Drew | Being prepared today

June 27, 2021June 27, 2021

Important items for your Food Storage

Maintaining a Functioning Food Storage can be time-consuming and require effort, does it not? All the rotating, packaging and mindfulness of the expiry dates? Also, trying to think of what’s important to have in there. For a food storage to be proper it has to be in use at the same time. It should include: dry foods, canned foods, foods that are packaged by you in some instances and even boxed foods. Some foods keep longer while some foods are going to be more beneficial to you and your family.

Some families have an “Everyday use” pantry and a separate long term storage but here, I would like to suggest an easier style of food storage, discuss all these topics and give some suggestions of important items as well as the “why’s” and “how’s” to maintain your Food Storage safely and efficiently.

Food Storage ease of maintenance

Finding a system that works for you when it comes to maintaining your food storage is important. Cans are easy but tedious to rotate and watch expiry dates but, however have a long shelf life of almost 5 years. Knowing what to have and what conditions to store it in for maximum shelf life is pretty important. Items that don’t require frequent replacement is a good start. Even though you will be rotating and pulling from your food storage, I suggest items that will keep for long periods of time because of the “unknown” situations that may arise.

Having enough space is something to consider. You will need the space as you add items and come up with other ideas for that area. A cold storage or separate pantry room with shelving will probably serve best to observe and access your storage for rotation and replacement use.

Food Storage items that can last a long time

Having a moisture content of less than 10% and when properly stored in #10 cans, dry foods such as rice, beans, corn, potato flakes, most dehydrated fruits and even nuts will keep for around 30 years. I personally use a bucket system and a few bulk storage containers, that involves airtight lids and trash bag liners for storing and rotating my dry foods. They are labeled with the dates that I filled them, just to keep track.

Freeze dried or vacuum sealing is an amazing way to store foods! You can prepare your favorite meals and freeze dry them or in some cases vacuum seal them and they keep for around 15 or 20 years in a cool, dry and dark room. Personally I use …….. And it works great!

Pre canned foods are a good start as they are already canned and really convenient to just throw on the shelf and walk away for a while but you need to

consider the expiry dates. They can last up to 5 years depending on storage conditions and as you buy more canned foods from the store you should put the new cans behind the old cans for ease of use. Self-canning and Jarring are fun ways to discover your power to be self-sufficient by storing your own food choices or even seal away the top picks of your garden treasures. There are several recipes for several different styles of jarring so research what you might like best and have fun!

Smoked meats can also last a while if stored properly in the freezer. Some sources say 3 months but I believe 6 months might be possible with proper wrapping and sealing procedures. Cured meats are close to the same but extended by about half again the time frame. For instance, if stored properly in the freezer it could last up to 18 months. Use a proper curing salt like Prague #2 or another salt that has needed levels of Sodium Nitrate as it will create inhospitable conditions for unwanted bacteria to grow.

Keep in mind calorie intake and nutrition! While some sources report differing totals, to be considered healthy an adult male will need around 2500 calories while an adult female will need 2000. Children will do good to get around 1500 making it a healthy total for proper growth. A 1-cup serving of cooked, long-grain brown rice contains 5 grams of protein, 45 carbohydrate grams, 2 grams of fat and 216 calories. The same serving size of cooked black beans without salt has approximately 15 grams of protein, which is 30 percent of the daily value set by the FDA based on a 2,000 calories per day diet, 41 grams of carbohydrate, less than 1 gram of fat and 227 calories.

Jarred and home made foods

The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints has counciled it’s members on food storages and principles of provident living and charity. Many of the members enjoy aspects of these principles and lifestyle. The Church is a great resource to receive and learn from.

There are a lot of ideas for jarred foods that can be stored for long periods of time. Almost anything you can think of to seal in a jar, can be sealed in a jar. Some foods will naturally keep longer just because of the nature of the item or product. Vegetables grown in a garden and fruits from trees in your yard can be jarred and also jellied to sustain and provide for during the winter months and even save money throughout the year. Provident Living is a lifestyle more and more people are trying to acquaint themselves with as life and finances get tighter and tougher.

