More prepping

Have still been pretty busy at work lately.  Some sort of a virus going around - no not the "flu"- it hasn't presented yet.  Find it pretty interesting that the Governor of the State of Georgia has decided it is important enough for getting the flu vax that he is allowing pharmacists to give them without a rx.  But then again, look who sits on the legislature!!  Regardless, there is a huge push on to get people vaccinated this year.

Dehydrated a bunch of celery, green peppers, and onions this weekend.

Tomorrow I will be canning ground beef.  Found a reasonable recipe that will add variety to our diet plus retain some of our normal food life style.  I can make tacos with this meat, and can make homemade tortillas too.

Anybody had any experience with storing block cheese?.  Saw that this is a possibility, so have invested in some blocks of cheese, paraffin and cheese cloth.  Scary working with paraffin - can result in a severe disfiguring burn if it comes in contact with skin.  I will give a progress update on my little experiment.

Increased my ammo supply for both my rifle and handgun this weekend.  I am seriously thinking about investing in a shotgun.  Any advise on what to look for?  I have used one - a loooooong time ago.  So long ago that I might as well as not ever used one.  Any input would be helpful.

Gas shortages here have started making nerves a little frazzled.  It doesn't look like many people have done much in the way of preparing for gas limitations.  Funny thing, we all experienced what happened after Katrina.  Didn't anybody think that refineries and pipelines might just be as vulnerable with Ike?

I am ok with regard to gas for now, but I am not sure our office can function if very many of our support staff can't work due to gas shortages.  Most of this staff drive either gas guzzlers (read poorly maintained) or drive giganto mustangs with poor mileage ratings.  My boss and his Lexus are in a world of hurt.  Not only does the boss drive a lot to the hospital but his car requires the really expensive gas too.

I haven't used any of my vacation so I could take a few days off here and there.  The support staff lives in the moment and MAYBE each has 30 hours.

Looking to improve home security.  Maybe building a cannon-like devise that will eliminate an intruder.

So much to do, so little time.  Working on it, a chunk at a time

Still in mental recovery mode

Still picking up my jaw from the floor with regard to how these bailouts are going to cost the taxpayer, their children and their grandchildren. 

Do any of us really think there is enough money in the Fed’s pot to bail out all of these bums?  It seems to me there is a whole bunch of people who have benefited from the mortgage crisis when it was making certain people at LOT of money.  Let me see, who do I include in the august group?  How ‘bout mortgage insurers, real estate brokers, county property assessors, home inspectors, property developers, and the various home improvement people who brought said property up to the likes of the prospective homeowner!!!

I know who all was involved because I bought a home in 2004, and brother do I recall the details.  I recall property assessments, home inspections, A/C and dishwasher repairmen, my own home inspector, my real estate broker, and a few additional fees that I had to pony up.  You see, it was a housing boom in Atlanta, and the seller’s brokerage firm thought I was going to be one of those real estate “flippers.”  I made the mistake of finding my home on the fifth “look see” and I put over 25% down toward the price.  I had to pay extra fees to get my banker to write a letter guaranteeing that yes, there was sufficient money to pay for the down payment.  Come to think about it, why did the seller even care if I had been a flipper, he would have gotten his money regardless.

Now I get the honor of bailing out these people who backed 110% loans (with no down payment) based on adjustable rate mortgages for people who had little chance of understanding the ramifications of these loans, who had absolutely no personal money at stake, and did not have the where with all to make those payments as they increased. 

So I and every other TAXPAYER get to bail out all of the dirt balls, while facing possible unemployment, depression, and some shmuck says it is patriotic to pay taxes?  

I am so pissed that I can’t see straight, let alone think rationally about all of this crap.  Have we learned nothing from history?  Question.  Who all knows who rescinded the Glass-Steagall Act? 

I figure the economic situation is good enough for me as a scenario for preparing for an emergency situation. Just didn’t count on the economy as being THE scenario that would start the tidal flood.  What’s next?  I am thinking civil unrest!

