Survival Cooking 101: Shepherd's Pie

Okay...so you went to mom's or grandma's for Thanksgiving, and they sent you home with more bird and stuffing than you handle.

Let me guess...its still sitting in your fridge because you don't relish the idea of sitting down to a traditional turkey dinner all by yourself. Well, the alternative is easy.

I can't say which country first created the meat pie, but I do know that they were popular for city folk in medieval England. The butcher's wife would often be the one who made the meat pies to sell to the folk in the neighborhood who either couldn't afford the cuts of meat, or didn't have a large enough heating device to cook their own food.

I've tried several versions of meat pies over the years, including one that included game birds and dates...better tasting than we thought! But one of the easiest has to be Shepherd's pie.

Simply take your leftover veggies, turkey, and gravy; mix them together; and put them in the bottom of a pie pan or casserol; then top with mash potatoes. Put in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes. Or, if you are just by yourself, you could layer them in a bowl and nuke it (I prefer to not use the microwave, but to each his own).

Voila! Shepherd's pie.

And best of all, this can be done with many types of food...leftover stews and soups. You aren't restricted to leftovers, though...another favorite meat pie involves ground beef, veggies, and a can of tomato soup mixed together and topped with mashed potatoes....this recipe is often called Hamburger Pie.

If anything, this is a great way to reduce the elaborate turkey dinner down to a simple, yet delicious, meal.

V vs. Obama

Even before Sean Hannity mentioned it, I saw the parralels, too. According to an article I had read this morning, I guess a lot of people missed it...but I didn't. The parallels between the aliens in "V" and Mr. Obama.

A beautiful, sexually appealing figure. Asking the press to not show anything negative. Offering to cure all of socities ills, including "free" health care for all. Offering hope. And a bevy of worshipful youth following him or her. Infiltrating so many things, from the FBI down to the terrorists groups the FBI is countering. Spying on everyone.

Toss in a little bit about "false flag terrorism" and "deliberately putting something in the flu vaccine that will injur us", ala Alex Jones. And yes, there is the conspiracy theory floating around out there that the "elites" are actually shape-shifting lizard aliens. Just look on Youtube...people claim to have caught Hillary Clinton shape shifting. I personally don't buy the idea of shape-shifting aliens, and comparing some of these people to lizard-aliens is an insult to the lizard-aliens.... but putting something bad in the vaccines and then manipulating us to take them...well, I'll just let you decide for yourself on that one.

Oh, please...if Hillary was really a shape shifter, do think she'd look the way she does? Or would she choose something a little closer to Morena Baccarin ("Anna")?

Well, now suddenly, the liberals are freaking out. So much so that its rumored that some people who created the recent incarnation have been fired or moved to another position within the company. And, after only four episodes, the show has already been on hiatus until March...a weird move that often kills shows....why would something that did so well on its pilot be squished so early by execs?

The sad part is that this incarnation of "V" is not new. The original incarnation was exactly the same way, and its been decades since it first aired. The special effects are better than in the original. The sets, costumes, and even the acting are better. And Morena Baccarin...well, I liked her in her "Firefly" days, as well as several of the other actors I recognize. (Has Alan Tudyk become the "Kenny" of Sci Fi? Oh my God, they killed Wash...you bastards! But its okay, he'll come back....)

Now back to the paralells...I guess it is kinda freaky. Its almost as if Mr. Obama read the script from the original and followed it, and now suddenly people recognize it. And they are insulted. So insulted that its put on hold for four months after only 4 episodes, despite its popularity, and punish the higher-ups involved. The show, both its original and current incarnation, have always been about anti-fascism (fascism behind a pretty smile, that is)...and yes, the original did include Universal health care. But even funnier...these scripts were written during the BUSH administration...Obama wasn't even running for President at the time.

Does this mean its too close to the truth? And what are they really afraid of? Did they watch the show and thought they were looking in a mirror? And if someone is taking an anti-fascism parable so personally....what does this mean about themselves?

