What to do in the event of a zombie apocalypse

Social media outlets and the blogosphere were alit this Sunday with the story of the story of a naked man in Miami who was eating the face off another man on the off ramp of a busy causeway.  According to the Miami Herald (at the time of this writing.  Apparently, the story on their website has changed several times since first released, adding fuel to some people's beliefs that this really was a zombie, since a changing news story just screams "cover up"):

One man was shot to death by Miami police, and another man is fighting for his life after he was attacked, and his face allegedly half eaten, by a naked man on the MacArthur Causeway off ramp Saturday, police said.

The horror began about 2 p.m. when a series of gunshots were heard on the ramp, which is along NE 13th Street, just south of The Miami Herald building.

According to police sources, a road ranger saw a naked man chewing on another man’s face and shouted on his loud speaker for him to back away.Meanwhile, a woman also saw the incident and flagged down a police officer who was in the area.

The officer, who has not been identified, approached and, seeing what was happening, also ordered the naked man to back away. When he continued the assault, the officer shot him, police sources said. The attacker failed to stop after being shot, forcing the officer to continue firing. Witnesses said they heard at least a half dozen shots.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/26/2818832/naked-man-shot-killed-on-macarthur.html#storylink=cpy

Other frightening details from CBS Miami include "Armando Aguilar, who heads the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he has spoken with the officer who responded. Aguilar said the officer saw what the man was doing, and ordered him to stop. He said the man growled at the officer, and then returned to his meal."  While numerous of accounts of this incident mention drugs as a likely cause of this man's bizarre and disturbing behavior, internet rumor has it that a preliminary report revealed no drugs in his system, however, as terrifying of a notion as that is, that is unlikely to be a factual report since police are keeping further information, such as the victims condition, under tight wraps.

So, yeah, this is problem some seriously messed up drug related craziness.  Or maybe it's just plain craziness and the result of someone's severe mental illness.  But what if it isn't?  What if this really was a zombie and it really is the beginning of the zombie apocalypse?  Yes, I know that's a long shot, but, much like the CDC's warnings of an impending zombie apocalypse last year, planning for such an eventuality means you are in pretty good shape for any sort of disaster.

Research

Perhaps it is especially fitting that this would happen in Florida during hurricane season.  Many of the same supplies you'd want to have on hand for a zombie apocalypse would get you through the worst hurricanes as well:  water (at least 1 gallon per person per day; although double that is even better), food that doesn't need electricity to store or prepare (I'd go with several weeks' supply rather than the usually recommended three day supply; think Hurricane Katrina....or the Walking Dead), medical supplies whether it be first aid supplies or medications or both, and something to board up your windows so they are zombie and/or hurricane proof.  In event of a really bad hurricane or zombies, defense isn't a bad idea either (Double tap!).

If you find the possible reality of a zombie apocalypse pretty frightening and want to get started prepping right away, but don't know where to start, you may find my previous post on getting started useful.  If you think this whole thing about this one incident being silly (or you just want to pretend you do, but are really doing research on zombies and how to survive, thrive, or even defeat them), here are some novels about zombies that I've particularly enjoyed:

My Shopping List for a Year's Supply of Food

We have 93 pints less of home-canned food than when this picture was taken about 2 months ago (not all of the 350+ pints of food show up n the picture).  Yikes! At this rate, we'll be about out by the time new food is available in the garden in the late spring!  I guess that works out, but still!  Guess we need to be eating more out of the freezer (or canning the stuff in the freezer), since, even though we won't go hungry either way, frozen food isn't being counted for food storage purposes.

A couple weeks ago, I posted a list of what it would take for my family to have a year's supply of food.  Today, I went through everything (shelf stable) I had on hand to see how I was sitting with regard to hitting that goal.  Boy, was I disappointed!  We could go maybe a month with what I have here if we couldn't use anything from the fridge or freezer!  Ugh!  On the plus side, I do have a lot of stuff frozen as well, so I probably could can up a bunch of that, either as single ingredients or as soups, rather than buying a lot of stuff.  I also probably could collect more nuts and things this summer rather than buying most of those, although I know I will want to buy some too, since a lot of the nuts I enjoy are not ones that can be randomly found in Michigan (pecans and Brazil nuts come to mind: my two favorites).  I also will be keeping this list in mind as I plan the garden for the year,  In other positives, I discovered that I have a good supply of a few things, like yeast, and have nearly as much as I need for a number of other items.  The remaining numbers are huge though!  Here is my current "shopping list" of what I still need to acquire, although, obviously, unless I won the lottery or something (but first I'd have to play!), I won't be getting this all at once!  Quantities listed are minimums, especially those things involving chocolate.

