Oatmeal Delights

I told you that I would put a couple of recipes using rolled oats on the blog so here is my favorite two.  My mother's Famous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Meatloaf so here we go.  

Famous Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

¾ C Shortening

1 C Brown Sugar

½ C Granulated Sugar

1 Egg

¼ C Water

1 tsp Vanilla

1C Sifted Flour

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp Baking Soda

3 C Rolled Oats

Raisins

Beat shortening, sugars, egg, water and vanilla until creamy.  Sift together flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir in oats.  Add raisins to liking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Oh Yeah, these are GRRRRRRRR eate!

Now for my Meatloaf.  I LOVE meatloaf.  It is so easy to make and soooooooo good. Whip up a batch of mashed potatoes from your food storage potato flakes, put some freeze dried green beans on to boil and what more could you ask for.  OH OH.  Reconstitute some fat free powdered CHOCOLATE MILK and you have all the food groups you need.  Did you know that Chocolate is a food storage item?  OF COURSE!

Meat Loaf

Ingredients

1 egg beaten
1 cup rolled oats, uncooked
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup Ketchup

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Pack into 9 x 4 x 3 inch greased loaf pan. Spread more Ketchup on top of the loaf.  Bake at 375 F for about 50 minutes.

If you have any favorite recipes for this month's food storage items, let us know.

Have fun with your food storage.

Bob and LouAnn Singer

Especially for Rice

I'll admit it.  I LOVE rice.  I probably came to realize that when I was in the Air Force flying in Weather Reconnaissance around the world.  We would go to Japan for 30 days at a time about every six months.  I loved eating off base in the little town of Fussa.  It was right outside Yokota Air Force Bases' main gate.  We would go out in the evening walking around town and then decide on which new restaurant we were going to eat at.  Most of these places were little mom and pop places but they always had good rice.  The funny thing about the restaurants was they had a sample all the dishes listed on the menu made in plastic to match the colors of the food displayed in their front windows if they were a downstairs store.  The meal was all laid out on the plastic plate and looked real.  I have had about every flavor of fried rice I think there was.  Shrimp fried rice, chicken fried rice, beef fried rice and even octopus fried rice.  So, this being the month in the Stake challenge that includes rice to add to your food storage, I thought I would add some information on it. 

The world has over 50 000 edible plants. Just three of them, rice, maize and wheat, provide 60 percent of the world's food energy intake.  Rice is a staple food for nearly one-half of the world’s population. In 1990, the crop was grown on 145.8 million hectares of land, and production amounted to 518.8 million metric tons of grain. Although rice is grown in 112 countries, about 95 percent of the crop is grown and consumed in Asia. Rice provides fully 60 percent of the food intake in Southeast Asia and about 35 percent in East Asia and South Asia. The highest level of per capita rice consumption takes place in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam.

Now that we have the facts, lets talk about how to prepare rice.  It seemed to be a mystery to me for a long time on how much water to cook it in.  I have found generally, that two times the water for the amount of dry rice works.  Here is what I got from Chef Tess.

1 cup Uncooked Rice            Cooking Liquid          Cooking Time          Yeild
Long grain white                     1 3/4 cups                     20 min                       3 to 4 cups
Long grain brown                    2 1/4 cups                     40-45 min                  3 to 4 cups
Parboiled                                 2 cups                           25-30 min                  3 to 4 cups
Medium grain                          1 1/2 cups                     20-30 min                  3 cups
Short grain                               1 1/4 cups                     20-30 min                  3 cups

Cooking Tips
Use broth, fruit juices or coconut milk in place of water for a change of flavor.
Measure accurately; use dry method for rice, wet method for liquid.
Time cooking accurately; use kitchen timer.
Do not open lid during cooking or moisture will be lost.
Do not stir rice or you will disturb steam vents needed for cooking. 
Rice will expand to 3 to 4 times its volume, so use appropriate size saucepan or casserole dish.
If rice is crunchy and liquid has been completely absorbed, add additional liquid, cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes linger.  Fluff with fork.  That is Chef Tess' way.  

