More snow and Week 36

We have an 80% chance of more snow today with winds blowing in the low 20's somewhere. 

Our cat Tank seems to be going down hill poor boy. :( We have had him 7 years and he was 5 plus when we got him. This is his; I wuv you look.

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Six

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.


Non-food list:

Basic tools: Hammer, regular and star head screw drivers, regular and needle nosed pliers, electrical tape, hand saw for cutting wood and a hack saw for metals or small pieces of wood.
Any other tools you think you may need.

Assorted nails, screws and wire


You can normally find assorted screws, nails and picture hanging supplies sold in a case together.

Food list:


Cream of Wheat cereal: 3 boxes (This can also be used as a thickener for soups, like in cream soups as in potato etc)


Cornstarch: 2 boxesCocoa: 2 to 5 pounds

Recipe:

Eggnog
1 egg beaten well
1-cup milk
1 and ½ tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt
Dash of nutmeg (optional)
Beat well together chill. 2 servings

Orange Pineapple Punch
1 large bottle of 7-Up

1 large can orange juice frozen concentrate
1 large can pineapple frozen concentrate
1 large bottle of ginger ale
Mix add ice

This may be a repeat for these recipes for some of you but I thought there might be a few new people here that haven't seen these and I thought with the season it might be time to put them here again.


Spiritual:

May you all have a Merry Christmas and keep the birth of our Savior in your hearts.

Recouping

Hope all had a pretty good Thanksgiving.

Dave was off to work this mornng and all the company went home differnt days on the weekend.

Dave Jr took home 6 new chickens for him and the kids to have fresh eggs.  His older ones were laying like 2 a week.

Today is catch up day with laundry etc etc.

I will have week 36 of the food storage list up sometime this week I hope.

We found soup on sale and bought a couple of cases last time we shopped.  Good for a quick meal with a sandwich.

This pay time will be a no shopping time until next pay check.  Sometimes money just doesn't go far enough lol.  But we are helping out some of our children some so thats the way the cookie crumbles I guess.

35th week

Not much going on here but snow and more snow.

Starting the plans for Thanksgiving and inviting family to see who is coming and what they can bring.

New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Five


This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.


Non-food list:

Duct tape: 2 to 3 rolls


Plastic roll: 2 rolls


Books to read for entertainment: any amount this includes books for children or grand children if necessary.


Food list:

Milk powdered: 15 pounds or in #10 cans (#10 cans are sold at the big store in Clarkston)


Oatmeal: 25 pounds or more


Rice: 15 to 25 pounds

Recipe:

Oatmeal Carrot Muffins


1-cup old fashion oatmeal
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup milk
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
½ cup white flour
½ cup wheat flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
½ cup baking soda
Mix well and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done. Makes 10 muffins

High Altitude Cooking & Baking

Breads: High altitudes may shorten the rising time for your quick breads. Also you will want to rise twice for a better texture for breads.


Cakes: At 3,000 feet and above pressure makes the cell structure expand and cam make a course or fallen cake.Oven temperatures: Increasing the oven temperature 25°F might help the batter before the cells formed by the leavening gases expand to much.


Cookies: You will have to adjust your flour adding a little more and maybe decreasing the fat in the recipe.

Pudding and cream pie fillings: Above 5,000 feet use direct heat by cooking in a saucepan on direct heat
.
Pressure cooking: In a pressure cooker pressure must be increased one pound for each 2,000 feet of elevation. Things like beans and vegetables take longer to cook. Foods take longer to boil also as well as meats take longer to cook over 3,000 feet.



96-hour kits: How are your 72 to 96 hour kits? Does anything in them need updated for winter?

Week 34 An owl week

Another week that has flown past.  Its been real windy the past couple of days; not the coldest in the world but the wind makes it worse. It is 34 degrees right now and I just got back in from letting the chickens out of their coop.

Tuesday when I opened it up I got a big surprise.  An owl flew out and the chickens all came running out scared to death and hid under the trees for a couple of hours.
Whats funny is Dave says he went in the coop to turn off the light and everything seemed normal.  They need 12 to 13 hours of light to lay well so I turn on the ligt when I collect the eggs in the late afternoon cause it gets dark so early now. Lol he didnt see the big owl in there and the only way it got in was flying through the coop door that evening.
I checked and not one dead chicken from the over night guest. Wonderful to say the least.

