~~~

My name is LeGay Burrell. I am a stay-at-home Mom to three children ages 17, 10, and 8.  I currently live in Kentucky but I am an Arizona girl, born and raised.  I have this silly obsession with Mason jars.  I love how they look on a shelf, the popping sound they make when they seal… so the idea of meals in a jar is very appealing to me.  Moving to Kentucky, where tornado warnings are not uncommon, has helped me to realize how important it is that I become more organized and prepared to feed my family in an emergency.

I was so excited to receive the Soup in a Bag cookbook! I liked it so much, that I immediately ordered both Bread in a Bag cookbooks to go with it.  I love soups but my three children aren’t big fans.  So, I’ve begun the search for a recipe that will please them.  So far, I’ve managed to try 8 out of the 30 recipes. (My dehydrator has been working overtime.)  Now, instead of the usual, “What’s for dinner?” my kids are asking, “Are we having soup again?”

***

We’ve tried the following soups: Chicken Chili Lime Soup, Italian Pasta Soup, Corn Potato Cheddar Chowder, Cajun Potato Stew, White Bean Soup, Alphabet Soup, Spanish Rice Soup, and Potato Cheese Soup.  I listed them in the order of my favorites.  However, my favorites were not the family favorites.

Corn Potato Chowder 

The soup that managed to please the whole family (almost) would have to be the winner and that was the Corn Potato Chowder. The “add-in” of evaporated milk made it extra creamy and delicious.  I did leave the pepper out of the recipe in order to prevent whining from my younger children but that was easy enough for me and the husband to add back in afterwards.

Corn Potato Cheddar Chowder

In Mylar bag:

1 oxygen absorber packet

1 cup dried potato cubes

1 cup dried corn

1 TBS dried onion flakes

Add-in:

1 TBS olive oil

5 1/2 cups water (3 1/2 boiling)

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

In baggie inside Mylar bag:

1/4 cup dry cheddar cheese powder

2 TBS butter powder

1/2 cup dry milk

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. Knorr chicken or vegetable bouillon

1 tsp. dried parsley

1/8 course ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. seasoned salt

To make:  

Discard oxygen absorber packet.  Pour dried potato chunks, dried corn and dried onion into a bowl.  Pour in 3 1/2 cups boiling water.  Stir well.  Let sit for 1 hour, covered. Vegetables should be tender.  In a cold cooking pot, pour 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk.  Add 1 TBS olive oil and 2 cups cold water.  Whisk to combine.  Add seasoning baggie and whisk again thoroughly.

Turn heat to medium and bring liquid to a boil for 1 minute, to thicken.  Do not increase cooking temperature.  Whisk continually to avoid the milk scorching on the bottom of the cooking pot.  Reduce heat to low.  Add in the rehydrated corn, potatoes and onion.  Stir well.  Cook for 5 minutes at a low simmer, stirring constantly.

Serve hot.

***

Italian Pasta Soup with Pesto Bread

2^nd place would have to go to the Italian Pasta Soup. My picky eaters didn’t love it as much as I did but they ate it.  I used smaller amounts of oregano, garlic, and pepper than the recipe called for and my children still thought there were too many spices. They can be really hard to please.  My favorite part of this soup was the parmesan topping. Yum!

Cajun Potato Stew

3^rd place would have to go to the Cajun Potato Stew.  This was my husband’s favorite.  He found it to be the most filling and full flavored.  This one is way too spicy for my younger ones though.  We definitely recommend adding the optional sausage.

So, I’m still on the search for the soups that will please everyone’s tastes but I have lots more to try.  I actually liked all of the soups except for the Potato Cheese Soup. I’ve discovered that I don’t like the taste of ham TVP, and the flavor is much too strong in this soup.  We’ll leave it out next time, and I’m sure everyone will love it.

(Most of these soups need additional salt for my taste, but that is easily added afterwards.)

Potato Cheese Soup with Ham and Cheese Scone

Chicken Chili Lime Soup

White Bean Soup

Spanish Rice Soup 

Alphabet Soup 

