Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Homebrewing Benefits for a Prepper – Part 1, by Joseph R.

I’m a young man who considers himself a prepper. I love to pore over survival manuals and guides, stock up on resources, and prepare for an apocalypse. It grants me peace of mind in a crazy world. One day while reading a book on self-reliance, I came across a recipe for brewing amber American ale. I thought it would be a fun and simple thing to try, and when finished I could store some for an emergency and give some away to family and neighbors, potentially earning goodwill. When I did a bit of research however, I ended up going …


Ghillie Kettle Maverick, by Thomas Christianson

The Bottom Line, Up Front If you want to boil enough water to make a cup or more of tea or other hot beverage as quickly and efficiently as possible using a handful of twigs, pine cones, or other dry biomass, a Ghillie Kettle may be the ideal tool for the job. It can have your water boiling in about 3 minutes or so. That gives almost-microwave-like preparation times in the field for just-add-boiling-water food and beverage options. Ghillie Kettles are handmade in the UK and come in three sizes. The Maverick can boil up to 2 cups of water …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) 5. Meals and Menus for Day One and First Week This may seem like a silly priority item but read on. There term “menu” is being used very loosely. My DOM Action List 1. Keep freeze-dried foods in plain sight on the table. 2. Check cabinets for other easily-prepared foods and put on the table. First and foremost: Do NOT open the fridge/freezer to get food for meals! During my 10-day preps test I lost 6 lbs (and I’m not overweight to begin with) mostly because I was so busy and didn’t want to have to …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) Now, let’s dive in. My Day One TEOTWAWKI Manual Table of Contents 1. Do This First! 2. Don’t Do This! 3. Round Up the Group 4. Freezer and Refrigerator Contents 5. Meals and Menus 6. Fuel 7. Electricity: Generator 8. Lighting 9. Electricity: Using Car Batteries 10. Electricity: Whole-house Solar Panels 11. Inventory 12. Water 13. Sanitation 14. Garbage Management 15. DOM Copies for Neighbors 16. Defense 17. Nuclear war preps Points 1-4 are ultra critical for any prepper’s manual and must have the highest priority in order to prevent wasting important and/or irreplaceable resources as …


Easy Home Cheese Making, by Tractorguy

Some of our biggest concerns at a Bug Out Location (BOL) will be food and food storage. Dairy products are an important part of a balanced diet, but they are the most difficult to store, both short and long-term. Our ancestors stored milk over the long-term by turning it into cheese, and you can too. It is not difficult. We’ll explore a couple of different simple homemade cheeses and how to make them. Cheese is simply the solid part of milk that is separated out and dried. Cheeses fall basically into two groups – soft and hard. Soft cheeses, such …


Readying For Spring, by Hollyberry

As the saying goes, “spring is just around the corner” but it’s going to be a real, long corner. Winter in Maine can be really long and dark. So far this year the temperatures have been above normal and it’s one week before Christmas and there is hardly any snow on the ground. We had two days of heavy rain and wind which caused great damage to the state. Our bridge partially washed out and we live on a road that ends on a snowmobile trail that was also underwater. Days are short and it can be cloudy for two …


Overcoming Starvation — Food for Thought, by M.M.

Introductory Disclaimer: What follows are my personal experiences and observations.  This information is for educational purposes only.  Although I am a physician, I am not your physician.  I am not providing you medical advice.  I am not a dietitian or nutritionist.  Before you consider taking any course of action similar to mine, consult with your physician. — Recently I completed a fast lasting 11 days, during which time I consumed zero calories.  I drank water and black coffee but took in no nourishment.  Notably, I never experienced hunger or a significant decline in function.  I lost approximately 25 pounds during …


