This week’s race absolutely blew me away!! I’ve gone to some extra effort on this week’s summary because three (yes, 1-2-3) of our participants completely blasted our previous highest weekly score (which was 120 points). I couldn’t just post a winner and leave it at that. You women are amazing! Just look at what you’re doing, it’s incredible. I feel so lucky to be front and center cheering you on! Great job to each of you for having such an incredible week!!
Our TOP score this week goes to Barbara Cortopassi with 172 points. She’s won a $92 package from Grandma’s Country Foods including:
1 #10 can Country Cream Milk
1 #10 can Egg Mix Powder and
1 #10 can of Everest Mountain’s Beef and Sour Cream with Pasta
Here’s the run down for each of our top three this week…
Followed in 2nd place by…
And in third place this week…
So I have to tell you ladies, as I was going through these pictures my husband was nearby and he says to me “Wow, they’re eating good! I think I want what they’re having!” That’s a big ‘ol compliment I tell ya, and only partly stemming from the fact that I’ve been blogging a lot this week and we’ve had our 14 year old (whose been home for spring break) and his 12 year old sister doing most of the cooking at our house. And I have to admit, I was getting pretty hungry myself looking at all of these!
Our Water Pure Technologies random drawing…
This week our cutting edge H20 ResQ water treatment kit goes to Brittney Barney!!
How is this water treatment kit different than others on the market?
Researchers have estimated that 60-80% of microbial infections in the body are caused by bacteria growing as a bio-film—as opposed to planktonic (free floating) bacteria. In identifying it as a substance, you’d recognize it as the slimy deposit seen within the interior of most any water storage container as well as faucets and pipes. H2O ResQ’s Copper-Silver ion solution works to prevent and prevent reoccurring growth of bio-film in water storage tanks, jugs, quarts, gallons, drums, super tanks, hydration bladders and packs, and rain harvesting tanks. And it’s just that simple, by eliminating “bio-film” and preventing it from growing, water is very simply (and cost effectively) treated.
Thanks again, Water Pure Technologies, for our weekly Rafflecopter prize!
Here’s the link for this same drawing for next week. Remember, for the greatest number of entries it’s simply about sitting down and deciding which 100% food storage recipes you want to make. Commit that you’re planning to try them in a comment for 10 entries, and once you have all the ingredients to do it you’ll get another 10 entries! You do not have to make these meals this same week to enter (although you definitely can), I just want you to start thinking and planning.
Click on the link below to enter to WIN:
Looking forward to week #7…
Thanks to The Prepared Hour for offering this $69 set of two Sport Berkey water bottles! See you back here at our check-in again next week!
So, I made my plan, gathered all my ingredients, and thought about my purpose, etc. I tried to do that, and I have a big country wheat grinder with a big wheel that you can hook up to a bike, but mine isn’t, and my arm hurt after only getting about a cup!! So, I decided I couldn’t make 7 loaves (or was it 20 loaves?) of bread like Barbara! I had a heck of a time baking in my dutch oven which I put inside my volcano stove because we have such a major drought here and I live in the woods and we have severe fire danger, so I was trying to be so careful because we had 45 mph winds too! Anyway, I am sure learning a lot and I am way more grateful for my oven in my house than I have ever been! I have often thought I could do the homesteading thing, but it would sure be tough if my husband didn’t help me!! (and he would rather I just buy the rolls and clean instead!!) ha ha!
Isn’t that the truth, Karen ! Oh, I know. I dread the thought of having to grind all my wheat by hand, even with tool I have for it. It’s still so much work! But it helps me to think it all through — we’d be waking up earlier and having everyone in the family pitch in helping to grinding wheat. That would be the only way to make it work if we had to do it. And I’m with you on the oven comment too. We’re very lucky right now to have all these conveniences.
Karen,
My husband normally grinds the wheat for me. It really is a lot of work and if I had to do it, I would probably not feel like making bread as often!
Yay! Glad my hubs isn’t the only one grinding wheat around these parts!
I am beyond impressed! And I am way impressed by all of you grinding your own wheat! I decided I wanted to make bread and grind my wheat too. I also decided to make rolls, cinnamon rolls, and lemon rolls in the dutch oven.
Are you going to share the recipes?? Some of them sound very good, with good ideas. Thanks, LaRene PS Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 06:36:19 +0000 To: buttonsnbows@live.com
Yes, the recipes are shared monthly in a separate document for each participant. You can see the recipe links from last month (many of which are “regular” recipes which were turned shelf stable) over here in this post.
I hope I am doing this right, I am new at all of this, and not sure if this is where I am supposed to leave the blog post comment or not but here it is-
I was so impressed when I saw some of the winners recipe pictures! I was excited to see home made granola, it has been on my ‘recipe wish list’ to try out in the near future. But I was even more impressed it was made with a sun oven! Way to go!
Sure, that works! Thanks! You’re in!
I would like to add your blog to the Top Food Blog list in http://www.mytaste.com/ . Your blog is impressively BEAUTIFUL and it deserves to be included on the Top Blog list!! Great recipes!! We will feature your blog so that people will see it on our site and we will make a lot of shout out about your recipes on our fanpages. If you would like to join, here is the link http://www.mytaste.com/add-your-food-blog .
