Continued from Part V, which can be found here.
Another location for canned meats is Zerling and Sons, it’s a family business and have canned beef, pork, chicken and turkey, I bought some to have some variety. Reasonable prices and shipping. http://www.werlingandsons.com/products.html
Okay - new toy for me - oh so thrilled with myself. “as seen on tv” I bought one of those pasta expess containers - you put your pasta in, boil some water & put that in too. Thinking if no power for the electric stove, I can just bring the water to boiling & cook the pasta that way - save fuel by just boiling water, not having to cook that extra 10 minutes…. tested it and it really worked!
Amak- Glad you’re happy with it. Another way is to use a widemouth thermos. Gets about the same results. For about the same price. Either way, you get to cook with much less fuel.
Also, check back in an earlier prep thread about my test of cooking in a styrofoam cooler.
“cooking in a styrofoam cooler”
Eccles: The hillbilly shadetree mechanic in me is itching to build a “custom” styro cooking box with the left over panels from my freezer test and some construction adhesive. Best case, I’ll have something that works well. Worst case, I’ll have something extra for the trash collection and everybody will assume it’s something my granddaughter did while I wasn’t watching.
Hey, did anyone ever test the “black mailbox” cooking method? We talked about it a few weeks ago on a prep thread and I never saw the results.
If it worked, I’m heading out to Home Depot to get me a mailbox!
HBB- The one thing we all need to watch out for is that styrofoam, when heated very much above hot coffee temps will outgas stuff which is decidedly not good to ingest over the long term. hence, you shouldn’t use it in a solar oven. But as a passive cookin box like I did should be fine.
TIG- Since then, I haven’t had enough (A) sunlight and (B) spare time together in a single place to actually try it out.
Hey everyone I don’t know if you know this or not -------Emergency Essentials will give large orders a beak if it is a group order. So if you are prepping with family or friends do group orders and you can save. The orders don’t have to be that big either. I am working on an order now. Example: flash lights we only had to order 8 to get a break on the price.
Eccles – at 09:49 Not planning on heating my lovely creation up in one of those high falutin’ solar thingies. Just going to nuke the rice and water in a casserole dish and stick it in the box. Have you done any more tests? It would be great if one could just pour boiling water over the rice, stick it in the styro-cooker and later take out a finished product as with pasta in the thermos.
Here’s a question…
Can we put water in a glass container and just add rice and let it sit in the sun? Like sun tea? -would it be ready to eat in a few hours? Or maybe just in a covered dark pan. I bet that would work. Sure, ti would take a while, but it wouldn’t use fuel. Stick it in the sun in the morning and have all the rice cooked up by dinner time. ????
TIG - Something tells me there is a problem with that idea, but I have not tested it. Maybe soaking would lessen the cooking time, as it does with dry beans.
Love Texas – at 10:04 --- will give large orders a beak if it is a group order
A chicken beak? LOL!! Sorry
BB couldn’t resist…it’s just one of those mornings without enough coffee…
Eccles:
Has anyone tried this with a crockpot? I have one of the fancy ones, that has a removable pottery insert, and heat retaining carrying case. Maybe rigged up with the styrofoam, black box, or maybe a brick could be heated in the sun (black or foil wrapped) to keep the heat? I’ll try it myself, but would like to save my preps, if someone has already done this!
Don’t forget that you can use a pressure cooker - needing little water (or stock) and relatively short cooking time.
Last week I posted the styro cooker experiment- post disappeared. Earlier today I rewrote instructions-again the post disapeared. I don’t understand. Anyway I tried it, it worked really well. Lets see if this post stays.
Ok-that post worked. I think. does anyone really want more info on the styro cooker?
Green Mom – at 18:05 do you want to try it one more time?
I cooked white rice with raisins (old dry) in styro cooler after bringing pot to a boil in my oven. I used my normal oven so that the entire pot and lid were hot before putting it in cooler (insulated inside with newspapers). Worked like a charm and I’ve got two outdoor ovens already. But I want to test brown rice, I think it will need a second and possibly a third boil to cook but I’ll still save fuel.
I am interested in the styro cooking thing. That is on my list of threads I needed to get back to and find the full directions….
Its a Asian cooking method to soak the rice before cooking. Shorter cooking time. I’ve tried it and it works. I soaked it for about an hour I think. I don’t think that just soaking it all day without cooking would work. The rice needs to steam to fluff up the starch and make it fluffy, not mushy.
Nope, am gettin my mail at the p.o. and ignoring my poor battered mailbox, until I put up a new post and the new box. I like to let things be for a while.One day I’ll spray the ivy painted box flat black and try things out, but we had torrential almost tropical rain for days and am going away for a few days.
Ok, I’ll give it another go-
I made a lentil curry and white rice. I’m thinking if I have a Coleman type stove, how could I do this? So first, got everything ready and did all the prep work-chopped the ononion, measure everything etc. I used two pans, one burner. First I brought the rice and water up to a boil. Then, poured that into a crockery bowl, covered the top with tin foil and set it in my cooler, and brought the lentil curry up to a boil. While I was cooking that, I washed the rice pan, and filled with water. When the curry came to a boil, I poured that into a crockery dish, covered with tin foil and put in the cooler and then brought the pot of water allmost to boil-more like low simmer. I poured the hot water in the bottom of the cooler put the top on the cooler, and covered with a thick towel-I could see some steam coming out from the crack between the lid and the cooler.
I had every thing in the cooler by 10:30. I checked it at four oclock, and it was completly done and still hot. I didn’t want to bring the water to a boil becouse I was afraid of melting the stryofoam, and also, some times styrofoam can emit chemicals. I used lentils because they cooked quicker than dry beans, but I want to experiment somemore and see how dry beans would do. I used less than fifteen minents of burner time.
Hurray! It posted! I really want to try the glass jar rice cooking experiment.
Is there a single page handout describing Human Influenzic Plague and how you can prepare for it that we could pass out to our neighbors?
Have I heard that rice needs to be boiled for a certain length of time to kill any dangerous ? bacteria in it? I’m sure I’ve read that despite people thinking it’s a safe product, it can be dangerous if not properly cooked and also when you re-heat it you need to re-heat it to boiling point (again for safety reasons) - or am I imagining this. I am pretty certain I’ve read it somewhere but can’t think when or where.
Would cooking using minimum fuel mean any problems re food safety?
Does anyone know how they do baking in the ground for luaus or clambakes?
Anon UK- At least the mehodologies I’ve used to cook both rice and spaghetti start with the cooking process at the boiling point. Once the product starts coasting, it is in a sealed container which is not exposed to the outside environment until cooking is finsihed. Much like crock-pot cooking, which is safe.
Basically, it’s an oven in the sand, that uses heated rocks to maintain heat, and damp seaweed to steam and cover. I think that this method came from the Native Americans and I would suspect could be modified for other cooking (along the lines of a slow cooker) and would also be less noticable!
“New England Clambake how-to
This important regional feast requires the freshest softshell clams, native seaweed, corn, potatoes, lobsters, sand and salt air. Here’s how to build and cook a clambake, step by step.
1. Locate a beach where clambakes are permitted; you can build one elsewhere, but it won’t be the same as one prepared next to the ocean. Assemble a group of friends to help with the digging— and the eating. 2. In firm sand, dig a hole 3 feet deep and 4 to 6 feet across.” ……….
heres the link:
Thanks to KimT for the Sportsman’s Warehouse tip. Got a second siphon pump today. Turns out it’s orange, while the one I got online is red. If need be, I can designate one for clean/treated water, the other for water needing to be treated. They also had 30 gal water drums for around $30.
Thanks preppie chick! I’m going to try a *much* smaller version this weekend. Maybe try porkchops, since they cook pork at luaus. Can take lava rocks from lansdcaping and substitute banana leaves, since I have those. Aloha, baby!
Do you all freeze beans (like you do rice and flour) to kill critters before you store them?
Clambake Tips I would like to offer some tips to those interested in the clambake idea. As alternate method that is shown the link provided by preppichick.
Dig a pit 3 feet wide, 8 feet long and roughly 18″ deep. Build a fire in each end and allow one to burn down to white hot coals about 3″ inches deep.
Start with a new steel trash can (size dependant on how much food to be prepared) Fill 1/ to 1/3 with fresh wet sea grass/weed. Layer in order: potatoes/onions, lobster, corn, clams. Put seaweed in between each layer of food. Do not cover clams. Place cover on trashcan Place trashcan in fire reduced to coals as above. The second fire to be enjoyed as sun begins to set and for replenishment coals to be added to cooking fire. Periodically check clams, when they are steamed open, the entire menu will be cooked to perfection.
Note: This is not the most efficient fuel method but avoids potential of shattering rocks with heat. Also allows for the food to be transported relatively easily to another location for consumption. We often use the second fire for cooking burger/dogs etc for the kids (& hungry cooks).
After trashcan is removed a few large logs dropped in make for a great evening bonfire!
Analyst:
Great idea!
Prepperbabe:
I also remember Martha doing a clambake on the stove. Let me know if you want me to try and find the recipe.
