Healing Broth: Fungus, Seaweed, Sage and Sea Salt

Why should a man die who has sage in his garden?
Old English proverb

Today’s article was originally published at Eatkamloops by Caroline Cooper, one of our valued contributors at Survival Sherpa, and reprinted with her permission. 

Healthy Household: Healing Broth: Part I

Here is my personal blend of fungus, seaweed, sage and sea salt. Have fun and create your own blend to help balance your unique endocrine needs.

“Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?”
Why should a man die who has sage in his garden?
Old English proverb

Food can be medicine. Special broths can have a healing effect when drunk on a regular basis. Here is just one healing broth that will be especially good for peri-menopausal and menopausal women. Healing broths can be a good substitute for caffeine containing beverages which can become troublesome as a woman ages.

This powdered broth can be brought on a road trip or stored as in an emergency food. You can drink the broth by itself or simmer it in some bone broth.

3 parts dried wild-crafted fungus, powdered (choose from list below)
3 parts dried organic sage, ground (optional)
1-2 part sea salt, ground
1 part seaweed, powdered (chosen from list below)

Grind each individual ingredient by itself and in small amounts. Use a Vitamix machine, coffee grinder or food processor. The finer the grind the better the powder will dissolve in hot water or bone broth.

Store broth powder in a glass jar. Remember to date and label the jar with your chosen ingredients and the amounts used. Don’t be afraid to try different combinations. Actually, this is a good idea because you will get a better range of micro-nutrients.

Use one or two teaspoons in each cup of hot water or bone broth. Add more salt if you like a salty broth. Don’t be afraid to use sea salt to taste. If you are wondering if salt is safe to consume please read these two essays: The Salt of the Earth by Sally Fallon Morell and Salt and Our Health by Dr Morton Satin.

Choose your Fungus:

1. Maitake has a complex immune stimulating effect and is reported to help the liver clear viral and environmental contamination. Maitake helps the body better absorb nutrients like zinc and copper.
2. Shiitake has a rich, smoky flavor and is loaded with nutrients, essential amino acids and a highly potent antioxidant, l-ergothioneine. Shiitake contains lentinan which is reported to have a anti-tumor effect.

Choose your Seaweed:

It is reported that seaweed being naturally very high in iodine can improve a woman’s progesterone to estradiol ratios, decreasing estrogen dominance, by increases your free Triiodothyronine (T3).

Here is how different seaweeds can be used to help balance endocrine function. Choose your seaweed with these guidelines in mind or just use your favorite seaweed.

1. Arame (Eisenia bycyclis) was traditionally used to reduce fibrocystic breasts, uterine fibroids, excessive bleeding and ovarian cysts. This seaweed can reduce acne and excessive facial hair common to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
2. Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) is an excellent adrenal adaptogen. It appears that the seaweed helps lengthen, short menstrual cycles, and relieves symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) by supporting progesterone production when a woman is estrogen dominant. The seaweed is reported to help with osteoarthritis and inflammatory joint conditions.
3. Dulse (Palmaria palmata), is very rich in iodine and iron. This seaweed can help with constipation and cyclic mastalgia. It is reported to have an antiviral action against the herpes virus.
4. Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) is traditional used for low sex drive. It is reported to support Triiodothyronine (T3) levels which is involved with the conversion of high-density lipoproteins into progesterone pathway and not into the cortisol pathway.
5. Kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) like all brown seaweeds is rich in alginate and can chelate radioactive materials and heavy metals from the body. The plant is very high in iodine and can help normalize adrenal, pituitary and thyroid health. It is reported to be a blood purifier and can relieve arthritic stiffness.
6. Wakame (Alaria esculenta) can help with constipation and lower blood pressure. It is reported to have an antiviral effect against cytomegalovirus and herpes virus.

For more recipes please see Healthy Household: Staying Clean Safely and Saving Money.

Related articles

• To broth or not to broth…that is the question! (talkpaleo.com)

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6 Essential Zen-like Hacks Guaranteed to Declutter Your Preps

by Todd Walker

I’m adding a new law to Newton’s Laws of Motion. A Nobel Prize in the Physics of Prepping should be coming my way soon!

Here’s a summary of my new law…

The Law of Horizontal Surfaces: All objects in motion tend to stay in motion until they find a horizontal surface to rest upon.

 

Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that everything with mass in the universe is attracted to everything else that has mass in the universe (paraphrasing here).

Apply this law to my Law of Horizontal Surfaces for yourself. I think you’ll confirm my findings.

Here’s an experiment you can do at home, work, or anywhere horizontal surfaces are found. Add people to the environment and note how quickly the non-cluttered horizontal surface attracts objects – of all shapes and sizes. Very un-Zen. Especially when you need to find a tool or, in some cases, your infant you put down “somewhere.”

Preppers are known to collect stuff. And everything has a use…someday. But if you can’t put your hands on what you need, when you need it, it won’t be as useful as you once thought.

It’s called spring cleaning. Some would call it practicing Zen habits. Cleaning the clutter. Simplifying.

This is my last day of Spring break. I can’t wait to get back to school to rest up. Dirt Road Girl and I uncluttered every horizontal surface in our home and my shop. Even vertical surfaces, closets, cupboards, and storage shelves are organized.

Here’s six tips to help you combat the Law of Horizontal Surfaces and live clutter free

A.) Chunk it. Your time, that is. If you don’t have a large block of time, and depending on badly the Law of Horizontal Surfaces has taken over, take it one step at a time. Defy the Law by focusing on one area or zone in your living or work space. This lessens the chance of you getting overwhelmed and quitting.

B.) Chuck it. Your non-essential stuff, that is. Just let it go. Especially the stuff hidden in your junk drawer. We all have those. We hauled a couple of loads of this stuff to a local charity this week. Things I didn’t think I could part with have now found a new horizontal surface to occupy…just not in our space. I’ve noticed that my load is lightened physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually somehow. Peace is a good thing.

Here’s one strategy for clearing a junk drawer. Dump the contents into a box, label it, and then put it in hiding for a month or two. If you don’t need that useful junk in the box during that time, chuck it.

