Our winter garden!

Hello friends!
 Hope you are finding my "blog classes" helpful! Just went out to check on the gardens, They are doing very well! Our Chinese peas are about 3 inches high! Th rest of everything is sprouting beautifully!And my tomatoes are coming back to full life! I even have several tomatoes coming out! Amazing! Gotta love the beautiful weather here in California! How is your winter gardens doing? What did you plant?
Peace to all!
Sherry

TOP 10 LIST ~Things to PREPARE to sustain!!!!

TOP TEN
LIST!

#1. You will need to learn some basic and necessary skills ! Skills like gardening, animal husbandry, plumbing, construction, hydoponics, aquaponics, wood crafting, soap making, candle making, sewing, leather crafting, First aid. Trades that will help others and can contribute to the rebuilding of a crushed economy. Trades that you will be able to barter with as well as goods.

#2. Improve your health! Now or never!!! Make sure you get your self in the best shape that you possibly can! Walk, exercise, yoga...You will need to be your own doctor! Learn about holistic ways to treat illnesses and herbal alternatives to medication where you can!

#3. Store food for you and your family! Learn to can and dehydrate. Grow what you can and share with others! Raise chickens, rabbits and other livestock! Raise your own fish to eat!

#4. Create a "How To" Library! Start collecting books to keep on hand like first aid, Holistic ways to heal yourself, woodworking projects, Canning and cooking, survival books, home handyman "do it yourself" type books! The electricity goes out you wont have the ability to "look it up and Goggle it!". There anything you would like to learn, get a book on it! Thrift shops and yard sales are an excellent way to build your library inexpensively!

#5. Start a HOME business! This will help you supplement your income OR be the main source of your income! You can also use your business as a "barter" tool for what you may need.

#6. Gather trade able goods! This may be the only way we will be able to get items we need! Things like health and beauty products, Extra food items, Alcohol, Ammo, building supplies and tools...These things will all be trade able!

#7. Build a community alliance what you live! Find those who are "like minded" with you and make a plan to help each other and others!

#8. Make sure you have alternative energy! Solar is awesome if you can get it, so is a generator, back up batteries, propane canisters, lamp oil, charcoal, fire wood!

#9. Water purification!!! A filter, tablets and bleach... Make sure you have stored clean drinking water for you and your family! Learn more about collecting rain water and using your "gray" water!!!

#10. Share this information to all! Show more love and appreciation to all and be giving of yourself and what you may have to share! Be your brothers keeper! A Good attitude and happy  and grateful heart will help many!


I had heard this on line and added alittle to it...:)
I thought it was more than noteworthy!
Peace and Blessings to each and everyone of you!
Sherry

 

Survival 101~ Part 3~ FOOD

"Food preparedness"
PART 3
In this "Blog class" I'll be talking about FOOD. Yes, I know that 99% of this blog deals with emergency food preparedness! BUT, Isnt it important!?

In our day to day living its so easy to just "run to the store" to pick up something for dinner. Or go out and "grab " something to eat at our local fast food place but think of this......
If there was a  major power outage...Your local market wouldnt be able to run their coolers, be able to use the cash registers or even open the doors! The whole area where you live would be in panic mode! Anyone who could get to the markets would buy everything they could get their hands on and more! That is providing they had the cash on hand! On any given day....How much cash do you have on you? If youre like most we keep our meager means in the bank and use debit cards. But what if you couldnt use your debit or credit cards? What if the stores could only accept cash? What then? What if this "Emergancy" happens before you got paid? Like most once again we are more likely one of the millions of families living pay check to pay check. I STRONGLY suggest that you keep some cash stashed somewhere you can access it quickly.

Another thing I'd like you to ask yourself....Do I have enough food on hand to feed my family for a week or at least 3 days without going to the market? You should be able to at least say YES to 3 days worth of food!
Red Cross and FEMA say you should have at the very least 3 days of food for you to sustain you and your family in case of an emergency. As for Bill and I we have a 6-8 month supply of food.
EVERYONE should have a "Bugout" bag with 3 days worth of food as well as other supplies you'll need for emergency evacuation. The next "Blog class" will be dealing with "Bug out " bags .

