3 c sugar, 2 “eggs”, 5 tsp baking powder, ½ c dry milk + 1 c water, 1/3 c melted shortening, 1 tsp salt.

In large covered pot, heat 3 c water as close to boiling as possible. Add beans. Cover and soak out of oven 1 hour Add 1 tsp salt to beans and cook in oven 4 -5 hours or until done. Melt the 1/3 c shortening and set aside in the sun. Put the beef, tomato sauce, cooked beans, onion, garlic, oregano and chili powder in a covered baking dish and bake 20 - 30 min. While it’s cooking, make the topping by stirring together the flour, sugar baking powder and salt. Stir in the cornmeal until well blended. Add “eggs” and milk and stir to a smooth batter. Fold in the melted shortening just until blended. When meat mixture is done, remove from oven, spoon topping over meat and bake again about 30 - 40 min. or until cornbread is done.

Tomato Soup (Condensed) makes 2 cups.

1 c tomato powder + 2 c water = 2 c tomato sauce, 2 Tb dried onion, 3 Tb melted shortening, 6 Tb white flour, ¼ tsp pepper, milk if needed, ½ tsp seasoned salt, ½ tsp soda, 2 tsp sugar.

Melt 3 Tb shortening in a canning jar in the solar oven. Place the flour, milk, salt and pepper together in another jar, shake to mix well (no lumps!) and heat. Add heated flour mixture to the melted shortening and stir or shake well. Heat another 10 -15 min. Continue to shake and cook until thickened. Add the onion, soda and sugar to the tomato sauce and slowly blend the two sauces together. Add milk if needed to attain consistency of condensed tomato soup. Return to solar oven and gently heat. Do not boil. (For soup, add 3-4 cups of milk then stir and heat.)

COOKING PASTAS

To keep pasta from getting pasty, use 2 pots with lids or jars with lids. Heat the dry pasta with a little oil or shortening in one; heat the salted water in another. When the water is hot, combine the two.

Macaroni makes 5 c cooked.

2 c macaroni, 2 - 3 c water ½ tsp salt.

Heat water and salt until very hot. Add heated macaroni to the water and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Spaghetti makes 4 c cooked.

½ pound spaghetti (break noodles to fit cookware) + 1-2 tsp shortening, 3-4 c water, ½ tsp salt.

Heat water and salt until very hot. Add heated spaghetti and cook 15 to 20 minutes.

SAUCES

Alfredo Sauce...almost. makes 2 ½ cups.

½ c water + 1/3 c dry milk = ½ c evaporated milk, 3/4 c Parmesan cheese, 1/8 tsp white or black pepper,

pinch of nutmeg, ½ c dry milk + 2 c water (2 c skim milk.)

Place 2 cups of milk in a canning jar and cook until hot (20 min). Place the ½ c evaporated milk, pepper, Parmesan, and nutmeg in another canning jar and shake to mix. Slowly add a little of the evaporated milk mixture to the hot milk and shake. Repeat until it’s all mixed together. Return the jar to oven for 15 to 20 min. to thicken. (You may have to add 1 Tb cornstarch and 1 Tb of water if it doesn’t thicken.)

Cream of Mushroom Soup (without the mushrooms) makes 4 cups.

½ c dry milk + 2 c water, 1 c white flour, 3 Tb shortening, 3/4 tsp seasoning salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, ¼ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp thyme, ¼ tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp chicken soup base + 1 ½ c water.

Melt the shortening in a canning jar, add the milk and heat. Heat flour and seasonings in a second jar. Combine the two and shake well. Put soup base in a jar and place both jars in the solar oven. After 10 min. take the milk jar out and shake it well. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Repeat until thickened. Remove both jars from the oven and slowly begin to add the hot broth to the thickened milk mixture, stirring or shaking until you have the consistency that you desire...either condensed or as soup.

Marinara Sauce makes 4 cups.

