The K-Tec Mill

I have a K-Tec Mill just like this one. It is about 200 dollars. We got ours at a rummage sale for less. It takes up as much room as a toaster.

2 cups of wheat will yeild 3 cups of flour. One good sized loaf of bread takes about 3 cups flour to make.
The K-Tec Grain Mill will provide your family with fresh flour from most grains, and from most dry, non-oily legumes and lentils, including all of these:

Wheat (hard and soft)
Oats
Rice
Triticale
Dried Pinto Beans
Dried Green Beans
Popcorn
Split Peas Buckwheat
Rye
Millet
Sorgum (Milo)
Dried Mung Beans
Soybeans
Dried Field Corn
Chick Peas

DO NOT MILL THE FOLLOWING:
Sugar
Sunflower Seeds
Nuts (all types)
Dried Fruits Sesame Seeds
Coffee Beans
Peanuts Avoid items which have a high oil or moisture content. Do not mill wet or damp products.

Grain Mills-My Favorite Hand Mill

The "Back to Basics" Hand Mill
This hand mill is great! It currently sells on the Internet (just "google" it..many sites sells this mill.)for 65 dollars to 75 dollars in price. We have one that my husband purchased at American Way Thrift Store years ago for $3.99. It grinds as fine as my electric K-Tec. Once I made my own wheaties by hand grinding the wheat with this grinder...then adding water and a dash of salt to the fine flour..then pouring this "slurry" onto a greased cookie sheet. After it bakes, you end up with a thin crispy brown sheet that you, with your hands, crumble up into "flakes" into your bowl. Then add milk and eat with a spoon.

RICE

What kind of rice do you like?
What kind of rice do you usually fix?
Are you willing to try some different rices?

The most unusual rice I have ever eaten was purple rice at a Thai Restaurant. It was great!

Tonight, we had basmati brown rice (purchased at WinCo)for supper, with salmon and brussle sprouts. My husband loves whole grains and he liked how I fixed the rice tonight. I cooked it this morning. Brown rice takes 40 minutes to cook. Then after it cooled a bit, I put it in a container and refrigerated it. For supper, I stir fried it in some olive oil and added some soy sauce, black pepper, and Mrs. Dash. MMMmmm.

There is jasmine brown rice available at WinCo as well as many other kinds of rice...go check it out!

Brown rice has much more fiber and many more nutrients than white rice, plus it tastes better! If you have not had brown rice in a while, I challenge you to cook some up this week! You can do so mnay things with rice!

My favorite things to do with rice:

1. Stir fry it with different vegetables...or with finely chopped meat..or a combination.
2. Make frittatas.
3. Pour curry sauce over it.
4. Make rice pudding.
5. Add it to Ragu Spaghetti sauce with a little water and make a tomato rice soup.

I want to learn how to make "Sticky Rice" and have purchased some (also called "sweet rice" or "sushi rice" from the Asian Market by BigLots here in Victorville.
It is the end of March...I have barely touched on the subject of grains for our food storage so I hope you do some research on your own. The Internet is full of information and recipes!

Pistachio ReCall

This morning, on the Today Show (I always watch first 20 minutes which is pure news.)I learned that a California company that provides pistachios for many other companies is recalling about 1 million pounds of pistachios. The reason they are doing this is because one of the companies they sell the nuts to did a random check on some nuts and found salmonella in some. So far, only 2 report of intestinal distress have come in. They said don't toss out your nuts, just put them in the back of your cupboard and wait for the report...it may be all clear

Here is what I found on the Internet about it:


http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/
The FDA and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) are investigating Salmonella contamination in pistachio products sold by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc, Calif. The company has stopped all distribution of processed pistachios and will issue a voluntary recall involving approximately 1 million pounds of its products. Because the pistachios were used as ingredients in a variety of foods, it is likely this recall will impact many products. In addition, the investigation at the company is ongoing and may lead to additional pistachio product recalls.
The contamination involves multiple strains of Salmonella. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Thus far, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios. It is not yet known whether any of the Salmonella strains found in the pistachio products are linked to an outbreak. The FDA is conducting genetic testing of the samples to pursue all links.

Three Month's Supply

This is a friendly reminder: Are you working on your Three Month Supply of Food You Normally Eat?



This is a direct quote from official LDS church publications and website.

Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage.

http://www.providentliving.org/content/list/0,11664,7445-1,00.html

Note:
This 8 foot pantry can hold around 6 months of storage for 2 adults.
Picture courtesy of....http://www.markandleah.com/Storage/index.php

Thermos Wheat

Thermos Wheat




1 Thermos (with not too narrow of an opening)

1 cup whole wheat berries
2 cups boiling water

First preheat the thermos by filling it with your hottest tap water. Place the lid on it loosely and allow it to sit while you do the rest of the work. Meanwhile bring 2 cups of water to a boil. When the water boils, dump the tap water out of the thermos. Immediately pour the boiling water into the thermos. Pour the wheat berries into the thermos along with the boiling water. Try to work quickly so the water doesn't lose too much of its heat. Screw the lid tightly onto the thermos. Now allow the wheat to cook in the thermos for about 8 hours or overnight.

When you open the thermos, you will have lovely freshly cooked wheat, the perfect temperature for eating. You may need to drain off a little water if it hasn't all been absorbed. Serve anywhere that you would serve rice, or stir some into a little yogurt with a bit of brown sugar. Cooked wheat is also nice for breakfasts with a few dates and milk.

If desired, this recipe is easily doubled or tripled for larger thermoses.

HERE ARE SOME OTHER RECIPES TO USING COOKED WHEAT:

Sweet Wheat Treat
Spoon some of your thermos wheat into a small bowl and add thawed fruit punch concentrate, or apple cherry juice concentrate. Just add a Tablespoon per 1/2 cup cooked wheat..or to taste. Eat with spoon.

Chocolate Porridge
After you have prepared your thermos wheat or after you have cooked your wheat in a pot for an hour, drain the soft cooked wheat. Transfer to a bowl and stir in 2-6 oz. of chocolate chips and 2 oz. of chopped nuts or more. If desired, add fruit juice to soften the mixture.

Note: You can cook whole oat groats the same way..only use 3 parts water to one part oat groats. MMMmmm.
Be sure to clean your thermos out right away...after you have dumped out or shaken out all the cooked grains.

Wheat Grass Easter Basket

A few years ago, I made an Easter baskets like this-it was so much fun to watch the wheat grass grow.

Line a basket with plastic wrap. Add some soil, add some wheat grains, add water, and place in the sun. It takes a little less than a week to grow so there's still time if you want to make one for Easter. This also might make a nice dinner table centerpiece. If you don't have a basket, a nice bowl/dish would work as well.

You can use regular grass seed, too.

Crockett's Corner

I met Pam Crockett at a wheat demonstration at Mormon Handicraft in Salt Lake City about 5 years ago. She was so knowledgeable, skilled and amazing. She belongs in the Preparedness Hall of Fame, for sure! Since then, she has written a few more books on the subject of grain cookery, food storage, gardening etc. Check out the link to Crockett's Corner Store on the side of my blog.

She has a great gardening book with a subtitle of Oh My Gosh, Lots of Squash! I've got all her books on my wish list!

Creative Uses of Wheat-Non Eating Uses

You can make theraputic wheat bags. Microwave the cloth bag filled with wheat for a heavy portable heating pad for aching muscles or just to keep warm.

The wheat weaving is an old European thing to do...this one remind me of the "Polish House Blessing" Ornament I have hanging in my kitchen. I know a lady in her 90's...from the "old country" (Poland) who still makes these "house blesings" by weaving wheat.

Recipe for Fancy Crock Pot Wheat

When I have done my whole wheat in a crock pot, I have done it plain..Just wheat and water. I am a purist, what can I say?
I found this recipe that looks quite appealing, though....and am sharing it here..note the website I got it from...

Crockpot Wheat Berry Cereal

1 cup Wheat berries - rinsed and drained
2 cups apple juice
1/2 cup apricots - chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Place all ingredients in the crockpot in the evening. Stir to mix.

Cook on low over night.

Serve in the morning with milk and brown sugar.

http://www.mrbreakfast.com/recipe_print.asp?recipeid=1771

Introducing Wheat to Your Family

If I had children at home (my dear 7 children are all grown up now) and I wanted to introduce them to wheat, I would first go buy some-maybe 2 or 3 pounds) at WinCo, if I did not already have some.

I would bring it home and put it in a bowl on the kitchen counter and wait for the kids to discover it, and ask about it.

Her is what may occur:

Child: Mom...what is this?

Mom: What does it look like to you?

Child: Seeds?

