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Thread: Pantry Meals

  1. Link to Post #61
    United States Moderator Marianne's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    breal, that cake sounds wonderful, and healthy besides. Spelt flour, coconut oil and sugar, chia seeds, all the best. Thanks for sharing!

    Do you suppose canned pear halves would work as well? In the cases where fresh pears are not in season, available, etc.

    I hadn't tried coconut sugar. Barley malt or brown rice syrup are ones I've used successfully in baking. Barley malt is nice for cookies, giving a nice crunch. Brown rice syrup is wonderful in sauces, like teriyaki / orange sauce, etc.

    I wanted to say, about baking powder... Rumford brand is the one that does not have aluminum in it. It may not rise quite as much as the other brands, but it's my preference because of no aluminum, and it has a nicer taste. The ones with aluminum have a ever-so-slight metallic taste to the baked goods. Somewhere I have a recipe for making your own baking powder, which I'll dig out and post here in an update.

    Today I'm making angel food cake, and going to make a citrus sauce to put on it. I'll post the sauce recipe, since it's pantry worthy (made of shelf stable ingredients). The recipe uses cornstarch, and it's a concern to get non GMO cornstarch. You could substitute arrowroot starch, or even spelt flour though the flour would make a cloudy sauce rather than translucent. It would still taste good.

    UPDATE
    Okay, I found a source for non-GMO cornstarch. I haven't seen it in stores, but it's online. Surprise, it's my old friend Rumford who makes it. http://www.amazon.com/Rumford-Cornst.../dp/B001HTP6Q6

    Citrus Sweet Sauce
    • 2 tablespoons thickener (non-GMO cornstarch, arrowroot starch, or spelt flour)
    • 2 cups liquid (citrus juice if you have it, or water plus drops of orange/lemon extract)
    • 1/2 cup brown rice syrup, barley malt, coconut sugar, or other sweetener
    • 1-2 tablespoons citrus zest (fresh grated off fruit, or dried)
    • 1/8 teaspoon salt
    • 1-2 tablespoons butter or oil
    Whisk together thickener with cold liquid in a small saucepan. Add sweetener, citrus zest and salt. Heat to a low boil, stirring constantly. Continue to cook gently a minute or two until thickened. Add butter or oil and stir in.
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    Last edited by Marianne; 30th August 2015 at 21:41.

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  3. Link to Post #62
    United States Moderator Marianne's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Paula and Ron, your conversations about food savers are enlightening to me. I've only ever used a food saver for the garden corn this year. It's on my list to check out ... love the idea of re-usable Mason jars instead of the bags you buy new each time.

    Do you suppose the lids (the flat ones with a rubber sealing ring) are re-usable with the food saver sealer, or would they need to be bought new each time, as you do in canning?
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  5. Link to Post #63
    United States Moderator Marianne's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Vegetable sushi, aka Nori Make (nori=the seaweed wrap; maki=roll) is on my list to make soon, and I'll take some photos to show you how easy it is.
    I made a pdf of the recipe and process.


    If you are a fan, you already know how wonderful it tastes ... a perfect blend of flavors, spicy ginger in shiso pickle brine, hot wasabi paste spread on just right so you get the right amount, salty tamari sauce, and the perfect ratio of toasted nori sea vegetable to sweet rice/sushi rice (a very short grain that cooks up really soft). And it's good for you! Well, the white sushi rice would be better if brown rice but I've never been able to find it. If you wanted to, you could use the shortest grain brown rice you can find, and add extra water to make it a bit gummy, and it would be a satisfactory substitute.

    Important to spread the rice very thin on the nori sheet -- a one-grain layer is perfect.

    If you want photos, please check this post again later this week.

    PS: if you don't have fresh vegetables, you can make this without anything in the center.
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    Last edited by Marianne; 30th August 2015 at 15:53.

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  7. Link to Post #64
    Avalon Member Delight's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Quote Posted by Marianne (here)
    Quote Posted by Selkie (here)
    Alcohol is also really important for making herbal tinctures for medicinal purposes. The feds don't allow us to legally make distilled spirits, but even mead or wine, which are allowed, are better at extracting the medicinal properties of plants than plain water is.
    Good point about herbal tinctures. Alcohol is also a great item for barter.

    I use the cheapest vodka to make tinctures, but to get the most medicinal extraction, Everclear is best, having the highest proof. Tinctures are taken in drop amounts (10 - 20 drops daily is typical) so a little goes a long way.

    Hot water does extract quite a bit of the medicine too, so a hot tea or broth is a great way too. Leaves/flowers should steep 3-10 minutes, and berries 20-30 minutes, and roots/bark should sit in hot water for at least a couple of hours.

