Zoe's: spinach rollups and braised white beans with rosemary

Some of my leftover smoked sausage, peppers, onions and spaghetti, applesauce and some canned Grands biscuits. It has been a busy day. Lots of rummage sales this morning and then working on cleaning green beans and fixing food for tomorrow's dinner.

Sue

I made the Quinoa Tabbouleh that I posted on the recipe thread yesterday. It's better when it sits.

Having that with grilled chicken. Oh, my step-father called to say he has more rhubarb! So I picked up the rhubarb that he picked and had left over, and had enough to make a rhubarb cake. The stalks were still skinny and red. He must have been watering the plants.

I had meatloaf, sweet potato, and steamed corn. Tasted pretty good, and colorful on the plate.

Shirley

I've made a black bean and corn soup using seasoned black beans I prepared and froze in smaller packages a couple weeks ago.

We'll also have BLTs.

I love cooking large quantities of beans, soups, ground meat, etc. and then packing them in meal size containers for "fast food."

Baked fish packets...thinly sliced potatoes, carrots, onions and yellow squash topped with steelhead trout.

We went to Costco in Tucson today. Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, sauteed fresh spinach and cranberry sauce. Also bought some strawberries and cherries.

Jan listens to the AM radio talk shows and they advertise some emergency foods that can be stored for up to 25 years.

About two or three weeks ago they offered to send 3 meals free for a small S&H charge so out of curiosity she ordered the sample and it arrived in the mail Friday.

When we opened the package we found a catalog of their products and another box containing three 5"x8.5"x1.5" foil packs which were said to contain a meal for four ppl in each package.On further reading I found where each package would yeild 6cups of finished product and their suggested serving size is 2cups per adult and 1 cup per child so these packs could feed a family of four (2adults & 2 children) or three adults.(At that point I was skeptical, but the proof would be in the taste test).

Well, as you might imagine, by suppertime my curiosity was getting the best of me so we decided to try one of the meals so Jan selected the "Cheddar Chicken & rice caserole".

I then looked at the cooking instructions. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and slowly pour the contents of the package in the water, wisking briskley as you add the product. Simmer 20 minutes then let stand 5 minutes and serve.

When it was done Jan took the prescribed 2 cups, then she put the remainder on my plate (I am a terrible overeater).

On first inspection I was a bit dissappointed. It appeared to be a little thinner than what I expected. It was about the same viscosity as mushroom soup straigt from the can. TE color was perfect, a nice orange yellow cheddar cheese base with small chunks of chicken & bits of brocholi in it. To tell the truth, it actually looked very good but as I said before, the real proof would be in the taste.

I took one bite and I was sold,,,,this stuff was great and although I originally thought the portions were a bit small, by the time I finished mine I felt like I had over eaten. Jan said the two cups was perfect for her.

Now I don't think I would want this for everyday fare, but it would be great for our camping trips or to keep on the shelf in case of a major power outage.

I had also been contemplating getting some military MRE's off ebay, but to tell the truth, this stuff is about 1/2 the price of the MRE's on Ebay