Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today

Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training

I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood

http://scratchcooking.wordpress.com/

I moved this blog to my domain www.motherhoodnaturally.com/scratchcooking
so please update bookmarks, etc!

Spaghetti Sauce Mix November 29, 2008
Posted by stormysar

This is a highly versatile recipe that is essentially a base. use it as is, or add additional ingredients such as minced onion (dried), green pepper flakes, or whatever suits your fancy.

The following is based on one can or a pint of tomatoe sauce. A pinch of baking soda will reduce the tomato bitterness if there is one - just use a pinch it’s all you need!

Then I add: italian seasoning (1 Tbsp), basil (2 Tbsp), parsley(2Tbsp), garlic powder (1/2 Tsp), salt (1/2 tsp)and pepper (1/2 tsp).

Then I taste, and add more of something if necessary.

Homemade Garlic Powder November 19, 2008
Posted by stormysar

This is really a very simple task.

You can use either your own garlic (best taste) or garlic from the store. In my most recent case, I bought a 3lb bag of garlic from Sam’s Club that I hadn’t used yet and wanted to use the remainder before it went bad).

The kids and I peeled garlic cloves and put them in a bowl. I ran them through my food processor to slice them (or you can do this by hand… But trust me slicing them in the food processor is loads faster).

Then I lay them on a single layer in the dehydrator. Run the dehydrator until the slices are dry and brittle. In my case this took overnight, but I hear in better made dehydrators it goes much quicker :-)

Run the dry slices through the food processor until ground into a fine powder. Then pour into your container of choice - in my case it was the garlic powder container that had just gone empty.

Beware: homemade garlic powder is very potent. You’ll likely use less than what is called for in recipes :-)

Pita Bread (Delish!)
November 19, 2008
Posted by stormysar

Make these to go with the shish tawook and garlic paste recipes (on this site) for a great lebanese dinner.

Pita Bread recipe:

2.5c bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 c warm water

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees (F)

Mix yeast and sugar into water, let foam (about 10 minutes)

Mix in rest of ingredients until dough ball is smooth.

Pat dough ball into a circular shape that is pretty even all around, and cut into 8 wedges.

Roll those wedges into balls.

Dust with flour and let sit under a damp, light towel for 30 minutes.

Flatten into a disc about 6 inches in diameter and about 3/16 in. thick.

Place on a square of foil directly on the oven rack. Bake about 5-8 minutes.

Lasagna
November 16, 2008
Posted by stormysar

1lb Ground Beef/Chuck
2 C./2 Cans worth of Spaghettie Sauce (we make our own - Recipe on site)
1 box/12 or so Lasagna noodles (we make our own now, too. Recipe to come soon)
1 lb. Ricotta Cheese (again, can be made at home - I’ll add the recipe to this site)
1/2 C. parmesan Cheese
1/2 C. parmesan cheese (in a seperate container)
8 oz Mozzarella Cheese
Parsley (about 1-2 Tbsp dried)

Brown your beef and drain if necessary. Add to your spaghetti sauce and heat.

Combine riccotta, 1/2 c parmesan and about 1/2 c. Mozzarella cheese and set aside.

Shred remaining mozzarella and combine with last 1/2 c. of Parmesan.

Put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 cassarole dish. Lay down 3 noodles. Top with riccota cheese mixture. layer with noodles, then sauce, then noodles, then ricotta. Depending on how many noodles you have and how much lasagna you like, you can do another layer of sauce. Don’t make it too high or it won’t heat all the way through the center. Put a final layer of noodles on the top, then the rest of your mozzarella cheese/parmesan mixture.

Bake, covered at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake about another 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Freezes great - line your casserole dish with foil, layer your lasagna, don’t add cheese to the very top layer and chill then freeze. once solid, remove from dish, finish prepping for the freezer and include a bag of mozz/parmesan cheese mixture seperately and once the lasagna is thawed and ready for the oven go ahead and add the top cheese. Or throw in the oven still frozen and bake for double the time suggested.

Mac & Cheese
November 16, 2008
Posted by stormysar

I’ve been cooking up a storm in the kitchen trying to freeze as many meals and sides as I can before baby #4 arrives. We make this in double batches (a single batch just barely feeds the family anymore! lol)

3 cups Elbow Macaroni, Rotini or your choice of noodles
1/4 C. Butter
1/4 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 Tsp pepper
1/2 Tsp Dry mustard
1/2 Tsp. Worchestershire Sauce
2 C. Milk
1/2 lb Cheddar (one 8 oz. block), shredded (sharp has a better flavor, but mild or medium will work fine too)

Cook the noodles according to your directions.

melt butter over low heat in a sauce pan. Add flour, salt, pepper, sauce and mustard. Stir until combined and bubbly. Remove pan from heat, slowly stir in milk and return to burner on medium. Heat, stirring occasionally, until near boiling. Liquid should become creamy and bubbly at this point. Turn off heat, remove from burner and stir in shredded cheese until melted.

Eat it right away! or bake at about 325 Degrees for 20 minutes or until your preferred doneness. Bread crumbs added on the top make for a yummy texture, too.

Crockpot Oatmeal
November 16, 2008
Posted by stormysar

1.5 Cups rolled oats
4 Cups water
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 C raisins
1/4c dry milk
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp cinnimon

combine all and cook on low for about 3 hours. If you have a crock with a timer, set it to turn on 3 hours before you plan to eat. i just set my alarm and wake up to turn my crockpot on 3 hours before I plan to be up!

This is GREAT for busy mornings, or for a healthy breakfast to start your day. my kids love oatmeal, so this is a regular with our family.

You can also add walnuts and other fruit, or omit sweetners.

Don’t cook too long or your oatmeal will become rubbery and mush-like. You can use steel cut oats and cook a few hours longer if you want to make it an all nighter - about 8 hours or so.

Brownies
September 22, 2008
Posted by stormysar

You can keep dry ingredients together in jars to have pre-measured ingredients on hand when the craving hits, then add the wet stuff when you mix it……. :-)

1/2 c. Shortening (butter gives it the best taste - oil is alright, but actual vegetable shortening (bad to use, I know) takes a LOT of flavor away.
1 c. sugar (I’m told this can be reduced by 1/2 and it still tastes sweet - I haven’t tried it yet)
2 Large eggs
2/3c Flour (Cake flour makes for nice cake-y brownies if you care to experiment)
1/2 c Cocoa
1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Optional: walnuts and/or chocolate chips (I always throw a handful or two into the mixer if I have them on hand)

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased pan or casserole dish. Bake 30 min or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center (keeping in mind that chocolate chips will be melted, so poke a couple of times if need be so you don’t mistake a chocolate chip as brownies not being done). Oven temp: 350 degrees (F)

Let cool before cutting, or if you want to be really, really bad use a spoon to take a bite from a corner….

Apple Crisp
September 13, 2008
Posted by stormysar

My husbands favorite - we make it each fall when apples are plentiful and cheap! :-) You can also use your favorite apple pie filling recipe and use the second set of ingredients as your topping.

8 cups of peeled, cored, thinely sliced apples
1/2 C Granulated Sugar
2 TBSP Cornstarch
2 Tsp Cinnamon
3/4 C. Unbleached All Purpose Flour

Mix above ingredients together and pour into a square baking dish.

1 C rolled oats
3/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C cold butter, cut up into small chunks
3/4 C pecans or walnuts

Mix above ingredients together and rub the butter chunks between your fingers until it’s no longer noticable.

Evenly spread above mixture over apple mixture.

Bake on middle rack of oven 45 min-1 hr at 350 Degrees (F). If topping browns too much, cover with foil.

Delish on it’s own, or served over vanilla ice cream!

Homemade Flour Tortilla Shells (Husband Approved!)
September 13, 2008
Posted by stormysar

2 C All Purpose Flour *substitute 1 cup of whole wheat, if you prefer whole wheat tortillas
1.5 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Vegetable Oil (I used Olive)
3/4 C Warm Milk

Mix dry ingredients, then slowly add the milk while stirring. Knead on floured surface until fough becomes firm and soft. Let rest for 20 minutes (note: the dough is resting - not supposed to rise).

Divide dough into 8 sections, roll into balls, and let rest another 10 minutes. The resting is so the dough can be rolled out nicely and isn’t too elastic-y.

Roll dough on floured surface into a circular shape abotu 8 inches in diameter. FOllow the same procedure for rolling out pie crust, if you’re familiar with that.

Cook the tortillas on a dry skillet over high heat about 30 seconds or so on each side. It may puff a bit, or develop little air bubbles. They’re done if you see very light browning on any bubbled areas. Flip and cook the other side.

