What do you mean we're out of instant oatmeal?

Growing up, this iconic paper canister was always in the cabinet. I don't recall ever using it as a cereal though, an ingredient in meatloaf and cookies, yes, cereal??? Nope






If I actually did eat oatmeal, it was out of a box/packet. All I had to do was add hot water, wait a few minutes and there you have it, breakfast.

I got a little older however and the instant oatmeal I was familiar with was just too sweet. My kids loved it (except that one who only ate Cream of Wheat, some peoples kids) anyway, I just didn't eat it any more. I began making oatmeal from scratch, you know on the stove, in a pot, way too much for one person to eat, but if you cook less than the recipe it never comes out right oatmeal. Yeah, that kind. I could put whatever I wanted in it, make it as sweet as I like, but the mess is always daunting, so I made it only on weekends, once a month, maybe.

I did find an oatmeal that was a bit more my speed, not as sweet, had flax seed in it, the fruit was real (not apples dyed to look like strawberries or peaches), yes sir, I like this brand better.




Now, just what does this have to do with being out of oatmeal? Well, like I said we are big oatmeal eaters, him 2 packets per meal, me 1 packet, 10 packets per box, 3 days of instant oatmeal. (there I go with that math again) Needless to say we run out fast. Also, my most favorite flavor in the world is getting harder and harder to find. Neither store near my home carries it (slow mover). So, the only recourse I have is to make my own, but just how does one go about making instant oatmeal packets at home? Ah, the internet, it can be a blessing.

I found several recipes, but decided to go with Monica Matheny's recipe as my base. I did leave out the chia seeds, just didn't have any, or flax or any seeds for that matter (I don't believe celery seeds would have worked). Then I had to find the "spices" in Raisins & Spice and Cinnamon & Spice. I did find them eventually, every recipe had cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice but quantities differed...a lot. It's all a matter of taste I suppose, anyway this is my adapted recipe that I used for the "spices"

Oatmeal Spices
2 tsp ground Cinnamon
2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground Allspice
1/2 tsp Cardamom (optional)

Mix all spices together. Use 1/2 - 3/4 tsp per individual packet. Store as you would any spices. (don't forget to label it) Makes 8 packets worth.

*Don't have any pumpkin pie spice in your cupboard, never fear...

Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

I expected more

 

I like to think I'm an observant person. I like to think I read nutrition labels and choose the right foods for my family. I like to think I save money and time (eventually) by purchasing items on sale and preserving them in a fashion that means it will be available to use weeks or months later. I like to think all that, but then *slap* something happens to wipe that smug look right off my face. 

 

The other day I got what I thought was a great deal on 93/7 ground turkey (Foster Farms). Normally $5.00 at Safeway for 20 oz., but with my club card and Just for U pricing, I picked it up for $3.56 per package. I was excited, let me tell you. I grabbed a dozen. I also picked up some bulk breakfast and Italian sausage (1lb tubes) for substantially less than I normally pay.

In the past, I usually came home and popped the packages that I didn't plan on using in the next few days straight into the freezer. Then in a week or three I would forget to take it out of the freezer and call out for pizza. So the plan was to can the meat so that it was ready to use when it was time to cook dinner.

 

I popped over to the National Center for Home Food Preservation and found the instructions for canning ground meat. So, I get out my big fry pan and brown up the bulk sausage (separately of course). Out of each 16 oz. of raw bulk sausage, I got 12 oz. of cooked bulk sausage. Each 12 oz. filled one pint jar. Since pork has a good bit of fat in it, this was an expected result.

Using my fantastic math skills, 240 oz. of ground turkey should fill 16 pint jars. This is of course making the assumption that I will lose 4 oz. per lb.

(12 pkg.*20 oz. = 240 oz. - 48 oz. water/fat=

192 oz. /12 oz. per jar=16 pint jars)

So I start the browning process and cook half the meat, my canner only holds 9 pints. I brown up 120 oz. which by my calculations should fill 8 jars. What it actually filled was only 6 jars. WHAT???? Yes you heard me correctly, 6 jars. After cooking up the meat in the fry pan, for every 20 oz. of raw ground turkey, I got only 12 oz. of cooked ground turkey. So I asked myself, was there really 8 oz. of water and fat in 20 oz. of ground turkey? Ah...maybe it was the way I cooked it. So I get out my handy dandy microwave dish that I use for cooking ground meat and pop 20 oz. in the microwave, cook it for 5 minutes and got...wait for it...12 oz. of cooked ground turkey. Huh? In the end I got only 11 pints or 132 oz. (8 oz. didn't make it into a jar) of canned ground turkey. That is correct, out of 240 oz.  (15 lbs.) I ended up with 140 oz. (8 3/4 lbs.) That is 100 oz. (6 1/4 lbs.) of water and fat in the ground turkey.

