Another Good Reason to Have a Bunker...

This month we not only had Steve's birthday, but also a wedding shower, an upcoming wedding AND Christmas. AND moving the newlyweds to Idaho. Oh, and Alex's birthday soon after. That's a lot of extra strain on finances. It's times like this that really make me glad that I don't have to spend too much on food and basic household supplies. I can stretch that food budget a bit to help with the other "incidentals".

An important aspect of this "rob Peter to pay Paul" is that we need to replace and restock as soon as it is feasible - that way we're still prepared for whatever life throws our way. And that's one thing you can count on....life will throw things.

Favorite Bunker Accessory

Tonight is our ward's "Fall Festival". In the past this has just involved games, costumes and trunk or treating. This year they've added a soup and bread cook-off. I think it's a brilliant idea - get something into the kids before the candy.


I signed up a couple of weeks ago to bring soup. I figured I'd make something fabulous and homemade...this morning I downgraded my plans to great and semi-homemade. If you can call "6 Can Tortilla Soup" semi- homemade. I did open all the cans by myself. At home. I decided that it would be safer ( cough, cough) and more hygienic (snork, snork) for me not to have my hands (hack, hack) all over anything.


The hardest thing about making this soup - especially when making a double batch (12 cans), is bringing all those cans upstairs from the bunker. Say hello to my little friend. I found this retired Safeway hand basket at the Hillsboro Goodwill. Little did I realize what a handy helper it would be.

How would you spend $15?

We've been in the Bunker for nearly a week and a half. Steve and I spent a little money yesterday at Costco on totally non-bunker related stuff (engagement pictures, etc..) We didn't spend ANY money on food there. I was slightly tempted, but really, $15 doesn't go very far at Costco.

I may go to the store today. Maybe. We will probably run out of milk this morning - so I could spent 3 or 4 dollars buying a weeks worth of milk. I'm trying to decide what else to buy....

What would you spend your $15 on??

Thrifty Nifty Ideas

So, from the bunker I have made homemade playdough. I did nearly deplete my salt storage, but think I'll be ok for the next week or so.

Playdough is surprisingly easy to make. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff, I've have one too many run ins with it being ground in the carpet for playdough to be a friend to me. Never the less, my kids love it.

Playdough

Flour 3 cups
Salt 1 1/2 cups
Water 3 cups
Vegetable Oil 2 TB.
Cream of tartar 1 TB
Food coloring few drops or unsweetened "Kool-Aid" 1pkg.

Mix ALL of the ingredients in a large saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat, until the dough comes away
from the edges of the pan and it becomes difficult to move the spoon. Remove from heat. Cool until it can be handled.
Place on counter or wax paper knead 3-4 times.
Store in an air tight container.

One week in the Bunker

I was sure that being in the bunker this time would be a total slam dunk. After all, I had prior experience and this time we get to spend a little bit of money (if we choose to). Our bunker looked fully stocked. Ready, set go...yeah, go and get sick the very next day.

Here are some of my thoughts about being sick while in the bunker:

• I've been glad to have a freezer with plenty of homemade soup stocked in it.
• I feel less inclined to make things from scratch - I couldn't even smell the bread that I made on Thursday.
• I don't take over the counter remedies very often - so they are not part of my storage.

I was talking to Tia about whether or not buying some Sudafed (or other cold remedy) should count against the bunker. She wisely reminded me that having medications is on the list of things we should have in our emergency preparedness stuff.

I'm glad we're doing this again - and I'm happy(ish) that I will be able to take away a lesson this time...I think our family will be working on our first aid/medical supplies when we exit the bunker.

Systems Failure

Okay, I've fallen and I can't get up. Try as I might we only made it 4 1/2 days in the bunker before all Heck broke loose and I ended up buying dinner. It was either that or committing Hari Kari (don't you have to be able to spell it to do it?) so it happened. I had a terrible, awful, no good, very bad day and then had to run around like a chicken to pick up or drop off my kids hither and yon. Then I had to peel a whole bag of Costco potatoes (my hands hurt too!) before I broke down. But I'm back in the Saddle Again tomorrow - I promise!

Why do I want to talk like Jacque Cousteau now?

Remember those Jacque Cousteau specials where he talks very fluidly about the life of some obscure sea slug that we all wanted to know more about by the time he was done talking? Well, I want him to narrate our bunker time....so, put on your best Jacque voice and...

