Letter Re: Diabetics in Disaster

Mr Rawles,
I read Meir L.’s “Diabetics in Disaster,” and I found the post very thorough and informative. I just wanted to add a few tips:
1) Cinnamon and Cranberries are a natural way to lower your blood sugar level. Additionally, there is an over the counter supplement called Cinnergen that is a mix of the two in a liquid form.
2) Remember artificial sweetener. Coffee and tea can be bitter and undrinkable without sugar. Also, growing sorghum is a great alternative to sugar, and it can be replaced after the SHTF. Read more at The Mother Earth News and WikiHow.
3) Insulin dependent families should maintain a schedule even after TEOTWAWKI, because going to long without insulin or giving too much insulin can become a disaster without a doctor or EMT around. So make sure to practice a prep before these things can happen.
4) Since diabetics have to watch carbs, a diabetic prepper’s food will be different than a regular prepper’s. Plan on eating more protein (beef jerky, canned meats, cheese), and less carbs (potatoes, pasta, rice). Also, many protein filled foods also have a lot of carbs (think:beans), so make sure to plan your diet.

– Michael L.

News From The American Redoubt:

I heard about a company in Rexburg, Idaho with a clever spin on working around magazine capacity restrictions: Maghack.com. (Note: Folks who live in self-defense oppressed states should consult their state and local before ordering.)

   o o o

Meanwhile, in Wyoming, the law of averages catches up with them: Woman shot at Lowe’s after gun drops from holster. (Or at least, that was their story…)

   o o o

Idaho’s version of “reindeer” more elusive than ever

   o o o

New Year Likely To Bring More ‘Megaload’ Fights

Economics and Investing:

The latest video from Peter Schiff: We Have A Phony Economic Recovery

More hilarious commentary from Richard Daughty: Cosmically Timeless Mogambo Monetary And Investment Wisdom (CTMMAIW)

H.L. sent: Portugal’s Baby Bust Is A Stark Sign Of Hard Times

Items from The Economatrix:

How Will The Economy Improve In 2014 If Almost Everyone Has Less Money To Spend?

The Great Income Divide: IRS Data Shows 50 Percent Of Households Make Less Than $35,000 Per Year. Top 10 Percent Pay 68 Percent Of Income Taxes.

Market Crash In the Works: “A Canary May Have Just Keeled Over”

Odds ‘n Sods:

To follow up on a post I made on Monday, I mentioned this article: Justice Department Pays Linkedin $500,000 For Unlimited Access To Your Personal Information, wherein I noted that the company name: “Carahsoft” sounded suspicious, since “Carah” is an anagram for “Hacar” which of could be spoken “Hacker.” On Tuesday a reader wrote to mention that the company’s founder first named his daughter Carah. (Like the company, Carah Abod is now in her early 20s,) It is noteworthy that Carah (with a trailing “h”) is an extremely rare name–both as a given name and as a surname. So this begs the question: Did Craig Abod bestow that name as a sort of hacker’s inside joke? Or was it actually an old family name that was passed down? (If so, then I’ll issue a full retraction.) But given the nature of his business, I suspect the former rather than the latter. It might be interesting to dig a bit deeper into Abod’s past and the meteoric rise of his DC Beltway company. One interesting tidbit: Carahsoft is more than just a software VAR company. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is probably a NSA Proprietary a duck. The company’s spotless Wikipedia page looks Teflon coated.

   o o o

Reader Emily L. suggested another All-American tool manufacturer: Suncast makes a variety of home, lawn, and garden tool, all made in America. She says: “They offer a line of snow tools as well which are available at many local home improvement stores such as Lowe’s, Home Depot, Costco, Ace Hardware, and others.”

   o o o

Dan T. liked this: Canadian man uses hybrid vehicle to power home during outage

   o o o

H.L. sent: Colorado Democrats blamed for $80 Million hit to economy by pushing out gun firm Magpul

   o o o

Eric in Illinois sent this video: Man’s snow storm bread and milk freak-out goes viral

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave." – H.L. Mencken, 1927

Annual Reminder: The Ten Cent Challenge

Not counting editorial salaries, SurvivalBlog has more than $22,000 per year in annual operating costs including our fully redundant servers in Colorado and Sweden. We need this redundancy because we’ve been attacked (DDOS ping flooding) by malicious hackers, on several occasions. Unlike most publications, our subscriptions are 100% voluntary. And we only make one annual post every January to remind our readers to subscribe or renew, and this is it. We are not like other organizations on the Internet that are endlessly begging, so you hear this this just once a year. We don’t want to pester anyone.