Mom: Yes, you are right. If you plant this in the ground, you will get a plant!

Child: What kind of plant?

Mom: A stalk of wheat.

Child: What do you mean "stalk of wheat"?

Mom: Well, a stalk is like a long skinny stem...Wheat grows on stalks. These are wheat seeds, or wheat grains...You know what wheat is don't you?

Child: Like in "wheat" bread?

Mom: (Now you can impress as well as teach your child.)Yes, wheat bread is made from ground up wheat. When you grind wheat, it is called flour.

Let's go on the Internet and look at a picture of a stalk of wheat
(Go to "google.com" click on "image", type in "wheat grains" and look at those neat pictures..you can click on the picture to enlarge it)

A stalk of wheat usually has one head. There are 35 grains of wheat in one head.
Some really good varieties of wheat, in a good year, can have 3 heads on one stalk!

Enjoy the pictures on the Internet and go back to the kitchen...

Child: I like feeling this wheat. It is fun to play with.

(Note: Our daughter Molly makes a "Wheat Sandbox" for her kids to play in....)


Mom: Yes it is...

Child: Are you going to grind up this wheat?

Mom: Not today...but tonight I will put some in our crockpot with water and cook it on low all night. You see, you can cook this grain just like you cook rice, only it takes longer. You can eat cooked wheat with a spoon or fork, just like you eat rice.
In the morning, this wheat will be all soft and a lot rounder, and hot and ready to eat.
I wonder if you will like the smell you smell in the morning when you wake up.

Child: Hmmm.I don't know that yet.

Mom: Well...we shall see if it is something you like.


(Can you tell I used to be a first grade teacher?)

Anyway...that night...when the child is watching, put wheat and water in your crock pot and put it on low. Better yet, have your child measure the cups of wheat to go into the crock pot..and then let him put it in the crock pot. Maybe start out with 2 cups wheat and 5 cups water. In the morning you will have well over 4 cups cooked wheat.


In the morning, let him look inside the crockpot (Be carefull..you can burn yourself, even if it is on low..so do not touch rim). Spoon some out into a bowl and let you child try a taste...you taste it also..hopefully, you like it,too.

You can brainstorm with your child as to how to make it taste even better...by adding cinnamon, walnuts, raisins, etc.

Pure Wheat

BY far, the easiest way to use wheat is to cook in overnight on low in a crockpot (at least 8 hours). Use 2 cups water for each cup wheat, and then add some extra water to make sure the wheat does not dry out. I used 3 cups of wheat and about7 and 1/2 cups water...in the morning, I measured out about 7 cups wheat, hot, fragrant, soft, ready to eat. I ate a half cup of it plain...nothing added..no sugar, no salt, no cinnamon..and it was delicious..this pure wheat. Try it!

Now I have all this cooked wheat in a covered container in the fridge. Tonight, I will make Chinese Fried Wheat with it. I am lucky my husband LOVES whole grains.

This is the recipe I will use:

Chinese Fried Wheat

Saute in oil....
1/2 cup diced onion, 3 cloves garlic, sliced, 1 cup diced bell (I have a nice big red one from Winco-48 cents now) pepper, until all are glistening and hot but still crunchy.
Add 2-3 cups cooked wheat. Stir
Add a cup and a half of diced chicken meat and stir. Add some soy sauce, black pepper, Mrs. Dash (if desired.) Stir until all combined and hot. Serve...extra soy sauce on the side and maybe some steamed asparagus (in season and 99 cents for a large bunch at 99 Cents Only Store) and steamed sliced carrots on the side to give the plate more color and nutrition. Voila!

Jump Right In and Use Some Wheat!

OK...I am running out of time so I hope you check out the side link OATS and do your own research, too...and experiment. I think the best thing about oats, oatmeal..is that you can have such a nourishing tasty bowl of hot "porridge" for just pennies!
NOW...let's focus on .... W H E A T ....

If you have a cup of wheat kernels in your home, I challenge you to make these pancakes. This is a picture of half the batch I just made. Here is the recipe:

You Don't Need A Wheat Grinder To Use Wheat But You Do Need A Blender Pancakes

1 cup milk
1 cup wheat kernels

Put milk and wheat in blender. Blend on the higest speed for 5-6 minutes (leave room - or use earplugs - it is noisy)or until batter is smooth.

add..
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons oil
2 teasp. baking powder
1/2 teasp. salt
2 Tablesp. honey

Blend on low until all combined nicely.
Cook on hot griddle. Makes 12 pancakes.
E N J O Y

By adding 1 extra Tablespoon wheat and using 4 Tablespoon oil instead of 2, you have great waffle batter!

