All Things Prepping, Simple Living, Back to the Basics [Survival Today, an on going thread]

CottonBall

[CottonBall]

This is an ongoing thread – meaning come back to chat, post information, or ask questions any time. Hopefully the thread won’t stagnate and I’ll do better at posting weekly (or bi-weekly) topics than I have in the past. (anyone willing to post a topic now and then we'll be highly praised and appreciated).

We are in for some bumpy rides, and prepping can only help. If for peace of mind, if nothing else. We have a wonderful gardening thread and a current-events survival/prepping thread, and hopefully this one can piggyback off of those, maybe having a longer discussion about certain topics or … whatever. It's your thread, do what you like with it! (civilly, of course)

Here are granny’s threads, if anyone wants to peruse them:

nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #1

nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #2

nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #3

[CottonBall]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732788367

here’s the book of the 2nd library

$52 and 500 pages. 4.8 stars

[Rusty0604]

This guy is great, been reading him for years.

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre and Lessons from the 2001 Collapse of Argentina

never experienced, so when someone who has experienced real collapse shares his lessons learned it pays to listen and learn.

This month that someone is Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre, who lived through the 2001 socioeconomic collapse of Argentina. You’ll get some insights into his thoughts on personal protection, currencies, personal health, and more.

http://my.waldenlabs.com/resilient-strategies/fernando-ferfal-aguirre-and-lessons-from-the-2001-collapse-of-argentina/

Story so similar to ours and others.

[CottonBall]

Thank you for that link. I had read some of his stuff in the past and it’s really good. Good lessons

How are you feeling? I never see you on the other thread although you’re probably there. Is the healing on track?

[Rusty0604]

I haven’t been online much mostly because of my neck. I was in a discussion group on X the other night with the debate and could sure feel it the next morning. It was fun though.

[CottonBall]

Yousmart to limit anything that hurts for now. Later you’ll have more options!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*BUMP* :)

[Augie]

Is that for health reasons? I’ve been reading about those intermittent fasting plans.

I've dropped 50lbs since January. Intermittent fasting combined with sensible portion control has worked really well for me. It's amazing how much better I feel having dropped a full 20% of my body weight, but the best part is I can eat anything that I want, just not all of it at one sitting. lol

[CottonBall]

ty, DiW!

[CottonBall]

Wow that’s awesome! If you don’t mind my asking how do you do the fasting? I know there’s lots of different ideas out there but I’m just curious what specific routine you use

[Augie]

Most days I’ll eat one good meal and one light meal. Lunch or supper, rarely breakfast on a weekend. Drink plenty of water and keep 85% of caloric intake inside an eight hour window on a given day.

It’s not much fun at first, especially for someone like me who loves to eat, but once you become accustomed to the routine it gets easy. You do need to have a bit of self-control for it to work because you’re the one in charge.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Good for you!

I like only having to cook two meals a day instead of three! Saves calories, time, effort and money. :)

And drink a lot of water, too. It’s good for you all the way around and you’ll feel full between meals.

[CottonBall]

Do you think intermittent fasting works because the number of calories eaten is reduced or because of how the body metabolizes the food because of the fasting?

I mean do you guys feel like you are eating just as much but still losing weight?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve lost 10# and Beau has lost #20. Right now, we’re kind of stuck where we’re at. Our ‘fast’ starts at 6pm and we don’t eat again until Noon the next day, so we go 18 hours without food, but can drink water or have a hot tea before bed and coffee in the morning hours. SOMETIMES we have a ‘Movie & Popcorn Night’ but a lot of that gets tossed to the dog; our Beagle’s record is 9 catches in a row, LOL! I air pop it then use a LITTLE EVOO on it and some Seasoned Salt.

At Noon we either have a brunch-style breakfast, or a veggie & cheese wrap and soup. Supper is usually a lean meat, veggies (steamed or roasted) and a salad. Neither of us are ever going to be ‘skinny’ again; we’ve accepted that, but our BP is good, bloodwork always comes back clean and neither of us have any major health issues and just a little arthritis here and there. We are 64 and 63.

