Food Storage binders

Did you miss our last mini-class on 'Food Storage 101-the basics' or 'What to do with your Food Storage now that you have it'?

During our class, we made up food storage binders, talked about all sorts of 'food storage' questions. I have multiple copies of what we went over and learned, and put together if you are interested. Please let me know and I will get you a copy and help you get yours set up. (Totally easy!)

Do this! It is going to be so nice to have a place where ALL you food storage stuff can be put. I know how it is, I had papers all over the house. Old handouts, things I've printed out, etc. Once this binder is made, make it your own. It will be so nice to have everything organized and all in one place for you to use as a resource.

Help?

I am by no means an expert, a clean freak, an organized person, etc. But if there is anyone that needs help figuring out how to start your food storage, where to put your food storage, when to start, how to start, etc. (even if you've missed any previous classes I've put on) please know that this is my calling-to help out the ward ladies in any way I can. Namely, what I've stated above. I will come over to your house, map out an area and how to get it all set up and ready for your food storage you are going to start acquiring, or already have and don't know where to put it.

Please use me! That is why I am here!!

Baked Oatmeal

I just made this for breakfast. It was so yummy! I have really been in to oats lately (hence the 'spotlight on oats' for the month of May) so I wanted to find more and more recipes to use with my oat supply. I had every intention of posting on our wards recipe blog (yes, we do have a ward recipe blog!) but couldn't figure out the password, and how to post...?) Make sure to bookmark both blogs so you can be self reliant and a good cook...ish:).

Until I find out how to post on the recipe blog, here is that recipe for
Baked Oatmeal (adapted from King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking cookbook)
1 c. steel cut oat groats
4 T. unsalted butter
4 c. water
3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1-2 c. fresh or frozen assorted berries (I used ~1 1/2-2 c. fresh blueberries & blackberries)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter/spray a 9 in. square baking dish. In a separate bowl, boil water, pour over steel-cut oats and butter. Cover. Let sit for 20 minutes. Stir in old fashioned oats, brown sugar, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Stir into the oat mixture. Fold in berries. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake until the center is set ~45 min. Remove from the oven, and serve warm with milk or cream for breakfast, or warm with whipped cream, ice cream or frozen yogurt for dessert.

Andy topped his with strawberry yogurt, I ate mine with milk (the first time) and plain (the second time-So I had two servings...I did mention it was good didn't I?) Pyper ate hers plain as did Ginger. Any way you like it goes. Let me know if you try it and what your thoughts are!

Honey Prices

I know we have talked about buying fresh honey before on this blog, but wanted to get you the prices. You can take your own Mason jar (or whatever else you'd like to transport honey in) into Cox Honeyland and pay per pound. I called today and got the prices, here they are:

Cache Valley $2.50/pound
Clover $2.60/pound
Mountain ____ $3.00/pound

I don't have a brand preference. I just go with the cheapest. You are probably asking right now "well, is that a good deal?" During the case lot sale at Macey's just a month or so ago, I got a 5 lb. bottle of honey for $9.xx (almost $10). So, my view on it: Cox Honeyland is a decent deal, but not something you should rush out to get first thing tomorrow morning. If you run out of honey and want some, then yes I'd give them a try because generally honey is a little more expensive than that, but like I said, nothing to hurry and go get. The prices quoted above aren't a sale price, those are the everyday prices.

In a nutshell: When you are between case lot sales, go to Cox. But stock up on the sealed stuff from Macey's during the case lot sales-and get enough to last you.

Making your own glass cleaner

I ran out of Windex, and was in a pinch. I needed something to use so I didn't have to run to the store (and the store price for Windex in insanely expensive! So I wanted to do this anyway.) So, here is a recipe for making your own glass cleaner. Use those old spray bottles too. No need to go get a new spray bottle.

A little dab of this and that from your kitchen cupboard will provide you with the best window cleaner!

Around Earth Day 1990, many newspapers offered recipes for non-toxic cleaning with the basics we all have in our kitchen cupboards, and the recipe was just plain vinegar and water with the option of drying the windows with old newspapers.

