Survival Dishes

[Goldenspurholderx2]

I am going to try something new at the home front. I promote storing what you eat and my problem is that the wife and I always mix fresh meats and vegetables in with our stored food when cooking, so I figured why not once a week make a "Survival Dish"? This should give me a good gage as to items that I need more of that don't include fresh items and more importantly get the wife used to these meals if the time comes when we don't have a choice. Since I am a man of leisure until my security clearance comes back for my new job, I do most of the cooking anyway. She won't know about this little experiment so I'll be able to gage the taste by her reaction to the foods. She'll be my little guinea pig.

The criteria are:
1) One pan creations, so they will be able to be prepared with only getting one pan dirty.
2) Only items that can be found in an average grocery store, no sense in trying to make up stuff only I can get.
3) All ingredients must be non-refrigerated, shelf stable, foods with a shelf life of at least a year.

I could get real nit picky and make them all on my multi-fuel stove, but for training purposes I know it works and how to use it. I could get seriously nit picky and drag out my Dutch Oven to get fancy but I'm not that bored, YET!

All are welcome to try this and post the results along with an impartial taste test.

Wish me luck!:)

[Goldenspurholderx2]

Tonight's meal will be a kind of Tuna Noodle Casserole. Here are the ingredients.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00303_00.JPG

4ea pouches of Chicken Mushroom Top Ramen
1ea 11oz pouch of Creamy Potato soup mix
1ea 12oz can of tuna
1ea 6.5oz can of mushrooms
1ea 8.5oz can of sweet peas

I'll let you know tomorrow how it turns out!

[Goldenspurholderx2]

Survival situation? Why throw good liquid and nutrients away? I got 1 and 1/3 cup of liquid for cooking right from the cans.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00304_00.JPG

[Goldenspurholderx2]

I got to the cooking and decided 4 packs of noodles would be a little much, I used 2 packs. I limited myself to from the "HI" to "4" setting on the electric range since my multi-fuel stove has problems with simmering.

I added enough water to my 1 and 1/3 cups from the can to come up with 2 cups, brought this to a boil then added the noodles(not the seasoning packets)and cooked 'till pliable. I dumped the potato soup mix into a bowl and mixed it up then added 4 Tbs of the mixture to the pot for thickening and taste. Dumped in the tuna, peas and mushrooms and stirred it into a thick casserole consistency. Total cook time 8 minutes, and most of that was waiting for the liquid to come to a boil! I still have 2 seasoning packets left over and enough dried potato soup mix to last for a weeks worth of lunches. Serves 2 HUNGRY men, we'll have some left-overs and I'm a big eater.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00305_00.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00308_00.JPG

I taste tested it and it was some of the most flavorful tuna noodle casserole I have ever had, I'll get back tomorrow with the piggie's reaction.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

Well the piggie liked it, so it must not be too bad. I did have left overs that I put some water in a pan and reheated this morning for breakfast, mistake! With the extra water and cooking time the noodles got mushy and very unpalatable. I picked the Ramen Noodles for the quick cook time, more like re hydrating in warm water. Do not overcook this dish or you will have noodle mush!

[kducky]

Great idea.

I keep a bunch of cans of ham, chicken, beef and turkey. Those, with rice, beans and noodles..., along with various spices, can handle a fair variety of dinners.

[Ryder]

The Bear Creek potato soup is great with some canned ham chopped up into it! :)

[Goldenspurholderx2]

This week's meal is Beef Stew with Dumplings. Here is what I've got:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00311_00.JPG
4.5oz Dried Beef
32oz Beef Broth
2 packs Herb Brown Gravy Mix
8oz Cut Green Beans
15.25oz Corn
8.25oz Sliced Carrots
15oz Whole Onions
14.5oz Diced Potatoes
Powdered Milk
Bisquick

I drained off all the canned liquid and came up with 2-3/4 cup of liquid.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00313_00.JPG

Dried Beef is VERY salty so I used 1-3/4 cup of the liquid to soak it after I cut it up to get some of the salt out.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00314_00.JPG
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00315_00.JPG

You can use Beef Jerky, but I have found the store bought stuff to be pretty disgusting after re-hydration. I'd recommend home jerked stuff here.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

With the remaining cup of liquid I made a cup of milk for the Dumplings as prescribed on the boxes' recipe. I wouldn't want to drink this milk with vegetable can juice, but for making dumplings it will be fine.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00316_00.JPG

I'll get to cooking after the beef has soaked for a bit.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

A little side note. I have never use canned potatoes or onions, so here is a learning point for me to add some to my stores. I always have potatoes and onions around in big bags but they will run out quick. I'm hoping the canned stuff will have a shorter cooking time also. We'll see how it turns out!