Zee small light children were amazed at zee deftness of zhere modder's cookeeng skills. Watch zee modder as she feeds her children zee ham and cheese fritata wiss candied carrots. See zee children sneer and turn away as if zhey know she is poisoning them. See zhem run away to find zheir own food....

Day two of the bunkering wasn't nearly as good....

Hunkered In

Well, we started our Hunker in the Bunker today. I didn't really cheat by having turkey leftovers the first night did I? We are going for a goal of the entire time Jim is gone (10 days) plus 2 or 3 while he is home - he was not a fan of the idea to say the least.

The kids thought it was fun (the first night). We'll see how they are on night 6 or 7....

Hunker in the Bunker II

We were going to start tomorrow - but hey, I'm not going to the store today anyway, so today it is.

Are you in?

Pumpkin Soup

I was going to make soup in a pumpkin yesterday - until I realized that all of our big pumpkins are doing Halloween decoration duty on the porch right now. I do have lots of smaller pumpkins, so I ended up trying out a recipe for pumpkin soup. Pumpkin/Acorn Squash Soup.

I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com...then I found another one there....then I read the reviews....then I ended up sort of combining the two recipes and making some changes of my own. So here goes:

Pumpkin Soup

1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage, browned and drained
6 cups chicken stock (I used Better than Bouillon)
4 cups pumpkin puree (I used a mix of pumpkin and acorn squash)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I sauteed these first, to soften them)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used evaporated milk)
2-4 Tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste.

1. Heat stock, pumpkin, sauteed onions, thyme and garlic in a big pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

2. Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time!!!) using the blender.

3. Return to pan and add cooked sausage. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for another 30 minutes. Stir in cream.

Pretty simple, really. You could use canned pumpkin puree and it would be even easier. I think I will play around with the spices some next time I make it and try a spicier sausage. It came out a tad sweeter than I expected and tasted more like chicken soup than pumpkin - but that was okay with us. A great way to sneak vegetables onto the table.

Nag, nag, nag.

I'm gearing up for another month in "The Bunker". I need to restock my freezer some and fill in a few gaps that haven't been replenished this month - while I've had double the mouths to feed.

We're hunkering down next Monday or Tuesday (when Stephanie and Cory leave).

Are you ready???

apocalypse...soon

So....it's now October and almost time for the Bunker Buddy "Living in the Bunker" Inaugural Fall Challenge.

Okay, okay, that's not what we're really calling it. But it is nearly time for the challenge. You can look at the previous post for rules...this is just a reminder that you should be looking at your food supply and seeing what you think you need to replenish/stock up on.

In May I learned that we didn't have enough variety of fresh/frozen veggies. This summer we managed to freeze strawberries, cherries, blueberries and apples. We should still have fresh apples out on one of our trees...and carrots in the garden. We also have a bumper crop of pumpkins and some acorn squash and spaghetti squash. I know we'll want more mixed berries from Costco (we're a bit addicted to smoothies). We'll also want some more frozen veggies.

What do you need? When will you start? (We're going in on either the 19th or 20th of this month...after Stephanie and the grandkids leave)

What's in YOUR Bunker?

So.....I've talked to a few of you about a new bunker challenge. Here's the rules:

• 30 days (I'm going from October 20-November 20 - adjust your dates as needed)


• $15 a week for grocery/household items (normal grocery store/Costco stuff..)


• we'll see who has the most money left over at the end (Tia's idea).

Now would be a good time to look at what your family eats, make up a sample menu, and then start stocking up. You've got 2 months.

Go.

And so it begins....

My tomatoes have started turning red this week. It looks like we'll have a ton. What would you do with a ton of tomatoes?

When Life Gives You Pits....

...buy a cherry pitter. $14.99 at Fred Meyer. Works pretty much just like a hole punch. Easy as pie. Cherry pie.

Our cherry trees are providing a bumper crop this year. I need to let my neighbor know that the rest of the cherries on the trees are fair game. In the meantime, I'm thinking our 4th of July dessert will prominently feature cherries.

Cherry Baby

Steve and I came home to our cherry trees full of ripe cherries. What to do with them? I found a recipe online for fresh cherry turnovers. They were okay...a bit more labor intensive than I really like, but Steve gave them a big thumbs up. Of course, any excuse to have ice cream results in a thumbs up for Steve.

The Thinning of the Kale

I finally went out and thinned the kale yesterday. I pulled up lots of plants - but before tossing them in the yard waste can I cut their leaves off.

