Category: Recipe of the Week

A few years ago I spent months experimenting with various online recipes for “Soup in a Jar,” wanting to perfect something for holiday gifting. I think I was entirely successful with the following recipe. It fits in a pint jar, serves four people, doesn’t require much more in the way of ingredients to have on-hand, and is pretty tasty! I now make a point of doing up a batch of these jars every fall for our home pantry. I “dry can” them (look for instructions online) and seal them with an oxygen absorber packet inside. I have every confidence that …

In response to requests for the Sweet, Southern Cornbread recipe Mrs. HJL makes to season our cast iron skillet, here’s her recipe: Pour about 1/3 cup of vegetable oil into a cast iron skillet. (It should be enough oil to cover the skillet with roughly 1/4 inch of oil.) Place skillet and oil in the oven and turn oven on to 425 degrees. 1 cup freshly ground corn meal 1 cup bread flour (or use finely ground Hard White Wheat flour for a healthier, but heavier cornbread) 1 tsp. salt 1/3- 1/2 cup sugar (Yes, we like it SWEET!) 1 …

Margaret R’s Pig Pickin’ Cake: 1. Grease and flour two cake pans and pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. 1 box of cake mix (lemon, yellow, or white– in my order of preference) 1/2 cup of vegetable oil 4 eggs 1 11 oz. can of mandarin oranges (undrained) 2. Mix the above ingredients together until well blended. Pour into prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until tooth-pick comes out clean, when cake is tested. 1 large carton Cool Whip (or 1 pint Heavy Cream, whipped, as a more fluid alternative) 1 pkg. instant pudding (Banana Cream, is our …

Kathy H.’ s One Pot Stuffed Pepper Stew: 1 lb. burger 1 small onion, chopped  3 bell peppers cut into 1″ pieces (I like all different colors) 1 T. olive oil 1. In 5 qt. Dutch Oven. Saute all above ingredients until meat is browned about 5 min. Do not drain meat.    1 c. rice (I used Mahatma Jasmine) 1 1/2 c. beef broth 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (don’t drain) 1 tsp. seasonings of your choice.  basil, oregano, etc.   2.  Add rice, broth, tomatoes, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.  Cook rice …

C.B.’s Potato Soup Plus Several years ago while shopping at a Sam’s Club warehouse store, my wife and I picked up a can of “Johnny’s Creamy potato” soup mix. It’s a 2-pound can of dehydrated soup mix that serves 24 with a good shelf life. The can on my stove top is at least a year old and has a 2014 date on it. Follow the instructions for a good potato soup or do what I do I make a serving for 8 (8 cups water boiling and 2 Cups of mix) and then when almost done add a small …

Debra P.’s Homestead Beans With the shorter and colder days of winter, our thoughts here out in the country turn to making sausage, preparing for deer camp, readying the barns for winter & finishing the fall harvest.  One recipe that we like uses the last bits from the garden, allows us to use some of our food storage items and makes use of whatever meat leftovers we might have at hand. This is a great item to practice using your cast iron dutch oven or any large heavy pot.   You will use both the cooktop and the oven or bury …

Linda U.’s Cream of Peanut Butter Soup The peanut, goober  peas, salted roasted and butter. Good stuff. Packed with protein. But the peanut is really not a nut. It is a legume in a shell that grows in the dirt. Originally from South America the lowly peanut made its way to Spain via Spanish explorers then went to Africa. From Africa it was sent to America as food on the slave ships.  Not much was done with peanuts until the Civil War. Oil and food shortages meant a new appreciation for the little legume.  Around the same time, the people …

R. in Colorado’s Strudel A lady of German ancestry at my church gave me a strudel recipe which had no measurements and can be varied according to what is on your pantry shelf.   I estimated and measured to replicate and came up with this basic recipe:   Chopped dried fruit – 1/2 cup of each: apricots, prunes (or what you have).   1 cup apples – fresh, dried or canned.   Rehydrate dried fruit in a small amount of water until soft.   You can use fresh apples. I used canned with the liquid, and mixed with the chopped …

