Preppy Prepping

In my continual quest to identify meals of different types that I can add into my Stores meal list (see October 17 Post, “Soup for Every Occasion”), I’ve run across some information that I find helpful. Specifically, different meals require different types of rice. For instance, most Indian-type meals call for Basmati rice, something I have not added to my stores. I have a good supply of long-grain white rice, but no other kinds. I’ve also discovered that I should probably store up Arborio rice. This is the rice used for Risotto, and it’s smaller and plumper than long-grain. Therefore, when cooked, if done correctly, you get a creamy, light, delicious product. I’ve watched enough Gordon Ramsey shows to know that creamy Risotto is a staple in his restaurants. It can also be used for rice pudding. Storing up Arborio rice and Basmati means that I can vary our rice dishes much more. Using rice twice a week, once a week by itself and once a week combined with beans, having different types o...

Two weeks ago, I was talking with my son about the possibility of a catastrophic emergency. Recently, he told me that he believes we will have a financial collapse and a regime change in our country within the next 2 years, so this is a topic we visit periodically. He pointed out that if the worst happens, he’ll have to stop working out because I won’t be able to provide enough protein to fuel his muscles. Of course, that got me thinking. If we lose the power grid, life will require all family members working hard from sun up to sundown just to survive, like in the Pioneer Days. We will need my son’s muscle and it would be in our family’s best interest to be able to supplement his food allotment with additional protein. With that in mind, I began researching high protein sources. I believe I’ve mentioned before that my father’s family were pioneers in the part of northern Alberta where they settled. They were the only non-Indians in that area. The Tribe that peopled that area were the ...

Years ago, I started dehydrating bell peppers and storing them in jars. I find that I use a lot of bell peppers but I’m not going to pay $1 for a single pepper. My father-in-law grows them every year, as do I, and I dehydrate all the excess. All year rounds, I have bell peppers without having to pay a premium. For most things, it’s unnecessary to reconstitute the diced, dried peppers. I can simply add them to soups, casseroles along with the meat, or omelette fixings and they reconstitute really well on their own. Yet, I use them so often, I still have run out of dried peppers a time or two. For every full jar I keep available to use throughout the year, I try to have another stored for long term. Several times recently, I’ve been making something, like a roast with potatoes and carrots, when I really needed celery to add another taste profile. Celery is something I almost never buy, primarily because I use it rarely and, in between uses, it just rots and has to be thrown out. But, on ...

I wrote previously of the need for every family to have a supply of all medications regularly taken by family members. But you might want to consider expanding this supply a little more. Are there frequent ailments that attack your family members? For years, every March, I would develop Bronchitis. It was like clock-work, documented in my medical charts. This was primarily due to allergies, change in weather, and the amount of time I was spending outside since March, in Georgia, signals the beginning of warm weather. The best way for me to avoid bronchitis is to treat the allergies before they develop into a sinus infection and the sinus infection before it results in bronchitis. In order to protect my body from bronchitis, a much more serious and debilitating illness for me, I have to be sure to stay on top of my allergies. We keep Benadryl around the house in large volumes. We live in an area that is easily in the top five for worst allergies in the country. I’ve been told by several...