Food Storage Taste Test

UPDATE:  Daily Bread called today and said they would send me a different sample to try.  That they were aware of the wateriness of the lasagna and have since revised it to only add 3/4 cup of water instead of a full cup and then to let it sit 10-15 minutes instead of 8-9.

This will be a different kind of post from the normal ones.  Our church has asked us to prepare ourselves in the event of disasters, hardships, inclement weather circumstances, etc.  Part of that preparation is making sure we have a one year food supply for all members of our family.

In the past couple of years new companies have come out with products that are supposed to be ready made meals all you do is add boiling water and you have a meal.  The nice thing that they claim, is that these meals unopened will last on your shelf for 25 years!  Now to me, that's the easiest way to do food storage.  Buy it once (instead of rotating through it as the expiration dates on food come up) and forget about it for 25 years.  But if you need it, it's there and you just add water.

Now I'm skeptical about anything that is that easy.  Wouldn't you be?  This is what your family would have to live on if need be.  Will it taste good?  Will my kids eat it (that's the real question)?  Will it really last 25 years?

Two of the companies that I'm talking about are Daily Bread and The Wise Company.  I'm sure there are more companies that offer this service but these are the two I received samples from.  Both websites will gladly send you a free sample of a meal to try it out for yourself.

Here are the two samples I received.  Just as a side note, I didn't doctor up these pictures like I normally would in photoshop because I wanted you to see what they really look like to decide for yourself.

Each sample was a pasta of some sort.  Daily Bread was a Lasagna with Meat Sauce and Wise Company was Pasta Alfredo.  Both samples were around 300 calories and 11 grams of fat per serving.

Let's see how they did:

Daily Bread (Lasagna with Meat Sauce) Servings per bag: 1

This sample can be made in the bag for convenience.  All you do is add one cup of boiling water to the bag and then ziplock it closed and let it sit for 8-9 minutes, that is after you remove the oxygen absorber from the bag (hopefully you wouldn't forget to do that like I almost did).  I followed the instructions to the T (not very hard) and it may have actually sat in the bag a little longer than 9 minutes as I was waiting for the other sample.

Here's how it looked when I opened the bag.  

I'm not sure if you can see it or not but the sauce was very watery, you can see noodles and some meat and the tomatoes.

Here's how it looked on the plate (keep in mind I strained out the excess water and the white around it is from the other sample)

So it actually looks like it will taste good once it's out of the bag.  On the bag it says for convenience you can eat it straight from the bag.  So that's nice as well.

Upon tasting it though, it seemed really bland like it needed salt added to it.  The kids wouldn't eat more than one bite of it.  But then they don't like tomatoes or red sauce very well.  I wasn't a big fan of it but maybe I just needed to stir it more.  When my husband came home and tasted it, he said it was a little bland but that it was fine (keep in mind his sense of smell has always been partially blocked and therefore his tasting abilities are limited).  His serving had sat a little longer and was maybe mixed a little better than the serving we ate.

Wise Company (Pasta Alfredo) Servings per bag: 4

This sample needed a pot of boiling water (could not be cooked in the bag).  It required 4 cups of boiling water and then you added the contents of the bag, stirred it, covered it and let it sit for 12-15 minutes.    My husband was really skeptical that there was actually 4 servings worth of food in that small bag.  We were pleasantly surprised and even had leftovers!  It made a lot of pasta!

Here's what it looked like in the pot after 15 minutes:

Here's how it looked on the plate:

Upon tasting it, the sauce was really thick and my kids thought it was a cheese sauce (even though it was just alfredo).  Some of the kids had seconds.  They actually really liked this one.  I liked this one better myself.  The flavor was good, the noodles were soft and the sauce was thick.  Again my husband thought this was a little bland too but he liked it fine too (again take that for what you will).

My only complaint with this sample is that it was just noodles and sauce.  No meat, no vegetables.  But since I also have those options in my food storage already, I could easily add meat and/or vegetables to it.

So what's the verdict?  Before my husband tried the samples, I would definitely go with Wise Company.  It tasted better had a thicker sauce and the most important reason I would go with it, my kids liked it.  But after he tasted it, maybe Daily Bread just didn't get a fair shake...maybe...I'll have to do a follow up post.

After pricing both options, the Wise Company is actually quite a bit cheaper on the their packages than Daily Bread.  The difference is that the Wise Company only has so many options which is how they keep their costs low.  You don't get to make up your own packages, you get what is in them and that's it. On the other hand, Daily Bread has quite a lot of variety in their meals and you can mix and match the packages to your tastes.  So maybe we just don't order the Lasagna.

