Disqus - Latest Comments for kdonat

Re: Beyond the BabySteps: Emergency Chemical Toilet

kdonat — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:03:02 -0000

If you are staying in place and water is limited for "force flushing" with a bucket of water, you can line your empty toilet bowl with a heavy duty trash bag for use. This is especially helpful for the elderly that may need to use a raised seat or for those who may have issues with using a bucket/port-o-potty etc. You would simply treat the "deposits" with any of the previously mentioned odor controls and dispose of the bag just as in the alternative potty posts. In a crisis, you want your family to be as comfortable as is possible, especially the elderly and the very young.

Re: Don’t be a Food Storage Fool

kdonat — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:33:20 -0000

Get my "important papers" organized and into a waterproof container which will probably be a 5gal bucket with a gamma seal lid. ( St. Petersburg FL )

Re: Step 7: Baking Ingredients

kdonat — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:18:13 -0000

If you find that your cooking oil or shortening has gone rancid before you can used it up, don't through it out. Or, if you have a quantity of "used" fryer oil, you can recyle it as fuel in a homemade oil lamp. Check out the following site for easy directions.
http://www.tacticalintellig...

Re: Exciting New Shelving Solution!

kdonat — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:42:32 -0000

I checked into ordering some of these. Even with a 10% discount the shipping charges were an additional 1/3 of the order cost. I'll have to live with what currently works for me.

Re: The 7 Day Challenge: Day 7 (TUESDAY)

kdonat — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:29:26 -0000

I was out of town for the last 5 days, so saved those challenges to do later on my own. I did mentally work through each of them, and feel real good that only a few areas need definite attention (most of them involve non-participating family member). This one was a quick one. Thanks for all you ladies have done to get me on the road to preparedness. God bless you!

Re: Food Storage Lessons Learned From Gardening

kdonat — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:52:21 -0000

Our cherry tomatoes were devoured by fruit rats , but my basil and rosemary have held up. TIP: When the basil or rosemary stems start to get "leggy" (all the leaves are near the top), I weight them down in the dirt to root. Within a few weeks fresh "starts" pop up along the stem producing another round of fresh basil or rosemary. I use this method to get starts for friends too. After well rooted, clip, pot up, and give as a green gift.

The fruit rats also liked my eggplant. But we are blessed with a long hot summer so it looks like I have a second chance with them. Our citrus trees had a good bit of die back and had to be trimmed back a lot. Hopefully they will be encouraged into some new growth, same with the avocado (large green alligator pear that) . Our banana trees finally have a couple of hands , so we have those to look forward to in the next month or so.

August and September are the beginning of our planting season. So I'll have to try again for some greens, and some cooler weather crops like kale that can be picked a few leaves at a time and last through the winter.

Re: Hints (and confessions) for the Seven Day Challenge

kdonat — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:11:53 -0000

Food grade H2O2 can also be purchased through most good health food stores or they can order it for you. Please follow directions carefully as it can be corrosive if used in excessive amounts. For longer term stability, the partially used bottle can be stored in your freezer.

Re: Step 10: Non-Food Items

kdonat — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:16:06 -0000

Miscellaneous items to store: storable fuel for cooking :
charcoal for the grill, canned fuel (chafing dish fuel), homemade buddy burners, alcohol burners (use 91% alcohol for clean burn), make and learn how to use a solar oven (start with a mylar covered windshield reflector), Coleman fuel for a camp stove, other compressed fuel (used with inexpensive small camp stove)

Re: Step 7: Baking Ingredients

kdonat — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:54:24 -0000

Michelle, I had similar thoughts as we aren't big bread eaters. Biscuits, pancakes, tortillas, and other "small" sized quick breads can be done in a covered skillet over some form of "canned" heat (buddy burner, alcohol burner), or use a solar oven . Another concern when the power is out is cooking items that will use the least amount of fuel to do the job.

There are several sources for creating buddy burners (Girl and Boy Scout Handbook, You-Tube,), alcohol stoves, and solar ovens (mine started with the mylar type windshield reflector that you normally place on your car dashboard and other items from my kitchen).

Re: How To Make a Coffee Can Heater

kdonat — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:26:12 -0000

There are two types of rubbing alcohol, 70% and 91%. The 91% alcohol burns cleanest. Using a can as small as a tuna or catfood can works well for your 72 hour or car kits. Use cotton balls soaked in alcohol, cooking oil, or vaseline as the fuel and wick. Just make sure there's a hot pad or heat resistant surface on which you set the can. A piece of tinfoil can be wrapped around and over the can for storage, then be used to snuff the flame if needed. Also, a birthday candle gives off a good bit of heat (especially the kind that you can't blow out), several can be stored in a recycled pill bottle or film canister, and carried in a personal/car/or 72 hour kit. They also are good fire starters when camping or using other fuel sources out of doors .

Re: BEANS … The Magical Fruit!

kdonat — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:50:33 -0000

My biggest concern has always been the fuel required under emergency conditions to cook beans even with a pressure cooker. I've been in the habit of storing the smaller driedn beans and legumes (green and yellow split peas, lentils, mung beans, adzuki beans) since they take much less time and energy to cook after a soaking. But bean flour is a great idea! You ladies ROCK !