Cream of Chicken Soup

OK so I am now hooked on making my own cream of chicken soup. Sorry Campbell soup company but this is by far superior!

Now I got this recipe from a wonderful recipe blog called Our Best Bites. Here is a direct link to Kate's recipe and how to.

I tweaked the recipe to make it more pantry accessible to me.

1 1/2 c.chicken broth (2 cubes chicken bullion and 1 1/2 cups water)
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (more or less; taste to test)
1/4 teaspoon parsley
dash of paprika
1 1/2 cups milk, divided (I used powdered milk)
3/4 cup flour

Then I followed her directions just as they are. Except I add in chicken.

In medium-sized saucepan, bring chicken broth, seasonings, and 1/2 c. of the milk to a boil. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and flour.

Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens. Cook until desired consistency is reached, keeping in mind that it will continue to thicken as it stands.

Makes the equivalent of 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup. Read as if in the can no milk or water added.

Now I am ready to make chicken gravy over rice or pasta. I add more milk, a huge dollop of sour cream and there you go. Top with cheese and YUM!

Okay so this isn't a pretty dish BUT it is a family favorite at my house. Oh that looks like a HUGE portion, let's say it was for the Hubby!

For a low carb but still awesome flavor recipe look here.

I also now use this soup for my Green Chile Enchiladas. Look for these in an up coming post!

Could you do it?

Preparing - One Day at a Time

Follow our family of 10 children through a challenge to make "No trips to the grocery store for three months." What will we improvise, what are we glad we have on hand and what will we wish we had? How will we live without fresh milk?


This is an incredible blog. Crystal shows us that it can be done, but we must prepare. Follow her journey and try her recipes. I love this blog and look forward to learning more from this wonderful woman.

Food Storage Friday

Every Thing Under the Sun

Please take look at this one page blog. Click here NOW!!

Are you still reading this??? Go NOW!!!

Great simple, easy to read and easy to follow blog.

This gal is amazing!

I think I may come up with a prize for those that go read it. So just in case GO READ IT!!!!!! And be sure comment back here if you do!

Now to figure out a prize.........;)

Bean Update

Some more recipie sites for various bean flours.

Bob's Red Mill Black Bean flour This site also sales various flours soooo I figure i can trust them to really be bean flour recipies. LOL!! Got to the bottom of this page for several more recipies using different bean flours.

Okay there is all I got for you on beans for a while. LOL!!

Tasty Tuesday

Bean Flours

This one is for you Jennifer!

Okay I found some GREAT basic information on bean flour at Emergency Essentials.

How to Use Bean Flour in Cooking

taken directly from this site

White beans or fava beans have a milder taste, making white bean flour or fava bean flour suitable for use in most recipes calling for white flour. Substitute 1/4 of the white flour for bean flour.

Bean flour made from kidney, pinto, garbanzo, chana dal or black beans has a stronger flavor and is more suitable for inclusion in meat loaf or when making vegetable patties or vegetarian loaves.

Bean flour can be whisked into soups and stews, adding flavor and goodness. Bean flour can also be used to thicken these dishes.

The Gluten Free Cooking School site had a great post about ways to use bean flours.

I found these tips interesting:

Black Bean Flour: Use as part of your baking mix for chocolate cakes and brownies; try adding a small amount to bread recipes to get that dark whole-wheat look; the Bob’s Red Mill site has recipes for a black bean dip and black bean tortillas

Green Pea Flour: Add reconstituted green pea flour to guacamole to lower the fat content and add extra nutrients; use as part of your baking mix for chocolate cakes and brownies; use to thicken soups and stews.

I know green peas are NOT beans but are in the legume category so......I tend to lump them together.

RECIPES!!!

Big Oven has around 1600 bean flour recipes here. EDIT!!! Iwent to check out several of these recipies and yes some have beans in them and some have flour but I did NOT find a bean flour recipe. GRRRRRR!!!!!

101 Cookbooks had Amazing Black Bean Brownies. They look incredible. YUM!!!!! (Jen I think you hubby could go for those!)

If you do a bean flour recipe search you will also find MANY gluten free sites. Let me tell you they are incredible. I never knew the things you could make with out regular white flour.

Happy Bean Eating!!

Tasty Tuesday

My awesome Mom in law gave me a great gift. She gave me a book on using my food storage.

The first recipie I tried was the Cream of chicken soup. This was easy and tasted just like CAmpell soups. Texture was alittle thinner but my family loved it. The secret ingrediant.....WHITE BEAN FLOUR! recipe found on page 86 of the book

So here is how you do it.

First get some white beans and run them through your wheat grinder.

Then gather up your supplies:
1 3/4 cups water 5 tablespoons white bean flour
4 teaspoons chicken bullion or base (Iused 4 cubes) 1/2 cup chopped chicken

Bring water and bullion to a boil in a small suace pan. Stir in bean flour and beat untill smooth and thickened. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes more.