~~~

Hi, my name is Kat.  I’m the grandma in a three generation household in the Pacific Northwest.  I’ve been putting together our food storage a little bit at a time for quite a while as it’s recommended to do by my church.  It just seems like a great idea, especially with the state of the world today.  I work full time for an accounting firm and have a Stampin’ Up!  business (you’ll find me here), so I actually do very little cooking, but I do try to test a food storage recipe for our family food storage cookbook at least once a week.
***

I’ll eat almost anything, but my daughters and grandchildren are VERY picky.  I was so grateful to be chosen to test Soup in a Bag!  There is at least one good recipe in there for everyone in my family.  And I love the method the author uses to put the recipes together in advance.  The recipes and methods in the book fascinate me and I look forward to trying more of them out, and to putting together some bags for quick and easy meals (and maybe gifts). I loved reading the recipes, and now I want to try her other book Bread in a Bag.  

We tried Corn Potato Cheddar Chowder, Chicken Noodle Soup and Split Pea Soup. Most of my family refuses to try food storage recipes; they say they’ll eat them when they have too. These recipes helped to convince them food storage isn’t disgusting.

The first recipe we tried was the Corn Potato Cheddar Chowder. My granddaughter Leah really wants to learn to cook, so she was my assistant. She did most of the measuring and stirring and both of us loved how easy it was for her to cook with food storage.

I’ve been stocking up on freeze dried foods, but haven’t tested a lot of them. In fact, this was the first time we tried freeze dried corn.  I was amazed from the second the water hit the corn. It smelled like fresh picked corn, and after it was cooked it was way better than canned and better than a lot of frozen. Overall, we all thought the soup was wonderful and it will get made again. The only thing we will change about it is cooking the potatoes some before we add them to the soup. They either need more to rehydrate, or we just like them cooked more. The soup was really good.

The second recipe we tried was the Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, because chicken noodle soup is a family favorite and always good comfort food. My children (all adults) aren’t real fans of homemade soup and really think soup should come from a can, so I thought it would be good to try something they already liked. The recipe was really quick and easy. We didn’t have any issues with it, although I would have liked smaller noodles, but it wasn’t a big hit either. It’s definitely worth keeping, but won’t be a favorite.

The final recipe I tried was a treat for me. Split Pea Soup is one of my personal favorites and no one else in my house will touch it. I’ve been watching for a recipe I could adapt for food storage for quite awhile. I was really excited to find one already adapted! I loved how easy it was to make, and will definitely be packaging some bags of this for myself. It has great flavor, too. Next time I cook it though I will probably double the cooking time (to a whopping 30 minutes), as not all the peas were tender, and the ham could have used a little more rehydrating.   All in all, these soups have been a great addition to our food storage recipes. Thank you so much for the opportunity!

Split Pea Soup 

In Mylar bag:

1 oxygen absorber packet

1 cup split peas

Add-in:

4 cups water (2 boiling)

Optional:  chunks of canned ham

In baggie #1 inside Mylar bag:

4 tsp. Knorr chicken or vegetable bouillon

1/4 cup ham TVP (unless using canned or freeze dried ham)

1 TBS dried celery

1 TBS dried carrots

1 TBS dried onion

1/8 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

1 TBS butter powder

1/4 tsp. marjoram

1 bay leaf

Note:  do not add salt

To make:

Open Mylar bag.  Discard oxygen absorber packet.  Pour peas from Mylar bag into a bowl.  Add 2 cups boiling water and stir.  Let peas absorb water for 30 minutes.  Pour softened peas into a cooking pot.  Open baggie and pour all seasonings into the cooking pot.  Add 2 cups water and stir to combine.  Bring all to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer on low (or transfer to a wonder oven) for 15 minutes.  All vegetables should be tender.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

Without further ado, here’s our first reviewer, Julene (you’ll find the other reviews posted on Wed. and Fri).   Julene is also the author of Prepare Today Newsletter.  You can pay her a visit there to find out more of her tips and favorites on the subject of food storage and preparedness!

***

Being the mother of 5 I am always on the lookout for quick new ways to serve warm meals to my family.  I am also a preparedness junkie and when the book “Soup In A Bag” was offered to me to sample, I was ecstatic!  This book is not just for preparedness minded folks, it is a concept that will save so many families time and money in the kitchen.  In a day and age where fast food is mainstream this book will help those who want good, hearty, and healthy fast food for their families.

