Elk Ridge Self-Reliant Sisters

Cut Your Food Budget & Convenience Foods

2011-12-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

There are small ways to save money that add up to quite a lot if you have several children, if you have a big credit card bill, or if you have trouble living within your budget. It's obvious that spending has to be cut back, but if you are already careful with your spending, sometimes the only thing left to cut back is your food budget. How?

First, as I've continually encouraged, buy as much as you can on sale. That's why I talk about the great deals in local grocery stores and encourage you to buy by the case when possible, or at least to buy as many cans/boxes as you can afford of non-perishables or perishables that store well. If you can save about half the price of an item, as butter was last week in two grocery stores, then you can afford to eat well on a budget all year.

Second, eating a lot of convenience foods is costly, both to our wallets and our health. Make as much as you can from scratch: there are ways, though, to make your "from Scratch" foods be convenient and fast, which I will explain. Perhaps the biggest and easiest saving for a big family would be to seldom buy cold cereal. Think how many boxes you use a week and how much it costs. What is the alternative if you are a busy family? Short-term planning. Here are some examples of inexpensive breakfasts:

Make a double or triple batch of pancakes, waffles, or french toast, feed your family and freeze the rest in freezer bags. We often just reheat a pancake or a waffle in the toaster, which takes just a minute on a busy morning.
Cook oatmeal, cream of wheat, or another hot cereal. Oatmeal is great with chopped apples and cinnamon. Here, too, it can become a convenience food if you plan: one of the first issues of our blog has a recipe for instant oatmeal. Cold cream of wheat is a solid mass, but if you put a little water in the pot and break up the cream of wheat as it heats (adding water when needed), you can use a wisk and end up with creamy cereal a second day.
If you really want to save, buy the hot cereal in bulk. If you live where you can buy bulk grains, you've seen the larger sizes of oatmeal or steel-cut oats. Cream of wheat is also known as "farina", and you can buy a big bag of farina in most places that sell bulk grains -- I think I bought my last bag from Leland Mills in Spanish Fork. One bag lasts years in our house.
Wheat and other whole grains can be cooked overnight in a crockpot and be ready to eat in the morning as a hot cereal. Cooked whole wheat is very chewy and filling. If you have a rice cooker that turns itself to warm when done, you can cook brown rice or basmati brown rice (which we prefer for flavor) and it will be warm when you get up in the morning (just add about a cup more water than the rice cooker shows to add for white rice). You can even toss in some dried raisins, craisins, or another dried fruit while cooking to sweeten the rice.
More time consuming, but definitely a savings, is to make your own bread, but did you know homemade bread freezes very well? You can't beat french toast made with homemade bread, as it soaks up more of the egg mixture -- yum! Because one of my children had a milk allergy as a child, we don't even use milk in french toast: just egg, water, a little vanilla, and cinnamon. You'd never miss the milk.

The best way to save money, ever, is to simply take a few minutes a day or so ahead and plan. Planning takes the stress out and helps us be less apt to spend a lot eating out or ordering a pizza. :)

Back to convenience foods in general. Most of them are really expensive for the quantity you get. Most of the convenience foods you really enjoy can be made from scratch, and the dry ingredients can be put in jars to use as a homemade convenience food. Take "Hamburger Helper", as one example. Just look for recipes in a Google search.

Here is a great blog that goes into detail about making your own Hamburger Helper. I'm posting the link, but I have not tried it. How to Make Homemade Hamburger Helper .
Cheeseburger Macaroni (with photos of every step)
Cheeseburger Macaroni (a Hamburger Helper Make-over . She also has a super easy recipe for Creamy Mac and Cheese that she uses as a part of the first recipe.
Lasagna Hamburger Helper Make-over -- this site makes over unhealthy recipes into tasty & healthy recipes -- not an instant make-over, but it looks good

Yes, I know that some of the things going into these online recipes are also convenience foods, but you get to decide if you want to make it all from scratch or not, as there will be recipes that do it both ways -- I, for one, don't use Hamburger Helper, but I will probably not be giving up canned cream of mushroom soup any time soon. There are whole websites and books devoted to making your own mixes, and you'll save a bundle that way over buying convenience foods.

Just keep in mind that convenience foods (as produced by manufacturers) are not necessarily good for our health. Here are two very similar quotes from LDS President Ezra Taft Benson, who was also the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under both terms of the Eisenhower administration:

"In general, the more food we eat in its natural state and the less it is refined without additives, the healthier it will be for us. Food can affect the mind, and deficiencies in certain elements in the body can promote mental depression." [Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign Nov 1974, Do Not Despair]

"To a great extent we are physically what we eat. Most of us are acquainted with some of the prohibitions, such as no tea, coffee, tobacco, or alcohol. What need additional emphasis are the positive aspects--the need for vegetables, fruits, and grains, particularly wheat. In most cases, the closer these can be, when eaten, to their natural state-- without overrefinement and processing--the healthier we will be. To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished nation digging an early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that could be ours because we overindulge in junk foods."[Ezra Taft Benson, Fireside Address at BYU March 1979, In His Steps]

Back in 1990, when I mentioned these quotes in a meeting as a way to encourage whole grains, I got a lot of negative feedback, and that was in the days when families were not eating much convenience food. Why? People didn't catch Pres. Benson's vision then and they felt stressed to think of making changes. It is interesting that over the last 20 plus years, in addition to some of the public turning almost exclusively to convenience foods, we also have seen huge popular movements that head in exactly the opposite direction. People use other words to describe it than President Benson did, including "Real Foods", "Whole Foods", "Clean Foods", "Organic Foods", and so on. The goals, though, (and most of the food choices) are exactly the same -- a healthy mind and body and loads of energy.

If changing your cooking habits or dietary habits is your goal, then take a look at where you are and where you want to be and then take baby steps toward it -- that's the way to be successful in any such changes. I appreciate those sites, like some of the links above, that support us in making changes in ways that we can still eat what tastes good to us while making healthier choices.

Oh, Beans!

2011-02-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Do creativity and beans go together? Of course! I'm talking food, too, not gluing beans on a turkey, a popular Thanksgiving craft in elementary school. Have you ever tried grinding dry beans in the wheat grinder? You can add this highly nutritious "bean flour" to your recipes — even deserts and breads— usually without changing the flavor of the food. Beans tend to take on the flavor of the ingredients used with them. Rita Bingham, a food storage expert, uses this bean flour to make delicious sauces and gravies and instant refried beans, among other things. (Natural Meals in Minutes, Book Four, Rita's Beans", Rita Bingham, Natural Meals in Minutes, Provo, UT.) If you’ve ever forgotten to add the onions and ham hock or other seasonings to your beans, you know how bland beans can be sans seasoning.

Mostly, we need to change our attitude about where and how we use beans and get more creative. We can put some white bean flour in our bread and get a complete protein--plus the extra calcium found in white beans. (See "Do You Know Beans about Beans?", Ensign, June 1991, p.66) We can even bottle beans in our own jars (following USDA guidelines and using a pressure canner, please!) to have them on hand for quick, economical meals. We can make our own tofu with soybeans. We can crack beans as we would wheat, and we can sprout beans, both which considerably lessen cooking time. Our imagination is our only limit.

Another reason many of us limit our legume consumption is that we have flatulence (gas) when we eat legumes. Our bodies have lost the necessary enzymes that aid in digesting legumes because we eat so many highly refined foods. Here are several options to help, if not conquer, this problem:

Sprouting beans ahead of time considerably reduces gas. "Dry Beans & Peas", Georgia Lauritzen, Cooperative Extension Service, Logan, UT. [This method requires several rinses of the beans each day so that they do not sour. Just put the beans in a colander and run water over them. I put a dishtowel over the top to keep them moist.)
Discarding the soak water, even with a quick soak, and then rinsing the beans thoroughly is helpful to reduce gas.
Start soaking your dry beans the night before you plan to eat them. Long soaks reduce gas. Then rinse well and use new water to cook the beans.
Best and simplest is to regularly include in your diet small amounts of beans (at least 2-3 times a week). Gradually increasing your intake from very small amounts allows your body to get used to the legumes and grow the friendly bacteria needed to digest them.

Legumes do get harder as time passes and thus take longer to cook after several years' storage. However, I have found that even 20-year-old legumes, when stored properly in a cool and dark place, do well if sprouted or cooked in a pressure cooker.

We so often think of beans as a lowly alternative to meat, but then most of our experience in the west is with pinto or kidney beans in bean dip and burritos, plus navy beans in white bean soup. There truly is a whole world out there of beans to experience, with different flavors. Do a Google search to find out more about beans like Adzuki (from East Asia and the Himalayas), Flageolet (from France), Jacob’s Cattle (a spotted heirloom bean), Scarlet runner, Apaloosa, and Cannellini (from Italy). One of my favorite easy things with dry beans is to buy a bag with a variety of beans of different colors (a bean stew mix from the store) and follow the recipe on the bag. The stew is so pretty and tasty.

If you are a true beginner with dried beans, a great set of instructions is linked here.

The biggest secret to having success with dry beans? Simply plan in advance and try a few recipes from trusted sources like the Idaho Bean Commission, which has recipes for dry beans as well as canned beans. In fact, my first forays into dry beans, when I was first married, were with a recipe in hand from the Idaho Bean Council. Now, all their recipes are online and linked here. Enjoy!

Gobble in a Bowl

2010-11-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Some years, I buy two or three turkeys while there are killer deals at the grocery store before Thanksgiving. Generally, the bigger the bird, the better deal you get. Why? The bones are close to the same size in the smaller birds as they are in the larger birds. That means there is more meat per pound of turkey on those larger birds. Therefore, if you have room in your freezer, don't hesitate to get a 21 lb. or larger turkey, even if there are only a few people in your family.

What would you do with a huge turkey?

Toss the left-over meat in the freezer in freezer bags -- breast meat, being drier, should be used before the darker meat. Our family has a lot of meals (turkey crepes, included), that we traditionally have after Thanksgiving, and the freezer extends the time between those meals. So, I buy some turkeys even if I am eating at the in-laws. A turkey is easy to cook, and it makes for a least a week's meals. Yes, turkey is ultra cheap, but ONLY if you buy it around this time of year or have an "in" with the Norbest people.
Freeze the legs separately and make soup.
Make soup with the turkey carcass

My family likes the bones as much as the dinner that creates the bones. From those bones, we make one of our most delicious soups -- any soup would taste good from the turkey carcass. We're talking old-time soups like our grandmothers made. With a large turkey carcass, we get a huge pot of soup that lasts us several days. Add that to all the meat, and you can see why a turkey is so economical.

How to boil down a turkey carcass:
After dinner and after you've taken most of the meat off the turkey carcass (hey don't pick it clean, but do get most of it), cover the carcass and put it in the refrigerator to handle the next day. (Yes, you could do it the day you cook the turkey, but won't you be tired?) When ready to cook:

Put the carcass in the largest pot you own and fill the pot with water to a few inches over the top of most of the bones. (Unless you have a huge pot, some bones will stick up at first. It's O.K. to break apart the carcass if you can.)
Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn to low and simmer several hours. As the carcass cooks, you'll be able to break it apart a little so it will better fit your pot. You should turn the carcass over several times (check every half hour or so) until it does break down and fit the pan better. Add more water as necessary to keep the turkey covered but not so much it boils over the top of the pan.
The carcass is done when the remaining meat fragments easily slip off the bones and when most of the bones have separated from each other. At this point, if you take a large bone out of the pot, it dries a whitish color.

