One of my favorite ways to promote preparedness and survival skills with the kids is to go camping. And I’m not talking about pulling the motor-home into a commercial campground and hooking on to the water and electricity. I’m talking about real camping—preferably in a tent where you have to bring in your own water and non-electric entertainment. If you live in an apartment building in the middle of a city, this will take more planning than if you live in a very rural area. Don’t make yourself hate the experience, but get as primitive as you can stand.
And preferably camping lasts more than one night although that is not always possible. One of our favorite camping trips is a week long excursion we take every summer. Camping has provided the opportunity for us to try some of our gear (stoves, tents, fire starting items) in the environment it was made for. The kids get to help set up camp, build fires, cook, catch and clean fish, wash clothes and dishes and hair outdoors with limited water, and dig a latrine. Quality survival education disguised as fun.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Kids Prep Minute: Give Them the Gear and Let Them Use It
We have used occasions like birthdays, Christmas, etc. to give our children gifts of flashlights, headlamps, books about survival skills, pocket knives, sleeping bags, and other outdoor gear. Yes, they also get toys like other kids, but usually we're able to slip in some preparedness gear as well.
Then, practice using the preparedness gear with your kids. Their gear and yours. Don't lock it up somewhere "safe" and never use it. I'll be honest with you here, sweet husband is way better at this than I am. He welcomes and encourages help from the kids even when it slows him down. He has been known to put a child in charge of lighting the campfire with his flint and steel (with dad's help and encouragement of course) while I would have just lit a match and got the dang fire going. Son did get the fire going eventually though and what an accomplishment for a then 9 year old!
Our kids get to rotate through their own emergency kits, help light fires, use tools, and help with the planting, growing, harvesting, and preserving of the garden each year. They get to help me make meals and help dad fix wiring and pipes. They get to use their pocket knives, shoot the guns, and hammer nails into boards. I haven't started them on the sewing machine yet, but it won't be long. No, it is usually not faster or easier to let the kids help. And no, I don't always let them help. But I try. They are part of my team. By having the gear and letting them use it, we are giving them the tools and the skills they need to be a little more self reliant and more prepared which, in the end, will help us all.
Then, practice using the preparedness gear with your kids. Their gear and yours. Don't lock it up somewhere "safe" and never use it. I'll be honest with you here, sweet husband is way better at this than I am. He welcomes and encourages help from the kids even when it slows him down. He has been known to put a child in charge of lighting the campfire with his flint and steel (with dad's help and encouragement of course) while I would have just lit a match and got the dang fire going. Son did get the fire going eventually though and what an accomplishment for a then 9 year old!
Our kids get to rotate through their own emergency kits, help light fires, use tools, and help with the planting, growing, harvesting, and preserving of the garden each year. They get to help me make meals and help dad fix wiring and pipes. They get to use their pocket knives, shoot the guns, and hammer nails into boards. I haven't started them on the sewing machine yet, but it won't be long. No, it is usually not faster or easier to let the kids help. And no, I don't always let them help. But I try. They are part of my team. By having the gear and letting them use it, we are giving them the tools and the skills they need to be a little more self reliant and more prepared which, in the end, will help us all.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Katadyn Hiker Water Filter Giveaway from Emergency Essentials
Clean, safe, drinking water is one of the top concerns when there is an emergency. The average person can only live approximately 3 days without water. I personally think I'd run into trouble before my three days were up. Drinking contaminated water can cause a variety of illnesses and even death. However, packing enough water for an evacuation can be bulky and heavy. Every two cups of water adds a pound to your pack. So a gallon is 8 pounds! Seriously, that gets heavy fast, especially if you're having to hike into your location or also have to supply water for youngsters too little to haul their own.
One great solution to having drinking water is to have a filter. A portable water filter lets you have clean water on the go as long as you have a source of water to filter (stream, lake, puddle, etc.).
Our friends at Emergency Essentials have graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway for a Katadyn Hiker water filter for one of my readers.
Katadyn is one of the leading names in outdoor/camping/emergency water filtration and they produce a variety of water filtration products. Here's what they have to say about the Hiker:
The Katadyn Hiker is the best selling microfilter in the US Outdoor Market. Lightweight and easy to use design is the best choice for all around use. Unique, pleated cartridge design provides fast and easy pumping. Convenient and handy for 1–2 people (e.g. while hiking or trekking). Compatible with hydration bladders. Includes: Prefilter, bottle adapter and carry bag.
Some more information on the Katadyn Hiker filter from Emergency Essentials' site:
The Hiker's unique filter prevents early clogging. Compact and lightweight (only 11 oz), the Hiker is great for emergency kits, backpacking, and camping. The filter's simple design makes it easy to use. The Hiker eliminates bacteria and protozoa (Giardia and Cryptosporidium). A carbon core reduces pesticides and chemicals, producing fresh tasting water. An ergonomic handle makes it easy to pump up to one quart per minute.
Compact design and easy operation
A great all-around choice
Microfiltration Method: 129 square inches of pleated 0.3 micron glassfiber media
Output: Up to one quart per minute (48 strokes/minute)
Cartridge Capacity: Up to 200 gallons, depending on water quality
Weight: 11 oz
Height: 6.5"
Hose Length: 36"
Handy little filter for your emergency kit courtesy of Emergency Essentials!
So here's the instructions to sign up for this giveaway. You are welcome to leave a comment on this post, but it won't count toward the giveaway. :) To enter, you'll need to fill out the form.
