Martha in Indiana's Whole Wheat Bread
 
3 cups warm water
1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Dissolve the honey and yeast in the water in a large crockery bowl.
Pray for 5 minutes while the yeast "activates", becoming foamy.
Stir in 3 c. W.W. Flour, stir for 5 minutes to develop gluten.
Add 1/3 c. Honey, 4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 c. Applesauce and stir for another 5 minutes.
Add flour (6-7 cups) till a stiff dough is formed.
Turn out on floured board and knead until elastic and smooth.  A good test to see if it is kneaded enough is to pick up the dough and then drop it, it shouldn't stick to your hand.
 
Place dough in a greased crockery bowl and place in a slightly warmed oven into which you have put a pan/bowl of warm water.  Dough rises much better in a warm (not hot!), moist, environment. Let rise for 40 minutes or till it doubles in volume.
 
Punch down and divide/shape into 4 loaves.  Place in pans and let rise for 40 - 60 minutes in a warm/moist oven.  Remove from oven and preheat to 350 degrees, bake for 40 minutes or until it sounds "hollow" when loaf is thumped.  After turning out to cool, I baste the tops of the loaves with butter.
 

Chef's Notes:

I've used this simple recipe for whole wheat bread for almost 30 years.  It always turns out well. I have ground my own flour using hard red winter wheat and used it in the recipe as well as store bought whole wheat flour, both work equally well.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

OldTimeRecipes.us

Fajita.biz

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Angela in Eastern Oregon's Stuffed Green Pepper Soup:
 
1 Lb ground Italian Sausage or 1 can LTS Ground Beef
8 Cups of Boiling Water
1 1/2 Cups White Rice
3 tbls dehydrated Onion Flakes
1 tbls dehydrated diced carrots
1/4 cup dehydrated Celery
1/2 cup dehydrated Green & Red Pepper Flakes
3 tbls Dehydrated tomato powder, add water until it has a paste consistency.
2 tbls Beef Bouillon
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
 
In skillet brown the Italian Sausage (breaking into bite sized pieces), some will want to drain of the excess grease but I do not as it is tasty and needed in the right situation. In a large stock pot bring your water to a good rolling boil.  Add the rice, onion, celery, carrot, green and red peppers along with the tomato powder that you have rehydrated. Let cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the Italian sausage, beef bullion, cayenne flakes and garlic powder. Continue to cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes.
 
I serve this with a good crusty bread and a bit of goat cheese for spreading.

Chef's Notes:
As a kid my grandma used to make stuffed green peppers and I have to admit they were not my favorite thing. Luckily our taste buds mature as we do and now it is a family favorite. Making the individual peppers is time consuming and some seem to go to waste. But when I make Stuffed Green Pepper Soup all that is left is a pot to scrub! Enjoy!

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Campfire Cooking

Backpacking Meal Recipes

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Jackie's Venison Jerky

2 to 2-1/2  pounds venison roast, fat trimmed, sliced very thin  (an electric slicer works well for this)

Ingredients for marinade:
11/3 tsp. garlic powder
4 tsp. onion powder
1 -1/3 tsp. black pepper
4 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned salt
4 tsp. Accent
Dash of meat tenderizer
1 cup Kikkoman low-sodium teriyaki marinade and sauce or regular soy sauce depending on how much salt you want to add
1 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce

Add dry ingredients to a large bowl. Add the teriyaki sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir with whisk until well blended. Add sliced venison to marinade, cover and refrigerate overnight or 8 hours. After 8 hours, remove venison from marinade one slice at the time and place on dehydrator tray. When trays are full (usually 3 or 4 trays), set dehydrator to highest setting or 155 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook for approximately 4-5 hours, checking meat frequently during last hour. (High humidity may prolong dehydrating time.) Jerky can be kept refrigerated in Ziploc bags for several weeks, if it lasts that long!
 

Chef's Notes: This recipe should work equally well with meat from deer, elk or antelope.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Staple Food Recipes

Spring Fruit and Vegetable Recipes

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Ray R.'s Chicken Stew

We have a favorite soup recipe, made as follows:

Chicken Stew
16 c Water - for a soup instead of a thick stew make this 20 to 24 cups - we use water from our Berkey filter since it tastes better.
16 tsp Knorr tomato/chicken bouillon - adds a great flavor.
25 oz boneless skinless chicken - this can be fresh, frozen, or home canned - it is about a quart of my home canned chicken.
1 c Dry pearled barley - we buy these in 25 lbs sacks at Restaurant Depot which we first learned of from SurvivalBlog. We pack then into canning jars and vacuum seal then with a Food Saver using the wide mouth canning jar
attachment.
2 c dry lentils - again purchased in 25 lbs sacks at Restaurant Depot.
2 tbs dried onions - substitute fresh if you have it
1 tbs minced garlic
Large dash Maggi seasoning to taste - adds a great meaty flavor - we use the USA produced stuff made by Nestle, but it is made in many countries, and most Asian supermarkets carry it and Asian made copies. Maggi is sort of a wheat-based soy-flavored sauce product, but with no soy.
2 cans white beans - we have been using beans from the LDS cannery. Since they are no longer doing wet pack canning we will have to find another source or go to dried beans soaked overnight.
2 cans Rotel - the smaller size cans not the large restaurant sized cans.
2 cans diced tomatoes
25 oz fresh carrots - or the equivalent in dried carrots

