Frugal Survival Cookware

My favorite survival cookware are cast iron pans.  For anyone who is unfamiliar with cast iron, they are the black heavy iron pans that have been around for hundreds of years.  They must be “seasoned” or coated with oil or they can rust.  But a pan that is used constantly and kept dry after use will last for generations.

My mother-in-law actually introduced me to cast iron pans.  Whenever I helped her cook anything in her kitchen, I marveled at how the cast iron pans cooked everything so well, retained heat evenly and performed like nonstick pans.  In those days, I used teflon pans, but they peel and shred after a while.  Teflon pans were also found to pose a health hazard.  If overheated, they release a chemical:  perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), known to cause cancer and birth defects in animals, according to a Consumer Reports article.  I tossed out all my teflon pans and asked my mother-in-law to help me find some cast iron pans.

She did not take me to a cookware store; instead she took me to Goodwill.  She said she found the best seasoned cast iron pans there.  In those days, new cast iron pans were not pre-seasoned and you had to work on it a while.  But people would toss them out thinking they were inferior to Calphalon or other name brand cookware.

If you are in the market for one, try second-hand stores like Goodwill first.  Only buy it is if you find a slightly rusted cast iron pan, all it needs is a little TLC.  The same process to salvage it, is the same process to season a new pan.

• If you have a new pan, just wash and rinse, no scraping needed.  If you are working with a used, slightly rusted pan, wash with a strong dishwashing liquid and scrape out the rust with a steel wool.
• Dry completely with a dish towel.
• Coat the pan with cooking oil all over.  I have used vegetable oil, olive oil or peanut oil
• Turn the oven on low heat, around 250 degrees and leave the pan in the oven for 4 hours.  Do not leave unattended.  It may get a bit smoky if the heat is too high.
• Turn of the heat and leave the pan in while it cools.
• Repeat the process over a few months until the pan turns black.  You now have a well-seasoned pan.

As a benefit for us preppers,  they can be used over an open flame in an emergency, and will cook evenly.  Also, use of the pan adds iron to your food, which helps avoid an iron deficiency.  Because they will last a lifetime, you don’t need to spend money for replacement pans.

Cast iron pans are now available pre-seasoned.  You don’t have to go through the process if you don’t feel like it.  Just remember the pan should not be left sitting in a sinkful of water.  It should be rinsed and dried after use and coated with a thin layer of oil.  They are still fairly inexpensive, around $10 for a non-seasoned pan, and about $20 for a pre-seasoned one.

Since I am still new at prepping, I know I still need a few more items to round out the survival cookware.  Leon over at Survival Common Sense has an excellent article about Dutch ovens.  Check it out at http://www.survivalcommonsense.com/2010/09/27/dutch-oven-survival-kitfeed/ .   I have not tried Dutch ovens but will not add it to my list, along with the sun oven.  Once I try them, I will be sure to post about my experience.

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Spam for Your Pantry

One of the recent comments on one of my postings, from Madmax808 (thanks!), mentioned stocking up on Spam-the canned meat kind, which got me thinking about it so I picked up a couple of cans that were on sale.

For anyone who has never tried Spam, it is a canned meat by Hormel, made of pork shoulder and ham.  It looks like a pink brick when you first take it out of the can.  A lot of people hate it, but there are a great number of fans out there.   My parents actually introduced me to Spam.  Since they were kids during World War II, they grew up eating Spam as a special treat.  Meat was scarce back then so having a little meat, even from a can, was a good thing.  My Mom made me Spam and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread up until high school when I got too “grown up” to bring Mom’s lunches to school.

When our family visited Hawaii a few years ago, we found fast food places like McDonald’s actually served Spam, egg and rice for breakfast.  Not sure if they still do, but we tried it and it was pretty good.

Here is the quick recipe:  Slice Spam into thin slices.  Fry in a bit of oil until browned and sprinkle sugar on top.  Serve with scrambled eggs and white rice.  Or, make a breakfast sandwich with Spam, a fried egg and American cheese between two pieces of sliced bread.

There are lots more ways to cook Spam, but these are my favorites.

This is not a paid endorsement and I have no connection to Hormel.  I am always on the lookout for inexpensive foods with have a good shelf life that the family likes.  I think Spam is a worthy addition to the larder, as it is actually pretty tasty if you cook it the right way.

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Using Less of Everything – Hair Product Update

A while ago I posted about trying to use less product to make our stored items last longer.  See https://apartmentprepper.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/using-less-of-everything/.  We can only store a limited amount of everyday items, due to our lack of space, so our challenge is to make each item lasts as long as possible, so we don’t have to keep using up and buying more.  At the same time, we can figure out inexpensive substitutes for commonly used items.

Shampoo

Shampoo is one item I use everyday.  We live in a hot and humid climate, so I have to wash my hair daily to keep it clean.  And I have allergies, so I need the daily shampoo to keep dust and pollen from sticking to my hair causing sneezing attacks.

