Ok, you all say. Time for me to put my money where my mouth is. I have decided to share a recipe that would be a great short term food storage one. Now I have nine in my little army (little? Riiiight.) so I am preparing this on that scale. Most recipes are scalable you know so figure it out. It isn't really that hard until you get to 1/2 of a fresh egg and that isn't really a problem with storage eggs.
OK the recipe:
Spaghetti:
Now I am a carnivore far more than I am an herbivore. I will eat vegis but I like meat. If you don't you can substitute some items. Just try some different things and get something that works. My spaghetti is as follows:
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained.
1 large can traditional spaghetti sauce
1/8 cup (2 TBSP) Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Garlic salt
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
other seasonings to taste
1.5lbs spaghetti noodles, cooked Al dente, rinsed and drained.
Cheese, Cheddar, Parmesan, Romano, what have you. Each fit within the short term storage definition.
What does the last line mean? It means I don't make it the same way every time. I do it based on my mood and some times I want a good savory sauce so I up the Worcestershire. Sometimes I am in a barbecue mood so I may mix in some of my favorite barbecue sauce. Sometimes I want it sweet and tangy so I will go with some honey and 1/2 cup steak sauce. Either way, I make it a unique creation every time.
Something else? Ground beef? Yes you can bottle up and pressure can ground beef. It tastes pretty good too. It sure beats not having any and eating meatless spaghetti. The spaghetti sauce can change up too. I like one with 'shrooms in it but my wife doesn't. Occasionally, I sneak one into the cart at the store and it makes it onto the table when I am cooking. Variety is good.
Last, the pasta. I rinse mine as I hate sticky pasta. Al dente is a term in pasta (Italian, go figure) that I translate here as meaning just done. Nothing ruins a good pasta dish like overcooked pasta. It also varies from pasta to pasta. I usually cook mine till when I try it, it is still firm but not chewy or "doughy" tasting. Try chewing on a spaghetti noodle that has only been boiling for two to three minute and you get what I mean. Al dente for me is about 9-10 minutes but sometimes longer. Also, don't put the past a in until the water with 1 tsp of salt, is boiling already. makes for a better, more even and less sticky pasta.
To mix or not to mix? My wife likes to mix. If I have a lot of people and I am concerned that there may not be enough sauce, I mix. If I am deliberately making enough of both for leftovers, I don't. I prefer it unmixed particularly when I occasionally have a child who does not want sauce.
Now what does this have to do with food storage? In my last post, I mentioned storing enough for three months of the stuff you normally eat. Spaghetti is a common meal in my house, about once every two weeks. For three months this spaghetti recipe adds up like this:
9-10 lbs spaghetti (about $10)
6 lb hamburger (pressure canned) about $3.00 lb for the hamburger, and another dollar each for Jar, band, lid and time to pressure can it. (Roughly $25)
6 cans Pasta Sauce. I can often get the Larger cans, bigger than a pint and smaller than a quart (26oz) for around $.90. So about $6.00 for sauce.
Worcestershire Sauce. This will use about 1 bottle. I can often find my store brand for $1.99 though the Lea And Perrins is more than $3. and is a bigger bottle. I have just bought the store brand.
Garlic salt, Italian seasonings, and others all vary in cost but usually not very expensive. For all of these we'll say about $2.
Now cheese. I know fresh Parmesan and Romano tastes better but for storage purposes one of those pint size plastic containers will probably keep better. They are also around $2. We only go through about 1-2 of them in this time. so to be safe, we'll say about $3 for the cheese.
Water, Water. You can never have enough water. I won't put a price on clean potable water in an emergency, but I will tell you. Get it in different sizes. I have some 50 gal drums in my garage all the way down to a case of bottled water in my van. Have a way to purify water and not just boiling but filtering as well.
So for three months of a great spaghetti dinner, you run about $50. If you add a few cans of vegis, we always do at least two, that runs another$3-6 on average. Corn and Green beans are typical with us.
As I have written out this explanation, I have written it for a reader. But, in reality, it is more like a math problem. Write the list, estimate cost, add it up for the three months. Also remember to have a means of cooking it. Fuel isn't free either.
This is just one example of a decent meal that can be stored in its components with a little work and then prepared as needed.
