Category Archives: Food

A Smaller, Lighter MRE ?

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14-10 MRE 2 courseA couple years ago, I reviewed Meal Kit Supply’s MREs. Meal Kit Supply offers quality, U.S. made MREs that contain 100% military MRE components. Our family stocks them for emergencies, and I recommend them to friends.

So when Meal Kit Supply came out with a new product, a 2-course meal (as opposed to their traditional 3-course meal), I was interested in seeing it.

(new) 2-Course Meal(traditional) 3-Course Meal
containsentrée, dessertentrée, cracker/bread w spread, dessert
weightapprox 11 oz (310 g)approx 20 oz (560 g)
caloriesapprox 600approx 1200
per case612
cost$44.95 (free shipping)$129.95 (free shipping)

Both also contain: electrolyte drink mix, spoon, napkin, and flameless heater. The 3-Course Meal also includes instant coffee and condiments.

I’ve been asked: Why not just take a standard MRE and break it down, throwing away all the excess packing (weight and size), and then taping it up — like we did when we were in the military? My answer: That was fine if you knew you were going to eat the meal in the next day or two. But these meals are factory packaged: water proof, hermetically sealed (to keep out pests), with a five year shelf life! 

13-8 MRE shirtI like them. They’re a smaller, lighter meal with all the quality you’ve come to expect from Meal Kit Supply, and military grade MREs in general. Adding one (or two) to your every day carry kit adds very little weight or bulk, but a lot of piece of mind.

 

Post Script (10/7/14):

People have asked about how they tasted. They have the same good flavor/texture/taste as the other Meal Kit Supply MREs we reviewed before. But our family (five of us, Ryan was living in Moab at the time) did eat, evaluate, recorded comments, and rated them on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=terrible, 3=not bad at all, 5=pretty darn good). So of the random three we ate, here’s our menus, comments and average scores:

  • Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookie, Grape Electrolyte Beverage Powder (EBP): “really good” / “tastes like real ravioli” / “a little dry/chalky” — SCORE: entrée 4.0  / cookie 4.0
  • Vegetarian Ratatouille, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Lemon Lime EBP: “good texture” / “plenty of flavor” / “a little metallic taste” / “tastes like meat” / “mushy vegetables” — SCORE: entrée 3.8 / cookie 3.5
  • Spaghetti w Meat Sauce, Oatmeal Cookie, Orange EBP: “texture was like real spaghetti” / “noodles were soft” / “tastes like elementary school spaghetti” — SCORE: entrée 3.4 / cookie 4.0

On a side note, the kids are getting much more proficient using the heaters now that they’ve had some practice.

Hunger is a Powerful Motivator

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I haven’t eaten for the past 60 hours, and I don’t plan on eating for 36 more.

No we didn’t have a disaster or anything. I’m doing a prolonged fast as a personal health experiment (see Post Script below).

fastingDuring this time I can’t help reflecting on the discomfort, distraction, and concerns about going hungry. I’ve never gone this long without food, the longest I had before was less than 24 hours. It’s interesting to see the effects it has on my body, mind, and emotion.

Before I go on, let me define my fast: I’m only drinking water, water with 1/2 lemon in it (once a day), coffee, and I suck on sunflower seeds (but then spit the seed out with the shell). I’m not eating at all, essentially no caloric intake.

The first 24 hours were the hardest. When it was time to eat, I didn’t eat and my body didn’t like that or understand why. That evening I felt like crap and had a bad (hangover-type) headache. I was easily distracted and it was harder to concentrate.

hungryThe next morning I felt better, more normal – but I craved food. I literally salivated at the sight of it (and of course that was the day several friends at work brought me in treats). Fried food looked soooo good… By that evening the headache had returned, but not as bad, and I felt weak and achy. And all kinds of odd sounds were coming from my belly.

This morning there’s been a dull ache in my stomach, I continue to feel achy all over, and I feel like I have little motivation to want to move around very much.

And there’s still 36 hours to go.

Food is one of our top basic needs (along with water, shelter, security, energy, hygiene, and medical). Sure the human body can go several weeks without food, but…

If you haven’t eaten for a while, you can’t think of much else. I know when I’ll eat again, but what if I didn’t? I really struggle with imagining not knowing how or when I’d have my next meal.

When your body is starving you constantly yearn for food, think about how good something would taste, and you wonder when you’ll eat again. But you’d have to conserve your strength because you only have finite physical (and mental and emotional) resources to draw from. Eventually, I believe, you’d do just about anything to get food.

