Did you think this past month seemed to fly by? I can't believe November is already drawing to a close. I also am astonished that I've been actively prepping for only seven months. I've learned so much and accomplished quite a bit.
In the negative column, I'm still not doing very well with adding in exercise, unless you count using my new grain mill. Hey, it does make me break a sweat! Also, the glass globe/chimney on my oil lamp met a premature demise when I was dusting it yesterday. This goes to show that A) I need to have some back-up chimneys on hand with my other supplies and B) My contention that housework is evil does have a basis in fact.
Month Seven:
Continue to build food storage basics. Perhaps take advantage of holiday sales and stock up on items like spices, chocolate chips, canned pumpkin, etc.
Buy some ground beef and chicken breast and pressure can it. Conduct a taste test and see how my home-canned meat fares vs. store bought canned chicken.
Create a first aid kit for for my purse. I'm thinking of making one in a Altoid tin.
Buy an electric grain mill and put it through its paces.
Begin the process of organizing some of my canned food storage for easier rotation. I'm going to try out and review one of the can rotation devices on the market.
In the category of "Hope Springs Eternal": Exercise 3x per week.
Do you have any prepping plans for December or are you consumed with Christmas purchases and preparations?
People are quite blase about H1N1 these days, but do you remember the frenzy in 2009? I have to admit that I was one of those who freaked out because A) I was pregnant and hormonal B) Hubby Dear is in health care and regularly "brings his work home" and C) I was a prepper and didn't know it yet!
I don't know about where you live, but the stores here quickly sold out of hand sanitizer and face masks the moment H1N1 reached our area. I unsuccessfully searched our local stores for those items and cursed myself for not being better prepared.
I've already got the hand sanitizer and masks in bulk and this month I added another pandemic/SHTF must - exam gloves. Think of all the uses these gloves have. Any time there is the chance you will come into contact with a sick family member's body fluids, you should use gloves. I can bring myself to do any number of gross things (clean up vomit, dispose of a dead rodent, etc.) if I have gloves on. And if the kids get really bored, they can blow them up into balloons.
Hubby Dear told me that I should remind you all that these kinds of gloves are not sterile. If you were, say, putting in stitches, performing surgery or delivering a baby, you would ideally have individually-wrapped sterile gloves. Keep that in mind when you need to take out Great Aunt Ethel's gallbladder post-TEOTWAWKI. ;)
Another thing to remember is that gloves come in several sizes. I bought size medium, which is the perfect size for me. It also works OK for Hubby Dear. I don't know about all brands of gloves, but these came with a sizing chart on the back. Hubby Dear works with people who wear anywhere between size small and size 2XL so you really need to make sure you check sizes before you buy a ton of gloves.
Sizing chart on the back of the box
Like most items you store, there are some storage considerations for gloves. Just like your food storage, they need a cool, dry place away from light.
Pick some gloves up the next time you go to the store. You might be very glad you did.
After I posted my less than stellar review of the Wonder Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill, I had this nagging feeling I was doing something wrong. All those great reviews of this product from numerous sources just couldn't be wrong, could they? I went back and read through my research, looking for any clue as to why my grain mill wasn't producing much flour.
I watched David (one of those YouTube preppers who regularly cracks me up) assemble his Wonder Mill.
Check. Did that right.
I watched Dave start grinding wheat and getting copious amounts of flour.
Huh?
I paid close attention and then smacked myself in the head. Hubby Dear and I are officially idiots. Wanna know why?
We had been turning the handle in the wrong direction!! You're not going to get good results if you don't use it properly! I don't even want to admit how long we worked on that mill yesterday. We are s-t-u-p-i-d.
In our defense, the owner's manual doesn't say what direction you should turn the handle. (Clockwise, for fellow hapless grain millers). I guess I should be glad we're getting the kinks worked out now instead of during TEOTWAWKI.
Mostly I just feel dumb.
Hubby Dear getting the job done
Hubby Dear ground a cup of wheat into fine flour in.......three minutes. I cranked through the remainder of the 1 lb "break-in" wheat and I'm fixin' to grind some more for some bread.
