Posted on 10/16/2021 6:18:17 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
could those ;inches’ = ‘count those inches’
Food/prepper experiment. Trying to cook 10+ year old black beans. Gonna try two hours under pressure in the instant pot and see if they’ll soften up.
I had a Sam’s Club membership years ago when I got into prepping. Also didn’t have kids at the time so we had money to spare. We bought a bunch of stuff including however many pounds of black beans it takes to fill a 3 1/2 gallon bucket.
I’ve also got a 3 1/2 gallon bucket of salt somewhere. It would have to be chipped/scraped off of it and run through the coffee bean grinder now as it’s hard as a rock. Salt doesn’t really go bad though.
I had forgotten about the baking soda trick and the IP just pressurized so it’s too late.
https://readysquirrel.com/9-ways-to-cook-old-dried-beans/
Reading the comments on one blog post about the old bean subject and some people wondered about nutrition level. All I can say to that is that a few years ago, I tossed some white beans out in the yard that were purchased at the same time as the black beans and they sprouted. I’d venture to say that if they were still viable as seed, they probably still had nutrition. I’ll have to try tossing some of these black beans on the ground and see if they’ll sprout.
Maybe your bucket-o-salt can become a salt lick for your critters?
Good luck with your beans!
The beans aren’t super soft but they’re not crunchy either. Definitely edible. Also added a smoked ham hock to it that was kinda freezer burned.
I’m going to try the baking soda soak next time. The juices could be a little thicker and beans a little softer.
Prepping practice meal. LOL We always keep 4-5 gallons of rice on hand too so it’s good to know we could have beans and rice. Close to ten gallons before cooking.
Just talking to the wife and we figure the kids were toddlers when we bought the beans. They’re 18/20 years old now so the beans are about 15+ years old and they haven’t always been kept under the best conditions. They’ve sat for the past several years in a camper that has no heat or A/C so they’ve gone from below freezing to up in the 90s in a square frosting bucket. The round frosting buckets have a rubber o-ring but the square ones don’t.
Country Folk Can Survive!
I am SO not afraid of what lies ahead. I could live on Beans & Rice if I had to. Seriously. Not as stocked up on them as I should be, but I have a lot of Frank’s Red Hot on hand. ;)
What is your solution to stashing milk, eggs and cheese, though?
I didn’t worry about it during the Sham-Demic, because my Kwik Trip never ran out of those basics, and they are my Touchstone for this kind of stuff. If the Kwik Trip doesn’t have it, you don’t need it! ;)
The local Walmart DID run out of eggs for a while, there. People were stocking up like crazy.
I need laying hens. Why don’t I HAVE laying hens? Beau stole my ‘space’ for a coop and turned it into more dog kennels. I’m pretty sure laying hens will be MORE USEFUL than dogs when TSHTF!
I give full credit; the dogs DO hunt Black Bear and it only takes ONE bear to see us through on meat for a year or more.
Beans and Rice and Bear. ;)
This time of year I run to Trader Joe’s to buy Peruvian Potato Chips. They are technicolor marvels and I love holding them up to the light before I munch them. I’m sure they have a lot more trace minerals than the traditional white potato chips. Peru and the Andes have many varieties of potato—red, orange, purple, blue. They only have those chips for several months each year.
Of course I had to check that out! :)
http://www.whatsgoodattraderjoes.com/2019/08/trader-joes-peruvian-potato-chips.html
You should always briefly freeze rice, beans and nuts that you plan to keep a while. I just threw out a bunch of brown rice, and nuts that were less than a year old. Bugs inside the sealed plastic wraps had hatched, eaten, and pooped.
Regarding Peruvian Chips at Trader Joe’s, I do not find them too salty, nicely crunchy, and pretty when held up to a light. Also, I have been using less salt for quite a few years. If you love salt, then plan to eat a lot of raw salad type vegetables and bananas for the high potassium content which should be about the same as the salt consumption.
I don’t do much gardening right now, but love my 7 year old fig tree. This spring I looked at the tree expecting to find old flower buds and early forming figs. NOTHING I was so disappointed. Came back a month later and found little fig buds growing at the joints between branches. No flowers at all. Now if I could just get the ripe ones before the birds do!!! Grrr.
“Bugs inside the sealed plastic wraps had hatched, eaten, and pooped.”
I hate when that happens. ;)
There are lots of Fig Fans, here! :)
I should add that once you have frozen your grains and nuts for a few days, then you can put them in a sealed container and they will no longer be attacked from within. Only attacked if your container does not seal well enough.
Salad: eat the leaves raw in a salad.
Sandwich: use the raw leaves in a sandwich, just like lettuce.
Wrap: use large, raw leaves as a sandwich wrap.
Soup: add chopped leaves and chopped stems to soups.
Saute: saute leaves the same way you’d saute spinach or kale.
Eggs: chop the leaves and add to scrambled eggs, omelets, or quiche.
Breakfast taco: fill your wrap of choice with scrambled eggs, shredded chard leaves, and favorite toppings.
Roast: chop and roast the stems with oil, salt, and pepper.
Dehydrate: dry the leaves and save for future use in soups or eggs, etc. Dry chopped stems for future soups.
Freeze: blanch and freeze the leaves for future use in soups, eggs, or even a saute.
Ferment: chop and ferment stems for adding probiotics and enzymes to your diet.
Freezing nights are upon us now; our first 30-degree night is slated for tonight. It was 35 when I got up this morning, and not getting much above 50, today. Of course, with some sunshine, the unheated greenhouse will be nice and toasty for a while yet.
That said, I have two LARGE rosemary plants in a planter on the porch that need to be ‘processed’ and today is the day. I also have Lemon Thyme planted with them, so I plan on freezing some, and making some Citrus Salt with them too, for future roasting and grilling. We grill all winter; it’s a Wisconsin Tradition!
Here are some ideas and the recipes I’ll be using later today, or tomorrow. I’ll get some picture if things are photogenic enough. ;)
https://www.thekitchn.com/4-ways-to-preserve-fresh-rosemary-221277
Trading in my flip-flops for my UGG boots today, too!
I have lots of Parsley too, so I will also make this Herb Salt:
https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/07/homemade-herb-salt-recipe.html
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