Make A Plan Monday: Cooking in Winter without Electricity

How was your winter?  Any spring in sight yet?

What do you do when the power goes out and its cold outside?  How do you cook?  I've mentioned before different methods of cooking/baking foods without electricity.  Today I am sharing some more about using the Sun Oven on a cold wintery day--to show it does work to cook/bake even in cold temperatures.

In order to use the Sun Oven there does need to be sun, and little or no wind; but other than that even when it is below freezing outside, it still works!  Simply angle the Sun Oven towards the sun, using the leg.  During the summer there is little to no need for that leg in the back, but during the fall, winter and spring it will cook/bake better/faster if the leg is used to tilt the Sun Oven to an angle that helps direct the rays into the oven.  Then like always, rotate the oven every 15-30 minutes to keep the shadows even.  I've noticed that in the winter I need to rotate it more often than in the summer--usually closer to 15 to 20 minutes instead of upwards 30 minutes--to keep the shadows close to equal on both sides.  It takes about 30 minutes to get between 250 and 300 degrees inside the Sun Oven.   Once it is preheated, it is ready to bake and cook--yeah!

The above picture was taken on a wintery day when the electric was working fine.  But, when the power went out with an ice storm we had around here, having this solar oven allowed us to be able to still bake food because thankfully we had sun after the storm went through.  If we hadn't had sun, and only clouds, well then we would have simply had to just use another method of cooking/baking.

Now is a good time to start saving for big items like a Sun Oven that often come on sale during the summer.  Other great items to have on hand for power-outages in winter/cold weather:  blankets, battery/crank/solar powered radio, flashlights & batteries, warm clothing, board games/books to read, powerless/alternative cooking/baking methods & fuel for them, cash (when power out ATM/card swipers don't work), car charger for phones/etc. or other small device charger if wanted/needed, and definitely a plan!!!  A plan of not only what to have available, but what to do during a power-outage, and where to go if necessary.

Miscellaneous Monday: Honeyville Grain Sale

"Honeyville's 20% Off Cyber Monday Sale Starts Monday, Dec. 2nd, 2013 and ends onFriday, Dec. 5th 2013. That's 5 days of holiday savings just for you. To claim your 20% savings, shop online at store.honeyvillegrain.com before the sale ends. Then simply enter the coupon code "GIFT" during checkout and enjoy. Remember to tell your friends and family, before they miss out!"

Also, there are other awesome deals for food storage and emergency preparedness.  See http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/, http://beprepared.com and other sites you like for these types of items.  Start saving now for next year's deals!

Some things on sale:  sun oven (both at honeyville and foodstoragemadeeasy), bosch mixer (foodstoragemadeeasy and beprepared), water storage, gamma bucket lids and more.

Taste Test Tuesday: Apple Cider

MMM...apple cider!  I love apple cider, but it can be expensive to buy at the store, so I thought I'd make my own.  I tried making it both on the stove top and in a Sun Oven.  Both methods worked great, the downside to doing it in a Sun Oven though is the wonderful aroma of the apples simmering wasn't in the house, but left to the Sun Oven.

What is the cost effectiveness of homemade cider?  Walmart is currently selling 1 gallon for 5.98; and 1/2 gallon for 3.98.

For 1 gallon worth of homemade apple cider, about 6 lbs of apples will be needed, plus some sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.  I was able to buy the 3 lb bag of apples for $2.50 each, but the normal price is around $3.50.  Using the normal price of 3.50--one gallon of homemade apple cider costs $7 for the apples, plus the sugar and spices (say another 25 to 50 cents total):  so total about 7.25-7.50/gallon.  By getting the apples on sale the price dropped to 5.25 to 5.50.  Add on to this the cheesecloth used and any fuel to heat the cider of course.  Homemade apple cider is so yummy though--fresh tasting--both warm and cold, so I think it was worth it.

So here are the recipes--stovetop method and Sun Oven method.  For both methods, you can adjust the sugar and spices to your own tastes--if you like a sweeter/spicier apple cider and more of the respective ingredient, if you prefer a less spicy/sweet apple cider simply add less.

