Saturday, November 19, 2011

Nutritional Information on Wheat Berries

Quoting Denise Santoro Lincoln on Bay Area Bites:

Okay, here's the health info. According to a smarty pants nutritional study at Harvard (Susan's Note: You should really go check that out!), there is a "connection between eating whole grains and better health." Eating wheat berries and other whole grains lowers your risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. These grains additionally offer modest protection against colorectal cancer ... They are full of fiber, protein and iron.

Nutrition:

Per 1/2 cup:
  • 151 calories;
  • 1 g fat ( 0 g sat , 0 g mono );
  • 0 mg cholesterol;
  • 29 g carbohydrates;
  • 0 g added sugars;
  • 6 g protein;
  • 4 g fiber;
  • 265 mg sodium;
  • 2 mg potassium.

Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Exchanges: 2 starch

More Ideas for Cooking with Food Storage

Did you think I disappeared forever? Nah. I took a trip to South Dakota to clean out a store room of things that were left there the fall before Paul died. But now I'm back! I'm finding all kinds of opportunities to substitute food storage items for the things I buy at the store normally. The powdered eggs are about $1.14/dozen, which is cheaper than my local stores sell fresh ones. Since I do like the egg yolk, not just the whites, and since I don't like fried eggs, this works just fine for me. In scrambling the Thrive eggs, I can't tell the difference. I toss in my favorite additives, and they are yummy.

Cookies, breads, any kind of cooking that requires eggs, I haven't found a significant difference in taste or texture. To be honest, I haven't found any at all. I mix the egg first and then put it in the recipe.

The Taco TVP has replaced entirely the hamburger I used to use for tacos, for chili, and for anything else that requires cooked ground beef. I haven't tried it in meatloaf yet, but I'm contemplating replacing at least half the ground beef in that. The Ingles near me grinds up steaks each morning - not that they are old steaks or expiring, but they cut new ones each day - and the hamburger is 95% fat free. Still, I figure it can't hurt, and I'll have to figure out the cost to see how that works out.

Freeze-dried vegetables work wonderfully in soups, stews and casseroles. The fruits and the yogurt bites make great snacks. I'm still not convinced I want to stock the freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches. No you don't add water to those. It's just that I don't think I'll get that desperate for ice cream. I know people who love them, though, not as ice cream, but as a sweet snack - almost a cookie.

So I'm finding more and more ways to use the food storage, and I want to move further and further in that direction. It requires planning ahead, because I don't live in American Fork and can't run over to their facility if I let myself run out of something. But planning? Yes, I can do that!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Shelf Reliance Party

I had a Shelf Reliance/Thrive party at my house a week or so ago (and then took a trip to South Dakota, hence the long time span before I posted about it!), and it was delicious. My friends and I enjoyed the sample foods our consultant fixed, and seeing how easy it is to incorporate the foods into our daily cooking.

We had scrambled eggs with sausage and peppers, all Thrive products. We also had chicken salad. That was interesting because she mixed all the dried ingredients and it was warm. Then we stuck it in the freezer to cool while she made the eggs, and then she just added mayo to the cooled ingredients. I can't put the recipe up here, because it isn't mine, but I do have a wonderful one I'm going to put up tomorrow - a Christmas cake!


We also tried the dried ice cream sandwiches - very interesting textures - and yogurt bites. If I order those, I'll be eating the whole can in one sitting, I'm sure! I'd have to measure out a quarter cup, then put the rest under lock and key and give the key to my neighbor!

You know the time of packing on the pounds for the holidays is coming. I'm looking for recipes which will be healthy, delicious, and made from home storage foods. Let's see how many I can find!