Thanks to Pat for the suggestion of just rinsing, cutting them up and freezing them. That's my kind of preserving. It only has one more step than what I do with my blueberries. I can handle that.

In honor of the harvested kale I believe I will make some Zuppa Toscana.

Leafy Greens, Anyone?

Now that we've had a week or so of hot weather, the garden seems to be burgeoning left and right. I desperately need to get out there and thin the spinach, kale, onions and carrots. I am pretty sure that we planted way too many pumpkins - but I'll let them grow. Not only is it a vegetable that Danny will actually eat, but also a useful fall decoration.

Question: Has anyone out there ever frozen kale? If so, how? I think I will have a bumper crop.

Out of the Bunker

Still Life, With Fruit.

We made it. Thirty-one days in the Bunker. No trips to the grocery store.

How did we do? For the most part, just fine. My list of things that I wish I had is surprisingly short. Sour cream, baked beans (I could have made some from scratch - I do have all the ingredients), fresh produce (we did what we could...) and ham. I know Alex missed milk - but he didn't really complain about the powdered milk...he just didn't drink much of it.

We could continue on with the experiment longer - but I think we've already gained valuable experience in what we need to survive (A secret stash of chocolate helps).

I saved up a lot money from my household budget...I now need to restock...look out Costco, here we come.

Looking For A Zebra in a Flock of Ducks

So, Tylor has been sick for 15 days. He is nauseous, dizzy (even laying down), no appetite (has lost 6 lbs so far), and food/liquid makes matters worse (doesn't matter what kind). We have been through one, "If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it's probably a duck.", visit to the doctor and two other, "Well, it's not (blank, blank or blank).". Tylor has taken blood being drawn to the Medieval Torture level involving two smallish women, two regular sized guys and an Uber-mom hauling, dragging, kicking (I have bruises to prove it!) and screaming bloody murder, and I do mean bloody murder, to get done. We have now moved on from lower intestinal virus (still possible) to hepititus (nope) to liver issues (none) and several other things that weren't imortant enough for me to remember to an ultra-sound this Tuesday of his gallbladder. I told him it was brain surgery next ... made him smile. So, I was wondering if in our wealth of knowledge anyone has any thoughts on Zebras?

Report from the Bunker

Day 28

No "scurvy knaves" here.

We may not have much produce in the bunker yet...but we have a start. This morning I pulled up some radishes, snipped off some baby spinach leaves, pinched off some chives and then there's the parsley for garnish. Not too bad for someone with a "black thumb".

Only 4 days to go...including today.

From Trash to Treasure

So, I got a call on Monday from a very thrifty friend of mine that she was wrapping up her garage sale & would I like to pick through a bit before she hauled it off to G-dub. Now, I don't know what this says about me, but whatever, I get a lot of free stuff because I am cheap. She had just been given a hand-me-down day bed from a family with 6 kids of which 4 had used it. It was a little too old-fashioned for her and missing a couple of bolts. Mind you, most of her wardrobe is from the '80s, & she carries it off. Ever the optimist, & knowing that a little black spray paint goes a long way, this is the result. I took the tacky brass off the bed and painted them silver with left over paint. Then roughed up the already roughed up '80's wood and gave it a new black shine. Total cost $10.22 for paint, $0 for bolts (because I am my father's daughter), $0 for the bed.
Niiiice!

Will Work for Pizza

We just got home from 8 or 9 hours of home and garden improvement - over at Stephanie's house. Nathan pressure washed the back deck and helped weed whack. Alex and Danny traded off mowing and weed whacking the back (and front) forty. I primed my little heart out in the back bedroom. The bedroom that has dark real wood horizontal paneling. Which I hate. Which I really hated doing the second coat. Steve installed a shelving system in the pantry. And then had to modify it after I pointed out that none of Stephanie's tall canisters would fit on the shelves. Danny removed the handles from the upper kitchen cupboards and pressure washed the front steps. Alex helped paint and then scrubbed the stove.

I was feeling mildly guilty for eating the Little Caesar's pizza that Cory brought home for lunch. But it didn't spoil my appetite. Yes, the pizza was not from "the bunker" - but we didn't ask to be fed - and I sort of feel we earned a meal.

Garden update

Hopefully the frost we had yesterday wasn't too bad - it doesn't look like anything died today...in the garden. The spinach and kale that I planted from seed are coming up just fine - I need to thin them out a bit.

