Homemade Seasoned Tomato Sauce To The Rescue!

By Stephanie Dayle via The American Preppers Network 

Here's What You Can Do With All Those Tomatoes!

No, its not spaghetti sauce, but it is real close to spaghetti sauce! Not real chunky but very versatile in what you can do with it. One night it can be a soup stock, the other night it can be spaghetti sauce, the next you can use to to flavor your sloppy joes or meat loaf. Best of all, if you have bags and bags of tomatoes from the garden sitting in your kitchen - it will very quickly use up a ton of tomatoes! 

The recipe I used was from the Ball Blue Book . If you don't already have a copy of that inexpensive but incredibly useful book, I highly recommend picking one up. It's a hundred years worth of time proven and safe food preserving recipes. If you look at this recipe, and are put off by the fact that it is not your favorite family recipe of chunky tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms - but merely a 'tomato sauce' there is a reason for that, bare with me. 


Anything canned in a boiling water bath canner needs to be high acid (for the science buffs, this means that it has to have a pH of 4.5 or below). This is because botulism cannot grow in high acid environments. However, tomatoes are in the grey zone of acidity, typically having a pH right around 4.5. Since they are, you need to add acid to tomatoes when you can them, so that the levels are pushed into the safe zone and the pH becomes something lower than 4.5. That’s why all good proven recipes you'll find for water bath canning tomatoes includes two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice per quart jar (you can also use citric acid, or red wine vinegar).

Which brings us to the approved homemade seasoned tomato sauce recipe that is found in the Ball Blue Book. Sound too bland and unexciting? FEAR NOT! This tomato sauce is NOT bland! Far from it. It has all the flavor one could want for an excellent pot of spaghetti. Personally I LOVE it. You would only need to add a few ingredients from your food storage to turn it into a pot of spaghetti sauce and no one could tell that this wasn't the original family recipe. Look for these tips at the bottom of the article. 

Ball Blue Book: Seasoned Tomato Sauce Recipe
Yield - 7 Quart Jars

• 45 pounds tomatoes (see, I told ya - LOTS of tomatoes but this process is so time intensive - I figure why bother doing it if you are not going to get at least 7 quarts out of it?)
• 6 cups chopped onions
• 12 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil (we added this because we grow it - not part of original recipe)
• 6 piece bay leaves (I skipped these, just a taste preference).
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (I doubled this after tasting)
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper optional (I left it out)
• Bottled lemon juice (TIP: lemon juice is used in a lot of food preservation recipes for what you will spend on it at the grocery store - you can get two jumbo bottles of it at Costco or Cash and Carry, it also stores well and has many other uses so don't be shy buying it)

Set aside TWO days to do this.

Day 1: Gather the tomatoes from your garden and go grocery shopping for all the prep work. Wash toma­toes; drain. Remove core and blossom ends. Cut into quar­ters; set aside.Sauté onions and gar­lic in olive oil in a large stock ­pot (I used a 20 qt stainless steel, because they are an easy to clean stock ­pot ,and it was too small and had to add the smaller 12 qt — go bigger!).  Add toma­toes, oregano, basil, bay leaves, black pep­per and sugar. Stir in salt and crushed red pep­per, if desired. Sim­mer 20 min­utes, stir­ring, it may take up to an hour for your tomatoes to reach a simmering temperature (don't get impatient and crank the heat up, you'll just burn them to the bottom). Remove bay leaves.

Pureé toma­toes using a food mill. (I used an old fashioned food mill with a wooden pestle - because I like using that kind of stuff, but if you wanted to speed this process up use the Food Mill attachment on your Kitchen Aid mixer). Strain puree to remove peels and seeds (the mill I used automatically does this, but if you use your kitchen aid you can just run the results through a mesh strainer or a strainer bag that you would use for jelly). 

Day 2: Cook pulp in a large, uncovered stock pot over medium-high heat until sauce thick­ens, stir­ring to pre­vent stick­ing. Reduce vol­ume by one-half (it starts out more like tomato water than pulp, and what the book doesn't say is that it may take 8 hours to reduce it by half - if you want to make this lower maintenance USE A CROCK POT on high, it shouldn't burn if you stir it every now and then). 

Then get ready to can the sauce with a 21 QT water bath canner with jar rack, jar lifter, canning funnel, a magnetic lid lifter, and at least 7 lids and rings. 