Here is The Ten Cent Challenge: What is reading SurvivalBlog worth to you? I challenge every regular SurvivalBlog reader to donate just 10 cents per day to support the blog. (Which equals $3 per month, or $36.50 per year.)

We gladly accept subscriptions in a variety ways including “Forever” postage stamps, cash, checks, money orders and silver coins. You can see details here.

Our mail forwarding address (for mailing your subscription contributions and hard copy letters and small padded envelopes only) is:

James Wesley, Rawles
c/o P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845

Our PayPal address is: james@rawles.to

Many thanks for your support of SurvivalBlog!

Seven Ways to Save Money Under Obamacare, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

With 2014 and the enactment of Obamacare only days away, we’re all wondering what this so-called Affordable Care Act will really cost us.  Will your premiums be higher?  Or your deductible?  Will you lose employer-based coverage?  Will your doctor simply give up and retire? 

But Obamacare is not all bad.  I view it as a wake-up call.  In fact, I wouldn’t be writing this article nor teaching people survival medicine skills if not for our current president. 
People tend to blame Obamacare for all the upcoming health care woes, but many of the looming hassles (from a doctor’s point of view) were in the pipeline long before his tenure, including penalties for not using an electronic health record, the costly conversion to a new coding system, and never-ending threats of Medicare payment cuts to levels far below the cost of care. 

This article is not about finding the cheapest insurance; rather, it’s about decreasing your reliance on the system and learning how to care for yourself as far as possible.  What follows are seven practical ways you can save a trip to the doctor now and how you can help yourself if and when you’re on your own.

  • Sore throats.  Most sore throats are caused by viruses, particularly when associated with hoarseness or a cough, and thus require no antibiotics.  But what if it’s strep?  Wouldn’t you love to be able to test yourself at home?  It turns out you can.  The same Rapid Strep Kits used by doctors are available to you over-the-counter at a very reasonable price.  For as little as $35 you can purchase a box of 25 test kits online, with a listed shelf life of at least 1–2 years (and likely much longer).  The tests are really no more difficult than checking your own blood sugar.  Performed correctly, accuracy (specificity and sensitivity) is on the order of 95%. 

Another way to determine the likelihood of strep throat is by the Centor Criteria.  Each of four symptoms receives a point:  fever, pus on tonsils, tender glands in the neck, and absence of cough.  Then add a point for age <15, or subtract a point for age >44. 
The risk of strep is determined based on total points:
0–1             <10% risk            (no antibiotics indicated)
2–3            15–32% risk            (consider testing, and treat if positive)
4–5            56% risk            (treat with antibiotics)
Currently recommended antibiotics include penicillin and amoxicillin (250 –500 mg 3x daily for 10 days).  Other possible choices are erythromycin, azithromycin, cephalexin, other cephalosporins, or Augmentin. 

  • Bladder infections.  If you’re getting up three times a night to urinate, are you just drinking too much water or is it perhaps a bladder infection?  Again, wouldn’t it be nice to test yourself at home?  Yet again, it turns out you can.  The same test strips doctors use are also available online (Multistix 10 SG or generic equivalent) for $15 to $50 for a box of 100.  If leukocytes (white blood cells) and/or nitrites or blood are present in the urine, an infection is quite likely.  Treatment is directed at drinking plenty of water (aim for 8 glasses a day) and short-term treatment (usually 3 days is sufficient) with an antibiotic such as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, or amoxicillin-clavulanate.  (This information applies to women only; men with urinary symptoms may have an STD, prostate infection, or a kidney stone.)
  • Ankle injuries.  Say your son twists his ankle, and you wonder if it’s broken.  Do you really need an X-ray?  Not as often as you might think.  The Ottawa Ankle Rules give an excellent estimate of whether or not a bone is likely broken.  An ankle X-ray is only needed if there is any pain in the malleolar zone (ankle bones on either side) PLUS any of the following:
  • Bone tenderness along either ankle bone (right over the bone, or up the leg 2–3 inches)
  • Inability to bear weight for 4 steps BOTH immediately after injury AND in the ER. 

