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Post by ziggysdad on Aug 16, 2018 21:18:52 GMT 10
Growing up there was always a large can of Crisco (shortening) in the pantry. It isn’t lard but it damn sure bakes a beautiful pie and unopened will keep for ages (best before date is 2 years from manufacture but as hydrogenated oil as long as you keep it cool and dry it will stay good for 5-10 years easily).
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Post by ziggysdad on Aug 16, 2018 21:12:13 GMT 10
Did you know that Red Feather Pure Creamery Canned Butter is now available in a more convenient 340g can vs the 454g variety? Not only that, but the price per 100g is slightly less expensive as well. Purchased directly through Ballantyne: 12 x 340g for $55.20 = $1.35 / 100g vs 24 x 454g for $150.00 = $1.37 / 100g redfeatherbutter.com.au/Hopefully they will make this product more readily available to the general public. It has been over two years since I placed my order for 3 cases of red feather butter. At this point we have just cracked the third case. Whenever we run out of butter my wife or daughter just goes downstairs and cracks a can open. Might not be the most economical thing to do but I know I need to rotate the stock anyway and it has saved me running to the market on a dozen different occasions this year alone between the canned butter and UHT milk. I’ve noticed an ever so slight rancidity over the last few months but my wife and daughter claim to not notice it (maybe I’m more sensitive to it?). I’d be interested in ordering another case in the coming months.
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Post by ziggysdad on Aug 14, 2018 15:05:05 GMT 10
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Post by ziggysdad on Apr 8, 2018 23:24:59 GMT 10
Weird site
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Post by ziggysdad on Mar 10, 2018 10:24:46 GMT 10
We’ve been shopping out of our stores for many months, only supplementing fresh fruit/veg and some produce for the most part. I’ve knocked off about 30kg of rice, 30kg of pasta, and 50+ cans of soups, chicken and tuna. We effectively halved our grocery bill for about 6 months and we’ve taken our supplies down to about 4-6 months. I usually stock about 60-80 liters of UHT milk and another 30+ of dry powdered milk. Realised the other day that we were down to only 8-10 litres of UHT milk + the powdered. Time to take a proper inventory and restock a bit. Have you been doing this to save money or to clear out some space? What has been your motivation? I went a little overboard in my preps and had stockpiled 12-18 months of food. Once I got over my fears that a SHTF scenario was imminent, I decided that 3-6 months would be a much more manageable (and sane) level of preparedness. We began by not backfilling things that were in regular rotation, working down the short-term and canned items and UHT milk. My wife also went on a big baking kick, so she hit the flour, meals, sugars and honey really hard for a few months. Shopping from the basement has enabled us to save extra and increase my holdings in gold.
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Post by ziggysdad on Mar 7, 2018 22:55:41 GMT 10
I store shelf stable cheese (Velveeta and Kraft/Dairylea), cases of Red Feather Butter, UHT milk, powdered milk and Kraft Parmesan cheese (in bulk).
Between that and our VAST supplies of Macaroni & Cheese (several different varieties), we won’t be missing dairy for quite a while.
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Post by ziggysdad on Mar 7, 2018 22:48:26 GMT 10
We’ve been shopping out of our stores for many months, only supplementing fresh fruit/veg and some produce for the most part. I’ve knocked off about 30kg of rice, 30kg of pasta, and 50+ cans of soups, chicken and tuna. We effectively halved our grocery bill for about 6 months and we’ve taken our supplies down to about 4-6 months.
I usually stock about 60-80 liters of UHT milk and another 30+ of dry powdered milk.
Realised the other day that we were down to only 8-10 litres of UHT milk + the powdered. Time to take a proper inventory and restock a bit.
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Post by ziggysdad on Feb 22, 2018 5:14:59 GMT 10
Our two dogs eat 90% of our biowaste - wonder if it would run on dog shit and grass clippings?
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Post by ziggysdad on Feb 21, 2018 20:11:11 GMT 10
“The United States hit back, hard.” = US Marines Artillery Unit
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 20, 2018 18:50:34 GMT 10
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 11, 2018 19:51:21 GMT 10
It was a good read - a couple slightly odd tangents, but pretty much what you would expect. The only problem was that I read it so quickly that I now have to wait 6 months for the next one.
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 5, 2018 10:48:56 GMT 10
Are the kaffir fruit any good? I've only ever used the leaves as a flavouring herb... Worked well in Rum and Coke! And Vodka Tonics!!
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 5, 2018 10:48:14 GMT 10
Harvested some Kaffir Limes... Are the kaffir fruit any good? I've only ever used the leaves as a flavouring herb... Worked well in Rum and Coke!
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 5, 2018 10:47:11 GMT 10
Book 9 in Angery American’s Survivalist Series is out - Conflicted Home.
Just purchased it for $6.13 on Amazon for Kindle.
I know what I’m doing this weekend!
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 3, 2018 20:48:31 GMT 10
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Post by ziggysdad on Jan 3, 2018 20:48:11 GMT 10
We live in the lucky country. Only place I can think of that might be better is NZ. NZ’s fresh water resources and precipitation rate (coupled with low population density) make it more suitable for long term survival in my book. Ross Elder’s ‘Scavenger’ trilogy explores the reality of bunker living - decent read.
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Post by ziggysdad on Dec 29, 2017 11:31:44 GMT 10
2017 is drawing to a close.
How are you feeling? Are you more or less prepared than this this time last year? What do you see in store for 2018? What is the prep you would most like to focus on in the coming year?
For me, 2017 was about losing weight and improving my physical fitness. It was a bit of a roller coaster, but I’m down 20+kg and have been cycling a lot more than I have in the past 20 years.
My overall knowledge base continues to grow, but my family (and I) have hit our food stores and toiletries pretty hard over the past year. I encouraged this at first, concluding that an 18-24 month stockpile was a bit excessive, but when I happened upon my wife using freeze dried beef as dog food and giving away boxes of canned goods for school food drives, I realised we had over corrected a bit too far. We still have many months of food and quite a bit of toiletries in storage, but I rarely buy anything or replace anything at this stage. If/when we get down to 2-3 months, I’ll start paying a lot more attention. At present, we could eat Macaroni and Cheese for a couple months!
I’m excited to become an Australian citizen next month (on Australia Day), not the least because I’m worried that the US and N. Korea/China are on the verge of something ugly. I also think the real estate bubble in Australia is on the verge of a collapse.
I’m looking forward to expanding my knowledge of local flora and fauna and learning more about edible plants - which I have more of at my home than I realised.
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Post by ziggysdad on Dec 29, 2017 11:09:01 GMT 10
Harvested some Kaffir Limes and Lilly Pilly (Rain Cherries) from the garden yesterday. Turns out we have over a dozen edible trees/shrubs on the property and my wife and daughter are enjoying the ‘bush tucker’
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Post by ziggysdad on Dec 29, 2017 10:56:47 GMT 10
I grew up on anIsland off the coast of Maine in the North Atlantic and regularly participated in survival camping trips on the smaller, more remote islands. Late Spring, Summer and Early Fall were fine - fun even with lots of berries, abundant fish/crustaceans/fowl, but there is nothing to eat (hunt, trap or fish) in Winter. Plus, you run out of fuel to burn REALLY quick - one person burning firewood 24/7 and you’ll deplete the local resources very quickly.
An efficient wood stove would be worth its weight in gold - a cord of wood can last you weeks vs days with a fireplace or fire pit.
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Post by ziggysdad on Dec 12, 2017 15:46:11 GMT 10
The guy is in his 80’s. Probably a Korean War veteran.
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