Temporary slow down in preparations

One of my mutts had to have surgery, and while under the vet did some extra stuff for her ear problems.  Medications had to be given..blah, blah.  That set me back a bunch of $$$

Broke a tooth eating pretzels, funny I didn’t feel it break.  It did get me to thinking that while I will likely have to get a crown, I might as well think about a general check up and cleaning.  Who knows when there will be time OR money for that in the future.  Ouch, that’s going to leave a dent.

 I have managed meet my primary goal in food storage.  Still working one last item and have found a retailer for that. 

 Got the bright idea to dehydrate some green onions and thought I would just dust off the ole dehydrator that is at least 15 years old.  An hour into the process, I couldn’t hear the fan running.  Sure enough, something had happened to the electrical components.  Hear tell it is a diode. 

 Checked the Wal-Mart website, and it had a suitable replacement.  Nesco makes a great expandable dehydrator with the fan blower on top of the appliance.  Yes, I could have gotten a better deal with EBay or whatever but I had chopped green onions that needed to be dried.

 The new dehydrator is great; the green onions were done in half the time – 4 hours.  Stored in an air tight container, labeled with contents and date, and placed them in a dark closet.  Apparently, dehydrated vegetables will lose color quickly if not stored in a dark environment.

Canned some butter.  What a laborious endeavor.  All that checking every five minutes.  But what great looking butter!!  Thanks to Texas Preppers for the recipe.  My household is addicted to artery clogging butter, so at least there will be some happy campers.

Some thoughts on Hurricane Ike

Haven’t seen a lot of what I would call substantial information coming out of Texas.  No statistics from FEMA about numbers of generators, people in shelters, and even the numbers of dead or missing are a bit sketchy.  Am I missing the reports or is FEMA being reticent about the numbers?  Haven’t really seen the talking heads doing their usual reports given in the worried voices.  Am I missing something here?

So much to do and so little time.  A bite at a time, I guess.

 

Some Observations and then Some

On Ike:  Who in the world would ignore severe Hurricaine Warnings and willingly stay behind?  I am absolutely flabbergasted that anyone would want to stay holed up in a bar to weather out the hurricaine.  That certainly sounds like crazy talk, but I did see a photo in which the police were evacuating an individual in nearly waist deep water.

Other preppers?  I am following some curious items that may be shaping up to be trends.  Noticed that the old fashioned oil lamps are disappearing off the shelves, along with the globes and mantles. Likewise, canned foods seem to be a bit more popular these days.  Not sure if this related to the economy or like-minded folks putting things aside for the future.  A lot of my patients have been actively canning fruits and vegetables from their gardens.  Several old timers see bleak economic times ahead, and they might just know because they are depression era survivors.  The seniors are quite frank in pondering whether the "new" generation will be able to cope because they lack the surival skills to do so.

Have noticed more and more patients paying for services with cash.  A lot of them say that they either couldn't afford the negotiated employer-insurer dictated co-pays or the premiums have become to high.  But then I noticed women are still doing the tanning bed, nail and pedicure thing, having frequent hair stylings and whatever.  In an emergency, especially a lengthy crisis, how does someone cope without the tanning, waxing, styling and just generally all over maintenance that some people have become accustomed?

I have also noticed that patients are no longer reluctant to have generic medications prescribed.  Indeed, now insist on generics.  Four dollars versus a $25 to $40 co-pay at the pharmacy.  No-brainer!

Have yet to have anyone ask for a prescription for chronic medications or medications for emergency preparedness.

Back to my prepping experiences.

I am close to my second 90 day food storage goal.  Still not happy about the lack of fruit-related vitamins that I need.  Have learned that these are pretty much going to have to be covered with dried fruits and juices.  Have you ever tasted canned orange juice?  Boy,  have we become spoiled.

Thanks to the kind person who gave me the suggestion on the oxygen absorbers.  They are currently in use with flour and corn products, as well other items that stale with exposure to oxygen.