Wheat, grains, grains flour & beans = 1680 lbs            

            ? barley

22 lbs cornmeal

            60 lbs whole wheat flour

            113 lbs rice

            86 lbs pasta

            118 lbs granola & oatmeal

            60 lbs cold cereal

            193 lbs dried beans

Powdered milk, dairy products, & eggs=512 lbs

            257 lb milk, non-instant powdered

            51 lbs butter, dehydrated

            64 lbs minimum

            16 cans evaporated milk

            Yogurt starter

            Cheese cultures

Sweeteners: honey, sugar, and syrup=240 lbs

            180 lbs honey

            33 lbs maple syrup

            1 lb molasses

            21 lbs white sugar

Cooking catalysts: salt, oil, leavening

            11 lbs salt

            10 lbs baking soda

            26 gal vegetable oil

            13 gallons olive oil

Canned/dried fruits, Veggies, & Soups=6479 servings

            2744 servings canned fruits

500 lbs potatoes

-          65 lbs dried potatoes

-          Canned potatoes, white or sweet

-          247 lbs fresh white potatoes

-          60 lbs sweet potatoes

2505 servings canned veggies

-          Green beans

-          Kidney beans

-          Beets

-          Carrots

-          Corn, cut

-          Corn, creamed

-          Spinach

-          Peas

-          Tomato paste

641 servings soup

257 servings conveniences (Spaghetti-Os, box mac & cheese, etc)

Kitchen stables: condiments & seasonings

            Olives

            2-5 jars mayonnaise/salad dressing

            11 lb chocolate chips (minimum)

            3 lbs cocoa powder

            1 lb cornstarch

            10 lbs dry gelatin

            33 jars peanut butter

            50 lbs nuts & seeds

            16 boxes saltines

            2 bottles soy sauce

            1 bottle steak sauce

            1 bottle Worchestershire sauce

            3 gallons apple cider vinegar

            10 gallons white vinegar

            Herbs/spices (1 each):

-          Garlic powder, Dry mustard, Onion powder, Parsley, Black pepper, White pepper, Cayenne pepper, Rosemary, Cumin, Nutmeg, Chili powder, Thyme, Bay leaves, Oregano, Cinnamon, Cloves, Majoram, Ginger, Turmeric, Basil, Allspice, Sage,Paprika

Almond extract

Vanilla beans

Meat & seafood=1788 servings

            Canned venison

            Jerky

            Canned poultry

            Luncheon meats(?)

            Canned seafood

Pleasure foods, etc=5084 servings

            Tasty beverages=1877 servings

-          Juice

-          Herbal tea

-          Soft drinks

-          Hot chocolate

-          Coffee

Snackies=1923 servings

-          Candy

-          Tortilla chips

-          Potato chips

-          Pretzels

-          Snack crackers

-          Pudding, shelf stable

Feeding My Family Makes me a Terrorist?

According to Senator Rand Paul (and rampant internet rumor), "someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist."  Because of this, a lot of people have expressed concern that I might be considered a possible terrorist because I am (quite publicly) trying to get a year's supply of food stored for my family's use.  Am I worried?  No.

First off, I don't think someone that was amassing a supply of food for nefarious purposes would be so open and public about it.  Secondly, all one has to do is look at my background to see why I might be doing a little stockplin'.  And, no, I'm not talking about my white, middle-class, good girl, nice college educated background, although that probably wouldn't hurt.  I'm talking about my adult life where things haven't gone so well, despite that quality, yet strangely worthless, college education.  The adult life where there have been times that I've had $5 or less to feed my family for a month and relied heavily on foraging, since I didn't know how to garden yet and didn't have a good place to do it in our apartment.  Or the aspect of the adult life where we had to live with my husband's mom for seven years before we could get a place of our own.  The adult life where my husband was injured on the job and couldn't work for nearly a year, then let go from that job about a year and a half later.  In other words, we've struggled.  A lot.  Money is constantly uncertain and, for many of these times, food was very uncertain as well.  These are the reasons I learned to forage, to garden, and to cook so darn well.  No, I'm not sitting around feeling sorry for me or my family, I'm just explaining why, other than terrorism, someone might gather an extensive supply of food while they have the means to do so.

While stories like that of my family may not be that uncommon (or maybe it is, since I think a lot of people would have just given up by now instead of keep getting back up for more), there are bunches of other reasons I can think of that someone may amass enough food to last months or even years:

• Gardeners: while many may see us as a sick bunch with our dedication to making green things grow, we like our homegrown goodies and try to make them last, so we preserve them, if we can, to last through the off season
• Canners: also a twisted group of souls (which of course, I wouldn't say unless I was part of this group), we love the sound of the pop when a jar seals and the corresponding pop when it is opened.  Because of this goofy obsession (if you don't think it is goofy, just look at the expression on a canner's face when either pop sounds), we want to make the fun last throughout the year.
• Hunters: without this group, there would be a lot more starving beasties and more car/deer collisions throughout the year, but I don't know of any family that can eat an entire deer in a week or less.
• Extreme couponers:   a group considered by many to be at least slightly crazy, but not dangerous (unless maybe you get in their way of a deal), they get stuff when the stars, or at least the sales and coupons, align right.  Since that doesn't happen for every item every week, they get the mass quantities when they can.
• Mormons: it's a religious imperative to have a year's supply of food.  I'm not sure why, because I've never really looked into their beliefs, just the great lists of what one should have for such a supply, but I'm fairly certain Mormons are not known for terrorist activities.
• Elderly people: anyone that lived through the Great Depression or WWII is likely to have tendencies to get the goods when they can (I remember seeing my grandma's pantry after she moved on, with its approximate bagillion cans, especially kidney beans.  She had about a googolplex cans of kidney beans for some reason).  Even as this generation dies off, their influence continues on with younger people that learned from them.
• People who live in the country: Gas is expensive.  When the nearest store is in a neighborhood far, far away, it doesn't make sense to get groceries every few days or even every week.  Limiting the trips to the store can save a lot of money.
• People who only get paid every couple weeks or even less often:  if you get paid less often than once a week, but are living paycheck to paycheck, sometimes that money can seem to evaporate pretty quickly!  Many, many people will buy their groceries for the entire payperiod, at least the bulk of them, in one trip, so they don't end up short on food at the same time as they are short on funds.
• People who live in disaster prone areas: I don't know how many stories I've heard in my life, usually from people in hurricane prone areas, of the stores being closed for at least a week, sometimes as long as a month, after a storm.  If you only have a week of food at a time, you'd have to wait until the last minute before the storm hits in order to have enough food to possibly be okay until the supply chain reopens.
• Anyone that listens to the CDC: the CDC recommends a minimum two week supply of food be maintained in the home.  From their website: "Even though it is unlikely that an emergency would cut off your food supplies for two weeks, consider maintaining a supply that will last that long."  FEMA and the American Red Cross concur, strangely enough using the exact same language in this document on emergency preparedness.  While I'm sure there are some people that would disagree, I'm pretty sure the US government wouldn't consider the CDC, FEMA, or the Red Cross to be organizations engaged in or encouraging terrorist activity.

So whether your reasons be religious like the Mormons, following the government's own recommendations, practical like the people who buy groceries when they get paid, or common-sensical, like elderly people or people in hurricane or winter weather zones,  or other one of the other crazy reasons I listed, I really think, if the only "suspicious" activity one is engaged in is having a larger than average supply of food on hand, you probably don't have anything to worry about.  Come to think of it, I bet when you consider all these different groups, having more than a week of food in your house is probably downright normal!

How long could you go without buying food, if you needed to?  Do you fall into one or more of the categories I mentioned if you do have more than a week's worth, or do you have reasons I may not have thought of?

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This post is part of Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #10.

Food Storage in a Small Space

When I announced a couple days ago that I was planning on gathering a year's supply of food for my family, the number one question I was asked (right ahead of "aren't you worried about being branded a potential terrorist?", which I plan on covering in another post) was where the heck are you going to put all of that food?

My short answer is:  anywhere I can!

That isn't a flippant answer either.  I don't have a basement, spare room, or even a pantry where I can stack mountains of #10 cans and large food-grade buckets.  With 6 of us (even when he isn't here, my 12 year old has enough stuff here that he still counts!) in a single wide trailer, space is definitely at a premium!

To make the best possible use of my house to free up space for food storage, the first thing I'm doing is a massive decluttering effort.  Anything that we don't need or want will be gone!  I've never been one to hang on to things longer than needed, but we'll be taking it to the next level: getting the family involved.  Over the next week or two, I want to go through all of our stuff and figure out what actually belongs in our home.  If it is something we will want later, we might stick it out in the garage, but the house will be reserved for active duty stuff.

Of the things we don't want, some will be sold, some will be given away, and some will be traded.  Trading is my favorite way to get rid of stuff, since I can then replace it with things we actually need (or maybe want).  Some of my favorite websites are Paperbackswap.com for trading books (not just paperbacks), SwapaDVD.com for swapping DVDs (or BluRays, but I don't have any of those), and my husband just found this great site called Listia, which is a free, bid-based (using points instead of money) site for trading anything you want!  We'll probably be making a lot of use of that one as we declutter over the next few weeks!  Some of the stuff we give away will be going to St. Vincent de Paul's, since they give clothes for free to people that can't afford their thrift store prices and the one closest to us just had a fire last month so needs to be restocked (we actually found about the fire when we were going to go there to see about getting some clothes that our family needed!  So much for that idea!).  Other stuff will be given away on Freecycle, since that is where I usually come up with anything we need.

Once we get rid of the stuff we don't need, I should have lots of places to stash things around the house.  Some places that someone in a tight living space like ours might stick food storage are:

under beds (in boxes to slide out easily)
in bedroom closets
in areas above cabinets
behind books on bookshelves
in unused dresser drawers
in covered crates that serve as end tables, a coffee table, or night stands
on shelving installed in any free wall space
boxes or crates stacked in out of the way places
in pest-proof totes or other containers in the garage (for foods that temperature changes won't hurt)

I don't really know if there is enough room here for a whole year's worth of food, but I'm still going to try.  The beautiful thing about a project like this is that it doesn't have to be all done a the time.  I can get the supplies I can and make room as I go.  If I run out of space, maybe I'll come up with another plan, like stashing some at someone else's house or something, or maybe we'll move by then and be in a place with more storage.  I'm not going to let the uncertainties stop me from starting.  As long as I get what I can, and we use it in some sort of rotation, it doesn't really matter how or where we store it!  I'll burn that bridge when we get to it, I guess.

