12 Bean Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 c. 12-bean soup mix*
1 ham bone (optional)
4 T. bulls eye BBQ sauce
1 chopped onion
1 T. sugar
1 small clove garlic
3 stalks celery, diced (can use dehydrated)
¼ tsp. lemon pepper
2 carrots, diced (can use dehydrated)
2 T. ketchup
28 oz. can whole tomatoes
¼ tsp. salt and ginger
1 pinch red pepper flakes

*You can buy this as a mix or make your own with a variety of the legumes in your food storage

Directions:
Wash 2 cups of bean mix. Soak in a large pot overnight. Drain. Add 8 cups water, ham bone, 1 tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. ginger. Bring to a boil and cook until beans are tender (about 1 hour). Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer 2 ½ to 3 hours. Stir and add water as needed. For more zest, double all spices.

For other food storage recipes check out:

Our Food Storage Recipes Page
Our sister site EverydayFoodStorage.NET
I Can’t Believe It’s Food Storage book
Country Beans book

At first I made this recipe with store bought tortillas, canned beans, and canned cream of chicken/mushroom soup – but I promised myself bit by bit I would make it using all the “advanced” techniques. Now that I have had a lot more experience using my food storage, I make it the real way and it tastes so much better – I wont make it any other way.

So here’s to sharing it with you and to giving you a special cooking challenge.

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans (*see below)
1 lg onion (*see below)
1 can of cream of chicken (*see below)
1 can of cream of mushroom (*see below)
¾ cup of milk (*see below)
1 (4oz) can diced green chilies
1 (8 oz) can mild enchilada sauce
1 pkg soft tortillas (*see below)
½ lb cheddar cheese, grated
½ lb monterrey jack cheese, grated

Directions:
Wash and cook beans. Mix next 6 ingredients with beans (Optional: add 3 chicken breasts shredded). Place tortillas in greased 9 by 13 inch pan. Top with half the bean mixture and half the cheese. Repeat the layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool slightly and cut in squares.

Try each of these techniques one at a time or all at once. They are things that used to scare me and now I love doing them this way in all my recipes.

1 can of black beans with 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans from your food storage. Need to know how to cook them? Check out Crystals post on pressure cooking dry beans here.

Onion with dehydrated onion. These are not only a time saver, but are great to store to have added flavoring in your food storage.

1 can of cream of chicken, 1 can of cream of mushroom, and the milk with the bean flour cream soup recipe found here.

Store bought tortillas, with homemade tortillas made from scratch using recipe found here.

Again if you’re new – don’t get overwhelmed by these “weird” techniques – try them one at a time and one day you’ll be amazed at how much you have learned!

Homemade Mac ‘N’ Cheese (w/ grains and powdered milk)

Ingredients:
1 lb macaroni noodles (BabyStep 5 : Grains)
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour (BabyStep 5 : Grains)
1 c. milk (or 1 c. water, 3 T. powdered milk)
1 tsp. seasoned salt
cheese cubes (optional)
ham cubes (optional)

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Melt butter in large saucepan. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Slowly stir in milk until well mixed in. Add seasoned salt. Let cook for a little while until it starts to thicken. Add in the macaroni noodles. Add in a little more milk if it seems too thick. Can add more seasoned salt according to your family’s tastes. Add ham and cheese cubes right before serving.

Homemade Mac ‘N’ Cheese (w/ legumes and powdered milk)

Ingredients:
3 c. of macaroni noodles
5 T. of lima or other white bean flour (BabyStep 6 : Legumes)
1 c. of water
3/4 c. milk (or 3/4 c. water 2 T. powdered milk)
2 tsp. seasoned salt
cheese cubes (optional)
ham cubes (optional)

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Grind 1/4 c. of white beans in your wheat grinder to make about 5 T. of bean flour. Put 1 c. of water in large saucepan. Slowly whisk in ground bean flour. Continue to whisk frequently until starts to thicken and bubble. Slowly stir in milk until it’s a nice thickish liquid consistency. Add seasoned salt (the bean version tends to need more than the flour/butter version). Add in the macaroni noodles. Add in a little more milk if it seems too thick. Add ham and cheese cubes right before serving.

Confession time … While the bean flour version is still good (and my kids snarfed it up just like usual), I could actually tell a difference in this recipe. I prefer the fattening version, surprise surprise. hehe. But the bean flour version is a very good substitute and can save a TON of calories and fat!