Making apple cider on the stove is so easy!  And oh does it smell Autumny (a wonderful apple cinnamon smell).

When I made the apple cider, I used two pots and did spill some--oops!  I think in the future I will only use one pot to prevent messes.

Taste Test Tuesday: Teriyaki Chicken

MMM...  I got this recipe from a wonderful friend of mine, Mika.  She is a wonderful cook, and this recipe proves that!  The picture above I made a little differently than listed:  I made the sauce without the seeds (but I have made it in the past with seeds and it is delicious either way), I froze the marinade sauce with whole chicken breasts, then within a month or so, I threw the frozen chicken with sauce into the crockpot (cloudy so couldn't use the sun oven, but I have done this same procedure using a sun oven and it works great).  After cooking several hours, the chicken was very moist and shreddable.  At that point, I simply combined it with the cooked rice/cracked wheat, without making a separate batch of sauce, I also opted to leave out the veggies this time.  MMM!  Enjoy!

I did cook a mixture of rice and cracked wheat together, you can't tell with the sauce making up for some of the coloring of the cracked wheat.  This time I used about 2 cups of rice with 1/2 to 1 c of sifted cracked wheat, it is just a way of sneaking wheat into a rice meal.  I put them both in the rice cooker together and cook it like normal.  After cracking wheat, I sift it to get out the smaller flour-like particles, using that for bread or something.

Cracked wheat is a great addition to rice dishes if you don't want to replace the rice completely.  Other uses for cracked wheat:  add cooked cracked wheat to cooked ground meat to extend not only the amount but the nutrition, add cooked cracked wheat to salads--lettuce, chicken salad, etc., use as a cereal--top with your favorite sweeteners or mix with yogurt and fruit.  There are really many ways to enjoy the benefits of wheat in delicious ways.

Gotta love sunshine! Solar Cooking

I could have waited until Monday to share this for Miscellaneous Monday, but oh well, here it is...Since I was working on it today.

Below is a compilation of the slides to a slideshow I made to help some elementary students understand some of the science and benefits of using solar energy for cooking food.

Saturday School: Sun Oven

Saturday School:  How to use a Sun Oven

These things are great!  I love them and would recommend one to anyone.  They require no fuel, only sunshine!  They are easily set up and taken down.

Alternative Cooking Method:  Sun Oven

PROS:  no fuel--uses the energy from the sun; can cook or bake; easy to use

CONS:  can only use when it is sunny; cooking times are longer than cooking or baking on/in a conventional stove/oven; buying commercial is expensive (but with regular use eventually you’ll recoup the cost in savings from not using your electricity--so this is only a con if you don’t use your sun oven very often); can’t fry with sun ovens.  If it is windy, the reflectors move--best to not use it when it is windy.  Only smaller pots and pans fit into the sun oven.

To set up:  put the sun oven in the yard where it will get sun (where it will cast a shadow during the whole cooking time).  Open up the reflector panels and lock into place.  Lock the glass into place to preheat the oven.  Position the oven to where the shadows are equal on both sides.  If the sun is lower in the sky--use the leg in the back to tilt the oven toward the sun.

To cook or bake in the sun oven:  Preheat the oven to the temp you want (up to about 350*).  Open the glass lid and place the pot/pan containing the food to be cooked onto the swing tray.  The swing tray can be removed, but it is nice to have if you will need to reposition the oven often.  Close and lock the glass lid back down.  Reposition the oven again to face the sun (if you will be repositioning it every 20-40 minutes) or to the position it will be midway through the cooking time, if you won’t be able to reposition the oven every 30-40 minutes.  Reposition as necessary.  Most food, if done this way, will take on average 2-3 times longer to cook than it would if you were doing it on the stove or in the oven in the house (or depending on the type of food 30-60 minutes longer than regular stovetop/oven times).  

To slow-cook in the sun oven:  Same as above, except you don’t reposition as often or at all--put it in the position of midway cooking time as stated above.

Of course the sun oven won’t fry foods, but baked goods turn out great as do stove-top cooked foods.  Reheat foods in the sun oven instead of the microwave or oven.

