This weeks preps check-in

[jimLE]

good article..i just remembered about a radio i use to have in which it had a cassette player.yea im remembering way back ..i had alkaline,(non-rechargeable) batteries in it.and all i had to do\ to recharge them.was.turn the radio on and let go at that.and it'd recharge them.then i can listen to it for quiet a few hours without it being plugged in..

 

[Brent S]

Hi Jim, I tried your receipe for the pineapple in the zucchini bread. The flavor was great, but I tried it in my bread machine and it was still raw in 2/3 of the loaf. I tried to help it in the oven, but it turned out to be dog and chicken food. Oh well, still have a bunch of zukes and everything else. I'm going to buy some loaf pans and start trying it in the oven. Chalk this one up to experience. I'll let you know how it turns out next time.

 

[jimLE]

yeah i dont know alot about baking bread.but i do know,that a person has to be particular about how they bake bread

 

[Brent S]

I got my new pressure canner today, I just graduated from 5pints at a time to 20. Yeah! I got it on amazon, it's a 23 quart presto, for 74.00 with free shipping. The best part was the booklet that came with it. It has all kinds of recepies in it for canning and pressure cooking. Pressure cooking is a cool concept, cooking in 1/3 of the normal time. I've canned 15 pints of beans so far, but am hopeful to keep picking beans, tomatoes, okra, corn, and peppers for a few more months. My main goal is to replace as much of my pantry as I can with homemade vs store bought cans. Anyone know what the max life of canned veggies is when stored properly?

 

[Maverick]

Since I have company often, I decided to build two more bug out bags (standby) given I have a lot of redundancies in equipment (pretty much identical equipment except for the bags) so, I ordered 2 mil-tec 50L molle assault packs, I know, not the best of packs but, I'm not going to spend $600 for two packs (Lisa already had one heart attack with cost of our packs) I will have 40/45lbs in each of these bags (doable for most people that visit me)

 

[Dani]

View attachment 2933 I got my new pressure canner today, I just graduated from 5pints at a time to 20. Yeah! I got it on amazon, it's a 23 quart presto, for 74.00 with free shipping. The best part was the booklet that came with it. It has all kinds of recepies in it for canning and pressure cooking. Pressure cooking is a cool concept, cooking in 1/3 of the normal time. I've canned 15 pints of beans so far, but am hopeful to keep picking beans, tomatoes, okra, corn, and peppers for a few more months. My main goal is to replace as much of my pantry as I can with homemade vs store bought cans. Anyone know what the max life of canned veggies is when stored properly?

Most say to use within a year, but honestly it will go wayyyy past that. For jellies I would use within a couple years, as for veggies, I have eaten some green beans that were 5 years old (pushed way back on the shelf for some reason) with no problems with meats being the same.

 

[Clyde]

Over the next year this should be a huge thread

As of today (July 3, 2014) this thread has received 995 replies and had 15,013 views.

 

[Clyde]

What have you accomplished this week?

The rest of my family passed their tests and are now licensed Amateur (Ham) Radios Operators.
updated the food in the get home bags

 

[Maverick]

I picked up 7 cases roughly 40 12.5oz cans for $75 at Costco yesterday, these have a 4yr best use by date giving you additional 1 or 2 more yrs of shelf life

Kirkland premium chunk chicken breast

 

[QuietH3art]

I picked up 7 cases roughly 40 12.5oz cans for $75 at Costco yesterday, these have a 4yr best use by date giving you additional 1 or 2 more yrs of shelf life

That's one of my favorite things. I love it with mayo, diced celery and lettuce on a pita.

 

[Silent Bob]

View attachment 2933 I got my new pressure canner today, I just graduated from 5pints at a time to 20. Yeah! I got it on amazon, it's a 23 quart presto, for 74.00 with free shipping. The best part was the booklet that came with it. It has all kinds of recepies in it for canning and pressure cooking. Pressure cooking is a cool concept, cooking in 1/3 of the normal time. I've canned 15 pints of beans so far, but am hopeful to keep picking beans, tomatoes, okra, corn, and peppers for a few more months. My main goal is to replace as much of my pantry as I can with homemade vs store bought cans. Anyone know what the max life of canned veggies is when stored properly?