C.) Handle it once. Don’t just wipe all the accumulated clutter in a box and go dump it in the spare bedroom closet. You’re planning on organizing your that closet too, right? Once you put your hands on the objects of clutter, move it once. Find a permanent home for the stuff.

DRG says I’m a borderline hoarder. Not true. I might be able to use that small stripe of chicken wire one day. But the thing about keeping it is that it sits on the limited horizontal space in my shop and attracts more objects.

D.) Pick your battles. The best strategy we’ve found is to pick an area that really grates on our nerves. The spot that makes our shoulders knot up and blood pressure spike. Once you get this place cleaned and organized, let your momentum take you to the next room or counter top.

At one point last week, we realized we needed to tackle my shop. We moved shelving from the house to simplify our living space. I chunked some old shelving in my shop and added the larger shelves from the living room. This allowed for more useful horizontal space in my shop for long-term storage items. A win-win-win for house, shop, and preps.

E.) Make it a habit. Once you’ve got a your space clutter free, keep it that way. Stand back and feel the peace in your de-cluttered space.

But we all tend to backslide into clutter. The Law of Horizontal Surfaces is fierce and doesn’t care. Handle objects once and put them back in their space. When my kids were little, I’d take toys left lying around the house and toss them in a box in the garage. They couldn’t rescue their toys from the box prison for a full week. If they forgot about the toy, it usually got tossed or given away.

F.) Quit your squawking. Stop whining and organize your prepping items. You’ll notice a huge difference in the amount of stuff that becomes useful when it’s de-cluttered.

For example, there’s an old duffel bag in my shop packed with miscellaneous prepping stuff – B.O.B. items, camping supplies, tools, rope, etc. Not anymore. I dumped it on the floor and went through it. I found stuff I’d forgotten I had. It was like Christmas in April.

Get some boxes or bins and separate the pile into categories. Now I can walk to a shelf and find the container of jute twine and other cordage when I need it. Have a labeled container for every category of useful stuff. The rest, chunk it.

In our digital world, our computers and phones are not exempt from the Law of Horizontal Surfaces. You can’t find that excellent article on building community. You filed it under something. But what? Apply these same tips to simplify your digital world.

Checking and responding to email, messages, social media feeds, and comments can be a black hole in your time. Getting organized to handle the clutter will free up your time and get your life simplified. There’s an app for that, right?

Horizontal surfaces are essential. They fight the other immutable law, the law of gravity. There in lies the problem… the pesky Law of Horizontal Surfaces. It takes a little time and effort on your part, but it’s possible to defy this law. And remember, momentum is you best friend.

Keep doing and de-cluttering the stuff!

What’s your best practices for organizing and de-cluttering? Please share them in the comments section.

If this was helpful to you, please share it with your friends. 

How to Make Turkey Jerky with 3 Ingredients (That’s Super Easy and Tastes Like Thanksgiving)

Source: Mark’s Daily Apple

How to Make Turkey Jerky (That’s Super Easy and Tastes Like Thanksgiving)

I’m pleased to have our friend David Maren of Tendergrass Farms pen today’s guest post. He’s written this great how-to for making your own delicious pastured turkey jerky. And don’t miss the coupon code that he’s generously provided below!

Most folks who make turkey jerky just make beef jerky out of turkey. They tend to use lots of teriyaki sauce, sugar, and Worcestershire sauce to mask the turkey-ness of the turkey. To each his own, but in my opinion this is a real shame. After all, turkey is super scrumptious! Especially if you go to the trouble of getting some good quality pastured turkey, you’ll want to preserve its essential turkey flavor as a special feature of your turkey jerky. We’ve discovered an extremely simple way to make delicious, high-protein, sugar-free, turkey jerky that will not only taste and look nothing like beef jerky, but will also magically transport you back to your childhood Thanksgiving dinner table. In fact, between you and me, I think it tastes a lot like buttery mashed potatoes and gravy. But no worries – it’s about as primal as primal can be.

 

This recipe is the very pinnacle of culinary simplicity. You’ll need:

• Turkey breast, at least about 2 LBS (preferably from a good pastured turkey)
• Salt and pepper
• An oven (no fancy dehydrator necessary)
• A few kabob skewers (or wooden chop sticks)
• Nothin’ else!

It’ll take about 10 minutes of prep time and then the jerky will need to be in the oven for 6 to 10 hours (depending on your oven and how thinly you cut the turkey strips).

You should really think about supporting a family farmer by purchasing some decent pastured turkey breast to make your jerky with. EatWild.com has a helpful directory of grass-based farmers across the USA, Canada, and beyond that would love your support. If you can’t find any local pastured turkey sources our little cooperative online meats shop, Tendergrass Farms, offers pastured turkey breast that we can ship right to your doorstep.

In fact, in the spirit of family farm generosity, we’ve created a coupon code that’ll give you four (4) free jumbo boneless skinless roasts of our pastured turkey breast with all orders over $199 (a $99.96 value), which will also qualify your order for Free Shipping. Head over to the Tendergrass Farms site and once you’ve added $199 of our grass fed beef, pastured pork, pastured chicken, or pastured turkey to your cart, just view your cart and apply the coupon code FARMERS-RULE-123 and four 2 lb. pastured turkey breast roasts will be automatically added to your cart with a price of $0.00 (expires 9/30/13, limited to 150 redemptions). Pretty cool, huh? I guess we just figure what comes around goes around.

Tip: If $199 sounds like a big first order just grab a couple friends from the gym and place an order together.

Once you’ve procured some good turkey breast, the first step is to cut it into very thin slices. There’s no danger of cutting them too thin, so just get a nice sharp knife and cut the pieces as thinly as you can. It’s best to keep them as even in thickness as possible to help them dehydrate at the same rate.

The second step is to sprinkle the turkey strips with a little salt and pepper. Salt and pepper the turkey just a little more than you would any other food that you were about to eat. The purpose of the salt and pepper is simply to bring out the natural flavor of the turkey, not to mummify it!