One of my favorite things about the sun oven:  I can start with completely frozen chicken, cook it in the sun oven for several hours and end up with moist delicious chicken ready to eat as is or to shred, or otherwise use in other recipes.  I often put just a little bit of water in the pot (just enough to cover the bottom), along with any seasonings I want sprinkled on top of the chicken:  taco, Mrs. Dash, etc.  MMM!

Things I have made and liked in the sun oven:  homemade bread--it browns nicely and is moist and delicious (not soggy, not dry); soups, chilis, cobbler, lasagne, brats, cookies, enchiladas, casseroles, pulled pork, and more.  I have also used it simply to reheat food.

See how nicely the sun oven browns the bread--on all sides.  This loaf was made with red wheat flour.

Recipe adjustments:  you won’t need as much liquid as you would on the stove-top (like a crockpot, it doesn’t lose the liquid as readily); the time to cook/bake will need to be lengthened depending on repositioning, amount of times you open the glass lid (each time, like a crockpot, will add about 15-20 minutes to the cook time-this is an estimation).

Cookware:  Dark!  Dark cookware helps absorb the heat.  You can also use glass-which is nice since you can see the food--if using glass it is best if the food is dark in color though so it will help absorb the heat.  Light /shiny colored cookware reflects the heat, which makes it hard for the food to cook.

Be sure to use hotpads to open the glass and remove the cookware, it will be hot!

Take down:  once you have finished cooking, let the oven cool down, wipe it out with a damp cloth and let dry.  Close glass lid.  Unlock reflectors and fold down.  Latch.  Remove to your storage area.

Have I convinced you yet about how wonderful these things are?  You can buy or make your own--there are many resources online that teach how to make a solar oven out of cardboard boxes, or more sturdy ones out of wood.  See also my post a while ago on making one out of a car windshield reflector screen.

Taste Test Tuesday: Sun Oven Chicken Enchilada

This recipe was one I threw together with what I had on hand.  The sun oven does a great job of taking chicken from the freezer to ready to eat moist cooked chicken that can be eaten as is or put back into the sun oven in a casserole like this or any other dish.


I recently became aware that sun ovens are coming on sale again.  See below for some of the sites I regularly check out--for great recipes and ideas!


http://www.dealstomeals.blogspot.com/  this site is actually running a giveaway for a sun oven right now--yeah!  But besides the give away, this site has great recipes.  Also, if you live out west, dealstomeals is a great way to save money on groceries and stock up on food storage.  I have tried many of the recipes, and they are delicious.

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/blog   see the Sept 9th post for details on the current sun oven sale.  Otherwise this is a great website for delicious recipes using food storage items. 

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/products-we-recommend/global-sun-ovens/     this site also sells the sun oven and for September shipping is free!

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/emergency-preparedness/emergency-preparedness-product-of-the-day/  I am sharing this link just because if you are interested in preparedness products they are highlighting one each day this month--and one of them--a stove in a can--has a code you can use to get 50% off the price.  

You can also make your own stove cans out of empty #10 cans, which I think I will show for this weeks Saturday School, but should you decide you want to buy one instead, the above mentioned is a great deal.

The sun oven is a great emergency preparedness item.  No fuel is necessary, just the sun.  I would include other alternative cooking methods/fuels as part of a complete emergency preparedness plan though because it isn't always sunny as we all know.  There are many different methods, decide as a family what will work best for you.  Think of how you will need to store the fuel and the stove/oven--some fuels should only be stored away from living spaces.  Also consider whether you want to be able to cook indoors or not.  Have fun and practice using what methods you have chosen during non-stressful situations.

Saturday School: Alternative Cooking Methods

Saturday School:  Alternative Cooking Methods

I recently taught a class about alternative cooking methods.  So today, I want to share some of the information from that class.  Class is in session:

When will you be left without electricity?  Will you be able to cook during that time?  What is your plan for what you will eat during extended power outages?  When planning, include a few different alternative cooking methods as conditions may be such that one method may not be useful.

