Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls From Your Food Storage Pantry

If you have been reading my blog, you know that strawberries are one of my favorites.  Freeze-dried strawberries are so easy to use and taste delicious.  I love to experiment with them.  I decided to change up my favorite cinnamon roll recipe.  It actually turned out better than I had hoped.  Considering the red strawberry filling and the white frosting on top, they would make a great Christmas treat.  Your family will love them anytime.  It is very likely that you will be able to make them entirely from items in your food storage pantry.  I hope that you will give this recipe a try.

Note:  Freeze-dried raspberries, blueberries, mangos, peaches and pineapple can be substituted.

Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls

Mix the following ingredients and let yeast develop for about 10 to 15 minutes.

2 C. warm water

½ C. oil

½ C. sugar

2 pkgs. or 2 T. yeast

Add:

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs or 2 T. whole egg powder + 4T. water

Knead the dough and let it rise until double in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap.  Roll out until it is about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick.  Spread Strawberry filling over the dough evenly.  Roll up as if it were a cinnamon roll.  Seal the edges.  Cut into 1 ½ inch slices using a piece of thread.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise until double.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven.  While slightly warm, drizzle with vanilla frosting.

Strawberry Filling

In a saucepan mix the following ingredients.  Bring to a boil and continue to cook until mixture becomes very thick (like jam).

2 C. freeze-dried strawberries

¾ C. water

1/3 C. sugar

Add:

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Continue cooking for 1 minute.

These rolls are delicious and can be made on the spur of the moment when using ingredients from your food storage pantry.  If you have never used freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, I recommend giving them a try.  You will be surprised and how fast and easy they are to use and how convenient they are.  They make cooking quick and easy because they are already chopped and ready to rehydrate in your favorite recipe.  I recommend trying Shelf Reliance Thrive freeze-dried foods.  They are of the highest quality and give you the piece of mind knowing they are in your pantry and ready to use.  Most Thrive freeze-dried foods have a shelf life of 25 years unopened and up to a year after opened.  Give them a try.  You will love them!

Please click below to go to my Shelf Reliance website.  While there you can learn more about Shelf Reliance products, use our food planner, get recipes from Chef Todd Leonard or purchase any of our line of Thrive foods, emergency equipment or shelving.

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

Making an Emergency Evacuation Document File

My good friends, a couple I went to high school with, live within a few miles of my home.  Their house is situated in the mouth of a beautiful little canyon whose environs include wild grasses, various brush plants, along with scrub oak and juniper trees.  It is a beautiful setting and in recent years many people have chosen to build big beautiful homes there.  This summer, a car parked near some dry grass at one of the residences innocently threw a spark when it was started.  Our unusually hot, dry summer had produced very dry grass and brush.  The little spark soon exploded into a raging fire that tore through the mouth of the canyon and the adjoining mountainside.  Within minutes, all of the residents of the area had to be evacuated.  They were given only a few minutes to gather their belongings and try to evacuate any animals they kept.  Fortunately, the winds were not blowing in the direction of my friends’ home and while several homes were destroyed and others damaged, they were able to survive the fire unscathed.

In talking to my friends about this event, they mentioned that this was the third time over the past few years that they had been evacuated under similar circumstances. They said that the first time, given only a few minutes to evacuate, their attempt was totally chaotic.  When the allotted time was up they left their home not knowing if they had taken all of the important items.  They had no plan and therefore were unable to get things together in an efficient manner. 

If you had 15 – 30 minutes to get all of the important and irreplaceable items out of your home what would you take?  Would you have to spend part of that valuable time identifying what items are important and irreplaceable?  Then, could you easily gather them in a short period of time?  Could you think straight in that type of a situation?  A major portion of the items a person needs to gather in an emergency are documents pertaining to your family, finances, property and day-to-day life.  Often they are not organized in one location and can take a lot of time to assemble.

Important Documents and Information

           

• Marriage certificate
• Birth Certificates
• Passports
• Photographs of all family members
• Credit cards
• Drivers License
• Deeds and titles
• Bank account numbers and information
• Legal documents
• Investment Information
• Loan Information
• Tax papers
• Family medical information including doctors names, phone numbers
• A list of the names of prescription drugs and dosages taken by family members
• Immunization records
• Phone numbers for emergency contacts
• Money
• Computer backup disks

Obviously, this is a lot to think about in 15 - 30 minutes.  How can you simplify and organize your records?

Make an Emergency Evacuation Document File

• Purchase an inexpensive accordion file
• Label file sections:  Important phone contacts, Banking Information, Insurance Information, Credit Card Information, Loan Information, Tax Information, Investment Information, Medical Information, Legal Documents, Personal Documents (Deeds, Titles, etc.), Computer Backup Disks, Family Identification Photos, Emergency Money
• Fill the file with your documents and information or copies (you may want to keep the originals in a Safe Deposit Box in a Bank)
• Keep a budgeted amount of emergency money in the file
• Keep this file in a secure location in your home, but one where family members can easily retrieve it if the necessity arises.

In an emergency evacuation every minute counts.  Give yourself the extra time you may need by preparing and Emergency Evacuation Document File now before you need it.  It will not only give you time to save more of your important and irreplaceable items but it will make life during and after the evacuation more comfortable for you and your family.

Preserving Old and New Family Photos

When ever possible, I scan old family photos and save them on a disk.  I keep a copy of these disks at home and also keep one in a Safe Deposit Box at my bank.  I have even heard of people going one step farther and giving another copy to a relative for safekeeping.  Many times these old photos are the only existing copy and they are irreplaceable.  By scanning them onto a disk you can give yourself peace of mind and keep them all together in a compact unit.  Likewise, when printing current photos, I have the photo processor make me two disks with the photos and follow the same process described above.

I am an independent Shelf Reliance Consultant.  Please visit my Shelf Reliance website by clicking the link below for emergency supplies and food storage products.  Shelf Reliance products are of the highest quality and are wonderful to fill your emergency and food storage needs.

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com