I picked up 16 lbs of strawberries at Sam’s Club today. Plan to make some jam and can the rest in syrup. Needless to say, I’ll be up late tonight.
Next will be peaches…spiced peach jam, frozen peaches, peach pie filling, canned peaches in light syrup, peach gumbo… ;)
Anon Uk- I havn’t heard/read anything about rice-though I do take the precaution of freezing it for several days in my freezer to kill any big bugs, - but who knows? I had heard something similar about Sun Tea and tracked that down. Several issues on food safety have popped into my head lately and I am currently reading a book on food safety now, and doing research. (If anyone is having a problem staying on a diet, just dive into a book on food safty-ugg!)
My family eats tons of rice. We’ve never had any problems. One of the ways I cook it most often is to bring it to a boil, put the lid on the pot and turn the burner off-I have an electric stove so that the burners stay hot for a long time-I just let it finish in its heat.
I cook almost all my family’s meals from scratch- we have a lot of food allergies/sesitivities plus being vegetarian. I also can/dehydrate/preserve a lot of food. The only time I know that Ive gotten sick from food was a few months ago I ate a salad at a major chain resterant-not a fast food place, while chaperoning a school trip. I was extreamly ill for several days.
It seems to me, and I know this is an oversimplification, that food poisonings result mainly from two things- the first is contaiminated food to start with- i.e.-E.Coli, Salmonella in things. The things mostly affected here are moist juicy things-raw meats, dairy products, eggs, alfalfa sprouts, salad greens, etc. Rice is nice and dry and hard. Then those items are either not cooked-(salad greens), or not cooked enough- (eggs, dairy, meats,) or cross contamination has taken place- you take a cooked hamburger off the grill and put it back on the platter on which you had a the raw handburgers.
The second area is not taking care of food properly after its been prepared, such as the classic potato salad at the picnic, or leaving stuff out overnight, or whatever. With the Sun Tea- several people became ill after drinking Sun Tea-that had been left to stand at room tempature for twenty hours. This is what I am concerned about if we have power outages and loss of refrideration. People will survive the flu and succumb to food poisoning.
This might be a good idea for a new thread-maybe we could get some health offical types to weigh in. I suddenly have an urge to go scrub down my kitchen with Clorox.
I just watched “Dawn of the Dead” (2004). Since it has been mentioned numerous times that PanFlu will turn people into zombies, I should have a leg up if that time comes.
Actually, my real prep was to combine two of my staple prep items. I used the liquid from a can of Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup (1.75 cups liquid approx) to make my instant white rice instead of water. After bringing it to a boil, letting it sit, I added the solids from the can and let it heat up. Very filling meal for two people for less than $2.00 a day and it is easy to make.
Today I made up a menu for 3 months worth of meals. I was going about my preps kind of willy nilly ( not to be confused with hillybill :))and that helped me focus and get a handle on what I need to purchase yet.
Green Mom – at 17:16
You are pretty close on all of that. The most common cause of food born illness is cross contamination and that usually from raw meats and their juices not being cleaned up and work surfaces not being properly sanitized before working with ready-to-eat stuff like raw veggies, lettuce, etc., what you gave is also a good example. The second is improper handling of leftovers, not cooling them rapidly enough and not reheating them to a high enough temp. About 8 or 10 years ago the health department in a fairly large southwest city did an experiment. They had their staff select 100 friends and families, all “educated” people who from the relationship knew something about food safety & sanitation, and after giving them advanced notice when to their homes and conducted an inspection just like they would do at any restaurant. The results were startling; of the 100 homes 96 were found with what them were called critical errors, items which could have caused some form of food born illness, items which in a restaurant would have required a second inspection to verify all the needed corrections were made or stricter measure would be taken. The other 6, had they been restaurants, would have been closed on the spot until things were corrected and re-inspected. Not one single home “passed” the inspections.
The current standard for holding foods are at or below 41 degrees F for cold foods and 140 degrees F or higher for hot foods. Food must be cooled to at least 70 degrees F in the first 2 hours and then down to 41 or below within the next 4 hours (6 hours total). To cool foods quickly, use an ice water bath (60% ice to 40% water), stirring the product frequently, or place the food in shallow pans no more than 3–4 inches deep and refrigerate. Pans should not be stored one atop the other, and lids should be off or ajar until the food is completely cooled. Check the temperature periodically to see if the food is cooling properly. Cover the food once it has reached 41°F (5°C) in order to avoid contamination. When reheating foods you should reheat rapidly to a minimum internal temp of at least 165 degrees F. If any prepared foods are held higher than the 41 degrees F or lower than the 140 degrees F for longer than 2 hours they should be disposed of. Now there are exceptions to that but only with certain foods like those with a high acidity or other qualities that slow bacterial growth. It’s easiest just to follow the 2 hour rule.
Bump
nopower - at 22:52 - Great idea with the soup and rice!!!
EOD – at 00:18 - Is there a web citation for this info? It’s great!
Nopower-I couldn’t quite bring myself to watch “Dawn of the Dead” “Shawn of the Dead” was hilarious!
Green Mom -
I watched “Shawn of the Dead” long before watching any of the “Dawn of the Deads” (horror flicks aren’t usually my choice). The whole time I was watching “Dawn…” I was drawing comparisions :)
We talked about organizing cans in pantries previously and today after much searching, I wasn’t going to pay $25 each for a chrome can dispenser, I discovered a gravity fed can dispenser at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $2.99. I picked them up at the store as there is one about 5 minutes away, here is the item for reference.
My cabinets have shelves that are too deep (22″) and not tall enough (12″) to easily rotate new items to the back of the stacks. I bought a couple and currently have one with glue drying as I had to modify it to hold wider cans (Most of my canned vegtables are a little thicker, but shorter than a soda can). In order for it to work with canned vegtables I had to trim a little plastic at the back where the can drops and then remove a support (the one in the top middle in the picture) so that cans would roll foward. I found it to be too flimsy without the support so I cut a piece of thin flat metal and glued it a little foward of where the previous round support sat. Once it dries I’ll test it and probably convert a couple more.
Unfortunately, these racks won’t work with Progresso or Campbell’s Chunky soups (they should work for the smaller condensed - I didn’t test those), but should work for alot of canned goods and at $3 a rack are really cheap.
As I’m feeling too wimpy at the moment to do any physical prepping, I’m working on my list of what to get and how quickly to get it. I’m reprioritizing some items and having to put items back in that I thought I had enough of.
I wonder if I can corner the liquid Lysol market?
Don’t forget that a bleach solution works just as well and is more cost effective!
I bought the new sanitizer from them - after getting home, I read the label to discover that it was just a more diluted version of bleach! Lot of money for water! It was good to know, though, that you could dilute bleach to the point that it didn’t white out everything and still killed 99% of junk! Lot cheaper than Lysol, though I will still keep a couple of cans around.
This may be getting too nit-picky, but I notice some products “disinfect” while others “sanitize”. I think a product that “disinfects” destroys ALL germs and one that “sanitizes” destroys ALMOST ALL germs. Can someone clarify this for me and why the need for two different types of cleaners other than profit, i.e. selling the consumer more water in the form of a “sanitizer” perhaps???
Also learned once that a product that is truly a disinfectant will have an EPA Reg.# at the bottom of the label. Check it out.
Lysol and bleach are the only two products that I’ve found thus far that are spray on and immediately wipe off for disinfection.
All the other products that I’ve found read that to disinfect with their product you need to spray on and leave on for 10 seconds to for several minutes to achieve disinfection.
Like you said OKbirdwatcher … gotta read those labels.
Anyone who has a BJs near them (I’m in MA)- BJ’s’ has the best price I’ve seen anywhere on the big box of Carnation powdered milk- almost 1/2 what the big supermarket chains are charging for their house brand.
Also a very good deal on Swiss Miss 60 envelope hot cocao mix. ounce for ounce-It’s actually cheaper than the big can that they also sell- and much less that regular supermarkets.
But Shaw’s has a better price than them this week on Bounty P-towels. $9.88 Also got the box of mayo packets for if we lose power and have run out of gas for the generator.
For people looking for some interesting condiments to add to their preps- Ocean state Jo Lot has stuff you don’t find elsewhere- reasonable prices.
And a great thing we found at the Christmas tree shop- True Lime and True Lemon crystalized, both in shakey containers and packets for your purse. 0 calories, all natural, no sweeteners. It does have lactose- so be aware of that if you have lactose intolerant persons in your group. We tried both and went back for more. Lot’s of uses for this product. One thing daughter pointed out- if you add lemon or lime juice to some things, like dips, it can make them runny, not with this product, and it doesn’t take much either.
Tested my charcoal chimney yesterday. (My dh usually uses an electric starter.) It worked really well, but it took me 25 kitchen matches to keep the newspaper burning! Maybe it was too windy. The directions said use 2 sheets of newspaper, so I used 2 double sheets (8 page numbers) and really crammed it in. Maybe I should have used 2 single sheets? Does anyone have experience with this?
