Stock your motorhome pantry with essential ingredients that can be used when getting to a grocery store is impossible.
By Janet Groene, F47166
March 2014
Food preparedness takes on many forms, from doomsday readiness to the simple act of provisioning the motorhome for a weeklong trip. The prepping craze has spawned dozens of books, some of them only about food and others listing a full range of emergency supplies. Some authors provide recipes that use a combination of fresh and pantry supplies, which is an aid to preppers who practice regular food rotation. Others focus on specialty survival foods that aren’t on a mainstream shopping list.
Why prep when you’re in a vehicle that can take you anywhere? Any motorhome traveler who has been delayed by a mechanical problem or road closings knows the value of having extra food onboard. Natural disasters aside, at times we may decide to extend a stay or invite new campground friends over for dinner. Food is insurance.
Feasting on Food Storage ($18.99, Cedar Fort Inc.) by Jane Merrill and Karen Sunderland is a hybrid cookbook that helps chefs rotate pantry supplies by combining them with fresh foods. Most recipes are not made entirely with canned or packaged foods, although serious preppers can substitute, for instance, powdered eggs for fresh. This is a basic cookbook as well as a comprehensive guide to being prepared, including home remedies, baby food, sprouts, and gluten-free meals, plus more than 100 recipes.
Whether you buy fresh provisions for each trip or keep a substantial stash of cans and packages on the pantry shelf, these recipes are ideal for emergencies. The following pancake recipe is from the book.
Pancake Master Mix
10 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups white flour
2/3 cup baking powder
4 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups dry milk
Combine the ingredients and keep in a covered container in a cool, dry place. To use the mix, see the recipe below.
Pancakes From Master Mix
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup Pancake Master Mix (see above)
In a medium bowl, beat the egg until it is light. Stir in the water and vegetable oil, then the Master Mix. Stir just until the ingredients are evenly combined. For a thinner batter, add more water. For a thicker batter, add more of the dry mix. Cook on a griddle heated to 350 to 375 degrees.
Glazed Ham Pancakes
Just enough for two, these pancakes are good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Emergen-C, a vitamin supplement drink mix sealed in individual packets of one serving each, is a lifesaver in the pantry. It’s loaded with vitamins and comes in many fruit flavors.
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 10-ounce can chunk ham, drained, liquid reserved
Water
Glaze
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/4 cup water
1 packet fruit-flavored Emergen-C (such as Super Orange)
Pancake syrup (optional)
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Drain the ham and set aside the liquid. Add the mustard, the liquid from the ham, and enough water to make a thick batter. While the ham is still in the opened can, use a fork to break it up, and then fold it into the batter. Bake on a griddle as for pancakes.
To make the glaze, stir the brown sugar, mustard, water, and Emergen-C together until smooth and spread a little on each pancake. Serve as is or with syrup.
Corned Beef And Kraut For Two
Corned beef hash is a quick, readymade meat-and-potatoes favorite. Try this for a change.
1 15-ounce can corned beef hash
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 8-ounce can sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
½ teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
In a nonstick skillet, brown the hash in hot vegetable oil until a crust forms on the bottom. With the back of a spoon, make two indentations in the hot hash and break an egg in each. Spoon the sauerkraut over the top; sprinkle with caraway seeds; cover the skillet; and cook until the eggs are poached and the sauerkraut is heated. This recipe makes two servings.
Train Wreck
This one-dish emergency dinner is filling, flavorful, and fast. Corned beef is salty, so to reduce sodium content, buy no-salt vegetables and soup.
1 12-ounce can corned beef
1 15-ounce can diced potatoes, drained
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1/3 cup dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon celery seed (not celery salt)
2 tablespoons dried green pepper flakes
1 cup ready-to-serve rice
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, undrained
Hot sauce (optional)
Scrape off and discard the excess fat from the corned beef. Spray a saucepan with nonstick cooking spray and fry the potatoes in hot vegetable oil. Stir in the corned beef, breaking it up. Add the remaining ingredients; cover; and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir and serve. This recipe makes six servings. Pass the hot sauce.
Note: To use uncooked rice, proceed as above but add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil; stir in ½-cup rice; cover; and simmer over low heat until the rice is tender, which should take approximately 20 minutes.