So, where to begin....We talked about water in our last blog class. YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT!
You also want to make sure you have enough for cooking. Please reference that last blog class for the minimum requirements of water for each person and pet in your household.
There are Basic items you should keep on hand...As well as other staples.
You should have things that will be shelf stable for long periods of time and that will keep without refrigeration such as the following:
* Rice and pasta
* Canned veggies and fruits
*Spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce
*Powdered milk
*Powdered drink mixes
*Hard wheat (Can be cooked and used for a meat substitute, hot cereal, casseroles and ground for bread)
*Basic baking supplies (Yeast, salt, baking powder, baking soda)
*Cooking oils and shortening
* Spices and sauces
*Soups, canned and dry
*crackers
* Dried fruit
* Canned meats (Tuna, salmon, roast beef and ham)
*Dehydrated Vegetables ( Takes up less room, re hydrates like fresh and you have a better handle of portion control without waste!)
* White sugar
*brown and powdered sugars
*Honey
*Dried beans and peas
* Pre assembled sauce mixes (Chili, spaghetti, taco etc.)
*Canned milk
* Dried cheeses (Parmesan)
*Powdered eggs
*Peanut butter
*Jam and jelly
*Condiments
* Quick oats
* Salt, pepper, garlic ,Vinegar ANY spices that you would normally cook with.
* Granola bars, granola, dried cereals
*Juice . Canned, bottled or cartons.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A HAND CAN OPENER!
A well stocked pantry will assure you and your family a piece of mind as well as you being prepared!
When stocking up you should sit down and figure out what exactly your family eats...what it would take to create a whole meal and what it would be right down to how much water you need to prepare it!
In an earlier post on this blog I gave a 'Formula" that you can use to be able to figure out what you will need for each person for each meal. It will help you in planning what you need to get etc. This is a great plan! I know its very overwhelming if you are just getting started in Emergency preparation. But please dont let it detour you! If you ever have a question and need help please contact me! I would be more than happy to assist you however I can!
Now, I think the first thing you'll need to do is go and see what you do already have on hand. Make a list of it and see how many meals could you possibly make from what you have on hand. Then figure out your meal plan.
How I got started was just picking up a little here and there as I regularly shopped. If you see that your favorite soup is on sale, pick up 2 for now and 2 to store! I look for specials and closeouts on dry and canned items.And then try to buy a few.
Costco and other large warehouse type stores have great deals all the time! I just picked up a 8 pack of dehydrated hash browns in small cartons. I believe they were around $7. We love them and eat them quite a bit so that was a great thing to put in our food storage!
Emergency food preparedness doesnt have to cost a arm and a leg!
One of my FAVORITE stores is the 99Cent store!
I can go in and pick up so many excellent prep items for 99 cents each! We have stocked our first aid kits with items from there as well as personal health care needs and barter items!!!!
So look around! You'll be amazed at what you can get for very little that will be worth so much more to you when you really need it!
ALSO!!! Use your coupons! Thats a great way to get things for your emergency pantry for free or very little! PLUS, there are TONS of FREE sample products online!!!! It will only take a few minutes to request them and then you'll have those little extras!!!!
Another Idea would be buy in bulk and share with friends and family! That way you could get more of a selection without breaking the bank!
The way I look at it is make sure you have the the things that will sustain you, healthy food items that will keep you and your family healthy and alive! And something that you like and would want to eat!
PLEASE, make sure you obtain either a good cookbook pertaining to using the foods you are storing OR download recipes and compile a book. If you dont cook alot from scratch on a regular basis you will need it!

Another thing we will be talking about soon is alternative cooking sources!

I hope this will assist you in your preparations! Be diligent! And dont let this scare you into just being passive about this! It's TIME to be pro active in your families survival!
Remember Katrina? It took days for FEMA to even bring food and clean water to folks! AND now Hurricane Sandy! Look at all the households who do not have electricity OR water! And it's still roaring thru as I type this! I cant even think of all those people who havent prepared for a huge natural disaster or any emergency!!!! My God! This will be horrible!
So PLEASE!!!! I beg of you! Prepare !!!!!!!!
It dosent have to be big but at least you will have the knowledge and at least something on hand!
A disaster can happen at any moment!
Natural such as a storm, earthquake, floods, tsunami, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts you name it! No matter where we live something can and WIll happen!
Man made, pandemics, Nuclear...Mass power outages, civil unrest and even a economic crash! Even if its just a personal one like a loss of a job or a major illness! You have nothing to lose! And everything to gain!

Well, Peace my friends! I will be back with the next Blog class...Your "Bug out Bag"!

Sherry

 

Stayed tuned for PART #3! It will be FOOD :)

I'm working on trying to get PART #3 Ready to post! So keep your eyes out! PLEASE Keep our friends on the East coast in your thoughts and prayers!!!!! AND PLEASE PREPARE!!!!!!! This is exactly why we need to be diligent for emergencies!!!! You never know! Better to be SAFE THAN SORRY!
Get your BUG OUT bags ready! Gather extra food, AND WATER!

