Day 6: Planning Meals in a Jar

Millions and millions of meals in a jar recipes. My plan is to have on hand a quart of each of the ingredients listed in the Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook by Tammy Gangloff. Her book, which I have and love, has 398 recipes (really, you couldn't come up with two more?) so my thought process was, if I dehydrated all of the ingredients (96 of them btw), then I would have everything at my fingertips when I went to go make the recipe. I started dehydrating the ingredients when I was in California, when whatever ingredient was on sale or free (for example, oranges--free in my backyard.) I may or may not go the route of putting up "meals in a jar" for the dehydrated ingredients.

I do plan to make meals in a jar with Thrive though. Not for me so much, as for the rest of my family. Visually, I think it is easier for them to look at "regular looking ingredients" and add water, than it is for the "rehydrate mental barrier" which is a byproduct of dehydrating as the dehydrated product looks so vastly different than freeze dried. I learned when we spent last summer living in a tent: easy, one and done; that's the way to go. What, some of you didn't know my kids and I spent all summer living in a tent when the house we were buying fell out of escrow? Yeah, living two weeks solely on homestorage with air and electric and running water is a cake walk after that! (http://andmyfamilydweltinatent.blogspot.com/)

So this is the first meals in a jar I plan to make: Ziti casserole. Ingredients are:

1/3 c. THRIVE freeze dried sausage**
2/3 c. THRIVE freeze dried ground beef**
2/3 c. THRIVE tomato powder
1 t. italian seasoning herb
1/3 c. THRIVE freeze dried onions
1 c. noodles (macaroni, penne, bow tie. by weight- 3 oz)
1/3 c. THRIVE freeze dried mushrooms
2/3 c. THRIVE freeze dried shredded mozzarella cheese*

*Cheese is placed in a baggie at the top of a wide mouth jar, as it is rehydrated and added at the end when all the rest of the ingredients have cooked. Also, only DH and the DSs eat cheese, so I might cut this back to 1/3 cup, just enough to cover "their half." Store in a wide mouth mason jar with an oxygen absorber (you can buy OA here.) I know OAs work because I store this way, but I'm wondering (comments welcome!) if just using my food saver will work as well?

Rehydrating/cooking instructions: 

Add 5 cups of water and simmer in a large covered skillet for 15-20 minutes. This is where freeze dried Thrive wins out over dehydrated, IMO. I actually have all those ingredients dehydrated (well, not sausage and my cheese is freeze dried) and I know I would have to rehydrate the ground beef first for a long time before cooking, I couldn't just throw it in and cook it all at once. Lightly mist the cheese, repeating as often as necessary to rehydrate the cheese to the point it can go on top of casserole and melt down (don't drown it in water. I've made that mistake before too.)

I plan on making at least 8 meals at a time, that way DH or DS can just throw stuff in water and be done. I'm really looking forward to making a bunch of vegan meals in a jar with Thrive ingredients for DD. And then publishing a book :)  Note ** I could make this vegan by eliminating the cheese and substituting a cup of Thrive Beef TVP for the freeze dried sausage and beef. It's not freeze dried, so I'm not sure how much it would alter the cooking time...

Life Lesson for Day 6: Plan ahead by making meals in a jar. In the same 20 minutes it takes to drive through for fast food you could have a nutritious, home made meal for a lot less than the $30 you're going to spend driving through some place. And take it from someone who has lived in "flexible" housing for weeks on end--the luxury of not having to think about what to make for dinner is really a blessing...it's just one stressor which can be eliminated by meals in a jar.

Vaya con Dios.