I don’t think I would rely on product claims as to sanitizng disinfecting etc. I looked into the lysol aerosol disinfectants and decieded against them. I plan to keep it simple and cheap and go with what hspitals and labs have been using for years. Alcohol >=70% and diluted bleach bleach solutions for surfaces and inanimate objects. Be careful with bleach though as it is corrosive on certain surfaces. Pour on a rag, wipe. KIS! Contact time IS important and I would recommend using enough liquid so that it leaves a bit of solution on the surfaces to air dry by itself.
Jane,
Yes, I have experience. You overloaded the newspaper chamber, 2 single sheets will do it.
Thanks, Melanie!
Make sure that there is air circulation - loosely crumple the paper and don’t pack tightly. I use a chimney, when I use the charcoal grill and it works great. Girl scouts have a lot of tips for fire starting, also. Here is a link, with instructions, for lighting a chimney starter.
My major prep the past couple weeks has been reorganizing my back yard for raised beds and getting sheet composting started. Though I’m in a city, I’m near enough to the edge of town that there’s a place that boards horses and was happy for me to take away some of their manure. Many of us will be doing manual labor that we haven’t done in years. Please everybody be careful moving heavy objects! I’ve been moving bricks and stepping stones from the home improvement stores to my backyard and carrying buckets of water to the compost heap. My lower back is holding up, but I’ve managed to irritate a tennis elbow problem in my right arm that I had years ago. This kind of exercise is different from in a gym!
I have finally gotten my inverter, the batteries to power it, and a computer-controlled charger. All of it is heavier and bigger than I imagined so now I need to build some type of rack or workbench to safely contain it all. The idea that this might be something portable that I could move around in the house went away quickly.
Still continuing my experiments with sourdough bread (as reported in another thread). At least this week’s batch was edible!
I filled up two more 5 gallon gas cans and stored them at the farm. I plan to fill up two each month until I hit my goal of 120 gallons.
Our church pantry is coming along slowly, but I have members saving two-liter bottles for water and asking different deli departments for empty food grade buckets.
Bill-
Yep’er, them batteries sure do weigh considerable, don’t they?
Whenever I watch Star trek and see how they can use a hand phaser to melt their way through a wall, I always say “I gotta find ME a set of batteries like that”. I guess tech-nerds get something different from the shows than other folks do.
Eccles: “Yep’er, them batteries sure do weigh considerable, don’t they?”
Dang if they don’t! My Subaru thought the canned goods from Aldi’s were bad enough, but the trip home from Wallyworld was slow going up the hills, (if you have ever travelled two-lane blacktop in WV you will know what I mean). It is neat to have some new toys to play with, but they definitely don’t fit in my backpack. You should have seen my face when I saw the box the inverter came in. Let’s just say it’s slightly bigger than the one I have that plugs into the power outlet in the car!
Maybe dilithium crystals come in a miniature size?
My prep has been rather more prosaic than power inverters and dilithium crystals. <grin>
I have been doing laundry. After a week of the stomach flu there were simply mountains of sheets, towels, clothes, etc.
And I get to have this fun without being able to put any on a laundry line because here in Florida we have the gates open wide for TS Alberto to pay a visit. Many cities around the state are down over 8 inches of rain … and most expect to be in the black again after Alberto passes through. That’sa lotta watta!
So, I hope everyone else manages to stay high and dry as I wade through my mountain of ye ol’ laundry and try and figure out exactly how much more I might need if a pandemic were to hit our home.
Going home to put up my new mailbox post, and mailbox, if I can find it in the garage, and find some proper tools. To each day the evil thereof. I don’t like coping with these things, and my current male friend is no better at this than I am, a New Yorker. Just hope all the parts are there. (Box retaped, last one at Home Depot) I don’t like asking for help, usually some passing man pitches in, like the man who saw me struggling to get a tree into a car. He lifted it like a matchstick and said. “Thats how you do it.” It’s my “Thats how to do it” sour gum tree. Paul Bunyon couldn’t lift it now. Yay Kathy. Clean laundry. We have had torrential rains too, but just nor-easters, not Hurricanes.
preppiechick – at 14:44 Don’t forget that a bleach solution works just as well and is more cost effective!
Also don’t forget about the best germ killers of all, especially around food and on food preparation surfaces - vodka and rum. The higher the proof, the better. Allow rum to soak briefly into wooden cutting boards, then wipe it off. If eventually gives it a nice shiny pleasant smelling surface. And there is nothing left behind that’s poisonous which will get into your food and no perfumes. Any remaining alcohol evaporates.
I pour rum onto my pastry board, spread it around and scrape it with a dough scraper, rub it with kosher salt until it shines and sometimes rub it with lemon juice. Then let dry. Every once in a while I take the board out on a sunny day and let it sit in the sun. I use vodka (and rubbing alcohol, too) to clean surfaces and windows. You can pat down a roast or a chicken with rum before cooking. Rum, vodka, brandy, etc, can be used as a throat gargle if you feel you’ve just been exposed to something (ie someone sneezed or coughed nearby). And you can use it to dress wounds, bandages, etc.
And if you’re in a pinch, rum can be added to drinking water, too. <hiccup> Pretty useful to have on hand as a prep.
Cinda, thanks for those tips! I also shop at Ocean State Job Lot and bought cans of sardines at .50 cents each. Sardines are high in calcium and protein - just put them in a sandwich. And I got some Nestle’s Table Cream for $1.00/can - might be good to add to powdered milk and bread/pancakes/waffles/fruit.
I also bought some lemons at Sam’s and I’m planning on making lemon curd to can (for lemon pastries, puddings, cakes, lemon bars and pies).
Sea Urchin @ 15:25:
That’s a great tip, re alcohol sanitizing, but as someone of Irish descent, I have to say that I still might use the diluted bleach and save the alcohol for sanitizing my stomach!!! I use plastic cutting boards and throw them in the dishwasher, now (and bleach, after raw meat). I do have a wood one, but only for bread, etc. I bought several large bottles of hydrogen peroxide, from sams, for toothpaste (with baking soda), gargling, cuts (though don’t use on deep cuts), sanitizing, etc.
I have relatives from RI, and my sister in law still wraps gifts from some HUGE rolls of giftwrap, that she bought at Job lots, several years ago!
My big prep for today was getting a pnumonia vaccination. I went in for a physical this morning and asked if it would be possible to get one in the fall with my flu shot, and the Doc said “Hey! Lets do it right now!” So I did. (I do have asthma and allergies) Also scheduled Mammogram for next week, and am getting some involved dental work done. I getting all my familys medical/dental stuff done NOW! no more putting it off! We’re all getting extensive physicals, and I’m taking my daughter in for an eye exam.-She’s not complained of any vision problems, but I just want to be sure. Plus I’m getting extra pair of glasses.
Sea Urchin – at 15:25
“Sardines are high in calcium and protein - just put them in a sandwich”
I know it will sound crazy BUT…Sardines in a peanut butter sandwich. Every now and then I just have to have one - I usually endulge when the wife is not home, made her start gagging the time she found me out LOL
Well, I found two new product today (haven’t tried it yet) at HEB grocery store in Texas. They are made by Knorr and are small boxes of bouillon cubes, but instead of the normal chicken/beef flavor, they are chipotle and onion flavored bouillon cubes. The box is very small, so will be easy to store. I checked Knorr’s website and didn’t see the products there; the packaging indicates that they are new products.
I think I paid around $1.67 for each box. Might be a nice way to add some flavor to those rice and beans without taking up much storage space.
A few weeks ago I started to pick up a 5 or 10 lb. bag of rice and several bags of lentils and split peas every time I went to the store. I’ve then thrown them in a large (clean) plastic trash can in my barn.
I’m doing this for my neighbors as they have refused to prep (so far). I live alone in a wooded area (except for a fierce enormous dog and an even fiercer(?) free-flying killer parrot {she’s actually a sweetheart!}) and I’m not particularly close (frienship-wise) to my neighbors. It really feels good to know that I can help out if the time comes and even more so, good to know that if they forcefully come after my preps, that I can offer them their own.
So far, the critters have left the stash alone. If there’s a problem I can bring the can into the house. It really feels good to be doing this. :-) I don’t know what they will do for water though.
I’ve also bought jars and jars of cheap peanut butter for them too. If we dodge this flu, my local homeless shelter/food pantry will be well stocked!
bird-dog – at 09:09 Once our own needs are relatively well taken care of, it is natural to start thinking about those around us. I know we can’t feed everybody, but what you, (and a lot of us), have put away for othes will make a tremendous difference. I also think that having provided for our neighbors will be a tremendous help if civil unrest does occour. For $25 I was able to fill up two big buckets with rice and dry beans for the members of my church. They don’t know about it, but if it is needed I know they will be grateful and I will be glad I did it. I plan to keep adding to this as I am able.
yup, and it’s so easy and inexpensive to do. Plus, it just feels good. <grin>
Ceredwin: I went to the link you had for Werlingandsons for the canned meats. They did not have any product information on the site - such as shelf life etc. Have you tried any of the cans you purchased? Just wondering what your thoughts are about the meat.