2 c tomato paste + 4 c water (4 c tomato sauce) 1 tsp garlic powder, 1-2 Tb dried onion, 1 ½ tsp dried basil,

½ tsp oregano, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp crushed red pepper,1 tsp sugar. Or use 2 - 3 tsp Italian seasoning in place of other spices. Mix all ingredients in 1 or 2 canning jars and let it simmer.

SNACKS AND DESSERTS

Apple Crisp makes (1) 9x12 pan.

2 c dry apples , 3 c water, 2 Tb + 1 tsp cornstarch, 3/4 c sugar, 1/3 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 tsp nutmeg,

2 Tb lemon juice.

Topping: 1 c rolled oats, 1 c brown sugar, 1 c flour, ¼ tsp salt, 1/3 tsp baking powder, ½ c shortening.

Mix dry ingredients for apple crisp in large covered pot, add water and lemon juice; mix well. Bake in covered dish 1 - 2 hours or until done. Mix the topping with pastry blender or fork, spread over cooked apples and return to oven for 30 - 40 min (uncovered) until browned.

Brownies makes 1 8x8 pan or 4 pint jars.

1 c shortening, 2 c sugar, 2 c white flour, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 “eggs”, 2/3 c baking cocoa,

½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt. Optional: 1 c chopped walnuts.

Make your “eggs”. Mix shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs and mix. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and vanilla and mix. Bake in 8x8 pan (or jars) about 45 min or until done.

Frosting:

6 Tb shortening, 6 Tb cocoa, 2 Tb corn syrup, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 c powdered sugar, 2-4 Tb milk.

Chocolate Cake makes (1) 9x12 pan or 6 pints.

3 ¼ c white flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 ½ c sugar, ½ c cocoa, ½ tsp baking powder, 2 c water,

2Tb vinegar, 2/3 c melted shortening, 5 tsp vanilla. ½ c chocolate chips, ½ cup walnuts.

Melt shortening. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix together melted shortening, water, vinegar and vanilla and stir into the dry mixture until smooth. Pour into 9x12 greased and floured pan (or greased jars) and bake for 30 - 40 min or until done.

Chocolate Chip Cookies makes 3 dozen.

1 c shortening, 3/4 c sugar, 3/4 c brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 “eggs”, 2 ½ c white flour,

½ tsp water, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 c chocolate chips. 1 c nuts.

Mix shortening, sugars, vanilla, water, soda and salt until creamy. Add “eggs”, flour, nuts and chips.

Bake in oven on cookie sheets or in jars until done.

Chocolate Pudding or Pie makes 7 cups.

3 c pudding mix, 5 1/3 c water (1/4 to 1/3 ratio)

In a container with a tight lid, combine mix and water and shake until blended. Let sit for 5 - 10 min until set. Use as a pudding or make a graham cracker crust and have pie.

To make a pie crust, crumble enough crackers to equal 1 cup of crumbs. Add 1/3 c brown sugar and 1/4 cup melted butter and press into a pie pan. Use as is or you can bake the crust in the oven until browned.

Graham Crackers

1 ½ c white flour, 3/4 c wheat flour, ½ tsp salt, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1/3 c shortening, 1/3 c honey, 3 Tb water, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp sugar.

Combine all dry ingredients except cinnamon and sugar. Cut in shortening to consistency of cornmeal. Stir the honey and water into dry ingredients. Divide in half and roll each half out onto ungreased cookie sheet to ¼” thickness. Cut into squares and prick with a fork. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake 15 - 25 min. Store in airtight container.

Spice Cake makes (1) 9x12 pan or 6 pint jars.

3 cups white flour, 2 c sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 ½ tsp ground cloves, 2 ½ tsp cinnamon,

2 ½ tsp nutmeg, 2/3 c melted shortening, 2 Tb vinegar, 1 ½ c water, 2 “eggs”, 2 Tb vanilla.

(grease pan with 1 tsp shortening + 1 tsp flour) optional: ½ c raisins and ½ c walnuts.

Melt the shortening in solar oven. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the melted shortening, water, vinegar, “eggs” and vanilla and stir into the dry mixture until smooth. Pour into a greased and floured 9x12 pan or greased jars and bake about 1 ½ hours or until done.

