Friday, February 27, 2009

Simple can be better in more ways than one...

For those who looked at my last post and thought, oooooh, noooo, just toooo long, please: 1) remember to check for winter clearance sales so that you can stock up on what's available for future use. I did find some boots for one of my children for next year for $5.00, so let's hope they will fit... :) 2) Also, although you will in all likelihood not gain and/or need the same benefits that I mention in that post that resulted from trying to spread my own purchasing power around, I just hope that everyone does what they can so that more people can keep their businesses/jobs--I see it as a win-win situation.

Oook, well, that was simpler, huh? And now I would like to share a couple of meals that we like around here, that are simple for a couple of reasons. One, they have few ingredients, which leaves more money for purchasing other items that can be put in storage. Two, they have ingredients that are easy to store. Oh, all right, and besides being simple, we think that they taste pretty good, too... :)

This first one is located in a cookbook put together in celebration of a small town that is very dear to my heart. (I have had the privilege of eating southern barbeque, can appreciate the effort and time that goes into such an endeavor, and realize that this may not be everyone's idea of barbeque. That said, we like this recipe, and it provides variety in flavor with very few ingredients.... )

BAR B.Q. PORK CHOPS

1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. vinegar
Sprinkle chili powder
water
4 pork chops

Oven temp: 350 degrees Time: 1-1/2 hours

Mix ketchup, vinegar, chili powder and enough water to make 1 cup liquid. Place pork chops in a casserole and salt and pepper them. Pour sauce over the chops and bake in a covered casserole. Uncover for the last 15 minutes.

(Source: Nutrition and Nostalgia of a Century, pg. 243. Special thanks to B.F. for submitting the recipe. (If the contributor sees this and would like a full name display, let me know.)

That is the original recipe, although I have been known to throw it in the crockpot and let it go all day. If you use the crockpot method, you need to watch it towards the end, or your dish could end up dryer than you would like.

Don't know what to call the following--Italian Dressing Crockpot Chicken will have to do, I guess. Got it from my best source, (Mom) so just have memorized it. If, after the first or second endeavor, you don't need a recipe card, I figure you can't get much simpler than that... :)

Italian Dressing Crockpot Chicken

2-4 chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1-2 cans cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup

Place chicken in bottom of crockpot. Sprinkle Italian dressing mix over top of chicken (how much you use will depend on how strong of a flavor you want--I would suggest 1/2 package-full package). Pour soup over the top of chicken. Cook all day.

This recipe is one of our favorites, and is great with rice or mashed potatoes or noodles. When we use less chicken, we break it up in pieces and put it over rice to make it stretch. The more soup you use, the more sauce you will end up with to stretch servings.

Well, true confessions--the food storage aspect is just an added plus to me. I have used these recipes for years because they had few ingredients, which led to easier preparation, and I really, really, really like easy. :) But the added benefit is that if you don't have as many ingredients to buy, you have more money to buy more emergency preparedness items... so if you try these, I hope you enjoy them!

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