This is a hot pack so your sauce will be boiling, your jars will be hot and the water in the canner will also be hot.  Add 1 tbsp bot­tled lemon juice to each pint jar, 2 tbsp to each quart jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot ster­il­ized jars, leav­ing 1/2" head­space. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 35 min­, quarts 40 min­*, in a water bath canner.

* When canning you need to increase the boiling times for high altitude. P=Pint, Q=Quart 0-1000 ft. P 35 min.; Q 40 min. 1001-3000 ft. P 40 min.; Q 45 min. 3001-6000 ft. P 45 min.; Q 50 min. over 6000 ft. P 50 min.; Q 55 min.                 

 Spaghetti Sauce From Food Storage

• Start with one quart of Seasoned Tomato Sauce
• Add one pint of drained canned hamburger or you can also go meatless
• One 14oz can of diced tomatoes will give you the chunks you want
• One small can of mushrooms will give you the mushrooms (or a handful of dehydrated ones, no additional water)
• Two teaspoons of dehydrated onion will soak up the excess moisture and rehydrate into tasty onions
• And one teaspoon of crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes will give you the pepper that you want
• Add more granulated garlic and salt and pepper to taste

Cook on a stove top on low or in a dutch oven (keeping a close eye on your heat) for 30-45 minutes. The longer you let it simmer, the more your dehydrated elements will absorb the moisture and thicken the sauce). Add to precooked noodles of any shape!

Note for the frugal: It is not cost effective to buy all the ingredients to make this. Now, if you have a garden full of tomatoes, onions, and garlic - it is very cost effective and way more healthy for you to boot. If you don't have a garden up and running yet, your best option for stocking up spaghetti sauce is picking up the canned stuff when it is on sale. I have seen the Del Monte brand as low as .68 a can, when it drops this low I buy three or more cases of it. But it is always more healthy to make things yourself and it might be good practice to make this once or twice just so you know you could if you had to. If you have made your own sauce and have some tips, please share them in the comments below. I find the experiences of others to be priceless when preserving food. With garden season wrapping up, I will have more frugal and tasty articles soon!

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Cream Potatoes and Peas

Cream Potatoes and Peas
Photo by Stephanie Dayle ©2013

The ultimate combination of potatoes, peas and cream (a white sauce). This recipe is rural living at it's best!

Cream potatoes and peas (or sometimes called Creamed Peas and Potatoes) were a staple in my family when I was growing up, as an adult I still make it occasionally every now and then, but it is not as well liked by my hubby. I am not sure what the origins of this dish are - if I had to guess though, I would say that it came out of the Great Depression. It has all of the hallmarks of something that is really inexpensive and easy to cook - and I have noticed a lot of dishes that involve a white sauce base (flour, butter, and milk) can be traced back to the Great Depression.

It's really easy to make and is best with garden fresh peas, and red potatoes (click here for a great article on how to grow your own peas).  Depending on how much you'd like to make you can tinker with the ingredients to your hearts content. Like more peas? Add more peas! Like more potatoes? Add more of those! This is also a great recipe to use on your kids to get them used to eating peas. Worked like a charm for me!

Ingredients (for Gluten Free read below)

• 1-2 Cups of Garden Fresh Peas
• 5-6 Whole Potatoes - cut into chunks (if using red potatoes, leave the skin on).

Standard White Sauce

• 1 TBS (real) Butter
• 1 TBS Flour (All purpose flour, Hard Red Whole Wheat Flour will also work if you want to stick to whole grains)
• 1 C Milk - Real milk from a cow, if you have half and half that works even better!

Instructions: 
Boil potatoes in a big stock pot, you want them done, but not falling apart. Test with a fork, the chunks of potato should stay on the fork when poked. Boil peas in water in a separate sauce pan - do not over cook them, check for tenderness. While these two are cooking, get to work on your white sauce. This is how I make a white sauce: Melt the butter in a sauce pan of med low heat. Sprinkle in the flour and cook until it just starts to brown. Add a little bit of the milk and whisk until you have a thick slurry. Add a little more milk, maintaining the thickness of the sauce. If you add too much milk it will take FOREVER for it to thicken back up again. Add some salt and pepper to the sauce to taste, then add the rest of the milk. You are shooting for a sauce that is thick - kind of like a thinner gravy.

