Category Archives: preparedness
Commonly Overlooked Preps Part 2
Here’s part two of the list I posted earlier.
Soil – I know people that have tens of thousands of seeds but no soil. What happens if you have to plant inside? Or if the soil where you are is too sandy or too much clay? A couple bags of decent quality potting soil are a good idea to keep around. I recently got 10 20 liter bags of soil for $10.
Pets- please don’t forget your four legged friends! Make sure you have food and water put aside for them. You can put aside a couple of bags of kibble that your animals usually eat but you can also make your own dehydrated pet foods. I have also begun to see dehydrated animal food at the specialty pet stores. Just remember if you’re using dehydrated foods to have enough water to rehydrate. Which brings me to the next point.
Water – Yes, most of us have enough to drink but a lot of preppers have dehydrated foods. You need to consider how much water these things will take to rehydrate. What about gardening? There’s really no way to calculate how much water you would need for gardening but using a rain barrel can offset that. But keep in mind, there could always be a drought and if you’re counting on a garden as a large part of your food you better have a back up plan.
Garbage Bags – most people plan to burn their garbage, which is fine. But how about disposing of a body? You don’t necessarily want to be handling that. Or if you have lice, you can bag your clothing and bedding for a couple weeks to kill the lice. You can also use it for quarantine purposes. Make your ill person strip down, bag the clothes and get them into something clean. How about blacking out windows? Using a heavy duty garbage bag taped over windows can help to hide any light showing through (you may have to double up though)
Commonly Over Looked Preps
As I talk to more and more people about their preparations, I’ve noticed some things that a lot of them seem to have over looked. (This, of course, is no judgment on them). Here’s a bit of a list of the ones that I’ve noticed over and over.
Entertainment – there is no way I can express how important this really is. It doesn’t matter if you have 30 years of food and water in your location, if you have nothing to do, you WILL go stir crazy. Put a book in your back pack and have everyone in your group do the same, or stock up your retreat location with some books you’ve never read. You can get books cheaply at garage sales or for free on buy nothing groups on Facebook. Get a deck of cards or some board games. If, for whatever reason, these things are not feasible for you, make a routine as soon as possible in the situation you’re facing. People thrive on routine. (example: wake up, make breakfast, check traps, have lunch, tend garden, make tools, etc). The last thing you need to deal with in a SHTF situation is cabin fever.
Oven mitts/Pot holders – almost everyone I’ve spoken to has the plan to cook over fires but none of them have oven mitts or pot holders to protect their hands. While this isn’t necessary and there are tools that you can fashion out of sticks to do the same thing, pot holders will protect your hands from the burns that you ARE going to get. You can get a pot holder at a dollar store or use a bandana or scrap of fabric.
Burn care- this goes with the pot holders. People will get burned; a lot of people are relying on fire to cook, clean and heat. There will be burns. I see the med kits people have and most of them focus on cuts or illness. While living in a SHTF scenario, yes, there will be a lot of cuts too but burns require care to prevent infection. Get a tube of burn ointment and bandages or whatever your preferred method of burn care is and have lots of it! (I use straight lavender essential oil for burns, more on this in a later post).
Water additives- it is easy to get diet fatigue when you’re drinking nothing but plain, sometimes boiled, tasteless water. I recommend, especially for those of you with kids, that you stock up on some additives such as Kool Aid, Crystal Light or whatever your favorite drink crystals are. These don’t take up much room and can add a sense of normalcy to your situation. (We use these in our bags, the kids love them)
Again these are just some of the things I’ve noticed and I’m sure I’ll add to the list. Make sure you think of how you’re going to survive and all things required if you had to start from scratch. A big part of prepping is planning!
Prepping When You Have No Money
Earlier this week, I realized I haven’t been doing as much prepping as I wanted to. I don’t have as much done this far in the year as I had planned and am far behind my goals. Money has become tight, as I’m sure is the case for a lot of people. I’ll be honest, it got me down for about a day.
But! There’s lots that you can do that takes no money at all. I started out by taking inventory of what I do have and looking again at my list of what I would like to have. Reassess and reevaluate your goals.