Bring all of the above to a boil, then turn the heat down to a low simmer.
Simmer at least a couple of hours or as long as all day. We can fit a half recipe in our crock pot.

Wait 1/2 to 1 hour before serving add the Spinach.

7 oz fresh spinach or the equivalent in dried spinach.

Chef's Notes:

Yields about 29 cups of stew (about 120 calories per cup), or a few more servings if you started with more water.

My wife likes this as is. I spice it up in my bowl with a with a few dashes of Liquid Smoke, and some Chipotle Smoked Tabasco sauce.

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Jo N.'s Oatmeal Bread

I like this recipe because it makes three nice loaves with little effort.  You do not need to attend to the bread that closely so you can go off and do other chores while it is rising (2 times) and baking.
 
Today was bread making day for me, and this is an easy recipe that can be made with supplies we all should have on hand.
 
Oatmeal Bread (makes 3 loaves)
4 c boiling water
3 c oats (Quaker Oats, not instant)
7.5 to 8.5 c flour (regular is fine and is what I use)
2 packages yeast (4.5 t if you buy yeast in bulk, as I do)
2 T salt
4 T oil (I use olive but any vegetable oil will do)
1/2 c honey, maple syrup, molasses or combination thereof
 
Pour boiling water over oats in a large bowl and let cool.  Stir in 2 cups flour and the yeast. Place in warm, draft-free space, uncovered, and let rise until double in bulk (usually about 2 hours). Punch down and work in rest of ingredients, including enough flour to make a dough that you can knead.  Turn out onto flour-covered surface and knead for about 10 minutes, adding flour as you go so dough is firm but pliable and not sticky.  You cannot over-knead this bread.  Divide dough into 3 parts and shape into loaves.  Place each in a greased loaf pan.  Allow to rise until double, again about 2 hours.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, but can take as long as 60 depending on your pans.
 
Turn out and cool.  I like to make two loaves of regular bread and one loaf of cinnamon raisin.  I do this by kneading in about 1/2 to 1 c raisins before shaping the loaf.  I pat the dough out flat (could roll, but then I need to wash rolling pin) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  I roll up dough like a jelly roll and place seam-side down in greased pan and let rise and bake with other two loaves.
 
If you are skilled, you can bake the bread in a Dutch oven on a camp fire but I live in suburbia and a campfire is not allowed!  Bread is not like an oatmeal cookie with flakes of oatmeal.  It is a light colored, fine crumb bread that makes the most excellent toast.

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S.A.'s Hearty Bean Soups

First, if your family doesn’t feel that a hearty bowl of beans is a meal, you need to start down this path as soon as possible. In my childhood, even though coming from a comfortable, educated home, every single Saturday, while the house was being cleaned and weekly grocery shopping done, a big pot of pinto beans was on the stove simmering away. My parents, both raised during the Great Depression, descendants from Civil War families, had also lived through rationing during WWII. The pinto beans were served with cornbread slathered with butter. My father would crumble his cornbread into a tall glass and top it off with buttermilk. He had barely survived starvation as a teenager yet lived to be 88.

This is a survival recipe. It uses ham fat, which is critical, vital, and imperative for metabolism. Read James Michener’s novel Poland to see how hungry and deprived people feel about eating fat. If your diet is balanced, the fat in this recipe is just one more menu item that will not hurt you, but rather help keep your body well-functioning.

Onto the recipe: This works for any kind of bean, but my most favorite is black-eyed peas. You can use canned or dried. If dried, sort out the pebbles, rinse dirt off several times, soak overnight if you wish to hurry the cooking, cook until done. I always use a crock pot. Some people add a small amount of baking soda for gas. I don’t find it necessary.

