> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Cooking with Food Storage

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2/14/11

Cooking with Food Storage

Food storage is an awesome thing to have, especially when done right. And by "done right," I mean based around staples that you normally eat, plus canned goods and maybe some dehydrated/freeze dried things to add variety, flavor and nutrition to your meals. A well-stocked pantry/food storage room gives you a huge variety of possible meals to eat, many of which can be prepared pretty quickly.

If you're in need of culinary inspiration, I find that the little Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and similar recipe books, usually found in the checkout aisle at the grocery store, are well worth the $3.95 cover price. They've got pretty pictures, quick & easy-to-follow recipes and most have nutritional information and a few pages worth of coupons. These companies also have a slew of recipes up on their websites--check out Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, for example.

These recipes are usually fairly food storage friendly, revolving around various canned goods, a meat and some pasta, rice, mashed potatoes or dough. You can keep these kinds of items on-hand in your food storage or find suitable substitutes if you can't (canned chicken is awesome!). Once you've gotten the hang of things, it's pretty easy to branch out from the recipe books and do it yourself.

Yes, this kind of cooking often relies on processed, less-than-ideal foods. I'm not going to argue that fresh is better, but we're talking food storage here. There are some inherent compromises and you work around those. If you have a garden, some fresh produce can do wonders to food storage meals. Likewise, if you're a scratch cooker and have the time, home-made, from scratch is always better. Homemade noodles, breads, crusts...mmm...and they just require basic staple ingredients and time.

But, if you like yummy, food storage-friendly meals you can whip up quickly, recipes are out there in gobs. Soups, stews, casseroles, pot pies and other delicious meals are at your finger tips! 

Edited to add: Here's a food storage focused cooking blog that I found via SurvivalMomFood Storage Made Easy. Ignore the pink and pastels or forward onto your wife/girlie-friend; there's some good information and recipes!