Thanks
HillBilly Bill, can you put your stuff on a rolling hand cart/dolley from the home improvement stores? The flat wide ones are great!
Kathy in FL, I’m glad you at least feel like being up and doing laundry, no matter the weather. Ya’ll hang in there & don’t float away with Alberto!
I could find something to wheel the batteries and inverter around, but the main problem is that the inverter needs to be grounded with a fairly substantial guage wire to a permanent ground (such as a metal pole pounded into the ground). Also, it should be permanently mounted in a safe place that is not accessible to grandchildren or curious cats, both of which I have at my house.
What I’m doing now is going through the non-food items I’ve purchased and returning things bought locally that I don’t need after all. Examples are a small kiddie pool, extra RV hoses (the 2 I’m keeping reach from the outside faucet to each of the water barrels), and a small metal garbage can (I now have lots of plastic buckets).
I’ll take the kiddie pool and the metal garbage can..:-)
Help please! I’m picking up some 5gal buckets from my bakery today. I’m planning on filling them with rice, beans, flour etc. My question is, can I store them in the garage without damage to the contents? I know there are occasional mice and then of course the tempature changes-100 in summer and 0 in winter.
Also can someone tell me where to buy kerosene? I’m planning on buying a kerosene heater shortly just to have handy for winter.
Last question, at least for today. How can you figure up how much food you have and how long it will last? I went to the morman website and it sounded kind of off for our family. I am keeping an inventory of everything I buy.
Thanks for all the help, you guys are great! I am new to this, having just started a couple of weeks ago. My family thinks I’ve gone over the edge and I’ve gotten the old “we’ll come to your house WTSHTF” also. Actually the responses I’ve gotten from people are discouraging and depressing. :(
lohrewok – at 11:44 Mice will chew right through your nice plastic buckets, so if at all possible, keep them in the house. Also, your dry goods will last longer the cooler you can keep them. Temperatures over 80 degrees will cause problems.
I bought my kerosene at my regular gas station, however it is common to sell it in this area. You may have to check around, but surely some station will have it. It will be in a seperate pump, perhaps away from the regular gas pumps.
You will only be able to determine how long your stored food will last by making up menus that use only your stored food and planning out meals for a least a couple of weeks. I know several others here have already worked this out and their efforts may be listed on the wiki side (left sidebar).
Good luck and hang in there!
lohrewok – at 11:44
Temperature extremes will damage most food items, even those in cans. You’ll have to watch things. The rice … assuming no humidity … may be your cheapest experiement for this.
For kerosene, check your local building supply company to see if they sell or can recommend someone.
As far as figuring out how much food my large family of 7 is going to need … well, its an inexact science at best but it appears to be working in the food area.
I created a menu for “x” amount of time and then created a grocery list for that menu. I made sure to include absolutely everything that I would need for the recipes as if I had totally bare pantry shelves to start. This will give me a list of food for “x” amount of time … if I want to have a food supply for longer I either add the appropriate number of meals and add the groceries from those meals to the list or just double everything until I have what I want for how long I want. I prefer the first option as it gives me the opportunity to maintain a greater variety in the menu, but the second option is easier.
HB, you mention grounding an inverter. Please explain. I have an inverter but not grounded. There was instruction on grounding if it was hooked up to the vehicle, but it was grounded to itself if not hooked up to vehicle. I am a little confused. Thanks
I saw kerosene in the paint department last week, but in the Fall, it’s on the end caps at Lowe’s and Home Depot. I think it’s more expensive in the paint dept., but gas is more now, so…? We’ll see in the Fall. There’s a new form of kero. Klean Heat, that has less odor (and costs more). But that probably won’t show up again until Fall either. I think I’ll buy another wick for the heater, in case we’re using it every day.
A garage is awfully hot to keep food in, for the summer. Some posters have said they’ll keep paper products in the garage, and try to keep the mice out of them. Don’t know if mice can chew through that plastic or not. I bought some 1/4″ hardware cloth to protect some supplies, but haven’t used it yet. I don’t know whether to wrap a bucket or line a shelf to make it like a box. We don’t even have mice yet, so I guess I’ll keep the wire in reserve.
NJ Jeeper – at 11:59 My inverter has a grounding lug on the back of the unit. The instructions state that the unit should be grounded to a properly installed metal grounding pole (which I already have). Not all inverters are going to be the same. Mine looks like it is on steroids, which it should for the price I paid :-).
Mari at 12–18
Good luck with your raised beds projects-I have them and I love them. I have heavy clay/rocky soil so raised beds are the way to go for me. I also do sheet composting and love it. I have two suggestions- If you’re handeling horse manure, especially if your collecting it yourself from a place you don’t know very well, you might want to make sure your tetnus shots are up to date. Also I have found that Omega three oil(I like the flax seed oil) REALLY helps with those sore muscles especially the “tennis elbow” type. I take it everyday and ibuprophen for a severe flair up. Also you might try “Bio-Freeze” Thats awesome stuff for sore muscles. Chiropractic shops uasually carry it as well as some Nutritional suppliment type store.
Lohrewok- Mice WILL chew through plastic. I stored some grass seed once in a plastic bucket with a lid thinking they couldn’t chew through it but they did.(alas) I opened the lid and saw about twenty beady little eyes staring back at me. Ive allways gotten kerosene for my heater at my local gas station. The pump is off to one side away from the regular pumps. For my kerosene lamps, I buy the lamp oil at department/discount stores.
Hillbilly Bill – at 10:01
For grounding the inverter, would it be possible to get a three prong plug, connect the grounding wire of the inverter to the grounding pin of the plug, make sure the other 2 wires in the electrical cord are NOT connected, and then simply plug this special ‘grounding plug’ into any outlet around the house. Even if the power is cut off, the ground should still work - better confirm that.
Any electrician here please? (Or move to the electrician thread).
ANON-YYZ – at 12:35
Is there such a thing as a grounding plug where the Live and Neutral Pins are actually insultion material, not copper?
ANON-YYZ – at 12:35 Much better to run the wire to an outside ground, or connect it to your water pipes if you have copper plumbing.
AMIREADY at 9:34, we ordered from Werling, we got some beef w/gravy and some bbq pork. The beef we had it over egg noodles, it was ok but not buying more because we won’t rotate it. Have not tried the bbq pork yet. I called to get the shelf life, she told me 3 to 4 years, maybe more.
I just finished my lunch of spaghetti rings and mini-meatballs (my granddaughter’s favorite). While not the healthiest choice around, it is definitely satisfying. I know we have all talked about “if we get down to just rice and beans”. It occoured to me that if one had the space, it would be really nice to have a few cases of this type of canned good hidden away. I mean hidden away from even your regular preps. When the menu got slim, some ravioli or canned pasta would taste like heaven, and the fat and calories would be a blessing rather than a curse. I get mine at Aldi’s and it is really reasonable.
Thanks Chesapeake. Ordered some freeze dried meats from beprepared.com for emergency after freezer and canned stuff is gone. Will probably stick with things like Dinty Moore stew, canned chicken and tuna. Same shelf life and I know we would eat them.
Hillbilly Bill - at 12:49
You make a good point. Just yesterday I looked at those items and decided not to buy; but variety could be important on down the road and herbs and seasonings can be added to improve/vary the taste. I think I’ll re-consider and add some to my preps. Thanks!
Green Mom – at 12:34 - Thanks for the tips on things to do for sore muscles & tennis elbow pain. I also ice down for a few minutes after I’ve moved stepping stones or lots of bricks (currently using a bag of frozen brussel sprouts on my elbow). The sorest muscle group has been my glutes, so I must be doing something right. Where I live everything dries out quickly, so the manure wasn’t that heavy. I was thinking about the tetanus shot for other reasons - should have gotten that done at my last physical.
HillbillyBill
Your comments about the higher fat foods rang a bell, have been avoiding some foods because of fat/sodium, but those things might be welcome someplace down the line, and might be needed. Well, how else can I justify the dark chocolate I will be putting in my preps? Have bought some already, but have a problem getting it from the kitchen to the basement. Maybe should leave it down there on the way to the kitchen from basement garage?!
I ve put some canned pasta in my preps. Because of the sodium/fat content as well as food allergies, I try to avoid foods like this in general, but it would be a welcome change! Somebody else must have thought so too, because my stash was dicovered! I have teens so I’m lucky I have any food preps left at all! I think canned gravy was on the Sarajavo thread-(100 things to disappear first.) I have also read about World War II folks talking about canned gravy. I think I’ll put some of that in as well. Its the kind of thing that none of us really care for much now, but I bet it sure would taste good later.
None of my dark chocolate has made it to the basement. I managed to wrestle some chocolate poptarts down to my storage and after great effort, hid some Hershey bars in the freezer under several packages of Tofu Weenies. I’m lucky if dark chocolate even makes it into the house.
