Cooking from Storage: Hashbrown Potatoes with Peppers, Onions and Bacon

Another hash brown recipe from food storage!  Not only have we been craving hot, filling foods around here due to the cold weather spell we've been having, but dehydrated hash browns are a very, very frugal and budget friendly food.

Potatoes in many forms are one of the cheapest pantry or Emergency Storage Foods you can stock. The wonderful thing about them is by varying the other ingredients add to them you can really get creative. 

I've started to use only dehydrated hash brown potatoes for everything from my cheesy potato casseroles, to breakfast pizzas, morning breakfast sandwiches, side dishes at dinner (like the jalapeno version in the post below) to soup thickeners and more.

You can make recipes similar to this completely from food storage if you use your dehydrated potatoes, dehydrated onions, dehydrated or freeze dried red and green peppers, canned or dehydrated bacon bits or real bacon, crumbled, pantry salt and pepper and even use some freeze dried cheese if you want to add a bit of cheesy goodness to these morning hash browns. 

I buy a box of dehydrated potatoes at Sam's Club for about $6 (which makes about 50 servings) but if you don't have them near you you can order them online as well (links below this post).  Add and delete amounts of ingredients based on what you and your family like (I don't measure anything for this recipe)!  Remember, recipes are just ideas.  Play with your food!

Hash Browns with Onions, Peppers and Bacon

Depending on much you need to make, adjust your amounts accordingly.
About a 1/2 cup of dehydrated hashbrown Potatoesper person
Add a choice of items from the list;
Freeze dried, dehydrated or fresh green and/or red peppers
dehydrated chopped onions
Ova Easy Whole Egg Crystals
Crumbled, cooked bacon, bacon bits or crumbled canned bacon like Yoders Bacon
Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese
Salt and pepper

In a saucepan on the stove (or over a campfire, etc.)  place your hash browns with an equal amount of water.  Add the rest of the ingredients you wish (except for cheese)  and be sure to add the equivalent of water needed to rehydrate.   I do not measure, but for example, I used about 2 cups hash browns with 2 cups water, added about 2 T red and green peppers, onions and 1/4 cup Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon along with another cup of water. 

Simmered over medium high heat, stirring while everything rehydrated.  If you don't have enough water in the beginning, simply add a bit more, about 1/2 cup or so and judge accordingly.  You are simply rehydrating the foods to where they look plump and natural as if you just grated the potatoes and chopped the onions and peppers yourself.  If you want to add fresh cheese, add it at the very end right before you serve so it melts from the heat but doesn't brown or burn.  If you are using freeze dried cheese from storage you can have it rehydrating according to directions while you cook the potatoes and add it at the end. 

Continue to let cook, not stirring any longer so the potatoes start to crisp and brown.  Use a spatula to flip large areas of the potatoes over as it cooks so you brown and crisp both sides.  When the potatoes are generally golden brown, remove from heat, season and serve. 

Lots of water when you start. More is better than not enough as it cooks in and evaporates

Most of the water is rehydrated into the foods.  Now it's time to leave it alone to cook and start to brown.

You might also be interested in freeze dried and dehydrated long term storage food;

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