S.A.’s Chicken Casserole While there are multitudes of chicken casserole recipes out there, this is my version which is very flavorful and a crowd pleaser. I remain convinced that in the future we may be eating lots of soups and casseroles which can easily be extended so people don’t feel deprived. Some may say that this recipe has lots of preservatives, salt, fats, and such. I maintain when we are living in harder times, those characteristics may not be considered such bad things. Serves 4-6 1 cup chicken, cooked, de-boned, and cut into small pieces, about 1 breast 1 can …

Connecticut Tim’s Home-Canned Hot Pepper Relish This recipe makes a big batch (approximately 22 pints) of Hot Pepper Relish that can be home-canned.      4       lbs      Jalepeño peppers    4       lbs       Long hot or cherry peppers    7       lbs       Green sweet  peppers    4-1/2  lbs     Onions    5-1/2 cups   Sugar    9        cups   White vinegar    3        Tbsp  Salt    1-1/2 Tbsp   Cinnamon    9        Tbsp   Alspice   Chop peppers and onions to desired size.    Add balance of ingredients and boil for 20 minutes     Pack hot in boiled jars   Useful Recipe and Cooking Links: Relish Recipes Pepper Recipes Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest …

Robin H.’s Bread Pudding This is a simple, easy to make recipe for a quick dessert or breakfast item. It is my mother’s version of Bread Pudding. 1 large mixing bowl 1 loaf of cheap, sandwich sliced bread (or your leftover breads that haven’t been eaten yet) 1 cup of sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tbs vanilla extract Milk 9×9 ish sized baking dish Take your bread and tear it into pieces and place into mixing bowl. Dampen with a splash of water to wet the bread, don’t soak it. Add in your 2 eggs and vanilla and …

Homeschool Mom’s Cheesy Chili Mac Soup 1 T. butter or oil 1 lg. onion, chopped Saute the above for a few minutes. To it, add: 1 lb. ground beef or other ground meat 1 T. chili powder 1 t. cumin Cook until browned. Then add: 2 1/2 C. milk (use fresh or canned reconstituted, I find soups are a good way to rotate storage milks) 2 C beef broth (I like to store the little Knorr Homestyle tubs that you reconstitute, no MSG in them) 1 8oz. pkg cream cheese Stir together, bring to a boil and add: 1 1/2 …

Old Kimber Girl’s Freezer Slaw DRESSING: 1 cup vinegar 1 tsp. mustard seed 1 tsp. celery seed 2 cups sugar ¼ cup water Combine the above dressing ingredients and boil 1 minute.  Cool SLAW: 1 medium head cabbage, shredded 1 tsp. salt 1 carrot, grated Mix cabbage with salt; let stand 1 hour Squeeze out excess liquid and then add grated carrot COMBINE: Dressing and Slaw.  Place into freezer containers, canning jars or freezer bags.  Freeze. This slaw remains crisp. Useful Recipe and Cooking Links: Coleslaw Recipes Cabbage Recipes Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest …

Old Kimber Girl’s Pear Honey 12 pears (14 if they are small) 4 large apples 2 large oranges 3 pounds of sugar Peel apples and pears. Remove core and seeds.  Grate orange rind and set aside. Peel orange-remove excess pith, remove seeds. Grind pears, apples and orange. Add sugar and cook 20 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add orange rind. Cook until thick. Process a you would any other jam. Yield:  Approximately nine ½-pint jars Useful Recipe and Cooking Links: Pear Recipes Spiced Apple and Pear Pie Recipe Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? …

Old Kimber Girl’s Sweet Pickle Relish 6 quarts ground cucumbers (medium sized) 8 to 10 medium sized onions 3 large sweet red peppers 3 large sweet green peppers ¾ cup salt Wash cucumbers and grind.  Add salt and mix.  Let stand 2 hours. Drain well.  Grind onions and peppers.  Add to ground cucumbers. In a large pot, combine cucumber mixture and: 2 quarts vinegar 8 cups granulated sugar 3 tsp. turmeric ¼ cup mustard seed 2 tsp. celery seed Heat mixture to a light bubble.  Pack into hot, clean canning jars.  Adjust caps.  Process in hot water bath 15 minutes. …