A Big Slice of Humble Pie: Wonder Mill Junior Deluxe Review Redux

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 got the clue I needed from this four part series of YouTube videos.

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!

Review: Wonder Mill Junior Deluxe Grain Mill

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.

Which grain mill did I pick? 

After weighing the pros and cons of the various options, I decided to buy the Wonder Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill.

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!

*PLEASE READ MY UPDATED REVIEW HERE!*

Say it ain't so!

I was poised to write an entry about the Carnival Cruise ship debacle, but couldn't ignore this: They are predicting that the world will be hit with a chocolate shortage.


Tell me you didn't recoil in horror when you read that.


World demand for chocolate is increasing while the supply is decreasing. Raising cacao, the bean that gets made into chocolate, is back-breaking work and the farmers just don't get paid very well for it. As a result, cacao plantations in Africa are being abandoned as farmers look for other ways to make a living. Analysts predict that by the year 2030, chocolate may become an unaffordable luxury according to the article I read on this topic.

Chocolate isn't essential to life. Not technically, anyway. Most people I know, however, think chocolate is essential to their happiness.

The good news for those of us who build up food storage is that you can store chocolate for two+ years. The secret is to vacuum seal chocolate chips, candy, etc. in a mason jar with the aid of a FoodSaver. I've never done it since I don't own a FoodSaver (yet), but I read a helpful tutorial about it on Granny Smith's blog.

Sounds like we should all be adding chocolate to our food storage. Buy it when it's on sale, seal it up, and don't forget to rotate! I think I have some peanut butter M&Ms I need to rotate into my stomach right now...

Let There Be Light

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 buy new 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?

Got milk?

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.

Fall back, not behind

This Sunday is the end of Daylight Saving Time and most of us get to enjoy an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning. Unless you live in Hawaii, Arizona, or have young children, that is. Baby Dear doesn't know anything about "Fall Back" and will wake up at his usual 5:45 AM, except that it will really be 4:45 AM without Daylight Saving Time. Can you say afternoon nap for Momma?

Firefighters and other safety personnel have long advocated checking your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors every six months. It's easy to remember when you combine it with changing your clocks for Daylight Savings time. Test your detectors and change the batteries every six months. It's a quick, easy thing to do that could have big benefits. Did you know there has been a 50% decrease in deaths in fires since the 1970s? This is in large part to the prevalence of smoke detectors in our homes.

Those of us with a preparedness mindset should also take this opportunity to check the status of our BOBs and other preps. Switch out summer clothing for winter gear. Check and make sure your little weeds children still fit the clothing you have packed in case you need to get out of dodge. Have any of your stored items expired? Is it time to rotate your water supply? Check your inventory - have you used anything up and not replaced it?

Make it a habit. Daylight Savings Time = smoke detector testing and prep rotation.

Selecting a Hand Grain Mill

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:

A comparison chart of hand and electric grain mills

The selection that Lehman's carries. Notes and reviews about several types

Purchasing the right grinder by Walton Feed Co.

Amazon.com listings and reviews

Grain Mill Comparison Chart (the "German made" one is the popular Family Grain Mill)


To my mind, there are three main considerations in selecting a grain mill:

1. Coarseness/fineness of end product - Will it make a true fine flour?
2. Ease of use - How hard is it to turn? How long does it take?
3. Durability - Will it stand the test of time?

Not to mention

    4.   Price



I read about el cheapo grain mills. 

Victorio Grain Mill, approximately $69

I carefully considered the virtues of the Family Grain Mill and the Country Living Grain Mills, both of which can be motorized.

Country Living Grain Mill, base price $395

I compared the Lehman's Best Grain mill with the Wonder Mill Junior Deluxe.

Lehman's Best, $169.95

Wonder Mill Junior Deluxe, $199.95

I drooled over this Diamant grain mill that costs more than my first car did.

Diamant Grain Mill, $1299

Which one did I select? And will I be pleased with my choice? You'll have to wait and see. My order is in. :)

Using Your Food Storage: Pasta with Beans

Served over buttered noodles and garnished with Parmesan

I've been making this meal since Hubby Dear and I were newlyweds. This family favorite is a great meal to add to your food storage plan. It is quick, easy, and, most importantly, delicious. Hubby Dear loves this one even though it is vegetarian.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.
 