Finished tortillas should still be soft and resemble the same texture as flour tortillas. They can be stored in the fridge in a plastic bag or foil until used. You can also freeze these in an airtight container or bag.

These are wonderful if you add cheese to one half, flip the other half over the cheese and then fry up in a small amount of butter or oil. Instant cheese quesadilla and oh so yummy!

http://scratchcooking.wordpress.com/category/seasonings/

Italian Dressing (and mix)
August 15, 2008

Posted by stormysar

# 1 tablespoon garlic salt
# 1 tablespoon onion powder
# 1 tablespoon white sugar (ioptional)
# 2 tablespoons dried oregano
# 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
# 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
# 1 teaspoon dried basil
# 1 tablespoon dried parsley
# 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
# 1.5-2 tablespoons salt

Combine above in an airtight container.

To prepare: Wisk 2 TB mix, 1/4c red or white vinegar, 2/3 c Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or Canola oil), and 2 TB water.

Taco Seasoning

June 14, 2008
Posted by stormysar

2 Tsp Minced Onion
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Chili Powder
1/2 Tsp Corn Starch
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
1/2 Tsp Crushed Dried Red Pepper (optional - adds a bite!)
1/4 Tsp Oregano

Mix and add to your browned beef with 3/4 cup of water.

Double, Triple, Quadruple this recipe if you desire to make up extra batches for future use. 6 1/4 teaspoons is equal to one serving per pound of beef.

Beef Stew Seasoning
June 14, 2008
Posted by stormysar

2 cups All Purpose Flour
4 Tsp Oregano
2 Tbsp Basil
4 1/4 Tsp Salt, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Paprika
1 Tsp Cayenne
2 Tbsp Celery Seed
4 1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
2 Tsp Rosemary

Mix, store in a jar and use 2-3 Tbsp per 2lbs of beef (or to taste!)

http://scratchcooking.wordpress.com/category/convenience-foods/

Homemade Frozen Hashbrowns

July 19, 2008
Posted by stormysar

Pretty simple!

Steam potatoes. Cool, remove skins. Grate by hand and lay shreds out on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Freeze. Once frozen you may break them into managable parts and freeze individually. You may fry them frozen, semi-frozen or thawed, and cook the same way in recipes.

You can add melted butter, onion, garlic before freezing, and any seasonings you may like.

http://scratchcooking.wordpress.com/category/bread/

Whole Wheat Bread
June 28, 2008
Posted by stormysar

Whole Wheat Bread

3-3.25 cups of unbleached bread flour
2.25 tsp. yeast
1.75c warm water
1/3c brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. salt

Combine water, sugar and yeast. Let proof. Mix 2 c bread flour, salt and butter until smooth. Add whole wheat flour, then continue adding the remaining bread flour until dough forms. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in a greased pan and grease all sides of the dough. Let it rise 1.5 hours or until double. Punch down, form into loaves, place into greased bread pans, cover and let rise another 1.25 hours or until double. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread
June 28, 2008
Posted by stormysar

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 c honey
1/4 c melted butter
1 tablespoon salt
4.5 tsp regular yeast
2 1/4 c water (about 120-130 degrees F)
3-4 cups of unbleached bread flour
Butter to brush loaves with once cooked.

Combine water, honey and yeast and let proof. Add about 2 cups of bread flour, salt, butter and mix until smooth. Add whole wheat flour and mix until well blended. Add remaining flour, 1/2c at a time, until dough forms. Knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Coat a big bowl with butter, slide the dough ball around in the bowl to coat all sides of the dough, put plastic wrap or a towel over and let it rise 40-60 minutes or until doubled. Punch down and shape into loaves, grease bread pans and place loaves in each pan. Grease all sides of the dough again. Cover and let rise 25-50 minutes or until double.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.

White Bread #2
June 28, 2008
Posted by stormysar

White Bread #2

5.5-6.25 c unbleached bread flour
2.25 tsp. yeast
2.25c milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter (not melted)
2 tsp salt

Combine flour and yeast in a big mixing bowl. In a saucepan, heat milk, sugar butter and salt until just warm - 115-120 degrees), stirring constantly until butter almost melts. Add to dry mixture. Mix until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form dough, knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Grease a bowl, grease all sides of the dough, cover and let rise for double - about 1 hr 15 minutes. Punch down, shape into loaves, place into greased pan, grease loaves and let rise until double again - about 45-60 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes.

White Bread #1
June 28, 2008
Posted by stormysar

Note: all purpose flour can be used in place of bread flour, but you may not get as nice of a rise or texture.

White Bread

6-7 cups unbleached bread flour
3 Tablespoons of sugar (or Rapadura)
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons of melted butter
4.5 tsp regular yeast
2 1/4 c. very warm water (hot to the touch - about 120-130 degrees)
Extra butter to coat loaves with when they come out of the oven.

Combine water, yeast and sugar and let the yeast proof for a bit. I let mine sit about 5-10 minutes.

Add 3.5 cups of flour, the butter, and salt to the yeast/water/sugar mix. Beat with a hand mixer (or mix by hand) on low for 1 minute then medium for 1 minute. Add flour, about 1 cup at a time, while mixing until dough forms a ball. Knead, by hand or with machine, until a smooth, elastic-y ball forms

Grease a big bowl and roll your dough in it on all sides. Cover with a hand towel or a piece of plastic wrap (loose!) and stick in a warm place to rise until double - about 40-60 minutes. Once double, punch dough down, turn out on a slightly floured surface and shape into loaves. Grease two bread pans and stick each shaped loaf in them. Cover with the same plastic or towel you used before and let rise until double again which is about another 35-50 minutes.

Heat your own to 425 degrees (pull your loaves out of the oven about 10 minutes before you need to heat the oven, if you’re using your own to let dough rise). Place pans on the bottom rack of the oven so that the top of the pan is in the middle of the oven. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove from oven, rub a butter stick over the top of the bread and turn out into wire racks to cool.

http://scratchcooking.wordpress.com/category/main-meals/

Zesty Italian Chicken

August 15, 2008
Posted by stormysar

3-4 Chicken breasts (skinless/boneless, I like to slice mine)
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Italian Dressing
4 TBSP Basil
2 TBSP Oregano

Place chicken in a casserole dish. Mix the rest of the ingredients, coat the chicken with 1/2 of the mixture. bake, covered, at 375 Degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, turn chicken, coat with remaining mixture and bake uncovered for 30 more minutes.

Goes great with rice - I cut the chicken into tiny bites, get extra sauce from the casserole dish and mix wtih with rice to make a mush. Very yummy

Shish Tawook (Lebanese chicken kabobs)
July 19, 2008
Posted by stormysar

Pair this up with some warm pita and the garlic paste recipe found on this blog under ‘dips’ and this makes for an awesome meal. Spread some of the garlic paste on pita bread, add the shish tawook and rice and you’re good to go!

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cubed
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 C. EVOO
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tsp oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and marinate chicken for at least an hour. Put the chicken on kabob sticks and grill until cooked through.

Remove from sticks and eat with buttered rice, garlic paste and pita. These are great made as a wrap with the pita and garlic paste, or you can eat just the chicken and rice with whatever sides you fancy.

Roasted Duck

July 7, 2008
Posted by stormysar

1 whole duck
2 Tsp. salt
2 Tsp. Paprika
2 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Black Pepper
1/2 C. Melted Butter

**Note: You can choose to either follow the instructions, or just coat each side of the duck to desired seasoning look like I did… I didn’t measure, just rubbed seasoning on until it looked and ‘felt’ good! I cooked duck from our freezer that my husband had shot the previous year - Mallards. Domestic duck probably tastes different but I am putting this under the ‘wild game’ category. You can use a roasting pan, but I used a cast iron dutch oven and kept the duck covered until the last 15 minutes to add browning to it**

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F

Rub seasoning into the skin of the duck. Place in a roasting pan.

Roast for 1 hour. Spoon 1/4 C melted butter over the bird and cotninue cooking abotu 45 more minutes. Spoon remaining butter over duck and coko for 15 more minutes or until golden brown.

Chuck Roast w/ Homemade Noodles & Gravy

July 7, 2008
Posted by stormysar

This was a huge hit… Even the kids asked for seconds! We had no leftovers, but I bet they would have been wonderful on a sandwich.