Tapioca Pudding makes 9 cups.

1 c sugar, 9 Tb minute tapioca, 2 ¼ c dry milk + 7 ½ c water, 3 “eggs”, 1 Tb vanilla.

Put all ingredients except vanilla into your painted canning jar. Cook in solar oven for about 30 min. Remove, shake well and return to oven. Continue cooking and shaking jar every 15 - 20 min until tapioca swells up (total time: 60 -75 min). Add vanilla, shake and pour into dishes. Pudding thickens as it cools.

Wheat Thins

½ c wheat flour, ½ c white flour, ½ tsp salt, ¼ c shortening, 1 Tb dry milk + ¼ c water, 1 tsp molasses.

Melt shortening. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine milk and molasses and stir into dry mixture. Place a ball of dough the size of a tennis ball in the middle of a greased cookie sheet and cover with a sheet of waxed paper. Roll out thinly, covering sheet. Peel off the waxed paper and cut with pizza cutter into desired shapes. Bake 30 - 40 min or until browned. Salt while hot.

USER FRIENDLY FOODS AND MEAL IDEAS

Some of these recipes may need electricity and will not be suitable for the solar oven.

Breakfasts

Remember to add the milk, sugar and dash of salt to your breakfasts if needed. Try cold cereal, Pop Tarts, granola bars, flavored instant oatmeal. They have a decent shelf life and kids love them.

Malt-o-meal (1 cup, once a week) 1/4 c M/M = 1 c cooked.

28 oz box =4 ½ c dry or 18 c cooked.

1/4 c x 52=13 c = 3 boxes Malt-o-meal

1 c water per 1/4 c malt-o-meal=52 c = 3 1/4 gal water

Oatmeal (two cups, once a week) 1 c oats=2 c cooked

1 #10 can=24 c cooked

1 c oats x 52= 52 c = 4 1/3 #10 cans oats

2 c water x 52=104 c= 6 ½ gal water

Pancakes (5-6 pancakes, once a week) 1 c Krusteaz=5-6 pancakes.

A 10 lb bag Krusteaz = 40 c.

1 c Krusteaz x 52=52 c= 1 1/3 bags Krusteaz

3/4 c water x 52=39 c= 2 ½ gal water

½ c syrup x 52=26 c=208 oz = 9 - 24oz bottles syrup

Scrambled eggs and sausage (or ham) (4 eggs, twice a month)

4 fresh eggs x 26=104 eggs (add salt + pepper)............ 8 - 9 doz eggs

1 pint sausage (or ham) x 26=...................................... 26 pints sausage

Dinners

Chicken and rice (makes 6 cups, once a week)

1 pint chicken x 52=.................................................... 52 pints chicken

1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup x 52=........ 52 cans soup

1 1/2 c rice (makes 4 ½ c cooked) x 52=78 c=............. 6 ½ #10 cans rice

3 c water x 52=156 c=.................................................. 9 3/4 gal. water

1 Tb onion x 52=52 Tb=............................................... 3 ½ c dry onion

Cook the rice in the water. Add the rice, chicken, soup, onion and bake. Opt. top with cheese.

Chile and fry bread (6 fry breads with chile, once a week)

or Chile and cornbread.

1 - 15oz can chile x 52=.............................................. 52 cans chile

1 ½ c flour x 52=78 c=.............................................. 6 ½ #10 cans flour

½ tsp salt x 52=26 tsp=............................................. 26 tsp salt

1 Tb shortening x 52 + 4 Tb for frying x 52=260 Tb.... 7 # shortening

½ Tb baking powder x 52=26 Tb=........................ 3/4 # baking powder

3/4 c (+ or -) water x 52=39 c=................................... 2 ½ gal water

Mix the flour, salt, 1 Tb shortening, baking powder and most of the water together and knead. (Add more water as necessary.) Let this dough sit for 30 min. Pull off pieces of dough, flatten into disks and fry in melted shortening on your stove. Cover with the heated beans and optional cheese.