 
 
 
 




Pasta with Beans, originally published in Southern Living magazine
 
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 onion, chopped (or use dried)
1 carrot, diced (or use dried)
2 garlic cloves, minced (or use dried)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (ditto)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
1 (16-ounce) can Cannellini or Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked
2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I keep butter in my freezer. You can also use butter powder, reconstituted, or more olive oil.)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Drain tomatoes, reserving 1/4 cup liquid.

Saute onion and next 5 ingredients in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until onion is tender. Add tomatoes, reserved liquid, salt, pepper, and, if desired, sugar. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in beans; cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Toss cooked macaroni with butter; top with bean mixture, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.


NOTE: I extend this recipe for my family of six by adding the entire contents of the can of tomatoes, adding more carrots, and cooking an entire pound of macaroni. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Month Five in Review and Month Six Preps

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! :)

So, this is what I'm thinking of for November:

1. More cash for our BoBs.
2. Stock up on oil and wicks for my oil lamps.
3. Buy a box of exam gloves for potential medical emergencies
4. Buy a quality hand grain mill. This one I'm really excited about.
5. Buy a case of dry milk. I've been putting this one off for a while.  
6. Pick up some freeze-dried and dehydrated odds and ends for food storage and bread making.
7. Exercise at least three times per week.

Keeping Hydrated in a Crisis

Unsanitary conditions spread disease

Unfortunately, Haiti is in the news again for another catastrophe. This time it is because of an outbreak of cholera. Cholera is a disease unknown to most Americans because we have an ample supply of clean water. Not so in Haiti and other disaster-ravaged places around the world.

Cholera is marked by severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. It inevitably leads to dehydration. If you can keep a patient hydrated, chances are they can fight off the bug themselves, although sometimes they need a course of antibiotics.

In the wake of a serious disaster, we too could find ourselves battling cholera. Even more likely, there could be another pandemic flu outbreak. Or what if you have a sick family member and are plum out of cash to buy some Pedialyte or Gatorade? You wouldn’t use a credit card, would you? ;) Or maybe there’s a blizzard and you find yourself snowed in with sick children for several days. Whatever the scenario, it is important that you are able to treat your family when dehydration is a concern.

Here’s a homemade electrolyte drink that was passed to me by an RN during the H1N1 scare. Print it off and add it to your preparedness binder.


MAKE YOUR OWN ELECTROLYTE DRINK:

1 qt water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
3-4 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt substitute (You may wonder why this included. It has potassium.)

Mix well. Can be flavored with lemon juice or sugar-free Kool-Aid.


These are the notes from Ursie: "If a family member is having trouble keeping down any fluids, this can be spoon fed. Some will prefer it cold...others just room temperature. KEEP SPOONING. This is the mix that is used in crisis situations world-wide, when IVs are not available. It can save lives. NOTE: Check with your pediatrician or other MD re: their opinion on the situation. In normal circumstances...an MD will want to SEE a child who is dehydrated.

This mix is for when things go bad in society or when there is an epidemic...and a doctor visit may not be possible."

----

I hope "third world diseases" like cholera never become an issue in the USA, but you never know what could happen in TEOTWAWKI. Get ready now!

Humoring the OCD in me

Woohoo! It's pantry makeover time! I love to organize, so this kind of thing is almost as good as a trip to Disney World.  Now that I have large amounts of staples like rice, flour, and beans in my basement storage room, I need a way to store what I bring up for current use. I decided to buy a large amount of air-tight food storage containers and got a great deal on it, even when you factor in shipping.

First I bought what they call a "10 piece Canister Set".

It's only 10 pieces if you count the lids, but it still worked out for me. The small, 4.4 cup ones on the ends are filled with salt and yeast respectively. The canisters are freezer safe and a small one will easily hold one of the pound bags of yeast I keep stashed in the freezer. I've started buying salt in unwieldy boxes from Sam's, so it is also nice to have a more managable container to put it in.

The mid-size containers hold 11.1 cups. They hold regular rolled and quick oats. The largest one holds 15.9 cups and is perfect for rice. Looks like I need to refill these bad boys from the basement.

This set also comes with a bonus of three long handled measuring scoops.

The next item that I needed to find a storage solution for was pasta.

To that end, I bought three pasta canisters. I only store three types of pasta - penne, spaghetti, and elbow macaroni. I used to buy lots of different types, but I find that these work for most applications and I can buy them in 6 lb bags at Sam's. I was able to fit an entire 6 lb bag of spaghetti in a container, but only about half that for the other two types of pasta.

Contrary to all things OCD in me, I realized it really wasn't feasible to get all matching containers. I had to consider function as well as form.

These are part of the MODS line of Snapware. I thought they were a better fit for brown sugar, sugar and all purpose flour. They hold a TON (that's over 7 lb of sugar there in the middle) and stack easily.

My flour and sugar containers have an added bonus. The lids flip up and the opening will easily fit a measuring cup.

I could've gone crazy and found the perfect storage container for every item in my pantry, but I think this is good for now.

The finished product:

Hopefully I'll be buying a lot less "Sara Lee" and making more "Emily" with my food storage.

I love my pantries with the sliding shelves, especially now that they're organized.

Over the next few months, I'm going to be re-organizing my long-term and short-term food storage areas. Heh heh hehe! (Rubbing hands and cackling with glee) More fun awaits.

And now for something completely different...

"SHTF" is one of the most common prepper/survivalist acronyms. It stands for "stuff" hitting the fan, an apt description of something crazy like a societal collapse.

Do you want to know what real "stuff" hitting the fan would be like? If so, tune in to Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel at 9 pm Eastern on Wednesday, October 20th. The episode summary on http://www.discovery.com/ reads in part:

When the poop hits the fan, does everyone get covered in the ensuing chaos?

I'll be watching!

*If you don't know who the Mythbusters are, read this.

Using Your Food Storage: Refried Beans Without the Refry

Got beans?

You should if you know what's good for ya! They are cheap, healthy, filling, tasty and store for a looong time. Go beans! (Said in my best "Hillshire Farms" commercial imitation)

The cheapest, most efficient, and longest lasting way to store beans is dry packed  in either a #10 can or in a mylar bag/bucket combo. If you're anything like me, though, you find it far easier to pop open a can of beans than use your dry ones. Well, fret no longer!

The following recipe has been floating around on one of the forums I frequent and has garnered rave reviews. It is originally from All Recipes and is one of the easiest, yummiest ways to use up those dry beans you should be storing. A big plus in my book is that it uses a crockpot, one of my all-time favorite methods of cooking.

I included some helpful comments from Bethany on the bottom. (Waving hi to Bethany!) Check out Bethany's blog while you're at it. She has lots of great recipes there.

Refried Beans without the Refry

1 onion, peeled and halved
3 c. dried pinto beans
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 T. minced garlic
5 t. salt
1 3/4 t. pepper
1/8 t. cumin
9 c. water

Combine all ingredients in crockpot; stir. Cook on high for 8 hours. Strain, reserving liquid. Remove onion halves. Mash beans, adding reserved liquid to desired consistency.

Bethany's Notes: "Use this recipe as a starting point and tweak to your liking. It freezes well. I always double it, but make sure your crockpot is big enough first. There are several options with this dish. Beans - all pinto, half pinto & half black. Jalapenos - none, one, half diced & half intact, all diced. Water - all water, half water & half chicken or veggie broth (use less salt if you add broth!!). Onion - all diced, half diced & half intact. Cumin - as directed or way more. I don't measure the water either. Instead I just make sure the beans are submerged in liquid, adding more water if/when necessary. I also freeze the extra liquid and use it when making rice. If you choose to use it in rice, then add a little more water to your rice than normal because the bean liquid is partly solid."

Quick Tip: One item that doesn't need O2 Absorbers

I bought a 50 pound bag of sugar at Sam's this weekend. Unfortunately I ended up bringing less than 50 pounds home as the bag sprung a leak in the middle of the Sam's Club parking lot.

I packed the sugar in a mylar bag and food-grade plastic bucket, much like I described in my post on long-term storage. There is one major difference in how I packaged it - no oxygen absorbers. If you put oxygen absorbers in with your sugar, it will turn hard as a rock and you'll need a chisel to get it out later.

By the way, I managed to get about 44 pounds in my 6 gallon bucket. The remainder is in my pantry for my current use. I'm awaiting my order of Snapware to store all my dry goods in my pantry.

So when it comes to sugar, leave out the O2 absorbers and you can keep the hammer and chisel in the garage where it belongs.

Working Out at Home

You would never know it by looking at me now, but I used to be a serious fitness addict. Back in the day, I drooled over the newest fitness gadgets the same way I do prepping supplies today. I hadn't even left the delivery room with newborn Mini Me before I started badgering my doctor for permission to exercise. I even asked for (and received) a profesional barbell set one Christmas and considered becoming a personal trainer.

Yep, my physique might resemble a gumdrop nowadays, but inside me beats the heart of an exercise fanatic. You just have to work a little bit to find her.

It's easy to agree that physical fitness is an essential part of any preparedness plan. Actually getting started on that goal is another story. Like you, I'm busy 24-7. I have a lot on my hands: taking care of four young children, homeschooling, housekeeping, and husbandly maintenance. What, then, is a harried homemaker to do?

Workout at home.
 

That's an easy choice for me. For one thing, there are no gyms to join in our area. I would also have to drive a bit just to find a safe place to walk. An evening stroll on our hilly, gravel road could be suicidal. Trucks pulling livestock-laden trailers pass by at an alarming speed.

The best part about working out at home? I can fit a workout in whenever I have a spare moment. I don't have to worry what my hair looks like or if my outfit matches. I simply throw on a pair of good shoes and get going.



No cheesy leotards here! Home workouts can be fun and challenging.



A big myth that many people believe is that home workouts or workout videos are inferior or a waste of time.

You don't have to go to the gym to get a good workout. Trust me and see my recommendations below.

If you need the motivation of going to a gym and interacting with real, live people, go for it. You obviously live somewhere with options and do not share my agoraphobia. :) The object is to get fit, however you may go about it.

Here are some tips to help you get started with a home workout plan:

1. Think used. You might have heard the motto "Buy used and save the difference." I haven't always been the best about this, but I certainly believe it to be true with fitness equipment. How many people make a resolution to get fit, buy a bunch of exercise equipment and then end up never using them? My treadmill cost me all of $50, delivery and set-up included. I bought it used at an estate sale. It isn't a fancy treadmill, but it gets the job done. If I get super excited about running or walking, I can upgrade later. If not, I'm only out $50. I can probably sell it to somebody else for about that much.  
2. Find something you like to do. Don't torture yourself! If the thought of walking on a treadmill makes you want to beat your head against the wall, don't do it! Find something you do like. Try pilates, yoga, kickboxing, circuit training, step aerobics, dance, bootcamp-type classes, etc. Or simply go outside and play with the kids.
3. Add in variety. I love pizza, but if I ate it everyday for a week, I'd soon get tired of it. Mix up your fitness routine to keep things fresh and to maintain your interest. If you get bored, you're likely to quit.
4. Start small and build. You can't expect to go from couch potato to super woman in one fell swoop. Back in the day, I worked out 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours per day, 5-6 days a week. If I tried to do that now, I'd kill myself. I'm aiming for 20-30 minutes per day, 3 days a week. Once I build up some stamina and get in a good routine, I'll start increasing the duration and frequency of my exercise.  
5. Don't neglect all areas of fitness. There are four main components of fitness: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. You need to address each area to be truly fit and ready to handle anything in a post-TEOTWAWKI world.

Here are my favorite activities/videos for each of these components, for a wide variety of fitness levels. I have a strong preference for step aerobics, kickboxing, and athletic-type training and that is reflected in my list.

CARDIO:

Couch Potato/Beginner  -

1. Walking - on a treadmill or around the block, whatever floats your boat. Try the Couch-to-5K Program (C25K).
2. Gardening - useful and a workout at the same time!
3. Anything by Leslie Sansone - Her walking-based workout videos are completely unintimidating and encouraging. 
4. Cathe Friedrich is my absolute favorite workout instructor. Beware: most of her videos are intended for advanced exercisers. That chick doesn't play. These videos, however, are a good introduction for beginning exercisers, particularly the Low Impact Step + Total Body Sculpting.

Intermediate -

• The Firm - I haven't used their latest videos/gadgets, but I have had results with Body Sculpting System 2, Body Sculpting System 3, and the TransFirmer series. These are definitely a notch above the beginner videos and yet aren't too difficult to follow. You can easily find their videos and equipment used. Yes, The Firm might have an infomercial, but the workouts do work.

Advanced -

My girl, Cathe

• Cathe Friedrich- She's my vote for a real-life super hero! She has a wide variety of DVDs in different workout genres. Some of my favorites include: Kick, Punch and Crunch, Rhythmic Step, Low Impact Circuit, Low Max, Imax 2 and so on. I have too many favorites to name. Did I mention that I love Cathe? And that I own a lot of workout DVDs? (Don't ask how many. Hubby Dear doesn't know ;)

STRENGTH:

Beginner -

1. Tamilee Webb's I Want That Body. This is an oldie but a goodie. You can get a great workout for your arms, abs, or derriere in just 15 minutes.    
2. Jari Love's Get Ripped. This is the first of Jari's videos. A weight workout that shows lots of modifications for varying fitness levels. My only quibble with this video is that I hate the music. I can tune it out, though.

Int/Advanced -

• Cathe Freidrich and Jari Love have a wide variety of fun, challenging videos. My favorites from Cathe are: Pyramid Upper and Lower Body, Muscle Endurance, Muscle Max, Supersets + Push Pull. I like everything I have tried from Jari Love with the strong exception of Get Ripped: Slim and Lean. That one bores me to tears.  

FLEXIBILITY:

Yoga is a bit of a controversial topic, at least in the circles I run in. Yoga was originally designed as part of the Hindu religion, and some people feel that to practice Yoga is akin to idolatry. I understand where they are coming from and would feel uncomfortable in an overtly Eastern spiritual/New Age-y yoga class.

I prefer a more athletic-style stretch workout, such as Cathe Friedrich's Stretch Max. I also have some balance ball workouts based on Pilates that I enjoy.


RESOURCES:

If you have Netflix, they actually have a decent selection of exercise videos. It can be a good way to try some different kinds of videos and see what you like to do.

Another fabulous resource is Collage Video. They have extremely detailed descriptions of the workouts they carry, both in their catalog and on their website. They also have video clips available. I can testify that it's a good company to do business with and has great customer service.

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I hope you have made fitness part of your personal prepping plan. If you workout, what kind of things do you like to do? Do you have any favorite workout videos you would like to suggest?

Snag yourself a deal on food storage containers!

I'm in the process of reorganizing my pantry - I'll post about this soon - and I came across a deal that could really save you money if you're in the market for storage containers.

Snapware is one of the most popular brands of storage containers for good reason. You can buy it online and in various brick and mortar stores, but it's hard to find a place that combines the whole line of Snapware with low prices and/or low shipping.

If you "like" Snapware on Facebook between now and 11/15/2010, you can get a coupon code for 40% off your next order from their website, http://www.snapware.com/. That's quite a deal! Simply go here when you're signed into Facebook, press the "like" button at the top of the page (what used to be "become a fan"), go to their wall, and get the code.

My name is Emily... and I'm an applesauce-aholic.

The applesauce I made last month has been a big hit with the whole family. It kicks Musselman's and Mott's respective tushies. I have been eating, breathing and dreaming of applesauce. I can't help it. I keep making more of it.

In my spare refrigerator is another two bushels of apples. Over the next few days, all 80 lbs of apples will be turned into more applesauce and apple products of all descriptions.


A rainbow of apple products, made by me

On the left is the Chunky Applesauce I made last month. I had to peel, chop and smush all those apples by hand. Next is the same thing, only cooked with the skins on and processed through a food mill. Even though the skins were eventually removed from the sauce, they still gave it a pink color. The third sauce is called "Rich and Spicy Applesauce". It has the addition of brown sugar and spices. Yum! The last jar is full of what I call "brown gold" - apple butter.

One factor in my new applesauce addiction is my handy dandy new food mill. Someone recommended the Roma Food and Vegetable Strainer to me and wow, will it ever revolutionize my canning. A whole new world of canning possibilities is now open to me from tomato sauce to ketchup to pumpkin to... applesauce. :)

The food mill, set up and ready to go

I had a very hard time putting the food mill together for the first time. I pretty much have zero mechanical aptitude, but I managed to get it together eventually. The second time was a snap, though. I'm slow, but I learned. :)  It is pretty sturdy and should last a lifetime, provided I don't figure out a way to screw it up. There are different strainer cones available for different types of produce. It comes with one that is for soft, squishy foods like tomatoes and apples.

First, you core and roughly chop the apples and cook them until they are soft.

Then you load up the super-sized hopper, turn the handle (The Thinker and Mini Me love to help with this part) and voila!

The pulp comes out one way

And the waste goes out the other

The result is a smooth, skin and seed-free sauce.

I need to buy more canning jars. The applesauce awaits!  

Expired

Check those expiration dates!

The last week and a half saw a flurry of activity at the Harried Homemaker Acres. I barely had time to breathe and yet I needed to plan and shop for a party I was throwing in the midst of my chaos.

I figured out what I was going to cook and raced to my  local grocery store in the hopes that I could be in and out in a hurry. Those of you who live in, shall we say, less rustic locales, would be amazed by our little country store. It has a fairly decent selection of food, although I have on more than one occasion found that the only chicken for sale was frozen and in nugget form. The elderly gentlemen who wheel your groceries to your car (You have NO choice in the matter, by the way. They are going to take your groceries for you regardless of any protests.) are charming. What our store is most notable for, though, is high prices. So when I whipped through the store last week and found 16 oz. containers of sour cream on sale for $1 each, I was elated. I bought three.

When I got home, I noticed the expiration dates. Two of the sour cream containers had expiration dates in November. The third one had expired on August 16th.

All of this is to say that you need to check your expiration dates before you buy your food! This is especially important when it comes to food you intend to store. Check your cans, bottles, and jars and make sure the food you bring home is as fresh as possible. Generally speaking, most canned food has at least two to three years of shelf life before it starts to degrade in quality. It could very well be edible past that point. Check out this handy website for more information on the shelf lives of various foods.

Remember, sometimes a sale is merely a method for a store to get rid of a bunch of food that is nearing its expiration date. Et tu, Mom-and-Pop grocery store?

The best thing you can do is to buy your storage foods from a store that has high turnover. As we all know, dry beans have an amazing shelf life. My little grocery store in Podunkville, USA doesn't turn items over very fast and even the dry beans are worse for the wear. I'm going to have to go somewhere else to buy my 15 bean soup in the future.

Learn from my mistakes and get the most for your food storage dollar.

Using Your Food Storage: 15 Bean Soup

Fall has arrived in our part of the country and the cool, crisp weather makes me crave one thing - a comforting soup. Here's a hearty soup recipe you can make entirely from food storage. It's even better with some smoked sausage added in, but you can certainly leave it out.

According to this food storage calculator, you should store 5 lb of dry soup mix per adult per year and 1 lb per child (under age 7). I'm storing a lot of 15 Bean Soup Mix.

This soup is delicious and even my pickiest child has been known to eat it occasionally, depending on the phase of the moon. I usually leave the seasoning packet out because it contains unpronounceable ingredients, but you might consider using it if you do not add meat to your soup.


15 Bean Soup - My variation on this recipe

1 pkg 15 (or 16) bean soup mix, with or without the seasoning packet
1 onion, chopped (or dry onion)
1 T. minced garlic (or dry garlic/garlic powder)
2 t. Lawry's seasoning salt
Salt and pepper to taste
1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes
Oregano and Italian seasoning to taste
Drizzle of Olive Oil
1 lb of smoked sausage, cut into large-ish pieces or a meaty ham bone

Pick through and rinse the beans, discarding any stones, twigs, or other flotsam and jetsam. Place the beans in a 6 qt slow cooker (ie. Crock Pot) and cover with water to about 2 inches above the beans. Add in remainder of ingredients. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until you have gone mad from the savory smells wafting from your kitchen. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste. If you used a ham bone, slice meat from bone and stir into beans. Serve with Tabasco sauce and/or a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.   I make garlic bread to go along with this, but it would also be lovely with cornbread.

Financial Preparedness, Part IV

This is the four part of my Financial Preparedness series. You can find Part I, Part II and Part III here.
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I'm debt free so now what?: The Rest of the Baby Steps and What that Might Look Like for a Prepper

You saved up $1,000 for a baby emergency fund and then you started working your debt snowball. You put your debts in order from smallest to largest and paid them off with lightning speed. You've made a budget and, remarkably, you even followed it! Congratulations! You're better than 95% of all Americans.

Now what?

There are still five more Baby Steps to financial freedom if you follow Dave Ramsey's plan, many of which have implications for your prepping.

Keep working those baby steps!

Baby Step Three: Save up 3 to 6 Months of Expenses.

The next step is to save up some serious cash. Dave says that if you have a secure job and lifestyle (ie. no serious things looming on the horizon that could zap your cash), you can aim for cash to cover 3 months' worth of expenses. If things are more uncertain, you should have more money saved up. Other financial experts think you should have more like 8 or 9 months of salary saved up in this economy. Honestly, you really can't save too much as long as you are meeting your other financial goals (See Baby Steps 4-6).

It is important to note that this money is NOT to be invested. This should stay safe and easily accessible in a place like a Money Market Account. You should also have a good amount of it in cash at home. Obviously, you should not advertise the fact that you have a bunch of cash in your home. You should also buy a water- and fire-proof safe to store it in.

You might also consider your food storage to be part of this Baby Step. Hubby Dear does, and he has reduced the amount we are putting into Emergency Fund accordingly.

Baby Step Four: Retirement

Dave Ramsey says you should invest 15% of your income into a mix of growth-stock mutual funds with proven track records. No matter what the stock market is doing, Dave has consistently said that he believes in American capitalism and that all things will work out in the end.

Dave is against buying gold or other precious metals and certainly would not advocate putting some of your emergency fund in gold. In fact, he says gold is "the new Snuggie" - just a fad. You can read what he says about gold here.

What I didn't understand until recently is that a gold purchase isn't so much an investment as it is insurance. The difference is that you expect an investment to consistently increase over time. Insurance isn't there to make you money, its purpose is to protect what you already have. Read this piece on the SurvivalBlog for more about tangibles.

So with such different advice, what are we to do to prepare for the future?

Frankly, I doubt things like the Roth IRA are going to be around when we reach that age. The government is simply spending too much money to allow growth in Roth accounts to remain tax-free. I expect tax rates to increase exponentially.

We are going to hedge our bets and do a bit of both approaches. We're going to do some traditional investments and think about getting some tangibles as well.

Baby Step Five: College for your Kids

Many people make the mistake of taking care of their kids' college funds at the expense of their retirement savings. Your kids can find a way to work through college. Not so with your retirement!

We have 529 plans set up for each of our children. Our goal is to have enough money saved for four years at a state university. If our children choose to go elsewhere, great. They need to figure out how to make up the difference either with scholarships or by their own hard work. Hubby Dear and I were accepted to several "elite" universities but chose to go to a state school for financial reasons. We're doing just fine today, thank you very much! :)

Baby Step Six: Pay off your house

This is the Holy Grail of financial preparedness, in my opinion. Owning your house free and clear would give such peace of mind. Think about it. If you have no consumer debt, no mortgage, and a year's worth of food storage, how confident would you feel? If you lose your job or the economy tanks even further, you would be far more secure than the Average Joe.

If you currently have a 30 year mortgage or adjustable rate mortgage, you should think about trying to refinance into a 15 year fixed rate mortgage. You should take advantage of the low interest rates if you can.

Baby Step Seven: Build Wealth and Give

Dave Ramsey advocates giving during all stages of his plan. We believe in tithing and beyond, and I encourage others to do so as well. After you are completely debt free, however, you will have an abundance of money to give freely. You might consider buying extra food storage and supplies at this time. Should the SHTF, you will be in a position to give charity to others who are not prepared. This is also when you can really step up your investment in tangibles and other wealth vehicles.

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So that's my quick and dirty run-down of Dave Ramsey's BabySteps, prepper style. Read The Total Money Makeover for many more details and wise counsel.

Get debt free, and save, save, save. You can do it! We have paid off nearly $80,000 in the last 18 months and we're finally DEBT FREE!!! It feels awesome!

Remember: The borrower is slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). You should be no one's slave.

Month Five Preps

This is what I've lined up for October:

1. Squirrel away more cash for BOBs and vehicle kits.
2. Buy a couple of cases of toilet paper. I estimate we need about 8 cases or so to have a year's supply, so this will get us a little closer to my goal.
3. Add some more matches to my supply.
4. Buy some air-tight containers for my pantry to hold what I take from my bulk food storage (ie. flour, sugar, dry beans).
5. Continue to build our three month and long-term supplies of food. 
6. Exercise at least three times per week.

I continue to go back and forth on exactly what I should be buying each month. This month I gave in to my urge to focus mainly on food storage. Buying food is more fun for me than many of the other survival categories. What can I say? I like to cook and eat. :) We'll get around to all areas eventually.