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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

12 Homemade Bread Recipes – Never Buy Bread Again

12 Homemade Bread Recipes - Never Buy Bread Again


Baking your own bread is at the heart of homesteading and self-sufficiency. Bread is one of our main sources of carbohydrates, it is a cornerstone of most of our diets and nothing beats the taste and smell of freshly baked bread.

If you bake your own bread, or want to start, you really need to head over to Common Sense Homesteading and check out their 12 great bread recipes. There is everything from basic sandwich bread to sour-dough bread and even potato bread. This is really a page worth bookmarking and coming back to over and over.

12 Homemade Bread Recipes – Never Buy Bread Again


Sources:
http://knowledgeweighsnothing.com/12-homemade-bread-recipes-never-buy-bread-again/

http://www.commonsensehome.com/bread-recipes/







Talk of USA collapse going mainstream!,

Talk of USA collapse going mainstream

More and more the mainstream media is including talk of global collapse. The question now if not if, but when it will happen.

Consider the video below. The interviewer tries to get something positive out of this guy buy fails.





Source:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread925217/pg1









Radiation Network Map

An interesting site with a live radiation map for the entire United States.  It depicts radiation levels and where Nuclear sites are.

http://radiationnetwork.com/








Nuclear Anti Radiation Tablets KIO3 170 mg Potassium Iodate

Nuclear Energy: What Everyone Needs to Know

Emergency Fire Starter

Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets (Pack of 10)







Tuesday, February 19, 2013

How To Build A Self-Resetting Mouse Trap

How To Build A Self-Resetting Mouse Trap (Super effective & it keeps catching mice, one after another without intervention)

Now I am generally a live and let live kind of guy, but when you have vermin invading your home and getting in around your kids and food, you just have to do something about it…
The the three main problems with the conventional spring loaded mouse traps are: when they work, they only work once before needing resetting; they often don’t work but the bait is gone; and when they do work, they kill (many folks prefer a more peaceful solution).
With the self-resetting mouse trap in the video above, all of these problems are solved! It can catch mouse after mouse after mouse, without intervention. It’s very effective and if you want to catch and release, just don’t put any water in the bucket to drown the mice.
Very simple, very cheap and very effective. Also, on a much larger scale (I’m thinking 55 gallon drum), I can’t see why this can’t be replicated for rats, but you WOULD need to put the water in, to stop them jumping out.



Source




Potable Aqua Water Treatment Tablets

Essential Gear 5 in 1 Survival Tool 26-310-5-1

Oakley Mens Kitchen Sink Backpack

Level One Emergency Tent



Garlic Proven 100 Times More Effective Than Antibiotics, Working In A Fraction of The Time

Garlic Proven 100 Times More Effective Than Antibiotics, Working In A Fraction of The Time



A significant finding from Washington State University shows that garlic is 100 times more effective than two popular antibiotics at fighting disease causing bacteria commonly responsible for foodborne illness.
Their work was published recently in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy a follow-up to the author’s previous research in Applied and Environmental Microbiology which conclusively demonstrated that garlic concentrate was effective in inhibiting the growth of C. jejuni bacteria.
Garlic is probably nature’s most potent food. It is one of the reasons people who eat the Mediterranean diet live such long healthy lives. Garlic is also a powerful performer in the research lab.
“This work is very exciting to me because it shows that this compound has the potential to reduce disease-causing bacteria in the environment and in our food supply,” said Xiaonan Lu, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the paper.
One of the most interesting of the recent findings is that garlic increases the overall antioxidant levels of the body. Scientifically known as Allium sativa, garlic has been famous throughout history for its ability to fight off viruses and bacteria. Louis Pasteur noted in 1858 that bacteria died when they were doused with garlic. From the Middle Ages on, garlic has been used to treat wounds, being ground or sliced and applied directly to wounds to inhibit the spread of infection. The Russians refer to garlic as Russian penicillin.
“This is the first step in developing or thinking about new intervention strategies,” saif Michael Konkel, a co-author who has been researchingCampylobacter jejuni for 25 years.
“Campylobacter is simply the most common bacterial cause of food-borne illness in the United States and probably the world,” Konkel said. Some 2.4 million Americans are affected every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with symptoms including diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever.
The bacteria also are responsible for triggering nearly one-third of the cases of a rare paralyzing disorder known as Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Diallyl disulfide is an organosulfur compound derived from garlic and a few other genus Allium plants. It is produced during the decomposition of allicin, which is released upon crushing garlic
Lu and his colleagues looked at the ability of diallyl sulfide to kill the bacterium when it is protected by a slimy biofilm that makes it 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics than the free floating bacterial cell. They found the compound can easily penetrate the protective biofilm and kill bacterial cells by combining with a sulfur-containing enzyme, subsequently changing the enzyme’s function and effectively shutting down cell metabolism.The researchers found the diallyl sulfide was as effective as 100 times as much of the antibiotics erythromycin and ciprofloxacin and often would work in a fraction of the time.
Two previous works published last year by Lu and WSU colleagues in Applied and Environmental Microbiology and Analytical Chemistry found diallyl sulfide and other organosulfur compounds effectively kill important food-borne pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7.
“Diallyl sulfide may be useful in reducing the levels of the Campylobacterin the environment and to clean industrial food processing equipment, as the bacterium is found in a biofilm in both settings,” Konkel said.
“Diallyl sulfide could make many foods safer to eat,” said Barbara Rasco, a co-author on all three recent papers and Lu’s advisor for his doctorate in food science. “It can be used to clean food preparation surfaces and as a preservative in packaged foods like potato and pasta salads, coleslaw and deli meats.”
“This would not only extend shelf life but it would also reduce the growth of potentially bad bacteria,” she said.
The natural substance could also be derived without artificially introducing harmful chemicals to disruptive its disease-reducing abilities.
Ironically, many researchers think that antibiotics may be just one of several factors that contribute to intestinal blockage in young children.
About the Author
April McCarthy is a community journalist playing an active role reporting and analyzing world events to advance our health and eco-friendly initiatives.