Remove from heat. Pour mixture into blender. blend on high 2 minutes. If desired, add chopped chicken pieces. Use as a substitute for canned cream of chicken soup. Maybe stored in refrigerator up to one week.

We had our with chicken over rice topped with shredded chesse. YUM!! My kids cleaned their plates!

Reviews (taken from Amazon.com)
. . . I was very pleasantly surprised at all the different resources that Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy has. I mean, it is just about everything, not just recipies. I remember seeing something in there about gardening, and storing guidelines, what you should have in your food storage, when to plant different foods in your garden. Wow awesome, is all I can say.

--Retail customer Cooking with Food Storage, by Debbie G. Harman ... is an excellent source for recipes using ingredients from a basic food storage system, such as evaporated and powdered milk, dried onions and potato flakes. Harman suggests using food storage in everyday cooking, not only to keep stored foods fresh, but also to become familiar with how to use them. ... Included in Harman s book are gardening suggestions and recipes for preserving fresh food. --Daily Universe Newspaper

This would make a great Christmas gift!!!

Food Storage Friday

5 Easy Steps to using your Food Storage

1.Figure out what is in your food storage.

Do you have a lot of powdered milk, wheat, rice, beans?

2.Write down a list of the meals that your Family typically eats.

Be sure to include baked good, breakfast and dinner.

3.Look for the ones that you can make simple adjustments to.

Recipes that call for milk are easy to substitute powdered milk to. Taste the same. I keep a container of reconstituted milk in my fridge for cooking purposes.

Do you bake? Try using some whole wheat flour for SOME of the white flour. Pancakes, waffles and cookies are great places to start.

Add rice to your soups, casseroles, and burritos.

4. Start conservative

You have to start out with small amounts of things like wheat. Converting over whole heartedly WILL cause major stomach problems. Take it slow.

Also look at only changing one or two recipes so you do not get overwhelmed. Next week add another and so on.

5.Look for new recipes that use more food storage items.

When looking for new recipes look for ones that have more food storage friendly ingredient lists.

Here are some GREAT food storage recipe sites:

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/

extension.usu.edu

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/category/recipes

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/recipes/

Food storage Friday

The Sweet Stuff

Candy for some is a vital part of food storage. it is suggested we put gum and hard candy in our 72 hour kits. Sweets are a comfort food. Here in the next month or so store shelves will be buckling under the weight of sweet treats and candy coated chocolates. Keep you eye out for sales and clearance on your favorite treats and add then to your food storage.

Cake, brownie and cookie mixes are also great to have on hand. Nothing makes my hubby feel better than a brownie! For us this is a quick date night treat as well. I usually combine my coupons with sales to get mixes from $.50 to $.75 a box. Sometimes even better.

Popcorn is also another treat that is a must have in our house. We love movie nights for one, and I can eat popcorn for snack every night and be a very happy woman. Popcorn is also good for upset tummies. My kids totally prefer it over saltines. Air popped, microwaved, or even those nifty jiffy popper ones, it doesn't matter pop corn is a must!

Water Storage Myth and Fact

For the real water storage low down I must refer you to another blog. I can not compete with the entry here.

Not Just For Storing is a great blog ran by an incredible gal in Arizona ( my homeland LOL!!) ENJOY!! And get you some water storage!!

Tasty Tuesday

Canning Beans

Last week I learned a new skill! Go Me!! I learned how to can green beans. My mother in law came over and taught me the ways of canning.

We started with about 11 pounds of fresh beans.

We spent a good while snapping the ends off.

Then I had to put them in the jars, add hot water, a little salt, and then lid them. They cooked in a pressure cooker for 20 mins. and then cooled.

Here is the final product !! I have mixed feelings about eating them. On one hand I can't wait on the other they look so pretty and I don't want to ruin them. LOL!!!

Oh and we tried a new way so yummy melon this past week as well. It is called a yellow doll. It taste like a popsicle.
It has a few seeds but they are all in the center and super easy to scoop out. My kids went gaga over this melon it was just so dang good!! If you get a chance be sure to try one.

Canning Instrustions.......

How to Make Homemade Canned Peaches, Plums, Pears, Plums, Nectarines and Cherries

Here is a great how to complete with photos and detailed instructions.

I think I will be using this when I do pears this fall.

Link

Sara over at Learning the Frugal Life gets the credit with finding these great instrution. Go check out her peaches. They look awesome!

Tasty Tuesday

Spices

This is our final instalment of Bare-Bones Basics, but that does not mean it is not important.

Basic spices that can add life (per Preparedness Principles) to most foods are salt, pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, and chili powder and /or basil. I personally need onion powder, garlic powder, a great grill mix and Johny's.

