Well, Christmas is over. Hope everyone got lots of gifts, and practical ones at that. In our immediate family, we gave clothes, like socks and underwear, plus a few toys. The kids got toys, but the adults got all practical gifts from us. My Father-in-law and Mother-in-law have their heads buried in the sand about the coming economic diseaster. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm going to do what the Bible tells me: don't test the Lord, and always be prepared. Now, no, I can't find a specific verse for that, but I know it's there. I believe that people who don't do anything to prepare, and are resigned that it's "The Lord's Will, we'll be taken care of," are testing the Lord in his ability to take care of them. What if his way of taking care of you is to make you open your eyes, see what's going on around you, and put away extra provisions? Don't come knocking on my door, because I'll tell you the story of the ant and the grasshopper.
But, with that being said, I gave my in-laws a box of gifts, one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I mentioned it in a previous post. He opened it, and kind of tossed it aside. I'm not sure he understood, or thought it was just food and gave it to his daughter. I don't know, but I did my part by trying to open his eyes. I'm not responsible for his decisions, just letting him know how I think it will be.
We gave mostly practical gifts to family, as well. Throughout the year, I had been shopping at thrift stores for little things I knew they would like. Most in my family are good with that. My mother-in-law thinks if you didn't spend a lot of money on her, you don't love her. She doesn't care if you only buy one gift, as long as you spent a lot of money. I didn't have a lot of money for her when I have 2 kids.
My sister-in-law and her husband are currently unemployed and living with his grandma (and his sister, her husband and daughter) in a 3 bedroom house. With 2 dogs and 2 cats. We all went together and got them a food box. She doesn't cook because she was forced to clean up after her mother (plus do all the housework), and being the "housewife" causes sort of a PTSD reaction. She makes convenience foods...like mac and cheese in a box, hamburger helper, suddenly salad, etc. I think that's fine. She sometimes just wants something with her and her husband, which I think is also fine. So we filled the box with box dinners mostly. I'm so glad Aldi's moved in to Texas. Our money went a lot further. I guess it makes up for not being able to get an Angle gift off the Angle tree. (Our church posts names of people who need toys for their kids, or clothes, etc. and you can support someone in the church that way.) We also filled their gas tank and my husband (the mechanic) put in all the fluids it needed. He said it needed 2 quarts of oil and power steering fluid. That's about the best we can do for them.
One tip that we have come to see as a tradition. We had to tell the new addition to the family about it. When you open a present in the Smith family, don't look at the box and say, "Oh, I got a (fill in the blank)." We reuse boxes all the time. We have a steak box that has been passed back and forth for about 5 years. If we buy something for ourselves, and think it's a good sized box, we'll keep it until Christmas.
I'm going to tell a little secret here: I usually shop for myself, tell my husband what he got me and if he has time he wraps it. I get what I want, and he's not rushed. It worked out well this year. I got a new blender that crushes ice. I had paid for half of a Vitamix, but when we moved out, my Mother-in-law refused to let me have it, and kept a lot of other things I paid half of. Now she uses it to chop nuts and that's it. Sunday morning, I made smoothies in it for breakfast, and it works great! Love it! I wonder if I could make applesauce with it? I'll have to check out different features some time.
Hope everyone's Christmas was good.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
More re-using
I'm going to talk a bit about what I've done in the past few months on food storage.
I at first went out and bought a package of 10 "Banker's Boxes." You can find them at Walmart, which is where I got them. I'm not sure of where else you can get them. My husband says it's sort of self defeating to spend money on storage when you could have bought more food, but I think it makes it store nice and neat. We don't really have shelves. I have one shelf rack out in the garage and it has cooking things that I don't use very often, like the cake pans, roasting pan, etc. I didn't want to store the cans in the garage, because we live in Texas and it gets HOT. I'm not sure what the heat does to canned goods.
So, I bought Banker's boxes. I have 7 stacked in the bottom of my pantry. I mentioned in the previous post about the can rollers that I bought, and a couple I made, but they're too difficult to get right. I also took a soda 12-pack and turned it into a sort of roller. I first opened it the way they say to, at one end where the perforations are. Then at the other end I cut a hole large enough for whatever can I was putting in it. The first one, I put in the 29 oz cans of pinto beans. The next, I put in various cans of canned fruit. They're a little larger than my shelf, so I put them at the end near the wall.
