Nearly a year ago I published a post about living off of food storage for a week (see May 2009 post from this blog). Here is another, different, experience from a family who lived on their food storage for two weeks. During the final three days, they also went without electricity.
While reading this I wondered how prepared I am to live on the resources I have on hand (this could be necessary, for example, during a power outage from a winter storm). In addition to food, do I have a way to cook food? Some way to stay warm? Sufficient water? Correct foods for members of my family with dietary restrictions?
This family was very creative, and very well-prepared. They are also a good example of making life happy for their family, no matter what the circumstance!
Denise B. writes:
Ready or not...
Tomorrow is the day...the beginning of two weeks "survival". The plan--to live as though we are dealing with an emergency situation in our home, and still function normally outside of our home. As of tomorrow morning we will be drinking stored water and washing our hands with water saved in 2-liter bottles. There will be no trips to the store to purchase anything. Any gas that is needed will be purchased with cash on hand. Baths will be taken with water heated on the stove.
Our goal is to find out what we lack, as far as supplies, food, ingenuity (and patience) and work to overcome those shortfalls. We hope to gain a better appreciation for the conveniences and blessings we take for granted every day, and become more self-reliant in the process.
Two days down, Ten remain
The last two days have flowed fairly smoothly without turning the faucets on, but I had no idea we would go through so much water. I filled a garbage bag with the 2-liter bottles we emptied just for washing dishes and hands...When I looked at the number of full bottles that were remaining, I realized there is no way we will make it through the two weeks without running out of water.
We have tried to use some ingenuity in trying to make hand washing easier. We punched 10 small holes in a circle shape at the top of the 2-liter bottle, so it now works like a water sprayer.
So far, the boys haven't noticed much of a change. There were lots of questions yesterday as to why there were "No Water" signs posted on all of the faucets. They wanted to know when there was going to be more water and why the sink was broken. Now they are having so much fun with the water sprayer bottle.
There are many things that I have found I am more grateful for: the microwave, toilets that flush, lights that turn on, water that comes out of a faucet (hot and cold), a dishwasher, a comfortable bed...the list could go on and on.
Eating Gourmet!
With the decision to not use electricity for three days, came the question of "What are you going to make for dinner, and how?" The inevitable "What's for dinner?" question is always one that can be the turning point of my day. So I knew planning meals for the rest of this week was going to be a bit tricky.
We have eaten food cooked in our fireplace before so I knew I was capable of cooking without the stove. However, earlier I had made tin foil dinners, but this week "aluminum foil" was one of those things on my shopping list that I didn't have on hand. So, I pulled out the dutch oven and oiled the inside. I started a fire in the fireplace around 3:00 so there would be plenty of time to burn the wood down enough to make coal. I cut up chicken and potatoes and let them marinate in Italian dressing. At 5:00 we put the dutch oven in the fireplace to pre-heat and then added the potatoes and chicken. It was exciting to hear the oil sizzle as we put the food in. While we waited we lit candles and the boys found sticks to roast miniature marshmallows over the candles until it was ready. I felt like a queen--eating green salad, homemade bread, roasted chicken and potatoes by candlelight. I never thought I would be eating fancy meals while "roughing it."
We've eaten by candlelight all week and the boys have been great eaters and have stayed at the table through the whole meal. When the only light in the house is where the family is, that is where you stay.
Survival week--would you do it?
We shared our experience at a Food Storage/Preparedness Fair after the two "survival weeks." A lot of people couldn't believe we would live without electricity and running water. After listening to the other three individuals and families that participated, I think we had the most enjoyment. Some of the others ended up in the doctor's office or hospital. One woman with diabetes had complications because of the high carbohydrates they consumed from food storage.
We did plan for the last night of our 2-week survival to be a celebration. I knew I was going to need something to look forward to, to get me through the week. We cooked beans and little smokies in a dutch oven in the fireplace and also ate homemade applesauce. Then we set up the boys' tent and brought some mattresses to the room with the fireplace [it was January and cold outside]. I played some music on my violin and we read from the scriptures and then from "Little House on the Prairie" by firelight/candlelight. It was a memorable evening.
The next morning I woke up and started making bread (in the breadmaker), apple crisp (in the oven), rice and beans (in the crock pot) and pancakes (on the griddle). I went from not cooking with any appliances to using most of them in one morning. I am very thankful for modern conveniences (especially the shower). It is all too easy to ignore the many blessings we have until we live without them.
I will be forever grateful for what the last two weeks have meant for the unity of our family. It has made very clear to me what the priorities in my life are.
Showing posts with label living on food storage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label living on food storage. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Two Weeks Preparedness--Lessons to Learn
Many people try living exclusively from their food storage for a week or two. This can be a very valuable experience to evaluate how well your food storage would serve your family in a true emergency.
A few people have written about their experiences doing this. I found it very helpful in evaluating my own food storage and personal preparedness. With their permission I will post them. Here is the first:
Karen M. wrote:
We decided to accept the challenge to start that very day to live off our food storage for two weeks without going to the grocery store. We went home to the food on our shelves and in our fridge.
