from the book _Apocalypse Chow_, "How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out", by Jon Robertson, ISBN-13 978-1-4169-0824-1 (ISBN-10 1-4169-0824-2):

Texas Twister Caviar

Ingredients:

1 15.5 oz can black-eyed peas, drained
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, WELL drained
1 garlic clove, minced or 1/4 tsp granular garlic
1 tbs dried parsley
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs cider vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
splash ot Tabasco
1/8 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Mash the peas and tomatoes with a potato masher, stir in the ingredients, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on crackers/sandwiches.

I made some last night with italian seasoning mix instead of parsley, veggie oil instead of olive oil, and balsamic vinegar instead of cider vinegar (because I was too lazy to go to the store). It is quite delicious. My emphasis on the WELL drained tomatoes, unless you like your dips runny....

The entire book is about gourmet "cooking" in "emergency" situations and includes quite a lot of recipes that look delectable. Highly reccomended.

Fire-Roasted Blueberry Cobbler
The heat bubbles up through the filling to cook the cake-like topping. Keeping a lid on things retains the heat. In a matter of minutes, you have a fresh hot cobbler.

1 (16-ounce) can blueberry pie filling
1 pinch cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice or lemon zest
1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 cup milk or soy milk
2 tablespoons canola oil

1. Combine the pie filling, cinnamon, and lemon juice or zest in a 10-inch skillet and place over a medium flame.

2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and oil, mixing until just combined.

3. Spread the batter evenly over the blueberry mixture. Cover and cook until the batter becomes firm and cake-like, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand covered for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Here's a good website to save to favorites; I haven't had a chance to try many of these out yet, but the recipes look good (at the very least, if they don't taste better, they're certainly cheaper than store bought backpacker's meals!):

http://www.freezerbagcooking.com

Lots of great ideas on the site, just explore all the links on the left. I have cooked and dehydrated a couple of pounds of ground beef according to their directions, just to see how it would hold up. I live where it's warm, and I did NOT freeze the beef gravel, as the site suggests. It's been just fine in a freezer bag in the cupboard. I'm saving it for a paddling / camping trip in November, where I can use it for spaghetti sauce or shepard's pie, or I can make some chili. Not sure yet.

This site really motivated me to work the dehydrator a little harder than usual. I've saved plenty of fruits and veggies from certain rot by slicing, dicing and dehydrating them for later use.

My only questions is how viable these freezer bag pouches will be for long term storage / emergency supplies. I imagine they'd be better if I had a vacuum sealer thingy, but I so far the bags are holding up.

An excellent cook book, definantly worth buying it to get the stuff they left off thier web site.