Above all...Keep calm and prepare!

PREPARE!
Just a reminder! As we go through our daily lives, keep in mind to get prepared!
A disaster can happen at any moment! Give yourself a piece of mind! Prepare!
WATER~NON-PERISHABLE FOOD~FIRST AID!
Peace, Sherry

 

Easy 'Infused" Flavored oils and vinegar! Home food storage!



HOMEMADE "Flavored Infused" OILS AND VINEGARS!

 

This is so fun and interesting! You can make Flavored oils and vinegars for your food storage OR give em as gifts! The flavors can be endless!

 

For Vinegars....Start out with white vinegar. I like to use those bottles that have the old fashioned cork lids that are attached! They are attractive and seal well!

 

For Oils, you may want to use a oil that could be half olive and half canola or vegetable. Make sure that the oil you use is FRESH! Use new unopened oil to start out with!

 

In a quart canning jar with a lid put your "infusion add ins" and pour your Oil OR Vinegar over it and close lid tightly! Store in a cool and dark place. It will take on the flavors of you "infusion" items in about 2-3 weeks. The longer you leave it be the stronger, fuller flavor will happen!

 

Here are some suggestions!

*Lemon slices and sprigs of fresh mint in Vinegar OR Oil. Makes a great base for a light and refreshing salad dressing as well as a Good base for a marinade for fish and chicken!

* Raspberries (Freeze dried) & Rosemary sprigs in Vinegar OR Oil! Great salad dressing base! Also can be a wonderful marinade for Poultry!

* Garlic cloves and Chili peppers
* Lemon slices and fresh dill
* Orange slices, a cinnamon stick and cloves
*Cucumber spears and fresh dill , peppercorns

Use things that you and your family like and enjoy the flavors of!
This would make a great "home storage" project for you and your family!

Peace!
Sherry

 

"South of the border" Hot chocolate mix! Food storage and Gift idea!

 It's getting cooler and it makes me think of sweaters, crisp evenings and hot chocolate!

This is a EASY mix that you can put together and store for your food storage OR put it in a pretty jar and give as a gift!

So, get your "favorite" mug out of the cupboard and sit back and enjoy!

 South of the border

Hot chocolate mix






 In a large jar put the following:

4 cups of dried milk
1 cup dried "unsweetened" Cocoa
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 cup mini marshmallows

Mix dry ingredients by shaking the jar well until mixed! Be sure to put a lid on first!

To enjoy, add 4 heaping tablespoons of mix to a mug of HOT water! Easy and yummy!

To give as a gift, Put in a quart, lidded jar. Make a small tag out of card stock and write the name of the mix and directions! You can tie the tag on with a piece of ribbon or raffia!

Peace and blessings!
\Sherry

Fall Is Here! Pumpkin Soup Recipe! EASY Food Storage meal!

FALL GREETINGS!
Hello all! Well, it's FALL! Might not feel like it here in California BUT it really is!
I wanted to share a really easy soup recipe with you! It's so yummy! Even the kids will like it!

1 16 oz. can of solid pack pumpkin
2 cups of chicken stock
2 pints of heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan heat the chicken stock and add the cream. Add the can of solid pack pumpkin and blend well with a wire whisk. Stir constantly adding the onion, garlic and seasoning.Turn down the heat to a simmer ( Simmer for about 6 minutes, just to heat through). Add cheese right before serving.

Serve with garlic toast and a green salad!
Would be awesome served in small seeded pumpkins to make it a REAL Fall meal!

Enjoy!
Peace and blessings! Sherry

 

Vietnamese Pho! Home storage recipe!

I feel very blessed! Bill is such a good sport! He never quite knows what to expect when dinner time rolls around! LOL! It is a Vietnamese soup. This is full of veggies and contains meat, but in this case TVP "meat" and bay shrimp! Super easy and quick!



                                                                  


                                                     PHO

Asian Rice vermicelli  prepare as package indicates. Set aside

6 cups of boiling water

3 tablespoons chicken base

and the following dehydrated veggies and TVP from motherearthproducts.com

2 tablespoons of the each of the following:
chopped onions
broccoli
leeks
carrots
sweet corn
diced tomatoes
cabbage
Ham Bits
Beef Bits
Chicken bits


2 tablespoons dehydrated porta bella mushrooms
1 cup frozen bay shrimp

mix all together and boil for 8 minutes, turn flame off and cover for 10 minutes. Add cooked noodles and serve!

