Whole Dried Peas

My husband and I have found that Sprouts Grocery Store sells whole dried peas in bulk.  These are different from split peas because they still have the outer casing and provide more nutrients.  When cooked and eaten with whole grain, they create a full protein, much like corn and beans.  Dried peas can also be sprouted.  They have a shelf life of 8+ years. Definitely something to consider adding to your food storage!

To prepare and cook peas:
1. Soak peas overnight
2. Strain the peas and put them in a 3 quart sauce pan and add enough water to cover the peas entirely.
3. Cover and bring to boil. (Add salt if desired)
4. Simmer the peas for 30-40 minutes (according to your liking)

Haz Mat Emergencies

    Sorry its been so long since we've put up a new post but we've been really busy. This entry is taken from the IS 5a course offered by FEMA. Here are some simple guidelines to follow should you ever find yourself in a Hazardous Materials emergency. Generally, evacuation is the safest route, but sometimes that isn't possible. FIRST THING TO DO IS CALL 911! Also, never approach the situation yourself.

What You Should Do

 After you have been alerted of a hazardous materials incident, you should await further information from emergency response personnel. Upon receiving this information, follow it. Your primary objective is to keep your distance from the incident in order to minimize your chances of contamination.

      If you are caught outside in an incident, try to stay upstream, uphill, and upwind. You want to stay upstream from toxic waste flowing in water, so it is not carried towards you. Many toxic vapors are heavier than air and will tend to settle in low areas; thus, you are usually safest uphill where the topography will provide some protection.

       How far away from an incident should you go to be safe?  In general, however, you should go at least 10 city blocks (one-half mile) from the danger area; for many incidents, you will need to go much further.

In-Place Sheltering

       In certain circumstances, it is safer to keep community residents indoors than to evacuate them. The following procedures are intended to reduce risk in most incidents where in-place sheltering is used:

 ·        To reduce the amount of toxic vapors entering your home, seal entry routes as efficiently as possible. Close windows and doors, and seal drafty places with wet towels, blankets, or tape.

 ·        Turn off all ventilation, including furnaces, air conditioners, vents, and fans.

 ·        If dangerous vapors are entering the building, take shallow breaths through a cloth or towel. (The same procedure may offer some protection from smoke in a fire.) While use of a cloth may be of value, it is important to emphasize that it is strictly a defensive measure and can provide only minimal protection. It certainly does not enable the wearer to enter a toxic environment! Portrayal of daring rescues on television using handkerchiefs for protection is erroneous and misleading, and should not be imitated.

 ·        Remain in protected areas of the house where toxic vapors are reduced, and be sure to take your radio with you.

 Other Protective Measures

      A hazardous materials incident offers opportunities for exposure by three primary routes: inhalation, absorption, and ingestion. The following guidance will help you minimize your exposure by these routes.

 Minimizing the Inhalation Hazard. 

   If you are in a motor vehicle, close off ventilation and shut your windows. As we have seen, covering your mouth and nose with a cloth provides a minimal amount of protection from contamination. The best protection is to distance yourself from the source; sightseeing at an incident of this type is an unnecessary risk to your health.

 Minimizing the Risk of Skin Absorption. 

   The skin can easily absorb many toxic materials. Since even a small amount of a chemical substance may be toxic, you should avoid contact with any spilled liquid material, mist in the air, or condensed solid chemical deposit. Keep your body fully covered—including gloves and socks—but remember that these measures are only minimally effective. Once you have left the area, you should fully disrobe, proceed through decontamination, and dress in fresh clothing.

 Avoiding Ingestion of Toxic Substances. 

   Toxic substances can be ingested if your food or water supply becomes contaminated. If you learn that you will be sheltered indoors, quickly fill up your bathtub with a supply of uncontaminated water and turn off the intake valve to your home. Do not eat any food that could have become contaminated in an incident.

 Decontamination. 

   A person or item that has been exposed to a hazardous material is contaminated and can contaminate other people or items (i.e., cross-contamination). For example, if you enter your car after being exposed to a toxic substance, you will contaminate your car. The specific procedure for decontamination will vary according to the chemical to which the individual was exposed, but here are some good guidelines. Certain items—e.g., leather and some plastic and rubber materials—absorb toxic substances so easily that they cannot be completely decontaminated; these items must be discarded. If you believe you may be contaminated and medical assistance is not immediately available, remove all of your clothing, shower thoroughly, don fresh loose warm clothing, and seek medical help. Advise all who come in contact with you that you may have been exposed to a toxic substance so they can take proper precautions. To avoid contaminating your home and others, place your exposed clothing in a nonpermeable container without allowing it to contact other materials, and arrange for proper disposal.