Now to be fair to Daily Bread, I emailed and asked for a sample of something different.  We received the lasagna sample about 2 years ago (which shouldn't matter since the food is supposed to last unopened for 25 years) and we got our Wise Company sample a week ago (I ordered it after I saw a commercial for it during General Conference).  But like I said that shouldn't matter since it has a shelf life of 25 years.  So after we get the 2nd sample, assuming they'll give us another one, maybe we'll like it better.

So what do you think?  Try it out for yourself and let me know if you receive different meals to try and what you think of them.  Here are the websites:

Daily Bread:  http://www.dailybread.com/

Wise Company:  http://wisefoodstorage.com/

Zuppa Toscana (like Olive Garden)

I needed to use up some spinach and potatoes and I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com.  It's Tim's favorite when we go to Olive Garden so I hope he likes it!  I think it tastes pretty similar!  I would give this a 5 for the sheer fact that my kids ate it!  My changes or notes are in red.

Ingredients

1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage

1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes  (I used less but it still had a kick to it)

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used refrigerated bacon bits)

1 large onion, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth

6 potato, thinly sliced

1 cup heavy cream (I used half and half and just added a little extra)

1/4 bunch fresh spinach, tough stems removed (I used baby spinach)

Directions

Cook the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. (I don't have a dutch oven, I just used a large pot)

Cook the bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. (Since I wasn't cooking any bacon I just left the sausage in the pot and cooked the bacon bits, onions and garlic all together)

Pour the chicken broth into the Dutch oven with the bacon and onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the heavy cream and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the spinach into the soup just before serving.

Olive Garden Style Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

If you have ever gone to Olive Garden for lunch, you've probably ordered the soup, salad and breadsticks at some point. We always do and we were very pleased to see a new soup added to their menu as of late. The Chicken and Gnocchi soup is amazing! I knew it was a recipe I needed to find when I saw my kids eating bowl after bowl of it! Here's one I found and tried. It turned out pretty good and almost exactly tasting like the real thing. I will give it a 5 star rating!

Ingredients

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups half-and-half (evaporated milk works as well)
1 stalk celery, diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 carrot, shredded
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil (I use pam cooking spray)
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper
16 oz potato gnocci
1 Tbsp cornstarch (optional)

Directions

Saute the onion, celery, garlic, and carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent. (I just spray the pan with pam instead of using oil)

Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.

Optional: Heat to boiling and add cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp water at this point if you want a thicker soup. (I skipped this step)

Pesto Lasagna Rolls

This is a Taste of Home recipe I used in conjunction with the White Puree recipe. It turned out great and no one could tell there was zucchini and cauliflower in it. The recipe actually did call for some zucchini in it which is why I thought this puree would work well mixed in with the cheese mixture. So instead of the zucchini I added 1 cup of White Puree. Instead of the first 4 ingredients I just used already made pesto sauce. One other thing I added was some chicken to the cheese mixture...just to give us some meat :) Oh and I give this recipe 4.5 stars (I needed more pesto sauce).

Ingredients

2 cups Fresh basil leaves
2 cloves Garlic
1 cup(3oz) shredded Parmesan Cheese, divided
3/4 cup Olive oil
15 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Egg, beaten
1 cup Diced zucchini
16 Lasagna noodles, cooked drained and cooled

Preparation

Prepare pesto sauce in covered blender or food processor by processing basil with garlic until chopped. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; process until well mixed. With machine running, slowly add oil and coninue processing until smooth. Set aside. In medium bowl, combine ricotta and mozzarella cheese, remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and egg; blend well. Fold in zucchini (or fold in White Puree).

Spread 2 heaping Tablespoons cheese mixture on each lasagna noodle.
Roll up each noodle length wise and stand vertically in greased 11x7-inch baking
dish. Pour pesto sauce over lasagna rolls; cover and bake in preheated 350* F.
oven 40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

.

Cheesy Stuffed Shells

Tonight's recipe was a lot easier than the last one. It came from (of course) the Kraft Food and Family magazine. Usually when I see italian meals with something stuffed it takes forever or it's just complicated to make. But this was a breeze. No meat in this recipe just some spinach and cheese. I added a can of mushrooms since Aiden is a huge fan of mushrooms and I know I can get him to eat longer if they're in there. Otherwise, I just made the recipe as is. I give it a 5!

1 container (16 oz.) BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Low Fat Cottage Cheese
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, drained
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 large tomato, chopped

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning until well blended. Spoon 1 heaping Tbsp. of the cheese mixture evenly into each pasta shell.

