COOKING WITHOUT POWER OR GAS

[ajoa]

COOKING WITHOUT POWER OR GAS

By Jeanie Walker



While we were on our mission in Samoa, we had a power outage that lasted three days. We lived up in the mountains in a small village and we had no power for lights or stove. We had to cook on an open fire and use lanterns and candles for light. We wished we had a Dutch oven so we could have more creative meals. We did do tin foil dinners, but they were very limited in what you could cook. Any food, or combination of foods, can be cooked in a Dutch oven. Any dish you cook on or in a stove can be cooked in a Dutch oven. The reverse is true as well. Any dish you cook in a Dutch oven can be cooked in your own cook ware in or on a stove.

Extra heavy tin foil is a must for your storage and cooking without power or gas. It can be used in so many ways. It can be used for tin foil dinners, cookie sheets for cookies or pizza etc. It can be a frying pan for low heat cooking. It can even be formed into a sauce pan for heating water, butter, milk, etc. but it must be extra heavy and be at least double layers if used for cooking.

It is important to have ingredients, spices, and seasonings on hand that you enjoy cooking with. They also make not so palatable meals taste better. Some items such as sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, salt and pepper, seasoning salt, onion salt or flakes, garlic salt or powder, onion soup mix, etc. are a must for your storage.

It is important that you consider the foods you enjoy eating and the ingredients needed to prepare them. These are the things you need to store. All spices and seasonings are storable. Don’t forget other items such as BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, Italian seasoning, vinegar, catsup, mustard and Mayo are used in many recipes. Don’t for get the flour, coconut, cocoa and vanilla, soup base and gravy mixes.

Dehydrated and canned foods, beans, rice, and all other long time storage items can be prepared deliciously. Just remember that the number one thing to store and have ready at all times is water – water – water!!! I have only given you a few ideas and helpful hints. There is so much more out there for you to glean from. Just make it fun and be creative.

There is no reason for not knowing how to cook using your food storage. There are hundreds of cook books and self help information available to you in just as many places. You can find anything you want or need on the internet, book stores and the church distribution center. The preparedness fairs have a wealth of information that can help you in every way possible.

A great book that is really fun and helpful is “Roughing It Easy” by Diane Thomas. It can be found at Dian Thomas.com along with her other wonderful books that are great recourses for emergency preparedness. It teaches cooking techniques over the open fire as well as alternative cooking methods. We also have cook books we have written, “Dutch Oven and Outdoor Cooking” that has open fire cooking ideas that are great and fun to do. The resources out there are countless. You just need to start looking and adding to your collection.

Good Luck and good eating!