Today’s “flu preps”- Grand Marnier, Courvoisier, and Brandy..you know, in case I have to make some homemade cough medicines. :)
Received one of four packages of foods that I ordered through Amazon.com over the last week or so. Finding food that was gluten-free such as Pamela Baking mixes and Glutino pasta has really made my preps so much easier. The Pamela brand goods alone would have cost me over $130 more if I’d ordered them from another gluten-free site I’ve used in the past and with the food coming directly from Amazon I could opt for free shipping since the order was over $25. The other things I found on Amazon were delivered directly from the company [Berry Farms in Ohio, which has over 1400 items inventoried on Amazon!] will go to add variety and spice to the plain rice, beans, flour, pasta, etc. I was floored to find out how much food is listed on Amazon and recommend checking it out if you live a distance from big box stores. Even though we have Sam’s, Walmart, Dollar Store etc, some of the items I found would have never been stocked in any of them.
And, I must thank Kathy in Fl for all her information this week regarding her family’s encounter with the flu! I would never have thought of getting supplies for the “sick room” and found nearly everything this week at the nearby Dollar Store. I’ve created as special box just to hold those supplies so if one of us gets sick I don’t have to try and gather them from all different areas of the house. So, in gratitude, I want you to know that some good has come out of your very difficult experience.
I had considered buying the oven that sits on top of the 2-burner propane stove but then I saw an oven that uses the small propane bottles. They screw directly onto the oven so no wasted heat from the burners. I think it is a Brinkman oven and it says it will cook for 4 hours on one small propane canister. We wouldn’t use it every day but sure will be nice to bake bread, bisquits, or cookies on occaision. It was twice the price of the other oven, but looked twice as well built too. We do a lot of camping so plan to try it out next month. Came from Wal-Mart.
CashB – at 00:45 Like you I was looking for the camping oven that sits on top of the cook stove. I did see the model you are talking about and it is a much better option, although more expensive. This would be a tertiary backup for me, but if I needed it, I sure would be glad that I had it.
Re: canned pasta/ravioli. My wife is a lifetime member of the choleterol/sodium police. This is not the type of food we normally buy and eat at all. However, our preps do need to include food for our granddaughter and she really likes the spaghetti rings. In a SHTF scenario, I think normal concerns about our eating habits will have to take a back seat.
HB - my husband is a bona-fide card carrying member of the carb police. So, we buy a particular brand of pasta that is low-carb. It is also more expensive. I have several boxes tucked away, but I am also buying the large bags of regular pasta. Even the captain of the carb patrol agrees that if TSHTF, we will have many more things to worry about that the carb count on pasta! And, we may need all the carbs we can get.
P.S. My 2 youngest like the spaghetti rings with “hot dogs”
Watching in Texas – at 09:13 As far as regular pasta goes, my wife insists on the wheat variety and we have lots of that tucked away. I also have added some angel hair because it cooks quickly if we get into a low fuel situation. Spaghetti is a staple in our house, we have it once a week like clockwork. I have enough pasta and sauce to continue this tradition for 4 months. Normalcy in at least some areas will mean a lot I think.
Bill, I haven’t tried the wheat pasta, but I think I will check the package labels to see if it will pass inspection with carb patrol. And, yes, I think trying to keep things as normal as possible will be very important, especially where children are concerned. I have squirreled away some kid-friendly treats in an attempt to cut down on the inevitable whining from my youngest. Hey, do you need to freeze pasta for 3 days to kill possible critters?
I bought the Coleman oven and thought I’d use it on my kerosene cookstove (Butterfly brand) and thought maybe it would work on the room heater too. We have one of the round ones from Home Depot. Does anyone see that causing any problems? (For biscuits or cornbread, a cast iron frying pan (covered) works too - no oven needed there.)
WIT: I have not given my pasta the freeze treatment and so far it is OK. we have eaten up all I bought in Jan and are working on Feb right now.
WIT and HBB - We have often carried tens of pounds of pasta on the shelves for a year or more in just the cardboard packages they came in without any problems. Of course, we’re not in a particularly hot and humid neck of the woods, but I haven’t personally found the need to freeze pasta. It is a manufactured product, as opposed to rice and beans and wheat which are mostly straight from harvester to you with minimal processing. There, the bugs and eggs come along for the ride.
Thanks Bill - I didn’t think so, but I was stupid enough to store bags of dog food in my garage - which of course led to the great WIT the Rat Killer episode, so I figured I’d better check….hey - check your email.
Concerning the storing of dog food, I have given up on keeping much more than a month’s extra on hand over the summer. Even though our basement is cool, I’m afraid of it going bad. If we make it to the winter, I can keep several month’s worth in an old chest freezer we have in one of the barns for storing feed. I guess depending on when PF51 hits this may be a last minute prep.
WIT - you have mail
Jane:
I bought the Coleman oven and thought I’d use it on my kerosene cookstove (Butterfly brand) and thought maybe it would work on the room heater too. We have one of the round ones from Home Depot. Does anyone see that causing any problems?
My only thought is, are the Coleman oven and your kerosene cookstove rated for indoor use? Could be a carbon monoxide problem…
CashB – at 00:45
I saw that oven too … but my little Coleman fold up oven that goes on the 2-burner did so well when we went camping last summer in the national parks that I’ll just stick with it. I did all sorts of breads in it so am not worried in that direction.
The outside of that oven gets fairly warm so I was able to use it to warm up some stuff at the same time something was baking inside. I found it works best in a place with very little wind … too much wind and the oven had to work too hard, similar to how the Coleman burners work as well as most grills.
Yesterday was a milestone of sorts. The last seven boxes of N95 masks arrived (making over 500 total), and a shipment of 1200 surgical masks. The masks are all in-what a relief!
MAinVA – at 20:49
You are more than welcome. Glad our bought of the stomach flu helped someone. <grin> Seriously though, I’ve already added to our OTC collection … lots more tummy ailment kind of preps as well.
Also added a lot more koolaid packets to flavor the homemade oral rehydration formula. I little one turned his nose up at all the over the counter stuff such as pedialyte but just about inhaled the homemade stuff that I flavored with koolaid. (found the suggestion on another thread and it really works)
Bill - you have mail..on the Liberation Dog Food Front: we have put ours in extremely thick plastic storage bins and then put them in a cinderblock storage room. It is baited for rodents and actually keeps it fairly cool. Much, much cooler than our garage. We checked on a day that temp was 96 and everything was fine. And the dog food seems to be keeping just fine, we rotate based on exp. date. But, with 200 pounds of dogs, buying a truckload will have to be a last minute prep here as well. My husband has an employee that is from Russia and he said most buildings where he is from are made out of cinderblocks. I was very impressed with the level of insulation it provided.
To keep the ants out of our preps, we moved our IKEA racks an inch away from the walls and all the legs of the racks stand in a little can filled with water and bleach.
We buy flour in 2 kilogram (4lb) packs. They spend three days in the deep freezer to kill possible bugs. When bringing the packs to room temperature afterwards, they get wet from condensation, so we keep them on a table and turn them over a couple of times to make sure they are totally dry. Then they go into lidded buckets in the store room.
Some of our rice has been infested with little black bugs. I have no solution for that problem.
ibb, thanks for the warning. One site says kerosene stoves and lanterns (!) produce harmful fumes so should be used only outdoors in well-ventilated areas. Another says he cooks indoors and would use it for heat in an emergency, with windows cracked open. People have used lanterns indoors for decades, so a hour or so of cooking should be ok, imo.
Albert, did you freeze your rice before you placed it in storage or did the black bugs come from an outside source?
Kathy in FL – at 10:57 CashB – at 00:45 I saw that oven too … but my little Coleman fold up oven that goes on the 2-burner did so well when we went camping last summer in the national parks that I’ll just stick with it. I did all sorts of breads in it so am not worried in that direction.
Kathy- I am so pleased to read this- I bought one of the coleman folding ovens and was wondering how well it really worked. I have a 2 burner colman stove but I don’t like it very much. I also have a really nice double burner propane “stove” that I have started to use for canning. Do you think that would work as well or better than the coleman stove for the little oven? Cinda
Here is an unbelievable story for all preppers! OMG
-shirt mask could help in flu pandemic: experts Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:33 PM ET
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world may be unprepared for a bird flu pandemic, but U.S. researchers said on Wednesday they had come up with one low-tech answer to widespread shortages of medical equipment — a mask made out of a T-shirt.
Their mask fit comfortably over the face and appeared to filter out potentially infectious particles, the team at the University of Pittsburgh said.
“A simple, locally made, washable mask may be a solution if commercial masks are not available,” Virginia Dato, David Hostler and Michael Hahn wrote in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Experts say a pandemic of some kind of influenza is inevitable and that the H5N1 avian flu virus looks closer than any other virus to causing such a global wave of disease.
The H5N1 virus almost exclusively infects birds but it has killed 128 people and has infected at least 225.
The World Health Organization says there is a global shortage of medical equipment such as masks, gloves and gowns as well as of antiviral drugs and other supplies, especially in poor countries.
One key piece of protection is an N95 respirator — a fitted, woven cone of paper that can be pressed tightly over the nose and mouth to filter out fine particles that can carry germs or toxins.
Dato’s team tried to replicate these factors.
A cotton T-shirt “was boiled for 10 minutes and air-dried to maximize shrinkage and sterilize the material in a manner available in developing countries,” they wrote.