Hamburger pie (makes 5-6 cups, once a week)

1 pint bottled beef or hamburger x 52=.................... 52 pints beef

1 can corn x 52 =...................................................... 52 cans corn

1 can green beans x 52=........................................... 52 cans green beans

1 can tomato soup x 52=.......................................... 52 cans tomato soup

2 Tb dried onions x 52=104 Tb=...............................7 cups dry onion

1 1/2 c potato flakes x 52=78 c=.................... 6 ½ #10 cans potato flakes

3 c water x 52 = 156 c=............................................. 9 3/4 gal. water

Place everything except the water and potato pearls in a casserole dish and heat in the solar oven. Heat the water at the same time. When the mixture is hot and the water is hot, add the potato pearls to the hot water and top the mixture with the potatoes. (Top with cheese?)

Parmesan chicken (makes 7-8 cups, once a week)

1 pint chicken x 52=............................................... 52 pints chicken

½ pound spaghetti(4 c cooked) x 52=26 pounds=.. 6 #10 cans spaghetti 1 jar spaghetti sauce x 52=........................................52 jars sauce

½ c Parmesan cheese x 52=26 c=.......................... 5 # Parmesan cheese

3 c water x 52=156 c=.............................................9 3/4 gal water

Cook the spaghetti in the water. Layer spaghetti, chicken, Ragu, bread crumbs, cheese and bake.

Salmon and rice (makes 6-7 cups, once a week)

1 pint salmon x 52=................................................... 52 pints salmon

1 ½ c rice (makes 4 ½ c) x 52=................................. 6 ½ #10 cans rice

1 Tb lemon pepper x 52=52 Tb=............................... 13 oz lemon pepper

1 can corn or other vegetable x 52=............................ 52 cans corn

Cook rice in the water and serve salmon over the rice. Corn is a side dish.

Sweet and Sour Chicken (Makes 7 - 8 cups)

1 pint chicken x 52=.................................................. 52 pints chicken

1 ½ c rice x 52=78 c=............................................... 6 ½ #10 cans rice

3 c water x 52=156 c=............................................... 9 3/4 gal. water

1 can pineapple x 52=............................................... 52 cans pineapple

2/3 c vinegar x 52 =35 c =280 oz=............................ 2 gal. vinegar

1 1/3 c sugar x 52 =70 c=.......................................... 35 # sugar

4 Tb cornstarch x 52 =208 Tb=................................ 4 ½ # cornstarch

4 Tb soy sauce x 52=208 Tb=.................................... 1 gal. soy sauce

1 tsp Molasses x 52=.................................................. 12 oz molasses

1 Tb dried onion x 52=52 Tb=.................................... 4 c dried onion

(opt ½ c sliced almonds, ¼ c dehyd. celery)

Cook the rice in the water in a qt jar or covered pot. (Heat the chicken in its jar at the same time). Put the pineapple juice, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, soy and molasses into a qt jar. Shake well and cook in solar oven. Shake occasionally and cook until thickened. On the bed of cooked rice place the chicken, almonds, pineapple, and hydrated celery. Pour sauce over the top.

Taco soup (makes 9-10 cups, once a week)

1 pint ground beef or sausage x 52=................ 52 pints meat

1 can kidney beans x 52=................................ 52 cans kidney beans

1 can corn x 52=............................................. 52 cans

1 29 oz can stewed or reg. tomatoes x 52=....... 52 cans tomato

2 c water x 52=104 c=..................................... 6 ½ gal. water

3 Tb taco seasoning x 52=156 Tb=9 3/4 c=..... 2 ½ # taco seasoning

Easy meal ideas:

Bottled meat and barbeque sauce over rice, potatoes or bread.

Bottled meat with green chili, onions and Mexican spices on fry bread or tortillas.

Chicken, tuna, beef or peanut butter sandwiches on homemade bread(Use mayo and pickle packets). Chicken or tuna mixed with cooked noodles and cream of chicken soup.

Hamburger Helpers….add a pint meat.