Here, let me describe my pantry. It was originally a small reach in pantry with 2 bi-fold doors. We don't have a lot of room in the little nook it's in because the washer and dryer is there, too. So my husband removed the doors and I hung a curtain over that space. Currently the curtains are lace, but I plan to get some that aren't so sheer. This way, I can use the floor and come out into the space a bit if I need to.
I'm also saving ice cream buckets to put dried beans, rice, and my bread flour in. I used to be able to get my bread flour (a gluten free mix) in a 25 lb bag. I can no longer do that, but I have the recipe. It just doesn't come out as well. Gluten free baking is much more difficult. I froze the ice cream buckets for 48 hours, and then stored it. I have heard that it kills any "bugs" that may be in it. I guess we'll find out. I'm going to go ahead and rotate it through my regular use stuff, and if an emergency comes, oh well. I have the recipe. I'll stock the flours I need for the recipe.
Now that my Christmas tree is up, and the presents are under the tree and not in my bedroom closet, I can store more stuff in there.
I think I mentioned the site I found in the last post. It's www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net. On that site they have a "12 Days of Christmas" to introduce someone to food storage. We've been talking to my husband's parents, and they frankly aren't very interested in it. I decided to put all the 12 Days of Christmas items into one box and give it to my Father-in-law. I thought about giving it to my Mother-in-law, but she doesn't appreciate things like that from me. My FIL would be more receptive if he saw it all laid out. I may purchase the eBook for them, haven't decided.
So, more on food storage as I learn it.
I at first went out and bought a package of 10 "Banker's Boxes." You can find them at Walmart, which is where I got them. I'm not sure of where else you can get them. My husband says it's sort of self defeating to spend money on storage when you could have bought more food, but I think it makes it store nice and neat. We don't really have shelves. I have one shelf rack out in the garage and it has cooking things that I don't use very often, like the cake pans, roasting pan, etc. I didn't want to store the cans in the garage, because we live in Texas and it gets HOT. I'm not sure what the heat does to canned goods.
So, I bought Banker's boxes. I have 7 stacked in the bottom of my pantry. I mentioned in the previous post about the can rollers that I bought, and a couple I made, but they're too difficult to get right. I also took a soda 12-pack and turned it into a sort of roller. I first opened it the way they say to, at one end where the perforations are. Then at the other end I cut a hole large enough for whatever can I was putting in it. The first one, I put in the 29 oz cans of pinto beans. The next, I put in various cans of canned fruit. They're a little larger than my shelf, so I put them at the end near the wall.
Here, let me describe my pantry. It was originally a small reach in pantry with 2 bi-fold doors. We don't have a lot of room in the little nook it's in because the washer and dryer is there, too. So my husband removed the doors and I hung a curtain over that space. Currently the curtains are lace, but I plan to get some that aren't so sheer. This way, I can use the floor and come out into the space a bit if I need to.
I'm also saving ice cream buckets to put dried beans, rice, and my bread flour in. I used to be able to get my bread flour (a gluten free mix) in a 25 lb bag. I can no longer do that, but I have the recipe. It just doesn't come out as well. Gluten free baking is much more difficult. I froze the ice cream buckets for 48 hours, and then stored it. I have heard that it kills any "bugs" that may be in it. I guess we'll find out. I'm going to go ahead and rotate it through my regular use stuff, and if an emergency comes, oh well. I have the recipe. I'll stock the flours I need for the recipe.
Now that my Christmas tree is up, and the presents are under the tree and not in my bedroom closet, I can store more stuff in there.
I think I mentioned the site I found in the last post. It's www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net. On that site they have a "12 Days of Christmas" to introduce someone to food storage. We've been talking to my husband's parents, and they frankly aren't very interested in it. I decided to put all the 12 Days of Christmas items into one box and give it to my Father-in-law. I thought about giving it to my Mother-in-law, but she doesn't appreciate things like that from me. My FIL would be more receptive if he saw it all laid out. I may purchase the eBook for them, haven't decided.
