I haven't blogged here in years, but I am currently working on a new blog over in Wordpress hosted thru Bluehost. I will be transferring some of my old blog posts over there if you're interested in  following me there. I would love to see you over there! 

It's called:

http://www.itsawonderfulwife.org/


Come join me!

The last few weeks has been a bit crazy around here. My oldest daughter attended her Senior Prom. I helped her pick out the fabric and made her dress. That was fun. I am so glad that I could do it for her but it was quite the project. I will have to post a picture or two, maybe tomorrow. We have passed around a cold. And all the normal day to day stuff that keeps me so busy.

One great moment of the last few weeks was when one of my favorite bloggers, MomwithaPrep held a contest where she was giving away an autographed copy of a book written by TheSurvivalMom (another one of my favorite bloggers).  I have been wanting to purchase her book for some time but haven't had the money. Well guess what? I won it!  I am so excited and so surprised that I actually won it!  I am intently watching the mail for it to arrive and will be sure to let you know when it does.

We also had a new retail store open up around here a week ago. It's called Gander Mountain. It is a firearms and ammunition store. The also carry some other camping and survival equipment. Since hubby and I haven't ventured into the firearms arena yet it was quite the experience to check out that store. At first I told Hubby that I felt like I should be nervous being there like all those guns made it dangerous, but then I realized it was probably one of the safest places to be. Who in their right mind would cause trouble or attempt to rob that store?!!!  Every other person had a gun holstered on their hip and that was just the ones I could see!

We made sure to fill out a card for Gander Mountain's gift card drawing. Maybe we will get lucky again and win that contest too! That would be something, wouldn't it?

So I am a little behind with this post, but I wanted to just say that I am learning more and more from our current events these days. The lock down in Boston on Friday once again validated my need to be prepared.

Some people had to leave their houses in a hurry as they were evacuated out of certain dangerous areas. A bug out bag would have been great for this even though the lock down lasted less then a day. We would have had cash on hand and even food. I could have taken my kids to the park to distract them from the events or even went to a friends house without worrying about whether I had what I needed or that I was a burden on anyone else.

Other areas, the people were told to stay in doors and not go to work or school. Some neighborhoods didn't have power. Being prepared here lessons stress and makes the event so much less traumatic. They talked like the lock down could have lasted a couple days. There's even a story of an officer dropping off milk to a family with a baby who couldn't get out to pick it up. Our 72 hour kits would have been a great asset here.

We are not talking major catastrophe here. Just normal day to day activities and goings on being interrupted by unseen circumstances and being prepared so that your family is taken care of.  I am feeling more and more confident that I am doing the right thing for my family.

What are they planning?

The more I research and pay attention to current events, the more I realize just how much Americans really have no idea what is really happening around them. Most of us just go through the day to day activities and are oblivious to the rest of the world, the workings of our government, and the dangers forming. Unfortunately this mentality has given our government more power than it was really intended. This also makes us very vulnerable in emergency situations, what ever they may be. I do think people are starting to wake up. Things like the bombing in Boston are making sure of that. 

Once again in my research and perusing from blog to blog and article to article I found a blog that I think I really like and this particular article is outstanding.

http://preparedchristian.net/government-the-good-the-bad-and-the-what-are-they-planning/

She puts in words exactly how I feel. I am no conspiracy theorist or doomsday prepper. I just like to be aware of things and protect my family from unforeseen circumstances. She gives some great information about rumors that are going around on the Internet and really gives a voice of reason to this Prepper movement that some of us are finding ourselves in. Very well worth your time.

Emergency Preparation Advice From Someone Who Learned the Hard Way

I hate to keep posting so many blog posts from other writers rather than writing my own, but I am staying so busy researching and doing my own preparations that it doesn't leave much time for writing blogs. Nor does it seem all that prudent.  I think it's important to keep sharing with people the importance of prepping for emergencies, but I still have to prioritize the prepping I need to do with my family. Besides while I am researching I am coming across so much good information and so many great blog posts.

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2013/04/12/11-lessons-the-joplin-tornadoes-taught-our-family/

Love The Survival Mom!! I think it's one of my favorite sites.  This post was great because she gave her experience and the lessons she learned. This shows that disasters really do affect people here in the US (they were without power for 2 weeks!) and you should have a back up for your back up (they even got stranded away from their kids for a night in the aftermath and she talks about a bug out bag for your car).

Great post and well worth your time. Check it out!

Reasons to Prep

Just to keep things simple today I wanted to share another article with a list of questions that you should be asking your non-prepping friends and family. 

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/50-shocking-questions-that-you-should-ask-to-anyone-that-is-not-a-prepper-yet

Really these questions are designed to get people thinking for themselves and doing a little digging into what is really going on around us, rather then just blindly believing what we are being fed in the media.  The questions and links to additional articles are thought provoking to say the least.  It really drives home the things that I have already been seeing and what I've been feeling for years.