At first:
We began with a Family Home Evening to explain to our children what we were going to be doing. We allowed them to participate by putting a paper on the refrigerator, and anytime they wanted something that we didn't have, they could write it on the fridge.
I was excited to not have to go to the store for two weeks! I thought of all the time and money that I would save. However, I found that the first few days were the hardest--emotionally more than physically. There is an immediate sense of panic when you realize you are "stuck with what you got." The second week was actually easier than the first.
The hardest part for children:
The hardest part for my kids was that we were out of cereal. The first morning we had oatmeal. The complained, "Oh no! We don't like oatmeal!" After they ate it they said, "That was so good! Can we have some more?" That taught me a lesson right there. Variety is a good thing, even if there is a little grumbling up front.
The hardest part for me:
The hardest thing for me was that there was no chocolate. I normally don't eat that much chocolate, but in a "crisis" situation I discovered it is a comfort food. I hadn't realized how much I enjoy a piece of chocolate here and there and here and there and here and there. I will definitely stock up on cocoa and chocolate chips.
Snacks:
I did a lot of baking and cooking during this time, mainly for snacks. I realized that I was lacking in snacks and in order to keep up with my kids and make this experience easier for them, it required a lot of my time and energy cooking.
Appliances for cooking in working order:
Our gas oven has been on the fritz for a while and we haven't had it fixed. Fortunately, we had already scheduled a repairman to come, and I was relieved when he came. You need an oven when you are baking bread, muffins, pizza, etc.! Unfortunately, the problem was more complicated than he anticipated and he wasn't able to fix it at that time. This taught me the importance of keeping our homes and appliances in good working order--before disaster strikes.
72-hour kits:
On one of the first nights of our experience, we decided to go through our 72-hour kits as well. I thought there would be some good "treats" in there for the kids. Unfortunately, almost all of the food was bad! The applesauce was out of date, and the fruit leather was rock hard. The only things we salvaged were the juice boxes and graham crackers. I realized that we need to rotate the food in our 72-hour kits more often, because we would have been in a lot of trouble if we had needed to rely on them for survival.
Unexpected illness:
During this time my daughter became sick with a sore throat, fever, throwing up, etc. I was grateful for the Gatorade we had salvaged from our 72-hour kits, but realized we needed a bigger supply for the future.
Comfort foods:
When my daughter was sick I also realized the importance of stocking up on "comfort foods" that are required during sickness (such as a certain brand of soup or soda crackers).
Trying new recipes:
The time of crisis is NOT the time to try new recipes. I had about a 1/2 gallon of milk and decided to stretch it by adding powdered milk to it. I had heard that adding vanilla to powdered milk really helped it taste better. Instead of waiting for the recipe, I "guessed" and added 8 times the amount of vanilla that I should have. We had "vanilla sting milk" for the next two weeks! When I tried to make yogurt with the new milk concoction, it turned out runny, for some reason. However, we made do.
Fruit:
My best relief came when I realized that we had strawberries and raspberries in the freezer. I came up with a new smoothie recipe and it was like liquid gold! we were all in heaven drinking up the fresh berries. I discovered that I would like to store more fruits--frozen, canned, dried. These were better than candy during this time.
Eggs:
I have been keeping about 5 dozen eggs on hand, so we were fine for the two weeks, but if it had been longer, I would have run out of eggs. I will be looking in to storing powdered dairy products--eggs, butter, buttermilk, etc.
Holidays:
We celebrated Easter during these two weeks. We had enough eggs for our children to dye, but we dyed them without hard-boiling them because I didn't want to hard boil my only supply of fresh eggs. We found an online recipe for dyeing eggs without food coloring. It is a good idea to think about holidays when planning our food storage.
Lessons learned:
Overall, this was a great experience for our family. The knowledge we gained was invaluable and definitely worth the sacrifice to obtain it. the biggest insight from this experience was that when an emergency happens, your resources are limited to what you have on hand, what you have prepared for, and what skills you have obtained.
Just as you are limited to the food you have stored on your shelves, you are also limited to the skills you have obtained.
In a time of crisis, you do not have the time, energy or resources to obtain new skills. You are limited to what you have already learned. You may have great books on food storage recipes and ideas, but unless you have tried them, they are not skills you can call on in a time of need.
This has encouraged me to expand my knowledge of food and my own personal recipe book so that I am regularly and consistently using my food storage in healthy and tasty ways!
List of food we wished we had:
Powdered eggs
Powdered butter
Powdered buttermilk
Cocoa
Chocolate Chips
Yogurt and buttermilk starter
Gatorade packets (electrolytes)
Lipton soup
Cereal
Snacks
Lunch meat in freezer
Bread in freezer
Frozen fruit: bananas, strawberries, peaches, raspberries
Canned fruit: pears, mandarin oranges
Wheat
Other things we wished we had:
Wipes
Oven and home repairs
A few people have written about their experiences doing this. I found it very helpful in evaluating my own food storage and personal preparedness. With their permission I will post them. Here is the first:
Karen M. wrote:
We decided to accept the challenge to start that very day to live off our food storage for two weeks without going to the grocery store. We went home to the food on our shelves and in our fridge.