The Swiss Call it "Muesli"

I first heard of muesli when I was a BYU student and my roommate from Austria, Michaela, would make it for breakfast. She would soak oatmeal overnight in the fridge in a bowl with milk and then in the morning, add raisins, nuts, yogurt and chopped apple and cinnamon to it. And then eat it. No cooking needed. The overnight soaking made the oats quite soft and palatable. As you can imagine, there can be many variations on this theme....so "go European" sometime this week and prepare some muesli!!!

The picture above and the text (including a variation of muesli made with orange juice) below is from the following site:

http://www.wpr.org/Zorba/resource_muesli.htm

"As promised, here is the favorite "Muesli" recipe from Winona in South Carolina.

Many Europeans soak raw oatmeal and fruit overnight in milk or yogurt. The soaking softens it, no cooking is needed, and it is usually eaten cold. The Swiss call it "muesli", and it is very healthy and easy to prepare. There are many different ways of preparing it, but this is my favorite.

1/2 cup dry old-fashioned (slow cook) oatmeal
1 T flaxmeal or toasted wheatgerm
1 T frozen orange juice concentrate
2/3 to 3/4 c water
2 T craisins
2 T raisins
sprinkle of salt, if desired
6 oz lite yogurt
1 to 2 T chopped walnuts or toasted almonds

To prepare, combine everything but the yogurt and nuts in a bowl with a lid and refrigerate overnight. Before eating, stir in the yogurt and top with nuts. This can easily be prepared at home and taken to work for breakfast.

You can vary the dried fruits that are used, or use a little less water and use fresh fruit instead."

What Motivates Me

My camera's batteries are dead so I could not transfer some recent oatmeal pics from mycamera to this blog. In the meantime, this picture from www.everybodylikessandwiches.blogspot.com shows almost exactly what I have been staring at every morning and then eating with delight: Oats in all its forms!
I have purchase all the forms of oats available at WinCo from their bins: The whole oat groats, the steel cut oats, the Scottish oatmeal (which is like coarse ground oat flour...cooks up into a lovely porridge), old fashioned oats, and quick oats.I usually add nuts and raisins and soy milk to my bowl of hot steaming oat porridge.

What motivates me to have oats daily now is the wonderful taste and the feeling of well being I get from them. I have discovered that they are much healthier than I ever imagined...read on...

"Oats are a very healthy grain. Unlike wheat, barley and other grains, processed oats retain the bran and germ layers, which is where most nutrients reside. In addition, oats contain a variety of compounds that have been shown reduce heart disease, fight cancer, lower blood sugar, improve insulin sensitivity, and help with dieting.

For awhile now we’ve been hearing that oatmeal and oat bran can help lower cholesterol and subsequently reduce the risk of heart disease. Studies after studies show that getting more oats in the diet not only lowers total cholesterol, but more importantly, lowers the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) while leaving the beneficial high-density lipoprotein cholesterol alone.

Oats contain a type of soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which traps dietary cholesterol within a sticky gel in the intestine, taking unwanted cholesterol with it. Oats also contain compounds called saponins, which bind to cholesterol and takes it out of the body.

Like many plant foods, oats contain a variety of compounds that provide different kind of protection. Three of these compounds – tocotrienols (related to vitamin E), ferulic acid, and caffeic acid – are antioxidants. That is, they help control cell-damaging particles called free radicals, which, when left unchecked, can contribute to heart disease, cancer, and certain eye diseases. Its just being discovered that tocotrienols are 50% more powerful than vitamin E and they act on the liver, which turns down the body’s own production of cholesterol.

Other compounds in oats protect against cancer in much the same way that they help prevent heart disease – by neutralizing call-damaging free radicals before they cause harm.

Finally, oats contain generous amounts of compound called phythic acid, and although researchers haven’t identified the exact mechanism, there’s some evidence that phythic acid binds up certain reactive minerals, which may be important in preventing colon cancer.

Another benefit of oats is that they help keep body’s blood sugar levels in balance. Many people have impaired glucose tolerance condition – similar to diabetes and can increase the risks of heart disease. In people with this condition, blood sugar levels are higher than they should be, but not so high that the people are actually diabetic. Yet even slightly elevated blood sugar levels may be cause for concern because they cause the body to pump out larger amounts of insulin to bring them down.

