Polls and Resources

The following are the results from the last two polls that I put up about food storage:

When it comes to the basic staple of wheat, I:

--Have not yet stored any 30%
--Have some, and am knowledgeable about using it in recipes 38%
--Have some, and am searching for some (or more) ways to use it 30%

No one chose the other options. Speaking personally, I fall squarely in the "have some, and am searching for some (or more) ways to use it" category. I have a brand new, operated by elbow grease hand grinder that has never, to my knowledge, seen the outside of the box. I could elaborate on why that is, but in the end it is all excuses, and does nothing for my food storage- using prowess. Some things just need to change. That said, it's interesting the things that happen when you start to talk to other people about actually using your food storage. A sampling:

--I have known for years that my husband grew up eating "cracked wheat cereal", but have never made it myself. My husband has offered to show me how to make it. I mentioned this cereal when his parents were visiting not too long ago, and soon afterwards we received an e-mail asking us if we wanted their wheat grinder (also elbow-grease operated). How can you turn down a free, tried and true wheat grinder? We couldn't. It soon arrived on our porch. We now own two wheat grinders. I am running out of excuses.....

--I mentioned to another friend that I was looking for ways to use our wheat. She said that some people used to just put the wheat in a thermos, cover it with hot water, put the lid on, and leave it over night. They would then have cereal in the morning. I have not tried this personally. But I will most likely be searching for a thermos soon.....

--If you haven't checked out the Friday's Food Fancy posts on Jacobus Family Blogspot, (listed as a resource to the right as well) I don't think I can recommend them highly enough. The recipes are geared toward using your food storage, and the tips and links are excellent as well. Not too long ago, author Peggy Layton was mentioned, because she has written about cooking with food storage. So, being me, I used the local library to see if any of her books were available. The catalogue indicated that yes, there was a book written by this author that would be of interest to me, and yes, it was in. Problem was, it was not where it was supposed to be. I left empty-handed.
Soon after, one of my friends, who I have swapped recipes with, and discussed food storage with, came by to visit and handed me a book by Peggy Layton called Cookin' with Home Storage. A happy coincidence for me, and I now have more work to do to try out these recipes....

So what's my point? Sometimes, if you ask, you will find out that you have more resources available to you--recipes, knowledge, suggestions, or more. You may not end up with an additional wheat grinder on your porch, but if you ask around, you might be able to find someone with the knowledge of where to find used equipment at a good price that would help you to put your food storage to good or better use. For one example of this, you might want to check out recent posts at Johnson Family Farm--talk about knowing how to use a flea market to your advantage. Even if there is not a flea market in your area, there may be other places to go for good deals that other people do know about. You could exchange recipes, books, knowledge, you get the picture. Power in numbers can lead to power in knowledge, just because we help each other.

Now for that other poll I mentioned back in the day... :)

When it comes to the basic staple of beans, I:

Have not yet stored any 7%
Have the canned variety 30%
Have the dry variety 30%
Have some, and am knowledgeable about using beans in recipes 53%
Have some, and searching for some (or more) ways to use them 38%
Have some, but they are strictly for emergencies, and I will figure out how to use them then 15%

Personally, I now have more knowledge about using dry beans, but need to learn to use the canned beans as well. A last resource that you may want to consider? The comments on the blogs that you read. Nancy was kind enough to include a bean recipe in the comments section of my last post with the list of bean recipes, (thanks, Nancy!) so now I have another recipe to try, and it looks tasty. You may want to try it yourself... :)