Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
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
Thank you for your kind words.
If you will check the food/vitamin/minerals in chard, you will want to grow and eat it.
I wish I could remember all that I have read over the years, or that other more knowledgeable folks have shared with me.
What I was talkin’ about:
‘This expression comes from World War I, when British artillery sent up a balloon to notify gunners to open fire, this visual signal being more reliable than courier or telephone. It was soon transferred to signal other kinds of beginning. [1915]’<<<
Now that is interesting, as there were terrorist posts and mysterious balloons a few years ago in some of the reports.
Thanks for the rest of the story.
You are welcome here anytime.
Thank you .......... ;)
“Beautiful results may be got on smallest grounds.”<<<
That is the garden that I plant in my mind.
Not the one that grows in Arizona.
Hubby does have another oldtimer friend with an old, old sawmill. Maybe some day when he has it running, I can “convince” hubby to take a six foot log up to be split and have two benches.<<<
That would be the best way.
Or drive enough wedges in it, to cause it to split, and that is the kind of hard work that having 5 husbands to help with, would be downright handy.
LOL, I don’t want to argue with them, but in the words of my husband “If you had your 5 husbands, you work them all till they dropped.”
The truth of it all is, with 5 husbands, I would be stuck in the kitchen all the time cooking for them and have no time to enjoy the benefits of their work.
In the Garden, was also my favorite song as a child in church.
If you go to post 959 and 961, you can get posts 1-9000 of the original thread, in Microsoft Word format, along with some other goodies I threw in for fun. Then you can search for terms inside the file, such as “earth box,” greenhouse, solar oven, etc. And you can read it offline. Course you can’t post comments, but this is the live thread now anyway.
Have fun!
Granny, I have to confess that I originally started creating an index for the thread, but after finding 500 instances of many of the terms (ground beef, pork roast, etc.), I realized that anyone who had the files could search for the very same terms. So, there are a few index markers in the file but I never could figure out a useful index for a 9000 page document. So sorry!! It was beyond my understanding how to make an index for such a massive document a useful tool.
Received my tobacco seeds! Can’t believe how small they are... now I have to research the ins and outs of tobacco husbandry. So much to learn, so little time! <<<
Excellent, you are going to be a busy man this year, now to get the tobacco barn built, I sent you the plans....
Laughing very loud.
Keep us posted, as you are going to learn a lot.
Thanks a bunch - I will try the library tomorrow and see if I can get that book.
Absolutely!
Welcome and join in...
The White House cookbook looks interesting, did you notice that the cooks also had medical remedies?
Little things that we all need to know.
I know that there is speculation of good quantities of gold in the Chocolate Mountains. Dianne Feinstein, whose husband is a mucky-muck with the Santa Fe Railroad, had the state give her husband's company claim on the mountains in exchange for the relatively worthless Anza Borrego desert area. This was during the Clinton era, naturally.
We are being governed by a generation of brazen thieves.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=243
5 Minute Cauliflower
Enjoy the extra flavor and health benefits from combining cauliflower with turmeric for this easy-to-prepare great tasting side dish that will complement almost any meal. Turmeric has long been recognized as a powerful anti-inflammatory in both Chinese and Indian systems of medicine and modern scientific research continues to reinforce the benefits of this tasty spice. One serving of this dish also provides 181% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C, 46% DV for vitamin, and 33% DV for folate. Enjoy!
Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes
1 lb cauliflower
5 TBS low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 tsp turmeric
Mediterranean Dressing
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2 medium cloves garlic
sea salt and pepper to taste
Cut cauliflower florets into quarters and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their hidden health benefits.
Press or chop garlic and let for 5 minutes.
Heat 5 TBS broth in a stainless steel skillet on medium heat.
When broth begins to steam, add cauliflower and turmeric and cover. For al dente cauliflower, cook for no more than 5 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl. For more flavor toss cauliflower with the remaining ingredients while it is still hot.
(Mediterranean Dressing does not need to be made separately.) Research shows that carotenoids found in foods are best absorbed when consumed with oils.
Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
Serves 2
Healthy Cooking Tips:
To mellow the flavor of garlic, add garlic to cauliflower for the last 2 minutes of sautéing. You may need to add a little more liquid to keep garlic from sticking to the pan.
Introduction to Recipe Rating System Chart
In order to better help you identify recipes that feature a high concentration of nutrients for the calories they contain, we created a Recipe Rating System. This system allows us to highlight the recipes that are especially rich in particular nutrients. The following chart shows the nutrients for which 5-Minute Cauliflower is either an excellent, very good, or good source (below the chart you will find a table that explains these qualifications). If a nutrient is not listed in the chart, it does not necessarily mean that the recipe doesn’t contain it. It simply means that the nutrient is not provided in a sufficient amount or concentration to meet our rating criteria. (To view this recipe’s in-depth nutritional profile that includes values for dozens of nutrients - not just the ones rated as excellent, very good, or good - please use the link below the chart.) To read this chart accurately, you’ll need to glance back up to see the ingredients used in the recipe and the number of serving sizes provided by the recipe. Our nutrient ratings are based on a single serving. For example, if a recipe makes 4 servings, you would be receiving the nutrient amounts listed in the chart by eating 1/4th of the combined ingredients found in the recipe. Now, returning to the chart itself, you can look next to the nutrient name in order to find the nutrient amount it offers, the percent Daily Value (DV%) that this amount represents, the nutrient density that we calculated for this recipe and nutrient, and the rating we established in our rating system. For most of our nutrient ratings, we adopted the government standards for food labeling that are found in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s “Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling.” Read more background information and details of our rating system.