Our oldest son and family were up here over the weekend and the children injoyed sledding down the hill in the back yard and the hill comng down from the barn.

Our son Seth and his wife Jessie are expecting a new little one come May. Congrats to them.

I am 90% done writing the sequel to After The Dying Time, that feels good. I keep getting asked from our daughter Christine and a couple of the grandkids and some of my friends to get it done so they can read it.

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New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Four

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.


Non-food list:


Hand crank mixer:

Hand Can Opener: 1 at the very least
Knife sharpener: 1
Good pair of work gloves: 2

Food list:

Sugar: 25 to 50 pounds
Vegetables: 8 cans
Shortening: 2 cans

Recipe:


Buttery Rolled Egg Dumplings
1/2-cup butter
3 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Mix butter and flour till crumbly. Add eggs and mix well. Turn out unto floured surface. Roll with a rolling pin until it is about ¼ inch thick, cut in squares and add to boiling broth or other liquid.


New skill:


How are you coming at learning a new skill? Make sure you pick something new to learn. And when you have learned that go on to another. Don’t quit learning.


If you want to take up knitting or crochet and you have the Internet there are some very good sites that have videos of how to do it; knitpicks is very good. http://www.knitpicks.com/Tutorials/Knitting_Tutorials.html
Even youtube has them.



Rendering Suet & Week 33

We were given a big batch of ground suet last Friday night so a long with out regular chores and winter prepareing we got to render suet into tallow.

Have a low to med. heat going. You can do this on a stove, camp stove, grill or camp style fire.
We put a grill work down over a fire. Ours is the back of an old refrig.
Put the ground suet in your pot, we did half at a time so it would melt faster.
The meat scraps will go to the bottom of the pot.
When melted well drain though fine cheese cloth or a pillow case into another pot. 
Clean the pot you melted the suet in pot and put the melted suet in the pot and put it back on the heat. Heat again and then strain again in a clean cloth or fine cheese cloth. Put aside or into conatiners or jars.
Do the same with your other half of suet.
Put in frig. to harden, it will turn white and solid and then stick this in your freezer. You now have tallow.
It can stay in the frig. if you are making soap or candles in the next couple of weeks.

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New 51 Week Storage Ideas Week Thirty Three

This is for two (2) people so buy according to your family’s size.

Non-food list:

Fire Extinguisher: at least 1
Deodorant: 2 of women’s and 2 of men’s, depending on who is in the household
Shaving cream: also 2 of women’s and 2 of men’s, depending on who is in the household
Razors: a package of women’s and men’s

Food list:


Baking Chocolate or chips, a variety of dark and milk chocolate: 4 to 6 packs or bags
Soups: 8 cans
Evaporated milk: 8 cans

Recipe:

Western French dressing
1-cup oil
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
2/3-cup catsup
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons onion powder or salt
1-teaspoon garlic salt or powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Blend all ingredients in an electric blender or mixer. A hand crank one will also work.

Foods to serve 25 people:

Ham baked - 8 pounds
Roast beef – 10 pounds
Roast pork – 10 pounds
Meat Loaf – 10 pounds
Swiss steak – 10 pounds
Ice cream bulk – 1 gallon
Lettuce med heads in salad cups – 3 heads
Peas – fresh 18 pounds or 4 cans
Whipping cream – 1 pint
Rolls – up to 50
Jelly – 1-½ pints
Butter cut in squares – 1 pound
Salad dressing – 1 pint
Pickles – 1-½ pints
Carrots – 3 cans
Green beans fresh – 5 pounds


Spiritual

We are told: If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.


This can go spiritually as well as temporally. It doesn’t matter whether in food storage or preparing for winter or planning the summer’s garden, a test in school or making dinner for a regular meal or a party.


Are we prepared for problems and challenges in life through prayer and reliance on our Heavenly Father and lessons we may be taught during those times?