25 Must Have Survival Foods: Put Them In Your Pantry Now

by | Apr 13, 2013 | Emergency Preparedness | 296 comments

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    This information has been contributed by Tess Pennington, author of The Prepper’s Cookbook. After joining the Dallas chapter of the American Red Cross in 1999 Tess worked as an  Armed Forces Emergency Services Center  specialist and is well versed in emergency and disaster management & response. You can visit her web site at www.ReadyNutrition.com and create a complete family preparedness plan with her FREE series 52 Weeks to Preparedness

    Editor’s Note: In the following article Tess provides a list of key pantry staples for extended emergencies. While it’s generally pretty easy to go out and purchase MRE’s and freeze dried foods in bulk, what poses a challenge to many is understanding how to properly stock a pantry. Why would one need to stock a pantry when ready-to-eat meals can be easily bought? Cost, for one. Common dry goods are significantly cheaper than meals in a bag or box. Nutrient density is another. Whole, natural foods are going to give you the most bang for your buck when we’re talking about protein, carbohydrates, calories and nutrition. And, of course, with a variety of dry goods and whole foods in your pantry you can more easily avoid food fatigue. Freeze dried eggs and TVP will get old after a while, especially if you don’t have access to recipes that will help vary your diet. But a well stocked pantry will do wonders for your psychology and the general attitude of those around you. Consider adding all or some of the following foods to your preparedness gear.


    One of my favorite phrases that I tell new preppers is that “your preps are your lifeline.” We must put measures in place before a disaster is upon us in order to have these lifelines available to us when we need them the most.

    Building an emergency pantry is one of those lifelines that takes both time and planning to make it fully functional. Ideally, you want to store shelf stable foods that your family normally consumes, as well as find foods that serve multiple purposes.

    A few other points to consider when starting an emergency food pantry are:

    • To store emergency foods that will not require refrigeration, and should require little electricity or fuel to prepare.
    •  The food should have a long shelf life.
    • It should provide ample nutrition and contain little salt.

    In my book, The Prepper’s Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals,  I use the following essential food staples as the basis for the recipes. The following foods are all popular food staples that should be considered as “must haves” for your emergency pantries. The advantages to storing these items, is they encompass all of the key consideration points listed above. Best of all, these items are very affordable and versatile, thus making them worthy of being on your storage shelves for extended emergencies.

    Keep in mind, that water is your most important prep. You need water for consumption, food preparation, and for sanitary needs. Ensure that you have a large quantity of water stored away for emergency use.

    Stock up on the following items today to get your prepper pantry ready for the next extended emergency:

    1. Canned fruits, vegetables, meats, and soups
    2. Dried legumes (beans, lentils, peas)
    3. Crackers
    4. Nuts
    5. Pasta sauce
    6. Peanut butter
    7. Pasta
    8. Flour (white, whole wheat)
    9. Seasonings (vanilla, salt, pepper, paprika, cinnamon, pepper, taco seasoning, etc.)
    10. Sugar
    11. Bouillon cubes or granules (chicken, vegetable, beef)
    12. Kitchen staples (baking soda, baking powder, yeast, vinegar)
    13. Honey
    14. Unsweetened cocoa powder
    15. Jell-O or pudding mixes
    16. Whole grains (barley, bulgur, cornmeal, couscous, oats, quinoa, rice, wheat berries)
    17. Nonfat dried milk
    18. Plant-based oil (corn oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, olive oil)
    19. Cereals
    20. Seeds for eating and sprouting
    21. Popcorn (not the microwavable kind)
    22. Instant potato flakes Instant potato flakes
    23. Packaged meals (macaroni and cheese, hamburger helper, Ramen noodles, etc.)
    24. Purified drinking water
    25. Fruit juices, teas, coffee, drink mixes

    Use this list as a starting point on beginning or extending your preparedness pantry- and don’t feel handcuffed to only stocking up on these items. Always keep your family’s food preferences and dietary needs in mind when investing in your food supply. It would be extremely advantageous to have a two week supply (at a minimum) of these shelf stable food items on hand to care for your family. To see how much your family would need, click here.

    We never know when disasters or emergencies may strike, so why not be prudent and be ready for them before they effect our livelihood and well being.

    ***********

    Prepper's Cookbook

    Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper’s Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals. When a catastrophic collapse cripples society, grocery store shelves will empty within days. But if you follow this book’s plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply, your family will have plenty to eat for weeks, months or even years. Visit her web site at ReadyNutrition.com.

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      296 Comments

      1. Awesome a prepping article! Our preps are about to become very relevant!

        • The only item that I did not see in this very fine list are thickening agents, especially pectin. The food based pectin is not only good for making jams and jellies and other good tasting items, but is also quite good at helping with a bout of diarrhea. Other that this and what BadAmerica mentions below in booze (alcohol) and hard candy, I sure have a difficult time comiing up with much of anything else. Though I know with the excellent minds out there, more people will add to this. Got to very enjoy articles like this.

          • You can make pectin from apple peelings. Very useful thing to learn how to do if you can jelly

            • Pectin will sooth a sore throat. Its the active ingredient in Ludens throat drops.

          • BI and JOG? Off topic but wondering your view on Eric Dollard ?

            • Howdy Thinker,

              Dunno…Who Dat? Me NOT know…esplain peas!

              Oops, in ‘Simple JOG Mode’ there…truly I’m not faniliar with the name T…care to explain briefly?

              JOG

              • @ JustOneGuy. I sent a link to Eric Dollard’s web site that has some very interesting articles. As soon as Mac approves it you can link up to it. This is right up your alley, you should truly enjoy reading some of this. 🙂

            • @ Thinker. http://ericdollard.com/

              I have read Tesla, and Eric Dollard has much expanded on this. What I can see from his theories is that is trying to figure out a way of obtaining energy from all forms of material, from water to the very air. I can of equate it to mining dark matter from space for fuel. His ideas on constricting energy flows reminds me of a future weapon, the disruptor. These articles on his web site are not easy reading and require slow patient thought and to be re-read over a few times as he does not explain much in layman’s terms. It is understandable though if someone is willing to take the time to think over each paragraph before going to the next. As Tesla, very thought provoking.

              • Thanks Be Informed! That i can understand (laymans terms) thats why i thought we should give a go to our genius Jog for a go??
                Thinker
                Did you see the 6.2 @ papa!!!

                • @ Thinker. It has been upgraded to a 6.6. This is right on target again for the New Guinea major earthquake that was forecasted. However we are still waiting on the very large earthquake between Mexico and Chile, this one is coming. Whenever that area on the Nazca plate is hit by Easter Island in the past, 90% of the time within 15 days and 100% of the time within 30 days. 15 days is tomorrow and 30 days is April 29.

                  • Bi Have you already commented on the 4.7 northern mid atlantic ridge, and its effects on the new madrid?? Thank for your expertise on all my questions!!

                    Thinker

                  • @ Thinker. The North Mid-Atlantic Ridge earthquake is actually aimed directly at the very large fault in Quebec, Canada. This fault is an extension of the St. Lawrence Seaway and capable of near a 8 in magnitude. This little 4.7 does indicate pressure directed towards this point, but not enough to cause something to hit. I would look at something in the mid 5 range or higher at near this quake’s location to cause anything in Quebec. Just remember the latitudes 14-20 degrees north especially, and 54-60 degrees north on the Mid Atlantic Ridge for the New Madrid.

                • @ BI, T,

                  Evening All,

                  BI, thanks for the link to come Friend…I’ll get there once it ‘pops’ up…kinda piqued my interest here…the both of You!

                  Thanks T…there’s more than ONE HERE though! (Wink Wink). Truly, THERE is SO MUCH knowledge here…I NEVER cease to be amazed at how MUCH we all KNOW… COLLECTIVELY! All that is known, “The Mind of Humankind” as a single LIVING thing…think about it!

                  DOH!!! You already have….Thinker! 😉

                  JOG

                  PS: Check out something INTERESTING beleow by SilverSurfer. I don’t often have to scurry to go out to get ‘the skinny’ on things…but HIS comment got my attention as did you all’s comments. I’ve dug-in on this and will post here a link on the ‘Solubility of Ag in H2O’ in just a bit….

                  Double PS…Ge, won’t it BE FUN if Mac can get the PM/other up and working…it’ll be btter than X-Mass! We can do THIS at will then!!! * 🙂 JOG*

                  • Back Again BI, T,

                    A SLIGHT problem arose in going to the site you posted BI….,most of the gentleman’s stuff is VIDEO. The problem is that my ISP LIMITS (a quota) how much I can ‘do’ on a monthly basis, similar to what JayJay has got with her’s as well (she mentined that openly to Mac a while back after Mac had run a series of forums that had as the centerpieces a single VIDEO)…

                    That said, there WAS a section with a boat-load of .pdf’s; I’ve downloaded a few, as time presents itself I’ll ‘dip in’ as it were…may BE a bit of a while on that though.

                    BI, IF you can summarize it a bit BI mayhaps I could get the gist of what he’s trying to do? A cautionary word here: There HAVE been a LOT of folk over time who thought they could ‘ get something from nothing’ or alternately those who thought that they’d just get around law or two of Physics here or there….sad to say it DOESN’T happen, much. There’s always somebody who thinks they can build a ‘perpetual motion machine’…one in every crowd, really…but that never get’s them around the First Law of Thermodynamics….where they ALWAYS seem to stumble, justa bit…

                    Note I’m NOT saying anything with respect to this gentleman’s work…I HAVEN’T seen it, Ya?

                    Anywho, D-dat’s, D-dat’s, D-Dat’s all Folks!!

                    JOG

                  • Hey JOG; That link finally came up on the you tube sight,try that? He has some very interesting thoughts and life?
                    Thinker

              • That is an EXCELLENT website and worth taking the time to read. Thanks for posting the link, BI.

                • The best source of food in my mind is WalMart. I drive there in my 6.6L Turbo RamRod Charger . We get ribs and ground beef by the hundred pound. Then we put on stretch pants to cover it all up. Of course then it’s off to Wednesday meeting. Finally a visit to the head, to slough off a massive 20 pound loaf, lordy that feels good.

              • Hmmm…

                I put forward a TOE, that includes Einstein’s Aether as the magnetic source, and it is ignored.
                Just a btw, this guy is an Aether mage as well. We are Einsteinians, we reject the particle paradigm. This was proven in 1945 when the first ABomb went off, but the particle guys only see the ejected particle spew, they don’t see the Light as the primary ejecta of the explosion. All things ARE energy, composed of light, and they know now, something ‘else’, they call Dark energy. It is the nature of this energy they are confused about. Einstein’s Aether of General Relativity resolves this, if, you understand the nature of dark energy.

                The thing is, once you leave the illusion of particles, it is a necessary thing, to understand that the Universe is a continuous energy ‘event’. Then you must understand that there must be two kinds of energy in order for it to flow…(static energy is useless, only flowing energy is useful to do ‘work’ as JOG says, the first law.)

                That being said, the Universe’s energy, has to come from ‘outside’ spacetime. If there are two kinds in order for spacetime to BE, then that leads scientists somewhere they don’t want to go. If the energy is emanated from ‘outside’, then that leaves only one thing, and they refuse to go there. There, is, the altar of the Creator. This is where the ancient ‘forbidden’ books of the Gnosis come in very handy to comprehend the nature of ‘light’ and ‘dark’ energy, and their role in the creation process. (This is what Jesus taught ‘privately’, but was expunged by the Church. Sadly, there was much knowledge destroyed in those days.)

                This guy is very good, but not the only one who is trying to take things to the next level of understanding. It is the understanding of ‘dark energy’, and the underlying hyper, or ‘spiritual’ geometry of spacetime that will get us there. As Einstein said, he wanted to “know the mind of God, the rest is details.” The particle guys do not want to hear anything about God, they simply bypass the necessity, this is the God particle school. But, that will not give them what they need, the Theory of Everything or Unified Field, is only found on the altar of a Nonjudgmental Creator. The religionists, destroyed His given knowledge of Enoch and replaced it with the doctrine of mystery, that; we cannot understand His Universe because it is all a MYSTERY. Their own canon condemns this, but they cannot see it. And they refuse to see it, because mystery, is profitable and a good tool to keep the masses in submission.

                JOG is right, in a dark relativistic universe, you cannot have something from nothing. It is in the nature of the nothingness in between the something, that the truth lives. My experiments may ultimately prove that the nature of the nothingness, lies in the Universal Coupling Constant and the connections between the electric, magnetic, strong, weak, gravity, inertia and entropy forces, which are seen today as separate forces, yet my ‘theory’ shows as merely Two, the results of light and dark energy. The first law of thermodynamics may be forever inviolate, this is yet to be ‘proven’. When I finish my work on geometrical hysteresis, then we will see if hyper-geometry plays a part in this linkage between the ‘light’ force (consciousness) and the ‘dark’ force(hardness).

                Ultimately, it is by taking us to the next level of understanding, that The Truth will set us free. Free of energy scarcity is a good beginning, if possible, only then will we understand that pounding our swords into plowshares is the only way to be sustainable, something new from something old. In order to do that, we must again, make things that last forever and are easily fixable, and eschew capitalism for the sake of profits by wasting resources on cheap products that end up in the landfill. To turn towards a sustainable society, means to quit wasting the resources we have available, so that future generations will not be denied. But as long we concentrate on ‘me’, ‘my’, ‘mine’, we are doomed as a society, and rightfully so. This is the message of the Unified Field, and the first law of thermodynamics, taken to the level of a spiritual evolution. That Knowledge must overcome Mystery and our current institutions must die along with those who push individual greed and the collective hive, joined with the glue of fear and mystery.

                To those who have read my website, and come away confused… understand this… yes, it is written to hide truth in plain sight as semitheological, to put people off yet reveal to those with ‘eyes that see’. There are evil ones, who will destroy anyone who dares to attack The Current Paradigm of two legs on the head of gold. It is interesting, that the new theory, was exposed in the anomalous behavior of rocks, the simplest and oldest of phenomena, that no man, has ever explained. Why do big rocks rise above little rocks? The answer is as simple as it is complex, The Nothingness, is the power of God, who lives in the rocks.

