Food Storage Friday: Pepper Steak

After reading I Dare You To Eat It: Designing Food Storage You Would Actually Want To Eat by Liesa Card, (who btw is awesome, really she's my hero) I was inspired to make my own book of food storage recipes, which I would share with the internet in a free download form, to encourage anyone who needs ideas on making their food storage work for them. I've started this project almost a year ago, but between work, vacations and just life in general, it hasn't happened yet. The solution: Food Storage Friday. Every Friday I will post a new food storage recipe with a picture and any hints that I found helpful. When I have forty successful recipes, I'll compile them into one document for your easy downloading pleasure.  (Because what good is a food storage recipe if  no one is willing to eat it?) Plus this way you can see pictures for each one.

Food storage is more than just storing grains. You have to know what to do with it. You have to incorporate it into your diet on a fairly regular basis, so if/when you have to use it, it's not a shock to your system. You have to have a repertoire of recipes that you can easily refer to and use often so that you can rotate through it. If you can do these things eating food storage can improve your diet, save you time and dramatically decrease the amount you are spending on groceries.

On a recent trip to the grocery store I noticed that there was an amazing deal on both steaks and bell peppers, which inspired me to make this meal for dinner. The recipe I found and modified said that it serves 4. Is that four Sumo wrestlers? I got more like 8-10 servings out of this recipe and I didn't change it that much.

Pepper Steak Stir-fry and Rice
Food Storage Ingredients
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (4 oz) can of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (8 oz) can of sliced water chestnuts, drained (optional)

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 catchup
1/2 cup water
4 cups of prepared rice (I prefer brown)

Fresh Ingredients
1 lb steak, sliced into 1/4" strips
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 large bell peppers, diced (I used red & yellow)
1 cup green onion, sliced

Combine soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Add beef. Mix and set aside while preparing vegetables. Heat oil in large frying pan or wok. Add beef and stir-fry over high heat until browned. Turn heat up and add  fresh vegetables. Cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 10 minutes. Mix cornstarch with water. Add to pan; stir and cook until thickened. Add tomatoes & catchup and heat through.

Because this recipe yields such a large quantity, I froze half of it.

Here we are, frozen & reheated, still good, although the yellow peppers look less appealing.

Here are a few other successful food storage recipes that I have already done:
Fat Free Pumpkin Apple Muffins
BBQ Chicken and Wheat Salad
Beef and Bean Burritos
BBQ Baked Beans
Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower