Remember the Christmas of 1999, when flashlights and canned goods were snatched up at the stores as fast as Tickle-Me-Elmo dolls? When the Y2K holocaust didn't come, you might have felt a little sheepish about all that food hoarded down in the basement.
Then came the attack on Sept. 11, followed by threats of bioterrorism. Americans are realizing their food and water supplies may not be immune to all natural and man-made disasters. Meanwhile, the thousands of laid-off employees around the country may wonder how far their charge cards will stretch at the supermarket. Suddenly, stocking up on food and water is back in style.
Before the advent of mega-size grocery stores and freezers, families gathered in their grains from the harvest, canned produce at home, dried meat into jerky and stored all of it in root cellars.
Although most people no longer keep such well-supplied larders, some government agencies advocate having a supply of emergency food and water on hand. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has for many years urged its members to store a one-year supply of food. (In a 1999 survey, Utah State University Extension specialists Charlotte Brennand and Deloy Hendricks found that Utah has more food storage per capita than surrounding states.)
But just buying a few tons of wheat, beans and powdered milk doesn't mean you can just kick back and wait until an emergency hits, says Leslie Probert and Lisa Harkness, both of Orem, who wrote the book, "Emergency Food in a Nutshell," (Purely Simple Publishing, 1999).
You have to use and replace it regularly, they say, because food can't sit forever without losing nutrition, spoiling or developing off-odors.
Also, people who suddenly find themselves having to rely on wheat and beans will have a major shock to their digestive system if they're not used to them, Probert said while teaching a class, "Food Storage For The Overwhelmed," through Salt Lake County's USU Extension.
It may be convenient to buy complete freeze-dried meals from various food-storage companies, but they're more expensive than storing and cooking from the basics, said Probert. "To survive, you need only acquire a few basic items — grains, dried legumes, sugar or honey, milk, oils, salt and water. They are the least expensive, are highly nutritious, take less space, and most store for a very long time."
But, they get boring by themselves. So adding canned or dried fruits and vegetables, meats, condiments to the supply makes it easier to come up with familiar dishes, she said. "It is a myth that these foods need to taste boring, yucky or bland. We just gave up too early. There are women in Utah who have 532 recipes to use zucchini. If we can do that with zucchini, what is stopping us from doing that with these nutritious foods?"
Several years ago, Probert and Harkness organized a neighborhood group that met monthly to sample and swap food-storage recipes and ideas. (They just put an invitation on every door in the neighborhood; those who were interested showed up.) After 2 1/2 years, they had a pool of recipes — including a month's worth of bean dishes. Many of the dishes from the group are included in the book.
"We have recipes that you can put together from food storage in less time than you can take kids to a drive-through for fast food," Probert said.
Twice a week, Probert cooks from her food storage. She can rotate a whole food-storage supply in two to three years, within the expiration date of most foods.
"It's a great feeling to have worked out all the recipes," she said. "In an emergency, you will already know what to cook, eliminating the stress of having to figure it out."
But how do you get your young pizza warriors to not turn up their noses at whole wheat, beans and powdered milk? "Young children are at the perfect age, they will learn to love them," Probert said. "With our older children, I had to present the hard facts and the nutrition issues."
One friend required her children to take a "polite bite" of the various recipes, and then they could only eat non-sugared breakfast cereal instead. Soon, they developed a taste for them. Another woman told her family the money saved by eating inexpensive food-storage meals would go toward fun activities on Saturdays.
"For husbands, ask them two questions — 'Would you like to be in charge of planning something to eat in an emergency?' and 'Would you rather store all canned meats, or save money and learn to eat beans?' " Probert said.
People shy away from beans because they take time to cook. Probert lets them soak the night before and cooks them in the morning while everyone is getting ready for school and work. Then they can be thrown into soups and casseroles at dinner time.
Another hurdle to using beans is their embarrassing side-effects. Beans contain complex sugars called oligo-saccharides, which the body can't digest easily, according to the Bean Education and Awareness Network in Chicago.
Some of these sugars leach into the water during the soaking process, so discarding the soaking water and rinsing the beans well will partly eliminate the problem. The BEAN group also recommends slowly adding beans to your diet on a regular basis, so you body can adjust to them.
Probert said her family tried recommendations such as espazote (a Mexican herb), kombu (Japanese seaweed) and Beano, without success for the first couple months. "Then, suddenly, everything just settled down, because our systems got used to them," she said.
Other tips for cooking with beans:
— Salt causes beans to tenderize more quickly. But don't add salt if you're adding canned tomatoes or meats, which are already very salty.
— Don't add tomatoes until beans are cooked; they delay beans' cooking time.
