--- Living Prepared ---

National Geographic, Doomsday Preppers

2012-01-28T19:28:00.000-05:00

Feb 7th 9pm Eastern the new National Geographic, Doomsady Prepper series begins.
I'm looking forward to it and maybe there will be some more ideas we can use from these folks.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/?source=redir_sub_preppers

Toilet Paper, How Much to Store

2012-01-22T16:24:00.000-05:00

Here’s a subject that gets little attention until it run’s out! Don’t be caught empty handed as this is one of the easier things to calculate the amount needed of.

Storing paper products requires typical long term storage methods in that you must protect it from rodents, they like to make beds out of it and general bugs also love to eat the stuff. Storage temperature and humidity is not an issue so you can store it in a shed, attic, basement or garage.

Any paper products must be stored in plastic containers like the typical plastic storage bins, garbage cans or metal containers like a 55 gallon barrel that have lids. You also must use a plastic bag for a liner to keep humidity out of the paper products. Line the container with a sturdy bag. Close the bag tightly with a twist tie or a heavy string to secure it and your paper products are safe. The same method applies to boxes of tissues or rolls of paper towels.

How to calculate the amount needed:
To calculate the amount of paper products needed for the time you what to store for simply pick a day, any day, I used Saturday. Very first thing Saturday morning, I walked around the house and counted all the full rolls of toilet paper or other paper products and write the number of each of them down. The next Saturday morning I did the same thing, walked around and counted all the full rolls again. Subtract that number from last week’s number and you have all the rolls used in a week for everyone in the home. If you want to store a months worth multiply that number by four, etc. This same method applies to all your paper products. It’s that simple!

If you’ve been leaving Comments

2012-01-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

I’m not ignoring you!

This Blogger program has been giving me fits again and at the moment will not allow me to answer any of your comments. I can post articles and post your comments, just can’t answer them.

It is not the first time I’ve had problems with Blogger and this is going to be one of the last as I’m exploring the “WordPress” format to replace it including a dot/com website for more control, permanence and I’d like to add a ‘forum’ to receive more participation and interaction between all readers of sharing your ideas and thoughts.

Then again, I might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire! We’ll see.

Cream of Tomato Soup

2012-01-15T19:08:00.000-05:00

An all time favorite soup. Very easy to make, thick and rich in flavor.

Ingredients yields 2 cups
½ cup instant dry milk
1 cube chicken bouillon crushed
1 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs tomato powder
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp salt
2 cups water

Directions to reconstitute the dry mix:
Add the 2 cups of cool water and blend until smooth and creamy. If you use hot water to reconstitute the soup it will be very lumpy.

If using dehydrated veggies, hydrate first, then add them after the dry mix is blended smooth with the cool water.

After blending, heat to a simmer and stir as needed for 15 minutes until soup thickens.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Variations using Dehydrated Veggies:
Cream of Tomato and Celery soup: by adding 2 tbs dehydrated Celery.
Cream of Tomato and Broccoli soup: by adding 2 tbs dehydrated Broccoli.
Cream of Tomato and Mushroom soup: by adding 2 tbs dehydrated Mushrooms.

Prepper Video by National Geographic

2012-01-13T06:26:00.000-05:00

Here’s a prepper video produced by National Geographic called “Doomsday Preppers”. They review several families and how they prep for 2012. It is pretty good but on the extreme end of money and methods involved including a remote retreat locations, homes or compounds.

Regardless, they show a number of interesting methods and National Geographic reviews what areas of preparedness they fall short on. Worth a look! It’s 44 minute long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaxjfQheNes&feature=youtu.be

How Long Do Spices Last In Long Term Storage?

2012-01-08T08:59:00.000-05:00

I buy my spices in bulk to save money and for long term storage. A 1 lb bag of bulk purchased cinnamon for example, is equivalent to 6½ typical spice jars sold at the supermarket. A pound of bulk cinnamon costs $6.50 or about the cost of two of the small jars so you get 4 free jars this way.

When I repack my bulk purchased spices I do so in small Mylar bags in the amount of a typical spice jar, about 2½ oz, along with an oxygen absorber in each bag. I am counting on 10+ years of life from storing them this way. When the Mylar bag is opened, the total contents can be transferred in one original spice jar. Do I expect them to be at full potency when stored long term? No, but they will have enough strength to provide me with the flavor enhancements desired in our meals prepared from long term stored foods.

I base my storage time and method on actual use in my kitchen. We also have a number of spices that have been in the original can (those are really old) and the original supermarket jars for over 10 years. They still work. Occasionally a little more is needed in the recipe to get to the original taste level but again that’s OK.

Many TV Chef’s tell you to purge your pantry of spices every 6 months but that’s not necessary and it’s expensive. The spice companies like McCormick, do not agree with these Chef’s. They tell you to keep and use the spices as long as they have flavor because spices do not spoil but they do lose some of their potency over time.

A 5-10 year old spice may require more of spice than what’s called for in the recipe to equal the original taste the recipe was meant to deliver. This is perfectly fine when dealing with old spices. Use your own taste to determine if you need more even double the amount called for to get the taste you’re looking for. If double or triple the spice is needed to get the taste you’re looking for then it may be time to discard them.

To keep your spice potency high, keep away from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight. These elements contribute to the loss of color, flavor and aroma of spices and herbs. Avoid storing over the stove, dishwasher, sink or near a window.

Spices need not be stored in the freezer. Freezing does not extend the shelf life of regularly used dried spices and herbs. If stored in the freezer and repeatedly removed for use, condensation will form in the bottles and accelerate loss of flavor and aroma.

Here’s one of many online bulk spice retailers. I use this company and have had no issues with the products or service:
http://www.bulkfoods.com/spices.asp

Sea Shipping Container Purchasing Source and Information

2012-01-06T07:42:00.000-05:00

I am very familiar with 40 foot sea shipping containers. A company I worked for had 5 of them used as warehouse type storage and a maintenance facility. These are very strong, secure, all steel containers and not cheap junk.

If your property allows one or two or as many as you need of these they can solve all your storage and out-building needs like a livestock barn, chicken coop or what ever issues quickly and they’re very cheap when compared to building a similar sized storage shed. Some are even refers (insulated) so you can save the effort of insulating one yourself. The only caution is a semi must deliver them (they weigh empty 9,000 lbs.) to the site so an adequate road or driveway or open land they can drive on is required. The drivers are very good at spotting them within inches of where you want it.

At the company we set two of them next to each other with a 20 foot gap between them, then roofed that 20 foot gap and walled the open ends to create a barn for tractors and maintenance equipment. That space measured 20 x 40 feet without any support poles, just a clear 20 x 40 foot room.

Let your imagination run with this space. I can see a remote cabin that overall measures 36 x 40 feet or 1,440 square feet of living space. If you roof it with metal roofing it will withstand brush fires and the blowing/burning embers will not start it on fire!

About the only requirement for you is to provide solid footing at each corner to support all that weight. A concrete footer at each corner and two in the middle measuring 3 x 3 x 2 feet deep with rebar will work. Set the containers’ corner in the middle of the footer to evenly distribute the weight across the 3 x 3 foot footer should be fine. Because of hurricanes we bolted the container to the footings. It’s a good idea to allow an air gap underneath to keep it ventilated and dry.

Search the web for ideas and how others have used these containers. Here’s a link to where you can buy containers in your area along with the container sizes and specifications:
http://www.awolcontainers.com/?gclid=CMeU-5mTu60CFUKR7QodoWUI_w

Pecan Sandies Update

2012-01-02T15:49:00.000-05:00

I originally posted on October 18th that I was trying to duplicate the Keebler Pecan Sandies cookie using dehydrated long term stored foods. To date I have tried 7 recipe adjustments and just can’t get close to duplicating their cookie texture. I have the taste right but not the firm, dry, crumbly cookie like the Keeblers’.
I am not a cookie person and can easily live without them, I rarely buy any. So it’s time to give up and move on with other important survival meal recipes. If someone has a recipe for them using dehydrated foods if you want to share your recipe I’d love to hear from you.

Biggest Lemon I’ve Ever Seen Update

2012-01-01T11:07:00.001-05:00

Here’s that giant lemon cut open and juiced. This one lemon gave us 1¼ cups of juice! It smells like lemon and tastes like lemon. I saved the seeds and will plant them this spring.

Thanks to Evano who commented on what kind of lemon this is. It’s called a Pomelo.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and here's what they said:
The pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis) is a crisp citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh and very thick albedo (rind pith). It is the largest citrus fruit, 15–25 cm in diameter,[1] and usually weighing 1–2 kg. Other spellings for pomelo include pummelo, and pommelo, and other names include Chinese grapefruit, jabong, lusho fruit, pompelmous[2] from Tamil pampa limāsu,(பம்பளி மாசு)[3] = pompous lemon] and shaddock.[4]

My First PV Solar System 4 Years Later

2012-01-01T08:43:00.001-05:00

And not one problem with this system! Only once in 4 years did I add very little water to the battery!

As a prepared person or family you need to have “your own” reliable source of electric power for things like lighting, communications, refrigeration and basic living needs.

In my opinion the most reliable electrical power source for the homesteader, survivalist or self-reliant person and family is Solar PV (Photo Voltaic) generated. Once the system is installed and the sun shines you have reliable electric power for years with almost no maintenance or additional cost!

For my first system it took me much longer than I wanted to acquire, but during January of 2007 my system was finally up and has been working better than I ever expected. Why did it take me so long to invest in Solar PV? I guess it was the priorities of other survival items like survival food and survival knowledge. I felt because I had oil lamps, propane and firewood for cooking plus a generator I could survive for quite a while. But now with the Solar Panels I have electricity for lighting, simple appliances and communications, free for years to come!

My system has been up and running continuously for four (4) years and I have had not one single issue with it. It’s a system that’s as close to bullet proof as you can get. If you are on the fence about getting started in Solar PV Power, go for it, you will never regret it!

Originally I mounted the panels on the side of my garage but after a few years I converted the system to a free standing portable system just in case I had to leave for an extended period of time due to hurricanes, etc. that would force me to bug out.

What makes up my system?
I bought the 45 watt Solar Kit from Harbor Freight (often on sale $180)
http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-90599.html

I did upgrade the Harbor Freight controller with a 22 amp one with digital display from Back Woods Solar (they now sell a 25 amp controller)
http://www.backwoodssolar.com/catalog/charge_controls.htm#SCI%20MARK%2022

The battery is a single, RV/Marine 12v.

The 150 watt inverter was purchased at a truck stop for $39.

That’s all that’s too it ………… simple huh!

What do I power with this system?
A radio in the garage almost every day.
A 13 inch LCD Flat Panel TV in the kitchen every morning.
Occasionally;
a 13 watt CFL, HAM or CB radios and my ‘AA’ NiCad battery charger.

The panels originally mounted on the side of the house.

Controller

RV/Marine 12 volt battery

150 watt inverter

Currently the panels are portable

Currently portable battery, controller and inverter

Biggest Lemon I’ve Ever Seen!

2011-12-30T15:35:00.000-05:00

Today we were given some lemons and tangerines. The lemon is the biggest I’ve ever seen. It’s the size of a grapefruit! It’s supposed to be a “Meyer” Lemon. I looked it up on web and it is a dwarf tree usually grown indoors in a pot but there was no mention about fruit size. In all the photo’s it looks like a normal lemon size. This one is a giant. Anyone know if it’s something different?

The ZeroWater Filter System

2011-12-30T06:46:00.000-05:00

I’ve been a long time member of a couple Survival forums and lately there have been posters who think the ZeroWater filter system filters out bacteria and bad bugs’. ZeroWater does not make questionable water safe to drink.

Only ceramic water filters that STATE they remove bacteria etc do just that. ZeroWater does not remove bacteria and bad bugs, only dissolved solids. Dissolved solids and bad bugs are two different animals, so to speak.

Again ZERO WATER Filters DO NOT FILTER OUT BACTERIA!
Below are some of the FAQ I copied from ZeroWaters’ website. Go to their website and read all of them. For safe drinking water only use ceramic filters made for removing bacteria. Dissolved solids are not a threat to you and remember you’re talking about your life here! Be safe and do your own research before believing what you read on forums.

http://www.zerowater.com/faqs.html

Frequently Asked Questions (just a few of them, visit their website to read all of them)

Q. Does the ZeroWater filter remove Floride?
A. ZeroWater filters are not certified for the reduction of fluoride however fluoride is an inorganic compound. The TDS meter is designed to detect inorganic compounds. Fluoride levels in water are usually around 2 to 4 ppm, which will show up on the meter as 002 to 004. So when filtered water reads 000 it is not likely that fluoride is present in water.

Q. Does the filter remove Uranium?
A. ZeroWater filters have materials commonly used in industry to treat uranium. The performance of ZeroWater filters to do this has not been tested because no water filtration lab has agreed to handle elevated levels of uranium.

Q. Does the filter remove Arsenic?
A. At this point in time, we are not certified for reduction of arsenic.

Q. Does the filter remove Chloramine?
A. We have done internal lab testing that shows our filters can reduce chloramine. However, the presence of chloramine can reduce the expected life of the filter, so if you have chloramine in your water, you may need to change your filter more often than normal.

Q. Does the filter remove Phenol?
A. We are not certified to reduce phenols.

Q. Does the filter remove Cryptosporidium?
A. We are not certified to reduce cryptosporidium (microbiological cysts).

Q. Does the filter remove bacteria?
A. The current system is meant to be used with municipally treated, potable water as the current filter will not remove microbiological contaminants.

Shovels, Folding

2011-12-26T16:19:00.000-05:00

If you’re camping, backpacking or bugging out, a shovel has many uses. Can you live without one? Probably yes, but they make digging a depression or clearing a lumpy space to sleep in or on, fire pits, putting fires out, burying human waste and garbage easy.

Finding a durable, compact and light weight one is always a compromise. Normally light weight means a weak and not a robust shovel. A heavy one means a robust one but back packing it will cost you a lot of energy.

I have noticed two folding shovels that are popular today. One is the Glock Field Spade with a straight handle and the other is the (Gerber) Fiskars Folding Spade with a “D” handle.

The Glock is the lightest at 23.6 oz. but the light weight comes with a loss of overall strength. It folds up into a 10 inch long package.

The Fiskars weighs in at 36.5 oz. a better choice for durability and a more comfortable “D” style handle. It folds up into a 9½ inch package.

I like to look to Military Surplus for high durability hardware like a folding shovel. Myself, being from the Viet Nam era brings me to the Army Issued “1965, Pioneer Folding Shovel”. This is one stout folding shovel. Everything about it is extreme heavy duty. It’s all riveted construction, the hinge components are made from 3/16 thick steel, there’s nothing to fall apart or get loose and nothing to compare to it on the market today. A large easy to grip locking nut firmly secures the blade and/or pick ends in place.

The 1965 Pioneer is heavy and 52 oz and only the shovel head folds against the handle to an overall length of 20 inches. It also offers a ‘Pick’ end for working tuff ground, none of the others do. Packing this shovel may be more than you want but if a strong, compact shovel is needed in your plans then this is the one you should look into.

I found mine for $30 at a gun show. They can be found most anywhere Army Surplus is sold or at military/gun shows.

Here are some photo’s of the 1965 Pioneer Folding Shovel:

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T04:41:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas To Everyone!

CPR --- Continuous Chest Compression

2011-12-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you find this interesting!

“Every three days, more Americans die from sudden cardiac arrest than the number who died in the 9-11 attacks. You can lessen this recurring loss by learning Continuous Chest Compression CPR, a hands-only CPR method that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest. It’s easy and does not require mouth-to-mouth contact, making it more likely bystanders will try to help, and it was developed at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine”.

"This video is worth sharing," said Gordon A. Ewy, MD, director of the UA Sarver Heart Center and one of the research pioneers who developed this method.

http://medicine.arizona.edu/spotlight/learn-sarver-heart-centers-continuous-chest-compression-cpr

Congress Is Nuts and Very Dangerous

2011-12-18T13:51:00.000-05:00

This video is extremely disturbing as it tells how the Military can target and identify Citizen/Patriots as terrorists. The criteria is; when Citizens have more than seven (7) days of food stored, owns multiple guns like most hunters do, has ammunition that is waterproof and the best one if they have fingers missing. Furthermore the Military can arrest and detain you INDEFINATELY without a lawyer or anyone knowing where you’ve been taken including outside the country such as GITMO. This bill was brought to the floor by none other than the biggest nitwit in the Senate, John McCain. This is going to pass because they have the support to do it. We are coming to the end of America and no doubt the worst Civil War ever on this planet will take place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-6ThanSzG_w#!

Vote your moron, anti-American terrorist politician out of office!

Lightsticks

2011-12-18T04:45:00.003-05:00

All of us know that humans are not equipped to deal with darkness because we can not see without light like animals can. Light at night is comforting especially during power outages or at your campsite. Flashlights are of course the staple of concentrated beam portable light and we all need several around he home and especially in the vehicles with additional batteries on hand. But I’m talking about a oil lamp like flooding light that you can leave on all night if you need to.

One choice is the chemical ‘Light Stick’. Light Sticks are not going to provide a blinding light like a gas or propane camping lantern but it will provide a soft glow that will let you see what you need to.

Depending on the size, color and brand the common 6 inch white, green or yellow light stick will provide continuous light for 8 hours.

Light Sticks are safe, can’t start on fire, non-toxic and generate no heat. You can hang them from trees, tent poles, inside campers or cars, stand them on end on a table or shelf, wear them around your neck or hold in your hand while walking. They come in a variety of colors with white, pale Green and yellow being the most common.

Lightsticks in Cold or Hot Temperatures
Simply put: the colder the temperature the dimmer and the hotter temperature the brighter.

Manufacturer Specifications:
All sticks are tested at a temperature of 72 degrees F (22 degrees C) to determine the illumination duration.

Each 10-degree C (50-degree F) increase or decrease in temperature doubles or halves the reaction rate, and therefore the brightness and duration.

For example, the same light stick that emits approximately 30 lux (a unit that describes how much light is visible over a square meter) at 15 minutes after activation at 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) will be half as bright but glow twice as long at 14 degrees C (57 degrees F).

At 34 degrees C (93 degrees F), the same light stick would be twice as bright, but glow half as long. Storage at elevated temperatures (above 120 degrees F or 49 degrees C) will decrease shelf life and start to soften the plastic tube, and increase the risk of a leak.

Exposure to cold temperatures will not affect the light sticks if they are warmed above 40 degrees F (4.5 degrees C) before activation, unless they are frozen (which occurs at -15 to -20 degrees F, or -26 to -29 degrees C). Once light sticks have been frozen, they will still produce some light, but performance will not be as reliable.

Humidity and atmospheric conditions do not affect the light sticks.

Shelf Life
This is something I never paid attention to because I thought these chemicals would last forever. Well they don’t! Depending on the manufacturer the shelf life will be between 2-5 years. If you have a choice, avoid the 2 year brands and just buy the 5 year ones.

Expired Lightstick Test
I decided to test two I had in old stock only to find they expired in 2006. The result was one didn’t work at all, Zero light! The second one was about ¼ the brightness of a new one. In the photo below are one of the expired lightsticks on the right and a fresh one on the left. Expired stock may very well leave you in the dark when you need light the most.

Don’t Buy Military Grade Lightsticks
The Cyalume SnapLight "Industrial" Grade Chemical Light Sticks lights are chemically very similar to the "Military Grade", but have a longer shelf-life. The "military grade" lights are formulated per DoD specification and as such cannot take advantage of newer formulations. In short: if you are buying the "Military Grade" lights because you think they are better somehow, they are not. They are the same brightness. As a matter of fact, according to Cyalume the military versions have one year less shelf life (4 versus 5 years for the industrial series). The higher price reflects the custom (older) formulation that the DoD specifies.

