You may have noticed…I’m a big fan of breakfast.  This recipe is one of my favorites because I can mix it up anytime and the batter will last up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator, yielding hot healthy muffins even on hectic school mornings. It’s a great use of the buttermilk powder in my food storage too.  I don’t buy cartons of buttermilk anymore.  Powdered buttermilk is the way to go!  No waste–just mix up what you need–and I love that I always have some handy when I have a craving for this muffin recipe!

SIX WEEK BRAN MUFFINS

5 cups raisin bran cereal

4 cups flour (you can use half whole wheat)

1 cup wheat germ

5 tsp. baking soda

3 cups sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup oil (or 1/2 cup applesauce + 1/2 cup oil)

4 beaten eggs

1 quart buttermilk (I use powdered buttermilk)

Mix dry ingredients. Add liquids. Stir very well. Cover and keep in refrigerator in large Tupperware container for up to 6 weeks.  Bake at 400 degrees in sprayed muffin tins for 20 minutes.

You can also add chopped apples, blueberries, or dried fruit to the batter right before baking.  I sprinkle the chopped apple on top and press into the batter.  You don’t want to mix fruit into the big container of batter because it will brown before you use the whole batch. Add just before baking.

Here is a tasty recipe from joyofbaking.com to put your cocoa powder to good use for adorable Valentine’s Day cookie hearts!

Chocolate Sugar Cookie Hearts

Better fitness is one of my goals for the new year, so I was excited to find this yummy recipe in Shape Magazine for low-cal, high protein, whole grain pancakes. I think it’s a great way to use oats from food storage!  No need to grind the oats into flour. Just use a blender or food processor to combine ingredients below.  (I used a Magic   Bullet) Then cook batter like  pancakes for 2 minutes per side.  These are great served with fresh fruit and a drizzle of agave nectar (I like Xagave brand)! They taste a little bit like French toast.

PROTEIN PANCAKES

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese

1/2 cup egg whites (you could easily use powdered egg whites in this recipe)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of cinnamon

Try making “Blessing Mix,” a thoughtful combination of sweet and salty treats that guests can snack on before the big meal.  Package in cello bags, little canning jars, or reusable mini storage containers (like the one I used above), and label with guests’ names to mark their places at the Thanksgiving table.

I’ve created the tags for you here: Harvest Blessing Mix.  Just open and print!

You can also put your dehydrated corn from food storage to good use by packaging it in a cute container and attaching the printable tag below.  The tag shares a tradition of gratitude based on the experiences of early pilgrims, telling the recipient to place a few pieces of corn on each dinner plate and invite guests to share something for which they are grateful for each piece of corn.

This is also a great way to show others that food storage foods are practical for every day use.  Let your recipient know that any leftover dehydrated corn will be great added to their next soup recipe!

Click here for the Pilgrim Corn tags.

The other container in the photo is a container decorated to look like a squatty turkey and filled with Turkey Noodle Soup Mix.  Turkey Noodle Soup Mix uses pasta, bouillon and spices from food storage, and is a tasty way to use leftover turkey.

If you want to make these for Christmas, there are printable Turkey Noodle Soup Christmas tags under the Food Storage Printables tab at the top of this web page. Just print them, glue onto cardstock, and fold over the top of cello bags filled with the soup mix.

All of my storage containers are from Alison’s Pantry. The containers shown in this post have shaker tops, and can be reused for bulk spices.

I think we’ve established my love for pumpkin. (Such a big part of why Fall is so fabulous.)  So, I feel the time has come to share my favorite Pumpkin Bread recipe, and probably my favorite way to cycle the canned pumpkin in my food storage. This recipe was selected after auditioning many pumpkin bread recipes and weeding out the too spicy, too dry, too gooey, etc..  I think it’s hands-down the best pumpkin bread recipe around, even with my healthier substitutions. The original recipe called for 3 cups of sugar and twice the oil, so this version is a bit more nutritious without sacrificing flavor or texture.  You could use agave, or whole wheat flour, or add flax meal if you wanted to tweak it further.  It’s also great jazzed up with mini chocolate chips, dried cranberries or raisins if you’re feeling crazy.

Anyway, enough ado!  Here is the recipe I’m excited to have you try:

FABULOUS FALL PUMPKIN BREAD

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (you can use part whole wheat flour, but I recommend wheat pastry flour and it will be slightly drier / heavier–but still delicious!)

