MRCs Meals ready to cook.

I have been today.  1/2 pound of cheddar and 1/2 of mozerella cheeses waxed for storage. Then I put up 6 breakfast MRCs (meals ready to cook).  In this case they were more Oatmeals.  I figure oatmeal is a healthy and very hearty breakfast.  Today I did 3 sugar free cinnamon raisin oatmeal MRCs and 3 sugar free spiced oatmeal MRCs.  Add water and cook.  Awesome for camping trips and SHTF situations.  When without power you can easily start a fire and use a cast iron dutch oven to cook.  Awesome right?! I think so.  I bottle mine up in serving sizes for 5 people which is the size of my family.  You can adjust to your family size.

Many people ask why I use plastic PET bottles (soda bottles).  Well they are cheap, reusable, and they store really easily.

This is from a couple of months ago.  Now it is all 16 and 20 oz bottles all my 2 liters are in another cabinet.

sugar free Spiced Oatmeal MRC 

1 1/2 c oatmeal

1/4 c evaporated milk

3 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

3 packets of stevia

oxygen absorber

Layer and seal.

5 servings

17 carbs per serving

Sunday morning breakfast

As I have shared before, we typically have a special breakfast for Sunday.  This morning it was homemade oatmeal raisin muffins.  They were yummy, although to me they tasted a little too much of baking powder so I will post the fixed recipe below. The kids loved them and so did J.  I double the recipe because 12 muffins isn't quite enough for a little girl, a preteen boy going through a growth spurt, and a manlet going through puberty   I swear at about 10 years old you can't keep boys fed.  They will eat you out of house and home, not to mention the garden. But all is good.  I am also posting how to make the mix up for storage.

Quick and Homey Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Makes 24 muffins

2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup olive oil
2 egg, beaten
2 cup milk

Cinnamon Topping
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoon olive oil

Heat the oven to 425°F. Grease a muffin pan, or line the wells with paper muffin cups.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Stir in the oats and raisins.

In a large measuring cup, whisk the olive oil with the egg and milk. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just until combined. Fill the prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter.

Mix all the ingredients for the cinnamon topping together in a small bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the muffin batter.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a rack until they are cool enough to be handled. Remove from the pan and eat while warm, or let cool completely and then store in an airtight container.

To make for storage:

Quick and Homey Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Makes 24 muffins

2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup raisins

Store in an Airtight bottle or jar with an oxygen absorber

To make:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 egg, beaten

2 cup milk

Heat the oven to 425°F. Grease a muffin pan, or line the wells with paper muffin cups.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Stir in the oats and raisins.

In a large measuring cup, whisk the olive oil with the egg and milk. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just until combined. Fill the prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a rack until they are cool enough to be handled. Remove from the pan and eat while warm, or let cool completely and then store in an airtight container

Happy, Happy, Happy

Sunday Morning tradition!

At our house we have a tradition on Sunday mornings and special days, Moma, me, makes a special breakfast.  It is different every week and holiday.  This morning it is homemade cinnamon rolls.  (recipe below)  Past ideas are reindeer pancakes for Christmas, Bunny butt pancakes for Easter, Texas for Texas Independence day.  Miss S loves pancakes and ask for them nearly everyday, and she can have them with Sugar Free syrup. My family has gotten so used to sugar free syrup that when I got some lite because it was free, the boys asked to have S's instead.  To us it taste better, I know most of you are turning up your noses at the thought, but you get used to it.

I have to brag on my pageant girls.  I guess I need to back up I have a pageant system that is non profit.  Yesterday we had a pageant and despite less than 10 contestants we still collected 170 items and 3 trash bags of clothes for the families in West, Texas where the fertilizer plant exploded.  If you really start to think about it.  The Oklahoma City Bombing did that much damage with only a Ryder truck full of fertilizer, this was an entire plant of fertilizer and a very small town.  But I am so proud of these girls, they didn't get anything in return.  So next time somebody talks down about pageants or you see Drama on Toddlers and Tiaras, remember what I just said these pageant girls did for strangers.

Today is also a very special day in history.  I don't get political on this blog and I am not starting now but many will take it that way.  Today is the 152nd anniversary of the beginning of what Southerns call "The War of Northern Aggression", although the rest of the country knows it as the Civil War.  I personally call it the War of Northern Aggression, being the good southern girl I am.  That was not a war over slavery as they teach now, the South did not like the Northerns "Yankees" and DC taking some of their rights away and imposing their beliefs on the south.  Sound familiar?  Just food for thought.

Back on topic:

Here are some pictures of other "special" Breakfasts.

Bunny butts for Easter.  The kids thought these were so funny.  Even the 14 year old loved them.

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer pancakes.  

Not to bad free hand if I do say so myself.

Today's Cinnamon rolls are proofing now then into the oven and make some icing.

