October prep goals

[arbilad]

What are you planning to do for October? I need to pick up some corn meal (I don't have any) and some more sugar.
I also plan to go to the pick your own food farm and get a lot of vegetables that I can dehydrate.

[caml]

Philly cream cheese is on sale at a great price. I was thinking of picking up a bunch and freezing it. Anyone know how long you can keep it in the freezer? Or if that changes the texture? Or is that just a crazy plan?

[LoudmouthMormon]

I've hit the 15-min mile. It's possible to walk the whole thing because of my long legs. Oct goal: run at least half of it.

[Ligure]

Can or dehydrate my harvest.
Get my herbalist studies back into full gear.
Make automated chicken feeder. [done]
Make automated chicken waterer.
Start teaching Provident Living SS class.
Stretch goal: Replenish my herbal supplies.

Ligure

[mirkwood]

I was informed by my wife on our drive back from Mesa a couple of days ago to get the water filter, rechargeable batteries and the solar charger to go with them.

[DMGNUT]

:cuss::tongue (2): Yes dear.
If we could combine these two icons, we'd really have something...

[phylm]

What are you planning to do for October? I need to pick up some corn meal (I don't have any) and some more sugar.
I also plan to go to the pick your own food farm and get a lot of vegetables that I can dehydrate.

Just a note: You can grind popcorn for cornmeal. The whole popcorn has a longer shelf life than the ground meal. Sam's Club had 50 lb. bags the last time I looked.

[arbilad]

Yeah, but doesn't that greatly increase wear and tear on your grinder?

[Ligure]

Yeah, but doesn't that greatly increase wear and tear on your grinder?

That may be, but that will save your teeth and the dentist the trouble of fixing them. :l0 (43):

Ligure

[Earthling]

Philly cream cheese is on sale at a great price. I was thinking of picking up a bunch and freezing it. Anyone know how long you can keep it in the freezer? Or if that changes the texture? Or is that just a crazy plan?
It doesn't freeze well at all. It keeps a long time - check the date on the package. I bought some today that doesn't expire until next May. It is like any cheese - it keeps a long time refrigerated. I recommend just buying whatever you think you will use in the next six months (remember Christmas is coming - think cheese balls, etc.).

[prairiemom]

Just a note: You can grind popcorn for cornmeal. The whole popcorn has a longer shelf life than the ground meal. Sam's Club had 50 lb. bags the last time I looked.

Just curious--I hear so many people say they're storing popcorn to grind into meal. Why don't you store plain field corn? It's about 1/4 the price and yields more corn meal to bran.

[mirkwood]

Just curious--I hear so many people say they're storing popcorn to grind into meal.


Not me, I'm storing it to pop!!!

[caml]

Just brought home a case of diced tomatoes and some desert mixes. Last week I found cheerios on sale and bought 12 boxes. It's not all that exciting, but my shelves were getting a little bare. By the end of the month I really need to do an inventory so I can have a more balanced stash.

[phylm]

Yeah, but doesn't that greatly increase wear and tear on your grinder?

I just ordered couple of cast iron grinders @ $40 to spare my wheat grinder. Don't think we'd be grinding enough corn to make much difference. Also need to consider grinding bean flour.."A legume and a grain creates a whole food, so makes meat unnecessary," I harp at my emergency prep classes. Tossing some bean flour into bread makings---and into cookie dough, for that matter, conceals from kids that they are eating healthy!

[phylm]

Just curious--I hear so many people say they're storing popcorn to grind into meal. Why don't you store plain field corn? It's about 1/4 the price and yields more corn meal to bran.


Don't know, just that I learned that church experts were recommending pop corn for corn meal long before I joined the church. Haven't tried it yet, but perhaps the sweet or field corn has more starch and would gum up the grinder. Guess we'll do some experimentation. We have a couple of gallons of heritage sweet corn stored.

[Noahs ARK]

I just ordered couple of cast iron grinders @ $40 to spare my wheat grinder. Don't think we'd be grinding enough corn to make much difference. Also need to consider grinding bean flour.."A legume and a grain creates a whole food, so makes meat unnecessary," I harp at my emergency prep classes. Tossing some bean flour into bread makings---and into cookie dough, for that matter, conceals from kids that they are eating healthy!

I just learned this neat little trick a couple weeks ago - never heard of adding bean flour to a bread recipe to make a complete protein.

