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  • Susie's Practical Preps

    This might be a useful place to discuss any kine preps...hurricane, poverty, pandemic, whatevah.

    So, I'll begin with the basics....food, water, and shelter.

    Think of your shelter. Are you a homeowner, do you rent, live with room-mates, in a tent at the beach? Have you got a mortgage or monthly rent? Long or short term lease? What about bills? Could you survive if there was a problem, where you are, now? Could you fit in others, if you had to?

    Think of your water situation. What would happen, if there was no town water? Are you on catchment, or stored water? Where could you get enough water for your daily needs, if the water supply was cut off? How can you store water? How much water does a person need, every day, for drinking, cooking, washing, and cleaning?

    And den, food. How much food do you have on hand, right now? How many meals can you make, for how many people? What about the cooking fuel? Dishwashing liquid? How could you cook, if there was no electricity or gas? What about the food pyramid...spam and tuna are all very well, but what about milk and fruit and vegetables? Condiments, oil, eggs, cheese...what would happen if you had no fridge? No supermarket? No restaurant?
    http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
    http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

  • #2
    Re: Practical Preps

    I was trying to figure out about how to feed my four kids, and myself, during a period of 'social distancing' that might last up to 18 months, during a pandemic situation. Wholesome, regular, balanced meals, with not too much dependance on water or cooking fule...or too many ono cooking smells (in case of starving/looting neighbors.

    I already get plenty kine canned stuffs, meat, vegetables, fruits, an all...but there are some things that don't come in cans, or are too $$$ (no Euro sign, on my machine), or too junk tasting, if they do. Like carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, cabbage, for instance. Good for you, good for soup, but hard for store fresh, for such a long period of time.

    So...I bought a dehydrator. This is a nifty machine. It's has an elecrtic base, and a fan, that pushes the hot air up, through multiple trays of prepared food. I'd already been drying apples, for years, on my woodburning stove, so I had some practice...and boy, those apples are good!

    No sweat, I've just finished drying what might be the biggest soup in the world...200kg of potatoes, 140 of carrots, armfuls of celery, 20 heads of cabbage, a field full of leeks, and 17 5kg bags of onions...to name some. nd bags and bags of already-cooked pinto and kidney beans...just soak em for ten minutes in hot water, add some spice, top with onion and cheese, and, voila!.. refried beans!

    Fruit leather is easy, too...applesauce, mashed strawberries, kiwis, fruit cocktail...any kine. I made some prune mui leather, too...soaked and stoned prunes, kiwis, dried apricots, dried orange slices (no get lemon peel, over here), chinese five-spice, and that WONDERFUL li hing mui powder...no had dat, when I was in da aina. Just spread it out, onto saranwrap, and let it dry...in a few hours, i's ready to go.

    Storage is easy, too...dehydrated stuff is light and compact...jess gotta make sure that it's all the way dry, and then store airtight. Maybe in Hawaii's climate (for those of you who are there), a foodsaver vacuum packaging machine would be a good idea....just an idea, mind...I not telling you what for do.

    Meat dries very well. I fry hamburger, and then dry it...turns out like hamburger gravel, and re-hydrates like a charm, for spaghetti, lasagna, chili, whatever...my kids love it, just dry, on buttered bread. Turkey and pork get the same treatment...but they don't get ground, just cut up in small dice....and then used for pies, stir fry, curry, whatevers.

    Fish, too, works with excellent results. I dry it raw, just like jerky, and then use it for soups, sandwiches, casseroles. I have some dries salmon, and I'm wondering if it'll be ono, as lomi salmon, as I haven't tried it out, yet.

    The machine is not cheap, and there are several different models on the market. Models for the handyman to build are available, too. I have a smaller, tabletop model. Had I known, I would've bought the biggest one available, cause it seems that I am forever filling, preparing to fill, empying, rotating....

    But what a harvest! My shelves runneth over! Anytime I need anything for cooking, there it is, already prepared, for me. And, shuld the 'impossible' happen, food for my family will be the least of my problems.
    http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
    http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Practical Preps

      For those of you wondering about starch, during 'social distancing, here are a few ideas.

      Rice, of course, which stores well, and is cheap to stock up on. Don't forget to think of cooking fuel, and dishsoap, sponges, and water, and matches.

      Plan to not count on electricity being a given. In a quarantine situation, many people won't be going in to work, from sickness, or fear of sickness, or to take care of those, who are sick, at home. There may not be any gas stations available, either. This counts for the good people that operate the electrical power, wherever you live. Of course, there are those 'off grid', on the Big Isle....with generators, solar, battery, 12 volt, etc...no forget da fuel.

