Mexicali Bean & Rice Salad
Super Quick White Sauce Mix
Fettuccine Carbonara
Beef & Barley Stew
Bean & Lentil Rice Pilaf
Split Pea Soup
Easiest Whole Wheat Bread #1
Fast & Easy Batter Bread
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preparing Dried Beans

FUEL-SAVING COOKING WITH ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Charcoal
Applebox Reflector Oven
Haybox Cooking

Altitude Chart

Mexicali Bean & Rice Salad

6 cups cooked rice
1 ¾ cup each soaked and cooked dry kidney, pinto and black beans
OR 1 (15 oz) can each kidney, pinto, black beans, drained & rinsed
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
¼ cup hydrated dried green pepper
½-1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp hot pepper sauce
Combine dressing ingredients and set aside. In large bowl, combine rest of ingredients (rice can be warm but not hot). Pour dressing over and toss. Serve immediately or chill 1 hour before serving. Serves 6-8.

Super Quick White Sauce Mix

4 cups instant dry milk
4 cups powdered butter, sifted
4 cups flour
8 tsp chicken bouillon
2 tsp. salt

Mix above ingredients together, store in covered container, label & date. Use within 6 months. (Unbleached white flour makes a slightly thinner sauce; increase sauce mix in recipes.)

Thin white sauce

1 cup warm water
1/3 cup white sauce mix

Medium white sauce

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup white sauce mix

Thick white sauce

1 cup warm water
3/4 cup white sauce mix

Whisk white sauce mix into water. Continue stirring over medium-high heat until boiling. Lower heat and simmer 1 minute. If needed, hold sauce for a short time on low heat.
Bechamel sauce: Add 1/8-1/4 tsp of onion powder and 1 bay leaf to mixture before bringing to boil. Remove bay leaf after simmering sauce 1 minute.
Parsley sauce: Add 1 tsp to 1 TBS dried parsley before simmering
Cream Soup Base: This mix can be used as a cream soup base in any cream soup recipe.

Fettuccine Carbonara

Cooked Fettuccine noodles
2 ½ cups water
1 cup Super Quick White Sauce Mix
½ cup Parmesan cheese
½ (2 oz) jar bacon pieces

Combine water, white sauce mix and Parmesan cheese in saucepan. Bring to boil, whisking constantly; simmer 1 minute. Add bacon. Serve immediately over hot noodles. Serves 4-6.
Variation: Add cooked peas.
Salmon Variation: Make sauce above using half the water, sauce mix and Parmesan. Add 1 (15 oz) can green beans, drained and ½ tsp tarragon. Heat to boiling. Drain 1 (15 oz) can salmon; remove bones and break up. Stir lightly into sauce; heat and serve over cooked bow tie pasta. Serves 4-5.

Beef & Barley Stew

1 (12oz) can beef chunks
7 cups water
¾ cup dried carrots
3 TBS dried minced onion
3 TBS dried celery
2 TBS dried red or green pepper
2 TBS beef bouillon
2 TBS dried minced parsley
½ tsp basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
¾ cup pearled barley

Combine all ingredients except barley in large pot and bring to a boil. Add barley and simmer, covered, for 45-55 minutes until barley is tender. Remove bay leaf before serving. Serves 4-6.

Bean & Lentil Rice Pilaf

2 ¼ cups water
2 TBS dried minced onion
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp beef bouillon
¼ cup dry lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 ¾ cup soaked and cooked dry kidney beans
OR 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 cup salsa
1 tsp chili powder

In saucepan combine first five ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20-25 minutes longer until lentils and rice are tender.
Serves 6.

Split Pea Soup

8 cups water
2 cups dry split peas
1/3 cup dried diced carrots
¼ cup dried minced onion
3 ½ tsp ham bouillon
1/8-1/4 tsp dried minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 (5 oz) can chunk ham, undrained (optional)

Combine all ingredients except ham in a cooking pot and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered 1 hour. Break up ham chunks and add to soup last 10 minutes. If desired, mash peas with a potato masher to break them up. Serves 6. (Split peas will break up by themselves if cooked longer).

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread #1

3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup gluten flour, sifted
1 ¼ TBS instant yeast
2 ½ cups steaming hot tap water (120-130°)
1 TBS salt
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey or ½ cup sugar
1 ¼ TBS bottled lemon juice
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

Mix together first 3 ingredients in mixer with dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, oil, honey or sugar, lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. This makes a very soft dough.

Preheat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled countertop and divide into 2 loaves. Shape and place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan. Do not remove bread from oven. Turn oven to 350° F and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.