I thinned my radishes a little today - they are starting to look like radishes...and taste like them too. I am not overly fond of radishes myself - if I eat one I better really be in the mood for it, cause I'll be tasting it the rest of the day. Right now I'm kinda looking forward to that - it's funny what a lack of fresh produce will do to a person.

Savoury Zuccinni Pancakes

Here is a super easy pancake recipe that is good and good for you. No picture now- we ate the evidence too quickly.

1-2 small zucchini (about 1/3 zucchini per pancake) shredded and drained.
2-3 lg eggs (proportions on these two is as you prefer- but zucchini should be the 2-1 fave here)
3 T chopped parsley or something green- I used dried cilantro-it was good-spinach would be good.
A little salt or season salt ( your choice).
A little black or white pepper-depending on who you're cooking for.
Finely chopped green onion ( or any other onion finely chopped).
( I can think of a lot other things I could add but I stopped here-this time)

Heat a good skillet with a little olive oil in it on medium, medium high. Pour batter out in pancake size dollops. Flatten a little and let cook until brown on the cooked side and pretty well cooked through. Flip and cook until brown on that side too.

At this point you can top it with a little parmesan cheese and eat it plain or top it with ranch dressing made with low fat sour cream (we chose this- it was great!)

Makes a great brunch, lunch , or even dinner.

Kitchen Science

We finished off a container of honey a couple of days ago - so I needed more. I have 2 half gallon containers of honey in our food storage - one was newish, the other oldish. The oldish one was nearly completely crystallized. I sort of dreaded spending a lot of time gently heating it so that the crystals would dissolve.

Then I had an idea. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it - but it still seemed pretty genius to me...put it in a crockpot. I put 3 jar rings in the bottom, loosened the lid on the honey, placed the honey container on top of the rings, then just filled it up with hot water and turned the dang thing to low. Worked like a charm. It took about 4 hours - give or take. I didn't have to constantly watch it - about once an hour I took it out and shook it up a little to see how it was doing.

Wahoo. Clear honey!

Hunker in the Bunker report

Day 16

We're past the half-way mark now. Supplies are holding out nicely - besides fresh milk and produce we're surviving quite well. I don't miss the milk (the boys might) - I do miss the produce (the boys might not).

Meal planning for a month at a time was a little challenging at planning time, but it has saved me a lot more time and questions like "what's for dinner" are no longer a challenge. Have we stuck completely to the menu? No. But we have used it for nearly all of out dinners so far.

There have been some side benefits. We have used less gas this month - no shopping trips for food. Nathan told me he still has the same $3 in his wallet that he had at the beginning of the month. Danny has fallen in love with my homemade bread.

I am looking forward to June 1st. Maybe I'll start working on my grocery list next week.

Make A Mix

I've been making bread at least every other day. At least. In a effort to make it less of an effort, I decided to put together all the dry ingredients for our favorite bread. Now, when I have to make bread, I just pour the liquid ingredients in the bread machine, add the dry mix and top with yeast. After 2 1/2 hours in the bread machine the dough is ready to rise in pans for an hour, then bake at 350' for 30 minutes. Yes, 4 hours from start to finish, but the actual time I have to put in is about 10 minutes. Not too bad.

ONE MORE FABULOUS BREAD RECIPE TO TRY

Since we've all been somewhat focused on bread lately, I offer this wonderful easy & very quick homemade bread recipe. START TO FINISH IN 1 HOUR! Really! This makes a very light & tasty bread whether you make it with white 'bread flour' or 100% whole wheat or 1/2 & 1/2. It rises fully and has a very tender texture. My dear friend Beth makes it and I spent time with her watching the method. EASY/SHMEZY! I use my Bosch (as does she), but it's not required. Everything goes into the bowl all at once! So here's the recipe & I'd love to hear how you all like it.

10 1/2 cups white BREAD FLOUR (NOT all-purpose)

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

3 rounded tablespoons SAF-INSTANT YEAST (must be saf instant)

2 eggs OR 3 Tablespoons liquid lecithin *

4 cups HOT tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs or lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute & check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. Dough should be very sticky. Mix for 5 minutes. (do NOT add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter & pans with Pam vegetable spray. Shape loaves & cover with dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes. Bake at 350' for 25 minutes. This recipe makes four loaves of bread.

*Squeeze or pour approximately 3 tablespoons of lecithin directly into the bowl...3 puddles approximately a 'quarter' size....Do not measure.