The soluble fiber in oats gives protective gummy layer in the intestine. This slows the rate at which carbohydrates are absorbed by the body, which in turn helps keep blood sugar levels stable. In addition, oats soluble fiber appears to reduce the output of hormones in the digestive tract, which indirectly lowers the body’s production of insulin.

Although the evidence is still preliminary, compounds found in oats – saponins- may be effective in disabling HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Dr. A. Rao, Ph.D, professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto working on the puzzling fact that while some people infected with HIV develop AIDS relatively quickly, others don’t become sick for years – current research is in its very early stages indicates that saponins in oats may play an important role in controlling HIV virus.

Unlike many foods, in which the processed versions are often the least nutritious, oats retain their goodness in different forms. So when time is an issue, you can enjoy quick oats. They provide just as many vitamins and minerals as the traditional, slower-cooking kind."from...http://foodsthatheal.blogspot.com/2007/09/oats.html

Oat 'n' Nut Balls

Need a treat? Use your storage items to make these healthy, fiber-filled goodies.
Now what is barley malt syrup????
My husband likes lots of goodies, but he refuses to eat anything with white supar in it. Once he purchased a jar of Barley Malt Syrup for me to experiment with. I used it for a month on his peanut butter sandwiches. He liked it better than honey. In this recipe, you can substitute honey for the barley malt syrup (which is available at health food stores).We like it because it is not too sickly sweet. Has a great flavor. By the way, Barley Malt Syrup is a bit cheaper than honey. This 20 oz. jar was $6.60 at BJ's. And it is organic and ...well...read on...

Barley malt syrup is a natural sweetener made by malting barley grains. During the malting process, the grains produce maltose, a unique type of sugar. The sweetener has a unique flavor and a distinctive rich, dark color. Many stores sell barley malt syrup for use in cooking and baking, and the substance is also used in the production of beer.

The cereal grain barley has been an important part of the human diet for thousands of years. It is hardy in both cold weather and droughts, and it has high nutritional value. There are numerous uses for barley, which can be eaten plain, ground into flour, or processed into other foods. The popularity of barley has declined in favor of crops like wheat, but it can still be obtained in most grocery stores. The bulk of the modern barley crop is used in animal fodder and beer production.

To make barley malt syrup, barley grains are allowed to sprout, or germinate. The resulting sprouted barley is dried, often in a kiln or quick drying oven. Next, the sprouts are slowly cooked so that they form a sweet, dark syrup. The syrup is strained to remove impurities and then it is bottled or canned.

As a sweetener, barley malt syrup is about half as sweet as conventional sugar and it has a malty, molasses-like flavor. Because the sugars in barley malt syrup are very complex, they are also slowly broken down by the body. This means that barley malt syrup will not cause a “sugar high” like refined sugar does, since it releases slowly. Barley malt syrup can be used alone in cooking, or it can be combined with other sweeteners.
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-barley-malt-syrup.htm)

Oat 'n' Nut Balls

2 cups rolled oats (I used quick oats)
1/3 barley malt syrup (or honey)
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, etc.)
1/2 teasp. vanilla
1/2 teasp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or any combination of chopped nuts.
(I used peacans which I first toasted (before I chopped) on my stovetop in an irons skillet...on medium heat, stirring, for about 5-6 minutes.)



1. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Moisten hands slightly with water and mix all ingredients thoroughly.
3. Moisten your hands to prevent sticking, and form the mixture into equal sized balls or press inot a pan and slice into bars. (I rolled mine into balls and then into finely shredded coconut (available in bins at WinCo)
4. Enjoy!

Trying Whole Oat Groats For The First Time

I love having new experiences!
When Jeanne Bradley, at our Preparedness Class last week, said whole oat groats are really yummy, I decided to go buy some at WinCo.
This morning for breakfast, I decided to try cooking those whole oats. They are also called "oat groats."

You cook it like rice: put it in a pot with twice the amount of water. Bring to boil, then lower heat and put the lid on. Cook for 40-45 minutes. That reminds me of brown rice, which also has to be cooked for 40 to 45 minutes.(White rice just takes 20 minutes.) I always check the grains after 30 minutes..no stirring of course, but see if it needs a bit more water. If so, just gently put a little in. If the grains run out of water before it is done cooking, you will have some scorched grains sticking to the bottom of the pot and a lot of pot cleaning to do.

