Recipes for hearty foods that don't need refrigeration?

[KarenNC]

With Irma likely headed our way, I'm working on prep. When Hugo came through in 1989, we had no power for a week, some areas up to 5 weeks, so I was wondering if there were some good recipes for hearty foods that don't need to be refrigerated. That might let me use up some of the stuff in my fridge and freezer as well.

[kiana]

If you have a pressure canner, you could make and can stews/soups which will be shelf-stable and also help empty your fridge. 

 

Also, here's a cookbook that I have never tested but looks like what you need. 

 

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2014/08/12/free-shelf-stable-recipe-book/

[rose]

Will you have any way to cook?

[Bambam]

We've always eaten well right before hurricanes! Empty the freezer, cook and eat it. 

Afterwards, we've lived on canned chicken, canned tuna (yuck), canned salmon, peanut butter. 

 

We do have several frozen milk jugs in our freezer (filled with water) to help the frozen stuff stay cold longer. We have a gas burner by our grill, so we can still cook too. 

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I would assume that cooked foods would need refrigeration.  I would get canned items (like chili) and items in aseptic packages (like tuna). 

[Junie]

peanut butter and jelly

chicken salad w/ crackers or bread

canned chicken mixed with spaghetti sauce, top w/ pepperoni and cheese, serve in pita bread

boboli pizza crust, pizza sauce, cheese (kind of like a large lunchable) -- canned parmesan cheese can be used

 

while the storm is coming, we make muffins, cornbread, etc.

[KarenNC]

No canner, and no realistic way to get one (or learn to use it!) before Monday. :) My main method of preservation is freezing, which doesn't work so well if the power goes out for an extended time. 

 

We have a gas grill with propane, a charcoal grill and charcoal, and some firewood, along with camping cooking equipment, so we should be able to manage something once it stops actively raining. Ideally, though, what I was hoping to find were some things that could be cooked in advance, then stored without refrigeration for a few days without having to be reheated. Primarily looking for savory and hearty, with a fair bit of protein.

 

I have already stocked up on canned soups, chili without beans, beans, vegetables, fruit, tuna, peanut butter, jerky, peanut butter crackers, protein bars, nuts, raisins, and the like. Breads of various kinds that are currently in the freezer can be pulled out and put in the pantry in case (have to be able to shut it away or the cat will eat it--he is obsessed with bread!). I should pick up some canned chicken.

 

If I make a pepperoni and cheese bread roll, would that be okay sitting out? I have a fair bit of shredded cheese, some pesto, and some turkey pepperoni. If I do a fair proportion of cheese and pepperoni to the bread, it should be good.

Edited September 7, 2017 by KarenNC

[Carol in Cal.]

Do you have a big cooler and a source of dry ice?  Dry ice is startlingly colder than regular ice, and lasts longer as well.

If so, then you could move a bunch of your frozen food into it when you lose power, and it would last for a while.

Beyond that, you want things with preserved meat, which is a little hard to find.

Beef jerky, canned tuna, canned salmon (I hate that stuff but most people like it find), devilled chicken, and dry salami all come to mind.

Cheese holds up pretty well at room temperature if it's kept wrapped--the harder cheeses do better than the soft ones.

Pasta is fine until it's cooked.

Van Camps Pork n Beans is really good and hearty and keeps until cooked.

I'd also get a lot of dried fruit, fruit leather, melons, squashes, cheese in cans, tostitoes cheese dips, chips, crackers, and cookies.

And cases of individual serving size water, juice, and iced tea.

 

[TCB]

When I was a kid and we lived overseas and did not have a fridge my Mom would make stew etc and we would eat it the second day after she heated it through really really well. This was in a tropical country. We never got food poisoning from it. I think the pepperoni cheese bread would be fine for several days.

[rose]

I usually operate without a fridge. The problem is that most food that has any moisture content will spoil within 12-24 hours depending on your temperature. You're probably not going to want to live on dry food. One thing that you could do is cook a few meals that freeze well and then eat those as they start to thaw out. If you want to experiment, go for breads, like cheese bread, as they would be drier. I'm not sure about adding the pepperoni. Fruit and vegetable based things are also fairly safe to experiment with. Fermentation or mold far less scary then the trouble that grains and proteins will cause if they spoil. You could add bread and protein to the side.

[Amber in SJ]

 If there was a way to cook one pot meals like soups, stews or pasta dishes & freeze them solid you could reheat them as they thaw.  A solidly frozen block of ziti w/ meatballs in sauce will take several days to thaw in a freezer full of other frozen food.  

 

This is what I do for camping.  I cook things ahead, freeze them solid and then put them in the cooler.  For example; I freeze burrito filling (cooked chicken, mexican rice, peppers, onions, beans) I then freeze it double bagged, in a rectangular shape, usually a rectangle shaped freezer container or even a kids shoebox.  The rectangle shape keeps it frozen for longer and I can pack things into the cooler.  Once it is frozen solid I can remove the box.  When it finally thaws I heat it all up & warm the tortillas on the grill or campfire.  The above mentioned ziti gets frozen the same way.  I have packaged fried rice w/ teriyaki chicken mixed in this way as well and chicken & chickpeas to go into pitas.  Pulled pork, BBQ chicken & shredded beef sandwich filling can all be frozen in a block.  Sourdough bread keeps the longest because it doesn't have sugars to spoil, so I get a sourdough baguette to use as sandwich rolls. I slightly undercook pasta & rice if I am going to freeze for camping because it will cook a bit more when it is heated before eating.