I ordered 25# of garbanzo & baby limas.

[iggy]

Bean flour? Any kind of bean?

I like to use nearly any grain in my multi-grain bread. I also add legumes. Lentils, yellow peas, green peas. Some times the most I add is 1/4 C of what ever is in the cupboard.

Has anyone ever used sprouted seeds in bread before? I bought a loaf of bread at the Food Co-op and it had sprouted spelt in it. Tasted pretty good.

October's goals: Get the DIY cupboards put together and get the 167#'s of food into them and out of the dining room.

[prairiemom]

Don't know, just that I learned that church experts were recommending pop corn for corn meal long before I joined the church. Haven't tried it yet, but perhaps the sweet or field corn has more starch and would gum up the grinder. Guess we'll do some experimentation. We have a couple of gallons of heritage sweet corn stored.

Yeah, I don't know how sweet corn would do, but we've been grinding field (or dent) corn for more than 10 yrs in both a hand grinder and an impact mill with no problems. I don't think starch is a problem--wheat has tons of starch. Protein or oils might be more likely to gum things up, but not starch.

Yes, you can use any bean flour in cooking. Warning: you can taste the bean flour in the dough but not the baked product. So if you have people who like to eat the dough raw they might not like it. Also, in breads I never use more than 1/2 C bean flour per loaf of bread. More than that and you lose your sponginess of gluten. I find light colored/tasting beans to work best in pastries (cake, cookies, etc) like navy or lima bean. You can use darker beans (pinto, lentil or black bean) in your whole wheat breads. That's just a personal preference, others might not care one way or another. You can make crepes with about 1/3 less carbs (and complete protein) by substituting 1/3 to 1/2 of the flour with bean flour. The amount you substitute is a matter of taste (and humidity--I find high humidity makes the bean flour harder to work with--the end product is stickier.) The consistency will be a little different, but if you are filling it with other things (fruit, meat, cheese, etc) you won't notice it.

Also, in case you haven't tried it, bean flour has lots of other great uses: Instant cream of chicken soup, instant split pea soup, instant refried beans.

[faif2d]

From a book "how to live on wheat" page 25: Anti-nutrients these exist to allow a seed to pass through the digestive system to be deposited in manure so it can sprout. These same enzyme inhibitors can be destroyed by heating (legumes) "inadequately cooked legumes can actually have a negative nutritional effect." "the baking process is usually not sufficient to deactivate the harmful substances in legumes." Sprouting and fermentation also reduce or eliminate these enzyme inhibitors (anti-nutrition) in legumes.
I have no idea if this is true or not but it seams like additional information may be required before adding raw dried bean flower to breads.

[DMGNUT]

Yeah, but doesn't that greatly increase wear and tear on your grinder?

Our Country Mill grinder came with a separate grinding wheel for corn and beans... I thought most of the larger grinders did. Maybe not though.

[DMGNUT]

Got 10 of my 12 water barrels (all are 55 gallons) up on the double barrel stands where they are horizontal and have a spigot to make it much easier to use them (also much easier to drain and refill when rotating the water).
I never liked these stands before, since there ends up being 10 or more gallons of wasted space. But a friend showed me how he did it, which is to tighten and seal the top bung as well as the bottom one (the bottom one having the spigot in it) and then drill a small hole (1" dia.) in the very top (which is actually the side of the barrel since it's on it's side), so they can be completely filled. You can buy small plastic plugs at ACE Hardware Store where they have those trays of "odd-ball" items to plug up the hole.
Mirkwood saw these when he was here last week, maybe if my description is lacking, he can jump in.
Also bought 2 more cases of #10 cans of assorted freeze dried foods (mostly fruits, but a few entree items too).
This was probably mostly Sept, but didn't actually finish the water barrel thing till this month.
Also, finally got the missionary son's room cleaned up and organized... when he gets home it'll be like that movie, The Return Missionary.
There's lots of available space in there now :l0 (40):, so we'll be getting some more super pails of assorted items.

[Poltax]

DMNUT any pics of your water set?

[Toni]

Prairiemom, I'm saving your post in my recipes section.

I would think cooking powdered beans would cook them more thoroughly than if they were whole. Has anyone added sprouted beans to bread, etc.?

