Mock Adventures in Dinner- Tuesday Night

My recipe plan for the evening, let's see how it goes :) 

Salmon Patties
Carrots and Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce
Baked Beans
Fresh Fruit with Banana dressing
Ruby Red Tea



For the Salmon Patties I used:

1 14 oz can of Salmon
1 egg
3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs (I prefer Italian seasoned) 
1 Tbsp of garlic

I opened the can and added all the ingredients to a mixing bowl. I mashed up the little bones with a fork, because it totally adds a neat crunchy and it adds calcium to your meal. I formed them into patties about the size of my hand (I have little hands)
I had fried some bacon to use the grease to add some flavor to the salmon. It turned out to be a mistake. The patties would not fry up properly and kept sticking to the bottom. I then waited for it to cool down and reformed them into patties. I then reformed the patties and put them on a foil lined tin for the toaster oven and broiled them for about 7 minutes. It was pretty successful.


Now, onto the next order of business:

Asparagus and carrots. I used a bag of baby carrots, and I used fresh asparagus with the ends trimmed off. I steamed them in the Rice Steamer (with the steaming basket) for 10 minutes. I used the  I opened a package of hollandaise seasoning from Stonemill and used organic plain almond milk instead of the cow's milk and made it according to the directions.


The baked beans I baked earlier:
I mixed 2 cans of pork and beans, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/8 of a cup of MockKetchup, 3 Tbsps of dehydrated minced onions, and 2 turkey dogs cut into slices into a casserole dish. I baked them for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

The Banana dressing was super simple:
1 banana, 2 tbsps of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sour cream, and 1 tsp of lemon juice whipped up in a blender.

I didn't get a pic of the beans. I forgot they were warming and I demolished the dinner before I could take a pic of them. :D 






 

Ruby Red Tea- AKA Koolaide for the kids (and me)

What you'll need:

Gallon Pitcher

7 bags of Passion Tea (Hibiscus) from Tazo

3 bags of Rose Hip Tea from Alvita (extremely high in Vitamin C) 

1.5 cups of Sugar (Turbando, Raw, Organic, Whatever)

or

1/2 cup of Agave Nectar

(Makes enough for 1 gallon)

Bring a small kettle (or pan) of water to a boil. Take off the heat and  pour over the tea bags. Let steep for 10 minutes while you go clean up a mess, find cups, or other random thing you get called away to do. When your timer dings, or you remember to actually go back into the kitchen, take out the tea bags and add your sweetener. Stir well. Add enough water and ice to make one gallon and enjoy! :)

Wheat, Glorious Wheat!

No, really... It's awesome.

We grind just enough to bake our own bread or make our own cookies. Whole wheat flour doesn't have the shelf life of AP flour, but the wheat berries last for 30+ years if stored properly

The grinder that we have is a Back to Basics hand grinder. The kids even help and it doesn't take that much time. Eventually we are going to get a Wondermill, but not until we save up for it.

Wheat berries can also be used as a substitution for rice, as a cereal in the morning (cooked overnight in a crockpot), as well as a filler for meat based meals. It stretches your meat budget much like TVP.

Wheat berries are also higher in nutrients than regular 'enriched' flour. So much is stripped away from the wheat that they have to 'add' it back in.

A best way to get wheat is locally (try the bulk bins at the HFS, Grocer, or Local Amish/Mennonite Store. I have found that when buying in bulk the shipping is what gets you, but it is still cheaper than the flour equivalent. Honeyville Farms has one low price for shipping, and also has powdered eggs/dairy and other baking essentials you can buy along with. PleasantHill has the best price for me for superpails (long term storage) and you could use a gamma lid to keep the superpails air tight, yet still accessible.

I get soft white wheat for things like crusts, cakes, brownies or anything that doesn't need gluten. I use hard white wheat for my breads or general use. Hard Red Wheat has a bit of a bitter flavor, so I don't even bother buying it.

I store my wheat that isn't packed for long term in the freezer. It prevents any sort of bug infestation (imagine how many bugs are in your ground up wheat from the store, blech) and is more convienent for me (mobility challenged)

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So, about this food storage thing...

I have been working on my food storage for over a year now. I am nowhere NEAR complete, but I was over at the Fun with Food Storage site, and they (especially Crystal) were talking about these shelf reliance shelves. First in First out, and you are able to fit TONS more stuff in than regular shelving. I have been eyeballing them for a while but they are still a bit out of my price range.

I am hoping to win a shelf by blogging about them, but I doubt it will happen. LOL I don't have that kind of luck. Eventually after we get our first year's food supply under our belts we will make it happen.