Fortunately food is something that we can now easily acquire and store away. The abundance of well packaged, long shelf-life food products is amazing. Sure we can argue they may not be the best things for you to eat, but they are something to eat if nothing else is available.

Take the time to review you food storage. You can review my previous posts: Store What you Eat (Food Part 1), Long Term Storage (Food Part 2), ‘Course It’ll Always Be There, How Much Do You Need = Math, Momma Bear: Figuring Out How To Make Food Storage Work, and Product Review: Meal Kit Supply MREs.

Make a plan to be able to feed you and your family, before they get into a situation where you’d have to go hungry; because it sucks. Oh and did I mention constipation? Nothing in equals nothing out — another unpleasant effect of going hungry.

Post Script: Fasting For Health

I’m very new to the fasting for health bandwagon, and my personal jury is still out — this is my first time. I read an article the other day: Fasting is beneficial to the immune system: Study shows it triggers stem cell regeneration. I then went to the source study: Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression.

I figured I’d try it. It didn’t cost me anything, and I thought it’d be an interesting first hand experiment. The article suggested 48 to 96 hours, I decided if I was going to do it I’d go big and do 96. I’m hoping it’ll help with my seasonal allergies, strengthen my immune system (though it’s already good), and slowing “the damaging effects of aging” doesn’t sound too bad either.

If it “works” my plan is to fast for 48 – 96 hours every six months.

Momma Bear: Government Shutdown

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by Leah, Momma Bear -

ShitHitsFanFor some Americans, the S**T hit their fan last week — in the form of a partial federal government shut down. As a military family, that means we are watching the news closely. During times like these military members are required to continue serving, but will be “paid later” in full, once budget issues are resolved. Fortunately, in this instance, Congress voted to continue paying the military during the shutdown, but that is not always the case. Many other federal workers are furloughed, and may not ever be paid back. And it’s all perfectly legal. government-shutdownIn the 90’s when the government was previously shut down, Congress voted to pay those employees back. But due to the current financial state, they are warning people that they can’t count on that this time. The icing on this particular poop-cake is that the 27th Amendment to the Constitution ensures that our Congressmen all continue to receive their pay, while the voters pay the consequences. In the military, when a leader fails to successfully lead they can be removed from their position under grounds of “loss of special trust and confidence” in their leadership. Think we can use that on our current politicians, straight across the board?

We sat down with our kids, ages 15 and 18, and talked to them about what this all means, and how it relates to our family. Telling your kids you might not be getting paid next payday can really put them into a panic. We live outside of Washington D.C., they know that from rent, to gas, to groceries, it is not cheap to live here. We explained that we are lucky because we are financially secure enough to be able to pay our bills for a short time without too much effort, BUT that we would be scrutinizing every penny spent for the duration.

foodshelfThis happens to be one of those times when preppers look like normal, forward thinking people who planned ahead for the day when the government fell into dysfunction. Yes, our family (and the military in general) is currently getting paid, but we’re still federal employees and don’t know what will happen. Many other federal employees are not currently working, or getting paid. So what is a prepper to do!??? It’s time to hit the food storage! At our house, we are still in limbo waiting to find out if we will be moving to a new duty station next summer (some of you may remember that my husband requested I STOP buying more food, so we can prepare for our next move without the surplus weight). Fall is also the time of year when I can fresh veggies, take stock of our long-term food storage, and rotate the goods. This will be the perfect opportunity to work towards cutting down on our food storage, rotating what we have, and saving money. We are looking forward to some interesting meals in the near future!

How is the government shutdown affecting you?

 

Momma Bear: Bugs For Dinner?

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by Leah, Momma Bear -

DSC01552We currently feel like we’re under attack from cicadas! This is the year when the so-called 17-year periodical cicadas emerge in the BILLIONS from northern Georgia to upstate New York. Our yard, here in Virginia, is littered with holes in the ground from the recently emerged larvae. Hundreds of larva husks are dangling from my bushes, and the red beady eyes from the newly sprung cicadas are staring back at us. The mating calls have not yet started, but they aren’t far off. What is a prepper to do with all these bugs? The answer: EAT THEM!?!

bugsAbout 80% of the world’s population eats insects as a primary protein source. CNN recently reported, U.N.: Eat Insects, Save the World, that it has been hypothesized bugs are the future of food production due to their extremely low carbon footprint (compared to traditional proteins like chicken/beef/pork). Mass production of bugs for food does not pollute the environment, they are inexpensive to grow, and require very little space compared to the alternative proteins. Cicadas are just one of many edible insects, enjoyed throughout the world. Other common insects include meal worms, crickets, and water bugs (these look like giant cockroaches). These are all included on this photo I took of a “fast food cart” in Bangkok, Thailand, serving bugs for lunch.