Drain the peas and the potatoes.

Then combine all three - cook it for a few minutes and let it set up. Serve as a side dish or as a main dish. Enjoy.

Gluten Free Option (same as above - only use this White Sauce)

• 1 TBS (real) Butter
• 1-2 TBS Sorghum Flour
• 1 C Milk - Real milk from a cow, if you have half and half that works even better!

Sub in 1-2 TBS of sorghum flour for the wheat flour in the white sauce. You will notice this doesn't thicken up as nice - no problem. Do not kill yourself trying to cook it down. Add in 1-3 TSP of corn starch to the white sauce and whisk away the lumps. You will not notice a difference in taste between this gluten free white sauce and wheat flour based one. Sorghum Flour is my secrete weapon in gluten free cooking.

All the food in The Home Front General Store is clearly marked whether its gluten free or not. When you see that "Gluten Free" bullet off to the side - rest assured the product is certified gluten free and is safe for celiacs or those with an intolerance to eat. 

Can I make this with food storage? YES! And the finished product will not look or taste much different! Here's what you need:

• Rehydrate Dried Diced Potatoes and sub in those for fresh potato chunks.
• Rehydrate Dried Garden Peas  and use those in place of fresh peas.

Make the white sauce using:

• Stored Whole Wheat Flour or grind your own flour with stored Wheat Berries.
• Reconstituted Freeze Dried Milk. 
• And Butter Powder in place of fresh butter.

Photo by Stephanie Dayle ©2013

Please note: There are many recipes out there on the internet, this recipe came from my mom, she got it from my grandmother, beyond that I don't know, any similarities to other recipes are merely a coincidence.

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Cake Mix for Food Storage and Recipe!

By Stephanie Dayle - via American Preppers Network  

If you are like me and enjoy something sweet every now and then, you might want to consider adding some cake mix to your food storage.  Some people may think this is a frivolous item, but some good 'easy to cook' comfort foods may come in handy to help keep everyone sane.  Plus, I believe in prepping what you eat and eating what you prep.  This is the surest way to have a store of food that you know how to cook, like to eat, and will eat.  This also means that you are rotating your food and using it.

There are lots of things that you can make with cake mix.  You can make cake pops, you can make cupcakes, you can make cake mix cookies, you can make cake batter waffles, and you can use cake batter to turn simple popcorn into a delightful dessert.  No oven?  No electricity?  You can make cake batter pancakes topped with some warm frosting (cause nothing goes better with cake batter pancakes than more sugar) with a frying pan over a wood stove or even a fire.  You can also use it to help out cornbread, and you can make brownies with chocolate cake mix.

As you can see its a very versatile item to add to your rotation.  Anytime I can find something like cake mix, that has many uses, and that stores well, its a no brainer to add it to my food rotation.  You can safely keep a 1-2 year supply on your shelves and rotate them or you can stick them in long term storage for perhaps up to 5 years.  There are two main approaches you can take to cake mix.

Buy it in the Box.
 For the most part I will buy mine in the box.  I wait for there to be a couple of coupons then I wait for the mixes to go on sale somewhere, ideally for .89 to .99 cents a box, then I apply the coupon which knocks at least half of that off.  I will buy as many as I have coupons for.  At .50 cents a box, you might be able to beat that by making your own mix, but not by much once you count for all the ingredients.  If you can't get the price per box down that low, you may want to consider making the mix from scratch.

For those of you out there who are gluten free, Betty Crocker has several different types of gluten free boxed cake mix, as do several other different companies - but you guys are going to save the most money by making the mixes from scratch as food companies are still charging a premium for gluten free food.  Click here for a simple GF Yellow Cake Mix recipe.

With Food Storage
I already have the ingredients needed for these mixes in my food storage already, if you don't plan on picking up some egg powder, and powdered milk for your storage.  Some people add these ingredients to the mix prior to storage so when it comes time to cook it, all they have to do is add water and butter.  If the mix calls for butter or oil you can do a few things, you can either make sure you have enough butter and oil stored to get you through a disaster, you can add powdered butter or margarine to the mix, OR you can sub out the butter or oil for a bean puree.

