Cricket

Paying for Buttercup's friend, and for Snapshotmiki and her husband! 

Hot tip: Read the labels on your dehydrated hash browns. Don't be like Cricket. 

I got a good deal on a huge two-pound carton of the Idahoan brand, only to learn later that they don't keep as long because they include vegetable oil. And as we preppers know, oils can go rancid over time. It didn't occur to me that the product had added oils.  

I like the Hungry Jack brand, they are easy to pick up in little boxes the size of a school-lunch milk carton. They are great for shelf-stable storage, as they do not contain any oils. I've opened a box after many years and they rehydrated and fried up just fine. 

9 minutes ago, dogmom4 said:

I just received an order of the Ova Crystals. They’re a bit pricey but I’m taking everyone’s word for it that they’re better than the powdered eggs....

I just ordered some today. I already have some cans of Auguson Farms powdered whole eggs, and was going to get some more but the prices have jumped from $20 per can in January 2020 to $35.99.

I'll use the powdered eggs for baking and reserve the Ova Crystals to make scrambled eggs to serve with the Bacon Spam I got today and the dehydrated hash browns already in the pantry. 

21 hours ago, Annarchy said:

Jeepers, those needles drive me nuts when I am hand quilting & embroidering.  With my arthritic fingers, I never fail to un-eye (<—-is that even a word.  Lol), my thread….  I use my 6+ glasses to thread my needles. 

I have discovered that stacking reading glasses multiplies the magnification. 

When I was still working outside the home, I was in my office one afternoon trying to read the very tiny fonts on a spreadsheet printout. One of my (young, thin, sassy) employees came in to see me. She paused, and speaking in a careful tone intended for the elderly and confused she said, "Um, boss. Do you know you're wearing two pairs of glasses?" 

On 3/27/2022 at 11:26 AM, Jeepers said:

 

I suppose it's all relative. 

Yes. Yes it is  - relative... her foster-daughter... Hahaha! 

5 hours ago, Buttercup said:

I have a 1 hour bread recipe I use now! I'll share it if anyone would like to have it. 

Yes, pretty please! 

I love freezer cooking! I got a bunch of 8 inch square metal pans from the Dollar Tree that I use for meals like burritos and casseroles. It's so easy to make a recipe that's supposed to fit a 13 x 9 pan and divide it into two. Later I can take one out and thaw overnight in fridge, then bake in the toaster oven for dinner. When my friend was going through cancer treatment, I could grab a couple meals at a time to take over.

I have the thawing and baking instructions on my computer for the things I make most often, so I print them off and put them on top of the casserole under a covering of plastic wrap. That way if I give it away, or one of my menfolk had to cook, they would know what to do with it. 

I always make meatloaf mixture in batches. I shape the loaves on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet and freeze overnight. Then the frozen meatloaves are wrapped separately and easy to fit into the freezer. 

I make big batches of meatballs baked on a rack in a shallow pan. The cooked meatballs are then divided into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Similarly, I bake two or three packages of Italian sausages, then divide into meal sized portions for when we have a pasta meal.

I pre-cook loose Italian sausage, drain and put into a zip lock freezer bag. When we make homemade pizza, it's easy to take some out for topping. A pound of sausage can top four or five pizzas for us, as we usually have pepperoni on top, too. 

I hadn't though about making yoghurt, but I can see how that would work. 

I am so thankful to be here. God bless Darlene for sending out that email. Mother, Jeepers, theMartianChick, DogMom, LittleSister... everyone! So much collective wisdom, courage, and hutzpah! 

I have to rest frequently, but it's amazing what I can accomplish in short spurts. I fell and broke a shoulder last August and still kept doing pretty much everything except tying my apron strings into a bow behind me and putting my hair in a clip. I wore Marsha Brady side ponytails for a couple months, LOL! 

This year I'll be gardening primarily with containers and raised beds. I'll definitely be growing and saving a variety of herbs. I'm on the fence about getting chickens. Our old coop is still there but it needs work. I think this thread will give me a lot of inspiration and great ideas for working around physical challenges. Thank you all! 

You got a thermal cooker for SIX DOLLARS?! Whoa! Today you can't even buy a new thermos for six bucks. I thought twice about adding the links because the cookers I got are so terribly expensive. We are debt-free and very frugal, so it is almost embarrasing to admit I spent so much for a cooking pot instead of creating a hay box or thermal nest for a pot. 

