The Last Souper

I made the last package of efood today.  This was a potato soup.

There's not much new to say about it.  Same preparation--boil water, pour in mixture, whisk, simmer 15 minutes, let rest and serve.  Nothing could be easier.

The result was as enjoyable as the previous two meals.  It was thick and creamy with lots of small chunks of potato (about the size of carrot chunks in a frozen peas and carrots package).  There were also carrots and maybe something else that I didn't find.  I gussied it up with shredded cheese before serving, and made it the first course of our meal.  

Having now tried all three of the dinners that were sent to me, I can unhesitatingly recommend efood for those who want to keep a supply of this kind of meal on hand.  My favorite of the three was definitely the taco soup, but the other two were very good too, and perhaps tasted more like home made than many pre-packaged foods.

...but speaking of soup, I had more soup, for lunch this time.   I drove to the Bay Area to meet my blogging friend Wilma Scott at the home of our nonagenarian blogging friend Bill "Willy" Baker, who was celebrating his 98th birthday...and still blogging.  When I arrived at Bill's house, Wilma was in the kitchen stirring her famous clam chowder and putting Bill's cake together.

When lunch was ready, Bill joined us and read his birthday card.

We sat and ate our (delicious) soup and talked about Bill's inventions (see that green bucket to the right of his head?  That was the microwave cake baker he had invented last year; the clear plastic bucket to the left of his head is the updated version, which is clear so he can make sure that the baking cake rises evenly as it cooks). 

Wilma has been a caterer, and I was a cake decorator, so we shared horror stories and laughed about them.  We talked about bloggers we have known and loved (and sometimes grieved) over the years. 

When our soup was gone, Bill watched Wilma put the finishing touches on his birthday cake.

It looked delicious as she served it.

And it tasted delicious too!!

It was hot outside and the kitchen was getting warm...

...so we adjourned to the living room, where Wilma showed me the video of the magnificent teen age singers, Charlotte and Jonathan, who came in 2nd on Britain's Got Talent (beaten out by a dancing dog).  Do check out the videotape!

I was able to get on the road in time to get home ahead of rush hour traffic.  All in all, a lovely day and so nice to see Wilma and Bill again.  I'm so glad they invited me to be part of the week-long celebration!

Mmmm--Taco Soup!

I was going to wait a few days before I tried another of the efood packages, but because I am very stupid, I ended up making one today.

Dinner was going to be either lemon garlic Cornish game hens (using up some of the lemons that a friend gave us), or penne pasta with some sort of meat sauce.  I went back and forth between the two all day.  The hens weren't quite thawed, but enough that by the time finished getting them ready, they would pretty much be just fine to bake.

With the penne, I would normally mix meat with a ready-made spaghetti sauce, to make things easy, but I didn't have any spaghetti sauce and rather than go to the store, I would just make my own, which would be no problem, but it would take some time to simmer.

All afternoon, I debated on which I felt like cooking.  The penne would take less preparation, but required longer simmer time.  The hens took a moderate amount of preparation, but could be cooked sooner.

I hadn't really made up my mind yet and suddenly, as the Final Jeopardy question was being read, I realized it was 7 p.m. and really too late to start fixing either of the dishes, so I decided that God was telling me it was time to try a second efood pouch.

I chose the taco soup and I didn't take as many pictures this time.   It's the same process.  Boil the water, add the mix, whisk in, cook 12 minutes, add butter (if you want) and then let sit off the heat for a few minutes.  I knew it wouldn't be enough for a whole dinner for the two of us, so I used some leftovers for Walt to fill out the soup.

For starts, the smell was great.  And as I stirred it, I could see chunks of chicken in the broth along with beans and other stuff.  

It would have been more photogenic if I had topped it with tortilla strips and/or cilantro, but I just went bare naked.  You can see the chunks of chicken there.

As I said before, I'm always tentative when tasting stuff like this,but I need not have been.  I said that the chicken casserole was good; this taco soup was GREAT.  I just loved it.  I was sorry I didn't have a pantry full of packages.  It was spicy, but not too spicy, the chicken had a sweetness to it, and had a mouth feel like fresh chicken and the whole thing was just great.

We each had bowls and then I filled Walt's bowl again and I had another scoop.  Toward the bottom, things were slightly thicker so I had to take a picture of my spoon.

(I wish I could share the aroma with you!)