For your first entry, put your name and email in the form. This is required for entry in the giveaway. If you don't want to put your real name in the name slot, I guess that's okay, put whatever you like to be called in that space. I need your email to contact you if you win. Your email won't go anywhere else. Promise.
Additional entries are available for the following:
1. Become a follower of Adventures in Self Reliance (you know my posts are worth reading!)
2. Follow Adventures in Self Reliance in a feed reader (or by email feed subscription)
3. Share this giveaway via a post on your blog (make sure to link to the giveaway and leave the link to your post in the form)
4. Twitter a link to this giveaway (include @momof3angels in your tweet and put your twitter username in the form)
5. Share this giveaway by some other method like facebook or email your friends
The giveaway will end on Tuesday, March 9th at 11:59 pm and the winner will be contacted for their shipping information. If the winner does not respond within 3 days, we will choose another winner. Good luck!
I'm going all cute and pink on the form this time, but don't let it deter you tough guys from signing up--the filter is not pink :)
One great solution to having drinking water is to have a filter. A portable water filter lets you have clean water on the go as long as you have a source of water to filter (stream, lake, puddle, etc.).
Our friends at Emergency Essentials have graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway for a Katadyn Hiker water filter for one of my readers.
Katadyn is one of the leading names in outdoor/camping/emergency water filtration and they produce a variety of water filtration products. Here's what they have to say about the Hiker:
The Katadyn Hiker is the best selling microfilter in the US Outdoor Market. Lightweight and easy to use design is the best choice for all around use. Unique, pleated cartridge design provides fast and easy pumping. Convenient and handy for 1–2 people (e.g. while hiking or trekking). Compatible with hydration bladders. Includes: Prefilter, bottle adapter and carry bag.
Some more information on the Katadyn Hiker filter from Emergency Essentials' site:
The Hiker's unique filter prevents early clogging. Compact and lightweight (only 11 oz), the Hiker is great for emergency kits, backpacking, and camping. The filter's simple design makes it easy to use. The Hiker eliminates bacteria and protozoa (Giardia and Cryptosporidium). A carbon core reduces pesticides and chemicals, producing fresh tasting water. An ergonomic handle makes it easy to pump up to one quart per minute.
Handy little filter for your emergency kit courtesy of Emergency Essentials!
So here's the instructions to sign up for this giveaway. You are welcome to leave a comment on this post, but it won't count toward the giveaway. :) To enter, you'll need to fill out the form.
For your first entry, put your name and email in the form. This is required for entry in the giveaway. If you don't want to put your real name in the name slot, I guess that's okay, put whatever you like to be called in that space. I need your email to contact you if you win. Your email won't go anywhere else. Promise.
Additional entries are available for the following:
1. Become a follower of Adventures in Self Reliance (you know my posts are worth reading!)
2. Follow Adventures in Self Reliance in a feed reader (or by email feed subscription)
3. Share this giveaway via a post on your blog (make sure to link to the giveaway and leave the link to your post in the form)
4. Twitter a link to this giveaway (include @momof3angels in your tweet and put your twitter username in the form)
5. Share this giveaway by some other method like facebook or email your friends
The giveaway will end on Tuesday, March 9th at 11:59 pm and the winner will be contacted for their shipping information. If the winner does not respond within 3 days, we will choose another winner. Good luck!
I'm going all cute and pink on the form this time, but don't let it deter you tough guys from signing up--the filter is not pink :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
Kids Prep Minute: It's About Love Not Fear
The trouble is, especially with young children, they are prone to worry and anxiety if adult topics such as preparedness and the uncertain future are not presented properly. Heck, a lot of adults are the same way. It's a fine line, and we've messed it up before. One time discussing leaving the house in the event of a fire one child asked about their favorite stuffed animal. Yep, we told him it was more important to have him get out of the house than to make sure Scruffy was out. Well, pretty soon all three were crying uncontrollably about having to leave their favorite stuffed friends behind. It was not good. I'm sure you can picture the scene. It was, however, something that needed to be understood, I just think maybe we could have presented it differently so it wouldn't have been so traumatic.
It's important to help the kids understand why you are storing food, guns, and all the gear but use discretion. I have not gone into great detail with my kids about all the horrifying possibilities that could be created by a societal collapse or terrorist attack for example. Children don’t need to know all that. What they do need to know is that you love them and want to do whatever is in your power to protect them and provide for their needs no matter what happens in the future. If the reason you're preparing is presented right, they'll feel safer and more secure about the future, not more anxious. Remember that while you’re discussing preparedness with your children.
It's important to help the kids understand why you are storing food, guns, and all the gear but use discretion. I have not gone into great detail with my kids about all the horrifying possibilities that could be created by a societal collapse or terrorist attack for example. Children don’t need to know all that. What they do need to know is that you love them and want to do whatever is in your power to protect them and provide for their needs no matter what happens in the future. If the reason you're preparing is presented right, they'll feel safer and more secure about the future, not more anxious. Remember that while you’re discussing preparedness with your children.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Mud
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Aurora Fire Starter Giveaway from Campingsurvival.com
Today we have a giveaway from the fantastic folks at campingsurvival.com. Among the most important things when you're in a survival situation is being able to keep warm and so a way to start fires is a must. I personally like to have 3 or 4 ways because I'm fire challenged, but that's just me. Magnesium/Steel firestarters have never been my favorite method--one reason for that is because the dumb little magnesium flakes don't stay where I shaved them long enough to catch a spark when there's a breeze blowing. The less expensive versions also require you to use your knife to make the spark. Well here's a little fire starter that looks very promising. It's called the Aurora Fire Starter and the key is that the magnesium is built into the striker bar so it can't blow away and the sparks stay lit longer than they do with a standard striker type fire starter. And Campingsurvival.com is giving one of these fancy firestarters to one of my readers!