          • oh zip it be informed, lol You plan on opening a bakery for us and making muffins and inviting us all over for a bake sale. Just kidding totally. I think that is a good idea and glad you said that. anything lately on earthquakes going on or anything out of the ordinary? I was listening to alex jones on the friday april 12th edition show, He was saying that nukes will never fly and this is a dog and pony show to get money or land and food etc. and they mentioned something about bombing japan. I’t makes sense if your starving to death in that country but what do they expect their people fleeing to south korea and destabilzing the stock markets etc. If that is the case we are playing with some coo-koo people in this world. I have no idea whats going on. My concearn is the republicans caving in on a federal level ar-15/magazine ban. IF your still looking for 30 round magazines I will repeat this one more time!!! You guys made fun of me but trying to help again. IF you call New cumberland store atlantic tactical you can place and order and get magazines for a ar-15 easily. I bought last friday 20 mags for 16.99 a piece and about 400 rounds of federal xm193 rounds. Dont get in the hype about the “green tip” rounds xm855 armor piercing ones, the older batch are true armor piercing ones from the 90’s and the newer ones are not. be careful plus they are not as precise, they are accurate but not precise. Also bought 10 50 round mags for my ps90. If anybody hears and real and reliable leaks on the world war or gun bans keep us all informed. If you got questions respond to this. trying to help you guys out a bit.

            • @ clint hospo. I am such a maverick that with such recipes as making jams and jellies I just have to change something. Sometimes that is not such a good idea, other times some of the most bizarre tastes come out of it. I can’t suggest enough that everyone get a good herb and spice book that explains which spice goes with which food. Like Basil is essential for tomato mixtures. No reason you have to have bad tasting survival food. You can naturally make food taste quite good with the right ingredients.

              Now about the nukes flying. In North Korea who knows. But with the reast of the world, it is almost a certainty unless a more powerful weapon is developed. If you are being attacked and your life is at stake, which weapon are you going to reach for that will save your life? The most powerful one. that might be the most accurate, the most firepower behind it (kinetic energy), and/or the most rounds you can put into the attacker. This makes sense with personal survival and also national survival. Nukes are the pinnacle of the most advanced weapons, and when your side is losing they will fly, guaranteed.

              Hopefully no one that wants to get elected in 2014, if they is an election then, will cave on magazine size. I saw something I few years ago about arab terrorists and they shoved in 10 round magazines faster than anyone could imagine, maybe 1-2 seconds longer than if they had one 30 round maganize. A terrorist is going to kill maybe 95% as many people with a backpack full of 10 round magazines as 30 rounders, based on the time factor.

              This is extremely important that these f’en anti-gunners don’t talk about. 10 round magazines very seldom jam up as opposed to the magazines that are larger capacity. Many lives were spared because joker in Colorado had that larger magazine jam up. So with a higher likelihood of these 10 and 15 round magazines working more often, a terrorist is actually more likely to kill more people with a bunch of 10 or 15 round magazines than a 30, 50 or especially a 100 because those jam up and fail more often. How about that one to throw a monkey wrench into the anti-self defense wacko’s empty ideas of gun safety.

              The earthquakes are getting stronger and more widespread, something quite bad is coming. I am still watching Mexico to Chile for a whopper. Then this will affect the other plates, depending on which section of these break. Too many earthquakes on the plate boundaries, especially the ones that border the African and Antarctic plates.

              • Nuttier than a fruitcake this.

          • Apparently the water from boiled rice is good for those suffering from the diarrhea as well.

            I would add brewers yeast and lots more sugar, but thats just me.

            BI, any comment on the 6.5 in japn yesterday and the recent quake in PNG today?

            • sorry, did not read on before I posted.

          • For soups and stews, the potato flakes are great thickening agents.

          • the Yuan? holy hat boy what are ye smokin?

        • You can survive on 5 items.

          Water (3 days and you are dead without it)
          Wheat (whole wheat grain needs a hand grinder)
          Honey (Lasts for hundreds of years)
          Powdered milk (Must be rotated)
          Iodized salt (Lasts forever)

          • Salt lasts forever, iodized salt however does not, it just turns into salt over time. Rotate your iodized salt every 2 or 3 years.

            Why is iodized salt so important? Because for most people their diets are and will be in short supply on iodine and we need iodine in our diets to stay health.

          • In fact, you don’t need any of these items to survive. While it sounds far out for most people for sure, there are some people who live solely on prana/chi, for example Jasmuheen:
            http://www.jasmuheen.com/living-on-light/

            Your 3 day limit without water is not correct: more correct is maybe 8-9 days. How do I know? Because I myself did the pranic nourishment 3-week kick-off process, the 1st week of which is completely without any fluid, including water.

            While it’s 100% important to prepare, don’t think for a second you will have to die if you run out of food.

            If you think this is complete lunacy, just ask around and you might very well find some people living on prana. Most probable people to know about them are among spiritual/healing/shamanistic circles.

            In each case, most people in the world believe in reincarnation based on e.g. past life memories which some people have, so death is not such a big deal when it’s our turn to move along. It will happen sooner or later anyway so today is as good a day to die as any other if you look at it from higher perspective. (Sorry if I fail to cheer you up with this… ^^)

            We people are much, much more capable of than we are being told. Ignorance is to keep us in fear!

            Take care!

            🙂

          • You need vitamin C or you’ll get scurvy. I’ve been looking for ways to add to my preps other than pills

        • Good! An article of necessary foods that don’t require me to set thru a 10 minutes infomercial.

        • CCW permit=FOID=registration

          • Y do you say that?

        • Take this list and remove from it any GMO’s and high fructose corn syrup….modified corn syrup, dextrose, etc.
          fob

      2. Thanks, I used a list when I started that somebody provided and it was very helpful. Always need a focus point and then expand from that.

      3. Why can’t I ride my skateboard down the street without being harassed by the stupid pigs? COULD YOU SEE GEORGE WASHINGTON PASSING AN “ORDINANCE” TO BAN SKATEBOARDING?? WHY CAN’T I JUST BE LEFT THE HELL ALONE?? LEAVE ME ALONE YOU PIGS!! GOD SAVE CHRIS DORNER.

        • Two words: Wheat germs.

        • go back to your basement you little puke

          you are not welcome here

        • Why can’t you fall off your skateboard and please break your goddamned neck?

          • I’d say he’s already taken a few headers off that board. That would explain the stupidity of his posts. 🙂

      4. Off Topic: Sorry.

        If “ONLY” we could get the REST of the country to think like this.

        Don’t think its going to happen though & “THEY” are creeping up faster and faster and I don’t know anything we can do about it because of all the people they have brainwashed.

        http://sofrep.com/16644/1000-green-berets-sign-letter-of-support-for-2nd-amendment/

        Keep the FAITH
        Watchman

        • ~~~If “ONLY” we could get the REST of the country to think like this~~~

          Watchman..If, and it’s a big IF, everyone would read ‘One Second After’, there would be food and supplies in every home.
          A must read for even us preppers.
          Anyone wants it, I’ll send it.

          • I have everything on that list.
            Yeast?? Yep–but I tried and every time, the bread goes in the trash–not pretty!!

            I’ll stick to cornbread..stored powdered buttermilk, cornmeal, substitute unflavored gelatin for eggs, and canned my own butter.
            Just hafta use lard; won’t be any bacon grease unless I can barter!!!

            • Jayjay, I would really appreciate that, how can I get ahold of you to barter something?

          • JayJay,
            I’d love a copy. If Mac would relay my address to you, I’d appreciate it.

            • Will send when I get your address.
              As long as you agree to share with another??

              Oh, I’m [email protected]

          • IF we got everyone to believe this, it would be awful. Riots and death everywhere. Look at what’s gong on with ammo and that’s only a small % of the people. Everyone in the country goes out and buys one can of anything extra and everywhere is out. Besides IMHO there are a whole bunch of “people” out there that are the problem. I sure don’t want them preping. Stay stupid my “friends”

            • I respect your attitude…but Paranoid, after an EMP strike, I want EVERY household stocked even if pork & beans cost me a dime more.

            • Having a hard time finding Ammo and any AR-15 or M4 type weapons out here. Everyone is sold out it seems.

              Been looking for 22 longs in bricks and they are even non existent around here.

              Hope I don’t have to go to that Hell Hole Seattle to find ammo, but maybe there is some left there with all the Liberals, and progressive and a few other groups.

              • A little late reading your comment. I went to our local Bass Pro Shop last weekend. Was able to buy the last 5 bricks of 22 longs. Guy said this had been their first shipment in 3 weeks. I did see shotgun shells of several types on shelves. I bought only one box and realize now I should have bought more. I paid a little over $22 a brick for the 22’s. I understand that is a very good price now. Still need several different other types of ammo…..just have to keep looking I guess.

          • “IF” is one of the most important words in the English language, surpassed only by the phrase “If Only”…..
            fob

          • The book “Lights Out” is more informative for what is to come….I have read and love both these books, but I gotta go with “Lights Out”…..
            fob

        • I think many within our current govt will be amazed at how many they thought would adhere to THEIR agenda rather than the Constitution….when you give your Oath it IS Who You Are, without exception….and, there will be many who will know of what I speak….
          May God Bless US
          fob

      5. I already have most of the items listed among my preps, but I do need to add to them. The more preps you have, the better your chances of survival. braveheart

        • No matter how much stuff we have we can ALWAYS find more to add to the pantry!

      6. I’d like to emphasize honey. Indefinite shelf life, sweet, local honey aids allergies, barterable. A true gift from nature!

        • I agree with honey over sugar. Honey has essential nutriants and sugar has “empty calories”.

          Flour has a shelf life especially whole wheat flour. Wheat will store a life time and all you need is a quality hand grinder.

          Great suggestion on the popcorn. Popcorn makes the best cornmeal when ground, much better than dent corn. Also cooked popcorn is a great comfort food.

          Cooking oil is essential but must be kept frozen for long term storage. We use a couple Sun Danzer Freezers that are solar powered. We keep seed in them for long term storage as well.

          While we have dehydrated and freeze dried foods, wet canned food is very inexpensive and stores for much longer that the expiration dates on the cans. You can eat it and and rotate.

          Great article Tess!

          • Is the solar powered freezer you mentioned available for purchase? The web site said it was not commercially available, can you clarify?

            Thanks.

          • @ RL,

            Red, I have a question…Tess, you, or anyone else here who has thought this through might answer as well…

            Given that OXYGEN is the primary culprit in the degradation of most all food – allows for both bacteria and fungi to eexecute the life-cycle, then in those cases where the OXYGEN (or moreover the AIR) can be nearly, or completely removed WHAT happens to the ‘shelf-life’

            I’m not ‘stroking the forum’ here…this is something that has occured to me MANY times, a point of genuine curiousity for me. (Yep, I DO Solar fine…Flour..ummm, not so WELL)

            Thanks in advance Y’all!! 🙂

            JOG

            • Storage of dry goods in sealed cans can be improved by placing a lit tea candle (the ones in the little tin thingy) on top of the goods and closing the lid. The candle uses up all the oxygen, depriving the crawly things of the air they need. Cans must be air tight tho.

              • Just pick up some oxygen absorbers, they’re so cheap and work 100% of the time that it’s not worth risking 10’s or 100’s or 1000’s of dollars in stored foods to save 50 cents on a proper sized oxygen absorber.

                • Howdy HAW, Double E,

                  Yes, I do use ‘oxygen absorbers’ in most all I pack away. My question was more to the issue of the ‘quantifiable’ aspects of the situation, ie, what changes in the equation numerically…shelf life multiplied by X that sort of thing.

                  EE, yes, anything which can combust away the oxygen would work…but HOW do tou GET the candle OUT! 😉

                  JOG

                  • JOG…wouldn’t removing the air be like stopping the age life of the product?

                    I know that’s why we blanche before freezing–to stop the growth hormones in their tracks!!

                  • Reposted…

                    Howdy JayJay!…Responding here..the ‘reply’ buttton below your post is ‘greyed out’…

                    You’re definitely on the right track there JJ. To my knowledge there are at least three distinct paths via which the degradation of ‘foodstuffs’ occurs.

                    1) The simple combination of Oxygen with component chemicals of which the food consists, ie, a ‘slow’ combustion, as in ‘oxidation’…and Yes, it’s the EXACT same ‘combustion’ as gasoline…ONLY much slower!

                    2) the action of various enzymes on the basic proteins, fats and sugars of which the food connsist…enzymes are ‘chemical breakers’ and ‘break’ fats, sugars and etc. For example, every bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid (as well as most laundry detergents now) contains a large amount of Lipase…Lipid=Fat >>>Lip–fat, -ase-destroy. Similarly there are proteinase, cellulase and more…Further, look on the back of a bottle of that ‘Septic tank cleaner’ that is sold everywhere these days…what we DUMP down the drains HAS to be ‘broken down’ via some means, Yes? Everyone of those will be there listed as a rule.

                    Each breaks down ONE and only one article, proteins and proteinase, lipids and Lipase, cellulase (WOOD!) and Cellulose…Yep, termites DO this via bacteria in thier guts!…

                    3) The basic tendency of complex organics to reorganize themselves over time, fundamental ‘chemical decay’..Entropy as it were. THIS is where and why refirgeration is so useful since entropy is nearly directly temperature related. It IS the case that at ZERO degree’s KELVIN (a Variant of the Celsius scale) for which zero is the COMPLETE ABSENCE of ALL molecular movemnent *-473 degree’s F, -278 degree’s C) that ALL decay STOPS…COLD (small joke there)

                    The ‘blanching’ you mention IS identically the exact process that neutralizes almost all of the enzymes as they tend to be VERY frail organic compounds..hence a quick burst of heat tends to destroy them, especially at the surface of a food article…where a LOT of the concern about degradation is plainly manifest…both natively, and as the consequence of the generation of enzymes by the ACTION of bacteria and fungi (funguses!)
                    “Pasteurization” is similar but has as it’s intent the destruction of microbes and it is thetemperature that ois the salient point: ALL organics based on Carbon begin to rapidly’decay’ chemically at temperatures above 140 fegree’s Farhrenheit…especially proteins.
                    Lastly, specifically…MOST fungi AND Bacteria cannot adequately function in very low pressures…that’s part of whay they find those mummies so frequently HIGH up in the Andes mountains in South America so WELL prteserved…with little of nothing haviong been done to ‘prepare them’. The combination of low pressure and VERY dry air inhibits nost biologic activity…and most enzymes CANNOT function in the absence of WATER, validating the old Indian trick of ‘drying’ various things like meats, fruits and from which we today derice the process of modern electric ‘dehydrators’

                    Much then is quickly understood on the basis of the above: Why ‘canning’ is such an effective method of storage of ‘wet’ foods…heat, no air/oxygen: dehydration, NO water to allow the enzymes to act: full vacuum sealing, low pressure, no Oxygen.

