Pear Cake

2 c. finely chopped pears (I use 2-15 oz. cans of lite pears)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 t. vanilla

In a bowl, mix pears with sugar and nuts; set aside and let stand for 1 hour, stirring freguently. Add dry ingredients to the pears; stir to combine. Add oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir to blend. Pour batter into a generously greased 9X9 glass dish. Bake 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.

Serve warm or cold.
Great with Whipped Cream or Cool Whip topping.
Wonderful served at a brunch.
Tasty dessert.

Store: canned pears, flour, sugar

Adapted from http://southernfood.about.com.

Polynesian Pork Chops

4-5 boneless pork chops, 3/4-inch thick
1 t. garlic powder
1 T. vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
1 med. onion, chopped (I use minced onion)
1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks or tidbits
1/4 c. water
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. honey

Season chops with garlic powder and cooked in heated oil until brown. Add onion here unless you use dried minced.
Add soup, pineapple with juice, minced onion, water, soy sauce, and honey. Heat to a boil. Then cook over low heat 10 minutes or until done.

Serve over rice.

Options: Use boneless chicken breasts, steaks, beef ribs, etc..
Try with fried Spam or a package of white chuck chicken.
Go meatless and add a few cooked black beans to sauce.

Store: rice, pineapple tidbits, soy sauce, honey.

NOTE: Soy Sauce is a great storage item. It can be used as a flavoring or alone over all those Spaghetti noodles you have stored.

Porcupine Meatballs

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 c. uncooked long-grain white rice
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T. finely chopped onion (or dehydrated/minced onion to taste)
1 T. snipped parsley (or 2 t. dried parsley flakes)
1/2 t. salt
1 can tomato soup, divided
1/2 c. water
1 t. worchestershire sauce

Combine meat, rice, egg, parsley, onion, salt, dash of pepper, and 1/4 c. soup. Mix well; shape into meatballs and place in a skillet. Mix remaining soup, water, and worchestershire sauce. Pour over meatballs. Bring to a boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer 40 minutes, stirring often.

Serve with white rice and your choice of vegetable.

Store: rice, tomato soup, worchestershire sauce.

Peach Cobbler

Mix well:
1/4 c. margarine, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. milk
Spread mixture into a well-greased 9X9 pan/dish.

Drain 2-15 ounce cans sliced peaches, reserving 3/4 cup liquid.

Place drained peaches on top of batter prepared above.

Sprinkle with a cinnamon/sugar mixture. I use a mixture ratio of 1 Tablespoon sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Use as much or as little as desired.

Pour reserved liquid over top.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until done.

Wonderful for breakfast served warm with a little milk OR
as a dessert served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Store: canned peaches, flour, sugar, canned or shelf-stable milk.

Easy Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups dry macaconi, boiled for ten minutes and drained.
Place in a baking dish.
Add: 1 can Cheddar Cheese soup and 1/4 c. milk.
Stir in: Shredded Cheddar Cheese as desired.
Add: Ham cubes or a few cooked black beans if desired or sprinkle with dried crumbs or crushed chips.
Bake: 350 degrees 25-30 minutes.

Store: macaroni, cheddar cheese soup, black beans, I like to freeze large bags of shredded cheese, and ham cubes.

Cooking with Soup

Storing plenty of soup to use with stored items is ideal. Many wonderful and tasty soups are available to make most stored foods pallatable. But if you store them you HAVE to eat them. Most soups have a shelf-life of two years. Don't store more than you can eat during that time. As I post the recipes I use you will see a good many of them use soup. Look for new recipes on www.campbellssoup.com.

Hamburger Rice Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Celery Soup
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 c. uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 lb. ground beef, cooked & crumbled

Stir Soup, water, onion powder and pepper in 7X10 shallow baking dish. Add rice and ground beef. (Optional: add sliced black olives, black beans, dehydrated celery, onions or other favorite vegies). Leave out ground beef for a vegetarian dish or when not available.
Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake 375 degrees for 50 min. Let stand 10 min. for eating.
NOTE: When doubling recipe, more cooking time is required.

Store: Cream of Celery Soup, Rice, onion powder, pepper, and black beans to add for a complete protein.

Serves 4

French-fried Onion Chicken Crunch

1-2 cups broccoli florets (rehydrated, fresh, or frozen)
About 2 c. diced, cooked chicken (pouch, canned, rehydrated freeze-dried or fresh)
1 can broccoli-cheese soup
1/2 c. milk (shelf stable or constituted nonfat, dry milk)
1/2 c. shredded cheese (rehydrated, fresh, or frozen)
1/2 c. french-fried onion rings
2 T. sliced almonds
Cooked rice

Mix the broccoli with chicken, soup, and milk. Simmer until heated through. Top with cheese, almonds and onions. Let stand until cheese is melted. Serve over hot rice.

Store: Broccoli florets (freeze-dried or frozen), Diced Chicken, Broccoli-Cheese Soup, Milk, Shredded Cheese (freeze-dried or frozen), French-fried onion rings, Rice.

Serves 4

Self-sufficient

A mere seventy or eighty years ago most of our ancestors grew and preserved there own food, livestock roamed the pasture that provided fresh meat, milk and eggs, and they could go months without visiting the local "store". Have you ever thought why we call the "store" the "store"? A place where things were "stored" until we needed them! Our ancestors did amazing things. I recall my stepfather telling the story of how they went down to the Snake River in the winter and cut blocks of ice and took them to the barn, covered them with straw so they could have ice blocks for the ice box all summer long! As good as they were, they still had an awful struggle during the Great Depression.
How would we fare today? We frequent the "store" almost daily because we fail to "store" at home. We have no family farm, no gardens, no home-preserved foods, and no livestock. We can hardly cook because we eat out several times a week. We are so busy doing less important things!
How would you survive another Great Depression. Imagine your family on a cash basis. Imagine the mortgage company and the tax assessor breathing down your neck. Imagine shortages at the "store" and gas station. Imagine yourself unemployed. Do I have your attention yet?
We have been counseled for decades to have sufficient food, water, fuel, and clothing to be self-sufficient for a length of time. Look around. Where can you improve? Where should you focus your attention? Maybe we should spend less time at the ball field or golf course and spend more time learning to garden, to change the oil in the car and to sew. How long can you go without going to the "store" when the "store" isn't at your house. We need to ask ourselves some hard questions.
This country has worked itself into a bad situation where our oil and gas supply comes from outside our borders. We now are dependent upon those countries and governments for fuel. We are at their mercy. Likewise, we, as individuals, look to ourside our borders (homes) for fuel (food). We are dependent and at the mercy of society for food and supplies, unlike our ancestors who were producers instead of consumers. How would we do in another Great Depression? Look to your own home and you will see the answer.