So, more on food storage as I learn it.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Reusing
I've mentioned before that my husband scraps out things. Well, when we first moved into this house, his brother gave him one of those really big, big screen TV's. It was a 65 inch, but projection, so it was also about 2 foot thick. When we got it, his brother told us something was going out in it, and every now and then the picture would squish together, and you would have to pick up the top part and drop it. Well, it gave out a couple months ago and had been sitting on our back porch waiting to be scrapped.
Today he did it. Here's what we got from it that is going to be reused: 3 different Plexiglas pieces to be used as follows: one is under the computer chair because we have carpet. I can now move my chair without difficulty. One as a cutting mat that fits my whole table. I was cutting out a can roller and trying to do it on a little cutting board. And the third one is thick, so we used it as a cover for the table. I have a double gate-leg table, antique, but it looks used. I got it for about $12 at a thrift store. We keep the leaves up, so it's like 70"X 36" But food falls in the cracks, with kids. And I insisted they all use coaster so they didn't leave a ring. Now we don't have to.
He used the main body of the TV, after everything was taken out, as a compost/garden. He got 3 really big magnifying glasses. One he gave to my youngest to play with. One he's going to give to my oldest as a Christmas present. He has trouble reading his Pokemon cards, due to cataracts. He's Down Syndrome, and it's something that goes along with it. He also got 3 lenses, red, green and I think one was supposed to be slightly yellow, or else it's clear. He gave those to my youngest, because he's so into science. A molding strip became a marble run. He's also going to take out all the aluminum and metal and turn it in.
Today, I also made 2 can rollers from cardboard we had on hand, by tracing the one I bought. But, I decided it's too difficult to make the sharp bends that are needed. Then, as I was looking at a fruit snack box, I decided it could make one with a few cuts. I had to get a scrap piece of cardboard to cover the front, but it's now a 2 drop (instead of one) can roller so I have to put the new can in the back, and get the old one out of the bottom front. It holds small cans like mushrooms or small tomato sauce. So I have 7 can rollers in my pantry, and I can rotate my food. I would love to have the money to buy a ton of those rollers, and have a whole bookshelf full of them, and not have my food in boxes. But wish in one hand, and spit in the other, as my grandma used to say, and see which fills up quicker.
It's been a hard day of cutting cardboard, and my hands are sore, but I reused cardboard that would have otherwise been thrown out. And though my husband is tired, we have 2 plots for a garden this spring, instead of the one we had this past year.
Today he did it. Here's what we got from it that is going to be reused: 3 different Plexiglas pieces to be used as follows: one is under the computer chair because we have carpet. I can now move my chair without difficulty. One as a cutting mat that fits my whole table. I was cutting out a can roller and trying to do it on a little cutting board. And the third one is thick, so we used it as a cover for the table. I have a double gate-leg table, antique, but it looks used. I got it for about $12 at a thrift store. We keep the leaves up, so it's like 70"X 36" But food falls in the cracks, with kids. And I insisted they all use coaster so they didn't leave a ring. Now we don't have to.
He used the main body of the TV, after everything was taken out, as a compost/garden. He got 3 really big magnifying glasses. One he gave to my youngest to play with. One he's going to give to my oldest as a Christmas present. He has trouble reading his Pokemon cards, due to cataracts. He's Down Syndrome, and it's something that goes along with it. He also got 3 lenses, red, green and I think one was supposed to be slightly yellow, or else it's clear. He gave those to my youngest, because he's so into science. A molding strip became a marble run. He's also going to take out all the aluminum and metal and turn it in.
Today, I also made 2 can rollers from cardboard we had on hand, by tracing the one I bought. But, I decided it's too difficult to make the sharp bends that are needed. Then, as I was looking at a fruit snack box, I decided it could make one with a few cuts. I had to get a scrap piece of cardboard to cover the front, but it's now a 2 drop (instead of one) can roller so I have to put the new can in the back, and get the old one out of the bottom front. It holds small cans like mushrooms or small tomato sauce. So I have 7 can rollers in my pantry, and I can rotate my food. I would love to have the money to buy a ton of those rollers, and have a whole bookshelf full of them, and not have my food in boxes. But wish in one hand, and spit in the other, as my grandma used to say, and see which fills up quicker.
It's been a hard day of cutting cardboard, and my hands are sore, but I reused cardboard that would have otherwise been thrown out. And though my husband is tired, we have 2 plots for a garden this spring, instead of the one we had this past year.