Read the rest here

3 Healthy Fast Food Meals in Mason Jars

 

 

Editor’s note: I’m working a post that’s requiring lot’s of research and thought. My brain hurts. Daisy is pinch-hitting for me today. As always, she is a heavy hitter when she steps up to the prepper plate. Although I don’t eat the sides she suggests (pasta and bread), these three recipes are healthy “fast food” dishes you can make and store in your pantry. Enjoy!

Mason Jar Meals: “Fast Food” for Preppers

by Daisy Luther

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating – canning is the perfect way to provide “fast food” for preppers.

Last night we got home from 2 days of traveling.  We were tired and hungry.  It was so nice to pop a lid off a jar and heat up a tasty, nutritious and filling meal in less than five minutes, without worrying about all of those nasty additives that a store-bought can of soup would contain.  The instant gratification from a home-canned meal is wonderful on a day that you just don’t feel like cooking, and invaluable when disaster strikes and you are unable to use your usual methods of preparing a meal.

You can preserve your own recipes easily – find the guidelines HERE.

Canning meat – HERE.

Canning beans – HERE

Soups, stews and chili can help you quickly produced a well-balanced meal.  Click the preserving tab at the top of the page for more recipes.

Some meals need only a quickly boiled carbohydrate like rice or pasta to make a satisfying meal at the drop of a hat – here are 3  tried-and-true canning recipes to enjoy…

Hungarian Goulash

Ingredients

• 4 pounds of stewing meat (beef, pork, etc.)
• 4 tbsp of REAL Hungarian paprika (must be the real stuff for an authentic flavor)
• 2 tsp of dry mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 onions, quartered
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 4 carrots, sliced into coins
• 6 potatoes, diced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 1 can of tomato paste
• ½ cup of red wine vinegar
• Water as needed

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix Hungarian paprika, dry mustard, salt and pepper.
2. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil and begin to sauté your onions and garlic.
3. Dip your stewing meat in the spice mixture, then place the meat in the stockpot to brown with the garlic and onions.  Brown lightly – the meat does not have to be thoroughly cooked.
4. In quart jars, layer your meat and vegetable mixture, carrots, peppers and potatoes.
5. Add 6 cups of water, vinegar and the jar of tomato paste to the stock pot and mix with any drippings or spices that remain after browning the meat.  Bring this mixture to a boil.
6. Ladle hot liquid into sanitized jars over the layered contents.  Use a table knife to remove any air pockets in the jars. If necessary, top up with water, allowing 1 inch of headspace.
7. Lid the jars and process in your p-canner for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure, based on altitude.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:  When heating your goulash, whisk in 1 tbsp of flour in order to thicken the sauce.  Once it is hot, stir in a half cup of sour cream or yogurt and heat only until the sour cream is warmed through.

Serve your goulash over egg noodles, potatoes, spaetzle or dumplings and don’t forget a side of fresh sour dough bread!

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds of stewing beef or sliced sirloin
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cups of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water to deglaze pan

Directions

1. In a large stockpot, sauté beef, onions, garlic and mushrooms in butter until lightly browned.
2. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and enough water to deglaze the stockpot.  Use a metal utensil to scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the flavorful pieces there.
3. Add 1 cup of water and stir well, bringing to a boil.
4. Ladle the stroganoff into sanitized jars, distributing the sauce evenly across the jars.
5. Lid the jars and process in your p-canner for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure, based on altitude.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:  When you are ready to serve the beef stroganoff, stir 1 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt into the heated sauce.  Serve this over rice or noodles.

Chicken Cacciatore

The rich herbed tomato sauce and the tender chicken will not last long on the pantry shelves – as soon as you serve one jar of it, your family will beg you to make it again!

To make life even simpler, this is a raw-pack recipe!

Ingredients

• 3 pounds of boneless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (a mix of breasts and thighs is nice)
• 2 cups of red and green peppers, cut into chunks
• 2 cups of onion, cut into 8ths
• 2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 cups of diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 bottle of red wine
• 2 tbsp of oregano
• 2 tbsp of basil
• 2 tbsp of thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Layer chicken, peppers, onions, mushroom and garlic in quart jars.
2. In a large stockpot bring wine, tomatoes, and herbs to a boil.  Ladle hot liquid over the layered ingredients in your sanitized jars.
3. Lid the jars and process in your p-canner for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure, based on altitude.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:  When preparing the cacciatore, stir in a small can of tomato paste when heating to thicken the sauce.  Serve over pasta, with a side of garlic bread.

Author bio: Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor.  Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

 

How Dropping the F-bomb Can Save Your Life

by Todd Walker

With spring break around the corner, MTV will be busy bleeping F-bombs. Drunk and delirious, foul-mouthed frat boys is NOT my subject matter here. Nope, the F-bomb you need to drop is…

Fructose. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) to be exact.

Not all sweeteners are created equal. If you eat pre-packaged foods (think long-term food storage), drink sodas or fruit juice, you’re likely ingesting HFCS. So what? Well, you might want to rethink this behavior. Research shows the not-so-healthy (horrible, actually) consequences of this cheap sweet.

Adipose gone wild!

• A Princeton study shows that rats with access to the HFCS packed on the pounds (dangerous adipose fat) faster than those that ate other sugars – High adipose fat levels are markers for heart disease.
• Increased risk of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is linked to fructose. Kool-aid, fruit juices, and nondietary soda (I have no clue what nondietary soda is) intake raises your risk of liver damage.

There’s economic benefit to using HFCS. For years plain table sugar (sucrose), a molecular mix of glucose and fructose, was the sweetener of choice for beverage companies. Growing up we only had 6 oz. or 12 oz. bottles of soda. I’d sit in the barber’s chair at our local gas station and drink a RC Cola with peanuts floating in the drink. I know, a barber’s chair in a gas station. Our one-armed gas station owner didn’t cut hair. The chair served as a local gossip seat. It was a one-horse town.

Pull up to any Stop-N-Rob convenience store and you can supersize that HFCS concoction. Big Gulp anyone? Add an ice cream novelty bar, or even a ‘healthy’ carton of milk, and you’ve got the makings for a destructive F-bomb.

