Thursday, January 30, 2014

List of Lists - Food Storage.

This part of the list goes hand in hand with the previous part I detailed, "food preparation", for obvious reasons. Having what is called a "deep larder" will allow you to sustain your group until a more permanent source of food (hunting, fishing gardening, foraging) can be established.

- MREs
- Peanut butter
- Roasted coffee beans
- Complete set of canning supplies
- Aluminum foil
- Iodized salt
- Non-iodized salt
- Pepper
- Hot sauce
- Various spices
- Rice
- Wheat
- Corn
- Oats
- Beans
- Potatos
- Powdered eggs
- Powdered milk
- Powdered butter
- Canned beans, fruits, vegetables, meats & soups
- Honey
- White sugar
- Brown sugar
- Syrup
- Jams, jellies & preserves
- Salad dressings
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Barbecue sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Syrup
- Soy sauce
- Coffee
- Vinegar
- Baking soda
- Cooking oils
- Ramen noodles

Obviously, certain items on this list can't be stored in large amounts for long periods of time. For instance, potatoes will go bad. However, always having a bag of potatoes on hand will allow you to easily begin growing them yourself, so long as the potatoes have "eyes" on them. Some of the items on the list aren't necessarily there for nutrition, but can store for a long time and are extremely quick and easy to prepare when you simply need to get something in your stomach. One example is the Ramen noodles.

It's important to learn about gardening, as the food in your storage supply is finite.

Wisdom from the Founders.

"The worst tyrants are those which establish themselves in our own breasts."

William Ellery

List of Lists - Food Preparation

Today I'll detail the part of the list that deals with food preparation. When the SHTF, there is going to be some limited food options compared to what we have today. It's imperative that we be able to cook and prepare food in a safe way. Cooking food, getting into cans, grinding coffee and grain and serving food are made a lot harder without some of the items on this list.

- Food dehydrator
- Cast iron skillet
- Pressure cooker
- Cast iron Dutch oven
- Big stew pot
- Large & small kettles
- Manual can openers
- Large spoons & ladels
- Knives (large & small, butcher)
- Bacon press
- Propane camping cook stove
- Small charcoal grill
- Camp coffee percolator
- Coffee grinder
- Grain grinder
- Oat roller

Being able to prepare food in a way that tastes great will go a long way toward improving the morale of your group during hard times. Preparing food in a way the resembles the way you did it before the SHTF brings about a sense of normalcy that few other things can. A propane cooking stove allows you to cook with no problem when the power grid goes down. Cast iron holds heat extremely well and doesn't need to be thoroughly washed every time you use it. A big stew pot will allow you to make any kind of stew or soup in large quantities.

The items on the list are often overlooked but they will make life a lot easier in a survival scenario. It's good to practice using these items during camping trips.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Wisdom from the Founders.

"It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf."


Thomas Paine in "The American Crisis, No. 1", December 19, 1776