stocking-up - ideas, thought plus homemade fruit roll-up directions

[Guest guest]

After losing electric for two weeks last year down here in FL. I am

always picking up extra canned foods. There is a great website that

sells bulk food for stockpiling...I was looking for a mill for

grinding wheat when I came across this. I erased my favorites since

then though.

 

Whole wheat flour will go rancid! It lasts a little longer when

stored in the fridge, but will not last long on a shelf. And check

expiration dates, some stuff doesn't last as long as you think it

does i.e baking powder, perioxide

 

When canned soups are on sale I buy as many as allowed. I try to eat

healthy during normal life, but when you're stuck...you will eat

those MSG laden soups. Spaghettos for the kids. Lots of bottled

water. Apple sauce lasts for a long time.

 

The MREs Meal Ready to Eat from the armed forces have a few

vegetarian meals:) and they actually don't taste bad. Army/Navy

stores and other camping type stores have a version of these. They

have a lot of food/calories/nutrients and are really cool to cook.

You use just a little water to heat this carbon? pack.

 

WATER is a big thing. I think they say a gallon a day/person - I'm

thinking it may be more.

 

You can make fruit roll ups in your oven:

 

SUPPLIES:

Fresh, canned, or frozen fruit

Blender

Non-stick baking sheets*

Non-stick baking spray (e.g. PAM is a commercial brand)

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Wash and prepare fruit.

 

2. Puree fruit in blender until it is very smooth. To make a leather

that is 18 inches x 14 inches x ¼ inches, you will need about two and

a half cups of puree.

 

3. Add as little water or juice as possible when pureeing.

 

4. You may now add any sweetening or spices … but beware, the more

liquid in your puree, the longer it will take to dry. You don't have

to use processed sugar for sweetening; try honey, cane syrup,

molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc. (See below for more ideas on

flavorings and spices).

 

5. Lightly spray the baking sheet with non-stick spray.

 

6. Pour the puree onto the prepared sheet.. Slightly tilt the tray to

spread the puree around evenly. You could also make 4 to 6 inch size

pancake shapes instead of one huge sheet.

 

7. At this point, you make garnish your leather if you desire (see

below for variations).

 

8. Preheat your oven to about 150 degrees (no higher as you will cook

the fruit rather than dry it). Note: below is an option if your fruit

leather dries too long that is really good.

 

9. Put your baking sheet in the oven and prop the oven door open. The

drying is going to take a long while … the time depends on how much

moisture is in your puree.

 

10. Remove the leather from the sheet while it is still warm and roll

it up. Or, before you roll it up you could spread a filling on the

leather and then roll it, this makes for a great variation and

suggestions can be found below.

 

STORAGE: For very short term storage of about a week, cut the rolled

leather into bite sized pieces, lightly dust with cornstarch, and

wrap in plastic wrap. And then store the plastic wrapped bites in air

tight storage containers. Store in a cool, dry, dark place such as a

pantry. For longer storage, store the prepared bite-sized rolls in

air tight storage containers and store in refrigerator or freezer.

Rolls that contain nuts or coconut need to be stored in the freezer.

 

FRUIT LEATHER CHIPS: If your fruit leather dried too long it may

become brittle and crack as you try to peel it off the baking sheet.

Don't despair about wasted effort and wasted fruit … this can be

turned into a good thing! You can crush this and use it as toppings

for ice cream, yogurt, milk shakes, or hot breakfast cereals … even

cold breakfast cereals get a tasty boost from this. These chips can

also be reconstituted and used as baby food or in baby cereal … just

make sure that you've soaked or crushed the chips enough so that

there are no sharp edges left.

 

VARIATIONS: Spices – allspice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger,

mace, mint, nutmeg, pumpkin or apple pie spice blends.

Flavorings – almond extract, lemon extract or juice or peel, lime

juice or peel, orange extract or juice or peel, vanilla flavoring,

etc. Garnishes – shredded coconut, chopped dates, chopped dried

fruit, granola, miniature marshmallows, chopped nuts, chopped

raisins, sunflower or poppy or sesame seeds, etc.

Fillings – melted chocolate, softened cream cheese, processed cheese

spreads, fruit fillings made from jams or jellies, marmalade,

marshmallow cream, peanut butter, etc.

 

 

*I've given you directions for drying fruit in an oven; however, you

can sun dry fruit as well (just figure out a way to keep the insects

off of it until it is completely dried. Or, you can use a dehydrator.

Not too long ago, people would get these as wedding gifts as often as

they used to get fondue pots. You can sometimes find these at yard

sales when people get tired of them taking up cabinet space. I have

one myself and have found it very useful that was inexpensively

purchased from a major discount store chain. The plus of using a

dehydrator is that your foods will dry quicker thereby retaining more

nutrients … and you are less likely to over dry them.

 

Found this on the internet.

 

Nicole the new girl

[Guest guest]

> Whole wheat flour will go rancid! It lasts a little longer when

> stored in the fridge, but will not last long on a shelf. And check

> expiration dates, some stuff doesn't last as long as you think it

> does i.e baking powder, perioxide

 

Yeah, lots of storage programs focus on whole grain wheat, which lasts

much better than rolled grains, flakes, or flours. But then you do

need a roller and/or a grinder (both on my list of things to acquire!)...

 

{fruit rollups]

The thing to be careful of when sundrying is the ambient humidity...

if the air is moist, your fruit could easily mold before it dries.

[Guest guest]

--- Nicole,

 

welcome to group and thanks for info : ). I have a deep freeze for

grains and flours. I would like to get a small grain grinder for fresh

flour as hubby broke my other one. we do have a few MRE's around here--

hubby is National Guard and collects them from time to time on weekend

drills. they aren't horrid but........... your ideas are good though

and fruit roll-ups might be a fun project with kids on a weekend--they

love them but Emily can't have food dyes so all-fruit ones would be

excellent for her : ). take care and welcome again : )....

 

Anne