·         1-3 cans of beans (use the beans, liquid, and rinse/swish with a little water to get everything from the can)
·         1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Chilis
·         Fat trimmed from a cooked ham

Buy a real ham, cook it, trim off the fat and save every fat scrap as you eat the ham. (Of course, leave on a little when you fry ham for breakfast as fat is tasty when caramelized.)
When you are ready for a pot of beans, dice the ham fat into a skillet. I use non-stick spray and a little olive oil to cut down on sticking to the pan. Brown the fat pieces and the ham bone and render the fat. When done, first allow it to cool and then gently pour the grease and fat pieces into the crock pot. Now put a can of Rotel into the skillet to de-glaze. Stir around until you get everything loosened.
Now pour the contents of the skillet (Rotel tomatoes, little brown bits scraped from the bottom of the skillet) and all the beans or peas or lentils or whatever with the liquid into a crock pot. No additional water is needed. Everything is well-cooked, but I let it go on low for a couple of hours to marry all the flavors. As the ham bone is in the crock pot, the last of the remaining meat and fat will loosen. Take out the bone and remove every last scrap bit and return to the pot. Some people think adding a tablespoon of vinegar releases some additional nutrients from the ham bone. I do this, but it doesn’t affect the flavor at all.

When done, serve with a dash of salt to taste, some chopped cilantro for green. Other optional toppings are fresh onion if you like, some sliced jalapeño or serrano pepper growing from your garden (right?) if you need more heat, or a trickle of Pepper Sauce, if desired. Commercial Pepper Sauce is simply small hot peppers bottled in vinegar, or you can make your own. As the vinegar gets used up, just continue to add more vinegar to refresh. A bottle lasts almost forever. You can choose to add nothing and this bowl of beans is still amazing and wonderful.    

Chef's Notes:

If you must have some starch, artisan bread, cornbread, tortillas, flatbread all go along nicely. Remember, while beans are a protein substitute, they are still carbohydrates. So you are covered there.   
Some cases of your favorite beans and Rotel tomatoes are a cheap, nutritious, and delicious way to increase your stores.
I eat this almost everyday for lunch and eagerly look forward to it. Fat has more calories than meat, so you will not get hungry in the afternoon. It’s rib-sticking, as they used to say. 

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

19th Century Recipes

Selected Recipes from Colonial Williamsburg

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Lin H. wrote: "Don't buy spaghetti sauce in jars or cans since it is easy, thrifty and adaptable to make your own. You know what's going into it, you can do many different meals with the one basic homemade recipe, and the ingredients are easily kept in your home (and preparedness ) pantry."
 
Lin H.'s Easy Red Spaghetti Sauce
 
1-2 tbs. olive oil (optional, depending on your meat choice)
1/2 lb. meat (ground beef or pork or venison, bulk sausage, diced smoked sausage, cut bacon, Vienna sausage dices, cut pepperoni slices, diced canned ham; the possibilities are wonderfully various)
1/2 c. diced onions (or 2 tbs. dried onion flakes)
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp. dried garlic, rehydrated; or 1 tsp. garlic powder)
1 can (14-16 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 heaping tbs. Italian seasoning (or 2 tsp. each basil and oregano)
1/2 tsp. ea. salt and pepper, or to taste
1 tbs. butter or margarine (optional)
 
In a large skillet or saucepan crumble and brown meat with onion and garlic till done (if using pre-cooked meats, heat oil then stir-fry meat, onion and garlic till onion is translucent, 5 minutes or so). Drain grease. Add rest of ingredients. Bring to just-boiling at high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings if desired. Makes roughly 4 servings.
 
Now you're ready for (plan on 12-16 oz. pasta for most of the meals below, to serve 4):
- Spaghetti, of course. Serve over cooked spaghetti or other pasta.
- Lasagne. Layer sauce with lasagne noodles and a cheese mixture and bake.
- Have you tried Cabbage Lasagne? Substitute steamed cabbage shreds for the pasta layer in lasagne. It's delicious.
- Baked ziti/penne. Toss sauce with cooked ziti or penne tubes in a casserole, top with cheese, and bake.
- Stuff manicotti or giant shells with a cheese mixture, pour sauce over and bake.
- You can add vegetable nutrition to any of these dishes. Zucchini rounds, chopped spinach, and peppers (sweet red, green bell, or hot varieties to taste) all adapt well.
- Italian soup. When sauce is done add 2 cans (14-16 oz. ea.) beef broth, 2 c. water, a can of drained beans and diced veggies of choice (zucchini or any squash, peppers, celery, carrots, peas, spinach and cabbage are all good). Simmer till veggies are almost tender and add 1/2 c. uncooked pasta the last 10 minutes.
- Add a cup of half-&-half to your sauce, simmer 10 minutes, and stir in cooked pasta for a creamy "Hamburger Helper type" stovetop dish.
- Spread sauce on unbaked pizza crusts (will make 2-to-3 pizzas), top with diced veggies, sprinkle cheese over and bake.

Chef's Notes:

I hope this can be helpful. Sharing good food with family or friends is a blessing, in good times and bad.

