Barley & Lentil Vegetable Soup

from Chris Graham's blog http://grahamfamilia.blogspot.com/

Saute for about 10 minutes:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped (celery leaves reserved)
1 T. Butter
2 tsp. oil

Add:
1/2 cup barley (uncooked), rinsed
1/2 cup dried lentils (uncooked), rinsed
8-10 cups water
2-3 T. chicken bouillon
1 1/2-2 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp. onion salt
about 1 tsp. sugar
1 T. dried parsley (grind in fingers while adding)
3 T. chopped celery leaves (from the tops of the stalks)

Bring to rolling boil and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours. Then add:

1-2 carrots, chopped thin
3 small potatoes or 1 large, chopped in small pieces with skin on

Bring to boil and simmmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes and carrots are tender.

I just kind of made this up today. I kind of measured... you may need to adjust the seasonings to fit your taste. It's pretty good, at least I really enjoyed it. I just didn't feel like cooking meat today, so I threw together this little vegetarian number. The lentils give the broth a nice rich flavor and it is delicious and healthy! We just canned a bunch of lentils and barley for food storage so I've been trying to get creative with some food storage recipes. Even if your weary about barley or lentils, just try it. They are both very mild tasting and very filling!!! Enjoy!

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/

Wow! This is a great resource (a little cheesy in design, but worth it).

Wheat Berries on the Go by Utah Preppers

I thought I’d share a nice and easy way to utilize your whole wheat berries for an on-the-run breakfast. Of course, I’m talking whole wheat cereal. Now I remember as a kid hating this stuff, my mom would make it for us kids, and we’d all turn our noses at it, pleading for something sugary. But we did have to eat it anways, it was what we could afford.

Fast forward to now, after years of living away from home, and getting used to some of my favorite breakfast foods (BACON!), I have realized that I need to eat a little better. I also know that I need to eat a little cheaper a lot of the time, and using my cheapest food storage is a great way to do that.

One of the biggest problems with a whole wheat cereal is that those berries require a lot of soaking/cooking to get soft enough to eat. Who really wants to wake up extra early to spend a long time cooking some ’simple’ breakfast? Well, it’s easy to avoid that, and it truly is error free.

Just combine 1 part whole wheat berries, and 2 parts boiling water, along with a pinch of salt (kosher of course :) ) to a thermos. Seal well,
Simple Ingredients, Healthy Food

Simple Ingredients, Healthy Food

then let sit overnight on your counter, ready to grab in the morning rush out the door. Pour into a bowl at work, and add your favorite flavorings (honey, syrups, berries, raisins, brown sugar, butter, etc). You get an amazingly cheap, powerfully filling, energy rich breakfast for pennies, and the time it takes to microwave a little bit of water. And with all the different options for what to add in, you can easily rotate flavors every day with storage foods (or fresh ones from your garden).

Now, how much do you need? Especially at first, start small. If you haven’t been eating whole wheat food (maybe this is your first attempt at using your wheat?) then switching too fast is going to make your insides get a cleansing they weren’t ready for. But a single serving won’t be bad if you are taking it easy. I find about 1/3 cup of wheat to make a nice serving size for starting out. That stuff really swells up with the soaking, so that is a good sized adult portion for most folks. After you have found the flavors you love, it’s easy to adjust to the amount you will eat.

Now, I still crave the usuals (Bacon, Sausage, Eggs, etc.), but for on the go, and at work this is an amazingly simple food, that will keep you full through the day. Add to that the amazing financial sense of it, and you can’t afford not to try it out.