1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 3lb or so)
1/2 Cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 C Water
2 Cups water
1 can (14 oz or a home canned pint) beef stock
1/2 Tsp. salt
1 Egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 Cup All Purpose Flour

In a dutch oven, brown roast and onion in oil. Add 1/2 C. water, cover and bake at 325 Degrees F for 2.5-3 hrs (for a smaller roast, check sooner)

Meanwhile make your noodles. Combine salt and flour, wisk egg and milk, and pour egg/milk mixture onto the flour. With a fork or your fingers, gradually combine wet and dry ingredients until a stiff dough forms. Roll this out into a long rectangle to your desired thickness and use a knife or pizza cutter to cut your noodles. You can make them wide, narrow, long or short. Store in the fridge until needed.

Once roast is done, remove and cover to keep warm. In remaining drippings and onion, add your stock and two cups of water. Bring to a boil and add your noodles. Cook until desired tenderness or about 8-10 minutes.

Remove onion and noodles and add about 1/4 c. All Purpose flour to liquid to make a gravy, if desired.
Breaded Chicken Fillet in Wine (delish!) June 25, 2008
Posted by stormysar in Main Meals.
add a comment

I don’t know what to call this, as my husband came up with the recipe one night and I prepared it. much to our delight it turned out exceptionally well!

You’ll need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion
4-6 Large eggs
A can of bread crumbs (make them yourself, recipe coming soon). I’m not sure exactly how many cups you’ll need so I just make sure I have a can laying around.
Olive Oil
Zinfandel dry white wine

Fillet your chicken into very thin strips - maybe 1/8-1/4in. thick. Then cut these into strips, then if cut the strips in half to make little squares or rectangles.

Crack and wisk your eggs thoroughly. Dunk each peice of chicken into the egg, then thoroughly coat with breadcrumbs.

Head a skillet over medium heat with enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Thinly slice or chop your onion and add 1/4-1/2 of the onion slices to the skillet, with as much chicken as you can fit in. Don’t double the chicken on top of each other, they need to lay flat directly on the skillet.

Cook the chicken until lightly brown or golden then turn them over. Cook for a moment longer then add your wine. Turn the heat to medium high as you add the wine so it can caramalize the chicken and the alcohol will burn off quickly. Add as much wine as you like - we put enough in to coat the bottom of the skillet. Too much wine and your chicken may end up slimy. Cook the chicken stirring and/or flipping frequently to evenly coat the onions and chicken with the wine and cook until most of the moisture has cooked out of the skillet leaving you with golden and delicious chicken.

This dish goes great with a side of beets and alfredo sauce with noodles. I’ll have an alfredo recipe and noodle recipe up here shortly!

Kitty’s Chicken & Broccoli Pie
June 16, 2008
Posted by stormysar

This recipe is compliments of my mother in law, and is a family favorite here.

Make this recipe very low cost by cooking a whole chicken the day before, eat your meal (assuming you would have leftover meat!), and use the leftover meat, shredded, for your pie.

1/2 C. Sliced Carrots
1/2 C. Green Onions (Or yellow onions are fine)
1/4 Tsp Dried Thyme
2 Tbsp Butter
2 cans of Cheddar Cheese Soup (recipe will be on this site soon. We prefer one can, or 14.5 oz of homemade)
15 oz. Cooked Chicken chunks (any chicken part cubed or shredded)
16 oz. Broccoli (steamed)
Pie Dough for double crusted pie (recipe coming soon on this site)

Cook carrots, onion and thyme in butter until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a boil. Roll your pie dough, place one layer of your dough on the bottom of a 9 in. pie pan, put your pie filling, roll out the second layer and pinch the edges. Cut a few slices in the top.

Cook for 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees.

Cheese & Broccoli Stuffed Chicken Breasts

June 14, 2008
Posted by stormysar

A Kostyu family favorite!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bunch broccoli, cooked and cooled (I steam mine until soft to retain nutrients, and skin the stem, cut it up and add it to the rest)
2-2.5 C grated cheddar cheese
1 c grated Mozzarella Cheese
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, minced or crushed
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
Extra cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup or so

1. Using a sharp knife, enter each chicken breast from one end and carefully slice the middle of the breast open without cutting through the sides, creating a pocket within. Create a small opening at one end, large enough to be able to stuff the broccoli stuffing in.

2. Mix above ingredients together, except the extra cheddar cheese

3. Stuff the chicken breasts quite full - bulging is great but don’t overstuff and split the sides of the breast open!

4. Place breasts in a baking pan and cover with the extra cheddar cheese

5. Bake at 350 Degrees for 45 Minutes

Yum!

http://herbalmommasda.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Newspaper Articles
For the past couple months I have written article for our local paper, The Enumclaw Courier Herald.

Here are the links to thoses articles:

-Stocking Up the Pantry for Everyday and Emergency
or as I titled it - Protected Against the Storm
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ech/community/null-39351184.html

-Going Green Starting in the Kitchen
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ech/lifestyle/37490239.html

I hope you enjoy these tidbits....Blessings, Kristine
Posted by Kristine at 3:32 PM 2 comments
Labels: food storage, green living
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sewing Expo in Puyallup

February 26th Emily and I went the the Sewing Expo in Puyallup. We enjoyed all the “Eye Candy” and came home with lots of ideas and motivation for some new sewing projects. We unloaded our bags and are ready to sew!!!

There were some items to share with you.

~Vogue Fabrics online has a wonderful selection of reasonably priced fabrics. I always purchase a piece or two from them every year at the expo and am convinced that it will be a great place to order fabric online.
This year I bought the cute green floral linen.

~After the Expo Emily and I went over to Joann’s and I purchased the best quality satin that they had for a new pillowcase for myself. I turn 50 this year and satin pillowcases are said to be helpful for wrinkle prevention. Only time will tell....

~Simplicity has a couple of new patterns, called Amazing Fit, that say they will fit better for your body shape, not just your measurements. I purchased the pant and dress ones. These items will be posted as they are made.

~Sandra Betzina and Marcy Tilton are expert pattern designers and had a great fashion show. I really appreciate Sandra’s patterns with all their detail and easy instructions. The patterns are like a step-by-step sewing book, plus they are for the “real” women’s body.

Our goal with all these different varities are two-fold.
1-Test for the varieties that produce the most in our climate.
2-Enjoy a variety of color and shapes to feed the soul, as well as the body.

These are bakery racks and tray that we attached grow lights to. The lights were purchased from the local hardware store. I love how I can adjust the height as the plants grow. They have wheels on them and the trays pull out for easy watering and care.

I have 2 extra racks with 15 trays each, if anyone is interested in purchasing them. Please contact me at; kristinef@clearwire.net

[The bakery rack, makes a good seed starting setup, in a small space....granny]

Make Calazones
We found another use for the Artisan Bread Dough listed in a previous post; Calazones!

Here’s what we did:

Slowly sauteed 3 sliced onions, until barely caramelized. Added a small handful of coarsely chopped garlic, 1 sliced red and yellow pepper.

Continued to saute until soft. Added sliced pepperoni and salami
and continue to heal through along with some Italian seasoning,
salt and pepper to taste. Let cool completely. Add 2 handsful of
Feta Goat Cheese and 2 handsful of Mozzarella Cheese.

Roll out a softball size piece of dough on floured counter. Cut dough in half. Place 1/2 cup of filling on half of a piece. Fold over and seal edges. Place on a cookie sheet that has been greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. Brush with garlic olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and Parmesan Cheese. Bake at 450’ for 20 minutes.
Jacob loved them and ate 4 hot out of the oven.
The are so good hot, but also cold. What a fun treat for lunches!!!

Silky Nightgowns

A friend had given me some silky blouses that she no longer wanted. They were too big for me and I’m not really a fan of “silky” clothes.
BUT our grand-daughters LOVE “silky” clothes.
I remade the blouses by:
-Gathering up the shoulder seams and stablizing them with seam binding.
-Cut off the sleeves and took in the sleeve cap.
-Gathered the sleeve head and sewed into sleeve cap.
-Added lace & elastic to neckline and sleeve hems.
-Added ribbon for neck closure.
Now these sweet girls have Silky Nightgowns from Grandma.

Mending & Refashioning

Saturday I was able to catch-up on some mending and refashioning.
The sweater was purchased at a thrift store for $.99, but it was a crew and very boring. Though it is one of my favorite colors. I zig-zaged where planned on restyling the neckline, trimed off the crew neckline, folded it over and sewed on the trim that was in the cupboard. I am very happy with the results and am not afraid to purchase and remake sweaters. Just remember to zig-zag stitch where you plan on cutting, before you cut.

This is a pair of favorite jeans that I dyed a few weeks ago, but the button/brad came off. I just had trimmed off the top of another pair of jeans to make Emily a skirt and had the waist band in the basket.

-Cut off button/brad old waistband, 2” in diameter.

-Push button/brad through hole.

