The hunting season is over. I bet you have some small packages of game meat that you’re not sure what to do with. Here is the answer….a wild game pie.

by Blake Miller

I made several pies yesterday and “re-learned” a few lessons.

• It takes time to put this together, several hours.
• You have to use current jelly – no kidding – and it’s sometimes hard to find at the grocery store. Don’t over do it with the jelly.
• Yep, you can use several meats in one pie. Yesterday I combined duck, chucker, chicken and lamb.
• I used a better quality pastry shell and it is worth the expense. The cheaper pie shells were OK but that is about it.
• Corning Ware single serving/individual casserole dishes (about six inches in diameter) worked nicely.
• If you are going to take the time to cook one batch, you might as well cook three, or four or five…..you’re in the kitchen, make the most of your time.

Game pie should have a tasty crust (fussfreeflavors.com photo)

So here is the rest of the story:

This truly outstanding recipe came from the November ,1996, Food and Drink section from Sports Afield. I paraphrase the following from the article: 

“Back in the Elizabethan era, meat pies were created to be the most impressive and lavish of all dishes…Game pies were a way to celebrate the extraordinary variety of birds and animals…The best pies always have more than one kind of game bird or animal baked in them. This recipe is adapted from one served at the Kings Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg.” 

When without game, use chicken, turkey or tender beef cuts.

Salt and pepper 1/2 pound (each of cubed venison, duck breast, wild boar or rabbit loin.

Dust with flower then brown in a skillet over medium-high heat in 4 Tbsp of vegetable oil. Remove from skillet.

Saute two slices bacon that have been cut into 1 inch pieces. Remove them from the pan.

Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in the skillet and add 2 diced carrots, 1 diced celery, 10 diced mushrooms and 1/2 cup of blanched pearl onions. Saute for 3 minutes then remove from the skillet.

Lower the heat, stir in 4 Tbsp of flour and cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Raise the heat to medium and add 2 cups of game stock or beef stock….bring to a boil then simmer for 2 minutes.

Return the meats and vegetables to the skillet; add 1 bay leaf and 2 Tbsp of currant jelly (don’t scrimp here). Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Add the mixture to a large casserole dish and top with pastry dough, brush with a wash of 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp of water, cut several vents in the top to allow steam to escape. Place on a pan/sheet and cook at 400 degrees  for 35 to 40 minutes, until the crust is brown. Or, freeze the oven ready pie for serving later.

Blake Miller has made a career out of staying found and knowing where he is at all times. His formal navigation training began when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1973. He served as an officer aboard several Navy ships over his

Blake Miller

twenty-year career; many of those tours included the duty of Navigator. Blake began working with satellite navigation systems at sea in 1976, culminating with the then-new satellite positioning systems aboard the Battleship WISCONSIN in early 1990.

In 1998 Blake started Outdoor Quest, a business dedicated to backcountry navigation and wilderness survival. Blake has taught classes to wild land firefighters, state agency staffs, Search and Rescue team members, hunters, hikers, skiers, fishermen and equestrians. He regularly teaches classes through the Community Education programs at Central Oregon (Bend) and Chemeketa (Salem, OR) Community Colleges.

As a volunteer, Blake teaches navigation and survival classes to students in the local school districts, and conservation groups. He is a member of a Search and Rescue team.

If you have any questions about land navigation or wilderness survival, you can contact Blake through SurvivalCommonSense.com@gmail.com, or you can go to his website.

Contact Information:

Website: www.outdoorquest.biz

Blog: outdoorquest.blogspot.com

Phone: 541-280-0573

Email: outdrquest@aol.com

To hear the Blake Miller interview about choosing a magnetic compass and GPS on SurvivalCommonSense.com Radio, click here.

For more navigation information, click here

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The theme this week for the SurvivalCommonSense.com Email Update is food: all sorts of survival food, from hardtack to corn meal mush.

You can check out the latest stories by clicking here.

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Camping during a disaster can be challenging. This Civil War photo shows how a soldier's family lived in camp. (Library of Congress photo)

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

by Leon Pantenburg

During one the last conversations I had several months ago with the late Jan LeBaron, Jan mentioned that a great holiday recipe is fudge made out of pinto beans.

Use your pinto beans to make fudge!

I was naturally intrigued at the idea of making fudge from beans, so we chatted a little. We decided the fudge, from “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes” would be a great food selection around Christmas time.

In addition to being tasty, this recipe is healthy, the beans supply a shot of protein and the final product lends itself to preparedness recruiting. Take a plate of these brownies over to a non-prepper neighbor. When they marvel at the unique taste, point out that the brownies are good for you, and are made completely out of storage food.

And if that doesn’t get the conversation rolling, mention that the main ingredient is pinto beans!

This is also another good way to use and integrate your storage foods  into your normal diet.

