The Meals in a Jar Handbook: Gourmet Food Storage Made Easy

by Stephanie Petersen

Meals as easy as 1-2-3! Just add water and dinner is done. Using Chef Tess’s tried and tested dry-packing method, learn how to make meals that are not only delicious and family-friendly, but also shelf-stable for an average of 5-10 years. Enjoy recipes like Broccoli Cheese and Rice Casserole, Chunky Italian Spaghetti, and Spicy Chicken in Peanut Sauce, all from a jar!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2014

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading and rereading the recipes in this book. I have been ordering cans of dehydrated foods from Honeyville Farms for about eight months. I have watched for their sales, and bought what I could afford. I am now getting things ready to put the meals in the jars. Each meal takes a lot of different ingredients, so it takes a while to get things together. I have not yet tried any of the meals.

Stephanie is a friend of my daughter-in-law, who has been given some of the meals to try. She told me all the meals were really good, and her children liked them.

I have been to one of Stephanie's classes in Arizona, and I have tried some of the meals she demonstrated for us. They were very good. I have also eaten other things Stephanie had prepared, and they were all yummy.

Stephanie can be seen on youtube, demonstrating these meals, bread making, pressure cooking, etc.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library thinking it would have great ideas for easy and simple meals to take on the go (in glass jars) or ideas for canning. Definitely not. Written by the executive chef for Honeyville Food products, this cookbook is one big ad for their freeze dried products. I really have no idea why anyone would want to create recipes for casseroles, breakfasts and desserts with dehydrated food products, spices and powders with a shelf life of 5-10 years. Written for campers, end of the world theorists, astronauts, not sure but if you want to eat that way, this book is for you.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked this up at the library thinking it would give good ideas of things to pack in lunch boxes. Instead it gives you all-dehydrated potato soup that you can eat in your bomb shelter nine years after nuclear fallout. I'm looking for something a little fresher.

[Cristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book about a unique and different way to cook with totally Freeze-Dried Meals. The recipes look well defined and tested. I copied and re-figured a couple recipes that I might use for camping.

Otherwise, a person would have to buy hundreds of dollars of freeze-dried food to restock your pantry in order to make these meals. I get the concept, but I do not want to have cans half full of butter powder, sour cream powder, cream cheese powder or shortening powder in my pantry. Like any leftover food (freeze-dried or not) there is always an element of waste. What if I don't like the taste after I bought all of the freeze-dried ingredients? This company might want to think about selling a starter kit for people to try first. This just isn't for me.

[Ligaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely not what I was expecting. I'd been reading a ton of books on canning and preserving in order to lengthen the time that I could enjoy the bounty of the season. I am NOT interested in buying freeze-dried ingredients to make lackluster meals for later, as a timesaver. This is lunacy. The author's "Classic Spanish Paella" has the ingredients dumped into a pot, boiled, then simmered. No paella pan, and no socarrat—the best part of paella! Another recipe suggests one reconstitute some freeze-dried cheese to sprinkle over. Why not just use REAL CHEESE? From the gender normative writing ("my cute little-girl hands," "This is a man's meal,") to gross food styling, this book had me incensed. I actually did read through the entire book but you don't have to as I say, "Hard pass."

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really neat ideas for am individual and for families. I'm sure a lot of people who are interested in prepping would enjoy this.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really excited to try some of these recipes. Sounds good and yummy. I may rate this differently after I try some of the recipes.