Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition [Survival Today - an On going Thread #3]

Frugal Dad .com ^ | July 23, 2009 | Frugal Dad

[Marmolade]

“I’m always amazed just how much 7 quart jars will hold.”

I’m looking at the quart jars and thinking that’s a lot of beans in there. Maybe I will use pint jars next time. There are only 3 of us here here now since our oldest son just moved out this past weekend. Yesterday when I had my youngest son bring up a case of canning jars he brought up a case of 1/2 gallon jars! I told him if he wanted me to use those, he would be eating green beans for a solid week when I opened one up. He got a sly look and quickly produced the quart jars.

[Marmolade]

Glad to hear you kitties are doing well. They are so cute when they are little.

[DelaWhere]

>>>I used the raw canning option<<<

That works fine, however you tend to have ‘floaters’ where the product all floats to the top of the jar with juice at the bottom. Nothing at all wrong with it except for the appearance - blanching solves that. I do both.

[Marmolade]

Would you recommend we eat this 1st batch fairly soon or maybe not at all? I don’t want to make anyone sick.

[Marmolade]

None of these are floating, they are all on the bottom of the jar.

[nw_arizona_granny]

[The bears are fighting back, several story links on the page.
granny]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/20191447/detail.html?treets=den&tid=2659747428813&tml=den_7am&tmi=den_7am_1_08000107282009&ts=H

Bear Breaks Into Home, Terrorizes Family
Homeowner, Deputies Shoot Aggressive Bruin

POSTED: 11:24 am MDT July 27, 2009
UPDATED: 8:45 pm MDT July 27, 2009

[DelaWhere]

>>>Would you recommend we eat this 1st batch fairly soon or maybe not at all? <<<

I would just put them in the first of the rotation for eating. No, you won’t make anyone sick. If they do sour, you will know it when you do the sniff test. (always do a sniff test) You WILL smell it easily if they are soured, and even if eaten, won’t make you sick - just don’t taste good and leave an aftertaste.

I do most veggies in pints since there are just 3 of us. It is so easy to open a second if we might need it - the extra 11¢ lid is cheaper than the wasted food. Chili, Tomato Sauce, apple sauce in quarts. I even put some meats in half pints - for use in recipes that don’t need a lot of meat - like chicken chow mein or creamed beef (venison). Amazing how much meat there is in that little half pint.

Glad you didn’t get floaters (which doesn’t hurt anything)- could have been that the air vented from the product in the long cool down.

Oh, meant to mention - 1/2 gallons are no longer approved for any canning. (I know - dang - they were handy too) I use mine for dry storage and use my Food Saver jar sealer.

[nw_arizona_granny]

LOL Granny, that is the reason I shudder every time you rave about mixed vegetables - I know the process they are made under. I will only eat them if I canned them myself.

Sorry if this post upsets anyone..<<<

No, I am not surprised.

If I had fresh, that is what I would use.

In the desert, we use frozen, as in my area there are no farms.

And I will not eat those canned mixed vegs “Veg-All”.

[nw_arizona_granny]

So sad. I’ve actually never known America, since I grew up in El Paso.<<<

In the 1940’s, I also lived in El Paso, Tx.

It is where I learned a life’s lesson.

I learned what it felt like to be the ‘only’ other race in a class room.

It is as bad to be the only white as it is any other ‘only’.

[nw_arizona_granny]

thanks for the link - I’ll check it out.<<<

A few days ago, I was listening to Big Bear Lake scanner and they were dispatching for folks that were breaking into cabins, looking for food.

I got the impression that it has become an every day occurrence.

[Marmolade]

I bought 2 cases of the 1/2 gal. jars specifically for dry storage. Would they work for the dry canning (oven) of rice/beans or should I just vacuum seal them with Food Saver? I did the last batch of rice/beans in quart jars in the oven. Would 1/2 gal. jars be best for dried foods? Sorry for all the questions, but this is so new to me I don’t feel I really have a clue how this all works.

[nw_arizona_granny]

They are so cute when they are little.<<<

These border on ugly, so skinny and all muddled mud color.

If I ever catch the escapee and get them fat and sassy, I may decide they are cute.

[DelaWhere]

>>>And I will not eat those canned mixed vegs “Veg-All”.<<<

LOL - the way the plant ran, we mixed frozen and fresh veggies to make up the mix, pumped it in water to canning area holding tank - if they were having problems, or if there was too much product, they flip the valve and divert it to another pump to the freezer holding tank. Then it is metered into the flo-freeze - then packaged.

Peas were frozen in spring, then green beans, then corn, followed by carrots and potatoes in the fall. During the fall and winter the frozen individual vegetables are mixed with fresh carrots and potatoes and defrosted - some are then canned the balance is then re-frozen and packaged.

Amazingly, they retain quite a few nutrients, but to me they all have a peculiar taste from all the handling, freezing, thawing, etc.

[CottonBall]

I told him if he wanted me to use those, he would be eating green beans for a solid week when I opened one up. He got a sly look and quickly produced the quart jars.

LOL! For just me and hubby, a quart jar of meat will last at least 2 meals. I suppose I should've canned them in pint jars, but one quart jar didn't look like it holds that much!

[CottonBall]

I learned what it felt like to be the ‘only’ other race in a class room. It is as bad to be the only white as it is any other ‘only’.