There are a lot of recipes for items that can keep for long periods of time after prepared such as Pemmican and some styles of breads. Shortbread cookies keep for a decent amount of time, between 4 to 8 weeks if kept in an airtight container and kept cool. Learning how to make bullion and bone broth cubes could also be beneficial as they will last indefinitely if made and stored properly.

Jarring fresh fruits and vegetables will provide for concentrated nutritional needs especially vitamin C, which an essential vitamin.

Miscellaneous items

Many people don’t think of water when they are considering items for their Food Storage. It’s actually quite important. Clean water sources may be abundant now but what if hard times come around like a drought? Believe it or not even a flood can wipe out clean water sources.

A non-food item that I believe is essential to any storage is toilet paper and feminine higene items. In and extended emergency situation they will not only provide an ample amount of comfort but also prove to be important to sanitary conditions and personal health.

Multi-vitamins provide a small portion of essential vitamins and minerals and although synthetic, they are beneficial in the sense that they can keep you from being nutrient deficient and they will keep for years unopened in a food storage setting.

Iodized salt is extremely important and I believe most people do not realize just how important it is. Food grade Iodine or rather potassium iodide, is an essential mineral that most vitamins do not offer unfortunately. It is also very scarce in the food we eat because it is mostly removed during processing. Iodine is used by the thyroid gland to produce hormones essential for the body and brain to function properly, including hormones related to growth and development.

Baking soda and cooking oils like vegetable oil and coconut oil are items I also highly recommended. Baking soda not only goes into baking goods like breads, cookies and pie but also removes odors by absorbing them without effect on itself. Vegetable oils and Coconut oil are a necessity for baking. A bonus is that coconut oil is very tasty when used as a substitute for vegetable oil and Coconut oil is also very healthy!

Tailoring your own food storage to your families needs

While not everyone has the same diet or digestive needs, most items in your storage room can be made into quite creative inventions. A food storage plan built around you and your family’s diet is definitely something to closely consider. If you are going to be using an active rotating food storage (this is just what I am calling it) then you will obviously not have too much of a problem keeping items common to you and your families dietary usuals. A drastic change in food items or in the nutrients that your family takes in wouldn’t be a matter of life or death but might cause some complaining and resistance.

While using an active rotating food storage is a good way to keep up on expiry dates and such things, if an emergency does arise you will have plenty of food, water and other essentials to keep you for a good while.

I hope this article was informative and helpful. If you have any questions, comments or other input you can do so in the comments below as it will help me to bring increasingly better information to you!

Thanks

Sources:

ChurchOfJesusChrist.org

Ready.gov

Theprovidentprepper.org

Google search

June 11, 2021June 11, 2021

The importance of being Self Sufficient

Being Self Sufficient can feel daunting and quite difficult. It doesn’t have to be though. For some people it is a lifestyle, passed down to them though their family for generations, In the form of recipes and processes but most of all – a way of thinking. Some people think of it as a lifestyle long-forgotten but in reality there are still people that live that way, and prefer it! They enjoy the “unplugged” way of living and highly enjoy doing things for themselves. Believe it or not, it can be quite rewarding.

Learning and being Self Sufficient

Learning to be Self Sufficient can be a life long process of developing skills and knowledge. It should be fun. Pick a direction, a subject to learn about or try out for yourself, something that is interesting to you and branch out from there. Something as simple as learning to bake bread from scratch can be a good start and will lead to other subjects like jarring food or even growing a

garden and building a root cellar. Doing things off-grid without electricity can be a good way to learn the “official” way of being self-sufficient.

Many reasons for being Self Sufficient

Enjoying the connection with nature or to look at it from a different angle, “disconnecting” from technology for a bit is a huge reason why many people try to be or are self-sufficient. Others live this way for reasons of preparing for hard times and for them it won’t be a major shock when those times come around. There are folks that were raised in that lifestyle and it is second nature to them as they were taught some of these skills from birth.