Figuring that it may be the brand; I purchased 3 - 20 oz. packages of Jennie-O. Again, using my marvelous math skills:

 

(3*20 oz.=60 oz.-12 oz. water/fat =

48 oz./12 oz. per jar = 4 pint jars.)

Out of this batch of ground turkey, I lost 23 oz. to water/fat. Can we say 38% loss? Seriously??? 

Of course I had to compare it with 93/7 ground beef.
Guess what? I only lost 3-4 oz. per lb. All the meat was cooked the same way (except for my little microwave experiment) and drained the same way and weighed before putting it in the jar and man am I disappointed.

 So here's the breakdown.

20 oz. raw ground turkey cost $5.00, after cooking 12 oz., $0.42 per ounce

20 oz. raw ground beef cost $5.10, after cooking 16 oz., $0.25 per ounce

20 oz. raw bulk sausage cost $4.98, after cooking 16 oz., $0.24 per ounce

 

After figuring this part out, I got out all the nutrition labels and compared them...there are as many grams of fat in turkey as there is in ground beef (1 g of trans fat). There are higher sodium and cholesterol levels in the turkey than the beef. There is more iron in beef than turkey. So, by my understanding, with the exception of the 1 g of trans fat in the beef, the ground beef is actually better for you than ground turkey, guess I'm not buying ground turkey anymore, my husband will probably be glad to hear that.

I encourage you to investigate the nutritional value of anything you eat, sometimes what we've been told is "bad" for us may not be as "bad" as those things which are supposed to be "good" for us. This whole thing started because I wanted to save some time and money. Guess you can't believe everything you hear.

What to say when your spouse says "What do you want to do?"

You have a night in the immediate future where you have no sick kids or no kids at all. You have a babysitter lined up or the little munchkins are with nana and papa. Now you begin to think of what you would like to do with those few hours of blissful quiet (besides napping) and draw a blank. You've been there, done that.

Date night should be something fresh, exciting and interesting for both of you, so how do you get there. Below are a few ideas on how to get started. These ideas work great for newly weds, but even better for the old timers (since we've run out of ideas).

The Date Jar: Each partner writes approximately 26 ideas (that gives you 52 total). Of course see a movie, go to dinner, the standards, but also include things like walking at the park, take a workshop together (there are free or inexpensive ones out there), wash the cars, plan your ideal vacation, rent bicycles (if you don't own any) and ride, ride a city bus route you've never been on and site see, visit a flea market or spend a day garage sale-ing or go to discount/thrift stores. volunteer, donate blood, I think you get the idea. When Date Night rolls around, draw an idea from the jar. You don’t like the idea you drew? Well, the rule is you HAVE to do it! …however if your date involves an outdoor activity and it’s pouring down rain, well, i think that gives you a redraw.

Ran out of ideas? Try 50 Great Date Nights or Autumn Date Ideas or Cheap and awesome date ideas or 31 cheap and fun date ideas or simply search the phrase "Date night ideas" on Google I got about 130,000,000 results (0.76 seconds), add your town afterwards and you may be surprised. I found a local blogger who shared 81 Frugal Date ideas for my hometown but the list is so general, you could probably do all of them in your hometown.

In addition to designated "Dates" it is important to participate in what is important to your partner. Even if you find the activity not to your liking (say...watching NASCAR). I spent much of my youth in North Carolina and at one time I could tell you who drove what number, the make of the car, how many wins they had and all that, but not anymore, nor do I care to know these things. And I can guarantee that my love finds getting a mani/pedi a waste of time and money since he is perfectly capable of taking care of his own nails. Having said that, I sit with my spouse when he watches the races, he sits with me when I watch bull riding. He will drive me to and read a magazine while I get a mani/pedi. I will accompany him to car shows or the auto parts store. We both like building supplies so that doesn't place a burden on either of us. The point is, hang out with your lifemate, you know, like you did before you were married. 

