Recipe Blackberry Brownies

Recipe Blackberry Brownies
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I saw something like this on pinterest, but it was called bluies – where someone got the idea to use blueberries in their brownie mix.

It looked really cool, but I don’t grow blueberries.

I do have blackberries, so I figured, what the heck, I would try it.

Since I am substituting something I can grow (blackberries) for something I cannot (Chocolate), I am making a prepper desert because I can store or grow everything needed.

I now share my recipe for Blackberry Brownies – you could call them blackies, but some social justice warrior would probably make a stink for some non-existent slight.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • 1 3/4 cups white sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • Grated rind from whole lemon – about 2 tsp
  • 1 heaping cup of flour – or up to 1 1/4 cups
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Procedure

  • In a large sauce pan on medium heat, cook 2 cups of the berries.
  • Gently smash them using a fork or potato masher.
  • Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until most all of the liquid has evaporated and you have a thick syrup.
  • When stirring the syrup occasionally stir the mixture away from the bottom of the pan. When the syrup moves very slowly to fill back in the space add the lemon juice and rind and stir to combine.
  • Immediately take off the heat and add the butter stirring to melt.
  • When melted, add the sugar and stir to combine.
  • After the sugar has been incorporated, the mixture should be cool enough to add the eggs.
  • Add them one at a time mixing each one well into the batter. Then add the vanilla.
  • Add the cinnamon and salt to the flour and stir with a fork. Then, add the flour mixture all at once. Gently fold the flour into the mixture.
  • When all combined, beat the mixture for 60 to 80 strokes. If the batter seems too wet, add a little more flour.
  • Next, add the walnuts and the 1/2 cup of remaining fresh blackberries on top and stir to combine.
  • Pour into a prepared 8″ square cake pan and bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes. This is a wet batter and takes a little longer than regular brownies.
  • Test as you would for brownies. Cool before cutting and serving.

How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs in a Oven

 

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If you want to make bulk hard boiled eggs, or want a simple recipe you can try baking them in the shell rather than boiling you can always use your oven to make baked hard boiled eggs.

Simply put eggs in a cupcake pan and bake at 325-350 (depending on oven) for 30 minutes.

When you do this, the shell will get little brown burn spots – don’t worry about it, they will disappear after the next step.

Once you are done baking them, use tongs to put eggs in a large bowl of ice water. This stops the cooking of the egg.

After about 10 minutes you can pull them put and peel them.

Before you comment that it takes longer than boiling, please realize I know it takes longer, but it is easier, and I doing a lot of eggs at once it is more economical.

Since Genny eats eggs for breakfast on her diet, this method of hard “boiling” saves her a lot of time and effort.  That makes it worth it.

I would suggest you try these oven baked hard boiled eggs the next time you want a hard egg.  Its even something you can do with golden eggs.

Tomato Pasta

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This article on tomato pasta is the next evolution from my homemade pasta experiments.

Once you get the basics down you can experiment to get your recipes tweaked to culinary perfection.

In this post we will use homemade tomato powder to make a flavored Tomato Powder Pasta. This would work with almost any other powders.

Feel free to experiment with spices, herbs, or other vegetables like spinach.

Step 1: Create Powder

In an upcoming post on my blog, I will show how to make a great tomato powder by using the leftover tomato skins from making salsa, but if your in a hurry, its really easy to make this powder by putting a can of cheap tomato paste in your dehydrator and drying it down until it is like a fruit roll up.

We used a “bullet” but any blender would do the trick. I cut the chewy tomato sheet into strips about 1×1/2 inches so that they would pulverize easier.

I choose to stop after most of the tomato was a powder, but there were still some little chunks.

Step 2: Mix pasta

Dump the tomato powder in with your flour and mix while dry.
Next make a small imprint into the center of your flour and add one egg per cup of mix.
Beat eggs and slowly enlarge your strokes to incorporate flour. Don’t rush or you will end up with a bowl of crumb. Go slowly and you will be rewarded with a lump of dough.
If you need to fix your crumbly dough because you whisked too fast, you can add a little water.

Step 3: Knead and Roll

Knead your dough until it become smooth and uniform in texture.
Then roll out the dough as thin as you possibly can.,

Step 4: Cut Boil and Serve

Cut your noodles however you wish
Boil for two minutes in slightly salted water
Serve immediately with a tasty sauce.

Review Mason Jar Sprouting Lid

Review Mason Jar Sprouting Lid

Review Mason Jar Sprouting Lid
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Since wheat is such a large part of my food storage plan, I try to sprout it occasionally to keep my family accustomed to the taste and texture of different ways to eat bulk wheat.

One of the problems I have when I sprout is not straining the wheat properly and having a white mold grow in my sprouting jar.

When I saw a $5 Mason Jar Sprouting Lid on Amazon I thought I would try it.

This lid made sprouting using mason jars much easier – I could fill and drain the jar without having to take the lid off –

It was much simpler than my old method of using a piece of cheesecloth and a rubber band.

It is also easier to clean – and I imagine that it will last as long as I will.

For those that don’t want to use a store-bought solution – I imagine you could drill a bunch of 1/8 inch holes in a plastic mayonnaise jar lid.

Sprouting is a great way to get more nutrients and use out of seeds, and seeds are generally easier to store than many other foods, so I feel that this is a win.

However, if you don’t want to buy a lid like this, I think you could probably improvise a mason jar sprouting lid using a Parmesan cheese lid.

Banana Ice Cream (without cream)

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My boy loves bananas but he never seems to eat all of them before the rest start to turn brown.

In order to reduce waste I started looking for a way to use bananas.

I found a really cool recipe for 1 ingredient Banana Ice Cream that doesn’t use dairy on this site.

This recipe is great for those that are lactose intolerant – or for whatever reason are vegan.

This, as it stands, is not a “prepper” food, but it is frugal.   I am sure it can be modified for fruits you can raise at your own property.   Who knows I may try 1 ingredient blackberry ice cream next season.

Procedure:

  • Peel bananas and cut into small slices
  • Freeze for 1 hour
  • Blend – scraping the bowl as the frozen banana bits stick to the side
  • add sugar or vanilla if desired – or even some lemon juice to reduce browning – but if you do you obviously cannot call it 1 ingredient ice cream….

I hope you enjoy this simple frozen treat.  I know we like 1 ingredient Banana Ice Cream at our house and hope you like it at yours.

As you can see the boy likes this, and now that Genny is gotten into clean eating and the 21 day fix, she can eat this as a treat instead of higher calorie treats.