Olive Oil

Tomato Soup

Lite Coconut Milk/ Regular Coconut Milk 

Unsweetened Cocoa

Canned Tomatoes (diced and whole)

Canned Crab Meat

Jarred Pasta Sauce

Chicken Stock

Pepperoni Stick

Applesauce

Peanut Butter 

***`

Olive Oil

If there’s one product that makes me feel dizzy as I try to make a decision on it it’s this one.  Extra Virgin, cold pressed, from Italy, from Spain, from California, peppery, fruity…ugh.  I just want it to work well in my recipes and taste good.  Make it easy on me, will you?

Trader Joe’s Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil came in as best “bang for your buck” on a Serious Eats taste test.  There are some different TJ varieties to choose from; be sure to look specifically for this one.  Additionally, DaVinci Extra Virgin Olive Oil was a Cook’s Illustrated (CI) top choice, and once again, it fits my budget.  There are others recommended in the tests I found, but these were the most affordable/ easy to shop for.

Tomato Soup

Is there tomato soup beyond Campbells?  In a line up of eight tomato soups, Progresso’s Vegetable Classics Hearty Tomato won out in another CI taste test, not to be confused by the “Tomato Basil” variety in this same line; that one was not so popular with tasters, in fact it landed near the bottom.

Coconut Milk

Chaokoah brand won as best tasting “by far” when tested against seven other regular coconut milks.  In the light category, A Taste of Thai was preferred. (From a 1/07 CI taste test)

Unsweetened Cocoa

The results from this test were simple.  Rather than more expensive imported Dutch processed cocoas, tasters picked good old Hershey’s (click here for the summary).  Now I don’t have to wonder whether the cheaper choice is really the best or not!

Canned Tomatoes

Diced

In the diced category, Hunts Petite Diced was preferred  in this test  over Hunts Diced.  In a separate test (found here), plain “Hunts Diced” once again ended up at the bottom, while the preferred choice in this second test was Trader Joe’s Organic Diced Tomatoes.  Another good choice, according to this third test, is Muir’s Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes. (I’ve seen this last brand sold at Target and Kroger.)

Whole

This next canned tomato test was impressive.  There are some seriously determined people out there willing to do almost anything to find the best tasting tomato. In this test (which had actually two rounds;  round one can be found here and round two can be found here) a total of 30 brands were tested.  You can see the complete results in this spreadsheet.

The results were interesting.  Again, cost didn’t play into the favorites as much as you might think.  In fact, some of the most inexpensive brands won.  From the article:

“We tasted tomatoes that ranged from 99¢ to $12.80 a can. Cost per can did not have any impact on flavor. In fact, the lowest overall rating was awarded to the highest priced tomato. One of the top-performing tomatoes actually carried the second-lowest price tag!”

In the end (among many others I didn’t recognize — check the spreadsheet, you might recognize some from your region) favorites included Trader Joe’s brand and Cento Italian Style.

Canned Crabmeat

At over $5.00 a can, Miller’s Select Claw Crab Meat will need to do cartwheels for me to buy it on a large scale. I’ll let you know what happens with that.  Still, it was rated #1 in a Cook’s Illustrated taste test, while being the ONLY canned crab meat to make their cut.  This was enough to peak my curiosity just enough to be willing to spend the money to find out.  You can find this brand for sale at Target.

Jarred Pasta Sauce

Consumer Reports tested 20 jarred pasta sauces  (found here).  The best in their opinion?  Giada De Laurentiis’ Marinara (sold at Target).  Separately, in another taste test (not including the previous brand), Serious Eats tested six brands and chose Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce, also  a Target item.

Chicken Stock

Here we have three good “top tasted” choices to think about.  To begin, there’s Swanson’s Cooking Stock and Kitchen Basic’s Natural Cooking Stock.  These two brands both won out in a Serious Eats taste test, found here.  Additionally, Swanson’s Certified Organic 100% Natural Chicken Broth was a Cook’s Illustrated taste test’s most highly rated chicken stock.

