Not that much to post about...

It's true that I haven't been doing that much this week in terms of new things for emergency preparedness (but we did have rice and beans one night and those biscuits I posted about another night, so I hope incorporation of emergency preparedness methods counts for something... :) except continuing to apply the "little by little" principle.

Turns out that actually using the food in your storage room so that your children and/or others won't be overwhelmed with emergency and totally unfamiliar food at the same time tends to make your shelves emptier somehow. I like to buy huge bunches of on-sale food storage food at a time, but since this is not always possible, I have been adding a few storage things when I do the regular shopping (a couple of cans of stew here, some yeast there, etc.). A couple of things I bought recently were not in the food category, but I did get a good deal on them. To alleviate possible boredom with this rather bland post, I am going to add links where appropriate....

1) I bought a couple of bandanas. Can't really say how much I would have loved to have one of these lovely acquisitions when we were out of state--they would have come in handy. But now I have a couple, so we're that much more ahead. For a really good idea of just how handy bandanas can be, check out this post over at Stealth Survival.

2)Picked up a couple extra taco seasoning mixes at $.50/each. I love to have flavor options, and the cheap flavoring packets, ready to go, are pretty cheap, and easy to accumulate. On a side note, is entirely possible that someone reading this is just starting their own emergency food supply, and/or is interested in buying all of their food supply in one step. Learned in an e-mail about this site, where you can order "paks" like the "family pak" (which I heard about someone purchasing, and which apparently, at the time of this writing is still on sale) and have a year's supply of food at your fingertips. A little costly for me, but someday I might try something a la carte, just for the variety. In the end, it doesn't matter what your dinosaur looks like. I just care that you and yours have enough to eat in an emergency....

3)Picked up a candle (peach-scented) that was reduced to $1.00. Sweet-smelling, and inexpensive too.....

That's about it--not all that exciting, I know, but at least some of my supplies are being replenished a little at a time. Beats by a long run how they used to sit on my shelf and threaten to expire.... :)

Hope everyone has a very, very, happy Easter!

Survival sprouts

I was talking to someone in our area who is really knowledgeable about storage recently, and he said that if you had wheat and sprouts, you could survive. He is knowledgeable about all areas of storage for an emergency, so my husband and I plan to talk to him some more. I was just struck by that statement--if you think you could make yourself do it, and you're not allergic to wheat, it sounds like that should be the first thing to store. Perhaps it should be the first thing to store anyway, because I would imagine that in an emergency situation you could make yourself do pretty much what you needed to do to survive.
Not long after this conversation, one of my friends who I talk to about using our food storage (recipes, etc.) gave me a sprouting set! It looks like a mason jar, and has multi-colored lids and most importantly, a set of directions. I haven't started to use it yet, but I am very excited to learn how to do so.
One important thing that I already learned from my friend is that you have to be sure that you get the right kind of seeds to sprout. From what she said, some of the seeds that you can buy just anywhere are treated, so at least one good source would be a health food store. When she realized the extent of my ignorance, she dropped by some seeds for me to start out with. You have to love friends.
So in a nutshell, I now have the equipment, but have yet to gain the knowledge on the subject of sprouting. Lesson 1: Make sure you are using the right ingredients, that have not been treated. Another adventure for emergency (and hey, if there is no emergency, this is healthy and doable anyway) eating awaits. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Who knew?

I did not know until recently that Spam comes with bacon. Remember when I used Spam instead of bacon in my beans and rice recipe because I thought it unlikely that in an emergency situation I would have a pig running around, and even more unlikely that I would know how to make bacon even if I did? Now I can have the bacony goodness without the bacony mess. At least that is the theory. I haven't actually tried it yet, but it is available at a national chain near me. I was reminded about it when I found this article. I am always on the hunt for new recipes, and though some people don't like Spam very much, this is why I would recommend getting some in stock:

1) Even though, as I have mentioned earlier, beans and rice make a complete protein, variety is important in food storage matters. Spam has some protein, but one of the main reasons I want to have some on hand is because it adds the smell and flavor of meat, which is enticing by itself, and only adds to the flavor of something like rice and beans. In my opinion, beans cooking (before adding spices) do not have an appetizing aroma, (an opinion shared by at least one of my children) and it can be important to make your dishes as appetizing as possible during an emergency situation. This article, that I found when I was looking for information on appetite fatigue, makes sense to me. Your choices are going to be limited during emergency/survival situations anyway, so any tasty differences you can make might make the difference between someone in your family eating and remaining as healthy as possible, or compromising their health by becoming weaker by not eating.

2) Spam contains a lot of fat. This may be a downside for some people, but it is my understanding that children need fat for proper development, and we all need some fat in our diet to stay healthy. Rice and beans boiled in water with spices do not have a high fat content. Bread made with some oil does not have a high fat content. The amounts for fat in my posts in May, where I listed how much to store, are survival amounts, so they would be sufficient for survival. Storing extra fat might come in handy, however, when our food storage is our only source of nutrition. I don't think that we would eat Spam every day even if we could, even in an emergency situation. (See #1.) It's just that the fact that Spam and other products that have some fat could be a plus in an emergency situation, and could be one of the ways to help your family do more than just survive.

OK, here come the disclaimers: I do not work for the Spam company, and do not intend this to be free advertising for them (although, as I look back, it kind of looks like a commercial :) ) I do, however, like their product, and so do the majority of the members of my family. I made Spam and rice (flavored package) for lunch for the kids yesterday, and it is always a big hit. This, plus the article I first linked to, reminded me of appetite fatigue and the need for fat in our diets.
And of course, you know that I am not a doctor, or even an expert on food storage, (hence, the "adventure" part of my blog) so what I write is based on what I understand, and not intended as medical advice. I am just trying to think ahead about what would sustain my family through hard times and perhaps even make life a little easier for them in the event of emergency situations.

Soooooo.....if you take anything away from this post, I would suggest the following:

1) Vary your food storage to avoid appetite fatigue.

2) Make sure you are including whatever you can (i.e. extra fat) to make your food storage the best it can be, and customize it to your own needs so that your family can be as healthy as possible in emergency situations.

3) My kids like Spam. I consider myself lucky, seeing as how it is relatively inexpensive right now and can remain in storage for awhile. (Hey, this one is important to me. :)

Don't you wish you had known that you could have just skipped to the bottom in the first place? :). The storage amounts from my posts in May are survival amounts. If you don't have those yet, please get those supplies in first. Survival first. Enhancement second. Priorities, priorities. :) And please feel free to comment, send recipes, etc. I personally find the "Hot Dog Surprise" recipe in the first article especially intriguing....