Following a long tradition...

on my blog of having people leave great comments, as well as just plain old linking to other people's blogs when they post wonderful preparedness information, I present the following:

A huge thank you to Stephanie in AR, from over at Sooner or Later, for leaving this link from Down to Earth about making oil lamps in a comment on my last post. That looks like something I could do, and will probably try it soon. An oil lamp has been on my list of "things to have for emergency preparation" for a while now, and if I can do it like this, it will be crossed off a lot sooner. If you are interested in making your own oil lamp, you should check that link out....

Well, things are growing in the garden---the corn, as my husband says, looks "anemic" in terms of height, and in comparison to some corn fields we saw over the weekend, but hopefully we'll get something more out of the crop this year. The potatoes look like they are doing alright, but having no comparison because it is our first time growing them, we will just have to see. The beans look like they are doing well, and the pumpkins, a family favorite, appear to be on track. Time to think about late season planting, if memory serves--and to actually plant whatever we decide on very, very, soon....

Hope everyone is having a great summer--and that if you have a garden, that it's growing well!

Fair is fair...

Long-time readers of my blog may recall when I wrote this post on how companies were shrinking amounts of food in their packaging but keeping the price the same. Just found this article where at least some companies are increasing the amounts of food but keeping the price the same. Gotta love more instead of less...

Even though I don't know many (if any) people who consider Doritos survival food, being able to stretch your "normal" food budget may also lead to stretching the amount you are able to spend on your food storage. I wrote about less for your money, so writing about more for your money only seems fair--and as they say, fair is fair.... :)

Gotta love alternate uses...

I have oil olive in my food storage because it is my understanding that it's good for you, and can last a nice long time. So it is already one of my staples, and makes my rice and beans taste better. What I love, though, is finding that one of the things I am already using in one way could potentially be used in other ways, because making life easier is not always just about the food...

Found this article on multiple uses of olive oil, and from there went on to read this article on multiple uses for vinegar. Have to admit that I was more interested in the article on the vinegar, and need to get some in actual storage because I already use a lot of it for cleaning, and it doesn't stay on the shelf very long....

The comments on both of these articles are also intriguing (um, yeah, there are sooo many that I did not read all of them for both articles, and by the time I have written this, there may well be even more) and in at least one instance, a commenter speaks against one of the uses listed and offers an alternative. Makes for interesting reading, and if they actually work, you gotta love alternatives for things you already have in storage when there's an emergency. Some of these pointers will most likely find their way into my emergency notebook, with the hope that they won't ever be needed in an emergency....

Some tips are so good...

That they deserve their own post. A huge thank you to Kristen, from over at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, left this comment on my last post about frybread:

"Anyway, make sure you keep your oil consistently hot while making it and it won't seem as greasy. Put a kernel of popcorn in the oil and when it pops, it's hot enough. Continue to put kernels in periodically if you are frying on the stove and don't have a handy electric appliance."

I didn't have a consistent heat, (although the oil was obviously hot) because I switched it from higher to lower temperatures as I cooked when I thought the temperature was off in some way. Hope I can use this information to my advantage the next time I try frybread--I do think that extra oil in the bread was a problem....

Thanks again, Kristen! I highly recommend her site because it is full of great recipes and she makes cooking look easier than I generally think it will be--gotta love easier...

Variety in the bread thing

For some reason when I was talking to a couple of friends recently, the subject of fry bread came up. I had fry bread with chili a long, long, time ago, but it was so good that I remember it still....so I was interested in knowing how to make it. What I learned from this conversation was that you could just take regular bread dough, after it has risen, and instead of baking it in a loaf, just pull off balls of it, stretch them thin, and deep fry it. If I were to do this, I would be using this recipe, which I would give very high ratings for ease and success of outcome.

Ok, there are at least two problems (for me) with this. One, I am of the mind that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, so why would I want to potentially mess up a perfectly good loaf that is ready to go into the oven for an experiment that may or may not work out? And two, I had never deep-fried anything in my recollection. So the possibility of it not working out was actually pretty high.

So I went to a cookbook and found a recipe specifically for this sort of adventure. Powdered milk was involved (yay, dairy group!) and other non-yeast items that would be available in a food-storage only scenario. No rising, no waiting. So I heated the oil.