Now, remove all the bones.
The easiest way to do remove the bones is to first remove the largest bones with tongs. To remove the small bones:

Put a large colander in the top of a second large container. Carefully pour a little of the hot cooked liquid at a time into the colander, catching any solid pieces.
Put the solid pieces on a plate, a cutting board, or in a large bowl to cool a bit, while you repeat the pouring process.
When the first solids have cooled enough, use clean fingers to separate meat from bones and gristle, feeling for very small bones and put the cleaned meat into a separate bowl. (No matter you carefully I look, there is always a small bone, but to date, I am the one who has always found that bone in my soup)

Return the meat and the broth to the large cooking pot, toss out the bones and gristle, and add the ingredients you want for soup. Some ideas: turkey and dumplings with veggies, turkey taco soup, turkey gumbo, or whatever sounds good with a brothy soup. If you like, you can add some bouillon or soup base to enhance the flavor.

Utah Turkey Gumbo Soup ( not New Orleans, but delicious, nevertheless):
The broth and meat from above
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
1 16 oz. bag frozen okra
1 or 2 (32 oz.) jars tomatoes (home-canned are the very best, of course)
1/2 cup dry rice or throw in 1 cup cooked rice.

Cook until veggies are tender and okra is starting to fall apart (the okra thickens the soup). Add rice and cook until done. Add a little soup base or bouillion to taste.

Supremacy over Squash Bugs!

2010-08-14T09:47:00.000-06:00

I never thought I'd be able to say this, but I have conquered squash bugs in my garden. I have tried handpicking squash bugs and their egg clusters with little success before. This year, though, I stuck with it and found stick-to-it-ness works with squash bugs. For photos of squash bugs in every stage of development, the University of Maryland has a photo montage here. They go into ways to manage the bugs, including insecticide, but I have an organic garden.

Photos by Marvin

For two weeks, I went out to the garden nearly every day, looked under every squash leaf and on the ground near the main stem. I grabbed every bug I found and squished it. By the way, those bugs are harder to squish, being flat, so you have to kind of grind it into the ground and make sure it is dead. If you are squeamish, pop them in soapy water to kill. I used to be squeamish, but seeing all those dead plants over the years has changed things.

You won't generally see squash bugs unless you look under every leaf, or unless you have a bad infestation. As you look under the leaves, look for egg clusters like in the photo to the left. They say to scrape off the eggs or crush them and it seems to kill that part of the leaf anyway. So, I just rip out that tiny portion of the leaf, eggs and all, and take them to the garbage or crush them.

The first two days of going through that procedure, I found 15 squash bugs and six egg clusters, both days. Each day after that, I found nine, then 8, then 6 bugs and egg clusters. I didn't go out as often when it got so I only found one squash bug and one egg cluster. Now, I only check twice a week and find one bug and one egg cluster each time. My squash is thriving, and I think I'm in control. Yeah! You'll never get in control if you don't make sure you get those egg clusters, though, so carefully check under each leaf.

Squash bugs are easier to find during and after watering, as they crawl up on the stems.

I have to admit that this procedure would be time consuming if you have more than a couple of plants or a pumpkin or other large viney squash, but for my home garden, it worked. I give much credit to my rubber-coated garden gloves in keeping down the "gross" factor. I don't feel the bugs, so I don't get the shudders.

Three-month Emergency Food Supply: How Do I Begin?

2010-07-06T23:26:00.001-06:00

The hardest thing is to make yourself start. After that, it comes together quickly. Your kids and spouse can make this job easier for you. You might be surprised at the great menu ideas they'll have.

Put together a list of foods/meals that you eat regularly and figure out how much you need for three months. One way to do this is to decide on a week or more of menus and then multiply these menus to get 90 days of menus. [See “Sample Family Plans” below for three complete family plans. Please note the URLs of two wonderful preparedness blogs from which I pulled menu and shopping plans for two of these plans: http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com and http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/ and thanks to Lesa for contributing the other plan.]
Use the Sample Family Plans to get ideas to make your own family plan. Choose the recipes you want, and list the ingredients. (If you need more ideas, do a Google search.) Then, multiply that ingredient list by the number of times you plan to eat that meal during three months. How many different recipes you use is your choice – are you after subsistence food or do you want to eat close to how you eat now if you had to use that food in an emergency situation? I recommend that you go as close to how you eat as possible. Don’t rely entirely on frozen foods, as power can fail.
Create a shopping list with all of the food items totaled from above.
Make a Family Goal Statement. Decide how much food you will purchase each month and how long it will take your family to buy all the items for the 3-months’ supply.
Paying attention to grocery sales, purchase a few extra items to add to your storage each week. Gradually build it to a one-week supply, then expand it to a one-month supply, then a three-month supply
Rotate the food. Make an extra copy of your shopping list to use as your tracking list and mark off items as you use them. As you use these items from your 3-months’ supply, replace them on a weekly basis.

Sample: 3-Month Plan for a Family of Six
(2 pages)

Sample: 3-Month Plan for a Family of Four
(2 pages)

Sample: Lesa's 3-Month Plan for a Family of Four
(2 pages)

Plants Just Sitting There? Tree Leaves Look Yellow and Burnt? Sorry, Dorothy, You're not in Kansas

2010-07-06T10:14:00.000-06:00

Alkaline soils and western desert soils need help in order for your garden to grow well. You can't pop your plants and seeds into the ground and expect them to do much if you don't render assistance. So, if your veggies and/or flowers have been up and going for a few weeks and are not showing much sign of growth, or worse still, they are becoming lighter green or even yellowish, they are likely crying for nitrogen. Sprinkle a little nitrogen fertilizer (or blood meal or cotton seed meal if you're into organic) around the base of each plant -- as Gordon Wells puts it, "Like you were salting a steak." Then scratch it gently into the soil and water it in. (I have both a hand tool that looks like a claw and a long tool with a claw for specifically that purpose. ) I use blood meal on my veggies, and it provides both iron and nitrogen.

You should see a tremendous difference in your plants within a few days. Most plants will need this periodic nitrogen treatment -- EXCEPT tomatoes -- at least once. (Only put nitrogen on tomatoes once, at the beginning of the growing season, otherwise you will get loads of lush green and few tomatoes.) I do this if the plants seem to need it, even if I have added all those Gordon Wells recommended fertilizer items at the beginning of the season. Make sure to go light on the nitrogen, though, as you could burn your plant, and rinse off the leaves of the plants afterward. Just keep an eye on the progress of the plant and look for lack of growth and light-colored leaves and you'll know it's time to fertilize.

What else do the veggies need?
In my garden, I use fish emulsion fertilizer about three times during the summer, especially when a plant begins to bloom. I buy it at garden centers (like Olson's or Carpenter Seed) in quart or gallon jugs and mix it with water in a 5-gallon bucket. The stuff stinks to high heaven, after all it is a by-product of fish processing plants, but my veggies love it! If veggies can look happy, they do, as their leaves look lush and perky. I put on long sleeves and rubber gloves and plan on a bath right afterwards. (It's a good time to also spray that stinky Liquid Fence stuff that keeps the deer away from your flowers and shrubs.)

My method of application is to, first, apply when the soil is dry so the plants will soak up the maximum fertilizer. Mix the fertilizer well with the water (a sprayer on the end of the hose does this well or, alternatively, a long stick.) Get a pitcher or cut off milk jug (cut off some of the top, but keep the handle) full of the fertilizer/ water mixture and go from plant to plant, pouring a little pool of solution at the base of each plant -- it won't burn plants if you get some on the leaves. By the time you've gone five or six plants, the first liquid will have soaked into the soil. So, go back and water all those plants again with the solution, starting with the first plant. I usually water each plant 3-4 times with the solution, systematically working my garden in rows. It's not a fun process, I admit it, but even complaining kids can help with this process and make it a lot quicker -- just ask my daughters how much they like helping with this. :) The key is really to cover yourself well, as the smell will soak into your skin a bit if you go out there with uncovered arms and hands.

I give much credit to the fish emultion fertilizer for my good yields each year, as I didn't get anything near the harvest I do now before I started using the fish fertilizer. It gives the plants a lot of trace minerals and other needed nutrition. After all, didn't the pilgrims get a good harvest when the Native Americans buried a fish with kernals of corn?

Yellowing can also be a lack of iron or even copper, but usually nitrogen is the culprit with vegetables in the semi-arid desert regions.

What about trees and shrubs?
If you live with alkaline soils and the leaves of your trees and shrubs are yellow and show signs of burning (brown) on the edges, despite regular watering, it means your plants likely have iron chlorosis. This will not kill your trees and it can be fixed.

When faced with my tree leaves looking yellow and burnt, I followed the advice of Larry Sagers, of the KSL Greenhouse Show on KSL radio. In late winter, say February or March, but definitely before the leaves on the trees and shrubs bud out, fertilize them with an iron chelate, pouring it around the soil beneath the trees and shrubs. He mentioned several brands, and I use one, Millers FeriPlus Iron, which is a powder you mix with water. I mix it up in milk jugs and pour it on the soil while there is still snow on the ground -- this will stain, so wear old clothing. The remaining snows and rain will carry the iron into the soil. I do this every winter, and my tree and shrub leaves look great now. Unfortunately, you can do nothing about this problem right now if your leaves show the signs this summer. Mark your calendar for late next winter so you'll remember and do it every year. This year, I applied considerably less than the label asked for, and the leaves still turned out great.

Seeds on the Cheap & Organizing Your Garden Seeds.

2010-04-11T11:52:00.007-06:00

With my miniature daffodils nodding their perky little heads, I think I'm finally mentally ready for spring gardening. I even bought some fun new seeds yesterday: artichoke seeds because a friend had such success with them, bright red Italian bell pepper seeds, because it's fun to try a foreign variety, and a crenshaw melon, because crenshaws are pure delicious. Yum!

I bought those seeds despite all the dozens of packages of seed I already have, organized with dividers in clear plastic shoe boxes, and despite the fact the packets were about $2 each. My looking at seeds is kind of like kids going through the Christmas toy catalogs, where they want simply everything they see.

By the way, organizing my seed packets has made both planning and planting so much easier! I used to throw all the seed packets in one huge plastic container and have to shuffle through the whole thing every time I planted. I got smart last year. Within a few seconds, I now have what I want. I have headings for the vegetables I plant a lot, and I throw everything that doesn’t fit under miscellaneous. I have two shoe boxes for vegetable seeds and one shoe box for flower seed.

The seed packets I bought yesterday were a little more expensive than what I usually buy, being special, but you don't need to spend big money on expensive seed if you’re buying more common seed varieties and if you only need a few seeds. Last year, I bought some seeds from the local dollar store at 20 cents per packet, and the seeds grew and produced very well. The dollar store packets have only 8 grams of seed, probably 1/4 less than average packets bought elsewhere for between $1.49-$3.00.

