What have you done to prep today?

[Cu Later]

i agree with nickelless. its a life style. weve alot in common. parent$, prepping, land, even the recent "for me" bacon purchase and use. lol.

[franklin]

found some Sta-bil for diesel at my local TSC for thirteen bucks per quart. First time I have ever seen it around here and thought it was a good price. Also planted the fruit trees I bought last week. And added a few more hens. Damn, I'm on a roll!

[Engineer]

found some Sta-bil for diesel at my local TSC for thirteen bucks per quart. First time I have ever seen it around here and thought it was a good price. Also planted the fruit trees I bought last week. And added a few more hens. Damn, I'm on a roll!

Just a thought...It might be a good idea to avoid the biodiesel blends for long term storage until they've proven themselves. Regular diesel keeps for years as long as you don't expose it to the air or develop an algae problem.

[franklin]

Finished planting a hedge on the 2 sides of my property that scofflaws have used to gain access to my ponds. In 4-5 years it should be impenetrable.

[68Camaro]

I placed a single item test order (50# bag of hard red winter wheat berries) with Augason Farms a year ago, and was impressed by speed, price, product, low shipping price. Spent more time comparison shopping tonight with other similar places, decided to stick with Augason. Placed my follow-up medium sized order tonight. A bunch of #10 cans of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, honey powder, egg powder, milk powder, butter powder, more wheat berries, rolled oats, some gluten free baking products for my wife, and more.

[texcollex]

This past week we bought 200 lbs of corn for the deer/hog feeder. I bought good feed corn and am going to try out my grain mill on a few pounds of it. Harvested about 12 lbs of Muscadine grapes, cooked down half into juice to make jelly with. Used another 1/4 of it to start three 1/2 gallon jugs of wine. If it turns out okay, I'll make much more next year :^)

Last week we bought a small chest freezer. Not much good in a SHTF situation unless we get the ginny we want, but it will help with the budget and frugality for now.

[68Camaro]

Had to go pick up a large hammer drill and bits at Harbor Freight (yep, Chinese tools) to do an install, and while there grabbed a handful of cheap machetes (3.99 ea) mostly to have on hand for barter, etc. (I have two longer ones already that I use for yardwork.) These are 18 inches of steel with a rubber handle. Basically a short sword. Not the perfect weapon, but decent in a pinch and a useful tool as well.

[Nickelless]

Finished planting a hedge on the 2 sides of my property that scofflaws have used to gain access to my ponds. In 4-5 years it should be impenetrable.

Franklin, what kind of bush did you plant?

[SilverDragon72]

Finished planting a hedge on the 2 sides of my property that scofflaws have used to gain access to my ponds. In 4-5 years it should be impenetrable.

Franklin, what kind of bush did you plant?

Should be a formidable hedge of nettles!

[viator]

growing up, my mom always kept the strained bacon grease in a mason jar with the lid on. she would let it cool enough before pouring it so the glass did not break. always used it for cooking everything and never remember it going bad. it was stored on top of the stove but taken off if the oven was on. i think the important thing is to make sure there are no food particles left in it to spoil. we also always put stale bread in a cookie tin and woulduse them for the bread crumbs put into the meatballs (that were fried in the bacon grease...). you would think that would mold over time but it never did seem to.

[justoneguy]

Placed my follow-up medium sized order tonight. A bunch of #10 cans of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, honey powder, egg powder, milk powder, butter powder, more wheat berries, rolled oats, some gluten free baking products for my wife, and more.

The egg powder has a very short shelf life,
if i remeber correctly, only 6 months to a year.
Anybody have more info on this?

[68Camaro]

Properly sealed with O2 absorber, egg powder is rated for 10 years when unopened.

[justoneguy]

Properly sealed with O2 absorber, egg powder is rated for 10 years when unopened.

Thanks for that.
egg powder is one of the few foods that i haven't rotated into my eating habits.
mine's 2 years old now and i wasn't sure.
I wonder where i heard the short shelf life from ?

[68Camaro]

If it's not sealed with O2 absorber it won't last that long. Does yours say how it is sealed? Mine actually has the shelf life on it.

[justoneguy]

I'll have to look for a date on it,
but they are buried right now.
Other foods i bought from the same company had the O2 absorber in them

[texcollex]

growing up, my mom always kept the strained bacon grease in a mason jar with the lid on. she would let it cool enough before pouring it so the glass did not break. always used it for cooking everything and never remember it going bad. it was stored on top of the stove but taken off if the oven was on. i think the important thing is to make sure there are no food particles left in it to spoil. we also always put stale bread in a cookie tin and woulduse them for the bread crumbs put into the meatballs (that were fried in the bacon grease...). you would think that would mold over time but it never did seem to.

My mom (she turns 80 next month) had a metal canister with a strainer insert for storing bacon grease. She would clean it out every couple of years. It just sat out on the counter and never went bad. I wonder if she still has it?

