Taste Test Tuesday: Honeyville grain sale & products

Taste Test Tuesday:  Another sale at Honeyville so you can get your food storage for cheaper!  

from the email you can sign up for to be notified of sales and deals:

"Honeyville's 5 day 10% Off Sale starts Today, Monday, Oct. 21st and ends Friday, Oct. 25th, 2013

. To claim your 10% savings, shop online at store.honeyvillegrain.com before the sale ends. Just shop as usual, then simply enter the coupon code "HARVEST" during checkout and enjoy the savings."

This sale started yesterday, I meant to post but as always some well meant things get put aside.  This sale goes till Friday so there is still time to take advantage of it.

As far as taste test Tuesday:  of the products I have bought from Honeyville grain, I have thought they all were good quality and tasty--well as tasty as dried or freeze dried/powdered foods can be compared to fresh, as fresh is almost always better tasting.  But when it comes to having shelf stable foods, I have really liked the ones I have tried from Honeyville, especially the dried green onion--so nice to have on hand!!!

Here are some of the foods I have tried and liked and how I have used them:
green onion:  mixed in with eggs, on/in enchiladas, cheese & egg casseroles
diced potatoes:  in soups and pot pies--perfect size for these as they are small cubes--about the size of a pinkie nail--but in the shape of a cube
hashbrown potatoes:  as hashbrowns, or potato casseroles where shredded potatoes are nice to have
egg powder:  for baking--cakes, brownies, rolls, etc.  Remember egg powder was designed for baking not for eating like scrambled eggs--they do have a different taste, but in baked goods that difference in taste isn't noticeable.
freeze dried fruits (blueberries and strawberries):  great for snacking, in oatmeal or other cereals, in yogurt, rehydrated to make a fruit sauce for desserts or yogurt.

Notes:  Once you open a can of freeze dried or dried food, you should use it within 6-12 months.  I found this particularly true with freeze dried--as they do absorb moisture over time.  Also, I recommend reading the comments that customers have made, as they often have great ideas on how to use the food or insight on why or why not the person liked the product.

Taste Test Tuesday: Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Mmm...pancakes.  We like our pancakes, particularly when they can be made a little healthier.  These greek yogurt pancakes replace the usual oil used in pancakes with greek yogurt, they also use whole wheat flour, so I like to think they are healthier than your run of the mill pancake mix pancakes.  This recipe works great to use dry milk both for making the greek yogurt as well as the milk needed.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: Cheese Ravioli

Last week I shared the recipe for making homemade ricotta cheese, this week I am sharing a recipe that uses it--Cheese Ravioli.

I don't have a ravioli maker thing, so I used a rolling pin and a pasta maker to roll out the pasta to a uniform thickness then put globs of cheese filling on it like on a cookie sheet and covered it with another rolled pasta sheet (or folded it over).  I then used a pizza cutter to cut them down to size and sealed the seams simply by pressing a little.  I wasn't exact or anything and it shows in the pictures, if I had wanted to I probably could have made them look nicer.

Tastewise:  both the store bought egg and egg powder pastas turned out fine, without much taste difference between the two.  We did prefer the taste a day or two later to the first day, for some reason after cooking them and sitting in the fridge, then being nuked in the microwave, they actually seemed to taste better.

Enjoy!

Miscellaneous Monday: Ideas on Incorporating Food Storage

March Food Storage Madness:  This month I hope to share ideas on many different aspects of food storage from getting and storing it, to using it and more.

Today's March Food Storage Madness:  Spring cleaning--getting some of that food storage out and actually using it!  If we store food and never use it, it wastes money, time & space.  So below are some ideas on incorporating different food items into what you may already be making/eating:

Wheat:  wheat can be cooked whole or cracked, or it can be ground into flour.  Got recipes that use flour?  Most recipes do well switching out white for wheat flour--either a complete switcheroo or partial.  Cooked whole or cracked wheat isn't just for cereal anymore!  Are you having meals with ground meats?  Cooked whole or cracked, wheat is wonderful to add to ground meat dishes.  Having rice?  Again cooked whole or cracked wheat can be added to rice dishes.  Salads--yep, same thing!  You can also make wheat meat (wheat gluten) and flavor it to taste like beef, chicken, sausage and more.