Serve with fresh fruit and green salad. makes 6 - 8 servings.

This was made with items from the sample packages from Motherearthproducts.com! 

Enjoy!
Peace, Sherry

Why Dehydrated Food? NOT just for emergancies! Everyday food storage!

Greetings my friends!
I had been talking to a few folks about preparing and food storage the other day and was very surprised that most people think that dehydrated food is JUST for emergencies!
I was thinking about this....There are several reasons you should use it daily! Or at least a few times a week!
If you are like me, I LOVE fresh fruits and veggies! In fact I eat them on a daily basis, that is as long as I have them on hand and can afford them at the time!
First, Dehydrated is less expensive in the long run, pound for pound than fresh...NOW I'm not suggesting that you stop buying fresh! BUT,  to have something on hand that will not go bad quickly is a BIG plus in my eyes! For example, I love spinach! Love it in salads, dips, as a side dish...cooked or raw! Spinach costs about $3 a 8 oz bag fresh....I may use it for a salad once or twice and then normally end up throwing it away because it gets slimy fast! This is why I have dehydrated spinach on hand! It's easy and is wonderful for anything I want to add spinach to! It also has an incredible shelf life!
Another example is celery! I normally dont use celery often but I do buy it and like to add it to salads and cooking. having it dehydrated and on hand I dont have it trying to survive in my fridge for long periods of time waiting on me to use it! Once its been re hydrated it comes back just as it was and I have it right there at all times for my recipes!
I HIGHLY recommend giving dehydrated fruits and veggies a chance! I think once you try it you'll agree it will save you $$$ as well as last you so much longer than continually buying and throwing away stuff that goes quickly before you can actually use it!

If you get a chance click on to  this link:
Motherearthproducts.com
Check out the wide variety of dehydrated food items! You can request FREE samples!
I also recommend that you purchase one of their "Sample" packs. Use them and see how well they do in your recipes! Then you can order those items that you liked for your food storage! That's exactly what I did!
I want to tell you I have tried 4 other dehydrated brands and this one was by far the best I've found on the market!
So what do you have to lose? Give em a try!

Hope you have a fantastic day!
peace and blessings!
Sherry

Chocolate~Cherry & Almond Cookies! Using Dehydryated Cherries from food storage!

 

Incredible Cherry~Chocolate~ Almond Cookies!

1 cup of softened Butter

3/4 cup of white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups of flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 (12 oz.) bag of chocolate chips

1/2 cup freeze dried or dehydrated cherries
(Soak in 2/3 cup water, reserve water!)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Mix butter, white and brown sugars, eggs
and vanilla together. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips, almonds and cherries with the water. Mix well. Drop by teaspoon onto a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Makes 3 dozen
NOTE****** I have used the "Sample" packet of cherries I had gotten from Motherearthproducts.com
I think you'll LOVE these as much as we do! Enjoy!

Peace, Sherry

My birthday gift for my survival stash!

 greetings!

I wanted to share with you something that I recived as a birthday gift! I was given a hand crank sewing machine!
How cool is that!?

Now I can be sure to be able to continue to sew and quilt even without electricity!

These are great! AND you can purchase them at a reasonable cost on line!

Practical as well as fun!

Peace! Sherry

Water requirments for your household

 Something to keep in mind! You should have 2 gallons of water per person in your houshold per day! PLUS 1 gallon per every two pets and then 1 gallon of water per day for cooking! Especially needed for using dehydrated and freeze dried foods!

This really is easy to do! Reuse all your jugs and large containers that you buy anything that had food, juice etc in!

Milk jugs are great but NOT for drinking water! BUT you can use it for cooking (if boiling!) Hygiene and dish washing!

The grocery stores ALWAYS have sales on 1 gallon containers of water! So STOCK UP! It dosent have to be pricey! You and also get LARGE water barrels on line! Water should be #1 in you emergency food storage!

Have a great weekend!
Peace, Sherry

QUICK & EASY! TVP "Sloppy Joes" Totally Vegan!

 TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) Is simply amazing stuff!
It's an awesome staple for your emergency food storage! It keeps well and can be a meat replacement in almost ALL your recipes!

I decided to make a simple dinner for tonight, I dont know what the weather is where you are but it was 102 in San Diego today! Holy cow! Someone needs to tell the weather it's FALL!

