33 year old Mountain House Beef Stew (A Taste Test...)

I have to admit something right here folks...I chef Tess, ate food that was put in this can by Mountain House when I was four years old. I'm not 15. Try 37.  Simple math aside...that's a little scary.  Not me being 37...but the freeze dried stew being 33 years old. Let's not get into my age here...because it appears I have broken the unwritten law of never actually revealing that holy number.  While we're all about admitting deep dark secrets... I have also have to admit that I was a little nervous about eating said "food-item". I thought that freeze dried beef was a relatively new thing but Troy and Tracey down at the store brought this to my attention and I am happy to report that I am now enlightened and... still alive. I'm not blind or puking my guts out. I feel great. I may give it a few more days...No, really. That's the point. I'm not kidding when I say it either...it was actually not too shabby.

Ingredient list...

Looking at the actual contents of the can surprised me a bit. I was expecting a lot less color. I was also expecting a lot less flavor.

I added the customary boiling water.

Put a lid on it. No comments from the peanut-gallery about me and "putting a lid on it."

Waited the customary 10 minutes...and look.

 Taste and texture were like regular beef stew. Not too smooshy. Flavor was mild. Perfect for most regular folks who don't like a lot of "fluff" and snazzy new flavors. It was straight forward son-of-a-gun stew. Who knew that 33 year old freeze dried stew would still not only cook fine, but taste good too?  Makes me want to buy some for the next 30 years! Mind you...in 30 years, I will never admit that I am *still* 37. You can quote me. I'll be just as well preserved as that stew...I can only hope.
There you go.

Chef Tess' Taco Soup Mix using NEW Instant Beans! And Product Review!

 We got something new in the store! Ooo-Laaa-Laaa!  Super cool INSTANT beans. What's the difference? Well...Our THRIVE Instant Red Beans will help you spend less time in the kitchen. Boiling dried beans can sometimes take hours, but with THRIVE Instant Beans you can prepare great meals in no time at all. Whether you use our instant beans for homemade refried beans, Boston Baked Beans, or bean soup, you will know that you are using a quality, long-lasting product that is an excellent source of protein and fiber. That's a mouth-full huh?! In a nut shell... They taste like regular red beans but they cook up super quick! I'm totally in love with them...for a bean anyway. So here's a Chef Tess moment of glory...a dancing in the hallway-jumping for joy-food-storage-moment of glory...ready?


You want to know the other cool thing? It just got a whole lot easier to make soup mixes for food storage! In fact when I saw the instant beans I almost started squealing. I know you're thinking, "Geeeek alert!" Oh my gosh!!


 I think I may be one of the only people on earth who gets this excited about food storage technology. Well...Troy does too.  However, that being said, I had to share this great new recipe I've developed from an old favorite. It's adapted using instant beans. Instead of taking hours to cook in a crock pot, it takes just about 20 minutes! I'm super excited about it! Can you tell?! It can fit conveniently in a quart size jar so it's perfect for food storage!

Put a funnel on the mouth of a quart jar and measure as follows into the jar:

 2 cups THRIVE instant Red Beans
1 cup Taco TVP
1/2 cup Dehydrated Onion  
1/3 cup Freeze Dried Mixed Peppers  
3/4 cup Freeze Dried Corn  
1/2 cup Tomato Powder  
1T homemade taco seasoning


                    So, here's  a picture of my new boyfriend red bean. I love him them.

When you get to the tomato powder, just shake the jar so it works its way into the cracks.

Add an oxygen packet. Seal. Good on the shelf in a cool place up to 5-7 years.  To prepare, place contents of jar in a gallon pot in a solar oven or on the stove. Add 2 quarts of water and simmer 20-30 minutes until veggies are tender. Serve with nacho chips, sour cream and salsa if desired.

Coconut Lime Millet Breakfast Pudding (Pressure Cooker 101)

Isn't 

Millet Divinity?

 It's Monday. Oh how we love Monday. It's like a blessed reminder that we have another week to live. It's a glorious new start. It's...gosh...another week of meals. Now, imagine me whirling around on the hills of Austria like Julie Andrews singing , "The MEALS are Alive! with the sound of Music!"Fa la la la !! " Doesn't that make you feel better (or slightly nauseated) ? Monday's also the day I try to share some great way to use food storage and expand just a little on the whole grain, if I haven't done that every other day of the week. Dear land. I think this breakfast will totally count as that. It's a gluten free, dairy free, cream-a-licious pudding that isn't too sweet. I'm a push over for lime and coconut anyway. Millet is a natural couple for it I might add. I also cook it in a pressure cooker, so it's fast!  I'm doing a little tutorial pressure cooker usage too, so if you're a little new to the pressure cooker, join the fun. It's a handy dandy tool to have in your kitchen.

 This is Chef Tess everyone. I have to share some fun that I've had with this  Presto Electric Pressure Cooker .  It's such a handy tool! Did I say that already?!  I love that it doesn't take stove space. I've used it often so I thought I'd show how to cook the millet pudding in a pressure cooker using this model. If you have another brand, you'll have to use your pressure cooker's instructions, but they are all pretty similar.

