Mother

Like you I make a white sauce and if enough I use it to make biscuits to go with it. Or I use it to make vinegar cheese (quark). The whey left over from the cheese I can also use in biscuits or other baked goods calling for milk.

Ambergris, I’ve been doing some qigong (chi gung) lately. Some of it is possible in the wheelchair.

Jeepers, good suggestion. Ambergris, too bad your instructor doesn’t have a video or two. Not the same as working direct but maybe helpful.

(((((((Annarchy and MIL)))))))) 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏. I’m so glad you got home safe.

Switchel was what was brought to farmers in the fields during hot weather even during pioneer times. The recipe varied by ingredient availability though usually vinegar, sugar, and an herb like ginger. In the Midwest it was often wild ginger. I have seen recipes in wagon train diaries that used wild herbs, molasses, water, and just a bit of vinegar for the fizz. Don’t forget the cranberry juice for UTI’s. It’s even backed by fairly recent research.

Welcome back!

I believe you would be. Perhaps start with your doctor. He may know. Otherwise maybe some online searches might get you on the path. Please try.

I just had a thought Orchid. Could you be a candidate for a service dog? I met a man two weeks ago in the grocery store who had similar episodes and his dog had been trained to let him know when he was going to have one. His dog was a border collie but he told us they use many different breeds for this. It might be worth investigating if you haven’t already. 🐕‍🦺

Thanks. I was thinking more of crumbles like with beef. Having to freeze it to store kind of defeats the purpose for preps. But being safe is important. Maybe canning the chicken first and then use it chopped or pulled would be better.

I wonder if it can safely be dehydrated?

Oh Orchid, I’m so sorry you are going through this. You are in my prayers.

Orchid/Zzelle. We’re glad to have you here no matter the name. If you (or others) have trouble again try contacting us at the link at the bottom or at mrssurvival@yahoo.com

Shalendra. Welcome to Mrs. S. Thank you for that info. I’m sure it will help to find reliable supplies of Kava.

The quilt is really cute, Becca.

Momo. I hope your day was SUPER!

I don’t have chickens but wonder if the cats would like it that way. I’m sure the wild birds would eat it if the chickens eat it but I’d never thought about using the excess that way. I’m always careful not to put a lot of it into our septic tank. A little is good as it feeds the bacteria there but I’ve always felt too much might overwhelm it. When I was making bread regularly I never had any excess as I made twelve or so loaves each week and could just add to the starter and not have to take any out. Then I would use the whole amount to make the batch and remove a cup to start the next set. Now, with my “maybe” one loaf every couple weeks it’s easier to start it, add to it, then freeze the excess when I feel it is ready.

SnapshotMiki, you talk often about making snacks and food for your dogs. Could you possibly post some how-to’s? Maybe in the homesteading forum because it is animal related? Or in the Pinch a Penny one, or where ever you feel most comfortable. It would help a lot of people to learn to make instead of buy.

Freezer meals are super for fast and easy meals. I do them all the time but you might also consider ….. Dump meals……. These are basically the raw ingredients for a meal that are put into freezer bags or vacuum sealed and frozen. These are not precooked. They are taken out the night before and thawed in the refrigerator and then cooked the next day. These are especially great for crock pot cooking or oven baking. For instance, to make a soup you would prepare the vegetables and meat as normal, add seasonings and place it all in the bag raw. If you would add broth then pour it over the ingredients and freeze it all together. I freeze these flat on cookie sheets so when frozen they stack nicely. To cook I thaw in the fridge overnight and simply dump them into the crock pot the next morning. They can also be simmered in a pan on the stove or depending on their content can be placed in the oven to make a stew. Another example, I take a roast, (either beef or pork or lamb or?)or some pieces of poultry and place them in the bag. This can be done using either fresh or frozen meat (don’t thaw first), I add whatever fresh or frozen vegetables I want in the recipe like carrots, onions, even potatoes. These are especially easy to do using frozen veggies because you just open and dump them in. I then add whatever liquid I might marinate the meat in (or not), seal, and freeze. It is easy to thaw and then put this in a roasting pan and cook it in the usual way. Admittedly these ideally should be thawed before hand so they do need to be planned for but it drastically increases the amount of meals you can make in a given time because you don’t have the precooking to deal with. You can do them ‘assembly’ line style where you make several of the same or similar meals at the same time. The meals are more like fresh cooked and make a welcome change to the precooked ones. At any given time I have eight or ten of these ‘dump’ meals in my freezer. Yesterday I had a stew that contained beef tips, carrots, onions, potatoes, green beans, celery, and tapioca with V-8 juice. All had been dumped into a bag with the juice and frozen. It wasn’t even totally thawed before I put it into a pot with a lid and let it cook for four or five hours. it helps to label these with the instructions so there is very little to even think about when preparing them. Try thinking of the recipe ideas you already have listed and see if there is a way to freeze them raw and still have them easy to prepare after. Like the pork loin with cabbage and bacon. Could you put the raw pork into the bag, add the raw cabbage with bacon and whatever seasonings or additives you might have, freeze it all that way, and then after thawed be cooked all together. If you really do want the cabbage separate then can that recipe be frozen raw and easily cooked after thawing. MomM’s BBQ chicken wings or ribs might lend themselves to frozen dump meal methods. Why not make the pizzas up and freeze them uncooked. It will probably not take a lot more to bake them than to reheat but of course wood fired might not be as easy. Stuffed peppers are easy. I do them often by just cleaning the peppers, stuffing them with the raw meat mixture and freezing them upright on a cookie sheet before putting them in a bag to store. I take out whatever amount I want to use, thaw (sometimes in the microwave), and cook them the usual way, adding whatever sauce I want. Well, you get the idea. Not all meals have to be precooked to be easy.

I wouldn’t do this with a bird I wanted to make friendly but for an aggressive rooster You might have her try this….. when he pecks at her, catch him even if you have to chase him down. Then just hold him, pet him, play with his feet and his beak and generally touch him all over. Don’t put him down until he hangs his head down in submission. It might take an hour or much longer. If he is still aggressive after that do it again. ———> Jeepers.

WRITE A BOOK!!!! Well, of COURSE you need to write that book in your spare time. . You will make a great author?

Jeepers, it sounds like there is a bit of progress. Good for you! Hey, not to be suspicious but be sure someone doesn’t have that lost key. Maybe even consider having the locks changed completely.

Oh Jeeper, I can just imagine how you must be feeling. Your home of so many years reduced to bare bones, living in a small place for what might be months, so many decisions to come, and so much work ahead has got to be overwhelming. I’m so sorry. I’m guessing it’s difficult to get away at this point but Is there any way you could go to Indiana for a few days refreshing visit with sweet GS and family? Maybe being able to work on getting that house more livable would give you encouragement.

My thoughts exactly and no, I did not watch the video for that reason. You ask, “is your food ruined?” If my food looked like that I would say “yes it is”. Just MHO though.

So glad to hear from you We2’s. I’m sorry you are having to deal with all these problems and praying they will all resolve and give you peace again.

The problem I’ve found with hot plates is that they tend to not be big enough to support a canner but the real problem is they fluctuate in their temperatures making pressure canning a bit risky. People do can on the burners of their gas grills but again, you’d have to test the evenness of the burn. Is there such a thing as a modern gas canning stove? You would probably be better off with something gas because you would then also have something to cook on in grid down situations, like during Iowa storms.