How to Make 6 Can Chicken Soup

 

Recipe: 6 Can Chicken Soup
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As I have mentioned several times, when it comes to food storage strategies I prefer simple, and use consumer size canned vegetables bought in bulk from stores like Aldi as a large component of my plan.  It is cheap, easy, stores well, is sturdy – and is “normal” which makes incorporating it into daily recipes is easy.

Canned food also augments my bulk food storage of grains and beans to help stave off appetite fatigue.

Today’s post is a recipe for a dead simple 6 Can Chicken Soup which as you can imagine is made by dumping 6 cans of various foods together to make a surprisingly good soup.

One other tip, in a grid down SHTF situation, when draining your can vegetables, save the liquid – it is high in sodium, but it also contains many of the nutrients leached out of the vegetables in the can.  I use it in making risotto or other dishes – think of it as “vegetable broth”

Ingredients

  • 15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 2 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
  • 10 ounce can chunk chicken
  • 15 ounce can black beans
  • 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

Procedure

  • Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans and diced tomatoes and green chilies.
  • Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot.
  • Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through.
  • Serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese if desired.
Kitchen DIY: Dehydrating Garlic

Kitchen DIY: Dehydrating Garlic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cByoEVtT3c

Kitchen DIY: Dehydrating Garlic
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I love garlic, both for cooking, and for medicine.  But mostly I love dry garlic for cooking. I put garlic powder in almost everything.

Unfortunately, garlic powder is getting more expensive, which is silly seeing as how easy it is go about dehydrating garlic.

To make my own garlic powder I simply grind dehydrated garlic and then sift it.

The large chunks go in an old minced garlic container, while the finer bits go in the reused garlic powder container.

To dehydrate it simply:

  • Peel back the paper from the cloves of garlic.
  • Cut out any bad spots with a knife.
  • Cut the cloves in half lengthwise to significantly reduce the time it will take to dry.
  • Dry the garlic at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (in the oven or in a dehydrator)
  • Turn the slice often until dry.
  • Once you have it ground and put into your container, store in a cool, dry area.

I don’t know how long it lasts, as I continuously use it, so I don’t have information on powdered garlic for food storage.

What I do know is that I like the taste of the garlic I grew and processed myself.  There is something to be said about the quality of food that is home processed versus being made in some factory out of materials that may be modified or adulterated.

Not only is dehydrating garlic easy, but garlic has medicinal value, so I hope that you try this at home.

How to Make Mashed Cauliflower with Garlic

 

Recipe: Mashed Cauliflower
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I don’t like cauliflower, but I LOVE mashed potatoes – in this article Genny shows how to make mashed cauliflower with garlic.

Her recipe looks and feels just like mashed potatoes.  It even tastes a little like it.  I can still taste a little cauliflower, but Genny swears she can’t.

I’ve always been a picky eater, and I am not as invested in mashed cauliflower as my wife is, but even though this is not my favorite recipe, it is good enough to be a “make again”.

Her recipe does make this vegetable “edible” to my picky eating habits.  But more importantly, our toddler will eat it, so it can’t be that bad.

Seriously though, all kidding aside, this is a worthwhile recipe to try.  Keep an open mind and I bet you will like it.

Its so dead simple that I am not going to post a recipe here.

Not only that it is simple but I want people to watch my wife’s cooking videos.  She puts a lot of work into them, is pretty shy on camera, and not really convinced its worth it to make YouTube videos.

Please comment on the video and let my Genny know that her work is appreciated.

Recipe: Spam Boxcars

Recipe: Spam Boxcars
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Spam Boxcars is an old time Scout recipe, and as such is a great camping/off grid cooking recipe.

Its main ingredient is Spam and American Cheese, so it is shelf stable and cheap if not the most healthy.

I cooked this after a long day working on my “bug out location” known to the wife as “the land”.

As I said, its not something that you should eat every day, but as a simple and hearty meal that we could make out in the woods without electricity or a good means of keeping food cool it was tailored made.

Ingredients

  • Spam
  • Velveeta or generic American Processed Cheese (Thick slice)
  • Butter
  • Brown Sugar

Procedure

Cut Spam into 3/4 inch slices (1 per person) and place on 12″ x 12″ section of foil.

Layer on cheese

Sprinkle on brown sugar and a heaping Tbs of butter.

Wrap completely in foil and place in coals for app. 10 min.

Variations/Hints:

If your not a Spam fan, precooked ham works fine as well.

As I said, this recipe for spam boxcars, is pretty simple, and something a kid can make out in the woods, which is why it is a scouting favorite.

Recipe: Broccoli Bites

Recipe: Broccoli Bites
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Growing up in a society of chicken nuggets and other convenience food, my wife really likes “poppers” and “bites”  little hand foods that are easy to eat and very tasty.

Genny spends a lot of time searching for healthy recipes and these broccoli bites are one winner at my house.  They are easy to make, are healthy, and pretty tasty – especially when dipped in sauce.

I am pretty pleased at her results in her journey to get healthy, and since the running total now (not when this video was created is 90 pounds lost) I am very happy with the work she is putting in.

What I really like though is shooting videos with her.  I find I like being behind the camera producing great video more than I enjoy being in front of the camera making ok videos…

There have been some negative comments on her videos, which gets my wife discouraged, she isn’t as dedicated to video as I am, so those trolls really get to her.  Please take some time to watch the video and tell her what a great job she is doing.

She has lost over 100 pounds since she started her journey.  Give her a hand.