There are many methods of cooking food without electricity.  Here are a few listed with the type of fuel they use, and where to use them:

Method	Fuel Used	Safety Precautions
Dutch oven	charcoal, coals from a fire	outdoors only!
Apple box oven	charcoal	outdoors only!
Can Stove	charcoal, coals from a fire, wood, other fire starters/burners (like a buddy burner)	outdoors only!
Charcoal Grill	charcoal	outdoors only!
Gas Grill	propane	outdoors only!
Camp Stove	propane	outdoors only!
Camp Stove Oven	propane	outdoors only!
Fire	wood	indoors (fire place, wood burning stove) or outdoors (fire pit, chimney, camp fire)
Butane Stove	butane	indoors or outdoors
Fondue pots (non-electric)	liquid gel, candles, sterno fuel	indoors or outdoors
Sterno stoves	sterno fuel, candles	indoors or outdoors
Solar ovens	sun	outdoors
icebox/chest oven		indoors or outdoors

Charcoal & propane fuel are to be used only outside, they are very dangerous and deadly to use indoors--do not use them indoors!

Wood can be used indoors when used in a fireplace or wood-burning stove, otherwise use outdoors.

Butane and sterno fuels are safe to use indoors (but still not in small enclosed spaces).

With any method, follow the directions for safety.  In upcoming weeks, I hope to highlight one or two methods at a time and discuss in more depth how to use them, the pros & cons associated with each method, plus other information and ideas.  Also see last weeks post on making a solar oven.

Here is the handout from the class I taught:

Thrifty Thursday: Getting Preparedness Supplies

Thrifty Thursday:  Getting your preparedness supplies

Being prepared:  The first step is to plan--plan what your family will need & want for emergencies, then gather the supplies needed to meet those needs/wants.  Then, you practice!  Learn how to use those items, learn what works and what doesn’t.  Practice using your storage items during non-stressful situations so that your family can become familiar with set-up, tastes, preparation methods, etc. of the supplies and food you are storing. 

Once you’ve planned as a family what you will want and need for your emergency supplies (72 hour kit, 3 month & 1 year supply).  Then comes the time to gather those items.

Pre-Gathering:

First: research the products you are looking at buying, making or getting.  Learn if they will indeed work for you, if you will be able to properly maintain them and use them, what the track record for those items are--good or bad reviews--do they break easily, etc.  Learn the average costs of buying commercial made compared to making homemade.  Also, determine if you have the skills, tools and ability to make homemade.

Gather: through buying, making or gifting

Buy: maybe for the cheaper items go ahead and buy them so you can start the gathering process; but for the more expensive items, wait and look around for sales or find them at garage sales even.  You want the best value for your money.  Not always is the cheapest the best value (like a dollar store car reflector screen is not to the same value as those obtained elsewhere), nor is always the most expensive the best value either.

Here are some examples of deals that can be found:

A simple butane stove was around $20 a couple of years ago.  But, by waiting, Walgreens had a sale for a simple one for $5!  (this was a few years ago, haven’t found/heard of this great of deal since)

Camp stoves--these often come on sale, too, in the summer.  Or occasionally you might even find some on clearance for 25-75% off--I periodically check the camping section for such deals on the things on my list.

Water:  periodically the grocery store has sales on the water bottles.  During and just before hurricane season is a time when water comes on sale often enough to spread out the buying over weeks or months.

Clothing, Shoes & Socks:  during back to school time and other times of the year, some stores have great sales on clothing--buy one get one free; don’t forget garage sales & thrift stores--just make sure that the used clothing is usable and in a condition you are happy with.

Food:  for 72 hour kits--those little fruit cups are on sale during back to school time, as are pop-tarts, and other little food items that are shelf-stable (because of being “bag lunch” items).  For 3 month or long-term supply--watch the sales & buy one get one free sales.

Make:  What about making things?  

Making your own solar oven out of a car reflector screen is much cheaper than buying one!  Chopping your own wood is cheaper than buying it prechopped.  Making a cardboard box oven is a great way to have baked goods, but for not much cost--there are a lot of instructions available online on how to make one.  

