World's Best Bread Machine Recipe

Maybe not the World's Best, but pretty dang good if I do say so myself!

A while ago, I read that a bread machine can and should be considered an "Emergency Prep" tool.  I hadn't ever really thought about it before, but it makes sense.  Sure, you won't be able to use it if there is no power, but for most situations, you will have power.  Don't get me wrong...I believe it is very important to know how to make bread and bake it without a traditional oven, but for most situations, you will have some way of powering a bread machine.  If you don't have grid power, you have other problems, and bread probably isn't at the top of the list.  For those situations, I would recommend getting a Sun Oven.  I really like the Sun Oven from Shelf Reliance.  I don't have one yet, but My Shelf Reliance Consultant has one and absolutely loves it.  She has written quite a few articles on cooking with a Sun Oven.  Check it out. I hope to get one in the spring.

But...Back to the Bread Machine.  We tried to use a Bread Machine years ago and had a few horrible experiences.  We just assumed that all Bread Machines were bad.  Turns out, we just picked a bad recipe.  We actually got rid of that machine back in the day, so we had to search for a new one.  I hit one of my favorite Deals Sites...and found that there was a Rosewill Bread Machine (I had never heard of the brand before) on sale for about $60.  It had awesome reviews, so I decided to give it a shot.

After a lot of trial and error, I think we've come up with a pretty great recipe. We started with a recipe that was in an old church cook book, combined a couple of things we liked from other recipes, and came up with the recipe below.  

Bake this 2lb loaf of bread and then add some of that awesome Jam you made this fall, and you've got a winner!

Bread-2 lb. loaf

1-2/3 C. Water

2 T. butter, softened

1/3 C. packed brown sugar

2 tsp. salt

4-2/3 C. whole wheat flour (we prefer white flour)

1/3 C. potato flakes

1 T. gluten

1tsp. yeast 

Note 1:  We prefer white flour and use it more than whole wheat.   A lot of people store wheat, so when the stuff hits the fan, they plan to grind wheat for flour. If you are not already using whole wheat flour, It would probably be best to ease into it...Maybe go half white flour and half wheat flour to start.  Believe me, you don't want to go from white flour to whole-wheat flour directly.  Your body won't be happy with you.  

Note 2: This recipe includes Potato Flakes.  Try it!  You won't be disappointed.  The flakes add an amazing fluffiness and texture to the bread.

Note 3: We like to create our own bread mixes.  Mix all dry ingredients (minus the yeast), put them in a gallon bag and store in the fridge until you are ready to use.  We create 3-4 bags so it is really quick and easy to get a loaf of bread in the oven. :)

Read More

Absolutely the Best Investment Ever for Homemade Applesauce

Our apple trees are really starting to take off.  This year the HoneyCrisp tree was absolutely incredible.  

We made a lot of Apple Pie Filling, but wanted to try something else.  My buddy at work talked a lot about how great homemade Apple Sauce is.  I have only ever tasted store bought Apple Sauce, and I really didn't like it.  I decided to go ahead and try it…who knows…maybe I’ll like homemade Apple Sauce.

I was able to borrow a Victorio Food Strainer from my favorite Shelf Reliance Consultant, Heather.  To be honest, I didn't even know such a tool existed.  I just assumed that my wife and I would be using the peeler/slicer/corer that we used for the apple pie filling.  Then I assumed that we would either use the food processor or the potato masher to get it down to the right consistency.  I had no idea that the Victorio Food Strainer would make the job so easy.

I was so worried that it was going to be such a big deal that I didn't even think to get out the camera to photograph the steps…sorry

1. Wash the apples
2. Halve or quarter your apples and put them in a stock pot.  Most of the HoneyCrisp apples were big, so we had to quarter them, but the smaller ones only needed to be halved.
3. Add a little water to the pot to keep the apples from scorching.  Cook them for ~15-25 minutes until they are soft.
4. Place the apples into the Victorio.  As you turn the handle, the core and skin comes out one shoot and the Amazing Apple Sauce comes out the other.
5. We ran the cores and skins back through Victorio a second time.  It was awesome to see more apple sauce come out, just by re-straining.
6. Add sugar to taste.
7. Fill quart jars and process using the water-bath method.

I said before when I was writing about the pie filling that I couldn't believe that it could be so easy.  I had no idea that making apple sauce could be even easier!  

If you can't tell, I'm really getting into this food storage stuff.  Eat what you store and Store what you eat...It's hard to keep our cold storage full of food storage when it tastes this good!

Read More

Speaking of Pie...

Since my last post talked about pie, I thought it would be fitting that I did a follow-up to my Apple Pie Filling post a few weeks ago.