Speaking of useful Christmas gifts, you can’t beat a copy of “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes,” by Jan LeBaron. It has become my go-to book for cooking anything with storage foods. It also cuts down on my family’s grocery bill, since we can now use our storage foods more easily for a variety of dishes. I never imagined there was so much gourmet potential in all those Number 10 cans and white buckets!

Pinto Bean Fudge

1 c cooked soft pinto beans (drained and mashed)

1/4 c milk (made from your powdered milk)

1 Tbs vanilla

2/3 c baker’s cocoa

1/4 c water

6 Tbs butter ( You can use fresh or canned butter)

5 c powdered suger (I substituted evaporated cane sugar, and it worked out fine.)

Nuts, chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, stir beans and milk together, adding enough milk to make the mixture resemble mashed potatoes; stir in the vanilla. Add chocolate and butter and stir in bean mixture, 1/4 c water, stir until nice and smooth. Gradually stir in sugar, knead with hands to get it well blended.

Spread into lightly buttered 9-inch baking dish or form into 1-1/2-inch rolls. Chill for one to two hours.

For more survival recipes and cooking tips, check out these blogs: Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes, Survival Pantry, and Survival Recipes and Off-Grid Cooking

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

Pasta Alfredo

 by Leon Pantenburg

One of the aspects of preparedness that constantly amazes me is the potential taste of the storage food.

Get the right recipe, and you’ll find all sorts of combinations that can turn those long term staples into delicious meals.

Gravies and sauces are right at the top of the survival recipes list in importance. The right topping can take pasta, rice, potatoes etc and make them into a brand new taste sensation.

This recipe, from “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes,” by Jan LeBaron, is a great choice for quick, delicious pasta meal.

Feathery Light Alfredo Sauce

2 Tbs chicken broth

2 tsp granulated garlic

1/2 c parmesan cheese, dried

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2 c white cream soup base

4 c water

1/8 tsp black pepper

2 Tbs Italian seasoning, dried

In medium pan, bring water to a boil, add chicken broth, garlic granules, lower heat to a medium boil, slowly whisk in a white cream soup base, add pepper and Italian seasoning.

As mixture starts to thicken, slowly add most of parmesan cheese, reserve a small amount to sprinkle over top.

Serve Alfredo sauce over the top of your favorite pasta, add any meat or vegetables and top with additional parmesan.

A family favorite  is to rehydrate broccoli and chicken and toss with pasta before adding Alfredo sauce then add additional Alfredo.

For more survival recipes and cooking tips, check out these blogs: Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes, Survival Pantry, and Survival Recipes and Off-Grid Cooking

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

Are you using the storage foods in your pantry?

One piece of preparedness advice is that mossy old saying: “Store what you eat, and eat what you store.”

Food is the fuel that keeps you warm in the outdoors.

by Leon Pantenburg

This philosophy makes sense, since your stored food is an investment. But it’s always a good idea to rotate the stock.

Another thought is to make full use of those stores. Rather than spending upward of a dollar or so for a commercial energy bar, try making your own!

And if you can find a recipe that uses your stored food, that’s a bonus! Not only can you experiment and tweak the recipes, but you can also find a flavor combination that is just what you’re looking for!

If you can bake cookies, you can make your own energy bars, and here is a recipe that uses stored food you’ll like!

Apricot Bar Recipe

Chop in a food processor:

• 1 cup apricots
• 3/4 cup almonds
• 3/4 cup walnuts

• Mix fruit and nuts with:
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons oil

Add: Enough liquid (2 to 4 tablespoons juice) to form thick batter.

Mix well. Press into an 8-by-8-inch square greased pan. Bake 30 minutes or until firm. Cut into 12 bars but leave in the pan to cool. Later, package individually and store in a refrigerator or freezer. Makes 12 bars with 220 calories/bar.

For more survival recipes and cooking tips, check out these blogs: Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes, Survival Pantry, and Survival Recipes and Off-Grid Cooking

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

Time to use those garden leftovers, like zucchini! (epicurean.com photo)

by Jan LeBaron

I know that a lot of people around me still have lots of tail-end Zucchini, so this would be a great recipe to use some of that up in! (And if there are a few onions still hanging on, this would be another way to use them up!)

Zucchini Gratin

6 Tbs butter

3 Tbs onion, chopped, dehydrated

2 c zucchini, fresh or freeze dried

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper, ground

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

1 c milk, fresh or powdered milk

3/4 c dry bread crumbs

3/4 c parmesan cheese, grated

In a medium pan, bring to a boil five cups of water, lower heat to medium, add onions and cook for about 15 minutes, then add the zucchini and turn heat off, let sit for five minutes. Drain the water off.