I am a huge sour cream and cheddar cheese fan.  My needs in that area are nearly as strong as my desire for coffee.  I have located a supplier of the first item, and have requested a sample.  I have received my shipment of Red Feather cheddar cheese.  The cheese tastes good, but it is a pale color compared to what I usually eat.  Both of these items are not cheap but are integral to how I want eat and survive.  

Yeah, I KNOW that I am not running a restaurant but I am trying to maintain as much future sanity as possible.  Having a comfortable shelter and decent tasting food are two of my major priorities.  And I am eating as close to my planned storage as possible so I can rotate my supplies.  Prepping for my two dogs is not as easy because the "stale" factor is so closely tied to their foods.  Working on that.

My no knead bread project was a flawless winner. Minimal ingredients of water, flour, instant yeast and salt.  Wow, like eating high-end chi chi bread!  Absolutely effortless.  Mixing means literally stiring the ingredients!  This is a keeper for my preparations storage.

The Sundaysaver website is still the basis for shopping.  I have worked the By one Get One until all of my staples of canned goods are completed for six months.  Am continuing with Kroger 10 for $10.  Walmart still has the best deals on ethnic foods such as canned diced green chilies.  Have noticed, tho, that these chilies are being bought in serious bulk by someone.  Harder and harder to be able to buy more than a couple at a time.  These chilies are necessary for Mexican spoonbread.

My favorite coffee jumped by $3 a can, but went back to original price after a month.  I have over nine months of coffee and creamer.  Similarly, I am still waiting for Ingles to do its major toilet paper sale.  I have at least 130 rolls stored.  Nah, I have always stored T paper.

Working to prep on personal and hygiene items.  Have found that Crest sells a tooth paste gel that comes in a hard plastic squeeze container that will work for storage if anyone is interested.  I am thinking I will be able to get three months from each container just for myself.  Great tasting too.

I am curious.  Any body out there who has a spouse or significant other who is less-than-interested in prepping for the long haul?  I am imagine this could be touchy subject.  How does anyone handle this sort of problem.  

I was helping a college student get all of her admission paperwork together, including annotating her immunization record.  It dawned on me that my Tetnus vax is waaaay out of date, in fact I am not sure when I had the last one.  Gave myself a pneumonia shot, and will be getting my flu shot next week - trying to determine the optimal time frame.  Not so sure now because the CDC announced that the flu is already showing up in Georgia.  I haven't seen a case of it but that doesn't mean much.  Thinking that some people might want to check their shot records too.

I read the Home Secretary in the United Kingdom (equivalent to Homeland Security) has just warned community law enforcement to be prepared for imminent anarchy because of the worsening unemployment, social upheaval with regard to immigration, and a variety of other social problems.  Hmmm. 

So much to do, and so little time.

Planning storage -meal by meal

Planning for food storage is an awesome task, especially if you are unaccustomed to meal planning anyway. Hey, don't shoot the messenger! There are lots of people who shop for groceries only as they need a particular ingredient. And what about that part of society who eats out nearly every meal? Or what about the person who is so time-constrained that fast food is the norm? And what about those who simply do not know how to cook!!! There are a lot of reasons that meal and storage planning could be a bit off-putting. I say there is hope!!! You can do this. You can learn to put together simple meals for yourself and your family. I say that you can do this to survive any kind of disaster. You can do this regardless of your financial means


You don’t have to buy all at once, but purchase by the meal. You could buy a case of beans and a case of fruit cocktail. Not very nutritional, and canned beans and fruit for three meals a day? B-O-R-I-N-G.
My thought process for meal planning runs a long the lines this this. Why not consider buying some oat meal for breakfast, some canned beef and vegetable soup with crackers for lunch, and the ingredients to make chicken enchiladas? Oh, and don’t forget the beverages. For me, that is going to be coffee, ice tea and Peach Crystal Light. Ok, so that is one day planned and stored. Twenty nine days to go. For breakfast, I am thinking of a baked omelet with ham and cheese, for lunch I am going for left-overs from the night before, and am seriously considering breaking out the crock pot and making navy beans with corn bread. Take each day at a time. Meal by meal, a little at a time. Remember any meal that you HAVE stored is a meal that you do have for an emergency.
When you do the grocery shopping, buy an extra can of tuna and a package of noodles. Sounds like the makings for a tuna casserole. Double that recipe and you have lunch for the next day. Take advantage of buy-one-get-one-free deals.


