MILK

Milk....Ideally I think raw milk from your own grass fed happy cow in your backyard would be the best.

In our family we have given up regular milk for years and years. Long story. (we do eat occasional ice cream).

Powdered milk is a bit more expensive than fresh milk in the cooler at your local grocery store. Also...It is SO processed, it is a bit scary. I had read accounts of how the powdered milk is made and I just didn't want to use much of it. Also...it only lasts a year in storage.
Soy milk was my mainstay for years ( I drank almost a quart a day) until this year when I found out it harms one's thryroid.

SO.....
The latest MILK

 in our ENLIGHTENED FOOD STORAGE PANTRY IS......




http://www.tastethedream.com/products/category/772.php

It is delicious! Has same amount of calcium as milk per 8 oz serving. (about 30% of daily requirement)

The carton I just bought at Winco has an expiration date of Jan. 2014. No refrigeration required until after you open it.

Another Change in our World

SO...Esther Dickey, famous food storage author had a daughter who grew up and co wrote a new book (with her mom)...
I am still studying this book and have discovered IT needs updating again! It was published in 1999. That is 14 years ago.

There is new understanding of some things, now.

For example...THE COMPLETE PROTEIN MYTH

It used to be thought that to get the complete protein that your body needs, you needed to eat grains and legumes together in the meal.
On page 85 of Rita Bingham's book (pictured above), it says..

"Plant protein comes from three main classes of foods:
legumes, beans, peas and lentils), nuts and seeds, and grains.
 Proteins from plant sources are "incomplete proteins",
because one or more of the 8 essential amino acids
 are missing or in short supply (with the exception of soy beans).
Legumes must be combined with another protein source from
another class of foods, such as seeds or grains. (or animal products)."

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

Our daughter has a bachelor's degree in Community Health (graduated in 2005). While taking a class in 2007 (to update her knowledge, since she herself was a teacher for the Utah State University Extension  in a program called Smart Start where she taught homemakers how to fix nutritious meals.) she was still being taught this concept. In 2009, her instructors offered a new class and taught that now research has shown that your body CAN make needed protein out of the amino acids it randomly receives at random times. I can attach her source later....but here is a source I found...that refutes the "Combined Protein Myth":
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/diet-myths-complementary-protein-myth-wont-go-away.html

Our World Is Changed

Old Food Storage Ideas:

Esther Dickey's book published back in 1969 and 1970 was so popular in the LDS culture, it was often given as wedding presents. I had 2 copies myself back then. One WAS a wedding present.

The four main ingredients for survival were:

Wheat
Salt
Honey
Powdered Milk

 In this post I will just talk a bit about wheat.

I remember countless Relief Society meetings where we learned to use wheat, mostly by grinding it and making bread, whole wheat cookies, homemade wheaties, etc.
I remember several meetings where we learned to make pure gluten out of the ground wheat and them make lovely seasoned sausages out of the wheat gluten.


Well..fast forward to 2000's...and the big trend now is GLUTEN FREE.  Lots of people are so sensitive to gluten that they become very ill. This is celiac disease. The rest of us in the population who don't get obviously ill after eating wheat and other high gluten products are still doing our bodies some harm.

In our family, our world has changed! Because of teeth problems!

OK..this is the problem...

There are several members of our  family who have inherited decay active teeth from their mom.

What they discovered as they did research is that phytates in grains BLOCK calcium from being absorbed in your body, your teeth, your bones. So because they have now gone off grains..their cavity formation has greatly decreased and some cavities even disappeared!

Some people are born with teeth that don't get cavities easily. My husband is one of them. But those of us who do, can benefit by eliminating alot of grains from our diets. as well as sugar.

There is a lot of new information out now on phytates...  please study out these issues and make some decisions...I am starting on these 2 sites....

http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/living-with-phytic-acid

http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/04-27/phytates/

And this site on celiac disease...

http://www.celiaccentral.org/celiac-disease/facts-and-figures/

H A P P Y      R E A D I N G    !

Lentils!

I cannot tell you how much I love and appreciate lentils. Jane Brody's Lentil soup is my ultimate comfort food. (I substitute Italian seasoning for the thyme and marjoram.)
I have LOTS of lentils in our food storage.

  I have always said, if food was priced according to its nutritional content, lentils would be 20 dollars a pound instead of 98 cents a pound.

Lentils cook up in less than an hour. Some recipes call for just 1/2 hour of cooking. I go 50 minutes to an hour.
You can make cold lentil salads and a myriad of hot dishes! They are high in fiber and high in protein. Lentils are my manna.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Also..you can sprout them and they taste like fresh raw garden peas. Since the best taste of the sprouted lentils is day 2 or day 2 and a half, I make just a small amount at a time... I soak a half cup lentils in a cup of distilled water in a bowl over night. Bu using distilled water for the initial soaking, you get a sweeter taste. Then I drain them in my strainer and put them back in the bowl. (don't need a special sprouter device)and set in on my counter. In this desert where it is so dry, I rinse them several times a day in my strainer under the faucet and put them back in the bowl. On the first day you will notice a little sprout forming already. After one more night and day, they should be ready...