COMBINE spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; spoon half of the sauce mixture into 13x9-inch baking dish. Place shells, filled sides up, in baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce mixture over shells. Cover with foil.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Uncover; top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, an additional 2 min. or until cheese is melted.

Nona's Yummy Lasagna

So I made this recipe a couple days after my family left (just haven't had time to post it) and loved it! This also comes out of the ward cookbook. I just love lasagna (except for that nasty seafood one I tried a while back) and this one was easy...and delicious. I had it for lunch the next 2 days afterwards until all the leftovers were gone. Yeah it was that good....I thought about it all the time. Tim was bummed when I told him I had finished off the lasagna...good thing I had some other left over he wanted to eat instead. So I definitely give this recipe a 5!

9 lasagna noodles
1lb. ground beef
Desired amount of onions (I loved
that I got to pick!)
2 (8oz.) cans tomato sauce
1/8 c. Italian seasoning
1 to 2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup sour cream
grated cheese

Boil water. Cook the lasagna noodles until tender. To make the meat
sauce, brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet. Stir in the tomato
sauce and Italian seasoning. Simmer, stirring occasionally. Take off heat. Add
the cottage cheese and sour cream. Lightly grease a large baking dish. Spoon in
enough meat sauce to lightly cover the bottom of dish. Top with 3 strips cooked
noodles. Spread meat sauce over noodles and sprinkle cheese on top. Repeat
layers, ending with meat sauce (I actually ended with cheese on top). Bake
covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes to set layers.

(Note: You can use dry noodles instead of boiling the noodles before hand. If you do this, pour 1/2 cup water over the layered lasagna and let it sit for 15-30 minutes before baking.) -Natalia Magnusson

Cacciatore-Style Chicken Bake

Tonight's meal again came from the Fall issue 2006 of the Kraft Food and Family magazine. It turned out great and I thought that maybe next time I make it I'll make pasta to put it on. I love the recipes that are done all in one pan. It didn't take long to make either. The only difference I made was that I added cheese before putting the stuffing on top. I give this recipe a 5!

1-2/3 cups hot water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small each: red and green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 jar (14 oz.) spaghetti sauce

PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Add hot water to stuffing mix; stir just until moistened. Set aside.

PLACE chicken, peppers and onions in 13x9-inch baking dish; mix lightly. Pour spaghetti sauce over chicken mixture; top with prepared stuffing.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

Made over Chicken Tetrazzini

I made this one a couple days ago and the leftovers are already gone so it was pretty good. It comes from the Kraft Food and Family magazine, Spring 2006 issue. It wasn't too difficult to make either which I love. It called for red peppers but I was fresh out so I used green....I'm not sure what the difference is other than the color. To me, this dish tasted like tuna noodle casserole but it was chicken. Go figure. If you end up making this one, comment on what you thought about the taste. I give this recipe a 4.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) spaghetti, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 medium red pepper, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, cubed
1/4 cup flour
1 can (14 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add chicken, peppers and mushrooms; cook and stir 5 min. or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; set aside.

PLACE Neufchatel cheese, flour and broth in skillet. Cook and stir with wire whisk until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min., stirring frequently.

DRAIN pasta; return to saucepan. Add Neufchatel cheese mixture, chicken mixture and 2 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese; mix well. Spoon into 2-qt. round casserole dish; cover with foil. Bake 25 min. Top with mozzarella and remaining 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese; continue baking, uncovered, 2 min. or until mozzarella cheese is melted.

Easy Lasagna

Tonight's recipe came from the kitchen of Lucinda Hopkins. She gave a little class about "Budget meals made fun and simple" and this was one of the recipes from the class. I have to say it was pretty easy to make, you didn't even have to cook the noodles first. The directions were a little sketchy so I improvised and it turned out pretty great. I give this recipe a 4.5

Ingredients


1 pkg. lasagna noodles
spaghetti sauce (here's part of the sketchyness...how much? maybe a cup or two)
cottage cheese (again I guessed it was about a 16 oz package of it)
shredded cheese (however much you want to use)
1 lb. hamburger
onion (I cut up almost a whole medium sized onion for this)
1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
2 eggs


Directions


Brown hamburger with onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix cottage cheese with 2 eggs and parsley. In 9X13 pan, put a little spaghetti sauce in the bottom, then 1 layer of noddles (uncooked), then the cottage cheese mixture, then hamburger, spaghetti sauce again and cheese. Repeat. Put 1/4 cup of water in the pan--cook covered for 1 1/2 hours. (now here she didn't say what temperature so I just guessed at 350F and I only cooked it for 1 hour 15 minutes and it turned out just fine).