Made in the USA
I try to support companies based in the USA. During my research I discovered only one company in the USA that manufactures light sticks and that is Cyalume. All the others are from China. Cyalume also meets rigid military specifications. The company employs 120 people dedicated to enhanced customer service at its corporate headquarters in West Springfield, Massachusetts. SnapLight lightsticks are sold nationally in Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Summary:
Lightsticks do have a place in emergency preparedness.

Lightsticks do have a shelf life.

Know what you have in your storage and the expiration dates.

Be sure to replace with fresh ones before the expiration date.

Look for the package expiration date or if ordering online ask what it is before you buy. You want only 5 year expiration dates.

Always keep them sealed in the wrapper until ready to use. My testing proved that when exposed to sunlight the chemicals degrade to the point they will not produce any light.

Keep a few lightsticks in each of your vehicles, in your camping gear, hunting gear, kitchen drawer and especially the bug out bag.

Photo’s of the new Cyalume lightsticks I just purchased:

An online source for Cyalume, Made in the USA, Lightsticks:
http://www.amazon.com/Cyalume-SnapLight

Home Made Sausage

2011-12-09T03:48:00.000-05:00

For those who like to make your own sausage or want to try it for the first time, here is a link to a home made sausage site. Every type of meat is covered in a lot of recipes including brining, luncheon meats, raw and cooked sausage, tips and suggestions all about sausage making. I’m sure you’ll find or learn something about sausage here. If you've never made your own sausage give it a try, it's easy!

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index.htm

For my sausage making I keep it simple and limit myself to just a few sausage recipes and continually try to make them better. They are Italian for pizza’s, Kielbasa because it’s great in a sub-sandwich, Venison because the meat is almost always available and it’s also really good and last a typical Breakfast Sausage. I do keep an eye out for slight refinements to these recipes or procedures especially the wild game ones.

Shot Gun Magazine Tube Sling Mount

2011-12-02T17:57:00.000-05:00

Gun: Remington 1100 12ga

Every hunter knows that your gun gets real heavy if you must carry it in your hands all day long and can be very cumbersome when walking difficult trials to your hunting location. The only solution is a sling.

A commercially made front sling mounting cap with a swivel installed in the end of it costs $25. It may seem worth it at first but with a simple hand drill and you can make your own for $5, here’s how.

Purchase a set of Swivel Bases for detachable swivels for $5 that includes a machine screw thread and a nut base. There are many manufacturers of these. Here is what I used.

Here’s my magazine tube forearm cap.

Drill a hole to fit the threaded shank of the sling base through the center of the nut.

My gun has a plastic spacer inside it. Drill a hole in the center of it to clear the nut and washer of the threaded shank.

Here’s the drilled cap and plastic insert

Assembled sling stud. You can now measure how much of the stud to cut off.

The assembled sling stud. I used blue loctite and staked the nut to prevent it from unscrewing.

Finished cap and sling mount. I used one washer under the sling mount to raise it up a little from the concave depression of this style cap. Otherwise you can not attach the sling to the stud mount.

Installed on the gun

Ready to go for $5.

Camp Stove with 30,000 BTU Burners

2011-11-25T22:37:00.001-05:00

I’ve been wanting this propane Camp Chef camp stove with the 30,000 BTU burners for several years and finally this Black Friday it was on sale for $79 regularly $120 and now it’s mine.

The two main reasons I wanted this stove is for canning and brewing. Canning is very time consuming and the 30,000 BTU burners will heat the water and bring it to pressure much quicker than the kitchen stove or a typical 10-12,000 BTU camping stove especially when you do 6-8 canning loads a day. It is also useful when cooking for large groups where large pots are used when cooking a dozen or two ears of corn, big pots of Chili, boiling potatoes etc.

Propane Consumption:
Running one burner wide open (30,000BTU’s) will burn for 15 hours using 20 lbs. of propane. However you would not normally do that because once the food or water reached temperature you would dial down the flame to maintain a cooking or processing temperature therefore using much less propane.

The stove is called the Explorer by Camp Chef Model Number EX60LW. http://www.campchef.com/explorer-2-burner-propane-stove.html

Features:
Two 30,000 BTU burners
Three-sided windscreen
Fully adjustable heat-control dials
Regulator and 3 ft. hose included
Removable legs
Portable

Product Specifications:
Stove Dimensions: 32 5/8" x 14"
Height: 29"
Total Output: 60,000 BTU
Weight: 40 lbs.
Warranty: One Year

Manufacturer Comments:
The Explorer stove is designed for the true sportsman. This is a rugged stove with intrigue and attitude. Features two 30,000 BTU/hr commercial cast burners. It is great for all types of outdoor cooking. Rugged cooking surface pattern reflects this outdoor appliance's strong performance capabilities. It is preferred by family campers, hunters and scout groups.

One of the great uses for this stove is Emergency Preparedness. You can call it anything from Disaster, Emergency or Survival Preparedness; but either way it's something that's on a lot of people's minds these days. We feel it's very important that all households have at least a 72 hour kit and some food storage. More than likely with a disaster you'll not be able to use your home stove or range, so the perfect fit for that is this stove. A way to cook your food or boil your water should be on any emergency preparedness check list. This stove will boil water fast, making it safe to drink, then cook you a great meal. One 20 lb tank (not included) can get you 15 hours of cooking time. Hopefully, you would not have to use this stove for anything more than patio and camping, but if disaster strikes, you'll be ready.

Summary:
I think it is a wise addition to my preparedness tools. It is well built and I expect many years of service from it. It comes with the hose and regulator. I currently have on hand two 30 lb. propane tanks for its fuel source.

Here are some pictures of my new stove:

Gun Safety, I Shot Myself

2011-11-12T07:12:00.001-05:00

No not me, it’s the name of the video below.

This post is about gun safety and how easy it is for an accident to happen.

I would like to thank this guy for putting it on You Tube because it must be very embarrassing for him. The video shows just how easy it is to hurt yourself even during controlled “draw and fire” training exercises. This guy discharged the handgun while drawing and shot himself in the thigh. It’s not gruesome at all except for the first few words he said right afterward, so if you have children watching you may want to review first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYvAxLX6OzE&feature=player_embedded

Bottom line: Be serious and think about what you’re doing with a gun every second and be sure the holster is correct for your gun.

My Thoughts about the Chaos in Libya and us!

2011-11-12T07:03:00.000-05:00

Original post 10-21-11

We can look for two things to come from all the Middle East upheaval. A world soon to be heavily influenced by Muslim radicals and an extremely restricted oil supply to the USA. We are totally dependent on oil in glutinous quantities!

In the 70’s I lived through the Oil Embargo from the Middle East oil countries. It caused great difficulty in everyone’s lives. We were restricted to 10 gallon purchases of gas at a time. You could only buy gas based on your license plate numbers. Odd numbers could buy on odd number days, even numbered plates on even number days. Even with this system it was common to find myself waiting 30-45 minutes to get ten gallons of gas because I was the 40th car in line that backed well into the street. Semi’s had it worse; deliveries were slowed because they could not afford to ship with anything less than fully loaded trailers due to the lack of fuel.

This Oil Embargo clearly had shown everyone how dependent on oil this country was and yet today, 40 years later, our moron Congress has yet to implement a meaningful Energy Plan so we would never face this again. 40 years and we are still vulnerable!!!

I have worked I the plastic molding business my entire life. I have designed or built and produced everything from dime store toys to automotive parts to many disposable plastic medical surgical instruments of which mine and others are used hundreds of millions of times every year. All these countless must have items and most businesses all depend on only one thing, OIL!

Keep in mind that mass produced plastic comes only from oil……nothing else….. Every container, be it a bottle, bag or package that you pick up at the supermarket such as milk, shrink wrapped meats and the trays the meat is placed on, cheese, soda bottles and even potato chip bags comes only from oil…… The paint on your house, the roofing shingles, all the caulking compound, your carpeting, the sealant in your homes windows and cars windows, electricity from many of our electrical power generating stations for the grid power we enjoy and take for granted every time we flip the switch and lets not forget about the hidden biggy---fertilizer for food production. These items do not even scratch the surface of what oil contributes to our everyday lives.

The one that will freeze all of us in our tracks will be lack of transportation. Fuel, be it gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and propane will become unaffordable due to cost. Imagine paying $15 - $20 or more for a gallon of gas or heating oil.

How long would an oil shortage last?

As long as it would it take to get American oil companies drilling and uncapping existing oil wells to pump the oil we need. My guess is 3-5 years. So for 3-5 years you will have to live very lean. We will probably lose most everything that is not paid for today because many of us will not be working during this time.

I can almost guarantee that our moron CONgress will cut deals with a handful of oil people to get oil moving and for the rest of us? Leave us with facing the loss of everything we’ve worked and saved for all our lives.

So, how would I prepare for an oil boycott or being cut off from Middle East oil?

Here are some of my thoughts. Truthfully I haven’t spent a great deal of time with this scenario because, “she who must be obeyed”, won’t move to live grid free, garden and raise meat on an appropriate scale so I do the best I can. You have to assume that most things you use today will continue but in very limited quantities or available in a timely fashion.

Own everything:
What I mean is do not have payments on anything. The reason is; many of us will lose our jobs and with no income if your car has payments to be made you will lose your transportation an essential need during this time for gathering food, firewood and emergency actions.

Solar power:
For electricity to charge batteries, listen to short wave radios or just entertainment you will need some way of recharging batteries for lighting at night. I have 45 watts of solar panels (less than $200 at Harbor Freight) for this purpose plus it runs my 12 inch flat screen TV in the kitchen everyday so I will always get broadcast news. A larger system that would keep a refrigerator of freeze going would be the ultimate situation but its not in my immediate future.

Food and emergency healthcare:
I am fortunate where I live that I’m within walking or biking distance (1-6 miles) to everything I need should those services be able to continue operation, such as supermarkets, healthcare and there’s lots of fishing and small game hunting. I do have dry bulk food stored to help me through.

Winter heat and cooking:
I do not need much in the way of heat because of where I live except for a month or two but I do have a fireplace that will take care of those months. Wood is all around me so for limited heat (transporting it by bike or wagon will be the issue) and cooking wood I’m pretty well set.

Fuel:
I will take all I can get provided it’s affordable. This includes propane, gasoline and diesel. Wood is all around me.

Garden:
I just don’t have a yard good for gardening but would make use of every square foot of it that I could.

Stand in FEMA Lines:
Yes, I would stand in line for all the food I could get. I will be concealed carrying because others may follow to steal the food from me and food will be worth more than gold and silver. I will make it a point to know where the government has its’ staging areas for food and medical distribution points. I will preplan all possible return routes for the safest way back home with the food. My own stored food will be used minimally and stretched as far as it can go because I may not be able to replace it easily and quickly like I can now via mail order.

The Bug Out Reality:
The above is if I could stay where I’m at. However, if the crowds of hungry and unhappy with the government people begin to riot and begin burning the town I would have to leave and go to my safer bug out area. This is a last resort because if I can’t protect my property from the looters they will take what they want and then destroy everything left. So it would be a final decision to leave and never coming back may be reality.

LED lamps, reader comments

2011-11-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

Below is a photo and comment sent to me by L.J. (a.k.a. anonymous) about the LED bulbs I posted about http://livingprepared.blogspot.com/2011/10/improved-12-volt-led-lamps_08.html
I’m always glad to hear readers try to use what I post about. These LED bulbs/lamps are amazing and in a RV you will be very pleased with the increase light output and the low energy draw. They are a win for RV’s and Off-Grid Living.

“Just built my first one just to check it out. I ran 2 bulbs and added a toggle switch for the heck of it. I can see lots of uses for this. I will forward you pics as soon as I can you can post if you like. Thanks for the ideas. L J”

Shucking Corn--Clean Ears Everytime

2011-11-06T19:55:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBF6bv4Oe4&feature=player_embedded

I found this YouTube video at my freinds forum, http://www.survivalbill.ca/ under food.
It one of these things that seems to good to be true.

Well hey, this trick really works!
I tried it tonight using 2 ears, set the microwave on high for 4 minutes per ear (8 minutes total).
I had to shake each about 10-15 times but after the ear came out about 1 inch I just pulled it out.
One ear was totally free of silk and the other had only 2 strings of silk which was easy to pick off.
The corn was properly cooked, hot and juicy just like if we boiled it.

As long as I have electric power this is how I will make corn on the cob from now on!

Sourdough Bread and the Survivalist Baker

2011-11-05T03:54:00.005-04:00

Sourdough Starter is important to know how make and use. Why? Imagine you find yourself in the middle of what turns out to be a protracted disaster. There will probably be no stores open to buy yeast from so how would you make bread without yeast? You need to learn how to make Sourdough Starter and bake Sourdough Bread. It is really simple to do, but like most things it is a skill and needs a little practice to become proficient at. (Here is an earlier post about making starter using home milled whole wheat flour http://livingprepared.blogspot.com/2009/10/sour-dough-starter-recipe.html )

I baked two loaves yesterday for practice at making the Sourdough Starter from scratch again.

Here is a fast and easy Starter Recipe using all-purpose flour
3½ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon yeast,
2 cups 105f-115f water

Starter Directions
Day One:
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and stir until a smooth pancake batter like consistency. Cover with a plastic wrap or towel, let stand in a warm place for two days. By this time the starter should have bubbles visible.

End of Day Three:
There will also be about an ounce of a clear liquid floating on top. This is a by product of the yeast working, it is alcohol (just like home brewing). Pour it off. A little of the starter will go also and that’s OK. Feed the starter. Add 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of warm 105f water.

End of Day Six, ready to use:
Again there will also be about an ounce of a clear liquid floating on top. Pour it off. Stir the starter and it is ready to use. For every 1 cup of starter used replace it with 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of warm water.

Feed the starter once a week:
Pour off any liquid that is floating on top. Scoop out 1 cup of the starter and add 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of warm 105f water. Stir into a batter, cover and store in a warm place.
Keep up the feeding and care and your starter can last a lifetime.

I used 1½ cups of this new/young starter for each loaf of sour dough bread I made. As the starter ages and becomes stronger and more active you can cut the amount used per loaf to 1 cup or 1/2 cup. You’ll have to experiment to find the best taste and rise time.

Here is how the starter should be bubbling after 24 hours

Sourdough Bread Recipe
Makes one loaf
1½ cups starter
2 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbs oil (optional)

Sourdough Starter by itself is very wet so it takes a little guess work when it comes to adding any liquids to the mix. You almost don’t need to add any but if needed add the water 1 tbs at a time. In this batch of dough I added 4 tbs and it was a little too wet and hard to work with because it was a little too tacky.

Directions:
In a bowl add all the dry ingredients and blend together.

If machine kneading, knead for 4-5 minutes.

If mixing by hand, once the ingredients have combined then aggressively hand knead for 8-10 minutes.

Shape the dough and fit into a greased bread pan.

Let it rise and double in size, which should be when the dough is about an inch higher than the bread pan. (Normal rise time is 6-10 hours. Sourdough bread is a very slow riser)

Bake for 27 minutes @ 350 degrees until golden brown.

I made two loaves for this batch. Machine kneading the dough for 5 minutes.

After kneading place and shape the dough into greased pans.

Let it rise in the pan. I only raise the dough one time. You can make the bread the conventional way by letting it rise in a bowel, punch down, then shape and fit into the pans to rise a second time. I find this double rise method not necessary for Survival baking.

Fresh out of the oven.

Sliced while it’s still hot.

Yummy!

12 volt LED Lamp Initial Testing

2011-10-29T21:37:00.002-04:00

Wow, this LED lamp is impressive. I was hoping that the light produced would be more of a flood of light rather than the spotty uneven lights that are out there. It is a soft blend of even light, great for reading by or illuminating the inside of an RV, Van, Tent or your immediate outdoor campsite area. I will be working with these a lot more to make back-up lighting from.

Here's the link to the original post about this LED http://livingprepared.blogspot.com/2011/10/improved-12-volt-led-lamps_08.html

The first photo is without a flash and that’s why its blurry, can’t hold the camera still enough without the flash. I did make a paper conical lamp shade to go over the lamp and look at the amount of light flooding my desk top!

Another photo with a flash to show you the quick set up I made to test the light. I’m using my mini camera tripod and rubber banded the wires onto it to hold the lamp vertical. The socket the lamp is in is just a cheap auto 12 volt socket.

Because the lamp can use 10 volts to 30 volts DC, I thought it would be a plus to try and us my 18 volt drill motor battery because of its storage capacity and I already have it and a charger. I’ll work on a plug-in and shaft to make a useable table type light.

A close up of the test lamp.

Chaos in Libya and us!

2011-10-21T07:42:00.001-04:00

I look carefully at all the chaos and government/country take overs going on in the Arab states now. It’s not unusual to have ‘a’ country in chaos, but not a region of them at the same time. Something much bigger is going on behind the scenes. To me it looks like Libya is just another stepping stone on the way to capturing Saudi Arabia, the true goal of oil dominance controlled by a consolidated Muslim coalition. When Saudi Arabia is captured and it will be, then the Muslims can cut off our oil source including the free worlds oil or worse raise the price per barrel to $300 or $400 and torture the free world to a slow death while becoming super rich nut cases with nukes. Without cheap oil kiss our lifestyles, jobs, retirements, cash invested and government entitlements good bye. What’s the probable outcome? For one, the economic collapse of the USA taking it back to the 1890’s. More than likely, a world war with many nuke exchanges and no winners, just all losers because of radical lunatics and world wide corrupt politicians who make deals directly with the devil itself. My gut tells me the White House has a large part in this and we the tax paying American people as usual will pay the ultimate price for it. The price will be our freedom that our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and many others worked so hard for.

Prepare for this scenario? It would be wise to at least think about how to do it.

Pecan Sandies Cookies (like Keebler)

2011-10-18T04:26:00.001-04:00

I you decide to make this recipe you need to remember that I bake Survival Style using only dehydrated and long term stored ingredients. You can substitute using 1 real egg, 3 tbs real butter.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
3 tbs butter powder
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbs egg powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or any nut like; hickory, wall nuts, almonds, etc)

If the dough is too dry and will not hold a shape add 1 tbs of water at a time “but for this recipe the dough is to be very, very dry” not like regular cookie dough.

Directions:
Cream vegetable shortening, flour, vanilla, salt, butter powder, egg powder and brown sugar together.

Dough should be very dry like sand, barley shapeable.

Stir pecans into dough with a strong spoon.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork to about 3/8 inch thick.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, until slightly golden.

Note:
This recipe is not perfect yet but very close. The only issue I’m having is baking the uniform dryness all the way through the cookie to truely duplicate the Keebler cookie. At this time I have the taste and the outer 1/8 inch of the crust right but the center texture is more like a chocolate chip cookie, too soft. Maybe this is due to the fact that I use only dehydrated ingredients, I don’t know.

It could be the amount of brown sugar used as the cookies are darker than Keeblers'.
I tried a 275 degree f baking temp for 20 minutes and it didn’t make a difference with the interior of the cookie.

I tried parchment paper and didn’t make a difference either.

However, at this time I need to let this recipe rest for a while as I just can’t eat anymore of my mistakes, I’m trying to loose weight and this isn’t helping.

If anyone knows how to duplicate the dry/crunchiness of the Keebler cookie please let me know.

Canned Soup from the Supermarket

2011-10-14T09:58:00.002-04:00

Stocking up on brands that are On Sale and you’re not familiar with could be a waste of money and an unpleasant eating experience if stored for the purpose of emergency eating.