The Industrial Food Machine figured out a ‘cheaper’ way to sweeten things up. Subsidized corn. Corn and soy were being propped up by our government. The use of HFCS expanded. So did America’s waistline. Now, the inexpensive sweetener is in almost all processed foods. It would be difficult to walk down the aisle of any grocery store and not find random items containing HFCS.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that six out of 10 Americans are overweight and 31 percent are obese. That’s number is double from 30 years ago. Could the increased use of HFCS be the sole culprit of our obese nation? Not hardly. But it certainly adds a bulge to the fat equation.

It’s everywhere!

I ran across a post a popular prepping online community that even promotes and praises the benefits of eating junk food loaded with F-bombs. They call it ‘comfort food’. I’m no stranger to comfort foods. My choice is organic dark chocolate with almond butter spread on top as an occasional evening treat. The problem occurs when we make HFCS a large part of our daily diet. Even some ‘health’ food impostors are loaded with King Corn’s sneaky syrup. If you eat store-bought bread, fogettaboutit. It’s in there too. Agave syrup is marketed as a healthy alternative to sugar. Avoid it at all costs. It’s 90% HFCS. It’s a dirty little sweet secret.

Check out Dr. Mercola’s article exposing the bitter truth about the F-bomb.

This report will show you how the sweetness of high-fructose corn syrup comes with a dear price to your health, possibly worsening the illnesses you’re already experiencing! Without knowing it, the HFCS in your body may be setting the stage for health problems including:

• Diabetes. Know how HFCS worsens diabetes, which is mainly rooted in insulin problems.

• Metabolic syndrome. Learn why you should say no to HFCS-containing soft drinks and other foods that may cause this condition.

• Damage to your immune system. Acquaint yourself with how asthma, food allergies, multiple sclerosis and other immune system problems are triggered by use of sugars such as HFCS!

• Speed-up aging process. Know through this report how HFCS and other sugars and grains accelerate the aging process.

• A load of dangerous mercury poisons. Find out how mercury is found in samples of commercial HFCS, and get the shock of your life with the many life-threatening conditions mercury poisoning entails!

Who’s benefiting from this sneaky F-bomb of a liquid? Big Agra and our Big Pharma controlled medical complex. Other liquids might be more dangerous in our foods, like diesel, but not by much. So what’s a preparedness minded individual to do for everyday meal plans and food storage to ensure optimal health?

• Drop the F-bomb. HFCS doesn’t send signals to your brain telling you to stop eating. If you’re experiencing constant sugar cravings, take it as a signal that you’re not feeding your body what it needs. What it needs is NOT more sugar. Especially the F-bomb type. For the sweet tooth cravings, choose natural sweeteners like raw local honey, stevia, or incorporate healthy berries into your snack.
• Read labels. If you can’t pronounce it, avoid it.
• Eat nutrient dense, whole foods. Avoid processed, pre-packaged meals.
• For food storage ideas, here’s what I suggest.
• Get to know your local farmers. Search for those who raise grass-fed animals, free-range poultry, and non-GMO chemically grown fruits and vegetables.

Dropping the F-bomb from your diet will save you money on medical bills and put you on a path to optimal health.

Cheers to resilient health and preparedness!

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

 

 

 

Charcuterie: Off The Grid Food Storage For Meats

Ever eat cured raw pork?On my list skills to learn is the lost art of off grid meat preservation. I can meats, store meat in the freezer, and have some canned seafood in our primal pantry. What happens when the fragile electrical grid goes down? Leaning to cure meat for long-term storage would be a great skill for bartering, building resilient preps, and, well, it’s just plain cool to see meat hanging from the ceiling in your basement or root cellar.

Caroline Cooper has an interesting article on her blog (eatkamloops) about a technique I’ve never heard of or was able to pronounce. Click here for the proper pronunciation. It’s fun to say and sounds like it’d be fun to make and eat.

Any of y’all ever tried making charcuterie? I’d like to hear from you.

Pantry Foods: Charcuterie

Source: eatkamloops

Charcuterie adds a wonderful element to winter pantry food. A small slice of cured meat goes a long way with its rich flavor. With traditional charcuterie there is a natural order to when the cured meats are ready and when the cured meats should be eaten.

“These dry-cured meats and sausages, almost always sliced thin, are dense and chewy, with a strong, dry-cured flavor and smooth, satiny fat. When we eat them, we’re most often eating pork that’s never gone above room temperature, let along come close to the 150F recommended by government. And yet, properly prepared, these are perfectly safe to eat. There really is nothing similar to eating cured raw meat — it has a flavor and an effect like no other food.”

Charcuterie: The Craft and Salting, Smoking and Curing by Michael Ruhlman

Raw cured ribs are the first cured product to come out of the cellar. Sliced thinly, the sweet meat of the ribs is a wonderful contrast to the salty cure. One rib will satisfy.

I just wanted to share a few pictures of the cured pork my husband Shaen made with the expert mentoring from Joe Trotta. Charcuterie is not an easy craft to learn from books. Charcuterie is a craft best passed down from the older generation to the younger generation. If you are interested in learning the craft, I have no books for you, or courses you can take. You will just have to look around and find someone knowledgeable in the craft and someone willing to mentor you in the techniques. If you can find someone to show you how to cure raw meats, the process becomes simple, and the stress of wondering if you are doing it right, is greatly reduced.

Two warnings. Hurry up and learn. Many of the people who know these techniques are older. Many have children that do not value the wisdom that came from the old country and have never learned the craft. These old techniques are dying with the people, and unless we learn their knowledge, the knowledge will pass out of this world. If you are a professional cook or chef, you will have to empty your cup of knowledge, if you want to learn traditional charcuterie. Everything you think you know about FOODSAFE is wrong regarding these foods. If you come to traditional cured foods with your own ideas of how to do it right, you will likely miss the mark, and mess up the process. Saying “Oh my God, that isn’t safe,” is meaningless and disrespectful to someone who has eaten these foods their whole life.

This is raw cured bacon with sea salt and paprika. The sticks help keep the bacon flat and stop it from curling. This is the second cured product out of the cellar. Very few people have enjoyed the flavor of raw bacon. It can be cooked but you will miss the satiny smoothness of the fat.