On a lighter note....Morena Baccarin hasn't aged since Firefly. Still inhumanly beautiful. If she isn't an alien....well, I'm gonna have to smack her.

survival cooking 101: Stir fry

Have ya'll been practicing making real rice? Good! Well, here's a tip on what to serve with it; food that is commonly (in the U.S.) associated with rice.

There really isn't that much of a mystery to stir fry. Rumor has it that stir-fry started as a way of cooking food that takes less fuel. Excellent for summer cooking, as you don't have to slave over a hot stove. However, a heavily sauced stir fry can be wonderfully hearty in the winter, too. Meat and vegetables are cut into bite-sized peices that enable them to be cooked thoroughly for a shorter space of time. Of course...this can mean a lot of labor at the cutting board if you are cutting meat or carrots slender-thin.

Aside from the cutting, prep is rather quick and easy. After getting the rice started cooking, that's when I start the cutting (unless I have two lbs of partially frozen steak to cut razor-thin...that is time consuming). I like to have everything, including the sauce, sitting on a dish or in bowls next to the pan before I start cooking. Then about ten minutes before the rice is at its earliest "done" point, I put a small amount of fat in the pan and heat it up. Most purists use peanut or canola oil; we use olive. Okay, occasionally we use butter. Just remember that with olive oil or butter, you will need lower temps, or it will scorch. A medium to medium high heat should work with most oils.

Purists also want to use a wok. I don't have a wok. I just use my trusty cast-iron skillet on the stove top.

With meat, the time that you cook it depends upon whether its raw or already cooked. Generally, raw meat is browned (or even thoroughly cooked and then removed to be added back later) before the vegetables are added. Previously cooked meat can be used, though, and it is generally added last...just enough to heat it up. Last night, we used leftover turkey to make spicy orange turkey (with onions and green peppers), and the turkey was added at the same time as the sauce.

The biggest question in stir-fry is how do you like certain veggies cooked? The key to cooking the veggies perfectly is throwing them in at the time that allows certain vegetables to get cooked longer. Onions, carrots, broccoli, and other hardy vegetables that you want thoroughly cooked will certainly be added first (if you like these veggies crispier, don't cook them quite so long). Delicate vegetables, such as mushrooms or green onions, are barely given any time in the pan at all. When making fried rice, I add the green onions in at the same time as the rice.

At the last, add whatever sauce you want. You don't have to have your food smothered in gravy if you don't want...a little bit of soy sauce, just for flavor, can be good enough for flavor. I do, though, recommend stocking up on sauce packets or bottled sauces in your food storage, though. If you have nothing more than your home veggie garden, rice, and ramen noodles stored up, a variety of flavorings (spicey one night, sweet and sour the next, and then savory the next) can help alleviate boredom. And yes...I do keep the huge bottles of soy sauce. Call my boys crazy, but they sometimes top off a rice-based meal with nothing more than rice and soy sauce (even if we had Chicken Ala King...kids are weird).

The nice thing about stir fry is that you don't have to follow a specific recipe to get a good meal. There are times when I've simply cut up some odd veggies and stir-fried in a little bit of butter or olive oil with salt and pepper with no sauce at all. Zucchini and onions are one of our favorite combos. Mr. Picky eater (the middle child) is happy with nothing more than broccoli lightly cooked....while a picky eater, he likes the idea of eating crunchy little trees. Did I mention my kids were weird?

Bon Appetite!

More information on Climate Gate

For those who do not know this particular radio host...he is NOT a pollution denyer. In fact, he endorses companies that sell products to clean the air, clean your drinking water, and that offer pure (chemical-free) cleaning products, organic non-GMO seeds...okay, I could go on and on about the real, pollutant free products and lifestyle he endorses. But at the same time, he did (well before climate gate) put into perspective for me the fraud that was being perpetrated upon people who simply care.

Yes, that's right...we all care about the world we live in, and all the creatures that we share this beautiful rock with. But if you lead too much with your heart, you can forget that your head is there for a reason.