1.      Wash down outer clothing (unless the chemical is water-reactive).

2.      Remove clothing, working from the top down.

3.      Wash down your entire body (unless the chemical is water-reactive).

4.      Wrap up or dress in clean clothing.

5.      Discard contaminated clothing in a well-secured plastic bag. Then, report to trained medical personnel at the earliest opportunity.            

Reporting a Hazardous Materials Incident

     If you witness a hazardous materials accident, spill, or leak, call 911 or your local emergency notification number as soon as possible. In rare cases in which no local emergency forces appear to be available, you can contact the NRC to report an emergency. Provide as much of the following information as possible:

·        The chemical involved, if known

·        Information on the substance’s placard or label, if it is visible

·        Precise location of the incident

·        Size of the incident, in quantitative terms

·        Direction in which the plume is moving

·        Color of the smoke or spilled liquid

·        Altitude and movement of the plume (i.e., is the plume rising or sinking?)

·        Number of injuries

·        For a transportation incident, a description of the vehicle involved (e.g., tanker or pickup truck), including any identifying marks, numbers, or placards+

- Casey

Spices!

The subject of using herbs and spices for cooking and healing is huge and as such I just wanted to touch on it here. As always, for more info feel free to do some research. Recently I was talking to a friend that had lost his job. Fortunately he had planned ahead and been diligent about acquiring food storage. As we talked he let me know that although wheat, beans, honey and salt can keep you alive they get incredibly boring and continued by saying that the one thing he wished he had bought more of were spices. I know this may seem obvious but how many of us have a year supply of spices? If you're like me you never really paid attention to your spice rack. It is one of those items that gets replaced only when necessary.  The nice thing is, because most are dried they will last nearly indefinitely.The other thing to consider is that spices have valuable micro nutrients that your diet will otherwise be lacking. They also add a sense of comfort and help to add a familiar flavor no matter the underlying food. Spices can also be used for herbal medicinal purposes if you know how to use them. Sam's Club carries a wide selection of bulk spices for a decent price. We've also found cheap spices in the Hispanic foods section of Fry's (any grocery store should have them). These spices come in small bags and seem to be of decent quality. We use empty baby food jars as needed to store these spices. One of the most important spices which should already be included in your food storage is salt. I will do another article on its numerous uses later. As with all your other year supply store what you use and use what you store.
~ Casey
    

Using Apples

Many people use apples to make apple pie filling and throw out their apple cores and peelings.  Those "left overs" can be used to make great tasting apple jelly.  And the best part is . . . no pectin needed!  Apple seeds and skins contain natural pectin.  The more sour an apple, the stronger the pectin.  Here is a great apple jelly recipe:

You need 4 pounds of apple peelings, including cores with seeds.  (Or you can coarsely chop up whole fruit, or a combination of whole fruit and peels.)  Cut off and throw away the blossom end with small black hair-like pieces and the stems. 

Place 2 lids in a shallow pot of water on medium low heat on the stove.  Also place two pint jars upside down in a cake pan into your oven which has been preheated to 200 degrees.

Put the four pounds of apples into a pot, add  4 cups of water and cover, simmering fruit until soft.  

Next, strain entire contents of the pot through a damp jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth to extract the juice. Throw away any leftover chunks of apple.

Measure 4 cups of juice and add 3 cups of sugar and 2 Tbsp lemon juice in a large pot.  Stir in sugar until  dissolved.

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.  Bring to gelling point or until jelly sheets from spoon.  Remove from heat.  Skim foam if necessary.  Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.
Put lids and rings on jars and process jars in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes 2 pints

 * Sheeting refers to the jelly falling off the spoon as a whole instead of dripping or running off.

For those of you who like to dry your apples here are some tasty alternatives:
* A dehydrator is not necessary.  You can dry apples in your own oven by leaving it on warm for 5-6 hours.

* After coring, peeling and slicing your apples dip them into sugar free jello before drying. Or, try this recipe to dip apple slices into before drying:

1 - 6oz can of lemonade

1 can water

6 Tbsp of corn syrup, we use Karo

Soak the cut fruit in the lemonade mix for 15-20 min.  Dehydrate fruit in the dehydrator as usual. 

~Submitted by Liz Fuller

The Wonders of Vinegar (I Love This Stuff !!!)