Raisins: Make Mine Organic, Please!

In my new enlightened food storage, I have a case of organic raisins.....
 Sunview Raisins, which are so huge and good. See? 1 inch long!!

Grapes are one of the most heavily sprayed fruits! Other countries have even worse standards than the USA. Chile's grapes and raisins are the most heavily contaminated. You can buy these Sunview raisins at BJs Health Food store here. I have purchase great organic raisins (but they are smaller)also at Sprouts in Ranch Cucamonga.

We eat our raisins...

1. Straight out of the can as a snack.
2. In our oatmeal, granola, cereals
3. In salads
4. in our curries
5. drenched in dark chocolate

http://www.sunviewmarketing.com/ is the site I use to purchase these Sunview raisins (I buy the green ones, I like the taste better than the red ones...although they all LOOK the same dark color); ....they want you to print off an order form and mail them a check for 45 dollars for 12 cans...They deliver quite quickly! A California Company.

Enlightened Food Storage: BULGUR

BULGUR IS BETTER! I have recently added Bulgur to my food storage....

What is bulgur, you ask?

Bulgur is the product of an ancient way to prepare and use wheat. It even predates biblical times!

It is served at every Middle East restaurant. (the 2 Middle East restaurants in our area is The Pita Stop, and Ala' Al Deen). It is served plain as a side sprinkled with sumac, or in Tabouli ( a bulgur salad with  finely chopped tomatoes, parsley, etc.) Or..you can get creative with it...use it in stir fries, in casseroles, etc.

 It is made by boiling wheat kernels, drying them, removing the bran and grinding into coarse particles. This way it could be stored through the year and consumed easily, without even boiling, but just by soaking in hot water.

Why do I say...BULGUR IS BETTER? It is more nutritious than rice, even brown rice. Plus...
 Brown rice takes 40 minutes to cook!

Here is how to fix bulgur: There are 2  recipes here...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recipe #1

Bulgur

1 cup bulgur
2 cups hot water


Put bulgur in a bowl, then pour hot water (2 cups) over it and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand until tender, about 10 minutes.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Bulgur-with-Herbs-354978#ixzz2VjfNPYFF

Recipe #2

Bulgur 

1 cup bulgur

2 1/2 cups water

Instructions

1 Place water in medium saucepan on stove. Bring water to a boil.

2 Place bulgur in separate saucepan that has a lid.

3 Pour boiling water in the saucepan containing the bulgur. Place the lid on top of the saucepan and let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

4 Drain bulgur and use a fork to separate any grains that have stuck together.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 In my new somewhat enlightened stat of mind regarding food storage, bulgur is better for this very reason that it is quick! It is like instant wheat! You can buy it online, from Health Food Stores,  some grocery stores, in bulk from the bins a at Winco stores.

Bulgur ius beter because it is low on the Glycemic Food Index. It is low in fat and calories and high in fiber so "it fills you up but not out ".

There is another great reason to use bulgur..it has less PHYTATES.

Why don't we want phytates?

"Many whole grains have antinutrients (phytates) which bind nutrients making them unavailable for the body to use. Foods high in phytates such as whole grains have been correlated to reduced incidences of certain types of cancer but for many these foods cause nutrient deficiencies."

from http://www.sarahmelamed.com/2009/03/bulgur-babylonian-fast-food/

This whole thing about phytates has been new to me this year and is the impetus for me doing more research into how to improve our diet and ou food storage.

Food Storage Organization

Not Your Mother's Food Storage is a great book and a the authors have very appealing and useful site. Do Check it out. Click on WORKSHEETS when you get to this site to see if any of them would be useful to you.

http://www.notyourmothersfoodstorage.com/

Track Your Food Storage

Here is another site for getting help with organizing your food storage.
http://www.trackmyfoodstorage.com
There are lots of sites on the Internet that create free forms for you to track your food storage, keep inventory and plan your shopping lists, etc.
The particular sheet below(I took a picture of it) is from this site...I highly recommend you sign up for the free basic services so you can download and print their charts...at this site.

There are lots of sites on the Internet that create free forms for you to track your food storage, keep inventory and plan your shopping lists, etc.
The particular sheet above is from this site...I highly recommend you sign up for the free basic services so you can download and print their charts...at this site.

http://www.trackmyfoodstorage.com

Unique Problem With Flying Debris and Soil Particles

Post Tornado Peril

This was so interesting to me...I know it is so important to wash wounds any time there is a break in the skin, but this may be too difficult to even wash out, especially if the particles are so tiny and have blown deep into a wound...

