Preparedness for when

siegemode

Just watched a documentary on fr@cking and it is relevant to possible shtf water contamination events as well as the way we are all being conned by tptb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fke1m1SY1vc

On the subject of meat and freezers. I tend to keep at least 60% of large freezer stocked with meat and about 15-20% is fish the rest is frozen left overs and space for hm bread and cakes. I play tetris almost every day The only veg are the frozen peas.
I do fear power cuts of long duration but we rarely get them in our neck of the woods thankfully. I tend to buy meat when I find it vastly reduced and store it knowing that if our precarious finances take a hit then all I have to worry about is the less expensive food stuffs and ride the storm. My meat bank gives me great comfort and since the freezer contents are insured I worry less. To me this is far more cost effective than freezing fruit and veg.

I find myself buying preppy food from time to time but we like to know the origin of our meat and have switched to organic as a way of avoiding gm directly or indirectly and we try to avoid additives etc. This presents me with a dilemma when it comes to most tinned food especially meat. I guess in a shtf event I wouldn't give a [EMAIL="d@m"]d@m[/EMAIL] about origin and gm etc, but since I want to keep a store just in case and will have to rotate things it's a wee bit difficult, especially when OH is a fussy eater and doesn't like packets, tinned or processed meals.
I guess I really need to research canning but we are limited with space and I fear the investment of a canning system is out of our reach at present.

Hollyberry

Morning all.

Have been reading but not posting due to dodgy fingers (cut hand in several places when falling over the rower at the gym...great to be fit, eh? ;):rotfl:).

Firstly, daz, sorry to hear that. I was made redundant about 5 years ago now and I can still remember that cold chill of fear. But we are through it wiser, stronger and better prepped. Sending big strong positive thoughts to you.

Regarding tinned meat etc., we have a few cans in our stores. Like Mrs L, I'm happy to use corned beef as a hash or generally in other dishes. I have some canned ham from my mum's stash, but can't quite get my head around what to use it for - probably cold with bubble and squeak from leftovers. I can't quite go there with canned chicken or meat in sauce. Firstly I'm coeliac and can't eat dairy, so that rules out several options. Secondly I'm a bit squeamish about things with odd textures. Undoubtedly in a SHTF situation I couldn't afford to be picky, but until the fan is operational, I'll stick to the maxim of prepping what we eat. OH is a fan of Mr A's canned cajun chicken, so that could be a good option. Instead I have a fair amount of canned fish on hand for pasta sauces.

MrsL Could I be cheeky and ask if your packet Borscht contains dairy or gluten? No worries if you can't answer, but I know you may have much more chance of understanding the labeling than I do! I can run to French or Spanish, but anything Germanic or Slavic is outside my linguistic competence. Hence my slight reluctance towards packet preps from Mr Al** or Mr L***. WCS - do I remember rightly that you/some of your clan have allergies too? Any recommendations from you on some good tinned options there?

Off to fantasize about holidays in Norway...

grandma247

I bought my canner direct from a company in America because @mazon were not doing them at the time. If I was buying one now I would get it through @mazon. My postage was about £50.

I used mainly sauce jars bought at supermarkets and begged from family with new lids which I got online from a smallholding suppliers. These have served me very well and has given me time to start replacing them with proper jars, a few at a time. The full jars are stored in flat boxes under our bed. Not the best place for them, because it is harder to see what is in them, but all other storage places are crammed with other stores.

[Deleted User]

Hi HOLLYBERRY the packet is printed in polish but there is a sticker in english that lists the contents as

Sugar
15.4% Beetroot concentrate
Salt
Maltodextrin
Hydrogenated vegetable fat
Acidity regulator : Citric acid
Yeast extract
Flavourings (contain gluten)
Vegetable oil
Hydrolised vegetable protein(wheat protin , salt)
Onion
Garlic
Black pepper

However the allergy information says may contain traces of milk, egg, soya, celery and mustard.

This is the Red Borsch and they do a white borsch which is horseradish flavour and not instant and DOES flag up gluten in the ingredients.

Hope that helps, I only know it's delicious and only 34 calories in a 200ml serving, Lyn xxx.

