Store It Foods

Does your morning begin with a glass of “Not from Concentrate” freshly squeezed orange juice poured from that carton that was just sitting in the refrigerator waiting for you.  It’s tasty, it goes down smoothly, and it’s good for you.

All that is probably true, but it might not be as fresh as you might think.  It very likely had originally been stored in some gigantic tank.  It had been heated for pasteurization purposes, with oxygen having been removed in order to lengthen its shelf life.   Unfortunately, along with the oxygen went the flavor.  If you were to avail yourself of some of the liquid refreshment taken from that enormous vat, it is said that it would taste much like sugar water.

Weeks later it might appear on your grocery store shelf, but by then the flavor would have been restored – sort of.  Your orange juice supplier would have gone to a “flavor house” where “flavor experts” would have provided “flavor packets” to insert into that orange juice.  So now that orange juice once again tastes like orange juice, or at least like the flavor experts think orange juice should taste.  And, yes, to most people’s taste buds it really does taste pretty good.

This might help to explain, however, why some people have allergic reactions to the store bought orange juice, but not to the freshly squeezed juice produced at home.  It’s not so much the orange juice to which they are allergic, as it is the added ingredients that have been incorporated into that juice.

So if you really want the best tasting juice, the healthiest juice, and most natural juice; perhaps you should simply prepare it at home beginning with the oranges themselves and with the help of your very own citrus juicer.

I’ve been on a health kick of late and wanted to pass along a delicious recipe I’ve been putting into heavy rotation – no pun intended. It combines two of my favorite things: fennel and the food processor. I adore fennel for its rich, aromatic nature and the way it spices up even the blandest of dishes. And there’s no disputing its health benefits, either – the herb contains 20 percent of your recommended daily Vitamin C intake.

Ingredients:
4 fennel bulbs
1 russet potato
2 cloves garlic
2 cups skim milk
4 cups chicken broth
3 Tsp. parmesan cheese
1 Tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 Tsp. chopped mint leaves

Directions:
1. Cut the fennel in half, then slice it into thin strips. Peel potato and slice thinly. Plop the fennel, potatoes, broth, garlic and milk in a pot over heat. Simmer and cook until fennel and potatoes have softened. Should take 30 minutes or more.
2. Drain and place fennel mix in food processor and set to puree. Add the cheese, salt and pepper and mix some more. Next, put the mint and process some more. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

When I was very young, my parents would always pester me during dinnertime about finishing all the food on my plate. If I scraped even a few stray peas or wayward lumps of mashed potatoes into the garbage bin, my mother would chide me, saying, “There are people starving in China.” Whether or not that was true, I had difficulty drawing a connection between my negligible waste and others’ misfortune.

As I grew older, I began to appreciate the importance of saving food – both for ethical and economic reasons. These days I prepare enormous meals and end up with plenty of leftovers – prime candidates for frozen food storage. My freezer is stocked with vacuum-sealed bags of practically every entrée known to man. I just hope I’ll get around to eating them some day.

When you think emergency preparedness, don’t simply think of disaster situations.  Some of those materials could have every day applications as well.

Squeeze and shake flashlights and their like are obvious examples.  You never know when a reliable, fully charged flashlight might come in handy.  So too are less apparent choices.

Consider that tiny little package containing an emergency poncho.  One placed in your car or truck’s glove compartment might just prove very handy one rainy night, when you are forced to change a flat tire or attend to some other minor mechanical difficulty.  A similarly placed crank radio might prove useful to catch the sports scores or news highlights while sitting around the campfire during a fishing trip or some other such outing.  A wet wipe carried in purse or pocket could very provide great assistance in cleaning chocolate or ice cream off your toddler’s grimy little fingers when soap and water is not handy.

Take a look to see what in is really in your emergency survival kit.  A little thought, and you may realize that this particular product should remain in your kit, but that it could also be of use elsewhere.

More and more people are discovering the advantages of growing at least some of their own fruits and vegetables.  Back yard gardens are increasing in popularity.

If you are rediscovering the joys in harvesting your own strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas and so forth; then you might also want to pay close attention to the benefits of cleaning that produce.  And sometimes it takes more than just a quick rinse under the kitchen tap.

What was on that land that you are now using for your garden?  Did the previous owner of your house use that particular piece of land for parking his car, changing the oil, or doing some general tinkering?  Was that once the depository for old boards and their flaking lead based paints that were torn off a now long gone porch or shed?  Before your home was built, did some now defunct manufacturer dump his waste materials on that spot? Sometimes you never know.

Even if something like that did happen, that doesn’t mean your soil is unsuitable for gardening purposes.  That lead paint, for instance, may not need to constitute a horrendous worry for you.  Water insoluable lead cannot be used in the cell growth of those garden plants,  Hence, you are not likely to find it within that produce.  However, you might find unseen pollutants clinging to exterior surfaces. So a good wash could prove most beneficial.

It could prove beneficial even if you do not have those kinds of concerns – even if you are a dedicated organic gardener, avoiding the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides.  Are you sure your garden has not been the beneficiary of a visit from some stray cat or dog or some other animal, which, in the process of fertilizing your soil, has also shared the eggs of parasites?  You just might want to make sure that those are washed off as well, especially if that food is going to be consumed raw.