People by the thousands tried this but ended up swearing off cleaning with homemade recipes because the formula left streaks on their windows. Unfortunately, the commercial products they had used for so many years had left a wax buildup and vinegar alone wouldn’t do the job of removing the residue.

The good news though: Adding a dab of dish soap to the vinegar and water will remove the buildup.

THE BEST WINDOW CLEANER
Make a great all-purpose window cleaner by combining 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent, and 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake to blend and spray on your windows!

Honey

Honey is an ingredient many of us use on a daily basis. Kids love it on sandwiches, (heck! even adults love it on sandwiches, or on a hot piece of bread right out of the oven), you may use it when baking bread, cookies or other such recipes. There are many reasons we use honey and for that reason, a lot of people will buy bucket loads of it during a case lot sale.

Storing: Stockpiling honey is fine, however it may crystalize on you. This is totally normal, you just need to know how to get it back to normal and usable for your particular recipe, sandwich, etc.

De-crystalize: If honey crystalizes completely or even get a little cloudy (not a cause of concern), all you need to do is re-liquify, it in some hot water in a pan. It is not a good idea to de-crystalize a large container over and over again. If you do plan to buy a big container, or even bucket of honey and store it, you may consider putting it in separate glass jars (mason jars work wonderfully). If worse comes to worse and you can't heat your honey-you can put it in your hot car with the windows rolled up-like a sauna in your car. It'll be ready in an hour or so:).

Where to buy: Cox Honeyland right off the highway and 800 west sells honey if you bring in your own mason jars. I have never done this, but Tiffani Buck from our ward was who told me about this. (It's been a couple years since she told me this). She mentioned it being a cheaper and yummier option than store bought. You can also buy honey either at Smiths or Maceys during their case lot sales. (**Side note on case lot sales- I prefer Maceys for the case lot sale over Smiths. Maceys allows you to buy 1 can or 1 case of the particular item you are looking for where Smiths doesn't. At Smiths, you have to buy the entire case to get the 'case lot sale price'. Because I don't want to buy 12 cans of every type of canned bean out there (which you'd have to do at Smiths) I can get 4 of each can at Maceys and still pay that cheap case lot price. Maceys might have a couple cents higher on their prices (on some things-not all) I am ok with that because I feel like I can get a better variety for the money I spend).

Storage: If honey is stored in an air-tight container in a dark cook place, it can store your whole life and possibly your children's lives as well. I have read on some accounts of 2000+ year old honey found in tombs that is still edible.

Cooking with Honey: You can switch out honey for sugar interchangeably (with the exception of meringues). However you will want to use just a little less honey than sugar because of the liquidity of it. 1c. sugar = 3/4 c. honey.

Health Benefits of Honey:Oh this is good. I should've put this all first because DANG! It's good stuff. I copied and pasted some of this article from this site because it was just too good to summarize. Read the whole article! It's good! Here goes: Honey is much more healthy and nutritious than cane or beet sugar. Honey has 15 nutrients whereas refined sugar has essentially none, other than "empty carbohydrates". Honey contains healthful enzymes, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The minerals in honey include zinc and selenium, which could play a role in preventing the spread viral infection. The enzymes in honey include glucose oxidase, invertase (sucrase), diastase (amylase), catalase and acid phosphate, which help predigest our foods, lessen the work of digestive organs and relieve the stress on the digestive glands. Honey is an aid to digestion when taken in the raw state because of its enzyme content while sugar interferes with digestion. Honey enters the bloodstream slowly, at about 2 calories per minute. In contrast, sugar enters quickly at 10 calories per minute, causing blood sugars to fluctuate rapidly and wildly. Sugar causes calcium leakage from bones, contributing to osteoporosis while honey does not.
While sugar is produced in only a few states, honey is produced in every state. So it makes sense to get used to using and storing honey, since that will be the form of sugar that will be most commonly available after the balloon goes up.