ALIBOBSY

grandma247 wrote: »

I bought my canner direct from a company in America because @mazon were not doing them at the time. If I was buying one now I would get it through @mazon. My postage was about £50.

I used mainly sauce jars bought at supermarkets and begged from family with new lids which I got online from a smallholding suppliers. These have served me very well and has given me time to start replacing them with proper jars, a few at a time. The full jars are stored in flat boxes under our bed. Not the best place for them, because it is harder to see what is in them, but all other storage places are crammed with other stores.

Thats interesting to know, I always assumed you had to get the special canning jars as I thought the normal jam jar type had thinner glass. Looks like I was wrong there lol.

Regarding fracking I think the whole thing is fast becoming a distraction from the real issue which is oil running out. The talk of huge amounts of gas sat underneath the UK ignores the fact that dependant on how it is situated can make much of it uneconomic to extract and even then the amounts are small potatos when you look at actual usage.

Oil is the big issue just look around your house, even if alternative sources of power generation get up and running how many items sat in your house are made from or by machines and materials created from oil or oil derivitives. You are talking going back to items being made from natural sources so wood, metal, stone. Shipping stuff from overseas will become so expensive the so called cheap imports won't be cheap any more.

Worryingly there is currently a fracking bubble in the US and when that goes pop there could be alot of financial knock on effects. Not to mention that on both sides of the atlantic stock markets seem to be vastly over priced again ripe for crashes.

Seen an interesting article on "forbes" here:-

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/01/08/five-years-after-the-financial-meltdown-the-water-is-still-full-of-big-sharks/

By a guy who used to work at the world bank, seems the US banks are still taking massive risks, even more so than before the crash in 2008, and you can bet if they are doing it the banks over here and worldwide will be following suit and this time around there won't be a bailout it will be a bail-in.

Ali x

maryb

Grandma do you can low acid foods in those jars? Are they effectively like the Kilner 2 part lids but all in one IYSWIM? Sorry to bombard you with questions, but could you please post the link, I've been looking for new lids for my various jars - am about to start on the annual marmalade marathon

[Deleted User]

Don't you think it's all circus and carnival to distract the population from the realities of what is happening in the real world, I think that if they can keep us running around worrying about fracking and things just as divisive we none of us concentrate on what else might be going on? The announcement that local authorities could be better off if they are allowed to keep our money if they allow fracking to happen is red rag to a bull isn't it? I just wonder what is being hidden by the resulting bruhaha? I don't think I'm imagining conspiracy theories or deliberate distortion of facts but I do get suspicious as to what else might go unnoticed in the stir up and indignation created by such inflamatory actions, Lyn xxx.

I always think it's well worth while in times such as these reading the tiny 1" pieces that run in columns down the side of more prominent stories in newspapers, that's where the real news is!!!

westlothianlass

HI all ,
Thanks for the canning, recipe book suggestions, I do love a good book:D.
I was wondering if any of you could recommend a beginners book on fermentation?. It's something I've never done but think it would be a handy skill to have.
Over the last few days I have been thinking about different skills or techniques that will be useful for me to have now before any SHTF situations.
I'm thinking it would be silly for me not to learn new things when the going is okay (i.e now when i'm under no pressure) as oppossed to having to learn in a more stressful situation. Plus i do love "guddling" around or "playing" as my lovely OH calls it:rotfl:.
Sorry to hear of the redundancy threat, and reality, always a very stressful time. Hugs
WLL x

[Deleted User]

WLL I love the word GUDDLING, my DD has a wonderful word for wandering about with no destination or purpose in mind it's BIMBLEING which is wonderfully descriptive for the action! My favourite word is DISCOMBOBULATED meaning in a complete muddle, sums me up perfectly, Lyn xxx.

grandma247

I use those sauce
jars for any canning. They give a very good seal,sometimes too good but I now have a jar opener that came with a tefal set I got in mrS.

The glass is often thicker than the proper preserving jars so I have no problem using them. I can a lot of beans for convenience and they need to be treated the same as meat so 75 minutes at 10lbs pressure for pints and under , 90 minutes for 2 pints.