It is unfortunate, but true, that owners of smooth top ranges are, to their dismay, confronted with the possiblity that the home canning that they want to do on that stove top may not be possible. All-American, for instance, is the manufacturer of one of the most popular brands of pressure canners, and they clearly state that “Pressure Cooker/Canners are not suitable for glass/flat top ranges.”

Why is that?

One appliance manufacturer explains: “We would advise that a ‘raised bottom canner’ be used on the smooth surface cooktop… further… it is most important that the canner – or any pot or pan for that matter – not exceed the size of the burner, as this may trap heat and cause serious damage to the appliance.”

It is quite possible that you can use your smooth top range without the least bit of difficulty.  Sadly, it is also possible that on one of those occasions a problem could arise, and then you might hear those dreaded words, “Sorry, that is not covered by your warranty.”

You would probably be safer to look at alternatives.  Presto manufactures pressure canners that they point out is safe to use on that smooth surface cooktop.  Some people use a two burner external grill on which their canner could be placed.  Electric grills means the canning could continue to be used in the kitchen.  Gas grills are more efficient, but they need a well ventilated area in which they can be used, and that means the canning may need to be done outdoors on patio or porch.

Hopefully, someone will come up with an adapter of some kind that will permit the use of all sizes of canners on a ceramic top range.  That seems not to have happened yet, so for the time being at least, these other options need to be examined.

Should your freezer fail, disaster could loom as far as all of that frozen food is concerned. There are, however, some basic steps that could be taken to minimize that loss.

First of all, keep it shut for as long as you can.  Since cold air is heavier than warm air, this is perhaps not as important with a chest freezer as it would be with an upright freezer, but it is important.

If you are able to do so, supplement that lost freezing power with bags of ice.  That will delay thawing for at least a while.  In fact, some people, when the freezer is not full of food storage items, will make it a practice to fill empty space with old milk jugs or similar containers that are first filled with water which and then placed into the freezer and allowed to freeze.  Voila, your bags of ice are there in advance. Consider that a preventative in anticipation of possible power failure.  They, of course, can easily be discarded when that space is again needed for food.

Naturally, a full freezer does last longer than a nearly empty freezer.  The food itself helps to delay thawing.

Having said that, it should also be said that it might be wise to not tie up all of your food storage in frozen food.  Shelves full of canned good, both store purchased and canned at home, are not seriously affected by power failures.  If you wish to do so, and have the proper equipment, you can even can meat.

And don’t forget the food dehydrator.  There is another way to preserve and store food that is not so dependant upon your electrical supply for lasting storage.

Salads are very healthy for you, but they can be boring if they only consist of lettuce. You can make your salad more interesting and filling by adding cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, artichoke hearts and more – whatever you like! But it takes time to chop all those vegetables, and that may discourage you from adding them. If you’re not comfortable using a knife, the idea can even be scary.

A Presto salad shooter really comes in handy for slicing and shredding vegetables for salads. It’s motorized, so once you insert a vegetable, all the slicing or shredding is done automatically. You can also shred cheese and other ingredients for pizzas, tacos, desserts and more. The salad shooter shoots your ingredients right where you want them. You can shoot cheese right onto a pizza or radishes right onto a salad; no mess from a cutting board or an extra bowl. What more could you want?

A recent news report is a cause of concern for the food industry.

OTTAWA (AFP) – Millions of sockeye salmon expected to reach the Fraser River on Canada’s Pacific Coast this month have vanished, devastating the local fishery, officials said Thursday.

According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, between six to 10 million sockeye were projected to return to the river this month.

But the official count is now just 600,000 for the “summer run” — by far the largest of four salmon groupings that return to area lakes and rivers each year from June to late August.

Where the other fish went remains a mystery.

The daily Globe and Mail cited fishermen who said the situation was “shocking,” a “catastrophe” and a “crisis,” while public broadcaster CBC said this could end up being the worst year ever for the Pacific salmon fishery.

It’s another reminder that the food we sometimes take for granted comes with no guarantees.  What is plentiful one year could be a scarcity the next.  This, of course, is not limited to fish.  Drought or disease could decimate crops and livestock. 

Mad cow disease in Britain a few years back resulted in mass slaughters of entire herds.  Avian flu resulted in similar severe culling of chicken flocks in many nations.  The Australian drought has had a horrible impact upon flocks of sheep and fields of grain.  Floods can prevent harvests and drown crops.  Early frosts can severely limit the availability of all sorts of fruits and vegetables.

Once again, it should seem obvious that there can be big advantages to establishing our own food storage programs.  Extra food in the freezer, on the pantry shelf, or in the cupboard could be of real value to us one day — as we try to cope with those unexpected shortages.

There is no reason that wheat grass and sprouts could not or should not be integrated into a food storage program.  After all, food storage is designed to keep good, wholesome food available to you whenever you want or need it.  When it comes to that food storage, opting for organically grown sprouts, which experts agree are a superb source of nutrients, is probably a very wise move.  Besides making great tasting snacks, and adding a little zest to salads and entrees, sprouts have been found to contain concentrated amounts of phytochemicals (plant compounds) that seem to protect us against a number of diseases.

The fact that you will be growing your own sprouts, on an ongoing basis, means your “food storage” is constantly being replenished with fresh produce from your kitchen garden.  Whether sprouts are used fresh and uncooked, or in soups, stir fries or other hot dishes, your sprouts will indeed be available whenever needed  — and that is food storage at its best.