Today's Winner & Give-Away!
Last month's give-away from USA Emergency Supply was 2 food grade buckets with 2 gamma seals... favorite items of mine that I use every day! I'm pleased to announce the winner today...
Congratulations
Donna a.k.a. ddu!
Donna a.k.a. ddu!
This month our give-away item is a Freeze Dried / Dehydrated Vegetable Combo Pack... a great way to get a jump on your food storage for emergencies. Each combo case contains 6 large #10 cans of vegetables including carrots, peas, corn, onions, celery slices, and potato flakes. Great items for making soups or side dishes.
Having dehydrated vegetables on hand isn't just for emergencies. It's great to have these items as a back up for nights when you open the refrigerator and realize that the produce you thought was in the hydrator drawer is actually missing because someone ate it! Or it spoiled. Or you forgot to buy it. Nothing is more frustrating than to be half way through a recipe and realize you don't have that one ingredient!
Two links you might want to check out...
• All About Dehydrated Vegetables
• Storage Life of Dried Foods
Dehydrated foods have come a long way and they aren't like they were 'back in the day'. So be sure to read up on this information for future reference and so you'll be an informed consumer. It also might help you with decisions for your own personal food storage.
How I Met The Challenge!
It was a busy month starting back to school, having two birthdays, and camping out, but I did get a few things accomplished...
• Food Storage: Bought extra olive oil, coconut oil, dried coconut (for granolas and such), bulk sucanat, cans of green chilies, and coconut milk. (Honestly, I didn't THINK I was craving coconut, but I see a theme here!)
• Emergency Preparedness: Picked up a few extra small flashlights to stash around the house, but otherwise, I was a bit weak in this area. Perhaps I'll focus more on this for October.
• Sustainable Living: Bought a new goat!! A little doe that I'll be breeding this winter. (Guess I should post some photos soon.) I also added more vegetables to the fall garden and let one VERY broody hen sit on 6 eggs. We should have some extra chicks mid October! I also bought two books. One on growing winter crops and one on cooking greens.
Now it's your turn to join the Preparedness Challenge..
Two links you might want to check out...
• All About Dehydrated Vegetables
• Storage Life of Dried Foods
Dehydrated foods have come a long way and they aren't like they were 'back in the day'. So be sure to read up on this information for future reference and so you'll be an informed consumer. It also might help you with decisions for your own personal food storage.
It was a busy month starting back to school, having two birthdays, and camping out, but I did get a few things accomplished...
• Food Storage: Bought extra olive oil, coconut oil, dried coconut (for granolas and such), bulk sucanat, cans of green chilies, and coconut milk. (Honestly, I didn't THINK I was craving coconut, but I see a theme here!)
• Emergency Preparedness: Picked up a few extra small flashlights to stash around the house, but otherwise, I was a bit weak in this area. Perhaps I'll focus more on this for October.
• Sustainable Living: Bought a new goat!! A little doe that I'll be breeding this winter. (Guess I should post some photos soon.) I also added more vegetables to the fall garden and let one VERY broody hen sit on 6 eggs. We should have some extra chicks mid October! I also bought two books. One on growing winter crops and one on cooking greens.
Now it's your turn to join the Preparedness Challenge..
Join the Challenge & Enter The Give Away
To be entered in the drawing you must complete the following 2 steps:
1) Either leave a comment
(with your email info - this is required to contact you)
OR
link up your Preparedness Challenge blog post(you only need to comment or post, not both).
2) Your comment or link up MUST include something you did this week to be more prepared in terms of food storage, emergencies, or sustainable living (or all three areas!) Posts not related to at least one of the three areas of preparedness will not be counted toward the give-away. Please be sure to clearly state in your comment or post what you did this month to be more prepared (see my example above as one easy way to do this). Again, the three areas we are focusing on include:
• food storage for life's unexpected events whether related to long term effects from a disaster or a job loss and everything in between
• emergencies for times of power outages, natural disasters, and such
• sustainable living in order to be more independent, both physically and financially, and to live as close to the land as possible given each individual's situation
Please be respectful of our challenge and only add a post on one of these three preparedness topics ONLY in order to retain the integrity of the link up event. If your post is just a general homesteading post, please save it for the Monday Homestead Barn Hop.