They cut it into nine pieces and fashioned a mask that had several layers of cotton over the nose and mouth and tied behind the head.
Such a mask is a poor defense against influenza, except perhaps when used by trained health care workers, Dato said in a telephone interview.
“If it’s really needed, you actually have the mask on and you are next to somebody who has influenza, then that mask is catching influenza droplets. So then when you are done with it, it is really contaminated,” she said.
“It has to be appropriately washed, cleaned maybe with some bleach. It is somewhat like a dirty diaper (but) at least a dirty diaper that has poop in it, you can see that it is contaminated and you don’t put it in your pocketbook.”
It would be dangerous to put such a mask on a person sick with influenza, because they are already struggling to breathe and the mask could make it worse.
Another danger is “being overconfident — putting on a mask and thinking you are invincible,” added Dato.
Was out doing some weeding/trimming today and am very disappointed in the state of my vegetable garden. We have several weeks of cool, wet weather and many of the plants are not doing well. If many of them fail I will be quite down. Not only do I love fresh veggies, but I was hoping to preserve some of them for preps.
ibb, thanks for the warning. One site says kerosene stoves and lanterns (!) produce harmful fumes so should be used only outdoors in well-ventilated areas. Another says he cooks indoors and would use it for heat in an emergency, with windows cracked open. People have used lanterns indoors for decades, so a hour or so of cooking should be ok, imo.
People have used lanterns indoors for decades, yes, but I’m still not sure that kerosene lanterns are safe. I do know that long before there was kerosene, people used oil in lanterns…matter of fact, they still do; our little general store has lanterns and oil. I don’t have any, but I may pick a few up. My neighbor, an old-timer who’s a real treasure trove of useful knowledge, was telling me just this afternoon (we had a power outage) that he uses lanterns rather than flashlights in a power outage. He has flashlights, but he figures the oil in the lamps will last longer.
Irene : no, we do not freeze the rice. It is the staple food in our house and they bring it in huge jute bags weighing close to 200 lbs. For prepping, I now buy smaller bags with higher quality rice and keep the packs closed. I will keep a close eye on critters appearing. I think the infection takes place before packing, but probably the full life cycle of the pest is also taking place in our pantry. The local people here don’t mind the infestation too much: they remove the discoloured grains one by one before using the rice and also identify infected rice by pouring it in cold water: the infected rice grains float and are removed.
As per Eccles advice, I purchased some quality surge suppressors for my main computer and TV’s. I had surge suppressors on these, but after doing some research found what I had to be little more than power strips. The new ones came from here. There more than likely won’t be anybody to bring me a new DSL modem or cable box if we are quarantined. I was impressed with the quality of these units and they come with all the cords you need to protect your modem line and TV cable.
I know this was mentioned on the “old” wiki, but thought I would repost it for any newcomers. “Pizza in a box” kits are good additions to your preps. They are shelf stable and you can add some other canned toppings to make them tastier. I get a brand at Aldi’s for under $2 a box and it serves 4.
Regarding kerosene lanterns- one thing to consider is that when people used kerosene lanterns, their houses were not nearly as airtight as modern houses. They had plenty of ventalation, most houses were quite drafty. I have the lanterns but I also have a battery powered carbon dioxide detecter.
Green Mom: I live in one of those houses, mine was built in 1908. We have made lots of upgrades, but I remember when we first moved in that when the wind blew outside the curtains would sway.
Hillbilly Bill- I think the pizza boxes are a great idea. I had another food prep brainstorm last night-regarding eating lots and lots of beans and rice-put some different kinds of toppings in your preps. We had fried rice for supper last night-a standard here, but can get boring after a bit. I found some McCormick “Salad toppins” in the pantry and sprinkled on top-much better. A quick survey of my pantry, and also the grocery revealed all sorts of storable goodies-different nut mixtures, croutons, sunflower seeds. Parmesian cheese in the green can will keep for a long time, as well as olives, those crunchy onion ring type things, Chinese noodles, you could even toss on some uncooked Ramon noodles.
Ahhhh. Ramen noodles. is there anything you Can’t do with them?
One month into SIP:
I’ll see your two chicken Ramen and raise you a shrimp….
What I would like to know, is what kind of shelf life do Ramen noodles have. I was thinking about picking up a few cases, but they are not high on our list of things to eat so they probably wouldn’t get rotated very quickly.
There are a ton of recipes out there that use Ramen noodles! <grin> I think our favorite of all time though is the one we use when camping.
You may up the Ramen noodles and thoroughly drain. Then you add as much of the seasoning as you want from the packets. On top of this you serve beef stew … either storebought or home canned. If you need to thin out the stew a little bit just add some canned gravy. Its hearty and filling.
I’m also going to be stocking plenty of cup-o-soups though they are space hogs. Plus, you really have to be careful because in some circumstances the styrofoam cups leach chemicals … they don’t store well in a place that gets any kind of warm.
Ramen noodles are not on our regular menu either, but I have 96 packages stored. I have found that you can make a decent mock Lo Mein with them by sauteing them after the original cooking. I don’t use the seasoning packet, (store it for later use with rice). I add some terriyaki sauce and mix in some onions or cabbage.
I have some of the cup-o-soups also. They are in our box of emergency food that is to be grabbed as we leave the house.
Today is a big inventory day for me. I have to be getting close to what I beleive is a 3 month food supply. I think I see what you all have been saying that you can relax a bit on it when you start to feel it’s taken care of.
So trying to think of the essentials I may not have covered - I know it has been beat to death in other threads, but I need “water for dummies”. All these purifiing steps etc…. everyone is talking on level 10 and I am at level one. But I can’t figure if investing in all that will be worht the money - we just don’t get enough rain IMO. I think my best bet is to just to keep cleaning the soda bottles. Anyones opinion if investing in some rain gathering/purifiaction is worth if we don’t get alot of rain? (And I have no well, lake or pool)
amak – at 11:25 I have rain collection and purification materials on hand and it couldn’t be any less expensive. To collect rain you need a tarp, (8′ x 10′ works well), 7 metal fence posts, and either some buckets or a washtub. For purification I have a gallon of regular bleach and an eyedropper. Total cost is less than 15 dollars.
As to the soda bottles, when I started prepping it felt like storing water in them was so inconsequential. Now I have 45 gallons of water stored that way. Just keep plugging, it may be ten years to the pandemic.
amak – at 11:25
I’m not counting on rain either. Even though we live in Florida, our county was down over 8 inches before TS Alberto blew through … and we are still way down. Even getting 8 inches will only catch us up in technical terms, it still won’t adress all of the dried up bonds and canals around here.
I’m saving all the 2 liter bottles we can as well. I’m also storing a lot of the 2.5 gallon drinking water containers. For a family of 7, drinking and cooking water alone means I need to have 49 gallons per week. I did an experiment and know that I can get that down to 35 per week by using canned fruits and veggies as my cooking water … assuming I have a supply of some type for “other” water needs such as washing and cleaning. For that we will be using our pool which is chlorinated.
I also have a 50 gallon food grade barrel … used to house Greek peppers … and I want to pick up 2 or 3 more before all is said and done. That will give me about 4 weeks in the barrels, another week’s worth in the house plumbing (water tank, pipes, etc.), another week’s worth in fillable containers I have in the house, and then I’ll need to start adding up all the 2 liter and commercially filled jugs (which I only have about 2 weeks worth of so far).
Right now I could say that we have a month’s worth of drinking water for sure. I’m not totally comfortable with that. I would really like to shoot for 3 months and then during that time I could start counting on water from outside sources such as rain water …. which we will strain and boil and sanitize with bleach as appropriate.
I went to Sam’s this morning and got some packages of tortelli with cheese (dried like regular pasta). It’s not as good as fresh, but I figure after a while - any kind of food will taste just fine. A couple of threads this morning are making me think hmmmmm……maybe I should’ve gotten a couple more bags!
re: rainwater caught on a tarp. This water should only need bleach added to make it safe to drink. An 8′ x 10′ tarp will collect approx. 42 gallons of water if you get an inch of rain. Even if your yard is barely big enough to p*** in, you can do this collection method.
We have stored water for drinking and cooking, but will need rainwater for everything else. Needless to say we will be happy to see it rain.
Watching in Texas – at 12:02
Great minds think alike. I picked up the same thing I think … it was a 3 lb. bag. <grin>
I mean to go back and pick up a couple of more as well.
I’ve got enough pasta going … now I need to get my sauce in gear. LOL!
So I’m not the only person who wishes they would have bought more of something before they get home to put away what they have bought?
HB- are you kiddin’ - I’ve spent most of the last 6 months saying “now, why on earth didn’t you go ahead and buy that while you were there??”
Kathy - I’ve been buying the prepared sauces, as well as large cans of crushed tomatoes - mixed with olive oil and spices, it makes a mean sauce!
HB Bill. Happens to me ALL the time. And since I often shop at stores that bring in discontinued lines- by the time I get back to get more- it’s gone. Like the TrueLemon and TrueLime shakey powders ( nothing ‘bad’ in them )we found at the Christmas Tree Shop. Tried them- loved them- went back 2 days later and they were gone.