DSC01550Cicadas are definitely edible, and were eaten by early Native Americans. They are best harvested in the newly emerged larvae stage for the most tender eating, though they can also be eaten as the fully developed cicada, though they are much crunchier.  Most insects are fried/sautéed. My kids voted that they would best be served with fried rice, that way they would be mixed in with other vegetables (and maybe they wouldn’t notice them so much). Interestingly, cicadas are a type of arthropod, which is the same category of food as shrimp and lobster. While I personally still prefer shrimp over cicadas, it is nice to know of another protein source that is literally right outside my door!

[Trace’s note: I challenged Momma Bear to serve them for dinner, she responded that they wouldn’t be eating them anytime soon — but was glad to have additional options if necessary.]

bug nutritional chart

Though it's not listed in this chart: 
gram of protein = 4 calories
gram of fat = 9 calories
gram of carbohydrates = 4

giantwaterbugSo, for example, a Giant Water Beetle (pictured on the right) would provide 77.6 calories from protein, 74.7 calories from fat, and 8.4 calories of carbs; for a total of approximately 160 calories per 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of Giant Water Beetle.

Nuts & Bolts by Nick: I’m Eating My Preps!

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by Nick Romaniello

I’m sure there are plenty of preppers out there that wouldn’t break into their mylar pouches full of grain for anything short of total Armageddon, but the truth is that emergencies can be varied and subjective. The world of a self-employed home improvement contractor is sometimes one of feast or empty-pocketsfamine especially during the initial years of building a business. The last few months have been financially tricky for me and Mighty Oak Homecraft. Large jobs have run long, delaying the income from final payments. Taxes were due, materials need purchased, yearly renewals of licenses and websites have all converged into a financial super-storm; the result is a cartoon-like escape of moths and dust when I open my wallet.

There is relief on the horizon as more jobs fill the schedule, but when the bank account hovers near the red it‘s nice to have a backup plan so that “feast or famine“ remains only a metaphor. Luckily there isn’t any panic about the financial burden of buying groceries. While I am not yet set up to last for months without resupply, having a reasonable store of food on hand to help stretch out limited resources is a big help. A lean month or two may not be the dramatic type of disaster scenario that many preppers are fortifying themselves against, but in reality (especially in my business) it’s a fairly likely scenario. Even for those with more predictable paychecks, financial emergencies can strike without warning. Unexpected car problems, a layoff, or an injury can put a serious dent in your cash flow. Emergency funds and savings accounts can be an ideal stopgap, but it can be difficult to squirrel away cash if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Being prepared should not be an exclusive hobby for those who can afford to stack gold bars up in their bunker. Even us penny pinchers can pick up a few extra cans each time we shop and before you know it, you have a food cache. Same goes for every gallon of gas you put away. An extra tank full when the chips are down could keep you operational when you might otherwise be thumbing rides.

foodshelfFull scale financial collapse will always be a hot topic in prepping circles and forums, but the commonality of family level tough periods exemplifies the purpose of prepping. It’s not always about the big things that might happen, but more about the small things that probably will happen. Don’t allow yourself to develop a mindset that your preps are only for “the big one”. They are your way of providing help to yourself in the future. Just like any other type of insurance policy, you aren’t required to wait for total loss to make a claim. There are preps that we acquire with the hope and intent that we never need to use them such as a fire ladder, gun, or suture kit. However, some items that we store such as food, gas, or toiletries don’t need to be viewed as such a last resort — plus they need to be rotated anyway! If you are hungry, eat. There is no shame in using your preps for small, short-lived emergencies. Things will get better and you can stock up again. That’s what it’s there for.

 

Momma Bear: Carefully Choosing Seeds This Year

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It’s that time of year again when we are all starting our seeds and getting those gardens back in shape. Last year was our first year gardening — EVER. We had mixed success, primarily because our property is about 80% shade. One thing I learned though is the importance of picking the right seeds. By this I do not mean just picking the right vegetables, but also the importance of using heirloom seeds so I could let some of my garden go to seed and harvest those seeds for the next year.

heirloom_seeds-posterThis year, while surfing the internet for seeds, I came across some interesting articles about seed banks. The National Geographic article, Food Ark, refers to the world seed vault (which I initially thought was kind of a hokey idea). But I kept reading and discovered why it is so incredibly important. I am sure most of the prepper community understand the value of using heirloom seeds, instead of hybrids, for seed harvesting. But, what I found to be both fascinating and horrifying is that 95% of vegetable and fruit varieties have gone extinct in the last 100 years. Mass production, produce values, and hardiness were chosen over variety. While we are busy saving pandas, polar bears, and whales, no one seems to be worried about saving our food. (Another good article is, The Extinction of Food: Why Heirloom Seeds May Be Our Only Hope.)