Dry milk:  besides simply making up a gallon and using it in cereal or for drinking (I suggest adding a little vanilla to it though for taste), dry milk can be used in baking or making sauces, puddings, cream soups and more.  Got a recipe that requires cream of ... soup?  Instead of buying a can from the store, you can make your own using dry milk using S.O.S mix or Magic Mix.  Need to make a white or cheese sauce, dry milk can be used--Magic Mix again to the rescue!

Dried fruits:  great for adding to cereal, yogurt, making fruit sauces & pies.  They are also great by themselves as a snack.

Dried veggies:  great for soups, adding to egg dishes (like casseroles or quiche), rehydrate and add to other casseroles or stir fries.

Beans:  Cooked beans can be added to meat dishes, casseroles, rice dishes and more, simply add with the meat or in place of the meat.  Cooked beans can also be pureed and used to replace the oil/butter in baked goods like cake or brownies!

Canned meats:  great for soups, chilis or even salad sandwiches (like chicken salad or tuna).  Great for casseroles too.

Dry Egg Powder:  most dry egg powders are made for use in baking--so if baking and the recipe calls for eggs, dry egg powder can be used.  If using for making scrambled eggs or omelets, the taste may not be to your liking.  There are products that claim to taste better for these types of uses (like egg crystals).  Also, dry egg white powder is great for when you only need whites.

I hope these ideas help in using your food storage.  It is so much better to learn how to use these things in tasteful ways now, than during an emergency.  Have fun, enjoy using your food storage!

Honeyvillegrain sale

If you sign up for Honeyvillegrain emails, you may already know that from Jan17-Jan22, you can get 15% off your entire order!   (that doesn't include the already awesomely low flat rate shipping).  But, if you haven't signed up to receive emails with deals and such,

Here are the details (from the email):

"We hope you're still holding true to those New Year's Resolutions. If building up your food storage pantry or a special new diet is part of your resolution, then we may be able to help. From now until Tuesday, January 22nd we're offering deep discounts (15% Off Your Entire Purchase*). Tell your friends and family!  Simply enter the coupon code "RESOLVE" during checkout. Shop online at store.honeyvillegrain.com  or visit a local Honeyville store near you for your 15% savings starting today."

Way cool!  Their prices are normally already great, but with these % off sales they periodically do, you get an even better deal.

So, as the email says:  "Tell your friends and family!"

Ok, so personally, in the past I have ordered and been amazed with their service and products.   I've tried both dried and freeze dried products--love the freeze dried blueberries!!!!--so yummy to add to yogurt with some cooked cracked or whole wheat berries and a few sunflower seeds for crunch.  The other products I have tried have been great too. I still always compare prices with other companies that sell food storage companies just to be sure before I buy anything, but for certain items, honeyville has often beat the other prices when shipping is included in the total cost.  There are certain items that are still a better deal at LDS home storage centers, or when Emergency Essentials does group specials on items (because group specials also qualify for free shipping); but honeyvillegrain's prices are pretty good, in general, for dried and freeze dried fruits and veggies.

Tast Test Tuesday: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Blueberry Peach Cobbler, MMMM!
This was delicious by itself, but even better with whip cream or icecream when it was still warm, but then again whip cream and icecream seem to make everything better.

I did cut up the peaches, both the fresh and the canned to more bite size chunks.

For this recipe, I used homemade cake mix--the mix recipe can be found here on everydayfoodstorage.net, where she has put together a great handout on making your own cake and muffin mixes.  I have tried the chocolate cake mix (see this post for cookies made with that mix), the white cake mix by itself, and making it into strawberry cake.  I personally have liked the chocolate cake mix best when used for cookies, and the white cake mix best when used for cobblers.  If you make your own cake mix, this recipe uses these long-term food storage items: dry milk, flour, sugar.  It also can use dry egg powder.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: 5 Dry Milk Recipes

Milky May:  Today as sort of a grand finale of Milky May I will be sharing 5 recipes rather than one that use dry milk.  First, I will highlight 3 recipes I have tried from the wonderful dry milk recipe handout found here:  http://peaceofpreparedness.com/Resource%20Library/Recipies/Got%20Milk%20Recipes%202011.pdf.Then I will share a recipe using a recipe from www.everydayfoodstorage.net that I have tried and liked.  And lastly a peanut butter no bake cookie using prepared dry milk.