Reader Matt R. Adds: "The only thing I can possibly add to Lin H.'s delicious sounding spaghetti sauce contribution is something I learned from my half-Italian cousin:  Canned tomatoes and sauce are acidified for safety and can be pretty 'twangy'...  To cut the acid, add very finely chopped carrots to the sauce - about a half cup to Lin's basic recipe should be about right.  You can chop them so finely nobody will ever know they are there.  Added early and simmered for 15-20 minutes, they add no carrot-y taste but their mild sweetness goes a long way to eliminating the acid and canned taste of the tomatoes.  The beta carotene can't hurt either...  Once you do this you'll never consider making spaghetti sauce without them."
 

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Mrs. G. suggested Cooks.com

Cousin Al mentioned that Faith and Survival has a useful collection of dehydrated food recipes.

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1-1/2 cups dried mushrooms
2 cups hot beef bouillon, make it from powdered or cubed bouillon
4 cups milk, made from powdered milk
6 tbsp. flour, all purpose
1/2 cup dried onions
1/4 cup margarine, or powdered butter
1 tsp. kosher salt
Parsley flakes for garnish

Directions:
Sauté mushrooms and onions in margarine in a heavy saucepan for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine bouillon, milk, salt, and flour. Blend until smooth. Add to sautéed mushrooms and onions. Cook over low heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Garnish with parsley. Makes about 8 servings.

Chef's Notes:

This can easily be made into a mix by creating it using all dried ingredients.
When ready to cook, just add the 6 cups of water  to the jar of mix in a pot, and continue to whisk the solution while bringing it to a boil.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Lee M. wrote to mention that he liked this site: HelpWithCooking.com.

H.M. mentioned that CookingCache.com has more than 7,000 recipes available.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Tennessee Guy's Pancake Recipe

Here is my favorite pancake recipe:
 
1 cup of sour cream
 
1 cup cottage cheese
 
1 tablespoon sugar
 
1 cup of flour
 
Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
 
It is also good to put a heaping  1/2 cup of oatmeal in place of 1/2 cup of flour!
 
This recipe will give you mouth watering pancakes. Enjoy!

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

H.E. suggested the recipe collection at Everyday Food Storage.

Tom in Iowa recommended the 19th Century Recipes Archives at Hearth and Home.

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Notutopia's One Pot Beefy Mac N' Cheese

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground meat
1/8th cup dried diced onions
pinch of garlic powder
1 T parsley flakes
salt and pepper
1 lb. elbow macaroni or egg noodles
1 8oz. can Bega cheddar cheese cut in small 1/4 inch cubes, or 1/2 cup
of cheddar cheese powder

Directions:

In a 4 quart pot with a tight fitting lid, fry the ground meat with onions, seasonings and parsley flakes, until meat is browned. Do not drain oil from the meat. Add 5 cups of water to the meat mixture and bring to a rapid boil. Add the pasta, stir well and boil for 5 minutes. Cover the pot and turn off the burner. Allow the pasta to continue cooking and expanding and do not open the cover. In 10 minutes, open the cover, and stir in the cheese until melted. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

"Cabinetman" over at The FALFiles Forums recommended this traditional cookbook: Meta Given's Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking published by J.G. Ferguson and Associates Chicago, 1953. Cabinetman's description: "There’s a 77 page index to give you an idea of how comprehensive this book is. I can’t stress enough how valuable this book would become during as SHTF situation because it provides many alternatives to traditional cooking techniques as opposed to modern cookbooks which rely on microwaves and electronics and a lot of pre-packaged ingredients. In this book you start with picking the veggies from the garden, getting the feathers off a newly dispatched broiler, or carving up an elk. However, she also details more modern ingredients that may be frozen or butchered at a shop. It’s not a cookbook full only of rustic techniques but both old and newer ones. They are most certainly techniques that will help you adjust to a less-modern way of feeding a family."

Reader Lee M. mentioned that there are some great recipes posted in the discussion forums at the Mrs. Survival web site.

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Notutopia's Long Term Storage Chicken Ragout 

Serves Four

The dry ingredients for this recipe (everything but the chicken meat and the water) can be multiplied and bulk mixed and then vacuum packed in quart size mason jars with an O2 absorber for long term storage.