Store bought can soups like my favorite brand, Campbell’s Chunky Style are an easy and somewhat inexpensive way to build food storage especially when on sale, I know because I’ve done it! For my stored soups I will turn them into extra filling meals for 2-3 people by adding a cup of rice, beans or pasta and maybe some extra spices to bulk up the soup. This method works well for stretching you food dollars and making great use of your bulk dry stored foods.

On the weekends I normally do my next weeks bread baking and soup making. However, the last two weekends I haven’t made soup for my lunches. I have instead been struggling with trying to bake a Pecan Sandies copycat recipe that turns out exactly right, getting close but more on that later.

Because I didn’t make any homemade soup for work lunches the last two weeks I opted for the plain straight from the can, On Sale, Progresso soups (with a sell by date of Feb, 2013). The first thing I noticed when I opened the first can was how bad they smell before cooking. It also smells less than inviting when cooking. Then there was the taste, it was kind of tasteless, artificial and simply not really pleasant. Now this wasn’t just today this is the same experience for two weeks. No I didn’t get sick at all it was just a surprising and unexpected smell and bland taste from a major brand. I never noticed this strong of smell or taste issue with Campbell’s Chunky soups. Campbell’s isn’t perfect but a whole bunch better than Progresso.

I’m finding that this experience is not all that uncommon when comparing today’s commercial foods to home made meals of breads or soups or sausage or pizza etc, there is a large difference between commercial made and home made.

I guess the bottom line is:
1. I am not a fan of the Progresso “Heart Healthy” and “Reduced Sodium” soups. I’ve also noticed with any “Diet” or “Healthy” food it simply tastes poor and has many additional chemicals in them that you would not want to fill your plate with.

2. Be sure you are familiar with the foods you buy On Sale because it could be an unpleasant surprise when you need to eat it.

Improved 12 volt LED Lamps

2011-10-08T05:12:00.004-04:00

I found out about this new 12 volt LED lamp thanks to Jim Dakin at http://bisonsurvivalblog.blogspot.com/ Jim lives in an RV with only solar power to produce electricity, so bright 12 volt lighting is important along with low wattage consumption. If you have an RV you may want to check out the link below. They have several different sizes, mounting configurations and outputs of LED’s.

Today, I ordered two of these lamps @ $6.91 each. Using one I will convert one of my small LED lanterns to use this lamp and see how well the light flooding looks. I’m hoping it will closely duplicate my single mantle propane lanterns even flood of light. Another reason is it uses only 3.6 watts and puts out 180 Lumens; this is bright for a 12 volt lamp! A typical 12 volt RV light fixture bulb uses around 12 watts to operate, this LED’s will put out the same light but 4x longer on the same battery charge.

I’m hoping for a real substitute for my propane lanterns for lighting a larger area and a decent light to read or cook by. Because I have solar panels and a stock of “AA” rechargeable batteries and chargers a number of lanterns using this LED would take care of my emergency lighting for a long time.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XMW874/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=bisonpress-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B004XMW874&adid=1YAZNE5E36B4SR2KK9XR&

Product Features:
Bulb Type: BA15S Base (Single Contact)
Lumen: 180
Lumen Color Temperature: White 6000K
Working Voltage:10 - 30 V DC
Power: 3.6 Watt
LED: 30 LED’s
200 days warranty!

Remote fuel tank kit for Honda inverter generators

2011-09-25T08:37:00.000-04:00

Here is a clever and high quality patented invention that can give you over 72 hours of generator run time from a common six gallon marine fuel tank. If you’re thinking about buying a 1kw, 2kw or a 4kw generator and only need 120 volts up to 30 amps, the Honda inverter generator units may be something to consider because of this extended run time invention.

72 hours of continuous run time is 3 days. That’s 3-24 hour days on just six gallons of gas! If your grid is down for a week you could run a small electric heater, your furnace if its gas or oil or if you’re living in an RV run the A/C and lights for 72 hours without refueling and on just 6 gallons of gas. By comparison my ONAN 4000kw will only run 12 hours on 6 gallons where two linked Honda 2kw’s will run for 36 hours on 6 gallons producing the same power.

Honda has the quietest and most fuel efficient generators on the market, they are worth strong consideration. Their higher prices are quickly made up in low fuel consumption (at $4 a gallon it won’t take long) thereby making up the cost difference quickly.

What makes this invention work is the fact that Honda’s 1kw and 2kw inverter generators have an internal gas tank and they have a fuel pump to pump the fuel from their internal tank to the engine. It’s this fuel pump that makes the remote tank work.

Here’s how:
The Breeze Extended Run Generator System comes with a CNC Machined Aluminum generator gas cap, quality quick disconnect fittings and fuel lines. The Honda generator replacement gas cap has no vent feature. So as the generators’ fuel pump draws fuel from its’ internal fuel tank it creates a vacuum in it and it is this vacuum the draws the fuel as needed from the 6 gallon marine tank into the Honda’s internal tank constantly replenishing the fuel level. It’s the simplicity makes this invention so great.

Check it out at this link:
http://www.wisesales.com/generators-1/honda-generators/honda-generator-accessories/honda-generator-extended-run-fuel-tanks.html

BERGS 6 gal System for Honda, ETQ, All Power $119.99
The Breeze Extended Run Generator System uses a vacuum draw system; no need to elevate a gas can above the generator. The IPI Industries patented product will extend the run time of the generator by up to 72 hours; thus allowing the end user to set it, start it, and forget it!. The tank holds 6 gallons of fuel and is CARB Compliant. Feeds one generator.

BERGS Dual Feed Extended Run Tank for Honda Price: $199.99
The Breeze Extended Run Generator System uses a vacuum draw system; no need to elevate a gas can above the generator. The IPI Industries patented product will extend the run time of the generator by up to 36 hours; thus allowing the end user to set it, start it, and forget it!. The tank holds 6 gallons of fuel and is CARB Compliant. Feeds 2 Generators.

Honda EU2000i
HONDA'S MOST POPULAR GENERATOR! The EU2000i, lightweight generator produces 2000 watts/16.7 amps @ 120V of maximum power. It is super quiet, 53-59 dbA and it's perfect for tailgating, RVing, and other recreational activities. This generator is easy to carry, it weighs less than 47 lbs!! It's very fuel efficient and can run up to 9.6 hrs on 1 gallon of gas. The advanced inverter technology provides reliable power to computers and other sensitive equipment.

Honda EU2000i Combo Package
This Package will give you FULL USE of your 30 Amp RV Plug! Honda's EU2000i Companion and EU2000i with the new RV Adapter and Parallel Cable Kit. 4000 watts max, rated to run 3200 watts, 53-59 dB so it's they are super quiet. The companion unit has a 30 amp twist lock outlet built-in, so you can plug right into your RV.

Telephone Poles, a Fading Memory

2011-09-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

It’s kind of sad how quickly we forget the old high tech stuff that served us so well. Then one day you see a remnant of it standing alone, out of the way, neglected and forgotten. I’m talking about the telephone poles and their endless miles of wire and blue glass insulators decorating the cross bars of every pole.

I remember when growing up our phones didn’t have a rotary dial to dial the number, you just picked up the phone and talked to the operator who you gave the number to for the person you wanted to call. She then would physically take your phone wire and plug it into the socket of the person you wanted to talk with. I still remember our phone number from back then, it was “Elmhurst 548M”, Elmhurst was the name of the town we lived in 548M was the number, that was it and there was no area code back then.

Soon after that came the really high tech stuff, the rotary dial where you didn’t need the operator, you could just dial the number yourself. We also had what was called “Party Lines” where several people had to share the same line or wire for all our calls. Yes you had to wait until the other person was finished before you could make your call. That would never work today!

After the rotary dial came push button dialing and it continues today. I don’t know for how long as cell phones, video calling and voice recognition are the next evolution.

I used to drive south to Ocala, Florida from North Florida twice a month on route 301 which was the major 4-lane north south route through the center of Florida before Interstate 75. It is a very pleasant and scenic drive today. For a few miles along the way stands 15-20 old abandoned telephone poles. I stopped and snapped a few shots of them before they’re gone forever. These poles are next to the railroad tracks that parallel 301 for most of the trip. As you can see it doesn’t take Mother Nature long to reclaim what was hers to begin with.

Hope you enjoy these few (not so good) photos of yesterday’s technology!

Wal-Mart Fresh Pizza Ingredients?

2011-09-11T08:32:00.000-04:00

Wal-Mart sells their brand of refrigerated not frozen pizza. It’s really not bad and the price is OK also, plus it’s a lot faster than making mine from scratch. About the only thing we will do to it is add a little more Oregano and Parmesan cheese.

I did check the label to see if it was made in China and its not, it’s made by Great Kitchens Inc. in Romeoville, IL. http://www.gkitchens.com/pizza.php However, I don’t know about the dry ingredients used as they can be shipped from any country.

The other thing I noticed and certainly didn’t need my glasses to see it was the size of the ingredient list! For a simple cheese and sausage pizza this is almost scary. I am a believer that most of our health/disease issues we face today come from GMO foods and Artificial Ingredients we eat.

Take a look at the photo of the ingredient list I cut from the pizza box. Click on the photo once to initially enlarge it and then again for full size viewing so you can read it. Just amazing!!!!

Campfire Cooking and Beans

2011-09-09T16:41:00.001-04:00

Pioneer life has always interested me. Their life was very hard, they lived with minimal tools, small homes they built themselves, heated with wood they cut and split themselves, cooking was done 100% over a fire in a fireplace or on a wood burning cook stove if fortunate enough to own one. They were true Survivalists.

Cooking using just a campfire may happen to us someday because of a disaster, so the skill needs to be learned because it fits with post disaster survival cooking.

While searching the internet for campfire cast iron cooking recipes and methods, I came across a nice and informative blog about “Chuck Wagon Cooking”. http://chuckwagonrecipes.blogspot.com/

Of course beans were part of cowboy eating and today as a big part of long term food storage. Within this blog are a few bean recipes and an interesting statement about why some beans just don’t get soft after soaking and cooking.

“Some beans refuse to soften, no matter what you do to them. You can soak them and cook them all day long, but they remain hard as pebbles. Believe it or not, the bean growers industry actually has a name for this problem; HTC Defect. HTC stands for "Hard To Cook." Seriously! The main causes of HTC are improper storage and age. If beans have been stored at high temperatures (100ºF or higher) and/or there is high humidity (80%), or they been sitting on a shelf for a long time, chemical changes occur inside the bean and it essentially dies. As a consumer, we can't tell ahead of time if the beans we just bought will be affected by the dreaded HTC Defect. We can try to avoid this situation by checking the package dating, buying dry beans from a source that's likely to have fast turnover, and storing dried beans in an airtight container and a dry, dark, cool place.”

As dry beans age, they lose moisture, and become increasingly harder to cook. I have been able to rehydrate and cook packaged beans that were 2 years old. However, I had to double the cooking time to get them tender enough to eat, and that probably resulted in a significant loss in nutrients. If there is any doubt about cooking old beans, do a test first. Soak 1-2 tablespoons of the beans and then pressure cook them for the recommended time. If they are not tender at that point, you'll need to decide if you want to proceed and cook them until they finally get tender, or toss them and buy fresh beans”.

This statement shed some light on why after I soaked overnight and cooked some of my different types of beans, they were still not soft. They were just old beans sold to me! The way I cook beans since having hard or tuff cooked bean problems is ‘pressure cooking’ them. It’s fast and now they always turn out great.

Here’s another link to a bean cooking and a lot of good ban cooking information and it also has the same statement in it.
http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/howtosoak.html#How to Soak Beans

A Quality Generator Alternative

2011-08-27T07:42:00.002-04:00

Here is a much overlooked way of buying a high quality, very durable, low RPM generator at a reasonable price. Find an RV junk yard or search Craigs-List for a used RV Onan Generator.

There are many pluses about these RV generators:
• They are built to run continuously.
• full pressure lubricating system with a spin-on automotive oil filter.
• electric start either at the generator or a remote start/stop switch that can be located inside your house.
• electric fuel pump to draw fuel from a remote tank.
• brushless generator.
• low RPM.
• twin cylinders.
• air cooled.
• completely rebuildable motor and generator head.
• Fully self-contained.
• They can be found in two sizes; 4,000 watts and 6,000 watts.
• If you have a choice between the 4kw or 6kw get the 6,000 watt unit.

Why I would choose the 6,000 watt generator? Because it will start 5 hp electric motors and most importantly a home water well pump. The 4,000 watt will not.

In my motor home I have the Onan 4,000 watt generator and I’ve tested the actual fuel consumption. With the A/C running and all other electric stuff running inside it burns just barely a 1/2 gallon per hour.

Below is information and pictures sent to me by a reader about his nicely set-up Onan 4kw generator.

He said,
I included some pics of my generator setup for you. Maybe these pics could be of help to someone else considering a home generator install.

My generator is from a junked 1980 motor home. I purchased this generator intending to install in my motor home that never had a generator originally. But after losing electrical power for 4 days straight 6 yrs ago, I found myself looking at this gen sitting in my garage waiting to go into my RV and at that moment I knew where it was going, not in my RV!

It’s an Onan RV generator, twin cylinder, gasoline, 4kw. Runs great! I mounted it in my shed away from the house (no fumes to contend with). Mounted on 4x4 treated lumber, plus wheels to move around for maintenance or fix if needed and flex armored conduit.

The attached car muffler helps keep the sound down but one can still hear the put-put-put several houses away.

It’s time to stop buying China junk

2011-08-20T16:58:00.002-04:00

Below is a copy of an e-mail I received last week about buying China junk. I don’t know who the author is but I do agree with him because I have been making a strong effort to stop buying China junk. I’ve noticed that their prices are exceptionally high today; probably the retailer trying to make every dime of profit they can while forcing these products onto us. Well there are other stores to shop in and Wal-Mart better wake up and get back to Made in America like Sam Walton started this company on. We all need to shop the mom and pop stores, let the retailers know we want USA made products and for goodness sakes do not buy China made foods…. We need jobs back in this country and the only way to do this is to buy American Made!
Mike

Here’s the e-mail:

Did y'all see Diane Sawyer's special report? They removed ALL items from a typical, middle class family's home that were not made in the USA.

There was hardly anything left besides the kitchen sink. Literally. During the special they showed truckloads of items - USA made - being brought in to replace everything and talked about how to find these items and the difference in price etc..

It was interesting that Diane said if every American spent just $64 more than normal on USA made items this year, it would create something like
200,000 new jobs!

I was buying food the other day at Wal-mart and on the label of some products it said 'from china '.

For example the "Our Family" brand of the mandarin oranges says right on the can 'from china '.

I was shocked so for a few more cents I bought the Liberty Gold brand or the Dole since it's from California.

Are we Americans as dumb as we appear --- or --- is it that we just do not think. The Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior and even toxic products, toxic foods, dangerous toys and goods to be sold in American markets.

70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended.

Why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges? DO IT YOURSELF, AMERICA !!

Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China ' or 'PRC' (and that now includes Hong Kong), simply choose another product, or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products and you will be equally amazed at what you can do without.

Who needs plastic eggs to celebrate Easter? If you must have eggs, use real ones and benefit some American farmer. Easter is just an example. The point is do not wait for the government to act (because they will not). Just go ahead and assume control on your own.

THINK ABOUT THIS: If 200 million Americans each refuse to buy just $20 of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor...fast!

Saltine Crackers

2011-08-15T09:01:00.000-04:00

Thought I’d try baking some saltine crackers just to see if I could do it, can’t be hard right?

The recipe is from the internet where there are dozens and dozens of the exact same recipe so I thought I’d go with the most common one. It is quite simple to do and they taste just like crackers you buy in the store so the recipe is fine.

What’s needed is technique in preparation. I have found three areas that need work:
1. Need to use a pasta maker/roller in order to get the dough as thin as the store bought ones. Rolling it very thin makes it difficult to transfer to the cookie sheet, I rolled this batch to about 3/32 of an inch thick (think it needs to be 1/16 inch thick). Any thicker and you’ll get what I got, a bread like cracker a little chewy
2. Need a way to get the salt to stick to the dough after baking.
3. Baking time and temperature so they don’t burn but turn out crisp.

If anyone has thoughts about baking crackers I’d like to hear from you!

SALTINE CRACKERS
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup milk (2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup dry milk)
2 tbs butter (2 tbs butter powder)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients then mix/knead until it becomes a dough ball.
Divide dough into 4 pieces and roll each out very thin.
Place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Sprinkle with salt and prick with a fork.
Cut into squares the size of a cracker using a pizza cutter or knife.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Rolled dough

On cookie sheet cut, salted and pierced

Baked

Leaf Miners, 8-14-11

2011-08-14T16:45:00.000-04:00

No, I don’t mean plant prospectors. I mean those microscopic buggers, the garden leaf miners that are bugs that bore into and live in the veins of the leaves of tomato and bean plats and probably others I’m not aware of. I have found these plant pests to be most active during the hottest months here in Florida. Early or late in the growing season they seem to be less active and easily controlled. The bean plants in the photos are only 2 week old and the first leaves are invaded with them. For me gardening is not easy…. I read a lot of blogs about survival gardens and few ever say anything about how difficult they are to produce enough food to live off of and the bug issues they must deal with.

These leaf miner buggers enter the leaf from the bottom side of the leaf so you MUST spray the underside of the leaves to kill them before they enter the leaf, spraying topside only will do nothing to stop them.

They will destroy the leaf and if left unabated go from leaf to leaf and drain most of the life out of the plant. The plant will produce fruit but my past experience proves it will be greatly reduced from a totally healthy plant.

Here’s what leaf miners look like. They bore into and follow the leaves veins and are neither on the surface nor on the bottom, but inside the vein which protects them from bug killer contact after you see them.

They can get worse. This is after two weeks from planting the seeds….
You must stay on top of garden bugs. Anticipate, anticipate and anticipate again their arrival and meet them before they arrive with the appropriate chemical defense.

Here are the two chemicals I use throughout the year depending on what is invading the plants. Sevin and Daconil handle everything for me. Sevin is for bugs and Daconil is for fungus invaders.

If anyone has better ways to handle the bugs I like to hear from you!

Ceramic Water Filters

2011-08-11T20:20:00.002-04:00

I made my own water filter and you can see how here: http://livingprepared.blogspot.com/2011/01/gravity-fed-safe-drinking-water-filter.html

There is far too much bad survival information on the web, especially when it comes to the all important fresh, pure water for your survival.

I thought I would post the ceramic filter manufacturer’s website for the cramic filters I used in my filter. So if you want to make your own filter or simply know more about them, then what better source is there than the manufacturers! Below are a few paragraphs from their site. There is much more ‘factual’ information there. Check it out and be informed.

Company Statement:

WHY USE DRINKING WATER FILTERS?
Two thirds of the human body is water. Therefore, it is vital that the water we drink is clean and free from the potentially harmful contaminants, which commonly find their way into drinking water supplies. The simplest, most effective, low-cost way to ensure that drinking water is of the highest standard is to use a drinking water filter incorporated into a home water filtration system.

WORLD LEADER
Fairey Industrial Ceramics Limited (FICL), based in the United Kingdom, is the sole manufacturer of the world-famous range of Doulton® and British Berkefeld® ceramic drinking water filters. With over 150 years continuous manufacturing experience and Doulton® and British Berkefeld® in use in home water filtration systems in 140 countries world-wide, FICL is a global leader in water purification, helping to provide safe, clean, filtered drinking water to millions of people every day.
Our customers range from large organisations such as aid agencies and water cooler companies to small companies and individuals. Our drinking water filters are even used on major Hollywood movie sets! To service the needs of these diverse customers, FICL has set up a world-wide distribution network and has Regional Sales Managers based in various key territories around the globe.