Pepperoni Stick

This taste test tested out 6 brands of dried pepperoni, including the one I currently have stored, Bridgeford’s brand (which I use for this recipe and this recipe).  The brand I’ve been using actually scored middle of the road.  I’d like to try these others but I’ll have to do some more homework in order to find them.  As far as the taste test goes, for snacking, they liked:

#1: Vermont Smoke and Cure

#2: Margherita Italian Style

While for Pizza topping they liked:

#1: Boar’s Head Natural Casings 

#2: Margherita Stick

Applesauce

I’ve talked before about how smart it is to store applesauce.  It works as a “no-fix” side dish to go with your food storage recipes, plus you get the vitamin C.

In a Serious Eat’s taste test, Tree Top was what they called “undeniably the favorite”.  Separately, a Cook’s Illustrated taste test (not including Tree Top) tested 7 brands and the winner there was Musselman’s Lite Applesauce.  In this test, they say the tester’s raved over it against seven varieties (not including Tree Top), however, because it’s sweetened by the sugar substitute sucralose I’m probably not going to store it.

Peanut Butter

Needs to be Stirred

The more natural “needs stirring” peanut butter was taste tested against nine varieties.  The favorite (test found here) was Smucker’s Natural brand.

No-Stir

In the no-stir category Jif was the taster’s choice.

So, how did your favorite brands do??

First off, in my second post this week I’ll be posting a compilation of various grocery store ingredient taste tests.  Basically a directory of which brands (of which products) to consider more closely as you’re building your pantry.  This comes as I’ve been collecting this information for a while, trolling various published taste tests and adding up their results. My goal with this post has been to get a better picture of which brand’s products are worth stocking up on versus which ones aren’t.

Secondly, the “Soup in a Bag” reviews are back!!  With the detail in each tester’s trial, I’ve decided to post them each independently M-W-F of next week.  And, best of all, thanks to permission given from the book’s author, each post will include the tester’s favorite recipe for you to try yourself!  Awesome!!  Get ready to enjoy!

Speaking of soup, appropriately enough, swim team just started for my three oldest kids which means the water is freezing and I have kids coming home with blue lips and chattering teeth for the first few weeks.  So you can guess what’s on the menu a lot lately.  This homey soup is the food storage version of this recipe and went over well with everyone, even the five year old.

serves 6 -8

***

Ingredients:

8 cups water

2 (12.5 oz) cans chicken, chopped

1 (32 oz.) container chicken broth

2 TBS dried onion

3/4 cup pearl barley

3/4 cup freeze dried carrots

3/4 cup freeze dried celery pieces

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

1 tsp salt (optional, or to taste)

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. ground sage

***

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a pot and heat to boiling, covered.  Transfer to a wonder oven to continue cooking for 1 hour.  Serve.

***

Before chopping the chicken, add the liquid into the pot.  Chop the chicken and add in the other ingredients.

Once all is boiling and the lid is hot, transfer to continue cooking in a wonder oven or other thermal cooker for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Well, if ever there was an impossible pie, I’d give that title instead to this variation!  If you’d asked me even a year ago, I never in a million years would have thought this to be a possibility as a food storage recipe.  Thanks to discovering Honeyville’s OvaEasy Eggs, now it is.  And beyond that, it utilizes the heat retentive cooking of a wonder oven, which makes it a breakfast possibility even if the power is out.  You see, you can’t bake anything — for breakfast— if the power is out.  The sun isn’t out to heat your sun oven so you’re options are limited to cooking over a stovetop of some kind.  Not that hot cereal isn’t great, but it gets old like everything else.

This recipe exemplifies the idea that in using a wonder oven your pot and lid act as a “mini-oven”, just as in making bread, where you can still bake using just a minimal amount of stove top fuel if the power is out.

***

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1/8 cup minced onions

1/2 cup + 2 TBS freeze dried ham dices (+ 1/2 cup water for rehydrating) — or — 1 (4.5 oz) bag shelf stable bacon

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup freeze dried mozzarella cheese (+ 1/2 cup water for rehydrating)

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk (*this recipe uses 1 cup, so reserve 1/2 cup for another use)

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained –or– 1 1/2 cup freeze dried potato dices

1/2 cup Honeyville OvaEasy Egg Crystals mixed with 3/4 cup water (or 4 eggs)

1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

***

That’s right, I’m actually using minced onions today.  It’s their star debut here on the blog!  Just 1/8 cup is equal to about 1/3 cup fresh onion.