[JuneGem]

We've continued to stock up on foods; primarily vegetables. We also bought 2 Blastmatches and a couple of multi-packs of Wetfire. Also have ordered a Sawyer Complete Water Filter System. That looks so useful for all kinds of conditions.

[DMGNUT]

I can take a pic (or 2), and even email it to someone, and they can post it.
But I'm just too dumb to do it myself.
Never works for me... I find it annoying, but I "endeavor to persevere"... and then I yell at the computer a lot :incazzato: so I finally quit trying.

[DMGNUT]

Anyone really want to see the pics (and maybe post them for me) can send me their email in a pm and I'll send them some pics... :l0 (44):

[mirkwood]

send them to me I will post them

[thomasusa]

I was informed by my wife on our drive back from Mesa a couple of days ago to get the water filter, rechargeable batteries and the solar charger to go with them.

I wish my wife would tell me to buy more prep stuff.

[mirkwood]

Need me to have a "chat" with her? Oh wait...we have tried that already...:l0 (62):

[DMGNUT]

send them to me I will post them

Done.
And thanks to you and the others who pm'ed me to offer to post the pics too.
Also sorry if the quality is poor, I took them with my phone.
Don't know which order they'll be in, but...
1) Close-up of the drilled out 1" hole on the top with the little plastic plug in it.
2) & 3) Just a couple different views of the garage. Have a total of 10 water barrels in the garage. In one pic you can see the Kerosene stove in the foreground and the steel drum which is full of the odorless mineral spirits just beyond it (which is the fuel I use for it instead of Kerosene).

[mirkwood]

These storage shelves are very cool. I would do them if my layout at home was different.


http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg149/Bravo2ZeroTHB/1011112012.jpg



http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg149/Bravo2ZeroTHB/1011112013.jpg


http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg149/Bravo2ZeroTHB/1011112014.jpg

[4evermama]

SWEET!!!!! The air-space issue is what kept me from moving on this.


"Oh Honey,........I think I've found your next project......"

"um, Sweetie.........."

"Hello?.....Love of my life......."

:a0 (3):

[caml]

Your water storage is awesome!

My water storage needs improvement. We use well water so I need to add chlorine to the water. I would prefer to use the dry chlorine like you use in your pool, but have not yet found a good resource to help me figure out the amount I need to use. Is there a site or chart out there based on 2L bottles or the 55 gal barrels instead of thousands of gallons?

[Justme]

Thanks for the pics. I suppose most have considered this but in case some haven't be sure to leave an air space if you live in a cold area so the water can expand under freezing conditions. I thought I had left enough space but one of my blue barrels, new, not re-purposed syrup container, split during freezing weather.

Has anyone with a well put a pitcher pump in their house or know anyone who has?

[Justme]

I haven't stored my barrels in my garage on pallets. They are directly on the cement as are some of my wheat buckets in my basement. If I put them on pallets now after I refresh the water will that take care of any radon problem? I will put new water in but if for some reason at some future point water was contaminated by a gas wouldn't running the water through a filter take care of that problem? What about the wheat in the buckets if I move them to pallets now?

[Ligure]

DMGNUT,

That plug looks very secure. How do you remove it? Is is vacuum tight? Unfortunately, I rely on the vacuum to prevent drips leaking on my spigots.

Last summer I built a rack for 6 barrels and currently have only 4 slots filled. I found I had to add cross slats to keep the barrels from sagging over the cross beam on the front and back.

Thanks,

Ligure

[mgriffith]

As food for thought.......

Babbidan and I found that we would go through 10-15 gallons of water a day for cooking, dishes, and personal hygiene while we were doing our 1830's camping (rendezvous). Even if you have four, 55 gallon drums, that's only water for a couple of weeks at 15 gallons a day. Yes, it is said you only need 1 gallon per day per person, but you will suffer greatly. Even in the poorest countries of the world, the average use is about 5 gallons per day per household. That's just 44 days of water.

The point is, unless you have some way of replacing that water, you will be in serious trouble when it runs out. Our Big Berky water filter will give us about 9 years of clean water before the filters need to be replaced.

I also have four, 55 gallon drums filled in the basement. Water in the garage will freeze in the winter. Also, average water usage in the US is about 132 gallons per day per household, so that might indicate to you how little 10 gallons a day is.

Just something to think about.

Mark

[phylm]

Your water storage is awesome!