Vinegar is awesome!!! We use white distilled vinegar almost everyday in one application or another.
*It can be used to clear up fungal infections as a topical anti-fungal solution. Simply put it directly on the affected area, soak affected parts in vinegar or apply to a rag and wipe down.
*It can be used to alleviate pain and speed healing of a sunburn by balancing the body's pH. After a shower apply cold vinegar lightly with a spray bottle. Both of the above applications may burn slightly, but they work great.
*For bug bites/stings (scorpion, ant, spider, bee, etc...) soak the affected area with vinegar for 10 minutes then rinse for 30-40 minutes. The Vinegar breaks down the venom and helps prevent anaphylaxis. If this treatment causes significantly greater pain stop and seek medical help immediately. To help stop the itching and burning you can also make a paste of baking soda and apply it to the area.
*Vinegar can be mixed with ammonia 1:1 to make a fabulous hard surface cleaner but don't use it on paint or carpet, its powerful stuff. Works great on glass! When in doubt, test a small area first.
*We use warm vinegar to remove hard water stains and calcium buildup, if you soak the item for a while it works better.
*Also we mix vinegar with essential oils and water to make a fantastic cleaning product. You can mix vinegar with any essential oil (whatever fragrance you like) and use it as an air freshener in your home.
*In order to keep our dishwasher fresh we put 1C of vinegar in it every month.
*We mix 1 cup with our laundry's rinse cycle and it dissolves all the soap solids in our clothes left over by the laundry detergent. This is especially useful when washing baby clothes because it removes harsh chemicals and makes the clothing less irritating. Vinegar also removes the body oils that cause workout clothes to stink and helps get rid of pit stains.
*When used in your washer it also keeps your blue jeans blue by helping to "set" the indigo dye.
* To set dyes in hand spun threads and fabrics add 1C to the last rinse.
*We add a cup to our mop water to help dissolve the grease and grottyness left on the floor by two small children.
*It can also be used as an herbicide for your garden because it doesn't get absorbed by plant roots it will kill top growth but won't harm perennials.
*To inhibit frost formation on your windshield mix one part water with three parts vinegar and apply the night before an expected frost.
Best of all, it has a four year shelf life and is dirt cheap.

~  Submitted by Casey

Using Powdered Egg

We've found that powdered eggs are a difficult food storage item because they only have a two year shelf life.  They also have to be used within one year of opening (once opened they MUST be kept refrigerated), and it takes the full year for us to use a # 10 can.  But they are essential in our food storage rotation.  To rotate them, we use them in baking whole wheat waffles, brownies, and other baked goods.  The ratio of powdered egg to water depends on the manufacturer. A fairly safe rule of thumb, used for LDS cannery eggs, is 1 T egg to 2 T of warm water. If in doubt check the label.

Scrambled Eggs:
  We've found some tricks to making scrambled eggs with powdered eggs.  First, use a ratio of one real egg to every two powdered eggs (plus 2 T warm water for each powdered egg used).  By doing this, you don't notice the powdered egg taste, texture or smell.  Second, they need to be whisked well in order to aerate them.  Third, if you don't have any real eggs to add, make sure you heavily spice the rehydrated powdered eggs to cover their odd flavor.  Make sure to let the spices sit for a few minutes to get rehydrated for optimal flavor.  You can also add fillers like: peppers, mushrooms, ground beef, rice, potatoes, black beans, etc. to help improve the texture of the powdered eggs.  And fourth, make sure your pan is hot (we set the stove to medium high) before adding the eggs.  Hot water is key when it comes to using powdered foods.  Without hot water, it is a slower process for the food to return to its intended form and the powder tends to clump rather than dissolve. For fluffier eggs add some powdered milk and mix accordingly.
I have also found that using powdered eggs when making french toast works great.  If you add a little cinnamon, sugar and vanilla you can't even tell they are powdered eggs.

Baking with powdered eggs:
When baking with powdered eggs you need to add dry ingredients together and wet ingredients together.  For instance:  when I make whole wheat waffles using powdered eggs, I will add the whole wheat, baking powder, salt and 4 T (or 1/4 C) of egg powder together, THEN I will add the milk, oil, and 8 T of warm water (to complete the egg powder) to the recipe and mix.  It is important to first add the dry ingredients together in all baking recipes whether it's flour, sugar, baking powder, egg powder, milk powder, vanilla powder etc.

Rehydration Formula

Here is a rehydration formula that was developed for use in third world countries as an alternative to oral rehydration salts. Obviously this should only be used when needed. This can be administered orally or rectally if needed.

1 Quart/Liter clean water
1-2 level teaspoons salt
6-8 level teaspoons sugar OR 2 tsp honey
The juice of 1 lime OR 1 lemon OR 1/2 an orange or grapefruit OR 1 large spoonful mashed ripe banana

Have the person drink the whole liter in small sips so they can hopefully keep it down and follow with one quart/liter clean water. Continue treatment until the person is urinating regularly.

Submitted by Casey