What will make beans & rice taste good? What are you stocking that you don't like? Tell us about it.

That is good.

Water is not just heavy but unweidy as it sloshs around in a wave within whatever is the vessel. And this is going to limit your path or if it has wheels then a road. You might have to lift it over uneven rock piles. Or it's sloshing as you carry it down a muddy hill.

It's like a canoe and portage. This is why you practice ancestral skills because while actually doing them, you run into other problems.

Say the SHTF. You have no water. Well you send two people with a cart and a large carry vessel to gather water and haul it back. If they take your walter filtering device, what if it's stolen by others? So it's probably smarter to just have them gather the water, then come back, and filter at home.

When you filter water, you have a pre-filter to strain out lose debris. If you send all that gunk through the mainfilter, it prematurely clog.

In rural villages, watch as kids carry water and do work. Your kids would do the same. That can be a lot of wasted workcalories. That is why you should at least consider a shallowpoint well for agricultural use. Water is often fairly close to the surface like 15 feet down.

This is why it's Such a big deal when Christians go and teach the Baptist well drilling method. Then one team teaches allnew people and so many wells get dug in a cascade and facilitating independence.

If there is a SHTF event, you and your family will have to face these same identical issues. You understand this right?

Being prepared with skills, supplies, seed, and spirituality will, help you cope.

I'm not lecturing you, but hoping you take some initiative.

Build a rocket stove (cheap and simple), get the hippo water carrier and screw the filter...just never drink unboiled water.

AC1210, thank you for this post. Much to say about it, and your wisdom in posting it.

For nearly everybody, what you say about carrying water, and having a water source, is accurate. If the man of the house becomes ill, who hauls the water, and how? Who "rides" shotgun and keeps the water-hauler safe?

For me personally, I am female, and disabled. There is no hauling water for me, though I do have a cart I could pull five or ten gallons in. There are no sources nearby. I plan to collect water in a garbage can on the deck, because we have extremely heavy rains. Until the rains arrive, I have a good number of buckets full of water and put away. I will refill them after the rains begin, if I have used any before then.

Anyone believing they will "wing it" on water supply is a fool - and yes, we will need far more water than we believe we need. I tell people in my prep thread that they should gather and store every bit as much water as they think they could possibly use, then quadruple it, and they will still wish they had more.

Hygiene really must use a deal of our water, because the tiniest scratch or even a little hangnail can quickly cause a mortal infection through lack of cleanliness. We also need clean clothing, clean bodies. Washing hands after going to the bathroom, EVERY TIME, is a no-brainer to stay alive and healthy, but I know many won't. Kiss your family good bye.

We cannot drink less than we already do, as that is critical as well.

Laundry - hope everyone has a plan. I have buckets with the small hole in the lid to be cut out and a clean plunger inserted. There are actual washing machines for the same purpose which do not use electricity. Be sure you have a plan in advance, people, because laundry will quickly achieve critical mass and you will be scratching your head over it, if you do not plan ahead.

Last Edited by Pooka on 07/27/2019 02:09 PM

This genuinely sounds interesting! As in something I'd like to try! However, bananas aren't going to be available nor will normal shopping in the times we are talking about.

Therefore, seems like this is a good time to mash overripe bananas, place in a freezer bag and freeze for future reference. I just happen to have some on hand . . .

Beginning with faith in God, the ability to ask His guidance and wait to hear His answer will make life far easier for each of us. Those without this faith will struggle much harder, and to less effect.

Skills - learn what you can today to make yourself an ideal member of any group, since there is safety in numbers. If you have skills, polish them - something you learned a long time ago and have not practiced recently? Polish it.

Supplies - food and water and tools and hygiene supplies, medical kits, sturdy shoes or boots, warm clothing, soaps of every kind, items for entertainment such as musical instruments and board games, communications equipment such as hand-held HAM radios - the list goes on.

Seeds - heirloom, of course, so that you can save and plant your own seed after purchasing one packet. Collect all you can, all the varieties of vegetables and herbs and spices, to make more food and to make more food taste better.