-Zig zag around button/brad careful not to break your needle.

-Trim off excess fabric. Done!
This mending area is covered by the other side of the waistband closure.

These pants were identical and purchased new for $3 each from the thrift store. I dyed one. Not bad for a total of $8 for 2 a pairs of nice slacks.

OK ...I know it’s not a picture of a loaf of bread. But Scott & I had to try it right out of the oven with butter. Oh, it was so good! Then I remembered to take a picture. But it still looks good.

I had just read; “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day “, but wanted to make a whole wheat version for everyday artisan bread. If you can imagine.

So I followed the directions using 11 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour for the 3-3-6-13 recipe, which is:

3 tablespoons salt & yeast

6 cups warm water

13 cups flour

Putting all into a large rubbermaid container. Mixing only, no kneading. Let raise for 4 hours. Refrigerate for 1 hour and shaped this loaf. Place on a cookie sheet with cornmeal on it. Let it rise for 45 minutes. Bake at 450’ on the middle rack with another pan on bottom rack with 2 cups hot water in it. Baked for 30 minutes.

The bread was crunchy & slightly chewy crust and wonderfully tender inside. It was the best artisan bread I have ever made!!!

Next time I will use ALL Whole Wheat Flour!

The authors of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” say that whole wheat flour has a bitter taste and needs honey or a sweetner and milk added to the recipe. But I beg to differ... Only rancid whole wheat flour is bitter. Freshly ground flour is wonderul.

Last night we used this dough to make pizza. Let’s just say that’s it’s all gone because it is sooo good. We rolled the dough out on a floured counter & placed it onto a baking sheet with cornmeal. Added toppings and baked at 450’ for 15 minutes. Better that any other dough we have used in the past 10 years or more.

This recipe make 8 - 1 pound loaves (dough is about the size of a grapefruit) and keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks

This Weeks Chicken Meals
This was a perfect week for chicken meals.
Day #1 - Sunday we had Herbal Roasted Chicken
with Red Potatoes and Onions.
Here’s How:

As you can see the washed chickens are on a bed of quartered red potatoes and sliced onions.
In the blender is a Herbal Smoothie; Olive Oil, fresh Rosemary, cloves of Garlic, dash of Red Pepper Flakes, Salt & Pepper.
Whirl in blender well. This was used to baste the chicken about every 20 minutes. I also put some large sprigs of Rosemary inside the chickens. They were baked at 350’ for about 2 hours. All the chicken drippings were thickened with a little cornstarch and poured over the chicken and potatoes at the table. Oh, so good!

Day #2 - Leftovers. Quick and yummy!
Day #3 - A non chicken dish.
Day #4 - Chicken Soup.

All the bones were put into the crockpot with a couple of tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar. It cooked on low for 36 hours. (*Hint: slowly cooking roasted meat or chicken bones with a little vinegar draws out the minerals and makes a very rich broth. Plus you don’t tastes the vinegar.) Straining out the broth and picking off any meat to go back into the broth and place back into the crockpot. Adding diced onions, sliced carrots, celery, the last rutabagus from the garden and letting them cook till almost tender before adding dried zuchini and dried tomatoes. Adjust seasoning and add little star noodles.

Day #5 - Chicken Pot Pie
I made a Whole Wheat Pie Crust with Lard. (Lard makes the best pie crusts.) Sauteed some chopped Onion and diced Celery. Added 1 - 2 pound bag frozen Mixed Vegetables and leftover gravy, along with 2 cups White Sauce. Place in pan, top with crust and bake for 45 minutes at 350’.
There was even some Chicken Pot Pie leftovers for Scotts lunches.

http://herbalmommasda.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-18T19%3A55%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

http://selfrelianceadventures.blogspot.com/search/label/Food%20storage

[Lots of photos]
Monday, February 23, 2009

Make Your Own Homemade Survival Bars

Hey! You all are getting ahead of me here! I had a comment on my survival bar review post about making your own survival bars, and yes, we did that also, I just can’t get posts put together that fast! :)

Apparently there are a couple of different recipes out there for these, we just used one I had been given by a food storage lady. Now, this was really a fun experiment, because there were 6 of us making these survival bread loaves, and of course they turned out 6 different ways. We’ll discuss what happened as we go through the directions.

Ingredients:
2 cups oats
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 cup sugar
3 TB honey
1 3 oz package jello (orange or lemon)
3 TB water

Mix the oats, powdered milk, and sugar together in a bowl: A couple of us used regular oats, a couple used quick oats. I really don’t think it matters which you use—whatever you have on hand is fine.

In a medium pan mix water, jello and honey. Bring to a boil. We found that a rolling boil was better than just beginning to boil for the mixing step. I did not know why the recipe called for lemon or orange jello so we made some with raspberry and watermelon. When we tasted them, we figured the lemon or orange were specified due to the high amount of sugar in this recipe! The sweet jello bars were REALLY sweet when they were done!

One of us also mis-read the instruction email and mixed her jello in with the dry ingredients, so we just boiled water and honey at this step and it gave the final product a slightly different texture, but still worked.

Lemon jello barely boiling:

Raspberry jello at a rolling boil:Add jello mixture to dry ingredients. Mix well. If the dough is too dry, add a small amount of water a teaspoon at a time. This is where it got a bit tricky. You want this to be dry, but it has to be moist enough to stick together, and this stuff is stiff!!! Spoons only work for about 30 seconds—you’ll end up cleaning your hands and smashing it all together that way (or you could use your mixer, I guess—why didn’t we think to do that???)Add the water a little at a time—do NOT get impatient and just add a bunch of water! You’ll be able to stick it together lots easier, but the idea is for it to be dry so it will not mold in your car trunk like your kid’s leftover tunafish sandwich . . .

Shape dough into a loaf about the size of a brick. Yeah, right. We had a couple of Martha Stewarts with us that were able to form lovely brick shaped loaves, I just wasn’t one of them. I don’t think it really matters what shape your loaf is—it’s not like you’ll be posting pictures of it on the internet or anything . . . I’m thinking if I do these again, I’m going to make smaller loaves anyway and just have 3 smaller loaves instead of one big loaf. I’m going to need a chisel to be able to eat any of this!Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Another recipe I found says to put it in the oven and dry at low heat. That might be better overall.

Our loaves got a bit brown on the bottom and we had severe stickage to the pan (think melting/cooking jello+sugar), so you might spray your pan first. Here’s the loaves after they cooked. Okay, I know, they look just like the loaves before they cooked, but really, I didn’t just go to the other side of the pan and take a picture, these were the cooked loaves.

Cool. Wrap in aluminum foil to store. I do not know why you wouldn’t put it in a ziplock or something, but I guess maybe it stays dryer in the foil. Not sure about you all in humid climates—this probably wouldn’t last in foil—I think I’d maybe make sure it was really dry, then vacuum pack it with my foodsaver if I lived anywhere besides the desert!

This bread will keep indefinitely and each loaf is the daily nutrients for one adult (approx 2000 calories). This is what the paper says. My loaves are going in the back of my suburban when I get my car kit put together and we’ll see how long they last! This was not too difficult to make.

I figured the cost of 1/4 of a #10 can of powdered milk at $2.00 (we got the powdered milk at $8/can—lots of places are more expensive than that) the jello at $ .50 (okay, mine was $.97 because I had to buy it at the little store here in town—jello is a non food that I don’t usually have in my food storage), the sugar, honey, and oats another $1.00 or so. So on the cheap end, these cost $3.50ish for 2000 calories, compared to $4.95 for 2400 calories of the commercial emergency food bars. These are larger and heavier than the commercial bars also. I will say however, that the orange jello brick (my personal favorite) actually tasted pretty good and not all processed and shorteningy (yep, a real word).

So there you have it. Making your own survival food bars from the goods in your food storage! And if you don’t want to eat it you could always use it as a doorstop! :)
More Fun from Angel

She has 2 articles about her efforts to can butter, says it is not recommended. at above link.

How to make fire starters from dryer lint.

And her experiment on sprouting wheat, do not store in plastic tupperware type containers.

http://selfrelianceadventures.blogspot.com/search/label/tips%20n%20tricks

http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/food-storage-prep.html

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Food Storage Prep
Food Storage Prep

On average I get 30 – 50 emails a day which is great because I love hearing from you guys and gals, especially when you make my head swell with words of praise and agreement. A lot of readers are seeking advice on one subject or another and while I try to respond to everyone, I do get covered up some times and loose an email in the mess. If I fail to answer in a timely manner please be patient, I will likely catch up in a couple of days.

