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--Tutorials--
Water Purification
VIDEO TUTORIAL
--Three-Day Food Supply--
Emergencies can happen anytime, and usually we don’t get much of a notice. It can be a really stressful time, and in the event of a natural disaster, you may or may not have electricity or water. Think about that for a minute and consider today making preparations for storing water and an alternative way of cooking without electricity.
In any emergency, it is recommended to be prepared with at least 3 days of food for your entire family. It is not only vitally important, but it is NOT hard to do. Remember it may be a very stressful time, so keep things simple and easy to access and prepare.
Here are a few suggestions that are organized in the five food groups.
Breads:
Remember to check expiration dates and rotate! Be prepared so you can care for your family in difficult moments.
In any emergency, it is recommended to be prepared with at least 3 days of food for your entire family. It is not only vitally important, but it is NOT hard to do. Remember it may be a very stressful time, so keep things simple and easy to access and prepare.
- Make your plan, and then start to buy a few items each time you go shopping.
- Remember to rotate these things every 6 – 12 months and keep this three-day food supply up-to-date and ready to go.
- This should be foods you like to eat and are familiar with. Do not forget baby food and pet food.
- Choose non-perishable foods that require little to no cooking and no refrigeration. Cans or jar sizes should be appropriate for one meal with no leftovers. Once opened or prepared, many lose their shelf-stable life, and will go bad.
- BUY A HAND- CRANK CAN OPENER AND LEARN TO USE IT!
- Remember to keep it simple.
Here are a few suggestions that are organized in the five food groups.
Breads:
- Dry cereal, bread, crackers, pretzels, granola bars, rice cakes, tortilla shells. If you have a source of fresh water you can boil, consider including oatmeal, instant and reg. rice, quinoa, pasta.
- Canned fruit, applesauce, variety of dried fruits, jams, canned or bottled fruit juice, powdered fruits drinks.
- Canned vegetables, canned soups with veggies, canned spaghetti sauce. If you have fresh water and a way to boil it, include dried soups, instant potatoes, and dried split peas.
- Meat and fish from freezer, (use first if you lose electricity), canned tuna, variety of canned meats, canned soups with meat, chili, canned beans, canned stew, nuts, jerky, peanut butter that can be stored at room temperature. If you can boil water, consider nutritional dried foods such as lentils, and a variety of dried beans.
- Canned evaporated milk, powdered milk, canned pudding, boxed milk, (check shelf- life).
Remember to check expiration dates and rotate! Be prepared so you can care for your family in difficult moments.
--Year Prep For Family of Four--
One Year of Healthy Food Storage Soup for a Family of Four. Soup and bread may be a big comfort meal in times of need.
This long-term food storage system provides 1-2 hearty bowls of soup per person, per day, for a family of four…..for one year.
With the exception of vitamin B-12, (which you can get by storing meat, potatoes, and other vegetables,) this soup should take care of your nutritional needs. Maybe not all of your wants, but once you prepare this , you can concentrate on adding the stuff you want to your food storage, knowing you have enough for a year already if you have to use it. It is simple and may seem repetitive, but the day you break this open to use, you will be super grateful you have something nutritional that will last awhile!
What you’ll need to gather:
Overview of What you’ll do:
Wash and completely dry all buckets and lids! Place the Gamma lids on the 5 gallon buckets before you begin to fill. Open the package and dump it in its appropriate bucket. You will be storing each of the grains or beans, etc separately in their own bucket! If you choose to use Bay leaves, place a few bay leaves at the bottom of each bucket and fill…..adding more bay leaves after each 1/3 to full. Place oxygen absorbers at the top of each bucket. Label buckets with the contents and date, and I like to put the amount for the soup recipe there as well. For instance….Rice, ½ cup
Fill:
When you are all done filling the buckets, put the oxygen absorbers on top, and close the buckets. They should be good for 20+ years. The bay leaves discourage bugs and also add a flavor to the soup, but it is optional. Remember you should not eat those as they are hard to chew and could be a choking hazard. They are not toxic. Always remove before serving.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Buy small bags of the ingredients, and store it in your kitchen to fix a pot of soup for dinner every once in a while. By itself, the recipe is yummy, but try adding a cup of chicken or beef, carrots and potatoes, for a yummy meat and veggie soup, or adding dehydrated onions, a can of Ro-Tel (tomatoes and green chilies) right into the cooking pot, and an avocado, cilantro, and grated cheese, before serving, for a super yummy nutritional tortilla soup! Or try adding 1/8 cup of bacon bits. It changes the flavor completely. Be creative and add some of your favorite meats, veggies, and spices and see how your family likes it. Don’t wait until the emergency happens to find out what else your family might like to add to the soup or your food storage in general.
