The hidden room

The new room is coming along.  Mr. Bug-out renter and I are building it.  We got most of it framed then realized that we miscounted the number of 2x4s that would be needed.  Although I bought two or three more than planned, for some reason I figured it at 24 inches on center when it's 16.  I don't have enough nice pieces out in the barn so I'll have to buy a few more.  I need some for the cross pieces and framing around the door.

Good lesson for my not spending for a month exercise.  Having to do a repair that takes some 2x4s could become a big problem although at this point in time the lumber is not very expensive.  At least they are available and I have the transportation to run into town and buy more.  I did not stop everything that I was doing today to go to town though.  Instead the project came to a halt.  I'm going to town on Monday when I go to work.  It will have to wait until then.  This is alright since Mrs. Bug-out renter wasn't feeling that well and wanted to go home. 

The room is four feet by 17 feet.  The door is two feet from the side wall so I can put shelving along the side if I want.  I was hoping the room would be 4 1/2 or 5 feet deep but between the electric plugs and the window, 4 feet was what it's ending up as.  I will probably put one or two 24 inch deep shelves and 2 or 3-18 inch deep shelves.  With the shelves 4 feet wide that will cover 16 feet of the back wall.  I can put a a foot deep shelf behind the door or just leave it as a 1 foot by 4 foot space.  I don't know what I'm going to do for lighting: there's no window but there are three electrical outlets.  Maybe I'll put in a motion detecting light that will turn on when the door opens.  That will come in time.  Although I'm going to buy some 2x4s to finish the project, I'm not buying anything extra during the month of no spending. 

The list of purchases over the last two weeks will be:
$4.25 - lunch with coworkers when I was traveling
$10.00 - 20 sticky trays to catch mice
$15.00 - 5 2x4s
It's nice staying out of the stores.

Canning Cheese

Thanks to Kris at http://krissimplyliving.blogspot.com/  for providing me with two different websites which give directions for canning cheese.  http://www.backwoodshome.com/advice/ajo061220.html provided directions for hard cheese such as cheddar although it was stated that mozzarella cheese was also canned this way. http://canninggranny.com/?p=38 gave directions for canning cream cheese.  Both websites made it clear that these are not government approved methods but that they have worked for them and others they've talked to.  I'm going to try both.  They are easy and will be another valuable item to put into the larder.  I still want freeze dried cheese in the storage too. 

Here are the directions for both the cheddar and cream cheese canning.  For both recipes you need to sterilize the jars by putting them in boiling water for 20 minutes.  Sterilize the lids too, which I always do when I heat them before putting them on the jar.  Use 1/2 pint jars for the cream cheese and either 1/2 pint straight side or pint wide mouth jars for the cheddar. 

For the cheddar cut the cheese into one inch square cubes and place them into the jar.  For the cream cheese spoon four to six ounces of it into the jar.  Put the jars into a pan of simmering water on the stove.  Do not have the water very high, perhaps half way up the side of the jar at most.  You don't want water getting into the jar.  Once the cheese starts melting add more cheese to your jar.  Let that new cheese melt too.  Continue to add cheese until it's about 1/2 inch from the top.  Be careful that you don't get cheese on the rim.  If there's grease on the rim the jar will not seal.  Before you put the lid on wipe off the rim of the jar.  Use a damp cloth with a little vinegar and water.  The vinegar will help cut any grease that you accidentally got on the jar rim.

Boiling water bath the jars, with the jars covered by at least an inch of boiling water: cheddar was listed for 25 minutes (although other sites did list up to 45 minutes) and cream cheese for 40.  Do not take the cheddar cheese out of the hot water too quickly.  Let the water cool down a little first or you run the risk of having some of the oils get sucked out and ruining your seal.  For the cream cheese you can take it out of the water when the time is up.  Use your jar lifter to remove the jars and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter.  Make sure they aren't set in a breezy location. 

The directions for the cheddar cheese said when you are ready to use the cheese put the jar into a warm water bath for a few minutes to warm up the cheese a bit.  Then slide a knife down the side of the jar and you should be able to dump the cheese block out of the jar.  For the cream cheese, just open and scoop like you would from the package. 

Sounds easy.  Around here cream cheese will go on sale for a dollar for an eight ounce package.  I think I'll stock up and can the cheese.  Same with the cheddar. 

How's the no spending going? and Storing Cheese

Just wanted to give an update on my no spending experiment and my not using the refrigerator experiment.  The no spending is doing pretty well, the no refrigerator part of it, slight failure. 