Now before you wrinkle your nose, I have done this several times to make cakes a little more healthy and/or to make them vegan for friends of mine and it has tasted JUST FINE.  Really!  In a long term emergency, replacing butter or vegetable oil with some (soaked and cooked) bean puree, in cake mix will save that precious resource for other uses, it will also increase the amount of protein in the cake mix making even more useful in a situation where protein might be a luxury.  The amount of beans you would want to add is about 1/2 cup of bean puree per box maybe a tad more.  That is just about a can of beans, drained and rinsed and pureed.  Think black beans for chocolate cake and white beans for yellow cake.

From Scratch

Learning how to make cake mix yourself is a good thing to do whether your are storing it or not.  It's another exercise in self sufficiency and your end product will inevitably be more healthy than the store bought version.  Plus, in a long term disaster, you will eventually run out of pre-made mix, and if you want cake, you will have to know how to make your own from scratch.

THE MIX (this is based on Everyday Food Storage's recipe for yellow cake mix but I made a few modifications to make it work for me, keep in mind cake made from scratch will have a slightly different texture than the store bought stuff):

• 9 Cup flour total - If you are milling your own flour  from wheat berries you will want to reach for some soft winter wheat as you want the lower protein content of that type of wheat for cakes; you will also want to mill it a tad more fine than all purpose flour but you don't want it so fine that you make something like wheat starch.  If you are not milling your own flour, you can use 9 cups of pastry flour (which is almost just like cake flour but not bleached) or 9 cups of all purpose flour with one tablespoon of flour out of every cup replaced with a tablespoon of corn starch)  OR you can just use cake flour (I am not a huge fan of cake flour because it is bleached and so refined and, therefore, not real good for you but it does really make the best cakes).
• 6 Cup sugar - just regular sugar
• Heaping 2/3 Cup dry non-instant milk powder or 1 1/3 C. dry instant milk powder
• Heaping 1/4 Cup baking powder
• 4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla powder - I have found that vanilla powder is a little easier to  incorporate into baking mixes for storage.
• 1 1/3 Cup dry egg powder (this assumes the egg powder ratio is one large egg = 2 Tbs dry egg powder + 1/4 Cup. water, if your brand of egg powder is different you will have to adjust the recipe).
   

Combine ingredients thoroughly and store in an air tight container.  You can mix this up - freeze it a couple of times to kill any dormant bugs in the flour and seal it in a Mylar bag with an oxygen absorber.  Don't forget to write the type of cake mix and the cooking instructions on each package.  Or you can mix it up as you need it, if you are already stocking all the ingredients.

Using the Mix:

• 4 1/3 Cup  yellow cake mix (make it a heaping 4 1/3 Cup if you used instant milk powder)
• 1/2 Cup softened butter or bean puree
• 1 3/4 Cup  water
• 1 tsp vanilla (or 1/2 tsp of vanilla powder)

Heat oven to 350 degree F.  Grease bottom and sides of 9×13 pan, two 9×9 pans,  or two 8×8 round pans.  Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then beat on high speed 3 minutes.  Pour into prepared pans and bake 9×13 35-40 minutes, 9-inch 25-30 minutes, 8-inch rounds 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Public Domain Image

Everyday Food Storage suggests these variations:  Add 1 Cup freeze dried fruit hydrated in the 1 3/4 Cup water to make it fruit flavored.  OR my variation: add some fruit jam which you made yourself in-between the layers of cake! You can also experiment with adding jello or kool-aid to flavor and color your cake mix.

Click here for a Chocolate Cake Mix recipe also from Everyday Food Storage!

Do you stock boxed mix or make it from scratch?  I hear about people making cake from scratch less and less these days, it is truly becoming a rarity.  Also let me know if you give this a try!

The Dollar Value of a Garden

By Stephanie Dayle, via The American Preppers Network

One of the most self-sufficient steps you can make, is to start a garden and relearn that life saving skill at one time all Americans knew; how to grow your own food.  But have you ever wondered if you are really saving any money working away the summer in your garden?  I even hear preppers claim that they aren't really saving any money.  Society has become so good at avoiding what seems like ‘work’ we can reason our way out of almost anything, can’t we? Even something as beneficial as gardening. So let’s address some of these issues.