NOTE: This challenge and give-away endsFriday, August 31 Friday, October 5 at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Be sure to take the Preparedness Challenge picture and add it to your blog so others know you're participating and hopefully they'll join up, too! THANK YOU!!
NOTE: This challenge and give-away ends
Be sure to take the Preparedness Challenge picture and add it to your blog so others know you're participating and hopefully they'll join up, too! THANK YOU!!
We had a good preparedness month.
ReplyDeleteFood Storage: I purchased two food grade buckets and bulked up on a couple of items. Purchased extra honey from a local beekeeper. Also purchased a beautiful All American Pressure Cooker that I cannot wait to use.
Emergency Preparedness: There was a sale at the local drug store so I purchased extra bottles of rubbing alcohol.
Sustainable Living: Our electric solar is up and running! Hello sunshine, goodbye electric bill. Also visited the local Farmer's Market every Wednesday for fresh, local produce. Yum!
I made scuppernong jelly, put up garlic and pesto, and dehydrated lots of tomatoes! Towards long-term sustainability,we planted 4 fruit trees, 2 apple, a pear and a cherry. Towards my emergency plan, I purchased several sizes of wicks for candles and oil lamps. A friend gave me 6 boxes of wax she found in her mother's house While cleaning it out, too!
ReplyDeleteOops! in my prior comment, I forgot to give you my email! It's javamamacafe@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteI have been canning up a storm. My tomatoes have blessed us abundantly this year.
ReplyDeleteI put a 1/2 a beef in the freezer last week and I have 80 pounds of chicken ordered and will pick that up in October.
Giveaway ends August 31st?
ReplyDeleteOops! I corrected it... ends Oct. 5. Thank you!
DeleteWow, i would love to try those dried veggies. i have never had the available money to try them out!
ReplyDeletefood storage: i have canned up some stew meat and chicken for the pantry, along with 12 pounds of potatoes i got sale for 79 cents for 3 pounds!! i also canned up about 9 quarts of various beans. i also stocked up on some Demera sugar, some flour and lots of tomato products. i also got the ingredients to make my own dough enhancer, just gotta mix it up now.
Emergency preparation: i bought two extra flashlights, some candles and one container of lamp oil. ice storm season isn't quite here but i want to get a jump start on the amounts of purchases i want to get before it actually gets here.
We are starting to create our family emergency kit...we're in the process of getting a basic list together to implement in the house. I've been storing water at times to have on hand in case of an emergency. We are working on stocking up our pantry on dry goods and learning more about what would be beneficial to stock up in time of need not only for our own family, but also to help others out.
ReplyDeletecbailey2911@yahoo.com
I have been canning a lot this month: spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, ketchup, and potatoes. 72 jars added to the shelves! Purchased two crank flashlights to add to our emergency bags. I also continued to split & stack wood for emergency heating. I think it was a good month in our preparedness journey.
ReplyDeleteI have done several things as this has been heavy on my heart. I got brave enough to approach two new friends (one is a hunter/trapper and the other was in the military and is a prepper). I asked lots of questions about how to be a prepared person as an apartment dweller. Good advice was given to me. I also began a notebook with lists goals and steps to achieve those goals on a fixed income and a page of questions I have for future conversations with my friends. I took inventory of my pantry, with the notebook in hand (listing what meals I could put together if need be) I, like you Amy, realized I was really in need of batteries !! I also determined that I need to purchase a small one burner camp stove ! My journey continues and I love this site.
ReplyDeleteLike Java above, my e-mail address would not be accepted. So it is grammat03@yahoo.com thank you
ReplyDeleteSo Amy. I am always doing something towards my goal of sustainability and I posted my last blog to yours. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to put the picture on my blog. Is there somewhere on yours with those instructions?