The most common inquiry relates to food storage. It seems there has been so much written on the subject that some are getting lost within the mountain of words and are confused as to the what, how and the how much. While I am not the authority on the study of food storage, I have gained enough expertise though my own efforts to respond intelligently to readers with sound solutions to their problems.

What to store

[continues and see comments for more info...]

http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/perfect-survival-food.html

Friday, January 23, 2009
The perfect survival food
Pinto beans have been a stable food for many southerners for decades. I remember going to my grandmother’s house as a child, the smell of fresh pinto beans and cornbread filled the air. My grandparents where poor as church mice yet pinto beans and cornbread where always on the table no matter their poverty.

My grandmother was an excellent cook. She could turn the most basic foods into the best tasting, filling and nutritious foods. I just wish I had had the foresight to learn all I could from her while she was alive, but like most kids I spent my time chasing childish pursuits and gold at the end of the rainbow.

Pinto beans kept many families from starving during the depression of the 1930’s. Cornbread and beans were always there regardless of their impoverishment. If you have a supply of pinto beans you’ll never hunger. They are important in the diet, and easy on the budget, allowing the survivor to stock up with hundreds of pounds, with little cash. Many consider the pinto bean to be the perfect survival food.

Pinto beans contain approximately twice as much protein as cereal grains and on a per-serving basis, about half as much protein as lean meat. Beans are low in fat, high in carbohydrates and are a good source of iron and fiber.

My local Save-A-Lot food store has halstead pinto beans in the twenty-five pound bag for $13.95. Twenty-five pounds of pinto beans turns into seventy-five pounds of food when cooked. At 56 cents a pound, dried, that’s a little over 18 cents for a pound of cooked beans. That’s a lot of food for the money no matter how you cook it.

I find myself eating pinto beans in one form or another at least three times a week. Some may balk at the thought of eating any food three times a week but when you live on little money, saving every penny becomes important; coming up with innovative ways of cooking and processing to make every meal unique becomes necessary to alleviate boredom.

On Monday morning I put mix six cups of water and two cups of beans, two tea spoons of salt and a teaspoon of pepper in a large cooker with lid. Most of the time I cook the beans on top of the wood stove or outside over an open fire, since pinto beans take approximately four hours to finish cooking, depending on the heat, I prefer using my propane for other less intensive cooking if possible.

Check the contents every thirty minutes or so and if needed ad another cup of water to keep from burning. When they become soft to the touch they are done. Serve with cornbread and onions or peppers for flavor.

On Tuesday, I use the cooked beans to make homemade chili. Take three cups pinto beans mix with two cups dark red kidney beans in bowl. Fry one pound of hamburger or finely ground deer meat, mince one medium onion and add to meat and drain away liquid, add mixture to beans, add two 16 oz cans of tomato sauce and chili powder to taste.

Wednesday is bean cake day. Take left over beans from those cooked on Monday add one well beaten egg, one minced medium onion, one and a half cups of flour and stir, salt and pepper to taste, lightly grease frying pan and prepare like you would pancakes.

If any of you have a favorite bean recipe or other unique way of preparing pinto beans please let me know.
Keep Surviving.
Learn Combat and Survival Skills over 20,000 pages of information.
Posted by M.D. Creekmore at 10:39 AM
Labels: Food
10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post with excellent advise. I actually love pinto beans and cornbread myself and could eat them everyday for a month at least. I used to digest them without a hint of problems, but as I get older, the gas is extreme. I have tried adding baking soda and it does work, but I can taste it and it leaves a white film on the top after sitting for a day or two.

I noticed the author mentioned the extended cooking time for beans and it reminded me of a fellow survivalist that said he could cook pinto beans in one minute. I figured he must have a flame thrower in his arsenal and humored him with a, no way, How!

He said to grind the beans into a powder first and drop them into boilng water. We were at work, so I didn’t get any water/powder ratios, but he said that he just played with it for a few minutes by adding more water/powder to get the right consistency.

Evidently you get a nice pinto bean paste and you can lard it or season it to your tastes. I don’t have a grinder, so I haven’t tried it yet myself. I was also wondering if a coffee grinder would grind pinto beans instead of coffee beans for this purpose?
January 23, 2009 12:25 PM

I’ve also made bean paste which was excellent. My dogs love it, too. When you’re short on cash for dog food and you don’t want to feed them meat (too expensive) then just give them some of that with some rice mixed in. I’ve read that you can use bean flour to fluff up regular flour. I haven’t tried that yet but I plan to. Maybe I’ll try it tonight since I’m going to be baking some bread, anyway.

debbieo said...

The Urban Survivalist said something about adding bean flour to regular flour when making bread. I do that all the time. I grind several types of beans and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of them when I make bread. I feel it adds to the protein-carb balance.

tweell said...

One way to lower the gastric distress is to soak the beans overnight, then dump the water. Some folks add fennel seed, but in my experience fennel seed delays but does not reduce flatulence.

A solar oven works great for cooking beans in many parts of the country. Another method is to get the beans boiling and then put the pot in a heavily insulated ‘cooking box’, they’ll keep simmering for hours if you made it right.
January 24, 2009 9:43 PM

tweell said...

Plans? We don’t need no steenking plans!
There are many different types of solar ovens. http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/
What I went with is the “Minimum” box cooker. Since I wanted a more durable unit, the cardboard was replaced with thin plywood and glass substituted for the plastic top.
My hot box was made without plans, but it isn’t hard. Get a cardboard box that is just big enough to hold the pot you will use. Get a larger cardboard box, one with more room on all sides, especially bottom and top. I used foam insulation and a can of spray unsulation, and nested the small box inside the large box with the insulation inbetween them. I also cut the tops off the boxes and glued them together along with foam insulation to make an easily removable top, but that isn’t necessary, you can use the boxes as is. Since the hot box isn’t outdoors, I decided that cardboard was okay.
January 26, 2009 7:29 AM

http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/survival-in-barter-economy.html

Friday, March 6, 2009

Barter Economy

In a post collapse world, barter would be essential. Currency may have little value, while the value of certain things like sawing needles and matches for example, could increase dramatically. Put back what you will need for your own survival first, then and only after ensuring you have enough supplies such as food, water, water filters, first-aid, fuel, weapons and ammunition etc, to meet your own needs should you worry about stocking up on trade goods.

Skills

Develop your survival skills and knowledge. Your skills and knowledge may be your biggest asset when it comes to trade during an economic collapse or societal breakdown. Medical skills are the first to come to mind. Doctors, EMT’S, nurses and other medically trained individuals will be in high demand. Other related skills include: dentists, herbalists, homeopaths and veterinarians.

The ability to build shelters, garden, set up and run a distillery, hunting and trapping, collecting and purifying water, gun repair, reloading, blacksmith, butcher, baker and candle stick maker. Any skill filling a need for a number of people would be an asset and a valuable trade commodity. Having useful skills maybe the best barter item you could ever have, and it is a renewable resource!

Gold and Silver

There have been a lot of authors over the years suggest putting back gold and silver to use as barter items after an economic collapse. I personally don’t see much use for such items, at least in the early stages, yes it’s rare, but you can’t eat it, it’s not really good for anything besides its current monetary worth.

There will be a much greater need for basic life essentials like food, clean water and medical care. Even with that said I put back every pre-1965 junk silver quarter and dime I come across. This takes very little effort on my part, besides looking at my pocket change and sorting out by date, and placing the coins in a plastic 34.5 oz Folgers coffee can.

Ammunition

Some think ammunition would be a great barter item after the crash. If you can keep from being shot with your own wares, then ammunition would be a great trade item. The thing is people are a selfish lot and could decide it would be more productive for them just to shoot you and take what you have. Robbery and murder are common place during normal times; one can only imagine how bad it would become in the days after a major social break down. If you decide to cache away ammunition for barter purposes, my advice is to put back .22 rimfire rounds and trade only with people you know and trust.

Hand Tools

Hand tools such as saws, hammers, drills, knives, ax heads and handles, shovels, garden hoes and other tools will be in great demand after a collapse, the problem becomes the financing. Tools cost money; even the cheaper quality items will set you back a hefty amount if you try laying back a significant quality.

Whiskey and Cigarettes

Whiskey and Cigarettes would become very valuable items if the normal supply were suddenly stopped. You would have little trouble trading these items for just about anything needed. Just don’t get busted by the BATF, don’t think for a moment that the government will go away because of an economic or peak-oil collapse, no way. The powers that set on the thrown will only strengthen its grip on the population, becoming more suppressive in order to stay in control.