                    I REALLY would like to hear from a bona fide EXPERT in this area, someone who had that ‘unique’ experiential knowledge that could give the actual ‘numbers’ that one would use to multiply the expected life-of-storage for the vsrious processes, seperately AND when tandemed.

                    Thanks for the specific reminder about ‘blanching’ JJ, in practice I’ve not gotten into the full involuntary response pattern yet….us poor ‘astro-physicists’ are a liitle behind everyone else on OTHER things! Knowing the chemistry is one thing…knowing it like the ‘back of your hand’ as a matter of practice, QUITE another! 🙂

                    JOG

                    PS Eeek!, sorry to ‘run off at the mouth’ SO badly there JJ….My Mama told me always, –
                    time and again – “Learn WHEN to SHUT-UP Boy!”…I guess I NEVER will ‘get it’! 😉

              • Removing Air from Containers Without a Foodsaver

                You can get a brake bleeder at AutoZone for $29.99. You can order mason jar adapters from foodsaver. Put the hose on the bleeder, and a cone shaped tip. Put the tip into the jar adapter, pump the vac up to 20 Hg, and pull the tip out.

                You will hear the jar seal, and you can control the vacuum. It also does not wear out your foodsaver!

                This also will be priceless if we ever have to live without power.

                • I just went to foodsaver,there are no lid adapters or anything listed for that purpose to be found on their site.

                  • krys,

                    The Foodsaver accessories needed are:

                    Foodsaver accessory hose

                    Foodsaver jar sealer – available in two sizes
                    Wide-mouth jar sealer #T03-0023-01P

                    Regular jar sealer #T03-0006-02P

                    Hope this helps.

                    The jar sealers are available on the Foodsaver website.
                    The hose and the sealers are available on websites such as Amazon.

                    My husband said what is important is using a lid with a one way valve.

              • You need to look into your info more. 1 Fire goes out before you deplete anywhere near all the O2, lots of thinge still live. 2 Soot is not something you want all over. 3. Fire makes CO2 and WATER

            • JOG, You may recall that back in the day, survival food was nitrogen packed to flush out the oxygen before sealing the can or superpail. The oxygen absorber revolutionized the food storage industry. Simply put what you want in the can or jar, throw in a oxygen absorber and seal.

              Oxygen is the problem as you said but some foods do not store well even if the oxygen is removed because they are oily. Nuts and whole wheat flour come to mind. However, wheat itself has an almost unlimited storage life as proven by the fact that wheat stored in jars in Egypt toumbs has been sprouted thousands of years later. I have friends that buy in bulk and put food in canning jars with an oxygen absorber. The store them in a dark place, a 27 foot reffer trailed with the wheels and landing gear removed and set on the ground.

              You can purchase bulk oxygen absorbers on Ebay.

              • Howdy Red!

                Yes Sir, such IS the case with the nitrogen. And you are also ‘spot-on’ on noting the Egyptian tombs point as well. Pointedly, grains (both wheat and others) stored in those multiple thousands of years ago have SUCCESSFULLY been retrieved and GERMINNATED in our own day! THAT is truly remarkable..to me, at least! In my reply I mention that I was trying to het a ‘handle’ on the multiplication factor one might expect if one did so. Your comment about the ‘oily’ stuff goes in that direction. Still, it would be informative if someone TRULY versed in such weighed in here directly…I’d REALLY like to get a basic set of ‘numbers’ from a bona fide expert…if such exists, that is! Thanks for the observation Brother!

                Gee, Mother Nature is quite a ‘prepper’ too…BETTER than US! 🙂

                JOG

                PS: Oh, it is STILL the case that were someone rabidly concerned with longevity that industrial ‘dry’ nitrogen can be had commercially to this day…any commercial industrial gasses type of supplier should have such on-hand always…

              • Red L- I got my mylar bags and o2-absorbers from USA emergency supplies, good buy and free shipping on all mylar&02 asb’s. Tried my new aa-930 canner Friday canned dried pinto beans after soaking and short pre cook, got 14 qts. from aprox.6lbs of my stored dried pintos, Anyone do this and how did they come out? I’m waiting a week or two to try, all 14 qts sealed so I’m happy with the way the canner performed.

                • They’ll be (or should be) just fine. We can a mass of pinto beans every year to use over the next year. Because beans can have dirt on them it’s important to pressure can them the full time frame. Dirt can have botulism spores in it.

                  You can eat them straight, make a bean chowder, use an immersion blender to get the makings for refried beans, it’s all good.

                  • Thanks HAW, they got the full 90mins. Will be trying them soon in different ways.

                • z-71 try putting a small piece of country ham in each jar the next time you can dried beans, and you can use hand warmers to seal jars when you are dry canning. I wrap the hand warmer in a paper towel first.

              • @RedLeader- If you want your what to SPROUT, DO NOT…. DO NOT….use O2 absorbers when storing it.

        • Honey also has some antibacterial properties.

        • Try to get local honey from a trustworthy source. Grocery store honey is often adulterated with corn syrup which affects both taste and storage.

          Also, one pound boxes of salt (iodized for those of us inland) are very cheap and can be bartered. Salt is necessary for life and iodine is hard to come by unless you’re deep sea fishing.

      7. Walmart has a GREAT spice aisle for preps and food storage. There are about 15-20 different commonly used spices (garlic powder, garlic salt, paprika, onion powder, onion salt, pepper… Etc) and they are only $.50 each. Great for travel, BOB’s, barter purposes, and easier to store and use than the large Costco containers. FWIT….
        Keep prepping!

      8. Sorry about the double post. I didnt know it had already listed

      9. One thing to remember is that youcan combine a whole grain with a legume (beans or peas) at one meal and you will receive all the amino acids that you need nutritionally. They are better absorbed if they’re eaten at the same time. You can also substitute tofu or tempeh for the legume. Of course meat is always a complete protein.

      10. Thanks for the list – using it to check off stuff in my pantry 🙂

      11. My neighbor just gave me a bluberry bush and a grapevine to plant. Gotta have those fresh fruits too.

      12. looks like most everybody has seen this one, or one like it.

      13. 26. Booze

        27. Hard candy

        …sometimes I need a pat on the back and a “good job, keep it up” moment, even if I have to do it myself, dammit.

        …row your own boat…..BA.

        • I’d barter with the booze.

          Some good hard candies are a variety of lifesavers (tropical fruit, peppermint) and root beer barrels.

          • hard candies have aspartame in them and so do all gums and mints they are bad news

        • I know cocoa powder is on the list…but I have a whole lot of dark chocolate carefully stored.

          (It will not be a happy day for anyone when that runs out.)

          Store what you eat and eat what you store, especially when it’s chocolate. 🙂

          • Daisy

            How do you store you chocolate?

            Tnanks, Bill

            • Open up your mouth, insert,lasts forever on your butt.

            • Bill ~

              It depends what form it’s in. I usually get the bars of a high quality dark chocolate. I have them in large, wide-mouth mason jars, tightly sealed. If you can store your chocolate in a cool dark dry place, that is best.

              I only store dark chocolate, and not just because I like it better. Dark chocolate lasts far longer than milk chocolate. If it starts to get whitish streaks on it, that is the cocoa butter separating. It will be okay to use if you are melting it, but it won’t taste as good by itself once that begins.

              You can also freeze chocolate. My secondary chocolate supply lives in the deep freezer.

              A square of dark chocolate every day is a very healthy indulgence. I think little luxuries like that will be really nice to have as things in the world become more grim.

              Daisy

              • Thanks Daisy

                We love our dark chocolate. Milk chocolate isn’t allowed in our house. We buy the 71% dark mostly. My wife likes even darker. Great storage ideas. The wife just bought some sort of jar sealing device. Looks like a great way to test it. I’m not sure how she stores it now. All I know is that it’s in the basement, hidden…

                Bill

                • You easily and cheaply seal mason jars by just dropping a 100cc oxygen absorber in them and putting on the lid and ring. It’ll suck the oxygen out, which helps with rancidity and oxidation and create a vacuum.

                  • That’s the way we’ve been doing it but this device is simple and can reseal jars over and over without wasting the oxygen absorbers.

              • Daisy,

                My food saver came with an attachment that will seal large mouth and regular mason/canning jars. Use a new lid for the jar and the food saver sucks all the air out and seals the lid as it would in pressure canning.
                If you take the edge of a knife or spoon and just pop the lid off instead of using a can opener, the lid is reusable.

                I ordered my food saver from Amazon and it came with a wide mouth attachment. I ordered a regular one separate.
                I have used it for dehydrated foods I order from Harmonyhousefoods that comes in jugs that are meant for daily use and only has a 2 year shelf if left in those containers.
                I have all the items that Tess reccommends and I also have her cookbook. I do not own TVP and I might have to look into that.
                I am into making cream soups,etc. scratch. You need corn starch for that and all the dehydrated stuff according to what soup you are wanting such as, celery, chicken, mushroom cream soup. It is surprisingly good. Same thing for my gravy mixes. takes up way less room and I use my empty mayonnaise jars for these items.

                Happy prepping

                4 year prepper

          • @ Daisy. Please list all the benefits of dark chocolate and how much is too much to consume per day. Thank you. I would also like to suggest to everyone to avoid any sweetened chocolate or other sweets with vanillin, as I read it is made from wood pulp and is not very healthy to consume. Vanilla extract is much more expensive and why so manu chocolate companies don’t use it. I have cooked many years ago with vanillin and it is a poor taste and quality to pure vanilla extract. I am sure Daisy could explain much more about vanillin ( I call it villain ).

            • BI – You can purchase vanilla bean fairly inexpensive online. Easy to make vanilla extract with vodka. It’s a pretty inexpensive way to make bottles of vanilla extract.

                • @Stephen Clay McGehee,

                  I bookmarked your blog site. Thank you for the great information.

                  CWS

            • Somewhere between 5-15 # of chocolate might kill some people. Has a heart stimulant among other things, 1# will sometimes kill a small dog. If I ever see a 20# Mr Goodbar I’m likely dead.

              • @ Paranoid. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but at Sam’s Club at Christmas time they have these huge chocolate bars that weigh about 20 pounds. Last year they cost $29.95. They look like something that someone about 25 feet tall would snack on. They had various bars, don’t remember about a Mr Goodbar. At least I know now what to barter with Paranoid with. 😉

            • Hi BI ~

              Dark chocolate is high in potassium, magnesium, copper, and iron. It improves blood flow and can reduce the risk of blood clots, reducing stroke risk. It improves cognitive function and mood, reduces the risk of heart disease, and the flavonoids decrease insulin resistance. It’s also loaded with antioxidants.

              Just a small square of chocolate is all you really need for health benefits. The nice thing about dark chocolate is that it’s so rich that a square is sufficient. It should be a treat, not a snack or a meal.

              An organic chocolate that doesn’t contain HFCS or soybean oil is the type that you should look for. Milk chocolate does not have the same benefits as dark chocolate.

              ~ Daisy

              • Daisy, do you have any favorite brands and places to buy? How do you get good quality without paying high dollars for a big-name-brand? Thank you.

                • Stephen ~ No particular brand. Just look for (preferably) an organic chocolate with 70% or greater cacao. Most of mine is 85% – when you get higher than 85% it’s quite bitter.

                  ~ Daisy

              • Chocolat has caffeine—I read it is great for headaches.

                • Too Right JayJay,

                  One of the more powerful pharmaceutical’s with which headaches are addresed is refered to as ‘Fiorinal/Fioricet’.
                  Standerd conventions apply, that being the ‘-al’ denotes an aspirin base, whilst the ‘-cet’ designates a Tylenol base instead. IN BOTH cases the operative chemicals are (other than as moted) Butalbitol, a STRONG barbituate…
                  and SUPRISE!!…a whomp-dose of CAFFEINE!!…usually a 100 or milligrams.

                  Just sayin’….. 😉

                  JOG

                • if it had caffeine than it’s beneficial for asthma too.
                  although you’d probably have to eat alot and rather have an inhaler if you want to breathe.

              • Dark chocolate consumption will eventually make your eyes brown. If your eyes are already brown, then you know you have consumed the maximum allowable dosage. Additional consumption at this “critical point” could result in a “brown refuse product” from “your south pole”. Forewarned is forearmed. ;)!

                Sorry, I’m in desperate need of some comic relief. Dark Clouds looming on OUR collective horizon. BTW, the article and associated comments, excluding mine, are excellent and informative.

                My eyes are already brown…time for more Dark Chocolate!!! I’m a glutton for punishment. At the risk of “driving Ms. Daisy crazy”, cheers, and onward-through-the-fog.

                • @yental,….Yea, Dark chocolate reminds me ,too much ,of the old EX-LAX !!!And taste about the same!! Imagine eating a 1/2 pound of that in the dark ,then jumpin up and trying to remember where yer TP stash is!! NAH,I’ll stick with milk chocolate & vitamins !!…….mm

        • Use the yeast that you normally use for bread making and
          make your own wine!!

          Keep preppin’

        • I can make the booze. I wonder how hard it is to make good hard candy.

          • Not difficult at all! It was one of our
            homeschool projects years ago.

            Keep preppin’

      14. This is AMERICA: We need Freeze dried Beer, We need FD Pizza, cut and stacked in #10 cans, Chocolate, Coco power doesn’t cut it lady. M&M’s. Baloney, sized for #8 cans, Beer Nuts. There’s a fortune to be made by the Guy that markets 20 year stable jelly donuts! If the Twinkie people can make one with a fifty year shelf life so can you. And yes, the N-Vac Burger King. Forget all the rest of that stuff. You think just because it’s the end of the world I’m going to start eating healthy? Get real

        • We salut you mister freeze dried jelly dougnut freezedrier man!

          • ♫ Mister freeze dried jelly doughnut freezedrier man! ♫

        • Freeze dried pizza, yes

          • I was wondering if they made freeze dried pizza for astronauts so I was looking around on line. I found something entirely different. There is a study going on right now to evaluate foods for a possible trip to Mars.