First I tried using less and less shampoo.  I reduced the usage from half-dollar size, then to nickel size and even less to a dime size and the shampoo continued to work.  Wet hair thoroughly first. then lather up the dime size drop on your palm and rub on the scalp area.  Work the shampoo down to the ends and rinse.  There is no need to “Lather, rinse, repeat” as direction says on many shampoo bottles.  The hair comes out pretty clean with very little product.

The next day, I tried just washing the hair and not using shampoo at all.  Just wet the hair thoroughly, massage water into the scalp and that’s it.  Since the hair is washed daily, it is not that grimy to begin with.  After all. I don’t roll around in dirt or cobwebs,  I just need to rinse off the dust and allergens.   My hair still came out clean without shampooing!

The last thing I tried a few days later was baking soda.  I mixed a 50% solution of baking soda and water in an empty shampoo bottle.  I shook it up to mix it.  First I thoroughly wet my hair, then rubbed the baking soda and water mix into the scalp and hair.  I then rinsed it off thoroughly.   The result?   My hair felt clean and fresh.  Baking soda is actually known to remove build up of other hair products.  I have to admit, I missed the sudsing action of shampoo, and the hair is not as soft, but it was clean.   I had read that apple cider vinegar can be used as a rinse to soften the hair.  I purchased apple cider vinegar and as I was about to try it.  But as I caught a whiff of the vinegar smell I decided against it.  Smelling salad dressing in the shower, even if it rinses off, just did not appeal to me.

I will stick to baking soda as my shampoo alternative.

Conditioner

I used to condition my hair every time I shampoo.  I used the “use less” principle and found that very little is needed to prevent static.  Now I only use about a dime sized portion and only apply it to the ends of the hair.  It rinses out quickly but  is enough to prevent tangles and static.

Another alternative is not to use conditioner at all, but mix water and conditioner in a spray bottle and spray on dry hair before blowdrying and brushing.

The next substitutes I will be testing will be for underarm deodorant, but I will wait until I am feeling bold enough and when I won’t be around a lot of people!

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Feeling More Urgency to Prepare

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling an urgency to prepare lately?

This past week my husband and I were noticing none of the financial news sounded good.  Today’s report featured a record number of people are raiding their 401k pension plans due to unemployment, foreclosure or just to get by.   I know the country’s financial picture has not been good for a while, but this week seemed worse than before.  Unemployment continues to be high, foreclosures and bankruptcies are also at historic highs and none of the fixes seem to work.  Adding to the unsavory mix is the threat of the double dip recession, with even more jobs being lost, possible inflation, deflation OR both–enough to keep you up at night worrying about the family’s future.  I confessed I was starting to get that insecure feeling that we need to “step up” our emergency supplies.

Then I read Survival Mom’s post, “Prepare Now Like There’s No Time to Waste” http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/08/16/prepare-like-theres-no-time-to-waste/ and FerFal’s “There Will Be Poor…Don’t Be One of Them”  http://ferfal.blogspot.com/ and I felt like these articles were echoing the conversation we just had about increasing our efforts to prepare.

To allow us to buy more emergency supplies, we need to free up additional cash from the already stretched budget so we are taking the following steps this week:

1. Re-evaluating each budget expense to determine if we can lower the expenses further.

During my break at work, I called the cable/internet company and spoke to the representative about needing to lower my bill.  We went over each charge and I was honest and  told her we really needed to cut back but that I would go home, think about it and discuss with my husband.  I did not intend to cancel the service but the rep said, “I can give you $20 off for 6 months to retain your account, would you accept that?”  I asked her, what’s the catch, she said nothing was needed from me.   I was really surprised and pleased with this offer so I took it.   I told her we may still lower the services if we decide to, but she still gave me the discount anyway.  We will also try choosing a lower plan with the cell phone company.  We are locked in for another year and do not intend to cancel, but it doesn’t hurt to ask how we can lower our bill.  We also eliminated a couple of magazine and online subscriptions.

2.    Cutting back on eating out.

Being working parents, there are occasional nights when things get busy and we end up eating out.  Now we will cook several meals in advance during the weekend to have enough to cover week nights.

3.     Clearing up clutter and selling off unused items.

We hope to sell off books, computer games etc. and add to the emergency fund.

4.     Reviewed our 401k statements and moved the funds to “safer” types of investments such as money market funds.  The interest rate in the safer funds is minimal, but I can sleep at night knowing the value will not sink any further.  This is not investment advise, please evaluate your own situations or talk to a trusted financial advisor before making any changes.

5.    Avoiding waste in electricity, water and food consumption.  We unplug “vampire” appliances such as TV, DVD players etc that continue to use power even when turned off.  This should lower our bills and free up more cash for the emergency fund.