***

Instructions:

Rehydrate ham dices (with warm water) and potato dices if using.  While waiting, rehydrate the cheese.  To do this, pour cool water over the cheese in a shallow dish.  Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.  Drain any excess water and blot dry using paper towel.

In a small saucepan, heat the evaporated milk, corn (or rehydrated potato dices), Parmesan cheese, minced onions and diced ham to boiling.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.  Separately, mix the OvaEasy Egg Crystals with their water.  Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Grease both a 9 inch skillet and the inside of it’s lid with oil or baking spray.  Heat the pan with it’s lid on (empty) until both the pan and lid are hot.  Once the milk mixture is boiling, quickly add to the egg and flour mixture.  Add the prepared cheese, stirring, and immediately transfer all to the hot skillet.  Quickly smooth the top with a spoon, replace the hot lid and transfer to the wonder oven to cook for at least 90 minutes.

If baking in a standard oven, heating the milk mixture isn’t necessary.  Combine everything in a greased pie plate and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

***

I was surprised how good the freeze dried ham dices were!  This is the first recipe I’ve tried them in, having previously used canned.

Getting the cheese ready.  Just 3-5 minutes soaking time in cool water, then blot dry.

Heat 1 cup of the milk, the Parmesan cheese, drained corn and drained ham dices over medium heat until it boils.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour mixture and add the “eggs” to it.

Get your skillet ready by oiling or spraying it with cooking spray.  Remember also to spray the inside of the cooking lid.

Your milk mixture should be getting close to boiling now, so on another element, heat the skillet with it’s lid on (empty inside) until it’s really hot.

Once your milk mixture is boiling you want to work quickly so as not to lose the precious heat that’s going to bake everything.  Combine the milk mixture with the flour and egg mixture, stirring, and then add in the cheese.  Immediately pour everything into the hot skillet.  Smooth it out a little, if it needs it, but get your lid back onto it as fast as you can.

Replace the lid and move it all to the wonder oven to cook for at least (no peeking!) 90 minutes.

And here it is.  A wonderful cheesy quiche, now truly possible for your food storage plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

• Freeze dried Monterey Jack cheese would also work in this recipe if wanted.

• I tried this recipe a number of ways.  Traditionally, the ham, cheese and onion are layered before adding the egg and flour mixture.  This didn’t work in the wonder oven (it never set up) and I think it’s because the ham and corn (or insert your favorite vegetable) needed to be hot in order to stabilize the heat throughout the dish.  Also, making it without the corn didn’t work, there was too much air space left in the skillet which killed the heat.  So in substituting things, the volume is important as is mixing the “mix-ables” all together piping hot.  The egg obviously can’t be heated previous to being baked or we’d have scrambled eggs, but everything else that can be heated should be.

• Remember, this could be started the night before and be ready to eat first thing in the morning without any worries of it burning.  So long as the pillows in your wonder oven stay nestled around it, it’ll stay hot until you’re ready to eat!

serves 4-6 

Ingredients:

12 oz. thin spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 TBS sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 TBS rice vinegar

3 TBS pure sesame oil

1/2 tsp. hot chili oil

4 TBS grape seed oil (*see note)

***

Instructions:

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles) together.  Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.  Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

• I use grape seed oil instead for it’s light flavor.  The original recipe calls for canola but you can use any “light” tasting oil you like.

• Day to day, (if desired) do as the original recipe suggests and toss the noodles with sliced green onions.   Also, this recipe is a great one to go along with stir fry or to add into a Chinese Chicken Salad.  To please the littlest one, I mix the noodles up first and serve his bowl before adding whatever other “taboo” ingredients he doesn’t like

• Even though it’s categorized as a pantry meal for it’s quick fix time, I don’t store it that way.  It takes hardly any time to make as it is.

May I introduce you to a flour-less bread with quite possibly the highest nutrition per ounce there is to achieve.  It’s also takes just 5 minutes to make, with nature doing nearly all of the work.  No kneading, no forming, just mix and let sit and finally bake (…as you pinch yourself). And while the finished result is good all by itself it’s even better as toast!!  I had to remind myself that with all those nuts and seeds also come calories (but hey, it freezes well), although if I were making this in a time of scarcity the calories would be welcomed.