The American way of life promotes Self Sufficiency and rejects the idea that the government should take care of and provide for all the needs of people. The saying rings true as anything: Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

The deeper meaning to Self Sufficiency

The idea being discussed in this blog article is one that many people find that they may not “have the time” or “have the money” but I find that trying to be Self Sufficient doesn’t really come with a high price tag. It could even become an important skill in the coming years. It means to be independent and capable of providing most things you need by yourself or your community.

Indigenous and native American people have, still to this day, a connection with the land and a sense of self-sufficiency that is almost unrivaled. Being able to provide for yourself, everything that you could need to stay alive and be healthy enough to continue that lifestyle, gives the sense of independence and self-worth or self confidence. Being a part of a community that grows food, jars or cans food, makes their own clothing and has a knowledge of building both furniture and structures is the most ideal for a self-sufficient setting. That sense of community and independence is a pillar of early American life and still continues in some parts of the country.

Google defines “Self Sufficient” as:

-Needing no outside help in satisfying one’s basic needs, especially with regard to the production of food. “I don’t think Botswana, due to the climate, could ever be self-sufficient in food”.

-Emotionally and intellectually independent. “Their son was a little bit of a loner and very self-sufficient”.

Location and ideas

In Alaska, A lot of people live “off the grid”. That means that they live on either their own electricity and gas supplies or they have no permanent link to society. When and if needed to completely “unplug” they would not have a hard time doing so. It would be a minor adjustment to their current lifestyle. The climate there can be harsh but its not impossible to live off the land, as the natives did so for thousands of years.

In Pennsylvania, we also have the Amish. They are a prime example of self-sufficiency! They live without electricity or fuel gases of any sort really, make their own clothing and build their own homes. The Amish grow and store their own food and even churn their own butter! They truly have held onto and passed down the old-world skills of independence and self-sufficiency.

Personally, I have been trying new recipes with my Dutch oven in the coals of a dying fire and finding it to be a really tasty way to cook. In Mexico and even in the southern states here in America, a whole pig is slow roasted on a spit over an open fire pit, not wasting any part of the animal. If you have a fire pit you can make your own spit fairly easily or purchase one pre fabricated only needing to install it. Smoking and curing meats is almost self explanatory and keeps meats for quite a while. That is a skill that has been around for a really long time.

Root cellars and dry cold storage should be separate. Dry cold storage for canned, jarred and dry/dehydrated foods as well as any other dry storable items you can think of and here is a link to an article on food storage. A root cellar is kind of self explanatory again, it is technically a garden storage room for roots, fruits or anything that needs to stay damp and here is an article on root cellars.

Making your own clothes is a skill that is dying out. Give it a try sometime and you might be surprised. You could even save a butt-load of money!

Rising costs

Rising costs and inflation of everything is pushing people to be a little more frugal with their money and even to seek alternatives to some things to try to mitigate or counter that cost increase. Those alternatives include learning skills that teach them to be self-sufficient like growing some of their own food and composting. Tomatoes are a good start and easy to grow. Melons, garlic,

potatoes and even turnips are hardy staples that be grown in a lot of climates.

Whatever the reason is for you to become more Self Sufficient, my opinion is that these skills are important and can be very fun and rewarding. Do some google searches to familiarize yourself and get some ideas then give it a try.

I hope that this Blog article was informative and that you enjoyed reading. If you have any questions, comments or input of your own please feel free to do so in the comment section below. It helps me to bring you the best information possible.

Thanks

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021

The best Survival Food that lasts forever

Are there foods that last a very very long time? Is there something I can use as a Survival Food? You may ask yourself this and other questions like ‘Isn’t there a way to make storable food last longer than they do already?’

There are ways to do just that and there are specific types of food that are made in certain ways to enable the food to last years and sometimes decades. These kinds of foods are usually the ones handed down through the centuries, through recipes and procedures kept in families for a very long time.