The apple pie filling that we canned is going so fast!  We can’t get enough of the stuff. 

For Canning, we continue to use the recipes found in the book “Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving”.

Apple Pie Filling (from Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving)
12 c. peeled, cored, thinly sliced apples 
2 3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. ClearJel
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 1/4 c. cold water
2 1/2 c. unsweetened apple juice
1/2 c. lemon juice

1.       Prepare canner, jars and lids (water bath).

2.       In large pot of boiling water, working with 6 cups at a time, blanch apple slices for 1 minute, removed with a slotted spoon and keep warm in a covered bowl.

3.       In large stainless saucepan combine sugar, ClearJel, cinnamon, nutmeg, water and apple juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly and cook until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Add lemon juice, return to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Drain apple slices and immediately fold into hot mixture. Before processing, heat, stirring until apples are heated through.

4.       Ladle hot pie filling into hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot filling. Wipe rim, center lid on jar, screw band down to finger-tip tight.

5.       Process in boiling water for 25 minutes. (35 for me)

Makes 7 Pints

I love the Marie Calendars Apple Crumb Pie.  I think this recipe is pretty close to the original…at least for the crumb topping. J

Crumb Topping

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Apple Crumb Pie

1.       In a medium bowl, mix the crumb topping ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal – set aside.

2.       Pour apple mixture into pie crust. (I cheated and used a frozen pie crust)

3.       Spread the crumb topping evenly over the apples. 

4.       Bake according to your crust recipe

5.       Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

A couple hints –

1 - This is probably a given, but…Make sure you have good apples.  If you don’t like the flavor, texture, etc…you probably won’t like them in a pie.

2 – Make sure you have an apple peeler/corer/slicer - When doing pie filling, you won’t use the slicer, but the peeler/corer is absolutely amazing.  I can’t believe how fast I was able to peel these apples.

Read More

Glenn Beck - Pie, Quantative Easing, and the Economy

This blog is not meant at all to be political.  My goal is to help people learn and understand that it is important that we all become self-reliant.  I am doing my best to become self-reliant, and I am nowhere close to where I need to be, but I'm learning...day by day.  One of the ways that I learn, is by watching and listening to Glenn Beck, and the shows on The Blaze TV.
Say what you want about Glenn Beck, but I truly believe that the guy does his research and knows what he is talking about.  One of the best things about Glenn Beck is that he teaches by Object Lessons.  He can translate things into "human speak" for guys like me.  I think it also helps that he uses food for his object lessons.  Of course I'll watch an eleven minute video, if there is pie in every shot! :)
Anyway - Please take the time to watch the video below.  Glenn Beck explains why it is important for each of us to prepare.  He explains what's going on with the economy.  Why our money doesn't stretch as far as it used to, and what is coming our way.
"Don't have money for gold or diamonds or land, whatever...Non-perishable food items!  They are extremely valuable if they've been stocked up.  That's something that everyone of us, can, and should, and must do."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbt2nRuaxM0

Read More

Busy Canning

I haven't posted anything for a while because my Wife and I have been extremely busy with all our fruit.  It seems like we have been canning nonstop for a month.  Out of the six fruit trees that we have planted, only two of them are old enough to give us fruit.  This was an amazing year for Peaches and Honeycrisp apples.  The peach tree is about five years old and the Honeycrisp apple tree is three years.  I think we canned 60 quarts of peaches, froze 10 quarts, and ate more than I can count.  We canned about 21 quarts of apple pie filling, 20 quarts of apple sauce, and dehydrated a lot.
During that same time, we made about 10 batches of raspberry freezer jam, and canned a few batches too.  The raspberries just keep coming.  I can pick about 7 cups or berries every other day!  Needless to say, we have gone through a ton of supplies.  I guess that everyone else in our little valley is having the same "problem" of having a great fruit year...You can't buy quart jars anywhere!  We have gone through tons of sugar, and pectin.
I won't waste your time with the recipes that we are using for canning.  We have decided to stick to the recipes that are considered safe and are published in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  If you don't already have this book, it is a definite must have.
Another absolute necessity is a product called Clear Jel.  Clear Jel is a modified corn starch that is absolutely amazing thickening agent. My apple pie filling and fresh peach syrup thickens so nicely with this stuff.  No more ugly lumps.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again...If you have to plant trees in your yard, be sure to plant fruit trees!!!  I can't explain how satisfying it is to come home from a long day of work and just walk into the back yard to grab a perfectly ripe apple or peach from my very own tree.

Honey Crisp Apple Pie Filling.