Look at your super stores (Costco/Sam's) for great prices. Also most super market have baking sales twice a year. Once around the winter holidays (Thanksgiving & Christmas) and again around Easter. These are also the times that your Sunday paper and online coupon sites will have a great number of baking/spice coupons out.

Store your spices in airtight containers. A cool place is also best. Even though they look awesome in a spice rack on your sunny kitchen counter that really is not the best place. A nice cool cupboard is ideal.

Bouillons

"What IS bouillon?", some of you might ask. I know I did at one point.

"Bouillon cubes are compressed, flavor-concentrated cubes of dehydrated meat, poultry, or vegetable stock and spices. Instant bouillon granules are the loose, granular form of the concentrate. Salt is usually listed as the first ingredient; thus , both are very salty." Preparedness Principals pg.72

Ways to use: Add it to any grain you are cooking. I love adding chicken bouillon to rice. No need to add anything else. Add to your soup base, beans, or just to a pot of water for a comforting broth (add a some noodles for a basic soup) for someone who is sick.

As with most foods store in an airtight container is a cool dry cupboard. Generally the life span is 1-2 years but I have used some that has been a few years past that and had no problems.

Food Storage Friday

Legumes

The food guys list the legumes brake down as 30 lbs. dried beans(any variety you want), 5lbs. Lima beans, 10 lbs. soy beans, 5 lbs. split peas, 5 lbs. lentils, and 5 lbs. dried soup mix.

As always if your not going to eat it don't store it. However legumes provide so many essentials to your diet. You need to have some and variety is always nice. So if nothing else have 60 pounds of any combination of beans (legumes).

Mayo clinic has a great little brake down on different legumes and their uses plus cooking tips. Here

Shelf life: According to a BYU site legumes have a shelf life of 8 years.

Tasty Tuesday

I know I was supposed to make brown sugar today but alas I do not have molasses. So another day for that. Today we will continue on our pantry basics journey.

Grains

Again we go to the food guys for a great brake down list. A one year supply for one adult brakes down to: 150 lbs. wheat, 25 lbs. flour, 25 lbs. corn meal, 25 lbs. oats, 50 lbs rice, and 25 lbs lbs. pasta. The general rule should be store what you eat, eat what you store. Going by that look at the list see if there is any thing you never use and omit it and beef up another category. In total you should store 300lbs. of grains per person.

Shelf lives: wheat 20+ years, flour 3-5 years, oats 4-5 years, pasta 6-8 years, white rice3-4 years, cornmeal minimum of one year and can be stored up to 5 years. Remember proper storage conditions can extend the life of your food. Cool, dark and DRY! Airtight containers are also a must.

Where to buy? For most of this list you can hit up your local church cannery or mega store(Costco/Sam's). I hear Winco has a great bulk section and gives a little price break if you buy a whole bag.

Food Storage Friday

The Sweet Stuff !!

According to the food guys a year supply for each of these for one person would look like:

Sugars 60 pounds total

3 pounds Honey

40 pounds sugar

3 pounds brown sugar

1 pound molasses

3 pounds Corn syrup

3 pounds Jam

6 pounds Powdered fruit drink

1 pound Flavored gelatin

Remember: Store what you eat, Eat what you store!!

The average American eats over 60 pounds of sugar each year. It is in so many things we love to eat from candy bars and pastry creations to spaghetti sauce and chili. So don't pull the i don't eat sugar bit with me! LOL!! No diets allowed either! :)

Sugar should be stored in dry airtight combiners. If your happens to hardened it is still usable just brake it up with a hammer or warm it in the oven until it is soft enough to use. Indefinite storage life.

Brown Sugar should also be stored in an airtight container. FYI brown sugar is white sugar with molasses add into it. (look for next Tuesday post!!!) You can make you own!!

Honey stored properly honey can keep for decades becoming darker and more flavorful. Airtight and cool temperatures are the key! Hardened honey can be warmed in a water bath to liquidize it again.

Corn syrup and Molasses have a shelf life of about 18 months. As always airtight and cool temps! Corn syrup is a sugar and molasses is a by product of sugar production.

Powdered fruit drink means the cannery fruit drink to me, however I assume that powdered Gatorade or kool-aid is the general idea.(if I am wrong speak up and tell me)

Gelatin to me this is good 'ole JELLO!! Easy to store, cheap to buy, and generally a crowd pleaser. Remember to rotate and check boxes for expiration date.

Food Storage Friday

Cooking Oils and Fats

One adult needs to store a total of 25 lbs. of fats and oil for their year supply. This can be divided in several ways. According to the food guys calculator they split it up as: 4lbs. shortening, 2gals vegetable oil, 2qts mayonnaise, 1qts salad dressing and 4 lbs of peanut butter. This is ONLY a suggestion. Remember: Store what you eat, eat what you store.