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsps. pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. nutmeg)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4  cups white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Grease and flour three 7″ x 3″ pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices into a large bowl. Stir to blend.  Add pumpkin, water, oil, applesauce, eggs, and nuts. (You can also add raisins, chopped dried cranberries, or mini chocolate chips if you’d like.)

3. Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake for approximately 1 hour.

http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook.htm

http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/pumpkin-recipes/Detail.aspx

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/thanksgiving/recipes/pumpkin-recipes/

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blpumpkins.htm

As a big pumpkin fan, I felt very blessed during the pumpkin shortage earlier this year to have cans of Libby’s pumpkin lined up in rows on my shelves. I had purchased them on sale last November. It was a lesson on how preparedness can help us to enjoy simple comforts, as well as sustain us in difficult times.

Canned pumpkin is a great addition to food storage.  It packs a nutritious punch, but (I have to be honest) I store it because I’m addicted to the spicy sweetness of pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, etc.  The aroma of anything pumpkin baking in the oven is almost intoxicating!  So, I was thrilled to find this fun site dedicated to pumpkin recipes. I’m posting it here for all of you fellow pumpkin addicts to enjoy as well.

http://www.pumpkinrecipes.org/

The pumpkin shortage is over, so be sure to stock up on canned pumpkin for your food storage next month, while it’s on sale for Thanksgiving!

Photo from Taste of Home

Fresh peaches are my favorite fruit. So, after I’ve eaten my fill of the harvest, I like to find some way of preserving that fresh, fruity flavor for the rest of the year.  I think adding homemade items to my food storage is a treat, and I don’t want canning to be a lost art for my children.  We try to make it a family affair so everyone can learn a little pioneer industry! Last year I made peach pie filling and Peachy Vanilla Syrup. This year I combined the fresh peaches with some strawberries from my freezer for Peach Strawberry Freezer Jam. If you’re still enjoying peaches in your area, give this recipe from Taste of Home a try. It’s a definite keeper!

PEACH STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 1/4 cups finely chopped peeled peaches

5 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

1 package (1.75 oz.) powdered fruit pectin

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the strawberries and the peaches (I used a food processor to dice the fruit into very small pieces, almost pureed).  Add sugar; mix thoroughly and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. In a small saucepan, combine water and pectin. Bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add to fruit mixture and stir for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves.

3. Ladle into jars or freezer containers.  Cover and let stand overnight or until set, but not longer than 24 hours. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to 1 year.

Yield: about 3 1/2 pints (I did 2 batches and got about 12 half-pints)

One week left to enter!

I’m pretending Southern Utah trees look like this!

Break out the noisemakers! It’s one of my FAVORITE days of the year. It’s the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!

To celebrate, I’m making this yummy slow cooker meal to usher in my favorite season. Savory turkey with sliced fresh apples, dried cranberries and wild rice with cabbage slaw, and warm rolls; with pumpkin cobbler for dessert. As Rachel Ray would say, “Yum-O!” The beauty of this meal, is that so many ingredients are at the ready in my food storage (wild rice, cried cranberries, minced dried onions, and you could use dehydrated apples as well.)

Here’s the simple recipe for the turkey in crock pot:

HARVEST TURKEY MEAL in the SLOW COOKER

Combine in slow cooker:

1 1/2 c. wild rice, uncooked

2 apples, cored, peeled, and chopped

1 onion, finely chopped (I used a handful of dehydrated onion)

1/2 c. sweetened dried cranberries

3 c. water (use a little more if you are using several dehydrated ingredients)

Stir, then place turkey on top:

4-5 lb. boneless, skinless turkey breast

Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 9 hours. Serves 10.

I am picking up 2 cases of peaches and a case of apples tomorrow from my local produce co-op with plans for canning and drying this weekend.  If I run out of steam before the fruit is canned, I may freeze some for smoothies too!  So, it was necessary to reclaim some freezer space.  I still had some cherries in the freezer (red tart and bing) and decided to make another batch of my favorite Cherry Vanilla Syrup.

I consider Cherry Vanilla Syrup one of the very best canning recipes in my collection.  It’s sweet and perfectly spiced, and my grandma (who is a great cook!) raves about it to all the relatives, which makes me feel like some sort of domestic goddess.  I like it best with fluffy pancakes, but it would work well over cheesecake or ice cream too. You can click on the links in this post to see the recipe and whole process for making this syrup (and cherry pie filling) from last year’s post. I consider these types of products the “luxury” items in my food storage, simple pleasures that make everything else taste better.

I canned 15 pints, and will devour the first one with French Toast tomorrow for Saturday morning breakfast!