At face value, the National Gardening Association (NGA) estimates that the average garden plot of 600 square feet produces an average of $600 worth of produce.  But some people would think that’s a fairly conservative figure especially if you take the value of ‘organic’ local produce into account.  That figure may be closer to $2000 per 600 feet (Off The Grid News).  Now if one uses those numbers; a single acre could theoretically produce nearly $50,000 worth of organic veggies, fruits, and nuts per season (Off the Grid News).  How is that figure for you naysayers?!  Now that figure isn’t based on 600 square feet producing a couple of tomatoes plants, and some cucumbers or squash you’ll snack on only during the summer, it’s based on that 600 square feet producing absolutely as much as possible and you preserving what it produces - eating that during the winter instead of running to the grocery store every week.  Also bare in mind, that when food prices go up so does the value of a home garden.

“Water and irrigation costs money.”

Making use of rain catches, and/or a drip system you can significantly reduce your cost to water the garden.  The rain gutters on your home can be run into rain barrels, when the spring rains slow you can then use that water to supplement what you are already using for your garden.

“Good seeds every year are expensive.”

Invest in heirloom seeds; learn the skill of saving seeds and you will have a renewable garden every year, except for specialty items.  Hybrid seeds are what is most commonly sold in most stores unless they are marked as otherwise, hybrid seeds are not genetically modified seeds, but they are seeds that resulted from the crossing of two different inbred parent plants.  So the resulting offspring may or may not reproduce.  Therefore seeds may not grow and if they do, the resulting plants may not be as bountiful as the original parent plants that you enjoyed so much.  So while there is no real harm in growing hybrid seeds,  heirloom seeds tend to be the better option for cost saving and sustainability. 

“Fertilizer and pesticides cost money too.”

By going organic you avoid chemicals that could be harmful to you and your pets in the long run, and you also lower your costs.  Compost – the ‘gardeners gold’ can be made by you for nothing but a little time.  A quick search over at the APN forum will provide you with all the information you need to have your own bountiful organic garden. It may take some time to get your soil in line but once that is done you will reaping the rewards of a little hard work for years to come.

“My time is worth money too.”

Think of your garden as an investment on the above mentioned garden value.  Nothing is free.  Rather than spending your time inside on the computer, you could be outside enjoying the weather and getting a little exercise.  Instead of running children around to activities that they don’t enjoy nearly as much as they enjoy spending time with you; spend the time outdoors in the garden with them. Teach them how care for plants, veggies and ultimately themselves.  I don’t think you can put a dollar sign on an entire family learning a survival skill and spending time together.  To me, that, is money well spent.

“Then I will have to spend money on all the stuff I need to preserve the food.”

You can find most of the equipment you need to freeze, dry, and can your own food at fairly affordable prices in thrift stores, on Craigslist, and at yard sales.  Most of this equipment is reusable; there is no reason to buy new if you don't want to.  Again, this will be an investment, every year you grow a garden and put away food that equipment will pay for itself.

When it's all said and done, growing a garden and storing the food you produce is one of the best things you can do to bring your monthly food bill down, and to protect yourself from possible future food shortages.  Don’t just store food away for emergencies, use it everyday.  In the winter eat your home canned and dehydrated veggies instead of buying them at the store.  Some experts say that the average gardener can cut their monthly grocery bill by more than half by making wise use of their garden produce (Off the Grid News).

During World War II, it’s estimated that over 20 million Americans planted Victory Gardens due to a massive effort to take the pressure off the food industry so they could produce cheaper food for our military overseas.  They eased the sting of food rationing.  Victory Gardens provided about almost as much vegetables produced during that time as the food industry during normal production.  Gardeners who didn’t have room for their own garden made use of containers, vacant lots, building rooftops, balconies and other public spaces. Today, gardeners are starting to do the same once again discouraged by skyrocketing food prices, tasteless pesticide laden food, and bio-tech vegetables.

Learning how to garden is easy once you make the decision to do it.  Contact your local extension office and garden clubs for classes and free information on how to grow a garden in your area.

Click Here to See a Survival Seed Kit - having a back up seed kit stored is the next best thing to having your own garden now.  While it's always important to learn how to garden first, a survival seed kit is there if you need it.

10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Store Oats

Post by Stephanie Dayle - via The American Preppers Network

And eat them too!

