Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Hunting and Trapping Hazards

Mr. Rawles: All the talk about snares and traps and hunting… You’d better inform people about the proper precautions concerning RABIES in wild game. – Tamara JWR Replies: Yes, you are right. There are risks involved with hunting and trapping. But there are also risks involved with walking down a city street, or buying potato salad at your local delicatessen, or picking berries in bear country. As with anything else in life you need to weigh cost/benefit ratios, and learn to take appropriate precautions. Here are some basic precautions about hunting, trapping, and handling raw meat:  Always wash your hands …


On MREs and Their Shelf Life

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I’m often asked how long the U.S. Military “Meal Ready to Eat” (MRE) rations can be stored. SurvivalBlog reader “Mr. Tango” (BTW, don’t miss reading his fascinating profile) had a round of correspondence with the U.S. Army’s Natick Laboratories in Massachusetts, on the potential storage life of MREs. The data that they sent him was surprising! Here is the gist of it: Degrees, Fahrenheit Months of Storage (Years) 120 1 month 110 5 months 100 22 months (1.8 years) 90 55 months  (4.6 years) 80 76 months  (6.3 years) 70 100 months  (8.3 years) 60 130 months  (10.8 years) — …


MSG, By Any Other Name

The food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) is now used in an alarmingly wide variety of processed foods. MSG has a bad reputation for more than just inducing “Chinese food headache.”  IMHO, it is nasty stuff and should be avoided.  But that is difficult these days because food processors hide it by applying umpteen clever nom de guerres.  These can include: Autolyzed yeast, Barley malt, Broth, Bouillon, Calcium caseinate, Carrageen or carrageenan, Enzyme modified, Fermented, Flavoring, Natural flavoring, Gelatin, Glutamates, Hydrolyzed oat flour, Hydrolyzed protein, Hydrolyzed vegetable, Malt extract, Maltodextrin, Natural flavors, Pectin, Plant protein extract or extracts, Potassium glutamate, Protein fortified, …


Letter Re: Investing in Tangibles vs. an IRA Account

Hi Jim, I have been a big fan of yours for several years since I read your book [Patriots]! I was very excited to find your blog (via Claire Wolfe’s blog) and have been reading it and recommending it since day four. My husband and I have been busy socking money away into retirement accounts to prepare for the future but after listening to your interview with Geri Guidetti we decided to take the money we were putting away in Roth IRAs and spend it instead on survival preparations. There are several reasons for this decision: 1) Roth IRA money …


Archives of JWR Radio Interviews on Pandemic Preparedness Available

For two successive weekends, I was interviewed by Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute on her shortwave/webcast radio show. The topic of both of these two hour interviews was family preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic. These interviews are available for free download from Republic Radio in a variety of audio streaming formats at: http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Geri05.html


From The Memsahib: Countryside and Small Stock Journal

Another issue of my very favorite magazine just arrived and I wanted to tell you all about it. It is “The magazine of modern homesteading”: Countryside and Small Stock Journal. Unlike most magazines out there, C&SSJ has a very low ad to content ratio. It doesn’t waste page space with lots of pretty photos or other fluff like the other “country” magazines. And it is written by the subscribers. C&SSJ is 130 pages full of practical information! The Nov/Dec.2005 issue contains full length articles about purchasing and using a masonry stove, how to build a “cut back” thermostat to reduce …


Letter Re: Survival on a Budget

Dear Mr. Rawles, I really enjoy your blog and novel “Patriots“. I am someone who is on a tight budget, yet as made some progress in get myself prepared for tough times. I have found the best approach is small, but constant movement toward my goal. Take food storage, for example. I began by purchasing a few extra canned goods (>$20 worth) at the grocery store during my weekly shopping, and just kept repeating. Over time, I have built-up a food reserve that could sustain my household for several months. I make sure all of the items in my reserve …


