Upcycle - Recover A Table

My card table gets used a lot and had some tears in it. So as I was redoing my kitchen drawers and shelves with contact paper the idea came to me to recover the table! Easy and was only $2.00! Frugal upcycle of a card table that I was thinking of throwing out! The 2nd piece took longer to put on because I had to match the flowers up. But, I think I did it pretty good!

Food Storage Recipe - White bean soup

The weather is getting cooler!! Time for some great crock pot meals.

NEED:

1 pound dry navy beans, sorted and rinsed
 2 quarts veggie broth
1 diced medium onion 
4  peeled and smashed cloves of garlic
 2 tsp salt 1/4 teaspoon  pepper
2 diced medium potatoes
 1 pound  sliced and frozen carrots
 1 cup tomatoes
1-2 tsp dried dill
3-4 tbsp fresh, minced parsley



Place onions, pepper, beans, garlic, veggie broth and salt into the slow cooker.  Cook under medium heat. As you add water desirably, allow it to simmer for four hours.  When the beans soften, add potatoes and allow them to cook up to the point they are tender.  Add tomatoes, carrots and dill. Continue cooking until the carrots are well cooked. Add parsley then seasoning and stir. You can serve as desired.

How to Protect Your Home from Looters When All Hell is Breaking Loose

Article kindly provided by Danny Major of Alpha Survivalist

Proper home protection and self-defense is essential when it comes to situations when resources are scarce and looters might be lurking around town. If you don’t want your home to be broken into, it is very important to take all the proper precautions required in such cases.

Fortifying your home is important, but simply not enough in most cases. You also have to be careful about how you protect your home, what resources you store in order to avoid having to go out too often, and how to protect yourself against intruders who have already breached your front door.

Replace All Doors and Windows

It’s important to start by replacing doors, windows, gates and fences. Everything that might be used as an obstacle in the looters’ path should be enhanced.

You can start by replacing your regular windows with strong, non-breakable Plexiglas windows for added resilience. Also, make sure you secure steel bars to your windows to discourage looters from breaking in. This might seem like a desperate measure, but it could possibly save your life in the event of a riot.

Another option is to replace your locks. A lot of looters will find it easy to get past regular locks either by breaking them or using special devices to open them. However, a strong deadbolt is a whole new level of challenge altogether.

In most cases, possible intruders will be discouraged and move on to the next house, when they see that you have a heavy deadbolt in place. At the very least, you’ll give them a hard enough time to delay them and give yourself a chance to defend your home.

Carry a Weapon and Know How to Use It

Firearms are good for self-defense, but they’re also very useful in scaring off looters. No one wants to risk their life to get possession of a few trinkets and supplies that they can get with a lot less hassle and endangerment elsewhere. In short, if you’re armed and ready to defend your home, most assailants will immediately get the message and go elsewhere without hesitation. Of course, this can only happen if you actually have a license to carry a gun.

But did you know that the vast majority of the population can’t tell the difference between a real gun and a well-designed replica? This can be used to your advantage particularly if you don’t have a firearm license.

Buy a perfect replica of an intimidating hand gun or rifle, and point it at any assailant as they try to enter your home. In most cases, this action alone will have the desired effect.

Use Camouflage and Illusion to Your Advantage

A measure that isn’t usually discussed is the use of camouflage. When you’re trying to survive a SHTF type situation, there’s no guarantee that rioters and looters won’t enter your home at some point. So, it’s a good idea to have some measures in place to defend yourself and a good place to hide should they do so.

Hidden rooms are the best choice for hiding places, since potential intruders will not be able to make a valid assessment of the size and shape of your home based on what they see outside in the dark. So a hidden room is perfect for hiding your family and any valuables and supplies you might have.

There are also many benefits to concealed doors, hidden closets and trap doors that lead to secret underground rooms or areas of the basement not readily accessible through regular entrances. Incorporating any of these types of concealment into your home maybe one of the best investments you will ever make!

Food Storage Recipe - Hobo Chicken

This is a really yummy and easy meal to make. Everyone will love this.

NEED:

 ● 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

 ● 1lb chopped cooked bacon

● 3 chopped potatoes

 ● 3 peeled and chopped carrots

 ● 1 peeled and chopped yellow onion

 ● ½ cup butter

● Garlic salt to taste

Cut four large squares of aluminum foil – large enough to create a foil packet around each chicken breast. Grease each foil square with spray butter and then place a chicken breast in the center of each piece of foil. Divide your cooked bacon among the four packets and sprinkle on top of each chicken breast. Now place your potatoes, carrots and onions on top. Top this vegetable mixture with 2 tbsp. of butter and sprinkle with garlic salt to taste. Fold over your foil to create a tightly sealed packet around your ingredients. Place your sealed packets on your hot coals or your grill and let cook for around 20 minutes. After 20 minutes open up one of your packets to check that your chicken is cooked through. If it is not cooked all the way through, continue to cook for 5 minutes at a time until it is.