I am appalled to report that my own heirloom seeds fall into sprng-sgnthe category of hearty store-bought ones. There is nothing unique or special about my seeds. So what can we do to help with this problem? My advice would be that we all seek out these rare varieties, join seed exchanges, and support farmer’s markets and CSA Co-Ops (Community Support Agriculture) whenever possible. Find the uncommon and value its place in our future.

Next I read, EWG’s 2012 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, and looked at a list of what they call “The Dirty Dozen”; the foods we buy and eat that have the most residual pesticides. Again, this was eye-opening information that showed me exactly which of my favorite produce was on the danger list. And worse yet, I am not strict enough about washing my produce. If I wasn’t already a “prepper,” this would be enough to make me seriously consider joining the team!

heirloom-seeds-wordleMy new growing/gardening goal is to seek out a variety of quality seeds, and to grow some of those vegetables on the high pesticide laden foods list that we would normally buy. So this year–in addition to growing tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions from last year’s seeds–I will be growing my own spinach and peppers (two of the dirty dozen). We eat spinach more than most other varieties of lettuce and it grows really well in containers. Additionally we are still on the canning salsa kick so we are really looking forward to the peppers. I will also be networking with some friends in the Pacific Northwest to see if I can get some of their heirloom seeds for next year, and possibly getting involved in the Seed Savers Exchange.

Do you grow any rare varieties?  If so, what?  And would you be willing to share some seeds?!

 

Momma Bear: Sequestration, Military Life & Our Growing Family

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The military received a 1% pay raise this year.  But with a 2% tax increase, that is the same as a 1% pay cut. I am thankful to report that while this did infuriate me, we were able to absorb the loss with minimal discomfort.  Sequestration hit right about the time that we were re-arranging our house to accommodate the two kids we are planning to adopt. While I had been busy spending to get ready for a larger family (beds, linens, 2nd fridge, etc.), some of our friends who are federally employed were getting furlough notices. Our one friend is being furloughed to the tune of a 12% pay cut.  With a new mortgage and small children at home, I hope that they can weather the storm. Other friends are being forced to retire early from the military because they are not at the top of their fields and the military needs a drastic reduction in forces. We are lucky in that my husband has a secure job, with a promotion on the horizon, and he is not at risk of a forced retirement. But it is a stark reminder that you can never be financially prepared ENOUGH to survive what life might throw at you.

another military moveIn addition to all of the sequestration drama, I was reminded recently that we will be facing our next set of military orders to move, sometime in the next year, probably moving in about 16 months . We usually know about 4-6 months prior to our moves (sometimes we know as early as a year in advance), which will allow us time to get our lives ready for the next big adventure. Those months leading up to finding out our next duty station is always filled with speculation about where we will go, how we will get there, etc., and a few times we have been utterly surprised by where the Marine Corps has chosen to send us.  For us, this will be the first time that we have moved since beginning a long term food storage program. While the movers will pack food in containers for moves within the U.S., it counts against our overall weight allowance. Foods are typically discouraged on international moves. This will be complicated for us because we will be moving a much larger household than ever before, and there is always the possibility of another international move. After rearranging our storage areas to accommodate the 2nd fridge last weekend, my husband raised the white flag and told me I needed to lay off the food storage (I believe the word “hoarder” may have been mumbled). He said I needed to develop a plan to deal with all this food for our next move. I think in his mind he was envisioning us having to throw out hundreds of pounds of food. Of course in my mind, I am more concerned with our increasing family size and feel the need to store more, but I can see his point.

moving-truckWe have both compromised and developed a plan. All future food storage purchases (in our current location) will need to be for our regular food storage pantry that we routinely eat from. No more long term storage food purchases until we reach our next duty station. The mylar and bucket food storage will be moved with our household goods (unless we are headed overseas and are limited on weight). Once we know where/when we are moving we will begin eating from our easy access long term food storage that I have in 2-liter bottles (see previous article on storage containers).  These are containers and food items that are easy to replace once we are relocated. When they come to move us, any surplus pantry items in original containers may then be donated to the local food pantry. I consider this a workable solution that we can both live with, and he promised not to use the word hoarder again.