Now, onto Climate Gate:

~ A Gardener's Thanksgiving ~

~ A Gardener's Thanksgiving ~

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people:
For children who are our second planting, and though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are;
For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;
For feisty friends as tart as apples;
For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we've had them;
For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;
For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the other, plain as potatoes and as good for you;
For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels Sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem Artichokes, and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;
For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter;
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;
And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, and who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;
For all these we give thanks.
~ Reverend Max Coots1928-2009

Climate Gate vs. Real Pollution

Yes, it is one of the worst governmental scandals to hit the internet...the global warming scheme has been uncovered to be a total fraud, with its intention mainly to scare people into paying a hefty "carbon tax" to some global government. (And, as always, that tax would more than likely go to pay for $50,000 a night hotels and private jets for those world government leaders rather than saving the planet. Nice, huh?)

Anyone who has gotten a decent grade in 4th grade science should have known from the first place that carbon dioxide is not a dangerous gas. Animals breath it out. Trees breath it in, and in turn breath out oxygen. Plants and animals live a symbiotic relationship...they would not be able to live without the other. Paleoclimatologists have been screaming for decades that our planet was once greener, and that was during a time when carbon dioxide was ten times higher.

Now, having said that...

Whenever fundamentalist republicans ever brought up the fact that global warming isn't real, the thing I always said was, "forget global warming....there's real pollution out there that we need to clean up." For which, of course, those fundamentalist republicans called me liberal. Eh, I've been called worse.

But that is entirely true. There is far worse pollution out there that needs to be cleaned up. And some global warming carbon tax is, in no way, going to fix it. Chemicals in our drinking water. Chemicals in our food. Fish contaminated with mercury. Medicines contaminated (on purpose) with poisons. Our land contaminated with industry waste "they" call fertilizer...which, later, turns out to cause brain tumors. More industrial sludge dumped into our drinking water that we have been told for years is good for us...but evidence points to the fact that it may be more dangerous than beneficial. You just wanted a blanket to sleep in...you didn't want to purchase something that would destroy your lungs!

There's a neuro-toxin that is purposely put into your food to make you eat more of it...its proven to cause problems with many, if not most, people...and yet the FDA laughs and pats us on the head and tells us we're too stupid to realize that our migraine headaches and acid reflux are caused by this chemical. Just take more chemicals to stop the problem that the first chemical caused. And if you try to talk to the common person about it, they just shrug their shoulders and say its only in certain Chinese foods...yikes, read the label, sister. Its in your potato chips, soup, gravy, crackers, salad dressing...its frickin' everywhere. And the latest studies show that it even causes obesity when calorie count says your shouldn't be obese!

Doctors who have switched to naturopathy will tell us time and time again that modern living is killing us. Most dis-ease today, particularly the chronic ones, are often caused by the poisons we are exposed to every day. And quite often, we are paying for the privelage of these chemicals to hurt us.

Conspirators say that these poisons are purposely dumped all over us because "they" want us dumbed down, feminized, constantly ill, controllable sheep. Personally, I don't know if its on purpose, or if its just plain corporate greed and stupidity. Either way, this crap is out there...and its destroying our health. And if its not good for us, then it can't be good for nature either.

Carbon dioxide, carbon footprint, global warming, climate change....its a distraction at best, a fraud at worst. But you can take control of your life and seek out those things which really cause the problems with our health and environment. The government doesn't really give a damn about you unless you aren't paying your taxes, so forget them....they're the morons that let these poisons into our environment in the first place. Seek out information about REAL pollution and take your own steps to remove these things from your environment.

So, to my environmental friends....I love you...you have a lot of great ideas for helping to remove the true poisons from our lives, and many of the "green" living ideas can help people save some money and become more autonomous and healthier. But you have been scammed. It wasn't too long ago that liberals didn't trust the government....maybe we (both liberals and conservatives) need to get some of that scepticism back. The green movement should NEVER have been picked up by corporations, the government, and those whose "carbon footprint" is 1000 times greater than your own (I'm pointing my finger at you, Al.)

Clay soil? Grow carrots in pots.

