Food Storage 101 – Can's #5 & #6 – Meat and Veggies

With our Food Storage 101 week coming to an end, we thought that the best way to finish would be to feature the two most common foods found in a meal – meat and veggies! The final two cans featured in our 6-can food storage discussion is the Honeyville Freeze Dried Vegetable Mix and Honeyville Freeze Dried White Chicken.

One thing I’ve learned from my daughter is that vegetables are a very personal choice. While my palette is more suited towards a broccoli and green beans taste, she leans more towards the carrots and corn side of things. There are many FreezeDried Vegetable options at Honeyville that you can pick and choose from, but if you have a family like mine with so many different preferences, you’ll find the Vegetable Mix the best choice.

Vegetables are rich with all the essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy diet. They also help to fight off heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. When it comes to basic food storage staples, this is a big one. Not only do most vegetables store for a long period of time (5 to 10 year shelf life for our Freeze Dried Vegetable Mix), you can easily find a way to continually rotate them into your daily use.

What great way to end our 6 can discussion than with my favorite part of meal time – the meat! There are so many options in Freeze Dried Meats to choose from here at Honeyville, but for our example we chose the Freeze Dried White Chicken. This product brings in an impressive 120 calories and 21 grams of protein per serving. It also has a shelf life of 10-15 years. By far this may be the best overall meat to sustain you and your family in any situation. But remember, this choice is yours. The opportunities are endless and, if you prefer your chicken mixed with a little starch, the Honeyville Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken might be a better choice for you.

Now, let’s put our Vegetable Mix and Chicken to work in a great recipe provided by Chef Tess!

Creamy Chicken Veggie Casserole
1 ¾ cups wide egg noodles
½ cup Honeyville Freeze Dried Vegetable Mix
1 cup Honeyville Freeze Dried White Chicken
½ cup Honeyville Freeze Dried Peas
¼ cup Honeyville Freeze Dried Mushroom Slices
2 Tbls. Honeyville Dehydrated onions
1 tsp Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasoning
½ cup Honeyville Cheese sauce powder
1/3 cup Honeyville Powdered Milk
1/3 cup Honeyville Powdered Sour Cream
¼ cup Honeyville Dehydrated Butter

Directions: In a casserole, combine the entire contents of the jar with 4 cups hot water. Let sit 5 minutes. Cover and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or microwave in covered deep dish casserole for 15 minutes.

Bonus: Bread Crumb Topping: Use any bread of your choice. Put a few pieces in a food processor or finely grind in a hand-powered processor. Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil ½ cup of the crumbs and ½ tsp of my Romantic Italian Seasoning. Put the crumbs in a hot skillet and stir until toasted.

Remember that food storage is all about what you and your family want to eat, so make your food storage fit your needs. Come in to any of our four stores and our workers can help you find the perfect mix that is just right for you. Or check out honeyvillegrain.com for more options in your own six #10 can starter kit.

As you may realize by now, all of these foods require a supply of water to use them properly, which is a topic we will explore in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned for more Food Storage 101 tips!