WIT - If you have a Trader Joes- Or Know anyone who has one nearby that you might visit with- their jarred Piccata sauce is wonderful over a chicken-brocolli-ziti mixture. I’m sure there are many other ways to use it but we love it this way. It’s a bit pricey- here it’s 2.99 per jar, but I figure after several weeks of SIP, something like that to eat will be priceless
I keep thinking that if we do have to SIP, the last thing I want to have happen is to be down to a subsistance diet and have all that time to think about the food I decided I would get “next time” because the cart was getting full.
Cinda - we don’t have a Trader Joes here, but I’ll have a friend look in Houston. Yes, I agree we’ll all need a treat after a few weeks. Which is why I recently paid $6 for a jar of sundried tomatoes (it’s a big jar). And, I keep having this vision of my husband, who is quite the gourmet cook, sighing and saying - gee I sure wish we had _____________ fill in the blank with the delicacy of your choice______ and I will jump up and say, but wait!!!! We have 3 jars of ____________ !!
Hillbilly Bill - at 12:59 I’ve had that same thought several times.
HBB- I’m worried about getting a case of the couldaferonlies if TS actually does HTF. For instance, at this moment, a manually operated well pump that fits to the current casing and works alongside the electric pump down the hole is Only about a $1300 retrofit. A small honda or Yamaha genny is Only about $800. A 60 watt solar array pluc charge controller plus batteries is Only $600 or so.
I am just aware that if I spend the money now, it will put a real hurt on my resources. If TSHTF, then I’ll be saying a whole bunch of I couldaferonly $1000. That was stupid!
Don’t overlook using bottled salad dressings for more than just salads.
Recently, one of our local grocery stores had a great special running on Ken’s salad dressings; buy 1 and get 2 free.
At that price, I decided to get a bunch and do some experimenting. There are quite a few flavors, raspberry walnut vinagrette, balsalmic vinagrette, Italian with aged romano, sun-dried tomato, sweet vidalia onion, along with the usual bleu cheese, thousand island, and buttermilk ranch.
I put some chicken tenders in the oven to bake, with just a bit of the Italian with romano poured over them. Added a can of diced tomatoes, and some rice. It all cooked together and was pretty good.
Everyone knows about using the zesty Italian on a beef roast, so think from that. Add a bit of dressing to a dish of rice and beans, or whatever meat you are cooking. Just a few spoonfuls.
Ranch dressing makes a good sandwich spread in place of mayonaise.
It already has oil, which improves the ‘mouth-feel’ of rice, and the flavors add a little oomph.
I have in mind making a pasta dish with some penne pasta and various goodies (bacon bits, olives, cheese) and stir in a spoonful of one or the other.
Look for the dressings that are packaged in glass, as they will keep a little longer than the plastic bottles.
Just a thought, and I hope someone can take and run with it, and come up with some more goodies.
Eccles: So true! And not only that, but whatever resources we have left post-pandemic will be reduced drastically beyond what we would have liked to have spent but didn’t. A rather sharp spit to turn on isn’t it?
HBB and Eccles - it’s that age old question - will there be power or not? Oh to be a fortune teller. Energy is still a gapping hole in my preps because the ideal is so costly and may or may not be needed. Do I take a chance that there will be intermittent power and use genny money to prep more and prep for others I love who I know have done nothing? What’s a girl to do?
I have fantasies of our governments speaking up and saying, “okay folks, you do your part by preparing for yourselves and your familes….we’ll do ours by ensuring the utilities remain up and running….no matter what”.
A question about collecting water on tarps: assuming we don’t want to leave the tarps to bake in the sun, what’s an easy way to put them up and take them down? I keep looking at little caribiners (sp?), but they’re something like $1.50 for 2 at Walmart. I’m thinking I’d use 7 or 8 stakes to hold each tarp. Also, I’m thinking there should be a wooden or bamboo stake tied down in the middle of the tarp, so it doesn’t blow in the wind.
Jane- try getting the formed metal poles used for chicken wire fences. They cost like $1-$2 each, and come in various heights from like 3 feet to 7 feet. They have hooks formed into them every couple of inches, so a little loop of rope at the grommets of the tarp should let you hook on and off very quickly and easily. The fact that there are hooks every so many inches also lets you set the tarp up at an angle to direct the flow of water. The center grommet on the down-slope side should have a weight tied to it, or be held down with a spike to create a permanent slope with a “Vee” shape. Then the water will go where you want it, into a tub or bucket at the bottom of the “vee”
I scored boxes of “True Lemon” at a buck off each. With reconstituted dried eggs, True Lemon and a can of chicken with rice, you can make a credible greek egg lemon soup.
AlabamaPrepper – at 13:27, salad dressing is my Friend. lol. Try ranch dressing over hot pasta… dip chicken tenders in ranch then coat with panko and bake… Raspberry walnut over bow tie pasta with toasted pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, and basil… Ken’s sesame ginger on chicken breast… and just give me a bowl of bean sprouts or snap peas and a container of dressing, and I’m a happy girl.
Oh, as for surge protectors. They are good if you get one big surge, but many small surges can degrade them over time and make them useless for protection. Invest in a good UPS instead - same basic thing, but you’re taking power from a large battery instead of from the wall.
Candle lanterns are our friend. Buy the reflectors and the downlight is strong enough for reading. I use them camping and during hurricanes and they are cheap and don’t need space.
Melanie - the book lights that clip onto books are good too. I got some at Walgreens awhile ago for maybe $2 each. Just make sure you get a kind that takes common batteries (AA or AAA). Some place(B&N?)had ones that take the more expensive and harder to find round ones.
For those that are wanting some electrical power to run some smaller items such as like a small office refrig, radios, lights etc, I just ordereda a 700W/1400W Modified Sinewave Power Invertor from www.harborfreight.com for $62.35. What this will do is use a car battery to tranform the 12 volt from the car battery and increase it to run a 110 volt item. This is what it says: 700 watts continuous for up to 30 minutes, 1400 watt maximum peak power, Super surge capacity to start difficult loads, Overload shutoff and short circuit protection, Two polarized AC outlets, LED power indicator Auto battery cables and 30 amp fuse. I purchased a wood pellet stove, and the stove needs electricity to turn the feeding screw and fan and this is a convenient way to have power I need.
I also have some solar panels, that I will have set up to connect to the car battery when it is not being used, so in that way will recharge the car battery. I have a 100 watt refrigerator that I used on my solar system (SunFrost), and this will more than adequately keep things cool or make ice for me when needed. Has anyone done this for themselves and does this work adequately for your needs?
lauraB,
I have enough booklights to take up several drawers. Finding time for reading, now that is priceless.
Gary, if you want good advice, find out the details of your stove electrical gadgets, like watts and amps and whatever is on the label, then ask Eccles on the Solar Power thread.
Gary- Or ask me here. The one thing I’ll say is that if you depend on a car battery to run things, you won’t get very many charge/discharge cycles before things aren’t running. You can see the details on the Solar and…thread.
Yes that is true for sure, I have had solar for 7 years and know about the deep cycle batteries. Might be a good idea to find one of the better ones before I get rid of them. I almost forgot yes about car batteries, thanks for the tip. Slipped my mind.
Jane, the metal posts that Eccles referenced can be found at Tractor Supply. They are used as fence posts and along with “hot wire” are used to fence in livestock. They can also be found at large animal feed stores.
Just picked up a couple of LED Lantern’s today from Princess Auto for the sum of 10$ each Canadian. They have 12 white LED’s and run on 4 D cells so being a LED light they should last quite a long time on one set of Batteries. They are also weather proof and can be used outside. You can cover one half of the light with tin foil to focus the light and it is quite adequate for reading. No risk of fire.
Shopped at Aldi’s last night after work and made another trip home with the rear struts hitting the stops. Another tub of rice and another bucket of dried beans plus 5 cases of canned vegetables and fruit. Only two bags of groceries went upstairs, the rest got labeled and stored in the basement. I keep looking at what we have and wonder if it will be enough.
we bit the bullit and invested in a major big prep this week- Dsl/digital tv. Of course this is not just for flu, but flu is a major reason.- We’ve always had Internet connection-although it was slow, We didn’t have any tv at all until 9/11 when we thought perhaps we’d better start paying attention to what was going on in the world. Even then it was heavily monitored. Mostly we wanted the high-speed internet connection and the tv was just part of the package. I’m homeschooling the kids, and my son will be taking a couple of courses on line-science and math.
Wouldn’t ya know… last week I invested in some “fringe” prep items - a new excalibur dehydrator, several le creuset enameled cast iron pots, a nissan thermal cooker (hay box idea), and some extra berkey filters. In all, dropped a very unusual for me, $1000.