1 c dried diced or sliced carrots
1/2 c dried sliced celery
1/2 c dried diced or sliced potato
1/4 c dried sliced mushrooms
1/4 c dried sliced olives
1/4 c dried chopped onion
2 T tomato powder
1 T dried parsley
1 c dried peas
3 cubes chicken bouillon
pinch of anise seed
ground pepper, to taste

2  8 oz. cans of boned chicken (or fresh equivalent)

Directions:
Bring all ingredients in 7 cups of water, to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cook until tender for 15 minutes.
Add in the chicken, cook 5 more minutes.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Bill M. in New York recommended Utah's Chef Stephanie Petersen's web site, where she explains and shows how to use Honeyville and Augason freeze-dried / dehydrated ingredients to self-produce pre-mixed long-term (25 yrs) food storage meals in a jar.  Her  "52 Method" web page explains how to do it, and includes downloadable (PDF) shopping list needs, recipe cards, tutorials and features on-line videos showing how to make 12 + different long-term (multi-serving) food storage meal mixed and stored in wide-mouth quart mason jars with oxygen absorbers. She is always adding new recipes. All of this information is contained as you browse this web page. She has many other great recipes included on her web site.

Jen. K. suggested a web site with lot of great antique recipes: FoodTimeline.org

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Keri's Whole Wheat Bread
1 ½  cups hot tap water
3 Tablespoons oil
¼ cup honey + molasses to equal 1/3 cup 
     (or about 1 ½ Tablespoons molasses)
½ Tablespoon salt
4 cups whole wheat flour
½ Tablespoon **active dry yeast

Put ingredients in the order your bread maker requires. Dry ingredients first or liquid ingredients first.  I use the dough setting and then bake in the oven.   When dough is ready to shape,  pour out dough and stretch into a rectangle.  It will be a little sticky.  On floured board, roll up loaf like you do for cinnamon rolls.  Pinch the ends.  Put in greased and floured loaf pan hiding the pinched ends at the bottom, let raise 30 minutes to an hour.  Don’t let the dough over raise or it will get a sour yeasty smell and taste and can deflate while baking.  The bread will raise a little as it bakes.

Bake 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.  I have a big loaf pan, if you use a regular size pan, you may need to make 2 loaves and bake 25-35 minutes.  You will know when the bread is ready because it will smell done, and when you thump the bottom of the loaf it will sound hollow.

Kitchen blender directions:

Grind about 3 c. of wheat to make 4 c. whole wheat flour.  In 5-qt. mixer bowl, combine water, oil, honey, molasses and salt.  Mix. In a small bowl, mix 1 ½ c. flour with yeast.  Add to liquid.  Mix for 5 minutes on speed 3.  Change to dough hook.  Add remaining flour and mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until double in size.   Stretch dough into a rectangle.  Roll up loaf like you do for cinnamon rolls.  Pinch the ends.  Put in greased and floured loaf pan, let raise 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Bake 350°F for 45 minutes.  I have a big loaf pan, if you use a regular size pan, you may need to make 2 loaves and bake 30-40 minutes.  You will know when the bread is ready because it will smell done, and when you thump the bottom of the loaf it will sound hollow. 

By hand: 
In large bowl mix with a heavy spoon or hands: water, oil, honey, molasses and salt.  Stir in 1 cup flour and yeast.  When all ingredients are well combined add the rest of the flour stirring in one cup at a time (approximately 3 more cups).   Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5-10 minutes. This step is very important to loaf quality and will make your arms and shoulders get very strong :)

Because you are using your hands to knead, the dough will be very sticky.  You may find that you are adding more flour to make the dough workable. This is normal, but add just enough flour to make a smooth and elastic dough.  Too much flour makes the finished loaf dry.  Try not to use more than 1/2 cup. 

** I use active dry yeast, instant dry yeast or compressed yeast.  It is different than the yeast our grandmas used.  It does not need to be proofed and mixed with the water beforehand.  It is added with the flour and works perfect every time.   It may not seem like 1/2 Tablespoon is enough, but it is.  

Chef's Notes:

A little trick is to oil a liquid measuring cup before you measure the honey.  Pour 1/4 cup of honey in your measuring cup, then add the molasses until it measures 1/3 cup.  The honey mixture will pour right out.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Carla P. recommended: How To Smoke Meat on a Gas Grill

Shelf Reliance (one of our advertisers) publishes some handy recipes on their web site.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

R.G.'s Cinnamon & Spice Cookies

Here is an old family favorite.  This fits right in with SurvivalBlog as it stores well and travels well.

4 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
5 egg yolks
1 egg white (set additional egg whites aside)
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice
1 cup of honey, warmed

Sift dry ingredients on a board or in a bowl. Add eggs and enough honey to make a medium stiff dough. roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds (I use a juice glass.) Brush with slightly beaten egg whites. Dip in a mixture sugar, cinnamon and finely chopped nuts. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown, at 350 degrees.

Chef's Notes:

My grandparents came to this country from Austria-Hungary in 1908. This is a recipe that my grandmother brought with her. This is my favorite cookie. These cookies are keep extremely well (they contain no shortening) and are great for mailing to servicemen and women.

For colorful Holiday cookies you can use a cinnamon-sugar mix colored by a couple of drops of food coloring.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

A reader mentioned a very useful blog on Survival cooking, recipes and menu-planning.