Oats are one of those storage foods people LOVE to ignore.  I can’t even get my own husband to eat them.  Since we both came from rural areas and grew up with the same self-reliant and frugal values, I couldn’t understand this.  I love oats!  Why would anyone not like oats?  Soon I learned it wasn’t just him, but mostly everyone else I ran into.  I am convinced that most people who don’t like oats are running into one of two main problems.  They never had them prepared correctly to begin with; and/or they just don’t know what to do with them other than make oatmeal.  I am going to solve these problems with you today.  Oats are an extremely valuable item to put in your food stores and an incredibly healthy addition to your diet and here’s why:

1. Oats Store Exceedingly Well: Oats, especially in their slightly modified form of groats, and steel-cut oats – will last a LONG, LONG time and still deliver life-sustaining nutrition.  How long?  Studies performed at BYU have shown oats to still deliver “life-sustaining nutrition” for over 30 years if stored correctly.  Click here to see an article on Dry Canning – which would be the only way to safely store them long-term.  Even the more processed form of Rolled Oats or Traditional Oats will store 20+ years if stored correctly, Provident Living’s website claims 30 years.  However, processing oats shortens their storage life, so the more processed they are, the shorter their shelf life.

Ready to soak overnight

2. Oats Can be Easily Prepared Without Power:  A supply of rolled oats can be prepared in many different ways.  The most common and easy way, is to boil them.  This can be accomplished easily by setting your oats in water and a hint of lemon juice or vinegar overnight to soak(This makes them easier to digest and they will cook up so much nicer for you), the next morning your pre-soaked old-fashioned oats will cook up as easily as quick oats, this also saves on fuel for cooking.  For the slow cooking of steel-cut oats or even rolled oats you can use a Dutch Oven with an ample supply of water.  Place in a bed of coals, use charcoal briquettes, or use a kitchen oven on top of your wood stove.  The sealing lid of the Dutch Oven locks in moisture and prevents the oatmeal from drying out.  Or like in Scottish Haggis, it can be stuffed inside of various meats and used as a binder or stuffing.  They can also be enjoyed as a drink that has been around for ages and the nice thing about the drink is that you still get many of the health benefits from the oats.  You can also use oats to make your own granola as a snack or travel food (again you can do this with your Dutch Oven if need be click here to see an article on Choosing and Seasoning a Dutch Oven).  Lastly, oats in the form of whole oats (with the hulls intact) can be sprouted in a matter of 3 days or so and eaten as lovely nutrient rich sprouts.

Sweet Cinnamon Oak Drink
• 1 C Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1 (4-inch) Cinnamon Stick, Broken into Chunks
• 4 C Water
• Sugar or Honey to taste
In a large pitcher, soak the oats, cinnamon and water for a minimum of one hour, preferably three.

Oatmeal

Blend the mixture (remove the cinnamon stick) in a blender.  Strain and sweeten to taste.  Serve well-chilled or over ice.

Slow Cooker Oat Meal from Food Network’s Good Eats

• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried figs (or fruit of your choice)
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup half-and-half

In a slow cooker (or Dutch Oven), combine all ingredients and set to low heat.  Cover and let cook for 8 to 9 hours (mine looked pretty good after 4 hours but I would not have hesitated to cook them longer) stir them to check for burning or drying and add more water if needed.  If you are using a slow cooker (electric crock pot) method it works best if started before you go to bed.  This way your oatmeal will be finished by morning.

3.  Oats are Higher in Protein Than Wheat or Rice:  Oat protein is 16.9 g to that of even Brown Rice at  7.94 g.  Oat protein is almost equal to soy protein, which research has shown is equal to meat, milk, and egg protein (a bonus for those of us who don’t like soy).  The protein content of the different forms of oats ranges from 12 to 24%, the highest among cereals making oats an excellent choice to store as a survival food for times when other sources of protein are scarce.

4.  Oats Make You Feel Fuller Longer:  Oats contain more soluble fiber than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion and an extended sensation of fullness.  Staying fuller longer could come in handy when food is scarce.

5.  Oats Will Help Control Blood Sugar and Cholesterol:  Oats contain complex carbohydrates which help stabilize blood sugar and the before mentioned soluble fiber slows the absorption of glucose.  The soluble fiber in oats has also been proven to lower bad cholesterol  (LDL) by essentially taking it out with trash as it moves through and out of your system so to speak.  Oats could be one of your only tools in treating someone with high cholesterol in a prolonged emergency when they do not have access to their statin drugs and oats could be one of many dietary tools for helping to manage blood sugar levels (assuming you don’t smother the oats in sugar).