Economic Times
I believe what Glenn Beck says is coming down the pike. Not because Glenn Beck said it, but because I have eyes.
I went to Walmart yesterday (my kids wanted to spend their allowances), and a pair of men's pajama pants caught my eye. My oldest child is 20 (going on 6, but he wears men's sizes) and last year they would have cost $9.99. They were $12. I wouldn't buy them. That's outrageous. That's almost a 30% raise in price.
Since my garden is done now, I'm going to focus on stockpiling. I don't really know anything about it; I'm learning as I go. I'll be composting in the garden spot so I can raise a garden next spring. We tried to cut down the pompus grass, but it had a bee's nest in it. We're going to wait until it's cold. I got stung in my "bad" arm (the one where all the lymph nodes were removed when I had breast cancer surgery). Next time I deal with it, I need to have long sleeves on. I'll keep you posted on my progress with the composting, too.
So, Glenn says to have a 3 month supply of food on hand. I know the Mormon's are much better at this than I am, so I first went to their sight. I can't remember off hand which site it was, I just googled Mormon food storage. That got me started.
Here's what I learned, in a nut shell. Don't just start putting away cans of green beans and tuna. Sit down and make up menus of things you can eat without adding any fresh ingredients (or very little). The more you come up with, the greater variety you will have. I came up with 11. You also have to remember breakfast, lunch and snacks. You can put away condiments (like mayonnaise) for tuna fish sandwiches.
I believe an economic crisis is coming. I believe that food prices are going to go sky high and almost won't be able to be bought. My husband doesn't want me to raise a garden, because he believes we'll have to protect it. THAT'S why I'm storing food.
I was sort of stuck at this point. The Mormon site also lists everything that a family needs (per person) of staples, like wheat, oats, rice, etc. I and both my children have a gluten intolerance (celiac disease), so it wasn't much good for me. I found a great site that explains everything in detail. I am not affiliated with this site in anyway. It's called www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net. Remember it's NET and not COM. Com gets you to a different site.
So, I am almost to a 3 month supply of food. I actually believe I am, if you include the stuff that I put away before I decided to do menus. My husband wants to have a ton of sardines, oysters, canned meat on hand because you can survive on sardines and crackers. I told him, my crackers are expensive! I do, however have a cracker recipe, so I'll store the ingredients to make that recipe. That's if the power grid doesn't come down. We have a gas stove so I cook with the power off (I've done it before, just have to light it manually. HOWEVER, you can't use the oven because it's electronic on temperature control. I'm not sure how to bake bread without an oven. I guess in a dutch oven on a fire? Something I need to look into.
Another thing I happen to have on hand, and is good in an economic emergency, is a grain grinder. I had it for grinding my own rice flour. That way you can put away grains instead of flour and it lasts longer. I also picked up a cheap meat grinder at a local thrift store. They had 2, and I'm kicking myself for not getting them both. What would you use a meat grinder for? Well, if meat prices get beyond reach, which is possible if Cass Sustein has his way, you could catch and eat squirrels, rabbits, deer, etc. The grinder is to make ground meat. It just might be squirrel instead of beef. But you can substitute it in your recipes that call for beef, like hamburger noodle casserole. I haven't come up with a substitute for sour cream yet. I make my own cream of mushroom soup mix, mostly because every one on the market is either with wheat, or already too high. I also have a dehydrator, and I dehydrated my own mushrooms (bought from the store). If your bananas are getting a bit ripe and no one is eating them, throw them in the dehydrator and you have banana chips. I also do that with tomatoes that are about to go bad, as in getting a bit too soft for my husband. Then later, you can add them to stews.
Water. They say everyone needs 3 liters to 1 gallon of water a day. That's just for drinking/potting water. One idea for water conservation is to use the water that you cook noodles in to flush your toilet. If you don't have water service, any water you can save is useful.
But, I'll be keeping everyone posted on my personal progress. We have to buy water, and every time we go to the store we buy a bit extra food that I need for recipes. I said I have 11 recipes. I need to multiply that times 3 (at this point) to get a month's worth, than times 3 for 3 months. You also have to remember that power may fail, so don't count on refrigeration. I thought of buying a chest freezer, but changed my mind for that purpose. I found one on line (Ebay) for around $250, but thought the money would be better spent on food.