We live a bit too far south of the Missouri River's alluvial basin to take advantage of the wonderful soil it had built over time. As such, we have the Kansas heavy clay soil...and even after a decade of soil amendments, it makes even the short, round-rooted carrot varieties grow into even shorter, odd shapes. Carrots really do need soft, fluffy soil in order to grow well, and grow perfectly. The solution is to grow carrots in the fluffy potting soil in pots.

Lining the stairs that lead to our front door are pots of carrots. Yes, our weather has bebopped between cold and warm (common for a Kansas November), but even last night I was still pulling beautiful, perfect carrots from the pots to turn into the night's dinner. I should have taken a picture, because those cuties were even more perfect than what you find at the grocery store.

Potted root crops can be used as a part of "ornamental edibles". While carrots aren't necessarily a beautiful flower, they do make an interesting fern-looking plant. Some other root crops, like parsnips, can be grown right alongside in their own pots for even more contrast, as can herbs like Rosemary, or vining plants (tomatoes or cucumbers) in hanging planters nearby.

For those who rent and are not allowed to dig in the soil (or have no soil), these types of arrangements may be just the very thing. And while all of your neighbors have nothing more than a chair and an ashtray out on their apartment balcony, you can have a little minature jungle of edible plants.

The biggest thing to remember is to water your plants...potted plants, especially on a south-facing concrete step, can dry out easily. (I would like to note, however, that the south-facing concrete steps are warmer in early spring and late fall than the traditional garden, thus extending our season by a nice margin).

There are two ways to help combat this...the first is to have many, many plants...that minature jungle, if you will. The second is to generously use those little trays that go under the pots. No, those trays are not just for keeping your floor dry, or keeping the water run-off from hitting the head of the person on the balcony below. Water that is left in those trays will be evaporated before the water in the soil, which also creates a humid environment around the plants which helps keep the plant from drying out. Several years ago, a fellow survivalist blogger attempted to grow tomatoes in buckets on his wood deck...he complained that he couldn't keep his toms watered. He had simply forgotten those trays.

The sin of hanging laundry on the line

I have said it before and I will say it again....whether you are implimenting a "green" lifestyle to save money, be more self-reliant, or to save the planet, someone (usually the government) comes along and tells you that you can't do that. Below is a story that illustrates this.

(Winter time tip...if you are using your dryer in the winter, unhook your outlet hose and let the humid, warm air blow into your house...both the heat and humidity will be welcome, and cut down on winter heating bills).

We've personally found the only two things that don't dry well outside are jeans and towels.






From Reuters:
U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry



By Jon Hurdle Jon Hurdle – Wed Nov 18, 11:32 am ET
PERKASIE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

Froehlich is among the growing number of people across America fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal.

Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to ask her to stop drying clothes in the sun. And she received two anonymous notes from neighbors saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about.

"They said it made the place look like trailer trash," she said, in her yard across the street from a row of neat, suburban houses. "They said they didn't want to look at my 'unmentionables.'"

Froehlich says she hangs her underwear inside. The effervescent 54-year-old is one of a growing number of Americans demanding the right to dry laundry on clotheslines despite local rules and a culture that frowns on it.

Their interests are represented by Project Laundry List, a group that argues people can save money and reduce carbon emissions by not using their electric or gas dryers, according to the group's executive director, Alexander Lee.

Widespread adoption of clotheslines could significantly reduce U.S. energy consumption, argued Lee, who said dryer use accounts for about 6 percent of U.S. residential electricity use.

Florida, Utah, Maine, Vermont, Colorado, and Hawaii have passed laws restricting the rights of local authorities to stop residents using clotheslines. Another five states are considering similar measures, said Lee, 35, a former lawyer who quit to run the non-profit group.

'RIGHT TO HANG'

His principal opponents are the housing associations such as condominiums and townhouse communities that are home to an estimated 60 million Americans, or about 20 percent of the population. About half of those organizations have 'no hanging' rules, Lee said, and enforce them with fines.