A Look Back

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder since Dec 2014...it was a look back at the beginnings and well here it is 7 months later and I have yet to post this so here it is.


My first blog on this site was a recipe to extend the usefulness of your butter.
First Blog: Butter Spread

A really great site for food storage information is found at LDS.org Longer-Term Food Storage, additionally, there is a lot of information at www.providentliving.org, another LDS site.

One of the first sites I started following was myfoodstoragecookbook.com This site is so full of information, tips, and ideas, I can only wish I was that good.

I located a great CDC blog on the Zombie Apocalypse and printed several copies to hand out at one of our week-night Relief Society meetings. The younger women got a great laugh, the older women, not so much.

These useful topics are covered in the All is Safely Gathered In, basically, 3-month food storage, water, financial reserve and long term food storage.

Some of the most favorite requests for information have been on water storage, cooking with food storage, and gardening.

Yes I've been doing this a while and I love it. I can only keep what I have by giving it away. If you have any suggestions or requests for information, be sure to let me know.

Disaster Plan for Your Pets

We pamper our pets with all kinds of silly items, I even crocheted a reflective safety vest for my dog. 

Not so shiny inside

Very shiny outside

They become members of our families, yet when we make our disaster plans, those very same pets are often overlooked. We don't do it on purpose, it just happens.  

These animals rely on us for food, shelter, love and protection. We have taken on the commitment to care for them. Sounds just like our responsibilities to our children. 

Hurricane Katrina brought about the glaring need for creating a disaster plan for our pets as well as ourselves.

Photos from Animal Rescue New Orleans

A quick trip to the Humane Society of the United States website will take you to a Disaster Plan for Your Pets

Additionally the following websites also contain plans for pet/animal owners. Check them out, find a plan that works for you or take bits and pieces and make your own plan. Either way, keep your furry friends in your thoughts as you prepare.

Cats and Dogs living together. TEOTWAWKI.

Oh and there might be a few sites with information about disaster preparedness for humans too.

American Red Cross

Ready

ASPCA

CDC

FEMA

Christmas Goodies

So my list of Christmas goodies goes something like this

Mary's Sugar Cookies

This recipe was in the 1963 Betty Crocker Cookbook. It is the recipe I grew up with. When I moved out on my own and got my first Betty Crocker Cookbook (1980) the sugar cookie recipe was different. I tried the recipe and hated it. I memorized Mary's Sugar Cookies recipe and have been using it ever since. 

There is only one alteration I have ever made to the original recipe, I didn't have almond extract one year, so I used orange extract instead. My mother absolutely loved the change and I always made hers with the "new" recipe.

Frosting for Sugar Cookies

My mom taught me to use a butter cream frosting, but it didn't harden and when the cookies were stacked on a plate, the frosting from the cookie below would stick to the back of the cookie on top. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, but when I've put so much effort into decorating I don't want them to get messed up.

I've shared this link with you for the frosting recipe only. I wouldn't recommend the sugar cookie recipe, too close to Ethel's for my taste, but hey, it's your cookie, use whatever recipe you want.

Sweet & Saltines (aka Christmas Crack)

Last year, my daughter introduced me to this. I made pan after pan after pan. Yes a pan or two did make it out the door, but I ate more than I shared. It is truly addictive.

Fantasy Fudge (original recipe)

Who in the last 40 years hasn't had Fantasy Fudge? I have it every year, I even make it in the spring, summer and autumn (why wait until once a year to eat fudge?). Apparently, Kraft Foods has changed the recipe for Fantasy Fudge. I'm guessing...because Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips are not owned by Kraft Foods, where as Baker's semi-sweet chocolate is, go figure. If you'd like to try the new recipe for Fantasy Fudge, go here.

Each family has it's own list of Christmas goodies, I thought I would share mine to help get you in the goodies mood. Happy cooking!

The Foray into Pinterest

Pinterest, as all users know, is addictive. You start out looking for a crochet pattern and end up an hour or so later creating a board full of "Honey Do's". You know what I'm talking about. I avoided Pinterest like the flu for the first couple of years that it existed (I still don't have an instagram account). It sounded like a waste of time to me and well...

