Posted on 02/26/2018 12:12:20 PM PST by CottonBall
I’ve been missing the vast amount of information on prepping, survival, camping, simple cooking, the old ways of doing just about everything – all the things nw_arizona_granny knew so much about and shared with us, along with numerous other posters with a vast array of skills and knowledge.
We have our various related-threads here, a recipe thread, a gardening thread, and even a prepper thread. They are all great and I don’t mean to take anything away from those and the hard work their owners put in.
But I was missing a place to talk about ALL those things, to get the camaraderie that we used to have on granny’s thread.
I learned how to can on those threads! The pressure canner was not my friend, I thought, but I bought one and stared at it for a month, intimidated. Then I read the directions for another month. But with the help and encouragement of posters on granny’s threads, I jumped in and now have my very own food storage room in the basement with lovely jars of shelf-stable meats, vegetables, and fruit. When we moved, I fashioned my food storage room – and insisted upon having a basement – from what I learned on her threads. Getting started gardening was from her threads. Making my own cleaning products….the list is endless.
So I thought I would take the chance and start another comprehensive prepper thread and see how it goes. I used to have granny’s ping list since I made one of the threads for her, but alas, with numerous computer changes, I cannot find it. So please pass this onto any posters you think might be interested.
We’ll just keep it running until..whenever. Granny created a new thread at 10,000 posts or so. I do like the idea of having ONE thread to go to – because often I cannot find or keep track of the weekly threads. I won’t be posting lots of recipes or tidbits myself – to any mods concerned about the size of this thread. I’d just like a place to chat, post questions, post ideas, make new prepping friends.
Here are granny’s threads, if anyone wants to peruse them:
nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #1
mmm, the beans n greens look good! I bet they have a splash of EVOO at the end.
Funny, I first tried the ribolitta recipe just because it has kale in it. But I’ve never had escarole, what’s the difference?
I now sub swiss chard for everything leafy and green except lettuces - for every cooked green, because I can grow it easily and it freezes well. Yummy stuff! Except I’m not fond of it plain. And I don’t like the red swiss chard, except to look at while growing. It turns risotto and everything else it is in PINK!!!! Pink is just not an appetizing color!
awwww, like the New Orleans trinity! I get it now!
Garlic - a much needed addition to the trinity and/or whatever that other combo is that is often used.
LOL!
Oh, I loved that comment about a correspondence course but ran out of stamps - I meant to reply but sometimes I think I’ve replied but I really haven’t....
Getting older is difficult.
I’m with Raymond’s mother. Woe be unto anyone fooling with my jar of bacon grease!! With only two of us now, bacon grease can be in short supply around here. My grown children save all of their grease for me as they don’t use it(not good for you mom, tsk,tsk) With no cholesteral issues and at our age (nearly 87 and 90) I guess a little bacon grease is not a problem. We use it for SOO many things!! Can’t imagine cooking corned beef hash with anything but bacon grease. When I deep fry clam puffs, a few tablespoons of bacon grease in the hot fat adds so much to the flavor. Ditto for home fries, eggs and a litttle with the bacon bits in clam chowder.
well, if at 87 and 90 you endorse bacon, I’m going to be calling it a health food!
LOL - Bacon has its own food group! :-)
Nothing beats a BLT in the summer. Bacon, home grown tomato, and leafy crisp lettuce w/mayo between two slices of bread.
They’re eaten in the winter as well. The home grown tomatoes replaced by any one might find.
It makes you slower AT EVERYTHING :-/
LOL It does sound strange but the sweet-salty goes well together and the crunch of the Fritos is an added plus. The chips are crushed, like nuts, and sprinkled over the ice cream.
You bet!! Mr. Upc keeps suggesting having BLTs but I always say no. Just like strawberries, I wait for the REAL thing, fresh out of my garden. Strawberries and tomatoes from the supermarket are a poor substitute for the picked and eaten same day produce from my garden. Some things are O.K. from the big stores, but not tomatoes and strawberries.
Fresh tomatoes, topped with a slice of cheese on a bagel toasted for a few seconds under the broiler-yum.Grilled cheese,bacon and tomato sandwich,a slice of tomato,cheese and bacon on a bar-b-qued burger-all foods to die for. Mr. Upc had been unable to eat tomatoes because of diverticulitus. A couple of years ago Burpee came out with seeds for a seedless tomato and I started raising 6-8 plants every year for him. He is just delighted as he loves them more than I do, eating them quartered with a dollop of mayo on each quarter.
BLT: funny thing that. Mother was NOT a bacon person. She didn’t care for it (though she would eat Canadian Bacon on occasion). First BLT ever eaten was one made by my aunt one summer while spending the night with my cousin. That day I feel in love. When visiting, ALWAYS asked for a BLT when given a choice. Aunt’s meat loaf and peach cobbler were something to brag about, too!
You can do the same with a square milk crate. They also stack. A square milk crate will store 32 15 oz cans of veggies. Relatively easy to carry and move.
I never did much with a homemade cardboard and foil solar oven but it certainly does have potential. Cooked rice in it and it had a wonderful nutty flavor. Of course heating veggies and soups would be easy. No smoke so no one need know you’re there or with food.
