Saturday, March 26, 2011

Getting Prepared and Having Peace of Mind

April 2011

April Preparedness:

Free or Under $1: whistle, sewing kit, toothbrush, compass, hand warmers, take a CPR class

$5-$20: multi-function tool, knife, rope, duct tape, gloves, 1 pkg-3600 calorie Mainstay bars (72 hrs of nutrition)

More Expensive: dutch oven, generator (gas, propane, diesel, or solar)

Food for Thought: For those of you who may not be very excited about TVP (textured vegetable protein) for your meat substitute in your food storage, you might want to consider bottling your meats. I, for one, am very excited about learning to do this. Bottled meats means REAL meat in your food storage with a shelf life of at least 3 years. You can bottle chicken, turkey, beef, hamburger, fish, ham…even wild game! The meat is tender, juicy, ready to eat and needs no freezing or refrigeration! Think of it like canned tuna from the store. If you are interested in learning more about this, please contact Sis. Ranck at 269-1807. If there is enough interest, perhaps we can put together a class. I also have the Wendy DeWitt video that can be checked out. She does an excellent job showing how to bottle meats along with many great storage tips.

Cannery: Wed. May 17, 6-8 pm – Please note that there are no more mylar bags. All canning items will be available in #10 cans or in bulk.

Did You Know: Honey is one food storage item as good as gold! It has no shelf life. No germs can live in it. It is a healer, hair rinse for dry brittle hair and scalp, face scrub for acne, a salve for wounds and burns and great for colds and sore throats. Medicals studies show that 1 t. honey/day helps avoid colds.

Just a Reminder: If you can squeeze any money out of your tax return or should any unexpected money come your way…you won’t lose it by putting it into your emergency preparedness or food storage. We never know when we may need it and it will be more valuable than money in the bank! With all the world-wide disasters that have taken place over the past year, even though they may not be at your back door, we are beginning to feel the effects of them from far off nations across the ocean! Do something! Do it now!

Recipe of the Month:

Sweet and Sour Chicken-Emergency Preparedness Style

1 pint chicken, 1 1/3 c. rice, 1 can pineapple, 2/3 c. vinegar, 1 1/3 c. sugar,

4 T. cornstarch, 4 T. soy sauce, 1 t. molasses, 1 T. dried onion, (opt. ½ c. sliced almonds, ¼ c. dehydrated celery)

Heat the rice and water in separate jars. When hot, combine and cook until done. Heat bottled chicken at the same time. Put the pineapple juice, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, soy, and molasses into a qt jar. Shake well and cook in solar oven shaking repeatedly until thickened or put in pan and heat stirring until thickened. On the bed of cooked rice place the heated chicken, almonds, pineapple, and hydrated celery. Pour sauce over the top. Serves 7-8 cups.