Next I spent hours watching videos on everything prepping and survival that I could find. YouTube is great for this, but make sure you take everything with a grain of salt. The people that make these videos could be anyone, just like you or me. So really think about the things that these people do and say but there really is a wealth of information out there, for free. So find the videos and take notes. There is also a lot of information on Facebook groups and hashtags on twitter (check out #preppertalk for one)
After that, I decided I could use to be in a bit better shape. If the S were to HTF, being in good physical condition would definitely make it a bit easier. So, I revamped my workout routine. Anyone can work out and you don’t need gym equipment and you don’t even need to run. One of the easiest things you can do is sit on the couch and watch an hour long program. Each time there is a commercial, do 20 sit ups or push ups. That should give you close to 100 in an hour! If that’s too much work, cut it down to 10 or 5 or even 1, anywhere is a good starting point. By doing the exercise in small sets, it doesn’t feel like as much of a work out. This is how I started a while ago, now I can just do the 100 sit ups or push ups in a row (which means it’s time to up my numbers or make it harder.)
The last thing I did was mentally prepare. I realized that I may not have thousands of dollars tied up in my preparations but at least I have prepared. That’s more than what most people have done. I thought about what could happen in my area (snowstorms, tornadoes, economic collapse etc) and thought about how my life would be affected. What would I do in _____ situation? What if _____ happened? And make your plans from there. What would it take to get you to bug out? Where would you go? What would you bring? Make your plans and constantly reassess them, always be willing to change them and be flexible!
Dehydrating Broccoli and Using It
To dehydrate broccoli, first cut it into bite sized pieces and blanch for about a minute in boiling water. This will help to maintain the green color (otherwise it goes a nasty brown). Plunge the hot broccoli into some cold or iced water to stop the cooking process. Drain to get as much water off as possible. I then spray with a bit of lemon juice (also helps the green color). Place on your dehydrator trays (not touching otherwise you get damp spots). It usually takes my dehydrator about 6 to 8 hours to dehydrate broccoli. Store as you would other dehydrated foods. Here is the dehydrator I use: (Excalibur Dehydrator)
To use your broccoli, here’s a simple but tasty broccoli soup recipe using things that are probably already in your food storage.
Broccoli Soup
3 cups chicken broth (approx 2 cans. You can also use water or water with bouillon cubes)
5 cups rehydrated (or fresh) broccoli (approx 2.5 cups dehydrated)
1.5 cups fresh (or rehydrated) onions (approx 3/4 cups dehydrated)
2 bay leaves
6 tbsp butter (can also use canned butter or butter powder)
7 tbsp flour
3 cups milk (can use reconstituted powdered milk)
Bring chicken broth (or water etc) to a boil. Add broccoli, onions and bay leaves. Reduce heat and simmer until broccoli is tender. Remember to remove your bay leaves.
In a separate saucepan melt butter and stir in your flour to make a roux (paste). Slowly stir in the milk and incorporate it into the roux. Cook until thickened. Add your broccoli mix slowly. Heat and stir until thick.
If you have no butter and flour to make a roux you can also thicken your soup with cornstarch (make sure it boils to cook out the cornstarch) or potato flakes.
Home Made MRE’s
Have you ever opened an MRE (Military ration) and thought half the stuff was gross? Or been allergic to some of it? What about people with gluten allergies or dairy allergies? That stuff is loaded with wheat, soy and milk products. And honestly, a lot of people are just plain picky.
So I made my own MRE. I took apart some of my MRE’s that I got through the army and also searched through my cupboards. Here’s my example:
Freeze dried Chili Mac (made by Wise Company – thanks to TF for sending it!!)