Survival On a Shoestring Budget

I often get e-mails from readers claiming either directly or indirectly that preparedness is “only for wealthy people”–that working class people cannot afford to prepare. That is nonsense. By simply re-prioritizing your budget and cutting out needless expenses (such as alcohol, cigarettes, convenience foods, and cable television) almost anyone can set aside enough money for a year’s worth of storage food in fairly short order. It is amazing what can be done with hard work, ingenuity, and very little money. While I do not endorse interloping on public lands nor do I suggest that you live like a hermit, the …


Letter Re: Mormons, Knives, and Olive Oil

Jim: I am an non-denominational Christian, (not a Mormon), but I do appreciate the fairness you exhibit on your blog. The Mormon man’s recent comments were good reading and I hope his view is representative of all Mormons. Thank you for your fairness and honesty. ABOUT KNIVES: I have found that the Cold Steel “Recon Bowie” with its 5/16′ thick blade is an excellent field knife which can be used like a hatchet and it is quite tough. It’s big brother – the Trailmaster Series is also another great large knife. ABOUT OLIVE OIL: I purchased a three liter can …


Letter Re: Food Storage Calculations

James, I came across a website advertising a food storage calculator for $18. Here’s a free one from the LDS Church. http://www.providentliving.org/emergencyprep/calculator/0,11242,2008-1,00.html It invites you to identify the gender/ages of family members to produce the custom report. By reading carefully, you will note you can manually change the suggested quantities to reflect your family’s preferences. It’s pretty complete and lets you calculate quantities by quarters (3 months, 6 months, all the way out to 3 years). One thing for sure: it will make you realize that money and proper storage area are important issues to deal with. Maybe most folks …


Letter Re: First Hand Account from New Orleans

The following comes to us from a SurvivalBlog reader who was deployed with a WMD/Hazmat Team to New Orleans, very soon after the hurricane struck. Cellular phone difficulties and 15+ hour work days kept him from making reports to SurvivalBlog as he had originally planned. James: I’m very sorry that I couldn’t make contact [while there] and keep you all up to date with the Katrina Deployment. I rotated out of New Orleans yesterday and made it home it time for my daughter’s 16th birthday. Quite an emotional ride, to say the least. Katrina…wow…First I want to say thanks to …


JWR’s Advice on Food Storage

If and when it comes, TEOTWAWKI will certainly mean a disruption in food production and distribution. You should have enough food stored for your family to last a year, and much longer if you can afford it. Keep in mind that: you will need extra to dispense as charity, to your “head-in-the sand” relatives, to neighbors, friends, fellow church members, and refugees. So store lots of extra wheat, rice, beans, and honey. They are cheap now, but may be very expensive later. You can “do it yourself” for nearly everything required for home food storage except canned powdered dry milk. …


MRE Storage Life

I do recommend MREs as a supplement to a well-rounded food storage program. Because they are fairly compact, lightweight, and require no cooking , they are ideal to pack in your “Get Out of Dodge” (G.O.O.D.) backpack (or “BOB“). My old friend who has profile under the pseudonym Mr. Tango had a round of correspondence with the U.S. Army’s Natick Laboratories in Maryland, on the potential storage life of MREs. Like all other storage foods, MREs must be stored at low temperature to maximize their shelf life. The data that they sent him was surprising. Here is the gist of …


From David in Israel on Selecting Storage Foods

I have been searching through our tiny food storage auditing its contents. We have been slowly adding to the contents since we moved but it still is enough for only about two weeks. Since we eat what we store it is much more mixed than the econo basic mix of: Flour or red wheat Sugar or honey Salt Oil or Crisco Powdered milk The price tag for my laying in a supply of all of the above was $200-300 when I bought in the USA, years ago. The items on this list are fine if you are going to go …


Flawed Doctrine, Good Food Storage Advice

The Church of Latter Saints (commonly called the Mormons) and I will never come to agreement doctrinally. (Their doctrinal books refer to Christ as a spirit brother of Lucifer, and one of a pantheon of gods. It is hard to bridge a doctrinal divide that deep!) But I will give them credit for requiring their church members to lay in a substantially deep larder. There are some great food storage tips and some useful recipes for cooking with food storage at this LDS web site.