10 Best Ways to Store Food Long Term

Found this great post by another blogger about storing food long term.  It includes 10 ways which are realistic for the average person (like me).  Hope you enjoy it!

10 Best Ways to Store Food Long Term.

Pumpkin and Powdered Eggs? YUM! Pumpkin-a-licious!

When I was younger, my sister and I would add “a-licious” to nouns to make them adjectives.  (As an English major in college, I should know better, right?)  Well, not every word, really it was just one.  Bart.  She had a crush on a boy named Bart, so I would ask her if things were “Bart-a-licious” to gauge her interest in them.  Silly?  Yes.  Fun?  Definitely!  Since then, I have kept this silly habit and add “a-licious” to things I really like.  Like Pumpkin!

 

I know there are some pumpkin haters out there.  You don’t have to love everything I do.  It just leaves more pumpkin for me.  If I were to ask you what food you eat with pumpkin, most of you would say, “Pumpkin pie” (which is one of my most favorite-est things in the entire world).  How many of you have tried pumpkin bread?  It’s definitely not sandwich bread.  Think Banana or Zucchini bread, but better!  Not only does it taste better, pumpkin is a “superfood.”

 

What exactly is a “superfood,” you ask?  Well here’s what Wikipedia has to say: Superfood is a marketing term used to describe foods with supposed health benefits.  So there you have it.  It’s a marketing term.  Despite that, Pumpkin is pretty awesome.  Just look at the label on the Libby’s Pumpkin can:

 

Pumpkin-y Goodness!

 

Tons of Vitamin A and 5 grams of fiber in 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree!  Talk about guilt free treating! 

 

So what makes this food storage related?  Aside from the fact that you can store canned pumpkin and it has a decent shelf-life, I used powdered eggs.  POWDERED EGGS?  Yes, powdered eggs.  Why in the world would I have powdered eggs in my pantry?  Well, remember my friend, Sarah, who used to arrange group food storage purchases?  About 4 years ago, she arranged one for powdered eggs.  Being paranoid about earthquakes, I bought a can thinking that I would really appreciate it if and when an earthquake hit.

 

Powdered Eggs

 

Fast forward three years, I realized that I needed to use these eggs.  Earthquake?  No, they were going to expire at some point, and I hate to waste money.  I’ve heard different estimates from as little as 3 years to as many as 10.  But most things I’ve read say that powdered eggs are good for 3-5 years unopened.  They must be used within 1 year of opening.

 

So, I needed to use a big #10 can of powdered eggs in a year.  When I opened it, the color looked a bit like a mustard yellow, and once I mixed them with water, the mustard shade was even more pronounced.  I was scared to try to cook them as scrambled eggs.  Instead, I opted to use them in baked goods like cookies, bread, etc.  I didn’t taste a lick of difference between fresh eggs and powdered eggs in my baked goods.

 

I really have used almost the entire can!

 

Now that I’ve used up almost an entire can, I’ve decided I always want to keep powdered eggs in my pantry.  I found them helpful when I wanted to make cookies on a Sunday, and I didn’t want to go to the store for religious reasons.   Or when I was one egg short for a recipe.  Or when I wanted to leave the fresh eggs for my oldest son who was making scrambled eggs every night when he came home from work.  If I did not use many eggs, I think I’d prefer these to keeping fresh eggs in my fridge, because they’d last so long!

 

There.  I’m done evangelizing about powdered eggs.  Onto the recipe…   I’m not sure who authored it, so if someone knows, please let me know, and I will give credit where credit is due.  My mom had this on a handwritten recipe card, and it was passed down to all of her kids.  (There are many of us baking pumpkin bread and sharing it all over the USA.)

 

Pumpkin Bread!

 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

 

3 cups flour (all purpose)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin puree (equal to a 15-oz can, not canned pumpkin pie filling)

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (I use olive oil)

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use mini chips or the Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips)

 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.  In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil.  Stir into the dry ingredients until just moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into two greased 8x4x2 inch loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10  minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

If you prefer, you can make 24-28 muffins.  Use paper baking cups and fill 2/3 full.  Bake about 22-24 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

I have a confession to make here.  I don’t combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  My husband always does, but I don’t.  I just don’t want to dirty another bowl.  I know, I know.  My muffins would probably be better if I did it, but I say they taste good enough, especially when I have fewer dishes to do afterwards.

 

Here are some pics and a description of me making these super yum muffins.

 

Ingredients minus the olive oil.

 

Here it is! I usually use extra virgin olive oil, but I was out.

 

Powdered eggs in all their glory!