“Dry-curing results in a beautiful type of sausage, the most individualistic, idiosyncratic, and temperamental sausage there is, precisely because of its reliance on atmospheric conditions, which change all year round, and the presence of varying microflora in the air.”

Soppressata is the third cured product out of the cellar. Soppressata is made from raw pork, sea salt and paprika which is stuffed into the pig’s intestine. There is no curing salts or other ingredients. Soppressata’s flat appearance is from pressing to help remove air from the salami.

But when your sausage has dried just right, and you slice it thin, and the interior is a glistening deep crimson red with bright pearly chunks of fat, it is incredibly exciting. This is real mastery over the food we prepare. To make a home-cured pork sausage, with just salt and pepper for seasoning, is a deeply gratifying experience, like making a great wine.”

Soppressata is hung by it’s string on clothes hangers cut into hooks. Soppressata with its white coat is an eerie sight in the cellar. The white coating is safe to eat though traditional Italian sausage makers like Joe wipe the soppressata with vinegar and water to remove the coating.

Mastering the technique of transforming raw meat and fat, whether a sausage or a whole muscle, into something delicious without using heat, enhances your ability to work with all food. This is true craftsmanship, craftsmanship aiming for art, a craft reliant on the cook’s skill and knowledge and, perhaps, a little bit of divine intervention.”

Divine intervention indeed. Or maybe just allowing for the peaceful co-existence of humans with their helpful bacterial friends. When you cure long-term your household will become colonized with helpful microbiota. If you would like to learn more about traditional Italian curing please see: Pantry Foods: Fast Cured Green Olives.

Related articles

• Bacon, sausage and ham, oh my. Learn charcuterie at Save on Meats (blogs.vancouversun.com)

Smashing the Big FAT Lie for Resilient Prepper Health

I bet Christopher Columbus felt like a proselytizing Jehovah Witness knocking on random doors to raise money for his ‘foolish’ voyage.

“You plan to do what!?” [sneering chuckles ensue]

“Why yes. I believe the earth is round and my ships won’t fall off that flat Earth map of yours.”

Folks holding on to myths and lies seldom desire the truth. The usual response is polite silence and eye-rolling when you turn your back. Occasionally, some myth-clinging soul launches an assault to defend the un-defendable – until a paradigm shift takes place. And even then, there remains bitter myth clingers. The flat Earth was thought to be domed by a bowl-shaped firmament – until science and Chris proved otherwise.

Many generations took the flat Earth model to their graves since Greek astronomers first proposed the spherical Earth paradigm in 6th century BC. Which brings us to today’s topic of people (preppers too) bitterly clinging to nutritional myths.

With an abundance of myths floating in the shallow end of humanity’s pool, it’s easy to see how we as preparedness minded folk embrace what ‘experts’ tell us are the best way to survive anything from short-term disasters to a mutant zombie biker apocalypse. I’ve read a wide variety of advise concerning ‘healthy’ diets for survival. I rarely agree. I’m not stirring the pot of conventional dietary wisdom just to create controversy (I lie – yes I am), I’m just knocking on as many doors as possible to share a new prepping paradigm that not only increases short-term survival, but will help you thrive long-term.

Photo credit

“Sometimes you need to take a sledgehammer and crush what’s written in stone!” - John Paul Catanzaro

First up on the myth busting block: Eating saturated fat will make you obese and give you heart disease.

How did fabulous fat get falsely accused? Before I was born, Dr. Ancel Keys used questionable science to perpetrate what many consider to be the greatest nutritional/scientific myth ever. I remember following the low-fat craziness back in the 80′s. I tried living the lie for over two decades. I was in the middle of the herd, following the “expert” advice as late as 2002 from the Food & Nutrition Board: “Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet.”

Through flawed logic and selective science, Dr. Keys sold the Lipid Hypothesis – which American’s gobbled up (including me). Primal Docs hammers on this artery-clogging myth:

The lipid hypothesis was developed by Ancel Keys in the 1950s. This theory states that there is a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of coronary heart disease. With questionable evidence, Keys went about writing articles and promoting this hypothesis throughout the medical world. Meanwhile, hundreds of subsequent studies testing this hypothesis have found differing conclusions. Despite the lack of evidence this notion took off throughout the healthcare world and was fueled by the vegetable oil and food processing industries that sought to benefit from this key finding.

Enter Big Pharma, FDA, and the Industrial Food Machine. Do the powers that be really sit around and come up with schemes to destroy our health and lives? Is this just another loony conspiracy theory? If so, the ‘conspiracy’ has wrecked individual’s health for the last 50 years. I recall eating bone marrow at my lunch table one day with my fellow teachers. Eyes were aghast and faces cringed as I carefully extracted the core with one of those small crab-eating utensils.

“Won’t all that fat you eat clog your arteries?” one teacher managed to utter – in between forks of chocolate cake.

In a relatively short time span, the lipid hypothesis began to be ingrained in our collective psyche. This twisted advice became more than one doctor’s two-cents’ worth. With the help of the FDA, Big Pharma, and our corporate Industrial Food Machine, the scheme to demonize saturated fat worked. Idiots in the media sold out without real investigation into their claims.

Try this on your next doctors visit. Tell him/her that you’ve adopted a lifestyle of eating 50% of your calories from saturated fats – even if you don’t – yet . Go ahead and arrange for someone to pick you up from the nearest emergency room after your ride in the ambulance.

In the spirit of Shovelglove, grab your sledgehammer and join me as we smash the “Saturated Fat Stone Tablet”. Don’t have a sledgehammer handy? Just click with your mouse.

• The Saturated Fat Myth – Primal Docs
• The Forbidden Food You Should Never Stop Eating – “Conventional medical authorities say that consumption of saturated animal fats is bad for you and causes heart disease. But a hundred years ago, fewer than one in one hundred Americans were obese, and coronary heart disease was unknown.”
• The University of Minnesota and heart disease: Missed a beat - Researchers don’t always get it right, and Ancel Keys is a case in point.
• There Is Only One Type of Cholesterol: All of it Beneficial
• The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fat
• More FAT Advice from Mark’s Daily Apple

After clearing the floor from all the pieces of broken stone, you can start building health and resilience into your preps and lifestyle. I guess storing fat has been the biggest challenge for me and Dirt Road Girl. It’s hard, but not impossible. You can check out our food storage plan here.