Peace! Sherry

PART TWO~SURVIVAL 101~ WATER

Survival 101
part two
~WATER~

Today's Blog class is on WATER.
Of all the things on EARTH Water is the most important! Man can live without food way longer than he can do without water.

I will give you a few examples of different purification and filtration systems that are out there available to the public.

Lets start with the easiest and least expensive. For my family we have purchased gallon jugs of water at our local grocery store for a dollar a gallon. We have also gathered three gallon "Food grade" plastic containers from food establishments and filled them ourselves with water from our tap.If you live in the "City" your public water source has chlorine and is acceptable for storage without adding anything to it. Although at some point we may add bleach just for good measure! If you re-use any containers for your water make sure that they are FOOD GRADE. And any containers should be a non-clear plastic. Glass is ok if you dont plan to be taking it with you in a emergency. Glass is very heavy and you run the risk of breakage.
ALSO< I dont recommend re-using milk containers for your drinking water. BUT they are great for using for hygiene, laundry , plants or to flush your commode. make sure to use a waterproof marker and mark these jugs "Not for drinking"
If filling containers yourself make sure you "Rotate" your water every year. Bottled water that has been purchased will last without rotating.
Large heavy duty white or blue barrels are available, 3, 5, 10, 30 gallon and even larger .  These can be filled with your hose and stored on your property. When figuring how much water your family needs to store, figure one gallon of water per person for drinking per day. Plus 1 gallon for cooking and one gallon per day for your pets. So, for a family of four plus pets you will need six gallons per day.

There are several items out on the market today and they range in prices. The least expensive would be something I highly recommend that you have on hand in your First Aid kit. Would be water purification tablets. These can be purchased at any camping/recreational stores for under ten dollars.
The absolute best water filter system out there according to Joni Campbell, sales associate at Cabella's in Northern Idaho. Would be "Katadyn" Water filtration systems .They come in a small personal size up to large ones for businesses or schools. Ones for hikers and base camps. These can range in price from $3.95 up to $1200. These use a replaceable drop in filter.
Another is a "SteriPen" Emergency handheld water purifier. This uses a UV light to effectively destroys water bourne  microbes . These sell for under $45.
Something that is fairly new is a gravity fed "AquaPail" This is handy and easy to carry and store! It can treat Undrinkable to drinkable water at 12 gallons per hour.

As you can see there are several great products out there that you can purchase!
BUT whatever you decide on, PREPARE now! It's as easy as picking it up at your grocery store to filling your own containers!

Peace, Sherry

It's TIME to start your seed bank!

Get started
Gathering seeds for your own seed bank!
Sometime in the near future you may have to depend on your own ability to grow food for you and your family!
This is the perfect time to hit your stores for this years seeds going on sale!
Make sure you try to get "Heirloom"seeds when you can, that way you will have a higher rate of success for gathering seeds from your crop!
You can store seeds in an airtight container in a dark place or in your freezer!
ALSO, if you arnt familiar with growing veggies pick yourself up a book on basic gardening or download some info and put it aside!
I'll be sharing some awesome info on Hydroponics and Aquaponics soon!

have a great one! Peace! Sherry

 

TVP~ 'Chicken" Vegetarian Burritos! Home food storage!



TVP~ "Chunk Chicken" Vegetarian Burritos!

YUMMMMMY!
Thats right! Here ya go! EASY and yummy from food storage!

1/2 cup chicken chunks
1 teaspoon of each of the following:
onions
leeks
jalapenos
1/2 cup tomato dices
1/4 cup sweet corn
1/4 cup of tomato powder
1/8 teaspoon of each of the following:
garlic salt
cumin
chili powder

6 medium flour tortillas
1/2 cup 'tru roots"sprouted bean trio

6 green leaf lettuce leaves

Grated cheese (Optional)

In a medium mixing bowl put the following:
Chicken chunks, tomato dices, jalapenos, leeks, onion, sweet corn,

and cover with 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Set aside.

Cook 1/2 cup of sprouted beans as directed .

Go back to the chicken veggie mix and add the tomato powder and seasonings.

Then layer on a tortilla chicken mix and sprouted beans, cheese and 1 lettuce leaf. Roll burrito and enjoy!

Peace! Sherry

PLEASE CHECK OUT MOTHER EARTH PRODUCTS
FOR A GREAT SELECTION OF THESE DRIED
PRODUCTS!

EASY homemade tomato basil bisque!