Having the mind of thriving, not just surviving, will serve us best. We need to have strength of character to know we have prepared ourselves in every way possible, and that we will survive, that we will do well, that we will be in position to help a positive restart for this country once the worst is behind us. We may even play important roles in our locations to get disobedience under control, such as mobs and thieves, and to reinstitute law and order and decency. To be in such a position means we will live decently and with kindness, being well-nourished and having sound minds ready to move forward at the first opportunity.

Looks like people have forgotten this thread!

It's saturn-day night of course they have.

I see!

You might simply try adding curry powder to the beans and pour that over rice. My family routinely ate various curries beef, chicken, lentil, etc as we all liked Indian food (from India).


If you like curried stews, you probably will pappadams.

Pappadums rock!

If making these Indian dishes, then serve Mango Lassi too. Be prepared to make more as people love them.

olive oil and mint

Yes, or wild oregano if you don't like mint.

Mint in beans? I grow my own mint - several varieties - but in beans? Really? Could you describe the flavor combination, please?

A mint julep is a delicious refreshing Kentucky adult beverage. One every month is not going to hurt you if you don't have an issue with ethanol. It's fresh crushed mint (like peppermint, spearmint,or KY Colonel mint) in a simple syrup (a heaver sugar or honey water) and bourbon. Delicious and part of the tradition during the Kentucky Derby.

Never ever plant mint in a garden. It will take over. You have to use a planter.

Mojitos aren't bad, but mint juleps are better.

Yes, use a planter...the stuff spreads like wildfire.

andouille

a nice tri tip on the bbq

Good point.

Mint is as bad as bamboo. That plant won't quit.


Sumacs are the first to turn over a meadow and get it ready for conifers, and then later deciduous trees. It's almost like YHWH gave the humble sumac that job.

One of our most popular dishes at the retreat center was file gumbo. File` comes from the sassafras. That is where the original root beer comes from.

Gumbo...mercy...that is good eatin'.

That is the only way I will eat okra.

Yucca
I think of yucca as Southwest manna. It’s one of the most useful and interesting plants, feels like a gift. Uses include food(!), soap, rope. Yucca comes in many varieties, and most have sharp-pointed thin woody leaves pointing outward from a cluster ball. The plant pushes out a tall thin shaft that will produce scads of blooms and seeds. Depending on the species, this happens yearly, occasionally, or only at the end of its life cycle. Spanish bayonet, the variety I see daily here in the hills, has long thin leaves about 1″ wide each with extremely sharp tips. One once gracefully slid 1″ into my knee cap, so be very very careful. This particular variety has a red stalk that looks very much like a giant woody asparagus, which produces dozens or even hundreds of white flowers. Though different yucca produce different colored blooms, the flower skin tends to be thick and almost leathery.
All parts of the plant are useful, and many parts are edible. Flowers, roots, stalks and hearts are all edible. Stalks can be eaten raw, boiled, sautéed, pickled or used in salads. Same goes for the flowers, which are often scrambled with eggs and sometimes breaded and fried. The starchy heart of the plant’s base can be roasted whole, but this requires killing the entire plant. To gather starch without killing the plant, pull leaves individually from the base, then scrape out white starch from 2-3 inches at the leaf’s base, where it connected to the heart.

Yucca makes great trail food. You can pop flowers in your mouth. The stalks can be skinned and eaten raw which tastes a lot like jicama, or slow roasted on campfire along with the heart and roots.

In the Carribbean and Central America, beans and rice came with just about every meal and often with a side of fried plantains. Those are delicious. If you have a little eggs or fish, you got a full meal.

They are like very ripe starchy bananas. But the frying carmelizes them and intensifies the flavor.

If you are poor and have just a little variance or a little meat then people can be happy with the meal. Just plain beans and rice will ruin morale.

I'd love to try those! Carmelized bananas sound heavenly - maybe with a little cream? Yum!

POOKS. sorry for the red. My thumbs are fat and my phone screen is small. Please accept my appologies. Take care.
Skins x

Chicken bouillon cube.

Also, fried/dried chicken bits, can really make it taste awesome.