Some Experience With Nuts, by Mr. Zipph

Nuts can serve as an important supplement to your diet. Most nuts have a significant amount of nutritional value, including protein, fat, carbohydrates, and various vitamins and minerals. In a grid-down situation, knowing how to harvest and process nuts could be of tremendous value. When I recently relocated to my new home, I was fortunate enough to discover that I had both black walnut and shagbark hickory trees on my property. I also have many oak trees and maple trees. As I have recently focused on improving my foraging skills and have read several books on the topic to improve …


The Watchman – Part 3, by James Durham

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) The Prepper Plan I just finished what I think is a solid 5-year prepper plan. I also then wrote a 5-year prepper supply / equipment plan to support the plan. The 5-year plan is a list of projects that I can think of that needs to be done, and in the order that makes the most sense to me. You can’t do everything in one year. At least I can’t… There is a normal, panic reaction to panic buy and do once it truly dawns on you that there is danger coming …


Thinking About Resilience, by C.H. in Kansas

Introduction I would like to direct this article to new SurvivalBlog readers. Perhaps you were referred here by a friend or coworker. Perhaps you stumbled into SurvivalBlog through an internet search. However you arrived, if you’ve taken the time to poke around, you may be overwhelmed by the abundance of information on preparedness both here and at other sites. As of this writing, the war between Hamas and Israel has entered its third week. The death toll continues to rise. Dead and wounded among the victims—the Israeli citizens and other nationals—number in the thousands. Violent demonstrations against the US have …


12 Basic Actions To Make It Through The First 12 Weeks of TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by Michael X.

Is TEOTWAWKI imminent? I do not know. But things are slipping toward it happening soon. Will it be a violent, giant crash, like one involving many cars on the turnpike, or will it be a quiet breakdown along the side of a deserted country road? For myself, at this point, I am not thinking it will be a catastrophic, instantaneous crash caused by nuclear war, an EMP, asteroids, or alien invasion. More likely, I think it could be a slow slide that will catch people off guard until it is finally too late to get the basics in place. This …


Recipe of the Week: The Easiest Jam or Syrup

The following recipe for Jam or Syrup is from SurvivalBlog reader Mrs. Alaska. She writes: Fruit jams and syrups are the taste of summer in a jar. Some jam recipes can sound intimidating, but with only two ingredients, you can make jam.  If it does not gel, then you have fruit syrup.  What is the downside? Give it a try. Jam requires a bit of patience and attention (low boiling and stirring over 30 minutes or so) and two, three, or four ingredients depending on the fruit.  The easiest fruits have natural pectin ( a jelly-like substance)  and acid (sourness) …


Apple and Pear Harvest, Oh My!, by K.B.

We are definitely nearing tree fruit harvest time in our part of the country. Our orchard includes apples, Asian pears, and European pears. Yum! The only problem is what to do with the blessing of so much bounty. It is a bit intimidating to look around and see ten or more 5-gallon pails of fruit awaiting your attention. What to do? Well, one can share with family, friends, or food pantries for the needy. Hmmm, there is the cold cellar and refrigerator. But, you still want to have some after the fresh fruit is gone so that leaves drying, canning, …


Countering Rampant Food Price Inflation, by SaraSue

When one of my daughters, who has a good job, starts complaining about how insane food and supply prices are, I pay attention.  She has started shopping at Walmart searching for the lowest possible prices.  Her recent cart rung up at $450 and she didn’t buy hardly any food – mostly toilet paper, paper towels, dog and cat food, a few household items, and enough food for a few good meals for her family.  She exclaimed, “This won’t even last us a week!”  I keep telling her to shop Costco for certain items – you get way more product for …


Fixing a Canning-tastrophy, by St. Funogas

It was Bette Davis who famously said, “Old age isn’t for sissies!” When you’re 15, hearing this for the first time only makes you scratch your head. At 35, it’s pretty comical. But about the time you’re getting that first social security check it’s not so funny anymore. During my recent first canning experience of this season, I made a mistake that fell firmly into the not-funny category. Fortunately, there was a way to fix the error. It wasn’t fun, but was still a fix. Getting in the Canning Groove I have a little hideaway cubby space under the kitchen …