Monthly Book Giveaway - February 2023

Cooking & Preserving #18: Meal Prep before the storm

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Bread, soup, dessert - all from scratch, before the expected storm takes out our power. Can I do it?



The Plan

They are predicting a severe storm, including freezing rain, for today and I’d like to have some meals prepped and ready, in case the power goes out. 

  • I had started my sourdough bread yesterday, so that was ready to bake this morning.
  • I wanted to make a soup so I could give a couple of meals to my mom 
  • I wanted to make a dessert using the wonderful Portuguese Sweet bread from my neighbour 

Meal Prep

The sourdough: into the oven at 5 AM and out by 6:00.

The dessert: I was completely flying by the seat of my pants on this one, making it up as I went along 
  • Cubed sweet bread 
  • Mixed with cinnamon, eggs, cream
  • Into a cast iron skillet
  • Covered with 2 pints of homemade, preserved apple sauce
  • Baked at 350F for about an hour 

The soup: again, making it up as I went
  • 2 onions and a full clove of garlic
  • (Frozen) ham leftovers 
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • 2 cups of dried beans
  • 1 pint of freeze-dried broth
  • Salt, pepper, bay leaf
  • Water to cover 
  • Instant pot for 45 minutes (added an extra 15 because beans weren’t quite done) 



The Results 

The freezing rain arrived and we did not (yet) lose power.

👍The Bread: so good … so, so good. 

🤔The Soup: it’s ok .. I added more salt and a pint of freeze-dried tomatoes before putting it back into the Instant Pot for another 15 minutes.

👍The dessert: I drizzled maple syrup over it and it was so so good, as well. I had seconds - and that was just the taste test. Without the little bit of maple syrup: it was ok. With it? Oh my goodness - delicious!! 

Overall, a win. 
We have food for a couple of days, now. 
- Debbie

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