ReplyDeleteHi sista! The best way to add it is to just drag the photo to your desktop and then import it to your post like a regular photo. Then add the link where it says "add a caption". This definitely works for a mac computer and blogger. If you have a pc, just treat it like you would a photo that you link back to a site. In the mean time, I need to get a button code for it so all you have to do is go to my button page and copy the code, then switch your post from "compose" to "html" and add the code. Then switch back to "compose" and it will show up. Clear as mud??? I know... learning all this computer stuff is a challenge!
DeleteThis month I stocked-up the pantry with 12 quarts of chicken (my first pressure canning!), 6 pints of Jala-Bell Jelly, water, and 40#'s of pork butts!
ReplyDeleteIn the garden, I planted brussel sprouts and bought heirloom seeds for spring.
I did good this month too!
ReplyDeleteFood storage: I made 22 'meals in bags' that are ready to go. I also made several meals sealed in mylar bags. I dehydrated tons of onions, tomatoes from our garden, and mushrooms that were on sale this month.
Emergency Prep: I packed a backpack full of water, socks, flashlight, emergency blanket, first aid kit, nutrition bars, etc., for my husband to keep in his truck in case we have an earthquake and he is far from home. Also bought 6 more flashlights and stocked up on batteries.
Homesteading: Got our fence started for our future goat pen. Put in 3 more small raised beds in the garden, and my husband ordered plans to build our own solar panels (hoping he'll actually do it!)
Loving your blog so much! Thank you!!
Shannon Timmons
Southern California
gourmetgirl69@verizon.net
I bought a grain grinder and flaker and 150 lbs. of different grains and 2 more food grade buckets. Enlarged our garden and put in half of our fall garden.
ReplyDeleteazjulieb@yahoo.com
I have been busy canning and drying the goodness from the gardens. Also purchased another 5 cases of chicken and beef stocks. Make my own but like to have these canned goods on hand also. Purchased more dried beans and brown rice.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to our peanuts we have planted a nice fall garden to keep our fresh produce going.
ReplyDeleteI had my generator serviced and new gas and oil put in it so it is ready to go. We cleaned and did the maintenance on our pellet stove and purchased our winter supply of pellets. We also removed an old chimney from our house that was not being used. We have winterized our home for the cold months. We are hoping to cut our propane useage by 60 percent this year.
ReplyDeleteSadly have not done aloot this month :( it was a tough financal month but hoping to work on it next month! Made alot of aplesauce and canned and stocked up on some canned goods.
ReplyDeletehomesteading: planted some fall crops as well.
This month was mostly about sustainability. I made a container herb garden and learned to make soap. I am not completely sure I did it right because it has to cure for 4 weeks. We will see. It was fun though.
ReplyDeleteI cleaned out my extra closet and stocked up on a canned beans sale, and bought bulk oats, dried fruits, and a case of cliff bars. I have a few gallons of water and my flashlights, batteries and candles there too.
ReplyDeleteDried veggies would be an awesome addition!
Ttrockwood@yahoo.com
Canned 22 lbs of stew beef this weekend, resulting in 14 quarts of shelf stable tender beef. Mitchelldan@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteHurray! Thanks Amy! That was easy. Now I feel like part of the group!
ReplyDeleteI have had quite a busy month! I taught myself how to pressure can and have been canning a new veggie everyday. I also dehydrated an overabundance of jalapenos, apples, and bell peppers from the garden. I attempted to make my own tomato sauce (okay, that was a fail) but so far everything else has went perfect!
ReplyDeleteMy husband built me a beautiful shelving unit attached to a wall we have in our laundry room; the shelves are sized for mason canning jars. It is looking beautiful as it fills up with all the different colored veggies- carrots, beets, peas, mushrooms, soup stock, etc, etc.
I also took the time to sprout eight quarts worth of navy beans and then pressure can them. In addition to all of that, I bought 50 pounds of rolled oats and 25 pounds of rice. I then put them in five gallon buckets inside mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. That should keep them for a while! Whew... not to mention I'm six months pregnant! Time for a nap :)
I stocked up on my first coconut oil purchase and bought some Tatler reusable canning lids. I'm new to this, so these baby steps were good for me!