In summary, my review of the Wonder Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill is now completely positive. It is sturdy and it does work - if you use it correctly!
It's been a while since my post on selecting a hand grain mill. I've had to wait on Amazon's Super-Slow Super Saver shipping. Then one of the vagaries of rural life occurred. It rained cats and dogs so the Post Office couldn't deliver my package. Why would that matter? Our mail is delivered in a 4x4 pickup and all packages have to go in the bed of the truck. Rain = Emily has to make a drive into town to pick up the package at the Post Office. Bet you city folk never had to deal with that! ;)
After these trials and tribulations, I finally was able to put my grain mill to use.
Why I chose the Wonder Mill:
I immediately ruled out El Cheapo grain mills like the Victorio. I want to be able to grind fine flour with relative ease, which is pretty much impossible with those sorts of mills.
I also decided against higher end mills like the Diamant and Country Living Grain Mill. They have glowing reviews, but they each had a few features that I didn't like. One of those features would be the price! I did seriously consider getting the Country Living mill since you can buy a motorization kit. Together, the mill and motorization kit would run $745! It's much cheaper just to buy two mills.
That left mid-priced mills like the Lehman's Best and Wonder Mill Junior Deluxe. They had a lot going for them. Both had great reviews but I ended up choosing the Wonder Mill. Now that I've tried it, here's my review.
What I liked:
Solid metal construction. There's nothing plastic except the hand grip on the handle. It is very sturdy.
It comes with both stone milling heads and stainless steel burrs. The stone heads are for dry things like wheat and oats and the burrs work for oily nuts and seeds.
It has a solid clamp to attach the mill to the counter. I was very impressed with how solid and still it remained no matter who was doing the grinding.
What I don't like:
It takes a lot of shoulder power. I have a bum shoulder and it was really irritated by the motion.
It takes FOREVER to grind fine flour. I put one cup of hard white wheat into the capacious hopper and was STILL grinding it 45 minutes later. Granted, I had a lot of "help" from children and took time to make adjustments to the grind. I had read reviews that said it took people 5 minutes to grind a cup of wheat, so I think I'm doing something wrong. Maybe I'll try grinding it coarsely first and then putting it back through the mill.
What I got after 30 minutes of grinding. I have some fine-tuning to do.
An important note:
The instruction manual states that first you need to process about 1 lb of grain with the stone milling heads and discard that flour. You have to wear down the stone a bit so that you won't get grit in your flour.
If you get a Wonder Mill Junior or similar hand mill, you want to open it up and and do that process NOW while grain is plentiful and you have free time on your hands.
I have to admit I am disappointed. I was looking forward to making a loaf of bread from freshly ground whole wheat today. That is so NOT happening. I'm going to do some more research and I'll report back if my review changes. I've also contacted the Wonder Mill company in case they can help. At any rate, I think an electric mill is in my future very soon!
Although food storage is my first love, I do realize that there are many more aspects to prepping. It's just hard for me to focus on them when they are so far out of my comfort zone. Alternative power systems and firearms? I just don't have the knowledge base for preps in those areas, so I'm putting those off for now.
One area I do feel comfortable making some decisions in is lighting. If the electricity goes out, it is important to have a backup form of lighting. For one thing, it's a safety issue. You don't want to be stumbling around in the dark. For another, it can be a morale issue. Imagine being trapped inside your house during a blizzard or ice storm. The electricity goes off and your family huddles together for warmth. Darkness comes early but thankfully you have an old lamp and plenty of lamp oil. Suddenly the situation doesn't seem so scary. The "Blizzard of '10" may even become a cherished family memory.
First of all, everyone should have a supply of flashlights. You really cannot have too many of these. We have one by our bed, in our BOBs, in our vehicle kits, storm shelter, garage, and probably some other places I've forgotten.
You also need to have a large supply of batteries. We buy bulk packages of batteries from my favorite store, Sam's Club, and keep them organized by size.
We also have a couple of LED wind-up flashlights. No batteries needed for these.
