Stocking Your Pantry

[Rainier70]

Some of my finds so far:

Nido powdered whole milk. Made by Nestle. Walmart and many other stores carries this in the Latino food section. This has excellent taste and works great in all kinds of mixes and as an emergency substitute for milk in cereal etc.

Nestle Media Crema. Again in the Latino food sections. This is small can of shelf stable cream. Use it in soups & sauces etc, and you can even mix it with a one or two teaspoons of white vinegar for a sour cream substitute.

http://www.minimus.biz/ Has individual packets of condiments etc. Salad dressings, lemon Juice, oriental sauces, barbecue sauce, half & half, mayos, mustards etc

Bear Creek brand dried soups are excellent, and carried in many grocery stores.

Gossner's Dairy (Utah/Idaho) has shelf stable milks... regular and flavored in both small and qt packs. They also have shelf stable cream in 8 oz boxes. I don't know if they sell online. This may only be available locally.

Hoosier Hill Farm (via Amazon) has many powdered products in 1lb amounts. I have tried their sour cream pwd and their blue cheese pwd. I have only cooked with them so far and they did very well. I haven't tried them as a dip or sauce but should work okay. The sour cream is not as tart as I expected. The blue cheese has good flavor and is quite strong so a little goes a long way.

[Rainier70]

One more dairy item: Saco Buttermilk Blend Pwd. Available at Walmart.

[Rainier70]

I also wanted to mention again Harmony House Foods. Sharon Heisley listed them too in her post on the first page of this thread.

I have bought freeze dried products from a lot of different sources such as Honeyville Farms, Walton's, Mountain House etc. The problem I frequently found is in the amounts. Most use a #10 can as their only purchasing option, and companies like Mountain House also do very small (expensive) single serving amounts. Finding a company that packages in medium sized amounts is a great find.

Harmony House offers mixes and individual freeze dried and dehydrated items in small pouches, pint, quart, and gallon sizes. It's great to have some good size options.

Amazon also carries many of their products.

The one thing that you need to watch is that Harmony House does NOT package its freeze dried foods for long term storage. Be sure and vacuum pack any freeze dried foods that you don't use fairly quickly.

[Rainier70]

True Lemon and True Lime powdered citrus. These are crystallized versions of the real fruit. Excellent lemon and lime juice substitutes. Sold by both Walmart and Amazon.

The company True Citrus also does True Orange and True Grapefruit, as well as drink mixes.

[Mary C]

Thanks for all this wonderful information, I used dehydrated foods when backpacking. I had not thought about using any , it would be great for long trips . One thing I thought about when reading this. If you take a stick of butter unwrapped and put it in a snack bag when it gets squishy soft you can cut the corner off and squeeze it out then put the un used portion in another bag. Since I plan to trAvel in bear country I made up a one box with staples and spices and condiments . Another box has the other food. When I camp I can just place them in the bear boxes. I try to plan my meals an try not to take too much.

Mary C

[Vedette]

Thanks Cindy
Some great products you have suggested.
Unfortunately we are more the travelling type of campers. Thus, we buy "fresh" almost every day!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[S. Heisley]

I also wanted to mention again Harmony House Foods. Sharon Heisley listed them too in her post on the first page of this thread.

I have bought freeze dried products from a lot of different sources such as Honeyville Farms, Walton's, Mountain House etc. The problem I frequently found is in the amounts. Most use a #10 can as their only purchasing option, and companies like Mountain House also do very small (expensive) single serving amounts. Finding a company that packages in medium sized amounts is a great find.

Harmony House offers mixes and individual freeze dried and dehydrated items in small pouches, pint, quart, and gallon sizes. It's great to have some good size options.

Amazon also carries many of their products.

The one thing that you need to watch is that Harmony House does NOT package its freeze dried foods for long term storage. Be sure and vacuum pack any freeze dried foods that you don't use fairly quickly.

That's true. Without packaging dehydrated foods with a vacuum sealer, many will only safely last about 2 years; some, possibly less. However, most canned goods are only rated for two years. Acidic foods like tomatoes in cans are usually only rated for one year because the acid will begin to react with the can, tainting the food and even eating through the can in some cases. (That happened to me once, when I was very young and very ignorant...not good.) The most important thing to take away from here is to rotate your food, eating the oldest first, and pay attention to dates/age.

The website that I am listing here is for doomsday preparation; however, there are some good points made that might help us:

http://www.skilledsurvival.com/food-she ... #more-1338

[S. Heisley]

I haven't forgotten your request.

Here's a website for creating your own MREs:

http://survivalathome.com/homemade-mres/

...Don't know if the above is of interest or not; but, thought I'd post it just in case.