If you do not have a mixer with a dough hook and are kneading this by hand, gradually add last cup of flour to keep dough from sticking to the counter. You will add more flour when kneading by hand than when using a mixer simply to be able to handle this moist dough. With wheat bread, always add the least amount of flour possible to keep bread moist. Knead 10 minutes before shaping dough into loaves.

Hint: Lemon juice in this recipe acts as a dough enhancer which gives bread a fine, light texture.

Fast & Easy Batter Bread

2 1/3 cups steaming hot tap water (120-130° F)
¼ cup oil
2 TBS sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups whole wheat flour
4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

Put hot water and oil in glass mixing bowl (glass retains the heat). Add 4 cups flour, sugar and salt and beat until combined. Add yeast and beat 3 minutes (by hand 450 strokes). Stir in remaining flour, beating 25 strokes; cover and allow to rise in a warm place until double, about 20 minutes. Stir batter bread down, beating 25 strokes; spread evenly in two greased 8X4-inch loaf pans. Smooth tops with floured hand, if desired. Cover; let rise until double, 15-20 minutes. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes; remove from pan; cool on rack. Makes 2 loaves.
Oatmeal Batter Bread: Add 1 ½ cups quick cooking oatmeal and 2 ½ cups flour in place of 4 cups of flour in the first addition. Molasses can be substituted for sugar.
Garlic Batter Bread: Add 1 tsp. garlic powder with sugar and salt
Onion Batter Bread: Add ¼ cup dried minced onion and increase water to 2 ¾ cup + 2 TBS.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup shortening
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
2 TBS dried whole egg
¼ cup water
2 TBS reconstituted dry milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
½ cup walnuts (optional)

Mix first 7 ingredients together just until combined. (Shortening will be in small lumps.) Mix dry ingredients together and blend into shortening mixture just until combined. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.
Chocolate Chip Bars:
Add ½ tsp baking powder and increase milk to ¼ cup. Press into ungreased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

Preparing Dried Beans

Dried beans need to be sorted for stray rocks, rinsed, and soaked and cooked in 3 times water.

Overnight soak: Put beans in water to soak overnight. In morning, add a little oil to pan to prevent foaming and boiling over. Bring beans to boil in same soaking water. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 to 1 ½ hours. (The darker the bean, the longer the cooking time.) Drain; store beans in fridge until dinner. Draining soaking/cooking water reduces problems with gas.

Quick soak: Bring beans to boil for 2 minutes. Allow to stand for 1 hour. Simmer, covered, 1- 1 ½ hours. Drain. Beans soaked this way are not as tender and produce the most gas.

After soaked and cooked, combine beans with other ingredients for quick meal in 20 to 30 minutes. Cooking beans in acidic foods (tomatoes, lemon juice, wine, etc.)causes them to take longer to cook. Acidic foods can be added in this final cooking time to blend flavors for quick, delicious meals.

Reduce problems with gas from eating beans by eating them regularly. Both Oregon State University and University of California Berkeley say that eating beans regularly helps your body adjust to them.

Other fast ideas for preparing dried beans:
Cook enough beans for several meals. Store in fridge for 4-5 days; in freezer for up to 6 months.
Use crockpot or pressure cooker to cook beans.
Bottle beans using a pressure canner to make your own canned beans.

Dried beans have a shelf life of 8 years. After this time they get harder and harder to hydrate. If you have old beans: try soaking them with baking soda to soften them. To 1 c. beans and 3 c. water add 2 t. soda. Rinse them twice. Cover beans with 1 inch water and cook for 2 hours. Add more water if necessary. try cooking them in a pressure cooker.

OR store canned beans which are already soaked and cooked Store 2 ½ times the quantity of dried beans. These beans, when drained, produce the least problems with gas.


Preparing dried lentils, peas and barley
Lentils should be sorted , looking for rocks, and rinsed. These do not require soaking and cook in about 45-50 minutes.

FUEL-SAVING COOKING WITH ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Applebox Reflector Oven:

This method of cooking allows you to bake using almost half the charcoal it takes to bake in a Dutch oven. You can bake anything you would bake in a regular oven in the same amount of time and with the same results.

Supplies Needed: 1 sturdy cardboard box 20” X 13” X 12 ½” (the size of an apple box)
heavy duty foil
Metal repair tape (foil tape). Masking tape may be substituted in sticking the foil to the box. It must always be hidden inside the box to keep it from igniting.
Optional window: 1 plastic oven bag
Double sided clear tape
Metal repair tape
Foil Tape
Box cutter
Butter knife

Pre-preparation:
If there are any holes, including handle holes, in your box, cut extra cardboard to fill holes snuggly and cover patch with tape on both sides.
If oven window is desired, cut a horizontal oven window (approximately 9” X 4”) in one of the long sides, centered and 2 ½” from the closed bottom of the box.

