Roasted Eggplant with Sausage Gravy Solar Oven - Video

Ingredients, dried red jalapenos in jar...

eggplants and sausage patties/onions.

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gravy mix on top of great

dehydrated tomatoes

mash sausage and mix with gravy

Gravy put on veggies and put back in solar oven

Porcupine Meatballs - not a total failure. Read bottom of page.

Meatballs with raw rice in them - could use rabbit, chicken, turkey, venison...

Condensed tomato soup added per recipe

Cooked in the dutch oven all day

Experiment interesting- I'm not going to post the recipe because I didn't think the meatballs or the sauce were any good. We did eat them but it tasted like bland meat balls in tomato soup - go figure.

OK, lessons learned...

1) Tons more seasoning in the meatballs

2) Canned or homemade marinara

3) More liquid (or smaller pan) so liquid covers meatballs and any rice that pokes out.  Rice was "crunchy"

4) Great use of rice as a meal stretcher - kids will love the look

Will definitely try it again with Grandma Prego's recipe.

WAPI - Water Pasteurization Device

Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI) - small tube filled with a soy wax that melts at 149F

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It's a simple thermometer that indicates when water has reached pasteurization temperature and is safe to drink.  I put mine to the test today in the solar oven and it worked! (OK, I knew it would)

Solar oven cold

Water, WAPI and jar cold - note wax is solid                                                

Oven HOT enough to kill bacteria - two hours later (outside temp 52F when we got started and 69F at finish)

Melted but in water - hard to see on screen

Lifted out of the water, wax melted.

Still melted - hung with one end up so the wax will harden to one end (It cools and hardens quickly!)

Solar cake in a coffee mug - single (or double) serving

Coffee Mug Cake

(RECIPE AT BOTTOM)

Add a tablespoon of butter.
2 tablespoons of sugar and mix until it’s fluffy and creamy, maybe 30 seconds
1/2 egg
2 tablespoons of sour cream
few drops of vanilla
1/4 cup of flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Not browned but yummy! Needed frosting like any other cake. Now who would eat cake without frosting?  For frosting mix butter (or Crisco) and powdered sugar, drop of vanilla if available.