Cut up chicken into nugget or tenderloin sizes. Wrap with bacon. No other seasoning. Skillet fry or bake in oven. When done, remove the pieces. Stir in 2 oz of cream cheese/yogurt/sour cream/cream into the bacon grease to dissolve into a sauce. Pour over chicken. YUM! Three ingredients. Best ever.
I’ve printed out many recipes that require minimum ingredients and substitutions and put into the prep files.
But how many of us are as likely to find a milk crate rather than empty coffee cans? Believe they might be found at our friendly Wally World - but at a price. LOL not many in today’s world have a clue as to how milk once arrived at our front door each morning; other than the milk white fairy might have visited :-)
More ideas for milk crates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Xx1iVy9Dk
Our cats come running when I drain canned tuna juice for them.
Never want for meat or veggie broth by merely saving what you already have. Have a large container/s in the freezer and add to it every time you drain canned veggies or have meat broth leftover from dinner. Boil down the Thanksgiving turkey carcass for broth. Save that Christmas hambone for a pot of beans.
And for goodness sake, peel broccoli stems, etc. to eat. The ends of onions that are initially cut off have a tablespoon or more of onion. Don’t let last night’s take out go bad. A teeny bit of leftovers of this and that and whatever is in the veggie bin or basket that needs to be used quickly can be turned into a soup or pizza or casserole. We Americans throw out more food than they eat.
Everything that gets tossed in the garbage is something you worked hard for. Think of it this way, would you something out that costs 5 minutes of pay that equaled the time you had to deal with cranky customers or a horrid boss?
Lots of stuff can be stored under furniture and behind doors. Clear out unused junk, unless it can be reused as preps, and most folks would have plenty of storage space. And organize neatly. Next time you’re in the market for end tables or such, go with those with drawers instead of open legs. Open the top of a hollow door to store valuables. Most burglars won’t take the time to check doors but they do know to check the freezer and books for grandma’s diamond necklace and money stashes. I think they’ve also figured out tampon boxes, too.
I don’t understand why sometimes vegetables such as lettuce and greens are sold with the roots still attached. Perhaps it’s easier to harvest the entire plant and charge more. Just give lettuces and greens a hair cut and they’ll keep producing for months. Had some collard greens once that the neighbors were getting all freaked out over. By the end of the summer, there were all these tall stems with leaves at the top. Admittedly, they were weird looking but cutting the old leaves and letting the new leaves grow let me have collards forever.
Hubby got into big trouble the other day for throwing out a bunch of plastic grocery bags. I use them for everything from carrying more stuff, kitty litter bags, trash can liners, etc.
DH likes CHICKEN. This, only second after steak, is his go to for just about any meal. The creamy sauce makes the meal. Will print it out and surprise him this week or next. Have you eaten Candied Chicken? Really really good. It does have sugar in the sauce so diabetics beware.
https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/candied-chicken-recipe/
Serve it with rice (also a DH favorite) but one might try pasta as well (as seen in GENIUS KITCHEN -
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/candied-chicken-breasts-18544 )
https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/candied-chicken-recipe/
For simple recipes using no more than three ingredients try this one:
World’s Best Pasta Sauce from Julia Child at DELISH
https://www.delish.com/cooking/a20077904/best-3-ingredient-pasta-sauce/
The Coolgardie Safe is a low-tech refrigeration unit which uses the heat transfer which occurs during evaporation of water. It was named after the place where it was invented — the small mining town of Coolgardie, Western Australia, near Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Principles of operation - The Coolgardie Safe was made of wire mesh, hessian, a wooden frame and had a galvanised iron tray on top. The galvanised iron tray was filled with water. The hessian bag was hung over the side with one of the ends in the tray to soak up the water.
Gradually the hessian bag would get wet. When a breeze came it would go through the wet bag and evaporate the water. This would cool the air and in turn cool the food stored in the safe.
It was usually placed on a veranda where there was a breeze. The Coolgardie safe was a common household item in Australia up to the mid-twentieth century. Safes could be purchased ready-made or fairly easily constructed at home. Some of the metal panel safes are very highly decorated, showing the creativity of their makers.
Make a model Coolgardie safe that keeps things cool in hot weather. What you need:
- Washed milk carton
- Rubber bands
- Scissors
- Hessian material aka burlap
- Strips of cloth
- Stapler
- Sticky tape
- Thermometer
- Electric fan (optional)
- Water
What to do:
1 Cut the top from the carton at about 2 cm below the base of the sloping bit.
2 Staple the top, seal with sticky tape.
3 Cut 5cm x 10cm rectangles from each side of the carton.
4 Wrap a 30cm x 12cm rectangle of hessian around the sides, hold in place with rubber bands or staples.
5 Invert the top and sit it in the top of the safe.
6 Fill the top tray with water, use strips of cloth to draw water onto the hessian
7 Test the safe, using the fan and thermometer.
McCormick noticed that a wet bag placed over a bottle cooled its contents. He further noted that if this bottle was placed in a breeze, the bag would dry out more quickly, but the bottle would get colder. What McCormick had discovered was the principle of evaporation: ‘to change any liquid into a gaseous state requires energy. This energy is taken in the form of heat from its surroundings.’ Employing this principle, McCormick made a box for his provisions which he covered with a wet hessian bag. He then placed a tray on top, into which he poured water twice daily. He hung strips of flannel from the tray so that water would drip down onto the hessian bag, keeping it damp. As the water evaporated, the heat dissipated, keeping the food stored inside cool and fresh.
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