If you can walk on a sprained ankle, odds are quite slim that it is broken. 

Another test is the tuning fork test.  Placing a vibrating tuning fork over a broken bone causes pain, but not so if the ankle is simply sprained. 

A presumed fractured ankle should be splinted a few days with no weight-bearing permitted, then casted after danger of additional swelling is past (total of 6 to 8 weeks).  A sprained ankle should be splinted as well, but with walking permitted as tolerated.

  • Poison ivy.  Most people still think poison ivy is contagious, but it’s not.  And it will resolve on its own by two weeks.  Treatment is only aimed at making the patient more comfortable (unless you’ve inhaled poison ivy smoke or rubbed it in your eyes).  So you don’t have to see a doctor for simple poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac.  Over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream can help (and many people swear by jewelweed).  Some doctors will call in a stronger steroid without an appointment.  OTC antihistamines help the itch (Benadryl, Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra), and are as strong as prescription drugs.  Of all the patients I’ve seen with poison ivy over the years, at most 5% actually needed to see a physician.
  • Ear ache.  Most ear aches don’t require antibiotics or a trip to the doctor.  A few days of pain medication is all that is required in adults and older children with otitis media.  Physicians still prescribe antibiotics at times, but often only to please the patient.  With every rule there are exceptions:  the very ill-looking child, babies, and some children with recurrent ear infections do benefit from antibiotics.  Top antibiotic choices include amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, cefdinir, and azithromycin.
  • GERD.  Would you rather pay $150 for the “purple pill” or $5 for its first cousin?  It’s not really amazing that a brand-name medication for acid reflux would be so expensive, but rather that a similar generic has dropped in price so quickly.  The “purple pill” is esomeprazole, which decreases the amount of stomach acid produced.  A very similar medication, pantoprazole, does the same job, but the generic is now dirt cheap.  If you are taking prescription Nexium, Aciphex, Prilosec, Prevacid, or Dexilant for heartburn or acid reflux, you may want to switch to this money-saving generic.  Unfortunately, pantoprazole remains by prescription only.  Second-best inexpensive choices would be OTC generic Prevacid or Prilosec.  Checking these online today, I find prices as low as $10 for 60 count 20-mg omeprazole (generic Prilosec) – also a great deal.

And don’t forget that heartburn can be greatly reduced by avoiding aspirin, other anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, naproxen), tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods, fatty, foods, acid foods, and too much food.  (If it tastes good, don’t eat it.)

  • Diabetes.   You can learn to treat diabetes (Type 2) on your own with very little danger of complications [if you closely monitor your blood sugar levels.] Of course, you should begin with a reasonable diet and exercise, but beyond that certain herbs will help a mild case (e.g. cinnamon 1 to 6 grams a day), and OTC insulin may be required for more severe disease.  Anyone can get a blood sugar monitor without a prescription, though the test strips can be costly.  You can also obtain a test kit for hemoglobin A1C for under $10/test on Amazon and elsewhere.  Simple urine strips (see above) aid in testing your urine for protein, ketones, and sugar.  There is more information available free online to anyone than I had access to as a medical student.  Check out aafp.org for dozens of free articles.  Ideally you should work with your own doctor now (while you can) to establish a treatment regimen you can follow and monitor on your own when no doctor’s help is available.

When I teach my Survival Medicine classes, I tell my students that we’re aiming at the 90%, i.e. those with typical problems – not the 10% with severe or unusual conditions.  The foregoing information does not cover every situation, but it does apply to most, and I think 90% is a good place to start. 