I'm still learning the tricks to canning.  You'll notice that these peaches are "floating".   They still taste great, they just float to the top.   http://whatcom.wsu.edu/family/facts/fruitfloat.htm

My Honey Crisp Tree.  These babies cost $3.99 / lb in the grocery store!

Happy Canning!

Read More

How do I use Freeze Dried Chicken?

My Shelf Reliance consultant sent me an email today announcing a huge price drop on Freeze Dried Chicken.  http://www.cookingwithmyfoodstorage.com/2012/08/deal-alert-freeze-dried-chopped-chicken.html

I want in on this deal, but I really have never tried Freeze Dried chicken, and don't know what to do with it.  I did a little more searching and found this on her site: http://www.cookingwithmyfoodstorage.com/2010/12/how-do-i-use-freeze-dried-chicken.html

Great information.  I want to try the lime chicken tacos and the bbq chicken pizza.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Read More

Starting your Vegetable Seeds Indoors

I’m not much of a gardener. In fact, for most of my life, vegetables were mainly used as a Hidden Valley Ranch Delivery System. Now as an adult, I’ve learned to like veggies. The trick now is to get the kids to like them too. Last summer I realized that the best way to get my kids to eat the veggies was to get them to grow the veggies. I was amazed at how well that worked out for us. The kids really loved getting dirty and watching their seeds turn into something yummy. Last year we stuck to the basics, we grew carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, squash, zucchini, and different types of melons. It wasn’t a great year for melons, but it was still fun to watch the kids take care of their plants. We still didn’t eat everything we grew. The kids had a great time pulling the wagon around the neighborhood to give away their vegetables. Some neighbors were even nice enough to trade veggies with them. Overall, it was a great success!
I just got an email reminder today that it was time to start seeds indoors. I can’t believe it’s already that time, but I guess it really is.
From the email - Gardeners have different reasons for starting their own seeds indoors to plant later in the season. Some like the feeling of increased self-reliance. Many people are drawn to starting seeds because it allows them to grow heirloom plants and varieties that are not usually found at nurseries and garden centers (and gives them a good excuse for spending so many cold, winter hours looking at seed catalogs and dreaming of warmer days).

Whatever the motivation, there are some key basic steps to successful seed starting. And though there are still weeks of cold weather, it's time to get a little potting soil under your fingernails so your starts will be ready for the growing season.

Please follow the link below to get some great tips and tricks from the pro’s at the Utah Botanical Center.
Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors from the Utah Botanical Center.

Read More

Save those Egg Cartons

While we're on the subject of starting seeds, I found this article on Lifehacker today.

http://lifehacker.com/5875765/use-an-egg-carton-to-jumpstart-your-garden-this-spring?tag=clever-uses

Use an Egg Carton to Jumpstart Your Garden this Spring

If your thoughts have already turned to your spring garden, now's the time to start saving a few egg cartons here and there. They're the perfect size to plant seeds in individual containers of soil that you can care for indoors while they germinate. When they sprout, cut out the individual cups and plant them directly in your garden.
I may just be wistful for warm weather months and fresh fruits and vegetables in my neck of the woods, but this is an old gardener's tip that's perfect for urban dwellers with container gardens and green thumbs with a backyard to plant in. You only need to keep the seeds in the egg crates until they sprout a bit, and then you can cut the individual cups out and put them in the ground where you want them to grow. The cardboard of the egg carton will decompose on its own (as long as you're using a cardboard egg carton and not a plastic or foam one!) and your garden will be well on its way to success.

Read More

Family Preparedness Test

1. Has your family rehearsed fire escape routes from your home?
2. Does your family know what to do before, during, and after an earthquake or other emergency situations?
3. Do you have heavy objects hanging over beds that can fall during an earthquake?
4. Do you have access to an operational flashlight in every occupied bedroom?
(Candles are not recommended unless you are sure there is no leaking gas)
5. Do you keep shoes near your bed to protect your feet against broken glass?
6. If a water line was ruptured during an earthquake, do you know how to shut off the main water line to your house?
7. Can your main water valve be turned off by hand without the use of a tool?
Do you have a tool if one is needed?
8. Do you know where the main gas shut-off valve to your house is located?
9. If you smell gas, do you know how and would you be able to shut off the valve?
10. Gas valves usually cannot be turned off by hand. Is there a tool near your valve?
11. Would you be able to safely restart your furnace when gas is safely available?
12. Do you have working smoke alarms in the proper places to warn you of fire?
13. In case of a minor fire, do you have a fire extinguisher that you know how to use?
14. Do you have duplicate keys and copies of important insurance and other papers stored outside your home?
15. Do you have a functional emergency radio to receive emergency information?
16. If your family had to evacuate your home, have you identified a family meeting place?
IF AN EMERGENCY LASTED FOR THREE DAYS (72 HOURS) BEFORE HELP WAS AVAILABLE TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY......................................
17. Would you have sufficient food?
18. Would you have the means to cook food without gas and electricity?
19. Would you have sufficient water for drinking, cooking, and sanitary needs?
20. Do you have access to a 72 hour evacuation kit?
21. Would you be able to carry or transport these kits?
22. Have you established an out-of-state contact?
23. Do you have a first aid kit in your home and in each car?
24. Do you have work gloves and some tools for minor rescue and clean up?
25. Do you have emergency cash on hand? (During emergencies banks and ATMs are closed)
26. Without electricity and gas do you have a way to heat at least part of your house?
27. If you need medications, do you have a month’s supply on hand?
28. Do you have a plan for toilet facilities if there is an extended water shortage?
29. Do you have a supply of food, clothing, and fuel where appropriate? For 6 months? For a year?
These are all questions that need answers if you are to be safe in an emergency.

