Friday Funny: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Had a friend send this to me and had to share. Enjoy!

And now you know why the chicken crossed the road! Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone--more Preparedness Month fun and games next week!

Interesting Little Tidbit

Now here's an interesting (albeit kind of disgusting) bit of information for you.  If your kids find a corn worm while you're all shucking corn and decide to keep it as a pet in a jar with a bit of corn so it has something to eat and then put it somewhere that you don't find it until three weeks later when they go back to school, the worm will not live, but some of the corn will try to grow (along with plenty of moldy stuff).  Gross.  Thanks kids for the science experiment.

Interesting, no?  I'm sure you'll find that information useful sometime in the future.  Just file it under "nastiness".

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread . . . Oh, Wait, it is Sliced Bread

Had ball practice for my girls last night and I haven't been feeling too good lately, so after dropping them off I went to the store and bought some bread and a frozen pizza.  This almost never happens.

My 5 year old is done with practice first and she gets in the car and sees the bread.  We still have to wait another half hour for her sister to be done.

Her: Can I have some bread?
Me: Sure.
Her: Now?
Me: Yep.
Her: Can you slice it?
Me: It's already sliced.
Now she's confused.
Her: How did you slice it?
Now I can't even answer because I'm laughing.
She gets a big ol' grin and figures it out: OOOHHHH, you goed home!

She really did not understand how I produced bread in the car that was already sliced.  Too funny.  Really we do eat bread from the store occasionally, although apparently not very often. ;-)

FoodSaver GameSaver Deluxe Giveaway!

In the spirit of giving, today I have another fun giveaway for you!  But first a word about this giveaway's sponsor:

Ready Made Resources specializes in emergency power supplies and emergency preparedness supplies and has been in business for 15 years.  They have a walk in store in the Smoky Mountains that is co-powered by solar and wind as well as their online shop.  Seriously helpful folks here.  And until November 30th they're also having a fantastic 25% off sale on their Mountain House freeze dried foods and free shipping on cases--check out their ad on the right sidebar!

Now, you all know I love my FoodSaver.  It is an amazing machine.  I use it for packing food for the freezer and foods I've dehydrated to prolong their useful life.  I use it to pack clothes for our Emergency Kits.  You should see the compact package it makes when you vacuum pack diapers!  I know you all want one or know someone who does.

Well, the folks at Ready Made Resources are feeling just that generous and have offered to send one of my readers a FoodSaver GameSaver Deluxe that retails in their store for $149.95.  Okay, I'll admit it.  I want it.  My 10 year old FoodSaver's got nothing on this machine.

Here's the Product Information:
 
FoodSaver® V2440 Advanced Design

The FoodSaver® Advanced Design series. It improves upon favorite FoodSaver features like Hands-free operation -- now at the touch of a button. It introduces never-before-seen features like variable speeds for different size bags and canisters, and food-specific settings that ensure a secure seal for dry or moist food. It even has a CrushFree™ Instant Seal feature so that, for the first time ever, you can immediately stop the vacuum process when vacuum packaging delicate foods. And it is Sleeker because it combines function and beautiful form with features like an easy-to-use and easy-to-clean flat Touchpad Control Panels.

Product Features:

• Improved Hands-free Operation – Vacuums, seals, and shuts off automatically with a single touch
• Improved Easy-clean Antibacterial Drip Tray – Removes easily, dishwasher safe. Extra deep and antibacterial
• Improved Built-in Roll Holder and Cutter – Simplifies making custom-sized bags
• New Extra-wide Sealing Strip with Non-stick Coating – Provides extra secure, airtight seal that’s two times wider
• New Two Speed Settings – Optimize vacuum speed for different size bags and canisters
• New CrushFree™ Instant Seal – Immediately stops the vacuum process to prevent crushing
• New Easy-lock Latch – Latches lid tight, securing bag for vacuuming and sealing
• New Adjustable Food Settings – Change seal level for type of food – moist or dry
• New Control Panel – Easy to clean and makes vacuum packaging easier than ever
• New Pen Storage – Stores pen under lid for dating and labeling bags
• New Canister Mode – Achieves the best vacuum on canisters and accessories
• Accessory Hose Storage – Keeps Accessory Hose handy and protected
• Port – Allows vacuum packaging with FoodSaver Canisters and Accessories
• Full-sized Vacuum Channel – Catches overflow liquids and fits any size FoodSaver Bag for maximum versatility
• Indicator Lights - Tracks sealing progress
  

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.  The winner will be contacted by email, so put an email you actually check in the email spot.  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 Thursday, December 17th at 5:00 pm MST and the winner will be contacted by email for their shipping information.  If you respond quick, you should be able to have this FoodSaver in hand by Christmas!  Good luck!  (And yes, I'm having fun with the form generator.)