Comparison shop, looking for the best deals. No, that doesn't mean driving around looking in every grocery store. You are internet savy or you wouldn't be reading this site. Go check out this website every Sunday morning when the grocery sales are posted for the upcoming week. http://www.sundaysaver.com. Check out those Family Dollar and Family General stores. Great deals and finds!!

Look at the labels; buy the big container of rice, its cheaper than buying a smaller bag. And you don’t have to go for that fancy-dancy foreign sounding company name. Rice is rice, go with the no-name or house brand. Same thing with soups, canned vegetables etc., Maybe you have sensitive taste buds that can detect the name brand mushroom soup, but I can’t tell the difference in my chicken enchilada cheese soup. For heaven sake’s, we’re talking about planning for emergency conditions, not inviting the in-laws to dinner.
Some family preparedness gurus advocate storing large amounts of un-milled wheat and corn. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t see me grinding corn or wheat. And I am not sure I would even know where to go to buy either of these, let alone using a grinder or whatever it is that turns wheat and corn into flour and corn meal.
Now, I do see me making bread with my bread maker using the flour I have in my food storage. No big deal, put in the ingredients, and push the start button, and three hours and seventeen minutes later I have a two pound loaf of bread. I can make that bread more nutritious by adding fruit, eggs, or other ingredients. The bottom line here is that it is simply not practical to invest is large amounts of any one food item…..unless it is coffee (have checked out the prices?).
The no knead bread experiment is in its final stage of rising. It had better be great after all that time for rising and baking.
Just for the heck of it I am providing you the recipe from my recent and successful pressure canning experiment. So easy, and now I have 16 complete meals sitting in my storage shelves.

Navy Bean and Bacon Soup via RecipeZaar
(Makes 16 quarts)
Ingredients
4 lbs dried navy beans or great northern, soaked overnight
4 quarts tomato juice (generic is great)
4 cups carrots, diced
8 cups potatoes, diced
6 cups celery, chopped
2 teaspoons salt and pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
6 cups onions, diced
4 lbs bacon, diced (recommend quality bacon)

Directions
Notes: 1 medium onion is about a cup; 2 medium stalks celery is about 1 cup; 1 lb pkg carrots is about 4 cups; 5 medium potatoes is about 8 cups.
Combine all ingredients EXCEPT bacon and onion in large pot.
Cook over medium heat until soft.
Cut bacon into small pieces and fry in skillet.
Remove bacon and cook onion in bacon grease until soft.
Add bacon and onion to bean mixture and heat until it simmers.
Taste for salt and pepper.
Remove bay leaves before putting in jars.
Fill hot mixture into sterilized jars, filling to within 1" of tops of jars.
Pressure can 1 hour at 10 lbs.

I am off to search for the best price for salted butter. Canning butter is my next project. I have at least 24 pint jars and tops. Gotta find the best deal on the butter tho. I WILL have butter in my storage preps.

In case anyone is interested, I have managed to assemble ingredients for 60 days worth of meals. I am still a little concerned if I have enough for the “grain” part of my storage plan. My bread plan includes white bread that can be cooked on an open fire, regular oven or bread machine, ditto for garlic bread. My plan includes tortillas, corn bread, French toast, pancakes, biscuits, cornbread, Mexican spoon bread, and now the no knead artisan bread.

My weakest link is my “fruits” category. It is too late in the season to grow my own this year, and so I will have to rely on dehydrated and canned fruits. Hmmm, how to incorporate fruits into my diet. This is a priority because fruits provide a terrific amount of vitamins. Darn, I wished I would have planted some fruit trees and berries this year. Yeah, I know, like I can just plant trees, vines and expect fruit next season. But maybe I SHOULD be planning for the long hall.

