Hi Everyone,
NOTES:
**April is a good time to check on your 72 hour kits. Eat the food you have in the kits and replace it. Change out any water bottles you have stored in the car. Have a disaster drill at home. Talk about what to do in an emergency with your kids. Make sure the adults know how to turn off the gas outside at the meter. Check flashlight batteries.
** Keep working on collecting food storage recipes. Try to come up with at least 19 recipes that ONLY use shelf-stable foods. Nothing should need to be purchased fresh, or need to be kept in the fridge.
Your ultimate goal is to have enough food to make each recipe 19 times. 19X19 = 361. For now, start with making each recipe 2 times each. That will get you one month. Continue to build up to 3 months AT LEAST! More is better.
But if you have 3 months of dinners, you will NOT need to panic if there is no food available – whether due to trucking strikes, earthquakes, or major storms.
THEN, try to make one or two of those 19 meals each week. IF you make 2 meals from your list each week, you will completely rotate your supplies in 5 years.
Personalizing your recipes allows for all types of food preferences and needs. If every Friday night is pizza night, figure out how to do this yourself, with shelf stable foods. If you need help, LMK.
GARDEN HAPPENINGS:
**I mentioned before that I am growing Calendula this year. Check out this article on some of the ways you can use it: Calendula: Uses, Benefits, Side Effects, and More
It is great for skin care: diaper rash, wounds, even yeast infections. It has been used as a pain and inflammation reducer. A tea made from calendula can help reduce inflammation and have positive effects on blood sugar levels among other things. The article also explains how to make calendula tea. To make a salve with calendula, just google how to do that. It’s easy, but takes a while to infuse the oil with the flowers.
** The last of my plants that I started indoors is going out in the sun today. Finally! I planted a bunch of wildflowers. I’m not impressed. Maybe when I get them in the ground I’ll get some pretty blooms. Right now they still look like weeds.
** Someone asked me about the grow bags I use. This is what I bought last year: JNYONG 12-Pack 7 Gallon Thickened Non-Woven Grow Bags, Aeration Fabric Pots with Handles : Patio, Lawn & Garden
12 bags for $20. They are 7 gallon bags. My experience was that the 5 gallon buckets from the “agri store” were smaller than the 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot. I didn’t want to spend $5 each and have a garden of orange buckets. My husband NEVER would have gone for that. When I bought 5 gallon grow bags, THEY were small also – at least in my opinion. I tried 10 gallon bags and they were huge and took a lot of soil to fill. The 7-gallon is the perfect size. Some of my grow bags are now in their 4th year of use. Some of the handles have torn off from sun damage and wear. Occasionally the plants will grow through the bottom of the bag. This just happened with the raspberry plants. I almost had to cut the bags apart to get the raspberries out and into their permanent home.
Once, I had weeds from the ground grow up through the bag and fill the bottom half with roots, so much so that it almost crowded out the vegetable that was there. Another mess. Now, I try to put the grow bags on a non-porous surface, a few layers of weed cloth, on several layers of cardboard, or on a tarp.
Other than these few learning experiences, I have found them to work really well for tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, squash, celery, cucumbers, beets, beans, butternut squash, and carrots.
**Although everything is planted outside, not everything has “taken off”. The potatoes and beets look great because they are “cold weather” vegetables. The cucumbers and squash looks a little sad yet because it’s just not warm enough. Unfortunately, here in my growing area, the ideal temperatures last about 2 weeks and we are on to hot summers. LOL
** Be vigilant about watching for bugs. I use Safer Soap for aphids and a few other critters, and BT for anything “caterpillar” like. Just check your plants every other day at the longest.
** I do not have a problem with squirrels. Here are some good ideas: How to Keep Squirrels Out of the Garden | Bonnie Plants. My good friend in Indiana actually electrified her whole garden to keep squirrels (and other varmints) out!