— If you have old beans that won't soften during cooking, try adding up to 2 teaspoons of soda and 2 1/2 cups of water per 1 cup of beans, and cook for two hours. Then rinse beans twice to get the soda off.
— If you're using beans more than once during the week, cook all the beans you'll need in one go and store the rest in the refrigerator. They'll keep for four to five days. Or you can freeze them for later use, she said.
Whole wheat is the pillar of most food supplies, because it lasts up to 25 years in storage, according to USU Extension tables. But, the high fiber can also wreak havoc on unprepared digestive systems. You can ease into it by cooking whole wheat as breakfast cereal a few mornings a week. Add 2 cups of water for every cup of wheat, and cook about 1 1/2 hours in a saucepan. Top with fruit, honey, or cinnamon.
A whole-wheat bread tip: a little lemon juice acts as a dough enhancer, making whole-wheat bread more tender, said Probert.
Dried milk can be used in sauces and breads, she said.
"People waste more money on this than any other food storage item, because they store something the family won't drink," she said. "Try several different brands and let the family take a vote on what you'll store."
Canned meats are a nice addition to food storage.
Other items that add flavor and variety: powdered butter or margarine, bouillon, dried eggs and dried, diced celery and green peppers.
WHITE SAUCE MIX
4 cups dry milk
4 cups dehydrated butter, sifted
4 cups flour
8 tablespoons chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons salt
Mix ingredients together and store in covered container. Label and date; use within 6 months. This can be used as a soup base in any cream soup recipe, such as corn chowder or clam chowder. Also can be used over fettuccine.
For a thin white sauce: Mix 1 cup of warm water to 1/3 cup mix.
For a thick sauce: Mix 1 cup warm water with 3/4 cup mix. — "Food Storage In A Nutshell"
WHOLE-WHEAT SODA BREAD
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon dried whole egg, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour milk
2 tablespoons honey
(To make sour milk, put 1 tablespoon lemon juice in bottom of measuring cup and fill to 1 cup with reconstituted dry milk, at room temperature.)
In large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add honey to sour milk and blend well. Pour sour milk mixture into flour mixture; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Dough should be sticky. Pour onto greased cookie sheet and shape with hands into a 7-inch round loaf. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack. Serve warm or cold. Makes 1 loaf. — "Food Storage In A Nutshell"
DRY LEGUME ABC SOUP MIX
2 1/2 cups (1 pound) dry lentils
2 1/2 cups (1 pound) dry split peas
2 1/2 cups (12 ounces) alphabet noodles
1 1/4 cups long-grain rice
1 1/4 cups dried minced onion
Combine all ingredients. Makes about 10 cups.
FABULOUS SOUP MIX SOUP
9 cups boiling water
7-8 teaspoons beef bouillon
1 cup dry legume ABC soup mix
Add bouillon and soup mix to boiling water and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Serves 6.
Deluxe soup variation: Add only 4-5 teaspoons bouillon with soup mix. During the last 15 minutes of cooking time, add 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained and 1 12-ounce can beef chunks, undrained and broken up, to soup. — "Food Storage In A Nutshell"
PINEAPPLE CHICKEN
1 cup water (include liquid from canned chicken)
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon bottled lemon juice
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained, reserving 3/4 cup juice
1 10-ounce can chicken chunks
In medium saucepan, combine 1 cup water, ketchup, sugar, onion and garlic powders, soy sauce, lemon juice and pineapple juice.
Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Stir cornstarch into 1/4 cup water until there are no lumps. Stir into hot pineapple sauce. Return to heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Stir in pineapple and chicken. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot cooked rice. Serves 5-6.
Variation: Add any dried vegetables with needed hydrating water, or cut-up fresh vegetables. Simmer sauce and vegetables 10-15 minutes until vegetables are cooked before thickening. — "Food Storage in a Nutshell"
The key is to rotate your inventory.
BLENDER PANCAKES
1 cup wheat, uncooked
4 tablespoons non-instant dry milk, or 1/2 cup instant dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups water
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons oil
Combine wheat and dry milk. Add 1 cup of water to blender. Blend on high for 1 minute. Add remaining 1/2 cup water, egg, sugar, salt, baking powder and oil, and blend until smooth. Cook on hot griddle. Serve with favorite topping. — Utah State University Extension
USU Extension has many free publications on food storage available at www.extension.usu.edu or through your local county Extension office. "Emergency Food in a Nutshell" can be purchased at Deseret Book or by contacting "Purely Simple Publishing," P.O. Box 971231, Orem, UT 84097-1231.
E-MAIL: vphillips@desnews.com