Daily Soup Recipe:
(It is recommended that you soak your red beans and garbanzo beans all night, or for 6 hours or so.)
Bring to boil and simmer on low with lid on for 1 hour or until done. Or put it in your crockpot on low. Always add rice last as to not overcook. If you had limited/finite fuel source, then boil with lid on for 10 min. and then transfer to thermal cooker for 6-8 hours, or even overnight. I prefer the Wonderbag, which is really amazing to cook with. It is basically a soft crock pot without electricity. Can be purchased or easily made. Many patterns online. A great addition to emergency preparations. Read about it online.
This soup is really hearty and nutritional, and really filling with a slice of bread or tortilla.
Remember storing wheat, which stores for 30+ years, and knowing how to use it will allow you to have bread or tortillas.
This long-term food storage system provides 1-2 hearty bowls of soup per person, per day, for a family of four…..for one year.
With the exception of vitamin B-12, (which you can get by storing meat, potatoes, and other vegetables,) this soup should take care of your nutritional needs. Maybe not all of your wants, but once you prepare this , you can concentrate on adding the stuff you want to your food storage, knowing you have enough for a year already if you have to use it. It is simple and may seem repetitive, but the day you break this open to use, you will be super grateful you have something nutritional that will last awhile!
What you’ll need to gather:
- BUCKETS
- (8) 5- gallon FOOD GRADE buckets ( Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Walmart sometimes.) If you cannot find food grade buckets, you can buy 5 gallon mylar bags online and put them inside any 5 gallon bucket with a lid that seals.
- GAMMA LIDS
- (6) gamma lids ( I found the best price at Home Depot, or Lowes.) Since you will be using this daily, it is a good idea to use a lid that has easy access, but it is not absolutely necessary.
- REGULAR LIDS
- (2) regular lids, (make sure you get the lid that seals the bucket, not just the one that comes off super easily. These two lids will be used for 2 of the rice buckets to save money.)
-
- SEALABLE GALLON BUCKETS
- (2) two- gallon buckets with lids that seal. ( Can find them at Lowe’s or Home Depot) Oxygen absorbers : A general rule of thumb is to use 300-500cc of oxygen absorber per gallon of food you are storing. Oxygen Absorbers will help preserve food for many years! When stored properly, Rice, beans, etc. can be stored for 20+ years.
- 100 lbs. of white rice ( Sam’s Club had the best price for 50 pound bags.)
- 33 lbs. of dark Kidney or Red Beans. If you cannot find these, I would just mix the beans you can find.
- 33 lbs. of Pearled Barley, or hulled Barley. Hulled Barley cooks slower, but has better nutrition. (Do not get instant) Safeway or Nature’s grocer sells Barley, or you can search online.
- 33 lbs. of Lentils. You can use any color of lentils. A mixture is fine.
- 13 lbs. of Garbanzo beans
- 15 lbs. of Split Peas
- 5 lb. of Iodized Salt
- 2 Large containers of black pepper, 18 oz. ( Sam’s Club )
- 6-8 Large containers of bouillon. Make sure it does not have to be refrigerated after opening. You could store both chicken and beef. I found a great 2.2lb chicken bouillon at Sam’s club and Walmart. The brand is Knorr.
Overview of What you’ll do:
Wash and completely dry all buckets and lids! Place the Gamma lids on the 5 gallon buckets before you begin to fill. Open the package and dump it in its appropriate bucket. You will be storing each of the grains or beans, etc separately in their own bucket! If you choose to use Bay leaves, place a few bay leaves at the bottom of each bucket and fill…..adding more bay leaves after each 1/3 to full. Place oxygen absorbers at the top of each bucket. Label buckets with the contents and date, and I like to put the amount for the soup recipe there as well. For instance….Rice, ½ cup
Fill:
- (3) 5 gal buckets with rice. All 100 lbs. will fit in three buckets.