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/22/18403093-post-tornado-peril-victims-could-face-deadly-fungal-infections?lite

Got a Tick?

Summer is tick season in some parts....know how to remove one from your skin...




http://www.ticktwister.com/info.html






Pulling out a tick is a delicate affair.
One clumsy, overeager motion can make the difference between safe removal and a potentially dangerous situation where the tick’s head breaks off or body fluids contaminate the wound.
Whether the tick’s dug into a person or an animal, removal is all about patience, says UF veterinarian Dr. Rick Alleman.
His tips:
Illuminate the tick with a flashlight. (If possible, have a friend hold the flashlight).
 Using fine-point tweezers, grasp the tick’s mouthparts, just below the head.
Pull steadily and straight up – no twisting or pulling at different angles.
Be patient. If your initial efforts fail, try again with slightly more force.
One thing you definitely don’t want to do, Alleman says, is grasp the tick by its abdomen. The pressure from your grip could squeeze the tick’s stomach contents into the wound, including pathogens responsible for illnesses, such as Lyme disease or ehrlichiosis.

And for dog owners, keep an eye out for the brown dog tick. This is the only Florida tick that can carry out its entire life cycle inside the confines of your home. It prefers dogs but will feed on humans, so it pays to take precautions.

Comparing 2 cans of food

I know lots of people love Spam and that is the first thing they think about when they have a very limited food budget or if they want to store some ready to eat meat...or take it on a camping trip. It tastes kind of good to me, yes, (because i have a liking for salty fatty things) but I know and you know it is terrible for your health with all of its nitrates, salt and fat. Isn't it interesting that the BEST canned meat (I am calling salmon "meat" here because it is the "meat" of the salmon fish!) is this wild Alaskan canned salmon!!!! Look at the prices of the 2...the salmon (with all its yummy Omega 3 oils) is .2 cents more per .oz...I would consider them the same price. OK..what do you choose? This picture was taken at Winco  2nd week of May 2013.

From the back labelof the salmon can:

 This can has    7     2.2 oz. serving
80 calories a serving
12 g of protein a serving
3 g of fat per serving (and we know it is mostly the healthy omega 3s)
0 Carbs
270 mg sodium

What a deal! Date on the bottom? Best by July 2017. But you can eat it past that date also ...if the can is not bulging and if the contents smell fine.

Bedtime Snack

Photo taken 17 May 2013...Joan raiding the pea patch...yum! The pea plant are realy up to my shoulder if I grab on to tem and gently tug them upwards. So may peas! This is the first time I have had such amazingly high peas. this is the first time I planted them is this partiular bed and the first time I raked in some newly purchased steer manure (and not that much even) in the soil before I planted them.
Let me not forget to give a hearty Thank You to Shayla for helping to plant these peas back in February.

Pea Report #4

It is pea picking time! All of a sudden there are so many!!!! These were picked May 6 or 7 ! Cosete loves looking for the peas in all the gren...look how much she picked!

Here she is pointing to a pea pod. 2 kinds were planted: sugar snap and snow. Too bad I did not label the rows. they all taste delicious, though!

Cosette insisted on one more photo!

Mmmmm..fresh picked snow peas with Ranch dip!

Pea Report #3

These pictures were taken May 1st or maybe a few days before. The pea patch has started to produce peas all of a sudden it seems!

Pea Report #2

About a week days later...Maybe April 25 ...the peas are up to my hips in height, and there are lots of white flowers. I have not noticed any bees yet...and was concerned: Would there be some peas to pollinate my peas? here I am with Cosette who was enjoying this whole experience of watching and waiting for some peas to grow.

Here you can see a lot of white blossoms interspersed among the leaves. I love the pea plant!

A blossom...

My Peas-Report #1

I planted my peas on Presidents Day like I learned to do on the previous posts' video. It was 18 February 2013. That night we had reports that it would snow. I got out some old vinyl tablecloths with the flannel backing and covered my 4 rows of newly planted peas. Luckily, they did not freeze even though the temperature got quite cold and yes, it did snow.in the morning, snow was covering the tablecloths I had spread out. As you can see, these seeds grew quite well. I bought them at Winco. The following 3 pictures were taken on the same day in the middle of April....about April 16-18. So 2 months after planting.

I get such a kick out of the tendrils that form on the pea plant. the pea plant is most fascinating...the way the leaves unfurl and they way the tendrills garb on to anything in reach and start spiraling around it. Here is a close up. I was waiting and waiting for some blossoms to appear.

That day I did find tthe very first peas blossom! Here it is , not quite open.

Time for Planting Peas

Here is a great video of a gal planting peas...