Simply Preparing

Survival blog for disaster and emergency preparedness.

Preppers Wish List

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Preppers Wish List Instead of the latest useless gadget this year, why not get some emergency preparedness gifts for your loved one? Here are a list of items that are guaranteed to be on your preppers wish list!

Stocking Stuffers:

Instead of putting them in a traditional stocking, I think it would be cute (and more useful) if Santa had a Bug Out Bag hanging in its usual place with all of the above in it!

Preppers Wish List Going Bigger:

  • Dehydrator
  • Canning Supplies (Tammy has some great money saving advice on canning supplies)
  • Pressure Cooker (not electric)
  • Foodsaver
  • Cast iron pans
  • Campstove (don’t forget the fuel)
  • First Aid Kits
  • Car emergency packs (Costco had a really nice one for $29 the other day)
  • Tent
  • Sleeping Bag
  • Fishing Gear
  • Hunting Gear
  • Emergency Toilet (could be a good gag gift that is REALLY appreciated someday)
  • 100 hour candles

Going REALLY Big:

  • Rain Barrels (check Craigslist for people that deliver in your area and only buy food grade & pressure washed)
  • Generator
  • Solar panels
  • Big Berkey Water Filter
  • Sun Oven
  • Big Buddy Propane Heater
  • Hand grain mill

 Free DIY Prepper Gifts

The most important prep we can have in my opinion is close relationships with friends, family, neighbors and loved ones. Take the opportunity this Christmas to reach out and connect with people. Maybe plan a spring camping trip, or offer to volunteer teaching skills you have, make a date to have some friends over to work on canning and food storage, or even set a date to go thrift store rummaging after the holidays. Remember: the greatest gift we can give is ourselves!

Happy Holidays!

 

Prepping on a Budget: Things to Buy at Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving has to be one of the best times of the year for prepping on a budget. Loss leaders are the items stores deeply discount to get you in the door in hopes you will buy the rest of your meal there. I admit, I am a lazy couponer and deal shopper at best these days but this is one week that all the ads are spread out and my strategies kick in. Especially if money is tight for prepping this week your extra $5-$10 will yield you much better results than most others throughout the year.

Loss leaders at Thanksgiving center around foods that are great for 2-3 years of shelf storage. I was able to pick up all of the below canned goods for less than 69 cents a can. The soups and veggies were 50 cents each.

Ideas for building long term food storage using Thanksgiving loss leaders.

I know Walmart price matching can be a pain for some. My store is really nice about it so I just gathered all my ads, made a list and headed in for one big stock up.

Here is a list of great prepping items to be looking for on sale the week of Thanksgiving:

  • Turkeys-Buy as many as you have space for in the freezer. Or plan to can the meat or make chili or soups with them to can.
  • Canned Fruit– pineapple, peaches, pears, cranberries are all good choices.
  • Canned Soups-Broth, Cream of Mushroom and Chicken are big this week. Broth takes the place of water when cooking rice or beans so you are helping to up your water storage with that one as well.
  • Canned Pumpkin-This is a biggie if you have pets.
  • Jarred Gravy-Will make emergency foods taste a little better!
  • Pumpkin, Squash, Onions, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes– All of these store well if you can ‘root cellar‘ them. For those of us that have no ability to root cellar, there are many creative ways to can or dehydrate these veggies to store. My favorite ways to use a bounty of pumpkin is on ParkerMama’s blog.
  • Butter– I freeze mine but I know it can be canned.
  • Flour-If you would like to store it for more than a year, you can put it in airtight mylar containers. I’ll post a tutorial soon on how to do this easily.
  • Sugar, Karo Syrup and Honey-check how long Karo lasts cause it’s not something I use.
  • Salt-You need salt in your diet in an emergency. It also works well to cure and preserve foods and has actually been used as currency throughout the word. It’s amazing what this undervalued thing that sits on our table is useful for!

Check expiration dates as you are shopping. Digging around a bit can produce dates almost a year apart. Duringcanned goods expiration date 2015-long term food storage my shopping I was able to find 2015 dates in most cases.

 

I’d love to hear from you: 

  • I am not a canner so if you are and have good links to share, please leave them in the comments.
  • What’s missing above? Is there something great I forgot to share?

