Better Times Cookbook V | Justpeace | Better Times | BobWaldrop.net | Access to Energy Conservation | On Pilgrimage in Oklahoma City | Bookstore | Better Times II | Bulgar Bugle | Mutual Aid (Grassroots home and community scale disaster preparations)
A Cyberbook of Practical Wisdom for Daily Living
More Preparedness Lists one families' lists regarding food, camping gear, shelter, water, garbage, evacuation, and many other categories.
Sources for bulk grains and beans
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AND MORE PREPAREDNESS LISTS! TOP
From: <Hausmutti@aol.com>
If you haven't seen this, here is a good list and planning guide. The theology of these guys is a little weird, but this is useful.
http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/Hollys.html
Look at the Long Term storage at the Mormon 12 month and 52 week lists. Here is the list we have drawn up so far. Some has been implemented. Much of it still needs work. God bless all of you, Jeff Ottle,
jaggedrock@aol.com:
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION & ITEMS
Pray in all manner of ways constantly
Prayer with every preparation performed
Prayer for continuous discernment
Rosaries, Scapulars, Medals, Prayer cards
PRIMARY FOODS
Wheat
Oats
Other grains
Corn meal
Canned foods
Bulk dehydrated fruits/vegetables
Powdered milk
Pastas
Kool aid
Cocoa
Coffee
Creamer
Wine
Top Ramen
FOOD ENHANCEMENTS TOP
Honey
Peanut butter
Vitamins
Herbs/spices (fight blandness)
Dried tomato powder
Dried cheese powder
Staple cooking items; sugar, salt, pepper, flower, corn meal, brown rice,
various beans, white rice
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Various spices
Pallets of cigarettes/Drum/Rolling papers
COOKING/FOOD PREPARATION SUPPLIES
Need to coordinate
Cooking oil
Shortening
Baking soda
CLEANERS
Dish/pot/pan cleaners
Laundry soap
COOKING HARDWARE TOP
Charcoal top Dutch oven/regular Dutch oven
Frying pan
Cast iron cook set - all items including coffee pot
DISHES/EATING THINGS
Paper plates
Cups
FOOD STORAGE HARDWARE & RELATED
Food storage bags
ENERGY ITEMS
Alternative power
Generator, batteries
Candles
Extra car battery for 12V power; rotate them
Solar battery re-charger/NiCad-cads
Variety of alkaline cells/NiCad-cad cells
LIGHTING PLAN TOP
Candles
Oil lamps
Kerosene lamps
HEAT PLAN
Blankets
Warm clothing
SURVIVAL ITEMS
Make list from Family Survival handbook
Military quality survival knife
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
Pencils
Paper
Markers
Plastic bags
FUEL ITEMS
Gasoline
Propane, gas cans for cars
5 gallon propane bottles
Gas cans
White gas
WATER STRATEGY ITEMS TOP
Pool kit for water
Cover of some type
Water filtration system plan (Jason)
Silver tablets
Iodine tablets
MEDICAL/FIRST AID ITEMS
Medicine
Complete first aid kit
Various shelf medicines
Prescription drugs just to have them (ampicillin, etc.)
Aspirin
Excedrin
Antacid
Alcohol
Hydrogen Peroxide
HUNTING EQUIPMENT (we live in deer country)
Rifle
Ammunition
Cleaning/care items
Certification/training to use them
Butcher knives
SHARING POLICY
We will share. We will rely on the Lord to multiply supplies as they run down via sharing
EXIT SCENARIO
Keep cars gassed up. Make contingency plan to get out (cars, trailer, gas plan for that, etc.). All camp gear rigged and ready. Need small utility trailer, loaded. Need large gas tank trailer (150 to 300 gallons). Have emergency bags packed and ready to go. Have quick exit scenario - primary and secondary routes planned.
