We Are Taking Up Smoking.....

Smoking meat in our home smoker that is!

Last week we drove past our local steak house and it smelled so good! They were smoking steaks and chops for dinner that night. We are really trying not to go out to eat so much so we discussed how we could achieve similar results cooking at home. Why, a smoker of course. But you know most smokers are over $100 if you go out to buy one. You CAN make one at home and I've been looking around at some of the plans.

Then, over the weekend, my daughter found a used smoker for us at a garage sale. $5 CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!! It had been used but everything was there and in relatively good condition and in a matter of hours, we were smoking meat for our dinner!

The smoker is a top loading Little Chief and it does a bang up job! All the important parts were there and we already had some packages of smoking wood so after a little clean up, we tried our first batch. Hubby wanted a rib-eye steak so we bought one to share and smoked it for about 1/2 hour or one pan of mesquite smoke chips. Then we put the steak on our little grill along with a couple ears of corn for another 15 to 20 minutes. It was really one of the best steaks we ever had!

Today we threw in a batch of homemade jerky that had been brining overnight and smoked it with Apple chips. Wow! Delish!

Now, we are going to try some fish and I thought maybe you'd like to read AND see the process. We had 3 really nice salmon steaks in our freezer that we bought at Costco. I put them into brine overnight in a brine that consisted of 1 qt. of water, 1/4 cup of pickling and preserving salt (you could also use non-iodized salt) and 1/4 cup of sugar. They will stay in the brine for 8 to 12 hours. Then they are rinsed and patted dry and put on trays sprayed with a little non-stick. We are going to use Alder chips for the smoking. I am so excited to see how they will turn out!

Here is a video with the process:

Another Way To Save Money

There are a few "tools" you are going to want to have on hand in the event of an emergency. Some will cost you quite a bit of money, such as generators and some won't. This is one of THE MOST useful tools I have and right now. 

See, my husband and I have made a commitment to eating at home 6 nights a week. We were both gaining weight from all the fast food full of fat and sugar. And another really interesting thing.... we would eat a meal and come home and find ourselves hungry within an hour. In addition, the prices for meals were going up and up and our food budget was out of control. So this year, we shopped with our tax return. We bought a freezer and organized our shelves and started storing and rotating food and supplies. Then we went to Costco and bought LOTS of good wholesome food. 

You may say, "I don't have time to make dinner every night" and that's where the crockpot comes in. I have a couple of really good books to recommend:  Make It Fast, Cook It Slow and More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O'Dea. These books are FILLED with everything from breakfast to desserts you can make in the crockpot. 

What I do each day is right after breakfast (if I dont' have a weekly meal plan written up already) I think up dinner so I know when the time comes I will have something ready. If I know its going to be an especially busy day, I'll throw something into the crockpot and when I get home the house smells like dinner and within literally minutes, dinner is on the table. 


I know, you are thinking nothing but soups, stews and casseroles... WRONG! There are so many other ideas for putting meal packets in foil together and putting those in the crockpot, or making meat for tacos or burritos and I love the things you can serve over noodles like Beef Tips and Noodles. Yes, you can still make chili, stew, and just about any soup you can think up, but branch out and experiment. You'll be glad you did. The crockpot pictured is a 4 qt. size and I picked it up the end of last year around Christmas time for $14!! It was a bargain. Now I'm thinking in terms of turning on several at a time to cook a meal, appetizer and dessert all at the same time.


So decide to eat more meals at home each week. More... not every. We started by going out for about half the days of the week and eating at home the other half. Then after a little while, we only let ourselves eat out about 3 nights, then 2 and pretty soon... you won't even miss it! It's true. Everyday I'm looking at ways to make food LIKE the food I get out but not to eat out. Its WAY more frugal!!! And again, save money for the larger prep items. 


So keep your eyes open for sales on them and then get a couple! You'll be glad you did!

A Penny Saved..... can be spent on OTHER supplies!