Fats are essential for or health as well as much needed ingredients in some of our favorite recipes. So in short YES you do need this as part of your storage!!

Things to take into consideration:

• There are many cooking oil options such as almond, avocado, butter, canola, coconut, corn, grape, lard, nut, olive, peanut, pumpkin, safflower, sesame, shortening, soybean, sunflower, and vegetable blend.
• Shortening has a great shelf life (5 years +) but contains trans fats so use sparingly.
• Lard does not store well as it tends to go rancid. It has no shelf life out side of the fridge.

Places to buy:

• bulk food stores. Costco has great prices on all of these items.
• regular grocery stores. These are stocked. Watch sales and use coupons to get the best deals.

How to store:

• original container
• cool, dark spot
• remember to rotate!

Honeyville Discounts

HAPPY SUMMER from Honeyville Farms

SUMMARY: 10% OFF YOUR ENTIRE ORDER* from Thursday, June 4, 2009 thru Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 6:00PM PST. Simply enter the coupon code PREPARE09 during checkout. Act now! Take a look at the WHAT'S NEW category for all of the great new items that we're rolling out including Freeze Dried Blackberries, Hard Red and White Wheat in the can, and our new line of Puddings. http://store.honeyvillegrain.com

Tasty Tuesday

Cooking Essentials

Continuing on with our bare-bones basics I thought we would go over the basic cooking essentials. According to the food guys calculator a year supply of cooking essentials for one adult would consist of: 1# baking powder, 1# baking soda, 0.5# yeast, 5# salt, o.5 gallons vinegar. These are the basics need for many recipes. Most breads, cakes, cookies, rolls, homemade crackers need these items. Some of these items also have non-food uses as well.

Baking powder (per Preparedness Principles) is a blend of an alkali (usually baking soda) and an acid (often cream of tarter). It is known as a double acting leavener. Baking powder has a limited shelf life of 1-2 years. It keeps best stored in a cool, dry place.

Baking soda is also a leavener. It needs to have an acid product mixed with it in order for it to activate. Some examples of this are sour milk, molasses, lemon juice, vinegar and so on. The great thing about baking soda is that it's uses go well beyond the kitchen. It can be used for household cleaning, toothpaste, bug bites and upset tummies. Again store in a cool dry place and this can last you indefinitely.

recipes found on pg. 71 of Preparedness Principles

For 'toothpaste' simply wet your brush and add baking soda. Brush as normal.

For an antacid mix 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to an eight-once glass of water and drink up. (up to 8 times a day(every two hours) for adults, 4 times a day for those 60 and over and not recommended for those under 5)

For bug bites and other skin irritations mix a paste of 2 parts baking soda and 1 part water smooth over irritated area.

Yeast is what makes your bread rise. Unless you really love flat bread this is a basic you will want to have. yeast is best kept in a cool, dry, dark place. It freezes well and it's shelf life is greatly increased when kept in the freezer. Dry yeast comes in three different forms. The most common is active dry yeast. This is what you generally find on the super market shelves in those handy little packages. You can also buy this is 2# blocks in your bulk food sections or at stores like Costco and Sam's club.

Salt is vital to our life and to our health. It is in every cell in our body. It brings out the flavors of food, it preserves food, and it plays a role in helping our bodies to function properly. Salt has an indefinite self life. Store in a clean dry place.

Vinegar is used for pickling, salad dressings and of course vinaigrette. See my previous post for more of the attributes of vinegar. I have yet to see a shelf life for vinegar and my bottle doesn't have a use by date so....I assume it is about the same as the other items today. Store in a cool dry place.

Survivial Saturday

An alternative to normal powdered milk

Check out this post on Prepared LDS Family. Click here. Both of these product are available on line as well. Mourning Moo here and Gossner milk here. I have heard Mourning Moo is pretty yummy. I have not heard about Gossner milk. Read all the comments on the post at Prepared LDS Family if you want to get some "hands on' advice.

Food Storage Friday

Powdered Milk

A year supply of powdered milk for 1 adult is 60lbs. When stored under ideal conditions powdered milk can be stored up to 20 years. For a great how-to on powdered milk storage go here. The LDS Provident living site also has a great guide on packaging options.

Want to know more about powdered milk? Including nutritional value and more recipe ideas? Go here

Where to purchase? I have bought mine from my local grocery store and most recently from the LDS Church Cannery. The cannery tends to be a cheaper plus if I go one our wards cannery day I can get it canned in #10 cans. You can check out cannery prices here. If you would like to know where your nearest LDS cannery is go here. Please remember you do NOT have to be LDS to access this wonderful resource!!

I know this post is short but the links posted are perfect and well I have no desire to improve on perfection.