Has anyone else ever had to deal with moving a great distance with their long term food storage?  Any tips or suggestions?

 

We Have Baby Rabbits!

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proud momFinally! (Though not completely on our own yet; more about that later.)

A little background: We got two eight-week old female rabbits last June, a few weeks later we got a slightly older male (from a different breeder). In October they were old enough to breed, we brought Clover (doe) to Winston’s (buck) cage and they did what needed to be done — though it was awkward and Clover wasn’t very encouraging. But we had officially started breeding our rabbits.

Sorta. It didn’t work, and didn’t work, and didn’t work… We tried Winston with each of the females, repeatedly. We bred in the morning, we bred in the evening, before meals, after meals. Each time it seemed like they couldn’t quite get into the right position for correct “contact”. We read forums and blogs for insight. We inspected the genitalia, we inspected the poops. We tried holding the female in position and “assisting” the male. We fed them a little less to make them leaner. We tried swapping cages so they could smell the other’s scent and get in “the mood”. We tried overnighting them together (they are very docile), rabbits are nocturnal after all. We tried adding apple cider vinegar to their water (supposed to be an aphrodisiac). Then after each attempt we’d wait and see if there were any signs of pregnancy, a couple of times we even waited the whole 28 – 31 day cycle, and we were repeatedly disappointed and discouraged.

WE’RE BREEDING RABBITS, we thought, HOW HARD CAN IT BE!

We mostly took December off, it was very cold here (relatively) and it is a busy month. When January arrived we got together with our good friend Rob, the man we got our rabbits from, to trouble-shoot the situation. We determined we didn’t know if one or more of our rabbits were “broken”/infertile. So we decided to breed our rabbits with his “proven” stock. We brought Clover, to Rob’s place, to spend the night with Bugs (who has fathered many litters). We also brought back his doe, Cali, to spend the night with Winston. This was the middle of January, so we’d know by the middle of February.

Mid-February arrived and Cali/Winston had a litter of 10! So Winston wasn’t shooting blanks and apparently, with the right motivation, could do what needed to be done. But the Clover/Bugs breeding was unsuccessful.

Rewind slightly, two weeks after we bred Clover with Bugs we brought over our other female, Artemis, to breed with Bugs. So even though Clover hadn’t “delivered”, we still had our hopes out for Artemis (and Rob felt very sure, based on their time together, that Artemis would be pregnant).

young kitsFinally the week came, we put in the nesting box and last Thursday morning (2/28) I went out to feed them and we had a litter of seven kits (baby bunnies)! We had six alive and one dead. Unfortunately, likely since it was her first litter, Artemis hadn’t used the nesting box; instead making a nest out of cardboard (that had been lining the nesting box), hay, and of course fur in the corner of her cage. It worked, though I suspect the one that died may have been near the edge and got too cold. I, carefully, moved all the nesting material and then the remaining kits into the nesting box and they quickly snuggled into the soft fur.

To say I was excited was an understatement! (I later described my feelings as “disproportionately excited.”) I took a couple of pictures and then texted Sarah, the kids, and Rob that we had finally been successful!

We’re now about a week in, mom and babies all seem to be doing very well. Artemis appears to be a good mom and the kits seem to be growing and developing appropriately.

The next test, now that we know both Winston and Artemis “work” is to successfully breed our two rabbits together. We’ll do that in a couple of months.

We traded Clover, with Rob, for a four-month old female. We’ll breed the new female, Clover 2.0, when she reaches six months.

I write about this not only to share our failures and victories, but again as a warning: ANYTHING in your preps that you’re going to depend on needs to be tested first. Last summer we would have asked, “What could possible go wrong breeding rabbits? They breed like rabbits, right?” Finally after four months we are, mostly, successful.

Test, and retest your preps, plans, and the systems you have in place. Be sure you know how to use them, take the time to actually make them work appropriately, know basic trouble-shooting steps, and then share this information with the rest of your family.

 

Sarah’s View: Goats

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As the possibility of our own property becomes more and more real Trace and I have been talking about what livestock we want. We already have Kate, our border collie, as well as the rabbits. We have talked about getting chickens shortly after we move. The other animals we’ve talked about are an additional dog, bees and goats.