Carl Weiner, a lawyer for about 50 homeowners associations in suburban Philadelphia, said the no-hanging rules are usually included by the communities' developers along with regulations such as a ban on sheds or commercial vehicles.

The no-hanging rules are an aesthetic issue, Weiner said.

"The consensus in most communities is that people don't want to see everybody else's laundry."

He said opposition to clotheslines may ease as more people understand it can save energy and reduce greenhouse gases.

"There is more awareness of impact on the environment," he said. "I would not be surprised to see people questioning these restrictions."

For Froehlich, the "right to hang" is the embodiment of the American tradition of freedom.

"If my husband has a right to have guns in the house, I have a right to hang laundry," said Froehlich, who is writing a book on the subject.

Besides, it saves money. Line-drying laundry for a family of five saves $83 a month in electric bills, she said.

Kevin Firth, who owns a two-bedroom condominium in a Dublin, Pennsylvania housing association, said he was fined $100 by the association for putting up a clothesline in a common area.

"It made me angry and upset," said Firth, a 27-year-old carpenter. "I like having the laundry drying in the sun. It's something I have always done since I was a little kid."

(Editing by Mark Egan and Paul Simao)

Some Inspiration

When I first started my quest into semi-urban homesteading ten years ago, the first real website I came across was that of the Dervaes family. They subsist entirely on the tiny plot of land in the suburbs of Pasadena, California. They sell what extra they have, which enables them to purchase those things they cannot grow on their own.

Although we don't exactly have the beautiful, year-round California weather, we do have quite a bit more space...and if they don't inspire you to make use of your glorified golf-course (as they have us), perhaps they can shame you into it.

Income here vs. Income there...

Some moron finally said it. I don't remember who it was, or where on television I heard it (I'm usually too busy to look at the boob tube, even if it is on), but someone finally croaked that "Americans want too much money" as compared to the Chinese or Indians.

I don't know much about life in China (aside from what I've seen on the news about slave labor.) But I have studied life in India a wee bit. So, lets see what's up there.

The basic comparison...why should American companies pay an American employee $14 an hour plus benefits plus the taxes that go along with it (such as unemployment) when, over in India, you can simply pay them $10 an hour and be done with it.

So, lets look at one simple cost analysis of living here vs. living there. All-you-can-eat crap Chinese buffet cost about $7. Not a bad price, eh? Until you hear that, in India, all you can eat crap buffet (rice and a wide variety of sauces...not too different from Chinese buffet) will cost you only a quarter. Okay, maybe by now its $0.50. But the guy on the travel channel had said it was $0.25 in American money.

Now lets add a few things on top of that. If lower class people here in the United States even tried to live as the lower classes in India, what would happen? Your children would be removed from your custody, never to be seen again. You would be harassed by local law or code enforcement. In some areas, your house and all of your possessions could be confiscated, because not living in a perfect home with ALL of the utilities turned on is illegal. You are required to have so much space per person. In some states, you can't even have an outhouse way out in the boonies anymore...it goes against code. Yes, I even know someone who went to trial because his tenants had the wrong type of furniture on the porch.

And of course, who is doing this bitching and complaining about how greedy and lazy we are? The idiots that make multi-millions in their bonuses alone. Just remember...those greedy Americans wanting wages that will allow us to live the way the law REQUIRES us to live are also the people who are purchasing your products. Stop paying those greedy Americans (English, French, German, Australian...name any so-called 1st world country, and I'm sure its the same), and what happens? Well, gee....a world-wide spiraling downward depression. The less people make, the less they can spend, the more jobs get cut, the less people make, the less they can spend...all the way downward....until your company is a mere shell of itself because nobody has any money.

And these multi-million screwballs at the top will end up having to do the work all by themselves in order to keep those multi-million bonuses. Good luck with that.

So, I challenge all you tycoons who are doing this bitching to try it...just try it. Try living on $14 an hour here in the United States. I bet you can't.

Our experience with Colodial Silver

I'm one of those people who gets those little naggy feelings, but usually tries to ignore them. But when I act on those naggy feelings, I usually end up being right. (Stronger-faithed Christians would probably say that its the Holy Spirit talking to me.)