Instant Vegetable Couscous (from a MRE you can make your own, just throw couscous in a bag)
Tomato Basil Rice (from a MRE but you can make your own)
Vegetable Beef Cup of Soup (grocery store)
Bread (from MRE – limited shelf life but I have seen people use vacuum packed tortillas)
Orange sport drink powder (from a MRE but you can get individual sizes at grocery stores)
Peanut Butter and Jam (from MRE but can get from restaurants, also on amazon etc)
Oatmeal (grocery store)
LaraBar energy bar (available here)
Salt, pepper, tea and sugar (available at almost any restaurant… well, buy your own individually wrapped tea bags)
Once you have everything you want, throw it in a bag and vacuum seal it. Or put it in a Ziploc and use a straw to suck out the extra air. I’ve seen people do their own MRE’s with ramen noodles and dehydrated vegetables, macaroni and cheese (out of the box), packets of tuna, soup mixes, anything really. It is easy to go to the grocery store and buy shelf stable items. Just pick something you like and that you’ll eat and throw it all together! Later on, I’ll give you some ideas for the little ones in your survival group
Reusable Crocheted Bandages
Reusable Crocheted Bandages
I’d like to start out by saying this is not my pattern, I lay no claim to it. I got it from @yycbusymom and she got it somewhere else. If it’s your pattern, let me know.
So anyways, the idea is to make a bandage that is durable and reusable in a SHTF scenario. These bandages are easily made and can be boiled or bleached or washed to use again. Obviously there is a concern about blood borne diseases but I wouldn’t be reusing one unless I knew who it was on and what they have/don’t have. So family yes, strangers no, you can keep it, it’s really ok.
To make these bandages you need a 2mm sized crochet hook (get a basic set here) and #10 cotton crochet thread. (here’s what I use: Crochet thread )
To start, chain 26 stitches. Turn and single crochet into your last stitch (thereby making your bandage 25 stitches long.) Single crochet across your row. At the end, chain one, turn and single crochet into the first stitch.
Continue to single crochet the bandage until the desired length is reached. (You can do several, some 3′, some more. Yycbusymom was going to do some 10′ in case of a chest wound etc.)
When you’re done, tie off like you normally would, roll the bandage and put it into a plastic bag to protect it. (If you’re like me, you’ll have to wash it first, too much stuff gets on it while you’re making it).
This is a great little project to keep your hands busy. I keep one to work on in my purse so I can do it in waiting rooms, on the bus or wherever I might be.
Dehydrating Carrots
I like to dehydrate my own vegetables. I find it is cheaper than buying the #10 cans of dehydrated vegetables. My own dehydrator is sort of lack luster. It was $30 and has large holes so I can’t dehydrate everything I would like to (saving up for a nine tray Excalibur though! ~ update: I got one and love it! You can find one here )
One of my favorite veggies to dehydrate is carrots. They are easy, get super small and I add them to a lot of different dishes (soups, stews, in the pan with roasting meats etc).
To dehydrate carrots, I first peel them and chop off the tops. I then slice them very thin ( 1/8 “) on a mandolin but I have also used a knife (doesn’t take me too long because I was a chef but could take someone with lesser knife skills all day to do the amount as thin as they should be). You need to blanch the carrots next. To do this, plunge the slices into boiling water for about a minute and take them out and put them in ice water. I usually use a metal strainer to put the carrots in the boiling water then I’m not fishing after all the little bits with a slotted spoon. I don’t normally have ice so I just rinse the slices with very cold water to stop the cooking process.
After your carrots have been blanched and cooled quickly, you arrange your carrots in a single layer on your dehydrator trays. My dehydrator has a recommended setting for vegetables (135°) so I set it and leave the carrots for a good 6-8 hours. I then test a couple of pieces of carrots by taking them off the trays, let them cool down then try to bend them. If they bend, put them back in. If they snap or crack, they’re done!
In the picture are raw sliced carrots and the dehydrated carrots. For size comparison, I’ve added an American penny.
Store in vacuum sealed mason jars in a dark place, or in mylar with an oxygen absorber for long term use.
Another Storage Recipe: Scones!
Here’s another recipe you can make using your food storage. I have made this with dehydrated versions of the ingredients and it works well. This is a traditional Irish scone, passed down through the family.
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2.5 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 egg
1 c buttermilk to mix. (you can also use water or 2% milk for this, it just tastes way better with buttermilk)
You can add a great deal of different things to these. My favorite is to add cheddar cheese (about a cup worth). I have also added raisins, currants, lemon zest, garlic powder, poppy seeds, etc, etc.
Mix it into a thick dough. (You may need to add more milk or more flour). Roll out to 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick. Bake at 375* F for 12-15 minutes.
Enjoy!