A Year's Supply of Food

One of my goals for this year is to accumulate at least a year's supply of food for my family.  This is something I've been wanting to do for quite a while, but I'm the kind of person that tends to wait until the last minute, right before the deadline, before completing a task and self imposed deadlines don't usually cut it.  This year, there is a date embedded in popular culture and historical references that works quite well as a deadline for my purposes:

December 21, 2012

What do I think will happen on December 21 of this year?  Probably nothing.  People will go to school or work in the morning and the malls and shopping centers will fill up in the evening, as the last weekend before Christmas kicks off.  I'll admit, a fanciful part of my imagination wonders if the galactic alignment really does mean anything and if there will be some sort of huge solar flares or coronal mass ejection or polar shift, but it is the same part of my imagination that worries about zombies reaching through the gap in the curtains at night, so it isn't a part of my brain that is given much credence.

Regardless, the date gives me a deadline and the huge increase in our food stamps from my husband being out of work gives me the means.  It might be possible to feed my family well on $161 a month (plus WIC), but it doesn't leave much for stockpiling extra anythings.

Now that I know I have this money coming, I put together a list of what I should have to feed my family for the year.  I used Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook as my guide, with an extremely important adjustment.  As I started to look at the numbers listed, I noticed that they looked really high as per person numbers, so I started to look into what the problem was and discovered an Amazon review that said the author had used the USDA recommendations for a family of 2.3 as the quantities for one individual (Note: my copy is the 10th edition.  More recent editions may have already corrected this error)!  Oops!  Easy enough fix though: I just divided the quantities by 2.3 before multiplying by the number of people in my household.  I used his guidelines to figure out how many "people" are in my house as well, since, obviously a 3 year old doesn't eat the same amount as I would or my almost teen son does.  Here is the method for determining what the author calls the "family factor": each family member gets an assigned number of points.  A male adult is 100 points, female adult is 85 points, a male teen is 140 points, a female teen or male child over 3 is 95 points, a female child over 3 is 75 points, and a child under 3 is 50 points.  Since my oldest will be a teen by the "deadline" and my youngest will be 3 soon, I leaned toward the higher numbers and considered my oldest a teen and the youngest a male child.  Once you total your family members' points, divide by 100 to get your "family factor", which is essentially the number of people to plan on feeding.

For my family, this number is 5.9, so the numbers on my list reflect that family size.  If you wish to use my list for your family, you'd need to divide the numbers show by 5.9, then multiply by your own family factor.  I do recommend getting your own copy of this book (and please use one of my links to do so, so I'll earn a small percentage of the sale), since the book has a lot of other useful info like shelf lives of the different things, food items our family doesn't use but yours might, recipes, and how much of non-food items you'd need for a year.

Here's my family's list of how much of each kind of food we should have for a year's supply, roughly based on this book; your mileage may vary:

Wheat, other whole grains, flours, & beans = 1796 pounds, to include the following:
popcorn
barley
cornmeal (26 pounds minimum)
flour (90 pounds minimum)
rice, white and brown (116 pounds minimum)
pasta, various types (90 pounds minimum)
granola & oatmeal (128 pounds minimum)
cold cereal (65 pounds minimum)
dried beans, assorted (193 pounds minimum)

Powdered milk, dairy products, and eggs = 513 pounds, to include the following:
milk, non-instant powdered (257 pound minimum)
butter, dehydrated (51 pound minimum)
cheese, dehydrated (64 pound minimum)
evaporated milk (16 cans minimum)
sweetened condensed milk
yogurt starter
cheese cultures

Sweeteners: honey, sugar, and syrup = 257 pounds, to include the following:
honey (180 pounds minimum)
maple syrup
molasses
white sugar (26 pounds minimum)
brown sugar
confectioners sugar

Cooking catalysts: salt, oil, and leavening agents=193 lbs, to include the following:
salt (13 pounds minimum)
yeast (2 pounds minimum)
baking soda
vegetable oil (26 gallons minimum)
olive oil (13 gallons minimum)

Canned & Dried Fruits, Vegetables & Soups=7054 servings, to include the following:
canned fruits, jams, jellies, and preserves (to equal 3207 servings)
potatoes=513 pounds, to include the following:

dried potatoes (65 pounds minimum)
canned potatoes, white and/or sweet
fresh potatoes, white (257 pounds minimum)
fresh sweet potatoes

canned vegetables=2565 servings, to include the following:

green beans
kidney beans
beets
carrots
corn, cut
corn, creamed
greens
peas
tomato paste
tomato sauce
canned tomatoes

canned soups (641 servings minimum)
shelf stable conveniences, such as boxed mac & cheese, Spaghettios, etc (257 servings, minimum)