Pat’s Product Review: Benchmade’s 810BK Contego Folder

I love pocket knives! I carry one or two on my person every single day. A pocket knife gets used almost daily, whereas, my handgun on my right hip, is there for when really bad things happen. I couldn’t get along with some kind of folding knife in my pocket – UPS, FedEx and USPS bring packages to me almost daily, and a good sharp knife does the job of opening the boxes in short order. I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t carry some kind of pocket knife – even as a kid back in Chicago, as early as third or fourth grade. Just think, the police weren’t called, and you weren’t expelled when you carried a pocket knife to school – unlike today, with the PC crowd, expelling students for having a butter knife, or pointing a finger and pretending it’s a gun – the insanity in our public schools never ceases to amaze me these days.

I’ve been writing about Benchmade knives for about 20 years now, maybe even longer. I’m a long-time friend of Les d’Asis, who owns Benchmade – and he’s a real down-to-earth type of guy, too – no suit and ties for him. And, he’s never too busy to get on the manufacturing floor, to see how everything is running – he has his hand in everything – as busy as he is. So, I’m a big fan of Benchmade knives – and one thing that always catches my attention is, that no matter who designs a Benchmade knife, the designs just seem to flow – a graceful flow to their designs.

Today we consider the new 810BK Contego folder. I waited for this folder for more than three months because they were always out-of-stock, due to the popularity of this folder. And, the wait was worth it, too. A quick look at the Contego is in order. It has a 3.98-inch long blade made out of CPM-M4, one of the new powdered stainless steel blade materials, and this one is very impressive, to say the least – more on this shortly. Blade thickness is 0.156-inches, and the blade is tactical black – super cool looking, with a reverse Tanto-style blade shape that I really liked.

I was a bit concerned with the Rockwell hardness of the CPM-M4 blade, at 62-62, because when you start getting up that high on the Rockwell scale, the blade tends to get a little brittle in my experience, as well as hard to re-sharpen. My fears were for nothing, as when the blade finally did dull – and it took a good long time, it was easy enough to re-sharpen.

Weight of the knife is only 5.92-ounces – not too heavy, and not too light – a really good balance to the Contego. The handle scales are G-10 and have a bi-directional pattern on the scales, that really grip you back – I like a knife that stays in my hand, under all types of weather conditions – and the 810 does that. I had the 810BK, that has the blackened blade and a plain edge, however, you can have a partially serrated blade, or glades that are shinny instead of black – for me, the way to go is with the blackened blade – looks very tactical.

The clothing/pocket clip allow for a tip-up carry of the blade, and the clip is reversible from one side of the handle to the other if you’re a Southpaw.  Also, the clip allows for a very deep carry in your pocket, yet allows the knife to be easily drawn, too. The locking mechanism is the now famous AXIS lock, and it is super-strong and self-adjusting as the knife wears in over the years. It also allows for a VERY smooth opening of the blade, using the ambidextrous thumb stud for opening the blade. On the butt end of the handle is a carbide glass breaker, and unlike some other glass breakers, this one is almost hidden, but it works – I tested it on an old piece of window glass.

Overall length of the Contego is 9.28-inches and closed it is 5.30-inches – once again, not too big and not too small. I like a folder, with a blade of 3.5-inches to 4-inches – when used for self-defense purposes – and this blade length just works best for me, under most conditions – be it for self-defense or utility work around the homestead.

Now, in case you were wondering where the name “Contego” came from, it’s actually Latin – a language not used much these days, and it means “Protect” or “Shield” and the Contego 810 can sure serve as a last ditch self-defense weapon if needed.

I did my usual testing, and that is I used the knife in the kitchen, and it worked great slicing veggies and even meat at the table – I don’t know how many knife writers use a pocket knife at the table when eating, but I do. I also stabbed and slashed cardboard boxes, and the Contego really grabbed and did it’s job. I even threw the Contego at a tree several times, never got it to stick, then again, it isn’t a throwing knife – but it was fun just the same.

I will say that, the CPM-M4 blade took forever to finally dull to where it needed to be re-sharpened. And, as I mentioned, I thought it would be tough to get that hair-popping edge back on the 810, but it didn’t take long at all to get it back to factory sharp! I’m not privy to the science behind the new CPM-M4 stainless steel, other than it’s a compressed powder, but I was totally impressed with the performance of the blade material.