So Many Reasons to Prepare

Are you keeping track of what is going on in the world? Wow, a large portion of the mortgage industry is quickly going down the tubes. And it looks like you and I, the taxpayers, are going to be bailing out those banks and mortgage companies who enabled people to get loans for which they were not qualified and are now defaulting. Do you really believe the FDIC is going to be able to bail out ALL of these institituions which are going belly up? We are talking about billions and billions of dollars. Future bail outs are going to have to be tax payer funded. Anyone around who remembers the tax payer funded the Resolution Trust Fund of the 1980? I do and my pay check does too.

Higher taxes impacts on every aspect of American society. If you are paying higher taxes, you have less money, less money means that you will have less money to spend in stores. I am not talking about buying luxuries: stay focused. We are talking about the necessities of life--food, heat, shelter. Less profits means employees layoffs.

Any of this sound like a good reason to prepare for hard times ahead? Are you prepared for a layoff? How will you survive if there is no regular pay check coming in?

On to a happier note. Have pretty much taught myself how to use my new pressure canner. Hear tell, the Navy Bean and Bacon Soup was a hit. Had 12 quarts, now down one - for a tasting experiment.

Saw a good recipe for canning butter on another prepper's site. If I can remember where I saw the recipe, I will give credit due. But in fairness, this recipe can be found by doing a quick google search. I pretty much feel that food isn't worth much without being able to sautee in real butter. Will be working this because I also love plain ole butter on bread.

Speaking of bread. I am doing a lot of prepping to make sure that I have sufficient grains in my diet and for my storage plan. I am not really into the kneading bread sort of thing, and had thought to use my bread machine exclusively, if nothing else because of its ease in making bread. As I write, I am expanding my bread making skills by trying a no knead bread. The recipe I am using supposedly is for an artisan-like bread. Will find out sometime tomorrow after what seems to be an extensive rising time. We will see.....looks really tasty from the video. How can I go wrong with four ingredients and no kneading.

I have managed to develop a thirty day menu which is now the basis for my storage preps. I am accumulating meal by meal, and so far are all meals that I would consume anytime regardless of emergency or not.

I have included another scenario in which having stored preparations would come in quite handy and in the end be truly life saving. Here's scenario four.

Scenario four:

The entire world has closely watched as the Far East, then Europe, grappled with the bird flu. Flying in the face of recent scientific predictions, not only was the bird flu rapidly being transmitted from animal to people, but now there have been several positive reports of transmission from person to person. The growing epidemic also carries an extremely high fatality rate. European cities with particularly large populations are being urged to stay at home to avoid contact. Some municipalities have voluntarily self-quarantined their sick and dying citizens. Terrified by the threat of flu contamination, airports have established new rules about who may depart and arrive certain countries. Along with screening for terrorism, now ALL passengers are subjected to rigorous health screening. Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued unprecedented protocols to State and local governments for implementing emergency operations designed to contain and prevent flu transmission. Most States have taken dramatic steps by closing schools, and all government activities have been curtailed. Department of Homeland Security has already commandeered certain buildings to be converted to quarantine facilities. Health care workers and supplies are already beginning to arrive. You have just been contacted by your school’s principal that school will be closed until further notice. Panic starts as parents race to pick up their children from day care and schools. Roads are now gridlocked by shocked and traumatized people wondering when they will get home. Your thoughts turn to getting to the grocery store to stock up on supplies.

For myself, this scenario scares the willies out of me. I am not sure if being stranded and not being able to get home is scarier or if it is the fear of having to come into contact with potentially sick people in trying to lay in supplies. Personally, I think it is only a matter of time in which the America will have to deal with some disease like the bird flu or some other kind of illness.

I know, I know, I am full of doom and gloom. I can deal with bad situations if I am given an opportunity to at least do some preparations for a bad time.

I am thinking about posting some of my meal ideas on this site - a handy way to keep track of them, and they might be useful for someone else too.

Heard that it might be a bad winter for certain states this year. Not sure if Georgia fits into that category but I don't trust the utility company with its natural gas prices and surcharges. Still working on storing up wood.

So many priorities, and so little resources and time.