[Homemakers] A Prep Challenge

[Gingergirl]

Okay Homemakers, TSHTF and the next meal is up to you. Dig into your preps and see what meal you can put on the table.

Test your pantry, your skills and your creativity.

A real meal, one night this week.

Nothing fresh unless from you own productions: garden, dairy, and such. For this test, assume no power disruption.

Share your menu, weakness and strengths discovered, how well your family liked the meal, tips for other homemakers.

GOOD LUCK

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Fried Spam
Milk cooked grits
Toast from home made whole wheat bread with butter and jelly
Fruit
Orange juice or Tang

Refritos: One can refried beans, one can well drained black beans, one cup shredded cheese, half-cup salsa. Reserve one half cup of the cheese, mix all other ingredients until well mixed then put in Pyrex pie plate. Sprinkle on last half-cup of cheese. Heat in oven until bubbly. Put plate on trivet in middle of table. Give everyone a plate with tortilla chips (we like unsalted) to dip with. This is a particular favorite of my daughter.

Beef with onions and mushrooms over eggs noodles.
Green peas
Niblet corn
Ice water, juice or Tang

Spaghetti with meat sauce. We like lots of veggies in ours. Usually never quite the same thing twice.

If we assume no power disruption then it's going to pretty much resemble what we normally eat.

.....Alan.

 

[Gingergirl]

A.T. Hagan

Sounds good.

Use and rotate.

Here's our dinner tonight:

Chicken gumbo (the last of home canned okra, corn, tomato mix; more canned tomatoes, the very last jar of chicken breast I put up last Fall)

Fresh loaf of whole wheat bread.

Peaches canned last summer from my trees.

The vegetable mix has been real useful and awfully good and the chicken has been of surprising good texture and flavor.
Need to put up more chicken.

 

[Deena in GA]

The first meal that came to my mind was chicken (canned) and rice - have both in storage as well as the ingredients for the gravy. Homemade bread. Beans or peas from last years canning. Also canned fruit.

I also have a LOT of dried potatoes that could be used as the basis for a dish with a can of meat of some kind.

 

[Gingergirl]

Hi Deena,

We had a bumper crop of Potatoes last Fall, so I canned them as slices and diced. Red potatoes were a bit watery, but the Gold potatoes retained good texture. Neither had a "canned" flavor. Almost instant mashed potatoes or potato soup, a real time saver. And I save the water for bread the next day.

 

[Freeholdfarm]

We would pretty much have whatever we would normally eat -- if the power wasn't off. A better test would be to assume the power was off. But we would still eat pretty normally. Grandma, Mom and I are all experienced campfire and woodstove cooks. And our preps are just more of what we usually eat.

Kathleen

 

[Ought Six]

Add to pot:

2 cans Snow's Clam Chowder
1 can baby clams (add juice, too)
1 tin smoked clams
1 can evaporated milk
1 can diced new potatoes (drained)
a couple tablespoons full of dried onions
a small pinch of dried dill
a little fresh ground pepper
a dash of Tobasco

Heat until just short of a boil (but DO NOT let it boil), then simmer on lowest setting for 10 minutes & serve. This makes very good clam chowder with a nice smoky taste. Add a box of oyster crackers and a salad of garden or wild greens and you are good to go. If you are so inclined, a cold pilsner or glass of white wine on the side does not hurt, either. I do this one all the time, and it feeds me for two or three dinners.

+++++

Mix up a batch of cornbread batter using powdered milk & eggs. Place in the bottom of a camp-style (with legs) dutch oven two 24-oz cans of beef stew, two 12-oz cans of roast beef, a 15-oz can each of corn, peas & carrots and diced new potatoes (drained), a few tablespoons full of dried onions, a shot of garlic powder, a healthy shot of soy sauce, some pepper, and a big pinch each of dried basil and thyme. Mix well, then spoon the cornbread batter over the top & cover. Put coals on top and underneath and let cook until the cornbread is done (a knife stuck in it comes out clean). Spoon it up with a large serving spoon.

The big advantage of this one is that you can do it without any kitchen appliances. It is a good campsite meal.

 

[ncsteelmagnolia]

Gingergirl, could you kindly share your method/recipe for canning chicken-my family would more likely eat it this way, than out of a metal can. I do realize this may need to be another thread. Thank you for such an insightful discussion!!

 

[Gingergirl]

Hi Sue (I miss the South.)

I can Hot pack, without Bone...usually I buy the whole chicken breasts when on sale, and roast in the oven. (Prefer the texture roasting gives, but the chicken can be poached) Easy to de-bone and cut into pieces so large they barely fit in the jars. You can use any part of the chicken.

Pack into the jars with the largest pieces in the center and smaller to fill the spaces. Fill to within 1 1/4" of top, add 1/2 tsp salt for pints and 1 tsp for quarts. Cover with boiling broth, leaving 1" headspace. Clean rim and put on lids.

Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure: pints, 75 min.; quarts, 90 min.

Store in a cool dark place, best not longer than 9-12 months.

The results are not the same as fresh cooked chicken, but so much better than anything I found from the store.

 

[WalknTrot]

Not a problem as I usually cook from preps, home canned stuff or fresh from garden and henhouse...hmmmm...lets see. How about spaghetti with canned homemade sauce and parmesan cheese, cornbread, and salad from the garden or canned veggies? The answer would be the same with no power because my propane range and oven need no electricity..

Do I pass?

 

[Taz]

Well, tonight we had a very large salad out of the garden and enchiladas. Enchiladas were refried beans, cheese, cilantro and sour cream covered with enchilada sauce and baked in our gas oven. I make my own sauce and my own refried beans but bought the cheese, sour cream and tortillas.

Tomorrow we are going to have a veggie omelet and corn bread. The omlet will have egg plant, tomatoe, zucchini and onion in it from the garden. Alas! I no longer have chickens.

Taz...who does know how to cook over a bonfire, fireplace or woodstove. Plus solar oven and Bush Box. I have been making my beans in the bush box which of course requires almost no fuel.

 

[Gingergirl]

Okay TAZ

Now you just have to describe a "BUSH BOX."

 

[PilotFighter]

We would be like others. Pretty much life as normal. A nice pot of fresh tater soup would be easy to do. Got tons of taters this year. Maybe take a 1 lb. DAK canned ham and chop it into small cubes and add to the tater soup. Trust me it's great! At least my girls like it.

 

[Gingergirl]

PilotFighter

Tater soup with DAK ham...Hey' Id like it too!

 

[booger]

If the SHTF, I would probably eat from the fridge/freezer first since those things wouldn't last long if the power went out at a later date. So...

Venison cooked over the grill (we could use the stove which is propane but venison is so good grilled!), fresh lettuce and spinach salad from the garden, and some peas from the freezer heated with butter on the grill.

Family loved the above meal!