In a 8×8-inch greased baking pan, spread zucchini out and set aside. In the same pan over medium heat, melt butter, add the flour stir and cook until flour starts to get golden, then slowly add in the powdered milk, whisking as you add.

Lower heat to simmer. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg and half of the cheese, whisk in and allow to cook until the mixture has thickened slightly. Pour over the top of the zucchini.

Top with bread crumbs and the rest of the cheese. Cook in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Jan LeBaron is the owner of Healthy Harvest, a family company in operation since

Jan LeBaron

1988. The company’s goal is to help you and your family to become more prepared, healthier and more self-sufficient. Because the organization is a family-owned business, Jan insists on a hands-on-operation, which further promotes the quality and pride in the products. The company is proud to sell the Healthy Harvest Brand of long term food storage and prides itself on purchasing only the highest quality of food products.

Jan is also the author of “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes” a best-selling cookbook with over 400 recipes for using storage foods.

For more survival recipes and cooking tips, check out these blogs: Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes, Survival Pantry, and Survival Recipes and Off-Grid Cooking

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

by Jan LeBaron

This  is a great recipe to use up a lot of  leftover vegetables from your garden.  One aspect of the wise use of storage food is to use whatever you have.  If you want to cook the beans, great, if you have canned beans, that works.  If  black beans are not available, substitute

Beans and corn make a complete protein, and this recipe helps use up your leftover vegetables from the garden! (pinchmysalt.com photo)

whatever kind of bean you have.

This recipe calls for corn, onions, tomatoes, and these still might be lingering in your garden. If not, use canned or freeze dried or even dehydrated.  This is the real secret to unlocking your food storage skills.

The added nutritional perk is that beans alone – though high in protein – are not a complete protein and lack certain amino acids.

But, if beans are eaten with rice or corn at the same meal, the protein is complete. Many Mexican foods are based on beans and rice, and if you enjoy that cuisine, you can create nourishing, tasty foods with basic storage food items.

Black Bean and Corn Cowboy Caviar

2 c black beans, pre-cooked and rained

1-1/2 c sweet garden corn, freeze-dried, or you can use dehydrated

1 c tomatoes, diced, freeze dried

1/4 c onion, diced, freeze dried or dehydrated

3 Tbs cilantro, chopped, dried

1 Tbs red winne vinegar

4 Tbs lime juice (you can make this from dried lime powder)

2 Tbs olive oil

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1/4 tsp garlic, granules, dried

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper, ground, black

In a medium bowl, add corn, tomatoes and onion, pour boiling water over the top and let sit for 5-6 minutes to re-hydrate.

Drain the water off, add the drained black beans. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, line juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and cilantro and combine.

Pour over the top of the bean/corn mixture, toss to coat. Serve with chips or as a side dish.

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

By Leon Pantenburg

Stockpiling, using and getting used to the items in your food storage pantry is critical to prepper/survivalist.. But, there are some times, such as now, when the gardens are coming in. And while all this

Green beans are in season, and it would be a shame not use them in this recipe!

wonderful fresh produce is available, and it would be a shame not to use it!

This week’s recipe is from page 243 of  “Jan’s Fabulous Storage Food Recipes” by Jan LeBaron of Healthy Harvest.

Jan recommends using whatever fresh veggies are available in your area.

“Green beans are in season now, so people could replace the dehydrated green beans  with fresh, and they could also substitute fresh for the dehydrated mushrooms and onions,” Jan said.  ” I would suggest using Walla Walla onions if they are available, yummy and so sweet.  This is a great recipe and works well with food storage foods or with some fresh veggies!”

Vegetables in Cream Sauce

1/2 c carrot slices, dehydrated

1/2 c broccoli, dehydrated

2 Tbs onion, chopped, dehydrated

1/3 c non-fat dry milk (mixed with 1 c water)

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1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 Tbs butter

2 Tbs flour

1 Tbs parsley

1/2 tsp chicken soup base

In a medium pan, bring to a boil 2 c of water, add broccoli, onions, 1/2 tsp salt and carrots, lower heat to a simmer and cook vegetables for 20-25 minutes until they are tender.

Once the vegetables are tender, remove from heat and set aside.

In the same pan, melt the butter, then add the flour, lower heat and stir until flour starts to brown very slightly, then add the re-mixed milk, parsley, chicken soup base and pepper, continue cooking over low heat until mixture starts to thicken.

Add vegetables back into sauce and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with your favorite main dish!

For more survival recipes and cooking tips, check out these blogs: Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes, Survival Pantry, and Survival Recipes and Off-Grid Cooking

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When you have too much of something - combine fresh with storage foods for a tasty meal!

Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

by Leon Pantenburg

One of the nice things about a fully-stocked pantry is that you can substitute fresh meats and vegetables for storage items as they become available. This allows you to experiment even more to make tasty meals!

