Which Expired Foods are OK to Eat?

Apologies ladies, the link to the expired foods is broken, so I have copied the info into another site.
If you are interested, click here to be directed to the information.

Shanna

Today's Followup

Thanks for the great questions today.  

Thanks to Brenda Allen for the link to a web page that discusses food expiration dates.  It is very informative.  If you are interested, click the link below.

Fox News-which foods are ok to eat.

Also, I don't often buy meat because we usually raise our own, but when we do we purchase it at Swensens.  I have also learned through a very reliable source that the Twin Falls Cash and Carry has the best quality meat you can buy.  It can be a little expensive, but if you google Twin Falls Cash and Carry and watch their Hotsheets, you can often get some really good deals.

If any of you have any more suggestions, please share.  Thanks!

Shanna

Mix it up!

June already!  How are your garden's coming?  It is still not too late to plant.  Just think of a short row of beans for summer stir-fry, or tomatoes to make delicious homemade salsa, and let your children help you plant pumpkins for halloween.  If you are new to gardening, planting just a few things and watching them grow will get you excited and not feel so overwhelming.  

The monthly challenge for June is to try one or both of the mixes below.  These are staples in anyone's pantry. They take just minutes to make, and are a fraction of the cost of buying them at the store.  
Note: I buy my spices in bulk at Winco.  So much more economical than the little jars down the spice aisle.  

Taco Seasoning Mix                      Printable Recipe

3/4 cup dried minced onion
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup chili powder
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
2 Tbsp. each cornstarch, crushed dried red pepper,
dried minced garlic, ground cumin

Combine all ingredients and store in a jar.

To Use: 2 T Mix, 1/2 c. water & 1 lb ground beef, simmer altogether.
Add 2 Tbsp. dry mix to 1 lb. ground beef and 1/2 cup water.
Heat through.



Ranch Dressing & Dip Mix                  Printable Recipe 

2 cups dry parsley flakes, minced
1/2 cup instant minced onion
2 tablespoons dry dill weed
1/4 cup onion salt
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup garlic powder 
Combine all ingredients and store in a jar.  
For dressing: combine 1 Tbsp. dry mix, 1 cup of regular plain mayo & 1 cup of buttermilk.
For dip: mix 1 Tbsp dry mix with 1 cup sour cream.

                                                   Image above is from storytimehandouts.blogspot.com
As you are aware, Self-reliance involves several facets of a balanced life, including  (1) education, (2) emergency preparedness, (3) employment, (4) finances (5) food storage (6) spiritual strength and (7) physical health.

Under direction from the Brethren, these areas are all encompassed in the provident living guidelines. Our church leaders have asked us to improve ourselves so we can be self-reliant and help others as well.  I would like your input on any of these areas you would like more information about for you and your families. Please leave comments and questions below so I can gear my posts towards your needs.

I think we can all agree that our lives are filled with family, church and work, yet somehow we have to find time improve our self-reliance skills.  
If we are diligently consistent, we can improve little by little.
We don't have to cook everything from scratch, grow all our own food, sew all our clothes and run 5 miles a day.  However, if we try to improve our skills and at least try to learn how to do as much as we can, we will feel better about our abilities to take care our our families and serve others.

Have a great month, and if you have something to share, please do! If you are the first to comment, just click on 
"No comments" at the bottom of the post, and it will bring up a comment window.  Also, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog, you will see a gray box to follow by email, and you will be notified when I make a new post.  

Shanna

Hot Sheet @ Cash & Carry

I was in Cash & Carry today and there were several items on their Hot Sheet worth looking at.  

I have not seen bananas at 39 cents a pound in a long time.  If you don't mind getting them quite green it is a real bargain.  I bought a bunch to dry as my grandchildren love them and I think I will make some banana bread too.  
You can check out the rest of their hot sheet specials if you google Cash & Carry Twin Falls, Idaho.

This week Ridleys has 3 cases of 24 water bottles for $5.  Great for storage.(Who ever dreamed we would be buying water!) 

If you are willing to comment below, please share great specials you find with the rest of us as you come upon them.  Also this will be a great venue to share extra garden produce this summer.

I would love to hear your experiences making bread, and using herbs and chicken after our activity last week.  Keep connected!

Shanna

PS
Thanks to Janae, I also learned that 5 dozen eggs at Winco is $3.16, down by about $5.  So great to see the price of eggs come down again! 
I think I worked out the comment issue some of you have been experiencing.  Just click on the word "comment" at the bottom of this post  to add a comment.  Thanks everyone!