Covering the Box
This box will be entirely covered inside and out with foil and secured with tape. Any exposed box inside will burn; therefore it is important to overlap the foil. Always place shiny side out.
1) Cover the inside and outside ends of the box and the outside only of the bottom.
2) Cover the inner and outer sides and bottom of box.
3) If making window, feel carefully for window location. Cut a horizontal slit in the middle of the window hole, stopping 2” from each side. At each end, make diagonal cuts to the corners. You now have double flaps of foil on all sides of the window. Using a butter knife, carefully ease the inside flaps through the window and down between the box and the outside foil. Fold the outside flaps through the window to the inside of the box and secure with tape. Cut extra bits of foil and fold over window corners so that no part of the box is exposed. These will need to be pinched into place to secure them. Using a plastic oven bag, cut a double layer rectangle ½” larger than the window on all sides. To prolong the life of the window, secure bag over the outside of the window opening with double-stick tape placed slightly to the outside of the window edges to hide it from the heat. Repeat with the second layer of plastic bag. Secure outside plastic bag edges with foil tape.

Baking in the Oven (Additional Supplies):
4 empty soda pop cans filled with rocks
10” X 16” cooling rack
1 length of heavy duty foil, longer than oven box
long-handled tongs
Charcoal starter, newspaper, matches (see instructions for using charcoal)
1” rock

Baking steps:
1) Place foil shiny side up on level ground or cement (not on anything flammable).
2) Space pop cans on foil so as to support the cookie cooling rack.
3) Position cooling rack so that only the very corners are resting on the pop cans. Check to make sure the cans are not spaced too far apart to prevent the box from fitting over them.
4) You will regulate the temperature of your oven by the number of briquettes you put in it.
One briquette = approx. 35° F. Example: for 350° use 10 charcoals.
Count out desired number of charcoals into a charcoal starter. In very cold, wet, or cold windy weather, an additional charcoal or two may be needed. Place charcoal starter on a piece of foil on level ground or cement (not on anything flammable). Fill with briquettes. Place a wadded 2 pieces of newspaper into the base of the chimney and light. Allow to stand 5 minutes until top briquettes have a white spot at least the size of a dime.
5) Using tongs, place hot briquettes on foil, spreading them out evenly between the cans and across the middle. Place cookie cooling rack on top of cans.
6) Pre-heat your oven by placing box over the coals and the empty rack, resting one corner on a 1” rock. This allows enough air into the box for the charcoal to stay lit. Let stand 5 minutes.
7) Lift off lid and place box facing down so heat does not escape. Quickly place food in oven on the baking rack. Replace lid and rock.
8) Charcoal burns for 35-40 minutes. For longer cooking times, add additional charcoals by slightly lifting the box and slipping them in with the tongs.
9) When food is baked, safely deal with the charcoal as per instructions.

Hint: When setting up oven, face the window toward the sun. This allows you to check on foods visually to see that they are done. For baking in freezing temperatures, place a doubled piece of wool blanket or other material that insulates on top of the box. Any Material won't work and putting it over the top of the box could catch the blanket on fire.

Baking once a day in an Applebox reflector oven at about 400° F will use an average of 12-13 charcoals a day. One lb. of charcoal = 17 Kingsford© charcoal briquettes. To bake for 1 year, store 16 (20lb.) bags. This allows a few extra briquettes for wet or cold weather. Store additional charcoal for Dutch oven cooking.

Baking in an Applebox Reflector oven offers three advantages over baking in a Dutch oven:

1) It takes almost half the charcoal to bake. A Dutch oven requires charcoal on the lid and underneath it to create an oven.

2) You can bake food in the usual sizes and shapes of pans. In a Dutch oven, everything including bread comes out round.

3) It takes some practice to bake in a Dutch oven and get the heat adjusted just right for great results. An applebox reflector oven is just so easy to use and gets the same results as baking in a regular oven. We have baked with Applebox Reflector Ovens for many years up at Girl's camp in all kinds of weather with great success. In most windy weather, putting a rock on the top of the box is all that is needed. It is also possible to bend the heavy-duty ground foil up loosely around the base of the oven to offer a little shelter to the charcoal. Bending up the foil under the chimney charcoal starter is a great help in lighting the newspaper and keeping it lit. In rainy weather, when the ground is wet and cold, it is necessary to stretch a tarp over the ovens and to add an extra charcoal or two for best baking results. In freezing weather, a piece of woolen blanket, doubled over and put on the top of the oven allows the oven to bake with fantastic results.