Anyways, here's the recipe1 **************


                                     Vegan " Sloppy Joes"

1 cup TVP
1 tablespoon tomato powder
1 teaspoon dehydrated chopped onions
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 package of Mc Cormick Sloppy Joe seasoning

In a small saucepan bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add TVP, Dehydrated onions, diced tomatoes with their juice and the seasoning packet. Bring back to a slight boil and then turn off flame.

Serve on hamburger buns. With chips and a small green salad.
See! super easy!

Tip**** When planning on Sloppy Joes to be a meal in your emergency kit , tape your seasoning packets to your cans of diced tomatoes. That way you will remember that they are for "planned"meal and you have it all at your fingertips!!!!


Enjoy!
Peace, Sherry

Do you have a emergancy evacuation plan set in place?

 Do you have your emergancy evacuation plan in place?
A list of items you need to grab and go with? Is it near your door? Do you have a "Bug Out" bag with enough clothes and hygine items for at least 3 days?

If there's a "NO" in there then it's time that you sit down with your family and make a plan!

A disaster can strike at any moment! Part of being prepared is to have a plan in place! Sit down with your family and discuss where you would meet if something happens and you're not together! You may be at work , while your children will be at school or at home!!!! Plan a easy to get to spot that you can all get to. Make sure you have a "land line" number that in case you are apart you could easily all phone in to that point and let that person know you are ok! In most cases a land line maybe working over a cell phone. It could be a relative, family friend or the emergency evacuation center in your area!

Also, have a designated area in your home where you have the items you are planning to take with you close and easy to get to. A closet, extra room, back porch...Anywhere you can get it and go! You need to also make sure you have items in your car at all times! It could make the difference in surviving or not! At least a case of bottled water, a first aid kit, some clothing ( a change of clothes for each family member) Emergency food for 3 or more days...And some source of warmth! They have emergency Mylar blankets available for just a few dollars!

What we have put in place is a hanging clip board with our plan and a checklist attached to it. along with emergency numbers. Our point of contact is my Mom. She lives out of state but she is usually home and has a land line as well as a cell phone.

So, if you havent done your GO LIST and evacuation plan, sit and do it! It will well worth the time! Trust me!

AND DONT FORGET TO STOCK UP ON WATER!!!!!!!!!
You need 2 gallons per person per day. At least a gallon per day for your pets AND if you are using dehydrated foods at all  you need to add another gallon per day for that!

Hope I gave you a good heads up!
peace,
Sherry

Sales alert! Up to date news with the blog and just plain ol stuff!

 Hello friends!

I have had nothing but problems logging on to Blogger so I can post! Hopefully this will get fixed on their end!!!!!

Wanted to share a few sales I ran across! Anyone near an Albertsons grocery store? This week they have Dixie brand Heavy duty paper plates and bowls regularly $2.99 and up for only $1.99 each if you buy 10!!!!! So I got a great stock of heavy duty paper products for only $20! Now thats a deal! Dont forget to put away plenty of paper goods! It will save you on water in times of an emergency! Plus you can burn them if need be! When your finished with them preferably! LOL!

ALSO, Big Lots is having a dollar sale! They have plenty of food items that can be put away! And they have large packages of plastic ware on sale for $1! So wanted to share that with you!

Right now as well several stores I've been in this past week have their seeds on sale for around 40% off! So its time to stock up on those as well! Dont forget to pick up some planting soil too! This will keep...it may dry out but you can re constitute it.

Bill and I went out to a Emergency preparedness store we found in our area....They had a few things we hadnt seen before as well as a few things ive only seen on line, not in person! The SOLAR OVEN is awesome1 Under $200 and well worth the price! The Volcano cooker also gets a two thumbs up from the two of us! We are definitely going to be adding this to our gear! We got to see a new water filtration system when i get more info on it i will share that as well.......

Well, guess I need to get myself moving along in my day! Glad I found a way to post today! Even if it was just a back way!

PLEASE PREPARE! YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON IT!
Store WATER!!!!!! Pick up something for your food supply every time you go shopping, a few things here and there add up!

peace, Sherry

Have a wonderful up coming week!

 Had a pretty busy weekend, Got our emergency food and supply storage all inventoried and organized.
Put up several more gallons of water and going to make a Awesome dinner with some of the dehydrated veggies! Making Spinach Manicotti with a heavy duty veggie marinara !!!!

I hope you are PREPARING for your family! I would LOVE to hear from you!

If theres any special recipe you might like to see PLEASE just drop me a line! I would love to help you out with it!

Well, have a WONDERFUL upcoming week!
And don't forget to [pop in and check out whats on the blog!

peace and blessings!
Sherry

Spinach~Bacon bits~Onion and Tomato Dip! FROM home food storage!

