Wednesday, October 23, 2019

FLAXSEED EGG SUBSTITUTE - Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook

                                       Mentioned in, Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook 

 The main reason I'm interested in Flaxseed is due to HOW EASY and CONVENIENT it is as an egg replacement for my emergency food supplies.

The important properties that this seed brings to the table are the mucilage gel that resembles egg whites. Not to mention, the health benefits.


1 tablespoon of Flaxseed + 3 tablespoons of water = 1 egg


Ground flaxseed with a mortar and pestle. 
After added water, it sits and thickens within 15-30 min. 

For a long shelf life, purchase these seeds raw in whole form. The oil from pre-ground seeds will go rancid if left in storage. 

BEST IF USED BY expiration date on my recently purchased bag of Bob's Red Mill brand, is 2 years from today. Once bag is opened, I would store the seeds in an airtight mason jar and these handy little seeds will keep us going for a long long time. 




I tried the flaxseed substitute on my homemade corn tortillas recipe, and I must confess, they tasted better than real eggs.  In fact, I doubt I will ever use eggs again for these tortillas. 




This website had a lot of good information on using Flaxseed. 
Especially good to know in case you're planning to substitute for cakes, etc. 

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

GRANDMA'S SALTINE CRACKER COOKIES - Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook


                               





Craving something sweet and not sure what to make? Or is there a box of Saltine crackers going
stale in your cabinet? 

Grandma's Saltine Cracker cookies will be sure to please!



Grandma's Saltine Cracker Cookies

Saltine Crackers
1 cup of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
12oz package of chocolate chips
1 cup of nuts


Line an 11" by 17" cookie sheet with foil, and oil the foil.
Place approximately 45 Saltine crackes on the foil, lined up. (fill any spaces with cracker pieces)

Bring to rolling boil: 1 cup of butter (not margarine) and 1 cup of brown sugar
Boil for 3 mintues then pour onto crackers and bake in oven at 350 for about 5 minutes.

Remove from oven. Crackers may have risen, if so, press down and then sprinkle over top - chocolate chips, spreading evenly as it melts. Sprinkle on top walnuts or pecan. Cool and break into pieces.



For half the recipe, I used 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a small baking pan.


The combination of butter and brown sugar carmelizes as it boils. 


After the quick boil, I poured mixture over the crackers and baked from a toaster convection oven.


As soon as the crackers are removed from oven, spread over the chocolate chips and sprinkle the nuts. This will need to sit for a bit to cool down and for the chocolate to harden. 

I prefer freezing mine to get a head start. 


If you love the combination of salt and chocolate, you will love LOVE these cookies! 

HOMEMADE FRIED TORTILLA CHIPS - Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook


The homemade Corn Tortilla Recipe is from the, Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook



Craving salsa, avocado, or bean dip and out of chips? 
No problem! 



Whip up a quick batch of GRANDMA'S FRIED CORN TORTILLAS 
you only need an egg, cornmeal, flour, salt and water. 


After tortillas are made, slice them into wedges 


Deep fry till brown and crispy


Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy! 

These chips are like a meal in itself, and very filling. 


Monday, October 21, 2019

GREAT VALUE BEEF FAJITA STRIP - For Food Storage - REVIEW


Ever wondered what the Great Value Fajita Seasoned Beef Strips tasted like? 

I surely did, as this was either going to be a YAY, or a NAY for our food storage. 


Okay, lots of MSG. My bad. I didn't read the label. I literally tossed this in the shopping cart (Walmart) as this can was less than $3 (forgot exact amount)


The main reason I am interested in canned meat is for longterm food storage.


Lot's of "sauce" 



Meat was drained for the beef fajitas 


Initially, the meat did not have the firm texture of fajita strips. The taste of this meat is just like
eating the beef from a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. If you're not familiar with Dinty Moore,
then the best way to describe this meat is that it is very tender and has a processed (chemical) taste. (Dinty Moore, actually tastes better) 


After trying a piece by iteslf, AND after pan frying with salt, pepper, garlic, and turned into a fajita.... 
This Great Value Beef Fajita Strip meat has earned a score of....

 4.5 out of a possible 10 
(2 opinions sampled this. Spouse scored this a 5, I scored this a 4)  
(Pros - cost, precooked food storage / Cons - overly processed flavor, msg) 

NAY! 



GRANDMA'S FRIED CORN TORTILLAS - Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook



GRANDMA'S FRIED CORN TORTILLAS


Soooo easy to make corn tortillas! One of my favorite food storage recipes for off grid cooking.




Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of cold water
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg (or use flax seed substitute)  


Heat 8" skillet over medium heat till hot. Beat all ingredients till smooth. 



Pour a quarter of a cup into the skillet (I lightly greased my iron skillet with cooking oil) 



Immediately rotate skillet till batter is thin.
 (This would probably work best with a teflon skillet but with my heavy cast iron, I used a spatula to spread the batter.) 


Flip and cook the other side till done. That's it! 


This is just like cooking pancakes. Best of all, these tortillas are flexible without tearing. 


I can think of so many meal ideas for these corn tortillas.

Fajita's
breakfast tacos
bean burritos
pizza crust
enchiladas 

I'll be posting more on this recipe! 

MOM'S MEXICAN DIP - Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook



This recipe is from, Mom's Pioneer Living Handbook.

 So easy to make and an excellent meal idea for company, or potlucks!






INGREDIENTS 

1 pound ground beef (cooked and drained)
2 small or 1 large can of refried beans
2-4 cans of condensed cheddar cheese soup (preferably Campbells Fiesta Nacho cheese soup)
1 can of Rotel (hot or mild, undrained)
2-4 cups of grated cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips 



On stove top (or crockpot) combine all of the ingredients and 1/2 of the grated cheese. 


Heat till bubbly, and top with remainder of cheddar cheese. 


That's it!  Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.  

This Mexican dip is a meal in itself. 


MOM'S PIONEER LIVING HANDBOOK




This handbook was birthed right after my daughter moved to Alaska. Not only did she request recipes from home, but I was also tasked with writing down endless lists for her preps, (which turned out to be no simple feat!) 

Thus this small handbook was born. This booklet is available both in ebook, or paperback, and can be purchased for "free" on a subscription with Kindle Unlimited, or borrowed from the library. Due to Amazon's minimum requirement of .99 cents a download, I technically earn .35 cents a sale. So thank you in advance for your support! 

I hope this handbook gives you ideas for your own preps. If anything, try out these easy recipes. I do plan to demonstrate food storage meals on the blog periodically, along with more food reviews. 




Recipes mentioned in book and updates