If you answered ‘No’to any of the above questions, now is the time to work on getting those items done.

Read More

Bug Out or Evacuation Tags

EMERGENCY EVACUATION LIST

I got a great idea from a poster on http://survivalistboards.com.

When the time comes to evacuate or "Bug Out", you will most definitely be flustered and panicked. We have created two tags that can be laminated and attached to your 72/96 hour kit (Bug Out Bag).

If the time comes that you HAVE to evacuate, things will be extremely hectic. Look to these tags to help you remember the necessities.

If you have 1 hour to evacuate:

1. Fill Canteen with water and grab bottled water
2. Grab weapons/ammo, knives etc.
3. Retrieve weather appropriate clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, etc
4. Eat some quick food
5. Add vitamins, and medicines that you would normally be taken in the next 72/96 hours.
6. Lock all doors, gates, windows
7. If possible, call or email your Out-of-State contact with information of where you are heading and what the situation many be.
8. Get CURRENT pictures of each family member that will be travelling with you
9. Battery Powered Radio - FRX3 Hand Turbine NOAA AM/FM Weather Alert Radio
10. Batteries
11. CASH - In small bills
12. Grab your Fire Safe with Important documents including insurance papers, deeds, birth certificates
13. Toilet Paper
14. 72/96 hour kit food, high calorie bars or other snacks
15. If not in your 72/96 hour kit, grab First Aid Supplies

If you have 24 hours before evacuation:

Do all of the above, plus...

1. Fill bathtubs with water.
2. Shut off gas meter, water and electric.
3. Hide supplies that can't be taken with you.

Read More

Glenn Beck: Paul Harvey's warning to America

Glenn Becks researchers have done it again. They tracked down some pretty amazing / prophetic words from Paul Harvey in the 1960's. Check it out.

Paul Harvey's warning to America

Read More

Sweetened Condensed Milk - From Food Storage

An important part of your food storage is...dessert.

Ok, maybe it's not an important part of your food storage plan, but it is for mine. When the SHTF, my wife would rather die on day one, than go without her sweets. Because of this, I have to make sure that I have enough sweet stuff to tide her over.

Sweetened Condensed Milk (like Eagle Brand) is one of the items that are essential for my wife's sweet tooth, but it doesn't really have a great shelf-life.

My wife found a recipe to make your own from your basic food storage ingredients.

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup cold water, 1-1/3 cups nonfat dry milk powder, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Directions: Stir powdered milk into cold water.

Cook on stove top or Microwave (45 seconds to 1 minute) until steaming.

Stir in sugar & vanilla. Refrigerate till cool before using...makes 1-1/3 cups (1 can).

Read More

The Fantastic Four

4 Essential Wild Edible Plants that May Just Save Your Life

Did you realize that knowing just 4 wild edible plants could one day save your life?

I came across this article on Twitter today. It was actually posted about 3 years ago, but it has some very important and interesting information about what foods are readily available to almost everyone. If it comes down to it, you CAN eat: Most Grass, Oak, Pine, and Cattail.

Check out the post - http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blog/the-fantastic-four-4-essential-wild-edible-plants-that-may-one-day-just-save-your-life.htm

This site looks like it has tons of information. I just subscribed to receive updates. I recommend that you do the same.

Read More

Strawberry Time

I can't believe it!!! On May 28th and we picked 10 lbs 12 oz of strawberries from our little strawberry patch.