FRESH TOMATO BASIL BISQUE

Here's a wonderful and EASY recipe!
Since our summer is STILL going hard! I have a ton of fresh tomatoes! So, I thought I'd make a Tomato bisque recipe that would be easy and use up my tomatoes!
It was DELICIOUS!


2 pounds of fresh tomatoes.
2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped OR dried basil
4 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon chicken base

In a food processor put tomatoes and garlic cloves. Make into a puree.
Put tomatoes and garlic into a large saucepan and put on low flame. Add chicken base, salt, sugar and basil. simmer for about 25 minutes, stir occasionally.
In another saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter and add 1/2 cup flour to make a rue. Mix well until all flour has soaked up the butter to make a paste. Slowly add 2 cups of milk. stir until thickened.
add your cream soup base to your tomato mix and stir well. Keep on a low heat and continue to stir until thickened. Add a little more milk if its to think.
Serve and enjoy!!!! Also can be frozen!

Peace, Sherry

 

PART ONE: Survival 101 ~ Shelter

SURVIVAL 101
"SHELTER"

Well Here we go! Grab a pen and take notes! This is the first "class" in Survival 101.
Today I'm going to talk about "Shelter". This is VERY important and not likely something you may have even thought about when putting together your SURVIVAL kit!

The very FIRST thing you will need to think about is where you live. Do you live where theres snow? Or are you in a more temperate climate? What about the desert? This is important to what types of emergency shelter you need to consider when planning your emergency shelter.
ANY extreme weather can be fatal! If not prepared!

Hopefully you can at least prepare a few items that could save your life and the lives of your family.That and knowing a few emergency tactics before hand can be extremely important!

Several items that you can have on hand would be the following:

* A Tent that is big enough for your family or a couple of small ones. These are usually compact and can be put along side your preparedness items.Self standing Dome tents are great because you can set them up in a building if you and your family need to or are able to get to a eveacuation center.

* Tube tent. These are very affordable, usually around $4-$5 and can be found online. They fit up to 2 adults are lightweight and can be carried in your Emergency kit or backpack!

* Reinforced Blue Poly Tarps. These can be bought at any hardware store. You can use these to make a lean to or a tent. Very inexpensive and will last for some time. Make sure you have at least one for a flooring! These will keep moisture out of a tent from the ground.

* Metal stakes...Can be long screws. about 12 inches long.

*Nylon rope! YOU can not have enough of this! You can string it between two trees and use a tarp for a tent! PLUS if needed you can lace two or more tarps with this using the reinforced eyelets together for a larger shelter.

* A small hammer or mallet
*Emergency Sleeping bags, These are lightweight and will reflect body heat back to you. Very inexpensive and compact. Make sure to have on for each family member!

* Emergency blankets, these are made of the same material as the above sleeping bags.

We have purchased a couple of really good sub-zero sleeping bags from Wall mart, they are Coleman brand and didnt cost a arm and a leg! BUT, you NEED the emergency ones as well! You dont know if you'll be able to get to anything thats not with your emergency bug out pack! And you NEED shelter as well as warmth!!!!

Make sure you PRACTICE putting a tent up! While in an emergency situation you will be stressed and may not be able to do this as quickly if YOU dont know before hand how to do this!

SO....Think of these things.....
If it's raining...Keep dry! Cold and wet will result in illness...Make sure your shelter is waterproof! You can add a blue tarp to the top of your tent for added weatherproofing!

If its windy...Make sure to put your shelter where you can  block the wind when possible and stake it down securely! Stay inside!

Snow and blizzards....Make sure you STAY inside your shelter! wrap yourselves in all available clothing, blankets and sleeping bags. You can use wood and boughs for insulation in a case of emergency. ALSO, did you know that newspapers and cardboard can be a great source for insulation.

Extreme heat. Make yourself a shade with a tarp , stay out of the direct sun up til the evening.

In most cases you will probably be at home. You will be able to set up in your yard and be able, maybe, to gather resources from your home.
Something to think about....Making a specific place in your yard for a "outdoor" kitchen. A makeshift fire pit, concrete blocks to set coals  on for dutch oven cooking. Not close to your structure in case its unstable because of an earthquake or any disaster.

Other items to perhaps keep on hand could be wooden pallets, poles, plywood. nails.
These things you may have on hand already. Think about it and look through your garage or home for items that you may already have on hand!

I hope you were able to get some ideas from this first class...
Please be diligent and PREPARE!

The next class will be on WATER, types of filtration and storage.

Speaking of water, have you been storing water for you and your family???


Peace and Blessings, Sherry

Survival 101 classes starting this week!