Thank you! I’ll go over to check it out! 🙂
Megan,
Will you send me a sample of the starter for the yogurt? I have been looking for years for a food storage yogurt starter.
Also, how do I actually get my water purification kit??? Do you need my address???
Thanks again! You have really inspired me to be better prepared, and I am loving it!
Brittney
Oh yes, sure thing on the starter — I’d be happy to.
And yes, if you could send me your address (send it to myfoodstoragecookbook@hotmail.com) I’ll get it to the company’s rep who will send it off this week. Great! Thanks! I sent off an email using Rafflecopter’s service asking for your address but I guess it didn’t work…good to know!
When I did the butter with Gossners cream I used my mixer, Just because it was quicker honestly. the cream and buttermilk will separate pretty quickly- just watch it closely! Also Megan’s friend’s blog helped me alot when I did it the first time!!
Thanks Amanda! I read Sherida’s blog post and it did set up pretty quickly. Now I don’t know what to do with the buttermilk!
I used my buttermilk in a recipe for buttermilk waffles. You can also use it in some bread recipes!
Congratulations to everyone who is participating in this contest! We are all learning so much. I have come a long way since week 1 and I am so grateful to have learned so much. But there is still so much to learn and work on! I did try especially hard his week, because I don’t have dehydrated eggs and I only have cheapo dry milk! Now I feel like I can expand my recipes. Today, I am trying to make butter from Gossner’s whipping cream. I’m a little nervous about this. Any tips?
I’m especially excited for you to get to try the milk you’re getting in this week’s prize, you’re going to LOVE it!! One tip on the butter, no iodized salt and don’t add the salt (if you do) until after you’ve gotten butter as it might keep it from separating. That’s all I can think of though — it’s going to be great! That, and if you shake it by hand, expect it to take a while.
Where are these receipes for the fantastic meals these ladies prepared? I would love to learn to make the cheese.
I’ll post a document for each participant coming up in two weeks. If you visit the first monthly check-in two weeks ago, you’ll see the idea there. In it there will be links for all the recipes they’ve adapted them from– also the ones they’ve found via food storage sites. For the goat cheese though, I can pass along the link Paula used. She just substituted in shelf stable ingredients for fresh. Thanks for following :)!
http://cheese.about.com/od/homecheesemaking/r/How-To-Make-Homemade-Goat-Cheese.htm
Robin, I have surfed the internet a lot and picked out recipes to cook. But mainly what I do is try and make the dishes my family eats already and convert the ingredients to shelf stable. For example the Sour Cream Coconut Cake has been a favorite Christmas treat for over 30 yrs. Oops! telling my age! But anyway, this helps me to know if the family will eat their favorite things made a little differently. Most dishes have remained tastey. I have found very little they do not like and usually it is something new I have tried like the goat cheese.
Woohoo! I am so excited that I won! My three little girls had crawled in bed with my husband and I this morning, and when I checked my phone and saw I’d won, we all cheered! That was the end of sleeping in! Thanks so much. I’m so excited!
Brittney,
That’s how I feel at my house. Once I’ve spread the word to everyone I know that I won a prize, it just inspires me! Good job.
Be sure and show your girls (after you get the kit) how you can “test” water to see if it’s good for drinking. There’s a copper drop you add to any water to check this and it turns a certain color if it’s safe. I bet they’ll like that. Congratulations!!
CONGRATULATIONS! Barbara. I know how hard you worked this week because I only got 3 days of cooking and I was running close to you. You have inspired me to up my “Cook”. You have amazed me this week! Congratulations to Brittney on winning the water purification prize! I can tell we all are working hard towards being the “Biggest Prepper”. Lets get cooking gals!
Wow, Paula! You were only cooking for three days? You are amazing! How did you like the whipped topping made from evaporated milk? I’ve seen that but wasn’t sure how good it would taste. And how did you like the goat cheese? What kinds of things can you use it for? I don’t think I’ve ever had goat cheese, except for in a salad. Good job!
Me too! I want to hear about the whipped topping and goat cheese. Do tell!
Ok, so I am typing injured just sliced my finger on the new hand crank food processor. It works pretty good though,LOL! Seriously though the whipped topping had a really good taste, after what seemed like an hr of beating with my antique egg beater, but I did notice that it does not hold up well if not put into the refrigerator. Lucky for me we ate a fair share of the cake before it started separating. The goat cheese well…..It has a little different flavor, my kids simply would not eat it. I googled recipes using goat cheese then converted it to shelf stable. The pasta dish was good but had a definite strong flavor difference. But good sports that they are they tried it and picked around the cheese the best they could. I just think they wanted dessert myself. Barbara check out Food Network they have some really great recipes and I have been able to convert most of them to dood storage. Oh yeah one more thing, with the goat cheese it is really smooth and fine I honestly put it back on the burner and cooked it a little longer and added more lemon juice just because I thought it was not making. Finally decided to strain it and voila, cheese. So don’t lose patience the cheese will turn out! Happy Cooking y’all.