Here's the specs from campingsurvival.com's site:
This Magnesium Fire Starter (Patent Pending) is rugged and designed for the outdoors enthusiast. The Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter uses a large 1/4" diameter composite flint steel rod that has magnesium built into it. Has a guided built in striking blade (no need to dull your expensive hunting knife) that maximizes the sparks and insures the ignition of any suitable fire starting material/ tinder. This product is designed to function wet or dry and is made from corrosion resistant high strength materials (no plastic!). The Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter has an overall length of 3.5", weighs 1/10th of a pound, and can be attached to your key ring so it is always there when you need it. The Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter is made in the USA and is designed to last a life time.
"This is one of my favorite new items and I'm very excited to be able to sell it. I have been playing with my new magnesium fire starter quite a bit over the past few days, starting fires all over the place. What's great about it is that it has the hot burning magnesium and the flint in one piece. You don't have two different pieces that can separate like other magnesium fire starters and have the chance of losing one piece of your fire starting kit. Some people just prefer a flint bar and then scrape it and throw the sparks at some tinder. With this new magnesium fire starter, when you throw the sparks just like you would with a plain flint bar, the magnesium sparks stay lit for several seconds and makes it even easier to start a fire. Why wouldn't you want to make your flint fire starter even better? The magnesium and flint chunks throw out just like flint, but stay smoldering like little chunks of fire rather than shavings of magnesium that can blow away before you get your sparks onto it. Plus, you can strike it as many times as you like over and over again thereby throwing a continuous shower of super hot smoldering pieces of magnesium and flint at your fire bed. The larger chunks seem to stick where you throw them as well." — Tom Sciacca, President of CampingSurvival.com
This magnesium fire starter is designed to function under the most extreme conditions and is made from corrosion resistant high strength materials, and, will be your faithful fire starter for many years.
So here's the instructions to sign up for this giveaway. You are welcome to leave a comment on this post, but it won't count toward the giveaway. :) To enter, you'll need to fill out the form.
For your first entry, put your name and email in the form. This is required for entry in the giveaway. If you don't want to put your real name in the name slot, I guess that's okay, put whatever you like to be called in that space. Signing up for this giveaway will also sign you up for campingsurvival.com's monthly email newsletter that highlights their new products, sales, etc. Really a useful bit of information, and it's only once a month. You email won't go anywhere else. Promise.
Additional entries are available for the following:
1. Become a follower of Adventures in Self Reliance (you know my posts are worth reading!)
2. Follow Adventures in Self Reliance in a feed reader (or by email feed subscription)
3. Share this giveaway via a post on your blog (make sure to link to the giveaway and leave the link to your post in the form)
4. Twitter a link to this giveaway (include @momof3angels in your tweet and put your twitter username in the form)
5. Share this giveaway by some other method like facebook or email your friends
The giveaway will end on Wednesday, March 3rd at 11:59 pm and the winner will be contacted for their shipping information. If the winner does not respond within 3 days, we will choose another winner. Good luck!
Here's the specs from campingsurvival.com's site:
This Magnesium Fire Starter (Patent Pending) is rugged and designed for the outdoors enthusiast. The Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter uses a large 1/4" diameter composite flint steel rod that has magnesium built into it. Has a guided built in striking blade (no need to dull your expensive hunting knife) that maximizes the sparks and insures the ignition of any suitable fire starting material/ tinder. This product is designed to function wet or dry and is made from corrosion resistant high strength materials (no plastic!). The Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter has an overall length of 3.5", weighs 1/10th of a pound, and can be attached to your key ring so it is always there when you need it. The Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter is made in the USA and is designed to last a life time.
"This is one of my favorite new items and I'm very excited to be able to sell it. I have been playing with my new magnesium fire starter quite a bit over the past few days, starting fires all over the place. What's great about it is that it has the hot burning magnesium and the flint in one piece. You don't have two different pieces that can separate like other magnesium fire starters and have the chance of losing one piece of your fire starting kit. Some people just prefer a flint bar and then scrape it and throw the sparks at some tinder. With this new magnesium fire starter, when you throw the sparks just like you would with a plain flint bar, the magnesium sparks stay lit for several seconds and makes it even easier to start a fire. Why wouldn't you want to make your flint fire starter even better? The magnesium and flint chunks throw out just like flint, but stay smoldering like little chunks of fire rather than shavings of magnesium that can blow away before you get your sparks onto it. Plus, you can strike it as many times as you like over and over again thereby throwing a continuous shower of super hot smoldering pieces of magnesium and flint at your fire bed. The larger chunks seem to stick where you throw them as well." — Tom Sciacca, President of CampingSurvival.com
This magnesium fire starter is designed to function under the most extreme conditions and is made from corrosion resistant high strength materials, and, will be your faithful fire starter for many years.
So here's the instructions to sign up for this giveaway. You are welcome to leave a comment on this post, but it won't count toward the giveaway. :) To enter, you'll need to fill out the form.
For your first entry, put your name and email in the form. This is required for entry in the giveaway. If you don't want to put your real name in the name slot, I guess that's okay, put whatever you like to be called in that space. Signing up for this giveaway will also sign you up for campingsurvival.com's monthly email newsletter that highlights their new products, sales, etc. Really a useful bit of information, and it's only once a month. You email won't go anywhere else. Promise.