Homemade items can be made to order (in some aspects anyway):  a homemade solar oven can be dissembled and folded for easy storage, whereas a commercial sun oven takes up more storage space, a homemade box oven can be made to have a door with a oven bag window or simply made to be put over the heat & food.

Gifting:  Another great way to gather your supplies (this again is one way my family gets/gives what is wanted/needed):  when friends or family ask what you want for birthdays or Christmas--give them some ideas off of your preparedness supplies list!  And vise versa--for you giving to them--ask what things on their preparedness list they’d like to get.  For Christmas my family has been given things like:  a small first aid kit, a homemade solar still kit, toilet paper, flashlights, toothbrushes and more.  Very practical and useful gifts!  It might seem weird to give food storage or other preparedness items for a Christmas, wedding gift or college bound student gift--but hey, it sure is useful!

In all your getting, don’t forget to plan!  I’d like to share this quote from the April 2003 Liahona: Letter from the First Presidency (dated Jan.20 2002) talking about members obtaining a year supply of basic necessities:

“Members should be prudent and not panic or go to extremes in this effort. Through careful planning, most Church members can, over time, establish both a financial reserve and a year’s supply of essentials.”

I like this quote because it emphasizes the need to plan.  Plan what you’ll need/want, then get it and use it.

Saturday School: Funnel Solar Oven

Saturday School:  How to make a funnel solar oven

Items needed:  car windshield reflector screen, tape, box or bucket, oven bag, dark pot with dark lid, cookie rack, weight, food to cook

Put something to weigh down the box or bucket in the bottom of it.  Make a funnel shape out of the windshield reflector, overlap enough for no gaps and adhere with tape, velcro or some other method to hold shape along the sides, place in box or bucket, in the sun facing south (face it to towards the sun). Using some aluminum foil shiny-side-up, cover any holes or seams along bottom.  Place rack to hold pot onto box/bucket edges.  Put pot with food in oven bag and close off with twist tie.  Place on rack.

Your optimal time to cook using this method:  10 am to 2 pm, as that is when the sun is highest in the sky.  This method of cooking will not work if there isn’t enough sunshine to cast a shadow during most, if not all, of the cooking time.  Temperatures reached with this method--based on my experience--up to 200 degrees.


Also:  by using velcro instead of tape, you can undo the screen and fold it up for easy storage or to use in your car as its original intended purpose.

My experiments:  I chose to just warm water, so I could get a in the pot temperature reading too.  I also chose water so that each try would be able to have the same interior conditions (food, moisture, etc.)

First try:  I used a cheap-o dollar store window reflector with no reinforcement, the oven bag temp got up to 150* along with the 3 cups of water I had put into the pot.  I don’t know if it got above that temp at any time or not, but after the 2 hours of being in the same spot, that was the temperature  (I used a oven temp gauge to measure the air temp in the bag, and a candy thermometer to measure the water temp).  I did not rotate the solar oven to face the sun, it was in the same position the whole time from about 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm.  I did notice that with the breeze the screen moved around some and may not have provided the best angles and such for reflecting heat onto the pot.

Second try:  I used the cheap-o dollar store window screen again, but this time I reinforced the back with some sturdy cardboard.  The bag temp got up to 200* and the 3 cups of water got up to 150* after 1 hour of no rotating.

Third try:  I reinforced it even better than the 2nd time--because some of my reinforcing didn’t work as I had hoped, I also added some green plastic garden stakes to help.  The results--including rotating it to face the sun every 30 minutes---the bag temp never got over 200*, and the water temp only got up to 150*.  At least the wind wasn’t able to move the reflector much-as with try 1 and even try 2 a little, the wind was able to move the reflector and make it fold in on itself slightly.

In the future:  maybe try a more sturdy window reflector from Walmart or something.  What is the something:  make one out of cardboard covered with aluminum foil--as a side note:  the solar oven cookbook “Cooking with Sunshine” has directions on how to make one.  Check to see if your library has a copy--it has great recipes and instructions on making 2 or 3 different types of solar ovens.