Dusty but still functional
If you were in long term power down situation, you would really want to have some additional lighting options. A flashlight isn't so great to read, play a board game, cook, or eat by. For this, we're relying on an old solution - the oil lamp.
I already had an antique table lamp. Oil lamps like these can be picked up very cheaply in antique stores. My mother owns an antique store in our area and she actually doesn't stock these kinds of oil lamps. There is too great of a supply out there, so they don't sell very well. If you can't find a vintage one, you can buynew ones from Lehman's. If you don't have a copy of Lehman's catalog, be sure and order one. Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog is chock full of goodies for preppers and other self-sufficient types.
Who is the maid ? She should be fired!
I also already had this Dietz lantern which I did purchase at my mom's antique store. I'll admit it - I bought it a few years ago because I thought it was cute. Recently it crossed my mind that I should take a closer look at it and see if it is still functional. It needs a bit of cleaning - ok, maybe a lot - and a new wick and it should be ready to go. My Dietz "Little Giant" lantern was made sometime between the 1920s and 1950s and holds enough fuel to burn continuously for 70 hours. Again, this is something you can find cheaply at an auction or antique store (mine was $10 before the "family discount") or buy new from Lehman's.
Obviously when you have an oil lamp, you need to have oil to burn in it. There are three basic fuels to choose from:
1) Liquid Paraffin - This easy to find in places like Wal-Mart this time of year. Basically, it's a liquid candle. The good thing about it is that it doesn't smell or smoke when it burns. Some people think it can clog the large, flat wicks that most oil lamps have. My mom has burned this stuff in her oil lamps for years and not had any problems, though.
2) Kerosene - Cheap and it burns well. Most oil lamps/lanterns will work well with it. It is a bit smelly when it burns.
3) KleanHeat - Think of this as a cross between options one and two. It doesn't smell or smoke and it won't clog your wick. You can use it in a wide variety of lamps and lanterns.
I went ahead and decided to go with option three, KleanHeat. I felt that it would be the best item to store since it was so versatile. You can buy KleanHeat here.
I also stocked up on lamp wicks. Check what size wick your lamp/s take before you buy!
When the lights go out, we'll be ready. What have you stocked up on for your lighting needs?
If you have played around with the food storage calculators that are out there, you'll notice that it is suggested that you store a huge amount of dairy products. For our family, the numbers work out to 270 pounds of dry milk, 54 cans of evaporated milk, and 57 lbs of "other", which would include dry cheese, butter, and eggs.
Ay chihuahua. That's a whole bunch of stuff that we don't normally use. And aren't you supposed to "store what you eat, eat what you store"? What's the point of storing all that milk, anyway?
Well, dry milk has the nutrients of fresh milk without worry of rapid spoilage or delicious taste. Oh wait...
The truth is that dry milk is a great source of protein and can be used in a wide variety of applications from drinking straight up to yogurt to smoothies to baked goods. It's one of the four basic foods (the others being wheat, honey, and salt) that would be enough to keep you alive.
It is important to note that the food storage calculators' numbers are based on REGULAR non-fat dry milk, NOT instant non-fat dry milk. If you choose to store instant milk, you need to store double that amount.
Crystal from everydayfoodstorage.net has several really helpful videos on YouTube. The following one explains the difference between regular and instant dry milk. I highly recommend that you watch it.
After I watched this, I was convinced that we definitely needed to store regular non-fat dry milk. The space savings alone make that worthwhile. There was only one problem.
Where do you buy regular non-fat dry milk if you do not have access to an LDS cannery? Ever tried to find it in your local grocery store?
A #10 can of Regular Dry Milk from Walton Feed
I did manage to find a reputable source for regular non-fat dry milk - Walton Feed Company. Their prices aren't bad and they come highly recommended. A case of 6-#10 cans of regular dry milk costs $59. The catch is the shipping. It cost me over $20 to get my milk from their store in Idaho to the Harried Homemaker Acres. I did the math, however, and it will still save me a significant amount of money to buy regular dry milk instead of the instant.