Additional entries are available for the following:
1. Become a follower of Adventures in Self Reliance (you know my posts are worth reading!)
2. Follow Adventures in Self Reliance in a feed reader (or by email feed subscription)
3. Share this giveaway via a post on your blog (make sure to link to the giveaway and leave the link to your post in the form)
4. Twitter a link to this giveaway (include @momof3angels in your tweet and put your twitter username in the form)
5. Share this giveaway by some other method like facebook or email your friends
The giveaway will end on Wednesday, March 3rd at 11:59 pm and the winner will be contacted for their shipping information. If the winner does not respond within 3 days, we will choose another winner. Good luck!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Blog Business and Randomness
I have debated about putting advertising on the blog for a while and finally decided to go ahead with it. So I've added a couple of links on the left sidebar for your shopping pleasure. The first is for Emergency Essentials who actually wanted to put an ad on the blog, so by all means I'll encourage you to do business with them through my ad link. But you know I've had a link to them on my blog since the beginning, and they are actually a fantastic preparedness company to do business with. They have a couple of retail locations in Utah and also do catalog and internet sales. Sweet husband and I have been buying things from them since they were selling out of an old warehouse looking building on State Street and have always received excellent service and quality products. Check them out if you're in the market for some preparedness supplies.
The next new addition is a link for James Talmage Stevens' Making the Best of Basics preparedness guide. This is a book that is worth having. I have the fifth edition published in 1975. The cover price is $4.95 on that one. My how times have changed! The new (eleventh) edition is advertised to have 250 new pages--that's probably over the tenth edition. I'm guessing it has a lot more in it than my fifth edition does. This is the all time best selling preparedness book on the market. Get your hands on one. An updated one is on my list.
In other news, a great big THANK YOU to all who have signed up on the LDS Preppers site and put me as their referrer. You all are awesome! The prize last week for referrals was a portable emergency toilet system and you know with our one bathroom here I've wanted something like that a few times even without a verified emergency! If you haven't signed up yet, head on over and check them out. They don't care if you're LDS or not as long as you'll abide by the forum rules and be polite which I know you all would be, so there's no reason not to join in a little preparedness forum fun.
In even more news, there's a HAM radio class going on every Wednesday night until the end of March for the county. I can't make the class--I'm helping with the community theater, so I checked with the instructor, ordered the book to independent study it, and hopefully will be ready to take the test when the rest of the class does. Anyway, the book arrived in the mail today and I'm ready to bust it out and get studying. And no, morse code is no longer a requirement for amateur radio licensing. So excited!
Is that all? Surely not. I've got the powdered milk test results figured out, but when my computer had to be reincarnated, my camera software didn't get loaded and then ended up not making it back from the computer guy's house, so I'll get that post up as soon as I can get the pictures onto the computer. I know there are other ways to get pictures from a camera to the computer besides using the camera's software, but I like my camera software. It is smarter than me. So hopefully it won't take too long to get the software here and loaded so I can get the pictures and the post up.
Now I think that is all. There's probably something else, but the natives are restless and homework needs supervised, so I'm off to fix a snack and do some schoolwork :)
The next new addition is a link for James Talmage Stevens' Making the Best of Basics preparedness guide. This is a book that is worth having. I have the fifth edition published in 1975. The cover price is $4.95 on that one. My how times have changed! The new (eleventh) edition is advertised to have 250 new pages--that's probably over the tenth edition. I'm guessing it has a lot more in it than my fifth edition does. This is the all time best selling preparedness book on the market. Get your hands on one. An updated one is on my list.
In other news, a great big THANK YOU to all who have signed up on the LDS Preppers site and put me as their referrer. You all are awesome! The prize last week for referrals was a portable emergency toilet system and you know with our one bathroom here I've wanted something like that a few times even without a verified emergency! If you haven't signed up yet, head on over and check them out. They don't care if you're LDS or not as long as you'll abide by the forum rules and be polite which I know you all would be, so there's no reason not to join in a little preparedness forum fun.
In even more news, there's a HAM radio class going on every Wednesday night until the end of March for the county. I can't make the class--I'm helping with the community theater, so I checked with the instructor, ordered the book to independent study it, and hopefully will be ready to take the test when the rest of the class does. Anyway, the book arrived in the mail today and I'm ready to bust it out and get studying. And no, morse code is no longer a requirement for amateur radio licensing. So excited!
Is that all? Surely not. I've got the powdered milk test results figured out, but when my computer had to be reincarnated, my camera software didn't get loaded and then ended up not making it back from the computer guy's house, so I'll get that post up as soon as I can get the pictures onto the computer. I know there are other ways to get pictures from a camera to the computer besides using the camera's software, but I like my camera software. It is smarter than me. So hopefully it won't take too long to get the software here and loaded so I can get the pictures and the post up.
Now I think that is all. There's probably something else, but the natives are restless and homework needs supervised, so I'm off to fix a snack and do some schoolwork :)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Very Cool CHEAP Camp Stove From LDS Preppers
Okay, this is my next project I think. Very cheap, efficient, cheap, small, cheap woodstove. Did I mention that it won't cost a lot to build this? You probably have most of the materials in your food storage already. Check out this thread on the LDS Preppers site. Which, by the way, is full of lots of other useful preparedness information as well. And, if you feel so inclined to join the forum there, let them know you were referred by Angela because this month they're running a contest for referrals and you know I like to win stuff. Yeah, "Angela" is my username there. Real original, huh? ;) Enjoy the stove instructions--let me know if you get one built!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Kids Prep Minute: Code Words
Here's a quick one to think about with your kids. If mom was unavailable to come get you and she had to send someone you didn't know to pick you up from school/ball practice/whatever, how would you know they were safe to go with? Well, they'll know the secret code word (or phrase) of course. When we were growing up, we made up a crazy secret code phrase. It is hilarious and nobody could come up with it if they weren't told it, but it would be hard to forget once you heard it. Perfect. Never had to use it. I know you're dying to know what it was, but I can't give it away here because it's a SECRET code word! Come up with some phrase that your kids and you can remember in an emergency situation. Then if anyone comes up to your kids and says their mom needs help and they are suppposed to get in that person's car right now, they'll know to run the other way if they don't hear the code word.