ReplyDeleteI stocked up on coconut oil and Tatler reusable canning lids. Being new to this, this was a good step for us. I hope this isn't a duplicate, my first comment didn't post and I didn't see a note that said it was awaiting moderation.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a busy month! I taught myself how to pressure can for the first time and have been canning at least one veggie everyday. I also dehydrated an overabundance of jalapenos, apples, and bell peppers from the garden. There was also an attempt to make homemade tomato sauce (okay, that was a complete fail and huge time waster) but besides that, else has turned out great!
ReplyDeleteMy husband built me a shelving unit that takes up a whole wall in our laundry room- the shelves are sized for mason canning jars. It is looking gorgeous as it fills up with all the different colors- carrots, beets, peas, mushrooms, soup stock.
I also took the time to sprout eight quarts of navy beans and then pressure can them. In addition to that I bought 50 pounds of rolled oats, 25 pounds of rice and put them in 5 gallon buckets inside mylar bags with oxygen absobers. Whew! Not to mention I'm six months pregnant! Time for a nap :)
Sustainable/Preparedness we've put one full beef in the freezer, planted our winter garden--broccoli, lettuces, spinach, cauliflower, kale... But I'm gearing up for the apple onslaught! I've accepted any offers of canning jars--nearly 150 jars in all sizes for FREE!!! Bring on the apple sauce and apple butter! And the dehydrator will be going wide open, too.
ReplyDeleteJenni
sjedrom@bellsouth.net
Sustainable/Preparedness we've put one full beef in the freezer, planted our winter garden--broccoli, lettuces, spinach, cauliflower, kale... But I'm gearing up for the apple onslaught! I've accepted any offers of canning jars--nearly 150 jars in all sizes for FREE!!! Bring on the apple sauce and apple butter! And the dehydrator will be going wide open, too.
ReplyDeleteJenni
sjedrom@bellsouth.net
Sustainable/Preparedness Got a whole grass-fed beef in the freezer (from the family farm), got the winter garden planted this week--broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuces, spinach, and kale. Gearing up for apples. I usually get 5 bushels--bring on the apple butter, sauce, and dehydrated apples! I think my biggest accomplishment has been accepting ANY offers of canning jars. I've gotten 150 + for FREE!
ReplyDeleteJenni
sjedrom@bellsouth.net
Food Storage: This month I have canned all sorts of things. I did several pints of green beans, several quarts of potatoes, I canned some ham, pears, and a couple of chickens that I raised and butchered here.
ReplyDeleteWe also have butchered a pig so we had hams and bacon to cure and smoke. We are actually smoking the last of the bacon today along with a roast for supper (it's big, some of it will probably end up canned too).
Emergency Prep: This month we put together an emergency bag for the car. It has everything in it that we can think of that we might need in an emergency.
I also bought another oil lamp at the flea market yesterday. That makes 9 of them.
Homesteading: I planted my fall garden. It is just some raised beds but I have cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, onions, garlic and turnips planted. I am going to work on planting some small vegetables inside on the windowsill as well and see how that works out this year.
Lot of manure to move down to the compost bin. Some has been moved already but there is a lot more to go.
My family keeps a healthy amount of canned meat and beans in our pantry. I have recently purchased again to keep them at a week and half's worth each. Also, I keep sprouting seeds available. Love knowing we can have fresh sprouts within a week :)
ReplyDeleteMeant to add my email to the previous comment (canned meat beans and sprouting seeds). Thank you for letting me follow along and enter.)
ReplyDeleteTamrah T.
jttso2ATgmailDOTcom
I love dehydraed veggetables, they are great
ReplyDeleteIn soups, just wish they were a little cheaper, so indont use them often, i keep them unopened for emergency only now! Things I have done this month is i made menu's for the next three months! Oct, Nov and Dec. I am only shopping once a month for milk, cheese, and fresh produce, spending under 100$ each month on food, everything else is from the pantry, freezer and fridge. I also reorganized my pantry and put up 100 pounds off wheat and 50 lbs of bread flour into buckets. The money we save will come in handy for Christmas and buying either a pressure canner or sun oven.