If you aren't growing berries at your house...shame on you! It doesn't get any easier than strawberries. When we moved into our house, we had a spot in front between our house and the sidewalk. It is about 4'x15'. We went to the nursery to find something to put in the spot. I was upset that I didn't have enough money to plant any bushes or small trees, but as we headed out of the nursery, we noticed a bin of strawberry starts. We had never grown strawberries, and we had no idea what to expect. We decided to get one bunch of "June Bearing" and one bunch of "Ever Bearing" starts. I think we spend $8.00 total for 50 starts. We went home and planted them and then just sat and waited. The first year we didn't see much...But year two, and every year since has been CRAZY! We haven't spent another penny on the strawberry patch. They just continue to grow, year after year. We normally just do freezer jam. It is amazing stuff.

This year I will try dehydrating some and also freeze some with sugar. I'll post more pics as soon as I process them. You don't need a big spot for a strawberry patch. You can grow them anywhere. Try a stacking planter. or you could try a Topsy Turvy

UPDATE - On June 4th, my wife picked another 14 pounds of strawberries!!!

Plant those strawberries now!

Read More

Dominoes ready to fall?

Are you ready? This is coming our way soon. I've said it before, YOU NEED TO HAVE CASH ON HAND. Don't rely on your credit/debit cards to work in times of crisis! What would you do if the government wouldn't allow you to withdraw your money from the bank?

How Shock Waves Will Hit US If Greece Drops Euro

The unthinkable suddenly looks possible.Bankers, governments and investors are starting to prepare for Greece to stop using the euro as its currency, a move that could spread turmoil throughout the global financial system.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/shock-waves-hit-us-greece-drops-euro-16575895

If Europe didn't have enough problems, Greece now has a full-fledged bank run on its hands.Household deposits at Greek banks have dropped in five of the past six months, falling by a total of 12 billion euros ($17.6 billion), according to Bank of Greece data. Two-year deposits tumbled 8% from a year ago in April and savings deposits plunged at a 16% year-over-year clip in March, notes Graham Turner of GFC Economics in London. http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/08/greek-banks-under-siege/
Europe Planning Bank Withdrawal Restrictions To Deal With Greece Exit
European officials have announced plans to implement bank capital controls as part of a contingency plan to deal with the worst case scenario of Greece leaving the Eurozone which include imposing border checks and limiting ATM withdrawals. http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/06/11/europe-planning-bank-withdrawal-restrictions-to-deal-with-greece-exit-144051/

Read More

Make a Grab-n-Go Kit

It is fire season!

Make sure you have a Grab-n-Go kit (a.k.a. bug out bag) for each of your family members (including pets).

I live in Utah. Right now there are fires popping up everywhere. In a lot of places, the people can see the fire coming and have an hour or more to gather their belongings and evacuate. In a few of the latest fires, people had just minutes to get out!

When you look out the window and see the fire coming in, what do you grab? What can you live without? For me, I know that I have to make sure my family members are ok (including the cat) and then the very next thing I have to save are the scrapbooks! My wife has spent so much time on those books. I wish you could see them. They truly are art. If I had the time and money, I would get them all scanned professionally and have them stored digitally somewhere in the "magic cloud", just in case. As it is, I can't afford that so I know that I "HAVE TO" get the books out.

I am working on a couple lists that I will keep right at the door.

The first list will be "What to grab if you have 1 hour to evacuate".

The second list will be "What to grab if you have 10 minutes to evacuate".

In the mean time...Please make sure you have a Grab-n-Go kit!

Always have one in your car. It is a good idea to have one at your desk at work too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltwvaNVuUvE

Shelf Reliance has created an awesome tool to help you design your Emergency Kit -http://www.shelfreliance.com/planner/emergency

If you don't have the time or energy to build a kit, Shelf Reliance has a good selection of pre-made kits. -http://www.shelfreliance.com/all-products/emergency-kits-supplies/pre-assembled-kits.html

You could also get one from Amazon.

Read More

Fresh (or Frozen) Homemade Peach Syrup

We have a nice little orchard of three peach trees and three apple trees in our yard. One day I decided I wanted to figure out some sort of sauce to pour over waffles. I looked through all the cookbooks, but didn’t find anything that sounded good. Time to hit the internet.
If you do a Google search for “Peach Syrup”, you will get many, many different recipes. Most of them are a form of apple sauce…They consist of peach puree, with a ton of brown sugar, corn syrup, and who knows what else…
We played around with a lot of different recipes before we ultimately decided to create our own. There really isn’t much to it. During the fall, we have lots and lots of fresh peaches to use. In the off-season, we resort to what we have in the freezer.
5 Peaches peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. Butter or Margarine
2 Cups Water
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ Cup Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
In a large saucepan, combine the butter, water, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a fast boil and let cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, about 10 minutes. As it cooks, slice the peaches and place them into the syrup. Be sure to pour any excess peach juices into the syrup mixture. Cook it down until it is the consistency you desire. A lot of the time, we will double all of the ingredients except the peaches, just to get extra saucy goodness!
Like I said…There really isn’t much to it. But it really is amazing on top of waffles, pancakes, ice cream…or whatever else you can come up with.
Enjoy!