A Flashlight That Runs On Water

We are always trying out new gadgets. Love to find new items that are great for a survival situation. These are going in our bug-out bags. The American Red Cross Blackout Buddy H2O water-activated, emergency light, pack of 3, Work great. We were surprised about how bright they actually are. Put a drop of water in the bottom and it lights up!! The only bad thing is it stays lit for about 3 days!

Something to put in car, bug-out bag, or anywhere to have a quick light.

Poverty Prepping: How to Stock up For Tomorrow When You Can't Afford To Eat Today

                                                                                                        



Poverty Prepping: How to Stock Up for Tomorrow When You Can't Afford to Eat Today was a free Kindle book at the time of this post.


A lot of people think they don't have enough money to store extra food for emergencies. It's a struggle just to make ends meet and afford what they need right now. I think anyone can start to prepare for the future.

Bug Out Bag: What Should a Prepper Pack For Those Critical First 72 Hours

Bug Out Bag: What Should a Prepper Pack For Those Critical First 72 Hours was a free kindle book at the time of this post. 

 here are some people who think that those who create a bug-out-bag (or survival tin) for use in escaping disaster are just paranoid survivalists who always expect the worst in life.

Well guess what? The same people who think that are also the same people who come crying to the survivalists (aka preppers) to help them when disaster strikes - because the "nothing's-going-to-happen" people weren't prepared!

None of us knows what the future holds. Not next year, not next month, not next week, not even today!

Worldwide events show us every single day that by tomorrow (or any time, really) in any given place and at any given time - especially on a local level - our own personal world could be devastated by a man-made or natural disaster.

Don't be taken totally by surprise - BE READY!

Read this bug out bag prepper's guide and find out what you need to have ready - in a moment's notice - to help you survive the first 72 critical hours of most disaster events.

It could mean the difference between surviving - and NOT!

Beginners Guide to Making Homemade Cheese, Butter & Yogurt: Delicious Recipes Perfect for Every Beginner! (Homesteading Freedom)

For a limited time the Kindle book of this is free - Beginners Guide to Making Homemade Cheese, Butter & Yogurt: Delicious Recipes Perfect for Every Beginner! (Homesteading Freedom)

Do you want to know how to make delicious cheese?

 Do you want to learn to make real butter?

 Are you looking to make healthy yogurt?

 Beginners Guide to Making Homemade Cheese, Butter & Yogurt will teach you what you need to make homemade cheese, real butter, and even healthy yogurt. Beginners Guide to Making Homemade Cheese, Butter & Yogurt will also walk you through step by step to advise you in what you need as far as ingredients and equipment is concerned to make all of the recipes easily. In this book you’ll find cheese making tips, cheese making frequently asked questions, yogurt and yogurt recipes as well homemade butter variations. There is even a cheese and butter recipe for Bacon Lovers! This amazing book will have you making your own delicious dairy products in no time at all!

Food Storage Recipe - Cheesy Ham & Potato Foil Pack

This is perfect for camping or at home just wrapped up and stuck in the oven. Great way to warm up the kitchen on a cold morning.

NEED

 ● 1 ¾ cups cubed cooked ham steak

● 3 peeled and cubed potatoes

 ● 1 1/ 3 cups Alfredo Sauce

. ● 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

 ● 2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

 Cut one large piece of foil around 20” x 18” and spray with cooking spray.

 Spoon your ham into the middle of your piece of foil and add your potatoes on top.

 Pour your Alfredo Sauce on top of the potatoes and then sprinkle with cheese.

 Fold your foil into a packet, creasing all of the edges to firmly close it while leaving a small tent over the ingredients.

Put your closed packet on the hot coals of your campfire or on top of your heated grill.

Cook for 20 minutes, flipping the packet half way through cooking.

 Make sure your potatoes are tender after 20 minutes of cooking, if not, continue cooking a bit more time til they are done.

Food Storage Recipe - Multi-Cheese Macaroni

NEED:

* 1 tbsp vegetable oil

* 1 (16 oz) package elbow macaroni

*  1 stick of butter, melted

* 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

 * 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

 * 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

 * 1 1/2 cups half-and-half

* 8 oz cubed Velveeta

 * 2 eggs, beaten

 * 1/4 tsp salt

* 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

  Set oven to 350° F.

 Cook pasta al dente, drain, and reserve in pot.

 Add 8 tbsp melted butter to pasta.  Stir.

 Combine cheeses (except Velveeta) in a large bowl and mix well.

 Add 1.5 cups cheese mixture, Velveeta, and eggs to pasta mixture.  Mix ingredients and add pepper and salt.

 Transfer mixture to a cooking sprayed 2.5 qt casserole dish.

 Cover with remaining cheese mixture and 1 tbsp butter.

 Bake up to 35 minutes until dish bubbles at the edges.

 Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.