PDF File Downloads

Everything Under the Sun
Spanish Version
Everything Made Simple

The booklet Everything Made Simple is now available in Spanish thanks to a translation by Adela Illera from Seville, Spain.  Thank you Adela!!  This booklet is a shorter version of Everything Under The Sun with recipes that need little to no rotation for 10 years.   Wendy

I've just become aware of a burn remedy that blew me away. My adult daughter received 2nd degree burns on her fingertips at girl's camp and the cook had her put her hand into flour for about 10 or 15 minutes. It stopped the pain! I looked into it further and have found numerous comments on the effectiveness of flour for burns. One writer said she used it when she burned her tongue. Keep a bag of flour in the fridge because the cold flour is supposed to work even better! Who knew??

(Note: I've already received several rather terse comments about this being a hoax and I shouldn't be spreading it. I have a first hand (no pun intended) account of how a very safe (come on...it's flour) very cheap burn remedy worked for a family member and I have no problem sharing it. No one is obligated to use it...but I know next time I get burned, I'm heading for that cold bag of flour. Now...if I can just figure out if whole wheat flour works too!)

These are just some of the non-food items that I have in my storage:

antibiotic creams

bandaids

books on local plants,

books for entertainment

can opener (non-electric)

candles

canning jars

canning lids (for bottling meats)

cayenne pepper capsules (good for ulcers, high blood pressure, stopping a cold)

cough drops

deodorant

dish soap

documents (copies of birth certificates, car/home ownership papers, etc)

duct tape, electrical tape

eucerin cream

excedrin

face creams/hand creams

games

garbage bags

gloves (leather work type)

hats (broad band to protect from sun)

hydrogen peroxide

matches

medications you may need

muscle rub

paper/pencils

paper or styrofoam cups/plates/bowls

paper towels

pepto bismol

plastic utensils

portable toilet/garbage bags

razors

rubbing alcohol

scriptures

sewing needles/threads

shampoo

shoes (sturdy walking/working shoes)

soap (bar, dish and laundry)

sun screen

toilet paper (average of 1 roll per person for every 5 days)

tooth brush/paste/floss

tylenol & tylenol pm

vaseline

vics vaporub (rub it on the bottom of your feet & cover with socks to stop a cough)

You can save a lot of your fuel needs on those less than sunny days by using a rocket stove. (see previous posts) But you can save even more fuel by using a thermal cooker (pictured at bottom) or a wonder box. (pictured at top and middle) These are heat retention cookers. After you bring your food to a boil, remove the pot from the heat source and place it inside your thermal cooker or wonder box. It will continue to cook for 6 to 8 hours without any additional fuel. You can purchase a thermal cooker but you can make your own wonder box. It's a styrofoam filled bag with a lid which is also filled with styrofoam. (Using different sized pellets makes for the best insulation.) The size of the bag will depend on what size pot you're going to use. Check online for the many different methods of making a wonder box.

Fats and oils are difficult to store in a long term supply, but your body needs them to stay healthy. I've exchanged oil with shortening in my storage because shortening has a much longer shelf life.

In January of 2006 (5 years ago) I bought vegetable shortening in 3 types of containers;

1) a hard metal can with a metal lid that had to be taken off with a can opener (which I don't think they make anymore)

2) a soft cardboard type container with an aluminum lining inside and an aluminum peel off lid protecting the product

3) a soft plastic container with a soft, white peel off lid protecting the product.

The shortening in containers 1 and 2 were still fresh but the shortening in 3 (the plastic container with the white peel off lid) was rancid.

(I was told quite a few years ago that shortening in the metal cans would last pretty much forever...so I'm going to wait at least another 5 years before I open another one of those.)

I can re-seal the good shortening that I've opened (and greatly extend it's shelf life) by melting it on the stove and carefully pouring it into quart canning jars while it's still hot and immediately placing the lids and rings on them. (I had 9 pounds of shortening and it filled 5 quart jars) Make sure the rims are free of any oil. As it cools, the lids should make that great "plink" sound and seal. If it doesn't seal, you can re-heat the shortening in the jar until it's quite hot and then replace the lid and ring. You can also vacuum seal the jars that don't seal after they cool. With the shortening in quart jars, you can see if they start to discolor and go rancid.

The Crisco brand shortening had the aluminum lined containers with metal bottoms and aluminum peel back lids. The WalMart house brand had the aluminum peel back lid but the container was made from the white plastic and was not aluminum lined inside.

You may want to look into artisan bread. Do a google search and put in artisan bread Zoe star tribune. This is a way of making artisan breads, french bread, bread bowls, pizza crust, pita bread, etc and it couldn't be easier. You literally put flour, water, salt and yeast in a bucket, stir it up and let it sit for 2 hours. Cut off a piece of the dough, shape it, let it sit for 40 minutes and bake. It's hot, home made bread with a crusty outside and soft yummy bread inside. You can even put the leftover dough in the fridge and make bread every day. Give it a try! Wendy