Things you don’t Need

This is not a complete list. It mostly is a short list of items I have often seen suggested by other writers and on survivalist forums that I feel would had little or no use a barter item after a collapse. This includes; pots and pans, clothing, parts for cars, dollar bills, wire, nails, iron, boards, hinges and other raw building materials. Anything that will be easy to scrounge will not be a valuable trade good.

Posted by M.D. Creekmore at 7:32 AM
Labels: Collapse, Economy
14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The little packages of needles that dollar stores offer are good, if limited in use. I suggest that people go to fabric stores and buy heavier-duty needles to use on thicker/stiffer fabrics, leather, and to darn socks with. At least get enough for yourself.

You can sign up for JoAnn’s monthly mailer and get at least one 40% off coupon to use on any one item each month. This month, there’s one one-on-anything coupon for 40%, one for 50%, and there are nine 40% specialty coupons (for use on crafts, floral, fabrics). You may not want to buy silk flowers, but how about some wire? Jewelry-making tools (needle-nose pliers, cutters, including at least one kit with a variety)? How about some heavy-duty shears? Those are more expensive ($45-$50 for quality, but they’ll last), so they’re prime items for that coupon. Trade beads? Okay, I’m half-joking about that one, but they have a lot to choose from. Oh, and you can order online if you can’t or don’t want to go to a store in person. (I don’t know if you can use the flyer coupons online—haven’t tried it, but there’s a 40%-off coupon code offered on the homepage http://www.joann.com/joann/.)

[There are many good comments on this page]

http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Collapse

[There are many good articles on this page...granny]

Nations turn to barter deals to secure food
Countries struggling to secure credit have resorted to barter and secretive government-to-government deals to buy food, with some contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a striking example of how the global financial crisis and high food prices have strained the finances of poor and middle-income nations, countries including Russia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Morocco say they have signed or are discussing inter-government and barter deals to import commodities from rice to vegetable oil. Nations turn to barter deals to secure food.
Posted by M.D. Creekmore

Articles on survival food, wide variety of thoughts:

http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Food

How to build a Vacsealer from scrap parts:

http://urbansurvival.com/vacsealer.pdf

Sunday, March 8, 2009
What’s a home garden worth?

kitchen Gardeners

What’s a home garden worth? With the global economy spiraling downward and Mother Nature preparing to reach upward, it’s a good question to ask and a good time to ask it.

There isn’t one right answer, of course, but I’ll give you mine: $2149.15. Last year, my wife Jacqueline suggested to me that we calculate the total value of the produce coming out of our garden over the course of the growing season. Initially, the thought of doing that was about as appealing to me as a recreational root canal. I remember replying something like: “OK, so let me get this right: in addition to raising three busy boys, managing two careers, volunteering in a school garden, and growing most of our own produce, you’re proposing that we weigh every item that comes out of our garden, write it down in a log book, and spend a few leisurely evenings doing math?” Jacqueline, an economics major in college and a native French speaker, answered with a simple “oui” and so the project began.

There was a lot of work involved, mostly for Jacqueline, but as with gardening itself, it was work with a purpose. It didn’t take long for our log book to start filling up with dates and figures. Although we started eating our first garden salads in late April, we only began recording our harvests as of May 10th, starting first with greens and asparagus. Our last weighable harvest was two weeks ago in the form of a final cutting of Belgian endives forced from roots in our basement.

By the time we had finished weighing it all, we had grown 834 pounds and over six months worth of organic food.

[continued]

http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/

[All kinds of tips here.]

I am not too worried about about the new seeds I planted since many have been sitting dormant in the refrigerator for almost 12 months so few more days in about the same temperature shouldn’t be too traumatic for the lettuce, carrots, and cilantro.

The plants I have concerns with are the spinach seedlings which have just started to break through the soil. Fortunately spinach are pretty cold tolerant but weight of the snow on top of them is not a great way for them to start their time in the world.

After a quick search through the garage I found a great solution, a plastic storage tub, which fit perfectly over the irregular rectangular space I planted them.

IMG_0341

Tada. If I wanted to get all fancy, I would add some holes for venting/etc but I chose to set a small cinder block on top and call it good. After a couple days, I should be able to remove it until the next freak storms comes our way.

Stupid groundhog…

Update: This is what the tub looked like after a few minutes in the sun (instant humidome)

IMG_0343
Posted by The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Saturday, March 7, 2009
Finish outdoor seed planting with coffee grounds

It has been a blessing that the competition for free coffee grounds at the Starbucks at my work has increased now the weather warmed up and I have freed from the temptation to grab yet another free shiny silver bag of grounds. The reason is, I have put four bags in my compost, worked generous amounts into my vegetable garden and I still have six bags left. Now I am looking at inventive ways to use the rest up. I tried mixing with perlite to make a cheap potting soil (failed still no room for roots) but I believe I have come across one success I thought I would share.

When you are finished planting seeds outdoors apply a thin layer of coffee grounds. This will deter slugs from going after your new seedlings and keep cats from mistaking your nicely loosened and raked soil for their kitty litter.

I have done this for my larger seed plants (peas, garlic, onions, cilantro) but for the small seed plants (carrots, lettuce, spinach) I used the coffee grounds as a seed covering.

So far the results are great. All of my peas/garlic/onions/spinach have sprouted with no signs of pests (four-legged nor zero-legged).
Posted by The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

You have to see this greenhouse built from scraps, for starting seeds.

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Ultimate cheap cold frame/greenhouse

greenhousewindows.jpg

For using windows they found lying around from homes in the neighborhood getting torn down the end result looks great. Functional and doing some serious reduce/reuse/recycle in the process.

Adding windows to the top would be nice, but sure finding the right ones for a weatherproof fit could be difficult.

Instructables via Make
Posted by The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

bottom of page:

http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/

http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm

All About Home Canning*, Freezing and Making Jams and Jellies

Save money, eat healthier, with no additives or chemicals... and with much better taste! This page provides the links to our illustrated recipes and canning* directions - so easy ANYONE can do it, along with a multitude of other recipes, guides and canning instructions from the USDA and many universities. The red highlighted entries are new for Summer 2008! Those of you who still speak the “Queen’s English” will probably be more familiar with terms “bottling” or “tinning” rather than canning! But it means the same! Look for the recipes, pages and directions that are new for 2009 with NEW! next to them!

Recipes and directions
General know how and fruit/vegetable picking tips
Why you should use a canner and how to choose one.
Summary of approved home food preserving methods

Canning methods that are considered to be unsafe: steam, microwave, dishwasher, oven, or just sealing the jars without further processing?

If you are new to home canning - see these do’s, don’ts and tips
Frequently asked questions about canning
Frequently asked questions about freezing
Jams and jellies
Canning - anything that can be safely canned at home!

Juices: Canning fruit and vegetable juices
Freezing directions
Pie fillings
Sauces, Salsas, Syrups, Fruit Butters and Chutneys
Soups - canning vegetable and meat soups at home (see this page for tomato soup)
Preserving Venison
Pickling - more than just cucumbers
Drying / food dehydrating

Ice cream, gelato and sorbets

Other recipes - roasted peppers, basil pesto, pies, cakes and much more

Using honey in place of sugar

Equipment and supplies

USDA Food Grades - Ever wonder what was “Grade A”? And why you don’t see grade B? How to select different foods, including fresh, frozen and canned? Wonder no more with this one-page guide!

Food safety - what is botulism?

NEW! Table of the pH and/or acidity of common fruits, vegetables, grains, breads and common food products

NEW! This page provide basic facts regarding food poisoning and pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins related to home food preservation (canning, bottling, drying, jams, salsas, pickling, sauces, etc.). Look up any pathogen (botulism, salmonella, Staph, etc.) and find out what it does and how to prevent it.

NEW! Label Templates! Click here for labels your can download, edit and customize in Microsoft Word and print on standard Avery label paper for your own jars!

[A huge page of recipes, all kinds]

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/FOODNUT/09302.html

Food Preservation Without Sugar or Salt
by P. Kendall1
Quick Facts...

* All fruits can safely be canned or frozen without sugar.
* Sweet relish and pickle recipes do not adapt as well to sugar-free canning as do plain fruits.
* Use recipes from reliable sources. Process all pickles by the boiling-water method using timetables adjusted for altitude.
* Jams and jellies can be made without added sugar but will resemble more of a fruited gelatin desert than a true jam or jelly.
* Salt is not necessary for safe processing of canned or frozen fruits and vegetables. It is necessary for the preservation of most pickles and cured or smoked foods.

