Black Bean Brownies

A few weeks back I drove with another woman to the LDS cannery and learned some interesting things about food storage and preparation.  She told me that you can make a batch of brownies with just the mix and a can of black beans and not only does it work, it tastes good!

No way, really?

Really.

Please note -- this is not the best brownie I've ever had.  But it's pretty good, and since my guilt level at eating a whole pan of brownies is significantly diminished (hey, I need the fiber and the protein!), it's a handy little recipe to have.  And super easy.

Drain and rinse 1 can of black beans.  Put the beans back in the can and then fill with water.  Blend in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Mix with 1 brownie mix and bake according to package directions -- maybe a little longer than called for (check with a toothpick).

That's really it.  It's a pretty dense, chewier brownie than usual.  My girls liked them ok -- we'll see if they ask for more later.  That will be the real test.

But a can of black beans and a brownie mix?  That's a great treat that works for shelf-stable food storage!

Rotating Your Food Storage

I covet these can rotating systems from Shelf Reliance but can't really afford them right now.  Plus, as we're getting our food storage in order I think it's more important to spend the money on actual food.  So how do you rotate?

First, designate a space for your rotated food storage -- preferably one that is easy to access when you're cooking.  I had my wonderful husband build some extra shelves in the pantry specifically for that purpose. Before then, I told him -- top shelf is food storage -- DON'T TOUCH UNTIL I GET THE SYSTEM GOING!!

 Purchase a white board or chalk board and hang it on the wall next to your space and load up your shelves.

 Everything that goes on the food storage shelf gets a sticker.  Garage sale stickers (less than $2 at Walmart) work perfectly.

It is a pain to search each can and figure out when it expires.  The stickers are color-coded by year (with a key taped to the shelf) and the month and year are written on the sticker.  There is nothing that will expire in 2011 on these shelves.  When 2012 hits, anything left on the shelf with that green sticker will go into my regular food area for use before it expires.

But we still rotate.  This is where the white board comes in handy.  My husband has explicit instructions that if he takes something off the shelf that has a sticker on it, he writes the item down on the white board.  This way, I know what needs to be replaced when I grocery shop.

Does it work?  Well, this morning my husband was eating instant oatmeal and like the OCD organizer that I am I immediately asked him if he had written it down.  He said yes, I double-checked (I'm that terrible), and he really did.

Works for me!

Fresh Baked Bread

I think toddlers have the right idea.  Even though it can be a little irritating when my 3-year old has to do EVERYTHING herself, I imagine that she is basking in the glorious feeling that comes from BEING ABLE to do everything by herself.  

And that is a glorious feeling that I had a little reminder of.

A few Christmases back, my parents gave us a manual grain mill for our emergency preparedness stock.  I have never even opened it.  But in the spirit of becoming more prepared for an uncertain future (which I think we can all do), I pulled that mill out of the box and cranked it up.  Literally.

Then I took that freshly ground wheat and baked delicious wheat bread for my family.  Of course it was made even more delicious by a nice healthy topping of butter and honey -- oozing off the edges.  And the house smells like freshly baked bread too.  And I spent a little one-on-one time with my 3-year old in the process and put a big smile on my wonderful husband's face.

Homemade bread has more than just body health benefits I think.

And this particular recipe uses all shelf-stable ingredients.   Perfect if you're getting prepared for the future. Which I am.  And, even better, it will be featured on the Food Storage Made Easy blog.  Yippee!!  I highly, highly recommend their blog if you're looking for any information about preparedness.  And I do mean any.  So I'm not posting the recipe yet.  I'll reference you there when they post it.  In the meantime, are you drooling yet?  You should be.

But I also wanted to post a few more things about the milling process itself.
Here's my grain mill:

Very simple, no electricity needed, and actually really easy to use -- if you don't count the fact that I'm working arm muscles I don't ever work.  Well, that's almost all of them actually . . .
Anyway, you put the wheat in the top, turn the handle and voila!

My ground wheat is on the left, store bought wheat is on the right (with a nice little hole where my 3-year old needed to taste it).  You can already tell a difference, but the hand-ground is still very fine.

It's a little grittier of course, more like a fine sand rather than a fine powder like the store-bought (below).

BUT, my bread turned out the same as what it always does -- a little nuttier, wheatier maybe -- but still delightfully delicious.  And now I can make it anytime, anywhere.  Well, almost.  Still working on that alternative way to bake if there is a genuine emergency . . .

But the point is, one less thing to worry about.  And one more thing to celebrate.  Because I did it all by myself.