http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/freshproducestorage.aspx

BANANA CRUNCH MUFFINS

1 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. wheat bran

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs (or 2 Tbsp. powdered eggs + 1/4 c. water)

2/3 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. mashed bananas (about 2 medium)

1 c. buttermilk (or 2 1/2 Tbsp. buttermilk powder + 1 c. water)

1/4 c. canola oil

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

1 c. granola

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease the bottoms only of 12 muffin cups.  In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and the bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, bananas, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until the batter is blended. Fold in the chocolate chips.  Spoon the batter into the muffin tin and sprinkle tops with granola. Bake the muffins for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.  Makes 1 dozen yummy muffins.

WHOLE WHEAT WAFFLES

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I like hard white wheat flour)

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. nonfat dry powdered milk (non-instant)

1/4 c. oil

2 eggs, beaten

2 Tbsp. sugar

Enough water to make the right consistency

Stir dry ingredients together, then stir wet ingredients together and combine. Add water last until the batter is the right consistency for waffles.  Cook on hot waffle iron.

Dehydrated (freeze-dried) foods are very nutritious. In contrast to their water-packed, canned counterparts, these foods retain much more vitamins and nutritional content. They are excellent for everyday cooking as well as long-term food storage. Freeze dried foods have 98% of their moisture removed, but they retain nearly all of their fresh-food flavor, vitamins and nutrients. Dehydrated foods keep their nutritional value because the vitamins have not been cooked out in the initial process.

Aside from nutrition, dehydrated foods are desirable for food storage because they are so light weight. With pits, peelings, and nearly all of the water removed from these foods, they are very light and convenient to store or take with you in an emergency. They are also economical. Generally, dehydrated foods have double the yield of regular canned food, which makes them a smart buy.

Dried foods, however, do lose nutrients due to the use of heat to dry them. They also become concentrated calories. For example, one cup of fresh apricots contains about 74 calories, while one cup of dehydrated apricots contains more than 4 times that amount: 313 calories! The good news is, dried fruits do retain all of their fiber and iron. Drying foods slowly with a home dehydrator is the best method to retain the most nutrients during drying (much healthier than commercial drying).

You can still enjoy fettuccine alfredo, with a few minor adjustments.

I had the opportunity to present a class today on simple changes we can make to improve our diets.  I love teaching this type of class because I always learn something new from the discussion with those who attend.  Thank you to all of the lovely ladies who attended the three sessions today.  I appreciate all of your comments and am anxious to try out some of your ideas.  It is fun to discuss the common goal of better health.

Although this presentation wasn’t on my typical preparedness theme, we did touch on several food storage items including grains, oils, sweeteners, and dehydrated fruits and vegetables.  Since freeze dried and dehydrated foods retain much more of their nutrients than their canned counterparts, these fruits and vegetables add beneficial nutrients to soups, casseroles, and many other recipes.  For any class attendees, I realized that I forgot to mention one of my favorite benefits of storing and using agave nectar! It has a nice 2-3 year shelf life, and doesn’t crystallize like honey. 

Anyway, if you missed the class but would like a copy of my handout, you can download it by clicking here: Stake Relief Society Healthy Foods Handout. This file includes the recipe alterations on the Pumpkin Sheet Cake.

I was just introduced to a fabulous food storage resource based on the bygone principle of making the most of what we have.  The author of Grandma’s Modern Inflation Fighters, Cherrie Sorenson, states in the book’s dedication: “Our Grandmother’s knew how to preserve, dry and stretch a little to feed a lot. This book is based on the same concept, using what we have in our refrigerators, pantries, cupboards and food storage to stretch what we have.”  Unlike many books in this genre, Grandma’s Modern Inflation Fighters is not a disorganized manual of varied homegrown tips. It’s clean, organized design invited me to peruse the great recipes and how-to ideas inside.  The recipes are simple and sound delicious, and they conjure up the memories of smells from your grandmother’s kitchen. Molasses Cookies, Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls, and Tangy Tamale Pie are three recipes I am anxious to try.  The cookbook has great information on using food storage products, and also features a nice section on homemade mixes, canning, sprouting and even using soy in your cooking. I am grateful to have this little gem in my collection and excited to recommend it to you. I know you’ll find it a great resource too.

LOW-FAT BANANA BREAD 

4 very ripe bananas

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I always use hard white wheat for milder flavor)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. white sugar

2 Tbsp. butter, softened (I used Smart Balance)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

2 Tbsp. applesauce

Mash bananas thoroughly in mixing bowl.  Add all other ingredients and mix well. Pour into two greased loaf pans (not minis, but smaller loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I love serving my family a hot breakfast, but sometimes busy school mornings can make that difficult.  Often I prepare part of a recipe the night before, like combining the dry ingredients for a muffin recipe, or putting oatmeal in the crockpot. So when I found this recipe for “Overnight Pancakes” I knew it had potential for providing hot, healthy hotcakes with minimal effort in the morning. I think it’s a winner.

OVERNIGHT PANCAKES

Combine the following in a mixing bowl the night before you want to make pancakes:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 egg

1/4 c. honey

1 c. milk

3 T. oil

Allow to sit for at least seven hours, or overnight at room temperature. When you are ready to cook the pancakes, stir in 3 teaspoons baking powder. If the batter starts to rise too much, stir it down. Fry on a hot griddle, and serve with your favorite syrup or topping.

I just learned a new trick!  If you drink orange juice with your oatmeal, you double the nutritional benefits of both foods by combining phenols and Vitamin C.  They explain it much better at RealAge, so here is the link:

http://www.realage.com/tips/how-to-elevate-oatmeal-to-superfood

Just another reason to continue storing and using oats.

Look what you'll be missing if your oats run out!

My #1 favorite thing about the internet is the opportunity it gives us to share good ideas! I have been so grateful for the ideas I have found online to help me in nearly every aspect of my life.  I’m currently serving as the Emergency Preparedness Specialist for my LDS ward, so I thought I would post the ideas I’m sharing with our group to hopefully remind and enthuse people about recommiting to food storage and preparedness goals for 2010. Hopefully it will be helpful to others serving in the same capacity.  Today I passed out this year-at-a-glance list of suggestions to build your food storage with their weekly grocery shopping. I also handed out a copy of the current LDS Cannery prices.  (As a side note, Cannery prices are increasing on January 16th so now is a good time to inventory and restock things you’ve used up.)  Then, on the first Sunday of every month (as a reminder), I am going to hand out a little printout of the month’s suggestions and the cannery dates, so they’re in a size that will fit easily in a wallet. There are a ton of great ideas online that you can use for your group. I was going for simplicity and something that wouldn’t strain budgets.

Click to view and print the page here: Weekly Food Storage 

I had been offering a monthly food storage cooking class, but with the changes in the Relief Society program (as far as Enrichment activities), I may just use those ideas as mini classes for a ward preparedness activity sometime during the year.

I would love to hear the ideas you are using to help your church or community group become more self-sufficient and prepared for emergencies.  Please share!