Short-Term Storage: Step 2

Using your list of meals, write down the ingredients for each recipe.  Do this for the entire list, or only pick a few meals out of the day. 

Here's mine.  Notice the recipes are simple and made from shelf- or frozen- food that will stay good for at least a year.  In fact, all of the recipes can even be made ahead of time and frozen.*


DINNER

• Spaghetti:  1 lb. spag. noodles, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can diced tomatoes, 3/4 C **FD beef, 1/2 C FD broccoli, seasonings.
• Mexican Soup:  1 can chicken broth, 1 C instant black beans, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can corn, 1-1/2 C diced FD chicken, spices.
• Minestrone Soup:  1 C instant red beans, 1/2-lb mac. noodles, 2 C potato dices, 1 C FD sausage, 1 can tomato sauce, spices.
• Penne Casserole:  3/4 pkg penne noodles, 1 can tomato sauce, 2 C mozzarella cheese, 1/2 C FD gr. beef; seasonings
• Chicken Pot Pie:  2 frozen pie crusts, 1 can cream-potato soup, 1 can mixed veggies, 1 C FD chicken, 1 can corn, seasonings.

Click here to see Step 1

*note:  when freezing pre-made meals, do not cook noodles, potatoes, or pie crust ahead of time.  They'll be soggy when thawed and re-heated.  I'll spend more time on freezer meals another day.

**FD = freeze-dried.  The benefit of this over frozen is that you don't have to cook it and it doesn't get that awful freezer burn flavor.  Plus it has a 25-yr unopened shelf-life and doesn't take up freezer space.

Freeze Dried Foods

I recently found several articles focusing on the health effects of freeze dried foods -- this is really amazing!  Many of the benefits I already listed in my previous post, but here are some others:

• concentrated antioxidants
• high in fiber 
• color, shape, flavor and nutrients are maintained
• diets high in fruit and vegetables reduce risk of disease
• long shelf life
• convenient for backpacking, camping and traveling
• a healthy, fun and nutritional snack for kids
• no extra flavors, additives or sugars -- ALL Natural!!

For an interesting read on Freeze-dried foods:

1. Nutritional Effects of Freeze-Drying Foods
2. Health Effects of Freeze-Dried Food 
3. Ever wonder how Freeze-Dried Ice Cream is made?
   

What's the Difference?

Many people ask me:  What's the difference between Grocery Store, Dehydrated and Freeze-Dried foods?  Here's the answer:

GROCERY STORE:

Fresh tastes great!  And when you cook it yourself you know what's going into it.  But unless you purchase your fresh foods from a local farmer's market, most grocery store foods are picked early and ripens during shipping.  This results in decreased nutritional value compared to foods picked at peak ripeness.


DEHYDRATED:

Dehydrated foods are processed by heating the food to a level that the moisture will evaporate.  The heating process breaks down nutrients, changes the color, flavor, shape and texture of the food.  Because dehydration doesn't take out the moisture entirely, they have a shelf life of about 5-10 years.  Dehydrated fruits do contain fiber, some vitamins and minerals, but many companies add sulfur and sugar to enhance flavor and shelf life. 


FREEZE-DRIED:

Freeze-dried foods are flash-frozen, a process that drops temperatures immediately; then in a vacuum chamber, 98% of the moisture is removed.   These foods are picked at peak ripeness, so they also have a higher nutritional content than those picked early.  Because they are frozen rather than heated, when water is replaced, these foods maintain their shape, color, flavor and nutrients.   Also, because 98% of the moisture content is removed, freeze-dried foods have a much longer shelf-life, usually up to 25 years.  No flavors, additives or sugars are added to freeze-dried food.  You are eating quality all-natural food -- and it TASTES GREAT!

See for yourself!   Both are samples of Green Beans:  

Dehydrated on the left; Freeze-Dried on the right.