Sunday Review Week One

I'm not sure if this covers just one week or not, but I want to start every Sunday relating what I've done the previous week to prepare.

I know it's been a couple weeks, but I made three batches of Survival Bread.  Here's the recipe:

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Survival Bars

2 cups oats (I used gluten free)
2-1/2 cups powdered milk
1 cup sugar
1 package orange Jello (or Lemon)
3 TBSP Honey
1/4 cup water.

Mix oats, powdered milk and sugar together in a bowl and set aside.  In medium pan, mix water, Jello and honey and bring to a full boil.  Add Jello mix to dry ingredients.  Mix well.  It should just hold together.  If dough is too dry, add a small amount of water.  Form into small bricks (I used mini loaf pans).  Place on a cookie sheet and back at 350 degrees until dry.  Cool.  Wrap in aluminum foil to store.  I batch is 2,000 calories, enough for 1 adult for 1 day.

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My first batch I used the called for 3 TBSP of water, and ended up with granola, so I raised it to 1/4 cup and it worked nicely.

I also made hard tack, which is a very dry bread, hard enough to break a tooth on, but will last a year.  It was popular during the civil war, and usually eaten with broth or soaked in coffee.  It has no taste, but will keep you alive.

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Hard Tack

4 Cups flour (again, I used gluten free)
1 cup water ( don't know if it was because it was gluten free or not, but I needed almost half cup more)
1 tsp salt.

Mix salt into the water, then mix saltwater into flour.  It should be a dough that you can roll out.  Knead well (doesn't matter exactly how well, as the kneading activates the gluten in the regular flour, but enough to make it fairly elastic).  Roll out to about a half inch thick.  Cut into squares using either a pizza cutter or knife (I gathered up the scraps and rolled it out and repeated the process until I only had one irregularly shaped piece).  To be authentic, you're supposed to poke 16 holes in each square (I used a metal skewer) that goes all the way through.  Place the squares onto a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 30 minutes on 350 degrees.  Turn and bake another 30 minutes.  Let COMPLETELY cool, preferably a couple days.

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After a couple days, I sealed mine in vacuum bags - 4 to a bag - with an equal amount of beef bouillon cubes. My batch made 20 squares.

I also evaluated where I was with my food storage.  I had earlier made menus for 14 days of breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes.  I went through and listed all the ingredients needed for one time through, or 2 weeks.  Then I multiplied that out for 3 months worth.  I have that list on the back of one of the pages so I can refer to it.  I didn't start my food storage this way, using recipes, so I'm letting some of the canned goods go down and not get replaced as I rotate them.  I filled in the ones I needed for the 2 week menus.

We also transferred our water storage (cases of bottled water) from just inside the garage door (where it's visible every time we open the garage door) to a corner of the master bedroom.  We stacked them in 2's, alternating orientation like a cube to lock them together, stacked 9 high.  I figured our family of 4 would need a case of water a day, to include cooking.  But, we rotate it often, because my husband works outside and goes through about 6 water bottles a day.

We sat down this morning to list the skills we already have, and hopefully come up with ideas for skills we need to learn.

I knit, crochet, sew (mending as well as making clothes), quilt, have a stock pile of recipes that are shelf stable, own 2 dutch ovens, and have a list of printed directions on how to make things in case the power is off for a long time.  Most of those items can be found on line with a simple search.  I found one for making a survival kit out of an Altoids tin, how to make an oven with cardboard and tin foil, how to make various heaters, etc.  I went over it and can't really think of anything to add. 

My husband can do electrical work, fabricate just about anything, work with wood if he had to, run a power plant, so he can fix generators, and do general maintenance.  We both shoot VERY well, being ex-military. Together we make a good pair.

We also made a wish list to buy when he gets overtime, or extra money.