Just in Case (60 page)

YIELD: Six servings

POTATO CASSEROLE

¼ cup (half a stick) butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2½ tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

Salt and pepper

3 cups cubed cooked potatoes

½ cup shredded mild cheese, plus more for topping

• Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until limp but not brown. Add the flour to the skillet, then pour in the milk and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook until thickened. Combine the onion mixture with the potatoes and cheese in a greased casserole dish. Top with more shredded cheese. Bake until bubbly.

YIELD: Six servings

HAMBURGER STROGANOFF

½ onion, chopped, or 1 teaspoon onion powder

1
pound ground beef (canned is fine)

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup white wine

1 (12-ounce) package egg noodles, cooked and drained

• If you are using onion rather than onion powder, saute it in a little butter or oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until just browned. Combine the onion, ground beef, paprika, pepper, salt, and oil in the large saucepan and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Add the yogurt and wine and cook until hot, but do not allow the mixture to boil. Serve over warm noodles.

YIELD: Six servings

DRIED-CORN PUDDING

3 cups boiling water

¾ cup dried corn

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups half-and-half

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

3 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Pour the boiling water over the corn and let stand for 20 minutes. Then simmer the corn until tender; this will take about an hour. Drain.

• Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, combine corn, eggs, butter, half-and-half, onion, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour into a greased 1-quart casserole and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

• This a good recipe to use with a solar oven, although the cooking time will need to be adjusted upward.

YIELD: Six servings

CANNED-CORN PUDDING

1 (15-ounce) can corn

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons melted bacon drippings

2 tablespoons sugar

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine the corn and eggs. Stir in the salt, pepper, bacon drippings, and sugar. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

YIELD: Four servings

BREAD AND GRAINS

T
HERE ARE SO
many breads that will nourish your body and spirit during a time of crisis. A word of warning: Once your family gets used to home-baked breads, they will not want to wait for an emergency to enjoy them. And it’s not just loaves that will hold this appeal. Noodles and pastas, flat breads and fried breads, doughnuts and dumplings — all will enhance your ability to turn out tasty meals from your stored food.

BISCUIT AND PANCAKE MIX

One of the easiest foods to purchase and store are boxes of pancake and biscuit mix that require only water to prepare. If you have to get up in a cold, dark kitchen in the middle of a January blizzard and prepare breakfast for a troop of hungry kids, nothing could be easier than pulling out a box of pancake mix. Breakfast is ready in a few minutes and you don’t need to bother with measuring cups and spoons, mixing up a quart of powdered milk, or looking for the eggs when you really don’t want to open the refrigerator if you don’t have to. The downside to the convenience is that these mixes are quite expensive when you consider the ingredients, and all are nearly devoid of nutrition. That probably doesn’t matter if you use them only on occasion, but if you had to make do for a month or two, you might want a healthier and less expensive alternative. I make up my own mix and store it in gallon-sized plastic jugs. I store the jugs in my freezer because I use whole-wheat flour, which stays good for only about six weeks at room temperature. If the power went out I would move the jugs to my basement storage area, where it remains cool and dark. I have tried a couple of different recipes from a few different sources and finally settled on this as our family favorite.

4
cups white flour

1 cups whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons salt

½
cup sugar (optional, but it makes a better pancake)

2
cups powdered milk

⅓ cup baking powder

2
cups shortening (preferably nonhydrogenated vegetable)

STORAGE MIXES

I make a lot of mixes. I can make a large batch of a mix and store it either in single-serving sizes or in larger containers and remove only what I need to prepare a meal. This saves me time, money, and energy. Having the directions printed on the label of the storage container means that Bruce or one of the kids can put together a meal with very little trouble too. Making my own mixes rather than buying them premade also means that I am in control of the salt and I can leave out the hydrogenated oils if I want to. The Biscuit and Pancake Mix and the Cornmeal Baking Mix are two standbys.

• Mix the dry ingredients until well blended, then cut in the shortening. The mixture should look like cornmeal.

•
For rolled biscuits:
Stir together 1 cup of the mix and ½ cup water. Handle the dough gently. Knead just until the dough holds together, then roll out to a V-inch thickness. Cut into rounds and bake at 350°F until browned.

•
For dumplings:
Stir together 1 cup of the mix and V cup water. Add just enough additional water to make the dough drop-pable. Drop by the spoonful into soup or stew. You can also add a bit more sugar to the mix and drop over stewed fruit.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKE MIX

A buttermilk mix can be made by substituting 1 ½ cups of buttermilk powder for the 2 cups of powdered milk. This makes a terrific pancake.

