Sometimes...

 I wish I were one of those people who stays blissfully ignorant.

If I am blissfully ignorant, I see no reason to spend time and money to stock up on food or water.  Recently I spoke with someone who was totally amazed that anyone would preserve food, be it canning or dehydrating or even buying extra canned food at the grocery store.  And it sort of blew their mind when they saw me filling several saved 2 ltr. bottles with water.  They could not imagine a time when those things could become unavailable.

Me...I look for sales and ways to add to my stash of food and water.  I am not at all convinced that stores will always remain open or that food will be affordable (not so much right now).  Should we lose power, the pumps that keep water flowing in my building would cease to work.  

If I am blissfully ignorant, I keep every dime in a bank account, convinced there is no reason at all for banks to close.  I'm pretty sure that those who lost everything in the bank closures of the Great Depression were of the same opinion.

Me...Every now and then when I can afford it, I add to a stash of cash.  The object is to have enough cash on hand to pay my rent and bills until I can decide what my next move might be.

If I am blissfully ignorant, I have no clue about what is happening in the world around us.  I believe every word coming from CNN.  I avoid truth at all costs.

Me...I find it difficult to keep track of current world events.  But I see enough to know that unless we get our act together - and soon - we are in for really hard times.  Lately I can see that some in charge are on the right path, but their efforts need to continue.  I still have hope.

What prompted this post was a conversation I had not too long ago.  Questions were asked about my preparedness activities.  And then, in utter disbelief, I was told that all of my efforts are a total waste of time.  I was told that nothing will ever change and everything I would need will always be available.  And to top it off, the opinion of that person was that nothing happening around us would ever have an effect on her.

Me...I am of the opinion that anything can happen without a moment's notice.  Pretty sure those in Pearl Harbor in 1941 when bombs were dropped thought they were safe.  Those victims of storms in the southern states lately have left many homeless, having lost everything.  Just the other day, tornados wreaked havoc in parts of our country.  To say nothing of the crime rates all over our land.

What others think or say matters not to me.  I will continue preparing.  And I will do so even if it turns out that it is never needed.  I pray that is the case.  But just in case my family needs what I can provide, then it is worth every penny spent and every minute used.

My family will not go hungry.  Ever. 

New Family Member

 This is just a short post to let you all know that my third Great Grandchild was born earlier this evening.

Brooks Alexander (last name omitted for privacy) weighed in at 8 lbs. 15 oz.  Both my Granddaughter and her son are just fine.  I expect that proud Papa is fine, too!

Grandmas are allowed to brag.  Great-Grandmas, even more so.  It's in the contract .  :)

Just thought you all might enjoy some good news for a change.

Thank you, God.

Remember When

 I seem to be on a 'nostalgia' kick lately.  Not sure why.  Perhaps it is because the world around us is full of lunatics.  Or quite possibly it is because I am nearing my expiration date and long for the world of my past.

The world where a kid could ride a bike all over town.  Got my first bike at age 6.  When the training wheels came off, I explored my town of between 9 and 10 thousand people, along with several of my peers, with nary a problem.

The world where a kid could safely play at a park, unsupervised.  During my grade school years in the second and third grades, I walked the five blocks to the school in the summer to play on the playground equipment and in winter, to go skating on the outdoor ice-skating rink.  No worries.

A world where, after the family moves to a house in the country, a mile and a half walk to the local two room schoolhouse was fun.  Met up with classmates from neighboring farms on the way.  Played in the creek on the way home.  Good fun for a 4th grader who loves the outdoors.  There was only one problem.  I learned the hard way that one does not call "Here, kitty, kitty" to a litter of baby skunks.  Got sent home from school.  Mom buried my clothes.  Spent the better part of the day in the bathtub, trying to get rid of the aroma.  Sigh.

A world where summer evenings would find neighbors sitting on front porches, coffee or lemonade or maybe a beer in hand, engaged in gentle conversation.  I can recall laughter at the telling of 'Dad jokes,' the talk about neighborhood doings, etc.  No yelling.  No name calling.  No drama that has become commonplace.

A world where neighbors helped one another.  My mother knew how to cut hair, so she trimmed the hair of some of the neighbor ladies.  Dad helped wherever he could.  He wasn't a mechanic by trade, but he was a genius at fixing problems in auto engines.  And he shared his garden produce with the neighbors.  Everyone seemed to get along then.

I understand that there are still places where people get along with their neighbors.  There are people who are kind and generous.  It just seems like this is more the exception now than being the rule.

We need to fix this, if at all possible.  We need to go about our days without having to look over shoulders for danger.  Our kids and grands need to be able to do kid stuff without mommy or daddy watching their every move.  

Mostly, we need to be kind.

Thoughts and Frustrations

 The 'frustration' part comes from having my Internet going away for a few days.  There is such a thing as YouTube Withdrawl.  :)

I have had the same Internet provider for years, through my phone company.  All I wanted was to send back my modem and have them send me a replacement.  We have done this before.  Have you tried to reach a real person at the telephone company lately?  Not likely to happen.  Several phone calls and a rising blood pressure later, the best I could do was schedule repair work for tomorrow.

And after all of that, my modem decided it had been asleep long enough and it is now working.  Go figure!

We talked some time back about how so many now get all upset if Starbucks closes.  So many haven't a clue how to fix most anything.  I wonder how they would survive today under the same conditions as my Grandparents.

The 'thoughts' part comes from a conversation I had with one of my kids.  He was asking about my memories of my Grandparents.  My paternal Grandparents lived in northern Minnesota.  When I was a kid, they had electricity in the house, and they had one of those old wooden telephones on the wall.  And that was about all there was for amenities.  

Cooking and baking and canning was done on a wood burning, cast iron stove.  Heat in the winter came from a wood burning furnace in the basement.  Wood to burn in both was cut, split and dried by the family.  Nobody called anyone to have wood delivered.

Food was kept cool in a wooden ice box.  The cool part happened because the men in the family cut blocks of ice from a local frozen lake, hauled it home on a horse drawn wagon and stacked it, packing it in straw for insulation, in their underground root cellar that they had dug out themselves.  The blocks were brought inside one at a time and set in the ice box.  No electricity plugs there.

Water came from a hand pump located a few feet from the back door of the house.  Drinking water was in a bucket with a dipper in it for drinking.  The bucket was on a stool next to the back door.

Water for cooking and cleaning was hauled in from the pump in buckets.  Water to take a bath came into the house the same way.  Needed hot water?  Pour it into a large kettle and set the kettle on top of the wood stove.

Need to use a bathroom?  Go find the outhouse out back.

Need milk?  Go out to the barn and milk a cow.  Want a pork chop?  Kill a pig.  Same with chickens.  Want vegetables?  Grow a garden.  Need butter?  Separate the milk from the cow to get the cream and churn the butter.

Got the idea?  I'm guessing that those of us who are frightenly close to our expiration date are probably familiar with most of these things.  The kids?  Not so much.  

Perhaps learning the old ways might serve us well.  Just sayin'.

Stretching the Dollar

 This past week I've been working on a quilt for my newest Great-Grand due in March.  Seems like when I am sitting in front of a sewing machine with nothing but fabric pieces to look at, my mind tends to wander.  Lately, what with grocery prices still headed skyward, I try to think of ways to still eat three meals a day without wrecking the budget.

Thinking back to my childhood, some of the ways my mother cooked meals are beginning to make sense.  After all, my family wasn't exactly living high on the hog, so to speak.  Due to Mother's ever worsening arthritis, there were doctor bills and hospital bills in addition to the normal family expenditures.  

My family had one meat and potato meal per week, and that was on Sunday.  Dad was lucky enough to be able to rent out the ten-acre field that was part of our property to a neighbor who paid in beef instead of dollars.  That's where the roast beef for dinner came from.

I wondered for years why Mother always made a pot of rice to go with the chili.  It finally dawned on me that the rice stretched the meal to feed all five of us.  

Bread was always homemade.  Bread made at home cost a lot less than a loaf of bread from the store.

Casseroles were a common meal.  Or, if you live in Minnesota, they are hot dishes.  Goulash, tuna noodle hot dish, chicken and rice hot dish.  You get the idea.

We canned and froze all the food we could lay our hands on. 

I find myself looking at recipes for the kinds of meals Mother made and at the home canned and dehydrated food on my shelves for meals.  Thankfully, I have stockpiled pasta, rice and lots of flour and sugar.  I live on a fixed income.  My cost-of-living increase for Social Security this year was a whopping $44.  Frugality is necessary.

Until inflation is under control, if it ever is, seems to me that a frugal approach is the smart way to go.  Those of us who have been stacking it high over the years find ourselves in a much better place than do those who haven't yet figured out that prices aren't apt to go down any time soon.  It took several years to put us in this mess.  Going to take time to fix it.

Check Grandma's cookbooks for cheap meals.  Continue stacking it high when you find a decent sale.  And pray.  A lot.  We need all the help we can get.

Memories

 While waiting for my groceries be delivered this morning, I have been cleaning up my kitchen.  I seem to have a talent for messing it up.  While working on that, a couple of things occurred to me.

While washing dishes I came upon a set of measuring spoons.  Made of maybe aluminum.  Connected by a metal ring.  The same measuring spoons I used at age 11 when my mother taught me how to bake cookies and cakes and bread.  

There is an aluminum coffee pot sitting on my stove.  One of those that comes apart.  Pot on the bottom, basket for coffee grounds next, container for hot water next and the lid.  This coffee pot is older than I am, and that is saying a lot!  It was the first coffee pot my parents had after they married in 1945.  Dad gave it to me when my handy dandy Mr. Coffee machine went belly-up.  Still makes really good coffee!

There is a Singer sewing machine in a small cabinet sitting in a corner.  Sadly, there is some rust on it due to being stored in a damp basement for a number of years.  I need to have it restored.  There is one part that I want to leave as is.  The piece on top that held a spool of thread broke off.  My Dad, ever frugal, replaced that part with a good-sized nail.  Works just fine.  This sewing machine was purchased in the mid 1950's.  Mother taught me how to sew on this machine.

I'm pretty sure these items mean nothing to the younger set in my family.  Nobody uses what Dad called a "drip-o-later' coffee pot anymore.  And who sews their own clothes now days.  

It isn't the items.  It's the memories and the stories connected to the items.  Measuring spoons used by me when Mother's hands became too crippled with arthritis to knead bread anymore.  The spoons remind me of making loaves and buns and cinnamon rolls, all while standing on a chair at the kitchen counter so I could reach the bread dough.  

Sipping a cup of the best coffee ever, made in that old pot.  Remembering that while in their home, there was always a cup of coffee within reach.  Or teasing them about having a coffee addiction when they couldn't drive 20 miles from home without a thermos of coffee in the back seat.

Learning to sew on that Singer sewing machine and winning a blue ribbon for a skirt and blouse entered at the 4-H building at the County Fair.  Or the wool plaid skirt Mother made for me.  Or the little dresses I sewed on that machine for my own daughters.

Maybe these things and the stories are only important to this old lady, but still, I would hope that someday they might be of interest to those I will leave behind.  Someday.  Not any time soon, but someday. 

Temper Tantrums

 When my children were toddler age, every now and then one of them would decide the best way to get what they wanted was to stomp their feet and yell and carry on like a spoiled brat.  Thankfully, there were no spoiled brats within my crew, so tantrums didn't work.  I found that if I just turned my back on the tantrum thrower and paid no attention, the stomping of feet and yelling ceased almost immediately.

I have been watching some of our left leaning congress critters and bureaucrats throwing tantrums like three-year-olds.  Standing in front of the Department of Education building, demanding to be let in.  Really?  How well did that work for them.

I hear all the dirt they are tossing at Trump and Musk.  Sounds to me like Elementary School second grader's playground insults.  

There is only one reason I can think of for this kind of behavior from adults.  They are afraid their "get rich on the taxpayer's dime" schemes are being exposed.  

It is refreshing to see someone actually exposing the waste in government.  The only thing that could make me happier is to see some of those who have been cheating us over the years looking at the world from behind bars, wearing orange jumpsuits.

Homemade Seasoned Rice

 In response to a request, over the weekend I tested recipes for Beef Rice Sides and Chicken Rice Sides.  I found these recipes online, but can't recall the author, so I can't give credit where credit is due.  

I keep the commercially made on hand as they are nice to have for a quick meal.  But because of the price hikes and the additions of chemicals with unpronounceable names in the commercial product, I thought the homemade version might be the answer.  I like them both, so I put together a dozen packets of each, using small Ziploc bags for each packet.  

 Beef Rice Sides

1 cup  rice                               1 tablespoon dry onion                    

1 tablespoon dry parsley         1 tablespoon powdered beef bouillon

Combine the rice and all of the other ingredients in a resealable plastic container. I like to use zip-lock bags. Label and seal the container. Store on the pantry shelf. This is enough for 1 package of mix. Make several at a time for the most convenience.

To Prepare:

2 tablespoons margarine                 1 package of Beef Rice Sides

3 cups water                                    1 tablespoon soy sauce

In a 2-quart saucepan combine the margarine, Rice Mix, soy sauce and water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Place a lid on the pot. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible flame. Simmer, covered until done or for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Chicken Rice Sides

1 cup rice                                  1 tablespoon dry onion

1 teaspoon garlic powder       1 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon dry parsley           1 tablespoon powdered chicken bouillon

Combine the rice and all of the other ingredients in a resealable plastic container. I like to use zip-lock bags. Label and seal the container. Store on the pantry shelf. This is enough for 1 package of mix. Make several at a time for the most convenience.

To Prepare:

2 tablespoons margarine                1 package of Chicken Rice Sides

3 cups water

In a 2-quart saucepan combine the margarine, Rice Mix and water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Place a lid on the pot. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible flame. Simmer, covered until done or for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

I'm thinking that with the addition of a small can or a half pint jar of canned meat and maybe a cup of frozen veggies might make this a meal on its own.  I have done that with the commercial sides with good results.

I don't know as it would make any difference, but my dry onion powder is made by grinding dehydrated onions in a small coffee grinder I use for that purpose.  And in my experiments, I am not fussy about using level product in the teaspoons or tablespoons.  I go for rounded. 

Hope this helps.  As always, keep stacking and keep praying.

Recipes

 As promised, here are some recipes for make-it-yourself foods.  As grocery prices continue to move skyward, the more I am looking into recipes for foods I can make at home.  

Today my grocery order was delivered.  Who knew that a 15 oz. can of apricots, store brand, would cost $2.79.  Or that a small bottle of Karo syrup would have a price tag of $4.29.  Really?  Won't be ordering either of those again any time soon.

The following are recipes for items I use on a regular basis.  Thanks to Diane who in the comments of the last post asked about sandwich meat and SJ who remembered when I didn't, both recipes for Salami and Summer Sausage that are included.  Hope these will be useful.

SALAMI

2 lbs. lean hamburger                    1/2 Cup water

1 tsp. pepper                                  1/4 tsp. mustard seed

3 Tbsp. Tender Quick                    1/8 tsp. garlic salt

Mix all ingredients very well.  Shape into three rolls and wrap in foil.  (Three rolls fit nicely into a Dutch Oven.)  Refrigerate for 24 hours.  Cover with water and boil for 1 hour.

SUMMER SAUSAGE

2 lbs. hamburger                            3/4 Cup water

2 tsp. liquid smoke                        1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. onion powder                    1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. mustard seed                        3 Tbsp. Tender Quick

Mix ingredients together very well.  Shape into rolls and wrap in foil.  Refrigerate 24 hours.  Punch holes in the bottom of each roll with a fork.  Place rolls on a rack in a baking pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

HOT COCOA MIX 

Note:  Most of the other recipes for cocoa mix I have seen call for Nestle's Quick.  Because that product has increased in price, I use this recipe, which tastes much like the Cocoa my mother made when I was a child.

5 cups nonfat dry powdered milk            About 3 cups powdered sugar to taste

1 1/2 cups dry cocoa                                1 cup nondairy coffee creamer

pinch of salt

Mix powdered milk, creamer, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Sift in cocoa and powdered sugar. Mix well. Store in an airtight container.  When ready to use, add approximately 1/3 cup to a mug of boiling water. Stir until cool enough to drink.

You might want to try some of these variations. The recipe is very flexible.

* crushed peppermint sticks

* cinnamon

* malted milk powder

HOMEMADE BEEF GRAVY MIX

Makes about 2-2/3 cups mix

1-1/3 cups powdered milk                            3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons beef bouillon granules            1/8 teaspoon thyme or celery powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder                1/8 teaspoon sage or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

TO USE: Pour 1 cup cold water in saucepan, using a whisk to blend, stir in 1/2 cup mix.  Stir constantly over medium heat until gravy is smooth and slightly thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Makes 1 cup gravy.

You have options to use whatever seasonings you like or try all of them, adjusting the amounts to your taste.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN GRAVY MIX

Makes about 2 cups of mix.

1-1/3 cups powdered milk                                    3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules             1/4 teaspoon sage or poultry seasoning

1/8 teaspoon thyme or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder or 1/8 teaspoon paprika

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

TO USE: Pour 1 cup cold water in saucepan, using a whisk to blend, stir in 1/2 cup mix.  Stir constantly over medium heat until gravy is smooth and slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.  Makes 1 cup gravy.

You have options to use whatever seasonings you like or try all of them, adjusting the amounts to your taste.

There are other recipes I want to try.  All have been found by using a Google search.  I didn't include them here as I haven't tried them as yet.  But I think I will take a couple of days to put some of them together and test the results.  Included are:

A mix to replace cream of whatever soup.

A seasoning mix to use with a can of crushed tomatoes for spaghetti sauce.

Taco seasoning mix.

Seasoned rice mixes to use in place of the Knorr Rice Sides packets.

I hope to find others that I can make at home.  Guess this is my way of using what I have on hand and to avoid spending crazy amounts of money on groceries.

Keep on keeping on, friends.  Pray.  

Aren't we glad that we prepare?

 Many of you know that due to medical issues, I don't go to the grocery store.  There is a really good volunteer service that shops and delivers groceries where needed.

I make my grocery list ahead of time to have it all ready when the order taker calls every other Monday.  I generally browse the online sale ads for the store the service uses.

Prices have become so outlandish that I found only one item in the ads I was interested in or could afford.  Family size boxes of Little Debbie Nutty Bars for $1.99 each.  And because I have an unquenchable sweet tooth and because I know that life is good if one has Little Debbie Nutty Bars, I ordered 3 boxes!

Little Debbie Nutty Bars aside, I find myself changing the way I order my groceries.  

I have been in the prepping world for a number of years and have stashed the required rice, beans, etc.  There are shelves holding home canned foods and shelves holding dehydrated foods.  There are boxes holding powdered milk and flour and sugar and as many other staples as I could think of.

My rent has increased along with other bills.  Perhaps now is the time to use some of my food storage.

I spent some time this morning looking through my recipe file for items I can make at home rather than buying at the grocery store.  The only ones I have tried are hot chocolate mix and a couple of gravy mixes.  But because I cook for only one, I'm thinking maybe some of the seasoned rice mixes might be good.

Just for fun I took a look at the ingredients list on a bag of Knorr Rice Sides.  No surprise to find at least half a dozen ingredients with names I can't pronounce.  I am not a health nut as attested to by my love of all things 'Little Debbie,' but I think I would rather make my own convenience mixes where I know what's in them.  A Google search brought up several websites for homemade mixes.  Pretty sure I can find some that will fill the bill.

This morning, I also set up my bread machine.  These arthritic hands don't do well anymore, kneading bread dough.  The last loaf of bread - the cheap stuff - cost me about $4.  I can make my own bread for pennies.  And it tastes better.  And I can use the machine to stir up and knead dough for cinnamon rolls or burger buns or whatever else appeals to me.  Take that, miserable inflation!!

We are preppers.  We find ways around the high prices.  Some farm.  Some garden.  Some raise livestock.  And for those of us who are past our prime and simply cannot work like that anymore, we figure out how to do what needs doing any way we can.

Especially now - stack when you can.  Pray always.

Routines

 I have a morning routine.  So do many of us.  Mine includes coffee.  I admit to being kind of cranky until I am well caffeinated.  I have long suspected that my kids don't call me until I have had time to consume at least two cups.  :)

While getting my caffeine intake up to acceptable levels, I generally turn on the computer and scan the news headlines.   And this is where the lesson in how to lie and politicize begins.

I am old enough to remember when news reports actually contained real news.  Today...not so much.  Seems like mainstream media is incapable of honesty.  Wouldn't recognize the truth if it bit them on the bum.

And have you noticed that it doesn't matter what happens in our world, it is the fault of the current administration?  I am convinced that if the current president found the cure for cancer, the left leaning news outlets would spin that into something awful.

I'm not saying that our side never stretches the truth.  It does.  All too frequently.  But anyone keeping score knows which way the news outlets lean.

What really chaps my hide is that those who believe themselves to be better than we are actually believe that we are so stupid that we believe everything we are told.  Apparently, the recent election didn't teach them anything.

When my kids were young, there was a house rule.  That was if they did something bad, there were consequences.  If they lied to me about it, the consequences doubled.

Too bad that rule can't be applied to news outlets or to politicians.

Here I am.

 Dear Friends...

I have been AWOL. But then you knew that, didn't you.  :)

And if you know me as well as most of you do, you know that my kids and grands come first.  And that's where I have been.  Working on the things that might affect my family.

I found a sale on beef and ordered some roasts to be canned.  Except that the grocery delivery service sent the wrong meat and 12 pints of beef cost me nearly $100.  Partly the fault of the order taker.  Mostly my fault for not being specific enough with my order.  Better be some really tasty meat at that price!!

The quilt I am sewing for my next Great-Grandbaby due in March is nearly finished.  I have been truly blessed to have 6 grands and soon 3 great grands!!  And making a quilt for each of them has been - and still is - pure joy.

I have to admit to not being very well organized sometimes.  So time is being spent going through the jars of home canned food on my shelves.  I admit to enjoying experimenting with some of my canning.  Sometimes an experiment I see on a canner's YouTube channel looks interesting and I give it a try.  Sometimes works.  Sometimes - not so much.  So, I am getting rid of the failed experiments.  No point in keeping what nobody will eat.  Better to have jars of tried-and-true food should the time come when we need it.

Wading through my gene pool has taken up time.  There are names and dates and places that need to be verified in order to show my descendants who their ancestors were.  Working with old photos helps as do the family stories from years past.  

The political side of me is enjoying watching left leaning heads explode, what with the fast-paced work being done by the newly elected administration.  I don't agree with everything our new president says or does.  But it is purely joyful to see changes actually being made in favor of honest-to-goodness American citizens rather than for those who have broken our laws by showing up here illegally.  About damn time!

I am fully aware that our new president doesn't work miracles.  There is only one who does that and He isn't an elected official.  But miracles aside, I now am beginning to think that there may be some hope for our nation.  Haven't been too sure about that the past few years.  

Regardless, we keep stacking and more importantly, we keep praying.

Thank you to those who reached out in my absence. Each and every one of my readers is so very much appreciated.  I make no promises, but I will do my best to not disappear again.