One of those things that I've had naggy feelings about was Colodial silver. I had seen it for years. 16 years ago, I had been prescribed a silver medication for an oil burn (work related...). Well, back in August, I finally broke down and purchased a small bottle from a near-local patriot radio show.

It sat in our medicine cabinet for only three weeks before we broke into it. The teen and I started having the same symptoms as a group of kids at the closest state college who had been quaranteened for swine flu...turns out, one of those college students was the daughter of the teen's teacher.

The bottle suggested a tablespoon. Liking to stretch things, we each took only a teaspoon...once that morning. Once after lunch. Once after dinner. The next morning, I was feeling fine. Teen needed only one more teaspoon...by that afternoon, he was fine.

Since then, any hint of dis-ease (sore throat, sneeze, general uck), and the bottle is whipped out. For most of these, only a single teaspoon has been necessary. And despite two kids in two different disease factories (public schools), we really haven't suffered any illness other than one individual in the household having a bout of eating too much candy after Halloween (and that first 24 hours of possible swine-flu). Comparing the cost of the silver we've used so far and the cost of the remedies sold in the drug store, we've already saved about half.

I'm not a doctor...I'm not selling colodial silver or the generators...I'm not even making a claim of healing. I'm just relating what our experience with colodial silver has been. Make your own conclusions.

Urban patio gardening, part 4

Before we get to the video, I'd like to say something about radishes...something I noticed when I was drying our first batch. Cooked radishes smell and taste a bit like broccoli, but the red skin has a kick to it (peel them if you don't like the kick). If you like broccoli, but don't have the space...grow radishes. These are one of the easiest veggies to grow (as even this video shows), and don't take much time to get to an edible state.

Something's fishy here...

My heart goes out to all those injured at Fort Hood, and to all those who lost friends and loved-ones.

Now having said that....something about the entire situation smells fishy.

The first thing I would like to point out is that when a military person makes the news, the pictures they usually display are profession pictures of them in their military uniform. And yet...somehow, we've got pictures of this guy in nothing but Middle-Eastern garb.

Secondly...the man was promoted recently to major. However, what we keep hearing is that he was troublesome with patients, was under constant scrutiny, made anti-American and pro-Muslim comments on his webpages, kept trying to leave the military, was having mental problems, was being watched by the FBI...

Okay, fine. Maybe he was under emotional distress. But I knew someone who was a clerk in the military. He had no problems...until he believed a fellow base personal hit on him (he claimed the individual pinched his behind), and he beat the crap out of the guy.

He wasn't promoted. In fact, they forcefully discharged him, and said he could keep his discharge honorable if he followed their "mental health" discharge plan. Three psychologists and one psychiatrist on a weekly basis, which went on for years. He wasn't being watched by the FBI for six months. He wasn't asking time and time again to leave the military....he had been planning on a military career, and loved it. He wasn't unhappy, and spouting anti-military stuff all over the internet for years. He was just an individual, paranoid that all gay men were after his ugly butt, that thought another man had pinched his ass.

In fact, from what my ex-military friends say, one bad word said about the military, the government, or any of their projects is enough to get a military person court martialed.

And yet this "Muslim extremist terrorist and psychologically broken individual" who had "begged to be let out of his military contract" and "watched by the FBI for six months" and could only work "under extreme supervision" had gotten a promotion rather than a mental-medical discharge.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something doesn't sound right to me.



Update: Oh NOW they are printing pictures of him in uniform....and its not even his dress uniform (which is what we usually see pictures of). Maybe someone, listening to Alex Jones make the same comment yesterday, decided they had to.

Patio Gardening Part 3: Failure?

My assessment of their experiment?

A. If it was too wet (remember the suggested drain holes), the seeds that did badly may have rotted. (This family had an excellent vegetable garden on their land, so I know they know how to grow veggies).

B. Veggies need lots of sun. That much shade is only useful in the hight of summer.

C. Cold can be countered by putting a clear plastic or glass lid over the plants. Plastic 2-3 liter pop bottles with the bottom cut off can make excellent cloches.