I linked up! Can't wait to see all the entries! christympeake@yahoo.com
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ourhomesteadhaven.com
Food Storage - purchased 50 lbs of rolled oats, 25 lbs sucanat (when did that price go up so much?), 55 lbs of grass-fed ground beef, and canned 13 qts. of pinto beans
ReplyDeleteEmergency Preparedness - found a folding shovel at a yard sale for my auto tool kit
Sustainable Living - finally got my fall garden in: tomatoes, peppers, basil, beets, onions, carrots, and lettuce
Thanks for this monthly encouragement! For food storage we also bought coconut oil (a five gallon bucket!) and several cans of green chilis. Funny. :) In addition, we purchased a case of our favorite natural canned tomato basil soup and harvested from our herb garden,
ReplyDeleteFor emergency preparedness we filled our gas cans, began building a wood shed, and stacked LOTS of wood.
Sustainable Living? We're looking into buying a manual pump for our well, buying a goat for milk, and pondering whether or not to keep the rooster (that was supposed to be a layer) who wakes us up with his crowing. While he makes for a terrific alarm clock, we're not sure the locals are too happy with him. The thought of keeping him for potential new chicks is a plus, for sure...
Blessings to you, Amy. :)
~Lisa
Food storage - butchered one steer & another will be done next week (we split them between my family & my parents). I also "canned" all my dry goods. Flour, beans, rice, etc. They will last for years this way, with no bugs, much easier to find in the pantry, and I can always see exactly how much I have.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog! It's been a good month for me.
ReplyDeleteThis month I've managed to recieve 230 lbs of free apples, which I've created 10 gallons of hard cider (still processing) and 22 pints of applesauce. I also gleaned from a foreclosed vineyard (with permission from the bank) 100 lbs of Pinot Noir grapes which I've been ferminting and will press today into hopefully some lovely wine. Also, 4 gallons of blackberry wine in the works this month.
This is my first year with honeybees and I've harvested about a gallon of honey from the girls. I'm looking at trying a small batch of mead and using the rest for eating.
I've dried a gallon jar of Walla Walla onions and a half gallon of both cherry tomatoes and zucc's. Currently I have plums drying with more to come as the trees are dropping them like crazy.
32 pints of roasted tomatoes and 19 pints of wanna be V-8 juice.
I went ocean fishing and came back with 8 Dungness crab and 4 Black Sea Bass. Ate the crab but froze the fish. Picked up 8 whole chicken to can but they are in the freezer until I've more time.
I know I've done more this month but I can't remember all. I did add to my medical emergency bag.
I'm excited to have found your blog, will check back often!
I have just found your blog and added it to my reading list to check often. I cleaned my garage out on the weekend and made an area just for out gear as well as setting anything aside for our survival stash. I am really new to this and am just starting our supplies. I have also started stockpiling our food supplies as well as medical supplies. We are a family of 5 on one income so we are slowly building up our stash of gear. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis month, I, too, have gotten more coconut oil. I purchased a case of 2 to store away. (I get Nutiva from Amazon's "subscribe and save"... two 54 oz. tubs for 46.00 and no shipping! :-) )
ReplyDeleteWe've dehydrated corn, basil, and ginger this month, plus canned peppers, tomatoes, and salsa verde sauce.
I've ordered honey from a local bee keeper and it should be ready for pick up any day.
We've also planted kale, and some other winter greens. Now, if we can just keep a certain pesky bug from trying to eat them, we'll be doing good. :-)
For my emergency preparedness, I've added some more meds to my medical kit.
Very soon, the local apples will be ready and we will busy preserving them in many ways. I always love this season!
I'm excited about the giveaway this month. Thank you for offering it!
~Kim at countryroad@volcano.net
I entered in the Link-in, so this isn't trying to be a second entry--just wanted to let the owners know that I didn't realize I wasn't linking back (though I did put the picture in). I'm not sure how I'm supposed to as it's my first time doing this, so I hope what I did is okay. Thanks
ReplyDeleteNot a problem, Natalia... So glad to have you join up on the linky! In the future, you can add the photo like you did and then add your own link back either in the text of your post, under the picture, or at the bottom of your post.
DeleteOkay, thank you! :)
Delete