Our local paper today reported on the increasing number of homeless children in Houston.   Many of these families lost their homes to foreclosure, stayed with family and friends for a while until they ran out of places of stay.  It breaks my heart to hear about children having to suffer like this and hope to continue or increase our donations.

I’d like to be optimistic by saying “Things will be better soon.”   But saying it will not make it so.  It is my hope that we all prepare now rather than regret doing nothing should things take a turn for the worse.

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Using Less of Everything

Many preparedness sites talk about stockpiling large quantities of everyday needs.   Besides food and water, many preparedness experts recommend storing multiple products such as toilet paper, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, sunscreen and many other personal hygiene products.

I am definitely finding room in my small space for food, water, first aid kit, toilet paper etc., but I am going to have to be more selective of what quantities to store, since we do not have a lot of room.  As I thought more about it, I decided, I can start using less product to make what I have last as long as possible.

I started my experiment with toothpaste.  The toothpaste commercials show about an inch worth of toothpaste covering the entire toothbrush.  Well, you can use much less.  I now use half a pea size worth of toothpaste and found that it will still foam and feel fresh.  I know you can use baking soda instead of toothpaste; I tried that but it did not taste so great.  While I have toothpaste I will use a small amount and make my small stockpile last as long as possible.  I can always use baking soda if the SHTF and there is nothing else.

Now I am trying this experiment with shampoo.  How much less can I use?  I wash my hair daily, since we live in a hot and humid area.  I previously used about a half dollar worth of shampoo.    That makes lots of suds, and a longer time to rinse.  Then I switched to organic shampoo, which does not create a lot of suds, no matter how much you use.  That took a lot of getting used to.  I still like the bubbles of “normal” shampoo, but have learned to get used to less suds.  Now I am down to a nickle worth of shampoo and the hair still comes out clean.  I will use even less tomorrow.

I will keep trying to use less of everyday products and still get the maximum benefit.  This way, I can be used to using less, and I can make my small stores last as long as possible.  Even if nothing happens, I still end up saving money from not having to buy stuff so often.

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Book Review: Possum Living

I admit I never heard of the book Possum Living:  How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) no Money, by Dolly Freed, until I saw it mentioned in the Oprah Magazine.  I know, I know, Oprah magazine is not exactly prepper material, but hey, it was a free copy lying around in the lunch room.  But that is for another topic.   Back to my review…

Possum Living was written in 1978, way before I was ever aware of the state of the economy, self-sufficiency and commercialism.  While some of the comments in the main body of the book will seem dated, the philosophy expressed behind quitting the rat race, renouncing commercialism and becoming self-sufficient is highly applicable to today’s living situation.

The author lived in a rural area at the time, with lots of access to fishing and hunting.  I on the other hand, live in the middle of an urban environment, so I doubt I would be fishing and hunting to find my food.  On the other hand, we do plan to buy some fishing rods and try out fishing one of these weekends.

The section on Gardening is definitely interesting to me, since I started a balcony garden.  Foraging is also interesting to me and I plan on checking out books from the library on recognizing edible plants.

While I doubt my current space limitations would allow me to build a still to make moonshine, I do have some interest in home brewing beer.

There is also a section dealing with canning and preserving food, some things I will be trying out.

As you read the chapters, you may find a few references that will sound strange or bordering on illegal, such as the section on how to change someone’s mind.  Later comments by the author indicate she no longer agrees with some of those methods.

The author says, “We live this way for a very simple reason: It’s easier to learn to do without some of the things that money can buy than to earn the money to buy them.”    I heartily agree.  Most of the ideas and tips presented in the book are practical and timeless.  It is up to you to decide whether you agree with the ideas or not, as well as pick and choose which sections you can reasonable apply to your daily life.

I bought this book with the idea that I can always sell it on Amazon or Ebay if it doesn’t work out.  If you were to ask me “Keep or Sell?”  This one is a Keeper.

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Coming up with Cash for Preps

I was talking to my brother recently and buying supplies for emergencies came up in the conversation.  He said he has the usual 72 hours worth of supplies.  I asked him, “Don’t you want to stock up more?”  He said, “As long as it doesn’t cost me more money.”  Money is tight for everyone and it is not easy to come up with extra cash.    Plus, we avoid credit cards like the plague, so we have to be creative.

Here are a few ideas:

–Set aside $5-$10 of the weekly grocery budget to buy extra cans of soup, canned meats or extra gallons of water.  Use coupons and take advantage of sales to get the best deal.

–If you have tax return coming up, then save some of that for supplies.

–Sell your used stuff on Ebay or Craigslist.

–If you receive any store gift cards such as Target or Walmart, or birthday cash,  use them to buy extra supplies.

–Cut down on some of your regular controllable expenses such as eating out or entertainment and apply toward prepping.

Now that  preparedness is a new priority for us, we are always on the lookout  to find ways to raise up some cash to buy supplies.

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