Another place a code word could be used is in an event that requires kids going straight to a safe room in the house or dropping and hiding where they are. Then if it is an intruder at the door, he won't know what you're yelling "BLUE PICKLES" for, but the kids will get the message and do what they need to do.
This code word could also be something you could "text" to your kids if they have cell phones. The key is that the code word enacts a plan that you have already made.
Think up times when your family might need to communicate something without letting the whole world know what you mean (think "Alas, Babylon"), or might need a "password" for security reasons. Come up with some good memorable code words for your family, and by all means, don't tell me what they are! ;)
Another place a code word could be used is in an event that requires kids going straight to a safe room in the house or dropping and hiding where they are. Then if it is an intruder at the door, he won't know what you're yelling "BLUE PICKLES" for, but the kids will get the message and do what they need to do.
This code word could also be something you could "text" to your kids if they have cell phones. The key is that the code word enacts a plan that you have already made.
Think up times when your family might need to communicate something without letting the whole world know what you mean (think "Alas, Babylon"), or might need a "password" for security reasons. Come up with some good memorable code words for your family, and by all means, don't tell me what they are! ;)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Most Amazing Delicious Magical Award Winning 6 Grain Bread Recipe I Ever Came Up With Myself
Really. It's that good. And I made it up myself. Well, I started with a recipe and kept changing it and changing it until I hit on this combination and haven't changed it since. This is what my family eats. I promise it's delicious.
Angela's Crazy Delicious 6 Grain Bread Recipe
Makes 6 loaves. If I had two ovens and a few more bread pans I'd double it, but you can half it or 1/3 it or whatever for your needs.
4 Cups 6 grain cereal (or other rolled grains) You want "regular" rolled grains here, not "quick"--quick oats would just turn to mush
1 1/2 C. Water
2 TB yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
5 C. warm water
About 15 Cups flour, half white half wheat
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Gluten flour (optional)
1-2 Cups Bean flour (optional)
1 Cup powdered milk
2 TB Salt
6 TB Butter or shortening
350 degrees 40 minutes or thereabouts depending on your oven.
Ready? Okay, let's get started.
1. Put the 4 cups rolled grains in a pot or bowl that holds more than 4 cups. I use a pot because I don't actually measure the stuff, I just know about where on the pot to fill it to because I've used this same pot for the grain part of this bread forever.
2. Pour hot water over the grains until they are covered by about an inch of water. Hot water from the tap is fine, you don't need to go heating water for this. Then set it aside to soak. I set mine on the stove because I have limited counter space--I do NOT turn the stove on and cook it, it just sits there.
3. Put the 1 1/2 Cups of warm water, 2 TB yeast, and 1 1/2 tsp sugar in a bowl and let the yeast do it's thing. It's okay to stir it around a bit just so all the yeast gets in the water.
5. Put about 10 cups of the flour (I like half white and half wheat, but you could go all wheat or all white if you want to), the sugar, gluten flour, powdered milk, bean flour, salt and shortening in the bowl. Grandma's very cool 2 cup measurer speeds up the process measuring the flour. Thanks, grandma. :)
The bean flour is ground from white beans. It just makes it so my kids are eating beans without knowing it. With a standard electric impact type grain grinder you can just grind beans up. My mill has a corn/bean auger to grind beans into flour. The gluten flour makes the bread hold together better. Gluten=Glue. If I use all white flour or don't use the rolled grains, I use less gluten flour than 1 cup.
You don't have to measure exact tablespoons of the shortening--what a hassle getting that stuff out of the measuring spoons! Just put 6 scoops that are approximately tablespoon sized. I promise you won't mess it up if you're a little off.
Do not forget the salt. Really, the bread is not that good without it. Edible, but not nearly as tasty. I like Redmond Realsalt. It's really good. Shameless plug for a fantastic product. :)
6. Now all your dry ingredients are in the bowl, mix them together. It's okay if the scoops of shortening don't get mixed up yet. The yeast mixture should be nice and bubbly by now--add it to the bowl.
I usually get 2-3 cups of water off the grains. Then the rest of the 5 cups I get from the faucet.
8. Once you have the water measured off your grains, add them to the bowl as well. About this time I turn my oven on warm because I use it to raise my dough. If you've got a fairly warm place without using your oven, you don't need to turn your oven on yet.
Now we have everything in the bowl except the remaining flour. See why you need a giant bowl?
9. Mix it all up and add enough of the remaining flour to make it stick together fairly well. Now we're going to knead it. Some folks are all kinds of fancy and have a mixer that will knead bread for them. Mine will only do about two loaves worth at a time, so I just knead this myself. I divide it into two parts that will be three loaves each for the kneading. It makes it easier to work with and it works out better for the bowls I use to raise the bread in if it's only half the recipe in each bowl. I also move from my counter to my table to knead. You've got to be able to get leverage on the dough, and the counter is too high for me. See if you can lock your elbows with your hands together (CPR style) and reach your kneading surface without needing a stool. If so, it will work better for you. When the table's been busy with homework or whatnot, I've used the counter, I just get a little stool so I'm up a little higher to make it easier. Whew. Got all that? Just trying to make kneading a little easier for you! :) Here's what the dough looks like when I'm done mixing it in the bowl and it's ready to knead.