Generally, those smaller packets are not cost effective for larger and heavier seeds, such as beans, where you’d have to purchase several packets to get a good crop. Yet, those packets are a wonderful buy for small seeds like lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers, where one packet is still enough for several years. Moreover, the dollar store (where we live, it’s Dollar Tree) has tried and true varieties you’ll see everywhere else seed is sold. It’s also a great buy if you’re wanting to experiment and try just a little bit of a different variety. My experience has been that the seed quality is the same as the expensive brands.

Be watching in the late summer and early fall for stores to clearance remaining seeds, and you can often pick up seeds for the next year at bargain prices. They don’t save seed packets to sell the next year.

Not This Garden, Bambi!

2010-04-01T18:57:00.007-06:00

Because so many of you are worried about planting a vegetable garden that becomes, instead of your family dinner, a deer salad bar, I went through my “Pest” file of old Organic Gardening articles. I remember that Organic Gardening did an extensive study of deer control methods more than a dozen years ago. They tried everything you’ve ever heard of and more: soap, human hair, pepper spray, and even lion dung and/or urine. The conclusion was that the only sure thing to stop a hungry deer is at least an 8 ft. fence. An online search of articles on deer control reveals the same results. It seems, you see, that what works with deer in one area doesn’t always work in a different area. Moreover, bucks, does, and fawns have different taste preferences. One of our friends here in town had a row of tulips, with red and yellow tulips alternating. The deer ate all the red tulips right off and left the yellow tulips for later munching. Red smells tastier, perhaps?

I know, though, that there are many of you beginning new gardens with no extra money to invest in a big fence. So, I went looking for other workable ideas for you. In my file of OG articles were two comments from readers that gave virtually the same advice -- laying something down on the ground instead of in the air. I think it's an idea worth trying. Here was a comment from Oregon:

“The old orchardist down the road showed me how he protects his raspberry plants from deer without using a fence. He lays section of chicken wire and hardware cloth on the ground all around the perimeter of his bramble patch. The deer won’t walk on the wire, and they can’t reach the bushes without crossing the barrier. I tried the technique for shrubs, bushes, and trees on my 5-acre property and had the same good results. We see plenty of deer every week, but have had no damage.” (Organic Gardening, February 1991, p. 85)

A similar comment from Kentucky:

“You don’t have to be a deer psychologist to keep deer out of your garden. All you need to know is that deer don’t like to get their feet tangled. So if you really want to stop them in their tracks, don’t erect a fence – lay it down instead.

“First, dig a 3 to 4 inch deep trench about 12 inches wide around the perimeter of your garden. Then cover the furrow with 4 foot wide wire fencing that has 3 by 5 inch mesh openings; lay the fence flat on the ground. (The fencing is cheap....) The deer won’t walk on or over such a barrier and will browse somewhere else instead....” (Organic Gardening, ? 1994, p. 66)

No guarantees with the methods above, but it just might work! With that method, you would want to keep the weeds cut down under the wire and lift it up in the spring so that it didn't get buried in the grass.

For those of you starting small gardens, there are some easy little PVC pipe and chicken wire cages designed to keep out rabbits that I think would work great to keep out deer, provided you secured the cages to the ground – some good stakes or pieces of rebar (bought at the hardware store) at the four corners and some string to tie the cage to the stakes would work. A lot of people in town successfully do something more simple, but similar, for their trees. The point is to keep the deer from the plants, and this does the job and is going to be pretty cheap -- a lot cheaper than surrounding the garden with a tall fence. To weed, you'd just untie the stakes and lift off the cage. I think this might also be a solution for those of you who told me last year that your chickens ate more tomatoes than the deer did -- two families told me that the tomatoes jumped slower than the grasshoppers you thought the chickens would eat. :) You do need to take into consideration the size of the plant when full-grown. Click here for the link.

For plants you do not intend to eat, you have more options. Several people in our area, including me, have had great success with “Liquid Fence” deer repellent. It stinks when you’re spraying it on, but it dries and doesn’t stink to humans. It still stinks to the deer, though. I had tulips for the first time in years last year, and it was worth having to take a bath every time I sprayed the stuff. I found a couple of homemade recipes for deer repellent online, though, that just might do the trick, since they have essentially the same stinky ingredients. Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipes.

We're supposed to have a bad grasshopper problem again this year. Your best bet in bad hopper years is to get in a lot of vegetables that mature early, like lettuce, broccoli, and peas. The hot, dry, months are when the hoppers get large enough to do the most damage.

Last, I would add that, in my experience, a liberal sprinkling of prayer makes plants grow their very best and helps deter pests.

Maybe Spring is coming up Soup Instead?

2010-03-26T09:34:00.006-06:00

I broke open a bottle of the canned hamburger patties last night. I just warmed them and we ate them on buns. The flavor was not what we're used to with grilled burgers probably because they boiled for an hour and a half in liquid. With my ranching background, I'm pretty picky about quality of food, particularly meat. So, I'll be using that hamburger in the future for casseroles and soups, where hamburger usually cooks awhile and often in liquid anyway. For economic and health reasons, we often eat hamburger mixed with something else, like you would with shepherd's pie. I'm still looking forward to having the meat for things like that. Hamburger is great as a replacement to stew meat in some stews.

All that said, the quality of canned chicken is phenomenal. So, don't even hesitate. My daughter likes it so much she actually drinks the broth when I open a jar.

Spring is Coming up Meatballs

2010-03-22T15:37:00.004-06:00

Sale prices on super-lean hamburger were great at Fresh Market this week, so I've been canning hamburger. The photo at left is of some hamburger patties and meatballs I canned last week. Here is a link to the current USDA guide 5, Preparing and Canning Poultry,
Red Meats, and Seafoods with detailed instructions (page 5-2 has the instructions for ground meat). Please make sure to adjust the pressure to what is needed for your altitude – where we live, it’s 13 pounds. If the canner goes below the required pressure for even a few seconds, start the processing time over. That’s why I keep my canner around 15 pounds pressure, just to make sure I don’t have to start over. Since meat takes 90 minutes to pressure can, believe me, you do not want to have to start processing time over.

I always slit a big black garbage bag and lay it over my work area when I'm prepping the meat to can. I don't get meat juices and pieces spread all over my counters. It is sanitary and makes cleanup a snap.

What is my honest assessment on the ease of canning both chicken and hamburger? Anything you can stuff in a jar raw, without pre-cooking and without adding extra liquid, is of course going to save you a whole lot of time. Therefore, boneless, skinless chicken is soooo easy to do. I haven’t done chunks or cubes of red meat yet, but since they can be put in the jar raw, I’m sure they are the same ease as chicken. Hamburger, though, is a different matter, entirely.

Hamburger must be slightly browned before pressure canning and it has to have added liquid. Why? With ground meat, there is a lot more possibility for bacteria to lurk inside the meat than with chunks of meat. That’s why you should NEVER, but never, just stuff a bunch of raw hamburger into a canning jar and pressure can the way some bloggers tell you to do – that method is not USDA approved and it’s really playing roulette with your family’s health. With one big glob of hamburger like that, the boiling liquid that will kill the bacteria cannot circulate around all the meat. Play it safe and follow USDA guidelines, even if those guidelines seem paranoid. Pre-browning the meat also ensures that the hamburger keeps its shape while you are canning and that it looks nice when you pull it out of the jar.

Season both the hamburger patties and meatballs as desired. I chose to add spices, salt, and finely minced garlic to the hamburger and mixed it up with my hands (wearing disposable gloves) before I formed it for browning. I felt if the seasoning were inside the meat, the flavors would hold better through the canning process. Meatballs had oregano, basil, onion powder, salt, and minced garlic. Hamburgers had onion powder, a little Worcestershire Sauce, salt, and minced garlic.

I used a cookie scoop to scoop out the meatballs. A dozen browned meatballs of that size will fit in a pint jar. For the boiling liquid required for both meatballs and patties, I used soup base (like bouillon) to make a half-strength broth. My neighbor tells me that “Better than Bouillon” makes a low sodium soup base that does not have MSG, and I’d use that next time. You might be surprised that most bouillon and soup base contain both corn syrup solids (a health no-no) and MSG. The MSG is often under disguised names like “hydrolized vegetable protein” or “hydrolized yeast extract” or “natural flavorings”.

I used a half-cup measuring cup to scoop out hamburger patties and squished them to ½ inch. I browned the patties on an indoor electric grill (George Foreman style) that browned both sides of the hamburger at once. The patties shrunk to the perfect size to fit in my wide-mouth quart jars – I do recommend wide-mouth jars for the patties. I did 50 patties in very little time that way. Each quart jar held five patties.

Hamburger can also be browned and pressure canned without shaping, following the instructions in the guide I have linked above. One lady has commented that not shaping the meat results in meat with a finer consistency, like the hamburger you get in fast food tacos. She recommended, instead, canning patties and then breaking them up for other uses after you open the jar.

Will I be canning hamburger again, even with the extra work? Absolutely! If I were cooking hamburger for a meal, I’d have to go to the work anyway. Pressure canning the hamburger just puts the work up front and the bottled meat will be a time saver for me on busy days. Ha! That’s every day, but let’s not get carried away. :) If the power goes out, I have a ready source of protein that is already cooked, not to mention I bought this hamburger about half the normal price. Gotta love sales! Besides, the hamburger tastes good!

My family will be scooping out the meat next time I do hamburger – that’s the real time saver. Canning is so much more enjoyable when you’re not doing all the work yourself. The kids tend to think it's slave labor, but 'tis the nature of kids to complain at work, of any kind. They like the family together time once they get going and their dad's silly stories and jokes.

Buying and Maintaining a Pressure Canner

2010-03-17T17:29:00.009-06:00

I've had several questions about pressure canners....

Question: I want to buy a brand-new pressure canner. Which brand and style?
Answer 1: I'll answer this from my 25 plus years' experience in canning. If I were buying a new pressure canner, I would spend a little more money to buy one that is designed to do two levels of quart bottles at once. Food prep takes a lot less time than the canning time, especially if you are canning meat, which takes an hour and a half each load -- again, at 13 pounds pressure at our altitude. Look at the canner specifications as to how many pints and quarts fit and don't make the mistake of thinking that a 30-quart canner will fit 30 quarts. A 30 quart canner will generally do 14 quart jars -- there apparently has to be air space at the top of a pressure canner.

Answer 2: Several food storage experts recommend purchasing a canner that does not need a gasket, and hence no need to change the gasket/sealing ring. The Mending Shed sells several sizes of All American Pressure Cookers, which are metal-to-metal and need no gaskets. Click here for that link. Compare prices for the best deal. Online, you'll also pay over $20 shipping, but you could also go directly to the Mending Shed -- if you live near it. With this type of canner, you will still need to change the vent, which this company calls an "over pressure plug", every few years.

You will note that the price is a lot higher on the All American Pressure Canner than what you will likely spend locally on a lower-end canner locally. You have to decide if the convenience of being able to process more jars at once and not having to change the gasket is worth the price. For me, even with my frugal (O.K., cheap!!) tendencies, if I were purchasing a new canner, I would personally go with the higher-end canner (more quart jars in one canner load) just to cut down the processing time. How many nights did I stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. when I only had one pressure canner that fits six quarts at a time? Your time and sanity are worth the extra money, and you'll can more food if you make this easier. If you can't afford it, you can buy a couple of oldie goldies like I did and also cut your time in half.

