Tasty Potato Salad From Food Storage Ingredients

For the past two months I have enjoyed attending THRIVE LIVE, a freeze-dried food cooking demonstration with Chef Todd Leonard of Shelf Reliance.  This has been a wonderfully tasty experience.  Chef Todd has a knack for creating deliciously appealing recipes from Shelf Reliance THRIVE foods.  It is true that THRIVE foods are of the highest quality and are convenient, nutritious and easy to use, but Chef Todd makes them the star of the show.  Each month, Chef Todd chooses a theme and demonstrates 5 or 6 recipes pertaining to that theme.  But, best of all, after the demonstration, all of his creations are served up for your trial.  They are not only delicious, but also inspiring.  I always want to come and create some of my own recipes.

In this post, I would like to share Chef Todd’s recipe for “Potato Salad”.  It is one of Chef Todd’s featured recipes for the month of June in which his theme was “Summer Salads”.  This recipe has one very unique ingredient that really wakes up the taste of potato salad.  That ingredient is hot sauce.  There is not enough hot sauce to actually make the salad spicy, but just enough to wake up your taste buds.  This recipe has become a favorite with my husband. Give it a try.  I know you will enjoy it too.

Potato Salad

Chef Todd Leonard

4 eggs, hard-boiled and diced

½ #10 can THRIVE Potato Dices (FD)

¼ C. THRIVE chopped onions (dehydrated)

½ C. THRIVE celery (FD)

1 C. light mayonnaise

½ C. Dijon mustard

½ C. dill pickles, diced

¼ tbsp. THRIVE iodized salt

½ tbsp. season salt

½ tbsp. Cholula hot sauce

Hard-boil and dice eggs, Reconstitute potatoes, onions, and celery in a bowl by barely covering with water.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and chill well before serving.

Serving Idea:  Top with fresh garden tomatoes and fanned boiled eggs. 

THRIVE foods by Shelf Reliance are truly the best available.  They not only have a long shelf life, but they make preparation fast and easy.  Since they are already sliced and ready to go, all you have to do is rehydrate them.  This process takes 10 minutes or less.  Simplify your life.  Make THRIVE foods a part of your “Home Store”.

If you would like to know more about Shelf Reliance THRIVE food or purchase them online, please click the link below.  You will also be able to view other Shelf Reliance recopies by Chef Todd and others at this website.

Why Freeze-Dried Foods Should Be Part of Your Food Storage Plan

Today there are many options open to people starting or building their food storage plan.  I believe that it is wise not to put all of your food storage dollars into one basket.  That being said, I believe that freeze-dried foods should definitely be a part of everyone’s plan. 

Why I like freeze-dried foods for food storage:

1.    When sealed, they can be stored for up to 25 years at room temperature.  Note: Extreme heat reduces shelf life.

2.    Their reduced water content inhibits the growth of microorganisms, and spoilage.

3.    The freeze-drying process preserves the nutritional content of the food.

4.    They maintain their natural shape, size, color, aroma and taste

5.    They speed up the process of food preparation because they are already sliced or chopped and they rehydrated quickly.

6.    They are delicious right out of the can if circumstances required you to eat them that way.

7.    They fit well into a food rotation plan. 

8.    They are easy to use in everyday cooking.

9.    They provide good nutrition, variety and convenience.

When I was first introduced to Shelf Reliance Thrive foods, I could see the possibilities.  I already had food storage, but I always wondered how we could survive without getting food fatigue (tired of eating wheat, rice and beans).  With Thrive Foods, we can eat just about what we always eat even if I can’t go to the store.

I have found that as I rotate my food storage in my everyday meals, Thrive Foods make cooking fast, easy and fun.  I don’t have to worry about unexpectedly running out of eggs.  My can of Thrive Whole Egg Powder is in my pantry and ready to use.  I waste less because I can use the exact amount of Thrive foods like celery or mushrooms without worrying how I might use the remaining fresh ones.

What is the process used to freeze-dry Shelf Reliance Thrive foods?

1.    Fresh quality foods are chosen at the peak of perfection.

2.    Meats are cooked, some vegetables are blanched and all foods are cut into small pieces.

3.    The foods are flash frozen at -50 Degrees F.

4.    The foods are immediately placed into a vacuum chamber and 98% of the moisture is removed through sublimation (changing liquid into gas).

5.    The food is sealed in moisture and oxygen proof cans.

It makes sense to make Shelf Reliance Thrive freeze-dried foods part of your food storage plan.  If you would like to shop for Shelf Reliance Thrive foods, just visit my Shelf Reliance website at:

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

Emergency Food Storage for Short and Long Term Needs

Building and maintaining a viable food storage program requires knowledge and determination.  When I first started working on my food storage plan, I had no idea of where to begin.  In order to be successful, you need to educate yourself in:

1.   The nutritional needs of your family. 

2.   Storage properties of various types of foods

3.   Equipment and preparation methods that can be used in emergency situations

4.   Recipes that are adaptable to emergency situations.

How much food do I need to store

• At least a 2 weeks supply is recommended by FEMA
• Other organizations recommend up to 1 year’s supply of food

What kind of foods is best to store

1. Foods that are high in calories and nutrition
2. Require no refrigeration
3. Require no special preparation
4. Special consideration needs to be made for babies, elderly, nursing mothers and those who require special dietary needs

When I first began building my food storage, it was popular to simply follow one of the plans put out by various organizations.  These plans usually calculated a persons needs by age and sex length of time.  The plan would give you the number of pounds of grains, legumes, cooking oil, powdered milk, salt, sugar or honey and water a person needed for the given time.  The exactness of this type of plan gave people security in that nothing was left to your imagination.  However, when people got to thinking about surviving on that type of plan, it was obvious that surviving would not be pleasant.  Most people in today’s society are not used to eating in the manner that those types of foods alone would provide.  As time passes, it has become a more acceptable philosophy to store what you eat on a regular basis.  This makes food storage more palatable and desirable.