            They just finished a recipe contest using the list of ingredients that will be available for the people in their test study. They are paying people to live in astronaut type quarters for four months and eat the food that they have decided upon.

            The food list would be a fairly good list of prepper supplies except it does add some unusual ethnic type extras. If you want to take a look, it is at hi-seas.org.
            It gave me some new ideas for supplies.

            • I am willing to be the first man on Mars if Kate Upton and Hallie Berry are my crew members …..

              Just saying, its a death wish but someone has to do it. 🙂

              • You are so far past just right I cannot express myself.

        • Beer is America’s favorite adult beverege. Before refridgeration whiskey was. Whiskey is distilled (only a different technology than freeze drying) fermented grains.

          I believe that if a collapse happened and the grid went down for an extended period, people would switch back to distilled bevereges of vodka, rum and whiskey. Not only that but it might become a form of entertainment

          Although, it has calories, I wouldn’t list it as a food. It should be thought of as a form of money, along with silver and gold. TeaTotalers should stock up too.

          • ….to quote Garrison Keilor…”the amber essense of the beloved hops”…….a hot day without a cold beer would be a very, very sad day……

      15. See beprepared.com

        Get the super pails and the canned meats..they last 20 years.

        Prep up…ammo up…then relax and stop trying to
        sell everyone on prepping. You sound like a jerk!

        Instead…. be silent and smart… stealth is a prep.

        Then you build a crew….focus on your job.
        Be the man..the go to guy that everyone sees.
        Even if you are just the floor sweeper…. act like you run the place and rub elbows.

        PREPPER HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT – FIGHT CLUB STYLE…

        READ….THE MAFIA MANAGER..
        SEE AMAZON.COM

        BUILD YOUR OWN CREW!

        WHEN COMPANIES FAIL…THEY NEVER TAKE APART A CREW.

        THE VPS RUN WITH THE WOLF PACK.

        • Yup Yup. Amen.

      16. Honey should Not be given to infants. Tuna stores pretty good for a few years. So does bullets.

        • if you are buying tuna and eating it now, good luck it all has alot of radiation in it, your chance of gettting cancer is way up if eating alot of sea food

          • pROBABLY SO, BRRRP. Just read the other day that around 7,000 sea lions washed up on shore (Pacific Ocean)… we couldn’t figure out why. Then I read that the people in Japan who are responsible for the Fukushima nuclear waste clean up decided to just dump it all in the ocean– much cheaper that way. And we end up with nuclear fish/dead fish. ; (

            • @Grasshopper(and everyone)…I know fish is an important part of our diet, but cannot find any fish now that is not from the Pacific Ocean…..and we can’t eat that now!!

              Have to find fish somehow from the lakes or the Atlantic Ocean…but so far, no luck!! take care,, CC.

              • If you find any safe clean fish, please post it!!

                • Pickled herring from Norway should be okay. Maybe GOOGLE a Scandinavian store that sells fish from their waters that an American store buys from them wholesale, and they might have it canned already.

                  I stopped eating Wild Alaskan Salmon after the Fukishima incident.

                  • Lutefisk is indestructible, keeps for centuries.

              • Go fishing or crabbing in a local creek or river. A cane pole and bread for bait will get you some fish. Crabbing is even easier than fishing. Just get an old piece of salt pork, tie a string around it, and lower it into the water. If you’re in a good spot, you can pull the crabs out one after the other. My family didn’t eat crabs, but on a fishing trip when I was younger, my father gave me and my brother strings, pieces of meat, and a washtub. We amused ourselves by crabbing while my father fished. We filled up the washtub pretty quickly. Since we weren’t going to eat them, we just dumped them back into the river to keep growing for someone else.

        • dave b,
          That’s a good thing to point out.

          Honey often contains botulism spores. Most adults and children over the age of one year can process these spores without difficulty.

          Children under tha age of one have a less developed population of intestinal bacterial. The botulinum spores can override the other organisms and produce botulinum toxin. It only takes one one millionth of a gram of botulinum toxin to kill infants by respiratory paralysis,

      17. How long does this popcorn and canned stuff last?

        • Hi Hello,

          Stored popcorn kernels can last 10 years or longer if properly stored. Generally, canned goods last 12 months or longer. As long as the can is “in tact” and not damaged in any way, it can be eaten well after the “best by” date.

          Hope this helps!

          Tess

          • I am a Penington, and a Pennington, that is, these two surnames are two of my many surnames. I am of the early Quakers in America.

          • @Tess- I have canned fruits and veggies from 3 years ago when I started. Dump them?
            Thus is why I hate canned. I have stuff in super pails that will store for long time… and did not know how long on the popcorn… 10 years…ok

      18. What’s the shelf life of peanut butter? I have a few jars that are reaching their expiration date. 😕

        • I won’t comment on peanut butter, but most “expiration” dates are a bit of a joke. Canned goods for example are safe as long as the can is undamaged. However, I am sure some people will disagree with me.

          On the other hand…. If you want to give away your expired goods, let’s arrange something

          😉

          • Darn, should have said MOST canned goods…

          • 9mm: Just had a can of green beans still good after 7yrs pass best date.

            Keep the FAITH
            Watchman

            • I had overlooked a can of my veggies that I had dated 2003.
              After examining the can for damage, bulging, etc. I opened it and there was no spurting or odor.
              I dumped it in a pot, ate it and here I am in good health and able to tell it.
              I keep my can foods for years, but I select them carefully making sure there are no dents or dings on them.
              Drives my husband crazy in the grocery store with me feeling the cans all over and reading all the labels.

              4 year prepper

            • See, that’s what I’m talking about.
              Knowledge shared from experience. Thanks to ya Watchman.
              I got lots of canned goods.

              Wait, was that commercial canned or home canned??

          • don’t let them freeze.

            our camp is stocked and had a hard freeze and canned goods were –
            toxic.

        • Rodster-
          If you keep it cool it will last years past the expiration date. Our family is eating 2009 pnut butter right now and it’s perfect. If it goes rancid, you’ll know it!! Keep up the good work!

        • Depends on how well it has been stored. Cooler
          Temps keep the oils from going rancid. You’ll know
          By smell when you open it.!!

        • I’m eating peanut butter bought in 2008.
          It’s great and it AIN’T name brand!!

          • It should go well with the FEMA Crackers ….

            • When I was in the service, every now and then they would give us C-rations that were from the 40’s. A few cigarettes and matches in a seals paper pouch (stale), chiclets gum that didn’t show it’s age, canned crackers and canned peanut butter in some boxes, crackers and jelly in other boxes, canned meat of some kind, chicken turned to ham, ham turned to chicken, a drink mix that could be heated and called coffee and a John Wayne can opener. I don’t remember anyone dying from eating it. I do think they were experimenting on us though.

              • Experimenting? No it was just the best they had until the dehydrated meals were developed for Nam.

        • Hi Rodster,

          It depends on what type of peanut butter you have. All natural peanut butter has a lower shelf life than the stuff with hydrogenated oil.

          According to http://www.eatbydate.com/proteins/nuts/how-long-does-peanut-butter-last-shelf-life-expiration-date-food-storage/ on average, creamy style peanut butter has a shelf life of 12 months. Natural style peanut butter has a 3-6 month storage time.

          The problem with peanut butter is the oils can cause rancidity. Practicing proper hygiene and food safety discipline will help prevent food borne illness.

          Although I know a lot of preppers who have been eating their stored peanut butter and haven’t noticed any issues. My advice would be to be aware of the signs of spoilage.

          Sight is usually the most reliable way to tell if your peanut butter has gone bad. A common trait of bad peanut butter is a change in texture from soft and creamy to hard and dry. The color of the spread may also become darker and the pleasant aroma disappears. If the peanut butter begins to smell rancid, toss it. A natural separation of oil is natural, especially in the natural peanut butters that do not contain additional fats as stabilizers. You can tell how long the jar of peanut butter has been sitting on the shelf by the amount of oil on top. This oil can be stirred back into the peanut butter if desired, but we prefer to pour most of it into a frying pan and use it for pan frying something for dinner. The resulting peanut butter is thicker and doesn’t gush right out of your sandwich. On the other hand, if oil begins to separate from processed peanut butter (Peter Pan, Jiffy, etc.) that is an indication that the peanut butter will soon be going bad. There are, of course, certain health risks associated with spoiled peanut butter, so always remember to practice food safety.

          I hope this helps!

          Tess

          • Just my 2 cents. We currently are eating peanut butter bought 09/2003, “Best before 09/30/2004”. I just went to the pantry to double check currently open jar and it smells and looks great. However, this is “HoneyNut” peanut butter. The second ingredient,after Peanuts, is Honey. Which I expect gives it a longer shelf life. Unfortunately, the third listed ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup, which at the time I bought it I was not aware of the dangers of. I will have to find a organic or non-corn syrup alternative going forward.
            angel

        • I had some peanut butter that was out of date by 6 years. I didn’t want to eat it out of the jar because I was a bit paranoid but instead made peanut butter cookies. I thought maybe the heat would take care of any nasties lurking. Tasted great and I’m still kicking.

          By the way, a great, easy and fast way to make PB cookies is one cut PB, one cup sugar and one egg. That’s it! 350 deg for 15 minutes. Makes one helping or 12 cookies. Try it, you’ll like them!

          • thanks, bill.
            Great easy to bake cookies; hubby went for them first thing this morning!!

            • They are quite good. My wife can’t eat flour so we really enjoy these. I make 4 dozen to take to church every Friday nite and they always disappear quickly.

              Glad you tried them.

              Bill

        • I’ve had PB five years and was still good, separated. Had canned PB from old Army stuff that was 30 years old. Tomato products seem to go faster than most, because they are so acid. It attacks the cans, if wet. Know for absolute fact, plain M&M’s last under a couch for 15 plus years. Several sites on net list storage times.

        • @Rodster, you might consider growing your own peanuts and making your own peanut butter. You need sandy soil that drains well and over 100 days of growing season. You can start them indoors in peat pots if you have a short growing season.

          When you make your own peanut butter, you can cut down on the salt and sugar. You can use honey instead of sugar. With your own peanuts, you can just make peanut butter as you need it because the raw peanuts will keep longer than the peanut butter, unless you freeze it.

          I think I might plant a few this year to see how it goes. You’re supposed to get perhaps 30 to 50 peanuts per plant.

        • Unless it’s in a glass jar, 2 yrs or so. If they get warm the oil can actual leach out of the plastic jar.

        • Peanut Butter at MOST 2 years… anything with oil not long.

      19. 28. Silver dollars
        Little remembered fact is that in days of yore, people would drop a silver dollar in their milk jugs to keep milk from spoiling. Silver, as you know, has anti bacterial properties, and adding one to the bottom of your milk/juice/water container will keep the nasties at bay. When the container is empty, just rinse and put the coin in the next one.
        True story!

        • yore kidding!!

        • SilverSurfer—True Indeed

          When the early pioneers were moving west in their
          conastoga wagons they would drop a silver dollar
          in each water barrel to keep bacteria from forming

        • @ SilverSurfer,

          AND I THOUGHT I had heard it all! Well, I’ll be ‘dipped’! Thanks for THAT bit ‘O trivia Brother!!

          JOG

          • @ SilverSurfer and everyone else. I imagine you know where the term blue bloods came from? The wealthy during the times of sickness such as the plague ate all their food and drank their drinks from silver dinnerware, some even cooked in it. The minute amounts of silver got into the blood stream which sometimes gave a tint of blue to people’s complexion, hence blue bloods. These people fought off infections much easiler than the poor and why blue bloods survive the pandemics and were also considered the best choice for mates, health and wealth wise.

            • Be informed—True Again

              It was also traditional to give a baby a gift of a
              sterling silver drinking cup when they were born to
              ward off germs when they learned to drink from a
              vessel. Today though, it is a rather unknown practice

              • Yes, BI and OutWest. Its also that era that the term ‘born with a silver spoon in your mouth’ hails from.
                The ‘silver dollar in the milk’ thing I read in a story long, long ago, and I never forgot it. My grandmother confirmed it years later when I asked her about it.
                It seems with all the ‘modern medicine’ we’ve forgotten some of the basics.
                Anyways, silver coins can be put to use before being bartered.

              • OutWest…I didn’t know that was why parents got their newborns a silver cup. I still have mine with my name engraved in it from the middle of the last century. Mine was probably bought more for tradition however. SilverSurfer…I will try that in the raw milk we use. Great info guys. Thanks.

          • Howdy guys….’back from the trenches’

            Proceeding on to extend the fascinating revelation by SS above…

            This came up first on a search on “Solubility of Silver”

            ***************************************************
            Multiple points here…the following are direct quotes from the page at the link below

            1) Silver does not react with PURE water. Is is stable in both water and air. Moreover, it is acid and base resistant, but it corrodes when it comes in
            contact with sulphur compounds.

            2) Silver is not a dietary requirement for organisms. It may even be lethal to bacteria, and it inhibits fungi

            http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/water/silver/silver-and-water.htm

            The interesting part is that the site further goes onto say that there is NO distinct NEED for Ag in mammalian diets….I beleive a potential toxicity MIGHT exists there (classifiably a Heavy Metal)…but moerover the 1st bullet point above STATES ‘PURE’ WATER…which is a fact as can be ascertained from any chemistry handbook. BUT virtually NO naturally occuring water is PURE….here’s where it gets INTERESTING; compounds of sliver with sulphur are water soluble and since (especially today with catalytic converters on EVERYTHING, spewing various sulphides into the air) and remembering that silver does ‘tarnish’ after long exposure to air OR being touched by most human skin, then the ‘up-shot’ is this…

            This MIGHT well be entirely TRUE: In olden days it wold only rarely be the case that any coin was MINT, hence then, it was circulated, hence CORRODED. Dropping such into a pail of milk (Lipids, mildly acidic, would tend to leech the ‘tarnish’ from the surface, into ‘solution’ and V’iola, instant effect. Same would likely apply to water (natural) to a lesser degree by the same process.

            The NICE thing HERE is that most preppers SHOULD have ample such ‘junk Silver’ (circulated) by now or be acquiring it so then ALMOST everyone could make direct use of such in thier own specific circumstance!