Kitchen staples: condiments & seasonings=to preference, to include the following:
relish
pickles
olives
mayonnaise/salad dressing
salsa
chocolate chips (11 pounds minimum)
cocoa powder (3 pounds minimum)
cornstarch (2 pounds minimum)
gelatin, dry (11 pounds minimum)
nut butter (37 pounds minimum)
nuts & seeds, fresh or roasted (90 pounds minimum)
crackers (16 pounds minimum)
tapioca
catsup
soy sauce
steak sauce
Worcestershire sauce
assorted stocks/broths
apple cider vinegar
white vinegar
herbs/spices:

dill
garlic powder
dry mustard
onion flakes or powder
parsley flakes or powder
black pepper
white pepper
cayenne pepper
rosemary
cumin
nutmeg
chili powder
thyme
bay leaves
oregano
cinnamon
cloves
majoram
ginger
turmeric
basil
allspice
sage
paprika
vanilla beans/extract
almond extract

Meat and seafood=1796 servings, to include the following:
canned venison
jerky
canned poultry
luncheon meats, shelf stable
canned seafood

Pleasure foods: beverages, snacks, sweets, & treats=5131 servings, to include the following:
1924 servings minimum of the following:

juice
herbal stea
soft drinks
hot chocolate
coffee

1923 servings minimum of the following:

candy
tortilla chips
potato chips
snack crackers
pudding, shelf stable

Survivialism: Not just for nutjobs anymore

 If you are reading this, I think it is safe to assume the world didn’t end on 10/21 as Harold Camping predicted. Not too many people were surprised by this, especially since this isn’t the first time that he or countless other “prophets” have been wrong throughout history. But just because no one has successfully predicted the end of the world yet, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for it to end at any given time. (click here to read the rest of the article on ViewsHound)

Life Without Electricity--emergency or inconvenience?

Do you ever see a headline and think to yourself, "what would I do if it was me and my family in that situation?"  I do.  I saw one such headline last night:

Restoring Power Could Take Weeks

Apparently, for millions of people affected by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, there will be no electricity coming into their home for weeks.
 

What do you do when the power goes out?

That. Would. Suck.
 
If it was me, my first worry would be about the several month supply of food in my freezer.  I generally keep the freezer full enough that a few days without power should be okay as long as we didn't open it.  If I had reason to believe the power would be out for much longer and knew so ahead of time, I might have invested in some dry ice to stick in there to keep it frozen longer, but probably not, since crises have more of a tendency to pop up when I don't have extra funds to deal with it, in my experiences.  More than likely, I'd be dealing with a full small chest freezer, full refrigerator freezer, and whatever is in the fridge.  

There basically would be two groups of things in my freezer:  things that could be canned and things that would have to be eaten right away.  I might organize a series of parties with my neighbors where were in the same boat and open each freezer at a separate time and have everyone eat up whatever was in there so everyone was fed and nothing went bad.  That could keep the whole neighborhood fed a few days if done right!  Before organizing such a thing, I would try to remember what exactly was in my freezer to decide if it was worth while.  Playing like this was happening right now, I wouldn't--the eat-it-up category of my freezer at this very moment (by memory, since if I open it, I'd be letting out valuable cold air) consist of a little bit of ice cream, an individual size frozen pizza, some raw cookie dough, and some breaded fish patties (just checked: there is also a package of hot dogs).  Not really worth having a pig-out party for.  We definitely could eat that up right away.    

In addition to the "definitely eat it up right away" category, there is some frozen shredded zucchini, a bunch of sweetened strawberries, and a fairly large quantity of goat milk frozen in the chest freezer that I might want to use up, but maybe I can come up with some way to save them.  Without looking at anything, I'm thinking I probably could use the zucchini in a stew, make something jam-like out of the strawberries or perhaps dry them to make some fruit leather.  I should be able to make the goat's milk into yogurt or possibly cheese, if I have the right things on hand.  That would extend it's life quite a bit, especially if I waited until it thawed on its own, or let one or two quarts thaw at a time to make yogurt from and keep use the rest as ice packs in a cooler to keep everything that needs to be eaten up from the refrigerator fresh a bit longer.  A cooler would be easier to keep cold since it is a smaller area.  My kids can put away a lot of yogurt if I let them, especially if we mixed it with some of those strawberries, so that might use up the goat milk before the crisis was even resolved. Any remaining veggies or meats left in there could be used up as we needed them, or I could finally break open my pressure canner box and see how that's done.  I'm sure I need heat and water to do it though.  I'm not sure what the situation for gas, since I have a gas stove, and water would be in this scenario, but if I had neither being supplied to my home and the aide that I'm sure will be going to the area didn't allow for that much water being distributed, I should be able to use either our grill, camp stove, or a fire for the heat source, possibly making a nice little fire pit in the yard with some of those bricks that I've been using for landscaping and to hide my compost bin.  There is a small forest surrounding the trailer park that I'm sure I could find some wood in to fuel the fire, not to mention the pallets in my garage that I could burn if needed.   

