Tag: butter

  • Kitchen DIY: Magic Mix

    Kitchen DIY: Magic Mix

    Magic Mix

    52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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    Today we are going to talk about a food storage tip that is both frugal and useful. We are going to show how to make (and to some extent use) Magic Mix.

    The majority of convenience mixes you buy at the store are just flavored magic mix – The cheese flavored powder in mac&cheese, ranch dressing powder, white gravy powder, cream of anything soup is (well we will save that for a later post)…

    If you know how to make magic mix and have access to spices you can make a multitude of foods for pennies on the dollar.

    So what is this Stuff? Magic Mix is a mix made from powdered milk, butter and flour.

    Procedure

    1. Combine 2 1/3 cup of powdered milk, 1 cup ALL PURPOSE flour, 1 Cup (2 sticks) of room temperature Margarine or Butter (must be one of those two – NOT SPREAD)
    2. Mix until it reaches the consistency of corn meal
    3. Store tightly covered in your refrigerator
    4. To use your Magic Mix to make a White Sauce (1 cup)
    5. Combine 2/3 cup Mix and 1 cup water in a saucepan
    6. Stir rapidly over medium heat until it begins to bubble

    That’s it – and you can use this sauce in any recipe that calls for a white or cream sauce.

  • Recipe: Peanut Butter Ramen – Not quite Pad Thai

    Recipe: Peanut Butter Ramen – Not quite Pad Thai

    Peanut Butter Ramen - Not quite Pad Thai
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    This video shows a redneckinized Thai peanut noodles.  Kind of – my wife just calls it gross.

    But I like Thai food on occasion, and I have a lot of Ramen stored away.  Ramen noodles are not the healthiest meal, but it is cheap.

    Add a little chicken and some peanut butter and soy sauce and you have a pretty decent peanut butter ramen dish that I can’t quite call pad thai noodles, but its good enough for my redneck tastebuds

    In making this dish, I got carried away with the peanut butter, I added about twice as much as it needed, but I like peanut butter and added for consistency and did not bother to taste.

    I would suggest trying this if you store a lot of ramen, but also to taste as you mix…

    Many commenters remarked on the large amount of peanut butter.  I did use a lot more than needed, but I like it that way.

    This is not a health food in any stretch, and its not something I would enjoy eating often.

    Peanut butter ramen is a novel meal.  The idea of taking something simple and modifying it is quite useful even if you don’t like this recipe.

  • Kitchen DIY: Genny’s Berry Butter

    Kitchen DIY: Genny’s Berry Butter

    52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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    Genny is making berry butter.  As she says in the video, the recipe is forgiving, you can use almost any amount of fruit or butter to add or subtract from the flavors you desire.

    Its pretty simple to make.  It is not as easy as my honey butter recipe, and I don’t use it as much, but for a treat it can’t be beat.

    Ingredients

    • One cup of frozen blackberries, but you can use any fruit.  The frozen fruit thawed to about a half cup.
    • One tablespoon of honey
    • 2 Sticks of unsalted butter (softened)

    Procedure:

    • Mix ingredients until the butter is light, airy, and well mixed
    • Next place a sheet of alumium foil on a cutting board
    • Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the foil
    • Spoon the berry butter onto the plastic wrap and shape into a log.
    • Roll the butter into a log by wrapping the plastic and foil around it.
    • Twist one end of the log shut
    • Like making sausage tighten the other end in the opposite direction which will compact the butter
    • Set the log in the refrigerator for a couple hours to let it firm up (Not strictly necessary)

    This berry butter is GOOD.

  • Kitchen DIY: Beans as Butter

    Kitchen DIY: Beans as Butter

    Kitchen DIY: Beans as Butter
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    There are lots of reasons to use beans as butter substitutes in recipes.

    The first one is that it is cheap!

    A pound of beans is less than a quarter but a pound of butter is over three dollars. Beans are also full of protein, fat free, and with more fiber they make you feel more full with less calories.

    They don’t add a bean taste to food, and make a moist cake.

    Now, if you aren’t ready to go full bean, mix it half and half with your butter in recipes and make the switch gradually.

    I think trying a little is better than not trying at all.

    Here are some tips for using beans as a replacement for butter and oil

    1. If your recipe calls for oil, use a bean puree. (cooked beans with enough water to whirl in your blender.) If you simply dump a can of beans (juice and all) in a blender and puree you have it.
    2. If your recipe calls for butter, you are going to use cooked, drained beans.
    3. For substituting beans for both butter and/or oil you are going to use a 1 to 1 ratio.
    4. Match beans to color: white cake use white beans, Chocolate with black beans, It doesn’t affect the taste, but if you use black beans with white cake you will see little spots.
    5. Add the beans however your recipe says to use the butter and/or oil. For example, if your recipe says to cream the butter with the sugar-you’re going to cream the beans with the sugar.
    6. If you are using beans in something like brownies or cookies that are supposed to be chewy, the beans will not make it chewy-it will be cake like. This means if you want the chewiness use half oil/butter and half beans.
  • How to Make Homemade Honey Butter

    How to Make Homemade Honey Butter

     

    Homemade Honey Butter
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    This is a simple recipe for homemade honey butter does not quite make it into the storage meals category because its a condiment, and fresh butter really isn’t a part of my food storage larder.

    However, condiments are important, and your going to need something besides plain beans, rice, and bread if your going to eat from your larder long term.

    Remember you don’t want to deal with the stress of changing your diet if you are dealing with the stress of a disaster, so nows the time to store what you eat and eat what you store.

    While this is not “food” per se – it does have a good amount of calories, nutrients, and most importantly it tastes great and can make bland foods much more appetizing.  This recipe is so easy, and the results so spectacular, that I make homemade honey butter quite regularly, and have been known to adapt other ingredients to the recipe to make berry butters or herbed honey butters.

    This recipe is simple, and below:

    Ingredients:

    • Stick butter
    • Honey
    • Cinnamon if desired
    • Vanilla extract if desired

    Procedure:

    1. Warm butter to room temperature.
    2. Add honey, the more you add the more liquid and browner your butter will be
    3. Add cinnamon and a few drops of vanilla if desired.  Its not needed, but I like it.
    4. Blend until combined.
    5. Eat, preferably on warm homemade bread.