The SQUIRREL CHALLENGE contest?

[dragonlaurel]

I was talking to my mother today about this challenge, and she said something that made me think. She said that my prepping is not the same thing as self-sufficient living, because I am purposefully making preparations for survival should TSHTF, while SSers are living a lifestyle which requires thrift and ingenuity on a daily basis.

She called my prepping a hobby, which I think was a bit harsh, but it did give me pause.

After thinking about it, though, I realized that it's a complete apples and oranges situation and I shouldn't have posted. I apologize for participating. If I were in a similar situation on a prepper web site, my entry would be laughably incomplete. Not nearly enough tinfoil.

Anyway, am deleting the post.

Stay in the contest ! Somebody's got to give Skr8pin a real challenge. I don't care about your original motive - you still have done an amazing job. You have picked up habits that would help help either way. It all counts.

 

[Ldychef2k]

Okay, how about this? Everybody show what you have done and get some competition going. Is this the thread to post the entries? I posted mine on my blog, so I will keep it there until more people share their bounty. I am VERY interested in learning from you all. That's why I came here in the first place ! (Basically, to find a place to learn how to do the things you all do, without the political infighting at the preppers sites. That stuff makes me want to scream and run away.)

Anyway, I am hugely encouraged by you all being so loving and encouraging. Thank you for that. Let's see how it goes with YOUR entries !!!

Oh, and I am really enjoying the A to Z quick bread mix. I am making five kinds tonight to give to the crew that is coming in the morning to finish cutting down my trees and rototil. My feet are worsening with all the activities, so it is perfct timing !!!

Thanks for your love.

Kris

 

[Beekissed]

I guess I never realized there were prepper forums..... Silly me!

Let's find out where they live and raid their stores!

 

[Ldychef2k]

Hmm. You m ight want to think twice about that. When they say "prepared" they are talking prePARED.

But if you are interested in learning from them, and I sure learned a ton, there are many forums out there to search for using "survivalist" or "prepper" search terms.

One of the BIG things I took away is the use of textured vegetable protein as a meat substitute. I know that many have allergies or celiac, so I don't know if soy burger is good or bad, but I am using TVP all the time because I don't have those issues...and saving so much money at the same time. One pound of dry TVP sells for $1.59 at my local discount bulk grocer. One pound when rehydrated equals about four pounds of meat in weight. In bulk, it is much more. So, you are essentially paying 40 cents a pound. You can order it flavored on the internet in beef, chicken, taco, sausage, ham and bacon. But you can also add flavors to the much cheaper plain that I spoke of above. I have a hundred or more MREs made up with TVP and something else...like dehydrated veggies, rice, small pasta's, beef or chicken base, etc. The best so far has been Sloppy Joe. But then I am a big fan.

Most economical dinner I have made cost ten cents. I routinely dehydrate home made refried beans, then rehydrate them later with TVP and a spoon of taco seasoning to a burrito filling texture. I add dehydrated cheese powder sometimes, but it's very expensive. I can make a burrito for about a dime, including the tortilla of course.

Anyway, that's part of what I learned. It's fun to see how "out there" some of the folks get. There are some who believe that an electromagnetic pulse is going to be discharged over the United States, effectively destroying all our power sources. They are seriously lining their homes with a barrier that is supposed to protect them from this EMP. That's just a little Mel Gibson's Conspiracy Theory for me. But -- I do think we may someday need alternative energy, so I keep a lot of extra sources of heat on hand. So, you have to pick and choose.

Sorry to rant on...

 

[Ldychef2k]

I know I am beating a dead horse here, but here are some links to survivalist forums.

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/

http://www.survivalistboards.com/archive/index.php/f-49.html

http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm

 

[Farmfresh]

One of the BIG things I took away is the use of textured vegetable protein as a meat substitute. I know that many have allergies or celiac, so I don't know if soy burger is good or bad,
..

I am Celiac and beans are OK as long as there is no modified food starch or other "hidden wheat" in the TVP.

 

[chipmunk]

Okay, I have to admit that what little I have stored up this year is pretty pathetic, but y'all are really inspiring me. NEXT year I hope to have a bona fide garden instead of a pot with tomatoes and one with peppers. And I'm gonna spend the winter collecting jars for canning. Ya gotta start somewhere, right?
..And about that electromagnetic pulse: last year the Discovery channel (or was it the Weather Channel) did a show on sunspots, and how they can disrupt power grids. As I recall, they predicted a BIG sunspot sometime in the next 5 years. Something to think about.

 

[Beekissed]

With a name like Chipmunk, it should be in your blood to squirrel away stores!

Yes...there is always next year! Then y'all can eat my dust as I store away an enormous amount of things. I probably still won't win but, by golly, I'll feel much better going into the winter!