survival-kitchen

Cookie Recipe With Cacao Powder

Since I just recently discussed our Cacao powder and it’s benefit as a ‘superfood’, I thought I’d share this yummy Cacao Cookie recipe with you. For this recipe, we will be using quite a few of our food storage ingredients. This is another reason that I thought you would like this recipe. These cookies with Cacao powder are delicious and they are also versatile. You can add your own favorite ingredients. For example, sometimes I’ll add some nuts, or a tablespoon of flax seed or some ‘white morsel’ chips. Be creative!

Here’s the recipe for 2 dozen Cacao Cookies:

- 1/2 stick butter, softened

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 large egg (or 1 Tbsp dehydrated egg powder and 1 Tbsp water)

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

- 3/4 cup wheat flour

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 2 tablespoons cacao powder

- 1/2 cup rolled oats

Drop by tablespoonful onto your greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cacao Powder

A Last Run To Buy Grocery Store Food Items

What will be the first grocery store items to disappear during a SHTF scenario when all of your neighbors are rushing out to the grocery store down the street? Will the items they purchase be the items they really should be purchasing? Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

For the purpose of this scenario, let’s say that the SHTF event is a major magnitude 8.0 earthquake on the New Madrid fault zone where Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri come together along the Mississippi river. The earthquake is so severe that almost all of the bridges along the Mississippi river are knocked out. Since much of the foods and supplies criss-cross the country from source to destination, there will be major disruptions in inventory when nearly all the east-west trucking has slowed to a trickle due to the major bridges being out. In this example, you don’t actually live in the devastation zone (where the power will be out and stores closed anyway), but you know that there will be serious supply shortages soon. The news media has been talking about the supply distribution breakdown and the fact that bridge repairs may take months or much longer. You are worried that food may become in short supply.

Most people won’t know how bad it might get, but there will be people beginning to panic and rushing out to the grocery store to buy supplies.

Many people won’t be smart, and won’t think it through. What will they buy first?

Maybe they will rush to get things like,

- fresh milk, bread, and eggs
- more of their ‘regular’ stuff (processed/boxed foods, frozen foods, etc.)
- cigarettes and booze

Why did they buy these items? What was their ‘thinking’ or logic behind it?

It’s a natural instinct to go out and buy the foods that are consumed on a regular basis, especially those that will ‘go bad’ the soonest, foods that don’t last that long like fresh bread and milk. We have been trained to think short-term. We have short attention spans and tend not to think ahead (or plan ahead).

Buying milk and bread and other ‘regular’ items are Okay, but, for those who realize the serious magnitude of the situation, knowing that supplies may run out quickly and that they may be without supplies for some time afterward, what might be some better (or additional) items to buy first?

Maybe some of these items will be a better choice during that last minute grocery store run before things run out completely.

- 10 lb. bags (or larger) of rice & beans
- flour/sugar/salt/yeast
- high calorie foods, like the following few random examples,
mac-n-cheese (600 calories/box)
peanut butter (100 calories/tablespoon)
canned stews (200 calories/cup)
canned brown, red, or black beans (350 calories/can)
canned meats
you get the idea…
- powdered milk, powdered potatoes
- coffee/tea, or similar items that you use, or could be used for trade

I’m not intending to make a list of things to get, but to point out that for a last-minute, one time last run to the grocery store while facing upcoming food shortages, you should think about it differently.

By thinking in terms of getting food items that will be better for longer term shortages, you will fill your basket with other things than most people around you who are stocking up with bread and milk. The things in your basket may not be what you normally buy, but the idea is to buy the foods that will last longer, and provide more calories for you money.

Remember, calories keep you alive.

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Mayan Cacao Powder: A Super Survivor Food

As I just made a batch of homemade cookies the other day, I thought I’d share with you a ‘not-so-well-known’ item we have in our stock. Pure organic cacao is an ingredient we have been using for several years. For those of you that don’t know, organic cacao is considered a Mayan super-food.

In ancient Mayan culture cacao was revered as the drink of the gods. Only the elite of Mayan society could afford to drink it as the seeds were used as currency. Only rich people can afford to drink their money. Colonists discovered the cacao drink and brought it back to Europe where it became a fashionable drink among the high society. In the present cacao is sold worldwide as the main ingredient in chocolate and hot cocoa powder, but the Mayan still prepare it and drink it the way their ancestors used to.

We began using organic cacao powder to obtain the full power of the antioxidants it contains. What’s the difference between cacao (pronounced “cah-cow”) and the cocoa powder I can buy in the grocery store?

The Cacao Tree (Theobroma cacao) produces pods (the fruit) about the size of a football, in which the cacao beans are found. Cocoa is always heat processed (which destroys antioxidants), while Cacao is ‘cold’ processed and is a raw organic product that has more (much more) antioxidants and nutrients.

This is what Navitas Naturals has to say about their Cacao Powder, which is what we use.