49 minutes ago, Mother said:

Cricket,  I didn’t mean to imply you wouldn’t be careful.  It really was just a disclaimer we try to use on the site.  You will find me and others using it often. I look forward to your input, what you’ve tried, how it works.  We can all learn from each other. 
 

I believe still Nana will be extremely helpful with essential oils as she has been working with them most recently.  I know the herbs connected to them but want to learn more about the essential oils made from them.  I have had the Essential oils desk reference by Essential Science Publishing for 15 years but I have had some reactions to some of the oils I’ve tried so have been very cautious.  I’m ready now though to learn more about what they can do, in particularly as aromatherapy.  
 

I’m always happy to find others who are on the natural healing journey.  

Oh no, I didn't think that at all!  I'm sorry my tone came off as huffy. I wanted to reassure you that I would be prudent. I'm quick to jump into new learning experiences so long as I'm reasonably sure I won't kill anyone - like learning to knit socks. 

Anyway, I'm all for warnings and disclaimers when it comes to remedies and home food preservation. Once upon a time I worked as an allied health care professional giving medications and treatments in a skilled care facility. Fast forward many, many moons and now I'm a semi-retired paralegal who edits legal content to make it understandable for the lay person. I love me some disclaimers, LOL! 

I have a volcano stove I got in 1999 (can use charcoal briquets or wood), a Coleman camp stove (with the oven accessory) and last year got a two-burner propane camp stove. All those must be used outdoors. Several years ago I got a one-burner butane that runs on fuel cans the size of a hairspray can. The butane burner I can use indoors, and I've used it to make coffee in and old-fashioned stove-top percolator when we've had outages. Momma needs her morning coffee! 

All those are great if the power is out, but don't really save fuel. I do have an old-fashioned stove top pressure cooker I can use with the butane stove to cook more quickly, thus saving fuel. 

But my best strategy is using a thermal cooker a.k.a. haybox or fireless cooker, as Mother mentioned. A couple years ago I got a Saratoga Jacks 7 liter cooker with double-clad bottom on both inner pots. I love it and have used it some, but it's just too big for me to use for just two or three people so I don't use it very often. For the cooker to work properly, it needs to be full. You must have the thermal mass to keep food at a safe temperature.

So recently I bit the bullet (these cookers are expensive) and got the 5.5 liter cooker. It arrived last Friday, and I'm stoked. The first thing I made was baked potatoes, and they came out great! I scrubbed five medium russets, put them in the main pot covered with water, and brought to a full rolling boil for about 3 minutes. Put the lid on and placed the hot pot in the cooker. Closed the cooker and left it on the kitchen counter for about four hours. About 20 minutes before dinner, I drained off the hot (HOT!!) water, and put the pot of potatoes back in the cooker, lids closed. The residual heat dried off the potatoes. They were perfectly cooked, and I didn't have to run the oven for an hour! 

I've used the larger cooker to make a fabulous beef and barley soup using my home-canned beef chunks, home dehydrated mixed veggies, canned tomatoes, water, barley, and seasoning. Again, brought to a hard boil for a few minutes then tucked into the thermal cooker. Came out just as yummy as simmering in a crock pot all day, but only a few minutes of fuel used. I'm sure I can make a variety of soups in both size thermal cookers. 

I tried using the two pots to make pinto beans and rice over the weekend. The rice turned out great, but the beans did not get as soft as I wanted, despite pre-soaking. However they were really old beans. I put them on the stove and added some baking soda to finally get them softened up fast. 

Soon I'll repeat the bean cooking experiment to get it right. 

I want to get really good at using the thermal cookers. I do think fuel prices, including electricity are going to rise, even if the grid stay up. Anyone got any recipe suggestions to share? 

Mother, I never heard of iridology before I read your post, so I looked it up. Fascinating. Can you recommend any books with  the charts? 

31 minutes ago, euphrasyne said:

Slipped and fell this morning.  Broke my right wrist badly.  Spent all day at ER.  I will need surgery as it is a bad break.

Oh no! Prayers going up fast! 

Please try to let us know when your surgery is scheduled. We'll have you covered in prayer then, too. 

Yes, yes, yes! Cat, Cat, CAT!!  Another name that takes me back

Long time no see! 

