MRE cookies anyone?

Tornado, hurricane, earthquake, fire, food shortage, unemployment, illness...do these sound familiar? Sounds like the daily news and bad things can happen anywhere. Rather than just hoping for the best, I want to prepare for it, as much as I know how. Over the past few months, we have worked on making full service 72-hour kits, or bug-out bags. The project of the day is to consolidate and organize. That way we can figure out what we still need. More on that later.

As part of the food supply, we are the proud owners of several MREs in various states of completeness. These MREs contain a main dish, utensils, matches, drink mix, salt, pepper, sugar, a hand wipe, a granola bar, and a dessert. This is what one of the desserts looks like:

Lest you don't recognize this sweet delight, it claims to be a chocolate chip cookie. We have nearly 30 of these, so I decided to venture in to see what might be in our emergency culinary future. Here's what I discovered:

• The package contained 3 cookies, all seemingly chocolate chip. News: This non-resealable package contains 1.5 servings of cookies. If you count calories, keep that in mind. Maybe a friend will need one.
• While one may not want to serve these with tea or to guests, the taste fits the level of some grocery store cookies, or some rather unfortunate homemade cookies. It has that nice baking soda taste that my father generously pointed out in so many baked goods, so now I notice it all the time, but the soda taste is masked by a stronger mystery flavor. Maybe it's the ammonium bicarbonate.
• The texture is slightly less grainy than the sand cookies we found at a local bakery a few months ago. They were not actually sand, but some edible imitation. Come visit and we can get some.
• These cookies are thirst inducing! Only partake if you have plenty of water or a toothbrush close by.
• MREs are supposed to last 5-7 years, depending on how well they are stored, however, there is no package date. Probably should label these guys. Any suggestions on what to do when it's time to rotate? Compost? Boy Scout camp? Dinner party? You are invited!

Bottoms up

Yesterday I experience something you never have. At least, one would hope that you are fortunate enough (and smart enough) to never have such a thing happen to you. What happened? My head collided with the pointy underside of a metal toilet paper dispenser.

How was I so graceful in doing such a thing? As I was changing at the gym, in a stall, and I bent down to pick up my shoes. Generally, my spacial awareness kicks in quickly, but this time it underestimated the amount of room my cranium requires. On the return trip to the full and upright position, my skull crashed into the razor tipped dispenser. For a moment, I stayed down, a little confused at why the spaciality went faulty, but quickly checked for broken skin. The force of the impact would point to yes, though my trusty skull must be harder that that now bent edge. Okay, I didn't bend it, but it did remove a nice chunk of hair. Thankfully, I can stand to lose a few. And for the awkwardness of the situation, I'm grateful the stall didn't look like this.

Parmesan chicken

• Dinner was really yummy last night, but since I never follow a recipe exactly, I have to record my changes. But that's why I blog; it's my digital notebook. The inspirational recipe comes from Food Network's Tyler Florence and here's how I did it differently:

Parmesan Chicken

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup olives, pitted
• Basil (I used dried since my fresh plants keep dying.)
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• Pinch sugar
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless, chicken thighs (about 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs and/or cornmeal
• A bit of cheddar, grated
• Freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 pound spaghetti, cooked

Saute onion and garlic in hot oil. Taste the onion for doneness before adding basil, to taste, crushed olives and tomatoes. Cook on low, occasionally stirring, for a long time while you clean, shower, or complete other tasks. Once the sauce is thickened, add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. If the tomato tastes too acidic, add 1 T of butter at a time until the flavors balance.

If the chicken is thick, pound it between layers of plastic to 1/2 inch. Set out 3 shallow bowls or rimmed plates for the flour, egg, and bread crumbs. Season the flour and crumbs with salt and pepper. Beat the water and egg until well mixed. Heat oil on the stove for frying. Coat each piece of chicken thoroughly with flour, shaking off excess (using a fork or spoon to coat and transfer between coatings makes this less messy), then dip in eggs, allowing the excess to drip off. Finally, cover in bread crumbs, again shaking excess, and fry for a few minutes on each side.

Heat oven to 450 F. Once the coating is crispy, place chicken in oven proof dish and cover with the sauce, then cheese. Bake until cheese is melty, bubbly, or crisp, however you like it, and serve over spaghetti. It was good.

Serves 3-4

What I learned:

• Check the onion to make sure it is soft before adding anything. Fragrance does not equal done.
• Add butter to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes.
• Forks make this process a lot easier for coating chicken.
• Cornmeal works in place of bread crumbs, but the aesthetics are different.
• Thigh meat doesn't dry out as easily as breast meat. I tend to over cook chicken, thus drying it out, but this was excellent.

The chocolate covered food group

Take heart Americans! Life just got better here. No longer need we feel deprived. Recognize these? These are the remnants of the box of Belgian delight I discovered yesterday. This stick used to hold a magic wonder, in the form of chocolate covered ice cream. The Magnum was one of the major food groups while I lived in Europe as a missionary and it has been a struggle trying to get a balanced diet in the States. But gone are the days of crossing the pond and now is the time to cross the street to the local grocery store. True to form, they come in a box of 3. Usually, we would buy these on the way to somewhere, and had no access to a freezer, which meant somebody got to eat 2. Maybe that someone can be me this time. Do you think my husband will notice?

