Now that the most important aspects of Y2K have come and gone with no dire consequences, many of us are just itching to start rotating out some of the foods we've put by and start using them.

If you've followed the rule of store what you eat and eat what you store then your own ordinary family recipes and cookbooks will supply you with plenty of ideas in how to start cooking up your storage chow. If you're stumped, though, or would like to try something new, here are a couple of recipes we've made here at the House for supper last night and have found worthy of recording.

The recipes are a small part of the research we're currently doing for the The Prudent Pantry Cookbook which is to be a companion to our first book The Prudent Pantry: Your Guide to Building a Food Insurance Program. Both can be made entirely from storage foods. I hope you all find them as tasty as we have.

A Most Excellent Southern Cornbread We really, really like this cornbread with bean dishes of all sorts.

3 cups corn meal 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons oil or melted fat 0.5 cup of non-fat dry milk (instant or regular) 2.5 tablespoons whole dry egg (or 1 large fresh egg) 1 tablespoon baking powder 2 cups boiling water 1 cup room temperature water

Sift all dry ingredients together except the baking powder. Pour the two cups boiling water and the oil over the dry ingredients, stir until all ingredients and water are well incorporated and set aside to cool (about 30-40 minutes). When cool, stir in the baking powder, and the last cup of water. If using fresh eggs, stir them in now as well. When well mixed pour into a well greased nine inch pan or muffin tins. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes and the top is lightly browned. Cooking time will differ for muffin tins. Eat hot.

Notes: Using the boiling water and waiting until the mixture is cool is important to get a good texture. If using a fresh egg, reserve about two tablespoons of the tap water until the other ingredients are mixed. The recipe won't be hurt any if you put a small amount of sugar (about a tablespoon or two) into it. The batter should be fairly thick but pourable. If too thick, add the remaining water.

Lentils & Ham A good stick to your ribs cold winter night supper dish.

One pound dry lentils One pound canned ham or Spam Two medium onions or one cup dry onions One teaspoon garlic powder One half teaspoon ground chipolte' or ground cayenne pepper One quarter teaspoon ground sage Two bay leaves One quarter teaspoon ground black pepper One quarter cup red wine vinegar

Pick over and wash the lentils. Set them aside to soak in enough water to cover them by about an inch. Cut the ham into medium to fine cubes. Brown in a very small amount of oil in the bottom of a heavy pan with a tight fitting lid. Just before the ham has browned to the point you want it, rinse the lentils and then add to the ham. Add the onions and about six cups of water. Add the seasonings. Cover tightly and cook over medium heat for about an hour or until the lentils are done to suit you. Adjust water amount as necessary. All seasoning amounts are dependant on your personal taste and may be adjusted. About fifteen minutes before taking off the heat to serve, mix in the red wine vinegar. Eat with copious amounts of hot cornbread.

If you have foods that you still need to put into storage packaging I cover virtually every method there is for storing dry foods there are in the Prudent Food Storage FAQ. This FAQ and a number of others on important preparedness topics may be found at the Providence Cooperative web site (see below) and are free of charge.

If the whole concept of how to make a long-term sustainable food storage program is challenging you then my book, The Prudent Pantry: Your Guide to Building a Food Insurance Program will be useful to you. The work covers the entire process from deciding why you want to start a food storage program to how to make a plan, what foods to store, how to store them, how to ensure you have safe water and how to deal with sanitation necessities. I also review dozens of other good books that will further improve your efforts. Ordering instructions may also be found on the Cooperative web site (listed below).

Remember to replace the foods you're taking out of your storage program so they'll be there for you when you need them. Record the recipes that work well for you and have a good time!

...............Alan.

The Providence Cooperative - A great source of preparedness information

http://www.providenceco-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), January 23, 2000

Answers

Well, sorry about blowing the format on the ingredients lists. Let try that again so they'll be more intelligible.

Southern Cornbread

3 cups corn meal 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons oil or melted fat 0.5 cup of non-fat dry milk (instant or regular) 2.5 tablespoons whole dry egg (or 1 large fresh egg) 1 tablespoon baking powder 2 cups boiling water 1 cup room temperature water

Lentils & Ham

One pound dry lentils One pound canned ham or Spam Two medium onions or one cup dry onions One teaspoon garlic powder One half teaspoon ground chipolte' or ground cayenne pepper One quarter teaspoon ground sage Two bay leaves One quarter teaspoon ground black pepper One quarter cup red wine vinegar

.........Alan.

The Providence Cooperative - A great source of preparedness information

http://www.providenceco-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), January 24, 2000.