Question: Can I buy a used pressure canner?

Answer: Absolutely, if it is not damaged and if replacement parts are still available. I was amazed to find out there are canners older than mine for which you cannot get parts! I have two really old, but perfectly good, Presto 21B pressure canners that were old long before I bought them. I had the Extension Service test the gauge, and it was faulty. So, I bought a new gauge, new sealing ring and automatic air vent, and even a new handles at the Mending Shed. Each of my canners will do six quart jars at a time. The time spent processing is why I picked up the extra canner at at thrift store. The photo below is the kind of canner I have, except I have plastic handles. (This photo shows the lid on sideways.)

Question: If my pressure canner has rubber parts (a sealing ring or gasket and a rubber air vent/safety plug) how often should I replace them for safety?

Answer: If you use your canner, you will need to replace the rubber parts every few years. Here is an example of what you need to replace and how the gasket fits in the pressure canner lid.

You will know you need to replace the rubber parts when one of two things happen: 1) the gasket (a.k.a. sealing ring) or the rubber vent have gotten loose enough that one or the other is not keeping the steam in the canner (steam will come out between the canner and the lid or from under the rubber vent) ; or 2) The gasket feels hard and is not easily pliable -- if the gasket is hard, the air vent is hard, and the vent is a safety feature.

Make sure you buy the right parts. I keep the original box for the gasket and regulator right in my canner so I never have to guess. I just take the box with me when I buy new parts at the Mending Shed. The new gasket/sealing ring will be larger than the slot it has to fit in the canner lid. Instructions say to ease the gasket into the lid, and it might take you more than one try to do it. It's easy, though. Oh, and never put oil on the rubber parts.

Before you use your pressure canner, always tip the lid upside down and check to see if the vent hole is plugged. Mine never has been plugged, but the experts say to check.

Question: How often should I have my pressure canner's gauge checked?

Answer: At the beginning of every canning season. Gauges change. Sometimes the gauge will be right on and other times a pound under or over what it should be. We can have our canner lids tested where we live at either the Extension Service or at the Mending Shed, both for free. When they test it, they give you a little tag that tells you what your pressure reads in relationship to the correct pressure. If your gauge reads 14 lbs. when theirs says 13 lbs, that means your gauge is a pound under what it should be and you need to start timing the canner full of food when the gauge shows one pound higher than the desired pressure. I confess to just keeping my canner at 15 lbs., because I never have to worry about getting under 13 lbs., which is what I need here. It's possible that some products might be more cooked that way, but I haven't noticed any difference. I keep the little tag the tester gave me handy and hang it over the vent when I'm not using the canner.

I'll be canning hamburger for my first time tomorrow, inspired by the wonders of home-canned chicken -- of course, I'm following U.S.D.A. guidelines in the Extension Service publications. Here's a link to their publication on meat -- make sure you process for your altitude.

By the way, if you have never had home-canned chicken, you are truly missing out. It is oh so easy (I canned 40 lbs. of chicken breasts this week -- one 1 1/2 pint jar is just under 1 pound of chicken.), and so delicious. This is just raw chicken with a couple of tablespoons of minced carrots and a 1/2 tsp. of dried parsley and 1 tsp. salt per quart -- I asked the Home Economist at the Extension service if I could safely add the carrots and parsley, and it's O.K. because the hour and a half processing time for meat takes care of it. The carrots give the chicken a nice color. The chicken roasts itself and makes its own juice -- my teenager actually drinks the juice every time I open a jar. The store-bought stuff isn't all that great, but the home-canned product is just wonderful and a great convenience. I'm crossing my fingers that hamburger is just as good. I'll be following the U.S.D.A. guidelines and doing hamburger patties, meatballs, and loose hamburger. Fun!

2010-02-12T11:23:00.003-07:00

Last year, Tim Woolf, a leading preparedness expert, spoke locally. One of my neighbors went to his lecture, and I really wished I had gone when she told me what she had learned. The way I understand it, Tim Woolf was asked to see just how prepared he and his family were by living on just their food storage and preparedness items for several months, with no power, etc. They found out what they had that did not work, what did work, and what they wished they had. He is now a leading expert on preparedness.

Good news! I just found some unofficial notes from Bro. Woolf's lectures that some kind person posted on the internet. This person went to several lectures to get more complete notes. To read the notes, click on this link http://www.weshallnotfear.com/Prep.html and then click on the words "read what else Tim Woolf has to say". A Word document will open in your computer. I recommend saving it to your computer to have as a reference -- that's what I did.

I've made some mistakes over the years with my food storage and have learned from them , but if a disaster hits, it's too late to learn emergency preparedness. As the website I've linked states, "As We Prepare, We Shall Not Fear." First I'll learn about heat, as I'd rather not have my family turn into popsicles in the winter with a power outage -- that's something that I've been worried about. No longer!

The Plan: October through December

2009-11-20T18:11:00.005-07:00

In July 2008, I posted the first installment of a tried and true plan for building up food storage, shared by a mother with young children. You will find January through September on my post at this link: The Plan: January through September

It was brought to my attention that I never posted the rest of the plan, so here it is folks! Sorry about that!

Thanks so much to the mom who gave all of this to us in the first place. Some of her comments are in quotes.

"It has been remarkably easy chipping away at this project a bit at a time. We use and restock from our stash all the time. I think we are to our goal of having 3 months worth for all of us when it comes to most items."

Basics:

Add the weekly item to your shopping list.
Buy the largest amount of each week's item you can sensibly afford.
Replace items as you use them.
If you miss a week, skip to the next week.
Don't get behind. Share your hot buys with the rest of us.
If your family loves something not listed, buy it and store it.

October

Week 1 -- One or more gallons of vinegar. Great for cooking, canning and cleaning.
Week 2 -- Wraps and bags…aluminum foil, garbage bags, freezer bags, saran wrap, wax paper.
Week 3 -- Do something with all those apples. Pie filling, applesauce, juice, apple butter…
Week 4 -- Hard candy, candy bars on sale after Halloween.

"We definitely need more water storage. But there are still a couple of months left in the year to get it all done."

November

Week 1-- Vitamins: get extra C, D, E and calcium
Week 2 -- Treats for baking. Cocoa, coconut, nuts, butter (freeze it), chocolate chips..get it all.
Week 3 -- Rolled oats, corn meal, cream of wheat, oatmeal. Stock up on boxed cereal.
Week 4 -- Vegetable and/or Canola oil. Get a good quality.

December

Week 1-- Candles and matches. Put in a sturdy box that you can locate in the dark.
Week 2 -- Popcorn. Go for the big 12 pound bag or buy the kernels. (I recommend kernels!)
Week 3 -- MERRY CHRISTMAS! You've given yourself a great gift—security! Keep it up.
Week 4 -- Watch for after Christmas sales. Nuts go on sale. Dry roasted ones keep the best. Freeze bagged ones.

Get Fresh with Your Bleach!

2009-11-11T12:57:00.005-07:00

We are cautioned to only use "fresh bleach" for our water storage. What is "fresh" bleach? For one thing, bleach has a shelf life of only 12 months. So, I'll fill you in on what the people at Clorox told me about deciphering the code stamped on their bleach bottles.

My bleach bottle has two lines stamped, and we only need the top line. Mine says "A8810514". Translation:

* A8 is the plant number where product was manufactured
* Third digit is the year produced. This will always be a single digit number. When we get to 2010, it will have a 0.
* Next three digits are the number of the Julian date code, which tells the day of the year manufactured. This will be listed as the number of days into the year, such as 116 days (116) or 30 days (030). It's always three digits. There are Julian code converters on the web, but you can get a good general idea by dividing 365 by thirds without being perfect with it.
* The rest of the numbers thereafter are not important

For practical purposes, the lady told me that you only need to check four numbers of the code: the third number from the left, which tells you the year and then the next three numbers to see which day in the year the bleach was produced.

If you want to get bleach that is as fresh as possible for water storage, find a store that sells a lot of bleach. Everything I've read is that you want to buy Clorox regular, without scents and such. The reason you use Clorox for water storage is that it has a set amount of chemical and some bleaches are more watered down. If you make sure you have the same amount of chemical in another brand, I imagine that's fine, but I don't know.

Another option for water storage is to use the powdered chlorine that is used in spas. The powder has at least a 15-year shelf-life, but I have yet been unable to get in contact with the expert to tell me how much to use per gallon.

The nitty-gritty of this is that if we use bleach to keep our water safe, we need to refill our water storage containers every year and put in fresh bleach -- I don't think it's a good idea to just add new bleach to water to which you're already added bleach a year ago, as you then have double the chemical, even if the old stuff is not as effective.

If you're still trying to decide where to put your huge water containers, having to empty them and refill them every year might make you decide NOT to put them in your basement. Put them where you have easy access. My barrels are in my garage. Some people store them outside. If stored outside, you will want to leave some unfilled space at the top in case the water freezes completely.

Most important is FILL THOSE BARRELS!!! Soon, the weather will be very cold and you're not going to want to be outside messing around with hoses and water.

Tomato Overload? Put Your Oven to the Rescue!

2009-10-07T16:30:00.005-06:00

If you have been busy canning, freezing, and making salsa and sauces of your bountiful tomato harvest, you might be sick of tomatoes. (I was actually glad that my vines froze and I had the excuse to not process any more tomatoes.) Thanks to my neighbor, though, I'm now wishing I had every one of those green tomatoes to ripen in my basement.

D.P. shared something new she is doing -- roasting tomatoes in the oven. So, I tried a couple of pans. Oh, the taste! It's more than just delicious. It's heaven! I think the taste is far better than sun-dried tomatoes. Her recipe:

Mix together in a bowl:

12 smaller tomatoes or equivalent (she used anything ripe in her garden), cut in half
3 garlic cloves, minced finely
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or salt of choice)

Lay tomatoes on parchment (sprayed with baking spray) in a baking pan or bun pan (or just spray the pan lightly with baking spray and put the tomatoes right on the pan). Bake at 250 degrees F or 3-4 hours, checking for doneness -- they won't all be done at once. You don't want the tomatoes completely dry, but will remove them before that (they will stick to the parchment if allowed to completely dry). Cool and put in freezer bags and freeze. Eat plain, with bread and olive oil, or on pizza or pasta.

I didn't have time to do my first batch right away, so I mixed everything and left the tomatoes to marinate overnight in a plastic zip bag, and I think the flavor that way was even better than when the tomatoes were roasted right away. My family loved them so much that with two trays of tomatoes, there were only a handful left to pop in the freezer.

If you're big on preserving enzymes, you can can get a similar flavor by mixing all the ingredients, draining, and dehydrating.

I can't fathom how I could have been missing something as delicious as roasted tomatoes, and from now on, this will be one of my first choices for ripe tomatoes. Thanks, DP for sharing your great recipe!

Saving Tomato Seeds

2009-09-22T10:13:00.005-06:00

If you are interested in saving the seeds from an heirloom tomato variety (non-hybrid), Jacque's method is easier than any I've tried before. Thanks Jacque! First, though, some rules about planting properly if you want to save the seeds. Jacque passes this on from the Seed Savers Exchange, and this site will become your friend if you become hooked on heirloom varieties:

"Cross-pollination between modern tomato varieties seldom occurs, except in potato leaf varieties which should be separated by the length of the garden. Do not save seeds from double fruits or from the first fruits of large-fruited varieties. Pick at least one ripe fruit from each of several plants."