    There's one exception -- chamomile tea. If you want the calming, sleep-inducing qualities, steep it under 3 minutes. After that, the bitter constituents come out and it becomes an excellent digestive tea. Let it steep up to 10 minutes or so. If you are drinking it for digestive qualities, don't add any sweetener. Part of the process involves bitterness on the tongue, to begin bile production.

    I started an herbal tea thread awhile back, with a few recipes.
    https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...al-Tea-Recipes
    I know this is off topic slightly but where I live, there is the long tradition of distilling and the barter aspect of alcohol was significant. One could grow food and have meat and eggs but for commodities like cloth, coffee, tea, and other things, alcohol was trade able.

    I use vodka to make extracts. One of my significant finds is Usnea.I live in the mountains of North Georgia in a temperate rain forest. We (knock on wood) have been blessed by rain and every time it rains, small limbs break off with Usnea to harvest.

    .

    Quote The pale green lichen Usnea, also known as Old Man’s Beard, is a familiar face in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. It hangs on tree branches and sometimes falls along footpaths. Technically, lichens are not really plants — instead, they’re a marriage of two separate organisms: fungus and algae.

    Usnea has been important in ancient Greek and Chinese medicine, documented as a respiratory antibiotic since 1600 B.C. Usnea’s anti-microbial properties also mean it can be directly applied to an open wound to stave off infection as a kind of wilderness gauze.

    Usnea is distinguished from other similar-looking lichens by a tell-tale trait: a thin, stretchy white cord that you can see when you pull it apart with your fingers. Above is my attempt at a close-up. You can see a more magnified photo here.

    You can make a tea or tincture out of Usnea and use it to treat lung infections. However, water does not extract its medicinal compounds as well as alcohol, so a tincture would be most effective if you are choosing between the two.
    It works for many symptoms.

    Also, a home distillery is on my wish list


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  9. Link to Post #65
    United States Moderator Marianne's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Delight, I consider herbs to definitely be part of the conversation here. They are a kind of food, because they are a source of vitamins and minerals. (I will post on this aspect later, with a recipe for a daily vitamin in the form of herbal tea/tincture.) Food is medicine, medicine is food, and we know herbs are significant. The dried form and tinctures are two of the best forms of pantry sustenance.

    You are so fortunate to wild harvest Usnea! I have looked for it, but not been lucky yet. Thanks for the description of how to tell it from other lichens.

    And that brass distillery ... just awesome. I've long wanted a small one too, to extract essential oils in small amounts. I've read that women in India, for example, often have one in their kitchen to make orange water and rose water to use in their cooking. Here's wishing you a shiny brass 'surprise' as your next gift.
    Last edited by Marianne; 30th August 2015 at 17:50.

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  11. Link to Post #66
    United States Avalon Member RunningDeer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Quote Posted by Marianne (here)
    Paula and Ron, your conversations about food savers are enlightening to me. I've only ever used a food saver for the garden corn this year. It's on my list to check out ... love the idea of re-usable Mason jars instead of the bags you buy new each time.

    Do you suppose the lids (the flat ones with a rubber sealing ring) are re-usable with the food saver sealer, or would they need to be bought new each time, as you do in canning?
    Unlike canning, the lids are reusable. You know there's a seal right away. It takes a small turn from a screw driver or butter knife to break the vacuum seal.

    You also don't need to add the ring that screws over the sealed cap. Like in canning, before you vacuum seal, wipe it clean if you've not used a funnel.

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  13. Link to Post #67
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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Easy Fruit Bread

    Ingredients:

    --1 recipe Your Favorite Cornbread, made extra-sweet, or not.
    --1 can Peaches or Pears, drained and cubed.

    Mix the cubed peaches or pears into the cornbread recipe. Bake as usual.

    This also works with bananas. Just slice up 2 large bananas and mix them into the corn bread before you bake it. But store in the 'fridge, or it will go bad.

    p.s. When making cornbread, I use a can of cream-style corn in place of the liquid called for in the recipe. If the batter seems a bit dry, you can always add a bit of milk or something to make as wet as you think it should be.

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    Default Re: Pantry Meals

    Hi Marianne Right back at ya kiddo!
    Thanks for sharing your citrus sweet sauce. It looks very very yummy. I'm going to try this the next time I make a cake.
    I think that canned pears would be okay, however upon saying that, I haven't bought a can in over 15 years so I could be very wrong.
    I think it is a combination of the taste and the moistness that makes pears a winner. You could experiment and if it doesn't work out, make a trifle!
    I found Bob's mill baking powder is free from aluminium as well.

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