My heart truly breaks for you!!! Especially knowing what it takes to accumulate, maintain and use home food storage to begin with. If I were in your situation I would... 1. Contact Brigham Young University for more information. They test these foods under different conditions and should be a good resource. 2. There may be help available through the LDS Church in your area, as well, and I would certainly pursue them for more information. 3. You might also want to check with the companies you order your food from. If you have any luck getting some definitive information, would you please share it if you have the time? The USDA guidelines I have from Food Safety Classes I have in my file contend with "regular" food (freezer/refrigerator/canned goods, etc.), but not a lot about hermetically-sealed freeze-dried foods or bulk grain. Sorry I couldn't be more help... -Grainlady

Here goes. These are the tips and ideas that DIDN'T come with the set of pastry rings (LOL). 1. Put down a sheet of plastic wrap. I purchased a box of EXTRA WIDE Reynolds Plastic Wrap (50% wider than regular plastic wrap) just for this purpose. If you don't have, or can't find, the Extra Wide Plastic Wrap, just use two lengths of regular plastic wrap and overlap the pieces to form one large sheet - larger than the size of the ring you are using. 2. Place the "puck" of pastry on the center of the plastic wrap and cover with another sheet (or 2 overlaping sheets) of plastic wrap. 3. Place the plastic ring over the top of all the sheets of plastic. The pastry is now sandwiched between the plastic wrap. This keeps your plastic ring clean. 4. Use a LONG, non-tapering, rolling pin (see link below) for easy use and best results, but a regular pin will work. Roll out the dough until the ring is filled. Once you roll the pastry so it is touching the ring on two opposite sides, it should stabalize the ring enough to let your finish without any problems. If the plastic wrap bunches or gets caught in the dough, just lift up the plastic wrap off the top of the dough, smooth it out, top with the ring again and continue rolling. Run the palm of your hand over the entire crust when you are done rolling it to make sure it's level all around. Benefits of this method... It's amazing really, but it seems you can't over-work the pastry. You don't add any bench flour, so that doesn't contribute gluten, and you won't get a tough finished product. That dreaded clean-up is a snap. More hints: a. Still in the plastic wrap, transfer the rolled out pastry to a cookie sheet (a really thin sheet without any lip or edges works best) and chill for 20 minutes to firm it up after rolling it out. b. After chilling, leave the pastry on the cookie sheet and CAREFULLY peel off the top sheet/s of plastic wrap. Center the pie plate on the pastry. c. Flip the cookie sheet and pie plate. Remove the cookie sheet. d. Press the pastry into the pie pan while the plastic wrap is still on the pastry. This is very beneficial because it will prevent you from stretching the pastry, which leads to it shrinking during baking. When satisfied with it's positioning, remove the plastic wrap. If the plastic wrap is sticking to the pastry, stick the pan/pastry back in the refrigerator, it's gotten to warm. e. If you have a really warm kitchen or very warm hands, an old tip is to dip your hands in ice water and dry them to cool them off, while forming the dough in the pan to keep your hands cool. You can also chill the pie pan before using it. f. When you are satisfied with the fit, remove the plastic wrap and flute the edge. Lay the plastic wrap back on the pastry and refrigerate it until ready to fill. If it's a double crust pie, roll out both crusts, leave one flat in the refrigerator. Fit the bottom one into the pie pan, leaving the plastic wrap intact and leave it in the refrigerator until ready to fill. Remove the plastic wrap and fill. Top with the second well-chilled crust (you have removed one side of the plastic wrap - flip it on the pie and then remove the second sheet of plastic wrap. Okay, this sounds rather complex, but it's not really, and you get a perfect crust every time. A friend who uses these always takes the blue ribbons at the fair every time she enters a pie. They are especially great when you have to make a LOT of pies - for the simple fact you don't have to mess with bench flour everywhere. You may get frustrated when you first use this method - your plastic wrap may bunch, or your ring will move slightly, but hang in there, it all works out and you WILL have a perfectly round crust. I used to hate to roll out pastry because of all the mess, but I LOVE using this method. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Vic Firth Bakery Rolling Pin