My water storage needs improvement. We use well water so I need to add chlorine to the water. I would prefer to use the dry chlorine like you use in your pool, but have not yet found a good resource to help me figure out the amount I need to use. Is there a site or chart out there based on 2L bottles or the 55 gal barrels instead of thousands of gallons?

Remember, folks, it takes just one-quarter teaspoon of your pool shock treatment to purify a 55 gallon of water. Put it in, cover it, wait 24 hours, take off the cover and sniff it. If you can smell chlorine, it is purified, if not, repeat. A small package of pool shock would serve a whole neighborhood for some time. Good news for those who may have to rely on rainwater off the roof or ditch water. As I remind my prep classes, if you don't have an available source of pure water, or don't know how to purify ditch water, you can die of thirst a lot quicker than you may starve to death.

[DMGNUT]

DMGNUT,

That plug looks very secure. How do you remove it? Is is vacuum tight? Unfortunately, I rely on the vacuum to prevent drips leaking on my spigots.

Last summer I built a rack for 6 barrels and currently have only 4 slots filled. I found I had to add cross slats to keep the barrels from sagging over the cross beam on the front and back.

Thanks,

Ligure

Ligure,
The plug just snaps into place. (No vacuum seal).
You can easily pull it right back out with your finger nail or a pocket knife.
I sent a couple more pics to Mirk to post for me... He's the man!
The second pic is of the other 4 barrels (just so you know they really exist).

[DMGNUT]

By-the-way...
The pallet that the steel drum is on (in the 3rd pic) is the same kind that all the water barrels were on before I got these cool racks.
These racks are really sturdy, all 2x4 construction with 1/2 inch plywood facing on the outside. Very well made.
(Not bragging... I paid someone else to make them, see http://www.iwillprepare.com/).
Mgriffith is right about the water.
I've found through an assortment of camping trips, that if you have an unlimited supply of water (and maybe if you don't) you'll go through about 10 gallons per person (which decreases slightly as you add people).
What I mean is... The over-all of course increases, but the "per person" amount tends to drop slightly.
I found that I used most of the water for sanitation (washing dishes).
Also found that if I'm really trying, I can get the water down to about 3 and 1/2 gallons per person per day.
That's not uncomfortable, but you really have to be mindful of what you're doing and how you do it.
If you look at the top right corner of the 2nd pic, you'll see the edge of a year supply of paper cups, plates, bowls, and utensils.
No washing there and that saves a lot of water.
Your eating utensils absolutely must be properly cleaned to keep from getting sick, so I just burn 'em or toss 'em.
The pots and pans (for the most part... and especially so, for cast iron) tend to be more forgiving, since they will be brought up in temp, to a point that will kill most anything that could or would make you sick.
This is an intentional act which must be monitored to insure the proper temp is actually reached (About 165 degrees).
I have lots more fuel that I do water...
For the 3 of us, that's about 5 days water per barrel x 12 barrels (I have 2 on the back porch)... or roughly 60 days... 2 months.
Not too bad for being in the desert, but if something went really wrong and was obviously not going to self-correct, we'd be leaving as a group well before that water ran out.

[mirkwood]

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg149/Bravo2ZeroTHB/barrels1.jpg







http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg149/Bravo2ZeroTHB/barrels2.jpg

[mirkwood]

If you look closely in the last picture you will see about 1/100th of the DMGNUT family ammo storage. :l0 (59):




mgriffith, that is good information to have passed along.



.

[Ligure]

I suppose it depends on how you use your water.

I have been to scout camp where the scouts were in charge of cooking their own meals. Bathrooms were kybos and there was no laundry. The only water usage was for drinking, meals and washing hands and dishes. For a troop of 10 we probably used about 28-38 gallons a day. This is around 3-4 gallons per person. We had mess kits and pots and pans to clean in a sanitary fashion. We did no clothes or body (these were scouts after all) washing but there are ways to do that with less water as well.

So if I were to extend the duration of the scout camp experience and add clothes and body washing that would be an additional gallon or two a day with a sponge bath once a week out of a 5 gallon bucket and the same amount for washing clothing in an effective washer (i.e. plunger). It is how you use it and what you have on hand to make the best use of it.

Ligure

[OPossumTX]

SWEET!!!!! The air-space issue is what kept me from moving on this.


"Oh Honey,........I think I've found your next project......"

"um, Sweetie.........."

"Hello?.....Love of my life......."

