Week 31 - Cooking Substitutions (Cornmeal and Powdered Sugar), Purchase Staple Items

Week 31 - June 30 

Cooking Substitutions

Make your own cornmeal by grinding popcorn, dried dent corn (field corn) or dried flint corn (Indian corn) in a fine powder.

Make your own powdered sugar by putting 1 Cup of granulated sugar and 2 Tbsp of cornstarch in a blender and process on high until powdery.  The cornstarch is not necessary, but keeps it soft and fluffy if it is to be stored for a while.  1 Cup of granulated sugar makes 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Home food storage: Purchase one month’s worth of a staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 30 - Purchase Solar Lights, Purchase Staple Items

Week 30 - June 23
Purchase inexpensive solar lights.  I bought mine for 97¢.  They can be brought into the house at night and put back into the yard during the day.  Stand them up in a water bottle.  We set up several around the house the week we went without power instead of using our night lights.

Here is one of the lights I have.  I leave the pointed section in the ground (along with all the dirt).  I did add a couple inches of water to the bottle to make them more stable when we used them our week without power.  You can also put small rocks or dirt in the bottom of the bottle.

Home Food Storage: Purchase one months worth of a staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 29 - Keep Practicing With Your Cookers, Purchase Staple Items

Week 30 - June16
Keep practicing cooking with the various cookers you have made.

Home Food Storage - Purchase one month's worth of a staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 28 - Practice With Your Cookers, Purchase Staple Items

Week 28 - June 9
Practice cooking with the various cookers you have made.

Home Food Storage: Purchase one month's worth of a staple item such as wheat, flour, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 27 Practice Solar Cooking, Purchase Staple Items

Week 27 - June 2

Practice solar cooking.
The best time of day to use your solar cooker is between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  Set your solar cooker in the sun 30 to 60 minutes before you want to use it, so it can preheat.
When cooking with a solar cooker the shadow should be directly behind the cooker.
Adjust the foil covered lid so that reflects the sun into the cooker.  Adjust the cooker every 30 minutes so that is is facing the sun and the shadow is directly behind the cooker.  Adjust the lid also.
Baked food will not brown like in a regular oven, but they will turn hard if baked too long.
Don't open your oven until you really think the food inside is done.

I make chocolate chip cookies in my pizza oven last week.  It took about 45 minutes to bake each batch.  I could tell they were done when the cookie dough no longer spread out and they no longer had a glossy look.  Even after that I let them bake longer and firm up.  The first ones were gooey on the bottom.  The second ones were gooey on the bottom and hard on the top.  The cooked about 1 hour.  The third batch was the best after raising the cooking tray.  They were all eaten as fast at they cooled enough to be picked up.  So I guess that means they weren't too bad.  Or maybe it was just the 4 males between 18 and 22 (they eat anything and everything at that age).

See Week 23- Pizza Box Oven for details about changes I make for easier/better cooking.

Home food storage: Purchase a month’s worth of one staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 12 - Document Items of Value, Purchase Staple Food

Week 12 – February 17

Document all items of sentimental or monetary value in case of loss.  Take picture, write history/story, and copy any documentation regarding each item.  You may want to put all of this information into a digital format to add to last week’s digital information.

 

Home food storage: Purchase a month’s worth of one staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 11 - Back-up Computer Information, Purchase Staple Food

Week 11 – February 10

Copy all important pictures, documents, and other computer information you don’t want to lose onto a trusted website, disc(s), external hard drive, or memory stick.  Keep your backup copies with your other items you plan to take if you need to evacuate.

 Home food storage: Purchase a month’s worth of one staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta.

Week 10 - Start an Evacuation Plan, Purchase Staple Food

Week 10 – February 2

You should have a minimal 72 hour kit and minimal first aid kit completed.

Home food storage: Purchase a month’s worth of one staple item such as wheat, flour, sugar, rice, beans, or pasta. 

Create an evacuation plan.
   

Evacuation Planning Suggestions

Home Evacuation

     1.  Are there two ways out of every room in your home?

A.  How will you get out of each room?

B.  Does a household member need assistance?

a.  Who is assigned to help whom?

           2. Where will the household members meet?

A.  On your property?

B.  At a neighbors?

           3. What will you take?

A.  What does time allow?

B.  Where are the items to take?

C.  Who is assigned to what items?

          4.  Who will you notify and who is assigned to call each contact?

A.  Is someone assigned to call 9-1-1?

B.  Who is your local contact?

C.  Who is your out of area contact?

         5.  What about your pets?

A.      Where will they go?

B.      Who is responsible for each pet?

         6.  Other_________________________

Area Evacuation (additional planning considerations)

Is the disaster at your work, work neighborhood, home, home neighborhood, school, school neighborhood, or one of the before mentioned areas of another household member.

        1. Can you return home before evacuating?

        2. Where are the other household members?

A.  Where will members with vehicles meet?

B.  Who will pick up members without transportation?

C.  What is the school/daycare policy for children leaving?

a.  Who has permission to pick them up?

b.  What identification is needed?

        3. Where will your pets go?

A.  Does the home or shelter you are going to allow pets?

B.  Is there a special evacuation area set up for large animals?

a.  This will require radio or television for information.

        4. What if household members are separated?

A.  Can your contact person keep everyone informed of everyone’s location?

B.  Do you have assigned locations to go to depending on where the disaster may occur and where household members are at that time?

C.  Do you know how to register your location or find someone with American Red Cross? (These are the website steps as of February 2013)

a.  Log on to redcross.org

b.  Click on “Get Assistance”  (At the top of the page)

c.  Click on “Contact or Find Loved Ones”  or “Register or Search the Safe and Well Listings”

d.  Click on “Register/Search Safe and Well” (Near the bottom of the page in a red box)

e.  Click on “List Myself as Safe and Well” or “Search Registrants”

f.   Answer questions and register or answer questions a search.

        5.  Other_________________________________