This recipe from “Jan’s Fabulous Food Storage Recipes” allows you to take advantage of seasonal surpluses as the sweet corm comes in!

Scalloped Corn

2 c garden sweet corn, fresh, dehydrated or freeze dried

2 tsp chicken soup base

2 teaspoons onion, chopped dehydrated

1 c sour cream powder, mixed with 1-1/2 c water

1/2 batch corn bread (you can use a commercial mix, or follow the recipe on page 20 of Jan’s cookbook)

If using dehydrated corn, in a medium pan, bring to a boil 5 c water, add corn and onions. Cook for about 15 minutes. If you are using freeze dried corn, you don’t need to rehydrate. After draining corn, add to an 8×8-inch greased baking pan.

Season with salt and pepper if desired. Mix sour cream powder in a medium bowl, add chicken soup base and pour over corn. Mix 1/2 recipe of corn bread mix, pour corn bread mix over the top of the corn, bake in a 350-degree oven for 50-60 minutes until a wooden pick poked in the center comes out clean.

This is great served with a bowl of beans or lentils!

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Survival food is sustenance that can be made easily during a survival or emergency situation using mainly simple, long-term storage food items, cooked outdoors, using off-the-grid methods.

Skillet cornbread is an ideal accompaniment to just about anything from the garden!

by Karla Moore

I call this Northern Cornbread because it’s a little sweet, just the way I like it! I have family down in the Southern States that will argue with me…but that doesn’t bother me a bit. After all, this is MY blog!

This time of year, our garden is producing an over abundance of food. A lot of it will be canned or frozen, but some of it demands to be eaten when it’s at the peak of freshness.

One of those vegetables is green beans. I absolutely love fresh green beans with bacon & onion, slathered with butter, salt & pepper. What better accompaniment than a big cast iron pan of cornbread?

Northern Cornbread

Preheat Oven to 400ºF

1 cup Flour

1 cup Cornmeal (I like hand ground or stone ground)

1/2 cup sugar

1 TBSP. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

Combine the dry ingredients until well mixed. Set aside.

Use the following fresh ingredients if you have them on hand.

2 eggs

1 cup Buttermilk

4 TBSP. Butter~melted

If you don’t have fresh, use your dried storage goods.

2 TBSP. Whole Egg Powder

1/3 cup Buttermilk Powder

4 TBSP Butter or Oil

1 cup + 4 TBSP. Water

Combine and mix well to dissolve the powders

While mixing up the batter, preheat a cast iron skillet until it’s almost smoking hot. Right before adding the batter to the skillet add a couple TBSP of oil and swirl it around.

For the batter. Combine the wet & dry ingredients, blend quickly just until the dry ingredients are moistened. There may be some lumps, this is normal. Don’t over mix or the cornbread will turn out tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared skillet. Bake until it turns golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean. Serve piping hot with butter and honey…

Iowa Green Beans

Snap the stems off the fresh green beans and cut or break into pieces. Or, do as I do and just leave them whole.

In a big kettle brown 4-6 strips of bacon cut into bit sized pieces, along with a diced medium onion. Saute’ until the bacon is crisp and the onions translucent. Pour off all but about 2 TBSP. of fat. Add the cleaned green beans and toss them around to combine with the other ingredients. Add enough water to cover, then bring to a boil. Boil until tender. About 20-25 minutes depending on how big your batch is. Drain well and serve with butter, salt & pepper.

I don’t measure when I’m making beans, just eyeball it. If you want more bacon or onion, throw it in!

For more survival and off-grid cooking tips, check out: Survival Pantry

Karla Moore

Karla Moore is a professional soaper, accomplished Dutch oven cook, prepper and avid do-it-yourselfer. She is the author of “Survival Pantry” blog, and walks the talk when it comes to preparedness. Karla, and her husband Warren, live on a small farm outside Gilbert, Iowa.

The Moores have a large garden and several fruit trees, and Karla cards, spins and dyes wool, sews, cans, preserves food and makes cheese. In season, she and Warren are avid mushroom hunters.

Karla owns and operates “Heart of Iowa” soapworks. She started making soaps for her own personal use, and started her business in April, 2000. Karla has very sensitive skin and is allergic to the detergents used in most commercial soaps. Her experimentation, and earlier training as a cosmetologist, subsequently lead to a special line of soaps designed for people with allergies or similar skin conditions.

Today, Karla sells soap products all over the world and offers a complete line of scented and specialty soaps, shampoo bars, and custom blends. Karla specializes in soaps for people with allergies and teaches soapmaking classes. She enjoys visiting with both beginner and experienced soapers.

Karla’s idea of a good time is hosting a large family gathering at her farm, where she and several of her siblings team up to feed a crowd, using Dutch ovens and off-grid cooking methods!

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