- (1) 5 gal. bucket of kidney beans
- (1) 5 gal. bucket of pearled barley
- (1) 5 gal. bucket of lentils ( can mix colors)
- (1) 2 gallon bucket of split green peas
- (1) 2 gallon bucket of Garbanzo beans
- (2) 5 gallon buckets for your spices, bouillon, salt and pepper, and recipe in a zip lock bag. You can also find a 2 TBS (1/8th cup) scoop on Amazon and a bucket opener, which you can store in your spice buckets, and which will come in handy if you are using regular lids as opposed to Gamma.
When you are all done filling the buckets, put the oxygen absorbers on top, and close the buckets. They should be good for 20+ years. The bay leaves discourage bugs and also add a flavor to the soup, but it is optional. Remember you should not eat those as they are hard to chew and could be a choking hazard. They are not toxic. Always remove before serving.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Buy small bags of the ingredients, and store it in your kitchen to fix a pot of soup for dinner every once in a while. By itself, the recipe is yummy, but try adding a cup of chicken or beef, carrots and potatoes, for a yummy meat and veggie soup, or adding dehydrated onions, a can of Ro-Tel (tomatoes and green chilies) right into the cooking pot, and an avocado, cilantro, and grated cheese, before serving, for a super yummy nutritional tortilla soup! Or try adding 1/8 cup of bacon bits. It changes the flavor completely. Be creative and add some of your favorite meats, veggies, and spices and see how your family likes it. Don’t wait until the emergency happens to find out what else your family might like to add to the soup or your food storage in general.
Daily Soup Recipe:
(It is recommended that you soak your red beans and garbanzo beans all night, or for 6 hours or so.)
- 8-10 cups of water depending if you like thicker soup
- 1 -2 TBSP of bouillon (according to your preference in flavor)
- 1 tsp of salt
- ½ tsp. of pepper
- 2 TBSP of kidney or red beans (soaked overnight, or at least 6 hours)
- 1 TBSP of garbanzo beans, (soaked overnight or at least 6 hours)
- ½ cup of rice ( add last as to not overcook)
- 2 TBSP of lentils
- 2 TBSP of pearled or hulled barley (omit for gluten free)
- 1 TBSP of split green peas
- 1 bay leaf for flavor (remove before eating)
Bring to boil and simmer on low with lid on for 1 hour or until done. Or put it in your crockpot on low. Always add rice last as to not overcook. If you had limited/finite fuel source, then boil with lid on for 10 min. and then transfer to thermal cooker for 6-8 hours, or even overnight. I prefer the Wonderbag, which is really amazing to cook with. It is basically a soft crock pot without electricity. Can be purchased or easily made. Many patterns online. A great addition to emergency preparations. Read about it online.
This soup is really hearty and nutritional, and really filling with a slice of bread or tortilla.
Remember storing wheat, which stores for 30+ years, and knowing how to use it will allow you to have bread or tortillas.
--No-Knead Crusty Artisan Bread--
This bread is awesome because it only has 4 ingredients, but it is super yummy. Especially with a warm bowl of soup!
- 3 cups of white flour
- 1 tsp. of salt
- 1/2 tsp. of yeast
- 1½ cup of warmer water
- 1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water, and using a wooden spoon, stir together until the mixture resembles a “shaggy” dough. About a minute is all it takes.
- 2. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 6 hours, (can leave it for up to 18 hours.) Dough will bubble up and rise.
- 3. After dough is ready, preheat oven to 450 F.
- 4. Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface, ( a plate works well.) With floured hands, form the dough into a loose ball, but it will be sticky so just lightly move it together. Cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest.
- 5. While dough is resting, put your Dutch oven into the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
- 6. After 30 minutes are up, remove the lid of the Dutch-oven, be careful not to get burned! Carefully place your dough into the oven. It does not have to be a well-rounded ball. Artisan bread has lots of personality.
- 7. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Then remove the cover and bake for an additional 10 minutes uncovered. Bread should be golden, crusty, and delicious!
- 8. Let sit for 10 minutes before you cut it.