Maple Honey Butter

We had such a great time at our Relief Society on Tuesday night!  We learned so many things that will help us become more self sufficient, and great ways to feed our families as well.  Some of you requested the recipe below for Maple Honey Butter we sampled that night, so I have posted it below. 

Comment below of call me if you have any questions.               

                                                                                                 Printable Recipe

       

               1/2 cup (1 stick) real butter                           

2 tablespoons honey

2 1/2 tablespoons 100% real maple syrup

             1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

             1/4 teaspoon maple extract (optional)

         Place butter and 2 T honey in a mixing bowl and beat (with a hand mixer, or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer) until combined and smooth. Add maple syrup, cinnamon, pie spice, and extract. Beat slowly until combined and then whip for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy. Serve at room temperature.

 If you're making ahead of time, store in fridge, but allow time to bring to room temperature before serving. For best results, stir or re-whip before serving. Lasts for about a week or so in the fridge, several months in the freezer.

Simple, Versatile French Bread

French Bread is quick and easy to make, and is so versatile.  Try it for the recipes below, and let your imagination create new ways to use it.  It is great for calzones, pizza dough, scones, french bread pizza, garlic bread,  cinnamon bread, breadsticks, etc.  This is the French Bread I used for the recipes below. 

            Simple French Bread    Recipe Printable

2 ½ cups warm water

2 T Instant yeast

2-3 T sugar

1 T salt

5-6 cups flour (good quality, makes a huge difference)

Combine water, yeast, 5 cups flour, salt and sugar.  Mix well.  Cover with warm towel and let sit 5 minutes.  Pour onto well floured surface, and mix in ½ to 1 cup more flour,  kneading 5-7 minutes until smooth.  Place in greased bowl and cover to raise until double.  

When doubled in size, preheat oven to 425 and divide into 2 equal portions, shape into long loaves, and place on greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper) covered with cornmeal.  Make 4 slashes, diagonally on top.  Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.  Let rise to double, bake 25 minutes.  If tops get too brown, Place a sheet of foil on top the last 10 minutes of baking so it won't burn.    

Stromboli     Recipe Printable

• Stromboli Dough

• 1 3/4 - 2 1/4 cups of flour

• 1 envelope Fleischmann’s® Pizza Yeast

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 2/3 cup of very warm water (120° to 130° F)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• Toppings (all or a combo of the following)*

• 1/2 cup marinara sauce

• 3/4 cups grated mozzarella cheese

• 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese

• 1/4 pound Hot Italian sausage, cooked

• 9-12 slices pepperoni

• 6 slices deli honey ham

• 1/2 small green bell pepper, very thinly sliced, sauteed 3 minutes

• 1/2 small onion, very thinly sliced, sauteed 3 minutes

• 1 cup very thinly sliced mushrooms, uncooked

• 1/4 cup sliced black olives

• Garnish

• 1 egg, beaten

• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• garlic salt

• extra pizza sauce for dipping (optional)

Instructions

1 Stromboli Dough: Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil and mix together until well blended (you can do this by hand or with your mixer). Gradually add flour, mixing in 1/2 cup at a time, until dough forms a ball. Add additional flour, if needed to handle but dough should be slightly sticky. Spoon dough out of bowl onto floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic; about 4 minutes.

2 Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll stromboli dough out into a large rectangle, about 10 by 14 inches on the parchment paper.

3 Stromboli:Lightly spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce over the dough, leaving a 2 inch plain dough border along the edges. Top sauce with half the grated cheeses, followed by meats, then vegetables followed by remaining cheese.

4 Brush the plain border of dough with the egg wash. Roll up the Stromboli lengthwise like a jelly roll and pinch edges to seal. Brush the entire Stromboli with egg wash and gently cut slats in the top of the dough every 1-2 inches. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and lightly sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 15-25 minutes*** at 425F or until golden, covering with foil at the end of baking if necessary to prevent excess cheese browning.

5 Let cool 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with extra marinara sauce if desired.

Notes

*Adjust the amounts of toppings to meet your personal taste except for the marinara. Using more than 1/2 cup could mean soggy stromboli.

**Add to marinara sauce only if you aren't using Hot Italian Sausage or it could be too spicy.

***Baking time can vary widely depending on the amount of toppings and content moisture of toppings/vegetables. The more toppings, the longer the baking time. I baked my very stuffed stromboli for a total of 25 minutes but when I just use sauce, cheese and pepperoni, my stromboli is done in 15 minutes.

Recipe by Carlsbad Cravings at http://www.carlsbadcravings.com