Tuna Alfredo Casserole Main Dish

Tuna Alfredo Casserole-Main Dish

From: Adapted from Linda at About.com Busy Cooks
Type: Main Dish
Serves: 6

Ingredients

3 cups of your favorite small pasta
10 oz Alfredo sauce
1 (12 oz) can of tuna, drained and chunked
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cook pasta according to directions
Combine Alfredo sauce and tuna into a 2 quart baking dish
Add pasta to mixture
Top with cheese
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes

Tip: Skip the baking. Drain pasta and return to large saucepan. Add tuna and Alfredo sauce. Serve in bowls and top with cheese.

Tuna Bisque Main Dish

Tuna Bisque-Main Dish

From: Adapted from Linda at About.com Busy Cooks
Type: Main Dish
Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 (10 oz) can cream of asparagus soup
1 (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
2 ½ cups milk (can also use powdered or canned)
1 cup cream (can also use evaporated milk or half and half)
1/3 cup apple juice
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves

Directions

Combine all ingredients except tuna and apple juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add tuna and apple juice and heat through.

Six Can Tortilla Soup- Side Dish

Six Can Tortilla Soup- Side Dish

From: Adapted from Terryn at allrecipes.com
Type: Side Dish

Ingredients

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (10 oz can chunk chicken, drained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with chili peppers, drained

Directions

Place all ingredients into a medium saucepan and simmer until heated through.

Greek Pasta-Main Dish

From: Adapted from Pillsbury One-Dish Meals February 2004
Recipe: Greek Pasta (Serves six to eight)
Type: Main Dish

Ingredients:
12 oz (4 cups uncooked ziti (long tubular pasta)
1 lb ground beef ( 2 pints canned meat)
½ cup onion chopped (4-6 Tablespoons dried )
2 cups pasta sauce
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
½ cup parmesan cheese grated
¼ cup breadcrumbs



Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain
Sautee onion
Cook ground meat in a large skillet until no longer pink. Drain.
Stir in pasta sauce, cinnamon, salt and pepper
Cook about 2 minutes until thoroughly heated.
Stir in cheese and breadcrumbs
Pour pasta into a large bowl.
Stir in meat mixture a little at a time

Southwestern Spaghetti- Main Dish

Southwest Spaghetti

From: Adapted from Pillsbury One-Dish Meals February 2004
Recipe: Southwest Spaghetti (Serves four to six)
Type: Main Dish

Ingredients:
6 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken into thirds
½ lb. lean ground turkey ( 2 pints canned meat)
1 ¼ cups salsa
1 can (11 oz) Mexicorn (corn and bell pepper mixture)
1 can (15 oz) black beans drained and rinsed (kidney beans work well)
1 tsp cumin
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese


Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Drain
Cook ground meat in a large skillet until no longer pink. Drain.
Stir in salsa, corn, beans and cumin
Cook about 2 minutes until thoroughly heated.
Pour spaghetti into a large bowl.
Stir in meat mixture a little at a time
Stir in cheese and mix until melted

Southwestern Chicken- Main Dish

From: Melissa
Recipe: Southwestern Chicken
Type: Main Dish

Ingredients:

9 corn tortillas (6 inch)
1 can (12 -16 oz) Mexicorn
2-3 cups cooked chicken
1 tsp chili powder
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 can (4 oz) green chilies
2 cups cheese
2 cans (10 oz each) enchilada sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans (rinsed and drained)

Directions:

Grease a 9”x 11” baking pan.
Line the pan with about 3 tortillas.
Layer ½ of the chicken, chili powder, black pepper, salt, and chilies.
Add a layer of tortillas
Layer remaining chicken, chili powder, black pepper, salt, and chilies.
Place final layer of tortillas on top.
Bake at 350 about 30 minutes or until heated through.

Tip: This can be cooked in a slow cooker or Dutch oven

Food Storage-Big Project to Small Project

Food Storage- How to Break Big Projects into Small Projects

When we think about food storage, we tend to think about large amounts of food on high shelves. What do I store? How much do I store? Where do I store? Soon the project becomes not only expensive, but also overwhelming and non-productive.

Storage is the first step. You must have a place to store your food. The food must be stored in a climate-controlled space. We live in Arizona and the heat will destroy your food. Other places have similar problems with the weather. Since we are starting small, start easy, how about under your bed. How about in that cupboard you can barely reach. It does not matter where, just start. As the project becomes more successful, you will discover other places you can store your food.