There are TONS of really great deals to be had in the Back To School shopping arena!

"Wait" you say, "What does THAT have to do with preparing?"

LOTS!

By buying paper supplies now while the cost is reduced, you will be able to save money down the line for other, more expensive prepping items.

"What do paper supplies have to do with prepping?" "What are some different ways I can use what I buy?"

Here's a list of things I do with my Back To School supplies.

• Composition Books (Target .40) – Journals, Gardening Journals, price book, Medical journal for each person
• Notebooks / Binders (Target $1)– Recipes, Pet Files, Coupon directory, Food Storage Inventory, Emergency plan binder, 
• Labeler - These are great for just about everything!
• Rubber Bands – Large size to label Canned Food
• Page Protectors – Reusable Inventory Sheets, Weekly Menus, Grocery lists,
• Dry Erase Markers - To use on page protectors for inventory, white board calendars and menu boards
• Labels – Avery type – canned foods, labeling binders
• Mini Notebooks (Dollar Store) - Mine was divided into 5 sections
• Sharpie Markers – Labeling and dating canned and frozen food
• School Year Calendars (Walmart $1 to $2) – use to pre-shop, what’s on sale, what are you doing today for prepping, scheduling when large bills are due; property taxes, car registrations
• Calculators – Calculating bill pay offs, food storage amounts, daily necessary calories, cost of item, figuring out when a sale is a sale, staying in a monthly budget
• Scissors – Large and small, coupons, one in kitchen to open packages, in office file, in First Aid kits to cut gauze
• Pencil Cases (soft & hard)
• Soft (Target .99) – keeping money at home, organizing each persons' info in a family emergency binder (shots, passports, birth certificates,
• Hard (Target .59)– Small car size first aid kits, activity kits for kids with crayons, paper pads, flash cards
• Lunch Bags & Thermos - Can be made into individual 72 hour bags
• Germ X (Walmart) - we bought a large bottle and several small ones. As the small ones are used, we just refill them from the large bottle. Germ warfare.... kids can pack into their desks, we have them in our cars, my purse, etc.
• Pencils (CVS . 50) Pencils, pens, markers and crayons will always be needed to write, draw, color. Don't forget to store a non-electric pencil sharpener as well.
• Pens (CVS .50)
• Markers
• Crayons (Target .50)
• Stapler - There are probably other ways to hold paper together, but this is the old standby for me. I use it to hook the bills I pay each month together with checks, keeping insurance claims together, to keep tax returns together, on anything containing multiple pages. Have a supply of staples that fit you stapler on hand too.
• Notebook & Graph Paper - Use to plan gardens, wood projects, sewing projects, games for kids
• Tape
• Glue
• Glue Sticks
• Rulers (Target $1) Use to measure paracord for bracelets, to draw up plans to scale

I'm sure many of you have other ideas and I'd love for you to share them. Happy Back To School shopping and remember, while you are out there "outfitting" your youngsters for school, grab a few more items for yourself and your home.

Prepare For Where You Live

Most beginning "preppers" don't know where to begin when preparing for a disaster in their area. Do they run out and buy food? Water? Maybe flashlights, generators or tools? Feeling overwhelmed they become apathetic and decide the "Red Cross will take care of me in the event of an emergency." Somewhat true, but only WHEN and IF they can. Sometimes, that can mean days! So where do you begin?


 Prepare for where you live.


Here is an example. I live in Coastal California, therefore, I need to prepare for earthquake, tsunami, possible flooding and fire. I also live within 20 miles of a nuclear plant, so I really need to know what to do for that emergency as well. 


Preparing for an emergency of any kind will be similar. You will need to have, at the minimum, a 3 day supply of the basics; food, drinkable water and basic first aid supplies. Even better would be to make a point to store a weeks worth. 


Before you say I don't have the money or space to do that, I hope you will continue to read my Blog. Over the next several months, I will give you some daily ideas that anyone can implement to become better prepared.