Any "preppers" out there?

[Belle of Grace]

I really like doing my shopping at a store that has the bulk food. You may have to do some checking cuz some of these stores are few and far between.

For places that have these stores,
Sprouts Farmers Market has these large self-serve bins. Generally, the price per pound of the food item, such as flour or oats, will be cheaper for a pound than buying the same items in the baking or cereal aisle, all packaged up from their respective companies.

 

[heisable2]

Yep! I live in Florida so it’s never a bad idea for us Floridians to be prepared in case of a major hurricane. Plus there’s been talks of a grid shut down. I have 6 months worth of food, water, shampoo, deodorant, tp, battery operated fan, batteries, etc. stored up.

The way I see it is, what I have could be used NOW for me or my loved ones…or might be useful for someone after the rapture!

Hey there neighbor. I live in Ocala FL.
You mentioned talks of a grid shutdown? I no longer take the Ocala newspaper so I haven't heard of a grid shut down. What have you heard?
The small gated community where I live is right next door to a assisted living Care facility and my neighbors have told me they've never had any power outages because we're hooked up to the same grid. Needs to say I'm still prepared with my secondary cooking source plus an extra propane tank.

You mentioned a battery powered fan. Where do you get one of those? I've never heard of such a thing. But then I take that back because anything goes nowadays. There's all sorts of usable gadgets out there. I did buy a Berkey water bottle with an extra filter and I have a LifeStraw. I have water filtration in my refrigerator.

Was also thinking of getting a Brita or some other type of water filtation for my refrigerator. But that takes up a lot of space. I looked into the Berkey water filter and you have to pour water into it. The city water here is awful. You'd think with the price I have to pay for it that it would be better for drinking. I lived out in the shores for years and was on a well. That water was really good. When the power went out there was no well and not being able to flush the toilet. I don't even give my dogs the city water.

 

[heisable2]

I'm increasing my food storage supplies right now. I got myself a food saver, and some more glass mason jars for canning, so if we have a good harvest this year, we can save a good bit of it. I bought some winter gear on steep clearance (about $2.50 for a set of gloves and a matching scarf that will go nicely with my winter coat.) I would like to get even more jars and lids, and a railroad type of kerosene lantern, so that if I need to use it outside I can. We have one, but I would like to have one for each person in the house. We have the kerosene already for the glass oil lamps we keep in the house. I would also like to get an outdoor stove ready. we have a barbeque grill, but I want something that will use wood. I think we're more or less set for clothing.

I have four oil lamps. You can buy them at Walmart along with the oil. They also have the wicks and the other little hard word that goes inside the lamp.

 

[heisable2]

I had a couple of metal wash tubs I brought in and filled up with water to do dishes with. Also every bucket I could find. After all have to flush those commodes on occasion. Today I’ll be canning water again to restock the supply.
There are times I really miss my wells having hand pumps. They broke years ago and never replaced. As I got older, having running water has really been a blessing when the body is worn out.

Since I have a few chickens, I’m experimenting with preserving eggs. After reading others ways I decided on rubbing clean unwashed eggs with a thin layer of mineral oil. Then tying string around the carton and store in a cool place. (closet on north wall of house) Every Sunday morning I flip the carton over to keep eggs from sticking inside the shell. I’ll check them in December and see how well it worked.

Pet food is the difficult thing for me as I have to buy large sacks every week to get through the week. And cats require expensive food.

The only time I thought of canning water was when I had space in my pressure canner and I put in a few jars with water to take up the space. Do you use quart or pint jars? I guess it would be a time saver to can the water because bottled water has an expiration date on it. What are your thoughts? The problem would be is where to find the jars? There are few and far between at the stores and cost you an arm and a leg on eBay. People are getting the same idea as we are.

 

[heisable2]

I'm going to suggest a series called the Foxfire books. They were a collection of tips and tricks that the old timers used, and some hippy era bright young people began to write it all down.

They used to be in the library, and many of us who homeschooled in the 90's were used to taking those out to read or to assign the kids for practical living skills.

It's been 30 years but I bet some are still around in used bookstores or libraries that still provide good books.

Another one from that time was Amy Dasyzcns book The Tightwad Gazette. I like that one along with Miserly Moms. How to pinch a penny till it cries for mercy!

Now I know why I read this forum with a notebook next to me and a pen. Good ideas are coming from all around. Thanks for sharing. Have a blessed day.

 

[JustLikeHeaven]

Hey there neighbor. I live in Ocala FL.
You mentioned talks of a grid shutdown? I no longer take the Ocala newspaper so I haven't heard of a grid shut down. What have you heard?
The small gated community where I live is right next door to a assisted living Care facility and my neighbors have told me they've never had any power outages because we're hooked up to the same grid. Needs to say I'm still prepared with my secondary cooking source plus an extra propane tank.

You mentioned a battery powered fan. Where do you get one of those? I've never heard of such a thing. But then I take that back because anything goes nowadays. There's all sorts of usable gadgets out there. I did buy a Berkey water bottle with an extra filter and I have a LifeStraw. I have water filtration in my refrigerator.

