I Can't Believe It's Food Storage: A Simple Step-by-Step Plan for Using Food Storage to Create Delicious Meals Paperback – April 15, 2009

Okay, first off, let me just say, the closest I ever came to food storage before 2009, was some basic home canning, cake mixes and preparing for hurricane season year after year. Can you say canned soup, spam and canned fruits, etc. :o)I ordered this book on January 6th, 1010, after searching online for about six months and getting frustrated, because I wanted to know -how- to use food storage, as well as what to store. I had clicked on different links and wound up on Crystal's website. I started searching & reading and loving her video tutorials and then after staying with her site for about 4 months I finally clicked on a link about her book that would help me. Perfect!The first part of her book pertains to the LDS church and food storage, and family. Not being LDS myself, I first thought, oh great, there will not be anything in those sections for me and my family. Wrong! There is some great info in the beginning sections, whether LDS or not.Now, this book is -not- supposed to be a comprehensive book, but what it is supposed to be is a book showing how to store and use your food storage items that sometimes can seem a little daunting if you are just starting out. e.g. dried beans, powdered milk, wheat berries, powdered eggs, and more! For someone like me, who didn't even know that there was such a thing as powdered eggs, let alone what a wheat berry was, I was amazed. And a little scared. I mean, powdered eggs? I hated baking and cooking with fresh eggs (bad experience with them), what the heck was I gonna do with powdered eggs?! Between this book and watching her videos (thank you Crystal for doing those!), I now use powdered eggs for ALL my baking and cooking. No, you can't do an over-easy or soft boiled egg with the powdered, but, you can make pancakes, casseroles, waffles, cupcakes, cakes, and so much more, oh, did I mention pancakes?!! :o)I now grind my own wheat to make bread, biscuits, pizza dough, pancakes, waffles, cakes, garlic knots and so much more. It is absolutely amazing the difference in taste and mind-boggling to me that more people don't do it. It really is super easy. And hello, you get -all- the nutrition! Nothing is taken out. Amazing.I use dried beans all the time now. Again, the difference in taste is amazing. One of my favorite things to do (if you have access to electric and a freezer) is to make up big batch of kidney beans and then separate it into portions for use and freeze the portions. Instead of grabbing a can of kidney beans which always seem to have more liquid than beans, I grab a portion bag and go to it. Small white beans(Navy beans) are yummy to eat just by themselves after being cooked with a little salt and pepper. Great Northerns are so good with a small splot of ketchup. :o)I have to mention the powdered milk. I mean really, could you get any yuckier thing than powdered milk? Well, I still don't drink powdered milk on its own. Maybe in time, but for now we take a gallon of whole milk, split it into 3rds, and then make 2/3rds powdered milk to mix with the 1/3rd. And using Crystal's tips (although we use less than she uses), we have something that we actually will drink. And like it! That truly was the ultimate test for us. So from 1 gallon of milk, we now have 3 gallons. Awesome.So much more is in the book, like recipes too! *laughs* She takes you step-by-step, and then gently nudges and encourages you to try on your own.If you don't want to try anything else, try the Magic Mix. It is so versatile. Soups, sauces, gravies, pudding, and hello... fudge-pops!There are some mistakes etc., in the book, but I was able to see them and still have everything work like it should. This is not the fault of the book, but of the proof-reader and editor for letting them pass into the book. That said, I have no problem with this book, nor do I have a problem recommending it to those who are hesitant to get food storage because they have no clue what to do with it besides let it just sit there.If you keep an open mind during the first part of book and give the other stuff a try, you might just surprise yourself and your family with how easily using food storage will become part of your daily life. I mean what could be simpler than putting together a casserole from freeze-dried broccoli florets, cans of soup, powdered milk, powdered sour cream, chicken (either freshly cooked or yes, freeze-dried) and topping? Yes, that canned soup is food storage! Just mind-boggling.Okay, I think you get the idea, I truly do like this book, use it all the time, and have found that, dare I say it, I love food storage, now! And no, even after a year of using, still sometimes, I Can't Believe It's Food Storage!*******************Update: 8/4/2011This book has made such a positive difference in our lives, and now in the rest of our families lives. I've been slowly getting my sisters used to food storage and using it, by using it myself. So, after they finally started asking questions, I purchased as gifts, books for them. I ordered 2 days before they went home, so the books were waiting on them when they got there! (I have PRIME account.) I get calls all the time, so I know they are using the books, and the care packages I sent home with them. I love it!! Thanks Crystal!

This is an excellent book and a great resource for those of us who are buying food in bulk, beefing up our food storage and generally learning to cook with food storage ingredients.Two notes that I didn't see in other reviews.1. This is very much an LDS book in the very introduction. There is a whole section in the front of the book about having a Family Home Evening, for example. There is an assumption that you will agree or be saving food storage and learning to use it because you are LDS. This is a small portion of the book but if you are not LDS and are not interested in this, it might help to know about it.2. This book is heavy on the dried milk, dried eggs, and similar ingredients. It barely, if at all covers things like cornmeal, whole wheat flour, and other ingredients that are a bit more difficult to cook with/grind etc.Those two items were not an issue for me. However, my friend who is not LDS but has much in the way of survivalism, food storage type items found this book was a little light in some areas. If you already cook with food storage, this is probably a little bit simple for you.If you are looking for a good all around beginning book for the basics of cooking with dried milk and other easy to find food storage items, this is a good book.

As many have noted, the book is liberally sprinkled with references to the LDS church, and I'm not LDS, but I AM into food storage, and her references to her faith were not in the least offensive or off-putting to me. I especially appreciate the organization of the book, and there are enough recipes in each section to get well started on using our food storage, which is her objective. Also, she gives calculations and conversions that make sense and make planning and using stored foods easier. I plan to springing some of these great looking recipes on my family, and I expect them to be pleasantly surprised when they learn I've used items like dried milk and eggs! Crystal is also generous with references for other resources, and she must have had a great editor, because (being a closet editor myself!) I found no errors, Great little cookbook--informative and fun.

This is an excellent book all-around for the subject of not only having food storage, but actually knowing how to use it on a daily basis. For newbies, it is very user-friendy and doable - Crystal makes it easy so you don't feel overwhelmed by starting your food storage. For those who already have & use their food storage, she provides new ideas & great recipes. The only negative thing I can think of is that if you are not familiar with using food from the Mormon canneries, some of her ingredients are confusing. Such as using 1-2 cubes of butter. I didn't know how much that was until I watched a video on her site & saw that a "cube" was 1/2 a stick of butter. I read this in one sitting & will use it often. I highly recommend this book.