Boxed macaroni and cheese.

Ragu or Prego and bottled sausage over spaghetti or on a homemade pizza crust….top with cheese. Tomato soup and oyster crackers with a toasted cheese sandwich. Ramen soup, Cup-a-soup, Campbell’s soups, dry packaged soups.

Manwich (or make your own sloppy joe sauce) Mix with ground beef.

Chicken or beef Tacos-- add corn and beans to the meat to stretch it further. Chicken enchiladas (I always use my canned meat for my enchiladas)--Noelle

Freeze Dried Foods:

The advantages of freeze dried foods are numerous: They take little space, are easily prepared with hot water, the taste is very good, there is a wide variety from which to choose, the cooking time is just 10 minutes and they have a 30 year shelf life. The disadvantages are the high cost and the fact that the industry considers a serving to be one cup of prepared food.

(I am really into dehydrating food and having freeze dried foods on hand. To learn about dehydrating food go to www.dehydrate2store.com. It is a great site!!

For example, I bought 20 lbs of freeze dried corn (which tastes soooo good and frees up freezer space) here: http://www.augasonfarms.com. I will be using it NOW for a few years at least, it has a 30 year shelf life, and I will have it incase of emergency. I also buy things like dehydrated minced garlic. I put a little bit in a small jar to rehydrate it in water and leave it in the fridge for when I need it or just put the dried garlic directly into my recipe. It is really good (not as good as fresh, but I would rather have some on hand than not! Plus I save money. Dehydrated potatoes are really handy for hash browns or “funeral” potatoes. They can be used to make potato soup or lots of other recipes. I dehydrate my own tomatoes when they go on sale. I also LOVE dehydrated pineapple. Other good freeze dried or dehydrated food to look into: green beans, asparagus, broccoli, onions, celery, peas. You can use these now for dinners. Noelle)

A word about pre-made freeze dried meals such as Mountain House etc. A few years ago (before I knew what else to do) I bought a year supply of Mountain House food. It is tasty, but super expensive and you won’t rotate it. For example, Chicken Stew is $34.99 for a #10 can. It has 10 servings. That makes each serving about $3.50 per serving and it says it is only 1 cup per serving which is not that big!! That would cost a lot per dinner. Noelle

SOURCE LIST

Honeyville Grain Chandler AZ. This is a great place for grains. Wheat is about $12 for 50 lbs right now. 33 South 56th Street Suite 1| Chandler, AZ 85226 (623) 208-5776

The internet is helpful: Ebay, amazon.com craigslist.org

Blendtec.com 1-800-253-6383 (The LDS Church rarely endorses a product, but because 90% of those who have food storage don’t have a wheat grinder, they have chosen to endorse the Blendtec electric and hand wheat grinders.)

Bulkfoods.com: Buy unflavored gelatin, powdered molasses, dried fruits and vegetables, etc.

Cost Co/Sams Club: Good prices on chocolate chips, flour, sugar, nuts, Parmesan cheese and yeast.

Food Saver and Jar Sealer: Most stores carry these but the internet is the best place for inexpensive ones. The Jar sealer attachments can also be found on amazon.com

Spices: Sahuaro Spice Co. Phoenix 602-272-8557. Fresh spices sold by the pound. Store spices in mason jars to preserve freshness, but don’t vacuum seal fine powders...it can clog the works.

Solar ovens: Global Sun Oven sells for about $200 at survivalunlimited.com/solar aimdiscount.com/SOven or kansaswindpower.net/solarcookers.

Walton Feed Lots of bulk food items (dehydrated celery, sweet peas, sour cream, etc) 1-800-847-0465.

