How Will You Cook That Storage Food? Try This Cookbook For Ideas!

Bland, tasteless food is not only unnecessary, but in some survival scenarios, dangerous!
It’s one thing to be set up and prepared for off-grid cooking. But what happens when (insert appropriate apocalyptic acronym) happens and all you have to eat is the stored staples in your pantry.
Do you know how to cook those foods?
Small children and elderly folks might just quit eating, and that can put everyone at risk.  When a person is weak from lack of sustenance, they can’t function, and that could affect the larger group.
Luckily, this food monotony issue has been addressed in Jan LeBaron’s latest cookbook: “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes: Converting Stored Foods into Usable Meals.”
The book is loaded with recipes that cover the gamete of foods from Breads to Vegetables and Potatoes. To read the review, click here!

How to Cook Morel Mushrooms

Morel mushroom (IowaOutdoorsman photo)

One of my favorite Rites of Spring is hunting those elusive Morel mushrooms. And, before anyone asks…NO, I won’t tell you where I get them!

But, for those who did manage to find a few, you may be wondering what to do with them.
In my humble opinion, the fresh flavor of these tasty little morsels doesn’t need to be covered up with a thick coating of egg, cracker crumbs, corn flake crumbs, what have you.
All you need is flour, salt & pepper, butter (or ghee) and a good seasoned cast iron skillet. (OK, you can use whatever skillet you have!)

To read the recipe, click here!

Hardtack: A Great, Cheap Addition to your Survival Gear!

Looking for a way to use up surplus flour, or make a cheap trail food or durable survival ration? One answer may be hardtack, a baked, unleavened wheat cracker. As a survival food, hardtack has a proven track record.
Hardtack is one of the original trail and emergency foods, and it is worth considering if you are a prepper or are interested in wilderness or urban survival.
The advantage is that hardtack is easy to make, transports easily and will last a reasonably long time if stored in appropriate containers. The disadvantage is the bland taste, and traditional toughness.
Check out the recipes - hardtack might be a good choice for your next campout or to include in your survival gear!

Healthy Bannock: A Quick, Easy Multi-Grain Survival Food

It only took a little recipe tweaking to make this Bannock recipe healthier!

Bannock is the traditional bread of Canada and the Northwest. Native people had no access to wheat flour prior to the arrival of European traders, although some flour substitutes existed, like wild turnips or corn, dried and ground to a powder.

Bannock actually originated in Scotland. Because bannock could be quickly prepared from readily-available ingredients, and because these ingredients lasted a long time without spoiling, bannock became a staple of European fur traders and subsequently, the native people also.

But the original recipe is nothing but flour and water, and traditional bannock is essentially frontier junk food.

Here’s how to add a few ingredients to make flour-based survival foods more nutritious.

Survival Recipe: Honey Lemon/Limeade

Maybe all you'll have to drink is water...

The old saying goes:  “When life throws you lemons, make lemonade”.  In a survival situation, it’s best to take this in its literal sense! 
Suppose all that you have to drink is stored water.  Well, water is fine. But, if you’re used to drinking something other than plain water, such as a can of soda, a flavored beverage is better than nothing.
Or maybe the storage water is thoroughly purified, but just tastes unpleasant  for a variety of reasons. There could be minerals in the water, or the purification method may have left an aftertaste.
Here is a simple recipe for a delicious drink that uses storage food items!

Survival Food: Healthy, Homemade Energy Bars

This natural beauty must be earned!

When it comes to stocking up on survival food, the best, most inexpensive and tastiest option may be to make your own. And while the idea behind an energy bar is to provide a quick dose of get-up-and-go, some of the commercial products can taste downright institutional!

But who says an energy bar has to be bland and yucky tasting? Try this Recipe!

Survival Food: Apricot Energy bar

Food is the fuel that keeps you warm!

Your stored food is an investment. But it’s always a good idea to rotate the stock.

Another thought is to make full use of those stores. Rather than spending upward of a dollar or so for a commercial energy bar, try making your own! Here's a good recipe for an apricot energy bar.

Survival Food: Cowboy Spaghetti

Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation with simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.
But if it doesn't taste good, or you cook the same recipe day after day, food monotony may set in, and that can be dangerous! 
This week' s recipe "Cowboy Spaghetti" comes from Jan LaBaron's latest cookbook: “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes: Converting Stored Foods Into Usable Meals.”
In this recipe, Jan shows you how to make a simple spaghetti dish in one pot. This can all be done over a campfire, or by using lighted charcoal. It is also a good meal to prepare using a propane or turkey cooker outside.
To listen to Jan's interview on the Feb. 18, 2011 SurvivalCommonSense.com Radio show click here.
To read the recipe click here 

Survival Recipe: Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

This well-pitched tarp allows cooking over the campfire, even if it rains.

While many, if not all, Survival Recipes can easily be adapted to cooking inside, please practice cooking outside using off-grid methods.
This could become a weekly survival/preparedness training session for the entire family as you learn and practice how to use your stored foods and your outdoor cooking tools.
This recipe for Santa Fe Chicken Casserole used stored foods, one pot and off-grid cooking techniques!

Here is the recipe! 

Try This Tasty Hardtack Recipe

This hardtack actually tastes good!