Mixed Bean Soup
Put together your own bean mixes with an eye to variety in color and size. This is a Dutch oven favorite to simmer in a campfire for hours.
2 cups mixed dried beans
1/4 cup dried diced onions
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 small can diced carrots, drained
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon powdered chicken soup base (such as Knorr’s Caldo de Pollo) or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Dill weed, dried parsley, dried chives (optional)
Pick over, wash, and soak the beans overnight. Drain the beans and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil with the other ingredients. Reduce heat; cover; and cook 1½ to 2 hours or until the beans are tender. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle lightly with dill weed, parsley, or chives. This recipe makes five to six servings.
Slow cooker method: Proceed as above, but cover the soaked beans with boiling water. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
Pressure cooker method: Proceed as above and bring pot to full pressure for 20 minutes. Allow the pressure to reduce on its own. Do not fill the pressure cooker more than two-thirds full.
Risi E Bisi
(Italian-style rice and peas)
3 tablespoons diced dried onion bits
1/4 cup white wine, broth, water, or juice from canned ham
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups short-grain or arborio rice
1 10-ounce can chunk ham
4 cups water
4 teaspoons chicken base
1 15-ounce can petite peas, drained
Soak the dried onions in the 1/4-cup of liquid for 5 minutes or more. Heat the olive oil and stir-fry the rice, gradually stirring in the onion and ham. Add the water and chicken base. Bring to a boil; cover; and simmer until the rice is tender. Gently fold in the peas to heat through. Serve at once. This recipe makes six servings.
Caribbean Ambrosia
1 20-ounce can pineapple tidbits, packed in juice
1 15-ounce can peach slices, packed in juice
1 8- to 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries without stems
1 15-ounce can of another fruit such as pitted sweet cherries, diced pears, fruit cocktail, etc., packed in water or juice
1 packet French vanilla instant pudding mix (regular or sugar-free)
1 cup shredded coconut
Open the cans of fruit and, holding the lids in place, drain the juice into a measuring cup. Add water if necessary to make 1½ cups. Whisk the pudding mix into the fruit juice liquid until it begins to thicken, and then fold in the fruits and coconut. Let the pudding mixture stand for 5 minutes and serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for serving later.
Caramel Corn
Popcorn can make a satisfying dessert. You’ll need 16 cups of popped popcorn, preferably plain or “lite.” Mix this treat in a big container, such as a clean dishpan or a stockpot, that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray
16 cups popped popcorn (4 quarts)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter flavoring or butter-rum flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 16-ounce jar nuts (optional)
Put the popcorn in a large container sprayed lightly with nonstick spray. Stir the sugar and oil together in a saucepan and bring it to a boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the flavorings, salt, and baking soda. Drizzle the syrup over the popcorn, constantly folding and drizzling. Fold in the nuts and allow the caramel corn to cool. This recipe makes eight 2-cup servings.
A Starter List Of Basic Staples
We all have favorite shelf foods for emergencies. Here are some of mine. What are yours and why? Keep pantry supplies as cool and dry as possible, and watch the use-by dates.
- Peanut butter — Use it as a spread, an ingredient in sweets or Asian recipes, or stir it into hot cereal for added fat and protein.
- Popcorn — This is the most compact snack to carry and it’s a natural, nutritious food that can be doctored in many ways, sweet and savory.
- Tomato paste — As a concentrate it’s a compact way to carry a tomato base that can be used as is or diluted to make tomato sauce or tomato juice.
- Rice — A basic starch to serve alone or in recipes.
- Dried peas, lentils — Unlike dried beans, they cook quickly and without soaking. That’s a plus in emergencies when water and/or fuel are in short supply.
- Raisins and other dried fruits — They keep well, are versatile, and don’t need refrigeration.
- Almonds — They provide low-fat nutrition and have a long shelf life.
- Nonfat dry milk — Use as an ingredient in recipes, and to make hot cocoa.
- Canned chunk chicken, turkey, tuna, ham — Compact and ready to use even if you don’t have a heat source. A small can plus rice or pasta can make a large meal in a pinch.
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