I've been on Pinterest for a year or two now. I've even pinned items from this blog, but I only had a personal account and not one associated with Shadle Park Provident Living, so I decided to create an account just for this blog, only because I'm pretty sure that if you read this blog, you don't want to see pins about Scouting, crocheting, or Wood Badge. If you do, you can always look me up and follow me, otherwise at least check out some of the boards I've created specifically for SPPL.

I'm am going to try to sort the boards by subject matter, such as food preservation, emergency preparedness, you get the idea. I will tell you now that as with all other things found on the internet, some things may not be a good idea (such as oven "canning" perishable foods) and I will try to weed out those pins as I go along. I will also check the links as I go. No sense in repinning something that goes no where.

So here you go, if you would like to follow SPPL boards, you'll find the widget just under the blog archives to the right. Have fun, see you in a couple of hours. LOL.

Compassionate Service Cookbook

A few years ago, I had a medical event and the sisters in my ward were wonderful delivering meals while I recovered. My husband and son were not reduced to eating PB&J tortillas, mac & cheese, and hamburgers. When asked what I could eat now, I replied no salt, low fat foods. We got lasagna (of course), breads, spaghetti with chicken, green salads, and a variety of other pasta dishes. I am very grateful for all the sisters did for our family during this time. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat most of the foods these sisters so loving produced. I give them an A for effort, but most don't understand the nature of commercially processed foods.

This led me to an idea, a Relief Society Compassionate Service Cookbook. The idea was that the sisters were to share recipes specific to medical dietary needs such as diabetes, celiac disease, hypertension, etc. I would compile these recipes into a booklet that could be shared so that when certain people needed meals, the sisters could be more prepared with ideas. Our R.S. president was very excited and she told the Stake R.S. president who contacted me and asked that I share with her when it was complete. Wow, this must be a great idea. Anyway, to make this very long story shorter, I got a few recipes, but not enough...so the idea kinda died off.

Every once in a while, I run across this file on my computer that has the layout, design, some recipes all for this cookbook. I glance at it, even might put a new recipe in there, but nothing much happens after that. This past week I made a trip to the library and was in the cookbook section. There were cookbooks for ADD/ADHD, diabetes, autism, hypertension & cardiac disease, pregnancy, on and on. And even though I collect cookbooks, recipes and the like, I don't have cookbooks specific to each of these diseases. I don't think anyone does, nor do I intend to.

          

These books are all available at www.amazon.com

I got to thinking again about this cookbook and I've decided to go ahead and write it. It will be a compilation of recipes found all over the internet. No recipe will be included if I have not tried it out on my family first. I know that the pictures may look fantastic, but the dish tastes like _____. Or the dish is more complicated to make than it should be. I can also get the opinions of my husband and son who have very different likes and dislikes.

If you have a recipe you think would be great to include in this book, please share.
Send the recipe to shadleparkpl@gmail.com

It's Been Found at Last - Tomato Jelly

Okay, so I don't eat a lot of PB&J, but occasionally I do and I happen to like grape jelly.

I was never into making jams and jellies, it looked too complicated and I had no idea what a jelly bag was. That was about ten years ago and then I had one of those bumper crops of tomatoes.

I made tomato sauce, soup, salsa, pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes.

I dehydrated tomatoes, gave away tomatoes and still I had a bushel of tomatoes (that's 53 lbs).




Then I happened on a recipe for tomato jelly. Actual jelly, not a preserve, or jam, but real jelly. So having no clue how to do this properly, I followed the directions and man oh man, it was the best jelly ever. The kids were eating it straight out of the jar. (I had to bean them once or twice to get them to stop) This stuff is even better than grape jelly. Time goes buy and I don't have such bumper crops in the ensuing years and there is tons of tomato jelly on the shelf (or so I thought).

This year was a really weird growing season. It was warm early (May was in the 50s) and warm late (October was in the 80s). We didn't get our first frost until a few days ago and we are sitting in the middle of a deep freeze now. (Temps are in the teens). Anyway, the tomatoes didn't ripen on the vine. I had about three bushels of green tomatoes still on the plants. Mid October, fearing a freeze, I harvested the green tomatoes, placed them in a cardboard box and waited for them to ripen. I had to do a second harvest a week later. In all I ended up with nearly two and a half bushels.

