Buy and Use Basic Food Storage

Basic food storage items, such as whole grains and cereals, are among the cheapest and most nutritious foods there are. If you're having trouble finding money for food storage, one effective solution is to buy some basic food storage and begin using it.The savings can be dramatic. For example, a 50-lb bag of oatmeal that costs $19.60 yields approximately 400 servings (1 serving = 1/2 C dry oatmeal, or approx 2 oz). That's about 4.9 cents a serving. In contrast, 400 servings of a dry cereal that costs .45 cents a serving would cost $180. If you eat the oatmeal instead of the dry cereal, you'll save $160. -- enough to buy 8 more bags of oatmeal!As another example, whole wheat bread made from scratch costs approximately 25 cents a loaf. Buying an equivalent loaf costs anywhere from $2 on up. If your family eats ten loaves of bread a week, baking bread instead of buying it would save at least $17.50. That's enough to buy about 75 pounds of wheat. 75 pounds of wheat will make many, many loaves of bread, freeing up even more money for food storage. Admittedly, using basic food storage foods takes some work. If all of this sounds too overwhelming, just pick one food that fits into your lifestyle and that you know your family will eat. Even if you start out small, you'll begin realizing savings immediately.

Sooooo Handy! and Healthy toooo!

Convenience Cooking with Wheat Berries
To make using wheat berries convenient, cook a big batch all at once, then freeze so you have the wheat on hand when you need it. The easiest way to cook a batch is to use the crockpot; put the wheat and water in before you go to bed (one cup dry wheat plus 3 cups water yields 2 cups of cooked wheat berries -- for a big batch, try 3 C wheat plus 9 C water), and it'll be ready in the morning. Drain and freeze small amounts (try 1 or 2 cups) in freezer bags. Then, whenever you cook with hamburger, pop a bag of wheat berries in the microwave, thaw (it only takes a minute or so), and stir the wheat into whatever you're making.

Whole Wheat - in Italian Food? Yes, and in Mexican and Chinese too!
Cooked wheat berries provide an excellent way to extend cooked, crumbled hamburger in almost any dish. Use about 1 C of wheat berries to 2 C of hamburger. You can't tell a difference in taste, but you can in cost (a cup of wheat berries costs only a few cents) and in fat (the wheat berries are virtually fat-free). You can slip in wheat berries anywhere you use cooked, crumbled hamburger: lasagna, spaghetti, sloppy joes, tacos, enchiladas, chili, beef and broccoli, sweet and sour, and on and on.
If your family won't eat a dish if they can see the wheat, try these tricks:
Crack the wheat before you cook it. It will cook faster, and "blend in" better.
Use the cracked wheat in dishes where it's "mixed up" with other ingredients (as in lasagna and enchiladas, for example).

Have Grains Pre-made

We know that eating grains are part of a healthy diet and reduce our risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other diseases. On a episode of Living Essentials on byu channel, Chef Brad a leading authority on eating grains and legumes said " In order to get grains and legumes in our diet is to get them out of the food storage and on the counter. He talked about equipment that would make things easy and doable, like the pressure cookers, bread mixer, bread machine, and crock-pots. The exciting message in this program was Chef Brad message was "take a grain, have it cooked up at the beginning of the week, and put it in your refrigerator, that way you have it there, so then when you're preparing whatever it is you prepare for dinner you just bring the grain out and add it to whatever you're preparing. Sound simple it is.... last week it was beans, this week it's beans and rice. Cooking and preparation is a snap and I am not spending money on can goods or package rice mixes. I recommend viewing this program or reading the manuscript, e-mail me and I will send it to you. myfoodstorage@live.com.

Baked Brown Rice

1 ½ c brown rice
2 ½ c water
1 T butter
1 t salt
8 “ sq bak dish
put rice, butter, and salt in dish
bring water to boil and pour over rice.
Cover with foil
Bake 1 hour @ 375.
this is the recipe my daughter sent me. However, I do things 'my way'. I now put rice, butter, salt in any baking dish. Add boiling water. Put a baking dish lid or foil on top and bake.
I really like baking my rice. I think it just tastes better.
Bev.