Cinnamon Roll recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbls softend butter I used Texas Road cinnamon butter (recipe below)
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2-4 cups flour

Method
Put water and yeast in large mixing bowl and add next 4 ingredients. Beat with dough hook until well blended. Add 3 1/2 to 4 cups flour and mix until soft dough forms (should not be sticky). Put out onto floured board and knead a few times until smooth. Place in greased bowl, cover until dough doubles, Then roll out on a floured surface until about 1/3 inch thick and rectangular.  Brush on more of the Texas Roadhouse cinnamon butter across the entire top of the dough, sprinkle lightly with brown sugar.  Then roll from on end longways to the other side.  Then with a dough cutter (or pizza cutter) cut about an inch thick rolls off.  Place on a WELL GREASED cookie sheet.  Then let it rest and raise again for about 15 minutes.  Then bake for 20 minutes at 350.  

Icing: 
 1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 milk
1-3 cups of powdered sugar To your desired thickness.

Mix until creamy.


Texas Roadhouse Cinnamon Honey Butter

·         ½ cup butter

·         ½ cup powdered sugar

·         ½ cup honey

·         1 tsp. cinnamon

melt the butter and mix well.

Rolls are in the oven.  And I am starving

Busy day!

Sorry I didn't post at all yesterday.  I had a busy day.  I put up 7 lbs of rice, 6 lbs of flour, 2 bottles (basically equals 4 boxes) of Bisquick mix, 2 lbs of Oatmeal, 2 bottles (5 servings each) raisin cinnamon oatmeal, and rearranged the cabinet all my dry food storage goes in and then I canned 1 quart of carrots, 1 pint of carrot stock, 2 quarts of vegetable stew, and 1/2 a pint of  vegetable stock.  On top of all that I made pot roast for dinner and not in the crock pot.  I was busy.   Now I am going to rearrange/organize  my canned food cabinet. But I thought I would stop in and post really quick.  

Bisquick mix

• ·         3 1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• ·         1/3 cup sugar
• ·         1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• ·         1/2 cup cornstarch
• ·         1 tablespoon baking powder
• ·         1 teaspoon baking soda
• ·         2  teaspoons salt

Directions:

Mix together.

Cover tightly and store.

Use water, buttermilk or skim milk to moisten.

They were perfect last night to sop up the pot roast juice.

Just in case you are wondering how I do my bulk dry storage, I will tell you. 

I use 2 liter bottles washed and left to dry for 2-3 days upside down on a towel.  Make sure they are completely dry before use otherwise the moisture will ruin your food and make it unsafe.

I use a funnel (bought mine in the automotive section because they are cheaper than kitchen wares) to place ingredients in the bottle.  Then I place 3 100cc oxygen absorbers in or 1 Hot Hands hand warmer.Make sure you don't bust either one because you will have metal filings in you food, good for iron but bad for taste.  Screw the lid on tightly.  I lay all the bottles on their sides in a cabinet under my kitchen island.  

This picture is from a couple of weeks ago.  It is completely full now.  And the #10 can at the top has found a new home.  The white in the bottom is borax to discourage pest. 

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  We have all heard it, but do we practice it?  I try to most days, I get up and fix a breakfast meal not just cereal.  Well this oatmeal recipe will get you a nice hearty start in the mornings fairly easily.  This recipe also has about 15 g carbs per serving and oatmeal is heart smart.

Apple Cinnamon  Oatmeal
serves 5          15 carbs per serving

2 cups oatmeal
1/2 c evaporated dry milk
3 packets of Stevia
2 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 c dehydrated or freeze dried apples

Combine in a bottle and add an oxygen absorber

To mix add 1 1/2 c water.


I hope you enjoy this.


Leave some feed back!

Cranapple Jelly.

Got up this morning and made some Cranapple Jelly.  It is yummy on biscuits or toast.

 Cranapple Jelly

• 3 cups of Cranapple juice (tried to get one with lower sugar content)
• 1 package of powdered pectin
• 4 1/2 cups of  sugar.

Makes 5 1/2 pints of jelly
Sterilize your jars and lids
Start your water in your water canner boiling
In a Large sauce pan pour in all your juice and turn to high.  I like to get my juice hot first.  Then add pectin and stir until fully dissolved.  Let boil for a minute, then add the sugar and stir until it is all dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil for 1 1/2 minutes stirring and being careful not to let it boil over.  Pour into your jars leaving 1/4 inch of head space.  Put the lids and rings on the jars and carefully place in the water bath canner.  Make sure there is at least an inch of water over the top of jars.  Once the water is at a boil set your timer for 10 minutes.  Then let it cool and listen to the music of the Ping.  When the Jars are completely cool check the seals, label them, and up them way.  If a seal isn't secure put in the fridge and use immediately.

This recipe works for Grape, any of the Cran juices, and pomagranite juice. I have even made green tea jelly, but you have to add 1 tbsp to it.  J loved it but I thought it tasted like liquid Pez.
Happy Canning!

Strawberry Oatmeal for long term storage

As with many of my storage recipes I have to keep them on the low carb end for my daughter S.

 This is  a simple little recipe to provide a yummy breakfast for 5.

Strawberry Oatmeal1 1/4 c of oatmeal, 1/3 c evaporated milk, tsp cinnamon, 3 packets of Stevia, 1/4 tsp salt  about 1/4 c dehydrated strawberries. Layer in the bottles and add an oxygen absorber and seal

To Cook:
2 c water and cook

This recipe has 5 servings and 35g carbs each.  I know that is a little higher but it is healthy and a great hearty way to start your day.