Recipe of the Week: Big Ben’s Texas Goulash

The following recipe for Texas Goulash was kindly by SurvivalBlog reader Big Ben. It was developed with freezer storage in mind. He later adapted it for home freeze-drying. Ingredients 5 lbs Ground Beef 5 lbs Macaroni Noodles 2 lbs Frozen Corn 1 large Onion diced 1 #10 can Tomato Sauce 2 10 oz cans Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chile 2 4 oz cans diced green chile 1 10.75 oz can condensed tomato soup 1 ½ c Italian seasoning spice mix ½ c Chili powder ¼ c granulated onion ¼ c granulated garlic ½ c minced garlic ¼ c …


20 Reasons Why America’s Next Bank Holiday Will Be a Nightmare (Updated)

JWR’s Introductory Note: Today, in lieu of our regular bi-weekly Economics and Investing column, I’m presenting an update to an article that I wrote for SurvivalBlog, back in June of 2012, titled:  20 Reasons Why America’s Next Bank Holiday Will Be a Nightmare. If anyone compares this with the original edition, you will see that I’m standing by the majority of my 2012 predictions and recommendations. If anything, nine years later, the threats that we’d face in a banking crisis will be even greater, because of increased reliance on electronic payment systems, power grid reliance, Internet reliance, and the larger …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 28, 2021

On this day in 845, a 5,000-man strong fleet of Danish Vikings invaded Frankish lands. They only retreated after besieging Paris and securing a ransom from the Frankish King Charles the Bald. This was part of a series of devastating raids begun by the Vikings in the 790s. The Vikings were led by a man named “Reginherus” or Ragnar, sometimes linked to the legendary saga figure Ragnar Lodbrok. The Vikings easily overcame defenses set in place by Charlemagne and are known to have attacked the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés just outside the city. Although struck by an outbreak of plague, the …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 27, 2021

Today is the anniversary of the tragic Tennirife airliner collision disaster, March 27, 1977. — March 27th is also the birthday of the late Robert W. Ford (born 1923, died 20 September 2013). He was an amazing man who had a remarkable life. His book, Wind Between The Worlds (an account of experiences in Tibet, captivity by the communist Chinese, and his fight against brainwashing), is highly recommended. It is available for free download. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 93 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 26, 2021

The Battle of Glorieta Pass began on March 26, 1862.  This outcome of this battle ensured that the west stayed with the Union, and denied the Confederacy the gold and silver from the western states. The Confederates were stopped by a very mis-nicknamed unit ( “The Pet Lambs”) – the 1st Colorado Volunteers (official 1st Colorado Infantry) made up of hard rock miners (predominantly Cornish or Welsh), Irish track layers, mountain men, and some mountain cowboys. — I just heard about a very remote retreat property for sale, over at SurvivalRealty.com: It is 140 miles up the Stikine River from Wrangell, Alaska, …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at how urban outmigration has created a rural land rush. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Poland Wants More Gold: “The ‘Most Reserve’ Of Reserve Currencies” o  o  o COMEX “Delivery” Update Economy & Finance: Roughly 4 in 5 Manhattan Office Workers Will Not Return Full-Time, Survey Says o  …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend on God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 25, 2021

National Medal of Honor day is officially observed on March 25th of each year. This is the birthday of English film director David Lean. He was born in Croydon, England in 1908. He died in 1991. He is best known for his films Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago. On March 25, 1944 RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade survived a jump from a burning Lancaster bomber from 18,000 feet over Germany without a parachute. His fall was broken by pine trees and soft snow, and he suffered only a sprained leg. He died on …


Post-Collapse Barter: The Value of Silver – Part 2, By Dr. Derek King

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) So let us postulate (while we still have time, sanity, and electricity) what that sack of coins might be worth as time crawls on. The topic of bartering safely, back-room banking, armed protection and hiding places are beyond the scope of this paper and will be saved for another time and venue. Let’s just speculate as to what a 1960 quarter and a plain 1-ounce 99.9% silver “round” will be worth on a chronological time-line, shall we?! Remember that silver is measured in Troy ounces (12 to a pound) and that this …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we examine Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs). License Plate Readers are Becoming Ubiquitous Over at EndGadget: Anyone with a camera and $5 can now have a license plate reader. The article begins: “Automatic license …