Pan Popped Popcorn

If you want to taste some amazingly good popcorn, may I HIGHLY recommend this method.

You'll need a bag of popcorn. It should look something like this:



Then you need a pan with a lid. I like to use this:




because you can SEE the popcorn popping!

And you'll need enough oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan (but, just so you know, the more oil you put in, the more greasy and therefore YUMMY your popcorn will taste. I usually make sure there is plenty to cover the bottom of the pan. That's more than enough. But you can be skimpy if you're being health conscious).

Turn the burner on to medium high and drop two kernels into the oil. I leave the lid off for this part. When both kernals have popped, it's time to add enough kernels to cover the bottom of the pan in one layer. My pan takes about 1/2 cup of kernels.

PUT THE LID ON!

Then let the pan sit for a bit, then shake it above the burner a bit (to keep the kernels moving around so they don't burn). Continue with that procedure. After a few minutes the kernels will start popping. At that point I shake the pan just above the burner fairly constantly to keep things from burning on the bottom. When the popping slows to a crawl, turn off the heat, shake the pan a few more times till the stragglers have popped, then dump the popcorn into a big bowl.

Sprinkle salt, cheese powder, nuts, or whatever toppings you want onto the popcorn. You could add some butter, but usually the oil has left such a nice flavor I don't add any.

This is a cheap, cheap, cheap alternative to the microwave popcorn, and really, it doesn't take THAT much effort. I can get a decent sized bowl of popcorn out of just a 1/2 cup of kernels.

ENJOY!

Guest Post: Grandma Erickson's Bread Recipe

This post about bread was sent to me by my childhood friend Sarah. I love that it is a family recipe, that it calls for yeast cake (explanation included), and that the loaves can be referred to as bread without distinction.


the bread before the second rise

the bread baked


The recipe is from my Great-grandma Erickson. The nice thing I noticed about this recipe is that the ingredients are all things that we're suppose to have in our food storage. Also, I have a wheat grinder but no wheat, so I just used regular flour.

Grandma Erickson’s Bread

1 yeast cake

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

3tbsp oil

4-5 cups flour

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix with oil. Mix salt, sugar and 2 cups of flour and beat in the water/yeast mixture until smooth. Continue to add flour until you get a moderately stiff dough, knead until smooth. Let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and shape into two loaves and place in greased pans. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

As for the yeast cake. What I understand is it's how they measure/divide fresh active yeast. Anyway, it's equivalent to one packet of dry active yeast, which is what I used. I had to call my mom to figure that one out. My bread baking skills are not much, and usually I kill the yeast when I proof it in warm water. I really have to take the temperature of the water to make sure I'm not going to kill it. Now it's going better. Anyway, it's a decent bread recipe if you just want bread without distinction.

Water Water Everywhere

The human body can't last very long without water, as explained by my favorite logo of all time:


So water is one of the high priorities on my list for "food storage."

I bought water containers (7 gallon kind) from Walmart, took them home, cleaned them out with a bleach solution and filled them up with water.

But it wasn't meant to be easy. When the water containers were turned on their sides, as they were designed to do (hence the uber useful reversible cap spout) a steady drip drip drip of water leaked out. I tightened the cap. My husband tightened the cap. Still drip drip drip. So the containers went back to Walmart.

I looked a little harder this time--and I noticed that those very same containers are sold on most food storage websites and even at the Tucson army surplus store. Having noted their propensity to drip, I decided to try another brand.

And the brand I chose also happened to cost a pretty penny. But I figured that there was no way these bad boys would leak. (they also happen to be earthquake resistant, which, although earthquakes aren't an issue where I live, maybe they're sturdy enough to be used as extra chairs at Thanksgiving dinner...)

I ordered 4 (so we could last a few days without running water) (and because my apartment was in no state to receive a wall full of blue water containers). They arrived in a big cardboard box, and good news! they didn't leak. Even when turned on their sides.

Here's the link for the Extra Sturdy Water Containers.

Note: the lids are different than the one pictured on the web site. This is what they actually look like:




This is the self venting faucet I bought along with the bung replacement plug (who came up with that name???).

THAT SAID: my husband's parents have the water containers from walmart. They have a HUGE stack of them, and they hold the water fine, cost a lot less, and fill the need.

So I'm not saying you have to spend a fortune to buy water containers--the cheaper ones will probably hold up just fine. I wanted to make sure you were aware of their flaw (at least in the ones I've tried) and give you an alternative. And, so you know, I think the one's I have are going to be a tad tricky to drain properly because of how they are constructed.

So...none of the small time water storage systems (I haven't looked into the water barrels yet) are perfect. Although, if Camelbak made 5 gallon containers with their sweet, sweet logo on them...

Guest Post: 3 Month Supply

Today's guest post is brought to you by Amanda from Usandthings. She submitted a list (with commentary) for a three month supply. It's a great starting place for if you have trouble conceptualizing and/or planning a three month supply--and a good way to double check your own list if you're already on the ball in this area.
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So, a the provident living specialist in our ward came up with this list for a suggested 3-month supply. [Her name is Liz Dinkelman.] She doesn't suggest that this is foolproof or will feed you for exactly 3-months, no more, no less, it's just to get an idea.

The following is PER PERSON:

36 cans of vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, asparagus, beets, etc)

36 cans of fruit (peaches, pears, oranges, pineapple, applesauce, etc)

36 cans of tomato products (diced, paste, sauce, etc)

36 cans of soups (chicken noodle, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, tomato, etc)

36 cans of protein (chicken, beef, tuna, assorted beans)

18 cans of evaporated milk (18-month shelf life - rotate the cans every month) [I don't know what evaporated milk is for, maybe if I had some sort of food storage cook book, I could figure it out]

6 jars of spaghetti sauce

6 pounds of spaghetti

6 pounds of assorted noodles

2.5 pounds of dried potatoes (potato pearls available from cannery)

3 lbs pancake mix

5 boxes of breakfast cereal

2 boxes of crackers (I'd probably store more... I like crackers. I'd probably store about 5)

2 boxes of stuffing mix

2 boxes of cornbread mix

6 boxes of brownie mix (I like this suggestion a lot)

10 lbs of flour not packaged for long-term storage

5 lbs of rice not packaged for long-term storage

5 lbs of dried beans, peas, lentils not packaged for long-term storage

5 lgs of sugar (white, brown, and powdered probably not each)

3 gallons of juice (probably more if you have small kids. I think we drink 3 gallons of juice per week)

She also suggests to store oil, mayonnaise (does not need to be refrigerated until opened), peanut butter, jam, spices, bouillon, condiments, yeast, baking powder, baking soda, salt cocoa, chocolate chips (essential) parmesan cheese, dried eggs, raisins, chocolate syrup, pancake syrup, jello, and salad dressing.

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Thanks, Amanda for sharing this with us. If anyone else has a different list, or a formula for creating a list, email it to me. It would be great to have a few versions to get ideas from.