People who need to restrict their intake of sugar or salt often wonder if it is safe to preserve foods without these ingredients. Most often, the answer is yes.
Canning Fruit

Recipes for canning fruit usually call for adding sugar or sugar syrup. While sugar helps hold the texture, shape and color of fruit, it is primarily added for flavor. It is not needed to prevent spoilage. You can safely can all fruits in water or in fruit juice by following reliable canning directions for preparing and processing the fruit. Substitute water or fruit juice for the syrup or sugar pack.

When canning without sugar, use high quality fruit. Overripe fruit will soften excessively. Take special care to follow steps that prevent darkening of light-colored fruit. Several treatments may be used to prevent or retard darkening. One is to coat the fruit as it is cut with a solution of 1 teaspoon (3 g) crystalline ascorbic acid or 3,000 mg crushed vitamin C tablets per cup of water. Another is to drop the cut pieces in a solution of water and ascorbic acid, citric acid or lemon juice. Use 1 teaspoon (3,000 mg) ascorbic acid, 1 teaspoon citric acid or 3/4 cup lemon juice to 1 gallon water.

An ascorbic acid/water solution serves as a desirable anti-darkening treatment, adds nutritive value in the form of vitamin C, and does not change the flavor of the fruit as lemon juice may do. Ascorbic acid is available in crystalline or tablet form in drug stores and supermarkets. Ascorbic acid mixtures, such as ascorbic acid combined with sugar or with citric acid and sugar, also are available. For these, follow the manufacturer’s directions. In such mixtures, ascorbic acid usually is the important active ingredient. Because of its dilution with other materials, these forms may be more expensive than pure ascorbic acid.

For best results, prepare fruits to be canned without sugar using hot-pack methods described in fact sheet 9.347, Canning Fruit. However, use water or regular unsweetened fruit juices instead of a sugar syrup. Juice made from the fruit being canned works well. To prepare, bring thoroughly ripe, crushed fruit to a simmer over low heat. Strain through a clean jelly bag or cloth. Blends of unsweetened apple, pineapple and white grape juice also are good filling over solid fruit pieces.

If ascorbic acid products are not used in the pretreatment of cut fruit, they may be added to the canning juices or liquids before processing. This will help keep the fruit from darkening during storage. Use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crystalline ascorbic acid or 750 to 1,500 mg crushed vitamin C tablets per quart of fruit. Commercial ascorbic and citric acid mixtures such as “Fruit Fresh” or “ACM” also may be used according to manufacturer’s directions.

Honey or light-colored corn syrup may be substituted for up to half the sugar called for in a canning syrup recipe. However, these products do not reduce the calorie or carbohydrate content of the sugar syrup, and thus are not acceptable sugar replacements for people on diabetic diets.

Substituting plain water for the sugar syrup reduces the calorie content of canned fruit by approximately 205, 280 or 375 calories per pint, assuming 2/3 cup of thin, medium or thick syrup, respectively, is replaced with water.

Adjust headspace and add lids. Process jars of fruit packed with water or fruit juice as for fruits packed with syrup. Use USDA recommended procedures and timetables that have been adjusted for altitude.

When serving fruit preserved without sugar, count fruit exchanges as for fresh or commercially prepared, unsweetened or artificially sweetened fruit.
Freezing Fruit

All fruits may be frozen without added sugar. Sugar is not needed for the preservation of frozen fruits, but it does help the fruit maintain quality longer.

Berries and fruits such as cherries, plums, dates, grapes, melon balls, pineapple chunks and rhubarb slices that do not darken when exposed to air are best frozen in single layers on trays, then packed into freezing bags or containers. These fruits may be served partially thawed, giving some juice, but with some frozen firmness still remaining in the fruit itself.

Light-colored fruits such as apples, peaches and apricots freeze well in unsweetened juice or water. Pack them in rigid containers, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace for square pint containers and 1 inch for quart containers. Retard darkening of light-colored fruits by one of the methods discussed in the section on canning fruit without sugar. Artificial sweeteners, if available, may be added to the water in an amount equal in sweetness to a sugar-sweetened syrup. Make a small batch to test for acceptability before freezing large quantities.
Canning Relishes and Pickles

Sweet relish and pickle recipes do not adapt as well to sugar-free canning as do plain fruits. Try recipes that call for artificial sweeteners, but don’t be too discouraged if some batches are disappointing. Finished products often are mushy or have an unsuitable flavor. When canning pickles and relishes, use the boiling water-bath method and processing times that are adjusted for altitude.
Preserving Jams and Jellies

Sugar helps in gel formation, serves as a preserving agent, and contributes to the flavor of jams and jellies. It also has a firming effect on fruit, a property useful in making preserves.

Jams and jellies can be made somewhat satisfactorily without added sugar but tend to resemble more of gelatin-fruited dessert than a true jam or jelly. Such products generally are sweetened with a non-nutritive sweetener and gelled with unflavored gelatin, gums or modified pectin. Jams with less sugar than usual also may be made with concentrated fruit pulp that contains less liquid and less sugar.

Two types of modified pectin are available for home use. One gels with one-third less sugar. The other is a low-methoxyl pectin that requires a source of calcium for gelling.

To prevent spoilage, process jars of low-sugar jams and jellies longer in a boiling water-bath canner than regular jams or jellies. Carefully follow recipes and processing times provided with each modified pectin product. Altering the proportion of acids and fruits may result in spoilage. Low-sugar jams and jellies also may be stored in the refrigerator for use within three to four weeks or in the freezer for longer storage.

Note: Sugar-free jams and jellies contain the carbohydrate that is naturally present in the fruit. Commercial low-calorie jelling mixes may provide additional carbohydrates in the form of maltodextrin or other saccharides. Jams and jellies made with artificial sweeteners and unflavored gelatin or added pectin generally provide 8 to 12 calories (2 to 3 grams carbohydrate) per tablespoon. Those made with a commercial low-calorie jelling mixture such as maltodextrin provide 16 to 20 calories (4 to 5 grams carbohydrates) per tablespoon.
Reduced-Calorie Peach-Pineapple Spread

* 4 cups drained peach pulp (procedure below)
* 2 cups drained, unsweetened crushed pineapple
* 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
* 2 cups sugar (optional)

Note: This recipe may be made with any combination of peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums, and without sugar or with as little as 2 cups.

Yield: 5 to 6 half-pints

Procedure: Thoroughly wash 4 to 6 pounds of firm, ripe peaches. Drain well. Peel and remove pits. Grind fruit flesh with a medium or coarse blade, or crush with a fork (do not use a blender). Place ground or crushed fruit in a 2-quart saucepan. Heat slowly to release juice, stir constantly until fruit is tender. Place cooked fruit in a jelly bag or strainer lined with four layers of cheesecloth. Allow juice to drip about 15 minutes. Save the juice for jelly or other uses.

Measure 4 cups of drained fruit pulp for making spread. Combine the 4 cups of pulp, pineapple and lemon juice in a 4-quart saucepan. Add up to 2 cups of sugar, if desired, and mix well. Heat and boil gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir enough to prevent sticking.

Fill half-pint or pint jars quickly, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe rims; adjust lids and process in a boiling water bath. Process half-pints for 20 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 feet or 25 minutes at 6,001 to 10,000 feet. Process pints for 25 minutes at 1,001 to 3,000 feet, 30 minutes at 3,001 to 6,000 feet, 35 minutes at 6,001 to 8,000 feet, or 40 minutes at 8,001 to 10,000 feet.

Remove jars from canner and cool overnight upright on a rack or towel. Label and store in cool, dark, dry place.
Refrigerated Low-Calorie Grape Jelly With Gelatin

* 2 Tbsp unflavored gelatin powder
* 1 bottle (24 oz) unsweetened grape juice
* 2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
* 2 Tbsp liquid artificial sweetener, to equal 1 cup sugar (read label if substituting dry artificial sweetening agent)

Yield: 3 half-pints

Procedure: In a saucepan, soften gelatin in the grape and lemon juices. Bring to a full rolling boil to dissolve gelatin. Boil 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in sweetener. Pour quickly into hot, sterile half-pint jars, leave 1/4 inch of headspace. Adjust lids. Do not process or freeze — store in refrigerator and use within four weeks.
Canning and Freezing for Salt-Free Diets

With the exception of cured or smoked foods and most pickled products, salt is not necessary for safe processing of home-canned or frozen fruits and vegetables. Its addition does help retain the natural color and texture of the canned product. It is primarily added for flavor.

To can or freeze foods without salt, follow usual recipes and reliable canning and freezing directions, but without adding salt. The flavor of saltless vegetables can be improved, however. Add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of lemon or orange juice to each pint of carrots, beets or asparagus. Green beans and peas get a lift from 1/4 teaspoon mace, nutmeg or curry powder per pint. Salt substitutes generally are not recommended in canning. They may contain additives that will react with the foods, impart off-flavors or colors, or give brines a cloudy appearance.

