Weekly Preppers Thread

[Kartographer]

Haven't done one for a while and with all that is going on I though it would be a good idea to do a Weekly Prepper Thread, for posting tips, new products, good prep buys etc.....

“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger.

Underestimation can be fatal.”

[outofsalt]

Excellent! I have one made from an old propane cylinder but his is so easy.

[bjorn14]

Can you add me to the Preppers ping list. Not afraid of high volume ping list. The more you know the less you need.

[Marcella]

A pressure cooker will of course work, but in an emergency situation when you don’t have your regular stove top and power is out, a pressure cooker needs steady heat to do its thing and your method of cooking without power may not give you that steady heat. Plus, having several methods to cook beans means one should work if another doesn’t.

[Iron Munro]

I like these Prepper threads - keep them coming.....

[moovova]

Good golly...you’ve just greatly expanded my food prep capability. I’ve always known dried beans were a good food source but haven’t included any in my food preps because of the fuel needed to cook them for hours. (Beans, rice & cornbread is a favorite meal around our house.)

But, that just changed. With the new cooking instructions and other suggestions (pressure cooker, cinder block stove)...in THIS PREPPER THREAD ALONE...my food prep direction has changed significantly.

Thank you all!

[moovova]

“...having several methods to cook beans means one should work if another doesn’t.”

Exactly. Redundancy is a good thing. It’s just like ensuring you have water. A person should have several ways to provide water when the “faucet” doesn’t work anymore...rain collection, filtering, disinfecting it by boiling or chemicals, etc.

[Iron Munro]

Regarding night vision devices.

We all know that good night vision devices cost a lot of money.

But for those of us who cannot afford Gen 3 or Gen 4 devices there is something to be said for cheaper, older technology.

Most low cost, lower quality devices with limited range and detail will still enable you to see movement at night. You might not be able to make out details but it can be enough to alert you to the presence of others or of potential danger.

I have a small handheld that cost less than $100 and I can see a person, dog or vehicle moving within a couple of blocks of my location.

Just the movement of an object is enough to alert you.
And the relative size and configuration help you make an informed guess as to what you are seeing.

[Godzilla]

I would also like to ask the question it seems that lately I have once again angered a number of fellow FReepers with these prepping threads. Suggestion? To many post? Just do a once a week/month thread??

There will always be 'grasshoppers' just like haters gotta hate. I look forward to the pings - don't always have the time to search ALL the stuff out there on my own.

[Iron Munro]

WATER KEY

Many commercial buildings have outside water taps without handles.
They require a tool known as a water key or a 4-way stem key.

In a get-home or bail-out situation the tool will allow you to tap this source of clean water.

A water key is a small item that doesn't take up much room in your get home pack and costs less than $10 at plumbing supply and hardware stores.

ACE hardware sells one for $6.49.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1276472

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks very much!

[Blue Collar Christian]

The trick to cooking dried beans quickly is to use a pressure cooker.

[Lurker]

I had no idea. Thanks very much.

[JRandomFreeper]

Easy enough to overcome. Cheap, too.

I did both commercial and military culinary schools (with honors) and that was part of the study.

Real life experience came after 2008 when I lost my shirt in the market.. Disasters can be individual as well as group events.

I had to live poor. No choice. So I applied everything I had learned in the schools and made the best of a very bad situation.

When I say cheap, I don't mean nasty stuff like Ramen and stuff like that. I had good meals with good ingredients, but they had to be bought thoughtfully.

For the price of crap food I can get good fresh food (personal opinion on quality of food). It does take longer to prepare, but I had lots of free time.

This was about the time I started working on the calories per dollar number.

I needed calories. Some people won't.

I could go on forever on this topic and probably would if someone doesn't tell me to shut up.

/johnny

[moovova]

Thank you.

[Lurker]

I’d happily listen to suggestions.

I’ve laid in as many varieties of dried beans, lentils, and such as I can find. Indian grocers have some different varieties that are not found in the mega marts so I’ve read up on how to prepare them. Those folks know how to eat cheap!

I’ve also gotten some out of the ordinary pastas like pearled Israeli cous cous. It doesn’t take as much water to cook it and it takes flavor very well.

Dried eggs are in the larder in bulk to add some protein. Long term storage of animal proteins is a tougher nut. That freeze dried stuff ain’t cheap, even in bulk. We also buy a wide variety of bulk herbs and spices just to keep things interesting.

Dried chopped onions and garlic in quantity of course. LOL. Can’t live without that.

So any advice you can offer will be gratefully accepted. I’ll let you know when to shut up.

Thanks.

[yuleeyahoo]

Add me to the ping list. Thanks!