I liked the way the Contego felt in my hand, and it has friction grooves on the top of the handle for a secure thumb placement in the fencing position. And, even in the reverse grip, with the carbide glass breaker, with my thumb placed on the glass breaker, it didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable and it didn’t hurt my thumb. There is also a lanyard hole in the butt of the handle, and if you work over water, you’ll appreciate a lanyard – it will help keep your knife from going deep in the water, where you’ll never find it again.

All-in-all, I was pretty much blown away by this newest offering from Benchmade, and as I’ve said many times, quality never comes cheap, and the full-retail for the Contego is $210. Is is worth it? You bet it is, because you only buy quality tools once. But the junk, you have to keep replacing, and junk will fail you…the Contego won’t. So, if you’re looking for something just a little bit different for your next EDC folder, take a close look at the Contego.   – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Pat’s Product Review: Leatherman Surge – Improved

If you don’t know about Leatherman multi-tools, you must have had your head in the sand for a lot of years. Today, we’re taking a look at the improved Surge  multi-tool. To be sure, if you are serious about Prepping, Survival, hunting or working around your homestead – you absolutely, should have a multi-tool on-hand. My “Blast” Leatherman (sadly, now discontinued) is on my belt every single day, right there, next to my spare magazine, for whatever handgun I’m packing. And, it goes without saying, the multi-tool is used a lot more than my handgun is.

The Leatherman “Surge” is one of the two largest multi-tools, that Leatherman manufactures – and that’s not to say they are overly large, they are not! I’ve seen some pretty huge multi-tools over the years, and while they were workhorses, they were just too big to carry on my belt or in a pocket. Closed length of the new Surge is 4.5-inches, and it weighs in at 12.5-ounces. Yes, it’s a little bit on the heavy side, however, for all it does, it really isn’t too heavy in my humble opinion.

The improved Surge is only slightly more beefy than the original, and it has all locking features on it – every tool that is in the handles, locks open tightly. Several of the tools can be opened while the Surge is still closed, too – you simply pull the Surge out of its included sheath, and you don’t have to bother opening the two handles, to access some of the tools, you can open the tools with the handles closed.

Here’s a quick run down on the 21 tools that are contained in the Surge: needle nose pliers, regular pliers, 154CM replaceable wire cutters, 154 CM replaceable hard-wire cutters, stranded wire cutters, electrical crimp, wire stripper, 420HC knife, 420 serrated knife, saw, spring-action scissors, awl with threaded loop, ruler (8-inches), can opener, bottle opener, wood/metal file, diamond coated file, blade exchanger, large bit driver, large screwdriver and a small screwdriver. And, there is a lanyard ring, for attaching the Surge to your pants or around your wrist, if working around water or any other place where you don’t want to drop your Surge.

I have found that, the wood saw on Leatherman multi-tools, to be the best of the best, they can really cut wood all out of proportion to the size of the saw, and the teeth really do fast work on tree branches – I use the wood saw around my small homestead all the time, for cutting low-hanging tree branches.

The 420HC stainless steel knife blade and serrated knife blade come with a good edge on them – unlike many knife blades on other multi-tools, that are dull and useless. I like a serrated knife blade when cutting through cardboard or wet rope, or rubber hoses. The folding scissors are really cool – they cut better than a lot of other scissors I’ve used – and we’re talking full-sized scissors, too.

I’m forever breaking a fingernail and it might not sound like the end of the world, however, I hate having a jagged fingernail. The folding scissors can trim the nail, and the diamond file does a great job of smoothing the nail, too.

The large and small screw drivers come in handy, for all kinds of minor repairs. Just a couple weeks ago, my mechanic and friend, was working on my youngest daughter’s car, she had a coolant leak, and he pressurized the cooling system, and in short order, found that a brand-new upper radiator hose was leaking at the clamp. He didn’t have a screw driver handy – he was working in my driveway, and I handed him my Leatherman, with the large screwdriver opened and a few seconds later – no more coolant leak. I know, I know – you’re all wondering how I can get my mechanic to come and make a house call, right? Well, he’s been out of work for a year – due to two cancer surgeries, and he is going stir-crazy sitting at home all the time, and is always looking for something to do – so he came to my digs and worked on a couple of our cars.