WaterBOB Emergency Water Storage Giveaway!

I thought it would be fun with the holidays approaching to do a few giveaways on the blog and help promote some self reliance/preparedness related businesses in the meantime.  So we're just going to get started right now with the first giveaway.

I've heard of people who plan to fill their bathtub with water in the event of an emergency to have more water stored.  Now, I know of people whose tubs are probably clean enough to drink out of, but not mine.  And what about debris or your dog getting into your bathtub water storage?  How much use is that water then?

CampingSurvival.com has graciously offered to send one of my readers one of their best selling products that addresses the water storage in the tub issue, the WaterBOB.  This is an easy to fill expanding water bladder that uses your bathtub as the support structure.  It can be filled in approximately 20 minutes (depending on waterflow in your house) and holds up to 100 gallons of water.  Constructed of heavy duty plastic that is FDA compliant for food storage, the waterBOB keeps water fresh and clean for up to 4 weeks.  It also comes with siphon pump to get the water out easily as you need it.  For more information on the product and to see the (cheesy) video that shows the WaterBOB in action, you can visit the WaterBOB website. :)

Now, of course this works best if you know the disaster is coming, like a hurricane or tropical storm.  This would be a great addition to your already stored water, and would also be useful for apartment dwellers who can't store a bunch of 55 gallon drums of water, but could fill their tub in an emergency . . .  And I sure could have used some extra water storage when we had to have our water main replaced a couple of years ago--I knew we would have the water turned off, but it took a day and a half longer than I had anticipated to get the job done and the water back on!  And I also know people in hurricane country that could use a Christmas gift!

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 Friday, December 4th at 11:59 pm and the winner will be contacted by campingsurvival.com for their shipping information.  Good luck!

The Best Part of Preserving Cherries

Okay, I have no words here except that this wasn't even half the mess my kitchen saw that day! I guess you just don't notice it so much when you're working with something light colored like peaches . . . oh yeah, and that was the best my hands looked all day.

Happy Mother's Day! A Song for Moms

Here's a Mother's Day treat for all you moms out there! (I never sound like this by the way. Really. Just don't ask my kids to verify that.)

Is This Some Kind of a Joke??

Went to bed last night planning on getting my little Gurney's baby replacement trees/berries/grapes put in the ground this morning and this is what I woke up to:What kind of April Fool's joke is this??? Maybe it will get better when the sun comes up and it could melt the snow I thought, but by the time the sun was up, so was the wind and now we have this:Nothing like blowing snow to get you in the mood to plant something. Guess the tree planting will have to wait at least until the wind slows down a little. Maybe I'll go to the store and try to find seed starter trays instead. At least that will mostly be inside out of the wind. ;-)

Cleaning Out the Freezer and Ode to My Foodsaver

Spent most of yesterday cleaning out our two freezers. I think Someone's been hearing my grumblings about eating elk for every meal, because in the last two weeks we've been given ground beef (yep real beef, not ground venison or elk) and various cuts of pork from other people's freezer cleanouts. And this last round we had no place in the freezer to put it, so I figured it was time to clean out the real old stuff from the freezers and figure out why we couldn't fit even a jug of ice cream in. It was a cold day, but got it done, and here's the one freezer. What is that??? A shelf with nothing on it??? Unbelievable! We are cooking up very old elk/moose/buffalo/deer/antelope meat and sausage that is crazy freezer burnt for the dog a little at a time, so I actually had to put some of the old stuff back in on that bottom shelf. Defrosting packs of jerky cut meat plus some old roasts to be cut into jerky, so that will get done in the next day or two.

Now, the Ode to My Foodsaver (and last night's dinner):

Foodsaver, foodsaver, You amazing machine.
You made edible 7 year old beans of green.
8 year old elk steaks were delicious too,
Not all freezer burnt and covered with frosty goo.
And the 2 year old peach pie filling was also yummy--
Quickly devoured into every child's tummy.

Thanks for the food found at the freezer's back

That we could still eat thanks to how well you pack.

Okay, cheesy, I know, but the food packed in my foodsaver kept way better than the food packed by the butcher in the white paper. Just my observations . . .

Now, it's a beautiful day here so I'm going outside to do some yardwork! Have a great weekend! :)

Gotta Love the Versatility of Home Canning!

We home can lots of stuff around here, but here's one I've never tried before. My kids did this canning, but I'll say right now, there are better ways than this to "preserve" your childhood memories!