Chicken Soup 100% from Storage: Make It Monday

This week I pressure canned some more chicken broth from a carcass. Then I made soup with loads of garlic for Mr. Perky. He is down with a severe cold. Bless his heart, he just doesn't get sick often and hardly ever takes a day off from work for being sick.

The first on the left is a package of a variety pack of vegetables that I stored early on with my Food Saver.
In the summer of 2012 I started dehydrating (associates link) veggies. The package has peas, asparagus, green beans and more. Initially I dehydrated frozen vegetables to get them into storage. Then yellow squash (fresh) and in the last container is corn (frozen), I've now gone with growing my own non-hybrid and non-GMO. After that first large batch of mixed vegetables, I started storing each vegetable separately.

Storing the dehydrated veggies separately gives me more freedom when I use them. The one on the left is celery, The one on the right is garlic.

I mostly use chicken for my soups. In this saucepan here you see the mix pack, plus some corn, squash, mushrooms and celery. At the last minute I also added a couple slices of dehydrated ginger to the soup. Just enough to give it a little kick and added medicinal value.
I simmer them covered in water until they are tender, added water as needed & cook down so there is barely any water left. I like the concentrated veggie broth and then add the chicken broth.

Remember the vegetables will rehydrate when you add the water and simmer them so you don't have to add a lot of vegetables volume wise when starting a soup. I once went over board and added too many veggies to my pot. 

Then I add the pressure canned chicken is added to the veggie and chicken broth. For the last tens minutes, I add some noodles I have stored. I do things by taste so it is hard to give you an exact recipe. Hopefully this helped.

Helpful Storage Tip

The reason I appear to be organized is that if I didn't use these tips, I would never be able to find my canning utensils when it came time to can. I actually store my canning utensils in this bag I got for $1 at Target. I keep the weight, timer and canning booklet in the little pocket on the front. 

When I get my pressure canner out to use, I then hang the bag out of the way on a shelf close to my stove (below). I actually have two sets of utensils in this bag. It has come in very handy several times when I have dropped one of my utensils on the floor. I just reach inside and get out a second one that is clean. 

Then when the items are clean again, I put the bag inside my canner when I am not using it. As you see I have helpers. They always show up when I am canning. 

 Since I have two canners, I have one bag of utensils in each canner. 

4 Simple Little Memes

Meme tips are interesting. Surely people test these out before sharing. This is a simple tip. I am just not a fan of microwave ovens. Personally I like using the stove. Often I have seen the tip about microwaving crystallized honey, I prefer to put the jar in a saucepan of water and heat it up. Works just as well. When I was making this and writing about a "no electricity" solution I was referring more to reminding myself that you could apply this to gas stove, on a fire or even in a Sun oven.

Grout Cleaner
Maybe all the meme tips work for some. I will sometimes capture a meme and wait until I am able to try it out.
Cleaning Grout with hydrogen peroxide & baking soda
Now maybe I did this incorrectly, but this was a complete disaster for me. It took hours to clean the mess up. 

Glass (& Eyeglass) Cleaner
My girlfriend asked me why bother doing this? I laughed, again I like trying things out. Sure eyeglass cleaner or glass cleaner cost very little to purchase but why store these items when I know I am able to make my own vinegar.

Plus, I save that buck or two for other things I need to store & it healthier without the chemicals.

Making Cocoa from Scratch is Very Simple
Mr. Perky liked to purchased premade cocoa. Personally I am not a fan. I store all the items already, so I started to make up a jar for him to take with him to work. He shakes it up and heats it in a microwave. LOL, He is a fan of the microwave oven. Besides, I think it taste better & without those chemicals in the packaged cocoas. 

Associate links:

100% From Food Storage: Chicken & Dumplings

When I started storing meals, I definitely took the saying to heart “Store what you eat, eat what you store.” One of our favorite meals is chicken and dumplings, therefore I stored...

Teaching the next generation. My son loves chicken & dumplings. His wife doesn't know how to make them. Last year I brought all the stuff over (100% for stored foods) & the grand children & I made chicken & dumplings. We had a blast. Everyone had two helpings, except the youngest one, who wanted more canned green beans.

I stored Jiffy mix (yes, now I have all the ingredients stored to make them now, I just use one batch of my biscuit recipe) and the very first thing I learned to can was chicken breasts. Everything I could use to make chicken & dumplings are now in my long term storage.