The recipe in the handout for this is actually called Bacon Brunch Pie, but as I was making it I thought it was more like a crustless quiche and so thought of it as Basic Quickmix Quiche, with either name, it is good.  I thought it would go great with sausage or other meats like ham or even browned ground beef.  I used fresh eggs instead of egg powder when I made it.  I also didn't use bacon bits as the original recipe calls for but cooked bacon crumbles/pieces.  I also added the tomatoes thinking to serve some shredded lettuce on top for a kind of BLT quiche.  Whether by itself or with lettuce with it, it had the consistency of quiche or scrambled eggs with veggies in it.

Another recipe from this great handout:  Country Gravy

MMM.  This gravy was yummy.  It is much like the gravy that can be made with Magic mix.  I like them both as they are both quick and easily seasoned to taste.

And again from peaceofpreparedness handout:  Pasta Primavera

I added cooked chicken to this as well--adding it with the rehydrated veggies--it did make it so there wasn't as much creamy sauce--just enough to coat everything lightly so if you do like more sauce with your veggies and pasta, you will need to add more of the sauce ingredients:  flour, dry milk, sour cream and water.  Depending on how hot or mild you want it, you will want to adjust the dried pepper and crushed red pepper amounts.  As is, it was ok for me but a little hot for others--it really depends on individual likes.

Now onto another source for great food storage recipes:  www.everydayfoodstorage.net.  The Chocolate Cake Cookie Mix recipe below is using the chocolate cake mix found here:  http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2012/02/27/making-your-own-cake-mixes-food-storage-style-dark-chocolate-cake/food-storage-recipes, there is also a great handout about making your own cake/muffin mixes and how to adapt recipes to mixes--see the above post link for that.  So onto cake mix cookies using this cake mix recipe.

I'll admit I like this cake mix made into cookies much better than when I made it into cake using the recipe shown on everydayfoodstorage.net.  When it comes to chocolate cake I like the homemade-made-from-scratch chocolate cake much better than this cake mix or store-bought cake mixes.  But this cake mix does make excellent chocolate cookies!!!  They are so yummy!  The variations my family has tried:  using peanut butter chips (I think we also added chocolate chips when using peanut butter chips); using white chocolate chips and chocolate chunks, just chocolate chunks.  ALL variations were delicious.  When using teaspoon to tablespoon sized balls, it makes around 50 cookies.  Also, if using melted butter instead of softened butter, you will need a little more mix.  Also, this is a batter that unless you have a powerful mixer, you will need to mix by hand--especially as you add more mix to make the dough stiff and add chocolate chips--a wooden spoon works great for mixing.

And now for another cookie recipe:  Peanut Butter No Bakes

This no bake cookie recipe comes from a church congregation cookbook that I have, it simply calls for milk, I simply adapted it to use dry milk and even cooked cracked wheat.  Great with or without the cooked cracked wheat.

Enjoy!

I hope the recipes I have shared this month, as well as in the past, have been helpful in giving ideas on using dry milk.  For more recipes that use dry milk, click on labels then dry milk or go to the recipe index page and look for recipes that indicate they use dry milk.  Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: Corn Bread

Here's another cornbread recipe that can use dried eggs, dry milk powder, and whole wheat flour and still taste great.  MMM.  I adapted a recipe from a church congregation cookbook to use egg powder and whole wheat flour.  When I make it I also use milk made from powdered milk.

Enjoy!

Milky May:  A long while ago I mentioned my intention to share information and recipes using dry milk powder during the month of May.    I've shared recipes and information in the past about dry milk powder, and will probably repeat some of that information but hope to share some recipes I haven't shared yet as well.

Taste Test Tuesday: Monte Cristo Sandwiches

I adapted this recipe for Monte Cristo sandwiches by using dry eggs rather than fresh, it worked out pretty good!  Ham and cheese sandwiches are good by themselves, but also very good grilled.  French toast is also very good.  Now to combine them--making a french toast ham and cheese sandwich.  This isn't a new idea, but a good one all the same.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: German Pancakes

I wanted to try German pancakes with more food storage items.  Though it did end up with a different texture than German pancakes when made with fresh eggs, it still turned out good.  This version's texture was more like a thick pudding, albeit yummy, than a more bread-like version.  The strawberries on top made it delicious!  Enjoy!!!

Taste Test Tuesday: Roasted Potato Quiche

The picture isn't very good, I by far am not a professional, but the food is good.  I used dry milk to make the milk for this recipe, as well as the dry veggies and eggs.  I did use store bought potatoes, but this would probably work using the dried diced potatoes.  It was different having potatoes instead of a crust, but it was still good and it used food storage!


Enjoy!