Author Archives: Mellyn

Chicken-Lentil Soup

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We love soups for lunch and on chilly fall evenings. They’re easy to make out of just a few ingredients and are tasty next to a sandwich. I’ve also noticed that with soup on the side, we tend to eat fewer chips and crackers, as well. Although this soup has a dark color (from the lentils), its flavor is more like chicken noodle. If you’d like the color to match the flavor, just cook your lentils separately, and add them to your soup after draining off the cooking liquid. –Mellyn  Continue reading →

New Format

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When RealWomen started, our goal was to provide our readers with basic information about food storage and to create a large pool of shelf-stable recipes to show the versatility of basic food storage. After nearly a year of posting 5 recipes a week, we feel like we’ve accomplished that goal! So over the next few months, we’re going to slow down and post just one ingredient each month. We plan to use our new-found time to make our site easier to search and to work on a few other goals we have in mind — both on and off the blog site. 

Along with our new format, we’d like to invite you to cook with us by trying at least one shelf-stable recipe each week. Be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert, start building your own collection of family favorites that incorporate your food storage. It’s a great way to get a jump on your 19×19 plan!


Vegetable “Stone” Soup

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From Teresa J.

My friend, Teresa, first introduced me to this version of stone soup. She hosted a kids’ activity at her home where we read the book Stone Soup and then made our own soup using a combination of fresh and canned veggies the kids brought to share. Since then, my kids have enjoyed making stone soup on a regular basis. We simply chop up whatever veggies we have in the fridge and supplement with tomatoes and whatever else looks good from the pantry. I’ve adapted it below specifically for shelf-stable food storage, but it’s much tastier with fresh, in my opinion.  –Mellyn

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Sweet Potato Salad

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Potato salad is one of my favorites (especially with baked beans!). I had some cooked lentils on hand when I was making this and decided to experiment. The result was great! And lentils are so good for you — they have the 3rd highest protein content of any legume or nut and are also high in iron, folate, fiber and Vitamin B1. In addition, they store well and cook fast compared to other legumes. Go lentils! –Mellyn

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Grandma’s Applesauce Cake

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From the recipes of Grandma L.

Grandpa loved applesauce cake, and I remember Grandma serving it for all of his birthday dinners. I was trying to remember why this is such a vivid memory, and then it dawned on me — I don’t think I ever ate applesauce cake on Grandpa’s birthday because I hate raisins! At my house, it’ll be served raisinless…or maybe with nuts and chocolate chips?! –Mellyn

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Applesauce

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Last summer the kids and I experienced making applesauce for the first time! What an experience! We picked the apples off of our own trees, washed them, boiled them and ran them through a fancy machine that produced applesauce. It was delicious! Sadly, this year we are reduced to buying it from the store. Nevertheless, we’re still enjoying all of our applesauce favorites, and we’re excited to share them with you this week! –Mellyn