            It goes without saying that a BRIGHT uncirculated coin might WELL have NO effect to speak of, especially in water…and that conversely, a heavily tarnished piece would likely be IDEAL, in either case…

            THANKS again SilverSurfer…THAT’S just a remarkable bit of know-how there…thus I DID (remark!) 😉

            JOG

            • I guess it’s safe to assume all your extremely long, overly complicated
              posts are actually cut-n-paste??

              • Hhahaaa..Ahhhh….Not quite!

                THAT is what comes of pursuing knowledge – singlemindedly – all ones life…

                …as opposed to wasting it ENTRANCED by “Dancing With The Stars”, “Monday Night Football”, and the MSM’s serial attempts to get actual comedy out of the same worn out drivel that has passed for all such since ‘Ma and Pa Kettle’ were on…

                *AMUSED* JOG

                • I didn’t have a silver dollar on me, so I dropped a new nickel into the jug of shine. It dissolved. Heard of the same happening with dimes, quarters, car keys, and subway tokens. Best stick with real PMs…

                  • Hhahahaaaa

                    Clearly…. 😉

                    JOG

      20. Bout time we got a good reminder bout our childrens tummies…

      21. When the chat forum is up and running, I would be honored to be the 1st to go toe to toe with you Brother Mac.

      22. Quinoa is a complete protein. It is good and I think it stores well.

      23. I’m out of number 4. Everything else I either
        Already have or know how to make from scratch.

        Keep preppin’

      24. It would be wise to learn how to make a starter for sourdough bread. Yeast does not keep well so in the early American days they made sourdough starters and used to bake bread and buiskets everyday.

      25. Couple additions, first is the WalMart large can of dehydrated banana or fruit slices, and the dried vegetable soup. One can goes a very long ways.

        Second : .22LR cartridges, 2000 of them takes up no space and will be quite useful.

        Third : Kitchen matches, you can cook over the busted-up furniture in the fireplace, but you gotta light the fire, first.

        • Matches..Dollar General..2 packs/$1
          I have a huge cardboard box full.

          And those water proof matches…Ace Hdw. –250 in a box for $1 two years ago; but, not now!!
          Don’t know why.

        • Make sure you have a decent magnifying glass as well. Matches will run out, get wet, or not work but if the sun stops rising we are all so far in the shit it will not matter.

          Learn how to use it to start a fire, if you don’t know ask any 8 year old boy.

      26. Survival Diet Myths

        Myth: Starving people can eat anything.

        Reality: It is widely held that people who are starving will be very hungry and eat any food that can be supplied. This attitude is inhumane and incorrect. Even if hungry initially, people often do not consume adequate quantities of unvaried and unfamiliar foods for long enough. More importantly, the starving people are often ill and may not have a good appetite. They will therefore languish in an emaciated state or get even sicker. Even someone well-nourished would fail to thrive on the monotonous diets of three or so commodities (e.g. wheat, beans and oil) that are all that is available, month in, month out, too many refugees and displaced people.

        Myth: All people can manage with less.

        Reality: In fact they will often need more than their normal food requirement at first if they have become malnourished and sick, and need rehabilitation; and may suffer exposure from inadequate shelter; these rations have to be adequate in all nutrients. This requires a mixed food basket, including fruits and vegetables.

        Myth: A standard ration is suitable for all people.

        Reality: The recommended calorie input for a person, should vary according to demographic composition, nutritional and health status of the person (allowing for an extra “catch-up” allowance where the person is malnourished), the activity level the intake is intended to support, environmental temperature, and likely wastage in the chain from supply of food in a country to its consumption by individuals. In other words there is a range of requirements for dietary energy, which will depend on the circumstances, and use of a single figure is likely to lead to either deficit or wastage. The figure of 1900 kcal often underestimates what is needed.

        Myth: Energy adequacy means nutritional adequacy.

        Reality: The diet needs to be adequate in both quantity and quality, meeting requirements for calories, protein, and micro-nutrients. Where people are completely dependent on the ration provided — for example, in the early stages of an emergency or, where trading for diversity cannot be ensured; the ration must be designed to meet the requirements of all nutrients in full. Often, a ration is designed to meet minimum energy requirements and micro-nutrients are left to look after themselves. How micro-nutrient needs are to be met must be made explicit, especially when the ration provided is calculated on the basis of fully meeting energy needs. Foods should be diverse and palatable, and the special needs of weaning children must be met.
        In short, as we plan our preps we should look not only at shelf-life and storage space, but look at, special diet needs, micronutrients (good long shelf-life multiple vitamin/mineral supplements are a great start) and insuring that we have enough variety that our meals are not so dreary that we must force ourselves to eat them.

        Keep the FAITH
        Watchman

        • GOOD POST Watchman!

          Thanks! I wonder how many here have ever thought of the delicacy (delicate condition) of persons who have been malnourished for any length of time. In truth it may be expected that regardless of the specifics of how they came to be so, that both thier fundamental electrolytes and thier blood sugar levels wold be such that rapid ingestion of virtually any normal foodstuffs might actually be further injurious to them…in that state.

          It would likely be the case that both the items mentioned above would HAVE to be managed for them for some small period (24+ hours) before normal food items COULD be adequately processed by the digestive tract, at all ….SALT, especially is requisite in the process of ingestion as all things other than sugars must be ionized and tandemed with same to be able to be absorbed into the blood-stream. It frequently occurs when those so debilitated are given food that such as is mentioned above leads IMMECIATELY to massive vomition shortly after ingestion…

          JOG

          • FYI; when starving people were fed after the war some died from it; system was so weak they could not digest real food. One thing that seemed to work reasonably well was a diet of plain pasta. for a few days, with very small amounts of other things. On some of the ships moving POWS back from camps they gave people about 1/4 of a cup of boiled pasta every hour or two. FWIW

            • Howdy Paranoid!

              Truly, it makes sense…Pasta is carbohydrates… complex sugars. Yep, makes PERGECT sense to me! Though this might seem somewhat off-topic I can actually see that this might be something that we have to explore here some bit further in time to come….IF what we all think may be coming actually is….think about some of your family members being caught out on the open road and being ‘detoured’ significantly. As you point out, this is potentially a FATALITY for them if handled improperly! Thanks for the info Friend!

              Oh, and GET A LOAD of what SilverSurfer posted above (if you already haven’t done so)….amazing, to say the LEAST!!

              JOG

            • Back over 100 years ago, the recommended foods for invalids included barley water, rice water, thin oat gruel made with water, barley mush and milk toast. All these recipes are searchable.

              The old copies of The Settlement Cookbook have a section on feeding invalids. Settlement Houses were charitable endeavors where recent immigrants, mostly European peasants, were educated to assimilate into American life. The cookbooks were a compilation of the various classes taught there. There are sections, IIRC, on baby food, hygiene and cleaning using basic items.

      27. Do the protein powders from the health food stores have any value to augment other food stores?

        • Protein powders could be useful if other protein sources aren’t available. The people who most need protein are the young (their muscles are still growing), those recovering from injuries, those who suddenly face an increase in exercise, and vegans/vegetarians.

          In general people need about 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of body weight. 4 oz of red meat contains around 30gm of protein. Most protein supplements are around 80 gm protein per serving.

          Proteins are most beneficial if taken steadily throughout the day. The best nutrient right after a heavy workout is carbs, not protein.

          Protein powder comes from whey, casein, or soy. Whey tastes the best but some prefer soy if they are looking for a plant based protein source or a lactose free product. Casein has the slowest absorption so it can help someone feel full longer. Whey can also boost the immune system. Soy is an antioxidant but it might also contain some estrogen-like compounds.

          I think protein powder would do best to supplement other protein supplies and help them last longer. It might also be helpful when someone is recovering from an injury or if you have children that might need extra protein. The powder can be mixed with all kinds of things for picky eaters.

          • Thanks for the reply. I did not know the details but thought their shelf life and compactness would be useful. If things get bad I assume a whole new group of recipes will result from new sources. Protein powder mixed in with instant mashed potatoes with a vitamin and some gravy may be the new “what’s for dinner”. While not too tasty it may be better balanced than what we’re presently eating.

            • Initially, if someone has been starving, and is dehydrated or has been drinking only distilled water, they should be given water with nutrients and minerals added. The WHO website has a recipe for electrolyte replacement. Basically, you want water with some sugar (honey or granulated), sodium (salt and bicarbonate), potassium (“lite salt”). Magnesium (Epsom salt) is so vital as well, but only give very tiny trace amounts because of the propensity for diarrhea.

              Once they can consume and keep this down, broths with small amounts of rice are good. Making smoothies would be wonderful if available. Fruit, some leafy greens or sprouts, yogurt (you *do* know how to make that, right?), some fat (coconut oil), and if they can tolerate it, this is where that protein powder comes in well.

              The yogurt, or other lacto-fermented foods (kraut, kimchee, etc.) will help replenish gut bacteria, boosting the immune system and rebuilding tolerance for solids and ability to absorb nutrition.

      28. 1.Canned fruits, vegetables, meats, and soups

        All that counts as one ?

        • TnAndy – 1. An assortment of canned goods.

          Thanks!

          Tess

        • canned fruits, canned vegetables, canned meats, and canned soups.
          Really four, but categorizing canned goods, maybe??

      29. Solar Report,

        NOAA has identified the appearance of the pre-curor event to the arrival of the CME this evening, and issued the standard ‘Sudden Impulse Event’ warning, as follows;

        ********************************************************
        Space Weather Message Code: SUMSUD
        Serial Number: 170
        Issue Time: 2013 Apr 13 2303 UTC

        SUMMARY: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse
        Observed: 2013 Apr 13 2255 UTC
        Deviation: 29 nT
        Station: Boulder

        ********************************************************

        By appearance, this impulse is slighly lower than the 42 nT event which marked the last such occurance, some 4 weeks ago. As is always the case we may expect planetary magnetic monitors to begin deflecting imminently, the implied delay being a function of the incoming speed of approach relative to the time of transit between the ACE satellite (located at the L1 Trojan Point) and planetary monitors.

        JOG

      30. On-topic,

        Thanks Tess, I have love to see your articles printed up here as much as I like to Brandon’s (Smith), Many Thanks!

        Hmmmm JOG SAY….FOOD!!….GOOOD!!! 😉 🙂

        (As always, done in the style of Boris Karloff, portraying Frankenstein’s Monster in the movie there-named)

        JOG

      31. Please send this to all of your friends and enemies, this bunch of crooks need cleaning out. Would you trust Congress with the key to your house?

        I am sure you remember how it had been revealed a few months ago that the Senate and House were privy to all the inside scoop on the stock market, and further, that they had passed laws to make it legal for them to use this information to buy and sell stock using this privileged information to get filthy rich. Yes, it was legal for them to do things that would send the rest of us to prison.

        Well, due to all the public uproar about this, they passed a law that required them to make all their trading public and transparent, thus placing their activities out in the open.

        Well just yesterday, with no fanfare, it came out that they had quietly gutted that transparency bill that they had just passed. Now, they can go back to cheating again. Plus, it was a voice vote with no record of who voted what.

        Just another indication of how crooked the whole bunch is. It just shows they have no honor, no integrity, and no fear of what the public will do. This plus everything else they are doing and not doing – we must remember and not forget.

        Please read from the links below.

        March 12, 2012 Congress passed a Bill to ban Congress from insider trading:

        Yesterday in a voice vote Congress gutted the bill.

        “Surely this explains why the bill was rushed and voted in the matter of hours: one can’t have a debate over matters of “national security” especially if the financial well-being of Congress is at risk. As Washington Times recaps, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, introduced the bill on Thursday and had the chamber vote on it late that evening. The House took the bill up on Friday afternoon and passed it by unanimous consent, with no members objecting. Republican leaders did not give lawmakers the traditional three days to read the bill before holding a vote.”

        • Chip

          yet another reason to impeach every last one of them including Nancy rich Bitch Pelosi the crook of California every one of them is crooked as can be they all have feathered there own nests with OUR tax dollars
          and you can bet she uses every tax loop hole and trick she can to get out of paying her “Fair share ”

          does any one remember Harry (sour puss ) Reid the dithering old fool when asked how he had managed to accumulate about $10 million dollar’s he said he and his wife had lived on his small meager senators salary.

          ( that and his back door deals and illegal land sales )

          Harry once said Paying income tax is voluntary ( would like to see how he does that

          ask a true Mormon from Utah and Nevada what they think of him and you will hear “not very much ”

          he was once accused of taking improper liberties with a very young girl and about 2 months later she died in a car accident.
          Chappaquiddick any one ?

          he is not liked among his own religion and Needs to be retired

          Skittle shitting unicorn

        • YO MAC!!!

          YOU BET IT IS CHIP!!

          Thanks Chip!! Sharp Eyes Brother! Oh, the full credit to you on catching this Friend!!!

          YO MAC!!! THIS is the post I sent you the email on earlier…

          Folks, everyone here, the Congress of these United States has just ‘sneaked’ through a revocation of the previously passed bill that made them UNABLRE to play the Congressional insider-trading game…

          This demonstrates – Clearly – what the actual status quo is…they have Never played by the Rules, they are not not now playing by the rules…THEY are NEVER going to Play by the RULES…THEY HOLD THEMSELVES TO BE ABOVE THE RULES!

          Game, Set, and Match Folks…ALL the PROOF You Need!

          See Y’all Monday, time to take this dog back to the KENNEL…where it BELONGS! Howling MAD in the streets?
          Better be, if you want to have a country left….

          NOT NEARLY ‘NUFF SAID!

          JOG

      32. A tip for any dried milk users. When you make it, use warm tap water….dissolves all dried milk and enhances flavor. And I sometimes add a teaspoon of sugar to add flavor. We don’t drink much milk, so we mix a quart at a time. It will last six weeks as opposed to store milk which won’t last long.

        Also, take a look at home canning. We can meals that we know we like…bean soup, veggie soup, spaghetti sauce,our meat rabbits,etc. And it lasts a long long time. We also buy soon to be out of date meat, freeze it, and can it at a later date.

        • @bc … ramen noodles and mac & cheese have zero nutritional value they’re empty calories and actually are bad for your heart .

          buy real whole grain non-gmo heirloom brown rice / lentils in the big bags grown in the usa(less radiation) . better for you .

          ~rvTinkle

      33. No dried beans for us. We have 100 cans of Bush’s Baked Beans. No pasta sauce. We have boxes of hamburger helper that we’ll make with canned chicken. Same with chili. We have at least 150 boxes of Mac & Cheese and another 100 cups of Ramen Noodles. We also have a lot of really good instant blueberry oatmeal.

