A Campfire Cooking Rack

Don't you hate me for getting all these great yard sale finds?

Here is another piece of camping equipment I got for only $4.  It is a foldable rack to place over a campfire.  It is about 20" by 12", and it is about 12" tall.  I will be able to set pots and pans or hot dogs right on it.  We haven't been able to figure out why the grill has narrower openings on one side and wider openings on the other.

Maybe I could even set my Coleman camping oven on it.  I will have to test that out.

Oven for Coleman Stove

I considered it a miracle when I found this (30 year old?) Coleman camping oven at a yard sale for $4.  It folds down completely flat, but when you put it together, it works like a charm.  It even has a temperature gauge on the front.

As you can see, I just set it on top of my propane camping stove, and turned on the flame.

It has a rack inside just like a normal oven.  I baked this carrot cake in about the same time it would take to bake one in my electric oven.  I probably should have put the rack a bit higher, I think the bottom of the cake was a little burned.

(In case you are wondering, this is the carrot cake batter that I had intended to bake inside my solar oven, but by the time I mixed up the batter, clouds had covered the sun so I was forced to bake it in this oven instead.)

Even Cheaper Solar Yard Lights

Nickey H. just told me that the Walgreens  at Highhouse and Davis Drive has outdoor solar lights for  49 cents and 75 cents.  So those are even cheaper than the Independence Day red-white-and-blue ones I saw at Walmart last week for $1.00 each.  (See that post on Aug. 5, 2011.)

My Coleman Stove

Here is the Coleman stove that I bought at a yard sale for $5.  The guy even threw in the bottle of propane for free! I was quite proud of myself for getting such a good deal.

Wayne had an older Coleman stove, but he likes mine better because it is so shiny and new.  His has one feature mine doesn't have, his has a click start ignition, so you can click it and it makes a spark to light the gas on fire.  With mine, I have to stick that long lighter in the hole on the front and light the gas.

If you don't have a lighter, you could use matches, but I haven't tried that because I am afraid of burning my fingers.

You could also use this stove with a 20 pound refillable propane tank (the green one you see here is a 1-pound non-refillable tank), but to do so you would have to buy a $15 adapter tube.  I got one of those at Walmart, so I am ready to go.

I told Wayne that since I am collecting all my own emergency equipment now, he is in charge of his and I am in charge of mine.  His garage is too dirty, so I am storing my stuff somewhere else, where I can find it.

Solar Oven Nemesis

 This summer has been very hot here in North Carolina.  For days at a time, it has reached 99-104 degrees.  There is no way I will turn on the electric oven in my house, because that would just make the air conditioner work that much harder.

So I have been trying to use my solar oven a lot.  I look outside, and see a sunny sky, and decide its time to bake something.  The problem is, by the time I have put the solar oven outside to preheat, and mixed up the batter, CLOUDS HAVE FORMED.  It makes me so mad!

One day last week that happened, and I had to bake the carrot cake batter in a Coleman oven on top of my Coleman grill.  (I'll put that in a different post.)

Another day it was half sunny, half cloudy.  I decided to test the solar oven and see how it would work when the sun kept going away.

I put a small pizza stone inside the solar oven to get hot.  (You can see it, it is the beige thing under the cake pan.)  I think the pizza stone helped the oven to stay warm while the sun was behind the clouds.

Then I put a tortilla with shredded cheese in the solar oven.  The oven only got up to 160 degrees, but the cheese was nice and melty.  (Note:  If it had been completely overcast, the oven wouldn't have heated up at all.)

What I learned:  The solar oven won't get up to the optimum temperature of 300 or 350 degrees when it is cloudy, but if you can get intermittent sun you can still heat things up.

Even Dilbert Has Food Storage

(And Alice is going to take it from him.)

Here are the captions from the July 31, 2011 comic strip, in case you can't read them.

Dilbert:  I'm preparing for the complete meltdown of our financial system.

           I've got six months of food and water.

           I have batteries, flashlights, and gold coins.

Alice:  I'm prepared too.

           I have your home address.

           And I noticed that your preparations are light on defensive weaponry.

           .....

           Can you add some protein bars to the shopping list?

Buckets, Lids and Food Storage

Here is a link to a website where they will teach you how to get a 3-month supply of food.

Their first video teaches the difference between the three main types of lids to get for your buckets.

http://www.3steps.org/Site_3steps.org/3-Month_Supply.html

Faust: The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=21fdef960417b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
"The Responsibility for Welfare Rests with Me and My Family"
Elder James E. Faust,  Ensign May 1986

Strive to have a year’s supply of food and clothing. The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency. 

Most of us cannot afford to store a year’s supply of luxury items, but find it more practical to store staples that might keep us from starving in case of emergency. Surely we all hope that the hour of need will never come. 

Some have said, “We have followed this counsel in the past and have never had need to use our year’s supply, so we have difficulty keeping this in mind as a major priority.” Perhaps following this counsel could be the reason why they have not needed to use their reserve. By continued rotation of the supply it can be kept usable with no waste.

The Church cannot be expected to provide for every one of its millions of members in case of public or personal disaster. It is therefore necessary that each home and family do what they can to assume the responsibility for their own hour of need. If we do not have the resources to acquire a year’s supply, then we can strive to begin with having one month’s supply. 

I believe if we are provident and wise in the management of our personal and family affairs and are faithful, God will sustain us through our trials. He has revealed: “For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.” (D&C 104:17.)

Buy Solar Yard Lights for Emergency Lighting

I went to Walmart the other day and found these solar yard lights.  The black one was $4 each, or you could buy a box of eight for $20.

