Year: 2016

Recipe of the Week: Two By Four Soup, by Mama C

Ingredients: 2 cans Ro-tel (tomatoes and green chilis) 2 cans condensed Minestrone soup 2 cans pinto beans or your favorite 2 lbs. ground beef or venison 1 lb. Velveeta, cubed (or similar melting cheese) Directions: In a soup pot, brown ground meat and drain Add rotel, soup, beans, and meat, and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes. Add cheese, turn soup on low until cheese is melted. Stir well. Serve with tortilla chips, bread, or crackers. This recipe can be easily halved or doubled. If I don’t have canned beans, I have substituted diced, canned potatoes. Yummy both ways. …


Letter: Stocks, Gold and Gas

HJL, My wife and I were giving a home school economics lesson at the pumps the other day. We talked to our kids about how most people live and work and the daily driving it requires. My wife and I concluded that this gas price drop has put $350 per month back in the pocket of the average neighbor around here. That is no small thing. I saw sales at my antique store rise in the last half of December and continue at a brisk pace this month. That people are buying used stuff points to the new frugality that …


Economics and Investing:

Brandon Smith: The Advantages of Barter and Localism. Something that we all need to be good at in the coming crisis. o o o The Deflation Monster Has Arrived – G.G. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Credit Crunch Could Be Worse that the Housing Crisis (CNBC) Excerpt: “Oil and gas companies borrowed heavily when oil prices were soaring above $70 a barrel. But in the past 24 months, they’ve seen their values and cash flows erode ferociously as oil prices plunge — and that’s made it hard for some to pay back that debt. This could …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Water matters. “Michigan’s attorney general opened an investigation Friday into lead contamination in Flint’s drinking water, and the governor asked President Obama to declare a disaster as National Guard troops fanned out across this anxious city to help distribute bottled water, water filters and testing kits. The actions drew new scrutiny to an environmental crisis that poisoned the water supply for a year and a half before it was addressed. The contamination has left a city of 100,000 people unable to use tap water for drinking, cooking or bathing…” From the New York Times: Anger and Scrutiny Grow Over Poisoned …



Notes for Sunday – January 17, 2016

In his farewell address to the nation on January 17th, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the American people to keep a careful eye on what he called the “military-industrial complex” that had developed in the post-World War II years. We didn’t do a very good job of listening to his warnings. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 62 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in …


Katrina– “A Wakeup Call”, by M.M.

Here’s a little insight for everyone. This is a brief synopsis of a firsthand account of why everyone should prepare for the unknown. I have been a police officer for most of my adult life in the New Orleans metro area and was working when Hurricane Katrina made landfall. The media focused mainly on the impoverished areas, but the world failed to see the whole picture. I cannot begin to describe the stress present prior to the storm making landfall. Several questions consumed me during the week leading up to this event: Is this going to be bad enough to …


Letter Re: What’s for Dinner?

HJL, Why peel potatoes? Here might be a helpful insight… In addition to aesthetics, the choice to peel potatoes may be related to Solanine toxin. Quora: Why Do People Peel Potatoes? Also a second link to the reference on Solanine toxin. Here are also additional helpful links on Botulism… These provide informative reading on the subject important to the prevention of this terrible illness. Mayo Clinic: Botulism Basics and Prevention CDC and the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases: Botulism FoodSafety: Botulism – T.A.


Economics and Investing:

Puerto Rico ‘in midst of economic collapse’ – G.G. o o o Keith Neumeyer – Triple Digit Silver Is Coming – The Daily Coin o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Evidence Mounting that the Fed Made a Mistake (Washington Examiner) In light of the decisions made across many years involving everything from monetary and fiscal policy to international trade and other global financial agreements, it could easily be argued that any Fed decision at this point would have produced adverse consequences. The take home message may be that there is no easy way out of the economic …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader K.S. wrote in with these links on how to re-pressurize spray cans. (This should work with anything in a spray can. As long as whatever is in it hasn’t dried up.) I don’t think he mentions it, but a basketball inflating needle would screwed into a blow gun would help. This guy uses a tire valve. It just overpowers the built-in valve. This guy refills the liquid while he is at it! (This would work well with anything you can buy as a liquid, like WD40 or maybe Rustolium?) o o o Reader W.A. sent in this link …


Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.” Mark 3:9-11 (KJV)


Notes for Saturday – January 16, 2016

CRKT is producing a knife designed by SurvivalBlog’s Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio. Take a look at the OC3 on their website. Designed specifically for combat troops, it definitely looks like it will get the job done. If you are a “knife person”, we’d sure like to hear your thoughts on it if you get one. o o o Camping Survival has completed their move to North Carolina and, as a result, can now offer items that were barred by their former location (in New York), like Mace, Pepper Spray, and Animal Repellent. o o o Seed for Security …


Becoming An Us, by K.L.

This may sound like an odd title to a story, but for anyone who has ever tried to move to a rural setting it takes on a complete meaning of its own. Learning how to get along with and even go so far as to ingratiate yourself with the locals in a rural community is a survival skill all its own. As a matter of fact, getting to know your neighbors in a rural setting cannot only save your life when the balloon goes up, but it can save your hearth and home and be of great benefit today, tomorrow, …


Letter Re: What’s for Dinner?

Hugh, RH’s question regarding whether frying will destroy the botulism toxin is an important one. Theoretically, all home-canned foods should be boiled upon opening for 10 minutes plus an additional minute for each 1,000 feet above sea level to be as safe as possible. This is from the USDA and CDC. Of course, boiling only raises the temperature to a maximum of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep frying home-canned French fries at temperatures of 350-400 degrees does indeed destroy the botulism toxin completely. We usually fry our potatoes for 8-10 minutes. If you are roughing it and having to deep fry …


Economics and Investing:

Dow slides 391; oil and China drops rattle investors (Warning: Auto-starting video) o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: A Recession Worse Than 2008 is Coming – Don’t pay much attention to the video, as it is not related to article.. Retail Sales in U.S. Decrease to End Weakest Year Since 2009 Bill Gross’ Advice To Traders As Stocks Crash Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Stocks Get Crushed (Business Insider) U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day, although we will see additional trading activity in other parts of the world which should offer some …