For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe but add one cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water & add 1 additional tablespoon of lecithin (but not eggs). Mix for 10 minutes.

Lecithin is available at health food stores and Bosch/food store & bread making equipment stores. Check google for your local source.

Dad has fallen in love with this bread & just raves about it all the time.....and how easy can it be?

You cannot taste the applesauce in the whole wheat, but it does give it a very moist, tender texture.

Good luck!

ONE MORE THING! WE WISH YOU MOMS A VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY & KNOW YOU ARE LOVED MORE THAN YOU CAN KNOW. HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY!

Hunker in the Bunker report

It's been one week.

One week in the bunker. Prudence dictates that we take stock of our supplies.

Hmmm... we still have plenty of nearly everything. Nearly. We're a little lower on butter than I'd like to be - but as long as we're careful we should do just fine. I definitely think twice about using recipes that call for a lot of butter.

There are some things that I miss. They all fall under the heading of fresh produce. Bananas. Apples. Leafy greens. Tomatoes.

I have to be more aware of certain foods getting low - if I'm low on bread, I need to make more - sooner rather than later. I also need to keep an eye on how much milk is in the jug.

3 more weeks to go.

Soft and Delicious 2-hour Wheat Bread

Here is the bread recipe I promised Deb. I have made it many, many times and it is consistently good and soft ( not even I could mess it up). It makes about 4 loaves and freezes well. I used to make it entirely by hand, but a heavy duty mixer with a bread hook would probably speed things up a bit.

5 C warm water
2 T yeast
1/3 C honey
1/3 C potato flakes ( go food storage!)
1/3 C oil
2 eggs
1 T salt
4 C whole wheat flour
6-7 C Bread or All purpose Flour

Dissolve yeast per pkg instructions. Make a sponge using all ingredients ( preferably in order down to and including whole wheat flour and about 2 C other flour. Mix well. Let rest about 10 minutes. Add remaining flour gradually as needed to make a soft dough. Knead on floured surface. At this point the recipe says to cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double. I would usually put it in a large preheated* ceramic bowl, pour a little olive ( or other) oil in and turn 'til all is moistened with oil and let rise there, loosely covering with plastic wrap or tea towel. It just raises a little quicker that way. Punch down and then shape into 4 loaves: place in 4 greased bread pans. cover and let rise again until double.

Bake at 350' for 30-40 minutes. Put hot bread on a towel and thoroughly cover with towels for a nice soft crust. Be sure to have it completely cooled before freezing.

*fill the ceramic bowl with very hot water after making the sponge. Drain and dry before putting bread dough in to rise.

Beef Stew-ish

I tried a new crockpot recipe the other day. It was sorta like Beef Stragonoff using stew meat. I love pre-cubed stew meat and it's pretty cheap. So here it is:

--2 lbs stew meat

--2 T butter

--1/4 cup soy milk

--1 T gluten free worcestershire sauce

--1 T black pepper

--2 T dried minced onion

--1/4 cup beef broth

--1/2 t kosher salt

--1 t herbs de provence

--1/2 block of cream cheese (not pictured)

Cook on low for 10 hours.

I changed it a bunch and would have added one more ingredient. Keep the butter and the worchestershire sauce, pepper, onion, add au jus (instead of beef broth because that's what I had), salt, some oregano, and I didn't add but would have added one can of Cream of Chicken soup to thicken this up a bit. Add sour cream to it at the end and pour on cooked noodles. Made it in the morning and ate it in the evening. Pretty good and I really like slow cooking stew meat. Everyone liked it but the sauce was thin.

Did I mention that it threw together in 5 minutes?

Dutch Bread II

I gave Sherri's Dutch Crunch Bread recipe a whirl. I have to admit to some skepticism. There was nothing magic in the ingredients....so......

Before putting in the oven- is this what it's supposed to look like?

After baking for 30 minutes.

I was still skeptical. Sure, it looked good, but that's not why we make bread. It's got to taste good and have great texture.

Verdict:
Surprisingly good. I will definitely try this again. I'm not totally in love with the crunchy topping - so I might try it without - but the rest reminded me of kaiser rolls (which I love). The crunchy topping was a little too crunchy for me - but that may have been because my home ground rice flour was coarser than store bought.

I will make these into rolls next time instead of loaves. I might try adding crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme and basil (the seasonings in my Garlic Herb Bread).

