The Magic Number 12

Friday before last I decided to throw a party at my home. I wanted it to be an enjoyable night for the girlfriends in my life, so I threw in some paraffin hand treatments and made tons of food from my food storage supplies.  We had 3 main dishes, 2 side dishes, an appetizer and 2 desserts.  Would you believe, the food disappeared rapidly with countless requests for recipes?

After everyone had enjoyed their fill of yummy food – yes, I did say “yummy” and yes, it was all made from what I had on hand in the pantry – we then all sat down and discussed the 10 Principles of Preparedness.  So many additional ideas and insights were added to my own and we all benefited substantially.  So in addition to sharing the recipes with all of my blog readers, I’m also going to break down various components that were discussed for practical application in your preparedness activities.  So here’s a great tip followed by a recipe of ingredients from your pantry:

The Magic Number 12

Female party with shelf-stable foods for all

This is a great tip for novices and pros alike when it comes to accumulating your food supply. As I’ve shared previously, it’s important to store what you eat and know how to prepare what you store. (Note: Just for the record, I’m not a big fan of the whole “storing” food notion. We’re not squirrels, after all.)  This particular tip addresses an effective way to store what you eat.

The other day I was reading a cookbook — I do that frequently — and I happened upon a recipe that I realized I could adapt to make from cans, jars, and pantry items.  So I purchased the items from the grocery, tested the recipe out on someone dear, and discovered we had a new yummy recipe that would be nice dinner, let alone in an emergency situation (No matter what your family promises you, don’t plan on them not being picky eaters during a crisis. They won’t change any time soon) So I watched the coupons and ads for the local grocery stores and then went out and purchased enough ingredients to make that dish 12 times.  Why?

My objective is to have a year’s supply of food on hand at any given time, right, and to rotate through it?  I’m also sensitive to avoiding “appetite fatigue” and ensuring that others will actually enjoys the meals I create.  In an emergency, it’s not likely that you will be cooking 3 meals a day, rather one meal of substance, and the rest would be meals of convenience such as instant oats, cold cereal, peanut butter and jelly, canned chicken on crackers, etc.  As long as you have a plan for one main meal every day, then you’ll be far ahead.  To recap, if you have 30 different meals in your repertoire each month, then you are likely to not meet any appetite fatigue issues or stress because you’re attempting to introduce something new to your family when they are already under a great deal of stress as the result of an emergency.

This is why I purchase my grocery items in increments of twelve.  If 12 is too much to handle due to space or financial restraints, then take it down to 6 or 4 or 3. But if you get yourself in the habit of buying this way when you have a recipe that works for you and your family, you will have your year’s supply of meals in a short period of time.  Now that’s what I call “eating the elephant one bite at a time.”

Here’s one of the recipe’s which I created for this event.  It’s just an open, dump, stir, and warm kind of recipe. Thus not only does it use a minimal amount of your physical energy, it will require a minimal amount of precious fuel as well to warm up.

Southern Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Shelf-stable gourmet tasting recipe

• 4 cups of canned chicken, drained
• 1 package (6 ounces) of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice Original Recipe
• 1 can of cream of celery soup
• 2/3 cup of Miracle Whip (don’t substitute any different mayonnaise)
• 1 can (8 oz) of diced water chestnuts, drained (I like to chop mine a bit smaller than they come in the “diced” can)
• 1 2 oz. jar of sliced pimento peppers. (diced is fine also)
• 1 regular sized can of French cut green beans, drained
• 1 ½ cups of chicken broth OR water
• 2 Tablespoons of pre-grated Parmesan cheese (the stuff in the green can is just fine.)

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well with a spoon.  Transfer to a Dutch oven, or a pre-greased baking dish if you’re cooking in a solar oven. Top the dish with the Parmesan Cheese. If using a solar oven, be sure to cover the dish with foil.  If using the Dutch Oven, simply put on the lid.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until it’s bubbling and the rice has cooked.  Let cool about 5 minutes and then serve.

You can also cook this most expeditiously and economically in a pressure cooker. Simply bring the cooker to full pressure with the ingredients mixed together inside, then once it’s come to full pressure, remove from heat, wrap in towels and continue to cook for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!  Let me know what you think!