Let us break it down into small projects we can achieve. Start with one meal (using dry and canned/ bottled food) you and your family like. Put the recipe on a card. The recipe card serves as a reminder when you use the food as well as a reminder when you shop for the food. Now commit to buy the ingredients for that meal the next time you go grocery shopping. When you get home, store those ingredients and place the recipe in a folder with your stored food. Now choose a second recipe. In one year, you will have 52 meals and will not have spent anymore than your normal food budget. Make sure to choose a good variety of recipes. You do not need more than seven to fourteen different recipes, the more you have the better your family’s variety. When you choose recipes, remember to choose breakfast and dinner recipes. Now and then, you can add lunch and snacks.

Let us take the food storage one-step further. You have your seven to fourteen recipes. Make a list of all their ingredients and the amount needed to make each recipe. Multiply the ingredients by 52 or 26 to equal a total of 52 meals. Now make a master shopping list. Post this list on your refrigerator and refer to it when you look at the food advertisements. (Problem getting food advertisement? Most newspapers have them on line, call and ask. In AZ and UT look at http://sistersavings.net) Buy these ingredients when they are on sale and save even more. Each week look for one ingredient that is on sale and build toward your master list.

Now rotation, how are you going to rotate this food? This is the fun part. To rotate your food, prepare it for your family. As long as you buy it faster than you eat it, you will rotate the food naturally. Since you only buy the size food packages you use, no waste. Since you only buy foods you and your family like, no tears about, I do not like this. Since you have the recipes written down, you will not waste time wondering what to make with your food storage.

Using these methods, my husband and I have put together a 90-day food storage in one year and I have never gone over my food budget. In fact, the opposite is true. During the October meat sales, the prices on our favorite ground beef and beef roast were reduced almost 50%. Since I had been buying food storage for the previous 10 months, I did not buy any groceries. I spent that entire week’s money on meat. Each day after work I would go to the store and buy 10 pounds of meat. That evening I would both freeze and can the meat. By the end of the week, we had 70 pounds of meat. 35 pounds was cooked and frozen in my freezer. 35 pounds of meat was raw packed, canned, and stored in my cupboard. Then in November, I did the same thing with turkey. I cooked and preserved eight, 24-pound turkeys. It will be a long time before we need to buy meat.

Lime Bubbles-Beverage

From: Me, Adapted from Mom’s Vast Knowledge
Recipe: Lime Bubbles
Type: Beverage

Ingredients:
1 package unsweetened lime Koolade
¾ cup of white sugar
1 quart cool water
1 quart tonic water

Mix the Koolade with the water
Add tonic water just before serving
Pour into plastic cups you can see through

Serves 4-6 servings.

Pantry Chili

From: Me, Adapted from Mom’s Hunters’ Chili
Recipe: Pantry Chili (Serves four to six)
Type: Main Dish

Ingredients:
1-15oz can of chili (any type )
1-15 oz can tomato sauce
2-4 oz cans tomato paste
1-15 oz can white beans (or any available can of beans)
1-10 oz can of mexicorn (or any can of corn or hominy)
1-15 oz can of crushed tomatoes and green chilies (or any can of crushed tomatoes)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon chili powder
Optional:
1 small can of mushrooms
1 small can of black olives
1 small can of green chilies

Place chili, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes into a pot or slow cooker
Drain and add white beans, and mexicorn (optional Drain and add mushrooms, green chilies, and olives )
Stir and add spices
Stir and heat through about 15 to 30 minutes

Serves 4-6 servings.


Make a salad and rice for a complete meal.

Apple Enchiladas-Dessert

From: http://www.tasteconnections.com/apple_enchiladas.htm
Recipe: Apple Enchiladas (Serves four to six)
Type: Dessert

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Apple pie filling
3 flour tortillas (appr. 9-inch rounds)
a pinch cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (measure tightly packed)
1/4 cup water.

Preheat oven to 350 deg F
Divide the filling equally among the tortillas.
Roll them up and place them in a greased baking pan with the seam side down.
Bring the butter, sugar and water to a boil and simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
Turn off the heat and add the cinnamon. Mix well.
Pour immediately on top of the filled tortillas.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.

Cut and serve. Serves 4-6 servings.