Nice Brent...saw you made some of Jim's recipes...might want to get a recipe or two from my wife...she is the baker in the house. lol. Nice little pressure cooker there...Danil54grl wants me to attempt to can....I have blue thumbs...I can cook, but don't think I will ever be good at canning.

 

[Silent Bob]

Today was the trip out to the base...Got a new Meningococcal vaccine and a Typhoid shot...so will be at least good 5/2 years respectively. If you haven't gotten a typhoid booster...get one...both of these shots can be obtained by your physician...both vaccines would help you after the SHTF.

Got two more Plano XXL storage containers for kits that I am building...bought them directly from Amazon Prime for 39 with free shipping via Prime. Picked up 5 magazines for the Ruger 22.

Received a shipment for dehydrated food...got a good sale price on them, so they will add another 1 month supply to the preps.

And plan to get my "mouse ears" soon! That one is for you Shadow!

 

[Silent Bob]

I bought a 72 hr MRE kit, but havent tried any of the mtn hse yet. I did see it in wallmart in the sporting goods section. I think it was about 6 bucks a pkg.. Ill try one before long but any good amount of the stuff is out of my budget! I put the mre's in my car kit, but should try one out too. I LOVE my vacuum kit!!! I make big pots of stuff and then portion out bags and freeze them for lunches at work. I also freeze the rabbits, chickens, and any large meats I buy after cutting them in smaller sizes. The rolls of bags are pricey, but its the best way to preserve stuff. I'm getting better at canning stuff, but you can't beat how easy the freezer bags are.

Brent, I get most of my Mountain House from Emergency Essentials...shelf life is good and I get a good discount from them. With the ones that are the one or two meal pouches...I wait for EE's big sale...they have it about semiannual and load up on them, but most of the time, I get the 10 cans. lol...those I've got everywhere, including in the cache and also at my climate controlled storage site. The 10 can's stack really well and would work well in your shelter your building.

 

[Wiredog8]

Tried out all my militia gear today.

 

[Wiredog8]

Also pulled my first five tomatoes off my plants. Dem's some good eating'!

 

[Brent S]

I picked up 7 cases roughly 40 12.5oz cans for $75 at Costco yesterday, these have a 4yr best use by date giving you additional 1 or 2 more yrs of shelf life

Kirkland premium chunk chicken breast
View attachment 2943 View attachment 2944

I picked up 7 cases roughly 40 12.5oz cans for $75 at Costco yesterday, these have a 4yr best use by date giving you additional 1 or 2 more yrs of shelf life

Kirkland premium chunk chicken breast
View attachment 2943 View attachment 2944

Even with raising my own birds I can't come close to canning my own for that kind of money!

 

[jontte]

as there is still something left for this week,this will be today; got my new cold steel gi-tanto, some moore canned foods and today I did remember milk-powder and I got a very,very low-tech tool;a small shovel and made my neighbours happy when I sharpened one edge of it with my grinder..

tomorrow I'm going to my favorite surplusstore, they have a fleemarket with dozens of outside vendors also, evrything sold there must be related to army-stuff, no hello-kitty towels there

 

[Brent S]

Brent, I get most of my Mountain House from Emergency Essentials...shelf life is good and I get a good discount from them. With the ones that are the one or two meal pouches...I wait for EE's big sale...they have it about semiannual and load up on them, but most of the time, I get the 10 cans. lol...those I've got everywhere, including in the cache and also at my climate controlled storage site. The 10 can's stack really well and would work well in your shelter your building.

I get emails from them all the time. I think I'm going to get the katyden hiker filter from them as it's on 40%off right now. One of these days I'll probably get some cans from them, but the root cellar is still a long ways from being a good storage area. I have a pallet of concrete coming today, and more rebar. I'll get the front footer poured this weekend and lay some more block. I am going to pour the floor with the 49 bags of concrete, hopefully this weekend. The floor will give me a good surface to build bracing to support the roof forms for when I'm ready to have a truck fill the walls and roof.

 

[Brent S]

Also pulled my first five tomatoes off my plants. Dem's some good eating'!

Ain't nothin better than the first ripe tomato from the garden! Well, maybey there are lots of things better, but tomatoes are pretty darn good!