How To Freeze Eggs

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Remember the good old days when eggs used to go on sale for .25 .50 a carton?  In my area we’re  lucky if we see .99 a dozen.   Eggs have gone up in price, which makes knowing how to freeze eggs an excellent skill to master.

How To Freeze Eggs

 

When To Use Frozen Eggs

Eggs that have been frozen are good for baking and recipes such as waffles and pancakes.   Frozen eggs tend to be a little rubbery for scrambled and other egg dishes, but if you want to give them a try, well, you only live once, right?

 

How To Freeze Eggs:

1. Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk them.  You aren’t trying to make them light and fluffy with lots of air, as a matter of fact, the less air the better.  You just want the white and yolk well mixed.

2. Put about 3 T of your egg mixture into an ice cube tray.  I used *this post contains affiliate links baby food trays because I know that they are BPA free.

3.  Stick your tray of eggs into the freezer and let them freeze.

Freezing eggs in ice cube trays

4.  After they are frozen, pop them out double bag them zip-lock bags, and stick them back into the freezer.  DATE YOUR BAG and write down HOW MANY CUBES MAKE AN EGG.  You may THINK you will remember this, but you won’t.  Trust me. (ahem)  Eggs are good for about 6 months when packaged this way.

These eggs should last up to a year in your freezer if you use your Food Saver and seal them in Food Saver bags. 

5. Speaking of how many cubes equal and egg…..two ice cubes is about 1 egg.  Just remember how many eggs you mix, and how many ice cube trays it fills up to figure out the cube per egg ratio.

Defrost as many ice cube eggs as you need for your recipe.  Don’t microwave them to defrost them because you will start to cook them.  Use your defrosted eggs right away.

Freeze Eggs In Muffin Tins

I used to do this in tin muffin containers.  But I now use these silicone muffin pans and will NEVER go back.  So much easier to pop out!  I think you’ll love them too.

1.  Crack eggs into bowl
2. Lightly scramble eggs
3. Pour into your silicone muffin tins and freeze!

Freeze Eggs In Ready To Eat Breakfast Meals

My family enjoys being able to grab a breakfast burrito or egg muffins out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave to warm it up, and head out for the day.  Don’t forget breakfast casseroles, like this one from Pocket Change Gourmet 

Shelf Stable Eggs

Freezing eggs not really your thing?  Worry not!  There excellent shelf stable eggs available in both powdered eggs and freeze dried eggs are a great choice.    Easy to add to your baking or scramble up for a quick breakfast!  Another family favorite are the Scrambled Eggs With Bacon from Mountain House.   Remember, eggs are an important part of both your long term, and short term food storage plan.

Yes! You CAN freeze eggs! Here's how!

Do you freeze eggs? How do you preserve your surplus of eggs?

Paper Plates For Emergencies: Super Bowl Sales

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Super Bowl Sunday is here and that means, before you sit down for the big game, let’s put some thought into how this American tradition can further your preps! If you have been a regular reader here for awhile you know that I LOVE holidays because each one brings its own chance to prep on a budget! To be honest, the Super Bowl isn’t a huge opportunity to prep but there is at least one thing you don’t want to miss out on: paper plates for emergencies, plastic cups and plastic utensils!

Paper Plates For Emergencies

paper plates for emergencies

Paper plates, plastic cups and plastic utensils will be invaluable in an emergency situation. If the water is off, paper removes the need to waste water on washing making things much more sanitary. If the garbage is not getting picked up it makes it easy to burn your waste materials. For this reason, you want to stock the cheap, plain white, uncoated plates. They are the easiest to burn.   If you include paper products in your prepping, you need to make sure that you have a way to safely burn them like an outdoor fire pit or wood stove. Don’t burn anything plastic coated in your barbeque or outdoor fire pit. It will leave a reside that is impossible to get off! Plastic cups and utensils are not clean to burn but can be reused many times before being thrown away. You can wipe the utensils easily with an antiseptic wipe.

Other Prepping Items to Pick Up During Super Bowl Sunday Sales:

  • Hotdogs-these are easy to cook in an emergency using little resources. Combine them with a can of beans and you have the old campfire Beanie Weanie tradition which is packed with protein.
  • Canned chili
  • Canned nuts
  • Propane (price is really coming down in my area)
  • Charcoal

 What are you finding out there to help build your preps during the Super Bowl season?