GoatMilkProducts

I’ve been doing more research on goats. We look forward to having goats ‘browse’ on our property and help keep down weeds and other unwanted plants, however, our primary goal with goats is to use them for milk and other dairy products – we hope to learn to make our own yogurt and cheese. We would also like goats that are friendly, if we’re going to be milking them we want them to not dislike us! Plus, I think it makes sense to look for a breed known for higher fat milk; a higher fat content tends to result in creamier products (duh) and neither Trace nor I drink much milk so the higher fat content isn’t an issue there. Finally, while we want a good milk producer we don’t want to be overwhelmed by the amount of milk we get; we have no desire (at this time) to become a dairy.

To this end I wanted to determine how owning and raising goats works as well as figure out the best breed for our goals. As with most things there are a ton of resources on the web. And honestly, with goats I had start at the basics. What does it take to care for a goat? How do you get milk from a goat? What do you do with the babies? Because it finally gelled for me that in order to have a female producing milk she will have had to have a kid.

The first couple of sites I ran across talked about bottle-feeding the kids. This had me thinking second thoughts about goats all together. I have no desire to bottle-feed baby goats. After reading more I found a number of people who allow the babies to remain with their moms until their weaned and either don’t milk the does during this period or only milk once a day. Phew. I can handle that, especially since the kids are old enough to be sold around 8 weeks yet the does will produce milk for 10 months.

Nigerian DwarfsOnce I was feeling good about having goats again, I started perusing the various breeds. There are about 7 to 8 well-known dairy goat breeds in addition to any mixes you might run across. They all have their pros and cons, but I have to say that I’m pretty hooked on the Nigerian Dwarf Goats. First, they’re cute, not that this should be a deciding factor, but it did make me more interested in reading about them. Second, they’re smaller than the other breeds. For me, at 5’3”, a smaller more manageable goat seems like a positive. Now, we may decide that the Nigerians are too small (between 16” and 23” usually) especially for Trace, but we’ll see. Third, they’re very friendly. And finally, their milk is between 6 – 10% fat (other breeds are in the 3 – 4% range).

We still have a few steps between now and getting goats, most glaringly actually closing on a homestead. But I’m definitely excited at the prospect of having goats and being able to produce our own cheese and yogurt. Can we do goat’s milk butter? Definitely more to learn.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice on goats, please let us know!

GoatMilkSign

Efficient Energy Usage, RE: Cooking Beans

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Most preppers, our family included, have a fair amount of dried beans in their food storage. If you store beans you need to know how to prepare them.

Quick review, there are two steps to preparing dried beans: soaking and cooking. Soaking (typically overnight) allows dried beans to absorb water and rehydrate; cooking beans makes them tender and digestible. The beans need to be brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer for 60 to 90 minutes.

As our family’s preparations become more involved, I find myself focusing more on the ENERGY aspect of our basic needs (food, water, shelter, security, and energy). While I’m not planning on powering all the electric amenities of our day-to-day lives in a power outage, we plan to power some basic lights and small appliances, have a warm house, and BE ABLE TO COOK FOOD.

Our family likes beans (and rice), and they are a core part of our long-term food storage, so I wanted to be able to prepare them as efficiently as possible. Cooking beans, even at a simmer, for 60 to 90 minutes uses a fair amount of energy resources.

dutch oven on induction cooktopTo increase our energy efficiency we recently bought an Aroma Induction Cooktop (Costco $50).Think of it as a very efficient (cooks/boils up to 70% more faster than traditional stove tops); very safe (immediately cools when the pot is removed) hot plate. During a power outage we’ll only have to power the induction cooktop, not the whole stove, to use an electric burner.

Our family’s plan–during a power outage–is to run the generator for a couple of hours in the morning to: recharge our battery bank, charge any rechargeable items, run the blower on the furnace, run the deep freezer, and cook food for the day.

To prepare our beans we would soak them overnight so they are ready; then with the generator running, bring them to a boil in a cast iron dutch oven using our wrap it in a towelinduction cooktop (FYI induction technology only works with iron/magnetic metals). As soon as they begin boiling, turn off the cooktop–and here’s the energy savings part–wrap the dutch oven in a thick towel and place the entire dutch oven in a large cooler. Though we traditionally use insulated coolers to keep things cool, they will also keep things warm. (Fill any open spaces in the cooler, with a towel or newspaper or anything, to maximize heat retention.) Leave the beans in the cooler, and they will continue to cook, for about three to four hours.

We practiced this the other day and it was smooth and easy. place it in the coolerRemember, in a power outage any power you have comes from sources you have to provide, and–as opposed to traditional grid power–it is finite based on the amount of fuel you have stored. Plan, beforehand, to use this power efficiently.