For other food storage recipes check out:

Our Food Storage Recipes Page
Our sister site EverydayFoodStorage.NET
I Can’t Believe It’s Food Storage book
Country Beans book

Chow Mein Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger, browned with 1/2 an onion chopped
(can replace with 2 cans of chicken chunks and throw in some onion flakes)
1/2 c. brown rice (white rice is great too)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (try the low-fat bean flour variety!)
1 ½ c. hot water (if using homemade cream of chicken, skip the water)
1/8 c. soy sauce
¼ tsp. ground pepper
½ can chow mein noodles (about 3 oz)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all ingredients together (except chow mein noodles). Bake in serving bowl covered with foil for 45 minutes. Take off cover. Pour 3 oz. (1/2 can) of chow mein noodles over top. Cook uncovered for 15 more minutes. Let set for 5-10 minutes after cooking.

So what side dish is a necessity with chili? Cornbread of course! I have always purchased boxes of Jiffy cornbread mixes in the past. But when I got my WonderMill Grain Mill I decided to take a crack at grinding up some popcorn to make fresh ground cornmeal for homemade cornbread. Oh boy, I will NEVER go back to boxed cornbread again. Now that I have you salivating over my family dinner tonight … I have to go ahead and share the recipes with you

Marilyn’s Real Chili Bean Recipe:

Ingredients:

Directions: Soak beans overnight. Drain and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours. Drain and add to crock-pot. Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in oil until limp. Stir in all seasonings. Add tomatoes and sauce and simmer for 20 minutes. Brown beef in small fry pan. Drain and add to crock-pot. Add chili sauce and 5 cups of hot water to crock-pot. Simmer in crock-pot at least 7 hours.

Better Than Jiffy Cornbread Recipe:

Grind: ½ cup of popcorn kernels to make ¾ cup cornmeal
Combine: ¾ c. cornmeal, 1 ¼ c. flour (I used whole wheat), ¼ c. sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt
Add: 1 c. milk, ¼ c. veg. oil, 1 large egg, beaten; stir until dry ingredients are moist
Bake: At 400 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean

The book is Country Beans by Rita Bingham. Julie’s most favorite way to use beans is by using white bean flour to make condensed soups. They taste so good that even JODI can’t tell the difference and has starting making it this way as well. If you’re not a believer yet, read about some of the amazing health benefits of beans taken straight from Rita’s book:

Low Calorie Food:
When added to boiling water, bean flours thicken in only 1 minute. By replacing bean flour in cream and soup recipes you lower the calories dramatically because you take out the butter.

Great Protein:
Beans are an excellent source of protein, forming a complete protein when combined with rice, corn, and many other foods. Getting protein this way can help you avoid some of the fatty meat proteins.

High in Fiber:
One cup of beans provide the same amount of fiber as 3 standard doses of Metamucil. Not only do they give you the fiber, they are much more pleasant to eat and can be prepared with endless variety of tastes.

Low in Fat:
Nearly all beans contain only 2-3% fat! You can even add oils to some recipes without going above even the 10% fat level recommended by Doctors.

Lower Cholesterol:
Did you know that beans can help lower your cholesterol level? Not only do they contain NO cholesterol, “they actually help the body get rid of what are considered bad cholesterol.

THESE ARE ONLY JUST A FEW. The book has way more facts, information on how to cook, and tons and tons of recipes. If you are afraid of beans, want to use your beans more, or want a new diet food, you must buy it.

Here’s a little video on making the bean condensed soup. AND if you’re still not a believer…A can of this kind is like 60 calories compared to 210 from a can…

Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup Recipe:

• Grind: 4 T of any white bean (lima, navy, etc.) to make 5 T bean flour
• Combine: 5 T bean flour, 1 ¾ c. water , 4 t chicken bouillon into a saucepan
• Cook: On stovetop at medium temperature until thick and delicious (whisk frequently).The soup should cook in 3 minutes! (this may be longer if your grinder makes a very coarse flour).

Use this with cooked veggies and or meat for a complete meal.  You can also add this to recipes calling for cream of chicken soup cans (I have found this replaces a can plus the water or milk in recipes).