If I'm on my own for water, that's a little trickier, but not impossible.  I have several sheets of plastic and tarps in the garage that I primarily use for yard sales and to cover the garden beds on frosty nights, but those and a few sticks and bricks could easily be turned into an evaporation/condensation based water filter to get particulates out of the water I'd be using.  There are a couple ponds within easy walking distance that water could be collected from and brought back either in containers in my wheelbarrow or the kids' wagon or both.  It might take a couple days, I really don't know, to get enough water to use for canning, but I've got a couple days until I need to start worrying about the stuff in the still closed freezers anyway.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it will rain so I can just collect rainwater.  Or maybe I'd raid the water heater and the some of the water I stored in my bathtubs ahead of time, counting on being able to replenish it through rainwater or my makeshift filter later.  No matter how I do it, the water doesn't need to be 100% pure at this point, just not toxic or filled with particles.  Bacteria will be killed in the canning process, so I don't have to worry about that part.  Then I can away, saving everything I can can.    

Good thing I have plenty of jars and lids on hand, huh?  If I run out, we'll just have to go back to plan A of eating everything, right?  Maybe not.  Some things probably could be dried, either in an improvised solar dehydrator with the plastic sheets (maybe even under them as they are used to condense water?  Interesting idea!) or our vehicles also could be used as solar dehydrators.  If the gas is on, maybe they could be dehydrated in the oven as well.  If the choices are try or just let it go to waste, I'm definitely going to give it a shot!
 
Once the food is saved, the major issue will be laundry.  We won't be changing clothes every day in this scenario, but for things that do have to be changed and washed more frequently, like undies or cloth diapers, they'll have to be washed by hand.  Not really that big of deal.  I've done it before when the washer was broken and I didn't have enough money for a Laundromat.  Just throw them in a large container with some laundry detergent, maybe agitate it a bit by swirling things around, scrub a bit to get the extra icky bits off (not looking forward to that with the poopy diapers, but now would be a really good time to work really hard on potty-training I think!), rinse and find someplace to hang to dry.   

Beyond the food, laundry, and the hot showers that I'd just have to live without, I don't think it would be that big of deal.  Sure, there would be no television, my writing would have to be on paper to share later rather than facing its usual instant audience, bedtime would be a lot earlier and morning would come with the dawn, but other than that, I think it would actually be pretty nice.  I should still be able to communicate with the outside world via my cell phone (car chargers sure can be handy, eh?) and, if not, I have my family here and my neighbors, who'd probably be a lot more social without the non-stop media to distract them from community life.  Entertainment would come in the form of books and games with other humans, not a machine.  After those first few days of intense canning and improvising to get things normalized, I don't think it would be much of an emergency or inconvenience.  It would actually be pretty nice.

No-Bake Energy Bars--the perfect disaster food?

Note:  Even though this post is for Sunday, I'm letting it go live quite a bit early because it is such a good survival food.  With hurricane Irene bearing down on some of the most populated areas in the country, I wanted to give people in those areas a chance to print it out before the storm hits in case they lose power and don't have enough shelf stable supplies on hand without making something.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the hurricane zone today and tomorrow.

These energy bars are absolutely amazing in their versatility, as well as in that they require no heating or refrigeration to prepare.  They should store okay at room temperature for at least a few days, but if you want to keep them longer, they should last about a month in the refrigerator, or even longer in the freezer.  They are so yummy that it is unlikely that you will need to worry about storing them for a long time!

At their most basic, these energy/protein/fiber bars are 3 1/2 cups of fibery stuff, primarily oats; 1 cup liquid sweetener, whether you use honey, molasses, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave syrup, or, as a last resort since it is by far the most unhealthy option, corn syrup; 1/4 cup crunchy stuff, whether it be seeds, nuts, or a crispy rice cereal; 1 cup nut butter; and sweet tasty stuff, either dried fruit of your choice or candy bits.  Below is the exact combination of things that I used to make them today (in large part that this is what I had on hand that met the requirements I figured I needed) and they were delicious!  My kids kept calling them brownies and my husband likened them to no-bake cookies.

No-bake Energy Bars

3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix oats, flax seed, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, mix honey, molasses, maple syrup, vanilla, and peanut butter until thoroughly blended.  Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until oats are evenly coated.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Grease a 9"x13"in pan or cover with waxed paper (I went the waxed paper route--much easier to remove, since the bars stay pretty soft, at least that first day).  Press mixture into pan, using another piece of waxed paper to make it firm.  Let set an hour or two to firm up (or eat immediately, but it will be very crumbly!) before cutting.
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This recipe and many other great whole food recipes can also be found on Fresh Bites Friday at Real Food Whole Health.

Preparedness 101--Surviving the first 72 hours

It never ceases to amaze me that people who live in areas prone to certain disasters, like hurricane Irene, seem to be caught by surprise every year when *gasp* they are actually in the path of such a disaster.  They scramble to the store in the hopes of grabbing up those critical pieces of plywood, precious bottles of water, or other supplies.  Isn't it common sense to just have these things on hand rather than risk waiting until the last minute and get there five minutes after they sold the last of what you need?

I remember years ago I was in Miami during hurricane season.  As soon as hurricane Erin was headed in our general direction, I started to get concerned that maybe the family I was staying with should get some plywood for the giant picture window that spanned half the length of the house as well as the smaller windows and maybe actually go grocery shopping to have basic supplies on hand since they almost always ate out and never had any food in the house.  They insisted there was nothing to worry about and did nothing--until the day before the hurricane was supposed to hit.  They finally headed over to Home Depot to get some plywood, but, surprise, surprise, they were sold out, so they had to wait half the day in line for the next truck to come in.  I don't think they got any groceries or water at any point, but I do remember that even the vastly overpriced individual serving bottles of water we sold at the ice cream shop I worked at was sold out.