After the 40 minutes are up, I just turn the heat off, leave the lid on, and let it sit another 5-10 minutes in case it needs to finish up cooking.

Using a half cup oat groats gave me a cup of yummy cooked oats. I added soy milk and raisins, walnuts and cinnamon. It is quite good. Chewy and tasty. The only draw back in an emergency situation is that it requires a lot of cooking time, compared to quick oats, which take a minute to cook. Please see my link on the side bar here...under ALL ABOUT GRAINS Click on OATS. Excellent site!

"..everyone will need a minimum of 3 months's supply...

D&C 45: 31 And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not
pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land.

Here is a report from a Relief Society sister(name unknown)that has been forwarded to many preparedness specialists and I pass it along. If you "google" Dr. Susan Puls, you are eventually led to an article about her at the LDS Church's site:www.providentliving.org

"About a month ago a seminar was put on by Dr. Susan Puls, who is a
cardiologist appointed by the First Presidency of the Church as the head
of the church's pandemic committee. She said she was not an expert on
pandemics as this was not her speciality, but in the two years she's
been in her position, is fast becoming one. She now works for the church
on a full-time basis working on planning for the pandemic and trying to
get the word out to as many church members as possible. There were about
1400 people at the Saturday all-day seminar.

In her capacity, she works with the governor's pandemic committee and
the federal pandemic planning agency. She also said a pandemic is coming
- not 'maybe' but is DEFINITELY coming. She says _the pandemic is
expected within the next two years but she personally believes it will
be 'sooner rather than later..' The various groups (CDC, WHO, etc..) do
not know what the pandemic will be but 'first among their list of
suspects is the avian bird flu. It's only one mutation away from being
easily transmitted from birds to humans and from human to human.'_

She said the World Health Organization expects 40% of the world
population to become sick. Of those who become sick, they expect 50%
will die. If you do the math - there are over 6 billion people on the
earth today - that puts the death rate at over 1.4 billion people - and
she says these deaths will happen over only a 3 to 4 month period of time.

Dr. Puls related that when the pandemic hits the US, mandatory
quarantine's of all infected and NON-INFECTED peoples will occur within
the first 48 hours. Only emergency personnel (Dr's, nurses, firemen,
police, national guardsmen, etc..) will be allowed to leave their homes
- not even to go to the store, etc.. This quarantine will last during
the duration of the 'pandemic cycle' which will last approximately three
months.

Her main point was that everyone will need a *MINIMUM of 3 months supply
of food at home* as the governments of the world will be overwhelmed
within the first week and cannot be counted on to provide food, medical
help, etc..

She only briefly spoke on the 'social disruption' that will occur and
did not go into any detail about what plans may, or may not exist, to
deal with this. However - think about this - if your neighbors (both
those you know and strangers) run out of food and are starving how might
they react? Then think of all the individuals who already live outside
of the law and are only 'controlled' by our current legal system. How
might they react when law enforcement becomes ineffectual due to illness
among the ranks and those who abandon their jobs to stay home and
protect their own families. Ditto for the national guard and our own
military.

This isn't to scare anyone - just to provide a 'heads up' as 'to be
forewarned is to be forearmed.'

.Pandemic Overdue

Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune.

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/09/05/news/00lead.txt
Published - Friday, September 05, 2008

CDC chief states flu pandemic is coming

Director of the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Julie Gerberding, speaks Thursday during a flu pandemic preparedness conference at Logistics Health's Riverside Center South. PETER THOMSON photo


By TERRY RINDFLEISCH |trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com
Ready or not, a flu pandemic is coming, says Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gerberding talked about preparing for the pandemic threat at a national conference Thursday at Logistics Health in La Crosse . No one knows when the pandemic is coming or what strain of flu virus will cause it, but it is overdue, she said.
She said she has only two meetings a week at the CDC and one focuses on flu pandemic preparations. 'We take it very seriously,' Gerberding said, adding that the national strategy is to 'save lives and sustain a civil society' during a pandemic.

She said politicians are not talking about a flu pandemic or the bird flu virus, which may or may not be the virus that causes the next pandemic.
'No one is talking about it, and it's not on their radar screen,' Gerberding said.
She said CDC officials are closely monitoring the bird flu virus, which has a death rate of 63 percent among the 385 cases reported worldwide since 2003.

