Andrea

(((Violet)))

:rofl:

Salsa! and pepper relish tomorrow if I get to it!

You might also want to explore Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live He talks about how with the proper nutrition, many chronic health conditions simply reverse themselves without medication. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm on day 5 of his 6 week plan.

((((Dogmom))))

Any results so far? I've had a flare up of something that is really kicking me in the pants. My joints A C H E and every muscle in my body is hurting. I've been eating strictly anti-inflammatory foods for a few days now and it seems to be helping but I'm still reaching for the Alleve am and pm.

2 trays of chamomile flowers 3 trays of elderberries

Dogmom, I have found two stores that markdown their meat pretty regularly. It's all in the timing though. If I'm driving by, I'll often stop in just to check out the markdowns in the meat dept. One is a locally owned store, the other is SaveMart. At Save Mart, I've found gr. beef for $1.19 a lb (cheap, chub crap but okay in sauce) and fresh organic turkeys for $5.00 each. The locally owned store I've found nitrate free bacon and expensive cuts of steak for very reasonable prices. Maybe during the Summer while you're off, you can investigate a few stores that you've never tried before and see what you can find. Safeway also has a mark-down bin but oftentimes, I suspect they just throw stickers on meats that aren't really at markdown prices! We've really cut down our meat use for health reasons anyway. By eating out of the discount bins and eating more vegetarian meals, the rising prices have fortunately not affected us very much. But I feel your pain. The last time I looked at a regularly priced steak, I just about fell over.

Cool, I think that I will be purchasing a SunOven myself soon. Emergency Essentials has a good sale right now. Unfortunately, I unexpectedly had to put new tires on the car . . . It's always something!

I second Violet's recommendation for the Presto Canner. Mine works great. I was given an old monstrosity that I was afraid would damage my stove it was so heavy. Then, when I filled it with water, I could hardly lift it. The Presto is affordable and reliable. I got mine at Wal-Mart for under $50. Now, they retail for $64.99 - I know because I just bought one for my Mom for Mother's Day.

Very NICE!

How exciting! Let us know how it turns out!

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL day!

(((((Snowmom))))) So glad you and OP are safe. Things can be replaced, but you can't! Hugs and Prayers headed your way. (I know it's not funny, but . . . looks like your bbq's got barbequed! So glad you're both safe.)

Lindals - you are very welcome. I think this is a great idea and I'm thinking about putting something like this together for my family, although I'll probably use copy paper boxes since they are plentiful and I can get them for free! The ready-to-eat foods are not all that good for us, but in a true emergency situation, all of the foods I listed don't need to be heated or cooked, they can be eaten as is. But, that doesn't mean that some instant or regular rice couldn't be included as well. A can of beef stew and three cups of cooked rice could easily feed three people, where the can of stew by itself would only feed one. You might also want to include some pasta - it's cheap, filling, and like the rice, can help stretch some of the canned foods. For example, a can of chili mixed in with a lb. of cooked spaghetti stretches that can of chili much, much farther. Also, don't get caught up in trying to provide every single calorie and nutritional need. Don't forget that most people do have a bit of extra food in the house - even if it's that specialty jar of pickled brussel sprouts that they received as a gift last Christmas! What you might want to consider is printing out some of the info found here: http://www.ready.gov/ Give them their emergency kit with some of this information and stress to them the importance of having at least a weeks worth of medications stored up. You can even show them the pamphlet where the government supports this! (If they are dgi's, they won't think you're a crazy prepping lunatic if you provide government pamphlets!) Oh, and I forgot to add jerky to the list! You already mentioned peanut butter, which is a great source of fat, protein, and calories. For longer term storage, you might consider some of the Mountain House freeze-dried pouches but honestly, they are pretty expensive compared with the canned and shelf stable foods I've already mentioned. Again, great thread. Thanks for bringing this up. It's something we all might want to consider. As someone once said,"It's easier to feed your neighbors than to shoot them!" (Sorry, I can't remember who. It may have been Steven Harris on a Survival Podcast)

Congratulations! I'm so happy that things are working out. (((Hazelstone)))

First of all, remember that as we age, we need fewer calories so while 900 calories is low, I wouldn't try for more than 1,200-1,500 per person for day for people in their 70's. Also, these are emergency rations, so I wouldn't be too concerned with perfectly balanced meal plans. In each bucket, maybe include a snack size ziploc bag with a weeks worth of multi-vitamins? Suggestions for other additions: canned chili and soda crackers chef-boy-r-dee products (ravioli, spaghetti, etc) Hormel ready to eat meals (these are in plastic containers and are shelf stable) dried apricots, prunes, banana chips nuts - almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc cereal bars protein bars any "meal" bar (Luna, cliff bars, etc) hard candies like lifesavers or jolly ranchers CHOCOLATE! (don't underestimate the moral boost of a fun size snickers bar!) water flavor packets baby wipes, candles & a lighter, flashlight w/batteries on the outside, plastic eating utensils, a few paper plates, and trash bags. a flat of water for each person. If it were me, I would "gift" these buckets to each person now. Seal the bucket and write on it "for emergency use only". In 6-9 months when your crackers/meal bars are about to go stale, rotate those items out for them. Or, give them a new bucket each Christmas and tell them to use the products in the old bucket and return it to you. Hope this helps! By the way, I think this is a wonderful idea. I may do something like this for my family and neighbors.

Contractor bags are really thick black plastic bags. It takes effort to break through one of those bags. I have a couple of boxes set aside to use as latrine liners. And while I have cats, I also have cat litter set aside to use in the latrine. I set this up quite awhile ago before I learned about composting toilets. I'm currently researching those.

Great advice, Ambergris! I hadn't thought of the square bottles or stackable plastic bottles. I too have used 2-liter bottles in the past and they work well but they're a bit of a pain to store and fill. As far as how much food to store, start out with putting together a week's worth of food, water and toiletries for everyone you plan on helping. When that's done, put away another weeks worth of items. When that's done, put away another weeks worth, when that's done . . . Don't forget things like contractor bags, cat litter, pet items, and things you'll need for overall sanitation. Then, once you have built up enough reserves to keep you and your loved ones fed for the length of time you have determined, make sure to keep rotating the items out - even if it means gifting your daughters every year with a week or two of supplies. If you're trying to do this without letting anyone know, gift the Salvation Army once a year. Personally, three months is the minimum I would store. If there were a flu pandemic, you could be looking at a quarantine that would keep you in your house for 30-90 days. As far as the maximum amount I would store, some things I have a few years of (wheat and soaps never go bad), other things I only have a weeks worth of (mre's). It really is up to you and what you feel comfortable with having on hand, and also, with accepting what your budget will allow you to have on hand. Start small and keep plugging away. It's like the fable "The tortoise and the hare", slow and steady wins the race. By the way, Welcome Lindals!

This wouldn't work in our triple digit summers, but for those in a more moderate climate, this idea is pretty cool too:

Buckets not available? Try anything and everything else!

Bummer, I already have it. It's a good read, a bit unbelievable and glossed over in some aspects, but I liked it well enough to order the second in the series. I don't think I'll bother with the 3rd though.

I tried to find it at our dollar store. This company is only about 40 mins from me. Unfortunately, the only brand of frozen vegies our store carries are from China. But it's cool. One of the few upsides to living in CA is cheap and plentiful fresh produce.

AMEN (((Drumrunner))) My prayers are with you and your family.