I have spent a little money since I started this exercise.  None of the hotels/fuel costs are being counted since those are work related and work is footing the bill.  Again on the trip I just returned from last night I didn't purchase food or drink during the day and a half I was gone.  I bought the lunch last week when I had to travel down south, but I knew that before I started this exercise.  Wednesday night I did make my only purchase that broke the no spending exercise.  Don't forget, prior to starting this I did make the exception that if something came on sale that was "too good to pass up" then I was going to buy it.  No reason to not save money for a future prep because of the exercise.  I just don't want to buy anything for immediate use. 

Tractor Supply had a sale on sticky traps for mice.  While I poison mice, use snap traps, and cats, I like to do overkill on the mouse catching because they can be so destructive.  The sticky traps were two for a dollar, normally a dollar each.  These are the flat kind that you can fold up into a box but I just leave them flat.   Getting them 1/2 off was something I didn't want to pass up.  So I didn't.  That's ten dollars spent. 

As far as not using anything from the refrigerator or freezer...I used up the fresh milk.  I said that I would do this because I'm not going to have food go to waste.  I also set up the clay pot cooler on the patio.  I am storing water and instant milk in it.  The water comes out of the well at 55 degrees.  This is fine if you just want a glass of cold water but if you want cold milk, 55 is too warm.  Since the temperature outside at night has been in the 40s, the cooler is easily getting into the high 30s and low 40s and staying in the 40s for most of the day.  This is cool enough for the milk.  I'm making 3 cups in the evening and it is perfectly cold for the morning breakfast.  If I need milk during the day I will use water out of the tap but if we are drinking milk at dinner I will use the cold water in the pot to make more cold milk.  It's working, although none of us like drinking powdered milk straight.  (It tastes much better with chocolate or strawberry Quik.) 

Then how have I failed on the refrigerator part?  We like cheese.  As I've lamented we don't have any freeze dried cheese in our storage program and we eat cheese at least once a day.  I do have powdered cheese and we use that but we like shredded cheese on tortillas, eggs, potatoes, straight out of the bag... We use at least one 5 pound bag of shredded cheese each month that we get from Costco.  I could keep the bag of cheese in the pot cooler, it would stay fine in there, but when I started this exercise we only had about a half pound of cheese in the bag.  I usually put a pound or so into the refrigerator and keep the rest in the freezer in the garage.  When the bag empties I put more into it.  There's usually twenty or thirty pounds of cheese in the freezer.  During this no spending no refrigerator and freezer exercise I did get into the freezer to take out some cheese, which got put into the refrigerator. 

If I bought blocks of cheese rather than the shredded I'd be able to store it outside the freezer.  You can keep the cheese in 50-55 degrees.  It doesn't have to be refrigerated or frozen.  The clay pot would work well.  The New England Cheese Making Supply Company has lots of good information about this process of storing cheese.   http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/245-FAQ-Aging-Cheese.html  During the summer I don't know if I'd be able to keep the clay pot cool enough to store cheese.  Since I don't make hard cheese, only soft cheese that gets eaten quickly, in a SHTF situation we'd just be out of luck with getting our cheese other than the powdered kind.  I'd like to make cheddar cheese but there's only so much time in a day in the life of working full time, raising the grand kids, and running the five acres that it doesn't fit in.  Someday when the working full time is removed from the list then I'll have so much more room in the schedule to be more self sufficient. 

Has anyone else used the clay pot cooler method or knows of some other way to store cheese? 

Oakland Occupiers - I don't get them

I'm sure most people have watched the news or read something about the Occupy Wall Street folks, who are now called the 99%ers, who went on a rampage in Oakland last night.  They broke windows of storefronts, damaged a Whole Foods grocery store, started fires, graffitied walls and windows (with kill cops and other such sayings).  Today some of the more peaceful folks helped clean up the mess, although I didn't hear of any of them offering to pay for the damage. 

I'm confused.  I thought it was Wall Street and corporate greed that they were protesting.  Instead they hit the mom and pop stores, stopped truckers from making a living, and damaged Whole Foods, which is one of the most globally sensitive grocery stores in this country.  Men's Warehouse closed on Wednesday and had a sign in their window supporting the strike.  Their windows were all smashed anyway. 

The talk was that these were not the Occupiers who did this damage but anarchists.  Sorry.  In every group you have the quiet ones and the loud ones.  These were the loud ones acting out, but still part of the group.  There was dissension among the ranks, some arguing that the lawlessness of the night was not as effective as the disruptions during the day.  Others stated that their disagreements among themselves make them stronger and more united. 

One of the protesters was interviewed and his reason for being there protesting was that he has worked hard and deserves to have more than he has.  He was in his early 20s if that old.  All that I thought was I'm sure he worked hard.  I'm sure he cleaned his room, set the table, maybe even fed the dog.  Whatever his parents asked him to do.  He hasn't been a grown up for very long. You don't get to the top for a very long time, it takes more than a year or two. More often than not, you don't get to the top.    

