Squirrels

Love 'em or hate 'em, squirrels are remarkable critters with a knack for survival.  I recently read a couple of articles about squirrels on Psychology Today's website that I thought I would share.  In the article "Learning About Survival from the Squirrel", it talked about the importance of community, and learning from others, as survival characteristics.

Another terrific article is "What Can you Learn from Squirrels About Motivation, Procrastination and Intent".  I think everyone will agree that procrastination is something that we all have to struggle with.  Sometimes we get bogged down in the details; sometimes we are frightened by the effort that we will need to make to get something done; sometimes we just don't want to do what we have decided we need to do.  Squirrels are not burdened with the human "ability" to worry about consequences or how much work it's going to take to get a job done.  They just do it.  Sometimes, you need to forget all that human complexity and just do what you need to do.

So, the next time someone gives you a hard time about "storing nuts" for the winter (hard times), and being a bit squirrelly, take it as a compliment.

First Time Shopping List for an Emergency Food Supply List

I was checking out some of my favourite blogs and websites, and found this great article at Ready Nutrition:  First Time Shopping List for an Emergency Food Supply.  I have translated the list into metric (this is a supply for one person for six months):

1.  4.5 kg of white or wheat flour
2. 4.5 kg of corn meal
3. 2.25 kg of oats
4. 9 kg of white rice (white rice stores better than brown rice)
5. 5.5 kg of pasta
6.  9 kg of beans (or equivalent canned) (think I'll stock less of this)
7. 2.25 kg lbs of mixed beans (lentils, mixed bean soup, black beans, etc) (yum, I'll stock more of these - bring on the split peas)
8. 2.25 kg of sugar
9. 900 g of salt
10. 3.75 L of cooking oil (I prefer olive oil as it keeps better)
11. 2 large containers of peanut butter
12. 2.25 kg of powdered milk
13. 454 gm of baking soda
14. 454 gm of baking powder
15. 250 gm lbs of yeast
16. 3.75 L of vinegar
17. 3.75 L of drinking water per day (6 months = 180 days approx. = 682 L)
18. 3.75 L of bleach

Multiply the above amounts by the number of peeps in your household. If you can't manage 6 months worth, then divide by six and make your goal to do one month's worth.

I checked my inventory, and there are some items on the list that I need more of, as when I started prepping, I went at it bass-ackward.  So I have lots of commercially canned and home-canned items such as veggies, meat and fruit, I'm short on some of the other essentials.  I have my list all ready to go though.

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I just wanted to express my sympathy to all the folks who have been snowed in the last couple of days.  Stay warm, and stay safe.

Jiggle Jiggle

I decided to use my new (to me) canner to jar up some chicken breasts.  It was a nice find that I got at the second hand joint, and after initial testing it worked well.  However, today was the day to put it to the real test.

And the first test was of my temper, as the rack had completely disappeared.  I have my suspicions as to who and why (hubby was eyeing up the rack and asking me if I really needed it, so I think it is now part of some "man" project).  I had to improvise a rack from the bottom of a spring-pan that had lost its sides.  We punched a bunch of more-or-less evenly spaced holes through it, hammered back the edges of the holes, and it seems to be working just fine.  Strictly speaking, hubby did the hole punching.  He feels that any job that involves smashing things with a hammer is his job.  He's also ready to volunteer to blow things up too :)

This old canner (the manual was dated 1951) holds about 5 1-pint (500 mL) jars, unlike my new canner which will hold quart (litre) jars.  I was able to put about 3 to 3-1/2 chicken breasts in each jar.  I have to say that I was amazed at how much the chicken breasts squished down.  It was also kind of disgusting, and I kept washing my hands because of the sheer gross factor.  Eww!

So I'm enjoying the jiggle of the weight on the canner, and waiting for the  timer to signal 75 minutes have passed.  It's such a friendly sound, and takes me back to my childhood...

Snow

I've been reading all of my favourite blogs, and so many of them have the same theme:  snow!  The novelty has worn off, and everybody would like to see some or even all of it go away.  I'm feeling positively guilty that we haven't had much snow here. 

Years ago, living on the east coast, I too used to be very tired of snow come January.  Fallen trees on the road to our village, white outs and blasts of winds that could knock over tractor trailers, and feeling the house shudder even in the basement when a blizzard came through - I don't miss it one bit.  Those were the days when I blessed the wood stove.  We'd hang the hurricane lamp from its secure hook in the high ceiling and play cards by its light, and on the wood stove - stew from the pantry would fill the air with a wonderful aroma.  Food grown in the garden, canned and stored in the pantry... there's nothing like it.  Even when times were tough money-wise, we didn't have to worry about where the next meal would come from.

We didn't think of ourselves as preppers.  We thought of ourselves as practical people, knowing that winter happens, electricity going out happens, storms and floods happen, and only a fool would fail to plan for it.

When snow, or other life-interrupting events, force us to slow down or even pause the mad scurry, enjoy it.  Take advantage of the opportunity to take stock, re-organize your preps, and practice a few skills.  All too soon, the rat race will start again. 

CannedFood UK

I found a terrific site today with recipes that focus on using canned food while still producing nutritious meals.  They have a lot of recipes, a great many of which could be adapted for cooking with food storage.  The site is CannedFood UK, and features recipes from chef James Martin.  They also have a channel on YouTube in which some of the recipes are demonstrated.  Check it out!