Put some flour on your surface before dumping the dough out and keep it handy to add flour to the dough as you knead.
I'm not giving kneading instructions here as I was my own photographer and it's kind of difficult to knead and take pictures without getting flour and dough all over the camera, so after I knead the dough, here's what it looks like.
Where were we? Oh yes, step 10.
10. Spray oil a bowl and put your nice ball of dough in it. Then spray the top of the dough with the spray oil, cover it, and put it someplace warm to rise. I cover it with a dishcloth. That's just how my mom did it. I don't know if it's the best way or not, but it works for me. I also use my oven to raise the bread in. I already had it turned on low or warm setting about the time I started mixing up all the ingredients, now I turn it OFF and put the dough in to raise.
11. Wait. Here's where you can clean up the mess you've made so far and go do some jumping jacks or whatever floats your boat for 20-30 minutes or so. The bread is raising. You want it about double in size, but if it gets bigger than that it's okay. I've had it hanging over the edge of the bowl before. The bread still turned out fine. So once it's at least double its size, it's done raising. Beautiful.
12. If the top is kind of dry, spray it with some water from a spray bottle to soften it up again. Then punch down the dough and dump it out of the bowl to form the loaves. Divide each bowl into 3 equal-ish balls.
12. Shape the dough into loaves. There's probably a million ways to shape a bread loaf. Here's what I do. Press out the air while shaping one of the dough balls into a rectangular shape about as wide as a bread pan, maybe a little wider. I kind of roll my hands from the bottom to the top to get air bubbles out--you could use a rolling pin if you want and get the same effect. I just don't like washing more dishes than I need to, so I press it out with my hands.
Then roll the dough into a log being careful not to trap air bubbles in the layers.
My log is usually a bit longer than the bread pan. Tuck the ends of the log under itself and wiggle it a bit to even it all out.
12. Then put it in your greased bread pan. I use el-cheapo bread pans and spray oil. They work fine. I don't wash them out after I bake bread in them, I just wipe out any residual grease and they're ready to go for the next round. Maybe that's unsanitary, but they've become nicely seasoned this way--like cast iron.
13. Put the loaves somewhere to rise. I turn my oven on to pre-heat and put them along the back of the oven because that's where the oven vents so it's nice and warm. Cover them again. I use the same dish cloths I used earlier.
Wow, I think this is one of my longest posts ever. If you are still reading, you are awesome! Hang in there, we're almost done!
Let the bread raise in the loaf pans for 20 minutes or so. It depends on how warm you have your raising place as to how fast the loaves will raise. Don't let them raise until they look like a loaf of bread--they do some more raising in the oven, so that will make for "airy" loaves where the bread doesn't stick together very well. About like this is fine.
14. Put your bread in the oven and cook it at 350 for 40 minutes or so. 40 minutes is perfect in my oven. Then take the loaves out, get them out of the pan, and let them cool. I usually just set them out on the same dish cloths I used to cover them. Multi-purpose. I rub butter on the top while they're hot to soften it up a bit.
Super delicious. Making me hungry . . . I think I'll go have some bread and jam now.
Angela's Crazy Delicious 6 Grain Bread Recipe
Makes 6 loaves. If I had two ovens and a few more bread pans I'd double it, but you can half it or 1/3 it or whatever for your needs.
4 Cups 6 grain cereal (or other rolled grains) You want "regular" rolled grains here, not "quick"--quick oats would just turn to mush
1 1/2 C. Water
2 TB yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
5 C. warm water
About 15 Cups flour, half white half wheat
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Gluten flour (optional)
1-2 Cups Bean flour (optional)
1 Cup powdered milk
2 TB Salt
6 TB Butter or shortening
350 degrees 40 minutes or thereabouts depending on your oven.
Ready? Okay, let's get started.
1. Put the 4 cups rolled grains in a pot or bowl that holds more than 4 cups. I use a pot because I don't actually measure the stuff, I just know about where on the pot to fill it to because I've used this same pot for the grain part of this bread forever.
2. Pour hot water over the grains until they are covered by about an inch of water. Hot water from the tap is fine, you don't need to go heating water for this. Then set it aside to soak. I set mine on the stove because I have limited counter space--I do NOT turn the stove on and cook it, it just sits there.
3. Put the 1 1/2 Cups of warm water, 2 TB yeast, and 1 1/2 tsp sugar in a bowl and let the yeast do it's thing. It's okay to stir it around a bit just so all the yeast gets in the water.
4. While the yeast and grains are soaking, get out your giant bowl for the dry ingredients. Sweet husband got this for me one year for Christmas. It rocks.
5. Put about 10 cups of the flour (I like half white and half wheat, but you could go all wheat or all white if you want to), the sugar, gluten flour, powdered milk, bean flour, salt and shortening in the bowl. Grandma's very cool 2 cup measurer speeds up the process measuring the flour. Thanks, grandma. :)
The bean flour is ground from white beans. It just makes it so my kids are eating beans without knowing it. With a standard electric impact type grain grinder you can just grind beans up. My mill has a corn/bean auger to grind beans into flour. The gluten flour makes the bread hold together better. Gluten=Glue. If I use all white flour or don't use the rolled grains, I use less gluten flour than 1 cup.