The plus side was that nothing caught on fire. The not so plus side is that I do not have a natural talent for making fry bread. The bread came out edible (and at least once in pieces) and was served with chili. Mixed reviews, but pre--ttty sure they would have been higher if the bread had come out lighter and less grease-laden. Practice, practice, practice, as they say. And since this was first attempted in a non-food-storage-only situation, we had some chips on hand as a backup. (Canned chili is one of our 3-month storage items (that we still need to get more of) and sometimes we just put it on top of corn chips with cheese and olives for a main dish. Since I made the frybread, the chips are on hand for another day....)

Gotta love a bread adventure that doesn't burst into flames and leaves tortilla chips in its wake. :) Hey, if you have any tips, would love to hear them--recipes and information are always welcome...

Hit the garage sales lately?

Went out to see one of the garage sales in the neighborhood mostly because there appeared to be a lot of clothes for sale. Didn't buy any clothes, but in terms of emergency preparation did come away with:

--A sewing kit. If you have read my blog, you will most likely remember that sewing is not high on my list of fun things to do. In fact, the gentleman who sold it to me asked if I sew, and I said, no, but I should, and this might help motivate me... I haven't even gone through it all yet, but already am impressed with what I was able to purchase with $3, such as multiple spools of thread, patches, what looks like what I think is called the "foot" from a sewing machine (that little doodad that the needle goes up and down through) etc. In fact, I asked if that was part of someone's sewing machine, and he wasn't concerned about it, so it came home with me. Anyway, never know when a needle and thread that you can easily locate will come in handy...

--At another garage sale picked up a humidifier, to come home and keep the one we already own from being lonely. I asked if it worked and was assured it did. Needs to be cleaned up a bit, but may come in handy in the case of a pandemic, since I have read/heard/found out that having a second humidifier is recommended in that case. Cost me $3, which is quite a different price from buying one new. I know, because I occasionally check out them out, only to decide that a second humidifier is too expensive to purchase at this time....

--A flashlight for $1 that is larger and sturdier than some of the ones we currently own, and which takes a large battery that I will have to track down so that we can use it. Not much to say about that one, but having light is a definite plus in case of a power outage....

I would love to put pictures of my purchases here, but the cord that allows us to transfer pictures from our camera to the computer is apparently being temperamental, so no go. If the technicalities get worked out, more pictures will be nice.

I did look around to see if I could purchase something like canning supplies, but no such items were available this week. Have you checked out the garage sales lately? I haven't in a long time, but sure am glad we did today.... :)

This, that, and the others

Well, it's mostly been a little of this, a little of that on the food storage front. For example:

--Went out and found salt at $.50/box and bought a few to put in the storage room. Ever since I read Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, and the survivors were running out of salt, I've always wanted to make sure I had some in storage. Speaking of books, my turn came for One Second After at the local library, but I ended up returning it before I got further than a few pages. I'll have to request it to be put on hold again--I think I have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. Even though I didn't even get to the "after the EMP hit" part, I could already see some of the problems the characters were going to have after it hit. It was interesting reading, but I pretty much expect the hardships that will come to the characters are going to be intense and unpleasant...

--Have stocked up on some more Spam, which is currently $2 at the local national chainstore. So versatile, with such a far-away expiration date, and I actually use it regularly. What a winning combination.... :)

--A while ago, we offered to store some food for some "others" whom we would be basically unable to turn away if an emergency hit. We had asked them about food storage, because we pretty much wanted to know what the situation would be if there were a crisis. The original attitude was essentially that they would go and buy something from the store if such a situation arose. Well.... So we discussed it, and since they don't have much room for storage, we told them if they bought some supplies, we would store it here. They did buy some food storage, and that food storage sat in our house in a few buckets marked clearly as theirs for a little while. They have since asked for it back, saying that they want to rotate it. Thing is, as I understand it, they will take it back sometime soon, but there won't be anything returning here for storage.

To be fair, my understanding is that they do have some storage at their place, though I don't know how much, and there are even other "others" in the area that would probably help them in the event of an emergency. Maybe it's just me....when it comes to food storage, my basic mode is more more more. I can at least say I tried to urge them to be prepared as possible...

Well, that about wraps it up at the moment...sometimes it's all baby steps, but even baby steps are progress....

Happy Independence Day!!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

I'm grateful to live in such a wonderful country, where we have so much freedom. As they say, freedom is not free, and my thanks goes out to the members of our armed forces and their families, past and present, for their part in helping to keep that freedom intact.

Land of the free, and the home of the brave--Happy Birthday, America!