Chef Tess Creamy Coconut Lime Millet Breakfast Pudding

2/3 cup millet,

 13.5 oz can coconut milk, 

1 cup water, 

zest of one lime,

 pinch of salt

1/2 tsp Wise Woman of The East Spice Blend, 

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup toasted coconut (optional)

 Place pressure cooker on a dry, level heat resistant surface in center of counter top. As s general rule, prepare ingredients according to the directions in the pressure cooking recipe you have selected. If larger quantity is desired, you may increase the ingredients by half. Be sure not to overfill the pressure cooker.  It's also very important to look through the vent pipe in the lid of the pressure cooker to be sure it is clear of any blockage. You don't want to find that out later when the heat is on.

 This little doo-hik-ee is called a "pressure regulator".  It goes on the top of the vent in the lid.

 Like this.

 On the handle and lid there are arrows that need to line up. Hold the body handle with your left hand and the cover handle with your right hand and twist using a slight downward pressure to get the lid to seal on. Wait. First put the pudding stuff in there.

 2/3 cup millet

 1 can coconut milk and 1 cup of water.

 pinch of salt

 add the  1/2 tsp Wise Woman of The East Spice Blend 
 and the 1/2 tsp vanilla

 Now align the arrows by placing one hand on the cover near the helper hand and applying a slight downward pressure. The pressure cooker is completely closed when the cover handle is directly above the body handle.

 This model shows it is locked.

 You will notice a little rubber knob on the top of the pressure cooker. It is an air vent.

 Turn up the heat to 400 degrees or high.

 The air vent will pop up and then...

The pressure regulator begins a rocking motion. Cooking time starts at this point. 12 minutes for this pudding. Allow the pressure regulator to rock vigorously for 1-2 minutes and then slowly turn the heat control down, stopping just at the point where the pilot light goes out. As cooking proceeds, the heat control will cycle on and off to maintain the proper cooking pressure. The pilot light will go on and off and pressure regulator will rock occasionally indicating that the pressure is being maintained. Note: If the pressure regulator does not rock every 2-3 minutes, it is likely that the heat control has been set too low. Turn the heat control up slightly until the the pilot light comes on.  

 To prevent excessive liquid loss, do not allow pressure regulator to rock vigorously for more than 3-4 minutes. If the regulator is allowed to continuously rock, excess steam will escape. This will cause too much liquid to escape and food to scorch.  Do not leave pressure cooker unattended.   After 12 minutes, turn off heat.

 Wait for pressure cooker to decompress naturally. This may take about 10 minutes.

 Remove pressure regulator only after air vent cover has returned to the flush position.

 The pudding is creamy and ready to be sweetened...

I use three droppers full of stevia.  Preparing Wisely carries this in the store but not online yet. It's by far my favorite brand of stevia since it doesn't have an a funny aftertaste like some of them do.  

 

Or you can use 1/3 cup or so of 

Xagave Raw Organic Agave Nectar  

I like my coconut crispy. It's a nice crunch on top of the creamy pudding.  So I stir in the lime zest and sprinkle the coconut over the pudding.

 We serve it up warm.

There you go! Happy Moday!!

How to Use Tomato Powder

Last week I did a segment on  Valley Dish making a classic family favorite of ours. Eggs poached in tomato sauce.  I can't even tell you how much fun I had adapting this recipe to use...tomato powder! 

I did a post on Eggs in Tomato Sauce...and World Peace and in it I shared this  Israeli Egg dish called shakshuka. It seemed time for me to adapt it using food storage, since I loved it so much!   It also seemed like a perfect time to introduce folks to the basic "how to" on Tomato Powder  tomato powder.  Each #10 can has almost 50 1/4 cup servings, so it's very good for maximizing your space in food storage situations.  

 I had to giggle when one of my dear friends said to me, "What the heck-fire do you do with tomato powder?!" Well...I'm here to tell you that you use it anywhere you use tomato paste, tomato sauce, or tomato juice.  The perk is that it is shelf stable for up to 10 years! So no more throwing away cans of tomato sauce that have gone bad, burst, or had the acid eeek through them.  

Right off the can of Thrive Tomato Powder  it says, "Substitute  Tomato Powder in any dish that calls for tomato paste or sauce. It's perfect for stews, soups, Italian sauces, caseroles or pasta. Easily create homemade spaghetti sauce or put together a steaming soup with tomato powder. THRIVE Tomato Powder can be rehydrated with a ratio of 1 part powder to 4 parts water, though this ratio can be altered to reach desired consistency for various recipes."

1⁄4  cup + 1⁄2  cup water= 6 oz.tomato sauce or 

3⁄4  cup tomato paste

 1/4 cup Dehydrated Onion, 1/4 cup dehydrated bell pepper (available in the store), 2 tsp granulated garlic.

 

Added 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp black pepper (fresh ground).  I store my spice seeds whole so the shelf life is about quadruple what the ground spice shelf life is.  Just a handy little tip.  Added 1T paprika.

Add the spices to 1/2 cup tomato powder and 2 cups water for a thin tomato sauce.

I poached the 8 eggs in the sauce combination about 12 minutes and sprinkled generously with Kosher Salt...The Real Stuff sea salt.

Use tomato powder anywhere you use tomato sauce. From Pizza to ketchup...it's a great way to add tomato to your food storage!


It would be easy to make a meal mix using the 1/2 cup tomato powder, 1/4 cup onion, 1/4 cup bell pepper, 2 tsp garlic, 1 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Put in a half pint jar and seal. To use for dinner:

 Just add 2 cups water until well combined.  Put in a pan and cook over medium heat, cracking eggs into the tomato sauce and cooking 12 minutes.