QUALITY
Quality is at the forefront of everything we do. All stages of FICL's drinking water filter production process adhere to the stringent BS EN ISO 9001 quality standards. The ability to produce consistently high-quality, effective drinking water filters is what makes FICL different. Our high quality standards are why the Doulton® and British Berkefeld® brand names are so well known and respected for use in home water filtration systems around the world.

FICL holds the coveted NSF® and WRAS certificates, demonstrating that our drinking water filters have passed the highest international testing standards. Few other manufacturers of a water filter for home use can boast such accreditation.

http://www.faireyceramics.com/

Fairey INDUSTRIAL CERAMICS LIMITED
Lymedale Cross
Lower Milehouse Lane
Newcastle-under-Lyme
United Kingdom
ST5 9BT

Tel:+44 (0)1782 664 420
Fax: +44 (0)1782 664 490

Plastic Buckets

2011-08-06T08:17:00.001-04:00

Many people believe that all buckets are created equal. Well nothing could be further from the truth. There are many cheap utility buckets out there and these buckets dominate the superstores because these stores are driven solely for profit and not offering quality products. Unfortunately many prepper’s use these cheap buckets to store their long term foods in. A risky decision unless you also use sealed Mylar bags inside these buckets.

When it comes to spending (investing) money in long term food storage buckets you must think hard about what you are doing. Bottom line is you’re storing food to either save food budget money or save your lives after a major disaster event. Buy quality buckets.

Here’s what happened to me yesterday:
I purchased several utility buckets from Wal-Mart about 6 months ago for washing my truck and other garden bucket needs. I didn’t notice any issues with them until yesterday when I was washing the garage floor and I noticed the bucket was leaking from the bottom. These buckets are made in Ohio, .070 wall thickness (quality buckets are .090 thick) and molded of #2 HDPE plastic. Most people would think these buckets would be fine for food storage. Well maybe not these buckets!

It is difficult for my camera to photograph inside a white bucket but I think you can see the problem. It is a crack right through one of the three gates used to mold this bucket. A gate is where the molten plastic is first injected into the mold to form the bucket. In this mold there are 3 gates. This is a good design, however it was a very sloppy job of mold processing and the result is a worthless cracked bucket! This crack happened all by itself, not from use or abuse. It was caused by molded-in-stress in the plastic at the site of the gate. Molded-in-stress is the result of poor plastic processing along with poor quality control. How many bad buckets have been sold like this one? Probably hundreds.

Photo of the inside of the bucket.

A close-up photo of the crack.

If I would have stored wheat, rice, beans or any food in this bucket without first sealing it in a Mylar bag I would have useless mold or bug infested food.

When storing bulk dry food without using Mylar bags only use top quality containers, your life could depend on your choice!

I don’t recommend buying cheap buckets from Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes or other big box stores for your survival food storage containers. The success of your food storage depends on quality containers.

Note:
I always use Mylar bags inside my buckets and recommend you do the same. Mylar is inexpensive and assures your food will be safely stored for years to come.

Rice and Barley Soup

2011-08-01T18:32:00.000-04:00

I made another version of Simple Survival Soups using only my bulk stored dry and dehydrated foods. The pot I’m using has a double recipe in it, enough soup for my weekly lunches at work and yes I do eat what I make. These recipes are super simple and taste far better than any commercial can soups. As you can see from the photo it is very thick (you can add more water to create more broth to suit personal preference) and filling. And if you have some can meats or fresh game meat including fish to add to it, the soup becomes even better.

Rice and Barley Soup
2 servings, about 2½ cups each

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1/3 cup rice
1/3 cup barley
2 tbs tomato powder
2 cubes chicken bouillon
2 tbs chopped dry onion
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Add the 4 cups of water and all other ingredients into a pot.

Bring to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes.

More water may be needed to thin the soup to your preference.

Garden, Second Season 7-29-11

2011-07-30T17:33:00.000-04:00

I spent some time with my garden space yesterday and today to make it more permanent by framing it in landscape timbers and at the same time get the soil ready for the second season planting. Below is what the garden space looked like in March of this year, kind of plain but functional.

Old Garden

Here’s what the improved garden space ended up looking like. It finished at 3 x 20 feet, not much space but it’s the only place in the entire yard that has any sun at all. The landscaping timbers are screwed together and then staked into the ground. For the stakes I used some ½ thin-wall electrical conduit cut into 6 pieces 18 inches long. The outside diameter of the conduit is 5/8 of an inch and I happened to have a 5/8 spade drill which made a perfect fit. I drilled the holes on a slight angle and drove the conduit through the drilled holes and into the ground. The angled staking keeps the timbers from lifting as well as holds them securely in place.

New Garden

For irrigation I’m using the same set-up that was used before. A simple stake right in the middle of the garden and a piece of PVC pipe with a spray head on it, wire tied to the stake. The spray head uses a rectangle/strip pattern and covers the garden space evenly. The water comes from my automatic lawn irrigation so whenever the lawn gets watered so does the garden.

Automatic Watering

I did add four bags of Black-Kow and five bags of top soil to the space. Now it’s ready for the second season planting. I did learn a lot from the first planting this year. One thing was the tomato plants created a lot of shade over the carrots and onions and slowed their growth a lot. So there will be only 3 tomato plants planted at the very ends of the garden to leave more open space in the middle for the smaller plants to get more sun.

What I planted today:
5 feet of Scallions
5 feet of Radish
5 feet of Carrots
10 feet of Green Beans

Started in cups for transplanting in 4 weeks:
2 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Big Boy Tomato
2 Bell Pepper

I use Solo Cups to start the new seeds in for transplanting outdoors next month (and behind them is the fresh Basel used weekly in meal preps). I prefer the larger 18oz cups for starting seed because there is plenty of room for the roots to grow and the dirt doesn’t dry out nearly as fast as when I used the much smaller egg cartons. I save the cups and use them year after year so the cost isn’t an issue. Also, I use the dirt from the garden in the cups so when the plant get transplanted most of the roots are still in the original soil plus I feel the plant won’t go through a shock of totally different soil to continue to grow. Just my theory with no fact to prove it….

Here’s the Solo Cups

55 Government Programs to Eliminate

2011-07-21T20:24:00.004-04:00

Here’s a simple eye opener that I verified with numerous major newspapers. It is unbelievable but completely true.

Yes, this is one of my rare rants about our corrupt US Congress who will sell out the entire country for a few campaign dollars. When I find out about this kind of waste of our tax dollars it does make me angry. I’m sure most of us have never used any of these programs cited below. And yes, I am all in favor of eliminating these 55 programs and the other hundreds more that are not mentioned and are kept out the sight of we the tax payers. The entire Congress needs to be sent to GITMO as terrorists, water boarded to find out who benefitted from their voting of obscene favoritism laws, mindless programs like these and subsequent increased taxes to us.
Furthermore, I don’t care what party you are, common sense has to guide the way to morally right decisions for our country as a whole and so far none has been made.

Below are the 55 programs that the Republican House has proposed cutting. These cuts do not require partisan consideration. They're non-essential and BOTH parties should agree to simply eliminate all of those listed below.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.

"Save America's Treasures" Program. $25 million annual savings.

International Fund for Ireland . $17 million annual savings.

Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.

National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.

National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.

Hope VI Program.. $250 million annual savings.

Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.

Eliminate duplicative education programs. H. R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually.

U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.

Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.

Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.

John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.

Community Development Fund. $4.5 billion annual savings.

Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid. $24 million annual savings.

Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half. $7.5 billion annual savings

Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20%. $600 million annual savings.

Essential Air Service. $150 million annual savings.

Technology Innovation Program. $70 million annual savings.

Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. $125 million annual savings.

Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization. $530 million annual savings.

Beach Replenishment. $95 million annual savings.

New Starts Transit. $2 billion annual savings.

Exchange Programs for Alaska , Natives Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical Trading
Partners in Massachusetts . $9 million annual savings

Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants. $2.5 billion annual savings.

Title X Family Planning. $318 million annual savings.

Appalachian Regional Commission. $76 million annual savings.

Economic Development Administration. $293 million annual savings.

Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings.

Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings.

FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. $200 million annual savings.

Energy Star Program. $52 million annual savings.

Economic Assistance to Egypt . $250 million annually.

U.S. Agency for International Development. $1.39 billion annual savings.

General Assistance to District of Columbia . $210 million annual savings.

Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. $150 million annual savings.

Presidential Campaign Fund. $775 million savings over ten years.

No funding for federal office space acquisition. $864 million annual savings.

End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.

Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act. More than $1 billion annually.

IRS Direct Deposit: Require the IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) to the Treasury, instead of allowing it to remain as part of its budget. $1.8 billion savings over ten years.

Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees. $1 billion total savings.

Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees. $1.2 billion savings over ten years.

Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of. $15 billion total savings.

Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress.

Eliminate Mohair Subsidies. $1 million annual savings.

Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. $12.5 million annual savings

Eliminate Market Access Program. $200 million annual savings.

USDA Sugar Program. $14 million annual savings.

Subsidy to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). $93 million annual savings.

Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. $56.2 million annual savings.

Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs. $900 million savings.

Ready to Learn TV Program. $27 million savings.

HUD Ph.D. Program. (?)

Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.

TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years

Cleaning Your Brass

2011-07-10T18:02:00.001-04:00

I’ve been reloading for a long time and one of the tedious tasks is cleaning the brass before you can reload it. For a hunter who may only shoot 20-30 rounds a year and that’s mostly at the range getting ready for the season, cleaning cases is no big deal. But for an avid target shooter, a competition shooter or the Survivalist trying to put a few thousand rounds away by buying used military brass, cleaning becomes very time consuming.

Today a common way to clean brass is with a case tumbler like this one from the Frankfort Arsenal. I’ve never seen one of these in action but thought I’d give one a try. MidwayUSA had one on sale last week so I ordered one.

After the first use I have only one complaint, the primer pockets were not cleaned and I still had to clean them by hand.

I will try adding a glass bead/aluminum oxide sand blasting media to the walnut shells to see if this will get the job done. Does anyone have a better idea? If so I’d like to hear it..

The kit as delivered.

Cases in the media.

Clean cases in the media separator basket.

The problem I wish the tumbler would have fixed is the carbon in the primer pocket.
This is a photo of the primer pockets after 2 hours of tumbling.

The case inside looks OK to reload as tumbled because all the burnt powder has been removed..

Rice and Elbow Pasta Soup

2011-07-10T17:12:00.001-04:00

Rice and Elbow Pasta Soup, is another survival recipe very similar to Chicken Noodle Soup but much more filling as it’s meant to be a meal. I make it from 100% long term pantry stocks and it’s absolutely yummy, belly filling and very cheap to make! All you need is water and at a minimum a camp fire to simmer it with.

Ingredients: (Makes 4 cups of thick belly filling soup)
3½ cups water
1/3 cup Rice
1/3 cup Elbow Pasta
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 chicken bouillon cubes

Directions:
In a pot bring to a boil the 3½ cups of water (add more water if you like but near the end of the 30 minute simmer time. This soup is meant to be thick).

Then add all the other ingredients and reduce to a simmer.

Total simmer time 30 minutes.

Beans and Rice Soup

2011-07-04T14:40:00.000-04:00

This recipe makes 15 cups, almost 1 gallon.
You can reduce the ingredient amounts to suit you needs. I make this amount because it’s my work lunch for the week.

Again this is a great tasting soup made entirely from long term dry bulk stored foods. A perfect back-packer, RV’ers and Survivalist meal.

Ingredients
10 cups water
2 cups beans
1 cup rice
¼ cup diced carrots, dehydrated
¼ cup tomato powder
½ cup onion, chopped, dehydrated
6 cubes beef bullion
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper

Pressure cook the beans for 15 minutes, force cool, drain then mash about 1/4 of them with a potato masher.

Add the 10 cups of water, rice and all other ingredients. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes.

Yukon’s Hard Lemonade

2011-07-01T21:10:00.001-04:00

I did some more home brew wine drink experimenting yesterday. Another batch of home brewed wine drink was ready to add the flavoring to and bottle. As usual, I taste test the yeast/sugar/water brew after it has fermented to be sure it has not gathered any strange tastes before I add the flavoring syrup and bottle. What I have noticed before and again this week, it has a familiar taste but I never could put a flavor with it. Well it hit me yesterday! It has a slight taste of lemon! Well BINGO! The birth of Yukon’s Hard Lemonade is on the way… I went to the supermarket and bought the store brand of Lemonade Drink Mix (same as Country-Time but half the cost) and mixed up a bottle. Holy Cow Batman, this combination is great and I will be making a lot more of it for the neighbors!

The new Hard Lemonade recipe:
Use my Wine Drink Recipe but instead of adding bar syrup use one (1) packet of Lemonade mix to 8 cups of fermented wine drink. (Add no sugar or anything else) Just stir or shake to blend and enjoy!

It’s Hurricane and Generator Season Again!

2011-06-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

Like it or not, every year at this time I review all my preps and precautions for the new hurricane season. In a way I’m fortunate that I go through this every year so it is pretty routine for me. I am a prepper so food, water, tools and communications are always at the proper levels. It is the generators, their maintenance and refueling them that opened my eyes to the cost of gas today.

I begin with changing the oil and filters in both generators, a 4,000 watt Onan portable and my 4,000 watt Onan in my motor home.

I run a strong dose of carburetor cleaner directly through both my generators carburetors to clean away any gum or varnish in the small ports and passages. Next year I will remove the carbs and rebuild them just for preventative maintenance.

The gas that’s been in the 4,000 watt generator since last year I transferred to my truck’s tank and replaced it with fresh gas and Sta-bil fuel conditioner. I do the same with my extra 2-6 gallon cans and 1-2½ gallon can. The high cost of gas today is noticeable when you fill the genny with 6 gallons, the 2-6 gallon and 1-2½ gallon cans came to $77.56 for 20½ gallons of gas. Ouch!

How I use my generators:
When hurricanes are headed my way and getting close, I top off all the vehicles tanks just for all the gas I can store for possible generator use. The motor home has 40 gallons, the car has 13 gallons, the truck has 18 gallons and the 20½ gallons in the generator and three gas cans come to 91.5 gallons or at my ½ gallon per hour run rate (I actually tested this under load) that gives me 183 hours of generator run time. I have tested my generator use time needs and what works for me are 3, 2 hour run times every 24 hours about 8 hours apart. These segments are for running mainly the refrigerator to keep it cold inside, lights, appliances for cooking, water pump, battery charger, etc. That is a total of 6 hours a day or 3 gallons of gas or 30½ days of living comfortably off the generator. Once the food is used up in the refrigerator in maybe 10 days or so the frig would be off and the genny run time would go down to 1-2 hours a day, maybe. With this scenario I would have 60-120 days of generator use.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

2011-06-18T18:38:00.000-04:00

Biscuits made with all purpose white flour are easy to make and a staple for breakfast and camping food made from simple ingredients we should have on hand.

For making what I refer to as a “Survival Biscuit” you will probably be out of all purpose white flour and at that time have to make them using only freshly milled whole wheat flour from your stored wheat grain.

I have been planning on trying to bake some whole wheat biscuits for a while now and this afternoon I finally had time to try them out. The recipe is the same one I use for my all purpose flour biscuits except using whole wheat flour in place of the all purpose.

The results appear to be typical when baking with freshly milled wheat grain. Whole wheat doesn’t react to leaveners (or rise) the same as all purpose flour and liquids usually need to be adjusted. Today’s biscuits were really very good with the only noticeable differences being they didn’t rise as much and they’re not a crumbly as white flour biscuits. I think this recipe for whole wheat needs more shortening to give them the crumbly texture. The next batch that I make I will try a ½ cup of shortening.

Makes about 16-20 Bisquits
2 cups freshly milled wheat grain
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk (or hydrated powdered milk)

Directions:
Preheat the oven as you want to get the dough cooking as soon as it is made.

Place flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl and thoroughly blend.

Add and cut in shortening until the mixture looks like crumbly like the size of small peas.

Now blend in the milk until it just combines, about one minute if using a mixer with the flat beater attachment.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat or roll to about a ½ inch thickness and cut into 2 inch diameters or squares.

Place on a ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 13 minutes.
As with all whole wheat baking it is slightly difficult to get a golden brown crust as you can see in the last photo the bottom was almost over browned while the top didn’t show browning.

I use a pizza cutter to cut the dough

On the sheet ready to go in the oven

Just out of the oven

Biscuits on the cooling rack. Here you can see the browned bottom of a couple and compare that to the un-browned tops

Pizza from Your Long Term Food Storage

2011-06-10T18:32:00.001-04:00

Pizza is probably the number one favorite of all comfort foods. Regardless if it’s a disaster event you may be living through, you live off-grid, live in a remote area or you simply like to make your own pizzas, being able to make a good pizza anytime from your pantry is a plus.

The crust for this one is whole wheat, made from freshly milled wheat grain. The meat (Spam in this case, yah I know what you’re thinking but it really is good) is the only item that has a short shelf life, maybe 2-4 years. Any can meat or fish will do for a topping. The sauce is made using long term stored tomato powder.

I have made excellent pizza’s using freeze dried mozzarella and mushrooms and recommend you stock a can or two of the mozzarella. Honestly, you can’t tell the difference from fresh it’s just kind of expensive at $40 for a #10 can! For this pizza, I was out of freeze-dried mushrooms and mozzarella and didn’t want to open new #10 cans especially the mozzarella because it is expensive, so I used supermarket items.

The point of this post is to show you that a very good pizza can be made from long term stored foods including the whole wheat crust made from your own wheat grain.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Makes 2,12 inch crusts

4 cups fresh milled wheat (2 2/3 cups of kernels)
9 ounces of 100-105 degree water
¼ cup sugar
1 tbs molasses
1 tbs yeast, add to the dry ingredients.
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
¼ tsp garlic powder

Directions:
In a bowl add all the dry ingredients and thoroughly blend together.

If using a mixer attach the dough hook and add the 100-105 degree water and blend. Once all the ingredients have just combined into a dough ball, then machine knead for 5 minutes.

If mixing by hand, once the ingredients have combined then hand knead for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into two equal parts then shape each by hand or roll the dough to about ¼ inch thick to fit a 12 inch pizza pan or a cookie sheet.

Ladle on 6 ounces of pizza sauce, then the cheese, then the diced Spam (or any can meats) and veggies.

Preheat the oven temperature to 450 degrees then bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Pizza Sauce
Recipe for two, 12 inch pizzas

12 oz water
6 tbs tomato powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt

To thicken the sauce add flour (1 tsp at a time)
To thin add more water.

1 tbs molasses (optional)
3 tbs olive oil (optional)

Combine and Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

A tip for rehydrating the mozzarella and mushrooms:
I place the mozzarella in a strainer, quickly run cold water over them and immediately shake off all the excess water, dump onto a plate and fluff so they don’t begin sticking together. I do this at the 15-20 minutes before serving.

The mushrooms I place in a bowl and cover them with water for 15-20 minutes, remove from the bowl and shake off all the water before serving.

Spark plug issues; 2004-2008 Ford F-150, Mustang and Explorer

2011-06-05T08:29:00.001-04:00

Many self-reliant people own a Ford pick-up truck because for the most part they are a good product. However, the owners with some engines have a very serious issue on their hands and an unavoidable and very costly repair bill ahead.

In yesterdays newspaper there was an article about Ford and some of their motors that when trying to change the spark plugs, they break off in the heads, sometimes all 8 of them. This is a major design flaw on Ford’s part. The repair cost is running between $300.00 and $3,000.00. A lot of money for 8 spark plugs.

If you own one of these vehicles regardless of the mileage on the spark plugs (which are supposed to run 100,000 miles) you may want to contact the dealer to see if they have a deal on pre-emptive spark plug replacement program at a fixed cost to you the owner regardless of what they break in the process.