What is a potato-leaf variety? Why, the leaves look similar to a potato leaf. My Cherokee Purple tomato is one such, so I would have to keep it far away from other tomatoes. If the tomato is self-pollinated, that variety can be planted closer to other tomato varieties. Check out the photo at left that I got from The Daily Green in their article about saving tomato seeds. The potato-leaf variety is on the left, with the standard kind of tomato leaf on the right.

Jacque's son passed on another hint on how far apart the tomatoes need to be planted in order to save seeds:

"You look at the flowers and if the flower is closed without the stamen sticking out the end then it will only be self-pollinated."

Now for Jacque's method of getting those seeds out of the tomato and ready to store:

Pick several fully ripe tomatoes (same variety) you want to grow again, choosing a fruit that has the characteristics you like. Get a small recloseable sandwich bag, and squeeze or scoop the seeds out of the tomato into the bag. You'll have juice and some pulp, but try not to get tons of pulp.
Close the bag and label it with the variety of tomato.
Let the bag sit on your counter for three or four days. After that time, you will see the seeds have separated from the pulp and you will smell a bit of of a rotten smell if you open the bag -- the pulp and juice have fermented, which is necessary to remove the gel that inhibits germination
Pour a little water in the bag and mix it up with the seeds and remaining pulp. (Any seeds that float are no good.) Pour off the pieces of pulp and bad seeds, being careful to keep the other seeds in the bag.
Repeat the last step once or twice until all you have left is seeds.

I discovered the easiest way to get these seeds out of the bag and dry them at the same time is to grab a napkin and poke it at the seeds. The seeds stick and the water is absorbed. Then, you gently rub off the seeds on a small plate and let them dry several days. I put the plate on top of the empty bag to make sure I didn't forget which variety I had.

The blog linked next has some great photos and explanation for this process, just in case you're nervous like I was the first time. They do some steps slightly differently, but that just shows you this is not rocket science and this process is flexible. Urban Veggie Gardener

When the seeds are completely dry, put them in a clean labeled bag or envelope. You're ready for next spring!

The Great Tomato Taste-Off!

2009-09-11T20:58:00.004-06:00

All those gorgeous tomatos (see photo) and what a fun activity! The contestants: six hybrid and nineteen heirloom tomatoes from all over the world, most provided by our generous JL.

Heirlooms:
Black Sea Man
Box Car Willie
Cherokee Purple
Cour di Bue
Debbie Beefsteak
Furry Yellow Hog
Great White
Heidi
Jaune Flammee
Kellogg's Breakfast
Koralik
Mormon World’s Earliest
Noir de Crimee
Principe Borghese
Santa Clara Canner
Soldacki
Stupice
Taxi
Yellow Pear

Hybrids:
Beefmaster
Early Girl
Green Zebra
Juliet
Polfast
Roma

We broadened our tomato horizons with all the many wonderful and exotic flavors. Who knew a tomato could remind you of a peach, have a citrusy flavor, or even have slightly smokey overtones? The judges (everyone who came to taste) considered every bite. A serious business indeed. What we discovered was that a tomato has a lot more potential than just a sauce puree or a slice on a hamburger. Think of a colored tomato sauce livening up a bland pasta dish, a gorgeous muli-colored salsa, smokey-toned tomatoes with fish, citrusy flavors with chicken... or any number of creative dishes. (Lucky me, I made a gallon and a half of that gorgeous salsa from the cut tomatoes after the event -- red base with white, yellow, red and green pieces of tomato.)

And the results of the voting are in! The top ten winners are:

Furry Yellow Hog (Novelty, yellow-striped, very slightly fuzzy, with a bright citrusy flavor)
Great White (Beefsteak. Large, yellowish-white and flavorful, with a creamy texture you could wrap your tongue around.) [tied with #3]
Yellow Pear (small yellow pear-shaped. Sweet and perfect for salads, this produces prolifically)
Green Zebra (Light green and yellow stripes, bred from four heirlooms, with a burst of tangy flavor)
Cherokee Purple (dusky rose to purple colored beefsteak, close to 1 lb. Rich, deeply complex, and sweet flavor)
Jaune Flammee (Orange-colored, apricot-shaped, with a sweet flavor that would be wonderful dried)
Polfast (Early, red, sets fruit in cool weather) [tied with numbers 8, 9, & 10]
Roma (standard red Italian paste tomato, with flavor intensified by drying or cooking)
Box Car Willie (Smooth, bright-orange/red slicer)
Cour di Blue (Heart-shaped with meaty flesh & few seeds, excellent for sun-drying. Deep red.)

I'm already planning to grow six of the top ten tomatoes and excited to look at the internet to find some more heirlooms to try. Other tasters will do the same. So, we're already planning to have another Great Tomato Taste-off next year. I can't wait! [Shhh, can you keep a secret? Next year the men get to come, too!]

FYI

2009-09-10T23:09:00.002-06:00

Here is an FYI to the post below. A friend tells me the herbal course I took 15 years ago, when I first started tiptoeing (ever so cautiously) into using herbs, is temporarily being offered right now, online, for the same price I paid back then -- only $100 (regularly $495). It's called the Family Herbalist Course, and it's run by the School of Natural Healing in Springville, Utah.

First, is a link describing the course. Family Herbalist Course
Second, is a link where you may (if you are interested) register at the cheaper price (scroll down to Level 100 -- Family Herbalist): http://online.snh.cc/Register.html

Self-Reliance in Cold and Flu Season

2009-09-08T12:45:00.006-06:00

I just had a driveway conversation with a neighbor, and he mentioned how upset one of his granddaughters was about a recent doctor's visit with her children. At a $25 deductible for each child , plus $40 medicine, plus the huge insurance fees they already pay regularly -- it was discouraging. You feel pretty helpless, because your kids are sick and your only alternative is a doctor's visit and all the money that comes with that. There is no choice. You're stuck. My own personal experience was much the same before I learned some of the basics about integrative medicine in a series of local classes.

I'm going to tell you the way our family has managed to have our two youngest children never take an antibiotic and our two oldest sons only take antibiotics once each in 15 years, which my daughter discovered in one of her college classes, is a rare thing, indeed. I look at using herbs and other alternatives as one of the most important things we do in our family to be self-reliant. My first thought now is always, "What can I do at home to fix or improve this health issue?" Be assured that we do get sick, just like everyone else, but how we respond is a bit different now than when I was in that young mother's shoes I mentioned. If you're having money problems or just want to learn to be more self-reliant, you might be interested.

At first sign of a sniffle, my youngest daughter now goes to the cupboard and takes a capsule of echinacea, some vitamin C, and an herbal respiratory medicine I buy in the health food store -- usually one of Dr. Christopher's formulas, such as Resp-Free or Sinus Plus. She takes these three times a day, and I have her increase by a capsule or two if she feels things are not getting better. (Echinacea is an immune system enhancer, and you can buy it even in local grocery stores.) When the kids were young, we gave them these things (or children's versions for the same purpose) in a liquid form -- of course, we followed the directions on the packages.

If she keeps getting sicker and it looks like she might be getting an infection (sore throat, etc.), my daughter chops up a bud of raw garlic, puts it in a spoon and swallows it with water -- never when she is going to be around people, for obvious reasons. Garlic is not social! When the kids were younger, we'd put the minced garlic in some honey and they'd eat it.

I know, I know. Raw garlic seems extreme and more than a bit "weird". I thought so, too. My cheap genes won me over, plus it actually worked, which surprised me. Consider the cost of a bud of garlic versus a capsule of a prescription medicine or even standard over-the-counter medicines. Consider, also, the peace of mind of always having on hand just what you need for most of those respiratory illnesses and not having to take sick children to the doctor or to wait, but instead to be able to act at the first sign of a cold or flu. We take the raw garlic three to four times a day (similar to an antibiotic dose). I don't know the ins and outs, but I understand that garlic has antibiotic properties. Again, no raw garlic if we have to be around people outside the family. :) We'll sneak in the garlic in the afternoon and evening on those days or take some chlorophyll, which is a natural deodorizer (also available at the health food stores).

Yes, you will see my daughter cough or sneeze and have a runny nose, just like everyone else -- ask the kind sister who supplied a handful of tissues to my daughter on Sunday. The herbs, however, allow her body to overcome the virus without getting the secondary infections and with none of the side-affects of standard medicine. The virus runs its course (usually in a few days) and it's done -- no doctor's visit and no expensive prescription. If we realize quickly enough that we are getting sick and take those herbs I mentioned three times in a day, then we usually do not get sick. If we wait even an hour after we first feel the signs of a cold, then we do get sick, but we use the herbs. I hasten to add that if I feel prompted to go right to the doctor, that's where we head.

What I've told you above has saved our family loads of money. The herbs do cost something, but you can usually get them a lot cheaper than the store price you usually see. You can 1) watch for them to be on sale locally and stock up, or 2) go to a website and order. (Be sure to check out the shipping charges and makes sure the site is secured for a credit card. Usually, even with shipping, it's cheaper online.)

As the debate about the health care system rolls on, I have become more and more aware that no matter what is decided, for both the health of my family and the finances of my family, I need to learn more that will keep us out of the doctors' offices more often, beyond eating fresh veggies and exercising. It's just realizing that, yes, you do have a choice, after all, and you are not stuck. I have decided to learn more and be more proactive (aka "self-reliant") in helping my own family.

Thank heavens for doctors when we need them! I just hope that if I learn more, I won't need them as often. I've proven to myself over 15 years that I actually can do a great deal, in ordinary illness, to help my family. The results speak for themselves.

The BYU Solar Cooker

2009-09-05T10:07:00.005-06:00

Steven E. Jones, a BYU Physics professor, invented a homemade solar cooker that actually works, as compared to all the box-style cookers for which we've seen patterns over the years. This solar cooker was tested by the Benson Institute. Some problems with other homemade versions were overcome by the BYU Solar Oven.

It looks easy to make, with cardboard and aluminum foil. Here is a link to the article on FourWinds10.com, including great photos like the one at left : How to Make and Use The BYU Solar Cooker/Cooler

I love how this professor set out to conquer a problem that made the lives, especially of women, so much easier in developing countries (many women use much of their day gathering fuel to cook their family meal). I also love that he and BYU did not attempt to make money, but instead did their best to give this information free of charge.

I think the BYU solar oven would be a great emergency item to have on hand. Even if you don't need to cook food, pasteurizing water alone would be worth having this oven.

Long Live Our Geraniums!

2009-09-04T16:02:00.003-06:00

Pioneer women found ways to bring some beauty with them into the wilderness, as evidenced by the flowers still growing around homesteads now long gone. Not far from my home is just such a place with no building evident, but perenial flowers to mark the spot a family once lived. Even in a hand-to-mouth existence, natural beauty made a difference and was a refining element in the lives of those women and their families.

We're not all that different from those women in our desire for flowers, though much of our floral beauty these days is found in pots near our front door. Pots, whose crowning beauty is most often one or more geraniums -- those gorgeous blooms that cost you an arm and a leg every single year.