As it turned out, the hurricane missed us, but we still had some serious flooding, enough that when an (idiot) car drove by, water would lap up into the house through the front door, a good couple feet above street level.  The menfolk in the family I was staying with contemplated taking a canoe to look for an open take-out place to get some food the day after (they ordered pizza in during the storm.  Good thing there was someplace still open!), but decided that since the water was only about knee high, it would be a better idea just to wade through it.  Amazingly, they did manage to find food (super yummy Cuban food!  Yay!), the water receded in a matter of days and everyone lived happily ever after.  At least, I assume they did--I eventually lost contact with this family, but I do know for a fact that they at least lived long enough that they suffered no permanent injury or illness from the supreme stupidity of that summer.  Seems to me that just assuming everything will work out and that there will be food, water, medical help, etc, available when facing a disaster is just asking for serious trouble sooner or later though.

I tend to opt to be a little more (by little more, I'd like to think completely) prepared for just about anything.  Here in Michigan, we don't have to worry about hurricanes, but tornadoes and snow storms are both a real threat at different times of year.  Regardless of the nature of the potential emergency, basic human needs are the same:  shelter, water, food, basic medical care. 

Shelter
Regardless of the situation developing, you need to be someplace that will withstand whatever disaster that is coming.  All the preps in the world aren't going to matter if you don't survive the initial storm.  Ironically, living in a trailer in a trailer park, this is my greatest weakness, at least when it comes to tornadoes.  Fortunately, with the early warning technology that exists, I should have enough time to get my family somewhere safer if it looks likely a tornado will hit where I'm at.

Just like my tornado example, if you are in the path of a hurricane and you are advised to evacuate, don't be stupid, don't try to be "manly" or tough and stick it out.  Leave!  Find someone safe to stay if at all possible.  If it isn't possible or if it isn't bad enough in your area that you need to leave, you'll want to secure your location.  This means both making sure the windows are boarded up, all loose items on the property are secured or brought inside, and doing anything else you can to make sure things aren't damaged during the storm, and being prepared to defend yourself from potential looters or attacks after the event.  Defense doesn't have to be just weaponry either--hiding so it looks like the place is deserted with all valuables (both supply and expensive stuff) is already gone so it isn't worth looting.  Some people like dogs for defense, but I see them as more of a liability since it is just another mouth to feed, something to look after, and it isn't that hard for a bad guy to just shoot the dog--plus I'm highly allergic.

Water
People will die of dehydration long before starvation, so water should be your first priority after shelter, which is probably a good chunk of why water seems to be the first thing to disappear off of store shelves when a storm approaches.  So how much water should you have on hand?  A good rule of thumb is a gallon of water per person per day.  It is better to err on the side of too much though, since water is the most crucial thing in a survival situation.  Even if you have a healthy supply of bottled water in the event of disaster, it is still a good idea to fill bathtubs, sinks, and any other available container with tap water for sanitation purposes.  You really can't know ahead of time how long you'll be on your own and water is one thing you absolutely can not afford to run out of.

Food
It is always good to have food on hand in the house, but especially so if you may be trapped in your house for at least a few days.  I really like the LDS food storage guidelines of having a minimum of 1-year's worth of food on hand, but I'm the first to admit that I'm not there just yet.  I'm hoping by the end of the growing season, I'll have enough food to last until next year's food is ready to start harvesting.

For a survival type situation like after a hurricane or ice storm, your goal is much more modest.  You want to make sure you have at least 3 to 7 days worth of food that doesn't require refrigeration to store or electricity to prepare.  Watching the news reports and footage of people getting ready for hurricane Irene, I don't know whether to laugh, feel sorry for, or be scared for the people that are clearing the store shelves of milk.  What do they think they are going to do with that?  When you lose power, you absolutely don't want to open your refrigerator or freezer (and stuff them full, maybe even stick some dry ice in there ahead of time if possible) so they will retain the cold better and you'll be less likely to lose the contents to spoilage.  For your emergency foods, things that don't require any heating are best.  Foods you like are also key, since you don't want to end up with kids or anyone else turning their noses up at the only food available and having their health suffer for it.  Protein bars, dried fruit, nuts, bread, peanut butter, canned fruit, jerky (if you like such things), canned beans (if in a flavor you can stand, like baked beans), and dry cereal are all good choices.  After the initial disaster, you may have the option to cook on a grill or even open fire (outside, don't be stupid and try to make one indoors), which would open up your options more (s'mores anyone?) but you still don't want to need refrigeration, although I suppose I could see someone buying a bunch of steaks or other meats to keep in a cooler for a post-hurricane barbeque to celebrate that they survived!  From a purely practical standpoint, it wouldn't be ideal though--if nothing else, you'd be setting yourself up for increased likelihood of attack by looters who want that steak (see section on shelter) and any other great stuff they might then assume you have.