Thank you Sherri!

Hunker in the Bunker report

(shhh. keep your voice down).

Day 4 in the bunker.

Supplies are holding out well. We shared a meal made with some of our storage yesterday with a young mother and her children (Cory is in Washington D.C. - secret mission). Tonight we have guests again. How long will our food hold out?

Actually, we're doing fine so far. That's not too surprising - I'll be more interested in seeing how we are doing after a couple of weeks of no shopping.

I can already see that we are going through jam at a much higher rate than previously. That's due to the increased frequency of having warm, homemade bread coming out of the oven. Butter and honey are likewise going a little faster. I'm a little concerned about the butter. When it's gone, it's gone.

A friend of mine at church told me that she had ordered a can of dehydrated butter. It sounds weird, but hey...if it's any good I'd be willing to give it a go. Unfortunately she hasn't opened it to try it out. Has anyone else tried it? I'd like to know if it's any good...or just a good "idea" (better in thought than in actual practice).

Pita Bread Machine Recipe

When Mom gave me her fresh ground wheat flour, I used it on a recipe for pita bread. When you partner with the bread machine, making pita bread isn't much harder than making rolls. I found that my pockets puffed more reliably if I only stretched them out to six inch rounds. Any thin "windows" in the dough will prevent it rising.
If you are using the pockets promptly (i.e.-your gyros are already hot and tzatziki mixed) you can probably skip the wet towel, but if they sit out they will become brittle and not slice neatly.
This Pita Bread Machine Recipe is from associatedcontent.com. The white pita bread recipe is listed on the first page, the whole wheat is on the second page.

Gardening Wannabes

We (I'm using the "royal we") put "dirt" in our first planter today. First, Steve leveled the dirt that was already in it. Then he had Danny spread a layer of newspapers to help keep down weeds.

Next, it was time to make the planting mix. Peat moss, compost(s), vermiculite and perlite were mixed together in a secret combination. Well, I guess it's not too secret - Steve would be happy to share it...

To mix all that stuff, Steve dumped it on a large tarp and then he and the boys turned it. After turning it and mixing, it was then time to dump it in the planting bed.

Now we just have to figure out what all to plant...I feel some impulse shopping coming on. Any suggestions?

Calling All Gardners (or wannabes)

I do not have a green thumb, but I'd like to give it a go this year. This is one area on the side of the house that gets morning sun, what should I attempt to plant here? The kids have already started harvesting the weeds as you can see.
Michael is on board with tearing out some rosebushes and putting in some railroad ties to square off an area for a garden. So, do we make it one railroad height or two? It's right next to the walkway, will that be awkward? How deep does the dirt need to be? This will have full afternoon sun.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

And so it begins....

Day 1

In the bunker. Our supplies are cut off. We now have to make do with what we have. I can already tell I'm going to miss fresh produce. Hopefully that will give me more incentive to work on the garden - really try and get stuff to grow.

Tonight's menu: Indonesian pork roast, rice, Chinese vegetables.

30 Days to a Better You

Things I bought to swell my meager food storage:

2 cartons salt
3 extra spaghetti noodle boxes
3 lbs Beanland mix (it really is that good)

Yes, yes, baby steps all but the journey of a thousand miles, et cetera, et cetera...

All Hail the Dutch!

Deb keeps posting about wheat this, healthy that, her plants on water rations so I thought I would chime in as her not-so-healthy but really tasty nemesis - White Bread Girl! I have been playing with a Dutch Crunch recipe and think I have it now. I have a pic but it's stuck in my camera...sorry!

Dutch Crunch Bread

2 - 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 110F)
1 - 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm milk (105 to 110F)
2 - 1/2 to 3 - 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar

Topping

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 110F)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup white rice flour (Not sweet rice flour)

Bread: In a large bowl combine yeast, water, milk and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast is absorbed. Add vegetable oil, salt, and about 2 cups of flour. Stir until well mixed. Add remaining flour a couple of tablespoons at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out on to a lightly flour surface and knead for about 4 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap (don't stick it around the dough just cover the top). Let rise about 1 hour until double in size.

Once dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into either two medium sized loaves or into 10 to 12 rolls. Place on a lined baking sheet: cover & let rise for 15 minutes while you prepare the topping.

Combine all topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly. Let it stand until the rolls are done rising.

Spread a generous layer of topping on each roll (think of it as a spooned on icing) - don't worry if it runs on to the pan. Let rise for another 20 minutes.