        The best way to store coffee is to buy instant coffee. It lasts forever.

      34. What a great and concise article! I enjoyed reading it.
        I too already have most of the items listed among my preps. But, as braveheart said, I do need to add to them.
        It is such a good feeling to go down the list and say to myself, “Check, got it, Check, got that”….

      35. Maple Syrup 🙂

        (NaturalNews) A recent study found over 20 compounds in pure maple syrup that support health, 13 of which are first-time discoveries. Several of these new compounds exhibit anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and anti-diabetic properties. Maple syrup also has a powerful vitamin and mineral profile which furthers its health promoting capacity.

        According to an article in the Science Daily, the study took place at the University of Rhode Island with Navindra Seeram who specializes in medicinal plant research. His aim is to educate the public about the benefits of diverse plant and berry foods along with natural products.

        Link to follow

      36. I have gone the pre-made freeze dried and home packed mylar route in lieu of canned goods. I am not the biggest fan of canned foods, so I know what I will have to “rotate” will have to be either trashed or donated. Also, we are waiting for our first garden to sprout soon.

        • The advantage of home canning is that all of the supplies are reusable indefinitely. You never have to trash or donate because you will be eating it all and replenishing every year. After the initial investment in jars, lids, and pressure canner, there is no further cost except your time in growing food, preparing it, canning it, and cutting wood for the rocket stove.

          • @ Arch – I have been pondering the home canning idea. If have ZERO knowledge and experience, but I have found jillions of online articles, etc. I am concerned that I will, true to form, probably end up blowing the effin roof off the house in some random canning tragedy. I did, however, purchase a small 6 qt. pressure cooker for cooking dried beans without the need to pre-soak. I assumed that this would save time and cooking fuel. Anyway, I digress. I do agree, since we are hopefully going to have some fresh stuff available from the garden to can this year, that it is a wise idea to further explore home canning. Thanks again for reinforcing my initial thoughts.

      37. prepay your playboy magazine subscriptions so when the dollar crashes or emp knocks out power you can still have a steady supply of porn delivered to your door.

        • you are right, but I only read the jokes.

      38. Thanks, Gray Owl! I love maple syrup. It’s expensive but its good for sugar replacement… nice and sweet! Glad to know its good for you too!

        One thing I’ve discovered lately is protein powder. My daughter works out (weight lifting) and has huge canisters of protein powder which we both love. When I get home I plan to stock up on a few cans because, as vegetarian, I don’t eat meat and this is good as occassional protein source. Another thing I’ve discovered is protein bars, which we also love… got a bunch to store in my prepping closet.

        • Grasshopper, concur. Unnecessary to feed, hydrate, house or protect a canister of Met-Rx. Vegetarian friendly. Half the day’s protein and other vitamins. Mix with milk or water. Use with soup or cereal.

      39. My wife will find rice, beans, and popcorn on sale. She will fill mason jars (mayo jar will work to since it is not going in a canner)full with them. Place an O2 pack in there and the can will seal. Presto, you have a long term stable food supply. You may be able to do things like grits and corn flour to. The main thing she does first is stick the stuff in the freezer for a few days before placing in the jars to kill any bugs.
        Another important thing to do personally is start planting fruit and nut trees, bushes, vines, etc. Most take a couple of years to establish so start now. Unlike a garden that has to be planted every year, a fruit tree will provide years of food without having to replant every year.
        If you have room, I would begin to stock pile things like firewood and anything else that requires alot of fuel to do. I know you can use a one-man saw and a wheel barrow to do firewood, but you can cut and haul more in a day using a chainsaw and truck than 2 weeks the other way.

        • @EastTenn(or anyone)….I just lost 2 huge trees, and 5 others are damaged from the ICE storm we had here in my part of Canada 2 days ago….they are “Manitoba” maple trees…..not very nice trees and probably 75-100 yrs old….I was going to have them cut up and sent off to the dump…..don’t think they would be all that good in the airtight, as think they would burn too fast? Any thoughts? take care, CC

          • Howdy CC!

            “Manitoba Maple” you say? Typically, the only problem with burning so-called ‘soft woods’ is thier propensity to burn rather rapidly (and produce less heat than an equivalent volume of ‘hardwood’) and to produce a larger amount of deposited Creasote in the flue-work. Beyond that, if it is there, I’d use it…a freebie, as it were…but BTU are BTU’s, no matter where you get them from. The only caveat here involved is burn it with some amount of what you normally burn to limit the Creosote build-up.

            JOG

            PS: ‘Spoke’ With “D” last night…it is purely a mattter of your discretion M’am. I infer that you’re ‘towards’ the West coast…that WOULD lie along my intended route-of-march at the time of my departure…as it happens I might be able to stop in to see BigB as well…

          • Reposted…

            Howdy CC!

            How are you all doing?…Through the ‘Ice Storm’ I mean? We had a HORRIBLE one of those here in the midwest several years ago..I KNOW what that’s like!

            “Manitoba Maple” you say? Typically, the only problem with burning so-called ‘soft woods’ is thier propensity to burn rather rapidly (and produce less heat than an equivalent volume of ‘hardwood’) and to produce a larger amount of deposited Creasote in the flue-work. Beyond that, if it is there, I’d use it…a freebie, as it were…but BTU are BTU’s, no matter where you get them from. The only caveat here involved is burn it with some amount of what you normally burn to limit the Creosote build-up.

            JOG

            PS: ‘Spoke’ With “D” last night…it is purely a mattter of your discretion M’am. I infer that you’re ‘towards’ the West coast…that WOULD lie along my intended route-of-march at the time of my departure…as it happens I might be able to stop in to see BigB as well…

            • OOPS,

              That’s TWICE in a week that’s happened…the site does NOT register the FIRST post as having been sent adter the reply button has been hit…it just returns you to the original page sans comment.

              Apologies Folks.

              JOG

              • And therE is no edit..UGH!!

                I TOLD A FIB!!! here and would like to correct it.
                I did not get water-proof matches at Ace Hdw.
                It was strike anywhere matches I got there.
                I don’t have a clue where I got the water-proof, but those little buggers are expensive now, huh?

                • Howdy JayJay!!

                  Damn NO EDITS!!!

                  I knnnmow, drives me NUTZ!…I alwats catch ‘something’ JUST after I hit the reply button…DOH!!!!!

                  Incidentally,…I noted that you posted through your POC (point-of-contact)…T’would be OK? Yes, I am asking here; My Pappy always said, “Better to ASK first, than be SHOT later!”

                  🙂

                  JOG

                  • Oh, it’s fine–I am a simple gal; not much to hide here.
                    No jewelry, no money(fiat), no silver or gold.
                    Damn. I’m really screwed!!!

            • I cannot wait to meet in person and show you the wonders of N. CA. There is a lot of bad here but there sure is some really wonders to see and experience. This entire article and the unusual civility has kept me reading for a little over an hour. No comments, just absorbing and making notes of some really great information.

              BTW, I wanted all to know who read my post last week about my bees disappearing. I guess they went on vacation because yesterday (Sunday Morning) after getting home from a look see at some RE, another story, The hive is active again.

              I suspect that they smelled my neighbors wood smoke and left for safety sake. That is the longest they have ever taken off for. 4-5 days. Record before is like 2 days. So did not harvest yesterday as would have to put on the suit. Now I will just go with the transfer to the new Super super at the end of this month.

              Please keep the food prepping info coming. I am taking copious notes. Thanks for the PB cookies recipe.

              BigB

      40. Not bad, but this list is way heavy on starches and carbs, which are completely worthless. Number one on the list is canned fruits? Might as well put a carton of cigarettes on the list…

      41. I have a question about water, after the expiration date on the jug, what can I do with it? Is it safe if I boil it for cooking? Can I use it to clean my dishes? How about using it to bath in? And is it safe in my garden?
        Thanks!!

        • It’s safe. If you want to boil it, go ahead. If you do, boil all of it for drinking, bathing, and cleaning.

          It’s safe in the garden without boiling.

        • Howdy SH,

          Somewhat depends…

          In general, water that is ‘bottled’ is heavily filtered, sometimes chemically ‘denatured’ (Yes, I know that’s NOT the proper phrasing with water…) rather de-ionized, as it were. MOST producers of bottled water HAVE to stick ‘something’ in the way of an ‘expiry’ on the jugs because it is INTENDED for ingestion, Yes? Such is the Law. In truth, if those have been stored away from contamination, are yet SEALED with the producer’s seal then you need not fear even drinking it LONG after the ‘supposed’ expiry has been reached, exceeded.

          Futhermore…IF what you have is DISTINCTLY labeled as “triple-distilled DRINKING water” then I would NOT hesitate to drink from that many DECADES later.. presumming proper storage (intuitively – cool, dry, dark) inasmuch as ‘distillation’ is the collection of the STEAM from BOILED water precipitated into a fluid again.

          A SINGLE caveat here….IF you go the distilled route, please note the ‘triple’ above…all such is intended FROM THE START of the process to be drank…therefor it is apriori VERY ‘pure’ to start with. Simply being classified as ‘distilled water’ may – or MAY not – ensure that it is entirely free of a vartiety of dissolved metals (think lead and others here, as well as several volatile organics that MIGHT could get through a single pass in the distilation process….all such as the single variety are perfectly fit for ANYTHING but ingestion (with the single distilled USUALLY being used in flatirons, steamers, vaporizers, car batteries, etc), as are roundly all the others as well (BATTERIES REQUIRE DISTILLED, NOT DE-IONIZED…no ‘salts’…) per the stipulations given.

          Hope that suffices to answer the question sufficiently well…

          Incidentally…New Here? I don’t recognize the handle. If so, then “Congratualtions on ‘coming-out’!”, one or more of the old-timers here usually tries to welcome folk who have come and joined in! Again, if so, Welcome!

          JOG

          • I read years ago that bottled water has an expiration only because one state (probably CA) required it by law. The bottled water companies put the expiration date on everything rather than wasting time and money with two sets of inventory.

            • Howdy ‘A’!

              THAT makes perfect SENSE…it would be CA, wouldn’t it!
              As an aside..maybe by NOT FIGHTING that regulation the company’s might think, “Well…maybe they’ll throw it OUT and we’ll GET another Sale.”…Damn corporate types…

              JOG

          • Thanks everyone for all your info! And thanks Jog, for the welcome!!

        • Data indicates most water on the planet is 4 Billion years old. Just how long do you figure to keep it? Any problem with water will be related to 2 significant issues. The bottle it’s in. and if it was truly Life free. Most plastic degrades and eventually gives the water a bad taste, It also gets brittle and breaks. Some like nylon will last for years, Water in glass or stainless will last forever if properly stored. Coast Guard lifeboat rations have water in a little bag inside a metal can. This allows it to freeze and not break. If its not completely sterile It grows moss if it’s in glass and sunshine. You need to use canning lids or glass not metal.

      42. @ SH. This is a question I have personally experimented with. I took some water that had an expired date that was 6 months out, and I consumed it and nothing happened. It tasted kind of like plastic, and I am not going to do this again. I would think water like this would be fine to water plants with as plants filter out a lot already. Animals? I imagine it would be safe if you could purify it as steam, distilled.

        This is a good question for Mac and the sponsors of water filters on this site. Can you put expired water in bottles or other containers through these water filters and make it safe to drink. This is something I would like to know as well many others I am sure.

        • Maybe you should check in to the Marriott and order room service when SHTF.

          • I hear the bleating of sheep!!

        • Wel BI their is that 15.47 D north mid atlantic ridge mag 5.1 ?? Something bad is coming somewhere for sure!
          Thinker

        • Water by its very nature is going to take on the flavor of the container it’s in barring perfectly clean ceramic or glass jars and lids.

          Bottled water or properly stored tap water has a shelf life of basically until the bottle decays away. The expiration dates on them are just FDA stupidity.

          It will get flavored by the container but it won’t harm you, just your taste buds. THis is where teas, drink mixes, fruits etc can be used to turn the water more palatable.

          If you’re storing tap water then it’ll already be purified by the water treatment plant but you can always overkill it when storing by adding the standard amount of unflavored chlorox to it. If storing in 50 gallon barrels, it’s 3 tablespoons per barrel.

          Any charcoal based filter, which is all of them, will remove the plastic flavors from the water if it gets strong enough to the point of being unpalatable. Brita’s, ZeroWater, Pur’s etc can all make plastic water tasty again and do it cheaply. They won’t remove bugs though.

          If you don’t have a decent ceramic+charcoal based filter system then I’d advise getting one. Water candles ala Doulton Sterasyl’s make a great home made berkey style water filter at 1/10th the cost. If you absolutely have money to burn then Berkeys are good. A couple of years ago they had manufacturing issues with some batches of their candles that resulted in some cartridges basically falling apart. This should be be resolved and not happen again but just throwing it out there as a warning. Their early lies about their so-called tests are what really (never happened) turned me off them and they’re over pricing.

          Katadyn’s or MSR SweetWater’s etc should be in every family’s BoB/home in case you have to leave.

          Boiled water will kill anything living and make water safe to drink barring chemical contaminants. It will end up de-oxygenated and need to have oxygen added back to it purely for ‘flavor’ sake. Just pour it in a longish stream between two containers to ‘re-bubble’ it.

          A pressure canner and some flexible copper tubing makes a great water *coughorwhatevercough* distiller although it’s not very fuel efficient. Note that many chemicals will vaporize at lower temperatures than water does so this is not a good way to remove chemical contaminants.

          You can use ziplock bags or 16oz or smaller clear plastic bottles to purify clear’ish water by leaving it in the sun for several hours. UV kills bacteria. This won’t remove chemicals obviously but it will kill the bugs that might make things unpleasant for you.

          Chlorox only has about a 6 month shelf life before it turns into water. The better option is picking up one of those $2 pool shock packages at Wallyworld or your local pool store. It’ll kill the bugs in up to 20,000 gallons of water and has a 2+ year shelf life. Just get a new one every year and store outside in an open top plastic container that won’t get wet with plenty of ventilation.

          Make sure you have the ability to capture water off your roof or pick up some tarps and supporting material to stockpile to make rain catches.

          Water is one thing we’ve done a lot of research on. Without clean water you die, 100% of the time.

