Monday, January 5, 2009

Concept of 365 Days of Pre-Made Meals

Thank you R. Hatch for sharing the following information! (This concept would also work well for a three-month supply.)

"365 DAYS of
PRE-MADE MEALS
THIS woman inspires me!


"WHY THIS sister's work is important...
"Other than my paranoia that an earthquake is going to ruin this good sister's hard work, (please store your glass canning jars back in their box! And down low!) I think this idea is fantastic! And after getting a years supply of basics, this idea has really captured my heart. She came up with a plan and did it, and further more, she did it based on the precepts that SCANDINAVIANS did for CENTURIES to stay alive.

"IN places like Finland, Norway and Sweden, that got 10 months a year of darkness and snow, they had to put together a years supply EVERY single year quickly, at the end of their short growing season, and live off it every single winter. They made hard bread with a hole in it, about 300-400 loaves per family, and hung it on poles and then strung up in their wood rafters. They knew how to provide nutrition through stews, soups, and porridges. They knew that a small piece of meat or bone could flavor the soup and give everyone a little protein but not waste it (think: eat meat sparingly) and they were masters at drying/smoking meat and other foods (think of Ludvisk). They would dry almost everything, and use it later when they melted snow in a pot over fire and made hearty soups, and then soak their hard bread in it as their meal.

"I quickly calculated if I could get almost everything dried or freeze-dried, and then place it in my largest jars and then seal them up without oxygen (using the same oxygen packets you can buy at the church cannery for #10 cans), that I could get a VERY long shelf life out of these dry products; a lot longer than "regular canned soups", and a LOT healthier.

"There were some obvious things I felt I needed right away...SOME good recipes and resources...and a plan! I found them both right away once I started looking. I also bought a good dehydrator, so that I could dry what I could not buy. I am now working on this and know this will take me several months to do.

"I found great dehydrated products in bulk at www.bluechipgroup.net. They had products like dehydrated carrots, corn, onions, celery, and a cream base soup mix, and a tomato powder that made a nice base to several soups. They also had little dehydrated pieces of chicken, etc...they sold in bulk, too. I found bulk spices at Allison's Pantry Outlet Store in Utah County, also available online at www.allisonspantry.com. I found some great dried five cheese tortellini at Costco, and I found some great recipes.

"I realized I could do this one recipe at a time, so it didn't get overwhelming. If I had 15 recipes I loved, I had to only make two cases (or twenty-four jars of each recipe) to come up with roughly 360 days of meals. That meant that I could eat something different for 15 days before I had to eat it again. Twice a month roughly it would rotate around.

"This idea intrigued me, how good it could be, when added to the basics of wheat, rice, and beans.

"So without further ado, I am going to get you started with some of the recipes I loved, and modified slightly for my family...I don't have all of it done, but am excited to be able to do this as my goal this year. Plus it will extend my food storage out to be more well-rounded."

(Source: R. Hatch, Ward Preparedness Specialist)

Potato Soup Mix
Split Pea Tortellini Soup Mix
Texas Two-Step Soup Mix
Sun Dried Tomato & Penne Soup
Cream of "Anything" Soup Mix
Dreaming of a White Christmas Soup Mix
Farmhouse Soup Mix
Winter Bean Soup Mix
Vegetarian Black Bean Soup Mix
Turkey Noodle Soup Mix
Minestrone Soup Mix
Bean Soup Mix
Chicken Rice Bake Mix in a Jar
Beef Noodle Seasoning Mix
Dill-Lemon Rice Mix
Apple Almond Rice Mix
Alfredo Noodles Mix
Friendship Scone Mix in a Jar

9 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful idea! Do they fill up a quart jar? How do you "seal" them. After you put in the oxygen packets and lid does it kind of "seal it's self? Thanks for your awesome blog!

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  2. Thanks for your comment!

    I received these recipes from R. Hatch and am going to try putting them together myself. I figure if the ingredients add up to 4 cups, they will fit in a quart-size jar; if the ingredients add up to 2 cups, a pint-size jar; and if they are odd amounts, ziploc bags could be used and then put in jars.

    I did a little research about oxygen absorbers. There is a site that explains how they work at:
    http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_info.php?products_id=366

    Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes. Thanks again! :)

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  3. I wanted to make a suggestion for storage of these meals, which I think are a great idea, by the way.
    There is a video on you tube, talking about food storage, where this lady tells about how her family made up a bunch of meals in a mylar bag. They took mylar bags, like from the lds cannery, and cut them in half, filled and sealed. I thought that could fit well in this situation. Thanks

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  4. Thanks for the suggestion! Great idea!

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  5. If you have a foodsaver and the jar sealer attachment, that would be the perfect way to seal the jars. I can't wait to get some of these made up.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Thanks for the suggestion Heidi! I'm not familiar with the "Foodsaver and Jar Sealer Attachment" so I googled it and found this site that had some helpful information:
    http://momskitchencooking.blogspot.
    com/2007/01/foodsaver.html

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  7. Is there a way to contact the person who sent this to you/came up with this plan. I have been working on staring this with my food storage and would love to get some ideas, etc. Thank you!

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  8. Brittany,

    I'll see what I can learn. Please send me an email at preparednessnibblesandbits@gmail.com
    so I can email you back any information I can find.
    Good luck with your food storage!

    KP

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  9. I love the plan to have the meals already put together for the entire year! What a time saver! I think there is a way to do it for even longer term storage without the fear of breakage.

    Get a good vaccuum sealer, bags and oxygen absorbers and package your meals in those. As they flatten out when the air is withdrawn, you can then put two or three in the mylar bags and seal. These can then be stored in 5 gal buckets. Each bucket should have a variety of meals so you can eat well and for a period of time if that one bucket is all you can grab.

    Your local LDS cannery has the mylar bags and the oxygen absorbers. ALso, check out the website of Tammy- DEHYDRATE2STORE -
    her first videos are on YOUTUBE, but she now has a web site, with videos, recipes, etc. ALso where to get the vaccuum seal bags, etc. SHe will LOVE your ideas!

    THank you for the great idea of a year of already package meals, the recipes etc! I'll be back often!

    Jennifer

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