Monthly Archives: October 2010

Ready or Not #73: More Handy Tips

Here are a few more hints that might be helpful to you.  These hints are to help you in the kitchen.  I put these in here because gardens are coming to full fruition right now and kitchens all over town are canning and bottling.  Hopefully some of these suggestions will make your life easier while you try to build your food storage.

A dampened paper towel or terry cloth brushed downward on a cob of corn will remove every strand of corn silk.

An easy way to remove kernels of sweet corn from the cob is to use a hard plastic or metal shoehorn.  It is built just right for shearing off the kernels.

To make removing corn kernels cleaner and easier, place the cob in the center of a Bundt cake tin and cut the kernels into the Bundt pan.  Very easy clean up and measuring.

To remove fat from soup, if you have time, place in the fridge and cover it with wax paper.  After it cools, just peel the wax paper off and the fat should stick to it and come off with it.

To make hamburger healthier, after you cook it, put it in a colander and let it drain the fat into another container.  After it has drained for a short time, rinse the hamburger under hot water to get rid of the excess fat (you drain first because you don’t want to have the extra fat going down your drain).  You do not lose any of the hamburger flavor from doing this.  If you are going to season your meat, rinse the meat before adding the seasonings.

Remember, handy hints are meant to make life easier, try the ideas once and see if they help.  Better yet, when something is a hassle, look at the problem from a different angle and come up with your own handy hint that you can pass on.

Another tip to make your life easier: get your water stored.  Yes, I want to talk to you about water storage again.  I know, I know, I sound like a broken record, but it is one tip that I am going to keep playing again and again and again.  I am so concerned; there is flooding in Texas and other southern states, but with all that water they lack drinking water.  Hurricane Dean played havoc with several smaller countries and Mexico and a good share of people are lacking safe drinking water.  You will die in less than a week without drinking water.  Then, there was the 7+ earthquake in Peru and again, what do the people desperately need?  That’s right, water.

Someday we are going to have an earthquake here in Utah.  Please get your water stored.  I talk to so many people that have good intentions, but good intentions won’t satisfy your thirst; water will.  Repeat with me – Two gallons of water, per person, per day, for a two-week period.  Get past the good intentions and just do it.

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Ready or Not #72: Rice Pudding

I have three really good, very easy, food storage friendly desserts to share with you this week.  Check out Ready or Not #72: Rice Pudding to see them.  Be prepared to want to make them and eat them RIGHT NOW!!!  That’s  just how yummy they are.

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Ready or Not #71: Wall Cleaner

Do you like handy hints?  I sure do.  Read our Ready or Not #71: Wall Cleaner for three great tips. 

 (The best tip is at the end and talks about using a dry chalkboard eraser — but it’s not ‘listed’ as a tip.  Read the article very carefully to find out an amazing way to use it.)

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Ready or Not #187

The other day, I went looking for one of my worksheets on this website and I really had to look for it – and I knew what I was looking for! That is just very wrong. (It’s not very cool to get lost on your own website.)

I made those worksheets to help you and your family (and me!) get better prepared.  But if you don’t know where to find them, or you don’t know that they even exist and are there to make your life easier, what good is it having them?

Read Ready or Not #187: Where to Find a Worksheet to see how this problem was solved!

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Ready or Not #68: French Dip Sandwich and Onion Soup

Even when it is insanely hot outside, I sometimes have the biggest craving for French Dip sandwiches and Onion soup.  This is a really good food storage recipe and very simple to make.

Our Ready or Not #68: French Dip Sandwich and Onion Soup gives you directions how to make this yummy soup and sandwich.  Read it now — and then dash to your kitchen to whip them up!

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Ready or Not #186: It’s Only Water But

Anybody who knows me knows that I am SO into water and water storage.  Well, I had another steep learning curve experience.  One that you can learn from, too.  (Aren’t I nice to save you the agony of learning something first-hand?)

Ready Ready or Not #186: It’s Only Water But to see what I learned — and to see what you can learn from my experience.

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Ready or Not #185: What to Take

When you experience an unexpected emergency, how clear is your thinking?  If you are like many people, your brain decides to head south leaving you in a mental black hole.  It doesn’t have to be that way!

Read our Ready or Not #185: What to Take and be prepared — and able — to think in an emergency situation.

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Ready or Not #64: Cream of Tartar

An article or so ago I made a mistake.  I know – hard to believe (sorry to I had to take a laugh break).  I wrote how you could brush your teeth, make a poultice for an insect bite, and refresh your fridge with baking powder.  YOU CAN’T, you have to use BAKING SODA.

Baking powder leads to baking soda which leads to — voilà! — Cream of Tartar.  Please read Ready or Not #64: Cream of Tartar to see how I make the leap between these baking condiments and to learn all that you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask about Cream of Tartar.

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