I had already put up plenty of tomato products from those that had ripened earlier, so what do you do with so many tomatoes after they ripen? You make jelly of course! So I looked in my recipe file, in my cookbooks, in my secret recipe hiding place (I really need to organize that), and even online. Nope, couldn't find it. (it had been a few years) A Google search for "tomato jelly" brought about 1,900,000 results (0.40 seconds). So I looked at about 50 different sites for the recipe, all but one were recipes for jams, conserves and the like. There are even recipes that use canned tomato juice and Jello that are called jellies, really?

Preserves is used to describe all types of jams and jellies.
Jam typically contains both the juice and flesh of a fruit or vegetable
Conserve or whole fruit jam, is a jam made of fruit stewed in sugar.
Jelly refers to a clear or translucent fruit spread made from sweetened fruit (or vegetable) juice.

I don't remember what I searched for or how I got there, but I found a tomato JELLY recipe finally. I cannot express how excited I was. It wasn't the same recipe, but I could work with it.

This is not a step by step tutorial, just pictures as I worked.

Sliced Romas (yes I use a filet knife)

Cooking it down

After it's drained

This is tomato juice

See how clear it is

Jars are filled

Finished Product. Ain't it purdy?

And now for the recipe (adapted from Bernardin Pectin)

Tomato Jelly 

Yield 7-1/2 pints

8 cups (2L) sliced tomatoes

1/2 cup (125 ml) water

2 tsp pepper sauce (I used Tabasco)

3/4 cup (175 ml) coarsely chopped fresh basil or

  1 tbsp (15 ml) dried basil

2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice (lime juice works too)

1 pkg powdered pectin

3-1/4 cups (800 ml) granulated sugar

1/2 tsp butter or margarine (optional)

• In a large deep stainless steel saucepan, combine tomatoes, water, pepper sauce and basil. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring and crushing tomatoes occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 25 minutes.

• Transfer tomato mixture to a dampened jelly bag or a strainer lined with several layers of dampened cheesecloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip, undisturbed, for about 2 hours. Measure 1-3/4 cups (425 ml) tomato juice. If you do not have the required amount, add 1/2 cup (125 ml) boiling water to the remaining pulp in the jelly bag to extract additional juice. (Or add unsweetened apple or white grape juice to extend the juice to the required measure.)

• Place 7 clean 1/2 pint (125 ml) mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Heat lids in hot water, not boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and lids hot until ready to use.

• Measure sugar; set aside.

• Transfer tomato juice to a large, deep stainless steel saucepan. Add lemon juice. Whisk in pectin until dissolved and add 1/2 tsp (2 ml) butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired.

• Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Add all the sugar. Stirring constantly, return mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim foam if necessary.

• Quickly ladle hot jelly into a hot jar to within 1/4 inch (.5 cm) of top rim (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Center hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner ensuring jars are covered by water. Repeat for remaining jelly.

• When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process – boil filled jars – 10 minutes.*

• When processing time is complete, turn stove off, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

• After cooling check jar seals. Lids curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

I don't have any baking powder...what am I to do?

So I found this really fantastic recipe for no yeast donut holes. I couldn't wait to try them out. 

Just look at the picture. Doesn't it make your mouth water? Don't you just want to make them and eat all 2 dozen before the kids get home? Yeah, me too. So I pulled all the ingredients out... except one...baking powder. Dag nabit, my mouth was watering for these sweet treats. Now what?

It isn't the end of the world however. I did what every good cook does nowadays, I searched the internet for a solution. The best solution I found was on joyofbaking.com and not only did I find a substitute for baking powder but also for stuff I didn't know I might need to substitute. 

So I got them made. They were very good. They are also very gone. Shhhhhh, don't tell the husband, I'll make more later to share with him.

Anyway, so that you can enjoy these bitty treats just follow this link to Kelly's Justataste.com for the recipe. I do strongly suggest that you make a test batch before the kids get home, you know...so you can determine if it's something they'll like, then when you know that they will want them, make another batch to share with them. Shhhh...I'll keep your secret.

Repurposing with a vengeance - dry goods storage

Repurposing project #3 - Reclaiming my mason jars

Are you one of those people that gets so much stuff in bulk you just don't know what to do with it all? Or how about one of those people who purchases stuff in #10 tins, opens it and then has no idea how to keep the unused portion from getting eaten by bugs or rodents. Has Waste Management offered to supply an industrial sized recycling bin for all of your soda bottles? Well have I got a new trick for you. 

