Annie makes plans, and God laughs...here we go...

 

  There may or may not be another great depression in this country.  It remains to be seen. We are seeing food shortages, crazy inflation, supply chain disruptions that most of us alive now have never experienced.  It's pretty frightening.   I'm sliding into 70, and I have experienced some weather catastrophes that got a little unnerving.  I'm a vagabond who has lived in several places around the country, which gave me untold opportunities. Tornadoes.  Earthquakes. Floods. Hurricanes. Power grid interruptions that lasted for weeks sometimes, grocery stores with no deliveries made.   I also grew up in a large family with one working parent, so money was always a little tight, though we never had to do without basics. My parents were Depression kids who could remember how tough things got in the  world. The duration of it was about 120 months. That floors me.  I had no idea it lasted that long. No wonder people were so mentally and spiritually devastated by it all. My mom was a pretty good cook and knew how to stretch a dollar.  My dad worked a union job in a steel factory, so we were not destitute. But as we all know, it takes a lot to run a household. I remember days before payday when she would invent things for us because the grocery money was used up. One of my favorite suppers during those times (and still is today) was cooked white rice with milk and sugar and cinnamon and butter. And fried potatoes. It was a Keto nightmare, LOL, but tasted soooo good to us kids. And it fed all 8 of us with no problem.  After WWII something interesting happened in America and convenience foods were born to make a wife's job "easier"  Women were encouraged to get out of the kitchen and enjoy life.  (*snort)  The foods became much less nutritious and  more processed until we ate our way into heart disease and  colon cancer and general malaise. 

  I hear people all the time complain that eating healthy is more expensive (not true), it's too difficult, and they don't know how to do it.  The hardest part of cooking is the planning. And doing it every day. 

Some people make meal plans. I tried that, but like everything else in my world, I lack the discipline to follow through. So I just wing it mostly.  But I only have to cook for 2, and that guy will eat almost anything I put in front of him. Of course, after cooking for him for 30 years, I pretty much know what he likes and dislikes. 

  One of the first things I want you to remember is to please-- only stock foods your family will eat. I'm going  to start with your first pantry item for the week to buy, and it's old fashioned rolled oats. An important thing to keep in mind is that you need things in your pantry that are versatile and healthy. Filling. I keep a 5 gallon food grade bucket of rolled oats in my pantry.  One thing about oats, you CAN eat them without cooking if you have to. They are digestible and tasty. You can use oats to make cereal (granola type AND cooked hot cereal). You can easily make your own granola bars.  You can use it to make cookies with peanut butter and raisins (no bake cookies). It's a healthy way to bulk up and fiber enrich home made bread. Meatloaf filler and binder.  You can find them in any grocery store or order them in bulk online.  Here's a recipe for an easy to make granola that is customizeable and relatively inexpensive.

 If your family is a cereal eating bunch, making the transition from commercial boxes to home made can be a satisfying, healthy and economical move for you. Not to mention the fact (and this is big for me) you know exactly what's in it. NO fillers (sawdust?--seriously). NO high fructose corn syrup. No chemical additives. No empty calories at all.

  This is the list of ingredients to make a basic granola:

      8 cups rolled oats. (not quick-old fashioned)

      1/2 cup dark brown sugar

      1/4 cup barley malt syrup (optional--I have it, so I use it)

      3/4 cup honey

      1 cup oil (I use coconut, but any vegetable oil will do)

      1 Tbsp. cinnamon

      1 Tbsp. vanilla

    [ Dried fruits and nuts, coconut, sesame seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds (preferably raw), raisins...whatever your family likes best.  I dry a lot of my own fruits and use those in my granola and makes it even less expensive to make.  As you can see by the ingredients, it isn't costly. This recipe make a big gallon jar of granola.]

    

   You want to get out a medium sized saucepan and mix together the next 6 ingredients on the list.  (Hint--if you put the oil into your measuring cup before the honey or BMS,  the sticky stuff will come out effortlessly!)  Cook over a low flame, stirring to dissolve all the ingredients.  While this is cooking, assemble your dried fruits and nuts...I often use a combination of nuts, like walnuts, peanuts and almonds.  Depends on what I have on hand.  You can put in coconut if you like that. Put in whatever seeds you like into the oats mixture.  DO NOT PUT THE DRIED FRUITS INTO THE MIX YET.  

   When your pan of goo is completely dissolved and mixed, pour it over the oats mixture and using a large wooden spoon or spatula, mix thoroughly. You want to coat all the oats completely with the hot mixture.  Next, we're going to put this into a 250 degree oven to toast and dry out the mix. This part of the process will take about an hour or so.  You want to get in there and mix and stir it about every 15 minutes, so that it doesn't burn.

  Now, after it's all golden and yummy looking, add the dried fruits you chose and mix it up again.  Let it cool before putting it into a one gallon container. And there you have it.  A healthy nutritious breakfast that's quick to fix on busy mornings, and makes a great snack too.  We eat it with milk or mixed with yogurt--both equally good. The Irishman and I both are a little lactose intolerant, so we don't use much dairy in this house. I have found a really good organic soy yogurt and we have Rice Dream rice milk.  If you want a hot breakfast, all you have to do is pour your milk over it and stick it in the microwave for a minute or so. 

  One thing about this hearty treat--It doesn't take much of it to fill you up, A cup of granola is about all my hardworking Irishman can eat and I eat a little less than that.