This is a broad and serious problem with many Ford motors, including 3-valve and 2-valve motors and possibly some V-10’s.

If you own or going to buy a used 2004 to 2008 Ford product do a little research first and
Google: “ford truck spark plug problems” for starters.

I copied this law firm ad below http://gsglawsparkplugdefect.com/ and it looks like they may be trying to put together a class action suit. If you had to pay high repair bills because of Fords design issue you may want to contact an attorney (not necessarily this one) and try to get your money back.

“The law firm Goldenberg Schneider, LPA is investigating a potential spark plug defect with certain Ford F-150 trucks after widespread reports of customer complaints about costly repairs.

Specifically, owners of model year 2004-2008 F-150s with certain 3-valve engines have repeatedly experienced serious problems while attempting to remove or replace the spark plugs in these vehicles, resulting in considerably higher repair and maintenance costs (typically anywhere from several hundred dollars to $3,000).

Other Ford and Lincoln vehicles with identical 3-valve engines (e.g. some Mustangs and Explorers) have the same spark plugs and are subject to the same expensive repair and replacement costs.

If you or a family member have experienced this problem or have information relevant to this investigation and would like to discuss it with an attorney, please enter your information in the form provided or call Goldenberg Schneider, LPA at 513.345.8291”

Home-Brew Laundry Detergent

2011-05-28T08:26:00.002-04:00

This home brewed detergent really works and saves a lot of money! I’ve been using the original home brew laundry detergent recipe for a year now. The recipe works very well and I will continue to use it.

Ingredients:
‘Fels-Naptha’ bar soap 5.5 oz size.
‘Washing Soda’ by Arm and Hammer (not baking soda).
‘Borax Natural Laundry Booster’ by Twenty Mule Team.

Recipe to make 2 gallons of liquid Laundry Detergent: (enough for 64 medium loads)
• 1 bar of Fels-Naptha bar Soap, 5.5oz size and granulate it on a box grater or powered shredder like on a Kitchen Aid mixer.
• 1 cup Washing Soda
• 1 cup Borax Laundry Booster
• 2 gallons of water

In a large stock pot add the 2 gallons of water and bring to almost a simmer. Add all the dry ingredients simmer stirring occasionally until the shredded bar soap melts. Pour into gallon jars or jugs that have a 4 inch lid or a small bucket because you will need something like a soup ladle to stir up before each use and to measure it out. This mixture when it cools is kind of like a soft almost a jello consistency.

Amount of home brew laundry detergent to use per load:
½ cup per normal or light loads is all I ever need.
1 cup per heavily soiled or very large loads

Cost to make and use?
About $2.00 to make 2 gallons of home brew detergent.
It will wash 64 normal loads using ½ cup per load.

Current ingredient costs, cups per box size/weight:
$2.99, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda; 55 ounces = 9.6 oz/cup, 5.7 cups/box
$3.99, 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster; 76 ounces = 6.5oz/cup, 11.5 cups/box
$0.99, Fels-Naptha Bar Soap, 5.5 ounce bar.

I now make-up the dry ingredients in bulk. 10 recipe batches at a time which will make 20 gallons of detergent or 640 normal loads of wash for $20.00
I store the ten individual recipe batches in gallon Zip-Lock bags.

Recipe for ten batches with no waste or leftover ingredients:
2 boxes of Arm & Hammer (equals 10 cups (5 per box))
1 box of 20 Mule Team (equals 10 cups)
10 bar Fels-Naptha

All the stuff ready to make laundry detergent.

Shredding the Fels-Naptha Bar Soup with my Kitchen Aid mixer with shredder attachment.

10 bags of shredded bar soap. I'll add the Washing Soda and Borax in each bag next.

Finished 2 gallons of detergent.

You Might Be A Survivalist If...

2011-05-25T05:19:00.002-04:00

(I don’t remember who sent this to me and if anyone knows who wrote it I would like to give them credit for it. I think it’s a fun and somewhat accurate look at us. Just a little Survivor humor)

- You can't put your groceries in the trunk of the car because its already jammed full with emergency kits, first aid supplies, and fully-stocked BOBs.

- You have emergency rations for your pets, and view your pets as potential emergency rations.

- You know the news three days before it hits the mass media.

- You have back-up plans for your back-up plans.

- You're convinced you've been exposed to so many chem-trails, you consider it a form of birth control.

- You've ever repressed the urge to bleat "BAAAAAAAAAA" as your neighbor earnestly asks, "What war? Where?"

- You've ever bought antibiotics for human use through a vet, or grains for human consumption through a feed store.

- You've got more than one grain mill.

- You've ever wondered how you might filter the used water from your washing machine to make it fit for human consumption.

- You have a kerosene lamp in every room

- Your living room coffee table is actually a board with pretty cloth over it to disguise your food storage underneath.

- Your box springs are Rubber Maid containers filled with rice and beans.

- You save dryer lint to make fire starters.

- Your most commonly-used fuel additive is 'Stabil', instead of 'Gumout'.

- You automatically choose the heavy duty flatbed cart upon entering Sam's or Costco.

- If you know the shelf life of tuna fish, but don't know how long you've had an open jar of mayo in the frig.

- Your basement walls are insulated with crates of toilet paper, from floor to ceiling, all the way around.

While other people are saving money for new furniture, or vacations, you are desperately saving to get solar panels put on your house.

- You were excited beyond all reason when they came out with cheddar cheese in a can.

- You've ever served MREs at a dinner party.

- You can engage in a spirited debate on chemical vs. sawdust toilets for hours on end.

- You've ever considered digging an escape tunnel from your basement to the nearest stand of trees.

- You know how to use a vacuum cleaner in reverse to filter air in your designated bio-chem attack safe room.

- You've ever considered buying an above-ground pool for water storage purposes.

- You know what things like 'TSHTF', 'BOB' and 'TEOTWAWKI' mean.

- You have different grades of BOB's.

- You know the names, family histories, locations, and degree of readiness of over a thousand fellow doomers on the net.... but you've never met your neighbors.

- The best radio in the house is a wind-up.

- You have better items in storage than you use every day.

- When the SHTF, you would eat better than you eat now.

- Your significant other gave you a sleeping bag rated at -15 degrees for Christmas.... and you were moved beyond words.

- You've sewn a secret mini-BOBs into the bottom of your children's school backpacks.

- Local food pantries have come to depend on donations from your larder when you rotate stock in the spring and fall.

- You're still using up your Y2K supplies.

- You have enough army surplus equipment to open a store.

- The local army surplus store owner knows you by your first name.

- You fill up when your gas tank is 3/4 full.

- You call Rubber Maid for wholesale prices.

- You have several cases of baby wipes and your kids are all grown.

- Bert from 'Tremors' is your favorite movie character.

- You carry a pocket survival kit, a sturdy folding knife, a SureFire flashlight and a small concealed handgun on you to church every Sunday.

- You start panicking when you are down to 50 rolls of toilet paper.

- You keep a small notebook to write down any edible plants you happen to see along the road.

- You shop yard sales, store sales, and markdown racks for barter goods for ATSHTF.

- You own a hand-operated clothes washer and a non-electric carpet sweeper.

- You have at least two of every size of Dutch oven, and 20 bags of charcoal, although you have a gas grill.

- You have rain barrels at each corner of your house, although you have a city water hookup, and a Big Berkey to purify the water.

- You have sapphire lights, survival whistle, and a Swiss Army knife on every family member's keychain.

- The people in line at Costco's ask you if you run a store or restaurant.

- You require a shovel to rotate all your preps properly.

- You no longer go the doctor's because you can either fix it yourself, make it at home, or know and understand the physicians desk reference better than he does, and can get the goods at the vets or pet store for MUCH less moolah anyway.

- You know that a 'GPS' has nothing to do with the economy.

- You track your preps on a computer spreadsheet for easy reordering, but have hardcopies in a 3-ring binder 'just in case'.

- You've thought about where the hordes can be stopped before entering town.

- You start evaluating people according to 'skill sets'.

- You view the nearest conservation area as a potential grocery store if TSHTF.

- You know all the ways out the building where you work.

- You have enough pasta stockpiled in your basement to carbo-load all the runners in the New York marathon.

- You know that you have 36 gallons of extra drinking water in the hot water tank and your 2 toilet tanks.

- You know which bugs are edible.

You have a hand pump on your well.

- You have #10 cans of 'stuff' that the labels fell off of, but you won't throw it out or open it because it 'may be needed later', even though you haven't a clue as to the contents.

- You know where the best defensive positions and lines of fire are on your property.

- You've made a range card for your neighborhood.

- Your toenail clipper is a K-BAR.

- The Ranger Handbook is your favorite 'self help' book.

- You've numbered the deer romping in the yard by their order of consumption.

- You must move 50 cases of food for the plumber to get to that leaky pipe, but you have your own hand truck in the basement to do it.

- You own more pairs of hiking boots than casual and dress shoes combined.

- You have more 55gal blue water drums than family members.

- Your UPS system has more than 6 Deep cycle batteries.

- You have a backup generator for your backup generator, which is a backup for your solar system.

- You go to McDonalds and ask for one order of fries with 25 packs of ketchup and mustard.

- You have ever given SPAM as a serious gift.

- You've had your eye out for a good deal for a stainless steel handgun to conceal in the bottom of the magazine rack next to the toilet.

- You are single male over 40, but you still have an emergency childbirth kit, just in case you have to deal with that possibility.

- You have two water heaters installed in your basement, but one is a dummy that's been converted to hideaway safe.

- You've made bugout cargo packs for your dogs.

- You have a walking stick with all sorts of gadgets hidden inside.

- Your koi pond is stocked with catfish.

- As a stand-in scoutmaster, you taught your son's troop to set mantraps and punji pits, and haven't been asked to stand in since.

- You're on your fifth vacuum sealer, but you keep at least one of the worn out ones because you can still seal up plastic bags with it.

You haven't bought dried fruit in years, but you buy fresh bananas, apples, peaches and pears by the case and have three dehydrators.

- Your UPS man hates you because of all the cases of ammo he's had to lug from his truck to your front door.

- You have duplicates of all your electronics gear, solar panels and generator parts in your EMP-shielded fallout shelter.

- You have set aside space for your live chickens in the fallout shelter.

- When the power goes out in your neighborhood, all the neighbor's kids come over to your place to watch TV on generator power.

- You must open the door to your pantry very carefully for fear of a canned goods avalanche.

- You have a 'Volcano', you know you can cook anything, and you cast evil glances at your neighbor's annoying, yappy poodle, muttering "your day will come, hotdog" under your breath.

- You've learned to knap flint, make twine from plant fibers for snares and use an atl-atl, because you fear that all of your preps and hard work will be confiscated by FEMA troops or destroyed by earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear blasts, ravening hordes of feral sheeple or reptiloids from 'Planet X' ATSHTF.

Food from the Garden

2011-05-20T18:20:00.002-04:00

I can’t explain the exact feeling, but when I get to eat from my own garden it is very special. Just a few months back I had planted the seeds and now those seeds provide food for me. It seems so simple and peaceful. I wish all my life was like this!

Today I picked 3 Roma Tomatoes, 7 Cherry Tomatoes and a good serving of green beans, Yummy! The white spots are the Daconil fungus sprays residue. This size of harvest will continue for the rest of the summer. In a few more weeks the onions and carrots will be ready.

The final launch of the Shuttle Endeavour

2011-05-16T18:42:00.000-04:00

It was a little hazy today because normally we can clearly see the shuttle in flight for a couple minutes but not today although we did see this much of booster rockets trail. The picture is not the greatest but I think you can see what we see (between the gap of the trees going right to left). I live 120 miles from the space center and night launches are really great as you can see the flames from the rocket engines. It’s a shame the USA is not pursuing another low cost space vehicle design.

What is Bannock?

2011-05-13T17:58:00.000-04:00

Bannock is a perfect survival or back-packing bread using very simple ingredients that can be baked in a fry pan or pot over a campfire or even wrap the dough around a green branch and bake it over the campfire on the stick. With bannock you can have fresh bread everyday even in the wilderness. Bannock can be made from virtually any kind of flour and any kind of fat available (oil, lard, or bacon grease).

Most believe that bannock is a traditional native food that was adapted by European fur traders. In fact, it's the other way around. In many parts of North America, Native people had no access to flour prior to the arrival of European traders, although some flour substitutes existed like wild turnips or corn that was dried and ground to a powder.

Bannock actually has its roots in Scotland. The Scots originated this simple bread. Because bannock could be quickly prepared from readily available ingredients and because these ingredients lasted a long time without spoiling, bannock became a staple of the European fur traders and subsequently the native people also.

The basic bannock recipe:
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt
¼ cup lard, oil or bacon grease (I use Crisco)
2 tsp baking powder
5 oz water
(I also add 2 tbs sugar because it adds great taste and calories)

From this basic recipe many personal variations are possible. You can add cinnamon, brown sugar, nuts, rasins or berries or whatever you have available.

I generally make dough balls then flatten them down into an English Muffin like shape about a ½ inch thick and fried in a pan with Crisco. After frying they grow to about an inch thick.

Bannock prepared by frying takes about 5 minutes a side to cook.

Baked will take longer, 30 to 40 minutes.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-05-09T13:51:00.000-04:00

Last week I saw a recipe for oatmeal peanut butter cookies. Well that sounded tasty and thought it would be an easy tweak to my whole wheat oatmeal cookie recipe by adding one cup of peanut butter and a little more water. So today I tried the new recipe and it worked just fine, there’s a good peanut butter and oatmeal taste to them. So the recipe is a keeper for me.

Recipe:
Makes 3 doz. cookies

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat milled flour
1 cup peanut butter
1¾ cups sugar
1 cup water
2 tbs molasses
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

Directions:
In a bowl blend all the dry ingredients together.

Then blend in all the liquids.

Drop a rounded tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

Hamburger Helper Recipe

2011-05-08T06:42:00.000-04:00

Just like Mac and Cheese, Hamburger Helper is another ideal food for the back packer or disaster preparedness. This recipe is made from long term stored dry ingredients and is a one pot dish that can easily be prepared over a campfire.

Hamburger Helper is a trade name and can be misleading in that people think you must use ground beef in the dish. Hamburger Helper is really just cheese sauce and pasta. You can substitute the ground beef with any can meats, sausage even Spam or fish.

(Makes about 4 cups of pasta/sauce plus the meat added)
Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni

Sauce Ingredients for ‘meat’:
3 tbs dry milk
3 tbs cheese powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic
1 beef bouillon cube

Sauce Ingredients for ‘poultry or fish’:
3 tbs dry milk
3 tbs cheese powder
1 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic
1 chicken bouillon cube

Meats:
Meat is not required as the sauce and pasta is great by itself.
1 lb of meat is the standard amount for this recipe but ½ lb. will work as well.
Any meat will work; sausage, ham, hot dogs or any can meat you have on hand including chicken, turkey, fish of all types ground or diced works well.

Directions:
If using fresh meat, brown the ground or diced meat in a large skillet, transfer to a bowl or plate.

In the same pot or skillet bring the water to a boil, add the pasta, reduce the heat and simmer pasta for 8 minutes.

Now add all the dry ingredients, the browned meat or diced can meat and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Serve.

Cooking in the pot here its about half way finished. The 3 cups of water works out perfectly. As it finishes cooking it is absorbed by the pasta and sauce ingredients and turns out like the top photo. Yummy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

2011-04-30T13:16:00.002-04:00

The finished soup

The ingredients

Chicken Noodle Soup is a mainstay of American eating; it’s very simple and good to eat. However, being able to make it from bulk dry food stocks is a challenge!

With your dry bulk food storage program, chicken and beef bouillon cubes are required storage items. Most of us can immediately tell the taste of bouillon cubes when used in a meal, but in this recipe I think you will be hard pressed to tell they were used when compared to the commercially made can soup.

I think the recipe below will surprise you with its rich taste that is nearly identical to the can soup we buy at the supermarket and it’s all from bulk long term dry food stocks.

If you make it let me know what you think about it!

Makes: 4 1/2 cups
Ingredients
4 chicken bouillon cubes
4 cups water
2 tbs diced onion, dehydrated
2 tbs diced celery, dehydrated
½ tsp garlic powder
1½ cups dried egg noodles (2 oz)
½ tsp tarragon
2 tsp parsley

Directions
Bring the water to boil them reduce to a simmer.
Add all ingredients to the water except the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes.
Now add the noodles and simmer for 7 more minutes.

Whole Wheat and Barley Bread

2011-04-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

I like to make the most of my dry bulk food storage, so today I baked another bread experiment. It was nothing radical but I wanted to try a Whole Wheat and Barley bread.

In the past I’ve made whole wheat and rice flour bread and whole wheat and bean flour bread. For me the results are all similar when blending different flours. Today’s bread was the same with the rise is not as high and is a little denser than single grain/flour bread.

The experiment did turn out great! The bread was moist you can taste the barley flavor. Tomorrow morning I’ll try toasting it.

I have learned from other attempts that the whole wheat flour or if you use an all purpose white flour should be the dominate ingredient and the barley, rice or bean flours should be limited to one cup per loaf. Using more will reduce the rise even more.

Whole Wheat and Barley Bread
Ingredients: makes one loaf
2½ cups fresh milled wheat
1 cup fresh milled barley
9 ounces of 100-105 degree water
¼ cup sugar
1 tbs molasses
1 tbs yeast
1 tsp salt

Directions:
In a bowl add all the dry ingredients and thoroughly blend together.

If using a mixer attach the dough hook and add the 100-105 degree water and blend. Once all the ingredients are combined then machine knead the dough for 5 minutes.

Immediately after kneading shape the dough to fit in a greased bread pan.

Let the dough rise in the bread pan. (I only do a single rise)

Preheat the oven temperature to 350 degrees then bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Red Beans & Rice

2011-04-24T13:53:00.000-04:00

There doesn’t appear to be a classic or standard recipe for this dish. The more I’d look the more different ones I’d find. Having visited Mother’s in New Orleans and having their Red Beans and Rice is the only taste baseline I had to go by. The other problem is my recipe’s are for Survival eating, so meats and fresh garden vegetables are out, just dry and dehydrated foods. I’m quite happy with this recipe, it’s tasty, spicy and quick to make if you use a pressure cooker.

Makes 8 cups:

1 cup dry (3 cups prepared) small red kidney beans
1½ cups rice, dry (4½ cups prepared)
½ cup tomato powder
3 cubes chicken bouillon
2 tbs chopped dry onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1½ tsp dry parsley
2 cups water

Directions:
Pressure cook the beans for 10 minutes, force cool, remove the lid and drain. Add 2 cups of water and all the dry ingredients then simmer for 20 minutes. (If you do not have a pressure cooker then soak the beans for 12-24 hours and you may also have to extend the simmer time until the beans are cooked).

Begin cooking the rice in a covered pot (1½ cups of rice and 3 cups of water) at the same time the simmering of the beans begins. The rice will be finish in about 20 minutes or about the same time the beans are finished.

Serve the beans on top a bed of rice.

Meat Options:
Meat or sausage is not required as this is a Survival eating recipe. However, if you do have meats then Andouille sausage is the traditional meat for this dish, next being ham then any can meat you may have available. If using Andouille or Ham add at the beginning of the simmer.

If using can meats them add them after about 10 minutes of simmering, you don’t want to over cook the pre-cooked meat, just warm it thoroughly.

Dimethylpolysiloxane used in fast foods?