The absolute best way to get saturated fats into our diet is to have the source available, either local farmers/ranchers, or owning animals ourselves. I also make tallow from grass-fed beef fat for cooking and making pemmican.

Since we don’t live in a tropical oasis full of coconut trees, we stock up on five gallon buckets of coconut oil. In case you haven’t heard, this is amazing stuff and well worth adding to your larder! Check it our here and here.

Folks, this Big FAT lie has cost American’s millions of dollars and their health. The man-made ‘healthy’ trans-fat oils we were told to substitute for real fat should be avoided at all costs.

Now for a big FAT breakfast/brunch with DRG.

Follow me on Twitter for the latest on our journey to self-reliance, preparedness, and resilient living: @SurvivalSherpa

 

Related articles

• Saturated fat is not the culprit in heart disease (healthimpactnews.com)
• Low fat dieters have higher heart risk (douglassreport.com)
• 10 Lies Spread by Nutritionists (lewrockwell.com)
• Saturated Fat Unmasked (selfhealthwellness.com)
• Our ancestors thrived on high-fat diets (sott.net)

20 Things I never throw away

While I don’t personally store all the wheat, sugar, and noodles that Kris describes, I am a hoarder of containers. Maybe these ideas will stretch your idea muscle a bit.  It certainly did mine.

Doing the stuff,

Todd

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Source: The Survival Mom

Guest post by Kris

Everything has a purpose—sometimes two or three of them!  For most seasoned Survival Moms, some of these “reuse” ideas are already habit.  But for those of us fairly new to frugal motherhood or the Survival Mom lifestyle, here are 20 things I never throw away:

For Storage:

2-liter bottles, gallon vinegar jugs, etc.—Use to store water (room temperature or frozen). Be sure to date and rotate every six months.

Huge coffee containers—I refill with whatever needs to be moved into rotation: brown sugar, instant oats, flour, powdered milk.  These fit into my everyday pantry a lot easier than 5-gallon buckets.  I can also fit about a dozen Ramen Noodle packages into one to make them less accessible for my tiny, four-legged nemeses.

image by tew

Plastic peanut butter jars—The large ones can nicely fit a couple of bags of split peas, chick peas, or other bean varieties I don’t usually buy in bulk. Or, if I’m moving longer-term food into rotation, these are perfect (and I can see what’s in them).  Also great for storing treats like dehydrated corn (which the kids eat like candy!), venison jerky, chunks of rock candy, or opened pretzels.  I hate when that half-eaten bag goes stale!

Plastic food tubs—Perfect for leftovers—especially ones I’m sending home with guests.  I also use the tiny sour cream tubs to store homemade lotions and my fledgling attempts at homemade yogurt. They’re also nice for dividing up paint and paste for craft project because tossing them is cleanup.

Empty spice jars—Refill with your own dried spices at the end of the growing season.

Fancy wine, vinegar, or other glass bottles—I make my own fruit-flavored vodkas with the cheapest, bottom-shelf stuff.  Then I pour it into pretty red wine vinegar bottles, attach a recipe for a fancy drink, and give as hostess gifts. Fun meets frugal.

Mason Jar boxes—Okay, I’m probably not a genius, but I sure felt like one when I discovered this.  I almost feel like I should whisper it to you.  If you slice the plastic down the very middle and just slide the new jars out the slit, you can restock the box with filled jars, label the side of the box with masking tape, and stack as high as you dare. The boxes are pretty stable, especially with the added support of the stretched-tight plastic. And it’s a lot cheaper than buying those plastic storage stackers.

Cardboard boxes-Yes, you can store linens and off-season clothes.  BUT you can also store valuables at the bottom, label the box “winter sweaters” or whatever, and stack that box at the very back and bottom of the closet until you can afford that 36-gun safe.  I’ll bet no burglar is going to rummage through your sweater box.

Baby food jars—We don’t have babies anymore, but the jars are still in faithful service.  My husband screwed the lids into a scrap of 2×4, which he then mounted to the wall of the garage.  The top is a storage shelf.  He can unscrew the jars from the lids to access the screws, nuts, bolts, nails, and other “boy things” stored in the jars, which he can see without rummaging through drawers.  He could actually be a genius. (Tip: Use two screws instead of one; our prototype featured jars that spun in a circle every time we tried to unscrew them.)

Food Items:

Bacon Fat—It just makes everything taste better! Strain it through a rubber-band-secured cheesecloth into a canning jar, and some Southern cooks swear you can keep it forever.  Mine never lasts longer than the next pot of beans, jar of green beans, or fried egg breakfast.

Read the rest here

Resilience: Bloom Where You’re Planted

by Todd Walker

Photo credit

Ever wake up in a homeless shelter on Christmas eve?

I wasn’t a stereotypical homeless guy. I had money in my pocket and bank account. I had family and friends that I could have stayed with. How did a middle class guy with two college degrees wind up spending the holidays in an old warehouse for Christmas? Doesn’t matter. What mattered was that I had a roof over my head, food, and water – and I bounced back.

During my four months of “homeless” living, I came to appreciate the amenities most of us take for granted: Hot showers, warmth, privacy, security, protection, and a place to rest. We humans need shelter. We can’t survive without it. Since we have to have these survival basics, make them as resilient as possible.

I’ve owned many houses in my life. In fact, I use to buy, fix, and sell homes before the housing bubble burst. Just after that disaster, DRG and I decided to sell our personal residence and move to her hometown to help with her aging parents. With a contract on our home and a two weeks to get out, we decided to rent a house 5 minutes from her parents. This would be a temporary arrangement until we found a place to buy. We thought we’d be there for a month of two. This “small” window turned into three years.

Bloom where you’re planted

In our move to this small house, we had to adapt from living in a 2,500 sq. ft. house to a 1,000 sq. ft. We chose this small house because it had a 1,000 sq. ft. shop in the backyard. We stored all our extra stuff there. Besides, it was temporary. Side note: This shop became the best Man Cave ever.