Mourning the loss of my geraniums after an early cold snap last fall, I decided to find out if there is a way to preserve the plants for another year. I found a wonderful video produced by Garden Gate Magazine about how to overwinter geraniums in boxes in the house. Watch the videos linked below and learn how to do it. If you start with the first video, the rest of the videos will cycle through without having to click on each individual video.

Overwintering Geraniums

Listening to the video, I think you can do this even after the first freeze.

Addendum April 2010: It's now April of the next spring, after I followed the procedure in the video. I realized the video did not tell me where to put the repotted geraniums -- in sun? in dark? I went looking for more info and found another website that lists several different options for wintering geraniums. I like options, so here it it is. I especially like step 7, that shows how to rehydrate the roots, but I have not tried it myself yet. Still, though, nothing in that site that tells me what to do with the plants after repotting them in the spring. I did find the answer, though, on the Iowa State University Extension website, in an article appropriately named "Overwintering Geraniums, linked here. Quoting the article:

Place potted plants in a sunny window to initiate new growth. It often takes several weeks for plants to initiate growth after dormant storage.

Wasps Be Gone!

2009-08-13T16:45:00.004-06:00

So, you've tried those wasp traps from the local stores and might have even tried traps with raw meat, but those pesky wasps are not interested in your traps? You just might be hanging up the wrong trap. Lager Sagers, one of the hosts of the KSL Greenhouse show, says that the wasps you see in swarms around your yard and attacking your ripe fruit are probably not the same kind of wasps we had ten years ago. They might be the European Paper Wasp, a species not native to the U.S. In the best tradition of self-reliance, the trap you need might be one of your own making. No fancy pheromes --- just an old plastic soda bottle, fruit juice, soap and water.

Lager Sagers explains about this wasp and the trap in the following article on KSL: The Right Trap for the Right Wasp

If you, like me, need a visual illustration, I found the trap Mr. Sagers describes on a different website: Do It Yourself Wasp Control

If you plan to make one of these traps, it is important to use the correct proportions: 1 part fruit juice to 10 parts water + 1 tsp. liquid detergent. These proportions encourage fermentation of the mixture, which draws the wasps.

Wouldn't this make a great project for a youth group?

Night of the Living Grasshopper

2009-08-03T17:41:00.003-06:00

Out of desperation, I sent my daughter outside with the vacuum cleaner to suck up the hordes of grasshoppers eating my pole beans. (We put the vacuum on a hard piece of plastic to keep the brushes from sucking up the dirt.) She finally developed a technique, sucking up 40 of them in two hours. You'll have to be desperate to do it, but maybe you are desperate like I was, and this works really well with squash bugs. Since all 40 hoppers she got were eating my green beans, it should help a little. She says you have to move really slowly and not just jab at them, causing them to jump away. It's problematic anyway, as the leaves of the beans tend to get sucked up, too. Moving slowly, you can avoid the leaves and not startle the hoppers. My thought is that you could avoid getting the leaves if you make it a two-person or two-kid job, only turning the vacuum on when the nozzle is right where it needs to be. Then, the hoppers aren't startled by the wind until it's too late!

O.K., now to tell you what happens when you have 40 live grasshoppers in your vacuum. We vacuum up wasps in the house and they never get out of the vacuum. Grasshoppers are made of sterner stuff, let me tell you. My daughter had left the vacuum in the garage so she could return later to the garden. When my son brought it inside to vacuum the carpet, hoppers started coming out of the vacuum in our house! We sucked them back up and I decided this required a change of vacuum bag. I didn't anticipate the next circus act, as all those dusty hoppers were at the opening of the bag just ready to hop out when I removed the bag! One hopped right on me and the others were covered in vacuum dust, ready to go, a la "Night of the Living Grasshopper". In the meanwhile, I was screeching (a tad startled to have one hop out on me); my daughter was screeching looking at those dusty hoppers trying to get out in our house; and I was fumbling to get that cover over the opening as quickly as possible to keep the other hoppers inside. It was completely gross! It sure makes, though, for one of those family memories that will give us a lot of laughs in the retelling!

Grasshopper Problems?

2009-07-12T07:49:00.004-06:00

If you don't already have problems with grasshoppers in your Utah yard, you likely will have a problem before the summer is done -- particularly if you live next to undeveloped land.

Grasshoppers come and go in seven- to 10-year cycles, said Larry Lewis, a spokesman for the Utah agriculture department. Grasshopper numbers are usually high for several years and then the cycle goes on the downswing. Right now, there are grasshoppers in different stages of development, but we have a lot of little ones just starting out.

Your options to control these pests?

If you choose chemical poisons, grasshoppers have to be sprayed before they develop their wings and a hard shell. You can have that done commercially or do it yourself.

For those preferring organic methods, there are several things you can do. Larry Sagers, host of the KSL Greenhouse and a USU Extension agent, says that grasshoppers don't like to lay eggs in disturbed soil. So, you might get some control next year by tilling the surface of any undeveloped areas.

You can also use NoLo Bait. NoLo Bait is wheat bran carrying a spore of Nosema locustae, which infects the grasshoppers when they eat the bait. This spore spreads through grasshopper populations, but it is not a quick fix. You probably won't see a lot of die-off fast. According to the experts, you don't want them to die quickly. You want them to become sluggish and stop feeding so other grasshoppers canibalize them and get the disease -- nasty things, aren't they? The following two links tell you how this bait works in a straight-forward manner:

I bought NoLo yesterday at IFA in Spanish Fork, and I applied considerably more of the bait than the minimum the package indicated. I want to get all the hoppers I can, and since this is not toxic to humans, it's safe. You'll note that there are more hoppers in certain areas of the yard, and that's where you'll want to put more bait, plus a border around your property to get incoming hoppers. More grasshoppers will come into your yard from the fields, guaranteed, but what you do this year affects what happens with next year's hatch.

You can purchase NoLo Bait at IFA in Spanish Fork. It costs about $15 for 1 pound, but 5 pounds are a bit over $30. So, you would be wise to go in with a neighbor or a few neighbors -- besides, if you handle your own hoppers, the neighbor's hoppers will just migrate into your yard. NoLo Bait has a very limited shelf life, so don't plan to buy a lot and save it. Pay attention to the expiration date, which will only be a few weeks away.

You could spray and/or use the bait and still loose your garden, but with the Nolo bait added in, you have a good chance of infecting next year's hatch with the disease (that is explained in the links above).

Chickens also like to eat grasshoppers -- or you could always pray for seagulls.....

Betta' Think Twice About Canning Butta'

2009-06-22T18:15:00.007-06:00

This is an update on the safety of canning butter at home. Every single internet site I've seen saying it is not safe to home-can butter (including the Extension Service) quotes the same source: The National Center for Home Food Preservation. So, what is this group? Here's what their website says:

"The National Center for Home Food Preservation is your source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation. The Center was established with funding from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CSREES-USDA) to address food safety concerns for those who practice and teach home food preservation and processing methods."

To read more statements from the National Center for Home Preservation about the dangers of home-canned butter, please click here.

I am convinced that these official sources are all absolutely correct that it is not safe to can butter --- until the USDA and National Center for Home Preservation develop a tested and safe procedure for us. However, from reading their statements, it seems to me that these agencies don't see the need for the consumer being able to can butter, per this statement from the above website:

"Good quality butter is readily available at all times, if butter is needed for fresh use."

Unfortunately, that might be the final word on a safe, tested method becoming available in the U.S. Would it make a difference if consumers offer those agencies some feedback and express interest in this issue?

Who does see a need for canned butter? People in Australia and New Zealand, for one thing. Companies have developed a safe method to can butter (and cheese, too) in those nations. These companies are likely making a tidy profit exporting their products to the United States, Middle East, and elsewhere, if all the food storage, preparedness, and camping websites talking about Red Feather canned butter and cheese are indicative.

Your options in storing butter right now?

Buy butter on sale and freeze it (FYI: I'm using butter that has been in my freezer at least two years with no loss of quality. We somehow found a case in the bottom of the freezer that we don't remember purchasing -- one of those food storage miracles, we think.)
Buy powdered butter (FYI: baked goods don't taste as good with powdered versus real butter. In addition, there seem to be serious health questions about oxidized dairy products' tendency to cling to the arteries. )
Buy shelf stable canned butter imported from New Zealand and Australia. Click here for an online review of Red Feather cann ed butter and cheese. You can find these products many places for many prices. Here is one of them: Totally Ready.com

As a mom wanting to be completely prepared (sorry, it's just in my food storage genes), I wish that since commercially canning butter is doable, the government agencies involved with food safety would accordingly test and provide consumers with safe instructions to can butter ourselves. Alternatively, please, can't some enterprising U.S. company can butter and cheese and save us the extra costs involved with an imported product? Alas, for the time being, I stick with my year's supply of butter in the freezer.

Organic Insect and Disease Control

2009-06-17T07:41:00.002-06:00

It only took a few raspberry canes wilting and toppling over for me to realize there must be a borer or something in my new raspberries. Shoot! Why don't bugs invest the field bindweed (aka morning glory) or something else I hate? I went looking for some organic/natural control solutions online and came up with a book on Google Books that anyone can access for free for any organic pest and disease issue -- wonderful!

With many full-view Google books, you can download the book to your computer, but since this book is still under copyright, the author isn't letting you do that. Nevertheless, here's a resource for you to use online any time you want, so bookmark it for future use. The organic gardener's handbook of natural insect and disease control

This link will open into an Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you've used Acrobat Acrobat Reader before. If you haven't, go to Adobe.com and download it for free. Let's assume you now have the reader. If you click on the link above, the book will open in the reader. At the top right is a little box with gray letters, "Search in this book". Google Books are every word searchable, so search to your heart's content. The results will appear below that box. If you wish to see the book larger, click on the box icon with arrows going to the corners of the box (this is near the middle of the page in the blue border. Alternatively, you can use the zoom icons.

What did I find for my raspberries? I get to use pyrethrin, which I actually have. I'm crossing my fingers it's still good.

Is It Some Ancient Burial Ground? No!

2009-05-14T13:23:00.007-06:00

I confess I've had some amused looks and raised eyebrows with my gardening methods. After all, it just doesn't look the same way Grandma gardened. Moreover, my garden has been strange for more than 16 years and counting. I blame that book I checked out of the library. It described how a Pacific Northwest gardener built his gardens. He loosened his soil deeply, added organic matter, and then he piled the soil up into long mounds-- a Chinese method. I duplicated his methods and have loved the results. I leave walking paths and never walk on the mounds so all that softened soil never gets compacted -- yes, I still have to remind my family not to walk on the mounds, even after 16 years! There is plenty of loose soil for the plants to grow great roots, which equals great and plentiful produce. I plant double rows with row crops (i.e. peas and beans) and single rows with wide and large plants. In essence, it is raised bed gardening with added flexibility and less cost.

How do I water it? I used soaker hoses for a good long time and changed to drip irrigation with 2 gph (gallons per hour) emitters two years ago. Now, my drip system is hooked up to the sprinkler system and comes on automatically. Yes, I'm absolutely spoiled and loving it, too.