Welcome to the "meat and Potatoes" of this blog!
I will be starting a Survival 101 series of Classes (Blogs)
Spanning from Shelter to water and all things in between!

The first one will cover basic shelter. So, Pull out a note pad and jot down some notes!

I hope you will join us and "Share" this blog with all your friends and loved ones!

AND
Please feel free to add to any of these BLOGS, I'm sure you each have some great ideas as well that you can share!

Looking forward to sharing with all of you!
Peace! Sherry

Survival 101

Making Pickles and planting my winter garden! Dill pickle recipe!

Easy Dill Pickles!

12 large pickling cucumbers(  cut in slices)
8 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of kosher salt
2 1/4 cups white Vinegar
fresh dill
1/2 cup sliced garlic

Prepare jars as directed, this recipe made 4 full pints and 4 1/2 pints of pickles.

In clean jars place 2/4 sprigs of fresh dill and a teaspoon of sliced garlic in the bottom. Then layer your cucumber slices.

Put your water, salt and vinegar in a large sauce pan and heat to boiling. Pour with ladle over pickles in prepared canning jars. Leave 1/2 inch space at top! Cover and put in your canning pot. Maker sure the water is boiling! Leave jars in the pot in boiling water for 15 minutes. Take jars out and let set on a towel on your counter. Let cool completely.

Canning is really easy once you get the proper tools together! And pickles are a great way to start!
I dont know about you but There something very gratifying about making something from scratch! I love to look in my pantry and see the jars with all the summer fruits and the rich colors of the salsa's! I know that it's going to be wonderful when we pop it open during the gray winter months!
I hope if you havent had the pleasure of canning your own jam or making something pickled you give it a try!

Well, I apologize for not posting much this past week! Unfortunately I had hurt myself at work and messed up my back ...So, hadnt been able to do alot of anything....But I'm on the mend!
In fact we put in our first stage of our winter garden today! Carrots, green onions, asian pea pods, assorted radishes and beets!
And Bill even built a green house type of structure for it! Next week will be swiss chard!
It's great that fall is finally showing it's head! But I must say I'll be missing all those lovely tomatoes we've been enjoying! Thank goodness for canning and dehydrating tho!
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'll be back with more recipes and I'll be starting some posts getting into the "Meat and potatoes" of preparedness and survival!
Please be sure to FILL YOUR CONTAINERS WITH WATER!
And grab a few "extra" food items you can store in your emergency food stuff! A few cans or packages here and there will add up before you know it!

Peace and blessings to all! Sherry

 

"Like" us on Facebook! Get an entry for a YUMMY survival/preparedness dinner kit!

http://www.facebook.com/SimplySurvivingToday

Greetings all!

Our goal is to get 300 "Likes" on Facebook! As soon as we do we will be having a drawing for a Complete Survival/Preparedness dinner Kit  for 4 as a prize! Just go to our page and LIKE us! We will be holding the drawing on OCTOBER 31ST (Providing we have that amount of "likes" ). Tell your friends and if they LIKE us and you post it was a referral from you you will be entered for each and every friend who LIKES us!
You will be given a list of "Tasty" dinner kits to choose from!!!
So what do you have to lose???? See ya on facebook!

Peace, Sherry

Special recipe! Pumpkin, orange, pecan and raspberry bread!!!!!! YUM!

Pumpkin~Orange~Pecan & Raspberry Bread
With the holidays creeping up on us, I thought I would share one of my favorite Quick bread recipes with you!

This is wonderful warm with a bit of cream cheese on it!


1/2 cups of butter

1 cup of white sugar

1/2 can of frozen orange juice concentrate

2 large eggs

13 or 16 oz. can of Solid pack pumpkin ( small can, weights may vary)

1 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 Tablespoons grated Orange peel

3/4 chopped pecans

1 cup (Re Hydrated) Raspberries
****Freeze dried from http://www.motherearthproducts.com/****

Cream butter eggs and sugar together and add GRADUALLY all your dry ingredients. Mix well. Add pecans, pumpkin, orange peel and raspberries into your mixture.
Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Check with a toothpick , if it comes out clean its done!. If baking mini loaves bake for about 40 minutes.

*******NOTE! Nutmeg is VERY expensive now! BUT, if you go to the Latino isle in your market you can get it in a plastic envelope for a fraction of the cost if you were to buy it in the spice isle!!!! I paid $1!

I hope you try this recipe! You'll want to make this one again and again! AND PLEASE, If you have tried the recipes on this blog, let me know how they came out and how your family liked them!

Peace! Sherry