John and Abigail Adams sent us the URL for a site on North American Indian Recipes.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Recipe of the Week

D.T.C. in Maryland's Favorites

Hot Milk Cake:

2-eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 c. Sugar
1c Flour
1 tsp - Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 325 deg.
1) Put milk and butter in saucepan on low heat. Melt butter into milk. Do not let milk boil, but it should "steam".
2) Mix eggs and vanilla together until "airy" then add, slowly, the sugar to the egg/vanilla mix until dissolved.
3) In a separate bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and blend well.
4) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture until it is the consistency of cookie dough.
5) Add the hot milk to the mix and blend gently until thoroughly blended and "thin".
6) Coat a 8"x8" square or 10" round baking pan with Pam, margarine or butter and flour.
7) Place in oven quickly... The purpose of adding the milk/butter already heated to the mix is that it starts the action of the baking powder so the cake begins "cooking" before it gets to the oven.
8) Bake for 25 minutes or until a knife pushed into the center of the cake comes out clean...

Whole Wheat Bread:

This recipe gives loaves with a thin, crisp crust and a soft, but not grainy, center.. I made 1 loaf in a loaf pan and 1 braided loaf. Enjoy!

Step 1- grind enough wheat for 3 cups of whole wheat flour...

Ingredients
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast 
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour (approximately)

Directions
Bring 1/2 cup water to boil. Add to it the milk , sugar and salt in a large bowl. Let cool to luke-warm. In a separate container add the yeast to a 1/2 cup of warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes... Add the dissolved yeast, whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the white flour to the first mixture. beat thoroughly then turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough and add more white flour as needed so it becomes easy to handle. Let dough rest for 10 minutes. resume kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Punch dough down and cut into two loaves, place in greased loaf pan (or form into loaves) and let rise again. Once the dough has risen, put into a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Check bread and remove from oven when it makes a hollow sound when you thump your finger on it. Allow to cool on racks. Enjoy.

Four Baby Food Recipes

Here are a few baby food recipes...

Rice Cereal using "powder" 
Ingredients:
1/4 c. rice powder (brown rice ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the rice powder while stirring constantly.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.

Rice Cereal with whole rice 
Ingredients:
1/2 c. rice (brown rice, basmati or jasmine)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the rice and stir.
2. Simmer for 20 minutes or according to package directions; stir 1/2 way through cooking time.
3. When rice is finished and a bit cool, add it in 1/2 cup measurements with liquid of your choice (breast milk, formula, water etc.) and puree as needed. Keep a watch as you puree so that the rice does not turn into paste!
4. Serve warm mixed with fruits, veggies and liquid of your choice. 

Oatmeal Cereal 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of ground oats (do not use the Instant or Quick Cook varieties), ground in blender or food processor
3/4 cup - 1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the oatmeal powder while stirring constantly.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.

Barley Cereal 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground barley (barley ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to a boil. Add the barley and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly
2. Mix in fruit juice or add fruits if desired
3. Serve warm

Chef's Notes:

These recipes came with permisssion from the site, Maryland Preparedness Forums.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

K.A.F. recommended a site with a lot of recipes for storage food: EverydayFoodStorage.net.

Susan C. in Texas sent a link to a web site that has all sorts of mixes you can make yourself to save money. Susan notes: "Many of these mixes are healthier than store bought ones. OBTW, I find that these recipes call for too much salt."

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Ken E.'s Chicken and Stuffing
 
Ingredients:
 
1/2 lb of Chicken or 2 Chicken Breasts.
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup.
1 box of instant stuffing.
3 sticks of celery.
1 cup of water.
 
In a crock pot, or Dutch oven place the raw chicken and chopped celery and can of cream of mushroom soup set on low heat. cook for 3 hours or until chicken is just past pink. In a separate container add the stuffing mix and 1 cup of water and mix well. Add the stuffing to the chicken and soup mixture. Serve. This makes a meal for two healthy adults, or two kids and two adults when adding a side dish.

Chef's Notes:

Our family of four likes to double the recipe. This amount of food gives me the ability to bring it for work the next day. The left-overs can be eaten hot or cold I have done both.
 
In the recipe I stated that the pot needs to be set at a low heat. I know that if you're out in the sticks, without electricity and you are cooking with a fire. It might be a good idea to cook the chicken first then add the other ingredients after the chicken is done. Cooking the ingredients with the chicken allows the flavors to intermingle.

Jenn in Arizona Added This Suggestion:

"I have made this dish in my crock pot several times. I would like to suggest to those who do not like Cream of Mushroom soup to try using either Cream of Chicken or Cream of Celery soup. You can also use the same amount of chicken broth in place of water. This usually tastes better. Also, one other thing I like to do as the recipe I have calls for is to add a little butter in pieces to the top of the stuffing mix. I also did a search not too long ago and someone suggested you can prepare turkey this way, as well."