This is my very first cookbook. It is probably 54 years old. Wow! 

I still store Jiffy mix, don't hate me. I just like the convenience of the pre-made mix. I now store the mix in 1/2 gallon vacuum sealed canning jars. Those plastic jars are air permeable and will allow the mix to go rancid. So, here is what I pulled out this week to make chicken & dumplings.

First I opened the jar of chicken broth and brought it to a rolling boil.

Then I made and rolled out the dumplings nice & thin. The dumplings are just the biscuit recipe rolled out. 2 c. mix & 2/3 c. liquid. For the liquid, sometimes I use water, other times I use broth. Drop them in the broth and let them cook for about 5 minutes.

Then I added the canned chicken & cooked until piping hot. There you have it, a simply warm meal from storage. A super quick & easy meal in about 15 minutes.

For other recipes from food storage, look to your right on the blog under the recipe tag.

                

43 Good Books for Your Library: Reading Can Seriously Damage Your Ignorance

Reading Can Seriously Damage Your Ignorance: if I could find the person to quote I would. Books are a treasure. I have always been a voracious reader & I married a reader. While I have some kindle books, I will always have "real" books. We have books piled everywhere in our home. Besides, if the SHTF what are the chances you'll be able to access your Kindle? 

Currently I am reading four books. Actually I am re-reading the 299 Day series by Glen Tate. I am also boning up on my chickens stuff, the third book is a free Kindle on midwifery. 

      

Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but here is a list of some of my absolute favorite fiction and non-fiction books that I have in my library. In the fiction category, I love to read and glean tidbits of information. I always enjoy finding a new book on apocalyptic fiction of various genre. 

FICTION

299 Days The Preparation (Vol 1) (the entire series), Glen Tate
Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank

A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.

The Demon in the Freezer: A Tree Story, Richard Preston

Hot Zone: A True Story, Richard Preston 

Jakarta Pandemic, Steven Konkoly
Lights Out, David Crawford

Lucifer's Hammer, Larry Niven (also currently re-reading)

One Second After, William Forstchen

Z for Zachariah, Robert C. O'Brian

While you are at it, the follow up book to the very popular "One Second After", entitled "One Year After", by William Forstchen is now available for in paper back. I don't often pre-order books, but as much as I really liked "One Second After" I actually pre-ordered this book in hardcover.

I don't just set a non-fiction book on my shelf. I actually read them and learn new skills and information all the time. Mr. Perky once said that he felt he would eventually die from not having his synthetic thyroid medication in a grid down situation. While reading 'When There is No Doctor", I found a tip on using dried ground animal thyroids as a possible solution. 

Non-fiction also have many various skills in the books to practice.

NON-FICTION

31 Days to Survival, M.D. Creekmore

After Shock, David & Robert Wiedemer & Cindy Spitzer

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, Judi Kingry

The Doctors Book of Home Remedies, Prevention magazine

The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Carla Emery

The Foxfire Vol. 1 (Series)

Marlene's Magic with Food Storage, Marlene Peterson (this is hard to find)

Secrets of Plant Propagation, Lewis Hill

When There is No Doctor, Gerard S. Doyle

Where There is No Dentist, Murray Dickson

All of these are top notch books, you may want to cut and paste this into a document to keep on your computer. This is just a beginning list. Please feel free to share your favorites. Probably 90% of these books I found from somebody else recommending them.

What I do here is simply share our preparedness journey. If you liked this post we would love it if you joined our Perky Prepping Gramma community on Facebook, comment or share. Plus it would just make my day.

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Water Storage Updated

Ah, water. One of those items we tend to put off when it comes to prep storage. I won't ask you, but I will share we had our larger water storage containers for months before we actually filled them. Trust me on this, fill those containers. Empty they are of no use what so ever in an emergency situation.

The basic recommendation for emergency water storage is one gallon per person, per day. Recognize that is just consumption. We are two adults with three dogs; so I set our goal at 3 gallons per day. Because I personally drink a LOT of water, it would cover some minimal cooking water & would include our furbabies.

The containers you use for your water storage/consumption should be food grade safe.