 

When I pack my cooler with these frozen blocks of food some of them are still frozen by the end of the 10 days we are camping.  

 

Longer than about a week it is time to look at PB & J, canned soup, stews, tuna or chicken.  Dry salami & summer sausage doesn't need to be refrigerated until after it is opened and my kids think it is a treat for backpacking.

 

Stay safe,

 

Amber in SJ

[lmrich]

So sorry you are in the path.

Can or dry beans, can of chili, soups, cereal, peanut butter, almond milk and other nut milks, pasta, pesto, tomato sauce, canned chicken, sausages, onions, potatoes, cooked bacon, pancake mix, apples, dry milk,  some cheeses, flour, oatmeal, etc..

Best of luck!

[Amber in SJ]

I forgot to add that one thing my kids love is cold cereal.  It tends to be a real treat around here that I only buy for special occasions but in our 72 hour kits I put small boxes/ cups of cold cereal & the single serving cartons of milk from Costco that don't need to be refrigerated.  It is something comforting for them.  They don't even care that the milk on their cereal is room temperature.  They have to finish the milk in one sitting because once it is opened it needs to be refrigerated.  

 

Amber in SJ

[Kassia]

 

 

If I make a pepperoni and cheese bread roll, would that be okay sitting out? I have a fair bit of shredded cheese, some pesto, and some turkey pepperoni. If I do a fair proportion of cheese and pepperoni to the bread, it should be good.

 

I wouldn't eat anything with cheese that's been sitting out without refrigeration.  

[TCB]

I wouldn't eat anything with cheese that's been sitting out without refrigeration.  

 

Cheese has been around for centuries, fridges have not. The way I understand it, the whole point of cheese was to find a way of preserving milk when you had no fridge.

[HomeAgain]

We do biscuit balls here.  Flatten an uncooked biscuit, top with various foods:

ham, onion, cheese

taco meat & cheese

chili & cheese

shredded chicken....

 

The list goes on.  Pinch up the sides and bake as you would a biscuit.  You can pop them in the fridge, but they're also shelf stable for a while, too.  We used to have them in our lunches as kids and they'd get packed up at 5am in paper bags.

 

Also make granola bars if you have the ingredients.

[J-rap]

Bean burritos (canned black beans or pinto beans or canned refried beans wrapped up in tortillas with salsa).

Tuna sandwiches.

Canned garbanzo beans over ready-made rice (you can get it in packets at grocery stores) mixed with canned peas and a jarred sauce like a coconut curry.

Peanut butter sandwiches. (My kids loved peanut butter and banana sandwiches.)

 

Cheese has always been our easy go-to travel food because it can stay unrefrigerated for several days, and it adds a little flavor to anything!  

 

Also, carrots can go awhile without refrigeration, as well as avocados, tomatoes, onions.

 

Stay safe!!

[Alessandra]

I thought I'd toss out this backpacking recipe for lentil stew. It's made from dried ingredients, and its hearty and filling.

 

Scroll down for the recipe:

 

https://thesummitregister.com/msr-backcountry-cafe-lentil-stew/

 

I use French Puy lentils, even though recipe says not to. Plus I add cut up sun dried tomatoes and Trader Joe's beef jerky, either spicy or plain.

 

If you are losing power, do you need to gave a method for water filtration and/or purification?

[Andromeda]

Hard boiled eggs in shell, hard cheese (as mentioned previously), hard salami (or similar) - not cut up, roasted whole chicken keeps a few days. 

 

When I was a child, my family took a 3 day train ride where the only thing provided food-wise was hot tea and sugar packets. We brought the above plus bread (not sliced until ready to eat) and apples and ate well the whole trip. We did not have a cooler and there was no refrigeration or air conditioning, and the train went through a desert climate zone for 2 final days. The key is not mixing foods (if I remember correctly) until you are ready to eat.

 

If you have flour, yeast packets, a bit of oil, and sugar and a stove top of some kind, you can make pita bread once regular bread runs out. You can Google "make pita on stove top." It only requires a bowl for mixing and a frying pan of some kind for cooking, so not much in terms of using water to wash things.

 

 

[Andromeda]

When I was a kid and we lived overseas and did not have a fridge my Mom would make stew etc and we would eat it the second day after she heated it through really really well. This was in a tropical country. We never got food poisoning from it. I think the pepperoni cheese bread would be fine for several days.

 

I would second this. When I was a child, we routinely left the pot of food on the stove overnight. It was typically soup or stew or some kind (no dairy used). The next day we would boil leftovers for 5 minutes approximately before eating. It has to be a full boil, with bubbles and high flame. We never got food poisoning either