Wild Rice Congee-Side Dish

From: Adapted from http://find.myrecipes.com
Recipe: Wild Rice Congee (Serves four to six)
Type: Side Dish

Ingredients:
½ cup long grain white rice
½ cup wild rice (or a total of 1 cup rice)
1 quart chicken broth (or 32 oz broth)
1 ½ Tablespoons rice vinegar (or ½ Tablespoon white vinegar and 1 Tablespoon sugar)
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon chili flakes (red pepper flakes)
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated (or ¾ teaspoon ginger powder)
½ teaspoon minced garlic (or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder)
¼ cup fresh green onions (or 2 Tablespoons dried)
¼ cup fresh cilantro (or 2 Tablespoons dried)

Combine ingredients in a pot and cover.
Bring to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered 45 minutes.
Rice should be thick like oatmeal or porridge

Tip: If you prefer drier rice, try 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of broth and simmer 25 to 35 minutes

Chicken & White Bean Chili-Main Dish

Chicken & White Bean Chili

From Aimee Keller- Mom’s recipe for food storage
Recipe: Chicken and White Bean Chili (Serves four to six)
Type: Main Dish

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken cooked and shredded (canned ok)
1-15 oz can of chicken broth
3-15 oz cans of small white beans (or Great Northern beans or Navy Beans)
2/3 cup onion chopped and sautéed (or 2 teaspoons onion powder or 2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (or 2 Tablespoons dried cilantro)
¾ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

Combine ingredients in a pot or a slow cooker.
If all ingredients are canned, heat until bubbling
If raw meat is used, bring to a boil and then cook 30 minutes or meat is done.

Make some vegetables and some rice and you have a complete meal

Tip: 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs is equal to 1 teaspoon of dried herbs. 1 cup of fresh herbs is equal to 8 Tablespoons of dried herbs.

Orange & Banana Ole’- Dessert

From http://sunkist.com/recipes
Recipe: Orange & Banana Ole’ (Serves six)
Type: Dessert
History: Sunkist has a web page where you can get citrus recipes. You choose the type of recipe and the type of fruit. Since oranges are on sale for 88¢ per pound, I chose oranges. If the recipe makes too many or too few servings, you change the servings and press recalculate. The web page does the work for you.

Ingredients:

4 oranges, peeled, halved and sliced
Juice from one orange
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
2 small bananas, peeled and sliced

Arrange orange slices in a serving bowl
In a jar with a lid, combine juice, brown sugar, and chili powder, shake well
Pour mixture over orange slices
Stir in banana slices just before serving

Ambrosia- Side Dish or Dessert

From http://sunkist.com/recipes
Recipe: Ambrosia (Serves four)
Type: Side Dish or Dessert
History: Sunkist has a web page where you can get citrus recipes. You choose the type of recipe and the type of fruit. Since oranges are on sale for 88¢ per pound, I chose oranges. If the recipe makes too many or too few servings, you change the servings and press recalculate. The web page does the work for you.

Ingredients:
3 oranges, peeled and sectioned
2 small grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
½ cup orange marmalade
1 tsp vanilla
2- 8 oz cups fat free lemon yogurt (or your choice)
2 Tbsp shredded coconut

Combine fruit, marmalade and vanilla in a bowl
Spoon mixture into small bowls and top with yogurt
Sprinkle coconut on top

Mixture can be chilled and served later

Orange Fruit Salad- Side Dish

From http://sunkist.com/recipes
Recipe: Orange Fruit Salad (Serves twelve)
Type: Side Dish
History: Sunkist has a web page where you can get citrus recipes. You choose the type of recipe and the type of fruit. Since oranges are on sale for 88¢ per pound, I chose oranges. If the recipe makes too many or too few servings, you change the servings and press recalculate. The web page does the work for you.

Ingredients:
2 oranges washed, peeled, seeded and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 ripe banana, peeled, and cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup strawberries cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup blueberries
1 kiwi, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups mini marshmallows or large marshmallows cut into bite sized pieces
2-8 oz cups of low fat vanilla yogurt (or your choice of flavor)

Mix ingredients in a bowl and serve as a side dish. Can be chilled and served later. Can be placed in muffin papers in a muffin pan and frozen for a nice cool treat.

Orange Smoothie

From http://sunkist.com/recipes
Recipe: Orange Smoothie (Serves four)
Type: Beverage
History: Sunkist has a web page where you can get citrus recipes. You choose the type of recipe and the type of fruit. Since oranges are on sale for 88¢ per pound I chose oranges. If the recipe makes too many or too few servings, you change the servings and press recalculate. The web page does the work for you.