I hope this tutorial was helpful to you.  This type of solar oven doesn’t have the temperature range of a Sun Oven, but it does get the food warmed up to 200 degrees, so still better than nothing.  See below for more pics.

Try 1:  You can see that the dollar store reflector is no match for a breeze or two.  But even with the flimsiness and flapping in the wind, the temp still got up to 150*!  

Tries 2-3:  Bag temperature got up to 200*, water temp to 150*.  The little inset picture shows the steam coming from the water.  You can also see my not-so fancy cardboard and Christmas tape job (and a garden stake sticking out of the top).  I taped a second piece of cardboard to the box holding the reflector and to the cardboard on the reflector to help reinforce it some more.  There are also two garden stakes going from the bottom to the wings of the funnel, as I found cardboard by itself wasn't holding them up and out.

Please note:  the picture showing the back of the solar oven shows the shadow being close to centered.  To rotate the oven towards the sun, you try to get the shadow to be the same on both sides like below, if the shadow is cast more to one side than the other, it is not directly facing the sun.

Taste Test Tuesday: Spicy Pinto Casserole

Got 30 minutes to make supper?  This recipe can be prepared in 30 or less*, uses only one pot and is pretty healthy too.  Besides that, it uses food storage items--beans, dried veggies, canned goods, pasta.  

A note:  if using canned corn &/or olives, drain first, but for the Rotell--don't drain.

Adjust this recipe to your tastes:  use more or less of any of the ingredients to match what your family will eat--if adjusting the liquid levels be sure to adjust the pasta/dried veggie levels accordingly. You can increase the heat of this dish by using Hot Rotell, rather than original or mild, by increasing the chili powder or by adding a few dashes of hot sauce, chopped chili peppers or crushed red pepper flakes (add these along with the onions and garlic in the first step).  If you don’t want the heat, use Mild Rotell, or even canned or fresh tomatoes without the green chilis.  For a different flavor, add taco seasoning to the pinto beans & meat (if using).  If you want more of a chili soup rather than a pasta dish, feel free to leave the pasta out.  This recipe really is adaptable to multiple tastes as you can see.

I’ve also prepared this recipe in a sun oven (solar oven), and it turned out fine.  I of course couldn’t fry up the onions in the oil in the sun oven but was able to simply heat them and continue following the rest of the recipe as stated--adjusting the time to mesh with using a sun oven--so it does take longer to make in a sun oven, but still turns out.  Each step takes about 20-40 more minutes in a sun oven than on the stove top, but no electricity is used and it doesn’t heat up the house, which especially right now is a plus!  One hint though:  When using a sun oven use a little less water (more towards 1 to 1.5 cups rather than a full 2 cups) so your pasta doesn’t get over-cooked.  

When I cook beans, I cook a large amount, then freeze in 2-3 cup portions or puree them for using in baked goods.  My favorite ways to cook beans:  #1 a pressure cooker--this makes the whole process so much faster, you don’t have to presoak the beans just sort & rinse, then cook!  #2 slow-cooker--my favorite for white beans--sort & rinse then soak overnight.  In the morning, drain the soak water and then fill a full knuckle & a half with water over and above the level of beans.  Turn to low and cook until the skin on the beans cracks and peals off easily when you blow on them (spoon out a few and do your blow test)--about 8 hours (maybe as little as 6 or as much as 10, adjust to your slow-cooker).  

Other bean cooking tips:  don’t use acidic foods or juices during the cooking process (can use after the beans are fully cooked); don’t add salt to the water that you are cooking beans in (again can use after); cooked beans can be put in the fridge and stay safe to eat for up to a week, or frozen for up to 6 months without loss of flavor, nutrients, etc.  When reheating beans add a little water to keep them from being dry.

*by cooking the beans & browning the meat ahead of time (and then freezing for quick meals) this meal is prepared in 30 or less, if you don’t have beans and meat already done, the preparation time does increase significantly if you are doing beans on the stove top, or by about 30-40 minutes if cooking them in a pressure cooker.  Follow your pressure cooker’s instructions for doing beans.

Hope you enjoy!