About six months into our temporary living arrangement, we decided not to buy and we needed to start adding value to our little rental. Our landlord basically gave us carte blanch on improving the house. We were the best tenants he ever had. We repainted the interior walls, kitchen cabinets, and I even replaced the galvanized water lines under the house.

Our next priority was a garden. The shop took up most of our available garden space. On this small city lot, we discovered new places to grow our own food. Our main area became a raised bed (12′ x 15′) next to the back deck. We added containers of assorted veggies on the deck since it received full sun. Each year we added more resilience and value: new spots to grow food, a rainwater irrigation system, compost station, and an outdoor kitchen.

Was this our dream homestead? Not hardly. But we made the best of it. I think many people believe they have to wait for the ideal situation to become more prepared and self-reliant. Don’t get caught in that trap. Bloom where you’re planted. Like the Atlanta Rhythm Section song, we added a touch of country to our city. “It ain’t much, but it’s home.” You house and home is a key resource in building resilience.

Rural or Urban?

What should you do if you live in a less than ideal situation? Not everyone can afford to uproot and move to a piece of rural property or farmstead. Many love urban living or choose the lifestyle for jobs. The problem I see with city dwelling is dependence on the big systems: Power grid, food distribution system, municipal water supply, etc. The system is fragile to say the least. You don’t have to look far for examples of how failure in one strand of this interconnected web creates a cascade effect. Panic, havoc, and mayhem results. Then the very people dependent on the big systems scream for someone to come rescue them. Urban dwellers and even suburbanites religiously put their faith in the fragile system. One hiccup can – and often does – bring the whole system to its knees.

What’s the solution?

Go local. Become less dependent on the big system. This lessens the impact of the total fail that is coming. I touched on my plan for building community to deal with the unknown unknowns here. Our most overlooked resource may be watching TV on the sofa next door. Becoming a local producer is our goal.

DRG and I can’t wait to get back to our roots of country living. Until then, our plan is to build resilient resources for our family in the following areas:

Water

If your locale is dependent on water being piped in from hundreds of miles away by electric pumping stations, an extended power outage would cause a big die off in your big city. Water is essential for life. A plan for resilient water resources should include:

• Rainwater collection. While it’s still ‘legal’, do your due diligence and set up a collection system.
• Well water. If you have funds available, dig a well. You’ll be in the same boat as those dependent on electricity to pump water unless you have the ability to draw water out of the ground with alternative power. You’ve got a genset to handle the power needs of your pump. Great. Fuel will eventually run out. How about a hand pump? or gravity feed cistern? We have three deep wells on our family property. The bad part is that two of them are dependent on the electrical grid. The other well was abandoned and capped years ago. I’m doing research now to install an alternative pumping method for this abandoned well.
• Freshwater spring. If you’re in a position to purchase property, look for land with a sustainable spring or well. Creeks, ponds, and lakes come in handy for livestock, fish, irrigation of crops, and emergency water supplies.

Food Freedom

Why is it important to know where you food comes from? We are what we eat. If you don’t want to eat the GMO fruits and vegetables from the Industrial Food Machine, what’s an individual to do. Grow your own – or at least a portion of your own food. Not only will you be eating healthier, you’re one step closer to developing self-reliance and resilience.

My long-term food storage plan only runs for six months (not recommended by the experts). I don’t store what the mainstream experts advise. Food storage is prudent but not sustainable. It runs out because we eat it – duh.

Growing our own food has been a challenge in our neighborhood. Our backyard has one tiny spot that gets about 4 to 5 hours of good sun. This past year I moved most of our garden to our full-sun front yard. I know. I run the risk of upsetting our manicured lawn neighbors. Luckily we’ve had no complaints with our foodscape near the house. Julie Bass was not as fortunate in her Michigan neighborhood.

WARNING: The Food Police are bored. What will they come up with next to make our life hell for their own amusement. (I shamelessly adapted Norseman’s fine quote from a video referring to Mother Nature’s fury: “The mountain is bored. What’s it going to do to make my life hell for its own amusement?”)

DRG and I are planning to expand into the weed infested front yard even more this year. We’ll keep some of the weeds growing for medicinal uses. We figure the beautification committee won’t mess with us if we do a gradual take over of the yard – as long it has ‘curb appeal’. It can only add value to our home since the housing bubble deflated. Wait ’til we start raising resilient backyard chickens as a science experiment for my science class.

There’s a 80 year-old man down the street that has a killer garden every year on the corner of a main intersection. He built the corner up with raised beds and packs the plants into a small garden. He sells his excess produce at his booth at our local farmers market each week. He faces the same problem we do – lack of sun in his backyard. Solution: Bloom where you’re planted.

I don’t have a plan yet for dealing with neighborly snitches. I’ll keep y’all posted on the progress and any resistance we face in our foodscaping project. Maybe I can bribe pesky snitches with fresh tomatoes.

Here’s an ambitious couple’s resilient garden. The pictures (before and after) below are an example of creative resilience over at Resilient Communities. These neighbors to our north (Canada) bloomed where they were planted

Resilience

Resilience comes from the Latin word resilio which basically means having the ability to “bounce back” from some unknown surprise.

Even if we’re paying attention, surprises happen. If we’re still breathing, we’re resilient to some degree. Our bodies are hardwired to survive. We have to do our part though. Anytime we find ourselves without the basics of survival – food, water, shelter, protection – we’ve crossed over into a survival situation.

It’s not too late. We still have time to build resources that make us more resilient. Every step you make to disconnect from the system’s ball and chain – to start connecting with your family, friends, and community – the more self-reliant, independent, and resilient you and those closest to you become.

Want to start connecting to build resilience? What’s your strategy?

 

Is It Too Late to Start Prepping?

by Daisy Luther

Author bio: Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor.  Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

A lot of new folks are starting to realize that the outlook in North America is every bit as grim as the reality in European countries like Greece, Spain, Portugal and a host of others. When even the mainstream media is making dire predictions, the writing is truly on the wall.