Ingredients:
4 oranges, Peeled, cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups crushed ice
2-8 oz cups of nonfat yogurt (plain or vanilla or your choice)
Juice of 1 lime
Shredded coconut

In a blender, combine all ingredients except the coconut, blend until smooth
Pour into a glass and top with coconut

Tater Tot Casserole- Main Dish

From: Kirsten Baldon adapted from a friend’s recipe
Recipe: Tater tot Casserole
Type: Main Dish

Ingredients:
2- 10 ¾ oz cans of condensed cream of celery soup
4-16 oz cans of string beans
3 cups of canned evaporated milk (try powdered milk)
1 lb of ground beef
2 cups of grated cheese (try re-hydrating you dehydrated cheese)
1-2 lbs bag of tater tots

Brown ground meat, drain off fat and set aside
In a bowl, combine cream of celery soup and milk to a creamy mixture
Add ground meat to soup mixture and set aside
Spread tater tots on the bottom of an 11x17 baking pan
Add meat and soup mixture on top of the tater tots, followed by sprinkling the cheese on top
Bake in an oven at 375 degrees for 15 to 30 minutes.

The cheese should be melted and the tater tots a little crispy

Tuna Adobo Recipe-Main Dish

From: Melissa Rollins, adapted from a family recipe
Recipe: Tuna Adobo
Type: Main Dish
History: Adobo is a Filipino dish that is commonly made with chicken and pork; it also combines well with canned tuna. The sauce is very flavorful, so use it sparingly over white rice.

Ingredients:
6-6 oz cans of tuna (try chicken or pork)
¾ cup of soy sauce (Melissa prefers low sodium)
1 cup water
1/3 cup rice vinegar (white vinegar can be used) (*rice vinegar is sweeter and milder than white vinegar)
4 cloves of minced garlic ***or ½ tsp of garlic powder (1 clove = 1/8 tsp of galic powder)***
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp ground ginger
2 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients in a pot or even a slow cooker. If you used canned meat, cook until hot. With raw meat, be sure to cook the meat thoroughly. In a slow cooker, it can simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours.

Serve over rice and add a salad for a complete meal.

What is Food Storage and Where are we Going?

Food storage is made up of the non-perishable foods we eat every day. So what is stored and how much is stored, is specific to you and your family. Think about the foods that you and your family eat every day. Although most food storage is boxed and canned, some is frozen. Remember food storage is used when we are rotating our food storage and when we have personal emergencies. You will have most if not all your utilities. You will have items that are in you refrigerator. You will have items that are in your freezer. You will have your spices and your cookbooks, but a majority of the items should be from cans and boxes. Make a list of the foods you and your family like and watch the ads for sales.

Why do we store food? Storing food allows us to buy foods when they are on sale. If each week we look at the sales and coupons, we can purchase the foods our families like at a lower price. Just add a can or two extra to your weekly groceries and soon you will have the beginnings of your food storage. This makes us less dependant on the price spikes cause by economic changes. It also prepares us for unexpected personal emergencies. What if you or a family member became sick and could not work? What if you or a family member was laid off? This type of food storage would help you through short-term personal emergencies.

What do I store? You store non-perishable foods. That would include: canned fruits, vegetables, meats, soups, sauces, and other food items we use. It would also include boxed items such as rice, potatoes, pasta, cereal, and other food items we use. Remember to properly store boxed items to avoid insect and rodent infestations.

How do I use the food I have stored? We are going to post recipes. I will get as many as I can, but I need your help. E-mail me at UH1234567@gmail.com with your favorite recipe. Include all types of recipes, breakfast, lunch, dinner, main dish, side dish, dessert, snacks and beverages. Try to find recipes that use ingredients we would store. I will post them as I receive them. Once we have several recipes we will ask you all to prepare one recipe for your family in the next 7 days. After you make the recipe write us back with your comments. Did you like the recipe? Was it easy to prepare? Did you add anything or take anything out of the recipe? Did your children like it? Would you prepare it differently next time? We want to hear from you. My team will also be trying to test as many recipes as possible on our families. We will then post our findings as well.

Welcome

With the current economic situation, the leaders of our church became concerned with the welfare of its members. I was called to help provide ways for us to increase our food storage while staying within our household budgets. As many of you know, I am a family of two. I was not sure what I could do to help a large family or a family with children. So I prayed about it and waited for the promptings.

I felt compelled that we should increase our food storage to 30 days in the next year. How are we going to do that in the current economic situation? The obvious answer is: one can at a time, but the obvious answer is rarely easy to implement. So I prayed and I listened.

My sisters gave me the answer I was looking for. They asked for a cookbook using food storage. I looked into the printing of a cookbook. Even if we did our own photo copying, it quickly became cost prohibitive. I wanted to make this available to everyone. I wanted this to be useful to everyone. The answer was to learn how to blog.

Blogging will allow me to update it whenever I have a few minutes. It will allow you to read it at your convenience. It will also allow you to print only the recipes you think your family will enjoy.