•
For pancakes:
Stir together 1 cup of the mix, V cup water, and 1 egg. Thin the mixture with enough water to allow you to ladle it into a skillet. For a richer pancake, you can substitute milk for some of the water.

YIELD: Four servings

CORNMEAL BAKING MIX

8
½ cups flour

5
cups cornmeal

3
cups powdered milk

½ cup baking powder

3
cups shortening (preferably nonhydrogenated vegetable)

• Sift the dry ingredients together, then cut in the shortening. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. As you use up the mix, transfer it to a smaller container to exclude as much air as possible.

THE SHORTENING DILEMMA

I struggled with shortening as an ingredient for quite a while. Some recipes, especially for baked goods like pie crusts and biscuits and many kinds of cookies, do not turn out right without it. But traditional solid shortening is full of trans fats, the worst of all possible fats, and I don’t use it. I substitute a nonhydrogenated, solid vegetable spread and have found it to work well as long as the mix I use it in is kept cool. My favorite brand is Earth Balance; there are other brands available, however, and more coming on the market all the time as trans fats gain notoriety. The downside is that nonhydrogenated solid spreads must be kept cold, unlike shortening, which has a long shelf life.

• To make bread or muffins, combine 1 cup of mix with V cup water, adding just enough water to get a proper batter consistency. Pour into a greased loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake at 350°F until the tops are golden, about 25 minutes.

YIELD: One loaf or six muffins

Note: Some people prefer a sweeter corn-bread. If you are one of them, you can add a cup of sugar (or to taste) to the mix.

CANNED BREAD

In preparation for a winter storm, you could double this recipe and put up a dozen jars of bread in the time it would take to drive to the supermarket, battle the crowds, and return home with six loaves of bread that wouldn’t keep for long. For equipment, you’ll need six wide mouthed pint canning jars and two-piece canning lids to match.

2
⅔ cups sugar

⅔ cups vegetable shortening

4 eggs

⅓ cup water

2 cups shredded carrot (or chopped apple or mashed, ripe banana)

3½
cups flour

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1
teaspoon cinnamon

1
teaspoon baking powder

2
teaspoons baking soda

½
teaspoon salt

1
cup raisins

½
cup walnuts

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cream together the sugar and shortening until very fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the water and beat well. Add the carrots or fruit. Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Add the raisins and nuts and mix only until blended. Set the mixture aside. Grease the insides of the jars, taking care not to grease the rims. Fill each jar with 1 cup of the batter. Do not overfill. Place the jars on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the jars from the oven, one at a time. Wipe the rims and top each with a two-piece canning lid. The jars will seal. I do not know how long the bread will last in storage because my kids eat it all within a few weeks. It stays good at least that long and probably much longer.

YIELD: Six small loaves

QUICK BREAD

This wonderful quick bread can be made entirely from stored food if you have powdered eggs. If eggs are in short supply, you can substitute 1 tablespoon of soy flour mixed with 3 tablespoons of water for one egg; you could also substitute ¼ cup of applesauce. Don’t substitute for more than three of the eggs, however.

3
cups sugar

4
eggs

2
cups pureed pumpkin or squash

3½
cups flour

2
teaspoons salt

½
teaspoon cinnamon

1
teaspoon nutmeg

½
teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1
teaspoon baking powder

2
teaspoons baking soda

1
cup oil

⅔ cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla Nuts or dried fruit (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat the sugar with the eggs until fluffy. Add the pumpkin or squash and beat again. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking powder, and baking soda. In another container, mix together the oil, water, and vanilla, then add it to the flour mixture in the large bowl, along with the pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Stir in nuts or dried fruit if you like. Bake in greased pans for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

YIELD: Three small loaves, two large loaves, or two dozen muffins

Note: If you are using a solar oven or cooking on a stovetop you will want to make the muffins or the smallest loaves you can.

COFFEE CAKE

2
cups Biscuit and Pancake Mix (see page 218)

½
cup sugar

2
eggs, beaten

¾ cup water

Brown sugar

Raisins

Cinnamon

• Mix together the biscuit mix, sugar, eggs, and water. Put a good spoonful of batter in each of a dozen well-greased muffin tins. Add a layer of brown sugar, a few raisins, and some cinnamon, then another layer of batter. Sprinkle some more cinnamon and sugar on top and bake at 350°F for 12 minutes, or until the tops are just browned.

• If you don’t have a way to bake the muffins, you can fry them in a skillet. Brown one side in a covered skillet, then flip and brown the other side. These have to be kept on the small side to cook thoroughly. They come out rather like fat pancakes.

YIELD: Twelve small cakes

RAISIN BREAD

2
teaspoons dry yeast

½ cup lukewarm water

1
½ cups boiling water