Source:
http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/01/29/garlic-proven-100-times-more-effective-than-antibiotics-working-in-a-fraction-of-the-time/





The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks

Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers

Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine: The Definitive Home Reference Guide to 550 Key Herbs with all their Uses as Remedies for Common Ailments

Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use



How To Build An Electricity Producing Wind Turbine

How To Build An Electricity Producing Wind Turbine

windturbine

This is full-on technical project that will take a lot time, skill and effort to accomplish. That said, the whole system which was built by Mike Davis, costs just $140 to build and it outperforms similar commercial systems costing $750-$1000.
If you are looking for an effective off-the-grid electricity solution and you live in an exposed/windy location, this could be just what you are looking for.
Mike has created a huge, in-depth tutorial on how he created this electricity generating system. It includes the shopping list of materials needed, step by step instructions, videos, plans and lots of photos. It is basically a blueprint for creating your own system.

Full project instructions here

Source:
http://www.knowledgeweighsnothing.com/how-to-build-an-electricity-producing-wind-turbine/



Wind Power, Revised Edition: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, and Business

Wind Power For Dummies

Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence

Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design and Application



Sunday, February 17, 2013

How To Freeze Eggs

How to Freeze Eggs

 
homegrown egg
It’s either feast or famine when it comes to eggs around our homestead…
After the long, egg-less wait while our chicks matured, we are currently slammed with eggs. Blue ones, brown ones, little ones, big ones, double yolkers… Eggs everywhere.
But eventually our chickens will molt and we will be hard pressed to find enough eggs to make breakfast on a Sunday morning… So what to do?
There are a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to preserving eggs. Obviously, our homesteading ancestors had this same dilemma, and worked to find ways to save their eggs for later.
You can use a method called waterglassing, which immerses fresh eggs in a chemical called sodium silicate. However, that can reportedly prevent the eggs from being boiled later (the shells will be too soft) and the whites no longer will become fluffy after beating. Plus, you risk ingesting some sodium silicate, since egg shells are so porous. No thanks.
You can also smother your eggs by packing them in large quantities of salt, or by rubbing them with lard, grease, boric acid, or a lime/water solution. The idea is that if you clog up the egg’s pores and make them airtight, you can slow down the aging process. But from what I can tell, all of those methods have inconsistent results.
But I have a freezer. And freezing eggs seems to be one of the most simple ways to preserve them.
scrambled eggs

How to Freeze Your Eggs

1. Select the freshest eggs that you can.
2. You can choose to freeze yolks and whites separately, or together. I chose to freeze the whole egg together.
3. Crack as many eggs as you wish into a freezer safe container (I used a tupperware-style plastic container with lid). Eggs cannot be frozen in the shell since they will expand and break. For this batch of eggs, I froze 2 cups of whole eggs per container.
4. GENTLY stir the yolks and whites together. Try not to beat a lot of extra air into the mixture.
5. *Optional Step* Add 1/2 teaspoon of honey OR salt to each cup of whole eggs. This is said to help to stabilize the yolk after thawing. I figured it couldn’t hurt, so I added salt to mine. Be sure to mark what you used in the label so you can adjust your recipes accordingly, if need be.
6. Label and freeze for up to 6 months (I’d bet you could go longer, but this is what the “experts” recommend. I like to push the limits, though. ;) ) Labeling might seem like a waste of time to you. But do it. Trust me. You have no idea how many times I’ve come across a mystery item in my freezer. At the time of freezing it, I was SURE I would remember what it was…
7. When you are ready to use your eggs, allow them to thaw in the fridge.
3 Tablespoons of the egg mixture = 1 egg in recipes
***Alternate freezing method*** You can also pour the scrambled egg mixture into individual ice cube trays. Just pop out a couple cubes anytime you need just an egg or two for a recipe.
 