 I dont know about you but I think im "hooked" on Dehydrated food! LOL! Using the "sample"packs of the following I got from Motherearthproducts.com I made the BEST dip!

1/4 cup dehydrated spinich
2 tablespoons dehydrated tomato dices
2 tablespoons of the "Bacon" bits TVP
2 tablespoons dehydrated onions

1/2 cup shredded Parm cheese
1 pint sour cream


Rehydrate all the veggies in hot water, Drain well mix with the sour cream and cheese. Add a pinch of garlic granduales and a dash of black pepper! Serve with dipping chips, celery stix or pita chips! YUMMY!

Lot's of thunder out side! better get off the computer!
Hope all is well!
Peace, Sherry

September is PREPAREDNESS Month! PET reminder!

 DON'T Forget about your "Furry~Finned & Feathered" family members!

Put aside canned, dry food and treats along with other essentials!

YOU also need to figure in WATER for your pets! Make sure you ear mark some for them!

Peace! Sherry

Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas! I CANT believe that they are VEGETARIAN!

  Happy Thursday!
Well, I had some wonderful photos to show you how to make this AWESOME casserole...BUT I cant upload any pictures right now :( So I guess ill just "tell" you about it and give you the recipe!

This was using the Chunk Chicken (TVP) from MotherEarthProducts.com. It was the SAMPLE pack and it made enough for this whole recipe and will easily feed four! It was easy~ Simple~ AND quick! I actually cooked this in my microwave and it only took 5 minutes! Is that cool or what!? On trying the four products from motherearthproducts.com I must say that i was VERY impressed! The veggies came back beautifully! The onions were fresh and crisp just like if i just chopped them! Even Bill remarked on that! The Chicken chunks were, well all I can say was WOW!  It tasted so much like chicken and the consistency was amazing that Bill made me go back on line to the MotherEarthProducts.com site and make sure it wasn't real chicken! LOL! Now that says a lot! I also took some over to our neighbors and asked them to "Try a taste" and tell me what they thought. They LOVED it! And they had no idea that it wasnt "real" chicken! Quite the testimonial I must say!

I encourage you to visit the site MotherEarthProducts.com if you havent already! Ask for your FREE samples and I suggest asking for the "chicken chunks' and making this recipe! I have ordered 2 1 quart jars of this for my survival pantry! I cant wait to try more of the products! I will be giving REVIEWS as well as RECIPES on how to use them!!!! YUMMYYYYYY! And please let them you heard about them at Simply Surviving Today!
 Enjoy and happy eating!
Sherry

       Green Chili Chicken Stacked Enchiladas ~ Vegetarian!



1/2 cup Chicken Chunks (TVP) This is the size you get for FREE! From Motherearthproducts.com!

1/2 cup boiling water and 1/2 teaspoon chicken base

Dehydrated Veggies: 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, dehydrated onion and 1/2 teaspoon of dehydrated jalapenos.

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 10 oz. can of green enchilada sauce

9 corn tortillas  

Put the Chicken chunks in a soup bowl and pour boiling water with chicken base over and let sit for 15 minutes or until tender. Set aside.

Take 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (dehydrated), 1/2 cup dehydrated onion and 1/2 a teaspoon of the dehydrated Jalapenos. Pour all of these into a small mixing boil and cover with 1 cup boiling water. Let sit til veggies re hydrate (About 10 minutes). Drain well and put back into your mixing bowl. 

Drain Chicken chunks and add to veggie mix. Add 1 cup sour cream and 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. I used the cheddar and jack mix. Mix together well. Set aside.

In a 20x20 glass casserole spoon out about 1-2 tablespoons of green enchilada sauce and spread to cover bottom of glass dish. set aside.

Put about 1/2 cup vegetable oil into a small frying pan and heat. Take your Corn tortillas and fry them very lightly on both sides, drain on a plate with paper toweling. 

Then start layering your ingredients :
3 corn tortillas, spreading them out to cover the bottom (on top of the sauce) I placed 1 across from one another top to bottom and then cut the third in half to cove the open spaces. Spoon on 2 tablespoons of sauce over the tortillas and spread, covering them. Then I took the veggie and chicken mixture and split it in half. Spread 1 half over the tortillas with sauce and sprinkle with 1/2 a cup of your cheese. Then continue to do the exact thing again starting with your tortillas, then sauce, mixture and cheese. Repeat. Then using the last three tortillas cover the top of your last layer, spread remaining sauce and cheese over the top. 

