#1. Falling into Preparedness

My mother called me to share the usual family news, who's having a baby, who's getting married/divorced, who bought what, and the usual gossip, often about people I don't know.  In amongst the usual chatter, she mentioned that her church had recommended that everyone put together a "72-hour kit", and put by extra food in case of an emergency.  The minister had passed out some handouts, and mom was asking me if I had anything like that.

I lived out in the country on the east coast for 20 years.  We had a wood stove, kerosene lanterns, and a well-stocked larder for the simple reason that the power would go out every time the weather kicked up a fuss.  Most people had a wood stove for heating, whether as the main source, or as an auxiliary heating method.  But I can't say that I ever thought in turns of "bugging out".

Now that I live in a town on the west coast, I haven't really worried about keeping the cupboard stocked up.  After talking to mom, I took a look in my fridge and realized I had more condiments than useful food.  Hm....  My cupboards were little better:  3 cans of tuna, 1 can of evaporated milk, and 17 assorted cans of fruit; about a pound of flour, a few tablespoons of baking powder at the bottom of the jar, 2 lbs of cornmeal, 2 lbs of wheatlets, an ancient bag of oatmeal that had mealy bugs in it (ewwww), and 3 packets of yeast...  You get the idea.  It wasn't really a very good showing.

If for some reason I was stuck in my house for an extended period, with no electricity, and contaminated water, I would be up crap creek.  I didn't have a non-electric heat/cooking system, no stored water, and worst of all, only 7 rolls of toilet paper.  As for bugging out, half the time the gas tank blinky is flashing on the dash board.

Then to add the icing to the cake, I got laid off my job.  It was supposed to be for just 5 weeks, but that was 9 weeks ago. 

We canceled cable TV and just kept the internet, and for entertainment I have been watching videos on YouTube among other video sites, and a couple of days ago, I was looking for food and cooking videos when I ran across dehydrate2store's videos.  Wow!  I'm in love with her Excalibur, but purchasing such a magnificent beast is out of the question right now.  But I do have a Nesco American Harvest dehydrator that I bought years and years ago, and now I know what to do with it.  It's like this one here except it's an older model:















Now all I need to do is fend off the husband.  He's retired and considers the kitchen to be his domain.  He likes to noodle over to the store, pick out something for dinner and bring it home to cook that night.  He has totally embraced grasshopper thinking.  Oh yeah, and I also need to find the money to buy mass quantities of dehydratable stuff.  Hm, and get a vacuum sealer.  And mason jars.

Think I'll head down to the Salvation Army store.  I've seen mason jars there.  And maybe I'll find a second-hand vacuum sealer.  I'm dreaming of a Foodsaver...