Now how about the yuck factor. Again, Crystal has some great tips on how to mix it and doctor it up a bit.
One thing to note out about powdered milk is the shelf-life. Even if you buy all of your milk in #10 cans from a reputable dealer and you store it in ideal conditions (ie. cool, dark, and dry), powdered milk is one of the most perishable of your long-term storage items. I've found sources that say dry milk is good for 20 years, and that's probably true from a nutrition and safety standpoint. If you're wanting it to taste semi-decent, however, you had better rotate through your supply in 3-5 years. From what I hear, it gets pretty funky after that period of time.
My case of 6-#10 cans only adds up to 24 pounds of milk. That's not much toward the 270 lbs we need to store. There's bright side to building up our milk storage slowly, though. If I build our supply by purchasing a case every couple of months, the expiration dates of the milk will be spread out. If we just use a little bit along the way in our everyday meals, we'll be able to rotate our supply for maximum freshness.
Here's a link to the powdered milk section on Crystal's site. You can find a bunch of recipes that use powdered milk here so you can actually "store what you eat, eat what you store". I plan to use our milk in baking and other cooked recipes.
I've had a couple hundred pounds of wheat since August but have been limited in what I can cook with it: blender pancakes, blender waffles, and disgusting hot cereal. Finally the day has come that I get to buy a grain mill. You can buy electric grain mills, hand grain mills, and ones that convert either way. I eventually want to have the capability to go electric for the time and labor savings, but it is most important to have a hand grain mill first. Otherwise TEOTWAWKI could happen and the only way my shiny electric grain mill would be useful is if it just so happened to grind some wheat as I threw it to the ground in frustration with my lack of foresight.
But what mill to pick? There a huge selection available and it's not like I can just walk into a dealership for a test drive. (Not in my neck of the woods, anyway.) So I did A LOT of reading. I read catalogs, reviews, and online listings. I read some more. I cross-referenced charts and watched videos. I gathered so much data that I practically overloaded. Here's some of what I looked at:
I achieved all of my Month Five Preps with the exception of #6 - the exercise component. I still need to work on being better with that. But I have more cash in my BOBs and vehicles, food storage containers, lots of new additions to my food storage, and more matches and toilet paper stocked.
Month six of my Prepping Plan is going to be fun. I'm feeling flush since Hubby Dear suggested we increase our prepping budget by about 40%. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he told me that. Not that he actually believes in this stuff. Nope, he doesn't think this is necessary even after reading One Second After. We're debt-free now and he is proud that I was able to stick to my prepping budget for five months so we could get there. Gotta love him! :)
I was once pretty clueless when it came to "prepping". Follow my journey towards self-reliance as I explore gardening, food storage, canning, animal husbandry and other homesteading and survival-related topics.
Our Sad Harvest stats for 2012 - The Year of the Big Drought
EGGS:
1,645 chicken eggs & 124 duck eggs
DRIED GOODS:
-4 large bundles of oregano
-40 heads of garlic, some of which I dehydrated and processed into garlic powder
-1 bushel of onions
CANNED:
13 half-pints of blackberry jam
FREEZER:
1 gallon of green bell peppers
4 pints of frozen blackberries
2 heritage turkeys (and after we ate them 8 pints of turkey bone broth)
Harvest 2011 (not counting what we ate fresh)
FREEZER:
16 family-sized packages of green beans 4 gallons of green peppers 1 gallon of jalapenos 1 gallon of poblano peppers
9 pints of blackberries
Several batches of basil pesto
5 c. pumpkin puree
PANTRY:
24 half -pints of blackberry jam 5 pints of dilled green beans 1 half-pint of dried parsley 3 pints of dried oregano leaves 8 quarts and a pint of spaghetti sauce 5 half-pints of salsa jam 5 pints of salsa
, I had this nagging feeling I was doing something wrong. All those great reviews of this product from numerous sources just couldn't be wrong, could they? I went back and read through my research, looking for any clue as to why my grain mill wasn't producing much flour. 
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