I know that you are probably in your home away from home and that's okay. The information will have been posted for you and those interested, whenever that is.

[S. Heisley]

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For those of you who save condiment packets, something to consider is how old those packets might be. Sometimes, those don't have individual "use by" dates on them.

(Let me preface the next paragraph with a description of myself: I am the canary in the coalmine. What that means is that I am very sensitive to food that may have gluten, dairy, nuts, etc or chemicals such as would be given off by plastics.)

This recently happened to me. I purchased some gluten free ketchup, sealed in individual plastic packets. Upon using the contents of one of them, I began to see halos in my vision. I only see halos when I have ingested chemicals in some way. Also,I had not eaten anything unusual or foreign to me; so, I am fairly certain that the problem originated with the condiment packet. That initiated the next paragraph/warning:

Please remember that the contents of condiment packets may react with the plastic, especially if the contents are acidic, such as with tomato products. Chemicals from plastics can be carcinogenic and plastic does break down, giving off chemicals when it is either too old or has become too hot (I believe that's 109 degrees Fahrenheit or greater). Be aware of the content and the age of your food and condiment packets and also what the temperature is where they are stored. Place a date on them yourself, if they are not already dated, so you can handle and use them more safely.

[Rainier70]

Excellent idea to date the serving size packets too.

Interesting website too. I don't usually package my dried foods etc in separate meal package, but it looks like it could be a good idea for a quick meal.

Thanks!

[Roly Nelson]

Wow, I feel guilty, not bringing along enough "stuff". My pantry consists of Cherrios, milk, coffee and pork and beans.....simple. Roly ~~

[Vedette]

Wow, I feel guilty, not bringing along enough "stuff". My pantry consists of Cherrios, milk, coffee and pork and beans.....simple. Roly ~~

And it is a good way to get your camping neighbours to cook for you??
Brian

[S. Heisley]

Don't forget the Betty Crocker Potato Buds! They can be used to make soup, chowder, or even as a thickener.

For instance, you can make a really easy Mug O' Potato Soup, like this:

Put the following in a large mug:

1/4 cup Potato Buds
1 tablespoon freeze-dried or dehydrated chives
1 teaspoon Knorr-Swiss chicken bouillon

Fill the cup with boiling water, stir and cover for about 5 minutes and it's ready to eat.

Optional additions:
1 tablespoon Harmony House diced potatoes + 2 tablespoons water
For vegan protein, add a tablespoon each of dehydrated or freeze-dried black beans and corn and add 1/4 cup more water
Note: Beans need a little more time (10-15 minutes?) to re-hydrate.

...serves one.

The above makes a quick afternoon snack. Single servings can be put in little zip-lock bags so that anyone can dump the contents into a mug, add hot water and voila!

To make a chowder, double the above mug recipe (or more) and add fresh fish or canned meat and chowder-type vegetables or whatever you want. If you have canned chicken broth, you can substitute the bouillon and water with it. It's best to put chowders containing meat in a pot and bring it to a boil, then lower to a simmer until the meat is cooked and everything is re-hydrated. ...serves two...or more, depending on you.

As well as making a quick soup, chowder, and mashed potatoes, Potato Buds can also be used in place of bread crumbs in meat loaf recipes and they can be used as a thickening agent in sauces and gravies.

[Rainier70]

I am guessing that you mean the potato buds. Thanks for mentioning them!

I don't think I have tried the Betty Crocker brand, but I have used a couple of other brands for years in very similar ways. A very versatile staple to keep stocked in the pantry. About a fourth of my backpacking meals used potato buds.

I forgot to mention them along with dehydrated rice, cous cous, quinoa, lentils, angel hair pasta, and probably several other staples that I have forgotten that I stock!

Btw. Do freeze dried beans keep their shape? How's the texture? Most of my dehydrated ones break?

[S. Heisley]

Oh, you're right! I had butter on the brain last night and I can't even eat the stuff! Thanks for that. I went back and fixed my post.

As to the re-hydrated beans falling apart, I've never noticed that. I guess some do; but, not all. I find them to be okay in soups,etc. I've never tried freeze-dried beans. Regardless of whether they are dehydrated or freeze-dried, they would have been cooked to soften first; so, re-hydrating them would be a bit like cooking them more. It probably depends both on how much they were originally cooked and how much they were cooked when re-hydrated. I've always added them in the last 10 to 15 minutes; but, even re-heating them the next day has not been a problem. It certainly beats cooking them from scratch or worrying about deteriorating can linings. Since they are dry in the plastic container, there is much less chance of a reaction there, too.