Note From JWR: Translating Old-Fashioned Measurements -- Small Increments:

The following are rough estimations of some small increments often found in old recipes:

Tad: 1/4 Teaspoon
Dash: 1/8th Teaspoon
Pinch: 1/16th Teaspoon
Smidgen: 1/32nd Teaspoon

(Of course, you mileage may vary, since these were not standardized measurements, and the terminology might vary significantly!)

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Reader Bob. B. suggested to taking a look at the oft-cited The Provident Living (LDS) Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness web page. He suggested; "Especially look at the 'Dry Pack Handouts' label in the right-hand list. Great recipes for basic foods."

My old friend Fred the Valmet-meister sent me a link for a web site devoted to cowboy dutch oven cooking and sourdough "start" as well as some sourdough recipes.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Pumpkin Soup, by Mrs. R.L.B.

Pumpkins store very well, which makes this a great recipe to have on hand. I have made this with a variety of pumpkins and other winter squash, including butternut squash, but I have also used some pretty odd looking varieties of squash out of curiosity at the store. (If it kind of looks like a pumpkin, it will probably work. ) This soup has always come out great despite my experimentation.  When you plant your pumpkins, consider planting a variety so that you have a better chance of growing and storing successfully.
 
Two tricks to better storage of pumpkins are: 1) to let them set out in the sun for a week to harden the crust and, 2) to leave a length of stem on when you harvest them (see the book Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel and Nancy Bubel, a very worthwhile book!)  Then move them to your cellar.  Everything else in the recipe grows in the garden or can be stored in a can or as a dried spice. If you store canned pumpkin, you can still make this up, or consider making batches ahead of time and canning with a pressure cooker.  Just take out the anise before canning.
 
Another great source of pumpkin recipes is the little cookbook "The Pumpkin Book".  This came out of the Pumpkin Festival held at Half Moon Bay, California. Note:  Don't forget to add a food press to your survival kitchen list. 

It's worth making now! Get some practice on this one and try it at least once with butternut squash.

Pumpkin Soup

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Pinch of nutmeg

2 Tbsp Shallots or Onions

Chopped finely ½ star anise

1 tsp garlic, minced

4 cups chicken stock

3 Cups pumpkin

2 Tbsp butter (not really necessary, I seldom add it)

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Ground salt and pepper

Cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out those precious heirloom seeds and don't lose them. Bake the squash in a solar oven or similar oven with a little water in the pan, until it is easily pierced with a fork. Mash or puree the cooked squash in a food press and set aside. (If you have electricity still, use a food processor). Add a little oil to the cooking pot, then add the shallots, garlic and cook, stirring often to soften. Add the squash and the spices and cook stirring for 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Season well with salt and fresh pepper and just before serving add the butter and whisk in.

Chef's Notes:

I have cooked this many times without butter and can't tell the difference.

The anise can be fished out, rinsed, dried and reused a couple of times in future batches.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

The gals over at Food Storage Made Easy have compiled a free cook book with shelf stable ingredient recipes from their readers. This is a great book to add to your kitchen reference binder.

Check out the plethora of great recipes and tips at Red Dirt Cooking, such as this one: Cowhand Soup.

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Dale in Tennessee's Bean Stretcher

A favorite of mine as tested among our group and deemed worthy after being served at a church pot luck. I came up with this after pondering a few days on how to mix some of the random stored food we keep on hand in our pantry. We have enjoyed the various canned Bush's Grillin Beans for the robust flavor and stock them by the case on our shelves but I wanted a way to make a meal out of them instead of having just a side dish.

Solution: Black bean fiesta grillin beans as a flavor base for a chili type meal. I add in chunks of beef for the current civilized version, but any meat ends up savory by the time the meal is ready. Your stored rice still supplies a nice bulk to fill everyone up, while the random meat and a couple cans of beans provides quick and easy taste.

Serves 3-4 adults:

2 cans of black bean fiesta grillin beans stewed slowly while you brown approximately 1-to-1.5 lbs. of meat. Beef cubes, two squirrels, one rabbit, half a chicken, or a pile of crawdads from the creek. Add the cooked meat to the beans. Mix in 2 cups of cooked rice. Serve in a bowl with cornbread on the side.

To stretch your supplies of canned food you can boil up some normal beans from your dried stock of black or pinto beans and mix it in. Stretch things further by serving over a large pile of rice just to give some flavor and variety for day 243 of "ohboyriceagain". If you have some onions, potatoes, or other soup staples you can use them to expand the meal into a sort of gumbo (add a bit of water to keep things from caking together).

