Emergency Food Recipe Of The Week #4: Brown Bread Sandwich

photo source: http://www.ifood.tv

Today I was working on some articles when I suddenly realized how hungry I was.

It wasn’t lunchtime yet, so I thought of getting some snack to keep my stomach from disturbing me while I work.

Habit has it that I instantly check busycooks.about.com for new emergency food recipes every time I have to cook something. And I was glad I did so after I saw a delicious sandwich recipe that worked perfectly with my need for a quick, nutritious snack.

This one is made with canned brown bread and you can use pretty much any sandwich filling you want. Feel free to experiment, combine ingredients and add your favorite spices.

Now, what’s the deal with brown bread?

Is it better than white bread? And if so, why?

I don’t know what to say about the taste. Some people like it, others don’t. I, personally, like it much better than white bread. But that’s just a personal preference. However, when it comes to health benefits, brown bread is proved to be better.

When I started writing this, I vaguely knew that white bread was chemically bleached, but I didn’t know what this process was all about. I researched and what I found was quite disturbing:

“White bread is made from wheat flour from which the bran and germ have been removed. This is where much of the nutritional bread value is. White bread is lower in zinc, fiber, thiamin, niacin, trace elements and “good” fats and oils.

White bread in many countries has to be fortified with vitamins and minerals *by law* during the bread making process. These are usually sprayed into the mix. It’s somewhat ironic that the nutrients that are removed from wheat are re-added by this means. Nature provides, we destroy, then add it back in via a man-made form.” (www.greenlivingtips.com)

Yikes! Had no idea it was that bad… Now I’m glad I’m a brown bread fan. Especially since there are so many benefits:

• You get a healthier heart — brown bread reduces the risk of high blood pressure

• You stay slim— brown bread is lower in calories, so if you want to lose some weight, a brown bread diet will help

• You get a better digestion — brown bread is high in fiber, which helps you keep digestive problems under control

• You feel “full” longer — brown bread is very nutritious, so there’s no need to rush to your fridge every couple of hours. This will be of great help during the crisis, so get lots of canned brown bread for your stockpile.

• You fight off cancer — that’s right, brown bread even prevents cancer if consumed regularly.

Now it’s recipe time! Here’s what you need:

• 3/4 cup chopped dried fruit or your favorite chopped dried fruits

• 1/4 cup chopped nuts

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise or sour cream

• 1 can prepared brown bread, cut into 1/4″ slices

Preparation is as easy as it gets: in a small bowl, you just combine all ingredients (except brown bread!) and blend. Then you put the filling between brown bread slices. That’s it. You’ve got yourself 16 yummy sandwiches.

If you’ve got some filling leftovers, cover and keep in the fridge, but not longer than 3 days.

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Emergency Food Recipe Of The Week #3: Butterbean Salad

photo source: www.agriculturesource.com

Today’s Emergency Food Recipe is deliiiicious and embarrassingly easy.

busycooks reveals the secrets to making a perfect butter bean salad in no more than 15 minutes.’ And the best part is: you can cook this meal pretty much anywhere: at home, when you’re out of time, or outdoors, when you’re camping or when there’s no power source.

But besides being versatile and easy to make, it’s also very nutritious and great for your health. Butter-beans have little-known benefits that help your body work at its best, with almost no effort at all.

You may not know this, but…

… butter-beans have tiny amounts of fat.

They’re some of the healthiest veggies because the amounts of unhealthy fat are almost inexistent. But that doesn’t mean they make you feel weak, because…

… butter-beans are high in calories.

This means you’ll be fresh and energized all throughout the day. All you need to do is eat a yummy salad and you’re good to go. It’s light on the stomach, but it gives you the buzz. And that’s not all:

… butter-beans are also high in iron.

Actually, they’ve got a quarter of the daily recommended dose. But why is iron so important for you? Well, iron helps your body get oxygenated. This way, you’ll think faster and clearer, your blood will be healthy and you’ll avoid that annoying feeling of weakness at the end of the day.