The red/white one was on clearance from Independence Day.  It had been $1.50 each, and  now it is marked down to $1 each.

I bought one of each and came home and put them in my yard all day so they got charged in the sun.

The next morning I remembered to bring them inside about 11 a.m.  I put them in my windowless bathroom, and tested them to see how well they lighted the room.

In the dark room, I could hold the light up to my scriptures and read.

Seven hours later, they had not run out of energy.  Same test.  I could still read with them.

Twenty-four hours later, the $1 red/white one was going dim, but still had a tiny amount of light coming out.  The $4 one was still almost as bright as it had been 24 hours earlier, without any extra charging.

I am going right back to Walmart and buying a whole yard full of these things.  They will be a lot cheaper than using flashlights everywhere in the house when we have a power outage.  They are rechargeable, so that means they are much cheaper than using glowsticks.  And they are much safer than leaving a candle lit in the bathroom.

Consider doing the 7-Day Challenge in September

I did this 7 Day Challenge last September, and had to go a day without water, a day without electricity, learn to change a tire, etc.  Every day is a surprise.  It is really fun and I hope some of you decide to sign up for it.  There is no penalty or reward, just the satisfaction of getting through it and learning about emergency preparedness.  If you sign up for it, you get the emails.  Thats all.


Read all about it on Food Storage Made Easy.org:
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2011/08/03/7-day-challenge-2011/

Tender Mercies

I go to yard sales and Goodwill every week.  I pray every day to be led to those items that we need for preparedness.  Sometimes when I am out doing errands I drive past Goodwill without stopping, and other times when I am near it I feel like I need to go inside.  On Saturday mornings I pray with great faith that I will go to the right yard sales.

I try to follow the Spirit as I drive around, and when I have a choice between turning one way or the other, I try to listen.

I have a testimony that the Lord has guided me many times.  Invariably, I find something that will help my family with food storage, shelter, camping, fuel, or light.

In the past two months, I have purchased a brand new zero degree sleeping bag for $15.  A brand new in the box "Big Buddy Tough Buddy" propane indoor heater for $15.  A like-new Coleman propane grill for $5.  A Coleman oven that goes on top of a propane grill for $4.  A double bed foam pad for $4.

 Two down comforters for $5 each.  Three empty 6-gallon buckets with Gamma seal lids for $2 each.  About a hundred pillar candles, I get them for about 25 cents each at almost every yard sale.  Three cans of sterno for 25 cents.

Gardening clay pots, gasoline cans, propane tanks, an ice chest, and foam pads to put under sleeping bags.

Not to mention all the cold-weather gear I have purchased for every member of my family:  Down coats, hats, mittens, snow boots, and ski pants.

I have been very blessed.  I have a testimony that the Lord will help us as we try to accumulate the food storage and preparedness items that will help us and our families in times of trouble.

August Challenge: Oatmeal Breakfasts, Emergency Communications

August Provident Living Challenge #1:  Breakfasts!  

Buy enough ingredients to make oatmeal 3 times a week for three months.

Make an oatmeal breakfast for your family.  Measure carefully how much everyone eats.  Buy enough of those ingredients to have that food 30 times.  That would be about 3 times a week for 3 months.

Eventually you will want to have food collected for 90 days of breakfasts, with all of the ingredients being shelf-stable.  You don't want your food to go bad if the power goes off!

Most of us would want to have several different menu choices such as cold cereal, hot cereal, pancakes, waffles, etc.  You could plan to have that item once a week, twice a week, or more.   But for this challenge, you will get the prize if you buy enough breakfast ingredients for 30 days.  (Choose some other breakfast menu to buy if you don't like oatmeal.)

Thanks to Laura H. who wrote up the following explanation and put it on her blog.  Go to this link and you can see the photo she took:

http://halehealthyrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/07/oatmeal-for-30-days-for-family-of-6.html 

"Here's a picture, list of ingredients, and cost of preparing oatmeal for my family of 6 for 30 days using food storage. There is actually more cinnamon, brown sugar, or salt than I'd actually use, but I think "planning" visually is much easier this way and keeping track of my inventory to make sure I do indeed have enough food. I have all the supplies as food storage for emergencies, and rotating the ingredients before expiration dates is easy since I use all the ingredients in many other recipes.

20 lbs whole or 1 minute oats
7 lbs. brown sugar
16 oz. vanilla
2.25 lbs. raisins
1 lb. salt
cinnamon
water

$33 for all ingredients (items purchased at Sams or Costco)
6 people for 30 meals = $1.10 per meal or .20 per person

-When I prepare oatmeal, I DO NOT cook it. I merely poor in boiling water (or hot milk), salt, and vanilla and let oatmeal sit for 5 minutes to soften oats (this will prevent "gluey" oatmeal). 1 Minute oats get VERY soft with this method and Whole Oats get a more muesli-like texture. Then I sprinkle on desired toppings!"    -Laura H.

August Provident Living Challenge #2:  Emergency Communication. 

Think of the ways you could give information or receive information when the power is out.  Do one of the following:  

Buy a solar powered or windup radio.  

Buy a solar-powering device which will allow you to charge your cell phone.  

Investigate the steps to acquiring a ham radio license.  

Plug an inverter into your car, and use it to power a TV or laptop.  Test whether you have any TV’s which can receive a signal using an antenna instead of cable or satellite.  

Add a black marker and large sheets of paper to each one of your car trunks and to your 72-hour kits.  

Get a home phone which has the handset attached to the base, because those types will usually work when the power is out. 

Discuss with your family where you could leave notes for each other in an emergency situation.  It might be important to choose hiding places where strangers would not see the notes.