Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Five Letters Re: Food Storage Extremes – Avoiding the Expensive Pitfalls

Dear Mr. Rawles: First, thank you for the service and information you provide – it is invaluable. Secondly, I’d like to respond to John L.’s letter regarding prepping in an urban/suburban location. Despite his condescending tone that immediately set my teeth on edge, I read the piece hoping to learn from it. Sadly, I only learned that John L.’s ideas of preparation do not coincide with mine. At first glance, I’m quite sure that John L would look at me and my situation and right me off as clueless and deluded. I recently lost everything I owned – my house, …


Acorn Pancakes, by Michelle

Everyone likes to talk about gardening and how it will greatly benefit not only your food bill, but also your health with fresh food. That’s great and all, and yes I do garden, but lets face it – a garden is a lot of work. Sure there are ways to make it less work, but in a time and effort spent to food acquired ratio: the scale is heavily tipped to the work spent side. That is only one of the reasons I have been putting my efforts into learning wild edibles: A garden that grows itself, and all I …


Three Letters Re: Food Storage Extremes – Avoiding the Expensive Pitfalls

Jim, Although John L.’s article brings up a lot of interesting points, I think his definition of only two archetypes of persons, the clueless yuppie and the deluded urban survivalist is a little over the top.  I truly hope he was using hyperbole to make a point.  The truth at least from my perspective is that there are a lot of prepared persons that don’t fit either of his stereotypes.  Perhaps it’s because I live in a rural community where most of my neighbors could go weeks to months without a trip for groceries if the need arose.  That just …


Food Storage Extremes – Avoiding the Expensive Pitfalls, by John L.

There are two extremes that you should avoid: 1. The Clueless Yuppie – The Yuppie typically has one jar of olives and half a case of Diet Pepsi in his refrigerator on average,e at all times. He has no Cash/Silver/Gold in the house, relies entirely on credit/debit cards, eats out all the time, and does not know how to cook. He would face instant starvation in normal times if he could not rely on restaurants or if the power went out and he could not use his cards. If he has a medical condition that requires prescription medications, he refills …


Food Storage Options for Vegetarians and Vegans, by Amy B.

As I have started my basic food stash, I have noticed that many plans do not have any options for vegetarians or vegans. I have been vegetarian for over 23 years, and while, in a true long-term emergency I would have to eat meat, it would require me to start slow, as to not make myself ill. It’s pretty difficult to go from eating no animal products to eating meat overnight. My body would need time to get used to it and develop the enzymes I have lost over the years to digest the meat protein well. With this in …


Letter Re: Question on Canned Food Alphanumeric Date Codes

Hi, I’ve noticed Sam’s Club is carrying large (#10 size) cans of chicken and other foods. I looked for expiration dates and could not find any. There was a series of numbers. I’ve heard those numbers reveal the dates. Could you tell me how to read or decipher them? Thanks, – Laura C. JWR Replies: This has been mentioned before in the blog, but is bears repeating. It’s important to have a Julian Calendar (since some packers use Julian dates) and a hard copy of this chart showing how to decipher date of pack codes from various canners and packers. …


Nearly-Expired Storage Foods: Take Them to the Food Bank, Not the Dump

As your storage foods–both wet-pack and dry-pack–near their expiry dates, I recommend that you consistently donate them to a food bank. This approach has several advantages: 1.) You will be charitably helping the less fortunate. 2.) Food will not be going to waste. 3.) Your own larder will be stocked with fresher, more nutritionally- complete foods. 4.) You can take a tax deduction for your donation. (Be sure to get a signed receipt.) If you are concerned about OPSEC when making donations, then drive 40+ miles to a food bank in a neighboring county. Keep in mind that most food …


Forever Preps – Preparations You Can Buy Once, and Have Forever, by Andrew D.