Do the same with other meals. Don't be scared about totals. have fun with some culinary testing. Just remember to write down everything you used from water to salt, from meat to mayo.
OK the recipe:
Spaghetti:
Now I am a carnivore far more than I am an herbivore. I will eat vegis but I like meat. If you don't you can substitute some items. Just try some different things and get something that works. My spaghetti is as follows:
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained.
1 large can traditional spaghetti sauce
1/8 cup (2 TBSP) Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Garlic salt
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
other seasonings to taste
1.5lbs spaghetti noodles, cooked Al dente, rinsed and drained.
Cheese, Cheddar, Parmesan, Romano, what have you. Each fit within the short term storage definition.
What does the last line mean? It means I don't make it the same way every time. I do it based on my mood and some times I want a good savory sauce so I up the Worcestershire. Sometimes I am in a barbecue mood so I may mix in some of my favorite barbecue sauce. Sometimes I want it sweet and tangy so I will go with some honey and 1/2 cup steak sauce. Either way, I make it a unique creation every time.
Something else? Ground beef? Yes you can bottle up and pressure can ground beef. It tastes pretty good too. It sure beats not having any and eating meatless spaghetti. The spaghetti sauce can change up too. I like one with 'shrooms in it but my wife doesn't. Occasionally, I sneak one into the cart at the store and it makes it onto the table when I am cooking. Variety is good.
Last, the pasta. I rinse mine as I hate sticky pasta. Al dente is a term in pasta (Italian, go figure) that I translate here as meaning just done. Nothing ruins a good pasta dish like overcooked pasta. It also varies from pasta to pasta. I usually cook mine till when I try it, it is still firm but not chewy or "doughy" tasting. Try chewing on a spaghetti noodle that has only been boiling for two to three minute and you get what I mean. Al dente for me is about 9-10 minutes but sometimes longer. Also, don't put the past a in until the water with 1 tsp of salt, is boiling already. makes for a better, more even and less sticky pasta.
To mix or not to mix? My wife likes to mix. If I have a lot of people and I am concerned that there may not be enough sauce, I mix. If I am deliberately making enough of both for leftovers, I don't. I prefer it unmixed particularly when I occasionally have a child who does not want sauce.
Now what does this have to do with food storage? In my last post, I mentioned storing enough for three months of the stuff you normally eat. Spaghetti is a common meal in my house, about once every two weeks. For three months this spaghetti recipe adds up like this:
9-10 lbs spaghetti (about $10)
6 lb hamburger (pressure canned) about $3.00 lb for the hamburger, and another dollar each for Jar, band, lid and time to pressure can it. (Roughly $25)
6 cans Pasta Sauce. I can often get the Larger cans, bigger than a pint and smaller than a quart (26oz) for around $.90. So about $6.00 for sauce.
Worcestershire Sauce. This will use about 1 bottle. I can often find my store brand for $1.99 though the Lea And Perrins is more than $3. and is a bigger bottle. I have just bought the store brand.
Garlic salt, Italian seasonings, and others all vary in cost but usually not very expensive. For all of these we'll say about $2.
Now cheese. I know fresh Parmesan and Romano tastes better but for storage purposes one of those pint size plastic containers will probably keep better. They are also around $2. We only go through about 1-2 of them in this time. so to be safe, we'll say about $3 for the cheese.
Water, Water. You can never have enough water. I won't put a price on clean potable water in an emergency, but I will tell you. Get it in different sizes. I have some 50 gal drums in my garage all the way down to a case of bottled water in my van. Have a way to purify water and not just boiling but filtering as well.
So for three months of a great spaghetti dinner, you run about $50. If you add a few cans of vegis, we always do at least two, that runs another$3-6 on average. Corn and Green beans are typical with us.
As I have written out this explanation, I have written it for a reader. But, in reality, it is more like a math problem. Write the list, estimate cost, add it up for the three months. Also remember to have a means of cooking it. Fuel isn't free either.
This is just one example of a decent meal that can be stored in its components with a little work and then prepared as needed.
Do the same with other meals. Don't be scared about totals. have fun with some culinary testing. Just remember to write down everything you used from water to salt, from meat to mayo.
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