 

I added the powdered eggs, water (as per the instructions on the eggs) to the pumpkin and mixed until incorporated.

 

Like this. I didn’t worry that it wasn’t smooth, because I was adding other ingredients. In went the sugar and olive oil.

 

And it looked like this! This is the canned pumpkin, powdered eggs (plus water), sugar, and olive oil. Pretty, isn’t it?

 

I added the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips and mixed.

 

Here’s a pic of the mixed batter.

 

I wanted muffins, because they freeze really well, so I put paper liners in my muffin pans and went to town! I used a scoop, because I make a HUGE mess if I try to pour it from the bowl into the muffin pan!

 

They’re ready for a 350 degree oven!

 

And they came out like this! YUMMY!

 

I doubled the recipe, so I had more batter than muffin tins. I put the rest in small loaf pans and some larger muffin tins.

 

 

And that was it!  These moist and delicious muffins are healthier than many other treats, and they freeze so well!  Once cool, I pop the muffins in a gallon size freezer bag and put them in the freezer.  I pull them out a couple of hours before I want to serve them (or the night before).  Honestly, I’m not sure how long they keep in the freezer, because I can’t seem to keep them in there more than a couple of weeks with my ravenous boys.  And you can’t tell one little bit that I used powdered eggs.  Ask anyone!

 

Now, it’s your turn. 

What do you think about powdered eggs?  Do you think you could/would use them? 

Is there anything else you use in place of traditional “fresh” ingredients which makes your life a lot easier and/or saves you money?

Guest Post: Laura

I’ve asked some of my Food Storage savvy friends to share their knowledge, and my friend, Laura, has graciously agreed to do so.  She is a great lady I knew in junior high and high school.  Now she lives on a small farm on the East coast.  Thank you, Laura!

These are her words with emphasis added by me.  🙂  Enjoy!

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I first really started focusing on food storage after Sept. 11, 2001. I found an article in our local newspaper. Our small agricultural county had formed a special committee to explore what services were in place to assist the public if another event like 9/11 occurred. We are a very small county with a limited budget, so I knew if resources were being set aside for this topic, it must be important.

The article talked about if Washington, DC was the target of a terrorist attack, more than 6 million people could be exiting the city with great haste.

Evacuation

We are about an hour outside of DC, so our county was concerned about how we would handle that number of people passing through and needing gas, food and other supplies.

Evacuation Center

After reading this article I realized how unprepared my family was if something like this happened in the future. I started slowly buying items that would be helpful, and began my long term food storage.

We raise horses, sheep, chickens and turkeys on our farm.

We also have a big garden and grow tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, squash, cantaloupe, string beans, peas, green peppers, beets, kale, corn, potatoes and gourds.

Garden

We have eggs year round, and I try to can some of the produce from the garden, so we can use it in during the winter. We don’t eat our livestock, they are all rare breeds and are sold for breeding or pets. However, they are part of my planning for an emergency, if we needed additional food or calories to sustain us.

In addition to food, I am also now focused supplies that would allow us to live comfortably without electricity.

Manual Well Pump

I have started buying camping supplies (stove, etc.), heaters, and other items that would allow us to live without our kitchen stove or propane furnace. For instance we have a well on our property, but the pump is electric, so we purchased a manual version that can be easily installed in the event of a long term power failure.

Best tip I was given for building your food storage: just buy one or two extra things each time you go to the grocery store, and you will have a large supply of items in no time.

Buy one or two extra items for your food storage each time you shop.

Biggest challenge to food storage (for me): Rotating items and using them. I found a great book called “Cooking with Food Storage”, but I have found it hard to work many of the recipes into my weekly cooking.

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It’s me again.  Wasn’t that great?  A real person working to become more self sufficient.  It didn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t have to!

Laura mentioned that it is a challenge to incorporate food storage into her regular cooking.  Here are some links I’ve found helpful in using my food storage.

Everyday Food Storage – a great website with “handouts” on how to use traditional food storage items (wheat, beans, powdered milk, etc.)

Everything Under the Sun – Wendy DeWitt has created a food storage system using regular food.  This link includes a free packet detailing her system and how you can adapt it to your life and family.

My Year Living on Food Storage – This great lady detailed her efforts to live exclusively off of her food storage for one year.  Poke around her blog and glean whatever information you find useful.  I’ve linked you to her favorite food storage cookbook page.  These are books she’s used which helped her incorporate food storage into regular meals.

Now it’s your turn!  Do you have food storage?  If not, what’s stopping you?  If so, what tip has helped you the most?  Please share in the comment section below. 

Thanks!

~Laurie