Read More

Emergency Medical

God blessed me with a couple of boys.  These boys were both born premature.  The oldest came to us almost 8 weeks early, and the youngest was 5 weeks early.  Both boys have had a lot of issues with health over the years, one has a neurological brain disorder and the other has extreme asthma.

One of my biggest worries is running out of medications. 

Does anyone have any great ideas for stocking up on Medicines...legally?

Recommended Reading

Where There is No Doctor

Where There is No Dentist

Read More

Food Preservation - Food Storage

Soon we will have a lot of information about Food Preservation, Gardening, Harvesting, and how to cook with the food that you've stored. 

Food Preservation

It is very easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about actually preserving your own food.  It is bad enough to cook a regular meal for a group of people.  Now I am thinking about canning/preserving my own food storage.  It is time to learn how to do it properly.  I really don't want to cook a meal for a group of people AND worry for the next 24-48 hours for the signs of food poisoning; for a while after I started cooking, I was so worried that I was going to poison everyone.  I'd secretly say an extra blessing on the food...just in case.  I've gotten over that fear for the most part...

Now I think about trying to preserve food to cook for future use.  That scares me to death.  To be honest.

Foods or Suppliers that I have tried and that I trust to do business with.

1 - Thrive Life - This is a great Company.  I have had the pleasure to work directly with the CEO of Thrive Life on some projects, and I trust him completely.  Do not hesitate to do business with them!

This may not mean much to the guys that read this site, but ladies...Shelf Reliance has done what no other Food Storage Supplier has done...They have made it Cute.  No more dull or ugly #10 cans of food storage.  Believe me guys when I say that it is much easier to get your wife on board with Family Preparedness if she has a a pantry full of "Cute" food.  I know, I know, it sounds stupid...but check it out.  

I haven't tried all of their food, but just judging by the packaging alone...it's all gonna' be delicious! :)  So far my favorites are the Macaroon Cookies and the Freeze-Dried Pineapple Chunks (it's like candy)

 One of the coolest things that I've just recently found is called the "Q".  It is a pretty cool way to "set it, and forget it".  You use their calculators, they put together a suggestion of what foods you will want / need.  You can edit the list to add extras of any particular items or remove any of those veggies that you swore you'd never make your kids eat when you grew up!  Anyway - You create your "Q" set a monthly budget, and that's it.  They do the rest.  Every month they ship items from your "Q".  Pretty cool stuff.

Thrive Life is so much more than just a Food Storage Company!  They have a very good section called Thrive University.  It is a full of great information and tools to make your journey into self-reliance a little less complicated.  They also sell gear.  We'll get into that more later.

Authors note: I don't make any money from Thrive Life.  I'm just a very satisfied customer...Someday I'm going to get in on the action though!  These guys have a great thing going.

*Update November 2013 - Because of the great experiences I have had with Thrive in the past, I have finally signed on with Thrive Life to be an Independent Consultant. 

Read More

Emergency Communications

How do you plan to get information if there is a Regional, or heaven forbid...a National Disaster?  There are many situations that could cause the flow of information to stop completely.  I'm a curious guy.  I like to know what's going on, when stuff's going down.  

So many people think that if the telephone system goes down, they'll use their cell phone.  Not so fast!  There are many stories about what happened to phone systems during and after Hurricane Katrina, and September 11th. "After the attack, the cell phone network of New York City was rapidly overloaded as traffic doubled over normal levels. Cell phone traffic also overloaded across the East Coast leading to crashes of the cell phone network"

What do you plan to do when the telephone and the cell phone infrastructure goes down? 

How about the internet?

One of the most important things to have is an emergency communications plan.  It probably seems like overkill for a family to have, but it is a necessity that is often overlooked.  Something even as simple as an In-State and Out-of-State telephone contact can make all the difference.  If you get separated from a family member, and the phones are going up and down Statewide, you find a way to check in with your Out-of-State contact and your family members do the same.  The Out-of-State contact acts as the relay for information.

There are a few options that I think will still be reliable in the wake of a disaster.  Many families have FRS and GMRS Radios  (walkie talkie).  For the most part, Radio to Radio communications will help us to share information within the neighborhood.  