Always add the amount of salt specified in brined pickles and cured and smoked foods. Salt is needed for the safe preservation of these foods. People on low-sodium diets should check with a physician or dietitian to see if these foods should be excluded from their diets or eaten only in limited amounts.

A few low-sodium, high-vinegar, fresh-pack pickle recipes have been developed. Any fresh-pack pickle recipe that calls for as much or more vinegar than water and provides a finished product with at least 1/4 cup of 5 percent acid vinegar per pint jar of pickled products can be safely made without salt. Sweet pickles generally taste better without salt than dill pickles. If salt is omitted from fresh-pack dill pickles, try adding hot peppers, herbs and garlic instead. Dill pickles taste better if as little as 0.5 percent salt by weight of entire contents is added. This is the equivalent of 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt per pint jar of pickles.
Reduced-Sodium Sliced Sweet Pickles

* 4 pounds (3- to 5-inch) pickling cucumbers

* Brining solution:
o 1 quart distilled white vinegar (5%)
o 1 Tbsp canning or pickling salt
o 1 Tbsp mustard seed
o 1/2 cup sugar

* Canning syrup:
o 1 2/3 cups distilled white vinegar (5%)
o 3 cups sugar
o 1 Tbsp whole allspice
o 2 1/4 tsp celery seed

Yield: About 4 to 5 pints

Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16 inch off blossom end and discard. Cut cucumbers into 1/4-inch slices. In a large kettle, mix the ingredients for the brining solution. Add the cut cucumbers and cover. Simmer until the cucumbers change color from bright to dull green (about 5 to 7 minutes). Heat to a boil. Drain the cucumber slices. Fill clean pint jars to 1/2 inch of jar tops. Cover with hot canning syrup, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.

Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic knife. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids as manufacturer directs. Process in a boiling water-bath canner for 15 minutes at altitudes between 1,001 and 6,000 feet. Process 20 minutes at altitudes between 6,001 and 10,000 feet. Remove jars from canner and cool overnight upright on a rack or towel.
Reduced-Sodium Sliced Sweet Dill Pickles

* 4 pounds (3- to 5-inch) pickling cucumbers
* 6 cups vinegar (5 percent)
* 6 cups sugar
* 2 Tbsp canning or pickling salt
* 1 1/2 tsp celery seed
* 1 1/2 tsp mustard seed
* 2 large onions, thinly sliced
* 8 heads fresh dill

Yield: About 8 pints

Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom end and discard. Cut cucumbers in 1/4-inch slices. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, celery and mustard seeds in large saucepan. Bring mixture to boiling. Place 2 slices of onion and 1/2 dill head in each pint jar. Fill jars with cucumber slices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add one slice of onion and one-half head dill on top. Pour hot pickling solution over cucumbers, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids as manufacturer directs. Process in a boiling water-bath canner for 20 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 feet or 25 minutes at 6,001 to 10,000 feet. Remove jars from canner and cool overnight upright on rack or towel. Label and store in cool, dark, dry place.
References

* So Easy To Preserve, S. Reynolds and P. Ybarra, 1983. Extension Service, University of Georgia, Athens.
* The Complete Guide to Home Canning. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539-1, U.S. Department of Agriculture Extension Service, revised 1995.

1 Colorado State University Extension foods and nutrition specialist and professor, food science and human nutrition. 1/99. Reviewed 11/06.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/06/petroleumfree_l_1.php

[This is only snippets from the comments section]

Ken, it is not possible to use vegetable oils or fats in a conventional lamp. Olive oil does not climb high enough. It requires a lamp specifically sized and constructed to do the job in a good way. You can go here and follow the links for lots of information. Lehman’s Hardware has a good selection of lamps and pictures on their site. http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=474&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=682&iSubCat=894&iProductID=474 Peace, Jim

I understand from a TV program about tomb explorations in Egypt that if you need to add salt to your olive oil to keep it from smoking.

I have one of the small Lehman’s olive oil lamps that I started using again recently. It’s perfect as a mood light or for low-level lighting. They do take more tending than a standard oil lamp—in particular you have to trim the wick much more often to get a good flame.

By the way, for those who are quite serious about non-petroleum fuel. It is true that you can burn many vegetable oils. CORN oil absolutely does not work. when a wick burns for awhile, resins build up in the tip of the wick, eventually blocking the flow of oil. The best oil to use is olive oil, and thinking you have to be a millionaire is an exageration. 2 ounces burns all night. Even at regular prices thats 50 cents.Candles cost that much! Soybean oil, peanut oil and lots of other oils burn well too, and with clean trimmed wicks do not smoke.

Even melted bacon grease, chicken fat or butter burn well and smokeless with a trimmed wick. The smoke one gets when they are blown out is avoidable by dowsing the wick with the oil since these oils unlike petroleum fuels won’t flash, either by filling it pouring oil over the lit wick, or jiggling the lamp to splash the oil over the flame. An interesting and useful feature of Lehman’s lamps is that they work in jars and lids can be put on to easily store the lamps between uses.

There’s all the information anyone could want if they read the book Lehman’s sells called “I didn’t know Olive Oil Would Burm.

“Here’s a helpful blog site as well http://allaboutwicks.blogspot.com/.
Peace and goodwill, Jim

The oil lamps which Lehman’s carries are smokeless with a properly trimmed wick. They are designed to be much more efficient than old fashioned oil lamps. Because of the design, the oil rises not only from capilary action but from thermo action as well. They are a great way to light a room without fossil fuel and easy to read by, especially the half inch wide wick lamp they carry. Treehugger has made a good find at Lehman’s

From this search:

http://www.google.com/search?q=cooking+oil+in+lamps&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

It’s a fun project, but you really need to add one more step. The wicking needs to be soaked in salt and dried. Most people doing this project will run into the problem that their wick burns out in 10 - 20 minutes. To match and even out perform commercial wicking, just add salt. Salt prevents the cotton from charring too early so you can burn your lamp for an hour or two without any adjustments.

To salt the wicking:
1. Cut your wicking from cotton cloth.
2. Put your wicking in a bowl with a little water.
3. Pour table salt over the wicking.
4. Squeeze the wicking dry and then dry further on a tray. You can bake it dry in an oven at 200F for 20 minutes or just let it dry overnight. It will be crusty with salt but that’s good and the wicking will still be reasonably flexible.

This is what I do making my lamps and candles...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-oil-lamps-and-candles-for-free/

This hint is from this page:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Glass-Bottle-Oil-Lamp/

Glass Bottle Oil Lamp
Make a small decorative oil lamp out of an empty glass bottle with screw-on metal lid. It’s cheap, easy, and possibly romantic.

The lamp is filled with half water and half oil (or all oil if you like, but it’s not as pretty!), and will burn for several hours depending on its size. The one I made will burn for a good twelve to fourteen hours, perhaps longer (I haven’t exhausted it yet). All of the materials I used, I had lying around already.

There are endless variations that can be made. If you ever did the experiment in grade school with food-coloring-dyed liquids that float on each other due to different densities, you can turn this into a beautiful piece of artwork. Glycerine and rubbing alcohol work well. Cork will float between the water and oil.

Step 07 - Light.jpg
image not found
loading...
375x500 : F23M1BI292EWZMJIYF (1)
The oil will stay on top of the water as long as you don’t shake it up.
Sappho
i
Glass Bottle Oil Lamp
Step 07 - Light.jpgStep 01 - Materials.jpgStep 01 - Possible Bottles.jpg

step 1Materials
You will need the following materials: 1 glass or heavy plastic bottle with metal screw-on lid 1 sharp poking implement (I used the pointy end of a metal compass, but a…

step 2Prepare The Lid
Remove the metal screw-on cap and get to work poking a hole in the center of it with your sharp poking implement. Be careful doing this, as it’s possible for the implement…

step 3Prepare The Wick
Next you will need to make your wick. Use the scissors to cut out a long, thin strip of the cotton scrap. Make it longer than you need - you can trim it down later.

step 4Combine Lid And Wick
This is the hardest part - you need to get the wick through that little hole. It helps to push the wick through, slowly, with the compass needle or the end of a bent paper…

step 5Fill ‘er Up
Now that you have measured out the wick, fill the bottle with water (and/or any other layers you want under the oil, decorated with food coloring, if you like), taking care…

step 6Let Sit, Then Light
Now for the profoundly boring part: let it sit. I reccomend letting it sit for at least an hour, so that the entire wick is completely soaked with oil. If you don’t wait …

87 comments

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.