I'm heading out this weekend for a camping trip with Boy Scout Troop 18. The theme is survival cooking, so we'll be working on the requirements for the cooking merit badge, and having fun out in the desert.
I started out making a batch of hardtack to take along, and had to substitute a bunch of ingredients. (Plus, I like to experiment and use up items that have been sitting on the shelf for awhile!)
So, I used peanuts and almonds for the nuts, one percent milk instead of buttermilk, and the only dried fruit I had was mango!
So, this recipe probably doesn't resemble anything a Civil War soldier would recognize, but on the other hand, this hardtack tastes great! Here is the recipe!

Survival Food: Popped Wheat

Make great, tasty whole wheat snack!

Suppose you have a lot of wheat berries stored for whatever disaster might happen. At some point, you might be wondering: What are some of the options for using this resource?

This is a great recipe to use whole wheat. It stores very well, and and this makes a fun snack. It is also great sprinkled on salads or as a topping for baked potatoes.

And perhaps best of all, this simple recipe can be cooked over a campfire in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven. Click on this link to read the recipe

How to Cook Trout in Foil Over a Campfire

Here's the start of a great, simple and tasty survival food meal!

Foil wrapped trout are easy to cook and enjoy!

Does your area have stocked fishing ponds for kids? Here is a great fishing and cooking method to “hook” the youngsters!
While catch-and-release is a good philosophy and sound resource management, some areas are stocked specifically so anglers can keep and eat some. 
With the right recipe, cooking trout or various panfish can produce delectable, simple meals loved by kids and adults!  To see the recipe, click here.     

Survival Recipe: Basic Red Enchilada Sauce From Storage Foods

Enchiladas can be comfort food!

During an emergency, you can’t guarantee exactly what form of protein you might need to convert into a familiar flavor! You could use pre-cooked and canned chicken if you do not have the fresh ones. Or, you could use virtually any small game animal.
See the recipe here

SurvivalCommonSense.com Weekly Email Update

Looking for a simple, easy TWO INGREDIENT soap recipe?

Here is the SurvivalCommonSense.com weekly update - please take a look. There is a great survival soup/gravy recipe! And here is a simple two ingredient soap recipe! To read more about the recipes, and for some tips about getting through a flood disaster, view the email update by clicking here.

Survival Recipe: Blackberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

I can hear the groans and complaints from the hardcore preppers and survivalists already: “A CAKE? That’s supposed to be a SURVIVAL RECIPE?”
Yep. It is. And here’s why.

Survival Recipe: Hummus With a Kick

Whenever I get a question about off-grid or survival cooking, one of my most-trusted sources is Karla Moore, of Gilbert, Iowa. In addition to owning and operating “Heart of Iowa Soapworks,” Karla is also a farm wife, avid Dutch oven and off-grid cooking expert and a long-time prepper. She cans the produce from her garden, dries many of her own herbs and loves cooking for her extended family. Karla and her husband, Warren, have made many off-grid modifications to their farmhouse to help them get through the Iowa winters!
Subsequently, I value Karla’s opinion on Jan LaBaron’s latest cookbook “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes: Converting Stored Foods Into Usable Meals.” She got the cookbook with no instructions, other than to try it. See what recipe Karla chose!

Make a Dutch Oven Part of Your Preparedness Survival Kit

These cast iron implements can be priceless!

During virtually any emergency, you will need a cooking tool that can bake, boil, fry and saute. And it should be able to function  with a variety of  heat sources, since electricity might be a variable!
My nomination for this wonder implement has been around for hundreds of years. It’s easy to find, cheap and effective.  Get a cast iron or aluminum Dutch oven. This cooking tool has a proven track record, and it can use virtually any heat source.
But you also need a bare bones list of implements to go with that Dutch oven. The most common questions asked by beginner Dutch oven users are: "What things do I need to actually use the oven?"
And then: "What items should I pack with the Dutch oven if I want to make it part of my car evacuation kit?" Here is what you need!

The familiar Sloppy Joe flavor can disguise unfamiliar ground meat.

The real value of a Sloppy Joe mix like this is how it can transform tough, tasteless, (or bad-tasting) meat of dubious origin into a familiar flavor.
Imagine that the only meat available after the Sewage Hits The Fan is from a tough bull or rank-smelling boar. Or suppose all you could come up with was meat from some old, gamy-tasting, tough big game animal. Or what about if the only meat came from something exotic, such as possum, horse, mule, armadillo, raccoon or snake?
This mix can transform such meat into a familiar flavor!

To read more on this story click here.

Survival Recipe: Soup/Gravy Mix From Storage Staples

A good soup or gravy recipe mix can do a lot to stave off diet monotony!

When the big earthquake hits the Oregon coast, or there is a quake along the New Madrid Fault, or the water keeps rising and shuts off the roads you’ll still have to keep eating. That’s why we’re preppers, and why we prepare for emergencies and disasters!
And while you may be feeling pretty good that you have a stock of rice, beans and other staples, there must be provisions to make different-tasting meals. Otherwise, at some point, diet monotony will set in. Being able to introduce different, familiar tastes into the equation, while using what is on hand, will be important!
Here is an easy recipe to make gravy or a soup base, using storage foods.