 

[jontte]

boy, it would be so nice to have a root-cellar,a big one, I have a cold-cellar down in the basement, quite small but better than nothing

 

[Brent S]

Today was the trip out to the base...Got a new Meningococcal vaccine and a Typhoid shot...so will be at least good 5/2 years respectively. If you haven't gotten a typhoid booster...get one...both of these shots can be obtained by your physician...both vaccines would help you after the SHTF.

Got two more Plano XXL storage containers for kits that I am building...bought them directly from Amazon Prime for 39 with free shipping via Prime. Picked up 5 magazines for the Ruger 22.

Received a shipment for dehydrated food...got a good sale price on them, so they will add another 1 month supply to the preps.

And plan to get my "mouse ears" soon! That one is for you Shadow!

Never underestimate the usefulness of mouse ears in shitf.

 

[Brent S]

I forgot to take a pict., but I just ate a bowl of vanilla ice cream filled with the first ripe blueberries of the season. Wonderful stuff. Some of the plants shot up this year to about 4ft. I gave them all a scoop of 10-10-10 fertilizer this spring before mulching and it really gave them some umph! I planted about 70, but most are still young and are only producing a few berries. Two or three years from now I'll be swimming in them. (Hopefully).

 

[Brent S]

Nice Brent...saw you made some of Jim's recipes...might want to get a recipe or two from my wife...she is the baker in the house. lol. Nice little pressure cooker there...Danil54grl wants me to attempt to can....I have blue thumbs...I can cook, but don't think I will ever be good at canning.

It was a lot easier than I expected. I didn't blow up the kitchen anyways. I think one of the secrets to canning is to pick the veggies and can them immediately. If you start with good fresh stuff you can tell when you open a jar In mid January and fresh tasting veggies. I just posted about it being cheaper to buy vs canning your own, which is true. But it really is better tasting on your own.

 

[Brent S]

boy, it would be so nice to have a root-cellar,a big one, I have a cold-cellar down in the basement, quite small but better than nothing

I always say, work with what you have. Later on you can expand and improve as your situation allows. If/when shtf we all will be making adjustments to our lifestyles and learning to make do with what we have available.

 

[QuietH3art]

It was a lot easier than I expected. I didn't blow up the kitchen anyways. I think one of the secrets to canning is to pick the veggies and can them immediately. If you start with good fresh stuff you can tell when you open a jar In mid January and fresh tasting veggies. I just posted about it being cheaper to buy vs canning your own, which is true. But it really is better tasting on your own.

Not just better tasting, Brent, but probably healthier. I know what comes out of my garden has had no chemicals used on it, none of it is genetically modified. I love that canned chicken, but I'll bet you anything those chickens were raised on hormones and antibiotics and fed genetically modified corn. So, I don't eat nearly as much of it as I would like. In a SHTF situation, I'm afraid we're all going to eat whatever is available, though.

 

[jontte]

got some emergency bisquits, 24-hrs mre foodbox, some fastner clips,alot of them actually, did spot a scope for my 10/22 but missed it by 10sec and I didn't get it.
and that 24-hrs foodbox found it's place in my bob

 

[Brent S]

Not just better tasting, Brent, but probably healthier. I know what comes out of my garden has had no chemicals used on it, none of it is genetically modified. I love that canned chicken, but I'll bet you anything those chickens were raised on hormones and antibiotics and fed genetically modified corn. So, I don't eat nearly as much of it as I would like. In a SHTF situation, I'm afraid we're all going to eat whatever is available, though.

It really is nice knowing what went into your food. With all the preprocessed crap out there it's no wonder cancer rates are so high in this country. My goal over the next couple years is to see how close I can get to being self sufficient, with food production and storage, and to get set up as much as I can to be power independent. If I had only been born rich! I would love to be able to afford all the projects I want to do. Well, as a wise man once said, the journey is more important than the destination.

 

[jontte]

I used alot of those ready made meals before, but now that I do them from scratch I feel better, though I now I need to loose a few pounds,

 

[QuietH3art]

Today has been an exciting day for me. It started out with a plan to make bread - using my goat's milk and I got a little distracted at a crucial point of the breakmaking. It's still tasty with applebutter that I canned last fall , though, and the distraction was well worth it!

 

[jimLE]

that bread looks real tasty and them goats look cute