When my youngest daughter was in the US Army, and going through Combat Medic training, my wife and I gave her a Surge, and she, and many of her fellow soldiers were always using her older model Surge for various chores…she was glad to have it with her all the time. At some point, the army issued Combat Medics a Gerber multi-tool, and I have one myself, but I don’t carry it with me any longer. I like the way you can flick the pliers out of the handles, however, one major problem showed itself in short order. If you are using the pliers, and squeezing hard on a nut or whatever you need the pliers for, and the pliers slip, we are talking major hurt. What happens is, the meat of your hand gets caught (squeezed) between the pliers handles – I bruised the meat of my hand several times with a Gerber. In contrast, with the Leatherman multi-tools, you don’t have this worry, because you have to unfold the handles, to expose and use the pliers, and if the pliers slip, the handles can’t close on the meat of your hand. Maybe I’m the only person this happened to with a Gerber multi-tool, but it happened one too many times, and I don’t use it any longer.

One of the best things I like with the Leatherman line-up of multi-tools (and other products) is they all come with a  25-year warranty. If something breaks, they will repair or replace it – down to their smallest multi-tools. And, some tools can be user replaced, like the saw blade – it can be replaced if worn out or broken.

The new and improved Surge can be had in stainless steel, or blackened stainless – it’s still stainless steel. And, it can be had with a standard sheath or a MOLLE compatible sheath for use on MOLLE vests. Tim Leatherman was the inventor of the true multi-tool. While the Swiss Army Knife has been around forever, I’ve yet to find one I’d be willing to bet my life on,since they break rather easily under a load. Not so with the Leatherman multi-tools. So, if you are serious about Prepping, and you don’t have a good multi-tool, check out the new and improved Surge from Leatherman. The price is approximately $135, but shop around and you might find them a little cheaper on the Internet.  – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Bangladesh Troubles Continue, by Michael Z. Williamson

The current situation in Bangladesh bears mention. Here is a recent news headline: The Economist terms JS polls ‘electoral farce’

The majority of “uncontested”seats were appointed by the current Prime Minister, per my correspondent.  The largest opposition party is being harassed and restricted, the party head is under house arrest though the government claims the barricades and trucks are “for her protection.” The second largest is terrorist-connected Jemaat Islamiya, who may be less violent than the government.

For further reading:

– Michael Z. Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor at Large

Letter Re: A Inexpensive Source for Israeli Battle Dressings

Good morning!
Yesterday I received an order for Israeli bandages, ordered direct [from Israel], from: IsraeliFirstAid.com.

I placed the order on 12/6/13 and received it 1/3/13. Not bad considering it was in international order/shipment.

The bandages are well packaged, dated, vacuum sealed. I applied my own labels to them as these packages are in Hebrew and English, and would be a little hard to quickly decipher, particularly in a stressful situation. The prices are good and shipping was only $4 (see below).
I ordered the following:

4″ Israeli Bandage with Pressure Bar
1    $5.79 USD    $5.79 USD

6″ Israeli Bandage with Pressure Bar
1    $5.99 USD    $5.99 USD

Burnfree 4″x4″ Burn Relief Dressing
2     $4.99 USD    $9 98 USD

Personal Green IDF Dressing
2    $2.99 USD    $5.9 8 USD

Personal Green IDF Dressing – Larger
2     $3 .99 USD    $7.98 USD

Subtotal:    $35.72 USD
Shipping:    $4.03 USD
Grand Total:   $39.75 USD

Thanks, E.B.

Recipe of the Week

Debra P.’s Homestead Beans

With the shorter and colder days of winter, our thoughts here out in the country turn to making sausage, preparing for deer camp, readying the barns for winter & finishing the fall harvest.  One recipe that we like uses the last bits from the garden, allows us to use some of our food storage items and makes use of whatever meat leftovers we might have at hand.

