You may recall that lentils is one of the basics listed for a year supply of survival food--you can see in this post that the amount listed for one person is 2 lbs. I decided that I needed to find out how to use lentils, so when I saw this recipe over at The Barber Bunch, I decided to give it a try. The night we had the lentil stew I also made the tuna fish sandwich recipe mentioned in an earlier post.
The biggest difference that I made in this recipe is that I used a can of tomatoes that already had garlic and onions in it. I didn't use the optional basil. That made the main ingredients the partial bag of lentils I used and the can of tomatoes, so pretty easy, with very few ingredients. It was received with different levels of enthusiasm--one child really liked it and called for a vote by "thumbs up." We didn't get any "thumbs down," but among the family members who voted there were "sideways thumbs" and only "one thumb up" reactions. I can work with that--the rice and beans took a little getting used to as well. There was a hefty snack of frozen pizza later that evening--we'll see what happens next time we have it. Personally, I liked it. I would maybe add more garlic and onions if I use the same kind of tomatoes the next time, but the fewer things added, the more I like it as a food storage item.
On the pumpkin front, turns out that we ended up with 10 cups total of pumpkin puree from our first pumpkin--the cup we used in the pumpkin soup plus the 9 cups we now have in the freezer. Good times. :) Now to try another recipe with it....
9 comments:
ahhhhh, don't you love it when we can be self sufficient in things? Feels wonderful, WTG!
Blessings:)
Molly--Thanks for your encouraging words--it is a good feeling to learn more skills like how to harvest the pumpkins. I really had no idea how much you can get from one pumpkin, but I'm glad, because it is quite a lot of food! Thanks for your comment!
Our neighbors and us went to a salvage grocery store a few weeks ago... he bought 50 lbs lentils, and I got 50 lbs pintos. Maybe we can swap? :)
I admire how you try so many different recipes and ideas related to basic staples. We'll be trying some of your recipes as we head into soup season. :)
Ron
Ron--Hey, if you can trade some, you'll both have variety... :) At this point, I would have picked the pinto beans also, though, because I know more recipes to use them in.
I like to try soups for the variety, too, though they don't always turn out to be repeat items. Ah, well, you can but try, I guess. :) Thanks for your comment!
A now former reader left a comment on my blog. I have left out the identity of the reader because he/she may like to leave a comment on another food storage blog in the future, and I wouldn't want to be involved in any negativity towards him/her as the result of the comment left here, which is as follows:
"Sorry to have to leave your blog. Even though I am not gay, after the stance your church has taken on gay (civil) rights I no longer feel that I can read these pages without feeling sick."
To the commenter, I would say, do what you need to do, but please start/continue with your food storage. Regardless of what religion you are, you will have to eat, and from what I understand, times are only going to get harder. There are a lot of good food storage blogs out there, so please keep it up.
We have never been a big fan of lentils around here. But then again we have never been very hungry either. 10 cups of puree from one pumpkin?? That's great.
Chris
Chris--I don't recall having used lentils before, but they were ok--and one thing I thought about them was that they were pretty filling, which would be very helpful when hungry. :) They wouldn't be our first choice, but tasty enough to try again. I was surprised about the 10 cups of pumpkin, too--it must have been the largest of the three we bought, because we got 7 cups each from the other two. Pumpkin, pumpkin, everywhere... :) Thanks for your comment!
I bought lentil meaning to learn to use them but never have - yet. To keep them from getting old they get added to soups and other bean dishes. It adds some nice protein to the vegetable soup dishes without screaming 'beans again' and color too. Just an idea.
Stephanie--I like the bean dish idea--I need more ways to use the lentils, because they are not the biggest dinner hit when they are the main attraction. I'll have to add them to soup now that I've started to use them--thanks for your comment!
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