Simple Jar Candles
There are a lot of ways to make candles. This is only one of them and it is fairly simple. You can get fancier if you want, but this is survival and preparedness, not a dinner party. As such, I have not included instructions for colorants or scents.
Needed:
A jar … you can use anything from baby food jars to pickle jars and mason jars are great, I’ve used small jars that I got at a dollar store, but I’ll use a small mason jar to show you. I like jars because they have lids and can be kept dry but feel free to use anything such as a milk carton, a tea cup or an old washed apple juice tin.
Wax: beeswax, paraffin, old used candles anything! I’ll show you how to use recycled wax since it’s easy and cheap. Paraffin is easily found at a grocery store with the canning supplies (it’s not usually used for candle making but will do in a pinch. It has a lower melting point than candle paraffin that’s all) Pictured: old candles about to be chopped.
Wick: I buy these from a wholesaler but you can get them at craft shops or make them with string but the string doesn’t work as well as a proper wick. The easiest thing is to use a wick that has the metal piece at the bottom. ( Get wicks here )
Pot and bowl: I usually use a container specifically for melting wax but most people will be fine with using a bowl over a pot of very warm water. You don’t want the water to be boiling over and you don’t want to heat the wax directly over a heat source because the wax can ignite at a very low temperature.
Safety Notice: Hot wax can burn! If you get it on yourself, run cold water over it and then peel off the hardened wax. If your wax catches fire while on the stove (never happened to me but you never know…) DO NOT USE WATER to put out the flames! Turn off your heat source and smother the flames with a pot lid or fire blanket etc. I shouldn’t have to say this but I am not responsible for what you do! If you hurt yourself during this project, you are on your own and I am not liable.
Put a pot of water on the stove at a medium heat. Put bowl over the pot. Cut wax into smaller pieces to allow quicker melting. Do not allow your wax to get past 170 degrees Fahrenheit. While the wax is melting, heat up your jars a bit. I usually use another pot of water to do this. You want the jars to be warm when the wax goes in to prevent the glass from cracking and to let the wax set nicely; otherwise it pulls away from the jar as it dries.
When wax is melted, use a ladle or something similar to pour the wax slowly and gently into the warmed jars (make sure you dry them off inside first). Let them sit until hardened. (probably a few hours for all of the wax to be completely set.
Pictured: my finished product… smells vaguely cinnamony (due to old candles being scented).
Using Coupons to Prep
I have been using coupons for about 6 months but I have increased my food storage significantly. There is some truth to the popular belief that you can’t buy “good” food with coupons. In my opinion, if you’re starving, any food is good, basically.
I have gotten a lot of food for free or next to free including: pasta noodles, canned vegetables, pasta sauces, soups, soda, bread and yes, even milk.
I’m not too worried about finding produce coupons since I grow my own or buy from the local farmers market, so dried and canned things are great for my food storage.
I have also got for free: laundry soap, shampoo, soap, body wash, toothpaste, mouth wash, feminine products and other hygiene related items. Not to mention a lot of free pet food and supplies (including free kitty litter!)
Most of these are from coupons that you can get sent to you in the mail. I get a coupon (ex: $1.00 off whatever, then wait for whatever to go on sale for a good price and use my coupons. I have found some great prices and got things for .50 cents or free.) Before anyone complains that this sort of thing is only possible on extreme couponing or only in the United States, I’d like to point out that I usually only use one or two coupons at a time, I have never stacked coupons and I do not live in the States. Anyone can do this; it is easy, simple and free.
Another great way to increase your storage is to sign up for free samples. Again, there is a lot more available in the States (*shakes fist at the lucky buggers*) but there is plenty other places. I have a lot of shampoo samples and the like, which fit very well into a bug out bag or can be used to barter.
Again, this is free and simple, it just takes a few minutes of your time to search out and sign up for some of the sample programs. The only thing I would advise is setting up a separate email address because most of the programs send you emails about their specials etc, and if you don’t check your email every day, it can add up quickly.
The items in the picture are all things that I have gotten for free either by using coupons or through sample programs, most of the things I have multiples of.
So try it out, you can save money and potentially build up some storage for free!
BurroakBurrow 