Bake at 375' for 20 to 25 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes. To reheat place in foil in 375' oven for 10 minutes.

Round Foot Gardening

The day after tomorrow our family is going to start our "hunker in the bunker".


I planted some of my deck planters this morning. Just in case we need some extra oxygen in the bunker. Considering the fact that I have a "black thumb", if we actually get anything BUT oxygen (such as vegetables) it will be nothing short of a miracle. I planted one tomato plant, one green pepper, two peas, chives, parsley, and several flowers(that way it won't be SO depressing if the veggies don't grow). I also planted seeds for radishes and spinach.

I don't think we'll be harvesting any vegetables during May - a few herbs maybe - it will be unlikely that we'll get anything else. I will try and take very good care of my little deck garden. Whenever I am wishing for fresh produce, I'll go out and water....

...I hope they don't drown.

TVP Thursday

(I made this meal on Thursday)

The ingredients.

Vegetarian Black Beans and Rice.

Into one medium size pot add:
1 can black beans
1 can pureed black beans
2 bay leaves
a handful each of dried onions and dried peppers
about a cup of sausage TVP
about a cup of water - maybe a cup and a half

Bring to a boil and then simmer for a little while. Serve over rice.

The verdict:

Alex just kept going back for more. I liked it a lot. Steve liked it a lot. Nathan liked it. Danny wouldn't try it (try not to be too shocked - he did eat a lot of the Honey-Wheat Bushman's Bread). I usually make black beans and rice with regular sausage (Jimmy Dean), but found that I didn't miss the "real" sausage at all. This one's a winner.

This recipe for black beans and rice was made completely with food storage items.

$12.37

A week from tomorrow we'll be starting our month long, self imposed food storage odyssey.

I have $12.37 left from last week's grocery money...I need to spend it by tomorrow.

What groceries would you buy if you only had $12.37?

Hunker in the Bunker 2009

Several years ago we had some friends in our ward that spent an entire month only eating from their food storage. Yes, I thought they were nuts. Who would want to do something like that? Next month we will be that nutty family.

Starting on May 1st and continuing for the entire month our family will live off of our food/household storage. We discussed it last night at FHE. The boys were surprisingly receptive - although Danny did want to know if that meant we couldn't spend money on other stuff (computer, video games, etc...). After assuring him that we weren't going to include those things we made a menu for a month of meals. Well, we made a menu for most of a month of meals. I still need to fill in 2 or 3 days (Daniel's choice for those days was "mashed potatoes" - I need to add a main dish).

I plan to tape a piece of paper to the refrigerator that says "Things I WISH we had in our food storage!" We will perhaps use it to supplement our shopping list at the end of the month.

I don't plan to go shopping on April 30th and stock up on produce, milk, dry cereal, bread, etc...Nope. It will be a month of powdered milk (since I don't personally drink milk, this won't bother me much) and homemade bread. In fact, I don't think I will go grocery shopping at all next week - we'll just use up the milk and bread that we already have.

Wish us luck - you can contact us through short-wave radio, code phrase: "The Bunker"- later in the month we may change that to: "Tired of powdered milk - I want a Frosty!"

TVP Tacos

Textured Vegetable Protein = TVP= meat substitute

We recently ordered a variety of TVP products from Shelf Reliance - taco, sausage, beef, ham and chicken. Over the next few weeks I plan on trying them all. Today's choice: Taco. Right now a #10 can of Taco TVP is on sale for $10.44. A case of 6 is $59.53. Each can supposedly has 40 servings (10 cups dry TVP).

It was simple to make - pour 1 1/4 cup boiling water over 1 cup TVP - let sit for 10 minutes. That's all. That made enough taco "meat" for 9 tacos, and one taco salad. Fairly close to 1 lb. of hamburger. It also meant that dinner was ready in 10 minutes. It usually takes me 10 minutes to defrost my meat, then another 10 to 20 to cook and season it.

Verdict:

Not bad - the boys and Steve wolfed it right down.

• Did it taste like taco meat? Close enough.
• How was the texture? It was a little softer than ground beef - but not mushy.
• Will we use this again? Yes. While not quite the same as meat, it worked well in this application - and was a lot easier and less messy to prepare than ground beef.
• Overall I'm pleased to add this to our food storage.
  

I'm thinking of trying the sausage next week - working it into black beans and rice. We'll see.