I went to Walmart yesterday (my kids wanted to spend their allowances), and a pair of men's pajama pants caught my eye. My oldest child is 20 (going on 6, but he wears men's sizes) and last year they would have cost $9.99. They were $12. I wouldn't buy them. That's outrageous. That's almost a 30% raise in price.
Since my garden is done now, I'm going to focus on stockpiling. I don't really know anything about it; I'm learning as I go. I'll be composting in the garden spot so I can raise a garden next spring. We tried to cut down the pompus grass, but it had a bee's nest in it. We're going to wait until it's cold. I got stung in my "bad" arm (the one where all the lymph nodes were removed when I had breast cancer surgery). Next time I deal with it, I need to have long sleeves on. I'll keep you posted on my progress with the composting, too.
So, Glenn says to have a 3 month supply of food on hand. I know the Mormon's are much better at this than I am, so I first went to their sight. I can't remember off hand which site it was, I just googled Mormon food storage. That got me started.
Here's what I learned, in a nut shell. Don't just start putting away cans of green beans and tuna. Sit down and make up menus of things you can eat without adding any fresh ingredients (or very little). The more you come up with, the greater variety you will have. I came up with 11. You also have to remember breakfast, lunch and snacks. You can put away condiments (like mayonnaise) for tuna fish sandwiches.
I believe an economic crisis is coming. I believe that food prices are going to go sky high and almost won't be able to be bought. My husband doesn't want me to raise a garden, because he believes we'll have to protect it. THAT'S why I'm storing food.
I was sort of stuck at this point. The Mormon site also lists everything that a family needs (per person) of staples, like wheat, oats, rice, etc. I and both my children have a gluten intolerance (celiac disease), so it wasn't much good for me. I found a great site that explains everything in detail. I am not affiliated with this site in anyway. It's called www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net. Remember it's NET and not COM. Com gets you to a different site.
So, I am almost to a 3 month supply of food. I actually believe I am, if you include the stuff that I put away before I decided to do menus. My husband wants to have a ton of sardines, oysters, canned meat on hand because you can survive on sardines and crackers. I told him, my crackers are expensive! I do, however have a cracker recipe, so I'll store the ingredients to make that recipe. That's if the power grid doesn't come down. We have a gas stove so I cook with the power off (I've done it before, just have to light it manually. HOWEVER, you can't use the oven because it's electronic on temperature control. I'm not sure how to bake bread without an oven. I guess in a dutch oven on a fire? Something I need to look into.
Another thing I happen to have on hand, and is good in an economic emergency, is a grain grinder. I had it for grinding my own rice flour. That way you can put away grains instead of flour and it lasts longer. I also picked up a cheap meat grinder at a local thrift store. They had 2, and I'm kicking myself for not getting them both. What would you use a meat grinder for? Well, if meat prices get beyond reach, which is possible if Cass Sustein has his way, you could catch and eat squirrels, rabbits, deer, etc. The grinder is to make ground meat. It just might be squirrel instead of beef. But you can substitute it in your recipes that call for beef, like hamburger noodle casserole. I haven't come up with a substitute for sour cream yet. I make my own cream of mushroom soup mix, mostly because every one on the market is either with wheat, or already too high. I also have a dehydrator, and I dehydrated my own mushrooms (bought from the store). If your bananas are getting a bit ripe and no one is eating them, throw them in the dehydrator and you have banana chips. I also do that with tomatoes that are about to go bad, as in getting a bit too soft for my husband. Then later, you can add them to stews.
Water. They say everyone needs 3 liters to 1 gallon of water a day. That's just for drinking/potting water. One idea for water conservation is to use the water that you cook noodles in to flush your toilet. If you don't have water service, any water you can save is useful.
But, I'll be keeping everyone posted on my personal progress. We have to buy water, and every time we go to the store we buy a bit extra food that I need for recipes. I said I have 11 recipes. I need to multiply that times 3 (at this point) to get a month's worth, than times 3 for 3 months. You also have to remember that power may fail, so don't count on refrigeration. I thought of buying a chest freezer, but changed my mind for that purpose. I found one on line (Ebay) for around $250, but thought the money would be better spent on food.
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