D. It might also be helpful if they remove the acorns. Lots of tanin (the stuff used to preserve animal hides) in acorns....

Survival Cooking 101: Stretching your food supplies

It was funny....as I was pondering writing an article dedicated to soup, I was half-listening to the "Armchair Survivalist" radio show (Sunday, 5 p.m. Eastern time, Oracle Broadcasting Network and shortwave), and in one short segment, Kurt mentioned stretching your food dollar with soup. Or rather, adding ingredients to a can of soup to stretch it in order to feed many people.

I know about stretching the food dollar...I'm the mother of a ravenous teenager. They say that teenagers eat 150% of the average male adult...mine is capable of eating 400% (and he's still slender, too. His father was the same way as a teen.)

Stretching your food dollar can come in several ways.

The first is having your own vegetable garden. You heard me....having your own vegetable garden. My kids have eaten salads since they were eating solid food, and even the picky eater will still quickly gobble them down. Home grown zucchini, lightly stir fried with a steak seasoning mix, is a family favorite. Veggies, full of good fiber, add a lot of bulk to little bellies...and lots of nutrition on top of that.

The next comes the carbs. I know...we have been somehow led to believe that carbs, rather than sitting on our fat asses and eating MSG smothered deep fried potato chips, is the enemy of looking slim and trim. And I'm sure many of you have heard your mothers say, "Don't fill up on bread" while out at a nice restaurant. Its all bull. You need carbohydrates to fuel your body. Not to mention that carbohydrates provide part of the protein your muscles need.

Home made bread vs. store bought bread full of chemicals. Baked potatoes vs. potato chips. Real rice vs. minute rice. Corn bread vs. fried corn chips...trust me, its the way you eat the carbs that is the enemy...not the carbs themselves. Kurt Wilson mentioned that soup can be beefed up by adding potatoes to it. Add some home-made bread to the side. Make fajitas or home-made burritos and fatten them up with real rice.

Soup is another great way to stretch the food dollar. Every study done shows that soup is far more satisfying (in other words, you feel like you are full) than the individual ingredients and a glass of water alone. It is also more nutritious...any nutrition leaked during the cooking process stays in the liquid. Home made soups are far superior tasting to canned ones. Make up a large batch....you can always freeze or can any extra to have for later. If you are worried about the MSG in boullion cubes, there are MSG-free versions out there that are just as good. There are also vegan versions of boullion cubes in several flavors...I can't vouch for their taste, as I haven't tried our "no-beef" boullion yet.

Beans have also been mentioned as a way to stretch the food dollar....they are certainly less expensive than meat, although they (along with a carb) provide the same protein nutrition. You can find clever ways to add beans to your diet...however, if you are not use to beans, I would start introducing them slowly. It does no good to your gastro-intestinal tract or your pallet to suddenly change your diet drastically.

There are clever and nutritious ways to beef up your food dollar. Try a few...your wallet will thank you.

Survival Cooking 101: Stew

Okay...so now you have all those veggies growing in your back yard, and all you can afford is the cheapest cuts of meat or beans...or better yet, you caught your own food ;) Now what do you do?

Soups and stews are inexpensive, easy to make, and yet one of the most nutritious ways of preparing food. Yes, inexpensive. You can use the cheapest, toughest, crapiest cuts of meat out there...the stewing process of cooking low and slow improves nearly any meat...don't quote me, though, because I haven't stewed oppossum yet...and I've heard how unappetizing oppossum meat is. I have, however, used venison and elk in stews, and found them to be very good. And yes, its healthy...just like a soup, you consume the liquid the food is cooked in. Any nutrients that are leached out into the water still goes directly into your body. Stews, like soups, are also more satisfying than the individual foods cooked dry and served served seperate, thus you are bound to eat less....another good thing for those times of fewer means.