At first:
We began with a Family Home Evening to explain to our children what we were going to be doing. We allowed them to participate by putting a paper on the refrigerator, and anytime they wanted something that we didn't have, they could write it on the fridge.
I was excited to not have to go to the store for two weeks! I thought of all the time and money that I would save. However, I found that the first few days were the hardest--emotionally more than physically. There is an immediate sense of panic when you realize you are "stuck with what you got." The second week was actually easier than the first.
The hardest part for children:
The hardest part for my kids was that we were out of cereal. The first morning we had oatmeal. The complained, "Oh no! We don't like oatmeal!" After they ate it they said, "That was so good! Can we have some more?" That taught me a lesson right there. Variety is a good thing, even if there is a little grumbling up front.
The hardest part for me:
The hardest thing for me was that there was no chocolate. I normally don't eat that much chocolate, but in a "crisis" situation I discovered it is a comfort food. I hadn't realized how much I enjoy a piece of chocolate here and there and here and there and here and there. I will definitely stock up on cocoa and chocolate chips.
Snacks:
I did a lot of baking and cooking during this time, mainly for snacks. I realized that I was lacking in snacks and in order to keep up with my kids and make this experience easier for them, it required a lot of my time and energy cooking.
Appliances for cooking in working order:
Our gas oven has been on the fritz for a while and we haven't had it fixed. Fortunately, we had already scheduled a repairman to come, and I was relieved when he came. You need an oven when you are baking bread, muffins, pizza, etc.! Unfortunately, the problem was more complicated than he anticipated and he wasn't able to fix it at that time. This taught me the importance of keeping our homes and appliances in good working order--before disaster strikes.
72-hour kits:
On one of the first nights of our experience, we decided to go through our 72-hour kits as well. I thought there would be some good "treats" in there for the kids. Unfortunately, almost all of the food was bad! The applesauce was out of date, and the fruit leather was rock hard. The only things we salvaged were the juice boxes and graham crackers. I realized that we need to rotate the food in our 72-hour kits more often, because we would have been in a lot of trouble if we had needed to rely on them for survival.
Unexpected illness:
During this time my daughter became sick with a sore throat, fever, throwing up, etc. I was grateful for the Gatorade we had salvaged from our 72-hour kits, but realized we needed a bigger supply for the future.
Comfort foods:
When my daughter was sick I also realized the importance of stocking up on "comfort foods" that are required during sickness (such as a certain brand of soup or soda crackers).
Trying new recipes:
The time of crisis is NOT the time to try new recipes. I had about a 1/2 gallon of milk and decided to stretch it by adding powdered milk to it. I had heard that adding vanilla to powdered milk really helped it taste better. Instead of waiting for the recipe, I "guessed" and added 8 times the amount of vanilla that I should have. We had "vanilla sting milk" for the next two weeks! When I tried to make yogurt with the new milk concoction, it turned out runny, for some reason. However, we made do.
Fruit:
My best relief came when I realized that we had strawberries and raspberries in the freezer. I came up with a new smoothie recipe and it was like liquid gold! we were all in heaven drinking up the fresh berries. I discovered that I would like to store more fruits--frozen, canned, dried. These were better than candy during this time.
Eggs:
I have been keeping about 5 dozen eggs on hand, so we were fine for the two weeks, but if it had been longer, I would have run out of eggs. I will be looking in to storing powdered dairy products--eggs, butter, buttermilk, etc.
Holidays:
We celebrated Easter during these two weeks. We had enough eggs for our children to dye, but we dyed them without hard-boiling them because I didn't want to hard boil my only supply of fresh eggs. We found an online recipe for dyeing eggs without food coloring. It is a good idea to think about holidays when planning our food storage.
Lessons learned:
Overall, this was a great experience for our family. The knowledge we gained was invaluable and definitely worth the sacrifice to obtain it. the biggest insight from this experience was that when an emergency happens, your resources are limited to what you have on hand, what you have prepared for, and what skills you have obtained.
Just as you are limited to the food you have stored on your shelves, you are also limited to the skills you have obtained.
In a time of crisis, you do not have the time, energy or resources to obtain new skills. You are limited to what you have already learned. You may have great books on food storage recipes and ideas, but unless you have tried them, they are not skills you can call on in a time of need.
This has encouraged me to expand my knowledge of food and my own personal recipe book so that I am regularly and consistently using my food storage in healthy and tasty ways!
List of food we wished we had:
Powdered eggs
Powdered butter
Powdered buttermilk
Cocoa
Chocolate Chips
Yogurt and buttermilk starter
Gatorade packets (electrolytes)
Lipton soup
Cereal
Snacks
Lunch meat in freezer
Bread in freezer
Frozen fruit: bananas, strawberries, peaches, raspberries
Canned fruit: pears, mandarin oranges
Wheat
Other things we wished we had:
Wipes
Oven and home repairs
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