Last year, I attended a gardening class taught by expert gardener, Gordon Wells, and I made some modifications to my mounds. Imagine, he's a mound-builder, too! My mounds, like his, now have a bit higher sides, like a banana split bowl.

Here's a photo from last year's garden with my daughter by her squash "Squishie", which she planted late.

Note the rise on the sides of the mounds and the black plastic with holes cut for the plants. The drip system runs in the middle, under the black plastic. Rocks and bricks keep the plastic in place on ends and sides. When the plants are small, the black plastic has a tendency to blow up a bit and sometimes cover a tender plant. A smaller rock beside the plant and on top of the plastic will prevent this.

Most of the mounds are about 36" wide at the bottom and 24" wide on top, including the higher sides. (Gordon Wells uses a little wider mound for crops such as squash and a 10-ft. wide mound for indeterminate tomatoes. He uses the standard width for paste and determinate tomatoes. (Indeterminates sprawl and keep growing throughout the season). When you build your mounds, make sure to leave a good walking path at least 12" wide, and probably a bit wider, between mounds -- it's tough to walk in a narrow furrow. This also adds more soil to your mounds.

I admit that the first year, it is a lot of work building the mounds. Succeeding years, it's much easier than the old methods, and the abundant harvest proves this method works.

A Healthy Self-Reliance

2009-04-16T10:22:00.003-06:00

Most of us have learned by now that if we eat whole grains, lean meats, and plenty of veggies, our over-all health will greatly improve. It's amazing how many of the things we've been taught for years (for some of us, it's actually a facet of our religion to eat wisely), are now proven by science and medical doctors. All that said, do we use wisdom in our food choices or do we eat from convenience? Maybe our food choices do more for our health or against our health than we even realize.

Though, in my home we rarely buy boxed foods, there are times when we're in a hurry or I'm lazy (guilty!) and we stop by for fast food. My husband showed me a short Youtube video last week that has forever changed the way I will think about "food" one particular fast-food place. It's entertaining (your children and teens will love it), and I think you'll be amazed if you watch the whole thing: How Nasty are McDonald's Fries?

For the most part, we get to choose our own health path by how we eat most of the time and by the amount we exercise. How much more self-reliant can we get?

Ah, the Sparkle of Clean Canning Jars....

2009-03-29T15:45:00.005-06:00

With the shamrocks just over, you probably are not thinking of canning season. Change that! With the economic downturn, you might have heard last fall that all the local stores were out of canning jars. You might also have heard the Extension Service Horticulturist state on recent news that they had been deluged with calls from people planning to garden who had not before had gardens. Put two and two together, and it's not hard to figure out that another canning jar shortage might happen this year, probably beginning much earlier than previous years.

With many dozens of jars, I always think I have enough to can all I need, but there I am every year running to get a few more jars during canning season. I have found that many things store better in glass than they do in plastic -- haven't you noticed those spices in the glass jars stay nicer longer than the spices in the plastic jars? Perhaps there's a reason why the expensive spices are in glass instead of plastic. It's not practical to use glass for everything, but even frozen foods seem to hold better in glass than in plastic. I also have mason jars full of dry storage items such as spices, nuts, and dried fruits and veggies. I'd store chocolate chips in jars if the family didn't eat them so fast there is no chocolate left to store!

By now, you might have figured out that I'm frugal, thrifty ... aka "cheap." That means I'm on the lookout for my favorite style of canning jars every time I hit a yard sale or a thrift store. Who wants to pay $12 and more for a case of new jars when used ones are perfectly good and cost me at the very most 50 cents per jar? A bath in the dishwasher, and all is as good as new -- just make sure the rims don't have nicks. That's why I picked up a box of 20 canning jars at a Deseret Industries thrift store yesterday for 25 cents per jar. Yes, that's $5 for 20 jars. A hint for you is that the price of mason jars varies at thrift stores, even stores with the same name. Another hint is if you wait until canning season, you will pay more per jar at those thrift stores and the jars might well be already snapped up -- they were gone last year by canning season. So, start keeping those eyes peeled and pick up jars over the next few months.

If you want new canning jars, here are your options in March. A few local stores do have a case or two of canning jars, but you will likely have to ask where they are -- stuck high on some shelf, most likely. You can also buy canning jars on the internet. Search for the size of mason or canning jars you want. The cheapest I found was about $10 per case of 12 jars, with most sites higher than that. It won't matter which brand you buy, as long as it holds a standard or wide-mouth lid.

You'll also need canning lids. Last summer, the best price I found buying bulk lids was at Mulberry Lane Farm. It is much cheaper buying lids in bulk than just by the box of 12 lids. Don't cringe at buying dozens of lids, because in a cool place, those lids can be used years later. Incidentally, I've always been a fan of Ball lids versus Kerr lids. Now, the same company makes both lids, and it apparently changed the Kerr lids' compound. So, essentially, you get the same lid wheather it says Ball or Kerr now, and they are packaged virtually the same.

Begin preparing now for summer and fall canning. Just think of those jewel-toned jars of tomatoes and green beans and peaches and... now, there's a sigh of contentment.

Peace of Mind -- It Might Be in a Can

2009-03-11T09:39:00.007-06:00

I can't imagine living on just "long-term" storage items like grains and beans without something to add flavor, interest, and nutrition. So, I use our local supermarkets' case lot sales to stock up on tomato sauce, a few kinds of veggies I don't can from my garden, creamed soups, canned beans (for the days you are in a hurry), and pineapple for ethnic dishes we make. Depending on the store, case lot sales are often also your chance to get a good buy on dried milk, sugar, salt, baking soda, etc. -- some of the things you use every day in your kitchen.

If your area doesn't have case lot sales, you can stock up the same way by buying a case when an item is at a good sale price. The clerk might look strangely at you when you ask him/her to get you a case of an item, but they'll go back and get one. You leave the store with a feeling of accomplishment and real satisfaction.

For items that never come on sale, like the coconut milk our family regularly uses in Thai cooking, I find a store with a good price and pick up a half dozen or so cans every time I go in the store. Sure, we could live without Thai curry and we could live without pineapple on our homemade pizza, but why should we when we don't have to?

Why buy canned goods in bulk?

First, price. Consider how much you will save over a year if you purchase most of your canned goods at a dime or so cheaper each can. With a box of 20 cans, you've already saved $2, just on one item you use regularly.

Second, you've made life easier for you, the cook. It's so comforting to know those cans are there and ready when you need them -- no running to the store for a can of tomato sauce you discovered you needed right in the middle of cooking the meal.

Third, find peace by being prepared and self-reliant. With the economic downturn, I don't need to say too much about the value of having a supply of food ahead of time. I will just say that I personally have friends right in this town who have had to live off their food storage when husbands lost what seemed very secure jobs. Those people put that food on their shelves in the good times, never knowing they're really need it soon. Our family has lived off food storage when car repairs went into hundreds of dollars more than planned. Sometimes the financial crunch is short-term and sometimes long-term, but all of us go through at least a short-term financial crunch at some point

Peace of mind just might come in a can... and in the freezer... and in buckets in our basement.

Broaden Your Grain Horizons

2009-01-31T09:56:00.005-07:00

One day in the local health food store, I noticed many varieties of rice in their bulk section. I bought a little brown basmati rice, because I'd read that it was low glycemic. It was delicious! It has a much more mild flavor than the regular brown rice I've used for years, and I can use brown basmati rice in dishes where I don't want the rice to take over the flavor of the food or with guests not used to brown rice. So, guess what kind of brown rice is in my storage now? I'm willing to pay a little more to get the brown basmati rice, and I've been able to get buckets of brown basmati rice through Walton Feed orders (through Carol M., for those of you in Elk Ridge).

That experience taught me something.... why not go into the health food store and buy a little grain I've never tried before? If we like that grain, then we look for a place to do a bulk order and get that grain much cheaper than at the health food store. Most health food stores have small bags or a bulk section. You can try all kinds of things that might seem exotic to you now.

Incidentally, you CAN cook brown rice in a rice cooker. Rince the rice until clean and then soak it in water for several hours or all day. Put the soaked rice in the rice cooker, add the amount of water you normally would for the same amount of white rice, plus about 3/4 cup additional water. Cover and cook. If your first batch is dry, then adjust the water the next time or add a little more water toward the end of the cooking. If you don't own a rice cooker, cook enough rice for several days and toss the leftovers in the refrigerator or the freezer. I put the cold rice in a vegetable steamer and steam it to warm for the next meal.

Another fun grain you can try is quinoa. This grain comes from the Andes and is one of the "super grains", due to it's high nutrient content. I lived in Bolivia for awhile, where I first used quinoa - a tiny grain, really. I have to say it: there is no "W" sound in quinoa as you read all over the web. It is pronounced "kee-no-ah", not "kin-wah". I think the popular pronunciation is what a non-Spanish speaker thought they were hearing when a Spanish speaker said the word. I've seen quinoa in most health food stores.

Whole wheat couscous is another wonderful thing we always have in our house, having tried it from the health food store. True, it's a pasta, but it offers you a whole new world of fast and easy cooking. For couscous itself, you just add water and salt and stir. For great flavor, we toast the couscous in a frying pan and set it aside. (Sometimes I toast some pine nuts or sliced almonds, too.) I saute onions and garlic in olive oil, add the amount of water for the amount of couscous I want to make, chicken soup base (like bouillon, but better), and a handful of golden raisins. Cook until the raisins are soft and remove from heat. Add the couscous (and nuts if you're using them), stir, and cover. In a few minutes, it's done. This is great with a little extra olive oil drizzled over the top -- a great side dish with chicken.

You won't know what you're missing until you try these and other grains. In a food storage world where wheat rules the day, wouldn't it be nice to get in a little variety to enliven your life?

Get Your Money's Worth & Keep Your Family Safe!

2009-01-15T08:45:00.002-07:00

Self-reliance is not just about food and eating, right? It's about getting your money's worth, and it's about that feeling of security and safety. A friend just made me aware of aware of a very important issue that definitely might save your life or the lives of your loved ones. Since all of us drive cars, it affects every one of us.

In the United Kingdom, auto tires have an expiration date. Have you ever seen that in the U.S.? No. Yet, apparently, it very much matters how long it has been since a tire was manufactured, even if that tire is sitting in a tire store looking brand-new. Who knew? The manufacturers knew and our government knows and no one told us. Why does this not surprise me?

As tires age, they dry out a bit and the tread becomes less stable, even six years after they were manufactured. Does it bother you that tires you thought were new might fall apart while you're driving down the freeway? Yet, there are tires all over the U.S. being sold as "brand-new" that were manufactured as long as 12 years ago. So, please watch the ABC news story linked below so you know what to watch for and how to decode the manufacturer date stamped on the tires. Please check your own car tires, too, and pass this information onto your family and friends. I'm crossing my fingers the link to this news story stays up a good long time.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Three in One ...What a Deal!

2009-01-06T17:01:00.005-07:00

Three great food storage blogs, all run by young mothers, have merged into Fun with Food Storage, meant to be a "one-stop" place to help you with your planning and purchasing of food storage, as well as the last important step -- eating. The network includes: Obsessive Shopper, Food Storage Made Easy, and Everyday Food Storage. Throughout, you get practical advice, easy steps, and a lot of fun, to boot. Enjoy!