The amazing ingredients?  Chia seed, flax seed and psyllium seed husks, combining together to do what they do best.  Their natural properties enable them to hold everything together without the need of dairy, eggs or flour.

***

I hope you don’t mind, but have to give a little intro to it’s ingredients before diving into the recipe itself.

First off, one cool thing about this recipe is that you can sub in any nut for the nuts called for, or decide to go with all seeds if you’re intolerant to nuts; it’s up to you!  And, speaking of nuts and seeds, you’ll notice this recipe collects FOUR of the highest nutritionally ranked values from seeds out there.  It’s enough to make you dizzy.  (Btw, I’m sure if you read this chart while eating the bread you’ll forget all about the calories and just feel warm and fuzzy inside.)

But there’s more!  The “glue” that ultimately holds this flourless bread together is a combination of chia seed and another amazing ingredient, psyllium seed husks.  I wasn’t informed about psyllium seed husks before this recipe, somehow I missed out.  Lucky me (or more appropriately “we”) that now we know!

To begin, they look similar to flax meal and they’re cheap (I paid $9.00 for probably enough for 20 recipes worth here).  They’re easy to find at most health food stores and you’ll see them sold either as the “whole husks” or powdered.  As a supplement, most people take them powdered but in this recipe it doesn’t matter, so just go with whichever is more affordable.

More about them according to the recipe’s original post (who’s author is a holistic nutritionist):

“Psyllium seed husks are one of nature’s most absorbent fibers, able to suck up over ten times their weight in water. For this reason, you’ll often find psyllium in over-the-counter laxatives, stool-bulking agents and colon cleansing kits; basically anything having to do with poo.  [They] reduce cholesterol levels, aid digestion and weight loss, and alleviate diarrhea and constipation.

[They also] contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. The soluble fiber dissolves in water and soothes the digestive tract with its mucilaginous properties, while the insoluble fiber acts like a broom to sweep the colon free of toxins. Taken during a detox, juice cleanse, or fast, psyllium can greatly improve the body’s ability to eliminate impurities. But the good news is, you can take it anytime – many people find that a daily dose of a teaspoon or two in a glass of water really helps them get their bowels moving, (or slow them down if necessary).”

So basically this bread, once finished, is going to keep things good and regular.  Like it!

But what does this have to do with making the bread itself?  The same properties apply.  The chia seeds, flax seeds and psyllium seed husks combine to suck up moisture, (doing what they do best) while simultaneously binding all the ingredients together in the process!  Amazing!

Okay, now that we’re informed as to the “science” of this bread we can move on.  Thank you, thank you, Sarah at “My New Roots” for this awesome recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup hazelnuts or almonds (*or choose your own nut/substitute with seeds)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

2 Tbsp. chia seeds

4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if you’re using psyllium husk powder)

1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add 1/2 tsp. if using course sea salt)

1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar free diets, use a pinch of stevia)

3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee

1 1/2 cups water

***

Instructions:

Prepare a bread pan by lining it with parchment paper on all sides with 1-2″ of paper hanging over the sides.  Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, stirring well.  Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together, if it’s too thick (meaning that you just can’t stir it) add 1-2 extra Tbsp. of water.  Immediately transfer the mixture to the prepared bread pan and smooth the top using the back of a spoon.

Allow to sit on the counter for 2 hours (or all day or overnight).  When ready to bake, bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Lift bread from loaf pan and place upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes.  Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped.  Let cool completely before slicing (this step is important).

Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days.  Freezes well too — slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

After sitting for 2 hours, into the oven it goes.  Again 20 minutes later, here it is…

It goes in to bake a second time, this time upside down directly on the oven rack for 30-40 minutes (*see notes).

Once it’s out and completely cooled (a good hour or so later) slice and enjoy!

There are so many options to try with this bread in serving it.  I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t be great to go along with it.  My first thoughts were hummus, preserves, pesto, roasted red pepper tapenade.  My husband’s first thoughts? Nutella.