Lately I've been spending a lot of time learning about Amateur Radio for emergency communications.  I believe this is the way to go in the long run.  I am a licensed Amateur Radio Operator.  There is a great group of active HAMs where I live.  In fact we all check in each Tuesday night at 9:00 pm to what is called a NET.  This NET includes Radio Operators spread out over a 30 mile valley.  Participating in the weekly net allows us to get to know other HAMs in the area, but more importantly, it gives us a chance to get to know our radios. 

While it is true that you need to be licensed to participate in HAM Radio, you to not have to be licensed to listen.  I will make some recommendations a little later on for purchasing a relatively inexpensive HAM radio that will allow you to "be in the know".

I will post my emergency communication plan as soon as I clean it up.

http://www.usraces.org/

Read More

About Me

I spend a lot of my time thinking about the future.  I'm just a normal guy...I have a wife and kids...I'm a guy with a regular 9-5 job...I wish I could say that I have lots of money and I am prepared for whatever it is that life throws my way.  Unfortunately, that's not the case and it always seems there is more month at the end of my money.  So what do I do?  That's the golden question. 

What DO I do?

I have so many responsibilities.  There are many people counting on me to have answers!  I don't have all the answers, in fact, I don't have many answers at all.  BUT – I AM LEARNING.

I have spent a lot of time over the last couple of years researching on Family Preparedness and Self-Reliance.  There isn't just one place that you can get this information.  My goal was to build a website that is a place that people can visit for a "One Stop Shop" for information.  I have been running www.prepyourfamily.com for a few years now.  I'm not preparing for the end of the world, and I don't think that you should either.  I believe that we should be preparing for the "What-ifs" that are undoubtedly coming our way.

1 - What if I lose my job?

2 - What if a family member gets sick?

3 - What do I do if there is an earthquake and my house destroyed?

4 - I have a mentally handicapped child.   If our daily routine gets messed up or he doesn't get his meds, our situation will spiral out of control very quickly.  What do I do?

5 - What do I do if the power goes out for a couple hours?  A couple of days?  How do I cook food?  How do I keep food cold?

The above "What-ifs" are just a few of the questions that I have been thinking about for a while now...I would guess that at one point or another these same questions have gone through your minds as well. 

I am a huge believer in Self-Reliance.  A big part of being Self-Reliant is having food stored, just in case… When I was twelve years old, my parents divorced.  In the blink of an eye, my family was literally split in half.  My Brother and I lived with my Dad, and my Sisters went to live with my Mom.  Without any warning at all, I had the “opportunity” to learn first-hand what it meant to be Self-Reliant.  For the first twelve years of my life, I lived fat and happy.  My Mom was an amazing cook.  As far as I was concerned, she was a genius in the kitchen!  She was always whipping up masterpieces.  When my Mom wasn't cooking, my Sisters were.  My Mom had taught them well.  There was no reason for me to learn to cook. My Mom and Sisters had it all covered! 

For a few years after the divorce, there wasn't much money to go around.  A lot of the time, we had an empty fridge.  However, there was plenty of food to eat!  Our basement was chock full of food storage.  My Brother and I quickly learned that we had two options…learn to cook or go hungry.  For a while, our food creations tasted like crap, but eventually we became pretty good cooks.  As bad as our situation was, without that basement full of food storage, it would have been much, much worse. 

Now, 25+ years later, it is my responsibility to fill the basement chock full of food storage.  To be honest with you, I didn't want to fill my basement full of the same kind of food storage that I had as a kid.  What was it Mick Dundee said?  “It tastes like…Crap, but you can live off it”.  Food storage is expensive!  I don’t want to invest in food that I will only eat if “I absolutely have to”!  I don’t have that kind of money.  With the economy the way it is right now, I am lucky to have enough money to put food on the table each day, let alone to buy extra food to store - just in case.  My Wife and I have tried over and over to create a good food store, but we failed each time.  We have tried the case-lot sales that our local grocery stores have once a year.  We thought that was our answer.  We would save up a bunch of money and then fill the basement up with case after case of canned food.  That’s great food storage, right?  Not-so-much.  Time goes by, we go to the basement and realize that our entire room full of food storage is expired!  Just like that, hundreds of dollars are wasted.  After a lot of trial and error, we have chosen Thrive Life as our go to source for food storage.  Thrive is different than all the other Food Storage.  The food actually tastes good!  In my opinion, Thrive beats all other brands, hands down.   Thrive sells high quality every day foods.  We no longer strive to have a basement full of food storage, we are working towards having a basement full of food that we eat every day.  We want to have our own personal food store.  No more late night or last minute trips to the grocery store.  The food we need is just a few steps away.  Because of the huge assortment of every day food that Thrive makes, we are able to save money by eating what we store.

