All About the Panic-Free Lifestyle of Self-Sufficient Living

Preparing for Babies in Your Food Storage

baby food

 While preparing main dishes for your family is necessary, it’s important to consider food for the non-nursing babies as well.  Due to the lack of preservatives in most baby foods, it’s not feasible to have enough baby-friendly foods stored in the event of survival living.  It also takes up a lot of valuable storage space.  If you’ve read my articles previously, then you know that I’m always trying to save space and find items that serve multiple purposes.  I take the exact same approach with food.  The nutritional value in baby food will deplete dramatically as it is stored, and yet in an emergency, it’s critical to ensure your child is getting the maximum nutrition in order to counteract the inevitable changes he or she will undergo.  So here are a few tips so that you can easily make your own infant-palate foods from the preparedness supplies that you’ll hopefully already have on hand.

By Preparedness Pro, ago

Behold, the Solar Oven!

 Photo by Julia Kalloz

Hundreds, if not thousands of dollars are regularly spent by Americans on gadgets and gizmos to make their cooking experiences taste better.  Smokers, cedar planks, fancy grills, kitchen appliances, turkey fryers and more are all acquired with the intent to produce that ideal mouth-watering meal.  Given my love of cooking, it’s no wonder my friends constantly accuse me of having every kitchen gadget known to man—er… woman.  So it’s no surprise that I recently acquired yet another gadget, only to discover that not only did it produce the most amazing taste in foods I’ve prepared otherwise, but it was also ideal to use in the event of emergency survival.  No water.  No messy clean up.  No worries of scorching or burning.  No constant monitoring.  And no fuel of any kind is required.  The solar oven is now officially my new cooking nirvana.  

By Preparedness Pro, ago
Handgun

Firearms in Your Preparedness Supplies

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Firearms(Fair Warning: I’m speaking my mind a bit here with very little censoring…ahem…) In my opinion, any person who claims to be knowledgeable on the topic of  “emergency preparedness” but does NOT address the issue of firearms as a necessary component to  that kind of preparedness, is either a coward for not wanting to discuss such a “delicate” yet vital issue, or still has a long way to go in their quest for knowledge on the topic.  I have read and studied literally hundreds of books and “expert websites” on the topic of emergency preparedness, interviewed over 60 military, law enforcement and self-defense experts on the emergency preparedness and yet I have NEVER seen the need for firearms clearly addressed for any other purpose other than for “hunting” or the need to defend oneself against a roving pack of wild dogs.  Can we please dispense with the niceties and the “politically correct” discussions that have been created based on fear and hate-mongering rhetoric and let’s talk in a very practical and common sense manner on the topic? I’m not talking about the “need” for a firearm so that you can kill someone who’s hungry; I’m talking about the very realistic need of protecting yourself everyday AND in the midst of a disaster scenario. I’m all about restraining one’s temper and only using fatal measures IF necessary, but there are many who won’t even allow themselves to consider the reality of such measures being necessary. So, let’s chat frankly for a moment, OK?

By Preparedness Pro, ago

My Spice of Life

  spice-of-life1 Stores of food staples are meaningless without the proper add-in ingredients.  Remember, you need to be prepared to provide meals for your family that are as “normal” as possible in order to help alleviate the stress of change and chaos and to literally provide comfort.  This is why I’m sharing with you my “never be without” spice list.  This list is actually in addition to what I hope would be standard in everyone’s kitchen such as salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, Tabasco sauce, soy sauce, barbeque sauce, Worchester sauce, Italian seasoning, caraway seed, and All Spice. (more…)

By Preparedness Pro, ago

Vegetables in an Emergency

fresh-vegetables

I’m sure you’re family is accustomed to cooking regularly with fresh produce.  However, in a time of emergency, regardless of the season, fresh produce will not be readily available.  So what can you do now to ensure some semblance of normalcy even in the event of an emergency?  Learn alternative recipe methods.

By Preparedness Pro, ago

How to Know If You Have Enough

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I am frequently told that folks are storing food and water, etc., but aren’t sure whether or not they have enough.  Ironically, over 100 families who believe they were ready to survive off of their food and water storage for one year, were recently evaluated.  Only 5 of them indeed had enough for one year.  Knowing, really knowing whether you have enough can be a tough call since we’re so accustomed to living moment to moment in between runs to the grocery store.  

By Preparedness Pro, ago

Thirty Minutes. Do You Feel Lucky Today?

If there ever is a cause for a run on the grocery stores, the supplies will be depleted in thirty minutes. That’s it.  One half hour warning is all you will have to get more food, more water, more produce, more seeds, more medical supplies, etc.—you and the rest of your community.  Yet in that thirty minutes, your local stores will only be able to supply less than 1% of your community with the goods they would need or hoard.  Do you really want to risk that you’ll be a part of that lucky 1% and that you’re fast enough to get all of your necessary goods available in that one half hour?

By Preparedness Pro, ago

Beans Under Pressure

kuhn-rikon-pressure-cookerSince I know that anyone who is serious about having an emergency preparedness supply of food is bound to have beans, I thought that this would be a vital article today.

Besides, I was craving yummy beans today, so I decided to share with you yet another e-z p-z pressure cooker recipe.

By Preparedness Pro, ago
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Embracing SPAM

Embracing SPAM

 

 

I’ve encountered some pretty strong facial expressions when I insinuate that having SPAM in one’s food storage is an asset.  And to be forthright, I totally get it.  Even when we were dirt poor, my mother never made us eat it.

 

However, I wasn’t educated in matters of emergency preparedness then either.  But I certainly am now, and as a result, have come to embrace the wonders of SPAM.  I’ve discovered that if I cook with it much like I would chicken or pork in a recipe, then it’s delightful.

By Preparedness Pro, ago