[Marcella]

Here are easy recipes for bread, etc, on any stove top you have when there is no power (thank the Indians and early settlers for most of these recipes):

Some of these fried breads can be made into desserts by adding sugar and cinnamon on the top and serving with honey or syrup. Hoe Cakes/Corn Pone, Hoe Cake Pancakes, being made of cornmeal, will be especially tasty as a dessert. So would the Indian Pumpkin Bread. Lots of choices in these recipes to make good tasting bread and it only takes a skillet and trusty Crisco or other oil to fry them quickly.

BREAD ON TOP OF STOVE:
Looking for the easiest bread to make on top of stove has caused me to dump recipes over and over as I would find a faster, easier one without sacrificing taste. These are the result of years of searching:

Hoe-Cakes plain or as breakfast with syrup
2 cups corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups boiling water
oil/shortening for frying
In a large bowl combine the corn meal and salt. Pour the boiling water over the cornmeal and stir until combined. The cornmeal will swell up, absorbing the water, making a very thick mash. Heat 4-5 tablespoons of oil or shortening in a large skillet over medium high heat. As soon as the mush is cool enough to handle, scoop up a little of the cornmeal mush (about 1/4-cup) and shape it into a patty. Place patty into the hot fat. Continue until the pan is full. When the underside is crispy brown, turn them and cook the other side. When both sides are crispy and brown, transfer them to a plate to keep warm, and start another batch. This recipe makes about 12 hoe cakes. Serve Hoe Cakes as a bread with a meal, or by themselves for breakfast with syrup.

Corn Tortillas
3/4 cup cornmeal
1-1/4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening or oil
1 cup boiling water
Waxed paper
In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour and salt. Stir it up while the water is coming to a boil. Place the shortening in the bowl with the cornmeal and flour. Pour the boiling water over everything and stir it up with a fork. Stir and stir because it will lump up quite a bit before it turns into dough. Allow the mixture to cool. Divide the dough into 10 lumps about the size of golf balls. Use tortilla press or roll each ball out very thinly between sheets of waxed paper. Loosen and remove the top sheet of paper, and lay the tortilla down on a hot dry skillet, with the bottom sheet of waxed paper still attached, and now on top. After the tortilla cooks for a few seconds, the remaining sheet of waxed paper will easily loosen for removal. When the underside of the tortilla is dry with a few brown spots, turn it and cook the other side. This recipe makes 10 corn tortillas.

Flour Tortillas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup or less lukewarm water
Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Cut shortening in with fingers. Add lukewarm water gradually and mix evenly with fingers until dough is soft and pliable (not sticky or tough). Let rest for 5 minutes.
Pinch off 8 to 12 balls of dough. Use tortilla press, or pat flat, then roll on unfloured board. Roll from center out, concentrating on the thickest edge and flipping the tortilla about 1/4 turn with each roll and keeping hold of one edge or side, holding it firmly and slightly off the board. Roll and stretch until thin.
Heat a skillet or griddle as hot as possible. Fry tortilla quickly, flipping once. The faster you fry them, and the hotter, the softer and more tender tortilla. Place fried tortillas on towel. Cover and repeat until all are done. Let tortillas cool slightly, then place all of the tortillas in a plastic bag. Makes 8 to 12.

Cherokee bread served hot with honey or syrup
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk
Mix ingredients adding more flour if necessary to make a stiff dough. Roll out the dough on a floured board till very thin. Cut into strips 2 X 3 inches and drop in hot cooking oil. Brown on both sides. Serve hot with honey or syrup.

Indian Pumpkin Fry Bread
2 cps. all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 can pumpkin for making pie (not solid can of pumpkin)
¾ cup brown sugar
Oil/shortening for frying
Mix all ingredients together. Cut dough into 6 parts. Roll thin and fry in hot oil until golden. Note: if you use a solid can of pumpkin, mix in enough egg substitute for 1 egg (or use regular egg if you have it), ¼ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. nutmeg or allspice, ¼ tsp. vanilla.

Creek Indian Bread – to make buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup milk (regular or instant or powdered)
2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Sift flour, salt and baking powder then add milk and more flour to make dough stiff. Roll out onto floured bread board and cut into 4 X 4 squares with a slit in the center. Fry in hot cooking oil until golden brown. Drain on plate with paper towels.

Hot Water Cornbread
The cornbread is shaped into little cakes and fried. They are served with maple syrup over them.
Serves six:
Prep time 5 min, cook time less than 10,
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1-1 1/2 teaspoon shortening
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons boiling water
In medium bowl, combine cornmeal, salt, and sugar.
Add boiling water and shortening; stir until shortening melts.
Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a large skillet and heat to 375 degrees.
Shape cornmeal mixture into flattened balls using a heaping tablespoon as a
measuring guide. Fry each in hot oil, turning once, until crisp and golden brown,
about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve at once with maple syrup or honey.