2011-04-16T21:43:00.000-04:00

I often wonder who is looking after we the citizen’s health and wellbeing? Monsanto goes on unchecked and will corrupt the health of all of us with their GM seeds and fast food giants appear to be allowed to put unlimited chemical concoctions in the food they sell. It is time to pack your own lunch and grow as much of your own food as possible. The article below can be found here; http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112557/wendys-natural-cut-fries-bnet

(Do check out the silicone-based chemical link to see who else uses dimethylpolysiloxane in the foods they sell…. Disturbing to say the least)

When Wendy's (NYSE: WEN - News) created its Natural Cut Fries With Sea Salt, which it introduced last fall and is now promoting in new TV ads this week, the company's product development team found a way to leave the potato skins on, make the fries crispier and give them a much tastier flavor. What they didn't manage to do, however, is make the fries an actual all-natural product. That, says CMO Ken Calwell, would be too difficult given fast food customers' demands for items that are cheap and can be hoisted through a car window.

"People are saying they want high integrity ingredients, things their grandmother would have used, that don't look like they came out of a chemistry lab," Calwell explained in an interview with BNET. "But they're also saying I've got a family to feed and can only afford to spend about $4 on my lunch, and I've only got about a minute or two to eat it."

So instead of going the more expensive Five Guys route of making their fries fresh and in-house, Wendy's settled for "natural cut." What this means is that inside the processing plant, the potatoes skip the step of getting steamed at such a high temperature that the skins burst off. Wendy's spuds go straight to the high tech cutters where they're sliced.

And Then the Not-So-Natural Part
Then come the not-so-natural parts. The fries are sprayed with sodium acid pyrophosphate, a chemical that prevents them from turning brown from two baths in frying oil -- one at the factory and the other at the store. They're also dusted with dextrose, a sugar derived from corn, for similar purposes. For comparison, Five Guy's fries don't need sodium acid pyrophosphate or dextrose because they're only fried once and aren't frozen.

And just like every other large fast food chain, Wendy's frying oil is dosed with dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicone-based chemical that helps keep the vegetable oil from getting foamy after countless rounds of frying. (Five Guys doesn't use dimethylpolysiloxane either because their peanut frying oil is more stable than the standard soybean and canola varieties.) Wendy's Natural Cut fries are also frozen like everybody else's, even though it's a big point of distinction for Wendy's that their hamburgers aren't.

Wendy's has also highlighted that it uses "100% Russet potatoes," but John Keeling of the National Potato Council says that this is not a selling point. "Virtually all processed French fries are Russets," he said in an email.

Taste and Compare
But the new fries do succeed in taste tests, even beating those at McDonald's, according to the company's research. Wendy's hired an outside firm to do a national taste test and the results showed that 56% of people taking the test chose Wendy's skin-on fries, whereas only 39% preferred McDonald's (4% had no preference). And Wendy's 6,600 stores, orders that include fries are up almost 10%.

Nutritionally, the skins on the fries add 1 extra gram of fiber per serving for a total of 6 grams in a medium. Although the sodium content went up by 43% to 500 milligrams for a medium, an increase that no doubt helps with the taste factor. Calwell says that making Wendy's menu items more natural and more real is the company's "North Star."

"We're taking it product line by product line to make our food closer to this real ingredients story. Over time, you'll see our ingredient labels getting shorter and more of those high integrity ingredients. It just takes time," he said.

Food Storage Shelf Life

2011-04-16T21:05:00.001-04:00

Stocking commercially canned foods, long term food storage and home canning always raise the same question. What is the shelf life? I look to University Extension Services for the most accurate research and tested methods. The links below will help answer this question with tested fact. Enjoy and be safe with your food storage and canning!

The shelf life paragraph below is from the Utah State University Cooperative Extension
http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/canned-goods/

Shelf Life:
As a general rule, unopened “Home canned foods” have a shelf life of one year and should be used before 2 years. “Commercially canned foods” should retain their “best quality” until the expiration code date on the can. This date is usually 2-5 years from the manufacture date. High acid foods usually have a shorter shelf life than low acid foods.

For emergency storage, commercially canned foods in metal or jars will remain safe to consume as long as the seal has not been broken. (That is not to say the quality will be retained for that long).

Foods “canned” in metal-Mylar®-type pouches will also have a best-if-used by date on them. The longest shelf life tested of this type of packaging has been 8-10 years (personal communication U.S. Military MRE’s). Therefore, storage for longer than 10 years is not recommended.

Here’s a few very good links for more qualified canning information.

Utah State University Cooperative Extension
http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/canned-goods/

39 Food Specific PDF’s about canning are at this link plus other informative topics.
http://extension.usu.edu/htm/publications/by=category/category=319

National Center for Home Food Preservation. Lots of trustworthy information at this site.
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html

The Puppy Had Surgery Today

2011-04-15T18:55:00.001-04:00

Here’s one of my best ever puppies (a Shetland Sheepdog) after today’s surgery. Well not a puppy anymore because she’s 8 years old but is my best sweetie pie.

Last month I felt a lump about ¾ inch in diameter just above her left shoulder and over the month it grew to about 1 inch in diameter. Today I had the Vet remove the lump and fortunately it was not a malignant cancerous tumor but just a sebaceous cyst. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebaceous_cyst

Here she is an hour after coming home, a whole lot dazed and still under the influence of drugs because she can barely open her eyes.

Here are the stitches (staples) that closed up the incision and removal of the cyst. Right now all is well…..

The Truth Behind Milk

2011-04-02T07:10:00.000-04:00

I read this article over at M.D. Creekmores, "Survivalist Blog", and it is an eye opener about milk we drink. I posted the first two paragraphs to give you a taste of it. It’s worth reading the whole article at http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survival-food/milk-and-cancer/#comments

Another link to visit for more information on this is at;
http://www.preventcancer.com/press/releases/july8_98.htm

(Guest post by Jerry G.)
Doesn’t anyone ever wonder why Europe won’t drink our milk? Or better yet, doesn’t anyone ever wonder why it’s okay for Americans to drink it when it’s banned in most European countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? Apparently it’s because these other countries’ governments are not into lying to their citizens as much as the American government is. The reason Europe won’t drink our milk—or eat our cheese—is because our milk contains rBGH, recombinant bovine growth hormone.

rBGH, known also as Posilac, is a man-made growth hormone created by the biotechnology corporation, Monsanto. Its purpose is to increase milk output in dairy cows. It is injected into the cows and has been shown to increase milk production by roughly 10 percent—but at what cost to the animals and to humans who consume the milk?”

Tomato Ketchup, Make Your Own

2011-04-01T19:35:00.000-04:00

In many dishes we prepare tomatoes play a part in them including ketchup. It’s no different in survival or back packing cooking, we need to have tomatoes in most of the foods we like to eat but can tomatoes are not a candidate for long term food storage and too heavy for back packing, however tomato powder is the option.

I came across tomato powder several years ago and it is amazing how good it tastes. I immediately began storing it to replace can sauces and pastes.

Ketchup is something we all have in the refrigerator, but what happens if the grid is down, the stores are closed and you’re out of ketchup? Well, make your own! I’ve played with this recipe for a while and this is dead on for the store bought stuff.

Here’s the recipe:
6 tbs tomato powder (or 6 oz can of paste if you have it)
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup water for thick ketchup (or add 2 or more tablespoons of water for a thinner ketchup)
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve.
I know the cinnamon sounds strange but it is the secret ingredient in ketchup.
Add more water to make it as thin as you like.

How to Fix a Flat Tire Yourself

2011-03-31T20:26:00.000-04:00

This is too easy to do. When the stores are closed or you don’t have the $25.00 to get a flat fixed today, what can you do? Fix it yourself. Over the last 25 years I’ve had only two flats, not blowouts but nails in them that left one flat in the morning and the other time half flat. In good times it was no problem to have them repaired, but what about the bad times or when you have no extra cash or no easy place to go to get it fixed?

This morning I found a roofing nail in my tire, so I went to the auto parts store and bought this kit, the same type of kit (below) my dad used in the 50’s. After getting back from the auto parts store it took about three minutes to repair the tire. I didn’t even have to take the wheel off the car. And yes, I do have a very small air compressor but a bicycle tire pump will work also.

“This kit should be in every Survivalist’s or Self-Reliant persons tool box” and it only costs $10.00 to be able to take care of yourself. Shame on me for not having one there already. The kit has enough plugs for five flats and the overall quality of the tools in the kit is very good.

Here’s the kit I bought:

http://www.bellautomotive.net/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=868&category_id=54&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41

Here’s a video showing how easy it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoZbHfuuvck&feature=related

Here’s the kit.

And here’s the nail that made the car useless!

Here’s the plug after it was installed

The gray color is because I used a quick shot of gray primer spray paint to mark the spot where the nail was after I pulled it out. It wore off after a couple minutes of driving.

Lentil Soup

2011-03-26T16:07:00.001-04:00

This is easy to make and really good stuff!

Below, please find a recipe from one of my readers, Rita. She sent this to me after I posted my own version of barley, lentils and rice recently. http://livingprepared.blogspot.com/2011/03/barley-lentil-rice-soup.html

She has a very interesting version and I’d like to share it with you and my recipe adjustments to it to fit my personal food storage items. The nice thing about survival cooking is you can make a number of adjustments to any recipe and still come up with great tasting food.

Recipe from Rita
So here's one of my favorite lentil recipes that I regularly cook from my food storage.

1/4 c dried onions
1/2 c dried carrots
1/2 to 1 c lentils (depending on your preference)
16 to 32 oz chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 - 2 tbs curry powder
salt to taste

Optional (but add at least one of these items)
1 can garbanzo beans
2 cups diced potatoes (red potatoes are best but any work well)
1 - 2 cups canned peas

Rehydrate onions and carrots. Cook onions until browned. Add rehydrated carrots, lentils, curry powder and broth cook for 15-20 minutes. If you're including potatoes add them after 20 minutes and cook for another 20 minutes. If you're adding Garbanzo beans or cooked (canned) peas add them so they cook for 5 minutes (so they are warmed).

Add coconut milk at the end. Adjust salt and curry powder to taste.

You can make this dish as thin or soupy as you like. You can eat as a soup or stew or serve over rice.

Give this a try. I oftentimes substitute all sorts of veggies into this curry... if you're not familiar with coconut milk you must try the recipe without it and them add the milk to experience the amazing transformation the milk makes.

Yukon Mike’s recipe adjustments to fit my personal food storage.
¼ cup dried onions
½ cup dried carrots
½ cup lentils
1 cup of dried peas
4 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
½ cup dry milk
1 tbs curry powder
½ tsp salt

Add all the ingredients in a pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
You can make this dish as thin or soupy as you like.
You can eat as a soup or stew by adding or subtracting the amount of water.
If you use a ½ cup less water to make it thicker and you can serve over a bed of rice.

Room In You Heart

2011-03-23T19:51:00.001-04:00

I have received several e-mails about this post and did I post it because I lost one of my best friends? Although I did lose one of them a couple months back, I like many others have a soft spot in our hearts for dogs because they are so loyal, always happy to great you regardless of the old age pain they may be in and always will offer their life to protect you. I posted it because it was sent to me and because I like dogs a lot, I always hope these kind of thoughts are what really goes on in their minds. I posted it for others who have dogs.

Sorrow fills a barren space,
you close your eyes and see my face
and think of times I made you laugh,
the love we shared,
the bond we had,
the special way I needed you,
the friendship shared by just we two.

The day's too quiet,
the world seems older,
the wind blows now a little colder.

You gaze into the empty air and look for me,
but I'm not there,
I'm in heaven and I watch you,
and I see the world around you too.

I see little souls wearing fur,
souls who bark and souls who purr,
born unwanted and unloved,
I see all this and more above,
I watch them suffer,
I see them cry,
I see them lost,
I watch them die.

I see unwanted thousands born
and when they die, nobody mourns.

These little souls wearing fur,
are castaways who, unlike me,
will never know love or security.

A few short months they starve and roam,
or caged in shelters nobody takes home.

They're special furballs of pleasure,
filled with love and each one, a treasure.

My pain and suffering came to an end,
so don't cry for me, my person, my friend.

But think of the living, those souls with fur,
and though our bond can't be broken apart,
make room for another in your home and in your heart.

(author unknown)

Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

2011-03-20T20:49:00.002-04:00

If potatoes are in your stocks or you grow your own here is another great way to make use of them. They’re very simple to make and can be made from any type of potato you have although baking potatoes do work best and if you have fresh onions they add a great deal of rich flavor.

Makes 6-8 pancakes
2 potatoes medium or 4 small
4 tbs flour
1 tbs Sugar
3 tbs dehydrated diced onion
½ tsp salt
¼ cup oil (or shortening) for frying the pancakes in

Directions:

Peel and grate the potatoes using the larger oval holes in the box grater.

Most recipes call for drying the potatoes after grating, I don’t as the flour clings to them better and the moisture rehydrates the dry onion.

Mix together the potatoes, flour, sugar, salt and onion.

Fry in a skillet with 2-3 tbs of oil and heat to a medium-high temperature.

Use about a 1/4 cup size lump of the mixture, shape and flatten to about 3/8 inch thick in the skillet.

Fry 3-5 minutes per side until golden brown or as crispy as you like.

Two-Way Hand Held Radios with Rechargeable Battery Packs

2011-03-17T20:39:00.001-04:00

I use my GMRS/FRS two way hand held radios in a number of ways; when camping, hunting, fishing and for disasters like hurricanes which are an annual threat for me. For hurricanes they are especially useful when cell and land lines are out, they become the way my neighbors and I communicate.

One of the issues with these radios; if you rely on the internal NiCad battery pack that recharges with their own charger, those NiCad batteries will ‘self-discharge’. In other words even not using them the batteries drain and naturally will be dead when you need them. If there is an emergency they will be dead and probably there may be no grid power to charge them with. So what can you do?

I do two things:
One; my battery pack can be easily replaced with 3 standard ‘AA’ batteries (something to demand when buying your radios) and because I do stock ‘AA’s I always have fresh batteries on hand.

Two; I power my computer and printer from a power strip, I never leave my computer and printer power on 24/7, just don’t trust them to be safe from starting on fire and the constant phantom electric power drain is a waste of money. Whenever I use the computer I have to turn on the power strip so I’ve plug my hand held’s recharger base in that power strip so whenever I use my computer the batteries are always being topped off without thinking about it.

Cream of Wheat

2011-03-13T16:42:00.000-04:00

The other day I was asked about long term storing of Cream of Wheat. I do not store pre-processed instant foods as I don’t believe they are capable of dependable long term storage, because they are pre-processed and may have chemical preservatives and other things added to them.

So, back to Cream of Wheat. What is it? Both Cream of Wheat and Farina are pretty much interchangeable. They are both made from wheat grain, something we have in our long term foods storage. Cream of Wheat is a hot breakfast cereal or porridge invented in 1893 by wheat millers in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Farina is a cereal food, frequently described as mild-tasting, usually served warm and made from cereal grains. In contemporary English use, the word usually refers to semolina or Cream of Wheat made from soft wheat.

I decided to try and make something like a Cream of Wheat using my wheat grain. I milled the grain using just a single pass milling. For my bread baking I twice mill it to get finer flour. The result was pretty good for just milled and cooked wheat grain, definitely another breakfast meal using stored wheat grain. A lot can be added to add different taste like molasses or brown sugar or honey or cinnamon just for a few extra flavors.

I know, the recipe sounds like wall paper paste but actually tastes pretty good and would taste real good if it would be all you had to eat!

Here’s the base recipe I used:
1/3 cup milled wheat grain
1 cup water
Salt to taste
(I did add 1 tbs of brown sugar)

Bring almost to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes, stir often.

Key Lime Trees

2011-03-12T16:39:00.002-05:00

Today I had a surprise with my Key Lime trees. I went out to look at how the trees were doing and they’re full of blossoms! Over the last 10 years or so I never had a full crop of limes from these trees, some years none other years a few dozen now this year looks like it will be a good one.

I have two trees that I started from seeds about 15 years ago. One was always a potted tree (in a 10 gallon pot) and the other was planted in the ground. The one in the ground was killed off twice from the unseasonal sub-freezing winters but came back both times from the stump that was left. During freezing nights I would cover the tree and leave a 100 watt light bulb burning under the tarp to try and keep it above freezing. Some years it worked but twice it didn’t. The potted one I could move into the garage on freezing nights. This one I transplanted into the ground this winter and surprisingly it is full of blossoms so it must be happy with the move.

Looks like real Key Lime Pie will be on the menu! Yummy stuff…

Effective homemade remedy for watery diarrhea

2011-03-08T05:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Rita, for sending me this information link about a very important health concern. During disaster events, lack of clean water can result in the possibility of the dreaded diarrhea.

What can you do about it? Not much except to let in ‘run’ its coarse. In a few days it will be gone however during this time you must replace or rehydrate your body with water that your body has been losing. Here’s a simple home made solution for rehydrating just follow this link for much more detailed information to help you prepare for such an event.

http://rehydrate.org/solutions/homemade.htm#recipes

Barley, Lentil & Rice Soup

2011-03-05T10:46:00.001-05:00

All the ingredients on a plate for you to see.

The finished soup, yummy!

This Barley, Lentil & Rice recipe is a thick and rich soup much like a stew where every spoonful is full of belly filling solid food. It’s very simple to make and is made entirely from dry bulk food storage or what I call hard core survival food, nothing fresh, refrigerated or can foods.

If you’re a hiker or back packer you can make the dry mix in advance, put it in a zip-lock or Mylar bag and all you need is water and a fire to make a great filling meal!

If you don’t stock all of these items you can mix or match any of then as long as you have a total of 1 cup of the grains. Example 2/3 cup of rice and 1/3 cup of barley = 1 cup.

If you have a refrigerator that’s working and want to save this soup for later, the grains will continue to absorb the broth, so just add more water when reheating it.

Makes 5 cups

5 cups water
1/3 cup barley
1/3 cup lentils
1/3 cup rice
3 tbs diced carrots, dehydrated
3 tbs tomato powder
4 tbs onion, chopped, dehydrated
3 cubes chicken bullion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all the ingredients and bring to and maintain a simmer uncovered for 35 minutes.

If this soup is too thick for you just add more water a ½ cup at a time until you have the amount of broth you like. Add the extra water at about the 30 minute mark so it blends and gets hot with the other broth.

Enjoy!

Air Rile used by Lewis and Clark

2011-03-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

I found this to be very interesting. The only weapon Lewis and Clark carried on the expedition was an air rifle. I guess there’s a lot to say about the capability of the much underrated and misunderstood air rifle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pqFyKh-rUI&feature=player_embedded

HAM Antenna

2011-02-27T05:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I went to a local “Weather-Fest” where the local TV stations and emergency groups displayed their services including HAM disaster response groups. The HAM group was particularly interesting as they shown how they set up a temporary disaster communications station and the antenna they use. I thought the antenna would be a good option for those who can’t or don’t want to have a long wire or tower antenna or who simply need to have portability with good performance.

The antenna was the “Eagle One Vertical Antenna”. It’s a 31 foot tall collapsible stick antenna, similar to a telescopic cane fishing pole. It collapses within itself to only 44 inches which makes it very portable and storable.

Here’s the link: http://www.w8afx.com/

Manufacturers’ description:
EAGLE ONE portable or home gives you low cost operation on all bands with any tuner. Now hams with small yards and restricted areas can get back on the air with big signals. Eagle One has proved it can compete with the big boys at half the cost. Just ask anyone who has an Eagle One.

Full power limits, 31 ft fiberglass pole reduces down to 44", LDG tuners have been working 160 to 6 meters with wind loads over the 100 MPH.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

2011-02-26T17:59:00.000-05:00

Deserts like cookies are welcome anytime and especially during disaster event aftermaths. If the only flour available is your own freshly milled flour then making good tasting cookies can be a challenge. I’ve been experimenting for quite a while using whole wheat flour trying to make various cookies out of it, needless to say it has been a challenge of my patience.

