What do apples have to do with prepping?

First off, forgive me for my lack of prep blogging. This has been a crazy year with things like my oldest in Afghanistan, my mothers illness then death, two teens graduating, crossing the country twice, my father-in-law kind of moving in, my husbands issues and surgery all have been contributing factors to life and not posting.

Secondly, I plan on posting more of my day to day life which is no longer a life of one of a prepper, as I have changed over the years. Instead I have been transformed to a life that many will never understand, and others, perhaps like you will read and nod, or aspire to do as my life is the life of a blending of long ago skills with modern innovation...which will be coming soon to a more regularly scheduled weekly format.

For now I wish to share that I have been researching Kimchi.

The apples are what I put in some batches of Kimchi.

I am going to dive in more and share about Kimchi and how I use it in my life and the farm soon. My question to readers is this: Do you know what kimchi is, and if you do what are your thoughts on it?


Please share as that is what a real prepper is...one that listens, studies, and learns from those that have done something. A prepper appreciates that it is not what we accumulate that will get us through a crises, but what we learn and are able to cart in our mind are the real tools of prepping and survival.

Take care,

Jennifer
Double Nickel Farm


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What to do...in a Catastrophic Event?

I wrote what to do on Double Nickel Farm. We have no way to prepare for every situation, but you can read What to do...and it will give you some ideas on what a prepper can do after a crises occurs.

It appears as if this summer is going to be one for the record books. Now is the time to learn skills to prepare you for any crises that comes your way.

Jennifer
Double Nickel Farm

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Home Made Dog Food

I had been researching home made dog food recipes and came up with one that costs pennies a day. I wrote about my recipe on my farm blog Home Made Dog Food~The Results. It is important to factor in our preps food for our pets too.

Feel free to swing over to Double Nickel Farm to see how you too can make homemade dog food!
Jennifer

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What is Possible?

I promote learning skills more so than accumulating actual prep items as things run out, but your skills will be there forever. On my farm blog, I share how my family has been able to accomplish both skills and building up my prep items, all because of the potential or the possibility we saw when we found our farm. Feel free to read my post Breaking the Land on my blog, and maybe you too will be inspired to seek out some piece of land and live the dream of yesteryear, all the while preparing your family for the future that is coming.

Jennifer
Double Nickel Farm
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How to's

On my farm blog I share how to make simple deodorant. It seems so silly to realize that in your preps are all the items you need to make most every thing. Instead of having x amount of deodorant in your prep to last x amount of time, you could save a good deal of money by learning how to make a deodorant that is unisex, and cost pennies. Go here to to see how easy it is to make deodorant.

By the way my post that shares how to make deodorant also shares how easy it is to prepare and eat lentils. Lentils are highly nutritious and are easy to add to your preps for very little money. I never understood how easy it was to prepare lentils, beans and the likes until I realized how inexpensive the bags of lentils were and beans verses buying the canned beans. A bonus was how I can eat foods that now do not have that silly little product corn syrup added. Seems like corn syrup is now added to everything, and in my mind that troubles me. Take the time and increase your skills today as well as adding to your preps.

Jennifer
Double Nickel Farm

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Shopping, Groceries and Preparation

Hello preppers!

It has been a good while since I have been able to apply some time to share prepping ideas or tips. I just completed a post on my farm blog that shares how much my family of five spends on shopping, groceries and preparation. It is so important that we all appreciate the times we live in...

Feel free to swing over and check it out!
Shopping Groceries and Preparation

Jennifer
Double Nickel Farm
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Using Your Food Storage: Pinto Beans

Storing food that you do not know how to use is a waste of time. Storing foods that have only one use can sometimes become frustrating. For awhile now I have been playing around with recipes to create unique foods or different foods from the same old ingredients. Pinto beans are a staple in the southwest and have been in my family since I married Bill. I love refried beans, cooked pinto beans, bean burritos, bean enchiladas, bean tacos, but wondered what else can I make that may not be specifically Mexican flavored?