Medical/First Aid
Pretty straightforward:  if you depend on medication to live, that needs to be a huge priority to make sure you have enough to last until you can get more at the very minimum.  It is also imperative that you have basic first aid supplies on hand.  It would really suck for a minor wound to get seriously infected before help arrives so you end up losing a limb or dying, just because you didn't have something to sanitize the wound and bandages to cover it to keep it clean.  It is also useful to know what to do if someone breaks a bone, has a heart attack, or a severe allergic reaction.  For non-super-life-threatening medical issues in which seconds count, you may want to have a guide on first aid available with your kit to refer to.

It may seem like a lot if you are like the family I mentioned in my story at the beginning of this post, but it really isn't that big of deal to get all this stuff together.  Really, it just takes a little common sense and thinking ahead.  Really, isn't your life and the lives of your loved ones worth it?

It's The End Of The World As We Know It (or not)

Since the Rapture is rumored to happen today and the CDC was warning against the coming zombie apocalypse earlier this week, this seems to be a good time to share some of my ideas about being ready for an emergency.

A lot of people seem to dismiss people into preparedness or survivalism as a bunch of paranoid kooks, but, if you think about it, doesn't it make sense to be ready for anything?  Realistically, it probably isn't going to be Armageddon, but it could be an injury that leaves you or another major bread-earner in the house (or maybe even the sole bread-earner) unable to work.  Or you could get laid off at work.  Or there could be a natural disaster like a hurricane, tornado, mud slide, or flood, depending on where you live.  Money in the bank is great, if you have money and the disaster in question doesn't mess up bank access, but as survivors of Katrina discovered a few years ago, that isn't always the case.  You need to have supplies on hand to take care of yourself until help comes...or if help comes.

At the very least, I implore you to keep a couple months' supply of everything you could need, whether it be food, water, medicine, or gerbil food on hand.  That is the bare minimum.  Really, I like the LDS recommendations of having a year or more of things on hand.  That should be long enough to deal with a personal crisis, like an illness or loss of job, in addition to a natural disaster or zombie invasion (since doesn't it seem that zombies always attack at the worst possible time?).  I'll admit that I'm not there yet myself.  Including my frozen foods, which depending on the type of emergency may not be helpful at all, I probably only have about 3 months supply on hand.  I'm working on it though.  It can be a challenge, especially when money is super tight, but here are some of the things I am doing to make things stretch to get that supply going:

• Store what you eat and eat what you store.  It doesn't make any sense to follow some random list out there of what foods and things to stock up on if they are things that your family won't eat.  One of my favorite guides to prepare for emergencies, Making the Best of Basics Family Preparedness Handbook, is one of my favorites because it doesn't say you "must" have x pounds of some food my family won't eat like a lot of the lists I've seen.  What it does have is a list of recommendations of a type of food with a caption of "select x pounds assorted from this category", which is a lot nicer for figuring out how much my family needs.  When storing anything, make sure you are rotating your supply so it doesn't go bad on you.  All this means is put the newest/freshest stuff in the back (and check the actual dates on the package, since sometimes stores don't do this even though they are supposed to, or if you shop at different stores, they may sell things at a different rate), so when you go to grab it, you grab the oldest stuff from the front.  Also, you'll want to periodically review what you're storing to make sure they are still things you'll want to be eating for a while, since people's tastes do change.
• Buy extra when you can.  If you find a great deal on something you'll use and you have the funds to get it, do it.  I emphasis the "something you'll use" part since it doesn't do you any good to get a "great deal" on something you won't. That's not a great deal--that's a waste of money!
• Do it in bits and pieces if you need to.  The world isn't going to end today.  Well, it might, but you'd be screwed anyway if that happened, so we'll pretend that it isn't going to.  You have time to prepare.  Don't let yourself be overwhelmed.  I find the site Food Storage Made Easy, with its email lists and Facebook posts to be very helpful in doing a bit at a time.
• Have a "bug out bag" ready to go at all times and keep it handy.  You know how you hear about people (I hope you just hear about this and haven't had to deal with it personally anyway!) having to be evacuated for a gas leak, toxic train wreck, flash flood, etc. and they have literally seconds to grab what they need and get out of dodge?  It's a lot easier to do when everything you need is right ready to do.  Might even increase your chances of grabbing some non-essentials that you treasure anyway, since you wouldn't have to worry about the basics.
• Don't have money to stock up on stuff?  Stock up on knowledge instead.  Yes, learning and collecting would be the ideal, but if you can't afford to buy anything, learn to do things instead.  Gardening, cooking, herbal medicines, woodworking, and any number of other things could, in theory, be the difference between life and death at some point, but in the meantime, they can also be fun and save you a ton of money now, so learn what you can.  The internet, the library, and (if I may be so bold) my blog are all places to get started learning.  Then, take what you've learned about and start doing, since that's when the real learning takes place.

I know that's a lot to think about, especially if it isn't something you've thought about before, so to leave you on a bit of a lighter note, here's a great song to listen to: