A Powdered Milk Primer

The Food Storage Item of the Month is powdered milk!

Did you know that there are several varieties and options for powdered milk? There is a choice between instant and non-instant, non-fat or low-fat, powdered or granulated, flavored or plain, or some combination of the above! One of the best sources I have found for ideas and information on using powdered milk is The Prudent Homemaker. She is not a fan of drinking powdered milk, and uses it for cooking and baking. Recently, a lady in Utah contacted most of the major distributors of powdered milk, and they donated cans of their products to be used as part of a large taste-test she conducted. You can read her results here.

The non-fat milk options are the most readily available. These have no fat in them, meaning that they are equivalent to "skim" milk, and are therefore more suitable for longer term storage than powdered milks that do have fat in them.

Instant Non-Fat Milk: Notice the lack of the word "powdered" in the name of this type of milk. It is not a powder, but instead more of a granule. It is by far the most widely available milk to purchase at the grocery store, Sam's Club, or Costco. The name-brand version is made by Carnation, but generic versions are available at just about any grocery store. It dissolves easily and without lumps in either hot or cold water with a ratio of 1/3 cup milk granules to 1 cup water.

Instant Non-Fat Powdered Milk: This is a true powder, and more difficult to find. The sources I have seen most often for it is Walton Feed or Provident Pantry. It readily dissolves in cold water at a ratio of 1/3 cup milk powder to 2 cups water.

Non-Instant Non-Fat Powdered Milk: This is the type of powdered milk that the Mesa Home Storage Center sells. It is more difficult to dissolve, and does best in warm water. Refrigerating it for several hours after mixing also helps. You mix it in a ratio of 3/4 cup powder to 4 cups of water. This is the type of powdered milk I use when making bread, without reconstituting it first.

Low-Fat Powdered Milk: This type of powdered milk has a shorter shelf-life than non-fat varieties due to the presence of fat in the powders. The brand that I have seen most often for low-fat types of powdered milk is Morning Moo's. Blue Chip Group (recently renamed Auguson Farms) that manufactures Morning Moo's also makes flavored varieties. Honeyville Farms also sells a low-fat powdered milk product. It is worth noting that most of the low-fat powdered milks are actually labeled "Low-fat Powdered Milk Alternative". This is because their ingredients use more than just milk, adding emulsifiers and other ingredients to create a better flavor and texture.

Sources and Additional Information:

• Nutrition Information
  
• http://theprudenthomemaker.com/powderedmilk.aspx
• https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/food_storage_faq/types_of_dry_milk.htm
• http://www.utahpreppers.com/2010/03/great-powdered-milk-taste-test-and-review/

Butter to Oil Conversion

Oil is an important component of food storage. It improves the flavor and texture of the things you cook, and greatly increases the number of recipes you can make with your food storage. However, some of my favorite recipes call for butter, and I wanted to find a conversion ratio so that I could substitute oil when necessary.

Last week, I decided I wanted to use olive oil in my bread instead of butter. So, I used 1 cup of oil instead of 1 1/2 cups butter. (My recipe makes several very large loaves per batch.) I figured that was a good ratio, and it wasn't until that evening that I looked on the internet and was surprised by exactly how close I was to the proper ratio! Here is a chart I found. It is specific to olive oil, but should also work fairly well for canola and vegetables oils. Basically, when changing from butter to oil, it is a 4 to 3 conversion, meaning that for 4 parts of butter, you only need to use 3 parts of oil, ie: 1/4 cup butter (which is 4 tablespoons) is equal to 3 Tbsp. oil, 1 cup of butter is equal to 3/4 cup of oil; 1 1/2 cups of butter is equal to 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. oil.

Remember, though, that this is for things like breads and muffins that are not entirely dependent on the butter for texture. Cookie recipes wouldn't work with this substitution because you have to cream together the butter and sugar in order to achieve the proper lift and texture in the final product.

Answering the "WH" Questions

I still remember the week my elementary school teacher spent teaching us all about the five "WH" questions, and how to answer them through critical thinking: who, what, when, where, and why. I still use these five question anytime I need to apply critical thinking in order to complete a task, solve a challenge, or finish a daunting project. I have found these "WH" questions very applicable to provident living and self reliance, especially with respect to food storage.

WHO - Who should be participating in creating food storage?

• Everyone! The entire family needs to be involved in preparing food storage, not just those who are married, and not just women. "We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings." - The First Presidency in All is Safely Gathered In
  

WHAT - What is "Three Month Supply" and "Longer-Term Supply"?

• "Three-month supply items are foods that you normally eat, including canned and commercially packaged foods. Longer-term supply items are basic food items like grains and beans that have very low moisture content (about 10% or less), can be stored for long periods of time (20–30 years), and would sustain life if nothing else were available to eat. A portion of longer-term supply items may be rotated into the three-month supply." - providentliving.org

WHEN - When should I begin?

• NOW! The counsel to have food storage has been given since well before the Great Depression. You will never accomplish anything if you don't start somewhere and stick with it. Remember, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. However, once you take that initial step, you must keep moving forward, otherwise you won't accomplish anything more that just that first step. As counseled in All is Safely Gathered In, start by working to build a Three Month Supply, and then continue from there.
  

WHERE - Where do I begin?

• This exact question and the answer are found at providentliving.org "Start by adding a few storable items that you typically eat, storing some water that is safe to drink, and saving some money, if only a few coins each week. Then over time, expand these initial efforts—as individual circumstances allow and where permitted—by storing a longer-term supply of basics such as grains, beans, and other staples."

WHY - Why should I have food storage?

• The simplest answer to this is that you should have food storage because it is a commandment. "He (Heavenly Father) has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others." - The First Presidency

My teacher also taught us the critical importance of answering the question "how" when applying our newly developed critical thinking skills. "How?" in relation to food storage is much lengthier to answer, though it is not inherently difficult. Many of these "how" questions are answered at in the FAQ's section on providentliving.org, and will also be addressed in the upcoming Food Storage 101 class.

Additional counsel from Church leaders can be found in the All is Safely Gathered In pamphlet, as well as here.

Food Storage 101 Update

FYI Food storage 101 will be moved to a different date, still TBD. We will let you know ASAP.

Solar Oven Demo still on for Saturday.

Upcomming Classes

There are two very exciting events that are coming up.

On Thursday April 15th we will be having a food storage 101 class. It will be starting at 7:00pm at the church. During this class we will have information on the why’s, what’s, and how to’s of long term food storage. This is not a class for relief society sisters only the whole family is invited. There will be no nursery provided so plan ahead.

Also coming up is a Solar oven demo. This will be held on April 17th at 10:00am in the church parking lot. We will have several ovens set up and working. We will also have samples and recipes. Again the whole family is invited.

We are excited to see you there! Let us know if you have any questions.

Grains Plus Order

I have received an email that could potentially be a resource for you.

There is a company that does bulk orders of grains and food storage type items. The company is called Grains Plus. My intent is not to promote them as much as it is just to let you know that this is a potential resource for you. I recommend looking into it for yourself. Check out their website www.grainsplus.com. If you are interested in purchasing from them, they are doing a bulk order right now. Orders are due the 21st of April. I have the information and can forward it on if you are interested.

Thanks for the tip Dorris.

If anyone has ordered from them and would like to post a comment that would be great!

Canning Lemon or Orange Juice

Many people plant lemon or orange trees with the great notion of having fresh fruit. These happy thoughts quickly change once the tree has grown. Most fruit/citrus trees have such a great yield it can be very overwhelming to deal with. Many times we freeze as much as we can, and then make offers to all our friends and neighbors in attempts to rid ourselves of the excess.  We recently planted a lemon tree, and I actually am excited for the high yields. Admittedly I am not excited for the work that comes along with that. This year we only had 22 lemons. I weighed them and it came out to a total of 10 lbs.

We don’t have a lot of freezer space so freezing the lemon juice wasn’t my first choice. I looked online and came across a recipe on pickyouown.org for home canning lemon juice. After giving this recipe a try, I have decided to keep it on file.

It comes to 2 cups of lemon juice per pint. We use lemon juice to make lemonade. We will post the recipe we use soon.  Enjoy!