Oatmeal is probably in your long term food stocks (it is in mine) so using this grain to make oatmeal cookies is a natural thought. I’ve tried several common recipes but they just weren’t right, close but not close enough. Since I like chocolate chip cookies I thought maybe if I adapt that recipe without the chocolate and using oatmeal I may have something enjoyable.

Well after several batches I must say this recipe is a survival winner, a blend of the Toll House recipe and oatmeal cookie recipe has turned out to be very good.

All blended together and resting for ten minutes to let the flavors blend into the oatmeal.

Dropped onto the cookie sheet ready for the oven.

The baked cookies cooling.

Recipe:
Makes about 30 cookies

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat milled flour
1¾ cups sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tbs molasses
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

Directions:
In a bowl blend all the dry ingredients together.
Then blend in all the liquids.
Important:
After blending, let the dough rest for 10 minutes to absorb all the flavors into the oatmeal.
Drop a rounded tablespoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes

The Civil War Battle of Olustee, North Florida

2011-02-20T19:46:00.000-05:00

147 years ago on February 20, 1864 a battle happened here between 10,000 troops and taking the lives of 2,807 men in just 3 hours. The Civil War was brutal. Every year we have a reenactment of this battle on the very ground it happened on. We spent the day here visiting with reenactors and seen how the troops lived at that time. It is very interesting and as a Survivalist there are many things they did that can apply to surviving a disaster situation that can occur today. The link below is to my photo-bucket account where I have 50 photos taken of the people and camps. We had a great day, hope you enjoy!

http://s778.photobucket.com/albums/yy61/yukonsupply/Olustee%20Battle%202011/

http://www.battleofolustee.org/ battle website

Garden 2011

2011-02-19T21:14:00.002-05:00

Today, I planted my garden. It’s not big just 3 x 20 feet because it is the only area in my yard that gets any sun. My yard and entire neighborhood is densely treed and sun just doesn’t get to the ground here.

To make the most of this small space I’m planting what’s known as ‘wide row planting’. Normally gardens are planted in single rows with a walk way between each row. In wide row planting you plant two rows next to each other without the walk way between them. This method effectively doubles the output of your garden space.

In my small space I have 4 twenty foot rows planted, not bad for such a small space! But even with this small space it gives me a chance to practice vegetable growing. Gardening is not easy to do well, it takes years of practice, knowledge of the vegetables, bugs, diseases, fertilizing in proper amounts and soil amending for true success.

This year I planted: 5 tomato plants; 1 Roma, 2 Cherry and 2 Big Boy, Carrots, Radish, Basil, Scallions, Shallots, Green Beans and Green Peppers.

As they start to grow I’ll take some photos of the progress.

Reorganizing my “Topics List”

2011-02-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that I’ve been reorganizing my “Topics List” as it has become a bit disjointed (actually a mess) and I will continue to refine it as time goes on. I am not a writer (that should be obvious!) or a typical blogger posting about daily happenings in my life, what a bore that would be. All I intended was a place to store the tested methods I use so others who are interested could easily find what was on their mind at the time of visiting. Hope this organizing helps and as always if you have any thoughts or recommendations, let me know!

Y.M.

Home Canning Caution

2011-02-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

Over at ‘The Survivalist Blog’, M.D. Creekmore posted one of the best articles on the dangers of canning using recipes not tested and approved by laboratories qualified in this science. Canning following the Ball Blue Book is safe, however following Ma and Pa’s “I’ve been doing it this way for years and I’m fine” may make you very ill or even kill you. This is a good read! Thanks M.D. for posting it.

http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/survival-homestead/safe-survival-canning/

Steel Cut Oats vs Oatmeal/Flaked Oat Grain

2011-02-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

I’m fairly sure some of us and people new to prepping don’t know the difference between the two, so here’s the difference. Steel Cut Oats are simply coarse cut oat grain sort of like the texture of coarse sand. Flaked is the same oat grain but flattened, commonly known as Oatmeal.

Oatmeal is on the left and Steel Cut Oats is on the right.

Oatmeal is the same old oatmeal you have eaten for years, a flattened or squashed grain. I stock only regular oatmeal, never instant oatmeal because it has been pre-processed and doesn’t store as long. Regular oatmeal also makes my oatmeal cookies.

Steel Cut Oats are just that, they are cut into chunks or the single grain is cut in half or thirds. Steel Cut Oats cooks in about the same way just a few minutes longer than oatmeal. Steel Cut after cooking has a full grain texture or kind of chewy. It is very pleasant and good tasting. Try it, it is very good and a good change of pace over regular oatmeal.

Steel Cut Oats can be made from your bulk stored oat grain. Simply mill the oat grain on a very coarse mill setting and you’re good to go, it’s the same grain but markedly different tastes. Great for variety surviving disaster events from the same stored whole grain.

Biscuits

2011-02-06T16:26:00.002-05:00

Biscuits are easy to make and a staple for breakfast and camping food made from simple ingredients we should have on hand.

As with all recipes I’ve found on the internet, cookbooks or cooking shows there seems to be dozens of variations to choose from and I wonder if these people ever actually make and eat what they write about?. On my quest to make great biscuits I have tried many of these recipes with poor taste results. Mostly the amount of baking powder and sugar were the culprits. Too much baking powder tastes bitter and leaves an after taste for hours and not enough sugar they taste like plain flour and water. Biscuits should be easy, fun and taste great. Recently I finally came up with a recipe that I think is a winner and would like to share it with you.

Makes about 16-20 Bisquits
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk (or hydrated powdered milk)

Directions:
Preheat the oven as you want to get the dough cooking as soon as it is made.

Place flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl and thoroughly blend.

Add and cut in shortening until the mixture looks like crumbly like the size of small peas.

Now blend in the milk until it just combines, about one minute.

If using a mixer use the flat beater attachment.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat or roll to about a ½ inch thickness and cut into 2 inch diameters or squares.

Place on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 13 minutes or until golden brown.

Surviving Nuclear Detonations

2011-02-06T16:20:00.000-05:00

Some useful survival facts about nuclear detonations and the aftermath.

I don’t like to post doom and gloom subjects of extreme events because we all know about them, but this event is a real possibility and I feel it will happen in the USA within the next ten years. We as Prepared, Self-Reliant and Survivalist individuals need to have a basic factual knowledge about nukes to make logical and realistic decisions to survive a nearby detonation.

One fact that is accurate, we as free people are hated and must be destroyed according to radical Muslims’. These radicals may be relatively small in numbers but it only takes one small cell to plant and detonate a nuke and more than likely multiple nukes in multiple cities. The after effects in those targeted cities will be life changing for decades to come.

The truth is a nuclear detonation is survivable by the majority of people in the area. You will have to think and react fast to be a survivor and knowledge about nukes is critical to allow you to make the correct decisions. I hope the links below and their basic facts will provide you and me with the need to know knowledge to survive one.

Factual Nuke Information Links:
There are a number of factual informative links within these links. Check them out and be a Survivor!

http://iis-db.stanford.edu/pubs/21872/DayAfterWorkshopReport.pdf

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/pdf/dirtybombs.pdf

http://www.nti.org/e_research/cnwm/overview/technical3.asp?print=true

Gravity Fed, Safe Drinking Water Filter

2011-01-28T19:47:00.005-05:00

Water Filters, How to Make Your Own

Water, there is not enough I can say about how important water is. Most all of us take it for granted and it usually gets put on the back burner when we plan or begin building our self-reliant food storage preps, we should not. It is more important than stored food because without clean water you can not prepare your stored survival food or drink clean water to flush the ever present toxins from your body which if allowed to elevate, will quickly terminate your life. Without water within 3 days your body will be well on its way to shutting down from internal toxic poisoning and you will probably die in absolute misery within the next week. Without clean, bug free water it just doesn’t matter how much food or ammo you have stored.

Humans require 1–1½ gallons of clean water a day ‘per person’ for drinking and food preparations, possibly more in desert or sub-zero environments.

We live in a world that depends on electricity to run the pumps to pump clean water be it your own well or city wells; if electricity is not available the simple fact is there will be no water… Electricity is a very fragile infrastructure that can abruptly and without warning end. You may have your own water well but it needs an electric pump to access it unless you have or use a hand pump. You may be thinking, ‘I have a generator to run the pump so there’s no issue’. Well what do you do when your gas supply runs out? Again you will have no water.

The only limitless water alternative will be from clean creeks, streams, rivers, lakes and ponds that are non-highway runoff ponds. Highway runoff ponds will be loaded with garbage truck drippings, chemicals, antifreeze and other unthinkables.

After retrieving the raw water you still can’t drink or cook with that water because there may be bad bacteria in it and if you did you will become extremely ill from using it. The water must be chemically treated or passed through a ceramic water filter specifically made to remove the bacteria and infectious bugs.

A Doulton Ceramic water filter system is a must have for self-reliant survival. Below is what I made and use. It’s inexpensive and very easy to make and without any special tools just simple hand tools like a small pocket knife or box cutter.

Here’s how to make your own clean water ceramic filter capable of providing over 1,000 gallons of safe water for $80.97 including shipping!

Materials list and source:

Buckets:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=33032&catid=752
2 required @ $4.88 each

Lid:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=43849&catid=752
1 required @ $1.36
This lid covers the filtered water bucket and nests the raw water buckets on top.

Soft Lid/Cover:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=38893&catid=686
required @ $1.22
this lid is to cover the raw water bucket

Spigot:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=65805&catid=810
1 required @ $3.65

Filters:
http://www.dehydrated-food.net/water/
2 ceramic 7" filters required @ $30.00 each

Notes:
Using Your Ceramic Water Filter
The ‘first’ bucket of water will take about 8-12 hours to filter through. This is normal! It takes most of the day for the filters to get completely wetted to begin their full flow operation. After the first day you will be filtering normal at about ½ to ¾ a gallon per hour from then on. So just be aware when you first set up to use the filter from storage it will appear to be not working properly at first because the clean water flow will be very slow, be patient, its fine and this is normal. Overnight it will begin to flow at its full rate and continue to flow at the full rate until the filters need to be cleaned.

Storing Your Ceramic Filters After Use
Proper storage is extremely important. You must have your system is ready to produce life saving clean water when you need it most, and that moment is the moment you take it out of storage for use.
Immediately after use, clean the ceramic candles outside surfaces with a Scotch-Brite Pad and fresh water only. Use the Scotch-Brite pad and scrub off any discoloration or visible dirt. Do not use soap or any other type of cleaner.

Let the ceramic candles air dry for 3-4 days or longer if needed to be sure they are dry completely through. You can remove the candles from the filter housing and place in a zip-lock bag or place the entire filter unit into a plastic storage bag and seal tightly to keep airborne dust or bugs out for long term storage.

I chose to use 3½ gallon buckets for my filter as this size works fine for my needs and because I store it in my Bug Out Vehicle, my motor home, so space is a concern for me. You can use 3½, 5, 6 or 7 gallon buckets as they will all work the same and give you as much clean water as your circumstances need on hand. All these buckets sizes are available from the same place, USplastics.com.

I also chose to not bolt or attach the ceramic filters to the filtered water bucket lid like many others do. The reason is to save storage space. By not bolting or attaching to the filtered water buckets lid it allows me to nest the raw water bucket (the buckets the ceramic filters are in) inside the filtered water bucket.

When finished with your assembly don’t forget try it and to cycle water through it to wash out any manufacturing ceramic dust and wash the carbon dust off the charcoal filter inside the cartridges. As per the manufacturers instructions I cycled 3 gallons through mine twice dumping that water down the drain, then re-filll the raw water reservoir and the filtered water is now ready for use.

The two Doulton Super Sterasyl Ceramic Filters

End view of the filter

The tools I used. These are tools I have on hand.

I did not buy these for this project as you could use a

pocket knife or box cutter to do the job with.

The two 3½ gallon buckets, one ridged lid and one soft

flexible lid/cover for covering the raw water bucket.

The buckets and lid with the holes drilled. One hole in the

bottom-side of the filtered water bucket for the spigot,

two holes in the bottom of the raw water bucket for the

two filters to secure in and the ridged lid with two clearance

holes for the filters wing nuts to pass through when the raw

water bucket is placed on top of it.

Raw water bucket bottom with the two filters secured.

View inside the raw water bucket showing the filters in

place ready to use.

The assembled water filter system ready to use.

The raw water bucket nested inside the filtered water bucket

for compact storage.

The filter system ready for storage.

Information from the sellers’ website about Doulton Water Filters:
http://www.dehydrated-food.net/water/doulton/whyusedoulton.html

Doulton® water filter systems are especially designed to micro-filter a supply of safe drinking water from cisterns, ponds, streams, and other sources of questionable water. These very reliable filters are manufactured to the highest grade available in the world. They are corrosion resistant, hygienic, durable, and easy to clean.

Doulton® water filters are also compact, portable, and simple to operate. Requiring no external plumbing, each filter takes only minutes to assemble and can provide up to 24 gallons or more of safe drinking water each day. The high-tech silver-impregnated ceramic elements feature a nominal filtration efficiency of : 0.2 microns, greater than 98%, at 0.5 microns, greater than 99.9%, and at 0.9 microns, greater than 99.99% which effectively blocks waterborne pathogens and clarifies the water.

These filters are in common everyday use in households across the world, and are particularly effective on private well systems. Their replaceable filter elements have an activated carbon core and are designed to remove undesirable tastes, odors, and many organic chemicals.

The ease of operation combined with a proven effectiveness at eliminating water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid has led to the filter being the preferred unit for field operations by many of the world's major aid and emergency relief organizations.

Produces safe drinking water from lakes, cisterns, streams, etc.

Reliable design uses gravity — no pumps to wear out:

Long lasting filter elements will filter up to 60,000 gallons (using four elements), depending on turbidity level of the water being filtered and proper care of the filter elements

What the filter will remove:
Absolute filtration efficiency to 0.5 microns (U.S.) For particles 0.2 microns, efficiency is greater than 98%; from 0.3 to 0.5 microns, filtration efficiency is greater than 99%.

E.Coli; Greater than 99.99%
Klebsiella: Greater than 99.99%
Cholera; Greater than 99.99%
Shigella; Greater than 99.99%
Salmonella; Greater than 99.99%
Giardia Lambia; 100%
Live Cryptosporidium; 100%

How the filter works:
The special ceramic elements are manufactured specifically for use in this gravity filter. Doulton® ceramic elements consist of a fine microporous structure, which forms a complete barrier to all particles larger than 0.5 microns in size (1 Micron = 1/1,000th of a millimeter). All particles above this size become trapped on the surface and within the ceramic material. Fine particles of silver are evenly dispersed within the structure of the filter element, which prevent the growth of bacteria (mitosis) within the ceramic wall. The Doulton® elements also contain an additional activated carbon filling, which removes chemical and organic compounds from the water and improves its taste and odor.

After passing through the filter elements, safe, filtered water then collects in the lower chamber to be drawn off from a tap. The structure of the ceramic material is designed to be cleanable and regular cleaning of the element will allow its filtration efficiency to become regenerated. The elements may be cleaned over 100 times before replacement becomes necessary.

The Doulton® water filtration systems are the original gravity-fed water purifiers, and have been used since 1827.

You've probably heard of the "British Berky" water systems, sold on many websites. They are simply copies of the original Doulton systems. In fact, the "new" Berky systems are not only NOT made in England, but they now use a lower quality black filter, which can't be cleaned and reused (like the original Doulton ceramic filter), but the black filters perform no better than filters you can buy at Home Depot!

About the “Black Berky Filters”:
I don’t recommend Black Berky filters because they require priming before use!!!! Why? Because when you need clean filtered water you probably will not have pressurized safe water or enough clean safe water to prime them with!

Click on the link below for instructions to use the Black Berky Filters.
http://www.berkeyfilters.com/priming-black-filters.htm

Everyday each person needs 1-2 gallons of clean and safe water to drink and cook with. This water supply must be available to you 24/7 including during any emergency that may come up plus an accessible water source for replenishing the raw water as needed.

The commonly accepted method for storing emergency fresh water is in 55 gallon plastic drums. This method works but is a pain, plus needs a lot of storage room for the multiple drums needed and when the water is used up you are out of water. Also, keeping this water safe to drink means constantly monitoring of its sterile condition.

There is a much safer and far easier way. It’s the portable ceramic water filter.

The feature I like most is I can store this filter system indefinitely because there are no batteries or other needed chemicals to make it work. So when a disaster strikes, whether at home or if I have to Bug Out to a remote location, my water filter comes with me and I know I will always have safe water.

This filter system is just too easy to use:

Simply pour raw water in the top chamber then gravity draws the water through the filters that remove all the nasty bugs. No power of any type is needed. Configured with two ceramic Doulton filter elements the system can purify water at a rate of over 3 Gallons per hour!

Filter Life and Maintenance:
No need for expensive disposable filters. The Doulton ceramic filters are cleanable. When the flow rate decreases simply brush the filter elements with a ScotchBrite pad under running water, reinstall and your system is again ready to purify water. Each durable and efficient purification filter can last for up to 15,000 gallons (30,000 gallons per set of two) and provide years of efficient water purification. What's more, the Doulton ceramic filters have silver particles blended in the ceramic and makes them self-sterilizing.

Bread Baking Today

2011-01-22T20:32:00.003-05:00

I normally bake my own whole wheat bread from my freshly milled hard white wheat grain every weekend. Today I thought I’d show those who haven’t gotten into baking from long term stored grains what can be made from a loaf of bread other than just a plain loaf.

In the top photo is the fresh dough beginning to rise and the bottom photo is just out of the oven.
(you can always click on these or any of my photo's to enlarge them and if you click on the enlarged photo it will fill your screen for a close up look)

In the pictures are what two loaves can make. In the left pan are 16 bread sticks, each stick is equivalent to one slice of bread. 16 bread sticks are made from one loaf recipe.

In the right pan are 4 burger buns and 3 hoagie or sub sandwich loaves from one loaf recipe. One loaf can make 6 hoagies or 8 burger buns.

These particular burger buns are only 3½ inches in diameter and that’s because it was cool in the house today and rising was slow and I was running out of time today. Normally they rise and bake to the prefect 4 inch diameter burger buns.

The hoagies also suffered a little from the coolness and finished 7 x 2½ inches wide. Normally they bake to 8 x 3 inches wide.

In the bread sticks, burger buns and hoagie loaves recipes I add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and use 1/3 cup of sugar instead of ¼ cup per loaf. It makes them taste great when eating them plain like I do at work for my snacks and lunch.

Hope this helps with your future self-reliant baking goals!

Oil Lantern

2011-01-22T18:34:00.001-05:00

This week I finally bought the oil lantern I should have bought in the first place; the $16.00 Dietz #90 lantern. Three reasons for this choice; One, the large 7¾ inch diameter base for stability, Two, for the large tank (31oz) that will allow a burn time of 27 hours (1.15 ounces per hour) and Three, it is one of the brightest at 12-14 candlepower. If I use the lantern 4 hours at night and 2 hours in the morning I won’t have to refuel if for 4½ days. This will save time and the inconvenience of repeated fill-ups. I also like the bail handle for easy moving around or if I have to hang it up.

Fuel consumption at my rate of 6 hours a day would be 9.2 days per ½ gallon or 18.4 days per gallon or 3 months for 5 gallons of fuel.

Wick usage is less than ½ inch per gallon of fuel or one wick will be used up about every 5 gallons of fuel burned.

I also purchased an extra globe and 10 wicks. The ten wicks will last me through 50 gallons of fuel or 2½ years of everyday use.

The lantern is of good value and construction plus it’s very bright for an oil lamp. I am pleased with this purchase and do recommend it as a should have for your first oil lamp purchase.