One of the shop owners whose windows were busted out and items looted from the window displays and from inside the shop made the comment that she didn't know who the people were that caused the damage.  It certainly couldn't be people from Oakland because it's a wonderful community. 

The story of one of the businessmen defending his building with a shotgun is not being widely spread.  These people took off when they heard him cock the gun.  Good for him. 

Is this coming to your town?  Are you prepared to defend yourself?   

My review of Thrive Chopped Chicken - thanks for the sample Misty

About a month ago Misty Marsh from http://www.yourownhomestore.com/ sent me a couple of free samples of Thrive freeze dried food.  I received Cooked White Meat Chopped Chicken and also a chicken salad spread.  I promised to use them but with all the traveling I've been doing lately I hadn't gotten around do trying them out.  Tonight's dinner includes the cooked white meat.  We are having pasta and chicken (the freeze dried chicken) with alfredo sauce (including powdered milk), peas from the garden, and peach juice (canned during the summer from our fruit trees) to drink.  I'd make rolls but I just don't feel like it.  I have to travel again tonight and tomorrow so I'm just not in the mood to do lots of baking. 

I'd read other reviews about freeze dried meats and some have been good and some have been not too good.  Well I think it's great stuff.  At least if you compare it properly.  Have you ever boiled a chicken?  No seasonings, just boiled the chicken.  That's exactly what this tastes like.  Boiled chicken white meat without any seasoning.  After all, I'd like to be the one to season the food the way I want it seasoned.  I say it's great. The taste, the texture, exactly like cut up pieces of boiled chicken.  Yum. You must be thinking right now that I'm a little nuts.  Well, maybe, but back to the food...

First I do want to say if you didn't read the packaging well, or you didn't do the simple math, you would really mess things up and be disappointed in the product.  On the front it shows the net weight of the package as 2.29 oz and it serves six.  On the back of the package in the nutrition facts it tells the serving size, which is 1/4 cup dry.  This would mean 1 1/2 cups of dry chicken (6 servings x 1/4 cup).  I opened the package and yes, there was 1 1/2 cups of the freeze dried meat. 

The confusing part was the rehydration instructions.  That starts out with, "To make 1 lb. of chicken, combine 2 1/2 c. Thrive Chicken with 2 c. warm water."  If I hadn't read the package any more thoroughly I would have wrongly assumed that the 2.29 oz. package that serves six would rehydrate to 1 pound of chicken.  Wrong! It rehydrates to a little over 1/2 pound! 2 1/2 cups of freeze dried chicken is ten servings worth of chicken and this pack was six servings. 

At $35 for the can of 48 servings, you are paying about $7.00 per pound for white meat chicken.  It's certainly cheaper to pay $2 a can for the 12 oz. Costco canned chicken white meat, which comes to a little under $3.00 per pound.  Of course, freeze dried is long lasting and much lighter in weight so there are advantages to having it in your storage program along side the bulky canned chicken. At some point I would like to have both options in my storage program.  

Misty does offer free samples, so please check out her website.  Don't take the free sample if you have no intention of ordering.  While she doesn't know if you are going to order or not when she sends you the sample, she does have to pay for these samples.  They are free to you, not free to her, so don't take advantage of her generosity, please. 

I am going to purchase the freeze dried shredded cheese from Misty once my month of no spending is over.  I'm sure at some point I will add the meat to my storage program but for now, no.  I'd rather buy the cheese! 

Are we really that stupid? and a bit of community training

Work sent around a email saying that all supervisors had to take a workplace harassment training from an internet site.  We each individually sign in and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't speed up the five hours that it took to get through the thing.  It was all common sense, at least I thought it was common sense. 

Let's see.  George and Tom were sitting around their desks.  George just got a new cell phone and Tom was going to help him figure out all the bells and whistles.  Diane walks by and George takes a picture of her buttocks (their words, not mine).  But wait.  He only pretends to since the phone is not charged.  Any problems here? 

Yes, five hours of that garbage.  I wonder how much our wonderful state has to pay the company that produced this?  Plus the cost of each of the 400 or so supervisors to take this nonsense?  I figure the state is going to spend about $75,000 in salaries for our supervisors and that's only for one department.  Sure, for the state it's a CYA (uh oh, since that is a form of profanity I should be aware that my comments can escalate into harassment if I am not going to properly monitor my personal behavior) but when does common sense come into it?  I guess it doesn't.  After all, I work for the government and they have lots of your money to spend.