 
 
how to freeze eggs
 
 
Source:
 
 
  
 
 
Emergency Survival Food Supply 275 Meal Pack

Chef's Banquet ARK 1 Month Food Storage Supply (330 Servings) 13.0x13.0x13.0 - rp_0014

Wise Company 60 Serving Entrée Only Grab and Go Food Kit (13x9x10-Inch, 11-Pounds)

Mountain House #10 Can Lasagna with meat Sauce (10 - 1 cup servings)



10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Store Oats

10 Reasons Why Everyone Should Store Oats

By Stephanie Dayle - Sun Dec 02, 8:01 am

And eat them too!



Oats are one of those storage foods people LOVE to ignore. I can’t even get my own husband to eat them. Since we both came from rural areas and grew up with the same self-reliant and frugal values, I couldn’t understand this. I love oats! Why would anyone not like oats? Soon I learned it wasn’t just him, but mostly everyone else I ran into. I am convinced that most people who don’t like oats are running into one of two main problems. They never had them prepared correctly to begin with; and/or they just don’t know what to do with them other than make oatmeal. I am going to solve these problems with you today. Oats are an extremely valuable item to put in your food stores and an incredibly healthy addition to your diet and here’s why:
1. Oats Store Exceedingly Well: Oats, especially in their slightly modified form of groats, and steel-cut oats – will last a LONG, LONG time and still deliver life-sustaining nutrition. How long? Studies performed at BYU have shown oats to still deliver “life-sustaining nutrition” for over 30 years if stored correctly. Click here to see an article on Dry Canning – which would be the only way to safely store them long-term. Even the more processed form of Rolled Oats or Traditional Oats will store 20+ years if stored correctly, Provident Living’s website claims 30 years. However, processing oats shortens their storage life, so the more processed they are, the shorter their shelf life.

Ready to soak overnight
2. Oats Can be Easily Prepared Without Power: A supply of rolled oats can be prepared in many different ways. The most common and easy way, is to boil them. This can be accomplished easily by setting your oats in water and a hint of lemon juice or vinegar overnight to soak (This makes them easier to digest and they will cook up so much nicer for you), the next morning your pre-soaked old-fashioned oats will cook up as easily as quick oats, this also saves on fuel for cooking. For the slow cooking of steel-cut oats or even rolled oats you can use a Dutch Oven with an ample supply of water. Place in a bed of coals, use charcoal briquettes, or use a kitchen oven on top of your wood stove. The sealing lid of the Dutch Oven locks in moisture and prevents the oatmeal from drying out. Or like in Scottish Haggis, it can be stuffed inside of various meats and used as a binder or stuffing. They can also be enjoyed as a drink that has been around for ages and the nice thing about the drink is that you still get many of the health benefits from the oats. You can also use oats to make your own granola as a snack or travel food (again you can do this with your Dutch Oven if need be click here to see an article on Choosing and Seasoning a Dutch Oven). Lastly, oats in the form of whole oats (with the hulls intact) can be sprouted in a matter of 3 days or so and eaten as lovely nutrient rich sprouts.
Sweet Cinnamon Oak Drink
• 1 C Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1 (4-inch) Cinnamon Stick, Broken into Chunks
• 4 C Water
• Sugar or Honey to taste
In a large pitcher, soak the oats, cinnamon and water for a minimum of one hour, preferably three. Blend the mixture (remove the cinnamon stick) in a blender. Strain and sweeten to taste. Serve well-chilled or over ice.
 