This can be baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes OR microwaved for 5 minutes on high! I microwaved mine and they were awesome!

Our "survival weekend"

Hi all!
Well we pulled thru it very well! basically it was a Big camping trip I would say! We took all our own water, our camp stove and dutch oven as well as most of our preparedness cooking supplies. I think this was a good thing to do since it gave me a wake up call on some items I still need to get!

We took alot of different food but the one i really wanted to see how it would go was the Beef soup mix I had put together using The dehydrated veggies I put up and instant rice. We shared with my friend and her daughter who was also there and They said they really enjoyed it...Bill even said he could easily live off of it, so that made me feel good about all the effort put into it!

The Hard Tack that I had made and brought actually won over other hard tack that was available this weekend! Mine had better flavor and was hard and crisp while the others were hard and crumbly without much flavor. I even had parents come back with their kids and ask for more! I thought that was pretty cool! So, Try the recipe if you get a chance!

We really take a lot of everyday things for granted. You really realize this when you dont have them! I would have to say I do appreciate my coffee maker, My bed, a shower and cold food!!!! making coffee wasnt so bad. We have purchased a french press which really did make a great cup of coffee! I just had to heat up the water and pour it thru....The new sleeping bags we purchased from Walmart were very comfortable and alot better than the regular sleeping bags that we had. These where the mummy bags and rated 0-30 degrees. and were very inexpensive! I highly suggest that you purchase these. They are Coleman brand and cost a fraction of what others cost.We both were very warm and comfortable sleeping.

Being someone who likes a hot shower daily...well, that was not a fun thing for me! BUT you can purchase "Bath" wipes. A sponge bath is better than nothing and in an emergency situation it is what it is! And in a crisis we may not be so worried about bathing daily, well it may not be at the top of our lists to survive!

We brought 4 gallons of water for the weekend for the two of us plus the dog. seemed to be enough with the cooking, dish washing, drinking and teeth brushing.

I think the worse part of all of this was the lack of being organized with my cooking. I feel if I would have a cabinet that could open and hold my essentials it would have been alot easier than digging thru the big tubs that we have. Maybe I can have Bill build something for me!

Other than that it was a great weekend! I feel we are alittle more ready in case we have to leave our home, even if it would be just in the backyard......You never know!

I know I promised Photos...Well, we did bring the camera....Just not the memory card :( so that really didnt do much good! We "Thought " we got alot of great shots! We even got and put up our authentic Civil War canvas tent. WOW! What a great space! It's a 18 x 12 foot tent.

So that's how it went! I hope you and your family have a chance to "test drive" your survival/preparedness gear! Before you have to use it! Get a feel of what you might do to make it even better BEFORE the fact!

Well off to get dinner ready, Peace to all!
PREPARE!
Sherry

TIP! A use for your "gray water" During a crisis

As I was filling water jugs this morning I was trying to think of how to re-use our emergency water during a crisis. Since water may be scarce, I wanted to come up with different ways to re use it.
Here's a few ideas I thought of, PLEASE share YOUR ideas too!

1.  If you use a "Earth friendly" laundry soap or dish soap this could be used to water your plants.
especially good if you are growing your own veggies. The soap "Ecologically friendly" can also help with cutting down on pests.

2. If you are at home and not in a "survival" setting outdoors, the used water from your laundry or dishes (no matter what soap you use) can be re- bottled and kept near your commode. That way you can use it to "flush" . At least this way you will be able to use the convenience of your own bathroom.

3. Same with bath water. can be used to water plants and re-use for the commode.

Any other suggestions? PLEASE post your thoughts and ideas!

At this time I figure we have stored 38 gallons of water. That's enough water for Bill, the dog, the cat and I for aprox.  19 days. Hows your water storage going?


Peace,
Sherry

Poking my head in to say "We survived !!!!" our weekend!

Evening all!
I have lots to share about our "1800's survival weekend"!! But we got in late last night and I had to work first thing this morning so......I just wanted to let you all know we made it thru and with flying colors! I must say tho, I will really miss my coffee pot In the event of no electricity! LOL! We did have coffee but a little more labor intensive!!! I will have to try to get the photos together and get back on to share the whole weekend with you. Need to get some rest, work again tomorrow! I hope you'll  come back and catch up!

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!
Peace, Sherry

Prepare!!!! Gather what you can, as you can! STOCK up on WATER!