First and foremost. This method of storage is SHORT TERM (less than 2 years). Additionally, this method is to be used for NON-PERISHABLE goods only. If ever you are in doubt of the quality of the food, do not eat it. 

Stuff that you will probably need.

Empty 1, 2 or 3 liter bottles. Dried beans, peas, rice are best, but you can also store chocolate chips, dehydrated vegetables, pasta, etc. A large bowl, measuring cup or scoop, scissors, marking pen, packing tape. Make sure your working area is clean and dry.

Prepping the plastic bottles. Remove the labels. don't use anything sharp or you may ruin the bottle. Rinse the bottle with the hottest water your tap provides. If your tank is set below 120° you may want to heat some water to no more than 150° and rinse the bottles. 

Do I need to talk about safety here??? Okay, remember, the water is very hot and can burn you. The soda bottle will not insulate you from the hot water. Water that is too hot can melt the bottle increasing your chance of getting burned. Use a funnel to pour the water in to the bottle, trying to hold the bottle while pour scalding water into a narrow neck is...well, stupid. Children should be in another room...at grandma's...napping. Okay, sorry if I offended anyone, but I've seen just about every way a person can blow this and get burned. Oh and the bottle caps should be rinsed in scalding water as well. 
Allow your bottles to dry COMPLETELY. Was that loud enough? Putting dried items into a moist bottle...just throw it away.

Okay, now that your bottles are ready, gather your items and begin. Place your bottle into a large bowl.

Find the method that works best for you to get the items (beans, rice, etc.) into the bottle. A funnel can be helpful, but may sometime clog, a paper funnel may be more useful for larger items (Lima beans, chocolate chips), but the method that works the best for me is the hand funnel, you know wrapping your hand around the neck of the bottle. No matter what method you use, there will be spillage, hence the large bowl. Hopefully anything that misses the bottle will land in the bowl. 

Using a paper funnel with Lima beans.

After you have filled your bottle (this is 1 pound) Cut the label off the front and the cooking directions off the back. You can cut off the nutritional info if you like, but I don't.

 

Use the packing tape to secure the labels to the bottles. Pick a spot and write the month and year you packed this bottle.

Before putting the cap on, add a bay leaf to the bottle if it is beans (everything else, you won't need it). The bay leaf has one function, to season the beans. There are many people who believe that bay leaves are good for keeping insects out, but it is just not true. Read this report from 1984 and see for yourself the best way to keep insects from infesting your food stuffs. The contents of the bottle will not pick up any flavoring until the bay leaf is cooked with it. Now add an oxygen absorber, Cap your bottle.

You know those bags of 15 bean soup or White bean soup with ham flavoring, well you can do a few of those as well. The only problem I came across was the flavoring packet. Sure, I could stuff it into the bottle, but I would have to destroy the bottle to get it back out, so my solution is simple. Cover the flavor packet with a piece of plastic (to keep it from ripping open when the tape is removed) and tape it to the side of the bottle. *Warning* This will not keep your flavor packet from becoming wet or infested or losing it's flavor. It just keeps the packet with the soup. When in doubt, throw it out.

Sooo... to recap so far, clean bottles, insert food, bay leaf, and oxygen absorber, cap bottles, label them with contents and cooking directions. Now what?? Oh yeah...

Get your household wax out and scrape off a bit. Now melt said household wax. I don't happen to have dedicated wax melting pots, but a reused potpie pan works just fine.



Don't forget, the water is hot. I won't go over that one again. Remove melted wax pot (potpie tin) from the pan of water and then dip the tops of the bottles in the wax. Allow to cool. Repeat 3 or 4 times.

This seals the bottle to prevent insects and moisture from getting in. With the addition of the oxygen absorber, the chance of insect growth becomes negligible.

A one liter bottle will hold this much in White Beans. But keep in mind, each bean is different, size means nothing. Check out the picture below. The smaller ones can be more dense. In this example a bottle can hold more of the split peas than the black eyed peas.

Juice bottles work just as well and they even have thicker plastic walls. The openings are also larger so getting an oxygen absorber in with the beans becomes easier. They also tend to be square so can be stacked more easily.

Oh and about that "don't use plastic to store stuff because of leaching". Leaching of chemicals into food from plastic bottles requires liquid, dry items should not pick up any chemicals, but I'd like to remind you that you probably consumed the liquid that was in the bottle in the first place and how long were those sitting on the shelf before you opened it?

The best kinda beans.