Our jobs as Parents, Grandparents, Neighbors, and most importantly Citizens of the World, is to take responsibility for ourselves.  It is up to us to be Self-Reliant.  When something goes wrong, we can't assume that others will be willing and able to take care of us.  If we are not prepared, we cannot help anyone!  I like to think of it this way...We have all heard the spiel many times...You get on a commercial flight and the Flight Attendant goes through a few scenarios that COULD happen during that flight, you can use your seat as a flotation device, Yada, Yada, Yada.  One thing that always stands out to me is when they are explaining how to use the oxygen mask.  They ALWAYS tell you to put the mask on yourself FIRST, before helping others.  You're no good to anyone if you are already dead.

Prepare your family now, so don’t have to worry so much about the “What-ifs”.  Prepare now so you and your loved ones can not only survive, but THRIVE with whatever may come your way.

Read More

96-Hour Kit

It used to be that we were told to have at least 72 hours worth of food and water to survive...just in case.  We called this our 72-Hour kit.  

I am no longer convinced that 72 hours is enough.  At minimum, I believe that we should be prepared to live for 96-Hours on our own. 

Here we'll talk about a 96-Hour kit that will be used as your "Go-Bag" or "Bug-Out-Bag".  We will also talk about the difference between your Go-Bag and simply having 96 hours of food / water ready and waiting, just in case you have to shelter in place at home or your office.

Build your own 96-Hour Kit

Shelf Reliance has a really good tool for helping you figure out what to put in your kit. - http://www.shelfreliance.com/planner/emergency

I will get a comprehensive list up soon, but for now, let's stick to the basics of what a 96-Hour Kit is (aka Bug Out Bag)

1 - Pack, or Bag

2 - Enough food for 5 days

3 - Water

4 - First Aid Supplies

5 - Medication

6 - Clothing (rotate each change of season)

7 - Gloves (work gloves and gloves for the cold in the winter)

8 - Dust masks

I have opted to build my own kit.  I found a really good deal on some Molle II Packs on Ebay. I got them for just under $40 each!  This is the best online store I have found so far for Military Equipment.

Unfortunately I don't see the same deal right now.  The Molle II Pack is a great pack for my wife and I.  They can actually carry quite a bit of stuff and the weight gets distributed very well on the frame. For the kids, I chose the DeluxeBackpacks from Shelf Reliance.  

You can choose any color or backpack you wish, I just like the Military gear because it is designed to get for rugged terrain and treatment.

Pre-Made Kits

I have searched a lot online and have found these Pre-Made Kits to have great reviews.
http://astore.amazon.com/iha03-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=25

Read More

Recommended Reading

Below are Preparedness or Survival books that I have read or am planning to read shortly.  

Top 10 Reference books that I think you should add to your preparedness library.

 
1 - The Encyclopedia of Country Living 

2 - Making the Best of the Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook - James Talmage Stevens 

3 - 

4 - Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving - This is the Home Canning bible.  If you plan to preserve food at all, this is a must have.

5 - Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving - I think you can find this at Walmart for about $5.00!

6 - When there is No Doctor

7 - When there is No Dentist

8 - 

9 - The FoxFire Series - Not a fun book to read, but good information for TEOTWAWKI.  Great information about how things used to be done back in the day.

10 - 

Top 10 Books that I have read and enjoyed.  Some are fiction, some are financial, and some are based on true stories.

1 - One Second After - William R. Forstchen - Fiction based on real-world scenario. I loved it start to finish.

2 - The Survivors Club - Ben Sherwood - A great book that talks a lot about the Psychology of Surviving. I really enjoyed learning the stories and trying to understand which people survive and thrive and which people simply don't.

3 - The Millionaire Next Door - This is not so much a financial book as it is a book that makes you sit back and think about how you spend your money...I highly recommend it.

4 - The Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey - Dave is a guy who tells it like it is.  There is no dancing around...He is very good at explaining financial concepts and really helps you to figure out how to be fiscally responsible.

5 -

6 - Patriots - It's fiction.  It kind of goes too far extreme for me, but it has some very good parts in it about preparation and what things may like like after an event.

7 -

8-

9 -

10 -

Top 10 Books that I still need to read.

1 - Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens

2 - When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency

3 - Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family

4 - Little House on the Prairie - Don't laugh...I am guessing there is a lot of great info in these books. I read these books when I was a kid, but I think it's time to read them again.  

5 - 

6 - 

7 - 

8 - 

9 - 

10 - The Day after the Dollar Crashes - This book was just released on Amazon.  I have ordered it and hope to have a review shortly.

Read More