Butternut stew

Yum.

Pumpkin and I get along in pies and cookies, but never in soups or stews. Butternut squash is very similar in flavor and in uses, so I hesitated in trying this recipe, even though the squash has graced our counter since Christmas. That was only 6 months ago... but this was worth the wait.

The original recipe is here, but naturally, my non-conformist cook had to change it. Plus, I never go to the store for two ingredients when substitutes are available.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 9 ounces fresh Andouille sausage, but any sausage might work
• 1 medium yellow onion, medium dice
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 pound butternut squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 10 ounces potatoes, large dice
• 3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 5 ounces spinach, fresh or frozen

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. When it shimmers, add sausage and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned all over, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
2. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat, add onion and garlic, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and soft, about 10 minutes. Add squash and potatoes and cook until potatoes are just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in caraway and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add tomatoes (with juices) and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until vegetables are fork tender, about 2-3 hours. Slice reserved sausage into 1/2-inch rounds and add to the pan along with spinach. Cook until sausage is heated through and spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes.

Are you sick of recipes yet? There are more coming, don't worry.

What goes on in San Fran...

...should stay there. I just got back from a weekend with friends in San Jose, CA. We spent a day in San Francisco, which has yet to fail in making for an interesting visit. Now, San Fran is all about being open-minded and accepting everyone, so they say. That's great, but does it mean accepting the consequences of a choice? I hope so. As we drove through one of the neighborhoods on a beautiful, sunny day, we spotted a man in a white hat. The man also had shoes and a backpack...but that was it. For a man who is conscientious enough to wear a hat on a sunny day, one might think he would take similar precautions for the other 97% of the body.

Maybe I need to think with an open mind.

Tuna cheesy goodness

Tonight I tried something new for dinner and it was tasty enough to write. Please forgive from those who like exact recipes. Here goes:

A few slices of bread (I made 3 sandwiches with one can, but loaf was a bit short.)

A can of tuna, in water

About 1/4 c. Ricotta cheese

Some green onion, chopped

A bit red onion, very thinly sliced

Enough mayonnaise to make it wet

Cheddar cheese

Olive oil

Cayenne pepper

Salt

Black pepper

Drain the tuna and mix in the onions, to taste, the Ricotta, and the mayo. Drizzle oil on each of the slices of bread. Grate some cheddar on each slice. Mound the tuna on half the slices. Add more grated cheddar. Top the sandwich with another slice of bread and drizzle more oil on outside of the bread. Cook until the cheese melts on a griddle or in a sandwich maker. I used a George Foreman grill. Broiled in the over might work too.

Here's another plug for comments: do you have an amazing sandwich?

What's with the background?

The thought may have crossed your mind, maybe, to aks what the background is with the seashell on the blog. No, it is not at the beach, nor at an environmental museum. It's not even in a seashell collection. This picture is of the dirt in Amsterdam. Weird? Maybe. Cool? Yes!

My cousin and I were there last May and we found a street unpaved due to some repair work. As luck would have it, there was a small collection of shells waiting for a photo op. The explanation I heard was that these are remnants of sea life when the land was actually sea floor. Some say the shell are carted in for the tourists, but after living there a few months and seeing shells in most dirt patches, including construction sites, I'm a little skeptical.

Either way, who would not think it was cool to find seashells while gardening? Pulling weeds, or cleaning out the irises, just got more interesting.

Pea pests - Spider mites

Much to my dismay, the pea plants came under attack last week. As I picked our scrumptious single pod, I noticed the leaves at the base of the plants turning yellow and drying out. Initially, it looked like the 85-90 F weather was killing them off, yet the top of the plants still looked fine. I took a closer look and found the largest plant covered in these little teeny black dots under all the leaves. (My tune in my head suddenly switched to the song about 'Little Black Things' that my dear brother taught me. Thank you, dear brother.) They moved all over and had built little webs at the base of each leaf. After some research, I figured they were spider mites and wanted them gone. They survive off the the juice in the leaves, which ends up killing the plants.

So, after more research, I found an at home recipe to get ride of them here. I used a modified version, since 1/2 gallons of this stuff was a little much for my tiny garden.

Recipe: 2 cups of water

5 Tablespoons potato flakes

1 Tablespoon buttermilk.

Stir. Apply.

Potato flour might have dissolved better, but I have yet to find some. So, I loaded my mixture into a washed out hairspray bottle that we had just finished off, and sprayed this all over the plants, especially on the bottom of the leaves. This is supposed to suffocate the little guys. After it dried for about a day, I washed it off and it looks like all the mites have gone to their Maker, though I will keep checking for signs of return. Maybe the plants will survive long enough to give us TWO pods now!