The Native American Indians had a super food they made for centuries. It’s called Pemmican and if prepared properly can be stored for up to 10 years safely and reportedly be stored for 20 years or even longer.

Pemmican, the ultimate Survival Food

Pemmican is a mixture of tallow, dried meat and dried berries that is used as a nutritious food. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous cuisine in certain parts of North America and it is still prepared today.

Traditionally, pemmican was prepared from the lean meat of large game such as bison, elk, deer or moose. The meat was cut in thin slices and then dried, either over a slow fire or in the hot sun until the meat was dry and brittle.

Pemmican is an amazing super food that is nutritious and lasts a very long time. You can make some up for a hike, a camping trip or even your food storage!

Survival Food ingredient choices

Ingredient choices determine the longevity of the Pemmican. Today, people in many indigenous communities across North America continue to make pemmican for personal, community, and ceremonial consumption. Some contemporary pemmican recipes incorporate ingredients that have been introduced to the Americas in the past 500 years, including beef. Beef can be used but be cautious that it doesn’t burn during the preparation phase. Elk, Deer and Moose are the usual and traditional choices however there are other meats that can be used depending on their risk of disease by sitting for so long despite being prepared properly.

The melted fat is a necessity. A staple of Pemmican. The melted fat is made from suet. Suet is the raw, hard fat of beef or mutton found around the loins and kidneys. Suet has a melting point of between 45 °C(113f) and 50 °C(122f) and congelation between 37 °C(98.6f) and 40 °C(104f).

Berries of various kinds are used in the making of pemmican and most are readily available even in the wild. Blueberries, Chokecherries, Cranberries, Saskatoon berries or even Elderberries can be used. These dried berries will make the best candidates for grinding into a semi powdery substance or even all out powder. The berries are highly nutritious which is one of the reasons why Pemmican is considered a super food.

You can also put oats, nuts or other dried fruits into it!

Rendering fat to preserve

The rendered fat is the main reason why Pemmican lasts so long. The fat seals out the air so no oxygen can get to it and oxidize the meat and break it down or spoil it. The really long-lasting stuff is fat and meat only.

Put your suet (fat from lamb) into a pot and leave on low heat to begin rendering the fat. The goal here is to melt it down and strain out any impurities which turns the suet into tallow. Using low heat will ensure that you don’t burn the suet which will ruin your Pemmican.

You can possibly use Ghee oil which will make some slight differences in the Pemmican. The end product will not be as solid as using the rendered fat from suet but will be suitable and will still last quite a while.

The finished product

In his notes of 1874, North-west Mounted police Seargent-Major Sam Steele recorded three ways of serving Pemmican. Raw, boiled in a stew called ‘Rubaboo’, or fried, known in the west as ‘rechaud’.

–The pemmican was cooked in two ways in the west; one a stew of pemmican, water, flour and, if they could be secured, wild onions or preserved potatoes. This was called “rubaboo”; the other was called by the plains hunters a “rechaud”. It was cooked in a frying pan with onions and potatoes or alone. Some persons ate pemmican raw, but I must say I never had a taste for it that way.–

Finished pemmican will be very firm and keep almost forever. Pure, dried protein and rendered (mostly saturated) fat is highly stable so don’t worry about it going bad. If it does, You’ll know. Flavoring will depend on the spices you desire to try in your pemmican.

Storing your pemmican

Pemmican, again, is a highly stable and storable super food that can last nearly forever when stored properly. Exact recipes can be found online in preppers forums and survivalist websites. Plastic containers that are mostly airtight or a vacuum seal packaging are the ideal way to store your pemmican. A cool, dry and dark room will increase the longevity and preserve any taste you have processed into it. It’s perfect for your Emergency Food Storage!

Making pemmican can be fun and comforting to those that take peace of mind knowing they have food rations stored up for an emergency.

I hope you found this blog to be interesting and informative. If you have any questions, comments or input of your own please feel free to leave them in the comment box below. All input is welcome and helps me bring you quality topics.

Thanks.

Author: Drew