Now let’s get to our easy-peasy recipe. Here’s what you need:

• 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 5 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 (15 oz.) cans butter beans, rinsed and drained
• 11 oz. can shoe-peg corn, drained
• 14.5 oz. can zesty chili diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 small red onion, chopped

If you want more protein, just add some chicken or fish (especially tuna).

Now it’s time to mix everything in a large bowl. First, mix vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and some parsley. Then add the rest of ingredients and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for an hour or two. But you can also serve it right away, together with your family. It will be more than enough for 4 people.

And if you still have doubts that it’s absolutely delicious, just take a look at what these people are saying:

“Tasty and easy,

A great dish to make when car camping! I didn’t bother to wash off the beans (I just drained the cans) and it still turned out well. I’d recommend throwing in a pepper if you like spicy foods, but otherwise, the recipe is great as is!”

“Easy and flavorful,

This salad was so easy to make. We served it on mixed salad greens right out of the bag and it was delicious.”

busycooks

Can’t wait to hear your opinion about it! Hope you really like it.

creamy-mushroom-soup
kids-special-sweet-potato-salad
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tuna-pizza
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mango-and-black-bean-salsa
artichoke-and-chickpea-salad
tomato-pesto-bean-and-shrimp-salad

Indoor Emergency Cooking Tips

Here we are with a new round of emergency cooking tips. This time we’ll cover the indoor cooking instruments and techniques.

The first thing you need to take into consideration is the heating source. If a power outage occurs, you can use a propane stove, NEVER something based on charcoal. Why? Because burnt charcoal releases a great amount of carbon monoxide that could poison you and your family.

But here’s the #1 safety rule: whatever you use for cooking, always keep a window cracked open all throughout the process, so you make sure no toxic gas harms you or your kids. Always cook in well-ventilated areas, only with indoor cooking tools (never on outdoor grills or camp stoves). Open doors and windows when you’re finished at let the air circulate for at least 30 minutes.

To get familiar with cooking without electricity, you can even replace your electric cooktop with a gas unit, so as long as you have gas, you can cook.

It’s not very complicated, but you have to keep one thing in mind: if a major disaster crashes buildings down, gas will most likely be shut down, to avoid any leakage. So the best solution is to get a regulator that also handles propane and stock some alternative fuel to use when there’s no gas.

You can also use Sterno Fuel, which is made of jellied petroleum. It’s perfectly safe to use indoors and it’s easily ignited with a match. So make sure you’ve always got matches around, preferably kept in an airtight bag.

Now let’s move on to the next thing on the list: how do you keep items fresh after the power outage begins?

First of all, try to keep your fridge and freezer closed as much as you can. Make a list of everything you need for cooking and get everything out at once. If you don’t open the fridge more than once, it can keep food cold for up to 6 hours. Afterwards, you’ve got just 2-4 hours left to cook everything… or move the items into a cooler, with lots of ice.

A freezer can normally keep food cold for up to 48 hours. But keep some towels under it, as the ice will start to melt and leak on the floor. Also, you can wrap your fridge and freezer in blankets to keep it cold longer. Sounds weird, I know, but it actually works.

My advice is to get an instant-read food thermometer, to make sure the food is still safe for eating. If the thermometer shows above 40 degrees, you should seriously question whether you should eat the food or not.

But it’s better to always be extra cautious and throw out what’s not perfectly safe. A ride to the hospital isn’t worth all the food in the world. Also, when the power comes back, clean your fridge and your freezer thoroughly to keep away bacteria.

One last tip: write down easy emergency cooking recipes and keep them in your pantry, close to your stockpile. Keep your cooking tools in there, too. This will make things easy for you, cause you’ll know exactly what foods and tools you need while you’re in the pantry.

And to make it even easier, next time I’ll start posting The Delicious Emergency Recipe Of The Week. So come back for a collection of the simplest, tastiest recipes you can make with your survival food.