If you’re new at this, you might be dipping your toe in the water, reading some survivalist and prepping websites, trying to figure out how to keep your family safe and well-fed in the difficult days ahead…and you may also read a host of discouraging comments saying that it’s too late to get started.  ”If you aren’t already prepared, there’s no time left,” many experienced preppers are saying dismally. “You’re screwed.”

If you’ve already come upon some difficult times, you may think to yourself, “I’d like to prepare but I barely have enough money to keep a roof over our heads…We’re screwed.”

You might be reading these terrible prophecies, rolling pennies to buy milk at the grocery store, and watching the parade of terrible daily events and be ready to give up before you even get started.  You may agree, “Yep, it’s too late. I’m screwed.”

The thing is, I’m the eternal optimist, and I don’t believe that it really IS too late.  I don’t believe that you are screwed, even if tomorrow is the date of your first stockpile shopping trip!  If the stores are open, there’s still time.

While I agree that the situation is dire and that economic doom is getting closer every day, if you’re reading this site and others like it, you’ve taken the first step to preparedness already – just like a 12-Step program for addiction, you have recognized and admitted the problem.  This, in and of itself, puts you in the company of an estimated 3 million preppers who are aware that life as we know it today could change in the blink of an eye!

This recognition of the need to prepare puts you ahead of “the herd”.

• This means that you will look at current events differently.
• This means that you will think critically when presented with information via the media.
• This means that you will truly weigh the pros and cons of fiat currency that you intend to spend.
• This means that when you shop, you aren’t just looking to feed your family until the next grocery trip.

Even if you just have a little inkling in the back of your mind that things are not as they ought to be, you have crossed a thresh-hold and you can choose whether you want to step in to awareness or slam the door on that uneasy feeling and go about your life, doing things the way you have always done them.

If you’re still reading, then you may have decided to come on in and join the ranks of the prepared!

While it’s late in the game we aren’t in the last inning just yet – so let’s get started!

The wake-up call for many of us is a downturn in finances.  While it’s ideal to begin stocking up while your income is still good, don’t be discouraged if you’ve taken a financial hit. You won’t be able to buy a year’s supply in one marathon shopping trip but you can empower yourself by getting started.

Getting Started

The first step is to take inventory of what you have – you may be surprised to realize that you already have a week or a month of supplies in your pantry.  Read “If You Don’t Know What You Have, You Don’t Know What You Need!” for more detailed information on inventorying the items that you already have. (Note: the 52 Weeks to Preparedness section of the website Ready Nutrition contains a wealth of information for the beginning prepper. It’s a budget-friendly approach to getting prepared!)

Once you’ve figured out where you are as far as supplies are concerned, you must figure out a way to finance your prepping endeavors.  Your budget may be so tight that you can barely keep the lights on but there is still hope.  When you change the way you shop, you’ll soon find that some of the budgetary stress is relieved.  But first things first, you have to free up enough money to get started.

You might think that the week after Christmas is a terrible time to get started on something that costs money, but in actuality, you will probably never be in a better position to do so.  If your house is anything like mine, you probably have a whole refrigerator full of holiday leftovers – resist the urge to do your normal weekly shopping trip and feed your family leftovers combined with the goods you have in your pantry.  Use that money that you would normally spend for groceries and let’s get started!  No matter how small your budget is, you can begin building security for your family.  I am basing these prices on my teeny tiny small-town grocery store, this week. You may be able to get more, based on what’s on sale in your area.

$20 List

• 2 pound bag of rice
• 2 pound bag of beans
• 4 cans of spaghetti sauce
• 2 cans of peaches in water
• 1 jar of peanut butter
• 1 jug of white vinegar
• 5 gallon jug of water

$50 List

everything in the $20 list and

• 4 boxes of saltine crackers
• 4 jars of unsweetened applesauce
• 2 pounds of sugar
• 5 pounds of flour
• 1 liter of olive oil
• 3 cans of green beans
• 2 boxes of baking soda

$100 List

everything on the $20 list and the $50 list and

• 1 canister of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 canister of baking powder
• 10 pound bag of potatoes
• 5 pound bag of onions
• 5 pound bag of carrots
• 2 pounds of powdered milk
• 6 pounds of pasta
• 5 bags of dried spices of choice
• small assortment of treats (candy, chocolate chips, etc – you have $5 to spend on things that make life more pleasant!)

If you’ve read my other articles, you may think these lists are in conflict with the “organic” theme.  While I’d certainly love to see everyone give Monsanto the cold shoulder by buying local and organic, it’s just not always feasible, especially when you are just getting started. I’d rather see people begin to take control by having a supply like the one listed here – something that when combined with the foods in the cupboards might see you through a month of hard times.

What’s more, when you have this little bit of security – this one-month food investment, you can begin to build on this with healthier and more nutritious options.  You can start learning how to be more self-sufficient by growing what you can, by learning to preserve food and by buying in bulk.

It’s Not Over – There’s Time

That little voice whispering warnings is telling you something very important – it’s saying that things just aren’t right.   Call it instinct, the voice of God, or a premonition – but listen and get prepared. Start right now.   Even if you only have 2 weeks’ worth of food and water, that is two weeks that your family will not be hungry or thirsty. After Superstorm Sandy people were complaining that they hadn’t eaten after only two days.

None of us knows how long the dollar will last.  We, in North America, will be going the way of Greece – not if, but when.  Natural disasters occur, interrupting the flow of commerce and the availability of goods. Jobs are lost, illnesses occur, and storms blow in.  If you listen to that little voice telling you to get ready, you will not be standing in line with all of the rowdy crowds waiting for FEMA to dole out benevolence.

Take the time we have left and make the most of it.  Ignore the naysayers with their discouraging pronouncements that there isn’t enough time.  Every single meal you put aside, every book of matches, every candle and every alternative cooking method you invest in, increases the security of your family.

Focus on what you can do – and block out the static of those who say the word “can’t”.

If you are an experienced prepper, what budget-friendly suggestions do you have for the newcomer?  Post them here in the comments!

[Sherpa Note: Check out the comment section at the Organic Prepper to add your thoughts and read other suggestions to this list.]