Here’s where I bought it from plus the stores product details:

http://www.lanternnet.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WKL&Product_Code=DHL90&Category_Code=DL

W. T. Kirkman Lanterns Inc. http://www.lanternnet.com/
is a good source for all your oil lamp needs and much oil lamp information. They’re worth a visit.

Manufacturers notes:
The #2 Blizzard (or now #90) was originally billed as the "King of the Cold Blast Lanterns," and was in fact one of the first Cold Blast Lanterns produced; being so, it takes the older style #852 Fitzall globe. This workhorse of a lantern is still used as a primary source of light in many parts of the world, and is still a real favorite here in the U.S.

Specifications:
•15" High, 7 3/4" Base Diameter
•Average 12-14 Candle Power
•7/8" Wick
•31 oz. Fount Capacity, 27 Hour Burning Time
•Approximate Thermal Output: 1400 BTU per Hour
•Operates on Average at 6 Cents per Hour worth of Lamp Oil.
•Wicked and ready to add oil

Can Opener for #10 Cans

2011-01-17T19:14:00.003-05:00

When I first began buying #10 cans of dehydrated or freeze dried food for long term storage I wanted to test cook with them and found it was a real struggle to open these big cans. They seemed to have thicker metal and a larger and deeper perimeter lip than the everyday soup can or coffee cans. The openers I had on hand at the house just didn’t fit the big cans geometry well at all and it was a work-out to open one of these cans. It was to the point I was ready to us my survival knife to open the cans. I had seen the Swing-Away can opener on a preparedness online store but didn’t want to pay the shipping for a $12.00 item. A while back I was at Ace Hardware and they carry the Swing-Away brand there and I did buy one for $9.00, not only less than the online store but no shipping charges either.

Without a doubt this Swing-Away brand can opener is one well designed can opener. It opens the big #10 cans with ease and all the other size cans you may have as well. Turning the crank is almost effortless as the cutting wheel slices through the big lid. There’s no fighting the opener or the opener popping off the can while turning the handle.

If you’re looking for a high quality, made in the USA, manual can opener that feels like it was made just for the Survivalist, this is your opener!

Polenta

2011-01-11T20:37:00.003-05:00

Polenta

I’ve read about Polenta for a long time but never seen or tasted it. Last week I decided to look into it because it’s made with cornmeal, one of the foods I store long term. I’m always interested in learning different ways to use my stored foods.

After a number of tweaks to many recipes I came up with this simple Survival recipe and was very surprised at how good Polenta tastes. Polenta is similar to Grits but much smoother and very tasty. It’s simply cornmeal and water.

Cornmeal should be in long term food stocks but normally it’s used just for corn bread or on a pizza pan before the dough goes on. Now we have another use for it. Try it; it really is very good with any survival meal or side dish.

Makes 1¾ cups cooked

Ingredients:

½ cup cornmeal
2 cups of water
1 tsp salt

Directions

In a pot add 1 cup of water and the salt. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
In a mixing bowl add ½ cup of water and ½ cup of cornmeal then blend together. This step is important because if you add dry cornmeal directly into the boiling water it will be lumpy and will not blend into a creamy polenta.

After blending add the cornmeal mixture to the boiling water and stir to blend.

Simmer for 25 minutes.

Serve on a small plate or bowl. Eat it plain or as an option you can top with pasta sauce, ketchup or whatever you like.

You can also shape it into patties and fry them like hamburgers.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T19:31:00.000-05:00

To all of you, thanks for visiting and Have a Prosperous and Safe New Year!

Also this year: because I have been missing some comments, especially comments left on older posts, I have switched to all comments moderation before posting. This way I am sure to be notified of your comments and then be able to answer any questions that you may have asked.

Dry Bulk Food Storage Goal Finally Met

2010-12-29T08:12:00.003-05:00

This weekend I finally completed my first goal of six months of dry bulk food storage for two people. It will let me prepare three survival meals a day for two people for six months or about 540 meals for two people.

My latest trip to the supermarket was to pick up several varieties of beans, rice, cornmeal, grits and pasta to top off my 5 quart jug storage. When checking out I had half a cart full of 6-12 pounds of each item and the checkout girl was looking at me kind of funny. Finally she asked, what was I going to do with all this? I have a stock answer for these people. “I donate it to my church so they can feed needy people”. A smile came to her face and all was now fine in her world…

About my food storage let me be clear here, this particular type of dry bulk food storage is for “Hard Core Survival Eating” or to stay alive in the worst of times. Not included or discussed here are my can meats, fruits, vegetables, dehydrated foods and spices that will increase the amount of meals stored.

I’ve been working on this six month level for about five years. It’s not that it was expensive to do but figuring out just what to store was the hard part and I made a number of mistakes along the way. The test cooking of these items as I went onward took the most time. I’m now quite happy with what I have in stock and maybe you can get some ideas for yourself from the item list below. This is a quick look at what I do and how much I store of dry bulk food. I’ll get into more detail and recipes in later posts.

The total amount of food I have stored here excluding all the wheat grain and all purpose flour that’s used for bread and baking is a total of 976 cups of dry food. When prepared, this dry amount will at least double and sometimes triple depending on the food after it’s cooked. So the actual yield will be 2-3 cup meals from just one cup of dry stored food.

I use two methods for my dry bulk food storage:
You will see that I have two methods of storage. One is in five quart jugs and the other is in 5 gallon buckets.

Five Quart Jugs; The Best Way to Begin Dry Food Storage:
Why five quart jugs?
In the beginning I didn’t want to buy 5 gallon buckets of dry food without being able to test cook meals first. What if I didn’t like it? I’ve just wasted that money so I needed a way to buy and store smaller amounts first and test cook it to see if we liked it.

Supermarkets carry many of the survival dry foods in 1-5 lb bagged quantities and for all the different grains or beans that the supermarket doesn’t carry most health food stores carry those in small amounts.

The jugs let me have a large variety of food items in a small space and I can spend $5-$6 a week building the initial amounts and then test cook them along the way. I’m also a believer in using this food at least on a weekly basis. For one, it saves money on the food budget and the other is it allows constant practice of new recipes and how to cook great tasting meals while leaning the many tricks of cooking with dry bulk foods. With my jug system I have 24 varieties of dry food stored in 48 jugs. So there are two jugs of each variety giving me 2½ gallons of each in a very convenient way to access any of these foods. The shelving unit is in the extra bedroom closet. Some of the most used foods in the jugs can be refilled from the bucket stock.

Here’s what my jug storage looks like.

5-Quart Jugs in the Closet Pantry, 24 varieties in 48 Jugs:
(4 Shelves Used, 2 Jugs of each = 2.5 gallons or ½ a bucket of each variety)
(*also in 5 gallon Bucket Stock)

Top Shelf #1
Potato, Instant Mashed
Milk, Instant Non-Fat
Cream of Soup Mix
Rice, White Long Grain*
Barley, Pearled*
Oats, Rolled

Shelf #2
Elbow, Pasta*
Egg Noodles, Pasta*
Spaghetti, Pasta*
Orzo, Pasta
Shells, Pasta
Penne, Pasta

Shelf #3
Rotini, Pasta
Wheat, Hard White*
Garbanzo, Beans
Lentil, Beans*
Grits
Corn Meal

Bottom Shelf #4
Pinto, Beans
Red Small Kidney, Beans
Navy White, Beans
Sugar*
Salt, Table*
Salt, Canning

Bucket Storage:
Why 5 gallon buckets?
That’s pretty simple as it’s the best way to store large amounts of dry bulk food cheaply and safely. As you can see I only needed 18 buckets for my six month storage program and it fits nicely in three shelves of a 18 x 48 x 72 inch tall heavy duty wire shelving unit purchased from Sam’s Club. You can buy these wire shelving units most anywhere. These shelves hold 650 lbs per shelf so they’re pretty stout.

Here’s what my 5 gallon Bucket Storage looks like:

5-Gallon Buckets (18 buckets):
(3 Shelves used, *packed in gallon bags)

Top Shelf
1 Flour, All Purpose White
1 Barley, Pearled*
1 Beans Lentil*
1 Salt, Table
2 Sugar, White

Middle Shelf
4 Wheat, Hard White
2 Rice, White Long Grain*

Bottom Shelf
2 Pasta, Elbow*
2 Pasta, Egg Noodles*
2 Pasta, Spaghetti*

In the buckets alone excluding the Wheat, All Purpose White Flour, Salt and Sugar buckets I have there are 704 meals in the buckets. That’s 704 meals or 234 days for one person! As you can see it doesn’t take a lot of room to be prepared for the worst.

The 4 buckets of stored Wheat can bake a total of 120 loaves of bread to go along with your meals.

Sources I use for Jugs and Buckets:

Source for 5 gallon buckets
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23220&catid=752

Source for Plastic Jugs
http://www.freundcontainer.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_34408_A_cn_E_58

Gamma Seal Lids
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24282&catid=686

Light weight wire shelf unit in Closet Pantry
I bought mine at Target. These are commonly available at any hardware or big box stores.

Heavy Duty wire shelf unit for the bucket storage I bought at Sam’s Club.

Kerosene Lamps and Lanterns

2010-12-28T21:14:00.002-05:00

The kerosene table lamp I have (in the photo above) is nice looking and inexpensive. The fuel stores just about indefinitely and the lamp not being complicated it should work whenever needed. It gives off a nice emergency light that will keep you from being totally in the dark and that makes oil lamps a lighting option for emergency use.

As with all flame powered devices used inside your home there is always the possibility of a malfunction and a fire that could cost your everything you own and no place to go afterward.

I bought my lantern long before I got into thoughtful prepping and looking back I shouldn’t have purchased this style of lantern because of its unstable design. The base of this lamp is very small in diameter at 3 inches and that makes it a likely candidate for an accidental tip over. Imagine the lamp on you kitchen table and someone bumps into the table knocking it over. There’s your disaster, and another reason to own an appropriate sized fire extinguisher! To try and prevent this from happening I epoxy bonded the lamp to a small plate. Hopefully this will keep a tip-over from happening.

The lantern I should have bought and is on my list of must haves is the $16.00, Dietz #90 lantern. Three reasons for this choice; One, the large 7¾ inch diameter base for stability, Two, for the large tank (31oz) that will allow a burn time of 27 hours (1.15 ounces per hour) and Three, it is one of the brightest at 12-14 candlepower. If I use the lantern 4 hours at night and 2 hours in the morning I won’t have to refuel if for 4½ days. This will save time and the inconvenience of repeated fill-ups. I also like the bail handle for easy moving around or if I have to hang it up.

Fuel consumption at my rate would be 9.2 days per ½ gallon jug or 18.4 days per stored gallon of fuel or 3 months for 5 gallons.

Wick usage is less than ½ inch per gallon of fuel or one wick will be used up about every 5 gallons of fuel burned.

http://www.lanternnet.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WKL&Product_Code=DHL90&Category_Code=DL

http://www.lanternnet.com/
W. T. Kirkman Lanterns Inc. is a good source for all your oil lamp needs and much oil lamp information. They’re worth a visit.

Manufacturers notes:
The #2 Blizzard (or now #90) was originally billed as the "King of the Cold Blast Lanterns," and was in fact one of the first Cold Blast Lanterns produced; being so, it takes the older style #852 Fitzall globe. This workhorse of a lantern is still used as a primary source of light in many parts of the world, and is still a real favorite here in the U.S.

Specifications:
•15" High, 7 3/4" Base Diameter
•Average 12-14 Candle Power
•7/8" Wick
•31 oz. Fount Capacity, 27 Hour Burning Time
•Apprx. Thermal Output: 1400 BTU per Hour
•Operates on Average at 6 Cents per Hour worth of Lamp Oil.
•Wicked and ready to add oil

More Continuing Bad News for the Gulf and BP Oil “Gusher” Spill

2010-12-27T21:45:00.001-05:00

Thanks Mayberry for the link http://mayberry-keepitsimplestupid.blogspot.com/2010/12/it-aint-over-yet.html

We will all be affected by the BP “Gusher” that went on without a lick of help from Osama Administration. It’s not a surprise to me as a sport and food fisherman as I know how fragile sea life is, that this would be catastrophic with that amount of oil gushing unchecked for so long. And not to mention the massive amount of oil that will change the Gulfstream flow which will greatly affect weather in Europe.

Most people who don’t live around here don’t care because it doesn’t directly affect their life or so they think. It will soon, as the seafood they try to buy from the Gulf and East Coast fishing grounds will be banned from consumption because of dangerously high oil chemical levels.

My personal opinion; everyone in CONgress who did nothing to stop Osama from ignoring the BP “Gusher” disaster, especially when so many countries offered help, should be arrested and sent to GITMO for the rest of their lives. We The Taxpayers and our children will suffer the consequences of these morons for decades to come.

Here’s the link from Mayberry:
http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2010/dec/ed_2/index.phtml

Knife Sharpener, Electric

2010-12-26T10:17:00.003-05:00

I absolutely hate sharpening knives. Doing all the kitchen knives by hand takes way to long and my free time is minimal. I just want kitchen knives that easily slice tomatoes and that’s perfect for me, so the search went on for an electric sharpener.

This week I bought a Smith’s Compact Knife Sharpener for just under $25 at Target. I liked the compact size and the grinding ‘wheel’ design that are grinding wheels that rotate like a bench grinder for fast metal removal when restoring an edge. It also has a ceramic finishing slot to finalize the sharpened edge.

This sharpener actually does a great job and very fast, about 1 minute per knife, I like the fast part! Depending on how dull my knives were it takes 2-4 passes per side through the rotary grinding wheels and 4 strokes through the ceramic finishing slot and presto, I had a great knife edge for kitchen work and yes it was tested on tomatoes and passed the test excellently, like the skins weren’t even there. This sharpener really works!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T23:13:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all of you for stopping by this year!
Hope you're having a great, safe and Merry Christmas.....

Yukon

Seasoning Cast Iron, Another Method

2010-12-22T06:29:00.004-05:00

I first read about using ‘Flax Seed Oil’ to season cast iron at Cooksillustrated.com where they tested it in there test kitchen and spoke highly about this method when compared to using regular cooking oil to season with.

For myself regular oil works just fine but if you want to try and make a better non-stick cast iron surface here’s an option. It does take 5 applications so you’ll put some time and effort into it.

http://gnowfglins.com/2010/03/12/how-to-season-cast-iron/

The Bee Die-Off

2010-12-21T05:38:00.002-05:00

The Bee die off I’ve been reading about the last couple of years has me very concerned. Without Bee’s, pollination will be very difficult if not simply impossible to occur. If this article/link is accurate then it appears the Bee Die Off finally has a source and once again, there’s no surprise who is behind it. Government Corruption and Corporate Greed will wipe out the human race far faster than Mother Nature will.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1708896/wiki-bee-leaks-epa-document-reveals-agency-knowingly-allowed-use-of-bee-toxic-pesticide

On the conspiracy side of this story is, what if? What if Monsanto, Bayer and the other chemical and Big Ag companies have a seed they developed in the lab that does not need any pollination? What if they are the only company that has the formula and means to produce these seeds? What if they don’t want to sell those seeds to the public?

Looks like Big Ag now would have the power of the Big Pharmaceuticals…..
If you want to stay alive and need a $100.00 pill everyday (that costs $0.50 to make), you pay it.

Now with Big Ag, if you need a loaf of bread for food in the future, get ready to spend $25.00 for it or starve. Control food and you control all…..

I guess we may need heirloom seeds and learn how to pollinate our own gardens if we want to eat!

Tomatoes, Late Second Harvest

2010-12-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

With last week’s night time temperatures below freezing, down to 20f degrees one of the nights it was just to cold for tall plants to survive even with covering them. The heat from the ground just can’t keep the plants upper area from freezing.

So I picked the tomatoes, the larger ones are full size (their Roma Tomatoes) if I would have has one more month in the ground they would be red. Looks like we’ll be having some breaded and fried green tomatoes for a few days.

Next year I will get the plants for the second crop in the ground no later than 6-15.

Gulf of Mexico Fish Contaminated with Oil?

2010-12-12T06:48:00.002-05:00

http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/black-substance-found-inside-large-fish-florida-fisherman

Living here on the east coast of Florida and regularly shore fishing the news that fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico are catching fish with oil inside them concerns me greatly. I fish the shoreline for food and it’s also ongoing practice if I ever must really depend on my fishing for food during my retirement years or a long term disaster I’ll have the training and experience to be successful.

Now with this news of contaminated fish I may not be able to eat anything I catch for fear of chemical poisoning. I also fear that all the oyster beds will be closed and other commercial fishing banned for ten or more years due to high levels of oil/chemicals the FDA will soon be discovering in the Gulf fish. Our entire food source from the Gulf may be in danger of closing just because of the oil gusher we had and the government did little to stop it especially with the fact that much help to contain it was offered from other countries went unused.

I guess the moral of the story is never count on anything as a sure thing in your survival plan and have a back-up plan just in case. Between man and Mother Nature things can change in an instant.

--- Living Prepared ---

National Geographic, Doomsday Preppers

Toilet Paper, How Much to Store

If you’ve been leaving Comments

Cream of Tomato Soup

Prepper Video by National Geographic

How Long Do Spices Last In Long Term Storage?

Sea Shipping Container Purchasing Source and Information

Pecan Sandies Update

Biggest Lemon I’ve Ever Seen Update

My First PV Solar System 4 Years Later

Biggest Lemon I’ve Ever Seen!

The ZeroWater Filter System

Shovels, Folding

Merry Christmas!

CPR --- Continuous Chest Compression

Congress Is Nuts and Very Dangerous

Lightsticks

Home Made Sausage

Shot Gun Magazine Tube Sling Mount

Camp Stove with 30,000 BTU Burners

Gun Safety, I Shot Myself

My Thoughts about the Chaos in Libya and us!

LED lamps, reader comments

Shucking Corn--Clean Ears Everytime

Sourdough Bread and the Survivalist Baker

12 volt LED Lamp Initial Testing

Chaos in Libya and us!

Pecan Sandies Cookies (like Keebler)

Canned Soup from the Supermarket

Improved 12 volt LED Lamps

Remote fuel tank kit for Honda inverter generators

Telephone Poles, a Fading Memory

Wal-Mart Fresh Pizza Ingredients?

Campfire Cooking and Beans

A Quality Generator Alternative

It’s time to stop buying China junk

Saltine Crackers

Leaf Miners, 8-14-11

Ceramic Water Filters

Plastic Buckets

Rice and Barley Soup

Garden, Second Season 7-29-11

55 Government Programs to Eliminate

Cleaning Your Brass

Rice and Elbow Pasta Soup

Beans and Rice Soup

Yukon’s Hard Lemonade

It’s Hurricane and Generator Season Again!

Whole Wheat Biscuits

Pizza from Your Long Term Food Storage

Spark plug issues; 2004-2008 Ford F-150, Mustang and Explorer

Home-Brew Laundry Detergent

You Might Be A Survivalist If...

Food from the Garden

The final launch of the Shuttle Endeavour

What is Bannock?

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Hamburger Helper Recipe

Chicken Noodle Soup

Whole Wheat and Barley Bread

Red Beans & Rice

Dimethylpolysiloxane used in fast foods?

Food Storage Shelf Life

The Puppy Had Surgery Today

The Truth Behind Milk

Tomato Ketchup, Make Your Own

How to Fix a Flat Tire Yourself

Lentil Soup

Room In You Heart

Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

Two-Way Hand Held Radios with Rechargeable Battery Packs

Cream of Wheat

Key Lime Trees

Effective homemade remedy for watery diarrhea

Barley, Lentil & Rice Soup

Air Rile used by Lewis and Clark

HAM Antenna

﻿Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

The Civil War Battle of Olustee, North Florida

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies