Feeling a Little Red Henn-ish.........and A Recipe for Eggplant Parmesan

Last night, as I watched my family dig into dinner, and enjoy every bite with lip-smacking and the typical "Mom this is good!" comments made with full mouths, I sat back and had one of those MOMENTS.

   Life is good.

  Everyone went to bed with full tummies, washed, dressed in clean pjs, and happy about dinner and a lovely day spent together.

   It doesn't get any better than that.

   And then, as the Handy Hubby and I are out on the back deck enjoying a cup of late night coffee (which is the reason I am awake and blogging at 4:30 am), he turns to me and he says: "You know, honey. That dinner was amazing. And what is even more amazing is that you made most of it yourself. You know, you almost pulled a little red hen living the good life tonight."

   My mind started going over what had happened that evening. I have a very helpful family, so the fate of the little red hen would never be mine. But the principles told in the story were true in a way.

   I planted the seed, grew the plant, harvested the eggplants for dinner.

   I ground the flour and cornmeal, mixed it up, and breaded the eggplant with it.

   I covered the eggplant with spaghetti sauce canned from last year's garden.

   I served it to my family.

   Oh, and we cant forget that my girls all went to bed in adorable nightgowns that I made myself.

Now, some people may think that is absolutely crazy, and are compelled to tell us we cant live that kind of life in this modern century.

   Personally, I think they are the ones missing out.

  But it was nice to know that some things can be as simple, or as hard, as you want to make them. I would not have given it a second thought, all the time and effort that went into that meal, because it was for my family, and has become second nature now. But it is incredibly satisfying to think of all the ways that the Lord has blessed us, taught us, and walked with us down this path.

   I thought I would share with you the simple recipe today, and some pics to show you just how well it goes over at our house. 

Eggplant Parmesan

3 medium eggplants, peeled, sliced, salted, rinsed, and drained

(we salt and then rinse them after 15 minutes to get rid of any bitterness)

Flour. cornmeal, salt, parsley, oregano, and basil all mixed together for the breading

(or you can just use Italian bread crumbs if you want)

5 eggs, beaten well, for the egg wash

Olive or coconut oil for frying

one jar of spaghetti sauce

shredded cheese, and parmesan cheese

Large Frying pan for frying

Large cookie sheet for broiling

Take eggplant, and dip in breading until coated. Dip in egg wash, then dip in another bowl with breading until well coated. 

Continue until all pieces are coated and laying on cookie sheet.

Heat oil in large frying pan, and lay each piece in the pan, turning until crispy and browned.

Top with spaghetti sauce, and cheeses.

Bake at 350* for about ten minutes to heat the sauce and melt the cheeses.

Serve to the family who is sitting at the table, pounding their forks in anticipation and asking you every three minutes when it is going to be DONE.

And Happily, here are the results of this meal on the Welcoming House family:

Do you REALLLLLLLLY have to take pictures at dinner, honey??? HA HA!

not much left.

As you can see, dinner went over amazingly well. I have one toddler who is a very serious eater, who pounds down the food. I have another who is a total ham and we can barely keep her on her chair while she eats. ESPECIALLY if there is a camera around. My Big Kid was loving the meal, and the fact that she asked for it a couple days ago and now got her wish. The Handy Hubs was ready to kill me for taking pics at the table.

And I was just glad for dessert.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Check back tomorrow for my updates on everything and later in the week for more canning recipes, an article on creative storage for small spaces, and whatever else I come up later on this week!

Many blessings to you and yours,

Heather

Waste Not, Want Not.........the Many ways to use up an ear of Corn........

   Garden season is in high swing around here in the balmy North. Although I have not gotten much produce yet from my own gardens, I have been seriously spending my time canning up what I can get, and filling our pantry for the coming year.

   I have noticed two things lately that keep sticking out in my mind.

First---when I used to be one of the only ones who clothed my kids at the thrift store (and got so many compliments on how cute they are dressed), now it seems everyone else is doing the same thing now, and if that is not a sign of the times, I don't know what is.

Second, when I was the one that stuck out in the checkout line because I was buying 5 lugs of peaches and everyone was staring and whispering, instead I am now holding a three way conversation with ladies on either side of me who both have five lugs of peaches in their carts. I can honestly say that has NEVER happened before, and to know both those women were novice canners, worried about the economy and the food situation here in America, both with families, well........those are the kind of conversations I live for because I get to do, in person, what I do every day on here---encourage, inform, and have a face to go with my prayers.

   It being garden season, I was worried whether we would be able to get sweet corn as we always do due to the drought, and high temps affecting our sweet corn crop. We can do just fine without sweet corn, but there is something so quintessentially summer about corn on the cob, shucking corn at the picnic table, and putting  up corn for the cold months, that it made me a little sad to think we might not have it this year.

   I have to be honest, dear readers. I almost gave up in my quest. I stopped at three roadside stands looking for reasonably priced ears of corn, and each time the price was between $6 and $9 a dozen. Perhaps I am proud, or suspicious.....although I like to think of myself as trying to support the little guy, but I just could not bring myself to pay that price...or break down and go to the grocery store and buy it off the shelf.

   Then, in a burst of brilliance that rarely happens, I remembered a small farm off the road and off the beaten path that had ALWAYS had a road side stand of corn for a reasonable price in years gone by. A little bit of a drive later, I was smiling, shaking my head, and thanking God I live "in the country".

 A picnic table. Three overflowing bins of corn. An ice cream bucket with "$3 a Dozen, Make your own change (but we take tips)", another bin with plastic bags, and a handwritten note that said :"Dear customers, we are sorry this year that we have so little corn for you, but we were hit hard with the drought and high temps. We are also sorry we have to charge more this year than last. We will try to make it up to you next year.". 12 dozen ears and a sizeable tip later (as well as a little thank you note stuck in the money bucket), I was on my way home with corn practically taking over my kids and the minivan, and my heart happy that there are still good and generous people in this world.


   So I know I don't normally post on Saturdays, but since I cheated you out of a post this week, I thought I would make it up to you.

   I want to tell you how you can use the WHOLE EAR OF CORN, and make different products for your family, just in case you are thinking about making the most of what you have right now (and who isnt??).

    A single ear of corn creates around 1/2 cup of corn off the cob. Then you have the husks, the silk, and the cob to consider.
   Believe it or not, every single one of those things can be used, and a delicious or useful product created out of it.

    It goes without saying that the corn can be used for corn that you either freeze or can. I chose to can mine this year, and it is as easy as can be with a pressure canner. I used 1/4 tsp of salt in each pint jar, filled with corn freshly cut off the cob, fill the jars with boiling water up to the bottom thread on the jar, cap with a warm lid and ring, and process for 55 minutes at whatever pressure is necessary for where you live (mine is 11 lbs pressure). If you do it in quarts, it is 75 minutes processing time. I made 16 pints of garlic corn (seasoned with garlic salt and pepper), 16 of onion corn (seasoned with sea salt, dried onion from the garden and pepper) and 16 pints just plain sweet corn (1/4 tsp salt per pint jar).

   Now for the corn silk. 
 Keep only the clean, undamaged corn silks (in the picture, that was before I trimmed the dark parts off--just keep the bright, clean parts), and dry it either on a tray, or in your dehydrator. Corn silk was used by the Native Americans for a very long time as a diuretic and stomach healing tonic. All that is needed is making it into a tea, or even into a syrup, that is taken to settle an upset stomach. It is actually quite pleasant, and if you are prone to bloating during certain times of the month, or have issues with kidney stones or urinary tract infections, corn silk is a gentle, simple diuretic that can be used to treat that. It stores very easily either in a jar, or in a container that is kept air tight.

  How about those corn husks? Well, there are two things you can use the corn husks for, neither of which resembles the doll-making skills of the pioneers. :)

   I dry some of the corn husks every year for my tamale making. I am careful not to choose the outermost ones, as I can never be sure how much or how little the corn has been sprayed with any nasty chemicals. I always choose the largest, best corn husks from the inside, and dry them. This means if you have young helpers, especially twins with a bent for destruction, that you only let them tear off the outside ones so you can carefully remove the best ones from the inside before they are in shreds on the floor, or the poor cat is being held in a corner being force-fed them.

   Another way to use them is along with the corn cobs to make a veggie stock that is to-die-for, and great for Chicken and Corn Potato Chowder, cooking rice, or as a base for other soups.

   Here is a great link for a recipe that shows you how to use those, and if you don't end up drooling by the end of the recipe, it is simply not my fault............

Corn Cob Stock, made with fresh thyme and sweet onions

   But the very best way I have heard of to use up corn cobs, is by making a recipe that definitely has its roots in the South, and that is with making Corn Cob Jelly.

From Chickens In The Road Blog

   Reputed to taste like honey and be fabulous on hot biscuts, this will be the first year that I am making it for my family. It is not that we have a need for more jams or jellies around here, but the fact that I can take something that would otherwise get tossed and make something fabulously frugal from it, just like I do with peach skins and pits every year, is always an adventure for me.

   So look for an update next week as I show off ALL of the finished products that 12 dozen ears of corn can produce with a little time, a little effort, and a lot of ingenuity.

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather

nothing like a box and a pretend ear of corn to make the life of a toddler a happy one....

The Boycotting of Peanut Butter and Beans--the Top five Mistakes People Make when Starting and Using A Pantry

Looks good, doesn't it?

I  mean , yes the beans could be cooked,
and who eats peanut butter out of a jar with a spoon after all *ahem*,

but looks like a nice nutritious meal for the hungry clamoring kids,
and adults in your family right?

NOT.

Today's post is about the top five mistakes people make when starting a pantry, and buying food ahead to add to their storage.

   I had a rough slew of teen years. My dad left when I was 13, abandoning my mother with three children, no job, and having just moved to a new town where we knew no one at all. To be honest it is mostly a blur in my mind, but there are a few things that really stick out.

   One of the ones that did was the jars of odd things that we would get at the food shelf, which would sit on our shelf in the cupboard, staring at us, almost daring us to eat it.

   I mean, we were poor, desperate, and who in those circumstances is going to refuse to take something for free from the food shelf, no matter whether it was something recognizable or not?

   I often wondered as a teen who actually bought that stuff. I mean, come on. I cant remember everything that stood out at the time, but I know I got both my first taste of pickled asparagus spears, and hominy from the food shelf.

   And now, now that I am grown, with a family of my own, I finally understand where that stuff comes from. I mean... I know who buys it now.

   People like me.

    People, who, in the first flush of sincere earnestness rush out and hit the stores, tackling the sales and thrilled to roll the cart through the line, escape with their plunder, line their shelves with the bounty, turn out the light with their satisfied little hearts thrilling...and then three years later realize that SOMEONE SOMEWHERE will eat that can of stuff, even if you never will.

   Sound familiar to any of you?

   I am shamelessly bearing my heart here and saying, quietly: that was me.

   If that is one of the reasons you have shied away from building a good solid food storage for your home and family..from either being on the receiving end of that , or the giving end, then this post is for you.

    It is all about how to avoid eating beans and peanut butter for dinner, every single night, because you got a little too gung-ho on the sales, and didnt plan ahead.

   Let's get started.

   In all honesty, building up a solid food pantry of delicious stuff that you and your family will enjoy is not really that difficult. It takes time, planning, and resistance to the impulse buying that many of us already deal with each time we grocery shop. Listen, I am married to a marketing/retail man, and I KNOW all the tricks they use to get you in the store, in a certain aisle, purchasing a certain product, but seriously, I STILL fall for it. I have my 3 jars of pickled asparagus in the cupboard, and praise God every time I remember to crack one open..........

   The number ONE mistake people make when building up a food pantry is IMPULSE. Seriously people, just because you HAVE six coupons for a single food items, does not mean you should use them. If you do use that particular item, then by all means please please please get as much as you can and will use over the next year for your family. But if you happen to be in the grocery store, and they are having a sale on canned beans....unless you have a plan and a couple recipes, do NOT purchase more than you can reasonably eat in a season. I'm serious. How many cans of kidney beans will your family go through in a winter eating chili every week or so? Then that is what you buy. You resist the temptation to look at everything in quantity, and instead try to look at everything in quality. The easiest way to do that is to consider if it is something that your family eats regularly...something you are putting into your cart regularly. If so, then it is something worth stocking up on, and getting what you can afford of that certain item.

   The second mistake most people make when starting a pantry is not having a starting point. They have no idea what meals they eat on a regular basis and therefore have no starting point to begin from. That is why I counsel so many people when they are getting started on this whole process to sit down and make out a meal plan. Decide what your top ten favorite meals are, and what ingredients go into them. That list would be a fantastic place to start when building up your pantry. For some people it is even easier to just buy a couple extra of certain items each time they go grocery shopping, until they have built up a good surplus of meal fixings for their families. I fear time is short for that kind of an approach, especially if you are starting from scratch, but if it is what you can do and what you can afford, then tackle that head on and use that way of starting your pantry.

   The third most common mistake is not planning ahead. This is especially true when it comes to planning for space requirements of starting a pantry. I cant tell you how many people I have talked to over the years that have told me about losing food they had purchased because it was stored improperly, or damaged, because they did not properly consider and set up a place for their food storage. Shelves will fall, basements will flood, and dented cans will all rot if you are not careful and treat that pantry supply like it is worth its weight in gold (which is just might be in the not-too-distant future). SO consider what space you have, where you will place it, and then, once that is in place, step out into the planning phase of what you will be purchasing.

   The fourth most common mistake most people have is not rotating their stock of food storage. Listen folks,  you are not buying this food to sit on it, make tables out of it, or use it for propping open your doors. You are doing it to lessen your food bills, have a small sense of security, and take advantage of sales. Whatever went in first goes to the front, and the new stuff goes to the back. Keep a list nearby (mine is on a clipboard hanging from a nail on my shelves), of what you use when you take it out, and when it comes time for grocery shopping, pull that list off and add it right back in to your grocery budget for that period of time. Food is perishable, even if it is something that is properly canned and cared for. Around here we all hear the horror stories of someone being told they can have the free jars from granny's basement.........if we are willing to dump out the pickles that are still in them from 1969. Food is meant to be eaten, so dont let your hard earned money go to waste by keeping it on the shelf past the time it should have been rotated into your meals. 

    The fifth and final mistake most people make when starting on this journey is asking everyone's opinion on whether they should or shouldn't get started, how they should go about it, and whether it is prudent, or crazy. Seriously. You would not believe how many times people approach me, we get started on this conversation, and then they get THE LOOK. It almost always comes around the time when I ask them what they are planning on doing, or how they will be getting started. It takes about 15 seconds, and then they tell me a story about someone, somewhere that they were in conversation with asked WHY they were doing it, and WHAT WAS WRONG WITH USING THE GROCERY STORE.

   Somehow, in this country, we have become a dependent people who do NOT like others not to be a part of the pack. We are shamefully shallow and narrow minded when it comes to people doing things different than the way that we do them. A few generations ago, having a strong food pantry made sense, because the people of that time knew anything can happen at any time, and they were proud of the skills that had been passed down from generation to generation. They had seen war, and rationing, and men struggling to feed their families. I cant imagine what they would think of us today, honestly. 

    But I do know something. They would not have cared what other people thought about what they were doing for their families. That was simply no one else's business. If you didn't agree, you kept it politely to yourself, and drank your coffee. It made sense to take care of your family as much as you were able, and most people would never have dreamed of sitting on their duffs, plugged in to social media while waiting for someone to drop in and hand them their next meal. They believed in hard work, and just rewards for that hard work.

   So before you go asking Uncle Joe whether you should or shouldn't start a food pantry, sit down by yourself and ask yourself what YOU really think. Ask your spouse. Pray about it. 

Many Blessings to you and yours

Heather

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5 Things you ABSOLUTELY should be stocking up on right now....

   Hello everyone! Sorry for the late post today, but it has been one crazy morning with the Handy Hubby home for the morning hours, planning school, donating a bunch of kid stuff to a family that lost everything in a fire, and canning up the last five chickens before the new case comes in tomorrow.
   Seems like sometimes I juggle everything just fine, and then other days I drop the ball somewhere, and sorry, dear readers, today it was the blog post. :) Last night I was too tired to do anything but fall into bed and make sure my shoes were off. :)

source

   We are going to talk briefly today about the five things you should absolutely be stocking up on in the next couple of months. Living in rural America sure gives you a far different perspective than living in a big city. You can actually SEE the farms struggling (or closing), the farmers feeding winter hay to get their stock through, talking about the weather and the poor crops (or good crops--it all depends where you live).
   But no matter where you live, people ARE starting to talk about the "possible" coming food shortage and how they are not looking forward to (or wondering how in the world they will deal with) the higher prices on food.

   I wanted to point out a couple things. Some of the more "intellectual" among us scoff at those "average joes" who are worried about feeding their families. They talk about how America has more food reserves than most other world nations put together, and how we will weather this crop loss and drought just fine. I wanted to address this argument only, even though I have heard others of a similar nature, because I have someone I really care about who is dealing with this attitude from family members.

   Listen to me. Since 2004 we have strategically used up, or passed out our extra food reserves in America. We do NOT have the food reserves we had even five years ago, due to crop losses, and the needs of other nations for our food. The world is changing. There is more demand and less supply, The dollar has weakened against other, stronger currencies, such as the Chinese and Arabic monetary supply. Those countries are used to paying more for what they want, and they will get what they want. Even FEMA, on their main page, states that the maximum number of meals that they are able to supply in a certain period of time will never exceed more than 17 million +. What if there were multiple disasters at once, as we saw this time with the Derecho storms, hurricane, and forest fires? And how many people would be able to survive on those meals when the total number of Americans is well over 300 million people? What if it was a sustained struggle to survive, say, even until the next growing season? Who gets chosen to be fed, and who doesn't? For how often and how long? Do you see what I mean when I say it is time for us, as Americans, to stop thinking someone is going to swoop in and save us, and do for ourselves... and THEN when something like that does happen, we are grateful for what we have on hand and thankful for whatever comes our way in that manner? If you do your research, you will find many alarming numbers, and those are from all over the board of political and intellectual persuasions. What will it take for some people to actually consider doing something for themselves and NOT see it as a weakness or conspiracy idea???

   Will we starve, here in America? No. I don't think we will. I think we will be pulling our belts a little tighter, and making do as we are very good at doing. We will be insulated from a good portion of what is coming, for a time. But for other countries, many already dealing with food shortages, that depend upon our nation for their relief supplies, I see a very bad time coming ahead for them.

  Of course, I could be totally wrong. It was not long ago that President Obama signed into law, through executive privilege, a law that states we will live by our agreements with other countries in regards to sharing our food, even if we ourselves are experiencing shortages. A lot of farmers cried foul when that was signed into effect back in January or February, and a lot of Americans in the know were deeply concerned about the far-reaching implications of that kind of an order. But for most of those people who didn't hear about it (since it was not covered in main stream media, or spun to look positive, generous even), they don't know, and don't care as long as they can get their food from the grocery stores.

  Interestingly enough, it was that same bill that puts those of us who believe in food storage, canning, food preservation, and feeding our families through the tough times, in a position where we potentially could be put on a watch list since we have more than 72 hours of food storage on hand for our families. I find it incongruously strange that FEMA, the agency responsible for managing areas during national disasters, recommends a minimum of 72 hours of food set aside for the average family, but stands behind recent statements that a family should have two weeks or more on hand. Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Which should we listen to? An executive order? Or the agency in charge of managing disaster areas?

  Well, I contend we should listen to the Lord.

   Time and time again, throughout Scripture, God warns his people of coming disaster and tells them what to do to get through it. I am immediately reminded of the story of Joseph, who was put in charge of a thriving kingdom that was soon to be hit with 7 years of severe drought and famine, after 7 years of plenty. Because of his obedience, and wisdom in following what he was told, he saved not only the country he served, but his own family that lived in another country struck by the drought and famine.

   There are more than enough people who have been saying for a couple years that we should begin to set things aside. As the world population has grown, as disasters have increased, as the needs of the world have grown and production shrunk, more and more people have become aware of what a fragile thread so much of what we are used to, really hangs on. The first rumble we remember hearing about a couple years ago was knowing cotton was going up due to the flooding--purchase your shirts, etc, now before that hit. Next it was peanut butter. This year it is something else.......but far more basic that those things. It is the bread of life itself..........our wheat, soybeans, and corn. The basis of 75% of all foods on the processed shelves in the middle of the grocery aisles.


   So when you ask what are the top five things I should be stocking up on right now, my answer is very simple.

• anything that contains Wheat that you would normally use a lot of--and if you are not a bread baker, or a person who does much baking, either build into your budget an increase of as high as 50% beyond what you are spending now, or learn to bake your treats and your basics. You can check out my posts on learning how to do just that by clicking here: Making DO without Missing a Thing Series. It will give you ideas, simple mixes, etc, on how to start doing that, and making it almost as convenient as buying it from the store. Then go and either stock up on flour or if you want to go all the way, buy a wheat grinder and stock up on wheat grains that you can purchase for cheap now and will last you a long time.
• anything that contains Corn or Soybeans that you use a lot of. That, as I said above, covers a very large amount of things in the average American diet. Decide what you simply can not live without, and put some of it away. In December when those prices skyrocket, you will thank me for it. Remember we are not just talking about something like corn meal, but corn syrup, corn by-products, etc. That can be syrups, baking supplies, even some soaps and personal items. 
• Meat: You are going to be seeing lots of sales on meat in the next couple of months as the farmers rid themselves of livestock they simply can not afford to feed. It has already begun around here, and my husband, who works part-time as a butcher, has already informed me of bacon, chicken and beef sales that are already planned as stores are trying to get ready for the glut on the market in coming months. Once those sales are gone, then you will see prices skyrocket possibly beyond what the average American can afford, and if you think it is expensive to buy steak now, wait until then. Learn how to use different kinds of beans along with the meat and you will find ways to stretch your budget even further. Click that same link above and start reading. I cover all of that in my series listed above.
• Pet Food: most pet food is corn or soybean based, some as high as 85%. If you have furry friends that mean the world to you, and you want to be able to afford to feed them, get a metal trash can and fill it with as much pet food as you can afford. It should be shelf stable for up to a year. I would hate to think of people having to give up their loved companions because they just could not afford to feed them, or themselves. Watch what I say---there WILL be stories of folks who choose to feed their pets instead of themselves, and will need help. Breaks my heart, but you all know how possible that scenario is. My mother is someone who, in her late 60's, counts her little pets as family, and I know that would be a choice she would make. How many more are there out there just like her?
• First Aid Supplies.  As our budgets are compressed further and further, more and more people will be making the choice to not go to the doctor since they can not afford even the co-pay. It is a classic pattern see time and time again over the years of history, and no amount of Obama care is going to change that. Learn how to make some natural remedies on your own, work on preventative care for your family, and invest in some good materials to have an at-home first aid kit. I will be doing a follow-up series on this later this fall, so be sure to keep checking back for that sometime in September. Meanwhile, you might want to bop on over the series Growing Your Own Medicine to learn a little bit more about some common herbs and how to use them in treating your family.

   I could go on and on here, telling you the myriad of things you should be thinking about stocking up on, but instead, let me add just one. When you read the stories of the many people who have been through disasters recently, over and over again ONE thing comes up.

Water.

In reading last week's mini-series called Through Their Eyes, and compiling their stories, I found that a common theme was the unavailability of water, or scarcity of it. While I am not telling you to roll a giant covered stock tank into your basement, I am saying, when you are building a pantry, consider throwing some bottled water in there. How can you cook food without water? And it takes over 40 days for someone to die from starvation with lack of food, but only four days to die of thirst.

   Make sense?

   See you back here tomorrow for a post about the top five mistakes people make when starting to stock up a pantry.

   Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather

A Little of This and a Little of That....

   Hi everyone! Today is just going to be a catch up post...you know, one of those posts where I try to catch back up to where we are here at the Welcoming House and what we are doing, and where I catch you up to all the activities happening here around the Welcoming House.



   It has been a crazy busy weekend and week, and all of that coming off of an amazing week where we all got to hear from so many across the nation as they deal with the drought, and how it affects their families and plans.

   Then over the weekend was that terrible tragedy over in Aurora, CO; my home state, and a place where some very dear friends live. I knew nothing of it until late Monday morning due to being so busy with company, church, and all the other crazy things we do around here in the summers. My heart broke though, at the news. It is times like that I wonder how safe we really are in any situation...and I pray for all the families and people who were affected by that single man bent on evil.

   Still makes me want to cry, actually.

   Monday was another incredibly busy day as the Handy Hubby and I took the opportunity to make a run to the nearest "big town" and stock up on all the things I have been telling you all to get into your pantries and cupboards. That is actually a big part of what this post is going to be, because I want to tell you what my own eyes saw and what we experienced when we stepped outside of our little rural community and out into the wide world.

   First, I am thankful to say that I think people are waking up, even if it is just a little bit. There will always be those who scoff all the way until they wake up one morning to realize that the stock market crashed, their local grocery stores and banks have long lines of people waiting for whatever is left, and they have nothing more than a few saltines, ramen noodle soup and beer in their fridge. I am just saying, there are still those people out there.

   I ran into such a one at Sam's Club when we were picking up our yearly amount of popcorn for grinding. She stood with mouth open while my husband swung two 50 lb bags of popcorn into the cart, shamelessly grabs her friend to stare with her, and then makes the comment of: "That's a **** of a lot of popcorn. What the **** are you going to do with all that? throw a party??" Then in peals of laughter, she and her friend (and their cart-full of kids, whom I immediately felt very sorry for) flip-flopped down the aisle and around the corner. We are used to the stares, and occasionally the comments, but that was a little over the top, even for the Hubs who works in retail setting. However, I happened to catch the eye of an older gentleman who was standing on the other side of the aisle, watching my husband load the popcorn. The look on his face? Complete understanding. And as we passed him I glanced in his cart........to see a 50 lb bag of popcorn. :)

   Its those little things, those understanding glances from strangers, knowing you are not alone in your quest for outrageous amounts of popcorn and wheat, metal trash barrels, and enough cat food to feed an army of mousers, that makes a lot of these things bearable.....

   We went from there to Walmart, checking to see if they carried wheat like the one at home does. The manager informed us they normally have tons on the shelf---at least six of each kind, and they were down to one bag. He shook his head and told us it was flying off the shelf--and he couldn't figure out why. "What exactly do you DO with that stuff anyhow?" he asked us, perplexed. We just thanked him, took the last bag, and walked out of the store. SOME people are stepping out and doing what they need to do...that is obvious.

   Finally we stopped at Menards and picked up a bunch of jars since they are running a sale on canning supplies right now. Two carts and a lot of strange looks later, we had the car packed, high-fived one another, and came home. But interesting thing there too, I have never seen the store shelves that empty in a canning section, even in rural America. I have taken advantage of their sales a couple times this year, albeit not like I did yesterday, and those shelves were very picked over.

Again, that means that people are starting to do things to take care of themselves, even in small amounts! Doesn't that just make you want to cheer, stand on your head, or run down the street jumping and clacking your heels together?

 No? well, I guess you don't blog about it like I do, either. :)

 So I guess I understand.

   On a sad note, a couple things have happened around here that make me not quite so giddy with success for anything. 

   I personally know of a couple farmers now, that are having their livestock barns closed down due to the inability to afford the feed for their hogs or turkeys, or even cows. The local farmers are already having to feed livestock the hay they have baled for winter because the pasture is so bad right now, and with the cost of feed going up, there is going to be a sell-off of meat stock here, as well as all the other parts of the country. I am sure you know I can a lot of meat for our family, taking advantage of sales and such, and this is something we are hitting hard the next couple of months......because if meat goes as high as all our farmer friends say it will by next Spring, the Welcoming House family will only be able to afford what we already have on our shelves for a long time. I hope you do not find yourself in the same situation, dear readers. If you want to learn more about how I can up chicken, you can click here for the link to my article A Productive Day. I will be posting more canning tutorials here over the next couple of months so you can see the step by step process in pictures as well.

   Finally, we have had such high temps, and so little rain, that I am starting to see the first die offs happen in my beautiful garden. The pests are actually worse this year, as far as bugs go, I think because they have nothing else to feed on like they normally do. So far the count is four squash plants and two tomato plants down for the count. I do not use chemicals of any kind in my garden, so am treating it as best I can. However, they are SO prevalent, and so determined, I wonder what my veggie count will be at for this year. I had the most gorgeous Blue Hubbard Squash plant and vine that I have ever grown, with a squash on it bigger than my head, that lies dying in my old garden as we speak. Nothing I can do for it, except help it limp along and get the squash just a little bit larger before I harvest it. Looks like even our family will be hitting the farmer's market this year.....

   Still I want to end on a positive note, and share with you the lovely pictures of my sunflowers that are thriving in the heat and sun each day---it has been four years since I grew sunflowers, and there is just something about them that makes me smile and my heart lift up....

   Well, anyhow, tomorrow as a short follow up to last week's posts from everyone, I am going to be talking about the top five things you should be thinking about starting to stock up on to weather the storms we will most certainly be facing by December. I am also going to be talking about the top five mistakes most people make when they start building a larger pantry, a simple starter list for those of you just beginning, and ideas on how to store stuff when you live without a lot of storage space, such as an apartment or something. Be sure to check back for the next couple of posts as we cover all that.

   I hope you are all hanging on, encouraging others as best you can to be aware, take care of themselves and those they love.......

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather

"Now to Him who is able to do, immeasurably more, than all we ask or imagine, according to His power, that is at work within us, to Him be the glory, and honor, and power, forever and ever. Amen."

"Through Their Eyes"---Live Love and Learn Through Disaster--Day Two of Guest Poster, Freda Bradley

  I hope you are sharing this series, folks. People are talking about it, all over the Web, and I can tell that by the enormous number of hits the last four days, that people are looking for ideas, encouragement, personal stories......  They are scared and looking for answers, ideas, and direction.

   The news each night is filled with doom and gloom, and I hope you understand that is not my purpose in bringing all of these wonderful people and their stories to you.

   It is to stir in you an awareness of how things stand in our country.

   It is to bring to the surface that stubborn American spirit that brought so many of our ancestors here to this land, seeking freedom, health, fortune........whatever.

    It is to encourage you and equip you to see where we are headed, and to get as many people aware of what they CAN DO to help their own families before they are caught in the midst of the perfect storm of crisis that are starting to swirl.

   And more than anything else, it is to tell you, that you are not alone.

   Did you hear me?

   You are NOT alone.

    We are all in this together, and if we work together, help one another, encourage one another, teach what we know and how we do things, then we WILL come out a better nation on the other side of this.

   Finally, it is to remind you that where your treasure is, there your heart also is. IN other words, if you put all your faith in YOUR ABILITY to provide, to store, to take care of those around you, you will sooner or later learn it is all an illusion. You can be as prepared as you can possibly be, for any eventuality, and you will find out you missed something. Or a lot of somethings. And some of those can be terribly costly.
   That is why my faith and my trust and my hope relies not on anything that I can do.......but in Christ alone. I have been putting things aside for four years now, because the Lord laid on my heart that these times would come. I did not have an attitude of fear, but instead, followed the example of the ant, that does the work given it in season, and as it was provided for, it was snug through the winter. Instead of a spirit of fear, it was in obedience to what He laid on my heart that I began this journey. Just like Joseph in the Bible, God spoke to my heart, and no matter what anyone thought, I started this journey.

   And here we are.

   Let's finish with the second half of Freda's story, and honestly, if you don't walk away from today thinking of a plan, and what you need to do, then I can only say I will pray for you. Freda is one of the most "think-ahead" kinda gals I am privileged to know in life....and even she had to go through some tough circumstances to see where she had missed the boat.
   Get that cup of coffee, kick back....or better yet, break out the notebook paper (or Ipad) and take notes. And be sure to read what comes after at the bottom of the post.

source

PART TWO

Welcome back. Freda Bradley here again. This is part two of my experience with the Derecho wind disaster in West Virginia last week. If you’ve not read Part One, I strongly encourage you to do so. The mantra of the Boy Scouts of America is “Be Prepared” and that is what we all need to learn to do.

This installment will be what I did and what I learned from it. 

   First I want to start with MEDICAL needs. A friend of mine has elderly and frail parents. None of their children live near them. Her mom’s oxygen was electricity dependent and her dad’s insulin was cold temperature dependent. They really required backups, but didn’t have them. My friend came down from Michigan to try to get them taken care of, but finding old fashioned oxygen cylinders in a disaster was almost impossible. Insulin was hard to replace..not due to availability but rather it was that the “insurance” wouldn’t allow her dad to have more on their dime. SO, my friend paid full price, and left the pharmacy with her dad’s insulin that her dad couldn’t afford. PLEASE make a back up plan for all your medical needs from the first aid kit to your oxygen pump or feeding tube pump. DO NOT depend on generators or your insurance plan. In this case, these folks could have died for lack of a backup plan. Be smart!

You also need a CORDED phone. By that, I mean one with the handset attached with a cord to the base and then to the telephone landline wire. Many of my neighbors had none and even after we got our phones back on day 4, they were unable to contact family/friends because they had no corded phone in the prep. Cell service is unreliable in these situations even in cities, and the President just signed an executive order saying he can take control of any type of communication at any time in a national disaster declaration, so you may not be allowed to use the cell towers anyhow. Be prepared!

I was NOT prepared for the brutal heat. What we did was to divest ourselves of any heat generating items including clothing. Natural fibers are best. Anything blended, polyester, or spandex is a heat magnet! Don’t use them. Light colors are best, and we often wet our clothing down to stay cool. Now is not the time for fashion. We also ate outside and cooked outside so the house wouldn’t hold any more heat than it already did. We had the ability to cook inside, but it was just too hot. Many people I know used their porches to sleep on. We did not, but the lower floors in your home are the best as heat rises. We also napped outside in the late morning/early afternoon IF there was a breeze. We have a huge maple tree in our side yard, so it was put to good use. Just the business of keeping cool was taxing, but I just kept thinking of those in Katrina, and our linemen and our service men and figured if they could all do this, so could I.

We had plenty of food in cans. I’ve not re-entered the canning/preserving world in earnest yet, so I relied heavily on canned veggies and meats. Well, I wasn’t prepared for the digestive upset it caused. We’re used to fresh/frozen veggies and organic grass fed meat. Needless to say, it was a good thing we had triple the amount of toilet paper on hand. This also made an additional issue in hydration to consider. Always get more TP than you need for just such an occasion, and keep Imodium on hand as well. Change in diet will change your system, but eating for nutrition is vital.

We used our store of Gatorade liberally after day 4. We found we really were expending more nutrients in sweating and the digestive upset than we’d realized. Gatorade was a lifesaver, but I had not stockpiled enough of it. Dry Gatorade is very hard to find around here, so I will be buying a case as soon as possible. We also missed condiments and butter flavor. I was very thankful for our herb garden during this just to change the flavor of the food. We found that we used many combinations that we’d normally not use just to liven up dull meals. We use a coffee press, which was good for coffee/tea in the mornings just to break the water routine. By mid-morning it was too hot for anything but water, though.

Boredom busters like board games are lifesavers. We played Yahtzee, trivia games, Life, chess, checkers, and cards all day. We are also voracious readers at our house, so books were a godsend. Thankfully, we’re not “technology people” so we could revert back to board games to pass the time. If you have small children, be sure to have a bag of “new” stuff (read: things they’ve not seen in awhile) to play with. Old things seem new again when you haven’t seen them lately. Sleep when you can. It passes the time.

Due to the intense heat, we needed lots more clothing and towels/washcloths than I’d planned on. Doing laundry without a good method for backup is backbreaking. I have a washtub and wash board, but it was still hard especially in the heat. I was fortunate to still have enough water to do laundry. Get a backup method and learn to use it. Also, you’ll need a clothesline if you don’t have one. Clean clothing and towels/washcloths are very important for hygiene. Keep an extra supply of things like Dawn dish-washing liquid, too. That can be used on clothing, as hand soap, shampoo, grease/oil remover, and any number of things.

My biggest error, I think, was that all my food and prep stuff were in one location within about 20 feet from one another. While I was in the cellar awaiting the end of the storm, it occurred to me that while we had a city water tap down there that was the only water source I had in that space. AND all my food was in the house above me and inaccessible. Also, there were no chairs in my cellar—huge error for comfort. For me, I’d not thought of things like the house collapsing from a tree (like happened in the next town over), or being stuck in the cellar by a limb or whatever. Normally, around here it’s an ice storm in winter, so I was prepping based on that. Here’s the error of that in practice—I hadn’t planned on the wind and brutal heat. Consider all season potential disasters and plan accordingly for the worst of each season. Even if you have to switch up some things from season to season, it’s worth it.

I honestly thought I’d have far more time than I actually did to gather up items to run to the cellar with. So, bug out bags are essential. We had just enough time to grab the cat, a couple of our solar lights, and the weather radio and that was it. So, take time to make those bug out bags and keep them easily accessible.

Finally, my favorite thing I’ve done is this: I use those little solar lights you line your walk with in the house. We put them outside all day, and bring them in at night. I use one as a reading light by my bed EVERY night. We use them as flashlights to get up at night; we use them as nightlights in the hallway. We began doing this as a way to cut down on electric and batteries, but we’ve decided that after this mess, they’re now staples in our home and in our cars. Well worth it. Each family member has at least one and we have a few outdoors we can bring in if need be. All my neighbors were jealous and are now on the hunt for some for themselves. Mine have on/off switches so I only use them when I turn them on. They were lifesavers and didn’t expend much heat since they were LED lights.

I learned quite a lot from this experience, and I hope this helps you out some. I have a document of things I need to improve on that Heather will make available as a file you can download and even print if you’d like. It’s clearly not all inclusive, but I must say….I was not as prepared as I thought in many areas. Even living with a family that works in the disaster preparedness industry, I was woefully under prepared because like most of you, I followed the guidelines for the 72 suggested hours instead of weeks. That could be deadly, so please prepare for the worst and hope for the best. For my family, we’ve used all this time of tedium to discuss what we will do moving forward. Overall, it’s a back to the past type of living in a disaster situation. If they did something pre-1880, then it would likely work now. So, we’re off to learn more about the old ways and what we can modify to work for us. I hope you find this helpful, and I’m sure Heather can forward any questions you may have on to me as they come in.**

   Freda's File for Download can be opened by clicking the link below. As she said, I will forward any questions you have to her, but you can also ask in the comment section and I am sure she will reply. :) I am blessed to have her as a constant support of this blog, along with a number of others who are very knowledgeable in this area. You can even just leave her a thanks---because this was an amazing post, wasn't it??

Lessons From the Straight-Line Wind Disaster...

 Thanks to all of you for stopping by, encouraging the posters this week, sharing your own stories, and emailing questions.

Next week we are going to be doing some follow up on all of this with a few Top Ten Do's and Dont's, as well as some simple suggestions of what you should do to get started coming up with a preparedness plan, stocking a pantry, etc. I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful weekend, and I pray you will keep your eyes focused on the hopeful.......not the hopelessness we are being fed every day in every news blip.

Many Blessings to you and yours,

Heather 

 

"Through Their Eyes"--Live, Love, and Learn through Disaster...A Guest Post by Freda Blake Bradley

  Today and tomorrow we are wrapping up our mini-series with a pointed personal account written by a friend who lived through the experience of the Derecho storms that ravaged her home state of West Virginia. She is a "prepper" at heart, and by experience, having seen and lived through much already...."prepper" being the term used when you choose to prepare ahead of time for just about any kind of disaster---storing food, water and toiletries, learning how to grow and preserve your own fruits and veggies/meat, planning ahead and packing a bag to run out the door with if you have to leave your home due to a natural disaster...I could go on and on.

   It is a term that often gets sideways glances, or poked fun at, only because up until the last couple years, those people were "different"--choosing a way of life that most Americans had no understanding of when food, water, and everything is as close as the nearest grocery store.
   (By the way, did you know that most grocery stores are bought out within hours of an emergency, or impending natural disaster, especially of anything remotely resembling food or water? My husband works as a manager at a local store, and they estimate that the entire store would sell out in just under 12 hours if a real natural disaster were forecast for the area. If you don't believe it, just come up here when a prairie blizzard is put on the news as heading our way in 24 hours. It is plain crazy at his store. People even get in fights over the last cans of Pringles. Seriously.)

   Now things today are just a touch different, aren't they? We are facing the worst natural disaster in our nation's carefully kept history records, a drought of enormous proportions, which has wiped out a large amount of our basic necessities in grain...and will have an impact on our food supply in the very near future from cereals to meats, to milk. And all this at a time when most families are stretched to the max to afford to feed, and clothe their familes, pay their bills, and keep the roof over their heads (although sadly, many can not do that any more even now.).

   In talking with friends who are farmers today I became aware that even in our area, farmers are already having to feed their stock hay they have just baled for winter feed because there is nothing else available. What happens when winter and snow comes to the prairie and there is nothing to feed the cows, hogs, sheep, and goats? The farmers go out of business, the animals go to the slaughterhouse, and next year there is nothing left to start with. The impact of this drought really is far reaching, folks.

   But back to "preppers"....

   In reality, preppers are really nothing more than people who choose to live in a very similar fashion to the way our grand parents and great-grandparents lived, relying as much on themselves to provide and take care of themselves in any circumstance, versus waiting for someone else to step up and help. Our dependence on government help and support, in many ways, is only as recent as a couple of generations, and also in many ways, it has crippled us as a nation. If you want a stark reminder of what can happen to people who wait around for the government to help them in a disaster I have two phrases for you.

Hurricane Katrina

and

New Orleans

If you have no idea what I am talking about because you are one of my youngest readers, or perhaps you just crawled out from under a rock, or beamed here from Mars, Google it, read it, and then come back here.

The 80-100 mph Derecho straight-line winds that roared through so many states somehow concentrated on Freda's home state of West Virginia more than anywhere else. In brutal temperatures, many people waited as long as 13 days for power to be restored so they could slowly return to life as normal. Freda thought she was amply prepared for anything with her research and planning. As she soon found out, to quote one of my favorite all time movies:

"Life is like a box of chocolates. 

You just never know what you're gonna get."

Here is her amazingly written story, for you.

source

PART ONE:

Hello, readers. Freda Bradley here. Heather recruited me to give you all a first hand account of my experience with the Mid-Atlantic Storm Disaster they’re now calling a Derecho Storm (or Land Hurricane) and how my prep fared in practice. I’m a 51 year old mother of two adult children. My dear hubby and my daughter both have worked in the disaster management industry, so I honestly thought I was fairly well prepared, but I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was. I will be sharing what I went through and learned along the way in hopes you will learn from my experience.

I live in rural Appalachia; West Virginia to be precise. From what I’ve seen of the after action reports, my state was the hardest hit of all. Over 300,000+ homes without power in my state alone. Thirteen days in as I write this and some are STILL without power and many without water. Think you are prepared for two weeks in brutal heat without electric or water? Bet you aren’t. This thing hit suddenly and with a vengeance. No build up or easing into it…just WHAM…80 mph straight line sustained winds (read: no time to prepare or run to the store). We fled to the cellar. In the end, our house was fine, roof was fine, and more importantly WE were fine. However, from the start the electricity went out and the problems began in earnest as all 55 of our counties in my state were affected, many severely.

Day 8 we finally got our electric back on, though not reliably. By day 10 it seemed more reliable, though it is still flickering off and on occasionally. We found out through the linemen that all our transformers were blown, most of our lines were down, poles broken, but the real issue was the power station and substations had ALL been damaged and had to be repaired before anything else could be done. So, in 100+ degree heat we waited…and waited…and waited. No one can prepare you for the tedium or the wide range of emotions from fear to anger to frustration and depression. I hope you enjoy who you live with and have a lot of boredom busters around, because it’s difficult in the best of circumstances. It was literally the longest week of my life.

You have to understand, and thankfully I did, that the government is NOT going to swoop in to save you. They’re not filled with stockpiled food and ice and water just waiting for you to need it. Our ice didn’t arrive till day 6 and it was from pretty far north and south of us (like a 20 hour drive away). FEMA has no resources of its own. They MANAGE those resources located in your home area (and not every home area has what you “believe” they have). That’s why they’re called the Federal Emergency MANAGEMENT Agency. If your resources are damaged as ours were, then you have to sit and wait for outside resources to become available…..and in this case, they were already being used in Tropical Storm Debbie and the mid-west wild fire areas.

So, lesson ONE: Plan on being ALONE…and I mean really alone. I found that disasters such as this make your community feel very insular and isolated, and it’s a bit scary. To offset that, you must learn to RELY SOLELY ON YOURSELF and your preps, hoping they work well. Generators may not be usable, so don’t count on them. In this area, there was no gasoline after day 2 and generators were being stolen from people’s lawns at an alarming rate. We didn’t have ice till day 6 and felt lucky to get it. Batteries were gone within hours and stayed scarce throughout the blackout. Now, I’m not saying there is no help coming to reconnect your electric or there’s not someone trying to orchestrate some ice for your area, because there are. It just takes a herculean effort to make it happen for 300,000+ people.

So, let’s talk about what I had available. I’ve always kept a minimum of a month of food available at all times, but I usually have much more than that. MORE is always better and variety is KEY. I have three water sources on my property. I have a well with an extraction bucket, the city water source and my creek. Your well pump will NOT work without electric, city water won’t pump without electric, so you can’t depend on those things to be there, but you MUST have potable water to survive. I’ve just ordered ceramic water filters for my food grade buckets to ensure I can always filter enough water to survive.

We also had three ways to cook. We have cast iron stuff for fire pit cooking, we have a camp stove with extra propane, and the indoor gas range. It was TOO hot to cook inside, so by day 4 we were using the camp stove. We cooked only two meals a day. It was too hot to eat much late in the day anyhow, so we ate some fresh things from the garden, but be aware….you may not always want to cook those beans and rice in the heat.

You’ll also need CASH. Not debit/credit cards…not checks….CASH. People quickly found out that in our local card readers and check confirmation machines were damaged in the storm, so only cash was being accepted. Even hotels (IF they had openings) were only accepting cash and there was no guarantee of any food. Our local Bob Evans used three days of food storage in one day due to so many people eating out since they had no food preps. Do not depend on hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and the like. They may not be available.

The heat was brutal. Heat indexes were well into the 100s every day with the worst day being 125 in my area. That kind of heat is really hard to deal with. Several times, we realized we weren’t thinking clearly or rationally. We drank far more water than I’d anticipated (about 3 times the recommended amount).

Now, about the bathroom…..well, if your water is out, you cannot flush. You cannot wash your hands in the sink afterward. In short, hygiene is disrupted. Be mindful of this. Poor hygiene in the bathroom leads to E.coli, salmonella, typhoid….and do NOT use untreated water to even wash hands or cool yourself. It’s not safe. Store enough water, even in a rain barrel if you have to, to manually flush your toilet and continue proper hygiene. Purell stuff won’t help in this situation, nor will baby wipes, or Clorox wipes. Be prepared.

All our food in our refrigerator was ruined (though I store very little in there). Do not try to eat improperly stored food because it can KILL you. FEMA, your homeowners, and your county WILL NOT reimburse you for ruined food. Be aware and put as little as possible in your refrigerator or freezer. You cannot rely on generators. Remember, in my area, gasoline was non-existent. Also, the government, your homeowners, and your county will NOT reimburse you for generator gas money spent. So, again, prepare properly and realize that your conveniences will not be guaranteed. We do not use a generator (or a large freezer) for just that reason—it’s unreliable.

Finally, communications will be disrupted. We had no phone (either land line or cell), no internet, no television, nothing until day 4 when the land line was restored. Even our mail service was somewhat disrupted since the hub for our mail had no electric and was unable to sort the mail until day 3.

Well, that’s probably enough for part one to make you think. Part two will be what I ultimately was able to do about my situation and what I learned. At the end of part two will be a link to a document I wrote on things I need to work on and do better. Stay tuned for part two. 

   ~~We will be back tomorrow with part two of Freda's story plus an amazing resource that she put together for anyone to download and/or print off to have on hand at home. She told me this evening that even though power was partially restored on Day 8, they are still have problems with consistent electric power due to "tree damage" that will take some time to completely fix. Would you stop for a moment and pray for her family, and the thousands of others in the same spot tonight?

   Tomorrow she chronicles all the things she became aware of as needs that she had overlooked, how they passed the time, how her neighbors fared, etc. Seriously great stuff.

   Dont think it cant happen to you. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

   See you back here tomorrow!

Many Blessings to you and yours,

 Heather