Most of us are familiar with the Dinty Moore style of stew...chunks of beef with carrots and potatoes. You are not limited to these three ingredients. In general, stews tend to consist of a meat (or, for vegetarians, beans) and plenty of root vegetables. However, if you wish, you can eliminate meat and beans all-together. Softer vegetables can be used as well...simply add them last so they cook, but don't turn to mush.

Now, I don't suggest stew meat purchased at the store. Usually, the stew meat is simply the least expensive cut of meat the store offers, but you pay $1-2 more a pound simply to have someone cut it up for you...and usually, it is cut up in chunks far too big to easily injest. This means you have to go through the process of cutting it anyway, so what is the use of spending that extra money?

For most meats, you will want to cut it up, and then brown it on the bottom of the pan before adding onions and water. Don't like onions? Sorry...mom always used onions because they are nature's meat tenderizer. Browning the cut up meat before hand helps keep it from disintergrating. Yes, when meat gets tender, it falls apart. Most fish will fall apart no matter what you do, so just be prepared for that.

The browned meat and onions are added with about a cup of water first and cooked low and slow. If you are making a bean stew out of dried beans, I suggest starting with beans and tomatoes...the tomatoes will allow the beans to get soft, but will keep them from turning to mush. The next thing you will want to add are the harder root veggies, like carrots or turnips, cut up to bite size. The third step would be potatoes. Its ideal that each of these steps is done about an hour or two apart, but not exactly necessary. You can simply do steps one, two, and three in order a minute after the other...just be warned that the potatoes could get mushy before the meat is tender enough. (If you making a bean-free vegetable stew, you can eliminate step one). The final step, during the last 15 minutes to 1/2 hour, would be the softer vegetables.

Mom always added gravy to hers. You can add the gravy at just about any time. You can either use a gravy packet, thinned out, or you can make it yourself. To do this, follow the directions on your boullion to make a stock. (Or you can get really nutty and make home-made stock before hand, but that is an all-day process in itself...just warning you.) Then you mix flour or corn starch with cold water...make it nice and smooth...and add it to the hot stock. If you mix flour or corn starch directly with the stock, rather than mixing it with cold water first, will get you nothing but doughy lumps. Not appetizing, don't do it. This would be the idea time to add any spices you wish to have in your stew. Bay leaves and pepper corns are common with beef stews and soups...just remember to remove them before consuming. (An easy way to accomplish this is to put the bay leaf and pepper corns in a tea strainer...then all you have to worry about is fishing out the strainer rather than searching through the stew or soup for however many tiny pepper corns you tossed in there).

Once everything is nice and tender, the stew is done. You can serve it with any kind of bread that would sound good with whatever kind of stew you are making.

You can even make a stew out of fruit if you really feel the need...I made something last year that inlcuded pork butt and apples....delicious, but since Mr. Picky Eater (who will scream bloody murder if you put tomato sauce on his spaghetti) absolutely refused to touch it without compromise, we haven't had it since. Just remember that fruit, when cooked, can easily turn to mush. Think apple sauce.

Frugal Tip for Fall

Did you get a pumpkin for Halloween? Don't throw it away! Although it is not a "pie" pumpkin, it is still edible. And at around $4 a pumpkin, its a waste to simply toss it in the trash.

Break Mr. Pumpkin apart, and cut him into 1-inch strips. Cut off the peel and any "stringy" parts still left. Dice it.

Now, you can either can it, dry it, or freeze it.

For canning, do not puree' it. A pumpkin puree may be too thick to heat thoroughly. Cut into 1-inch cubes. Boil 2 minutes. Pack into jars, and pour hot water in, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Pressure can at 10 lbs. 55 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts.

To dry, blanch cubes, then dry. Simple.

To freeze, cut up, then cook...375 oven, a microwave, or steam...until soft. Puree may be frozen.

Here's hoping everyone had a happy and safe All-Hallow's Eve.




And don't jump all over me about Halloween...I'm mostly Irish, its a part of my heritage (a fall harvest festival), and to disparage it is a hate crime against the Irish worthy of me demanding a public apology...or a butterfinger.

And to all my Scots-Irish brothers and sisters out there...Happy New Year!