I have always had a different perspective of politics and government then my peers. I remember even in high school having debates with people over how our system worked and it's flaws. Then I grew up, fell into my own life and became distracted as I raised my children. Now that they are all half grown I am starting to pay more attention. Even several years ago I saw news on tv and told my husband that our rights were under attack. The things our government was doing lead me to believe that our right to choose our religion and our right to free speech were under attack. I also watched as one law (CPSIA) single handedly reduced the number of crafters making a living on ebay and etsy and I said then that it was like they (people in charge, government, lawmakers, how ever you want to describe them) wanted to kill free enterprise in America. It didn't seem logical in the beginning of a recession to make it harder for people to make money when we needed to jump start our economy.  As I am seeing all the pieces come together I think that my instincts have been right all along.  I am not worried about death, I know where I am going. However I do worry about whatever time I have left on this earth and the time my children still have on this earth.

What do you think about the state of the country? Are you encouraging others to think for themselves?

It's been a weird week for me. I am starting to feel like a rubber band...back and forth, this way and that, I have so much going on and so much on my mind.

This stuff with Korea has me just a little on edge, watching the news. I have tried to just focus on my family and my household, getting stuff done.  I have really been stepping up my couponing and making sure to stop into stores whenever I get the chance to pick up freebies or great deals.  I don't intend to waste gas by making special trips out, with the exception of my weekly grocery shopping trip, and so I need to take every opportunity to hit up the stores that are already in the vicinity of errands I am running.  It adds a bit of extra time to my already busy schedule but it pays off with the money I am saving on household supplies and is helping me to build my prepping supplies a little faster.

I also found a dehydrator at a thrift store last week and I have been trying it out. So far I have tried canned pineapple slices and a sliced kiwi. Next I plan to try some apple slices. It seems to be working well but may be getting a little too hot. I need to do some more research on that.

I realize that I haven't given you much to research or work on this week, I thought this article on The Prepper Journal might be of interest to you.  It is a great list to get you started on your prepping. 

http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2013/04/11/25-things-that-you-should-do-to-get-prepared-for-the-coming-economic-collapse/

It helps to have an outline to get you started. Like I have said before, you can choose to prep more or less depending on your comfort level. I love this list because it not only includes physical items you should be buying, but it also includes things you can do and things to be thinking about. Pair this list with my 3 Phase Plan for prepping and you will be well on your way.

Let me know how you are doing with your prepping.

I found this little gem with funny man Mike Rowe while perusing old posts on another blog.  I love his sense of humor and he describes my childhood perfectly when he talks about "forced labor" as we would have called it then, but what was actually a great learning opportunity. I remember helping my father video weddings (one of his many money making ideas), build decks, dig post holes for fences, dig trenches for water and electrical lines, create office partitions and so much more. I learned how to use power tools such as miter saws, skill saws, drill presses, table sanders, etc from a very early age. I was taught the value of doing something yourself versus paying someone to do it.  Now as an adult I don't avoid the difficult tasks but work to find solutions to them.  I love to learn new skills and the sense of accomplishment that comes with success at mastering them. I am thankful for parents who taught me to use my hands and be thankful for the ability to do so.  It is definitely a dying art and most Americans have become dependent on others to do what they should be able to themselves. I hope I pass this tradition on to my children and they on to theirs.

Waste Not, Want Not!

In other blog posts I have talked about the older generation's mentality that when you waste not, you want not.  My Grandparents went through the Great Depression. They had to wash and save foil. They didn't have Ziploc bags to throw away after just one use. Even now my Grandfather saves things that we think he should just toss in the trash like empty pill bottles or paper that still has one side clean. So with that mindset I have been trying to find ways to use food and supplies that we normally throw away and try to stretch my grocery budget even further.

Today's post is specifically about saving and using those ends to your sandwich bread which most of us just throw away. Most members of my family prefer not to use the ends of the bread. I don't care either way and when making a sandwich I will use the ends. However, I rarely eat sandwiches so the ends tend to sit there until they are pretty stale. 

A few years ago I began saving the ends of the bread. Usually I just toss them, bread bag and all into the freezer and then when I have an hour or so to spare, I pull them out and let them thaw. Once thawed mostly, I cut them up into cubes. You can also use old hamburger or hot dog buns or french bread. I have even re-purposed old hamburger buns into garlic bread on spaghetti night and then still used the left overs in my bread crumbs. I never use bread that has already started to mold or soggy bread.

I spray my pan down with a nonstick spray and then spray the top layer of bread cubes down as well. Then I season them. Sometimes I use only garlic powder and sometimes I sprinkle garlic, onion powder, and Italian seasonings on them.

 

Then I use the low broiler setting on my oven and I toast the bread to a pretty golden brown. I usually toss them twice followed by more toasting each time to make sure they are completely dried out. This usually takes about 5 minutes between tossing. The next step is to put these toasted pieces in the food processor. Of course you could hand crush them or even put them in a zip lock bag and use a mallet to crumb them.  I have also stored them whole and used them as croutons.  

 

 

Lastly I packaged them using my Food Saver and labeled the date and the flavor. They should be good in storage for at least a few months.  I also have a bag in my freezer for longer storage.

 

Free bread crumbs using bread ends that usually just get thrown away. I have used them to bread chicken, make a breakfast casserole, and even to top my broccoli rice casserole. Waste Not, Want Not, right?

Can you prep too much? by The Survival Mom

 

Can you prep too much?  Here's a great article about this by The Survival Mom.

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2012/02/27/can-you-prep-too-much/

Great information that should give you some ideas about what to avoid while prepping.  And she even uses lists!  See, I am not the only one!

I let the last week get away from me with the holiday weekend and I will try to get back into my blogging routine tomorrow.