10 Unusual Foods You Should Have in Your Pantry

10 Unusual Foods You Should Have in Your Pantry: "

1. Shortening powder – This product is a sure-fire way of having shortening on hand for all your baking without having to worry about it going rancid. Even more important, you can sprinkle some in a hot skillet, and when it melts, you can pan fry! What a concept!
2. Powdered peanut butter – Peanut butter has an amazingly long shelf life, even after it’s been opened, but powdered peanut butter is still very useful. Every morning I add a tablespoon or so to my protein drink. It adds all the flavor and nutrition of peanuts without any of the fat found in peanut butter.
   
   
   image by sleepyneko
   
    
3. Powdered butter – This product won’t give you exactly the same flavor of butter and it doesn’t quite melt, but it’s still a handy addition to your pantry. Once reconstituted and chilled, it hardens and has the same consistency of refrigerated butter.
4. Tomato powder – The first time I read about this product, I said, “Huh??” Now I think it’s indispensable because it’s a cost-effective way of having tomato paste and tomato sauce on demand and save vast amounts of space at the same time.
5. TVP (your choice of flavors) – I know Textured Vegetable Protein isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it comes in handy when you want to add a little more protein to a casserole or soup. Just a handful can add the flavor of chicken or taco meat (a little can go a long way), and you can’t beat the price.
6. Freeze-dried cheese – You can still enjoy cheese enchiladas while fending off zombies with this great product! I first sampled FD cheddar cheese a few months ago, and was amazed by how beautifully it melts.
7. Powdered cheese – When you buy this in bulk, you have the main ingredient (besides macaroni) for mac-and-cheese but also cheese sauces for veggies, casseroles, and the all-important survival food, nachos!
8. Freeze-dried grapes – Yes, grapes. Canned grapes have never quite caught on (ewwww!), dehydrated grapes are raisins, but FD grapes have the same color, shape, size and flavor as fresh. They’re just crunchy, and they make a great, healthy snack.
9. Dehydrated sour cream – Now, this won’t give you that wonderfully cool dollop you’ve come to expect, but when you make a dish that calls for sour cream, this product does just fine. Add some to mashed potatoes or a creamy casserole, and you’ll never know the difference.
10. Freeze-dried cottage cheese – This was one of the first ‘survival’ foods we purchased. Because we have young kids, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of Vitamin D-dense foods. It sounds strange, but it’s actually quite good when it’s reconstituted and chilled.

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