In severe wind, you would need to rig up a shelter, or set up ovens on a protected side of your house.

Charcoal:

1) Never burn charcoal inside an enclosed area such as a camper, tent, van, garage or any dwelling. Charcoal smolders as it burns and gives off very high levels of deadly carbon monoxide. Not even an open window or operative fan are an assurance that carbon monoxide is reduced to safe levels. 25 people die and hundreds suffer the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning by burning charcoal in an enclosed area each year.
2) A Metal chimney charcoal starter is a simple alternative to storing large amounts of volatile lighter fluid. (One that has small holes going up the sides in addition to the usual large holes around the base are most efficient.) This starts the charcoal briquettes with the use of newspaper and matches. A supply of newspaper is easily and safely stored.
3) Never use gasoline, kerosene, or other highly volatile fluids to start a fire because they can explode. Never add lighter fluid to hot/warm coals.
4) Charcoal burns without a flame. Once it is ignited, it begins to turn white. Do not touch charcoal to see if it is hot. Charcoal takes about 5-10 minutes to reach cooking heat, so plan to start them ahead of cooking time.
5) Before disposing, let coals completely burn out and allow the ashes to cool until cold. Dispose of cold ashes in a non-combustible container or in a fire pit. If you must dispose of ashes before they are cold, douse them completely with water OR to conserve fuel, once you are finished cooking, dump charcoals in a bucket of water to extinguish. Immediately drain and spread them on the ground where their residual heat will dry them out so they can be used again for the next meal.
Storage:
Charcoal must be protected against air moisture. It can be stored in containers lined with garbage bags in a garage or a shed. The Kingsford Charcoal company says that Kingsford Charcoal will not spontaneously combust.
1 lb charcoal = 15 briquettes. Shelf life is indefinite if kept away from moisture.

Haybox Cooking:

This cooking method uses a small amount of fuel, like propane or other LP gas, to get food cooking and then the food finishes cooking in an insulated container. In World War II times a box filled with way was used.

Supplies:

• a pot
• Option 1- A large camping cooler can be used with only 1-2 inches of insulation around the pot; any less poses the risk of melting the cooler. It doesn't need to be lined.
• Option 2 - A container that is at least 4 inches larger on all sides than you pot (cardboard box i.e., computer box, wooden box, plastic or metal garbage can, large metal tub). This container will need to be lined with flannel, heavy fleece, felt or several layers of newspaper.
• Insulation material (blankets, shredded newspaper, towels, or any other clean, dry material like hay, straw or sawdust)
• Cushion or pillow
• Lid or piece of wood to top the container.

Cooking Steps:
1) Line the container, if needed.
2) Fill with insulation material.
3) Make a nest in insulation for the pot, allowing 4” on the bottom and around the sides between pot and container.
4) Assemble food in pot. Food should fill pot ½ to 2/3 full. Cover and bring to a roilling boil; simmer on medium for 3 minutes.
5) Place piping hot, covered pot into the insulated nest and top with a cushion or pillow. Cover entire container tightly with a lid or piece of wood.
6) Food will take 4 times the recommended recipe time to cook. Food will need to be finished cooking within 4-6 hours, depending on how long your haybox will maintain the minimum safe temperature (see CAUTION below). If food needs to be cooked for a longer time, remove pot from the box, bring it to a boil again and return it to the box for the remainder of the cooking time.
7) After required cooking time, remove pot from container and serve. Leave haybox lid open for moisture to evaporate before storing.
This method of cooking is recommended for dishes containing dried legumes and vegetables, canned foods or small chunks of fresh meat.

CAUTION:
For safety, food, MUST be held above 140° F during the time it is in the container. This is the FDA standard for food safety in restaurants. Test your “haybox” using a pot of boiling water, ½ to 2/3 full. After 4 hours, remove pot and check temperature with a thermometer. If the Temperature is too low, add more insulation to your haybox and test again.

Test the accuracy of your thermometer by placing your thermometer in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes to see what temperature it registers. If your thermometer registers higher than the temperature given below for your altitude, add the difference to 140° for the minimum temperature you must maintain in your haybox for safety. If it registers lower, subtract the difference from the 140°.

Caution: If your haybox is stored at cold temperatures (garage), bring it to room temperature before using.

Altitude Chart.

(The Boiling Point lowers with altitude)
Sea level 212° F
1,000 feet 210.2° F
2,000 feet 208.4° F
3,000 feet 206.6° F
4,000 feet 204.8° F
5,000 feet 203° F
7,500 feet 198.4° F
10,000 feet 194° F





For more information contact Leslie at glamma@mstar.net.