Here is one recipe:

Pinto Bean Bread

Ingredients:

2 packets yeast(1 packet yeast =2 1/4 tsp.)
1/2 lukewarm water
1/2 cup evap.milk(I often use goat milk or powdered milk)
1 tbsp. salt
6- 7 cups flour
1 1/4 cup water(bean juice:) from making pinto beans
1 cup mashed beans
2 tbsp. shortening
2 tbsp. sugar

Directions:
Soften yeast in lukewarm water. Warm bean juice on low heat take off heat- add milk, oil, salt, sugar, mashed beans and 2-3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add yeast and more flour until dough is easily handled. Knead until smooth(5-10 minutes). Place in greased bowls and let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and let rise again. Shape and place in 2 greased bread pans. Let rise again.

Bake 40-45 min. at 375 F.

Pinto Bean Bread

I must confess using even the water that the beans were cooked in plays into my conservation as I love using everything and having little waste.

From the website WH Foods I found a wonderful amount of information about pinto beans and if you want to check out how great pinto beans are click here.

Another bread I make from a leftover item is rootbeer bread, as I make homemade rootbeer and always seem to have a few cups leftover. So I make rootbeer bread!

By the way, I love the way cooking affords a person to be unique. One can use round pans and create round loaves of bread, square pans or even the traditional bread pans. Living a simple life is not about less but about you and slowing down. As a prepper this will help you adapt if you do not have all the items you are comfortable with in a crises, as you are already used to baking with non traditional measures!!

Ten Things

In the spirit of money saving ideas, today I am going to share ten things you can do instead of watching television. Television is a huge time waster and does cost money(either satellite or cable). Television also causes the CP syndrome(couch potato syndrome) and the I WANT IT NOW syndrome. You see life portrayed fictionally and think that you need the same things, and fill up with clutter because you cannot achieve the perfection that TV presents...so what can you do in the time you usually slot to sit and zone out?

Read!!!

So here is my top ten items to read:

1. The Bible- I believe wholeheartedly that most of television is stolen from the Bible- if you have never read the Bible you may think I am crazy, but the Bible is filled with the what nots that will make life a living hell(and eternal hell) and the what to do's to make life better. David sent a man into battle(front lines death wish for sure) just so he could sleep with the wife of the soldier...oh and the soldier died, the woman got pregnant and the baby died- talk about drama, weeping, and shock!

2. Louis Lamour Western- I love his works. He died the year I married and the year I discovered him as an author(as my husband had all of his books). LL-books are written with an appreciation for nature, man, woman, and morals and values. He researched the west, lived in the west, lived and studied the Indians in the regions. I have required my kids read several books for their homeschooling as some are stand out for some great lessons. For here I will suggest the Sacket series as my favorite...(honestly I love pretty much all- in fact one book he wrote about was a American soldier(with American Indian ancestry) in the USSR---powerful read for sure!)

3. The US Constitution- boy if we all did this one, we could stand firm in our votes as we would KNOW who really did not believe in our land.

4. The $30,000 Bequest by Mark Twain. I bet you could find it on Project Gutenberg. Want to see how we all were so quick to get in the credit game(ie gambling money you don't have on money you hope to make)...this is a very short-eye opening read. It is one of my favorite reads.

5. Let's stick with Mark Twain one more time. Read the Death Disk. To me it is a great reminder to those that will not make a decision. You see passing responsibility on to another resolves nothing and causes so much headache. Funny the two Mark Twain stories were written a hundred years ago yet are so relevant to today in America with the people and the elected.

6. Powerline a site that is more of a commentary on the day's events. Not heated but seen through a conservative viewpoint.

7. Ace of Spades Updates on news with goofy(sometimes a bit off color) opinions. This site reminds me of high school and the kid you knew would never grow up(and you were glad to think that)...makes me wonder if he is the guy from my high school!

8. Big Government This is a new site that gave attention to the Acorn scandal. No other place seemed interested.(kind of like Drudge with the Blue dress)- and look where Drudge is today!

9. American Preppers Network( pick any state on the side bar and visit and read the tips, ideas and skills they share) and the Canadian Preppers Network(pick on any province)...you will be amazed at the amount of information you can learn from a bunch of people volunteering their time to help others..

and lastly

10. You can read about a real life family that loves each other and is, through the sweat of their own brows, carving out a piece of America for their own. They use more their minds than money, yet life seems to work out fine. It is a place where corny is in...a real honest to goodness blast from the past...my farm blog: Double Nickel Farm.

Don't forget that 2010 is the year of the prepper!

(c) Jennifer