Maps
Atlas
VEHICLE ASSETS
PERSONAL HYGIENE ITEMS TOP
Feminine pads
Toothpaste
Soap
Shampoo
Deodorant
Razors
Shaving Cream
After Shaves/Cologne/Perfume
Personal packs
Junk wood, pallets (to burn and build with)
COMMUNICATIONS
Power 895XLT from car and other equipment too
Cobra's, ATS 803A, SSB, mobile antennae, 895XLT
Tape recorder to tape monitoring
Baygen radio/solar cell/light
Frequency lists/books
Power plan for 895XLT, replace XLT100 battery
Replacement cobra antenna
Roof antenna for SSB/cables
Mobile antenna for 895XLT/cables
Order 895XLT mobile mounting kit
Save box for scantenna
Take down dipole SW antenna
Get new SW coax/connectors
LAUNDRY STRATEGY
Wash boards
Wringer
GARBAGE STRATEGY
Garbage bags
TOILET STRATEGY
Toilet paper
Lime
Picks
GAMES
Dice
Cards
Chess, Checkers, Cards, Scrabble, 5 in a row, Chips, Puzzles
PERSONAL RECORDS/PAPERWORK TOP
Taxes and major financial events boxes
Family member/Assets/Warranties/Insurance file box
Social security cards
Birth certificates
Vaccination records
LIBRARY
Bibles
Spiritual books
Spiritual booklet/pamphlet box
Survival handbook
Medical
Gardening
Water storage
Food storage
BARTER STRATEGY
Make rosaries
Make sacrifice beads
Supplies for above
TOOL ITEMS
Have tool kit packed
NEIGHBOR STRATEGY
Who can we partner with
UTILITY STRATEGY
Get utility deposits back
EFT/BANKING DISCONNECT STRATEGY
Withdraw money timely
Disconnect from use of Quicken timely
Cut off EFT of paycheck timely, or would it work better than US mail for
checks?
Have supply of checks on hand
GARDEN PLAN TOP
Watering plan
Fertilizer
Non hybrid seeds
CAMPING EQUIPMENT & RELATED ITEMS
Rope
Bungies
Tarps
Tents
Sleeping bags
Stoves
Lanterns
Mantles
White gas
Complete tent stake bag fully loaded up
Ax
Hatchet
CONTINGENCY PLANS
Stop pay EFT paycheck to checking account and payment EFT's
Get inoculations ahead of time
Bankruptcy
Plans for extended family???
All cash out of bank and in hand
THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG TOP
Car chip problems
Job loss
Continuing income loss
No mail service for paychecks
How do I pay bills?
No electricity, gas lights, running water
No phone, PC net, scanner out, no lights
No heat, no hot water, no laundry, no TV, no wall power only radios
No refrigerator/freezer
Chaos in neighborhood, entire city, state, country, the world = get out?
Unable to leave as planned
Problems on the road
Government/military goes wacky on us
PDD's/EO's implemented
From: Jeff Ottle jaggedrock@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BASIC WHEAT CEREAL RECIPE TOP
Simmer a cup of wheat in about one and a half cups of water (from your stored water supply, for a little realism) until some of the kernels start to burst. If the cooked cereal is too strong for your taste, discard the cooking water and rinse wheat kernels; a little sugar, butter or margarine will make them more enjoyable. If you soak the wheat kernels in the water overnight, they will start to burst after about forty minutes of simmering.
If you soak them for a few days, they will soften to the point where you can even eat them without cooking them. But remember that a given quantity of seeds will expand to about double its original volume after absorbing water, so don't soak them in a too-small container.
Although I have never had a problem eating whole kernels of wheat, there have been experiments where people ate nothing but boiled whole kernels of wheat for 2 days and wound up with loose bowels. Further experimentation revealed that cracking the wheat into small pieces before boiling it got rid of the problem. A pepper mill or even stones can be used to crack wheat if necessary.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POP BOTTLE GREEN HOUSE TOP
You can cut some of your empty soda bottles in half, put dirt in the bottoms, plant wheat seeds, and put them on the dashboard of your vehicle, and park so that the windshield faces south and acts as a greenhouse; you can even push the bottoms back into the tops (with the caps off, for ventilation) to make individual greenhouses and put them on the roof or hood of your vehicle if you have no more room on your dashboard! Just make sure you secure them by surrounding them with rocks or tying them together so that the wind does not blow them over.