Was also thinking of getting a Brita or some other type of water filtation for my refrigerator. But that takes up a lot of space. I looked into the Berkey water filter and you have to pour water into it. The city water here is awful. You'd think with the price I have to pay for it that it would be better for drinking. I lived out in the shores for years and was on a well. That water was really good. When the power went out there was no well and not being able to flush the toilet. I don't even give my dogs the city water.

Hello neighbor! I’m just outside of Orlando. This was a while ago and nothing happened but it’s never impossible in the sad state of our world. I think it’s always good to be prepped up in Florida because of hurricanes anyway. This was something I had heard from multiple pastors/sources on YouTube. I stocked up and prepped a little just in case, but also whatever I leave behind could be useful for others. I got batteries, water, food, essentials for 6 months. I don’t think we’re gonna be here much longer.

Awesome! Sounds like you are pretty prepared! It’s good that you live so close to an assisted living facility because they will NEVER be able to be without power and have great generators, I’d guess. I hear the Berkey water system is the best and very good for drinking water…I’d actually like to purchase one in future, but don’t have the funds right now. The filter straw is something I want to buy too.

Here’s the link for the fan. It’s not very big but figured it would at least cool my face and neck and that’s good enough for me, since I’m in menopause! It takes like, 6-8 D batteries..can’t remember exactly, but I got like 20 D’s for several cycles of use. It works well for me and isn’t very expensive. Hope this was helpful..

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Treva-10...2-Speed-Table-Fan-with-Adapter-Black/24017579

 

[Kerbluey]

Hey you two! I grew up near Ocala in Crystal River then a few years ago we lived in Ocoee for awhile. Small world.

 

[Work4Peanuts]

I have four oil lamps. You can buy them at Walmart along with the oil. They also have the wicks and the other little hard word that goes inside the lamp.

The place where I work also sells them and I get a ten percent employee discount.
But our family's oil lamps are old- belonged to my great grandma. We keep them ready for service because every so often we get ice storms around here and the power can be out for a week or more.

 

[ChildofLight]

The only time I thought of canning water was when I had space in my pressure canner and I put in a few jars with water to take up the space. Do you use quart or pint jars? I guess it would be a time saver to can the water because bottled water has an expiration date on it. What are your thoughts? The problem would be is where to find the jars? There are few and far between at the stores and cost you an arm and a leg on eBay. People are getting the same idea as we are.

I used quart jars and yes they are getting hard to find.I had bought mine several years ago before all this mess started. I just boil the water and pour into clean jars and I used good reused lids. I did check before storing away to make sure sealed. I didn’t give water bath or pressure canner as it’s just water. Of course I used them the next month due to an ice storm so had to can some more.
I’ve started getting the eggs I was experimenting on. Some were okay looking others not so swift looking. I’m cooking them for the dog as I’m leery about eating them.

 

[Work4Peanuts]

I used quart jars and yes they are getting hard to find.I had bought mine several years ago before all this mess started. I just boil the water and pour into clean jars and I used good reused lids. I did check before storing away to make sure sealed. I didn’t give water bath or pressure canner as it’s just water. Of course I used them the next month due to an ice storm so had to can some more.
I’ve started getting the eggs I was experimenting on. Some were okay looking others not so swift looking. I’m cooking them for the dog as I’m leery about eating them.

The eggs can be cooked and frozen, cooked and dried, or pickled. My Chinese husband hard-boils them and puts them in brine in a jar. They do get saltier over time but they also will keep.

 

[ChildofLight]

The eggs can be cooked and frozen, cooked and dried, or pickled. My Chinese husband hard-boils them and puts them in brine in a jar. They do get saltier over time but they also will keep.

I pickled an entire gallon one time. They were horrible and threw them all out. Even the dogs wouldn’t eat them. May have been the recipe/spices I used but they were so bad- never again. I was trying to preserve for baking without freezing.
What kind of brine did he use? Dill might not be bad,

 

[heisable2]

I've never eaten pickled eggs and I don't think I will ever want to try pickled eggs. When I was young I'd see a big jar of them on the counter at a country store along with the pigs feet and the chicken feet. Yuck. There's not even any meat on chicken feet. Pork hocks is another thing you can use and cook them with your beans.

On another note pickling is a good way to preserve food. But I have been unable to find a really good pickling recipe to make pickles or Dilly beans or pickled asparagus. They've all turned out more vinegary.

So for all of us preppers that are trying to get things together with our supplies, canning or dehydrating food, maybe we should know how to pickle our food

One thing where I draw the line is pickled herring. Someone told me that it was really good and they put it on my plate. I had them put it on the very edge of the plate but the juice seemed to make its way down to my meal. I thought I was going to get sick right there that stuff was just awful. Gag a maggot.

 

[Work4Peanuts]

I pickled an entire gallon one time. They were horrible and threw them all out. Even the dogs wouldn’t eat them. May have been the recipe/spices I used but they were so bad- never again. I was trying to preserve for baking without freezing.
What kind of brine did he use? Dill might not be bad,

Just brine- salt and water. He hard boiled them first though, so they wouldn't be good for baking. They were good to eat with chinese porridge, and would be a good source of protein. I bought a book on vegan substitutions, and ground flax seeds or applesauce are a good baking substitute for eggs in a lot of recipes.