Sources of knowledge that will help you with your food storage plan:

1.  Food Guide Pyramid – Gives average daily guidelines for a healthy diet

2.  Food Storage Calculator (many can be found on line) – gives quantities needed by age, sex and sometimes activity level

Where do I begin?  Make a Plan.

1. Access the needs of your family – How many adults, how many children, any special needs, time period for which you want your storage to last
2. Create a list of food storage menus.  These should be menus that your family enjoys and is used to eating.  The menus should contain ingredients that are easy to store.  For example, a Chef Salad is not adaptable for food storage because you cannot store fresh lettuce.  On the other hand, menu items such as beef stew have ingredients that can readily be stored.  Menus containing commonly used ingredients are best suited to food storage programs.
3. From your list of menus, make a list of ingredients.  These are the ingredients you will need for your food storage.
4. Calculate approximate amounts of the ingredients that you will need for the length of time you food storage will last.  Compare this to the amounts suggested on a food storage calculator.
5. Consider all of the types of food available for storage and there costs and storage shelf life

Start Building Your Food Storage

1.     Make a weekly or monthly budget for food storage

2.     Start with the basics and consistently add to you food storage weekly or monthly

3.     Buy a variety of food storage items along rather than buying a large quantity of one item.

4.     Make sure you are storing all of the items you need. Don’t forget the oil, yeast, soda, baking powder, powdered milk, salt, spices, etc.

5.     It is wise to store vitamins and other medications you use

6.     Don’t forget to store stress relieving foods such as sweets or candy

7.     Be determined – if you stop for a period of time, it is easy to get off track

8.     Find a good place in your home to store your food storage

9.     After you have some food storage on hand, established a plan to rotate your storage.  The best way is to store what you eat and to eat what you store.

10.  Evaluate your storage plan as you rotate it.  Don’t be afraid to add new items and discontinue those you are not using up.

11.  Variety is important to avoid food fatigue

I highly recommend visiting http://EzineArticles.com/1308085 to see how adding a few items to your storage can improve the variety of what you can make from it.

I don’t recommend that you put all your eggs in one food storage basket.  It is best to have packaged, canned, bottled and freeze-dried foods in your storage plan.  Each has its benefits.  My favorite is freeze-dried food.  Although it is a little more expensive, it offers the benefits of high quality nutrition, rich taste and smell, beautiful color and an extended shelf life.  Not only this but it is very convenient to use.

Please visit my Shelf Reliance website at:

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

to find out more about the benefits of Thrive freeze-dried products or to purchase them.

Are You Prepared?

Just over one year ago, my husband and I found ourselves in Tokyo dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.  Returning to Tokyo two days after the disaster, we searched in vain for food and water.  Upon our return, we found the store shelves emptied.  Thank goodness, we had a little food in the cupboards of our apartment.

Japan is one of the most modern nations on earth.  However, it also has great potential for natural disasters.  The government of Japan has organized and prepared its citizens well with comprehensive and detailed plans for emergency situations.  In Tokyo there was no major damage.  The main problems were caused by scheduled blackouts and lack of adequate transportation due to the loss of power from the nuclear power plant. Despite this fact and the fact that Tokyo is over 200 miles from the area where the tsunami came ashore, people panicked. Within a few hours the store shelves were empty.

 In Tokyo, in the weeks after the earthquake, it was:

• Difficult to find water
• Difficult to find food
• Difficult to buy gas
• Difficult to get to work (shortage of electricity and gas to power trains, buses and cars)
• Difficult to deal with scheduled blackouts
• Fear of what may happen next

In the area of the tsunami and nuclear power plant disaster, the people also had to worry about:

• Communication
• Shelter
• Medical care
• Sanitation
• Finding missing family members
• Difficulty or impossibility of transportation

I want to emphasize the fact that the Japanese are some of the most prepared people on earth and that they are also extremely calm.  There was no rioting, no looting and basically no problems of that kind during the time of the disaster.  How would you react in the same type of situation? Are you prepared?

After returning to the U.S. and more fully realizing the importance of being prepared, I encountered Shelf Reliance by chance.  I was so impressed with their products that I have become an independent consultant.  I am enjoying both using Thrive Foods on a daily basis and building my own home store of Shelf Reliance Products.  Best of all, I have a feeling of peace because I know that I am doing my best to prepare for my family's needs in the future.

If you would like to visit my Shelf Reliance website, go to

www.susansakurai.shelfreliance.com