You don't have to measure exact tablespoons of the shortening--what a hassle getting that stuff out of the measuring spoons! Just put 6 scoops that are approximately tablespoon sized. I promise you won't mess it up if you're a little off.
Do not forget the salt. Really, the bread is not that good without it. Edible, but not nearly as tasty. I like Redmond Realsalt. It's really good. Shameless plug for a fantastic product. :)
6. Now all your dry ingredients are in the bowl, mix them together. It's okay if the scoops of shortening don't get mixed up yet. The yeast mixture should be nice and bubbly by now--add it to the bowl.
7. Now we're going to add the 5 cups of warm water, but don't go turning on your faucet just yet. Go get your pot of soaking rolled grains.
Pour the water off the soaking grains into your measuring cup until you've poured it all off as best you can. Yes some of the grains go along for the ride, it's okay. This is not rocket science.
I usually get 2-3 cups of water off the grains. Then the rest of the 5 cups I get from the faucet.
8. Once you have the water measured off your grains, add them to the bowl as well. About this time I turn my oven on warm because I use it to raise my dough. If you've got a fairly warm place without using your oven, you don't need to turn your oven on yet.
Now we have everything in the bowl except the remaining flour. See why you need a giant bowl?
9. Mix it all up and add enough of the remaining flour to make it stick together fairly well. Now we're going to knead it. Some folks are all kinds of fancy and have a mixer that will knead bread for them. Mine will only do about two loaves worth at a time, so I just knead this myself. I divide it into two parts that will be three loaves each for the kneading. It makes it easier to work with and it works out better for the bowls I use to raise the bread in if it's only half the recipe in each bowl. I also move from my counter to my table to knead. You've got to be able to get leverage on the dough, and the counter is too high for me. See if you can lock your elbows with your hands together (CPR style) and reach your kneading surface without needing a stool. If so, it will work better for you. When the table's been busy with homework or whatnot, I've used the counter, I just get a little stool so I'm up a little higher to make it easier. Whew. Got all that? Just trying to make kneading a little easier for you! :) Here's what the dough looks like when I'm done mixing it in the bowl and it's ready to knead.
Put some flour on your surface before dumping the dough out and keep it handy to add flour to the dough as you knead.
I'm not giving kneading instructions here as I was my own photographer and it's kind of difficult to knead and take pictures without getting flour and dough all over the camera, so after I knead the dough, here's what it looks like.
I have no idea how long I knead each half. I just keep kneading until it's nice and bouncy and kind of pushes back when I push on it. Not sticky. Okay? And just for Chef Tess, here's a closeup of the kneaded dough where you can see the yummy rolled grains all mixed in there.
Where were we? Oh yes, step 10.
10. Spray oil a bowl and put your nice ball of dough in it. Then spray the top of the dough with the spray oil, cover it, and put it someplace warm to rise. I cover it with a dishcloth. That's just how my mom did it. I don't know if it's the best way or not, but it works for me. I also use my oven to raise the bread in. I already had it turned on low or warm setting about the time I started mixing up all the ingredients, now I turn it OFF and put the dough in to raise.
11. Wait. Here's where you can clean up the mess you've made so far and go do some jumping jacks or whatever floats your boat for 20-30 minutes or so. The bread is raising. You want it about double in size, but if it gets bigger than that it's okay. I've had it hanging over the edge of the bowl before. The bread still turned out fine. So once it's at least double its size, it's done raising. Beautiful.
12. If the top is kind of dry, spray it with some water from a spray bottle to soften it up again. Then punch down the dough and dump it out of the bowl to form the loaves. Divide each bowl into 3 equal-ish balls.
12. Shape the dough into loaves. There's probably a million ways to shape a bread loaf. Here's what I do. Press out the air while shaping one of the dough balls into a rectangular shape about as wide as a bread pan, maybe a little wider. I kind of roll my hands from the bottom to the top to get air bubbles out--you could use a rolling pin if you want and get the same effect. I just don't like washing more dishes than I need to, so I press it out with my hands.
Then roll the dough into a log being careful not to trap air bubbles in the layers.
My log is usually a bit longer than the bread pan. Tuck the ends of the log under itself and wiggle it a bit to even it all out.
12. Then put it in your greased bread pan. I use el-cheapo bread pans and spray oil. They work fine. I don't wash them out after I bake bread in them, I just wipe out any residual grease and they're ready to go for the next round. Maybe that's unsanitary, but they've become nicely seasoned this way--like cast iron.
13. Put the loaves somewhere to rise. I turn my oven on to pre-heat and put them along the back of the oven because that's where the oven vents so it's nice and warm. Cover them again. I use the same dish cloths I used earlier.
Let the bread raise in the loaf pans for 20 minutes or so. It depends on how warm you have your raising place as to how fast the loaves will raise. Don't let them raise until they look like a loaf of bread--they do some more raising in the oven, so that will make for "airy" loaves where the bread doesn't stick together very well. About like this is fine.
Super delicious. Making me hungry . . . I think I'll go have some bread and jam now.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Kids Prep Minute: Drills
Another post here about preparing with kids in the house. If you don't have kids, read it anyway. Maybe it will get your imagination going on something you could do to be better prepared also.
Our topic today is drills, and I'm not talking about your favorite Makita
here. I'm talking about practicing your emergency plans to the extent possible. If your kids are anything like mine, I can talk till I'm blue in the face and they amazingly can't remember a thing I said five minutes later. Physically doing something reinforces what you talked about in their memories. Did mom say go left or right? But if they've run the drill and always gone right, there will be no question when the time comes to do it for real.