And, as last time, the soup passed the acid test...this time by two dogs!

Two down one (potato soup) to go!  So far efood gets 5 stars all the way.

Ready for Armageddon

Some time ago--I don't remember exactly when and it's frustrating that I can't find the e-mail now--a woman representing a company called efoods wrote and told me about their product, which is packaged food that you can store up to 25 years and can be used in times of natural disasters, quarantines and pandemics, food supply contamination, economic downturns and "because government and religious organizations urge people to be prepared."  

They guarantee that their foods are fresh from the farm, use only the finest, purest and most nutritious natural ingredients, are delicious, that their dehydration process allows a shelf life of 25 years without compromising nutritional value, flavor or texture, are affordable, and practical (one example is packing them for camping trips).

She asked if I would consider trying some of their products and writing a review on my journal.  Never one to pass up a chance for free food, I agreed. She said she would send me 6 meals and I think I wrote about that here in this blog...that the food would be coming.

I kind of forgot about it and wondered if the 6 meals would be delivered by UPS.  Today I picked up the mail and there was a package in it.  It was so small--it couldn't be six meals, could it?

But yes it was...6 meals.

And yes, it really is good for 25 years!

There is a discrepancy in how many servings this actually is.   One place it says that one serving is 2 cups, which makes each bag two servings.   In another place it says that one serving is only ONE cup.

There were three different meals:

I decided to cook the Cheesy Chicken Rice Casserole for dinner tonight (I suspect the two soups will end up being an accompaniment for something a bit more substantial).

Certainly couldn't be easier.  First you bring 5 cups of water to a boil. (If you can boil water, you can make this casserole!)

While the water was boiling, I opened the pouch and took a sniff.   I can be somewhat turned off by a bad smell, but this smelled like a package of Lipton's chicken noodle soup.  So far so good.

When the water begins to boil, pour in the mixture and whisk it into the water.

Turn the heat to medium and let cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the time is up, remove from the heat, add 2 Tbsp of butter (optional) and let sit for 5 minutes.

When it's ready, spoon into bowls.

I will admit that it didn't look much like the picture in the brochure.

Based on that picture, I expected to find chunks of chicken in the bowl, but if there were any, I certainly didn't see any.  But the real test would be the taste.

Walt decided it was good, so I tasted mine and was pleasantly surprised...Despite the ad material, I expected it to taste processed and it really didn't.  It was delicious, in fact.  And the packet served the both of us for dinner, without the need for a side dish.

Best of all, it got the dog's seal of approval, when she licked my bowl!

So the first dish passed with flying colors.  

In addition to the three meals that I have (and I will report on the others later), the catalog includes such things as almond coconut granola, pancake mix, beef stroganoff, chili and dumplings, vegetable beef stew, and other things--2 dozen choices in all. including "whey milk" which I think I would have to be in dire straits to try.

This stuff isn't cheap.  A 2 week food supply will cost you $79.95, a 6 month food supply $799.95.  This, I assume is for 2 people because a 6 month family food pack will run you $3,149.95.  But if you are a survivalist and want to be sure that you can make it through any natural disaster, or feed your family in case you get laid off and want to lock things in at today's prices, this may be for you.

For more information you can check them out at their web site.  You, too, can order 6 free meals using the coupon that is presently up on the site. I will be reviewing the two soups in a later entry, though not in such a detailed report.

e-Foods

I've been contacted by a company called e-foods, to ask if I would like to sample and review their foods here on this blog, so I've agreed to be a guinea pig.  It sounds like an interesting deal.  Their web site explains that eFoods' mission is to empower every family to have food security in the case of storms, natural disasters, or even financial crises like shrinking income or the loss of a job.

They say:  Over the past 30 years the founders of eFoodsDirect have helped people become more secure and confident with their greatest dependency—food.

When a major emergency strikes, imagine your peace of mind having a convenient, just-add-water-and-simmer food supply on hand. And if a minor emergency pops up where you’re simply trying to feed the kids, you'll appreciate the best-tasting, most versatile food in the world.

As you learn more about who we are and what we stand for, you’ll find the eFoodsDirect Difference is all about putting people first.

So I'm intrigued and have agreed to let them send me some samples, which I will be trying and reporting to this blog after I've had a chance to try it.  I eat, and I write so I seem to be the perfect person to try their product.  Stay tuned!

Apparently you can try their foods too, by using the coupons embedded in their web site.