November 4, 2007

Flavored Rice Mixes

Let’s kick off this section of the website with instant or dried foods. These make the best emergency foods you can find.

By using some of the already "instant" or "dried" food items like potatoes, rice and noodles, I'm able to do my long-term storage preparations without a great deal of time commitment.

A couple of weeks ago, the large bags of dried soup by Bear Creek were on sale. I bought several then "beefed" them up and instead of 8 servings per bag ended up with 16 to 24 and vacuum sealed them in one-serving portions.

Any combination will work, it all depends on what you are like eating. I've even made those boxed pasta meals (fettucini alfredo) and then dehydrated the leftovers. Then I chop it in the blender or food processor and vacuum seal about 1/2 c. to package. That works best when it is re-hydrated in boiling water (ratio of 2:1 - twice as much water as dried mix)

Some of the dried noodles can have sharp edges (ramen, especially) that when vacuum sealed will eventually poke a hole in the bag, breaking the seal. I suggest using coffee filters to put the dried mix in before placing in the vacuum seal bags.

For instance: the Broccoli Cheese Soup, I added about two cups of instant rice, tossed in a 16 oz bag of frozen/dehydrated chopped broccoli, a T or two of chicken bouillon powder, 1 - 2 Cups of chopped or dehydrated chicken.

White rice dries really well, and I've even dried leftover red beans and rice, but mainly toss that into the C-P to rehydrate or to add into a crock of soup. I've bought some of the Knorr and Maggi packets but mainly just to check out the ingredient lists and play around with trying to duplicate the mixes.  I'd had a few flops but mostly the homemade mixes are pretty good.

Usually I just pour boiling water over the mix and let it steep for 5 minutes or so. Then I'll just zap the mug in the microwave for a few minutes until piping hot. By then, any meat or seafood, and the rice or spaghetti has been re-hydrated.  With a single serve thermos, you could then skip the microwave step.

Chicken Corn Ramen

4 pkgs chicken ramen, broken, use seasoning packets, also

1 16 oz pkg of frozen corn, dehydrated

6-10 chicken thighs, pressure cooked, shredded, dehydrated and ground up in a blender to smaller pieces

1/2 c (or so) of dehydrated onion

salt, pepper, other seasonings

Potato Seafood Chowder

4-6 C of potato flakes

16 oz pkg of frozen peas, dehydrated

6 small cans of tuna, dehydrated and ground to pieces smaller than an inch

Salt, pepper

2 C of powdered milk

Other seasonings as desired, including dehydrated onion and garlic powder

Note: 2 lg cans salmon dehydrated can be substituted for the tuna

Keep in mind that poultry should be precooked to 160° before drying because of the risk of Salmonella. I don't dry poultry specifically for making jerky, I just like to dry any leftover chicken or turkey rather than packing it for the freezer. I just soak the slices for a few hours or overnight in a nice marinade or even just teriyaki sauce if I'm making chicken jerky for a snack. If I plan on using the chicken in soup mixes, I just cut the slices into little cubes (about the size you'll find in a can of Campbell's) before giving them a soak. You really don't even need to marinade the little chunks, can just slice them and dry them plain.

If I'm drying the chicken (or teriyaki salmon) for snacks, I dry it just until its still soft and pliable and store it in the fridge. If I want the chicken for mixes (or the salmon, surimi, tuna, and salad shrimps that I toss in Old Bay before drying) I dry them until they are very brittle so that they are shelf stable without refrigeration.

I keep jars of them in the pantry, vacuum sealed of course, and they can all just be tossed into a mix recipe.

Even if I'm home and just heating up a noodle bowl, I'll "beef" it up with chicken, shredded jerky, or fish, and maybe dried greens, especially spinach which re-hydrates very quickly.

Chicken Rice Broccoli Soup

3-4 c of instant rice

3-4 T of powdered chicken bullion

16 oz pack of frozen chopped broccoli, dehydrated

1 c of dehydrated chopped onion

Garlic, pepper

2 c. dehydrated mushroom slices

Beefy Tomato Ramen

4 beef ramen, with seasoning packets

1-2 c of finely chopped beef jerky

16 oz frozen vegetables, dehydrated

dehydrate onion flakes

garlic powder

1-2 c of dehydrated cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in half before dehydrating)

1 c of dehydrated mushroom slices

2 C of dehydrated black beans