Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #4

 Parched Wild Rice

Manoomin.

Also unparched (raw) wild rice.   

It is super dry, easy to store (just keep it dry).   In an accidental test I checked its tolerance for extreme temperatures in storage.  This is because I live off grid and don't heat the place when I'm not home.  So, some stored wild rice in a tightly closed mason-type jar went through a few freeze thaw cycles down to well below zero (fahrenheit) and above 100degs (also fahrenheit!) multiple times.   Then, I found the jar and cooked it up.  Still fantastic.

The parched style costs more, but is also quicker to cook, easier to bust up into a flour type product without fancy grainmill, just a little mortar and pestle or a couple of rocks or a cloth bag and a hammer (put the rice in the bag, use the hammer on it....don't try to bust rice with a cloth bag alone).  

Forever Foods Instead of Forever Chemicals #3

 Chicos

These are SUPER DRY slightly smoky corn kernels from the SW of the US.  

Because they are BONE DRY and a bit shriveled and kind of pre-cooked, once I put them in a jar, they store virtually forever.

"Virtually" partly because I will never be able to test truly long term storage.  They are DELICIOUS so I end up eating them in a matter of months.   

Still, rumor and lots of actual knowledge attests that they are still good after years of dry storage.

To cook: presoak (or not if I forgot to do that and I want to eat).  Cook in water, broth, in soup you already have going.  They need MOISTURE because, as noted above, VERY DRY.   They puff up to about 3x the dry size and add a smoky flavor to whatever they are cooked with or thrown on top of.

Quite chewy and I've never had them go mushy or decompensate even after days in leftover soup or simmered for hours.