Curried Cauliflower
1.00 serving
256.98 grams
246.33 calories
Nutrient Amount %DV Nutrient
Density World’s Healthiest Foods Rating
vitamin C 108.79 mg 181.3 13.2 excellent
vitamin K 36.44 mcg 45.5 3.3 good
folate 130.46 mcg 32.6 2.4 good
vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 0.56 mg 28.0 2.0 good
manganese 0.49 mg 24.5 1.8 good
dietary fiber 5.99 g 24.0 1.8 good
potassium 733.31 mg 21.0 1.5 good
World’s Healthiest
Foods Rating Rule
excellent DV>=75% OR Density>=7.6 AND DV>=10%
very good DV>=50% OR Density>=3.4 AND DV>=5%
good DV>=25% OR Density>=1.5 AND DV>=2.5%
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 5-Minute Cauliflower
ordering a little each month from www.mredepot.com<<<
Welcome to the thread.
I am so glad you are getting prepared, it may be the most important thing that you have ever done.
I am not familiar with the site and have not tried the MRE’s.
My supplies are from bulk and a few of the cans of dehydrated foods and they came from:
There are other companies that have much the same, but I am so pleased with the fresh grains that came from Walton’s that I have never tried the others.
If kept cool and dry, they will last 5 to 10 years.
Some less others more.
Some say they loose about 5% of the seeds each year, so you will need to plant more thickly.
Sealed in a coffee can, with a couple pouches of dried milk to take the moisture that might collect is a good idea, dark and cool is the ticket.
I have planted 10 year old onion seeds and gotten a crop, even tho they will tell you that you need a fresh crop of onion seeds each year.
Any seeds you have left over, save them and buy extra of the main crops.
Try to not buy the hybrids, as if you save the seeds from hybrids, most time you will get nothing from them but a plant.
LOL, but yes, I also plant the saved seeds from hybrids for the simple reason that every seed should be planted.
I can’t think of a hybrid saved seed that has ever produced for me.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodtip&dbid=27#title
(World’s Healthiest Foods is a terrific site with many recipes and vitamin/mineral/micronutrient listings for what they call “power” foods.)
Best ways to cook Swiss chard
While Swiss chard is a great vegetable to eat raw in salads and sandwiches, this versatile and nutrient-concentrated vegetable can serve as a great addition to most any cooked recipe. Yet, like with all foods it is important to consider how cooking can affect its nutrient content, taste, texture and color, so that you can insure that you are receiving the very best that this leafy green vegetable has to offer every time you eat it. While there are limited research studies on how to cook Swiss chard to maintain its optimal nutritional value, published studies all support what we emphasize on the World’s Healthiest Foods website: short cooking times are the best.
Nutrients in Swiss chard
Swiss chard is a power food, a storehouse of many different vitamins, minerals and nutrients. In fact, based upon the nutrient rating system we developed at the World’s Healthiest Foods, Swiss chard is an excellent source of 12 nutrients, a very good source of 6 nutrients and a good source of 5 nutrients. Swiss chard is a nutrition star!(link to either Food Rating Table or Nutritional Profile for chard).
As a member of the goosefoot family of plants (also called the chenopod family), Swiss chard is in the company of and beets (which originally and still grow wild around parts of the Mediterranean), quinoa (which originated in the valleys of the Andes and was a staple food for the Inca civilization) and spinach. Chard’s unique heritage as a member of the goosefoot family is one of the reasons it is so valuable nutritionally.
Short term cooking can best retain Swiss chard’s nutrients - focus on vitamin C
As noted above, cooking Swiss chard for minimal amounts of time is the key to maximizing it nutrient profile. This is because many of the nutrients concentrated in Swiss chard are susceptible to damage from heat and water.
Looking to the 12 nutrients for which Swiss chard is an excellent source, let’s take vitamin C as an example of how cooking may impact the nutrient content of this vegetable. Studies that have examined the impact of cooking upon vitamin C have shown that short-duration cooking (3-6 minutes) resulted in vitamin C loss of 25% or less while studies involving longer cooking times (10-20 minutes) have shown that 50% or more of the vitamin C may become lost.
How important is it to preserve this vitamin C? Consider these numbers: in one cup of chard, costing you only 35 calories, there are 32 milligrams of vitamin C. These numbers rank chard right alongside of freshly squeezed organic orange juice as a source of vitamin C! Cooking the chard for too long is like leaving half of your freshly squeezed organic orange juice sitting in the glass.