I only find it bad if people are treated differently. Like teaching classes in Spanish or students refusing to speak English, even when English-only students or teachers are around. IMO, they're the ones that have always created the divide when I went to school. And probably still. It's that entitlement attitude that our school teach 'em, and the libs in charge of many states encourage it even after school. I know there's some smart states out there, though and I'm looking at power plant jobs in those areas, trying to entice hubby to escape ASAP!

[CottonBall]

A few days ago, I was listening to Big Bear Lake scanner and they were dispatching for folks that were breaking into cabins, looking for food.

I got the impression that it has become an every day occurrence.

I think you're right granny! Even in our small community, there have been 2 sets of break-ins in 2 weeks. This has been unheard of over the past decades. Most locals never even locked their cars or houses-until now. And the most amazing thing was what was taken - food, medical supplies, hygiene products, as well as the usual-type items to sell. One idiot couple had 17 guns and ammo stolen. Foolish not to at least have a gun safe. But the items to be used, that's the odd part. Even the sheriff attributed it either to guerilla campers (that live in the woods) or unemployed whose benefits have run out.

It's only gonna get worse :(

[CottonBall]

BTW, I was typically the only female in my engineering classes long ago. That wasn’t bad at all because I was treated just the same as all the others. Except when I got better grades than them. ;)

[DelaWhere]

>>>That wasn’t bad at all because I was treated just the same as all the others.<<<

LOL - Yeah, we treated the lone girl in my Ag. Engineering classes just like one of the guys.... NOT... We treated her like a Queen. 8^) Maybe it was just a farm boy thing...

[DelaWhere]

>>>Would they work for the dry canning (oven) of rice/beans or should I just vacuum seal them with Food Saver? <<<

Either... I do grain and beans in the oven since I am doing a batch at a time - I use the Food Saver sealer just when I have a jar or two and don’t want to turn on the oven.

[DelaWhere]

There is a Hunger Coming Like a Run-Away Freight Train: Created by Congress

July 25, 2009
Clint Richardson

I've driven the almost 400 mile stretch of Interstate 5 from L.A. to Sacramento dozens of times. Quite honestly, it's as boring as it gets with only the usual gas stations, mini-marts, fast-food, home-cookin' restaurants, and strangely a newer batch of Starbuck's Coffee shops sprouting up everywhere. In between... farms, orchards, cattle, and dirt.

On July 15th, as I began my trip to Utah, I came off the Grapevine decline and hit the flat 250 or so mile stretch of interstate which begins the farming belt in the valley. Almost immediately I noticed what I had only heard about on the radio and in the papers. Where once there were vast fields of green, now there where empty, barely recognizable rows of unplanted dirt and growing weeds. Only sporadically at first, but once I passed Bakersfield and for about a 200 mile stretch, I could not believe my eyes. Field after field laid fallow. And not really fallow, but unattended... as if it was not going to be planted in the near future either.

Signs were staked in the ground on almost every patch of barren farmland. The most common one, which was yellow and obviously a group effort to wake up the sleeping travelers of their future plight, read:

"CONGRESS CREATED DUST BOWL"

Others, which looked more homemade were posted on non-operational farm equipment parked as close to the freeway as possible, stated things like:

"FOOD ONLY GROWS WHERE WATER FLOWS" -and- "NO WATER = NO JOBS = NO FUTURE"

At one point, after 150 miles or so of seeing this horror, I broke down in tears and had to pull over to the side of the road. I saw the aqueduct, which followed Interstate 5 most of the way, and large fields of dead trees which were planted just a few feet from the flowing cement river. I imagined how those trees would feel, imprisoned in the dying dirt by their own roots, if they could indeed comprehend that their source of life was just a stones throw away.

It was like some horrific story-book come to life; science fiction in real time. I was thinking of the farmers and their families and wondering what would become of them and their land. I was thinking about the consequences of hundreds of miles of food no longer being grown, and adding together the other states like Campo, Colorado which have the same situation... only planting 60% of their crops this year.

This deadness went on until the brink of civilization once again began to show. When I approached the Stockton/Modesto highway interchange area the carnage seemed to stop, and the fields appeared to be healthy and bountiful. I can only guess that this is because more people drive on that stretch of the freeway, and so the powers that be are trying to keep up appearances. No other explanation came to mind.

To the readers of this, I can only say that living in the city has literally blinded me to the truth, even though I knew it was happening. I wonder how many other things I ignore? Many economists and trends predictors have called for food shortages and food riots in the fall, and with what I saw last week, I have new reason to believe them.
But then, that's the real problem isn't it? Belief...

If you believe that the food will continue to flow (magically appearing on store shelves in a grocery store near you) and just dismiss the very real claims of shortages worldwide, including a severe wheat shortage in this country due to a harmful fungus, then I might boldly say that you deserve whatever fate befalls you.

I challenge you all to take a drive up the 5 and see this for yourself. Please! Don't let this go unseen. If you are camera or video savvy, I think it would be a really great photo exhibit or website showing the true nature of our common problem. And you better believe, as you take your daily shower, flush your toilet, and water your fertilized-non-edible grassy yards, that this is indeed a Congress created crisis. So please tell as many people about it as possible.

Lastly, if you haven't already... buy storable food! Go to the dollar store and buy rice and beans. Buy pasta, canned and jar foods, or anything with a shelf-life of more than 6 months.

What's the worse that can happen? You'll have food for 6 months.

What's the best that can happen? You'll have food for 6 months.

Take care. Spread this information. Get mad. Fight tyranny. And...

Don't be a sheep.
Clint Richardson

http://www.millennium-ark.net/NEWS/09_Food_Water/090728.food.dust.bowl.html"