My own experience with greenhouses is that how cold your plants get at night is not nearly so critical as whether it gets warm enough during the day, and if the sun is shining, the interior of a vehicle is much warmer than outside. If growing some wheat for greens seems like a good idea, also store garden seeds and use the same method to plant Swiss Chard, a fast-growing leafy vegetable whose leaves you can keep harvesting over a period of months; Collard Greens are similar, and grow better in hot conditions (like behind a south-facing windshield in summer).
But wouldn't it be a good idea to try this method out now? We all know that garlic cloves keep well for months; they will grow into plants when planted small end up; the green shoots are edible and garlic is beneficial for health.
If these last two paragraphs on sprouting and growing inside a vehicle seem far-fetched, consider the psychological benefits of causing something to grow that can be eaten, instead of just living off dwindling stored supplies. And if you have to move your vehicle again, your sprouters and planters are portable!
I once heard a nutritionist on the radio say that when you eat white rice instead of brown rice, YOU THROW AWAY FORTY NUTRIENTS. I guess a good analogy would be eating white-flour products instead of whole-wheat products
------------------------------
LOCAL SOURCES FOR BULK GRAINS AND BEANS: TOP
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, I milled and made bread and pancakes with whole yellow corn that I purchased from a local feed store because it was not available anywhere else, including my bulk food supplier.
I recently asked another local feed store if they could supply me with wheat, and they indicated that I could purchase a FIFTY-POUND BAG OF WHEAT FOR ABOUT EIGHT DOLLARS, although at the bulk food supplier that I use, a 50 lb bag is about $15. The difference is that the cheaper variety is mainly used for planting and to feed animals; however, the same feed store said that they sell this kind of wheat as well as corn and beans to people from Mexico all the time, who cook it and eat it themselves.
I understand that such food might not be subject to all the inspections required for human consumption, and might not have been transported in food-grade containers. + the storage facilities in feed stores may not conform to regulations for storage of foods for human consumption.
In any case, the corn that I used to get from the feed store was very clean, and any invisible pathogens must have been destroyed by cooking anyway. If you have no other way to obtain grains and beans at a reasonable cost in the very near future, you may want to consider a feed store. You can upgrade to higher quality grains and beans later, if the opportunity arises.
---------------------------------------------
HARD CANDY, CANNED MEAT TOP
Consider a supply of hard candy, especially the "sour" kind that has ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) to provide energy without your having to use up your more valuable protein foods for body fuel.
In August 1998, small cans of Libby's Vienna Sausage have an expiration date of October 2000, and are not expensive. Neither are small cans of sardines, and they have a good storage life as well; the ones packed in oil would probably be a better choice than those packed in sauce. A recent telephone call to Hormel Foods revealed that their SPAM AND OTHER HORMEL CANNED PRODUCTS HAVE A SHELF LIFE OF FOUR TO SIX YEARS because they are cooked in the can. Again, consider these items for bugout packs, in addition to tabouleh.
Surely, you have opened a jar of peanut butter and left it in the cupboard for a close to a year at some point; it kept pretty well, didn't it? It's inexpensive enough to buy several jars. Ordinary canned vegetables (but not all fruits) are generally edible for about two years.
My own experience with everyday cooking oils has been that after opening, they were still quite usable two years later. Some olive oil I opened was good three years after I opened it. A manufacturer of vegetable shortening has told me that their product has an indefinite shelf life if left unopened.
I found this in my dehydrater book.
Preparation; Peel, wash and slice 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick or shoestring
3/16 inch thick , or grate or dice depending on how the dried potato is
to be used. Pretreatment: Steam blanch over water containing 1 tsp. sodium
bisulfite per cup of water 4 to 6 min or until translucent but still firm.
Rinse well in cold water to remove gelled starch.
Drying Temperature: 160F for 1 to 2 hours, or until done.
How to use: Grate slices and rehydreate for hash brown potatoes.
For much greater detail about my plans for adapting my "urban homestead" to meet the looming challenges of peak oil, climate instability, and economic irrationality, see Gatewood Urban Homestead, the permaculture design for my home.