Marti’s Corner – 87

Hi Everyone,

NOTES:

**  If you ever have to evacuate, OR if you have a fire, OR if you lose power, OR if there is a major earthquake or other natural disasters, you may wish you had copies of important papers.  I suggest you either 1)  Get a notebook and put photocopies in the notebook and keep it on a handy shelf, or

2) Scan all these documents and put them on a flash drive.

Here is a good list:

• Birth Certificates         
• Marriage license/divorce papers, child custody papers
• Passports and driver’s licenses
• Social Security cards
• Naturalization papers and residency documents
• Military/veterans papers
• Critical medical information, including insurance policies and copies of insurance cards
• Cash, in the event ATM or bank services are disrupted
• Certificates for stocks, bonds, or other investments
• Bank statements (not sure you need a lot of these, maybe just one to verify your account number)
• Credit card numbers (just lay them on the printer and scan away
• A list of phone numbers for financial institutions and credit card companies (sometimes they are on the back of the cards – scan both sides)
• An inventory of your household possessions (best done with a camera – it will take you 20-30 min to go through your house, open all drawers and cupboards and closets, and snap away)
• Appraisals of valuable jewelry, art antiques, and heirlooms
• Home improvement records
• A list of names, phone numbers, and email addresses of critical personal and business contacts
• Deeds, titles, and other ownership records for homes, autos, RV’s, boats
• Powers of attorney, including healthcare powers of attorney
• Wills or trust documents

Just set aside a Saturday morning, Sunday evening, or another day to get it done.  JUST DO IT!!!

**  I did me some canning this week.  Someone offered me free jars.  Empty jars take up as much space as full jars, so I decided to fill them. In the quart jars, I put beef, potatoes, carrots, and a few onions.

In the pint jars, I put chicken, carrots, celery, and a few onions.

With each jar, I have options:  eat as is, thicken with a roux, put in a pie crust, add corn, beans, or peas.  Now, this yumminess can just sit on the shelf (actually under the bed) until ready to use.

**  Someone on FaceBook asked about walkie-talkies.  Someone else answered with these:  Motorola Talkabout T465 Rechargeable Two-Way Radio Bundle

The product description says they have 22 channels and go “up to” 35 miles.  For $90 (that’s a lot of money for me), these would be a GREAT addition to your 72-hour kits.

GARDEN HAPPENINGS:

**  You can get 30 packets of seeds for $40 here:  SURVIVAL GARDEN – HEIRLOOM SEEDS – Discount Preparedness

They are all heirloom seeds, which means you can save the seeds of the plants for use the next year.  They are nitrogen packed for a 25-year shelf life in an air-tight, moisture-proof resealable bag.  It includes tomatoes, 

zucchini, spinach, pumpkin, peas, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, carrots, green beans, peppers, etc.  

These are aphids underneath the squash leaves.  Check your leaves!!! Planted two zucchini next to the old vines that I’ve tended all summer long and that have produced next to nothing!!!  Ugh.

THIS WEEK’S PURCHASE: Tomato Sauce & Diced Tomatoes

I have not “canned” tomatoes for a long time – since the prices on fresh tomatoes went up.  When fresh tomatoes are $1.00 a pound, and you can buy a can of tomatoes for $.65, then get the cans.  I’ve been using my tomatoes and tomato sauce all summer.  Time to stock up again. 

MISC PURCHASE: Feminine Supplies

Don’t need them?  How about pet supplies?  

No pet?  Get something for you:  a lotion you like, hair product, makeup, contact lens solution, bath powder, or something you use often and wouldn’t want to be without.

FOOD STORAGE RECIPES
All the recipes today are from

Foodstoragemadeeasy.net

Mexican Wagon Wheels
1 pint canned ground beef or 1 pound ground beef browned and drained
1/2 c. dried onions
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans corn
2 packets taco seasoning
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth
about 4 c. water
1 lb. wagon wheel pasta
Add everything but pasta to the pot.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook until tender.  Serve with sour cream and/or shredded cheese if available.  You could use beans instead if you had no shelf-stable ground meat.

Swedish Beef and Rice
1 can Golden Mushroom Soup
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 TB butter
1 can evaporated milk
    Combine in a saucepan.  Stir until smooth.
Mix 1/4 c. flour and 3 1/2 c. water, adding a little water at a time till smooth.  Add the flour mix to mushroom soup sauce and stir until it begins to bubble.  Add
1 can roast beef drained
    Cook just until heated through.
2 c. rice (prepare according to package directions)
Spoon Swedish beef sauce over cooked rice

Chicken and Rice
1 box Chicken Flavored Rice-A-Roni
     Prepare according to package directions, using the juice from 1 can chicken as part of the water needed.
Once the rice mix is cooked,
1 can chicken
1 can peas (or 1/2 c. dehydrated peas, reconstituted)
Heat through before serving.

Next day:  It dries out overnight.  You can add 1/2 can Cream of chicken soup and 1/2 c. reconstituted powdered milk to smooth it out.

—

Marti