6.  Oats Can be Used as a Meat Expander: During the depression, many families added oats to their meat when grinding and cooking it to make it go further and to keep everyone fuller a little longer.  A favorite place to add oats was and still is to meat loaves as oats tend to take on the flavor of whatever they are cooked with.

7.  Oats Can be Grown Where Wheat Cannot:  Oats are grown in temperate regions.  They have a lower summer heat requirement and greater tolerance of rain than other cereals such as wheat, rye or barley.  They could be grown in areas with cool, wet summers, such as the Northwest.  As an example to their hardiness, they are being grown successfully in Iceland.  Oats also do not require weeding as they usually choke out most weeds.  Whole oats can be planted as seeds.

8.  Oats Can be Ground Into Flour:  Groats are a good choice for flour making, but you can also use old-fashioned rolled oats.  Rolled oats can be turned into oat flour with a strong food processor while groats will require a grain mill.  Oat flour adds the health benefit of oats to any baked good.  Oat flour, if coming from a wheat-free facility, can also help fill the holes in a gluten-free diet.  If wheat becomes more scarce, oat flour may become its substitute.

9.  Oats are Inexpensive and Versatile:  Beside all the uses you’ve read about so far, left over oatmeal can be made into a simple homemade oat bread.  Click here to view the recipe.  Not only does this save money, but it adds nutrition and depth of flavor to your bread.  Oats are relatively inexpensive due to their use as livestock feed and their unpopularity as people food.  When compared to other high protein grains, oats are rather inexpensive making it an important choice for food storage.  Now is a good time to stock up on oats.

10.  Oats Can Double as an Animal Feed:  Complex carbohydrates, in oats, have been providing energy to livestock for a very long time.  Horses were the reason humans started cultivating oats.  They can be fed to horses, cows, dogs (in the form of oatmeal), chickens, goats, sheep and almost every other farm animal.

5 Types of Oats and Why it Matters!

Whole Oats - These oats are usually straight from the field and still have a hull.  You usually can only get these from a feed or farm supply store.  Unless you have the means to remove the hull I would not recommend getting them unless you want them as animal feed or as seed – if you do buy them and want to use them as food, make sure they have not been treated with any kind of chemicals or poison.

Groats - These are oats with the hull removed, but are still difficult to come by.  they can be found in co-ops and health food stores.  They take a very long time to cook up, and remain hard and unpleasant to eat – BUT they are excellent if you want to grind them into flour with your home grain mill.  You could also run them through your steel burrs if you have them on your grain mill, on a course grind and make your own version of steel-cut oats, which makes a very nice porridge.  These are fairly difficult to grind without practice however, so another option would be if you have a roller mill or roller mill attachment for your meat grinder or KitchenAid, you can make your own old-fashioned rolled oats from groats.

Steel Cut Oats
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Steel Cut Oats - These are oats that have been cut by steel blades into small pieces.  They cook up finer and quicker than groats to make a nice porridge, and many people say that flavor from steel-cut oats is better than the old-fashioned rolled oat porridge we know as “oatmeal.”  They are also known as Irish Oats or Pinhead Oats.  Cooking time on Steel cut oats is 35-60 minutes if not longer.

Rolled Oats or Old Fashioned Oats - Are a processed version of groats.  They are groats that have been steamed and rolled flat to speed up cooking time to around 10-15 minutes in boiling water.

Quick Oats - Once again these are groats that have been steamed, but they have been rolled even thinner to decrease cooking time even more to 3-5 minutes in boiling water.  Once oats are processed to this extreme they start losing some of their nutritional value as the processing methods begin to damage the soluble fiber within the oats.

Rolled Oats
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Instant Oats - these are oats, usually quick oats, that have been pre-cooked and then dehydrated.  You only need to add hot water to these oats for a finished product.  They do not store well at all and are the least nutritious of all the different forms of oats, but they still have a well deserved spot in your Bug Out Bag, or your 72 hour kit.  Flavored Quaker Instant Oatmeal is this type of oats.

And let’s not forget about oatmeal cookies!! While not vital to survival they sure are good and would serve as a nice easy to make comfort food – click here for a wheat free oatmeal cookie recipe!

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