Cowboy Delight – Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:
1 family size package Kraft macaroni and cheese
(I used 3 C macaroni, 1/2 C powdered cheese, 6 tsp butter, 6 tsp of powdered milk)
½ lb. lean hamburger (or turkey), browned
½ onion, chopped (can use dehydrated onion flakes)
1 can chili with beans
1 can tomato soup
1 T. chili powder
1 can corn
cheddar cheese, cubed (optional)
fritos (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Cook kraft dinner according to directions in large pot. Meanwhile, brown hamburger with onion. Add to kraft dinner with remaining ingredients. Heat through. Pour into casserole dish and top with fritos. Cover and bake 30 minutes

My husband actually said he thought the noodles done this way was a little yummier. I also didn’t have a can of chili with beans- so I just put in a can of red beans and chili seasoning instead. It worked out just fine. Oh and also, the butter in the macaroni and cheese can be substituted with 1/4 C of butter powder – I just skip the butter altogether, but once I gave Jodi mac and cheese without butter and she spit it out- so in case you wanted to know- you can use powdered butter in mac and cheese too. This meal could also be made without meat and cheese for a “completely” shelf stable ingredients meal.

• I want to cook more with DRY beans and quit being so afraid of the soaking concept
• I want to plan dinners ahead of time to use more of my long term foods
• I want to find a way to help people who hate excel do an effective 3 month food supply plan even though the current excel file ROCKS! But I know, I know you don’t all love excel

Well good news – I’m doing alright. You’ll have to wait on the 3 month supply surprise just a little longer though. I have also been doing a lot better at planning dinners ahead of time. I used some of Crystal’s TOP SECRET tips for that.

And now for the beans. I have been into this humus kick for a little while now and buying it at the grocery store. I realized it was kind of full of preservative’ish junk and it was getting pricey. So I decided this would be my first guinea pig for using DRY beans. Turns out all my fears and anxiety were unnecessary. It was easy and DELICIOUS.

I got this recipe from the Safely Gathered In Blog. For full instructions, go to their blog. They have a lot of good pictures and instructions!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Recipe (Humus Recipe)

2 cups soaked chickpeas or 1 can beans, drained
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp Tahini (sesame seed oil)
2 cloves garlic or garlic powder
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 jar of roasted red peppers, drained

Mince the garlic, put in food processor. Add the garbanzo beans, puree. Add the oil and juice, puree again. Drain and add roasted red peppers, add curry, blend.

If the beans are soft, then you’ll only have to process for a minute. When using soaked, but not cooked beans, process for five minutes or until smooth. Use as a spread or a dip.

MY FINDINGS:

I used olive oil instead of Tahini and liked it just fine. I also didn’t do the red peppers and curry powder, but I’m boring like that. Lemon Juice, Olive oil and Garlic are delicious enough all together for me.

You might want to try cooking the whole bag of beans, THEN splitting the beans into 4 or 5 ziploc baggies and freezing them for a quick treat on another day. 1 bag of beans got me 5 servings for around $2.50. Buying it pre-made from the store would have cost me over $20!

To make it an even yummier treat, I put hummus on reduced fat triscuit crackers and a piece of turkey pepperoni on top. I mean who doesn’t like pizza snacks! I am in love with making food storage healthy and cheap!

Serving Size: 10 (1 cup) servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 (14.5 oz) can Italian diced tomatoes (I used home canned)
• 1 (16 oz) jar/can Salsa or tomato sauce (use salsa for spicier version)
• 1 (14.5 oz) chicken broth
• 1 cup Quaker Quick Barley
• 3 cups water
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces and boiled
• cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

In a large pot, combine the first 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile boil the chicken in a separate pan. Add bean, corn and chicken to large pot. Increase heat to high until chili comes to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until barley is tender. If desired, top with shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. Makes a huge batch!

Jodi’s Comments:

This was really good! My kids don’t usually like chili but it was more tomato-y instead of spicy. I used tomato sauce not salsa. I also used my own bottled tomatoes so I think it was a little runnier than was intended. It was more like a thick soup instead of a chili. Now I just want to figure out how to altar the recipe to use regular barley instead of quick barley, since that is what i will be storing. I made a box of corn bread with this as I was short on time, but it would be GREAT with our buttermilk cornbread recipe.

This recipe is modified from one found on the back of a Quaker Quick Barley box.