Cookbook Offers Y2K Tips

Teenagers can survive on popcorn, so it comes as no surprise to learn that popcorn is an honest-to-goodness survival food.

Flip through Spokane dietitian Denise Hansen’s new cookbook, “Eating Off the Grid: Storing and Cooking Foods Without Electricity” (Subito Services, 1999), and you’ll find that popcorn rates high when planning long-term food storage for your family.

Whole grains store longer than cracked or ground grains, Hansen says, and you don’t need to worry about having a grinder for popcorn. Use a little oil and a pan on top of the stove, and you’ve got a grain you can eat almost immediately.

Hansen, who once lived in a primitive log cabin in Montana, includes several popcorn recipes in her cookbook, such as Breakfast Popcorn, Popcorn Energy Bars and Popcorn Patties.

Recipes such as Boston Bean Sandwiches and Tamale Pie use ingredients that can be stored long-term or grown in a garden.

Hansen wrote the book in response to requests from people who attended her workshops on Y2K preparedness.

“My book fit the bill of cooking without refrigerated foods,” says Hansen, who lives in the Nine Mile area with her husband, Bob, and their children, Paul and Lena.

There are more than 270 recipes in the book, including fried and steamed breads and some enticing desserts, along with tips for using nonelectric cooking appliances such as camp and kerosene stoves.

“Eating Off The Grid” is available for $18.50 at Auntie’s and Hastings bookstores and at area bulk food and natural food stores. For mail orders ($23 for Washington residents, $22 outside the state) write to Subito Services, P.O. Box 28955, Spokane, WA 99228-8955 or e-mail to eatingoffthegrid@usa.net.

Here’s a bean sandwich recipe that you can easily follow with a bag of hot popcorn.

Boston Bean Sandwiches

From “Eating Off the Grid: Storing and Cooking Foods Without Electricity” by Denise Hansen (Subito Services, 1999).

1 (16-ounce) can Boston brown bread

4 tablespoons mayonnaise-type salad dressing

2 cups baked beans

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons chili sauce, optional

Slice bread into 10 slices. Spread with dressing. Stir together beans, onion and chili sauce (if using); warm in saucepan. Divide equally among bread slices and serve as open-face sandwiches.

Yield: 5 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 161 calories, 4.5 grams fat (23 percent fat calories), 28 grams carbohydrate, 6 grams protein, 3 milligrams cholesterol, 545 milligrams sodium.