So what did you put away this week?

Went to Sams Club right before Thanksgiving. When we left, I think they had to close down to restock. During Thanksgiving, several people that visited went snooping around and said, "If things go bad, I know where I am coming!" I told them that they had better call in advance, don't want to get shot in the driveway you know!

 

You can thank Meth cookers for that!

 

40 pounds of white flower. Vacuumed packed in half gallon jars and placed in the freezer for two days. Jars can then be stored in the pantry. That info came from Jackie Clay at Backwoods Home. I'm hoping that will make a loaf of bread per week for one year. Maybee.

 

nbc mask with filter and two replacements.
nbc garments, boots and testing items.
propane stove and lamp with two tanks.
small hatchet and wood saw.
large storage chest.
cold weather grear.
winchester hunting knife and a Bear MCG both with sheeths

 

Picked up 2 almost new 20# propane tanks off of Craigslist for $5. Will fill them within the next couple days. Roll of aluminum foil, a tub of petroleum jelly and a box of borax. Also added to the food stores, but not all that much, just a couple pounds of Navy beans. Will add some additional food later in the weekend.

 

reloaded some 9millie, more powder coming, bought rice, chicken broth, cooking oil.

 

Thats a good start but no where near a years worth. I would say maybe 3-4 months. One thing you will have to keep in mind is thathome baked bread dont have the preservatives so it generaly molds quicker than a week.

When we are doing most/all of our cooking from scratch for a family of 3 we go through a 50 lbs bag of flour in about 2-4 months depending on how much bread and other stuff we bake and how much is used in other stuff.

 

Hit, said the hair lip. I thought I was in good shape.

 

Well, look at the bright side, you are already at LEAST 10 times beter off than the average person whos doing good if they have one 5 lbs bag of flour around the house.

Another thing to keep in mind if you are storeing up for bakeing bread and dont do so all the time now... While it generaly has a much longer experation date on it, yeast dont keep for ever. It seems to do ok for up to about a year kept in the fridge (IF you found a place to buy it fresh in the first place) but much past that or stored at room temp a even sooner and it looses a LOT of its ability.

Biscuits work for a lot of the same stuff though and the bakeing powder for them keeps a LOT longer.

Just a thought.

 

I know diddly-squat about yeast or "starters". Any info you could give about how to go about establishing one would be most welcome...

 

Sourdough Starter, one version of many:

1 tspn active dry yeast 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees) 1 cup all purpose flour NOTE: NOT self rising

Dissolve yeast in warm water in 3 quart glass bowl (I use stainless & no problem). stir in milk. Gradually stir in flour. Beat until smooth. cover with towel or cheesecloth & let stand in warm, draft-free place about 24 hours or until starter begins to ferment (bubbles will appear on the surface of starter). If fermentation has not begun after 24 hours, discard and begin again. If fermentation has begun, stir well, cover tightly with plastic wrap & return to warm, draft-free place. let stand 2 to 3 days or until foamy.

when starter has become foamy, stir well, pour into 1 quart crock or glass jar with tight cover & store in refrigerator. Starter is ready to use when a clear liquid has risen to top. Stir before using. Use 1 cup starter in recipe, reserve the remaining starter. Add 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup flour to reserved starter. Covr & store at room temperature about 12 hours or until bubbles appear, then refrigerate.

Use starter regularly, every week to 10 days. If volume of baked breads begins to decrease, dissolve 1 teaspoon active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Stir in 1/2 cup milk, 3/4 cup flour and the remaining starter & store at room temp (to refresh), then refrigerate.

This works well and has great flavor. annie

 

I've done some sourdough loaves before, but have never caught a strain of yeast on my own. Here's a link to get some of the 1847 Carl Griffith Oregon Trail starter. For the cost of a 1st class stamp you can make a piece of history. But keep in mind if the volunteers just shipped off a batch, it could be a little while before you get your starter. Made a good bread, though.

 

I just got a 4000 watt genny, it will give me more power and won't have to rotate the freezers and fridges. I traded a 200 gallon pressure tank, for 2, 250 gallon plastic tanks with metal cages, so that I can have one just for emergency drinking water and one for the animals. Both will go into the box car so they won't freeze and elevation is high enough to gravity feed. I also won't have to worry about rust. I'm going to get a water filter so I can filter what I'm drinking and leave the rest alone.

 

Light week so far. Added some lentils, navy beans and some brown sugar. Also stored 1650 rounds of .22LR. But we are looking at getting some bulk rice and additional beans.

Was in Wally world and they had a 20# bag of jasmine rice. I didn't get it, but will that store as long as white rice?

 

Having to restock our pantry with canned food, because of salt issues and have found that Henry's [Sun Harvest] canned food only has 1% salt in it! Made a ton of ammo, and stocked up on Propane fuel and water.

 

Bought some canned and dried food and other stuff for our Christmas Food Drive, to benefit our shop's "Adopted Family".

For me this week, it's been light.
A 500-round ammocan of Georgia Arms 9mm Luger, 115 gr FMJ, four 100-round boxes of CCI Standard rimfire, and two new rimfire rifles.
A Russian TOZ-78-1 bolt-action that I've been wanting for years,
and a Philipine-made Armscor M20C semiauto that caught my eye at our gunshow.
Got a scout-mount for one of my M91/30 Mosin-Nagants - finally mounted the NCStar LER scope on it. Showing promise, but it needs some blue Loctite.
Gives me another scoped military-grade rifle for The Day.

 

12 Large cans of chili, and beef stew, cans of canned beef, chicken, ham, and tuna...
Add another 96 rolls of T.P., ( don't leave home WITHOUT IT!)
More water, got some water preservative, not sure why, but what the heck right?
2 D/C voltage convertors to power anything from 1.5 to 9 volts. Great for radios, cell phones, etc.
Been busy welding and trying to get a trailer put together, but I was forced inside by rain of all things! Go figure, I'm afraid of handling power tools in a downpour!
Silly me!
Bill