'It is a moving target, and we have to stay on top of it,' Gerberding said.
She said CDC scientists have created a potential vaccine in case the virus develops into a pandemic strain and are conducting more research to develop a vaccine. They have recreated the virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic to better understand it.
Gerberding said organizations and corporations need to come up with preparedness plans and confront the impact of a flu pandemic.

Some people believe a pandemic won't happen, while others feel too overwhelmed to do anything, she said.
'Complacency is the enemy of health protection,' she said.
Gerberding said CDC officials are working to decrease the time to detect a virus and strain by improving diagnostic tests and to protect people with stockpiled antiviral medication and speedy containment of the virus.

The CDC is building 18 global disease detection and response centers around the world, Gerberding said.

Despite all the planning so far, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who helped lead the CDC before Gerberding was appointed director, said everyone needs to be more prepared due to our global economy.

Osterholm, director of the infectious disease center at the University of Minnesota , said the death rate from the next pandemic could exceed 300 million.
Critical products and services including food, water and basic drugs won't get to people due to transportation and energy problems in a pandemic, he said. Global supply chains may be severely challenged, he said.

'No one has addressed the food system yet,' Osterholm said.
Logistics Health, the Coulee Region Public Health Consortium and the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium sponsored the conference.

More than 150 business and organization personnel attended in person, and another 1,200 people watched the Webcast. A majority of the Fortune 500 corporations were represented.

Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor who is now president of Logistics Health, hired Gerberding and Osterholm when he was secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services.

'Planning is important for survival,' Thompson said
__________________
The opposite of bravery is not cowardice but conformity.

So Many Sites, So Little Time!

Hello! There are so many sites about food storage, and more popping up every week. I will put new links up on the side bar of this blog, as I discover them.

One of the new ones is www.thereadyproject.com
Do check it out. You can host parties (just like Tupperware parties, but you sell gourmet food storage and serve samples of the foods at your party.)Imagine that!
Move over, Pampered Chef!

I recently have been informed that the www.meridianmagazine.com site posts weekly meals ideas from your food storage. You can look in their Food Storage Recipe Archives for past meal ideas and recipes. Doesn't this casserole look good? It is made with wheat berries! Well...and hamburger meat, too. But it is a luscious looking thing to present to your family as you ease them into eating more whole wheat. Here is the recipe that I cut and paste from that site.
This recipe reminds us that we can cook our wheat berries overnight in our crockpots!


Wheat and Hamburger Casserole

2 cups whole wheat berries,* cooked (using THRIVE Whole Wheat)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. of hamburger
1 tsp. cumin or oregano
1 cup THRIVE Onions
1 qt. jar tomatoes or 2 ––16 oz cans diced tomatoes (partially drained)
½ cup THRIVE Mixed Peppers
1 tsp. chili powder
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 small can chopped olives
2 cups grated Jack cheese

PREPARATION:

Brown hamburger with onions and peppers in large skillet. Add wheat along with spices. Stir in tomatoes, sauce, and olives. Simmer for 30 minutes. Place in an oven-proof casserole dish, top with cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

*To make wheat berries simply cook in crock pot on low over night: 2 cups water to 1 cup of wheat .

At WinCo NOW..Chocolate Chips for 98 Cents

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to WinCo (on Roy Rogers Drive in Victorville)for dog food and lo and behold! I saw a huge stack of extra dark (63%) chocolate chips by the Guittard Co. I bought 12 bags.
I posted the picture of the nut clusters because this is what I often do with my chocolate chips. I do not make cookies...I make nut clusters. When made with dark chocolate and almonds, or peanuts, pecans, walnuts, etc...they are a healthful, high energy snack. You do not need an oven, just a flame to melt your chocolate chips.
This is the ultimate survival food.

I wonder how long this end cap stack of chocolate chips will be available at WinCo at this price? If I were you, I wouldn't wait too long.

Snacks

These items represent snacks for a month for 2 people, only I will add more bags of popcorn, more than one as pictured here.

The prunes are especially enjoyed by me, but my husband would prefer the raisins and nuts. There is enough dark chocolate for one serving each (30 pieces) for a month for each of us. Plus some left over.

Other good snacks for us would be a bowl of cereal (Heart Smart, shredded wheat, etc...) and milk (soy milk in boxes).
Now I ask you:
What would be good snacks for you and your household?