Minestrone In Minutes

The boys went on an overnight ATV trip to Moab and the girls and I were left home alone last night.  We went to Emily's soccer game, went out to dinner, then we went to the grocery store and came home to work on a little project. 

Aside from storing at least a year supply of food, our church suggests having a 3 month supply of the kind of food you eat every day on hand.  Click here to see the "All is Safely Gathered In" pamphlet.  I have been looking at different ways of doing this.  I have found several different sources that have different shelf stable meals that you can put together and have on hand.  Last week I gave one of the recipes a try.  We made Minestrone soup.  And we all loved it.  It was seriously so easy and everyone gobbled it up.  Well, all the vegetables that go in the soup are on sale at our local store this week for 49 cents a can.  The girls and I went to the store last night and bought enough ingredients to put together 12 meals in a bag.  Then we came home and put the meals together.  This is something I want to do on a weekly or semi-weekly basis.  If I can put together 6 more meals like this, that would give us 7 meals x 12.  If we eat each meal once a week then that gives us 3 months worth of dinners.  I plan on rotating them by using them but will probably only use one of each meal every month.  Unless of course an emergency arises. In that case it's Minestrone all around!

Here is Aubrey measuring out the spices and placing them in a zip-lock bag.

Addy organizing the cans 

Here is our finished product!  12 meals ready to make and eat!  

I put the macaroni in a zip-lock bag with a paper that has the recipe printed on it.

I know this is not the most fancy packaging but we do have a plethora of these bags on hand.  I haven't decided how to store these yet.  I was thinking of putting them in 5 gallon buckets, but they aren't going to fit.  I am now thinking maybe some rubbermaid totes or something.

Anyhoo!  The girls and I had so much fun putting these together.  They were so simple to do.  Here is the recipe I used.  It is my own slightly tweaked version of Wendy DeWitt's recipe.

Minestrone 

1c macaroni

1 can corn

1 can green beans

1 can tomatoes

 (we used Italian seasoned tomatoes because that is all they had left at the 

store of the brand that was on sale but when I made it last week

 I just used plain diced tomatoes)

1 can black beans (we like black, you can use kidney or whatever)

2T dry onion

2t salt

1t pepper

1t garlic powder

2t Italian seasoning

2T parsley

Dump everything into a pot (do not drain canned goods). Add  3 cups of water. Cook 20-30 min.  (I think I might have added more water, can't remember.  Wendy's recipe only calls for 1 C.  Just add whatever you might fancy.  I'm wondering if she cooks the past first even though it doesn't say that in her recipe and that is why she only adds 1 cup.  I just cooked my pasta in the same pot with everything else and added more water.)

I served it with this yummy and easy Artisan Bread. This recipe comes from my friend and neighbor Jamie:

6 1/2 C flour

3 C hot water

1 1/2 T Kosher Salt (this is too salty for me, I usually do 1 T)

1 1/2 T yeast

Mix by hand.  Let sit 2 hours in bowl.  Shape on pan (I use a cookie sheet) into 2 loaves (think artisan shape, I kinda do an ovalish shape).  Let sit 1 more hour.  Brush with egg whites.  Bake at 500 for 20 minutes.  Put a bowl of water in oven while baking to create steam.

I am so excited for a few reasons to have these meals.  Number 1 for my food storage.  Number 2 for those nights when I need something fast and easy.  Number 3 for those nights when Steve and I are on a date and the kids are left to fend for themselves.  Number 4 this meal was less than $3 per meal to make!  Try putting a few together yourself!