[Goldenspurholderx2]

After soaking the beef for 1 hour I drained the water into one of my house plants, hopefully the salt won't kill it! I then dumped all the ingredients, minus the Dumpling mixture, into a pot and mixed it well to get the powdered gravy packets mixed in, and brought to a boil.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00319_00.JPG

I cut back the heat to "4" on my electric range then moved the pot on and off the burner to achieve a simmer. Once I got a simmer I added the Dumpling mixture(follow the directions on the box)and allowed it to cook for 10 min uncovered at a simmer.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00324_00.JPG

I covered the pot and simmered for another 10 minutes to come up with this:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00325_00.JPG

Here it is all served up:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-7/1194873/DSC00326_00.JPG

The taste is excellent! If I had to change anything I would have used reconstituted dry onions. Canned onions have a slight vinegar taste at the center that I can do without. All in all very good.

Dumplings are great especially if you don't have any bread and they defiantly add to the enjoyment of this dish.

If I didn't have gravy packets or beef broth I would have left the salt in the beef and would have cooked it for a much greater time to make gravy along with some flour.

Total cook time 30 minutes, serves 6 real people. If you have left overs store the dumplings separate from the stew or else they will break down into the stew.

We'll see tomorrow what the test piggy has to say after she gets home tonight!

[Goldenspurholderx2]

The piggy had some for dinner and especially liked the dumplings. She commented on my use of dried beef, I just told her we had a can that was going out of date. Little white lies that have to be told since we have a freezer full of meat. She didn't notice the potatoes were from a can but noticed the onions, I just told her I was trying something new.

[TheOtherChris]

Excellent thread.

I've been working dehydrated veggies into my dishes with some success.
It's funny that I never considered canned veggies though. I will have to look into that as well.

Have you tried making your own Bisquick mix? It will allow you to do the same things with home ground flour (they produce a lot of wheat in my area)

Also, if you like (or want to try) beans, look for a book titled "Bean Banquet". My family has grown fond of several recipes.

[Jonas Parker]

Excellent thread.

... Have you tried making your own Bisquick mix? It will allow you to do the same things with home ground flour (they produce a lot of wheat in my area)...


OK! I'll bite! So how do you make your own Bisquick mix?????

[Goldenspurholderx2]

OK! I'll bite! So how do you make your own Bisquick mix?????

Yep, inquiring minds.

I am terrible at using dried beans! I can never get them to fully soften up! Gotta keep tryin', maybe it's my altitude?

[TheOtherChris]

If you want to mix your own 'quickmix',

Combine

9 Cups sifted flour
¼ Cup sugar
2 Cups shortening
3 Tablespoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon salt

I usually combine everything but the shortening first to ensure even distribution.
Then cut in the shortening until it is completely mixed with the flour.

You can then use this as a substitute for Bisquick

[TheOtherChris]

I am terrible at using dried beans! I can never get them to fully soften up! Gotta keep tryin', maybe it's my altitude?

If your beans are old, they'll take forever to soften. Try soaking overnight. For everyday use (not TEOTWAWKI) discard the soaking water and cook in fresh water. This will help minimize methane production later.
For well aged beans, try using a pressure cooker.

When learning to use dried beans, I found it easiest to use them fresh from the store.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

This week I'm not going to make my dish until Thursday. I'm going to lurk around Wally World and see if I can come up with ingredients for a good dried bean recipe since those seem to be pretty popular around here.

Thanks for sharing the Bisquick recipe, I'll try it out in the weeks to come and see how it turns out:)

[Goldenspurholderx2]

Not going to be able to do it this week, yesterday and today I'm digging out from a blizzard that hit my area.