Easy Fry Bread
4 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
Combine all ingredients. Add about 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water and knead until dough is soft but not sticky. Shape dough into balls the size of a small peach. Shape into patties by hand; dough should be about l/2 inch thick. Make a small hole in the center of the round.
Fry in about l inch of hot lard or shortening in a heavy pan. Brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and serve hot with honey or jam.

DESSERTS

Funnel Cake
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
Directions:
1. In a deep skillet, heat about two cups of oil over medium-high heat until hot. Test the temperature by dropping a pinch of flour into the hot oil. If it sizzles right away without smoking, it’s perfect.
2. Beat egg and milk. Mix all other ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to the egg mixture, beating until smooth.
3. Using a funnel, drop into hot oil working from center outwards in a web pattern. (You can use a gallon sized freezer bag instead of a funnel by pouring the batter into the bag, snipping off a small corner of it, and squeezing the batter into the oil.)
4. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, remove from the oil when golden brown and crispy.
5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Skillet Cobbler
Biscuit mix (if don’t have biscuit mix such as Bisquick, use any recipe to make up as much biscuit dough as you want and add as much sugar as you want)
Sugar
Canned pie filling
Oil or Crisco
Cream if available
Prepare biscuit mix per directions on box. Add enough sugar to sweeten as desired. Fry spoonfuls of dough in skillet. Heat pie filling in pot. Serve over warm, fried biscuits and drizzle cream on top, if have.

Easy Stovetop Peach Cobbler – I recently got this. I would use any canned fruit pie filling instead of canned peaches/cinnamon/sugar if didn’t have canned peaches. That just leaves canned pie filling and package yellow cake mix as the ingredients.
1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (9 ounce) package yellow cake mix
4 teaspoons margarine (or butter flavor Crisco)
Discard 1/2 of the juice from the peaches and pour the rest into a saucepan. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar. Empty the cake mix on top of the peaches (or use pie filling) in an even layer. Place the margarine on top of the cake mix in the center.
Cover sauce pan with a lid and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once you see steam escaping the saucepan, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid during this time! Remove from heat and allow to stand with the lid on for 15 minutes before serving. The cake mix should look like dumplings.

Quick Rice and Raisin Pudding
1 cup uncooked instant rice
1 cup milk or water
1/4 cup raisins
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg
Mix all ingredients in 2-quart saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Granola Squares
2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a large bowl, stir together the rice cereal and oats. Set aside. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray or oil.
Combine the brown sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until boiling, then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the cereal and oat mixture, and mix well.
Press into the prepared pan using the back of a large spoon. Allow to cool, then cut into squares.

This is from Quaker Oats Company:
3-Minute No-Bake Cookies
2 cups granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) margarine or butter (or butter flavor Crisco)
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/3 cup baking cocoa
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
In large saucepan, combine sugar, margarine, milk and cocoa. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Continue boiling 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat. Stir in oats. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper. Let stand until firm. Store tightly covered. If using old fashioned oats, cool mixture in saucepan 5 minutes before dropping onto waxed paper.

From Minute Rice Company
15-Minute Vanilla Rice Pudding
Prep Time: 5 min
Total Time: 15 min
Makes: 6 servings, about 1/2 cup each
3 cups milk, divided
1 cup MINUTE White Rice, uncooked
1/3 cup raisins
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
BRING 1 cup of the milk to boil in medium saucepan. Stir in rice and raisins; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare pudding as directed on package with remaining 2 cups milk.
ADD rice mixture to prepared pudding; stir. Cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap; cool 5 minutes. Stir. Serve warm or chilled.

Jello rice pudding without sugar/without fat
1 egg
4 cups fat free milk
1 pkg. Sugar free fat free cook and serve vanilla pudding
1 cp. Instant white rice
¼ cp. Raisins
¼ tsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Ground nutmeg
Beat egg (or egg substitute) and milk in large saucepan with whisk until blended. Add dry pudding, beat 2 minutes. Stir in rice and raisins. Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Cool 5 min., stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with spices.

[Marcella]

ping to my 137

[Lurker]

WOW. Thank you very much!

[JRandomFreeper]

I use garlic/onions out of the garden. Even in my condition right now I can go out and get volunteer onions from last year's garden.

I found that peanut butter and chocolate were my best $/Cal value.

There are no squirrels in the trees in this neighborhood for some reason... ahem... cough...

You are correct that buying in the local markets is the way to go. The local ethnic stores are the only place I can get raw chicken feet or duck heads with the bill attached.

Not everyone wants that kind of stuff, but it's good to know where to get it. ;)

I don't store anything I don't regularly eat. So real eggs for me or do without. I use instant milk for cooking so it gets stored.

Poverty is a great training environment, but it really sucks to live it.

/johnny