Food Storage Friday: Chicken Vegetable Chowder

There are six basic staples of long term food storage: rice, wheat, oats, pasta, beans, and potatoes. Potatoes are pretty darn easy to incorporate into your diet. To quote my friend Liesa "Mashed potatoes are the fast food of food storage." Anyone can add them as a side to a meal with very little effort. Mashed potato flakes can be stored for approximately 30 years. I am not a big potato person, however growing up my mom made this chicken vegetable chowder that I loved. Getting the recipe out of her is easier said than done, because she doesn't cook by recipe, more by taste and eyeballing it. So here is my version. To me, this is comfort food. :) If you wanted to, you could use fresh baked potatoes or even just mashed potato flakes. The point is to get your family used to eating these staples on a fairly regular basis.

Chicken Vegetable Chowder
Food Storage Ingredients:
1 (15oz) can of potatoes, drained
1/4 cup mashed potato flakes (or more if you need them)
3 cups chicken broth
1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk

Fresh Ingredients:
6 cups of finely chopped vegetables
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon prepared honey mustard
1 cup cooked chopped chicken (I've done this many times with canned chicken too)
1 cup shredded cheddar
pepper to taste

1. Put vegetables, canned potatoes, onion, garlic and chicken broth in crock pot. Simmer for 2-4 hours on low. 2. Mash everything with a potato masher until potato chunks pea sized or smaller. 3. Add evaporated milk. 4. Add potato flakes to thicken to desired consistency. 5. Add remaining ingredients and cook on low until heated through (30 minutes or so)

Notes: I served these in soup rolls, but you can do as you please. For vegetables I generally use carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, but this time I used parsnips instead of cauliflower because I had them from my Bountiful Basket and didn't have a clue what else to do with them. My mom always used half and half for this recipe. I don't like purchasing half and half. The remainder of the container always expires before I get around to using, besides you can get the same creaminess from evaporated milk with fewer calories and less saturated fat. She also uses bacon grease mixed with flour to thicken her soup instead of potato flakes. Yes, I know it taste better, but I detest working with bacon. Period. Yesterday when my husband heated some of these leftovers for lunch he accidentally put a dash of balsamic vinegar in it. It made it better. When I got home from work he fixed some for me that I way and I agreed. Give it a try.