Long-Term Survival Food for the Family

 

As this blog is a side effort for free information provided by Great Lake Survival Company, we set out to find good information for in terms of “Survival” for families and individuals.  We try not to write about anything we have not done before and or are in the process of testing.  That being said, we’ve been turned on to a great way to inexpensively start building a family larder to feed those little mouths during hard times.

It’s no question that the economy is in trouble.  If you check the math based on our current spending, national deficit, interest due on that deficit vs. our GDP, devaluing dollar, etc. etc. etc., . . . it doesn’t look good.  Let’s say this first . . . fear mongering has no place in the logical thought process, so let’s “86” that atmosphere right now.  On the other hand, let’s not, (as smart individuals), bury our heads in the sand.

Simply put, if the economy has a “hick up”, crashes, or there is anything that causes the trucking industry to stop “rolling”, are you confident that your local supermarket will have enough food to feed your area for 3 weeks to a year?  The answer should be a resounding, “NO!”  Because simply put most Super Everything Marts only have 3 days of food on their shelves during normal shopping activity.  There’s less than that if you figure a food buying frenzy.  In reality, if everyone was trying to buy food at the same time, you’d probably never make it in the door.

So without hammering the point any further, wouldn’t it be great if we had a year or more worth of baseline food stocked up, that had a 20 year life in correct storing conditions, all while running under $400 out the door?  “WELL YES THAT WOULD BE AWESOME, TELL ME MORE!”  It sure would be a great little insurance policy and give us a little peace of mind.

Scotch Broth –  There’s recipes for this all over the net, but here is the one we are familiar with:

The recipe will feed 3 to 4 adults for up to a year.  If there are only two adults, it will feed them up to 2 years.  If you have 2 adults and 2 children it will probably feed you up to a year and a half.  You get the point I’m sure.

What you will need:

1.       All in dried form: 88 lbs of rice; 22 lbs red kidney beans, 22 lbs barley, 22 lbs lentils, 6 lbs split peas, 6 lbs chick peas, 54 oz of powdered chicken or beef stock.  All of this can be obtained at your local super deluxe market or cost savings mart.

2.       6 Food grade 5 gallon buckets with appropriate lids, and lid opener: http://www.bayteccontainers.com/

3.       6 Mylar bags to fit appropriately into each 5 gallon bucket: http://www.bayteccontainers.com/

4.       50 count, 300CC oxygen absorbers, 7 per bucket: http://www.bayteccontainers.com/

Our total for all of this was around $375 including shipping.

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PREPARING, STORING AND MAKING THE SOUP:  Taken from http://christianviewpoint.yuku.com/reply/8636/Scotch-Broth-Recipe-and-others#reply-8636

"Method:
Put the rice in a mixing container. Then add each of the other ingredients 5kg at a time, mixing as you go. (Use surgical gloves or you'll have no nails left, LOL!).
When you have all the other ingredients mixed in with the first two bags of rice, add the last two bags of rice and *REALLY* mix well or you'll get all rice on the bottom of your mixture."

"MAKING SOUP.
Take 16oz of the dry mixture and put in about 6-7 quarts of water (with a nut of butter or a tsp. of olive oil to prevent soup boiling over) and add 3 tablespoons (or to taste) of powdered soup stock. We like to use chicken stock.
Then add any veggies, meat, & seasoning you like (if available). (We like to also put in lots of garlic) (DO NOT USE ONIONS - they'll spoil the mixture).
Bring to a boil and let simmer for two hours and you have enough soup for two days for 4 people.

On the second day you'll need to add some more water (it thickens in the fridge overnight) and another tablespoon of stock. Make sure to boil for at least 10 minutes the second day to kill off any potential bacteria, - especially if you are not storing in fridge, but just in a root cellar or like that in the event of no electricity in summer.

We make our own bread and have a thick slice fer dunkin' with a large bowl of this delicious soup and it serves as a main meal. You are FULL after just one (large size) bowl of this stuff.

Kids will usually only be able to eat half a bowl w/bread, or a small bowl, whichever you prefer. Adults will likely want a nice big bowl.

If there is any mixture left on the third day, just add the new mixture to it. You will need less of course, but you'll get to know how to gauge things as you go along catering to the requirements of your own little family."
"ONIONS>>>Re: onions... They ferment too quickly, and cut down the amount of time you can safely store already cooked soup.

Assuming there are no refrigerators etc., it's best to err on the side of caution and not use them in the soup. If you want to waste fuel and make your soup daily, then onions aren't a problem.

We LOVE onions in our house, and cook them by wrapping them in tinfoil, and putting them in the ever-burning wood stove for an hour. We put in some potatoes too usually, and have a meal of tatties & onions. They taste wonderful prepared in this way, particularly if you add a little butter or olive oil and some herbs when you take them out of the fire. This and some greens is all you need to exist except for vitamin B12.”

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The whole point of this blog was to increase the scope of the term Survival and what it means in to individuals and families.  We think that having a base line food store that has an incredible shelf life, for very little money, respectively, is a high priority.  Yes you will need to store other foods such as fruits, other veggies, meats to add to the scotch broth, etc.  But it’s a lot easier psychologically to build up stores when you already have a base line taken care of.

Hopefully the bottom never drops out of the economy, nothing ever shuts down food supply trucks, and everyone always gets along . . . although I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.  But even if everything is puppy dog tails, sugar and spice for the rest of your life, you’ll have something put away for a rainy day, and it will be one more thing that you’ve done as a leader for your family and friends, who may depend on you more than ever someday.

Thanks for reading,

-          GLSC