Drills or "emergency plan practice" also help to work out kinks in your plans you might not have known were even there.
Fire drills are one common area to practice. Our kids love fire drills, even though we've never actually let them break the window in their room. We try to practice as close to the actual plan as possible and found we needed to make sure they had something hard by their beds to get the window broken if they needed it, so now that's where the wooden rifles go.
Think about your situation and the likely events your family faces. Maybe you also need to practice getting out of the house fast but not immediately as would be necessary in an evacuation for flood or wildfire. Set a timer and see how long it takes you to get everybody to the car with enough gear to either camp or hotel-it for 3-4 days. Or see how ready you are in 10 minutes and use that to build a better plan.
Maybe practice getting everyone in the house to a safe-room in the house in the event of a break-in or other similar event. Time them, give them rewards for quick responses, have fun with it. Drills can be planned or random and can be made to be fun for the kids while enforcing the important plans your family has for emergencies. You could dream up some seriously fun and useful family-night activities incorporating emergency drills. Have you practiced emergency drills with your family? How did it go?
Our topic today is drills, and I'm not talking about your favorite Makita
here. I'm talking about practicing your emergency plans to the extent possible. If your kids are anything like mine, I can talk till I'm blue in the face and they amazingly can't remember a thing I said five minutes later. Physically doing something reinforces what you talked about in their memories. Did mom say go left or right? But if they've run the drill and always gone right, there will be no question when the time comes to do it for real. Drills or "emergency plan practice" also help to work out kinks in your plans you might not have known were even there.
Fire drills are one common area to practice. Our kids love fire drills, even though we've never actually let them break the window in their room. We try to practice as close to the actual plan as possible and found we needed to make sure they had something hard by their beds to get the window broken if they needed it, so now that's where the wooden rifles go.
Think about your situation and the likely events your family faces. Maybe you also need to practice getting out of the house fast but not immediately as would be necessary in an evacuation for flood or wildfire. Set a timer and see how long it takes you to get everybody to the car with enough gear to either camp or hotel-it for 3-4 days. Or see how ready you are in 10 minutes and use that to build a better plan.
Maybe practice getting everyone in the house to a safe-room in the house in the event of a break-in or other similar event. Time them, give them rewards for quick responses, have fun with it. Drills can be planned or random and can be made to be fun for the kids while enforcing the important plans your family has for emergencies. You could dream up some seriously fun and useful family-night activities incorporating emergency drills. Have you practiced emergency drills with your family? How did it go?
Friday, February 5, 2010
Emergency Radio Winner and Powdered Milk Tasting
Congratulations to Becki, the winner of the emergency radio giveaway from campingsurvival.com! Wish I had one of those for everyone who entered.
In other news, for you locals there's powdered milk taste testing going on today (Friday) from 4-5 at the church on the hill. Come by and give me your opinions on a variety of brands of powdered milks--then you'll also know which brands you want to stock in your food room! I will be posting the results here on the blog after I get them compiled and get a few minutes to sick my brain on writing it all up. :)
Have a great weekend!
In other news, for you locals there's powdered milk taste testing going on today (Friday) from 4-5 at the church on the hill. Come by and give me your opinions on a variety of brands of powdered milks--then you'll also know which brands you want to stock in your food room! I will be posting the results here on the blog after I get them compiled and get a few minutes to sick my brain on writing it all up. :)
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Kids Prep Minute: Make a Plan
The computer has been reincarnated, so I'm back. I only have about a hundred posts to write, but the photo editing software isn't installed yet, so I guess I get to start with a non-photo intensive post. This will be the first in a bunch of posts having to do with preparedness and self-reliance when you've got kids that I'll randomly toss out in no particular order and well mixed with other posts. I could write this up as one long post, but it would be one LONG post and I'm not too crazy about long posts (writing them or reading them--maybe it's ADD). Now, those of you without children living at home, don't go ignoring these Kids Prep Minute posts--many of them will be helpful for you even without little ones around.
Children are a special consideration when you are preparing for an uncertain future. If you have children in your home, they are your responsibility, and I believe they should also be your partners in preparation. There are many things that we as parents can do to help our kids be better prepared, and one of those is making plans with them.
Do they know what to do if the house is on fire? What about for an earthquake? An evacuation? A tornado? What if these things happen while they are at school and dad and/or mom is at work? What is the plan? If they know where to go, who to contact, where you will meet them, etc. it can greatly reduce their anxiety level and yours when there is a need to put those plans into action.
So here's your assignment (and mine too): If your child is in school, find out what the school's plans are for an emergency. Then get together with your family and make a plan or two. Write them down if you want. You could put copies in their backpacks. Make sure everybody knows the plan and how to get in contact with each other. Well, I think my minute's up. More Kids Prep ideas in another post ;).
Children are a special consideration when you are preparing for an uncertain future. If you have children in your home, they are your responsibility, and I believe they should also be your partners in preparation. There are many things that we as parents can do to help our kids be better prepared, and one of those is making plans with them.
Do they know what to do if the house is on fire? What about for an earthquake? An evacuation? A tornado? What if these things happen while they are at school and dad and/or mom is at work? What is the plan? If they know where to go, who to contact, where you will meet them, etc. it can greatly reduce their anxiety level and yours when there is a need to put those plans into action.
So here's your assignment (and mine too): If your child is in school, find out what the school's plans are for an emergency. Then get together with your family and make a plan or two. Write them down if you want. You could put copies in their backpacks. Make sure everybody knows the plan and how to get in contact with each other. Well, I think my minute's up. More Kids Prep ideas in another post ;).
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