Cooking with Chef Jo: Dry Scalloped Potatoes Packets for the Working Pantry

 As I said in my previous post, we are entering our busy time of the year. I'm taking advantage of the newest cold front and rain to stock my working pantry. So "instant" or quick fix short cuts for home cooked goodness are what we need. Today, I'm using my dehydrated potato slices. Now regular scalloped potatoes do not have cheese, but when my mother always made scalloped potatoes she always added cheese making them a cross between scalloped potatoes and au gratin potatoes.

The great thing about this recipe is you only need a can of evaporated milk and water make it so it's a good prepper/working term pantry side addition for a meal. It can be cooked on a stove top, in the oven, or even over a wood fire if needed. I made it all ways. I honestly haven't tried to make it with a sterno stove though, but I imagine it could be done that way. I use evaporated milk to reconstitute the dry ingredients to make it extra creamy, but you can use regular milk to make this. I'll give you the bulk recipe for the cheese-less sauce mix because you can scallop any vegetable. Without further ado, on to the recipe.

Bulk Scallop Mix

Makes a little over 1 Quart

Bulk Mix

2 cups milk, skim milk is okay but whole milk is better

1 cup white flour

1 cup corn starch

1/2 cup dried onion flakes, or 8 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup dried parsley flakes

1/4 cup dried chives

2-3 TBS seasoning salt

1 TBS mustard powder

                                                                 1 TBS garlic powder

                                                                 1 cup dried cheddar cheese powder*

* Notes- *If you are making it like my mom or Au Gratin potatoes.

4 serving "box"

What you'll need

1/2 c mix

3 c dehydrated potatoes slices

1 c evaporated milk

2 cups hot water

4 TBS butter

There you have it another pantry stores made from scratch without all those words you can't pronounce. As always, it's a yummy for your tummy.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Chef Jo

Homestead How to Books in the Works

Click image to buy a copy

A little known fact about me is that I'm a multi published author. Before my strokes took away my ability to read and write, I was writing a survivalist series of books, in part about urban homesteading. The first book in the series was self published, as were the rest of the planned series. Well, I had a personal SHTF situation quite literally with my strokes and my husband's care being shifted over to hospice.  It has been a long, slow  recovery process for me. In fact I'm still in it. I've fought tooth and nail, clawing my way back to get to this point.

I've been asked by several of our YouTube subscribers to write a cookbook. I am presently going through my database of recipes, some of which we've videoed on our channel to compile it with fresh pictures. It is slow going, plus I'm typing one handed. My brain just doesn't work as well as it once did.  I haven't done much writing except for blogs in five years, but it's been good practice. Since cookbooks are basically lists, I almost feel almost confident enough to handle this type of writing now. In the downloadable ebooks, I'll put links to the videos that correspond to the recipes. At least those uploaded to the publishing date. The rest may appear at a later date with no links, of course. You just have to search our channel under the Cookin' playlist. Today there are 22 recipes there already and growing, but not in written form. (Hm, an asterisk on the page that YouTube deleted one or more videos. I'll have to figure out which ones and why.) Ya gotta love technology. Anyhow, there will be a web address listed in the paperback version.

How long is the cookbook? How many recipes? I dunno. I haven't thought that far ahead. Heck, this may be several books. I just haven't figured out the divisions yet. I've got thousands of them in my head, on my computer, and written on cards and pieces of paper in my stash from decades of cooling professionally and at home. When can you get a copy? I dunno that either. I've got to figure our the answers to the previous questions first. There are a lot of angles in publishing especially self publishing. What my angle? Why should someone but the book when the video is free? For example, the cover art, any other art, the dividers, the divisions, who am I gearing sales for (marketing plan). Included in the marketing plan is public appearances, pre-sales, and book signings which means the pre-purchasing of paperbacks to sign. It also involves care of the homestead while away doing these events. A whole lot of juggling and planning and I'm not the master juggler anymore. I'm I really able to do this again? Do I really want to? We honestly need the cash injection to keep operating. If neither of us are working off the homestead.  Our feed and seed bill alone is $100 a month and we're small time right now. We can't grow in self sufficiency or profitability without it.


Who knows, I may start writing the above mentioned series again. At least, I'm going to try even if it takes a couple of years to write one. You got to understand. In my previous life BS, before strokes, I was writing, editing, and publishing four to ten books a year between nonfiction and fiction. Taking a couple of years to write one book is a harsh reality check for me.

For Mel, she's on that newbie stage of writing of eat, sleep, dream of writing. She probably wouldn't eat if I didn't put a hot plate of food in front of her and make her stop writing once a day. I remember those days well. All's I gotta say to her is spring is coming and enjoy it while it lasts.

As always,
Y'all gave a blessed day,