I absolutely can’t wait to try this recipe using my sun oven!

And the best part…it makes the best toast I’ve ever had.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

• The original recipe asked for a silicone flexible bread pan to be used which, now that I’ve tried it, I can see why it would be nice to have, especially with the step of turning the loaf out onto the oven’s baking rack.  I went out shopping to see if I could find one, hitting my three usual kitchen stores, however none carried them.  I was told they hadn’t been good sellers back when silicone was popular so now they’re more difficult to find.  Online is probably going to be the easiest route to shop if you want to try one.  The other cool thing about this recipe (while using a pan like that) is that you won’t have to dirty a bowl to mix up the mixture; you can actually mix it all right in the pan itself!!  (Because I knew I’d need the help of the parchment paper to lift out the loaf with my standard bread pan, I couldn’t do that here.)  Seriously, one dish bread!  I never thought I’d see that!

This particular recipe is based off a Cook’s Country take on it.  (Btw, I’m guessing the name “riggies” is short for rigatoni?)  Anyway, thanks be to the “riggies”!  It cooperates perfectly as a shelf stable meal and makes a very flavorful dish.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3/4 cup freeze dried onion flakes (rehydrated using 1/3 cup water) –or– one medium onion, chopped

2 (12.5 oz.) cans chicken, drained

1 (10.2 oz.) jar hot cherry peppers, chopped fine, plus reserved cherry pepper brine (*see note)

1-2 TBS olive oil

salt and pepper

2 (4 oz.) cans mushrooms (*or there about, the original recipe calls for 10 oz.)

1 (12 oz.) jar sweet roasted peppers (*see note)

1 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp. oregano

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

3 TBS heavy cream powder mixed with 1/2 cup + 1 TBS water

1 (4.75 oz) jar of pitted kalamata olives, halved lengthwise

1 lb. rigatoni

1 1/4 cups grated Romano cheese

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Instructions:

Begin by adding water to the onion flakes to rehydrate.  Separately, pour cherry pepper brine over the drained chicken, setting aside to “marinate”.  Chop the peppers, both the cherry peppers as well as the roasted red peppers.  Begin boiling a pot of water (about 2 quarts) for the rigatoni.  Lastly, mix together the heavy cream powder and water and set aside.

Heat 1-2 TBS of oil in a skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Saute the chopped cherry peppers with the garlic powder and oregano until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes, cream and 1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally until sauce is very thick, about 10 minutes.  While simmering, boil rigatoni (in salted water) also for about 10 minutes.  Once the sauce has reduced, stir in vegetables, 2-3 TBS of pepper brine for flavor to the sauce as well as the (mostly drained) chicken.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.  Add the pasta and reserved water (as needed) to the sauce.  Toss in the 1 1/4 cups of grated Romano cheese and serve.

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Prep time:  1) rehydrate the onions 2)”marinate” the chicken using the pepper brine 3) chop both jars of peppers 4) begin a pot of water boiling for the pasta 5) mix together the “cream”.

I can’t resist…just look at these peppers!  Seriously, when would you ever get to see a yellow vegetable like this eating usual food storage?  While playing a small roll in this recipe, I think it would be amazing to have these to pull out if fresh veggies hadn’t been available in a while, even if just to look at.

Saute the chopped cherry peppers along with the garlic powder and oregano.

Add the tomatoes, cream and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered.

Meanwhile you should be cooking your pasta…

Once the sauce is reduced, add in 2-3 TBS of pepper brine and all the other vegetables.  Btw, I completely forgot to add the onions until the very end.  Drain the onions and add those here too.

Now (gently) add the chicken.

And the pasta.  Add in some of the reserved cooking water if the sauce is looking too thick.

And finally the Romano.

Ahhh…time to eat!

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Notes:

• After reading the test tasting results for the roasted red peppers (from this post), I’d go with Dunbar’s brand of roasted peppers (they’re sold at Walmart).

• In shopping for the cherry peppers I discovered they’re not always obviously labeled as “cherry peppers”.  Check the ingredients if needed.  Also, I wasn’t able to find the “hot” cherry peppers in a jar this size so really, these ones that I bought weren’t very hot.  It was better for my group anyway though.