EQUIVALENCY INFORMATION

APPLESAUCE............... 16 Tb / c 4 c / qt

APPLE SLICES... 10 c in a #10 can =1 ¼ # 1 c dry + ½ c water=2 c fresh

BAKING POWDER ............... 32 Tb=1#

BAKING SODA ...................... 32 Tb=1#

BEANS ............................... 1 #=2 ½ c dry = 6 c cooked 12 c in a #10 can

BUTTER (canned) ............... 12 oz can=24 Tb or 3 sticks of butter

CARROTS.......... 12 c in a #10 can=2 ½ #. ½ c dry=1 c hydrated carrots

CELERY ............. 2 oz=1 c. 12 c in #10 can. ½ c dry=1 c hydrated celery

CHEESE (canned) ................ 8 oz per can

CHEESE POWDER ... 4 c in 1 # of powder. 96 Tb=1#. 1 Tb per 1 c cooked

COCOA..................90 Tb =1# Store in jars. Don’t vacuum pack

CORNMEAL............................ 4 c=1 #

CORNSTARCH....................... 45 Tb=1#

EGGS (powdered).................... 32 eggs=1#. 2 eggs=1 oz

FLOUR.................................... 19 c=5# 12 c in a #10 can

GELATIN (Knox ................ 1 oz unflavored gelatin=12 tsp of gelatin=12 “eggs”. 1# gelatin=192 “eggs” (egg substitute) 1 tsp gelatin + 3 Tb cold water + 2 Tb hot water=1 “egg”

HONEY................................... 20 Tb=1 c 13 oz=1 c 6 c=5#

HOT CHOCOLATE ................ 12 c in a #10 can #10 can=56 liquid c

MACARONI...................... 12 c in a #10 can 4 c = 1 # 2 c dry=5 c cooked

MALT-O-MEAL.................¼ c dry=1 c cooked. (1) 28 oz box=4 ½ c dry

MEATS......................... 1 pint bottle holds 1# of meat 1 qt bottle holds 2#

MILK..... 1/4 c dry milk + 1 c water=1 c milk. 12‑13 c powder in #10 can

about 1/3 # dry = 1 c dry a #10 can=58 liquid c

MUSHROOMS......................... 4 c dehydrated=3 oz 20 c=1 #

NOODLES............................... 4 c=8 oz 2 c dry=2 c cooked

REGULAR OATS.................... 12‑13 c in a #10 can 1 c=4 oz

ONION........½ onion=2 – 3 Tb dry. 16 Tb dry=1 c. 12 c=#10 can=192 Tb PARSLEY................................ 30 Tb=1 oz

PEPPER.................................... 4 Tb=1 oz 1 c = 4 oz

PIZZA SPICE........................... 42 Tb=1#

POPCORN............................. 12 c in a #10 can 1 c popcorn=16 c popped

POTATO flakes ............ 12 c in a # 10 can. 3 c flakes + 3 c water + 1 c milk= 4 1/2 c potatoes

PUDDING MIX....................... 12 ‑13 c mix in a #10 can

RAISINS.................................. 4 c=1#

RICE...............................12 c in a #10 can 2 1/3 c=1# 1 c raw=3 c cooked

SALT.............................. 1 ½ Tb=1 oz 1 container=26 oz = 39 Tb=117 tsp

SHORTENING ............... 227 Tb=6# can 17 Tb =1 c 2 1/4 c=1# 1 c shortening + 6 tsp water=1c butter

SOUP BASE............................. 1/8 - ¼ c dry makes 6 c broth

SPAGHETTI............................ 4 ‑ 5 # in a #10 can 8 oz=4 c cooked

SPICES..................................... 1 c = 4 oz = 16 Tb 64 Tb=approx. 1#

SUGAR (white)................. 12 c in a # 10 can. 2 c=1#. 1#= 32 Tb = 96 tsp

SUGAR (brown)...................... 1 1/3 c=1#

TAPIOCA................................ 40 Tb=1# 1 Tb=1 c cooked

TOMATO POWDER ............... 1 c powder + 2 c water=2 c tomato sauce

WHEAT........................... # 10 can=5.8 # =12 c=18 c flour when ground

1 c wheat = 1 ½ c flour, 1#=2 ¼ c wheat=3.37 c flour

YEAST..................................... 1# compressed= 32 Tbs

Shelf life: indefinite in freezer..1 year out of freezer