Bob's way.
1.  Determine how much rice you are going to cook.  Put twice that amount of water in a sauce pan remembering that it will expand 3-4 times the amount you put in.  So, of you are going to cook 1 cup of dry rice, put 2 cups of water in the saucepan.
2.  Cover the pan and bring the water to a rolling boil.
3.  Add the dry rice into the saucepan, stir it, recover and turn your burner down to low.  Watch it so it doesn't boil over while the burner cools down.
4.  After about 20 minutes, uncover it and look into the saucepan.  Stick a spoon in it and move the rice to see if there is any water left.  If so, recover and let it cook a little longer until the water is all gone.  When there is no more water in the pan, sample it to see if it is done.  I have never had it not be done cooking it this way.  Now take it out and finish making what ever it was you were going to make with it.  I love making fried rice with all kinds of different things in it.  I even made hot dog fried rice one night.  haha.  I cut the hot dogs width wise, about 1/4 inch thick and then fried it up with the rice adding some soy sauce, dehydrated onion and garlic salt in it.  

Remember that rice can be stored just like wheat and for the same duration with the exception that you can't store brown rice for long term.  It will go rancid after 3-4 years.

The next blog will be about rolled oats.

Have fun with your food storage.
Bob and LouAnn Singer
                 

Home made Chicken and Rice Soup

After General Conference today, we decided to have Chicken Enchiladas for super.  LouAnn Got out a package of about 6 boneless chicken breasts and put them in a big pot to boil.  After they got done and we had shredded them, I didn't want the broth to go to waste.  I had about a third of a pot of broth, about 8 cups.  I cut up 4 small carrots, 3 stalks of celery and added them into the pot along with about 2 cups of the shredded chicken.  I then put in one and a half tablespoons of chicken bullion, 1/2 cup of dehydrated onions and one and a half cups of parboiled rice.  You know, the stuff we are adding to our food storage pantry this month.  Put in about a tablespoon of pepper, covered the pot and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. 

What a delightfully smell came from the kitchen.   To convert this to all food storage stuff, use freeze dried chicken, carrots and celery.  Be sure to have some chicken and beef bullion in your food storage.  It was a quick and delicious meal.

Have fun with your food storage.
Bob and LouAnn Singer

Rice and Oats

Oh boy, these are a few of my favorite things, like in the song from the movie The Sound of Music.  I have more rice and oats in our food storage than anything else besides hard white winter wheat I think, just because they can be used in so many ways.  This might be the month of a lot of recipes posted here.  Lets get started. 


 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Set 2 racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
 
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, and pecans together with a whisk or fork.
 
In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 30 seconds until blended. Beat in the egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With mixer running on medium high, drizzle in the maple syrup, and vanilla until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the flour-oatmeal mixture. Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop walnut-sized balls of dough onto a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet at 3-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, flatten and round out the cookies a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pan once for even baking. The cookies are done when they are lightly browned on top. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool. 

Rice and beans cooked with tomato sauce and seasoned chicken

Ingredients:

• No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 6 boneless chicken breasts (6 = 2-1/4 lbs)
• 1/2 teaspoon Adobo seasoning blend
• 1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions, divided
• 1 can (8 oz each) Hunt's® Tomato Sauce
• 1 can (15 oz each) Rosarita® Premium Whole Black Beans, drained, rinsed
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon

Directions

1. Spray large skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with Adobo seasoning. Cook chicken 5 minutes per side or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet.
2. Add rice and half of onions to skillet. Brown in pan drippings over medium heat about 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Add tomato sauce, beans, water and bouillon. Stir until well blended.
3. Place chicken on top of rice. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Sprinkle with remaining onions.

Have fun with your food storage.

Bob and LouAnn Singer