Watch this video by Mark Rober and you will see just how tenacious squirrels can be. BTW: I know him, he grew up with my kids. Backyard Squirrel Maze 1.0- Ninja Warrior Course
THIS WEEK’S PURCHASE: eggs
You can preserve fresh eggs in the refrigerator for several months. I did an experiment once and kept them for 7 months. Then I used them and they were still good! You have to coat them with vegetable oil. I think I used regular vegetable oil. I put them back into the styrofoam container and into the fridge.
If you have chickens, you can “water glass” the eggs. They will be able to sit on the shelf. This doesn’t work with eggs from the store. There are several YouTube videos to watch that will show you how to do this.
OR you can buy egg powder. This is what I have. Augason Farms has a #10 can for $66. It’s 2 pounds. Yikes. But this one: Eggylicious Whole Egg Powder, Dried Natural Protein Powder, Made from Fresh Eggs, White & Yolk mixed, Pasteurized, Non-GMO, No Additives, Used for Baking Icing,1lbs(16oz) : Grocery & Gourmet Food is a 1 pound container for only $27.
I tried making my own and used 5 dozen eggs. I blended them, then dehydrated them. It was a disaster. When I tried to reconstitute, they wouldn’t blend and just became a grainy mess. I threw them all away.
Egg powder is NOT the same as fresh eggs, but I used it once to make scrambled eggs and Craig never knew. Hahaha. Egg powder works especially well in cakes, cookies and other recipes where eggs are blended into the ingredients. Frankly, I think we are going to need cookies to get us through the tribulations ahead!
MISC PURCHASE: fire extinguisher
They are available at Home Depot or any similar store. I’m not sure of the prices there, but online, they run about $20-$25 each and are often sold in packs of 3-4. This allows you to have one upstairs, one in the kitchen, one in the garage, and one in the car.
THEN, be sure you know how to use it!!! Watch a youtube video! This one is only 1 1/2 minutes long: How to Use a Fire Extinguisher
FOOD STORAGE RECIPES:
To-Die For Blueberry Muffins
Anticipating my soon-to-be fresh blueberries, here is a recipe from CopyCat Recipes magazine
Muffins:
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
    Whisk together in a bowl. In another bowl mix:
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 egg
1/3 c. plus 1 TB milk
   Add liquids to flour mix and stir until just combined. Â
1 c. fresh blueberries – fold in
Fill muffin paper liners with batter 2/3 full. Sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 400Ëš until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are golden brown 20-25 minutes. Remove and cool.
Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon – whisk
4 TB butter, cut in small chunks – Cut in with a fork until crumbly.
Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies
A few weeks ago I bought some mini peanut butter cups to make some chocolate balls with Nutter Butter cookies, cream cheese and peanut butter cups. Well, I put it off, and now Craig has eaten all the cookies and I’m left with these PB cups. Then I saw this recipe. Maybe I’ll use them after all.
1 1/2 c. rolled oats – bake on a cookie sheet until lightly toasted 350Ëš for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.
1 c. creamy peanut butter
4 TB unsalted butter
    Combine in a large bowl and beat on medium speed
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
     Add the sugars, salt, baking powder and baking soda and beat until smooth.
2 large eggs – beat in.
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped mini peanut butter cups
2/3 c. sweetened shredded coconut (I’m not a coconut fan and will probably leave this one out)
Toasted oats
       Stir in gently with a spatula. Â
Drop large teaspoons full of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Lightly flatten with your fingers. Bake 350Ëš until the edges of the cookies are set but still soft, about 20-24 minutes. (This seems like a long time. Better check them before that.) Let cookies cool for 10 minutes.
Brother Brigham’s Honey Beans
from Cookin’ With Home Storage by Peggy Layton
1 1/2 lb. white beans, dried
     Soak beans overnight. Next day, drain. Add more water to cover and cook and simmer until beans are juicy (30-60 min). Reserve 1 c. water and drain the rest.
3 TB butter, 2/3 c. honey, salt to taste. Add.
Add in the reserved water until the sauce is to desired consistency.
​Marti