Navitas Naturals cacao beans are hand-selected for quality, partially fermented to alleviate bitterness, and processed at low temperatures for maximum nutrient retention. Once extracted from the pod-like fruit, purified water is used to cleanse the beans. The whole beans are peeled and cold-pressed to form a paste, the bean’s oil is extracted, and our nutrient-dense cacao powder is formed. Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder contains 100% pure cacao powder that is certified organic, kosher, gluten-free, vegan, and raw.

I use this cacao powder when I am baking and we also have great shakes using this powder. Because of the high antioxidants, I also consider this organic cacao powder to be part of our overall good health plan, just like we’re using more ‘high ORAC value‘ spices in our foods. I will tell you that cacao powder from Navitas is not cheap, but our health is worth the price. If you are trying to eat foods as ‘organic’ as possible with the least amount of processing and the highest amount of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants, this is the way to go when it comes to chocolate!

Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder, 16-Ounce Pouches

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Strawberry Granola Recipe

Guest post: by Christine Coburn

Oh No !!! I can’t go buy cold cereal.

If The SHTF then the stores will be closed and your nightly bowl of Raisin Bran will come to an end unless you can make a substitute out of your pantry. Here is one alternative for a tasty cold cereal that is limited only by your imagination. It is great as a cold cereal with milk, on top of yogurt, mixed into trail mix, or just as a snack that is healthy and nutritious.

1. Strawberry (or raisin, or date, or plain, or prune, or peach, and on and on) Granola for cold cereal or a healthy snack. I make a double batch since all my kids and grandkids love it.

a. You will need

i. 6 cups old fashioned oats (Not quick oats, or you can roll your own oat groats – if you do, then do it on a pretty thick setting on your roller)

ii. ½ cup oil (your choice, I use plain old vegetable oil)

iii. ½ cup honey

iv. 1 cup of your choice of pureed fruit Or for plain, increase above to 1 cup each

v. Any seasonings you want like nutmeg, cinnamon etc

vi. Nuts if you choose

b. In a pot place the honey and oil, heat it on a medium heat until you see it start to bubble.

c. Put the oats in a big bowl.

d. When the mixture on the stove begins to bubble, remove it and mix in the fruit.

e. Pour the mixture into the oats and mix well breaking up any large clumps.

f. Spread the mixture onto cookie sheets and bake at 300 degrees for about 50 minutes.

g. Stir it every 10-12 minutes so that it toasts evenly. When the granola has toasted to your liking, remove and cool. You can stir in any dried fruit, nuts, candy chips etc you want at this time.

h. Store it in an air tight container. I can not tell you how long it will last as it does not last long here in my house.

(submit your own guest post here)

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How To Make Self Rising Flour

Dry yeast has a shelf life of about 4 months after it is opened and if kept refrigerated. In a SHTF world, without refrigeration, it won’t be so simple to make bread without being able to reach into the fridge to get some of that fresh active yeast to perform it’s magic of making the dough rise. One solution to this potential problem is to make your own self rising flour. It doesn’t require yeast.

The key ingredient to self rising flour is baking powder. Baking powder contains three ingredients. Sodium bicarbonate (Baking Soda). Monocalcium phosphate (acid salt). Cornstarch (filler and moisture absorbent).

Baking powder works by releasing tiny carbon dioxide gas bubbles into a batter or dough through a reaction between the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and acid/salt (monocalcium phosphate) when exposed to moisture, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture.

The beneficial aspect to utilizing baking powder to make a self rising flour is that it does not require refrigeration. It’s not a living organism like yeast. So long as you keep it dry, the unopened shelf life is up to several years and once opened it’s good for about 6 months at room temperature.

To test your baking powder, add some (1/2 tsp or so) to some hot water in a cup. If it foams and bubbles, it has enough oomph left. If it just sits there, well, it’s no good.

Self Rising Flour Recipe

To make 1 cup of self rising flour, add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir/mix until well blended together. That’s it!

Self Rising Flour Biscuits Recipe

In the spirit of cross-training in the kitchen, I decided to try my hand at making something edible from my self rising flour. I actually surprised myself by successfully making a simple but tasty batch of biscuits.

All the ingredients used required no refrigeration, making this a reasonable food source for post-SHTF. I only cheated by using the oven for baking. However you could substitute by cooking over a fire (dutch oven?), or using a solar oven, or even improvising by using a covered pan on low heat over a hot burner.

This makes 8 or 9 biscuits.
First mix all the dry ingredients well.

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 cup sugar
4 tbsp powdered butter (1/4-cup)
1 tbsp powdered egg (1 egg)

Then add 1 cup water and mix well.

This will produce a sticky blend of dough. Unlike a yeast mixture, the self-rising-flour does not ‘rise’ prior to cooking. The rise will happen as it cooks. I spooned the mixture into foil baking cups (they will stick to the paper ones) and set them in cupcake trays. I suppose you could use and shape aluminum foil in a pinch, or you could even spread the batter mixture into a do-it-yourself foil ‘cake’.

Bake at 375-degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Rumford Aluminum Free Baking Powder, 8.1-Ounce Canisters (Pack of 6)

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