Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: A Recipe for Hunza “No Hunger” Bread

Jim: I found the following recipe for Hunza Bread at the You Q&A web site, in Canada. Because this is a very filling “no hunger” recipe, I have found it very useful in losing weight. (Obviously in a survival situation, my goal would be to maintain my body weight, so I would eat a lot more of it.) It is very easy to make. Hunza Bread Recipe. 4 cups of water 3.5 (three & one half) to 4 pounds of natural buckwheat or millet flour 1.5 (one & one half) cups of olive oil 1.5 (one & one half) cups …


The Elephant in the Room, by Norman Church

“I’m right there in the room and no one acknowledges me.” “We must face the prospect of changing our basic way of living. This change will either be made on our own initiative in a planned way, or forced on us with chaos and suffering by the inexorable laws of nature.” – President Jimmy Carter (1976) Before we discuss this Elephant in the Room we must first briefly consider the notion of ‘sustainability’. Too often people debate sustainability issues from an understanding that is vague, incomplete or frankly flawed. “Just exactly what is meant when the word ‘sustainable’ or ‘sustainability’ …


Letter Re: Spot Shortages at a COSTCO Store a Portent of Things to Come?

Jim: I stopped by COSTCO tonight to pick up some items and they had signs limiting people to two containers of soybean oil and two bags of flour. They were completely out of flour. And they had no 50lb sacks of rice either. So its starting to hit home. This was the case in the West Springfield, Massachusetts store anyway. – John E.


Letter Re: Self-Sufficiency–How Do We Do It All?

Dear Memsahib and Jim, I am a daily SurvivalBlog reader and contributor, along with my husband. I am very interested in learning more how Memsahib and other retreat women manage to do all that they do. How does a day or week in your life go? How do you can, bake, cook, shear, spin, weave, knit, sew, teach, et cetera and get it all done? We are moving to our retreat soon. I have baked, cooked, knit, learned to spin and weave, and have canned in the past, but not all at once. I forgot to mention clean, wash, take …


Letter Re: Sizing a Retreat AC Power Generator

Mr. Rawles: In attempting to size an emergency generator for my home, I have run across some interesting questions that I hope you and/or your other readers will be able to help me with. I lived through the blizzards of the 1990s here in the southern West Virginia coal camps, and I will never forget us and all of our neighbors being without power and unable to get out of our own driveways for 23+ days in 1993. It marked the very beginnings of my awakening to the necessity of being properly prepared. With that in mind, I am attempting …


Four Letters Re: The Home Chicken Flock for Self-Reliance

Hi Jim – I am a “ten center” and read your blog every day. Just wanted to say that I thought Keith in Minnesota’s article on “Survival Chickens” was outstanding. A really good example of maximizing what you have (and leveraging Mother Nature) without spending huge amounts of effort or money to get a major benefit. – John   Jim and Memsahib, Regarding the recent blog entry “The Home Chicken Flock for Self-Reliance”, I have a few comments. I have been raising chickens since I was young and continue to this day. Having a source of fresh eggs is great …


The “Come as You Are” Collapse–Have the Right Tools and Skills

In the Second World War, the United States had nearly two full years to ramp up military training and production before decisively confronting the Axis powers. In the late 1970s, looking at the recent experience of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Pentagon’s strategic planners came to the realization that the next major war that the US military would wage would not be like the Second World War. There would not be the luxury of time to train and equip. They realized that we would have to fight with only what we had available on Day One. They dubbed this the …


Two Letters Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn

James, I found a vendor that sells gluten-free flours in #10 cans for long term storage. See this PDF. Look bottom of page 3 and top of 4. (Also flour in bags that are not packed for long term storage.) This company make a lot of the baking mixes that are repacked and sold under a different label by the long term storage food companies. So prices are good, but you will pay shipping. (I have no affiliation, but did buy from them and have been happy with the products.) God Bless! – Lyn H.   Dear Jim, This is …


Sanitation During a Grid Down Collapse, by Nina in Washington

Sanitation may be an area that is neglected in our preparations for during difficult times. Not because people don’t care, but because we take so much of it for granted we aren’t aware of its importance. There are several areas in the sanitation arena that need to be considered when preparing; 1. Food 2. Daily Living 3.Waste Disposal 4. Medical 5. Deaths The most obvious area to consider is that of our food preparations. We are all aware of the importance of washing our hands and not cross contaminating foods like meats and vegetables. All counters where foods may be …


Four Letters Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn

Jim: While I cannot speak to diabetes, except to say that we use natural sweeteners such as maple syrup and honey and maintain a balanced meal, we do have a lot of hands-on with the gluten-free diet. Our daughter has gluten sensitivity, as well as intolerance for corn and soy. I encourage the mother who wrote to you to examine corn as a possible allergy. It tends to go with gluten sensitivity. This has made our situation more difficult as the dynamic duo of wheat and corn are pervasive, they are present in products that you would never imagine and …


Self-Sufficiency in Northern Nevada

Over at the Bison Survival Blog (formerly called the Bison Newsletter), editor Jim Dakin recently posted an interesting piece titled “Economics of Self-Sufficiency.” I recommend his blog, although it is with the caveat that there is a lot of foul language posted there, especially in some of the comments posted by readers. For several years, Jim Dakin has advocated the low cost retreating approach of buying an inexpensive piece of land (what he calls “junk land”), and living very frugally, with a large used travel trailer for shelter. Jim Dakin presently lives in Carson City, Nevada, in the rain shadow …


Letter Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn

Jim: I am home after spending several days in the local Children’s Hospital. In short, my toddler was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after admittance to the ER and subsequent stay in the ICU and diabetes wing. This came as somewhat of a shock but not completely so due in part to a family history of the same. What it has done, however, is caused me to re-evaluate my preps entirely, particularly food and medical. 1) The foods that I have acquired must now be truly accounted for in the carb department. I had never given that any thought for …


Letter Re: Questions on Freezing Canned Foods

Jim, How cold can canned goods get? Near freezing, below freezing (say teens), way below freezing (negative numbers?) I’m also interested to know this for canned butter and canned cheese. Thanks! – Maxx JWR Replies: Freezing generally will not harm the contents of most canned foods, but doing so will put the integrity of the can’s seal at risk. (And, once breached, it then opens up a whole raft of further potential problems, that range from mild (discoloration and oxidation) to severe (botulin poisoning). Reactions to freezing depend on both the can’s construction and the contents of the can. If …


Peering Over the Precipice: The Future of America’s Credit-Driven Bubble Economy

Here in the States, the newspaper headlines are full of bad economic news: “Credit Collapse”, “Housing Market Tailspin”, “Credit Rating Agency Scandal”, and “Three Trillion Dollar Federal Budget”. Most recently, the Federal Reserve (our central bank, operated by a private banking cartel) made a panic move, cutting interest rates in two jumps in just eight days, a whopping 125 basis points (1.25%). A drop that great, and that fast, was unprecedented. This maneuvering did little to calm the markets. If anything, the Fed’s actions confirmed the suspicion that the credit market is essentially broken and our economy is headed for …


Impassable Freeways and Highways in an Eleventh Hour “Get Out of Dodge”

Jim, I found some depressing analysis on G.O.O.D. for those of us near US population centers: Read this PDF. For further information on the ineffectiveness of G.O.O.D. when times get bad, US DOT generated this report: Using Highways for No-Notice Evacuations. In addition, there is no shortage at the US DOT web site of well-intentioned and theoretical research reports on disaster planning. For many of us, last minute G.O.O.D. plans are likely to be characterized by a high probability of failure along with its associated human costs. One might guess that the chance of failure is an exponential function of …