          • Having a prior water treatment grade 2 and distribution grade 2 license, I can say that clorox (sodium hypoclorate) will store for a few years. You are correct that it will degrade over time. 6% strength will most likely be down to 1 1/2 to 3%. Store in a cool dry DARK place. When treating water, you can use a regular pool cl2 tester. You will have a demand at first (requiring a little more clorox to kill off the bugs) then maintain a residual of about 1/2ppm. If you are going to buy a water tank or barrels, try to get a dark colored one such as black or green. anything that light will not penetrate.

            • Howdy dave b,

              Absolutely correct…actually, moreover, inamuchb as Chlorox (soduim Hypochorite is anstoichiometric compound it is thcase that sO LONas it can be prevented – utterly from ecxecuting mass transfer with the external environment that ot (much like water) simply wouldn’t change. That said a VERY small amount of gaseuous transfer occurs with the surrounding environment (sometimes via the use of slightly sub-standard container material.

              It is also the case that the air we breate is LOADED with all kinds of ‘cruft’…pollens, dust, etc and every particle of those once having entered into a container will react with the active ingredient thus lowering the potency of same. A FULLY SEALED, NEVER OPENED container from a non-value Brand (the Chlorox brand for example) WILL be good for a VERY long time.

              JOG

        • Berkey. Solves most of those problems.

      43. This article got me going again, just returned from WalMart, stocked up on $142 worth of storage food. Ramen, canned meals, tinned fruit, tinned meat, corn meal, canned nuts, canned vegetables, canned potatoes, some extra spices, big can of freeze-dried banana slices, some powdered milk, pasta, sauces, raisins, dried figs and apricots, couscous, dried beans, etc.

        And two pie shells for the weekend treat !

      44. Seems like a topic I can contribute to. I’ve learned so much from ya’ll. An easy way to make nice thick pasta sauce from all those garden tomatoes and not still be canning at midnight…. Day 1 pick tomatoes, skin, place in roaster, season according to your recipe, turn roaster to 200-250 degrees. Have a drink, read a book, take a nap…. stir every couple hours. Stir and turn to 200 before you go to bed. Day 2 Stir the nice thick sauce, can as usual. Done by noon. Repeat. 🙂

        • @Gopher….I love that idea, in the roaster (in the oven?) a 2 day project….is my kind of canning! Thanx for sharing, take care, CC.

          • I use a free standing roaster (think church supper), but no reason you couldn’t do it in the oven. I do about 20 lbs of tomatoes at a time. So much easier this way and really nice and thick.

        • You should see a video about tomato sauce at:

          www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=bFvs0hUNue0

          It is the last in a series on depression cooking. The lady in the video was 96 years old. She is fun to watch. She starts out by saying “I’m pretty damn old.”

          • Honest, when I Tried to use that Link, I got How to stop watching PORNO and Masturbating. Not sure I want either.

      45. i didn’t notice anyone mentioning PET FOOD

        or laxatives.

        those commericial dried fruits are full of nitrates which in some cause diarrhea (trail mix,also)

        BRAT is best for diarrhea; Bananas, Applesauce, Rice and Toast

        • A little trick I picked up down in Mexico to stop diarrhea is a hard boiled egg. I thought BS at the time but it does work really well.
          BigB

      46. Excellent food list!

        Salt (listed under seasonings) is something that most people take for granted, but is important. Be sure to store LOTS of salt. Salt has a very long shelf life and has multiple uses – cooking, medicinal, etc.

        I believe it will be a very useful as a trading item.

      47. FORT WORTH, TX – APRIL 13: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, celebrates by shooting revolvers in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas. Credit: (Credit too long, see caption)

        If you thought that the media was fueling an anti-NRA bias in the wake of the group sponsoring a NASCAR race in Texas, the Associated Press (AP), ESPN, and even reportedly Fox fueled that theory with their handling of the race’s coverage.

        The AP wrote an entire article without referencing the race’s official name, the NRA 500. ESPN’s live, 1am ET edition of SportsCenter did the same thing. TheBlaze also received several tips from those who watched the race on Fox’s local affiliates saying the network, too, seemed to be erasing the NRA from it’s paid-for position.

        Just more proof of who owns your media, and who they cater to, if this country would wake the hell up , these assholes would not have a job.
        engage or be enslaved people

      48. I use some food items are in the garden also. Here is a recipe I have used on my tomatoes.

        Treatment for Tomato Blight
        Mix a 1/4 cup Epsom salts with 2 tablespoons of powdered milk in about 5 cups of planting soil. Place a cup or two of the mixed dirt in the hole where you’re going to plant the tomato plant.

        Once planted, sprinkle another 2 TBS of powdered milk around the stem. This took care of my blight.
        The spores stay in the soil, and I plant in containers, so I was desperate. It REALLY worked well, and my tomatoes were abundant last year.

        *I also mix some food grade diatomaceous earth in the soil when planting or transplanting in the garden.

        And remember, if the blight gets the tomatoes, it can also go after the cucumbers!

      49. New bird flu causes brain damage, multi-organ failure – H7N9

        “A new report on three of the first patients in China to contract a novel strain of bird flu has U.S. officials worried about a grim scenario that includes severe illness with pneumonia, septic shock, brain damage and multi-organ failure.”

        “As of Friday, Chinese officials said it had infected at least 43 people in four Chinese provinces and killed 11 in the past two months.”

        “On Saturday, China’s center for disease control confirmed the first case of the new bird flu strain in Beijing: A seven-year-old girl whose parents work in the live poultry trade has been infected.”

        Drudge Report

      50. Food grade diatomaceous earth has multiple uses – protects stored food from insects, in the garden, etc. It can also be safely used to de-worm humans, dogs and cats.

        It is safer to de-worm larger animals such as horses with a recipe like this.

        Off-Grid Worming Recipe for Horses
        (Most of these items you can grow yourself.)

        Use a mixture of 40% sunflower and pumpkin seeds, 30% tobacco leaves (loose pipe tobacco from the store works) and the rest parsley flakes and garlic.

        Fill up a gallon ice cream bucket and you can worm over 20 horses with it.

        According to research, intestinal worms release from the stomach and intestinal lining during the full moon to breed. If you use a mixture such as this or others, the rough texture of the mixture scrapes the worms away and right out of the horses.

        It is much cheaper than conventional worming, which can run up to $8/tube every 60 days. And the horse manure (garden fertilizer) isn’t contaminated by the chemicals in the tube wormer. But what most people don’t think about is that horse manure tainted with worming medication is also tainted and will kill the good worms in the soil once the manure is on the ground.

        Note: Ivermectin products in the manure will continue to kill beneficial stuff in your soil for 28 days post worming. Daily feed through wormer like strongid will eventually sterilize your whole place. Panacure or safeguard does the least damage to your soil.

        Note: I have family members who have used this recipe on their horses for the last four years.

        Link below about diatomaceous earth.

        • link won’t post

          Diatomaceous earth info sheet available at:

          www dot dirtworks dot net

          • Diatomaceous earth also makes a good water filter pre cl2.

        • I just scattered DE under my 3 exterior door rugs..found two ants already.

        • DOES this come as any suprise?

          Those People have TRASHED thier country,

          11,000 PIG corpses dumped into a major river,

          Thousands of waterfowl dying in water SO polluted that it KILLS?!

          The Great People’s Republic of China…

          …a filthy PIT for the creation of a bio-plague…

          TOO MANY PEOPLE IN ONE PLACE!

          Seems to me you don’t exactly have to be an ‘Einstein’ or a ‘Pasteur’ to figure that out…??????

          What is ‘DOH!!! in Chinese?

          JOG

          • Ya I guess Im suprised they dont have alot more deaths just from the filth they live in…somthing to think about when you buy that can/jar/pack of whatever marked product of china,personally I make sure to never buy anything from china…Im not too woried about the flu stuff though…just a repeat of what happened a few years back and all it amounts to is an excuse for fedgov Inc and monsanto toroll out another setof rules and regs to save us from somthing they most likely had their hand in creating!Never let a good crisis go to waste and by all means never stop creating good crisis!…youd think they could direct some of that so-called production capability towards the production of ways to clean up themselves and their land!

          • JOG- Being a linguistic connoisseur, perhaps I can help. The most widely accepted American English equivalent of the Chinese phrase ‘DOH’ is a term which is quite common in the south. Say it slowly and follow the pronunciation guide…

            “Wal-Mart” (wahl- mart)

            Hope that helps.

            • Howdy Smokin, REB

              If Y’all don’t moind I’ll get you both here in one shot…As I looked through this forum I was HORRIFIED to see that in REALITY it had DAMN near become the “JOG personal Forum” instead of SHTFPlan…MAC is gonna hate ME for having plastered myself throughout this (Deep look of shame here…sincerely.)

              Smokin’! how goes it Bro? THANKS for the linguistic illumination…I NEEDED that! 😉 All the while I was confused thinking it was actualy “Kwang-Ho-Ne-Che-wi”
              THANK god you stepped in…else I might have accidenatlly used that in a Korean Restaurant and triggered a NUCLEAR exchange with the North by MISTAKE!
              😉 🙂

              REB, Wassup Friend? The issue with Flu is a slightly more worrsiome one. As you noted the Flu has an incredible ability to mutate…far faster than almost any known viral pathogen. In a NATURAL population this isn’t terribly problematic as part of the mutation rate depends on HOW BIG a pool of host it can invade and then HOW fast can it move through that population.

              Having said that…THINK about China…one more time.
              Perhaps the phrase ‘accelartaed mutation’ comes to mind?
              China is the LAST place you want something like that to manifest itself in…beleive me. Till later Guys!

              JOG

              • Youre right…china isnt the place you want to see anything get started for real naturally or even manmade its a ripe crowded petri dish…my air of disconcern if you will is just my deep distrust of the govicorp and knowing how they manipulated the mad cow outbreak and the bird/swine flu episodes a few years back and then we find out the govt was the source for at least some of the viral material…wasnt really trying to make light or blow it off as being nothing but just pointing out how they like to create problems and then rescue us with their pre-made solution,all the while hampering our ability to produce/grow foodstuffs and our liberty in general,as a farmer this type issue especially interests/disturbs me…hope that makes sense. 🙂

                • Mornin REB,

                  “…wasnt really trying to make light or blow it off as being nothing but just pointing out how they like to create problems and then rescue us with their pre-made solution,all the while hampering our ability to produce/grow foodstuffs and our liberty in general,as a farmer this type issue especially interests/disturbs me…hope that makes sense.”

                  Yep, it do! And Yes, ‘THEY’ do those things don’t they?…Not a lot to TRUST there, I agree!

                  I didn’t take it that you were ‘dissing’ the whole China thing Friend…it’s just the case that most don’t grasp how BAD China and India are as ‘breeding grounds’ for the next iteration of Stephen Kings ‘The Stand’

                  I see this from a different perspectibve than do most..I’m a mathematician, I see the propagation from that viewpoint…it’s a VERY well-defined problem in mathematics and both of the ones I mention aboeve ARE the absolute PERFECT propagation vectors for any such, kinda like that movie a while back, “The Perfect Storm”, Yes? Here it’s “The Perfect PLAGUE”….I DO have nightmares about this…

                  Adios Friend!…

                  JOG

      51. @ Everyone near to the New Madrid Fault System, You have a problem. Two earthquakes on the Mid Atlantic Ridge at 15 and 1/2 degrees north. This is like a sharpshooter aiming right at the southern to central portion of the New Madrid, between 14 to 20 degrees north. A 4.6 and then a 5.1. This means that at least the New Madrid can expect a high 3 to mid 4 in the next month. No big deal, BUT you start to get this up into the mid 6 range or higher in this location, the New Madrid will throw out a large earthquake. This area in the past has proven again and again to be the sign before the New Madrid gets active.

        The USGS will almost certainly be on deep monitoring this week after the Mid Atlantic Ridge moving at the pivot point. Anyone living nearby, please let us all know about this. Everyone else needs to watch this area extremely closely if I am away from the computer. When you get a 4.6 and then a 5.1, this means there is a possibility of grown in strength. You start to see this region getting larger and larger and the North American plate is in the process of twisting and putting massive pressure directed at the New Madrid. People need to be aware of this should the earthquake intensity get stronger here.

        Again, what for the USGS around the New Madrid this week, they will be out in force. They know what I know, and where the points to look for that put more tension on the New Madrid. This is definitely one of those points. Those living from Arkansas to Missouri area right now should be ready for shaking in the next coming weeks. Seriously watch this area for more intense earthquake between 14-20 degrees on the Mid Atlantic Ridge, IF it gets bigger, the New Madrid could be in the last stages of failure.

      52. @ Thinker. When I saw this is I said to myself, SH^&. Not so much the size, but because the second quake on the Mid Atlantic Ridge was larger than the first. Now it is a waiting game to see if this continues to grow. The 4.6 just minutes ago was at 13.64 degrees on the Mid Atlantic Ridge, this one was directed at the southern most tip of the New Madrid. IF the USGS is not out in force this week checking out the New Madrid, they are not doing their job. They will be, and I am looking forward to the reports from all those around the New Madrid of the worried or concerned faces of the USGS employees. Again, as long as it does not grow on that section of the Mid Atlantic Ridge, it is likely only a moderate quake at worst is coming. IF it grows bigger, then all bets are off the table.

        • BI;I don’t have much faith in the alphabet agencies doing their job,none of them want to help the people, only their own!
          You are the only one with knowledge and foresight that is truly and unselfishly trying to help, Thanks for all you do!!!!

      53. BI ;You might want to check that link that i posted to Eric dollard and see his forecasting on earthquakes and the sound the earth makes just before a large earthquake?
        I like his thought on music!! Check it out!

        Thinker

        • @ Thinker. I can trust the government as far as I can throw a 500 pound rock. Fortunately for all of us, as you said their self interest is all that matters, we can see what they are doing and this shows something bad is afoot. I can’t wait to see them scrabbling around from the reports of people around the New Madrid, trying to figure if the New Madrid is ready to snap. Also if you see DHS agents and military movement around the New Madrid this means they suspect something. Very seldom do you get really large earthquake around spreading ridges like the Mid Atlantic. When you get high 6’s or low 7’s it means the plate is violently on the move for whatever reason. Could be the opposite end has released it lock for example.