As a self-confessed budgeting fanatic, I’ve constrained my prepping budget on a monthly basis where I spend in one month what I made the previous month.  For example, I spend money in February that I earned in January, and so on.  Given the uncertain times, I never want to be “on the hook” with paying for things with “future money”.  So confession out of the way, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start with your preparations.  I know all about the rule of 3, etc., but when it comes down to it, there really are a lot of choices.  …


Letter Re: When Alaskan Salmon is Chinese

Hi, Jim: Every few weeks I buy a couple cases (of 24 cans) of canned wild Alaskan salmon canned by Bumble Bee selling for $1.99 per can (a 14.5oz can), and a quality gold tinted tapered can. Recently it has had a 2015 expiration date. In my estimation, wild salmon is an excellent unadulterated protein source with a lengthy expiration date, especially when compared to canned tuna (with traces of mercury) and canned chicken.    Well, yesterday I went in to the same discount supermarket (the kind of no-frills market where you bag yourself and pay extra for the bag) …


Affordable Preparedness, by Phil in East Tennessee

I enjoy reading SurvivalBlog each morning as I prepare for my day. I have only been a reader of the blog for six months, and enjoy all the varied insights. So I feel compelled to share some of my experiences. Let me start off by saying I was raised in a Christian preparedness household.  Both my parents suffered through the Great Depression as children and my mother was deeply impacted by the possibility of being hungry and cold again. As a teenager in the mid-1970s I remember we had a basement full of Neo-Life brand long term storage food, thousands …


Preparedness on a Tight Budget, by Mrs. R.J. in Arkansas

I have read many of the stories on survival blog but have yet to read a one from someone on a very tight budget. That leaves those of us with tiny incomes at a disadvantage and feeling vulnerable. For about two years I have had a small voice inside me telling me to fill my storehouses with food for the coming famine. As a Christian and minister I believe that voice is God and He wants His people to be ready. Although Many Christians think we are crazy and don’t believe they should have to worry about storing foods for …


The Process of Preserving Meat by Curing: From Curing Salt to Finished Bacon, by Stefan M.

A dehydrator is a great way to preserve meat for long term storage. Until the power goes out. Maybe you’ve built a solar dehydrator. Great! But what if you live in a climate where humidity and rainfall  make dehydration a real challenge? Stored food will run out eventually; at least for most of us. No matter how stocked up and well prepared you may be, the time will come when it becomes essential to preserve meat. In a survival situation, a recently killed hog or buck must not be wasted, and cannot be easily preserved. Thousands of years ago, man …


The Golden Hours, by Brad H.

The three main factors in determining who lives and who dies WTSHTF are situational awareness, overcoming inertia, and dumb luck. The first two you have some control over. The third is always going to be beyond your control, except for Divine intervention, so don’t worry about it. If you are at mid-span on the Golden Gate Bridge when Al Qaeda sets off a nuke in San Francisco, or “The Big One” hits. In such cases, acceptance of God’s will is all you have to do to prepare. For those who are lucky enough to not be killed immediately when disaster …


Letter Re: Buy It Wholesale–Free Food Now and Free Food Later

Mr. Rawles Thanks for posting the article “Buy It Wholesale–Free Food Now and Free Food Later”. It has given me much to think about. It also introduced me to Restaurant Depot. I discovered that they had a store an hour drive from me. Their on-line sale flyer showed that they had boneless skinless chicken thighs for just $0.85 per pound in a 40 pound carton. I can report that 40 pounds of chicken make 18 quarts of canned chicken. I canned it mostly in pint jars since there are just two of us. This is far less expensive than commercially …


Tips on Wild Food Foraging, by T.B.P.

From the time I was a young boy I have been fascinated with wild foods. The idea that there was food out there just for the taking made a connection with something deep inside of me. That something was mainly my stomach, which at that age always seemed to be a bit on the empty side. Since then I’ve spent years practicing the art of foraging along with studying a veritable mountain of books. The reason is simple: you never know when you’ll be out in the woods and find out your hiking buddy ate the last granola bar. I …