:a0 (3):

That air space could save your barrels if you loose heating and it freezes! I have seen them swell up and pop like spray cans in a trash fire. Well perhaps not that noisily but just as big a mess.

O'

[DMGNUT]

I agree with the freezing thing, but its not a problem down here. :smile (2):
PS. The plug looks way bigger than the hole, but that's just an optical illusion... that's the plug that came out of that hole.
Big thanks once again to Mirk for the posting of the pics.

[DMGNUT]

Hey... I was wondering where that cast iron skillet got off to... :l0 (61):

(misdirection to divert your attention from the 3' stack of ammo)

[Toni]

Phlym, we don't need to purify our water, so my question is this. If we buy some pool shock for emergency use, how long does it last? Does it ever out-date?


Remember, folks, it takes just one-quarter teaspoon of your pool shock treatment to purify a 55 gallon of water. Put it in, cover it, wait 24 hours, take off the cover and sniff it. If you can smell chlorine, it is purified, if not, repeat. A small package of pool shock would serve a whole neighborhood for some time. Good news for those who may have to rely on rainwater off the roof or ditch water. As I remind my prep classes, if you don't have an available source of pure water, or don't know how to purify ditch water, you can die of thirst a lot quicker than you may starve to death.

[faif2d]

If you can seal the pool shock it should last for a long time. For anyone that is going to store solid chlorine remember that the material is a superb oxidizer! Think that it will rust anything even remotely near it. I used to have an aerobic septic system and stored a bucket of chlorine tablets in the garage. The lid was a tight fit and I never even thought about the corrosion. It slowly crept up on me and the garage door springs rusted so severely that they had to be replaced. My pool shock is stored in a glass jar with a rubber gasket and one of the clamp down steel band things. I have noticed that this is not a perfect seal as the band is rusting rather badly and the powder is now a solid mass. I need to find an alternate method and will next try a tattler lidded canning jar.

[mirkwood]

my pool chlorine is in powder form and I have left it in the plastic container I bought it in. I have the instructions attached to the container too.

[phylm]

Phlym, we don't need to purify our water, so my question is this. If we buy some pool shock for emergency use, how long does it last? Does it ever out-date?

Supposed to stay good indefinitely if you keep it tightly closed and dry.

Do you have water available if the electrical grid goes down and stays down? (EMP)

[Toni]

We live out of the city limits, but get city water, so if it goes, that's the end of that. There is a river several miles away, a relatively small (and muddy) canal fairly close that doesn't always have water in it, and there's a larger (also muddy) canal about a 35 minute walk away. So far, I've never seen the larger one dry.

[caml]

Turns out my husband had a goal this month. He wanted to make sure the kids (14 & 16) and I understood how to load and more importantly unload the shotgun and rifle that are now stored in our gun locker. It was the first time I have ever handled a gun. My back and shoulder are a little sore but overall it was a good learning experience. I feel more comfortable now.

[phylm]

Have seen several reports that the price of peanut butter will rise by 30-40 percent in a week or two. I checked it in WalMart today, and the big jars are still under $4.00, so picked up some for my daughters. Incidentally, the "experts" now say that peanut butter will store for 7 years or more if kept relatively cool.

[Earthling]

Thanks Phylm. I have been storing it at least 4 years by keeping it under 70 degrees or more. Now peanut M&M's - they are special - so they are kept in the extra frig to make "sure" they don't go bad. :l0 (46):

[prairiemom]

Heard on the news last night that ND's harvest this year will be half what it usually is. That's 1/2 as much sugar beets, soy, wheat, corn, canola and beans. So expect sugar, wheat/flour and oil prices to all go up.

This week, putting up all my harvest:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/PA150012.jpg


http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/PA150013.jpg


http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/PA170004.jpg


The first two pictures were from Sat, the third was from today. Plus (not pictured) an additional 11 butternut and 12 pumpkin. Also, still have Brussel sprouts and cabbage yet to be brought in.
1 basket of beets
3 baskets of Swiss chard
1 basket of beet greens
10 lbs of radishes
LOTS of tomatoes
38 squash
I'll pickle the green cherry tomatoes, probably make 1-2 green tomato pies and fried green tomatoes out of the rest.

[mirkwood]

Picked up a new magazine from my 10-22 and 500 rds of 9mm. Had an elk burger too while I was shopping.