Here’s the ‘skinny’ on fasting:

“’Intermittent fasting contrasts with the normal eating pattern for most Americans, who eat throughout their waking hours,’ Mattson says. ‘If someone is eating three meals a day, plus snacks, and they’re not exercising, then every time they eat, they’re running on those calories and not burning their fat stores.’”

Intermittent fasting works by prolonging the period when your body has burned through the calories consumed during your last meal and begins burning fat.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work

[CottonBall]

Sounds like you guys are eating really healthy, on top of the fasting.

Thanks for the info, I’ll check it out! It might be hard because I’ll be doing it by myself, and hubby will still expect his normal meals.

[dfwgator]

Vary the time of day when you fast, and vary the feeding windows. The body gets used to it if you do the same time every day, and you’ll plateau.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You’re right - that’s probably where we’re at right now.

But more importantly, it’s going on Noon soon and I can eat something, LOL!

[Augie]

It's a combination of reducing caloric intake and improving the way your body metabolizes sugars.

This is a nice article from Johns Hopkins that describes intermittent fasting in much more detail than I'm capable of doing:

Intermittent fasting

For me, loosely following the 16/8 method described in the article, combined with sensible portion control, has worked wonders. I found that after a couple months I literally couldn't overeat at a single sitting without feeling horribly stuffed and bloated. Once I got to that point the weight started to come off at a good rate. I'm getting close to my target weight now, and eating this way has become routine to me.

I made it through holloweeny and Thanksgiving this year without gaining any weight, which is a major accomplishment. Going forward, as long as I keep my wits about me it should be easy to reach my goal and stay there.

[CottonBall]

Thank you for the link, that’s one of the better articles I’ve read about it.

[CottonBall]

Baking bread with whole wheat flour.

I have quite a few superpails of wheat berries, so I figured it best to learn how to use them now – before it becomes a panicked necessity. Making 100% whole wheat bread can be a challenge, but I was determined to learn because eating bowl after bowl of boiled wheat berries does not sound appealing. LOL. And I figure if I’m breaking into the wheat berries in an emergency basis, that means white flour will either not be available or will be quite expensive.

The most important part of making 100% whole wheat bread, after grinding the berries, is vital wheat gluten. It’s what helps form that nice gluten web and lets our bread dough rise. I add it to AP flour to create a bread flour.

For 1 cup flour, .75 tsp VWG raises protein by 1%. I usually buy the cheapest AP flour, which is at Aldi’s around here. The bag states there is 3 g protein / 30 g flour = 10%. Bread Flour is 12-15% protein. So 1.5 tsp VWG per cup of Aldi’s AP flour gets me in the bread flour range.

Whole wheat flours have a higher protein content, but that is deceptive. Whole wheat flowers contain all parts of the wheat berry, including the brand and germ. When ground, brand has sharp edges that can cut the strands of gluten. Which is why whole grain loaves tend to be shorter and denser.

Adding more liquid softens the bran and helps the flour behave more like a white flour in baking bread. Whole wheat flour also absorbs liquid slower than white flour, so you need to give it time before kneading to absorb the water and determine if more is needed.

Adding vital wheat gluten can also mitigate the cut gluten strands caused by bran. I use the same amount I use in my white flours, about one to one and a half teaspoons per cup.

100% whole wheat bread can also be a bit bitter, especially if made with all red wheat flour. You can usually add something sweet to offset that, and or let the dough rise slow and long.

[CottonBall]

This is your ping to the All Things Prepping, Simple Living, Back to the Basics [a place to come sit on the porch and chat, an on going thread]

This week's topic is baking whole wheat bread. at Post 779

If you want off/on this list, just let me know.

PS. This is going to be one of my last posts. If someone else wants to take up the Prepping thread, that would be great. I will share whatever I have to help out.