While the supermarket is still up and running try this version out the next time your group gets together for a training or retreat construction day:

2 cans of grilling beans
1 lb. beef cubes
6 chicken tenderloins cut into chunks
1/2 lb. jumbo shrimp

Chef's Notes:

Just fry up the meat and drop it into the simmering beans. Serve in bowls then add in sharp cheddar cheese cubes on top. Fried pies on the side. Do not expect to get much work out of your team after such a meal.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Reader Chris H. recommend Cooking Wild magazine, a publication dedicated to wild game recipes.

Marie K. found the Cookit! web site, that offers a "History Cookbook" which is categorized by time periods (such as Prehistoric, Romano-British, Saxons & Vikings, etc.) Within each time period, videos of individuals costumed for the era demonstrate how different recipes were prepared. They show how to make Girdle Bread over the fire (Medieval recipe) or Beancakes (Saxon/Viking recipe) or Roman Lentil Casserole also known as Pottage (a Romano-British recipe).

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Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively ? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Wolf Brother's Hardtack

Based on the Civil War Recipe:

Army Hardtack Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups flour (preferably whole wheat)
4 teaspoons salt
Water (about 2 cups)
Pre-heat oven to 375° F
Makes about 10 pieces depending on how you size them.

Instructions
Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add just enough water (less than two cups) so that the mixture will stick together, producing a dough that won’t stick to hands etc.

Mix the dough by hand.
Roll the dough out, shaping it roughly into a rectangle.   What I did was to roll it into a cookie sheet that had about a 1/2 in lip all the way round.

I cut the dough into rectangles and used a 3 tine fork to punch holes in the tops.  Kinda/sorta like what you see today with crackers.

Bake for 30 minutes. Turn each piece over and bake for another 30 minutes. The crackers should be slightly brown on both sides.

Chef's Notes:

The fresh crackers were still somewhat soft.  I left them out overnight and the next day checked them again.  Still a bit soft.

So I stacked them in a toaster over, set the temp at 140 degrees and let them bake for about 4 hours.

I wound up with truly hardtack.

I divided them into eight Ziploc bags. 

6 months later tried the first bag.  Result was like you read about - Hard to bite, works better to sop liquids up.

1 year later - same condition.

2 years later - gave most of the bags to a Civil War re-enactor group - they loved them.  Gave the recipe to one of the wives.

Another year later - tried the remaining bag.  No change.

At all times these were stored on a shelf in a closet in my house.  No real temperature extremes. 

No one has suffered any ill effects.

I plan to try to make portable soup, pemmican, parched corn, and pinole.

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Mrs. Light suggested bookmarking and printing reference copies of the resources at Food Storage Made Easy.

John F. mentioned a link to a lady's site where she features 52 weekly recipes using dehydrated foods, with a complete list of ingredients, and recipes.  

Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? Then please e-mail it to us for posting. Thanks!

Recipe of the Week

Today we present the first installment of a new column, "Recipe of the Week". (As suggested by Mrs. M.T. in Alaska.) These will primarily be recipes for storage food. Most weeks we will also feature at least one link to other web sites and blogs that have useful recipes and austere environment cooking resources. Do you have a favorite recipe that you have tested extensively? We are particularly looking for recipes with an emphasis on: storage foods, wild game, home-raised livestock and garden produce, and austere cooking methods (such as solar ovens, Dutch ovens, and so forth.) Please e-mail us your favorites for posting. Thanks!

G-man's Cold Breakfast

1 cup oatmeal (rolled oats.)
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add raisins, to taste
Add hot water to match the desired consistency

Separately, take:

2 tablespoons of peanut butter (fresh, or reconstituted)

1 multivitamin tablet

Chef's Notes: Ingredients store for many years without refrigeration. No cooking or power source required. Generates no smoke or cooking odor. Only one bowl and one spoon needed. Minimal cleanup. Contains 26 grams of complementary protein and about 660 calories. Also, really inexpensive!

And speaking of breakfast foods, reader Mike F. wrote: "I found that quinoa replaced hot cereal for me in the morning. 1/2 cup of quinoa to 1 cup of water/ boil then simmer till the water is all gone. I've also found that if you add vegetarian canned beans (like Bush's vegetarian beans) to quinoa it makes a good replacement meal that would work in a taco. I sometimes have quinoa for dinner with a salad (kale) and found that it's a great mix."

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Bill D. mentioned that Abby and Amy at Safely Gathered In have compiled many great recipes. They have an e-book (downloadable or printed) that is well worth the small fee. It is well organized, readable, and a key reference for cooking in hard times.

Laura W. says this makes her feel very comfortable: Scotch Broth recipe.

One of JWR and Avalanche Lily's favorite sites that often gets into the nitty gritty of wood stove cookery is the Paratus Familia blog.