KnightoftheRoc wrote:One thing I seldom see listed with the rice and beans is oats, or oatmeal. As a dry good, it stores the same as beans or rice, and for as long. It's easy to flavor as you like- I store the plain oatmeal, and then flavor it at cooking time. A big favorite is maple flavoring, and adding some maple syrup as a part of the water requirement (1 cup syrup replaces 1 cup of water) works great. Chunks of fresh or dried fruit work, too. It's a good, solid breakfast to get fueled up for the day with, and dead simple to make.
On the subject of oats, they can also be used to make oatcake, of which there are several varieties all of which being made and eaten by poor/working class northern Brits as a staple of their diets until the latter part of the 19th century. Here's a few recipes:
Scottish oatcake:
225g (2½ cups/8 oz) medium oatmeal, plus extra for dusting
1.25ml (¼ tsp) bicarbonate of soda
1.25ml (¼ tsp) salt
15ml (1 tbsp) unsalted butter or lard
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Put the oatmeal, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and mix well. Heat the butter and 150ml (3/4 cup/5 oz) water in a small pan until the butter melts.
Make a well in the centre of the oatmeal mix, pour in the liquid and use a palette knife to mix everything together. The mixture will initially seem a bit wet, but the oatmeal will gradually absorb all the liquid to give a soft dough.
Lightly dust a clean work surface with oatmeal. Tip out the dough, then roll out to about 5mm thick. Use a small round cutter to stamp out the oatcakes or use your favourite shapes. Re-roll any trimmings and continue to cut out the biscuits. (Cut biscuits can be frozen uncooked, for up to a month. Freeze flat before packing into bags or boxes.)
Brush off any excess oatmeal, then space the oatcakes over 2 baking sheets. Bake for about 20 minutes, carefully turning the oatcakes every 5 minutes or so to stop them from steaming and going stodgy. When cooked they should be crisp and lightly golden. Lift onto a wire rack and leave to cool. (Will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.)
Staffordshire oatcake:
8oz fine oatmeal
8 oz white bread flour
Either a tablespoon of dried milk powder, or a bit more of melted bacon fat or even lard
2 teaspoons of dried yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
Mix all the above and incorporate a bit less than a pint of lukewarm water – until a stiff pancake batter has been formed. Leave covered for at least 30 minutes and up to 90. When about to cook add more water to get a looser batter consistency, add a half-teaspoon of salt, or up to a spoonful if you prefer. Don’t add the salt until about to cook, or the yeast will struggle. Cook, aiming for about twice the thickness of a normal pancake, on an oiled bakestone or frying pan, turning so both sides are done. Makes about fifteen.
Derbyshire oatcakes:
To make 4 oatcakes:
8 oz fine oatmeal
8 oz wholewheat or plain flour
1/2 oz tsp salt
1/2 oz yeast
approx 11/4 pts warm milk and water mixed
1/2 tsp sugar
1. Add salt to the flour and oatmeal.
2. Dissolve the yeast with a little of the warm milk and water and add the sugar.
3. Wait for it to become frothy then pour into the dried ingredients, gradually adding the rest of the milk and water, beating well to form a thin batter.
4. Cover with a cloth and rest for half an hour until the mixture is well risen.
5. Cook on a greased and heated griddle or frying pan. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, turning when the upper side appears dry and the underside is golden.
They will keep for 2 to 3 days, can be warmed up in a frying pan and freeze well.
Lancashire Oatcakes
Ingredients
450g/1lb fine oatmeal (you can grind regular oatmeal in a food processor if you wish)
2 tsp instant, dried, yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 dessert spoon oil
1.5l/ 2.5 pints warm water (approx) - hand hot, no warmer
Method
1. Combine the oatmeal, yeast, sugar, salt and oil in a large bowl. Form a well in the centre and add just over half the water. Stir to combine then keep adding water until it resembles a pancake-like batter.
2. Heat and lightly oil a frying pan then add one cup of the batter and cook for about four minutes per side. Set aside to cool as you finish cooking the remaining batter. Either use immediately or dry to make ‘hard’. The oatcakes will keep a few days in the fridge and they freeze well.
It should be noted that I found a few different recipes for each variety so I think that they're one of those things where every family had their own method for making them and that they would be fairly forgiving if you had to alter the ingredients a bit in order to use what you have available.
Or, wear gloves... 