          I have watched these science fiction movies about time travel and I have always wanted to forewarn people of some catastrophe to save them. Knowing something baout the plates and faults vastly helps this desire to warn people. When you have the same area get hit in the past and that leads to a certain area getting hit with a much bigger earthquake later, you get an idea what to look. The plates have moved in the past century at most 30 yards, so these coordinates will change very tiny amounts. 1000 years ago when the area between 14 and 20 degrees on the Mid Atlantic Ridge got hit, this affected the New Madrid as of today.

          Now it is a watch and wait situation. Further action here or on the Caribbean plate will cause more tension to build on the New Madrid. The earthquake seismic stations are what to watch now for this. A must watch are the USGS and their action around the fault. Even with their self interest, not to be right on top of the fault checking it out would be extremely counterproductive for BO. That BO wants to know before something breaks and sends the country into chaos so the main plan of martial law can be shovelled down on everyone as efficiently and quickly as possible. Not to be down there in the New Madrid would be crazy. It will be interesting to see hust how many and how much monitoring is done.

          I have a slow computer and downloading music takes until doomsday. I might try anyway later. I just hope that IF the Mid Atlantic Ridge does flare up in a major way around that junction point of 14 to 20 degrees north that people will take the utmost of preparation if they are near to the New Madrid. I am still really waiting for the next very large quake to hit from Mexico to Chile, most likely Mexico.

      54. SUNDAY PREPPER TIP:

        The wooden snap cloths pins. I use one on a opened loaf of bread. Throw the twister away, snap on a pin. Cereal box liner, fold down, snap on a pin. Half package of frozen food, fold down, snap on a pin. potato chips, fold down, snap on a pin. Anything you can fold down, twist, or what ever can be held with a cloths pin. Bag of a hundred I got at Menards here up north. Just 2or $3.00 a bag.

        • @High noon

          Try a paper clip also. Those large ones can handle a thicker closure. I use those a lot and clothes pins too.
          I have used them for hanging various Christmas lights (paper clips, that is) They are handy gadgets, not expensive and take up a small space.

          4 year prepper

          • 4yearprepper,

            I keep some extra paper clips (large size) in the car also. They come in handy to organize receipts, close a bag of pretzels, etc.

      55. Crackers? For all the soup?

        • Vacuum sealed in mason jars.
          Got ’em. I like my peanut butter!!

      56. The creator of Maudy Fricket, Jonathan Winters, has passed away. He was a very funny guy. Laughter helps us get thru the nonsense.

        • One of the best ever!!!!

        • Hi maudy,

          I DIDN’T ‘catch’ the reference implicit in your ‘handle’ till you mentioned it…DOH!!

          Truly, Jonathan was a UNIQUE fellow! I thought, when I heard the news of his passing, “The World is a somewhat smaller place now without him…”

          Seems more and more the GOOD ones are leaving…just us…left behind.

          JOG

      57. Towns across the U.S. have a monthly boom and bust cycle — and it’s based on federal aid

        THE ECONOMY OF Woonsocket, R.I., was about to stir to life. Delivery trucks were arriving and stores were extending their hours. The bus company was warning riders to anticipate “heavy traffic.” A community bank, soon to experience a surge in deposits, was rolling a message across its electronic marquee on the night of Feb. 28: “Happy shopping! Enjoy the 1st.”

        “Today, we fill the store up with everything,” he said. “Tomorrow, we sell it all.”

        At precisely one second after midnight, on March 1, Woonsocket would experience its monthly financial windfall—nearly $2 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Federal money ( our money people)

        Spending on SNAP has doubled in the past four years and tripled in the past decade, surpassing $78 billion last year. A record 47 million Americans receive the benefit—including 13,752 in Woonsocket, one third of the town’s population (does this sound like RECOVERY folks?)

        The 1st is always circled on the office calendar at International Meat Market, where customers refer to the day in the familiar slang of a holiday. It is Check Day. Milk Day. Pay Day. Mother’s Day.

        SNAP enrollment in Rhode Island has been rising for six years, up from 73,000 people to nearly 180,000, and now three quarters of purchases at International Meat Market are paid for with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

        (This isnt going to end well people..you dam sure better be ready!)

        Mac if you post this story and the link I provided above, would you at least acknowledge me this time?

        thanks

      58. Solar Follow-up,

        The anticipated CME last arrived as per NASA’s timetable but was quite a bit reduced in effect relative to what we were actually expecting. Planetary magnetometers are deflecting still, but on balance the effects seen are quite a bit lower than the last such event we monitored some few weeks ago whcih were produced from a much smaller genitive flare.

        Nothing to see here this time Folks…Move along…Really! 😉

        JOG

        • Now’s a good time for everyone to download old cookbooks and reference items while we still have internet. I’ve found many free out of print cookbooks from the mid 1800’s to the early 1900’s. And these aren’t like todays cookbooks. Besides using everyday items (old school), many explain how to prepare and find the ingredients. Also, medical and herbal guides from years ago.

          It took a lot of looking, but I’ve also found some on making your own synthroid. My daughter had her thyroid taken out, so there will be considerable effort put into keeping her alive after the stockpile of modern synthroid runs out.

          If anyone is looking for an herbal, medicinal, food or whatever related book, let me know. I have a fairly large list of pdf’s now, but I’m always looking for more.

          molon labe

          • Kettle Moraine, I take compounded thyroid, I would welcome any info on homemade, this is a big concern of mine, I have everything else covered, but not this.
            Thanks!

          • Howdy KM!,

            FASCINATING…MAKING sythetic Thyroxin (Synthroid)…HOW DO you manage?! (JOG…somewhat flabbergasted at the ingenuity involved) That’s has GOT to be an amazing thing! Tip ‘O the Hat!!

            JOG

            PS: My niece is diabetic…I’ve ben trying to get a method for SAFELY deriving an insulin replacement (if and only if, all else fails) so I AM aware of the difficulty involved…t’ant esay Friend!! 😉

            • GO & JOG– Sorry, but I’m capable of doing a lot of things but I don’t make ‘synthetic’ synthroid. Natural thyroid hormone replacement is derived from pig or sheep thyroids. It can come from almost any animal, but all the research is from pigs and sheep. We aren’t doing it now because the doctors are against it and synthetic is cheap, but I’m positive we can do it. I’ve stocked up on a couple years of synthetic, and I’ll keep adding to the stock, so we have time for things to quiet down and make our own.

              We have a lot of pig farms in our area and it takes a very small amount to replace a humans’ needs. And as a side benefit the natural is much better than synthetic because it supplies all five hormones needed, not just one like synthroid.
              molon labe

            • JOG– Forgot about the insulin on my last post. Don’t know if you found this one, but I thought it is pretty good and written in layman’s language. Kinda long winded, but I didn’t want to be delayed by moderation.

              The present method of preparation is as follows. The beef or pork pancreas is finely minced in a large grinder and the minced material is then treated with 5 cc of concentrated sulphuric acid, appropriately diluted, per pound of glands. The mixture is stirred for a period of three or four hours and 95 per cent alcohol is added until the concentration of alcohol is 60 to 70 per cent. Two extractions of the glands are made. The solid material is then partially removed by centrifuging the mixture and the solution is further clarified by filtering through paper. The filtrate is practically neutralized with NaOH. The clear filtrate is concentrated in vacuo to about 1/15 of its original volume. The concentrate is then heated to 50°C which results in the separation of lipoid and other materials, which are removed by filtration. Ammonium sulphate (37 g per 100 cc) is then added to the concentrate and a protein material containing all the insulin floats to the top of the liquid. The precipitate is skimmed off and dissolved in hot acid alcohol. When the precipitate has completely dissolved, 10 volumes of warm alcohol are added. The solution is then neutralized with NaOH and cooled to room temperature, and kept in a refrigerator at 5°C for two days. At the end of this time the dark-coloured supernatant alcohol is decanted off. The alcohol contains practically no potency. The precipitate is dried in vacuo to remove all trace of the alcohol. It is then dissolved in acid water, in which it is readily soluble. The solution is made alkaline with NaOH to pH 7.3 to 7.5. At this alkalinity a dark-coloured precipitate settles out, and is immediately centrifuged off. This precipitate is washed once or twice with alkaline water of pH 9.0 and the washings are added to the main liquid. It is important that this process be carried out fairly quickly as insulin is destroyed in alkaline solution. The acidity is adjusted to pH 5.0 and a white precipitate readily settles out. Tricresol is added to a concentration of 0.3% in order to assist in the iso-electric precipitation and to act as a preservative. After standing one week in the ice chest, the supernatant liquid is decanted off and the resultant liquid is removed by centrifuging. The precipitate is then dissolved in a small quantity of acid water. A second iso-electric precipitation is carried out by adjusting the acidity to a pH of approximately 5.0. After standing overnight the resultant precipitate is removed by centrifuging. The precipitate, which contains the active principle in a comparatively pure form, is dissolved in acid water and the hydrogenion concentration adjusted to pH 2.5. The material is carefully tested to determine the potency and is then diluted to the desired strength of 10, 20, 40, or 80 units per cc. Tricresol is added to secure a concentration of 0.1 per cent. Sufficient sodium chloride is added to make the solution isotonic. The insulin solution is passed through a Mandler filter. After passing through the filter the insulin is retested carefully to determine its potency. There is practically no loss in berkefelding. The tested insulin is poured into sterile glass vials with aseptic precautions and the sterility of the final product thoroughly tested by approved methods.

              The method of estimating the potency of insulin solutions is based on the effect that insulin produces upon the blood sugar of normal animals. Rabbits serve as the test animal. They are starved for twenty-four hours before the administration of insulin. Their weight should be approximately 2 kg. Insulin is distributed in strengths of 10, 20, 40, and 80 units per cc. The unit is one third of the amount of material required to lower the blood sugar of a 2-kg rabbit which has fasted twenty-four hours from the normal level (0.118 per cent) to 0.045 per cent over a period of five hours. In a moderately severe case of diabetes, one unit causes about 2.5 grams of carbohydrate to be utilized. In earlier and milder cases, as a rule, one unit has a greater effect, accounting for three to five grams of carbohydrate.

              • Bless You Kettle!!

                MANY Thanks…THIS is BETTER than what I had found!!
                The ‘testing’ aspect of your post is far more fully ‘fleshed-out’ than what I myself had located. THAT was the part that I was MOST distressed over! To be sure, such as this wold NEVER be attempted but were the NEED truly exigent…utterly. BUT having the KNOWING is the part that allows one to Finally breath that deep sigh of RELIEF.

                Again, My profound Thanks! I am indedted.

                JOG *Thankful*

      59. I know this is off topic..
        But not many survival sites are talking about H7N9.
        Now named “Novel Influenza”

        If you read up on the build of this super flu virus, this is a scary and horrific thing. We need to be prepping for this!!
        If Novel goes airborne which scientists think it will, due to the fact that it is mutating so fast. It could be 10 times worse than the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, and could easily kill off 1 billion people worldwide.
        Let it be known that current antibiotic and vaccines are ineffective against Novel virus, the only know thing that could be effective against Novel is collided Silver.
        People do not take this flu litely as most did with the Pig flu.
        This one is a monster in comparison.
        Recent events in chica show that the incubation has gone from two weeks down to a little over a week as this virus replicated itself in human lung tissue.
        It causes lung failure, brain damage and septis.
        Get your preps in order folks.

        • Right, and another good reason to have at least something of pure silver. Colloidal silver can even be made with a 1 oz. silver bar. Make sure it is 99.999% pure.
          molon labe

        • It has been confirmed by reliable research that a virus can not exist in a concentration of 25,000 units of Vit A. Everyone I can convince takes 30,000 units of Vit A every 12 hours when exposed to a viral respiratory bug. I personaly have not had a viral flu since I read about Vit A which was 5 years ago. I take the Vit A as a preventative when I go to a medical doctors office, hospital or am forced to make a trip to the dreaded Wally World. Please be aware that high Vit A could cause problems with a fetus if you are pregnant.
          If the Novel Influenza comes anywhere close, I will be taking Vit A daily as long as there is a threat. My thoughts are that a vaccine will be a joke, and probably cause more problems than the flu just like all the other flu vaccines in the past have done.

          • @Chip—well gee then…you just posted the cure for AIDS I guess.

          • Howdy Chip,

            A CAUTIONARY note here…

            Vitamins A and D are both fat soluble..that is they store IN the lipid stores in the body, and both are HIGHLY toxic – fatally so – above certain levels…CAUTION Friend.

            JOG

            • JOG, goodness Hon…take a break.!! You’re goin’ to wear
              Yourself out. Bless your heart, we’ve all got Google search!!
              We’re a. Pretty sharp bunch here, it’ll be OK if you don’t
              Respond to every post.

              Keep preppin’

              • Howdy tCM!

                You’re right of course…Time grows short now, my time here. Thus, the plenitude of my responses in this place… I wORRY for MANY. What I know, I will soon no longer be able to here share…it will go with me, yes..but no longer here.

                I will restrain myself henceforth… 😉 Thanks for the ‘gentle reminder’.

                JOG

      60. @HighNoon….Yes, I have used the wooden clothes peg/pin for years on bags of catfood, frozen “stuff” etc…(I am way too “frugal” to buy the “real” clips at the $ store! (: Glad to see more “like me”!!

        Another thing I would never throw away are the bags that onions, oranges, etc. come in…..they make the greatest scrub pads on pots and pans, and do not scratch! My friend uses hers to fill with suet for the birds……I don’t feed the birds, as I think of the time that I may not be here, what would they do then? take care, CC

        • Canada Canuk:
          Thank you for your comment.
          I will post another “SUNDAY PREPPER TIP” next Sunday.
          I hope you an others (join in) on what you have to offer, like you just did. Little things you “REALLY” like.

      61. Iwas sad to notice that much of this list comprises fairly unhealthy food choices. Then I read several posts regarding insulin. Do you realize there is a direct connection between refined carbs and type 2 diabetes?
        Seeds for sprouting are perhaps one of the best things to save. Unprocessed coconut oil would also be a good choice.Maybe the best all around thing to save is quoina.It is high protein and can be eaten steamed like rice or sprouted and raw which is the best way to get the most value from it. You need real food as live as possible if you want to feed your body and your MIND to stay healthy and wide awake.

        Not the SAD- Standard American Diet which I’m sad to say is what most of this list comprises.

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