      Pasta, too. It goes so well with anything...no forget da 'anything'. Now might be a good time to try out pasta recipes that need few other ingredients, or ingredients that can be stored in your prep pantry. Think about the fats, that go so ell with pasta...olive oil, cheese, butter...some of these can be bought and stored, or even home-canned. Maybe some basil or parsley seeds, or a fw cloves of garlc to sprout...only a windowill is needed, and it'll add to the pleasure of the finished dish. Think 'water' for cooking the stuff.

      Semoule. Or couscous. Or semolina. Or cream of wheat. This stuff fluffs up really nicely,with just a little hot water (think water, fuel). It can be used as a replacement for rice, or mixed woth vegetables, mint, and a vinaigrette, for a nice taboule salad, or even mixed with oranges they dry so well, in the dehydrator), cinnamon sugar, and nuts, for a morning cereal or a dessert.

      Bread. The staff of life. Much more so, where I live, than in Hawaii...but, still, an important part of the daily food intake. How, might ou ask, are we to have a good supply of bread handy, during quarantine?

      Ahhh....there's crackers and zwieback, for a start. Breadcrumbs, too, which can be used with a can of salmon, for patties, or with milk and egg (powdered), in a pudding. Pancakes, waffles, crepes, and their friends...mixes might be the easiest to store, but 'scratch' ones are easy enough. Home-made bread is not so difficult...maybe better for practice now, before any pandemic situation...no forget da yeast, sugar, flour, salt, cooking fuel, and water wid soap, for clean up da mess....

      An no forget da neighbors...you no going like em smelling dat home-made bread smell, an coming over for grind...or for kill you, an den grind. Get real, a pandemic would cause lots of 'collateral damage'.

      Try dis: DRIED BREAD.
      Das what I do. I buy da stuff cheap, as day-old, unsellable, and then dry it, and store it. My bread usually comes as baguettes, so I chop and slice, and cube, and crumb. Sometimes I almst slice it through, and prepare it like for garlic bread...yum..all I gotta do is to steam it a little, then top it with (home canned) butter, and garlic and herbs, and into the oven it goes...no forget foil. Dried bread slices are not a luxury food, I'll admit, but in a situation where there is no food at all, It's pretty good. No forget jars of jam, nutella, peanut butter, honey, butter, meat spreads (paté), mayonnaise and tuna, li'dat.

      In my next post, I'll be giving you some ideas of all of the wonderful and interesting recipes and uses for dried bread.

      Until then, keep on preppin'!
      http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
      http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Practical Preps

        A couple cases of cup noodle. Already get dried vegies insai.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Practical Preps

          Originally posted by Da Rolling Eye
          A couple cases of cup noodle. Already get dried vegies insai.
          You might get bored, wid jess dat.
          http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
          http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Practical Preps

            That's where you alternate between the tuna, spam, cup of noodles and whatever one happens to stockpile.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Practical Preps

              You guys ares lucky....you GET Spam and Pot Noodles. And canned ham and corned beef. For meat-kine stuff, over here, we not get dat. In my store, I get tuna, salmon, sardines, canned hotdogs, mackerel, paté (meat paste), home-dried hambuger, pork, fish, and turkey, and the French speciality, made from force-fed ducks...foiegras, confit, and confit gizzards and sausages.

              I can stuff, too. I tried canned laulau...with some variation..due to regional products...pork, chicken, force-fed duck, salmon, and with spinach, and wrapped in grape leaves. Hey, when you want the taste of home, you substitute, if no can get da 'real thing'!

              An you guys so lucky....you can get saimin base, too. Does anyone have a homemade recipe for that? Or one for fishcake? Or wonton wrappers? Or tofu? Or cones, for cone sushi? All da stuff I miss, and no can get, over here.
              http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
              http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Practical Preps

                Originally posted by SusieMisajon
                Hey, when you want the taste of home, you substitute, if no can get da 'real thing'!
                But if you 'substitute' and use stuff like grape leaves, then it not gonna taste like 'da real thing' at all...
                Last edited by Palolo Joe; May 26, 2006, 11:28 PM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Practical Preps

                  Originally posted by Palolo Joe
                  But if you 'substitute' and use stuff like grape leaves, then it not gonna taste like 'da real thing' at all...
                  You'd be surprised.
                  http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
                  http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Toilet preps

                    First of all, there's the obvious...toilet paper. Have you an idea of how much you use, in a week? A month? A year? A possible "18 months" pandemic...and after-pandemic shortages?

                    There ARE alternatives...sear's catalogues (do they still exist?), newspapers, washable rags (IF you have a water supply), leaves, sand...or plain water and your left hand.

                    When planning TP preps, consider storage space and availability of your chosen material. And disposability...if there's no water supply, there'll not be much flushing.