This is a great item to practice using your cast iron dutch oven or any large heavy pot.   You will use both the cooktop and the oven or bury it in the coals of your campfire or fireplace.  The ingredients are a guide … use whatever you happen to have … the seasonings should be to your taste … we like it spicy.  Serve with cornbread and your favorite beverage.  I made it today for Sunday dinner and here are the ingredients I used:

½ pound of my Uncle Carl’s homemade pork sausage (spicy with red pepper flakes)

1 large onion from the garden diced

A handful of small carrots from the garden sliced then roughly chopped

1/3 of a green bell pepper … from the garden … had some bad bits I cut away and used the good parts

1 red bell pepper

1 small orange bell pepper

2 inches of a green zucchini chopped finely

2 inches of a yellow squash chopped finely

A few slices of hard salami roughly chopped

A couple of slices of crumbled bacon (left over from breakfast)

I heated my dutch oven on the top of the stove with a splash of olive oil (I keep mine in the deep freeze) … brown the sausage at medium heat and add the diced vegetables … stir it frequently to keep the vegetables turning so they all get a chance to be near the bottom of the dutch oven … you want the vegetables to soften.   I like to add a small amount of liquid about 15 minutes in to help the vegetables to cook uniformly.  Depending on your own taste you can use 1/3 cup water, or apple juice, or apple cider, or wine (cooking sherry).

When the vegetables have softened and cooked down (about 20-25 minutes) over medium heat I add:

½ cup of chicken stock … you can use a dissolved bouillon cube from your food storage or those little Knorr condensed stock thingies they sell at the store.

1 can of cooked pinto beans from my food storage … don’t bother to drain (you can use leftover beans that you cooked from dry … good way to add variety to dry beans)

1 can of black beans from my food storage don’t bother to drain (same as above … use leftover beans  cooked from dry)

1 small can of corn drained (from my food storage pantry) … sometimes I’ll have some corn on the cob from the freezer and I’ll cut it off the cob and use that … and frozen store bought corn would work as well.

I like to add 1/4 cup of something sweet at this point also … you can use honey, barbeque sauce, molasses, homemade peach jam, … you get the point … use what you have available … today I used bottled barbeque sauce … if you like more of a “baked beans” taste … add more … I’m going for the spicy taste today.

Mix together and put the lid on the dutch oven … put in the oven at 350 degrees F for at least an hour … if you are working, doing chores, etc  … you can put it on 275 and leave it cooking slow until you come back in for the noon meal 3-4 hours later.

Other ingredients I like to add if I have them on hand from the garden:

·         Kale, spinach, swiss chard, or any other “green” … handful washed and roughly chopped

·         Red Cabbage … about ½ cup shredded

·         Green onions … ¼ – ½ cup finely chopped

·         Cauliflower … ½ cup roughly chopped

·         Hungarian or Yellow Banana peppers chopped

·         A few pieces of Okra sliced thin

The key is to add flavor, but the beans are the star of this show … remember you are trying to use what you have at hand … especially to use up veggies that would otherwise go to waste.

When you are ready to serve, be careful with the dutch oven if you are not used to working with them … if you have small children, it’s best to leave it in the kitchen and transfer the beans to a serving dish.  Enjoy!

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Homestyle Ham and Bean Soup

Best Ham and Bean Soup Ever

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Odds ‘n Sods:

Mountain House just introduced a new Breakfast Bucket which is now being offered by Directive 21. The introductory sale price of $79.99 with free shipping ends on January 10th, so order soon.

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Luke D. was the first of more than two dozen readers who sent this: The Congressman Who Went Off the Grid: Roscoe Bartlett spent 20 years on Capitol Hill. Now he lives in a remote cabin in the woods, prepping for doomsday.

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Detroit police chief: Legal gun owners can deter crime. (Thanks to Peter S. for the link.)

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Reader R.B.S. sent us one for our “I Told You So” File: Justice Department Pays Linkedin $500,000 For Unlimited Access To Your Personal Information. Take note of the company name: “Carahsoft.” Do they think the American people are idiots? (You’ve probably already noticed that an anagram for “Carah” is “Hacar” which of course could be spoken “Hacker.”)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"To think that one can live without the lessons and principles of one’s ancestors is a disease – a mental disorder of the highest caliber. It is an insanity that leads to terrifying catastrophe." – Tyler Durden