Oatmeal
Slow Cooker Oat Meal from Food Network’s Good Eats
• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried figs (or fruit of your choice)
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
In a slow cooker (or Dutch Oven), combine all ingredients and set to low heat. Cover and let cook for 8 to 9 hours (mine looked pretty good after 4 hours but I would not have hesitated to cook them longer) stir them to check for burning or drying and add more water if needed. If you are using a slow cooker (electric crock pot) method it works best if started before you go to bed. This way your oatmeal will be finished by morning.
3. Oats are Higher in Protein Than Wheat or Rice: Oat protein is 16.9 g to that of even Brown Rice at 7.94 g. Oat protein is almost equal to soy protein, which research has shown is equal to meat, milk, and egg protein (a bonus for those of us who don’t like soy). The protein content of the different forms of oats ranges from 12 to 24%, the highest among cereals making oats an excellent choice to store as a survival food for times when other sources of protein are scarce.
4. Oats Make You Feel Fuller Longer: Oats contain more soluble fiber than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion and an extended sensation of fullness. Staying fuller longer could come in handy when food is scarce.
5. Oats Will Help Control Blood Sugar and Cholesterol: Oats contain complex carbohydrates which help stabilize blood sugar and the before mentioned soluble fiber slows the absorption of glucose. The soluble fiber in oats has also been proven to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) by essentially taking it out with trash as it moves through and out of your system so to speak. Oats could be one of your only tools in treating someone with high cholesterol in a prolonged emergency when they do not have access to their statin drugs and oats could be one of many dietary tools for helping to manage blood sugar levels (assuming you don’t smother the oats in sugar).
6. Oats Can be Used as a Meat Expander: During the depression, many families added oats to their meat when grinding and cooking it to make it go further and to keep everyone fuller a little longer. A favorite place to add oats was and still is to meat loaves as oats tend to take on the flavor of whatever they are cooked with.
7. Oats Can be Grown Where Wheat Cannot: Oats are grown in temperate regions. They have a lower summer heat requirement and greater tolerance of rain than other cereals such as wheat, rye or barley. They could be grown in areas with cool, wet summers, such as the Northwest. As an example to their hardiness, they are being grown successfully in Iceland. Oats also do not require weeding as they usually choke out most weeds. Whole oats can be planted as seeds.



8. Oats Can be Ground Into Flour: Groats are a good choice for flour making, but you can also use old-fashioned rolled oats. Rolled oats can be turned into oat flour with a strong food processor while groats will require a grain mill. Oat flour adds the health benefit of oats to any baked good. Oat flour, if coming from a wheat-free facility, can also help fill the holes in a gluten-free diet. If wheat becomes more scarce, oat flour may become its substitute.
9. Oats are Inexpensive and Versatile: Beside all the uses you’ve read about so far, left over oatmeal can be made into a simple homemade oat bread. Click here to view the recipe. Not only does this save money, but it adds nutrition and depth of flavor to your bread. Oats are relatively inexpensive due to their use as livestock feed and their unpopularity as people food. When compared to other high protein grains, oats are rather inexpensive making it an important choice for food storage. Now is a good time to stock up on oats.
10. Oats Can Double as an Animal Feed: Complex carbohydrates, in oats, have been providing energy to livestock for a very long time. Horses were the reason humans started cultivating oats. They can be fed to horses, cows, dogs (in the form of oatmeal), chickens, goats, sheep and almost every other farm animal.
5 main types of oats and why it matters!
Whole Oats - These oats are usually straight from the field and still have a hull. You usually can only get these from a feed or farm supply store. Unless you have the means to remove the hull I would not recommend getting them unless you want them as animal feed or as seed – if you do buy them and want to use them as food, make sure they have not been treated with any kind of chemicals or poison.
Groats - These are oats with the hull removed, but are still difficult to come by. they can be found in co-ops and health food stores. They take a very long time to cook up, and remain hard and unpleasant to eat – BUT they are excellent if you want to grind them into flour with your home grain mill. You could also run them through your steel burrs if you have them on your grain mill, on a course grind and make your own version of steel-cut oats, which makes a very nice porridge. These are fairly difficult to grind without practice however, so another option would be if you have a roller mill or roller mill attachment for your meat grinder or KitchenAid, you can make your own old-fashioned rolled oats from groats.
 


Steel Cut Oats or Irish Oats
Steel Cut Oats - These are oats that have been cut by steel blades into small pieces. They cook up finer and quicker than groats to make a nice porridge, and many people say that flavor from steel-cut oats is better than the old-fashioned rolled oat porridge we know as “oatmeal.” They are also known as Irish Oats or Pinhead Oats. Cooking time on Steel cut oats is 35-60 minutes if not longer.
Rolled Oats or Old Fashioned Oats - Are a processed version of groats. They are groats that have been steamed and rolled flat to speed up cooking time to around 10-15 minutes in boiling water.
Quick Oats - Once again these are groats that have been steamed, but they have been rolled even thinner to decrease cooking time even more to 3-5 minutes in boiling water. Once oats are processed to this extreme they start losing some of their nutritional value as the processing methods begin to damage the soluble fiber within the oats.
 

Rolled Oats
Instant Oats- these are oats, usually quick oats, that have been pre-cooked and then dehydrated. You only need to add hot water to these oats for a finished product. They do not store well at all and are the least nutritious of all the different forms of oats, but they still have a well deserved spot in your Bug Out Bag, or your 72 hour kit. Flavored Quaker Instant Oatmeal is this type of oats.
And let’s not forget about oatmeal cookies!! While not vital to survival they sure are good and would serve as a nice easy to make comfort food – click here for a wheat free oatmeal cookie recipe!

Sources:
http://www.knowledgeweighsnothing.com/10-reasons-why-everyone-should-store-oats/
http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2012/12/10-reasons-why-everyone-should-store-oats.html