Marti’s Corner – 107

Hi Everyone,

NOTES:

If you have NOT made an evacuation plan….shame on you!!!  This is the NUMBER 1 thing you can do.  It takes about 15 minutes.  Have a family council.  Announce that you have 5 minutes to grab as much as you can and evacuate your home.  What are your priorities?  Give every family member a task.  Children can grab their favorite toy or blanket, the family cat, and a pair of shoes (if they are not wearing one).  Teenagers can grab their cell phones, computers, shoes, 72-hour kits, charging cords, and sleeping bags.  Me??? I’m grabbing my recipe books, my camp stove, and my solar panels (I spent too much money on them to have them burned up–assuming it’s a fire).  And because it’s just the two of us, we have to grab all the other things too.  The point is, I HAVE A LIST!!!  It is taped to the inside of the pantry doors in the kitchen.  No need to panic, or wonder what to take.  That decision was made in a moment of calm.  

Have you made summer Emergency Prep Goals yet?  Choose something you’ve always wanted to do.  

• Learn to can
• Make and use a sun oven
• Get a 72-hour kit together
• Get your HAM radio license (OR get some good walkie-talkies that don’t require a license)
• Make some fire starters and use them.
• Cook several meals from your food storage.  Be brave and OPEN THOSE CANS!!!
• Inventory what you have
• Plan 2 weeks of food with what you have, then get what you are missing.
• Have a family meal over a fire pit.  (Come and use my backyard!)  We went camping and I made baked potatoes and chicken foil dinners and cooked them IN the fire!!!

My goal this summer?  Make a few meals in my cast iron pots!!!  I have never used them.

GARDEN HAPPENINGS:

I got my yellow cups in one day from Amazon.  I figured Party City might have them too.  If you live close to me, I’ll give you a few.  Craig couldn’t wait to smear it with Vaseline and set it up in the lettuce.  It worked SOOOOO well, that I put a yellow cup in nearly every grow bag—and bought another big container of Vaseline!

My yellow cups in the lettuce beds.

THIS WEEK’S PURCHASE: milk

If you live near a Home Storage Center (check here:  Find a Home Storage Center)  You can buy milk pouches that are 1 lb. 12 oz. for $7.47.  This is a pretty good deal.  You can order them online, but you must buy six at a time.  You can also order online through Emergency Essentials, but the #10 cans contain 1 lb. 3 oz. and cost $16.99 each.  If you have a Winco nearby, they have powdered milk that is about $16 a can.  

    The suggested amount is 1 can per person per month.

MISC. PURCHASE: Vaseline, sunscreen

   According to their website, there are 101 uses for Vaseline.  101 Uses for Vaseline Petroleum Jelly | Unilever Vaseline®.  As far as preparedness goes, smearing a cotton ball with Vaseline makes a great fire starter.  Then, there is the whole chapped lips and skin thing.  And, as stated above, it’s great for catching bugs.  LOL

    If you watch the sales, you should be able to get sunscreen at a pretty good price about now.  I bought SPF 30 sunscreen for $.99 a tube.  If you have to spend any extended period of time outside, you will want this!  Just keep a tube in the car.  And when we lived in Indiana, we just kept a spray can of insect repellant in the car.  Every time we got out of the car, we sprayed ourselves down.  You guys that live out there are troopers!!!

FOOD STORAGE RECIPES:

Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Olive Garden Copycat Recipe)

This was delicious and I made it totally from food on the shelf.  

• 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
• 1 1/2 c. chopped yellow onion – I used about 1/4 c. dehydrated
• 1 c. diced carrots – I used about 1/3 c. dehydrated
• 1 c. diced celery (about 3 stalks) – I used 1/4 c. dehydrated
• 3 cloves garlic – I used minced garlic in the jar 1 1/2 tsp
• 2 cans chicken broth – I used 3 c. water + 1 TB chicken bouillon
• 2 cans (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed

          I put everything in the pot and boiled it until the carrots were rehydrated and tender.  Then I added

• 1 c. ditalini pasta

When the pasta was done, we served it up.  SO GOOD!

The recipe suggests topping with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese and/or 3 TB minced fresh parsley.  I had both, and totally forgot.  

Chicken Bake Bruschetta

   My daughter’s family really likes this and she makes it a lot.  It is all shelf-stable except for the cheese.  She says she got the recipe on the box of dressing.

• 1 package Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken
• 1 can diced tomatoes undrained
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces (or 2 cans canned chicken – OR 1 jar homemade canned chicken)
• 1 tsp dried basil leaves
• 1 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 400˚

Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened.  Set aside.

Layer chicken, basil and cheese in a 3-quart casserole or 13 X 9 baking dish.

Top with stuffing.  

Bake 30 min or until the chicken is done.

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Cook 1 lb. macaroni, drain – Can use broken lasagna noodles, or flat pasta.

In a quart jar:

• 1/4 c. + 2 TB sour cream powder Amazon.com: Hoosier Hill Farm Sour Cream Powder, 1 Pound : Grocery & Gourmet Food
• 1 c. instant dry milk
• 1/3 c. cornstarch
• 2 TB beef bouillon
• 1 TB dry minced onion
• 1/2 tsp dry thyme
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 TB dry parsley
• 1 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Add 2 c. water to the jar.  Shake until blended.  Add 1 c. more water and shake again.  Pour in saucepan and simmer till thick.  

Add 1 jar canned ground beef (or 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained)

Serve over noodles

NOTE:  I never bought sour cream powder until this year.  For one reason, we always have access to fresh – right?  But this year, I wanted to make some Meals-In-Jars and give them to family members.  So I bought some of this.  I also bought buttermilk powder, cheese powder and tomato powder.

Marti