Short term cooking can best retain Swiss chard’s nutrients - focus on potassium and magnesium
Other examples of how cooking can impact the nutrient content of Swiss chard involve the minerals in which Swiss chard is concentrated. Included in chard’s “excellent amount” category are the minerals potassium and magnesium, and both are particularly vulnerable to reductions from cooking. Even blanching for several minutes may greatly reduce the content of these minerals. Applying insights gleaned from studies focused on nutrient losses from cooked spinach, where blanching for several minutes resulted in a reduction of over 50% of potassium and approximately one-third of magnesium, we once again see how minerals are at risk for nutrient loss during cooking and how important using minimal cooking times can be.
How cooking affects oxalates in Swiss chard
Swiss chard is one of the vegetables that contain oxalates, naturally-occurring substances found in plants, animals, and in humans. Although there are a few, relatively rare health conditions that require strict oxalate restriction (hypertext to oxalate article here), for the vast majority of individuals, oxalate-containing foods should not be a health concern.
For those concerned with oxalates, it turns out that cooking actually has a relatively small impact on the oxalate content of foods. Repeated food chemistry studies have shown no statistically significant lowering of oxalate content following the blanching or boiling of green leafy vegetables.
You should not expect more than a 5-15% reduction of oxalate content when cooking Swiss chard. Since many more vitamin and minerals are lost from overcooking more quickly than oxalates, it does not make sense to overcook oxalate-containing foods in order to reduce their oxalate content. Doing that will only result in a diet that is much less nutritionally beneficial while only minimally lower in oxalates.*
Maintaining vibrant color
While the rich colors of Swiss chard can be attributed to a host of different phytonutrients, chlorophyll is a major contributor to its rich green color. Chlorophyll contributes a green color to vegetables and plants since it reflects sunlight at exact appropriate wavelengths for our eyes to detect them as green.
Prolonged cooking results in a dramatic loss of chlorophyll. Excessive heating results in the removal of the magnesium from the center of the chlorophyll molecule causing it to turn into a molecule called pheophytin, which results in a noticeable change in color from from bright green to olive-gray. Therefore, to maintain the vibrant green color of Swiss chard and the potential health benefits supplied by the chlorophyll phytonutrients it is important to cook it for minimal amounts of time.
In the world of processed food, you can never trust your senses to tell you whether a food is nutritious or not. There are too many ways for a food manufacturer to trick your taste buds and your eyes. There are artificial flavors and artificial colors in the majority of non-organic, processed foods. But in the world of cooking and organically-grown food, it is amazing just how much you can trust your senses! You can depend on your taste buds and your eyes! When chard’s color starts to look lifeless, guess what? The chard is losing something - in this case, the magnesium found in its chlorophyll.
Enhanced taste and texture
One of the reasons that many people don’t like green leafy vegetables is that they equate these foods with a soggy, limp texture that also can contribute to a taste profile that is compromised. Yet, this texture and taste are not inherent to the vegetables themselves but are caused by the overcooking that the vegetable has experienced either in the home or in a restaurant. Therefore, by cooking Swiss chard for only a few minutes as opposed to a longer period of time, you will not only be able to enjoy the nutrients inherent in this vegetable, but its great taste and texture.
Once again, your senses can be your guide here. If you had a plant at home, or in your garden, and it started looking limp, you would automatically think that it had either too much water, too little water, or had been exposed to too much sun. Assume the same thing about the chard you are preparing: too much heat, too much contact with boiling water or steam and you’ll observe the exact same consequence.
Practical tips
To maximize the content of the nutrients of which Swiss chard is concentrated, quickly cook this leafy green vegetable, covering the pot or pan. Boiling for 2-3 minutes is the method we highly suggest. Not only will this method help to retain nutrient content, but will provide you with a vegetable bursting with taste, great texture and bright color.
References
Kimura, M. and Itokawa, Y. Cooking losses of minerals in foods and its nutritional significance. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 1990; 36 Suppl 1:S25-32; discussion S33.
Mangels, A. R.; Block, G.; Frey, C. M.; Patterson, B. H.; Taylor, P. R.; Norkus, E. P., and Levander, O. A. The bioavailability to humans of ascorbic acid from oranges, orange juice and cooked broccoli is similar to that of synthetic ascorbic acid. J Nutr. 1993 Jun; 123(6):1054-61
*People who habitually form kidney stones need to be concerned about oxalates. —TAC
A couple years ago, Dr. Bill Wattenberg at kgo.com and pushback.com, talked about a water desalination plant that was very cheap, maybe $4,000. or $40,000. [?] and was already in use in other areas of the world, when there was an emergency.
Your article may be it.
Do some of the liberals not understand that they need water too? Or is their lawsuits all a part of the fear factor, to keep us in line, where they want us.
Soon we will need an ID card to eat or even get our water allotment......the camps loom closer each day.
Welcome to the thread.
Thank you for sharing your experiences, as I too used canners and cast iron on my glass top stove.
http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2009/02/spanish-urban-survival-blog.html
He is indeed an amazing person, doing so much to help any one wise enough to pay attention.
Your link is a good one, I haven’t used their seeds, but have had them recommended by many and they are always on the lists with the good companies.
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