                    Ordinary toilet paper is cheap, available, and light. Buy some, now, and your only problem will be how to store the stuff.
                    http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
                    http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Toilet preps

                      I am curious why 18 months?

                      In any event Sears doesn't sells catalogs anymore. Been a while since I got a JC Penny's catalog in the mail.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Toilet preps

                        Originally posted by helen
                        I am curious why 18 months?

                        In any event Sears doesn't sells catalogs anymore. Been a while since I got a JC Penny's catalog in the mail.
                        The 18 months goes back to the last great pandemic, the Spanish Flu. As far as they can tell, that flu came in three major 'waves' during an 18 month period.

                        It seems that, even if you got sick, and survived, the first wave, that didn't make you immune for the other two. What we know, today, about viruses, means that, probably, the flu virus mutated, between waves. Hence, no immunity.

                        There's not much to be hoped for, that the next pandemic won't behave differently then the last one.
                        http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
                        http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Toilet preps

                          Was Hawaii cutoff from outside contact for 18 months back in 1918?

                          I grant you if such a situation were to happen I can understand life would be tough but the flow of goods to Hawaii would continue. There will shortages yes but a total cutoff, I don't think so.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Toilet preps

                            Next, let's have a look at toilets...or the lack of.

                            Toilets are something that we don't even really think about, unless they're not in working order. Who stays awake, at night, wondering about toilets? Who would even consider a house, without them...the Big Island Fern Forest doesn't count, they all have outhouses or composting waterless ones.

                            Not many people even know how the thing works, or where the stuff goes, once it's flushed. All you need to know about toilets is: Put the seat back down. Clean the 'skid marks'. Decide on the household preference for putting the paper so that the rolls comes from under, or over.

                            Right?

                            Not so fast......suppose that the water didn't work? Or that the toilet was not able to flush down the stuff? Or that you were stuck somewhere where there wasn't a toilet?

                            Never fear...there ARE options.

                            The hippies' composting toilet, for a start. No sweat, just throw in some peat moss or sawdust, after each use, turn the rotating drum, and wait a few months for the compost to be finished, then take it, from the little drawer underneath, and spread it on the garden. Of course, you must have a power source for a heat or lamp thingy, inside the composter, to help speed up the drying time...too much shishi makes it a soggy mess. Or leave the composter for number 2, and go shishi outside.

                            If the thing flushes, and the only problem is a lack of water...you may want to think of using recycled 'gray water', saved from showers, laundry, dishes, whatever. Of course, you'll have to think ahead, and put water into storage, and have gray water storage containers ready. Then you get to stay up, at night, and think of water cycles...first shower in it, save, then do laundry in it, save, then flush with it, gone forever (that in itself, is a whole nuther thread).

                            And you don't have to flush every time, either. Once a day? Once a week?When it's full? Maybe think to put the used toilet paper into a separate container. (I know, I know...this is a yucky discussion, and anyway, it'll never happen, here)

                            Camping toilets are real good. We have something called a 'Campa-Potty', looks almost like a 'real' toilet. When it's full, all you gotta do is take off the seat, take it to a 'real' toilet, turn the valve, open it (pee-you stinky!), and dump it into the nearest ordinary toilet. The stuff tuns into a sort of liquid slurry...just dump it all into an ordinary toilet at once....lots of 'goes', for just one flush. Rinse, close the valve, clip the seat back on, and begin, again.

                            There's also the old 'chamber pot' method. One bucket, with lid, a bit of water at the bottom, and Bob's your uncle. Better, even, is to line the bucket with a double layer of plastic, heavy duty bags, and throw in some cat litter, sawdust, or peatmoss, after each use. Of course, you'll have to something with those full bags...

                            If you really can't stand the idea of not pooping into anything, except for a 'real' toilet....the Red Cross has a soluton for you. Treat your old friend like the bucket, above. Line the waterless bowl with double bags, and use it like that. Of course, you STILL have to do something with the full bags, and the bucket system has a tight-fitting lid, where the toilet doesn't...you choose. Just don't forget to stock catlitter, sawdust, or peatmoss, either way.

                            The old stand-by, the outhouse, will work. Stock some lime, or sawdust, catlitter, etc....

                            Just 'going' anywhere will work, too. but it's yucky. And it only counts IF you can get outside. Try, at least, to bury it.
                            http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
                            http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Toilet preps

                              Originally posted by helen
                              Was Hawaii cutoff from outside contact for 18 months back in 1918?

                              I grant you if such a situation were to happen I can understand life would be tough but the flow of goods to Hawaii would continue. There will shortages yes but a total cutoff, I don't think so.
                              I don't know, either. Even the government says that each community will be on its' own.
                              http://thissmallfrenchtown.blogspot.com/
                              http://thefrenchneighbor.blogspot.com/

                              Comment

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