10 Cheap and Delicious Meals You Can Make with Beans: The Versatile and Nutritious Ingredient for Any Diet

 

 

 

 

10 Cheap and Delicious Meals You Can Make with Beans: The Versatile and Nutritious Ingredient for Any Diet - Mental Scoop

 

Beans are so nutritious and can be used in so many ways. A great way to replace meat. A lot cheaper than meat now too. 

Stay On Your Toes!

Getting enough good sleep is going to help you in so many ways when times get tough. You will be able to stay alert and have more energy. Having a clear mind will help a lot when SHTF! You will be quicker on your toes and notice more things around you. Keeping your family and home safe!

 If you ever have trouble falling asleep use some of these tips to get some help with it.

• Stay on a regular sleep schedule. Go to sleep at about the same time every night. Or whenever you do get to go to sleep. 
•  
• Don't take naps in the afternoon. This will disrupt your sleeping well at night.
•  
• Keep your home cool at night. Sleep  is a lot better when it is cooler.
•  
• Use your bed only for sleeping and other bed things. Don't work or eat in bed.
•  
• Avoid caffeine from the early afternoons on.
•  
• If you smoke - QUIT!
•  
• Don't eat anything heavy right before bedtime.
•  
• Check the medicine that you use. Sometimes the medicine you take thinking it will help you, actually makes you sleep deprived. Which hurts you more in the long run.
•  
• As much as possible - spend about 30 minutes in the sun each day. It resets your body and makes you feel a lot better just by getting that dose of Vitamin D.
•  
• Maybe move your clock out of the bedroom so that when you can't fall asleep , your not just laying there watching the clock. 
•  
• Have a good bed and pillows . When you are comfortable you will sleep better and wake up more refreshed.

 

 

Food Storage Recipe - Tater Tot Casserole

Tater Tots were on sale this week for 99 cents a bag. YAY. Two bags in the freezer and my son's favorite meal.

NEED:

1/2 pound of ground beef. I used to make it with a whole pound , but everyone in the house complained and I toned it down a bit. Which was cool, saves money.

salt and pepper to taste

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

shredded cheese - we like colby-jack!

1 package of frozen tater tots - 16 ounce bag

Fry up the ground beef and drain it very well.

Stir in the cream of mushroom soup and season with salt and pepper.

Put this mixture into a casserole dish.

Layer the tater tots on top of this in an even layer.

Top with shredded cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the tots are golden brown and hot.

Food Storage Recipe - Jungle Hash

Grab your Iron Skillet for this yummy skillet recipe.

NEED:

3 slices of bacon

1 pound of ground beef

3/4 cup of chopped celery

1/2 cup of chopped onion

1/2 cup of chopped green pepper

1 teaspoon of salt

1 15 ounce can of kidney beans , drained

1/3 cup of uncooked long grain rice

1 1/2 cup of water

In your big ole iron skillet , fry up the bacon until it is crisp , crumble it.

Pour off the drippings.

In the same skillet cook up the ground beef , celery, onion, and green pepper until the ground beef is cooked thru and the vegetables are tender.

 Season it with salt and pepper.

 Spoon off any excess fat and stir in the remaining ingredients.

 Cover and cook until rice is tender.

Food Storage Recipe - Easy Chicken Alfredo

When you 're snowed in you can come up with stuff to eat on a whim and if you have a well stocked pantry you will have a lot of variety!

 

Just grab a box of alfredo flavored mac&cheese.

 

 Add a can of chicken and cream of chicken soup. 

 

Cook the noodles, add it all together. 

 

The soup is used in place of the milk.

 

 Add broccoli if you have it. I use frozen chopped.

 

Quick lunch that the whole family will enjoy.

Some Cool USB powered items

I found this USB fan at a dollar store and it is supposed to be for plugging into a computer , but the neat thing is that it plugs and works off of the Portable Solar Panel Charger and the smaller solar powered USB charger also. So cool.

 

 Now it is making me want to get all of the USB powered items that I have ever seen LIke:

USB Fridge Cooler Beverage Drink Cans Cooler/Warmer Refrigerator for Laptop PC Computer

 

 USB Camping Lights

  USB Mini Desktop Fan


 There are so many neat things that work off of USB and could make living off-grid so much nicer.

Prepare For A Winter Storm

We had pretty nice weather the last couple of months and now the winter is coming on big time. We are under a winter storm watch and it is time to be prepared for it. I don't agree with people I see in the stores buying up all of the bread and milk. I really do not understand why they would just get that. You need to get canned food and other types of food that would be easy to prepare if your power goes out. Items like, canned chili and beef stew. Serve them with rice or noodles. They can easily be cooked on a camping stove if you had to. Plus , they will fill you up.

Have all of your blankets handy. If you have to keep warm you can close off one room and keep warm. Have a couple of different ways to be able to keep your family warm. You could use a kerosene heater or a Mr. Heater Portable Propane Heater .

Prepare for the winter storm before it gets to you. If you are prepared for it ahead of time than your family will be comfortable during it and have no worries. Be well-fed and not frozen.

Food Storage Recipe - Pizza Roll Ups

 This is such an easy thing to make and very good. Nothing left. 

NEED

Flour Tortillas, I used soft taco tortillas

A jar of pizza sauce

Pepperoni

Shredded Cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

I sprayed a bit of Pam on the bottom of the baking dish.

Layer pepperoni, cheese, and sauce on a tortilla and roll up.

REPEAT until you have as many as you want.

Put a bit more pizza sauce on top and a layer of cheese. 

Put in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. 

Serve. 

 

Homemade Cleaning Recipes

You can make your own household cleaners safely, easily, and frugally. They are safer for your family than the chemical laden cleaners that you store buy.

• All purpose cleaner - 1/2 cup of borax and 1 gallon of hot water. Mix these together until the borax dissolves. Spray or mop on nonwood surfaces. Wipe it clean. 
• Mildew killer and grout whitener - Combine baking soda and hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar into a paste. Apply to the grout or mildew and let sit for at least 30 minutes, then scrub.
• Toilet bowl cleaner - scrub it with 1/2 cup of borax to brighten and kill germs. Also can brush with baking soda and let it sit before you flush. Add white vinegar for an extra fizz to lift out stains.
• Floor cleaner - mix 1 cup white vinegar and 1 gallon hot water in a bucket and mop floors as you normally would.
• Soft scrub for counters etc - 1 cup of baking soda, warm water, and 2-3 drops of liquid soap. Combine the water and baking soda into a paste and then add the soap. Apply to surface and let sit for a few minutes. Scrub it with a non abrasive sponge, rinse  , and then wipe off. 

It is easy to make your own cleaners and is so much better for the whole household.

Start Avacodo Trees

I have been saving any avocado seeds I get and any glass jars that we have left from salsa!

All you do is take 3 toothpicks and stick them around the avocado so that it will set on the jar with half in the water.

Keep it filled.

It does take a while for a start to shoot out of it. But , when it does I always wait until the roots are pretty long before I replant it into a pot with potting soil.

A few years ago I had one that got pretty tall, but had set it outside on a hot and humid day, and a stray cat dug it all up.