Our first step was we started with purchasing one gallon containers of water. Even if you are on a budget you could store these bottles. This brand (Deer Park) is always $1 a gallon in my local grocery stores. I actually prefer this over the water in what looks like milk jugs. My belief (haven't proven) is these PET bottles will last long. So far I have been storing this water for over three years with no leakage problems.  They are an extremely cost effective way to store water. When we set up our storage shelves; we built it high enough that they fit conveniently under the shelves. Or if you get lucky, sometimes the store will have them stacked up with special boxes, If you look on the left you are able to see six bottles, with a corrugated box on top of those 6, and then 6 more nestle on top of that. The bottles are designed to stack.

Next, we got purchased 30 gallon containers. We purchased these at a local place that specializes in preparedness that is located in central Virginia. This store doesn't sell online and I haven't found this particular style anywhere else. What is nifty about these are the fit in a corner.

Then we purchased two 55 gallon containers to keep in the house. They came with a pump to get the water out. I ordered from two places. The brand is Auguson Farms. For my next ones I will order from Wal-Mart. They were reasonably priced ($99.88) and they shipped for free. I try to give you the better locations to purchase, since I like to save money.

I recently shared that I actually use these barrels in the house as a t.v. stand. I drape a black cloth over the barrels. This works amazingly well and I have been surprised over the 3 years we've had this arrangement only one person have asked about what it is. LOL.

Finally we also have 2 rain barrels outside. So we have at least four months of water stored in the house with rain barrels outside to resupply if needed. The one we got from Amazon was $87.99, with free shipping. (affiliate link) 

We also have extra water bottles stored under the seats of each vehicle.

Even though the furbabies are included in my 3 gallon a day water count, they have their own little stash & water in their BOB (bug out bag). 

This is just the beginning. Next step is to filter your water at the point/time of use...
I have the Sawyer system below & highly recommend it for how well it works and that it will clean one million gallons of water. That is a lot of bang for your buck.

I particularly like that among it's many uses you can even use it on your household faucet, which is my plan when we move.

(affiliate link)

There are some other great articles with details on water filtration systems and more. Look over to your right on this page under the category of "water storage".
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It's not St. Patrick's Day! But...

March is the month when corned beef & cabbage goes on sale. It is a fantastic meat to pressure can. On St. Patrick's Day I don't have to cook, since I have everything already in my food storage. 

I have been evaluating the meats I have stored. I use more chicken than anything. I do use canned tuna. But just from the taste point of view after pressure canning, I really like corned beef! Each March, I stock up with the sales to go ahead and can some more corned beef. 

First assemble all your equipment needed. Wash everything, including jars. lids and rings.

Last time I am tried something new. I determined that the chunks should be about 3 ½ inches in size to fit well in the jars. Using a lid for a measuring device, since it is the correct size.

 This time I bought the flat cut briskets. More expensive, but far less waste from trimming off the fat.. I cut the brisket into 3 ½ inch chucks.

Filled the cleaned jars with meat.

 

Add an equal amount of the brining packet to each jar. Add water. Use something to release the air pockets from the jar & add more liquid. Leave enough head space. I only fill to the bottom line.

Add freshly washed lids and rings. Tighten “finger tight”.

Put in pressure canner. Add lid. For my Presto, turn stove on high until you get a steady stream of steam flowing from the vent. 
Allow to vent for 10 mins., then add appropriate weight (mine is 10 lbs.). Check your canning book for appropriate pressure.
Bring temp back up until weight is jiggling. Start timer. Pints 75 minutes, Quarts 90 minutes. 
For weighted canners, reduce heat until the weight jiggles 3-4 times in a minute.

After the allotted time, take off the heat and let set until pressure is completely reduced. The little “pop-up” will go down again. Remove jars with jar lifter. Listen for the “pings”.
Let cool & rest in a draft free place. Cover with a towel.
I like to check my lids to insure they have sealed. If they haven't, place in fridge to eat. (your are able to put on NEW lids and re-do the entire process if you want.)

The next day, I take off the rings and wash the jars.

This is 8 lbs. Which for us only equals 4 meals. When we have corned beef & cabbage, we eat a lot of corned beef. 
Related posts:
Do you need cabbage to go along with your corned beef? (285)
How to Dehydrate Cabbage...
Making Sauerkraut

What I do here is simply share our preparedness journey. We would love it if you joined our Perky Prepping Gramma community on Facebook.

Items I have used this week and what I am reading:

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