Quick Fettuccine Cacciatore

This recipe brought me back to the reason I love to cook.....because the food is so good! It came from the Spring 2006 Kraft Food and Family magazine. It looks like the Food Family magazine is sending out it's Summer 2006 issue! I'm pumped for some new recipes! I used regular spaghetti and Basil seasoning instead of the fettuccine and fresh chopped basil. Tim had seconds on this dinner so you know it's good. I definitely give this recipe a 5!

8 oz. fettuccine, uncooked
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup each: sliced green peppers and sliced mushrooms
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian Mozzarella/Parmesan Cheese Blend
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir until no longer pink. Add peppers and mushrooms; cook 3 min., stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes with their liquid and the dressing. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

TOSS pasta with the chicken mixture; sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Last night I made a recipe from the Everyday Food magazine I got in the mail. It turned out pretty good and was a good change from lugging out the big crockpot. Tim liked it...he had seconds, you know it's good when your husband has seconds of what you make. The recipe was in the March 2006 issue of the magazine. It's a spin off of the Martha Stewart magazine empire. It's actually a really good magazine, I got this one for free to see what it was like. I give this recipe a 3.

Here's the recipe:

Serves 4
Prep time: 30 min.
Total Time: 30 min.

1 lb spaghetti
8 oz bacon (8 slices). cut 1 in. thick crosswise ( I used turkey bacon)coarse salt and ground pepper (I just used regular salt and pepper)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 cup half and half

1. Set a large pot of water to boil (for pasta). In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occansionally, until crisp, 8-12 min.; tranfer to a paper towel lined plate.

2. Salt boiling water generously; add pasta and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. (I'm guessing al dente means done).

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan, and half and half. Set aside.

4. Drain pasta, leaving some water clinging to it. Working quickly, add hot pasta to egg mixture. Add bacon; season with salt and pepper, and toss all to combine (heat from pasta will cook eggs).
Serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese.

Lasagna

Ok so tonight was Lasagna! Did you know you could make lasagna in a crock pot? I didn't. It's on pg 56 and it turned out pretty good and I have to say I liked that I didn't have to cook the noodles. The only change I made to this one was that I cooked it on low for 3.5 hours instead of 4-5 like she said. I could tell it wanted to burn....but I wouldn't let it. So it actually turned out nice! I give this recipe a 4 ....it wasn't holy crap this is the best thing in the world, but believe me it was good.

Now what to make tomorrow?

Ingredients

12 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup water
1 carton (16 oz) cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions

Break noodles in half. Place half of the noodles in bottom of greased
slow cooker. Stir Italian seasoning into meat and spread half over the
noodles already in slow cooker. Then layer half of the sauce and water,
half of the cottage cheese, and half of the mozzarella cheese over beef.
Repeat layers. Cover and cook on low heat 3.5-4 hours. Do not cook
more than 5 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

Italian Chicken with Mushrooms

Ok here's my 3rd recipe....It's Italian Chicken with Mushrooms on pg 84 and I have to tell you if this one didn't turn out I was going to throw that book in the garbage. Everyone just raves about these books by Ms. Ashcraft, she's got a ton of them but if they don't taste good or they burn then what's the point?

Well the point is this one turned out to be fantastic! I even drew a star at the top of this page so I knew to make it again. I didn't have mushrooms so I used green beans instead (you will want to drain that juice as well, if you know anything about green bean juice it takes over the flavor of whatever you're cooking). This time instead of following the recipe to a T I tweaked it a bit. I guess this cookbook needs a warning label that says, may need some tweaking or your food might be crappy. You're supposed to cook the chicken by itself for 3 hours and then add the extra stuff and cook another 2 hours. No way was I going to have burnt chicken for dinner so I only cooked it for an extra hour and it was perfect! My husband even took the leftovers to law school the next day for lunch. I didn't notice until after that it said to serve over hot noodles, we didn't do that and it was fine.

Well I guess 3rd times a charm....I will keep the book! I give this recipe a 5 PERFECTO!

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/4 cup water
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken or mushroom soup, condensed
1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

Directions

Place chicken in a greased 3 1/2 to 5 qt slo cooker. Combine salad dressing mix
and water; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on high heat 3 hours. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms, Pour over chicken. Cook 1 hour longer on high heat, o runtil chicken juices run clear. Makes 4 servings.