shambo- I think you are well on your way to adding legumes back into your diet by sprouting them first, and Sprout People web site is THE place for information. The videos are great. Sprouting does help reduce the digestive issues. Do you have problems digesting nuts? If so, sprouting and dehydrating them may help you out. I soak and dehydrate all our pecans, walnuts and almonds before consuming them. We call them "Crispy Nuts" and got the information from the book,"Nourishing Traditions". I just did 8-cups of walnuts yesterday and have them safely stashed in the freezer. "Crispy Nuts" last longer in storage than untreated nuts. You need to store walnuts, even when they've been sprouted and dehydrated, in the refrigerator or freezer due to the type of oil in them. I've been sprouting for decades and have purchased all kinds of sprouters over the years, but my favorite is the Easy Sprout, and I have 3 of them (so far). I sill use 1/2-gallon canning jars with sprouting lids occasionally when sprouting large amounts. Easy Sprout sprouters are constantly in use, especially in the cooler months when I sprout wheat and other grains to grow into grass for juicing as well as sprouts, and sprouts for growing micro-greens. These are our winter source for "fresh" food. Since you will be holding your sprouts in the refrigerator instead of dehydrating them, I'd also suggest ordering a box of "Peak Fresh" reusable storage bags from Amazon.com for storing them. Sprouts really do keep longer in these bags. After you wash the bags in hot soapy water, be sure to rinse well and air dry. I like to sanitize the bags with a bleach water solution (1 t. unscented bleach to 1-quart of water - in a spritz bottle) and air dry. FYI - Lentils keep growing after they are refrigerated, so you may want to stop sprouting lentils when the tail is very short, knowing it continues to grow. Sprouted lentils and garbanzo beans will also cook faster since they are fully hydrated, so keep that in mind. I use a salad spinner (be gentle) to remove the extra water from the final rinse. Too much water remaining and the sprouts will spoil faster. I do love sprouted and dehydrated lentils, and I dehydrate what I can't use fresh within a few days of sprouting. I can quickly rehydrate them just soaking in hot water if I want to add them to a salad or stir-fry, or use them to make lentil tacos, or add to ground meat mixtures as a meat extender if I don't have any fresh sprouts on hand. I use a cooked mixture of sprouted rice and sprouted lentils as a substitute for ground beef occasionally. I sprout a bean/seed mixture (adzuki beans, lentils, mung beans, radish seeds, fenugreek and clover) and make it into fried patties to use as a meatless "burgers". (I used a mixture from SproutPeople - "Beanie's Awesome Mix" along with some NOW Zesty Sprouting Mix.) You're right, I am very cautious about the potential for bacteria growth in sprouts. I use acidified water for soaking and rinsing. I use food-grade citric acid (I buy it in bulk amounts on-line when I find a bargain). Fruit Fresh (which is a mixture of citric and ascorbic acid) will also work if you happen to have some on hand. I mix 1 t. of citric acid powder per 1-quart of water. I generally make up a gallon of water at a time in a glass gallon jug. The acidified water will also help reduce spoilage of sprouts during storage in the refrigerator. I fill my Easy Sprouter with acidified water to cover the sprouts and swish them around in the water for soaking as well as rinsing. After rinsing I hand-spin the water out like the guy does in his videos at Sprout People. Hope that helps you out. Happy sprouting and happy tummy! -Grainlady

Well, you can send all the baby reds to me & that takes care of half your problem. Seriously though, baby reds are fantastic just boiled skin on & served w/ butter, salt & pepper. Alternatively, they're also very good roasted w/ oil & garlic. I would even mash them, skin on. That's because I just love red potatoes. Reds aren't considered a good masher. A dish that I love but my family doesn't is to grate raw potatoes, tie them up in an old dishtowel & 'wring' the excess water out of them. Heat a nice OO in a saute pan & lay the potatoes in, mashing them into a flat pancake with a spatula. (Season w/ S & P) Cook until well browned & the potatoes on top are just starting to get soft. Flip them and just a couple of minutes before they're ready to come off the stove, top w/ crab or imitation crab, cubed fresh tomatoes & fresh (preferably) basil. Sounds like a weird combo, but it really is very good, my family's opinion not withstanding. Another thing I like to do is to grate cooked potatoes and mix into pancake batter. I usually use a pancake mix. Cook your potato pancakes & serve w/ butter & hot maple syrup or just applesauce. And then there's 'New Potatoes & Green Beans'. My mom made this a lot. Cook the baby reds w/ fresh green beans seasoned w/ either ham or bacon, some onion and water to cover.. This is one of those dishes that is good overcooked to the point that the potatoes are wanting to fall apart and even better heated up the next day as leftovers.