In Aliso Viejo (the first place I ever got a speeding ticket) there's a community emergency preparedness academy that teaches residents what to do in an emergency.  Their latest class taught what to do after an earthquake.  The following list is good for all kinds of emergencies.  I would do the same thing if I came upon a car accident.

When arriving on site, you should follow these basic rules to prepare and understand the situation:
Gather facts
Assess the damage
Consider probabilities (the what ifs)
Assess your situation
Establish priorities
Make a choice
Develop a plan
Take action
Evaluate progress

Take charge in a chaotic situation with a calm voice.  Have you ever listened to a 911 recording?  Have you noticed that the responder stays very calm?  If someone is freaking out, speak to them calmly and give them a simple task to complete.  This will calm them down and also put them to good use. 

The number one priority on any incident is keeping yourself safe.  You are not to put yourself in harm's way unless someone is in imminent danger.  If you do, then you may bring chaos to chaos.    

Places with high numbers of people will be the first priority during a rescue.  Don't forget to consider the time, date, and location of the incident.  For example at 10am on a school day many children could be trapped at their school.  If it's 10am on Saturday, the school doesn't become a high priority - the mall does!   Saving 100 people is better than saving one if you have a choice, and if the one isn't someone you love.  OK, that last comment is my completely truthful commentary!  

Toilets and other tasks

Have you ever had to repair a toilet?  It's really pretty simple to take out all the parts in the tank and replace them with new parts.  It's also not too hard to replace the wax ring underneath the toilet.  This does take a little strength to maneuver the toilet but other than that it's an easy task.  That is if you aren't afraid to do a little repair work and if you have the parts on hand.

It's always an adventure going to mom's house.  She's a widow and almost 80 years old.  Some of the things she puts up with rather than having fixed amazes me.  When she was at our house two weeks ago I told her to make a list of minor fixes that I could do when I was over last week.  She made a list of five things.

First was to fix the ironing board.  She was mad at me because "I" broke it.  Sorry mom, I haven't used your ironing board in years. Remember I moved out about 35 years ago and probably haven't ironed much since? Perhaps it was one of your other kids who visited you? She handed me the ironing board, all the while insisting that I broke it.  She couldn't open it so it must have gotten jammed when I closed it up.  I took a look at the board, pushed on the handle and it opened up right away.  No problem here.  She was trying to pull on the lever when she should have lifted.  So "I" didn't break it after all.

Second was the window in the master bathroom.  She hasn't taken a shower in this bathroom for months because she couldn't open the window to let out the steam.  Instead, she has taken a shower in the small guest bathroom.  That shower is so small that it's almost impossible to raise your arms to wash your hair without smacking your arms on the walls of the shower.  But she couldn't open the window.  I looked at the latch to open the window.  I tried to open the window.  The latch was catching on the security lock.  I raised the latch back to the middle of the window and it opened perfectly.  Two chores down, three to go.

Third was "her birds".  This meant that two of the smoke detector batteries were chirping.  How long have they been chirping, mom?  About a month.  About two months ago a neighbor came over and changed a couple of smoke detector batteries but not all.  Obviously these two weren't done.  Mom said that she enjoyed the chirping.  Perhaps it's because you aren't wearing your hearing aid at night so it doesn't bother your sleep.  The batteries got changed.

Fourth was the toilet.  It kept running so she shut off the water to the tank and used a different bathroom.  That was a good move because her water bill went up over $20 the first month of it running. She wouldn't tell me how long ago that was.  We went to the hardware store and bought a complete replacement kit for the tank.  She had very few tools available for me to use...they are somewhere but she can't get to them with all her important things in the way.  Since I didn't have my tools because I flew I went to the neighbor's house to borrow what I needed.  Got that fixed and the water back on. 

Fifth wasn't a repair.  I had to teach her how to take an attachment document from an email, add verbiage to the document, save it in "My Documents", and then attach it to another email.  This was the most difficult task of all!

All these minor chores got me to thinking.  Mom needs someone to come in more often to do chores.  Some of my brothers and sisters do stop by each month but if mom doesn't have a list of chores then they don't do any.  She has a high tolerance for things not working properly.  Mom would probably have gone the rest of her life without using the master bathroom toilet or shower.  She has the money to have someone come repair it but doesn't want anyone to see her clutter.  She doesn't have any supplies in case something breaks.  She can't get to the tools and there aren't any spare parts to anything even if she could get to the tools.  Since she refuses to hire help we "kids" need to do a better job of looking over the house and yard and figuring out what needs to be done, even if it's not on her list.  Her next door neighbor will come over and fix things when asked, but is very rarely asked.  Are there any older folks near you that may be in the same situation?