Snow on the Ground and Spring in the Heart

2009-01-04T15:23:00.005-07:00

It's a new year, so time for a bunch of goals, right? Trouble is that we might have given up on those goals long before the warm months hit. So, why not set some manageable goals that you'll remember every time you walk into your pantry or storage room -- goals that will benefit your family long-term? Tracie M. pointed out today that food prices have gone down. We all are smart enough to know the price of gas will go back up and that the food prices will rise again, too. So, now is the time to both plan and prepare. How can you prepare? Let's talk about one step you can take right now.

Seed catalogues come out soon, so now is the time to start planning your summer vegetable garden. Order and buy your seeds in February and start some of them (i.e. tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli) by March.

Why start your own seeds? You can grow tasty varieties not available locally. I've been growing Brandywine tomatoes (an Amish heirloom variety) and Cherokee Purple tomatoes (an American Indian heirloom variety) for years, from seeds I purchased at Johnny's Seeds, a Maine company. Only recently have those plants become available locally. Expand your horizons and pour over the seed catalogues, both paper and online, and you'll find a whole new world of gardening.

Aren't you jazzed to get a bit of green going with all this snow?Remember that broccoli and lettuce can be set out very early. My lettuce plants from seed survived 6" of snow last spring and were beautiful. Truly, there is nothing like a home-grown vegetable for taste and flavor, and you'll feel even better knowing you were able to begin this process right in your own home with your little green thumb. Involve your children in the planning now, as well as the planting and all the rest.

Sometimes, we begin something because we know we should do it, and because we've been counseled to do it. Most of the time.... yes, most of the time, we end up wishing we'd begun earlier. The blessings pour over us. After all, who was it in the old Primary song who told us to "plant a garden", after all? With every commandment comes a blessing attached.

Will Vanilla Prices Soar?

2008-12-10T18:13:00.005-07:00

A story from the Associated Press, published on 8 December 2008, indicates that an incurable disease has destroyed about 80% of the vanilla plants in Madagascar. Why is that important to you? Madagascar ships most of its vanilla to the U.S. , where it is used in candy, soft drinks and ice cream.

The situation occurred in the first place because vanilla prices were high. Farmers crowded plants together, trying to get the most from their land. Scientists "think" they might have a disease-resistant variety of vanilla, but no one knows for sure yet. Even if the new varieties work, it will no doubt take quite a while for production to be renewed.

My take on this is that the price of real vanilla is going to soar. Moreover, it's very possible that the price of imitation vanilla will also rise, because people who generally use real vanilla will be forced to buy the imitation. So, go get your stock of vanilla, during the holiday sales.

If you would like to read the "rest of the story", here is a link http://fe14.story.media.ac4.yahoo.com/news/us/story/ap/20081208/ap_on_bi_ge/af_madagascar_vanilla

Recipe: Instant Oatmeal

2008-10-30T12:13:00.006-06:00

Combine the following ingredients in small zipper bags.

1/2 cup oats, blended until powdery
1/4 cup unpowdered oats
1/8 tsp salt
optional: 1 tsp sugar or equivalent of dried stevia or another natural sweetener
optional: Add dried fruit in small pieces: apples, raisins, apricots
optional: Add a little spice, such as cinnamon and nutmeg.

Seal baggie and store in a dry place.

Microwave cooking:
Empty packet into microwavable bowl. Add 2/3 cup water or milk. Microwave on high about 1 1/2 minutes, stir.

Conventional cooking:
Empty packet into pan. Add 1/2 cup boiling water; cook and stir over heat until thickened.

Recipe from www.mormonchic.com

What Would Grandma Do?

2008-10-30T11:21:00.003-06:00

We women have so much on our plates -- too much. That's why we need to be smart about how we prepare. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, thank heavens. There are people who have done the experimenting for us, found out what works and what doesn't work -- and they are willing to share. Phew! One such person is Wendy DeWitt, who will be doing a presentation locally in November (see Upcoming Events). Slap down that nagging feeling you should be doing "something" and attend a meeting that will give you direction and show you an easier way.

The Plan: January through September

2008-07-30T19:24:00.024-06:00

A tried and true plan for building up food storage, shared by a mother with young children. A few of her comments are in quotes.

"Food storage hasn't been a terribly practical thing for us to work on until we moved into this house. Now that we have the space we've been stocking up."

Basics:

Add the weekly item to your shopping list.
Buy the largest amount of each week's item you can sensibly afford.
Replace items as you use them.
If you miss a week, skip to the next week.
Don't get behind. Share your hot buys with the rest of us.
If your family loves something not listed, buy it and store it.

January

Week 1 -- Watch for and buy 50% off on Christmas items, cards, paper, ribbons, etc.
Week 2 -- Detergents, bleach, cleansers. Laundry detergent, dish detergent, bathroom, window & toilet cleaners.
Week 3 -- Medical supplies: Aspirin, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Vicks, cough drops. Whatever your family needs.
Week 4 -- Paper supplies: Paper towels, plates, cups, Kleenex, toilet paper, napkins, utensils.

February

Week 1 -- Juices: lemon, orange, grapefruit, or powdered juices-like Tang, etc.
Week 2 -- Peanut butter- get your creamy and/or crunchy
Week 3 --Solid vegetable shortening and/or oil. Buy both if you prefer, shortening is usually less expensive
Week 4 -- Personal products: Soap, deodorant, shampoo, lotions, shaving supplies, feminine products.

March

Week 1 -- First aid kit: Gauze patches, Q-tips, cotton balls, band-aids, Neosporin, Calamine...
Week 2 -- Mixes: Cake, pancake, muffin, Bisquick. Purchase or make your own.
Week 3 -- Spices and Herbs: Pepper, salt, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano, taco seasonings, chili powder...
Week 4 -- Rice- buy 10, 15, 20 pounds. White, brown, instant

“The first 3 months of executing 'the plan' has made an impressive addition to our food storage collection. ... I've spent more money on it than I planned (between $50-$70 a month — only $10-$20 a week. I was planning for no more than $10 a week, but there are sales. (And Sam's Club).... I feel an unexpected rush of accomplishment when I look at it all. I sleep better on stormy nights.”

April

Week 1 -- Pasta. 5 or 10 pounds. Don't forget the mac and cheese
Week 2 -- Dry milk. 40 oz. will make 5 gallons. (And, any self-respecting recipe for white bread will use at least a tablespoon.)
Week 3 -- Assemble an emergency sewing kit: thread, pins, needles, buttons, snaps, zippers, tape measure, etc.
Week 4 -- Ready Dinners: ravioli, pasta, oriental, boxed or frozen. Get what your family will eat.

May

Week 1 -- 10 lbs. of flour.
Week 2 -- Dry soups and soup mixes. Boxes of crackers: saltines, graham, etc.
Week 3 -- Jello gelatin pudding mixes
Week 4 -- Garden seeds: Radishes are great in an emergency. They grow fast, are full of vitamins and minerals, and are full of water.

“I included that only because it was in the booklet. Even in a disastrous emergency, I cannot see myself being willing to live on radishes. I hope I never have to prove that.”

June

Week 1 -- Safety Items: rope or twine, flashlight, dated batteries
Week 2 -- Grate and bag 5 pounds of cheese. Use in casseroles and soups (or everything if you are in our family). Also, buy Parmesan.
Week 3 -- Condiments: mustard, ketchup, relish, mayo, Worcestershire, pickles, olives, soy sauce, salad dressings.
Week 4 -- White sales! Buy a new thermo blanket, some new pillows...

“I love having our little mini mart downstairs. It is really nice not having to run to the store for little things. Even if it has been a while since our last trip to the grocery store, I can always make due with what we have--a dear luxury as there is no such thing as a quick run to the store when one has two kiddo's in tow.”

July

Week 1 -- Sure-Jell, Certo, Paraffin wax, etc., or buy some jams and jellies. Watch for sales.
Week 2 -- Fill those water jugs! Or buy some bottled water.
Week 3 -- 72 hour kit week; start it, update it, or complete it…but get it done!
Week 4 -- Canned goods. Buy what your family likes and will eat. Chili, soups, canned meats, kidney beans, etc.

August

Week 1 -- Back to school sales. Paper, pencils, envelopes, stamps, and journals
Week 2 -- Baking powder, soda, corn starch, vanilla, bullion cubes, cooking spray
Week 3 -- Tomato week. Can or buy…salsa, juice, sauce, whole, whopped, paste, pizza and spaghetti sauce.
Week 4 -- Do some fruit canning or drying. Or, buy it. Watch for sales.

September

Week 1 -- Vegetable week. Can or freeze lots of vegetables. Or buy some canned. Green beans, mushrooms, corn.
Week 2 -- Get dry beans, peas, legumes, etc.
Week 3 -- Sweeteners. Honey, Karo, Molasses, brown and powdered sugars.
Week 4 -- Iodized salt. It seasons, it preserves, it’s a toothpaste and a de-icer.

Click here for the rest of "The Plan": The Plan: October through December.

What Me Worry? Prepare Instead

2008-07-18T11:24:00.001-06:00

When I asked for comments from the sisters on what key areas interested them for SRS, the first answer was emergency preparedness. They asked, “What can I do when a disaster happens and the power goes out and it’s either 100 degrees in the summer or 10 degrees and freezing?” “How can I heat/cool my home... feed my children ... let alone anything else?” One sister asked if we’re all planning to go back to an early pioneer mind-set. If you start thinking of all the “What ifs”, you realize how much we desperately need more information. Thankfully, other minds have been working on these issues. Check Upcoming Events for two “Can’t-Miss” emergency preparedness meetings to be held locally in August. These are both well-known and sought-after speakers, and we get them nearly on our doorstep and for free. Is your head in the sand like mine has been? Mark your calendar and attend one or both of these meetings.

Our First Meeting!

2008-07-06T17:34:00.002-06:00

Our first SRS meeting is this coming Thursday, 7:30 p.m. in the RS room. Some questions to consider before you come:

What do you hope to accomplish by participating in SRS?
What are your areas of interest in becoming self-reliant? (i.e. getting food or preparedness items and/or learning specific skills)
What skills have you already developed in becoming self-reliant/living providently? (i.e. sprouting, solar cooking)

As we progress, this blog will become important to us in sharing ideas and thoughts. Until we all get used to it, be patient ..... and check back every so often for the monthly challenge and for upcoming events.

KTec Kitchen Mill

2008-06-28T13:58:00.001-06:00

For those of you interested in the wheat/grain/bean grinder, here is a photo and a description, though Sis. Norton is not ordering from this site. http://www.costplusappliances.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=456
You'll note that the price listed on the website is $199 -- what I paid 22 years ago. You will get this considerably cheaper (more than $50 cheaper) with Sis. Norton. I have to add that this is the first preparedness item I have seen get cheaper.

The Start of Something Blog

2008-05-28T23:24:00.008-06:00

With kudos to the original Self-Reliant Sisters group in Nevada, we're taking their example and using a blog to distribute info about food storage and preparedness to ER1 sisters.We'll post info about group buys, hints and ideas for getting and using our food storage, and have some fun along the way. Like the original group, we will be issuing challenges that aim to get you closer to your goal of being prepared.