Food Storage Class

My life has been unbelievably busy and I have fallen behind in many areas. I still have 3 more menus to post for my two week food storage menu, and while I did cook from it for my family this past week, I was too busy to take pictures or post, so I will get to them soon. In the mean time I just finished teaching a Food Storage class. I am always excited to teach about this subject and am grateful that I was asked to share my knowledge. This class however was unique because my entire audience was men. They say that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach and so I spent countless hours preparing a variety of food to let them sample what food storage takes like. The sample table consisted of:

• Bean Fudge
• Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake *
• Apple Bars Focaccia *
• Sour Dough English Muffins *
• Oatmeal Rolls
• Whole Wheat Bread *
• Chili
• Flour Tortillas
• Wheat Thins
• Hummus

I will try and post some of the recipes throughout the week.

* These recipes have already been featured on my blog. Look them up on the blog archive on the right.

Wheat Thins, Hummus, Foccacia, and

Sour Dough English Muffins.

Apple Dessert, Bean Fudge and

Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake.

I began cooking the night before the class and then that morning I got up at 3:00 AM to continue cooking. I was totally exhausted by the end of the day. Everything was made entirely from food storage, both three month and long term storage.

I will eventually share all of the recipes with you, but today I will feature the Oatmeal Rolls.

OATMEAL BREAD

• 3 Cups uncooked rolled oats
• 3 Teaspoons salt
• 5 Cups water
• 2/3 Cups brown sugar, packed
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons yeast
• 1/2 Cup warm water
• 3 Cups whole wheat flour
• 5-6 Cups all purpose flour

Put water in medium sized saucepan on medium heat. When it begins to boil, add the oatmeal and salt. Stir in sugar and butter. Remove from the heat and pour the oatmeal mixture into a bowl so that it will cool down faster. Let it sit until it has reached 110-115 degrees. (If it is too hot it will kill your yeast.)

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, soften the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water. Stir in cooked oat mixture. Gradually stir in the flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out on a floured board and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. About 10-12 minutes. Keep adding just enough flour to keep the dough from being sticky.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once. Cover and let it rise until doubled. About 1 hour. Punch down

Shape the dough into 2 large round balls and place in a 9" pie pan. Sprinkle with uncooked oatmeal and let it rise again about 1 hour or until doubled.

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Immediately brush tops with melted butter.

This recipe also makes excellent rolls. Shape into rolls and place in pie pans. Makes 32 rolls. Bake until golden brown.