Blasts from the Past: The Healthy Food Storage Discovery

As we have been discussing some of the things Jodi and I have learned over the last 2 years of blogging about food storage, my favorite thing has been somewhat of an unexpected thing. I know I’ve been harping on this a lot lately, but it really excites me that food storage can be healthy. I really had no idea how many hidden treasures of knowledge I would gain on this journey.

When we first started, I told Jodi there was no way I would even store beans because they were to hard to soak, cook, and use. I said I would stick to tuna for protein and call it good. Who knew I would be the biggest fan of all things beans just 2 years later. I love using them to make a way healthy cream of chicken soup, to put in all sorts of recipes, and to eat as a healthy side.

Another really great benefit to having, and USING food storage is the ability to control quantities of salts and sugar or honey in homemade foods. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a sucker for a good chocolate covered, chocolate donut on Saturday nights – but being able to stay away from preservatives, additives, and excessive amounts of sugar in homemade cooking has been a great side effect.

Lately I’ve been on a little bit of a grain kick too! Did you know that SOOOOO many products out there these days that claim to be “Whole Grain” really aren’t, or are merely sprinkled with a little bit of whole grain. It’s kind of unfortunate that these things are so misrepresented, but that’s a whole other blog post… What is exciting is trying out new grains. I have gotten to a point where I feel like I have wheat, brown rice, and oats fairly under control. Now I’m learning about and using millet, barley, quinoa and a few other grains I had never heard of. Its really fun and exciting and it’s really expanding my repertoire. I can’t wait to share more of what I learn. In fact just the other day, I asked people how they used quinoa on our facebook fan page, and got almost 30 comments with ideas, suggestions and even recipes. I LOVE YOU GUYS!