Sooo… two days ago the kid and the dog are running around the house when the dog bursts into a running fit - you know, the hyper, crash over furniture, slam into walls, knock people off their feet gotta run run RUN!!! things dogs do? I was carrying laundry into the kitchen, the big oaf tries to squeeze between me and a chair, knocks into the chair, I can’t see anything for the clothes I am carrying, and my next step meets fur… good thing I was barefoot, don’t think I stepped on anything vital… he’s still sliding across the floor with the momentum of the moment… and slams into a nearby wall. YELP YELP YELP… I drop the clothes and Casey is sitting there, looking at me like, HELP MOM! with his left foot high in the air. Casey can be a bit of a drama queen, knowing my response is hugs and treats, so I don’t panic over this. In fact, he does this about three times a day. He swallows a bowl of ice cream followed by a baby aspirin, and goes to lay down and sulk on his pillow. UPS man makes a delivery and puppy barks once to let me know, but doesn’t get up (highly unusual). His foot is swollen, so I put an ice pack (actually a bag of frozen peas) on it, which he promptly eats. Hours later he’s still not walking around. Next morning I expect to be rushed by a cured doggy… but no way. He’s holding that foot up just as much as before, not putting ANY weight on it at all. Still swollen. But, he’s eating like a ravenous horse, and when the big dog next door comes out, the two of them run all over the yard… foot held high. I’m blown away by how fast my dog can run on only three legs… but I dial up the vet. Vet looks and thinks its probably just a bad bruise, and he’s almost apologetic about having to take expensive x-rays.
ALL of Casey’s foot bones are broken. Snapped right in half. I feel awful. If I knew it was so serious I would have had him at the vet’s right after it happened, not the next day. They splint him and give him a sedative and anti-inflammatory. He needs surgery to put in pins. They gave me a list of vetrinary surgeons to call, and hand off my drugged dog. An oooh so happy and mellow and kissy kissy dog who just laid on his pillow next to my bed, all night long.
Until 6 am this morning, when he discovered he had a baseball bat for a leg. WHACK! in my head. While I was coming to… the kitchen erupts into the most awful noise. He’s ringing his EMPTY metal waterdish with his foot, like the foot was a clapper and the bowl was a bell. After drinking about a gallon of water, he had to go OUT OUT OUT! YEAH, LETS GO OUT! RUNNING all over the yard. Someone is feeling better. I wander over to my computer and turn it on. CRASH! He usually sits in front of the sliding glass door until I notice him. But he doesn’t have to do that now that he has a baseball bat leg. OOOOh no. SLAM SLAM SLAM into the glass door. EEEK! I scramble to let him in.
My husband walks out of the bedroom to see what all the noise is, and the dog slams him in the knee with the baseball bat. Oh, so happy to see daddy! WHACK! WHACK! This is the well trained dog who doesn’t jump on anyone, just sits in front and waits for a rub on his head. WHACK! My husband bends down and rubs his knee and says, “Keep this up and I won’t even pay the $50 to put you to sleep, I will strangle you with my own two hands.” Casey clearly likes this idea. “Yesss, I willll.”
Don’t worry. My “prep” items for June, July, August, and oh, probably the rest of the year, will be four pins in Casey’s left foot.
Oh flourbug, what a nightmare for you! Don’t you just hate when Murphy’s Law wins out and things to get worse?!
I’m glad that Casey has a great mommy and daddy to take such good care of him….and don’t worry about not rushing him to the vet’s right away — probably none of us would have considered things were that serious by the way Casey was acting with the neighbor’s dog. You just never know.
Maybe, you should hang onto the splint so that if ever you think you have intruders, you could ‘arm’ Casey with it — sounds like it could be the watchdog’s best friend!
I’m-workin’-on-it, LOL! I can see it now. Beware of armed dog, with a picture of Lassie carrying a baseball bat.
Yesterday, my daughter was moaning about her unexpected bills, and I told her, life isn’t just one SHTF scene and then it goes away. Its more like SHTF, SHTF, SHTF, SHTF, SHTF… and the first one *knows* how much money you have in the bank and takes it. The second one knows how much will be in your paycheck and requisitions it. By the time the third one hits, you’re bankrupt. The rest just heaps insult on injury, so how much do you need, honey?
On the theme of vet bills, NEVER let cats play with strings. For some reason, some cats eat strings, but often they can’t properly move the string through the digestive track. The result is either your cat dying a horrible death or an $800 vet bill for surgery to remove the string. (My cat recovered quickly from his surgery.)
I used to have a cat that ate dental floss, but the floss made it out OK. This was the proverbial cat with nine lives (including being on top of a power pole for 3 days), though some animal finally got her.
Flourbug- With regard to SHTF sequential scenes, both my wife and myself are convinced that our cars compare notes at night.
What! They bought you new tires? Well, my carburetor isn’t feeling too good. Tomorrow I’ll let them know.
What? They bought you a new carburetor? Well, I fancy having someone work on my transmission. Tomorrow I’ll let them know THAT!
Hey! This is the heating system. If you are going to be buying all of those nice presents for the cars, I want a new blower, and I won’t work again till I get it!
Helloooo, this is the plumbing! If you are going to be buying eberyone else presents, I want a new water heater now. And if I don’t get it, I’ll just pour water on the floor till you buy me one!
Must be that time of the year for animal emergencies. Last night we were walking our Lab puppies on the family farm. One of them stopped walking and starting trying to hack something up. This is not unusual, they will try to eat anything that holds still long enough and will gulp down anything they can take away from each other without even considering what it might be. The dog is now slobbering uncontrollably and still hasn’t thrown up anything substantial. He takes a few wobbly steps and then collapses out in the field about a mile away from the barns and my pickup truck. I’m thinking I might have to do mouth to mouth which is not a pleasant thought consider the drool coming out of his mouth. Finaly he horks up a big gob of something unrecognizable and starts breathing regularly. We got him up on his feet and after a few minutes he was once again trying to chew his brother’s ears off. When we got back to the house he drank about a gallon of water but otherwise seems fine. Since I have grown up on a farm I am familiar with a lot of “home made vet” procedures, but this just made me think about what I may be faced with when there is no vet to go to.
flourbug - peace be with you (and Casey too!) - I laughed til I cried, but I’ve had an injured dog, so I feel for you.
HB - LOL!! Our chocolate Lab got some chicken skin out of the garbage can and my husband had to use the Heimlich Maneveur (sp??) on her to get the chicken skin unlodged - we now put chicken skin in the garbage can outside with a tight lid!
Might be you could put tape on the sliding glass door, or else it could shatter. Have seen the damage to kids who have run into sliding glass doors. A real mess.
Flourbug-I wouldn’t have taken the dog in right away either, and yep, I’d feel bad about it the next day. I have a Border Collie who occasionally comes in limping, and the next day she’s miraclously cured. The worse problem we’ve had with her was several years ago she was bitten by a snake. Even a non-poisonous snake can inflict a bad infection which this one did. The bite got infected then abcessed. I had put some money aside that year for a fourth of July celebration-some fireworks and so forth. Well, the vet bill took care of that! Anyway, the kids were old enough to understand and fond enough of the dog to give up their forth of July celebration. But then as it turned out a co-worker of my husband gave us tickets to the celebration in town, and the dog recovered nicely. I’m worried about an older dog we have-She’s a small shephard getting up in years with a dysplasia problem. I worry about care for her if TSHTF. I used to have a suicidal cat from hell. I love cats, but this one-geez! She is a gorgous long fur white cat with these beautiful blue eyes, but she really got you to thinking about the possiblities of demon possession. She would knock glasses of the table and try to eat the broken glass. It was suicidal enough just getting on the table-if my husband NOT a cat fan) caught her she’d be history! She chewed through electric wires, climbed the christmas tree, caught her tail on fire, teased the dogs who weighed about fifty times what she did…I finally gave her to a single friend who didn’t have any other pets. I felt bad about inflicting her on my friend,(forunantly we are not close friends!;-))but appartently they get along great.
Oh yes, our cars talk to each other too. We have three. At any given time, ones running really well, ones doing well enough for local trips and errands and ones up on blocks.
Doesn’t eveybody have a car up on blocks? Here in WV every family has at least a couple that way…
Bill- You know you’re a redneck if every car you’ve ever owned is still sprawled in some fashion out in the front yard.
(I say that with 2 dead, 1 half-dead and 1 live car parked out front, and one more in the garage)
I only have two out in the yard, I managed to conceal others in the barns before they quit moving altogether. Besides, my cars are valuable. Somebody will want that lime green Gremlin one of these days.
You guys sound like the Red/Green show. Remember how he uses old cars for all sorts of interesting inventions?
HB - I do hope you saved the Leisure Suit that matches the Gremlin;-)
Mari- Must…remember…to…get…more..duct…tape.
WIT: Got it packed away safely. Funny how it doesn’t even wrinkle after all those years!
Mari- if you remember the episode where it was Red vs the Pretty-Young-Thing network executive, well, I have actually played that scene out a number of times in my professional life, and I wasn’t playing the role of the Pretty-Young-Thing.
(I ain’t pretty, I ain’t young, and I could probably be described as a “thing”).
Eccles - at 12:54 - Don’t think I’ve seen that episode. The public library has a full set of the shows, so I’ll see if I can find it.
Starting new thread due to length. Todays Flu Prep VII
Part VII here.