My wife and I are trying to come up with a house plan that we can both agree on. We have many similar likes, but she wants some very specific things in a house that makes it quite large and somewhat difficult to build. I think we will have to compromise on some things. Meanwhile, we bought a load of R-panel steel roofing the other day. I'll sure be glad when the weather cools a bit so I can do more outside.

[beauanderos]

I have access to heavy duty (industrial strength) plastic gallon jugs at work. They go through about a case of four daily (vinegar). I bring them home, rinse them, and store water in them. I now have about 120 gallons saved. They stack well and don't take up much space. Do you need to "rotate" water, why, and how often?

[coincrazy]

I've been acquiring 5 gallon gas jugs and filled them up today for my bug out fuel.

[Engineer]

I have access to heavy duty (industrial strength) plastic gallon jugs at work. They go through about a case of four daily (vinegar). I bring them home, rinse them, and store water in them. I now have about 120 gallons saved. They stack well and don't take up much space. Do you need to "rotate" water, why, and how often?

Keep it in the dark to limit algae growth.

[shinnosuke]

I've been acquiring 5 gallon gas jugs and filled them up today for my bug out fuel.

Rotate and use Sta-Bil.

http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/default.aspx

[John_doe]

has anybody here tried to can bacon ?? mmmmm
i love bacon and bacon flavor from the grease.
i see canned bacon for sale but, it's way expensive.
i'd like to be able to put some away

Canned bacon isn't worth the price because what you get is the bacon but not the most flavorful aspect--the grease.

Here's what I posted on GIM recently:

http://goldismoney2.com/showthread.php? ... better!%29

Paper towel has been doing the trick quite well in straining the bacon grease, and I've gotten into a ritual of cooking about 12 strips of bacon one day a week (usually on one of my days off), making two BLTs out of eight of the strips, then I put the other four strips into a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze it for later use. Out of those 12 strips of bacon, I get enough grease to fill half of a half-pint mason jar:




Then I put a sticker on the jar with the date I started to fill it, put it in the fridge until it's full, then move it to my preps pantry and rotate new jars in as I fill them.

moonshine FTW

[Mossy]

Ever watch someone try to chug-a-lug something that turned out to be cooking oil?

Of course, I have a low sense of humor.

[Rosco]

Ever watch someone try to chug-a-lug something that turned out to be cooking oil?

Of course, I have a low sense of humor.

You are bad Me too

[Copper Catcher]

This might be another product to look into for cooking etc.

Canned Ghee: Pronounced with a hard "G" and silent "h" (like bee), ghee is clarified butter... that is, butter with the lactose and milk solids removed. This remarkable cooking oil requires no refrigeration and has an extremely long shelf life. Ghee is a pourable liquid at room temperature, and can be used in any type of cooking. It has easy-cooking properties, and its amazing taste enriches the flavors of both sweet and savory foods. It has an excellent aroma and is so flavorful that you can use a third to half less than you would of other cooking oils. Having a high burning point, it won't burn or smoke when sautéing or frying food. It can be used for barbecuing or in baking, replacing butter and oils. Each can contains 14 ounces, and they're orderable either as singles or a case of 12 cans.

Incredible shelf life: Finding storable oils can be difficult. Canola and olive oil, for example, have only a 1 to 3 year shelf life. Because it's canned and pasteurized right in the airtight can, ghee's shelf life is a minimum of 10 years (and likely longer). In other products, water is a major culprit in shortening shelf life; the moisture content of our ghee is less than 1% (compared to 8% for ordinary butter). Ghee keeps for months without refrigeration even after opening as long as you keep out all water and other contaminants; be sure to serve from the container only with a clean and DRY spoon each time. (Opened ghee may be refrigerated if you choose, but if you do, beware of allowing condensation to form on the container's inside rim where it can get into the ghee and cause spoilage.) Our canned ghee is stamped with the manufacturing date, but no expiration date because because it has passed the USDA test demonstrating it has a shelf life in excess of five years.

Health benefits: Ghee is healthful because it’s 100% natural, containing no trans-fats, artificial ingredients or preservatives. It's also high in vitamin A and is lactose free. Ghee aids digestion and nutrient assimilation – unlike the empty calories from most oils. Though it's just becoming known among consumers in the U.S, ghee has been a chef's secret in the kitchens of health-conscious restaurants for years, and it's actually been used worldwide for millennia. Starting from fresh pasteurized cream, our ghee is produced in the USA.

You can't beat the rich, creamy, buttery taste of genuine butter. It's all there, plus extended shelf life, with ghee!

100% natural
Zero trans-fats
No artificial ingredients or preservatives
Lactose free
99.99% pure butter concentrate
Rich source of Vitamin A
Aids digestion and nutrient assimilation
High 475° smoke point prevents scorching
Baked goods stay fresh longer
Reduces the use of butter by 1/3 or more


http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/red_fe ... aland.aspx

[68Camaro]

Anyone know of a domestic source? Not that I have anything against New Zealand.