38 minutes ago, Mother said:

Cricket,  The School of Natural Healing is the book I have but mine is the 10th printing from 1992.  This one had already been converted.  The first addition, according to my book, was printed in 1976.  I took an extensive course through Wild Rose College of Natural Healing from Canada in the late 1990’s and they used Dr. Christopher’s book as a text book.  He died in 1983 but they still use his book in many herbal schools.  
 

The classic warning applies to this book.  Remember to do your research before using these formulas.  This is a great reference book but only a reference. 

I'll be referencing the Natural Healing text the same way I'm using Hildegard Von Bingen's Physica, as a high level look at the properties and potential uses of various herbs. I'm using more recent texts, like Rosemary Gladstar's and my own common sense and experience to inform my dosage and application decisions. And, now I can take advantage of consultation with experienced herbalists like you and Midnighmom  

It's here!!! The School of Natural Healing , appears to be the original edition, 6th printing 1983. Arrived in excellent condition, no dust jacket but the pages are pristine and no creases in the spine. 

I'll begin reading it later. For now I did take the time to hunt for a conversion table as this edition uses old apothecary measures. 

In case it will help someone else: 

The LDS store is now showing Hard White Wheat Berries cases of six #10 cans available for shipping after April 4th. They must be back in stock and processing back orders first.

My order placed March 7th shipped early Monday. it's easy for me to squirrel away the cans and they are great for long-term storage, as they are good for 30 years. 

You don't have to be LDS (I'm not) to order from them, but you do have to sign up to create an account. I set up an account last year and have never been contacted by them with religious material. 

https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/usa/en/food-storage-3074457345616678849-1/hard-white-wheat

I have a new, more powerful ThinkPad I bought last year to replace my Microsoft Surface. The ThinkPad is a beast, with  17.5 inch screen and I love it. I work from home and usually have multiple windows open.

I'm running MS 10, and holding off on MS 11, primarily because the specs indicate:

Cricket doesn't want to fool with finding stuff. I'm busy! 

Oh hey, Spider!  
 

You’ve been through so much. Please accept my condolences on losing your mother. Being the caregiver for a severely injured and ill husband and ailing parent all at the same time is rough. During a stinking pandemic, no less. 
 

That’s when we rely on Him to keep going. I’m glad He has brought so many of us back together. 

Still Nana, Thank you! I'll be following this thread closely. I've been interested in herbal remedies for a long time, but only began making and using home remedies for abut six months. I've made calendula salve, fire ciders,  simple poultices, and the like.

I have my eye on some mullein plants I'll be harvesting from this year, but after reading your post, I decided to get some capsules in stock. I already made some lobelia tincture in case of an asthma emergency (one or two drops at a time - too much can cause cardiac arrhythmias) in the event my prescription inhalers  are no longer available. 

I'm looking forward to learning from the collected wisdom of you, Mother, and other women contributing to this thread.  

1 hour ago, themartianchick said:

Last year, they asked people to stop feeding birds in NY State, too. They showed photos of an unknown bird disease that they were afraid would spread through cross breed congregations at bird feeders. The birds in the photos appeared to have coryza, which is a common disease in chicken flocks. We feed the birds at my mom's apartment because she loves to see all of the wildlife that is attracted by the seeds to her small patio. It would be a shame if we had to stop feeding them entirely.

 

I just spotted this article about the presence of the dangerous type of bird flu in NY State. I am not in Suffolk County, but bird diseases can travel as fast as the crow flies.

 

https://hudsonvalleypost.com/bird-flu-that-kills-most-infected-humans-found-in-new-york-state/

We had the same restrictions on home bird feeders in West Virginia last year. Thankfully, the restriction were lifted in August 2021. 

https://wvdnr.gov/wvdnr-provides-update-on-diseased-birds-in-eastern-panhandle/?fbclid=IwAR3oTrCpMG3-VvEv9xyUsYOr0CkldPbp4cNoH_kOPCAUVXMQTDG9iFbGCC0

Hello! It's great to see so many of us coming back! 

32 minutes ago, Mother said:

Cricket, please let us know how you like it. 

Will do! It will probably be a 10 days or more before it arrives. I wasn't going to ay $90 for overnight shipping! 

5 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

That's a good idea. I could easily use one in an open garage. I saw where one woman's husband built a little three sided enclosure around her outside camp stove because of the wind.

That's my plan, inside the garage with the door open. I have two Presto canners, 18 and 23 quarts. The 30,000 BTUs of my camp stove is the maximum. I'll just turn down the heat. I also got a steel diffuser plate for under the canner, so that should help.