It's Never Enough

Some days, no matter what I do, I feel like I'm not doing enough.

I'm not nurturing my kids enough.

I'm not prepping enough.

I'm not exercising enough.

I'm not cleaning enough.

I'm not cooking enough.

I'm not thin enough.

Is this something every woman/mom/person goes through? Or am I just harder on myself than the rest of the population?

Wasps And Other Stinging Things

Even though I try to avoid planting any flowering plants around my house, I seem to have an abundance of wasps and bees in the yard. And, unfortunately, I am highly allergic. As in, must-carry-epi-pen-always allergic. It's the primary reason I've never considered keeping bees, even though I love honey.

(I always worry about getting my hands on epinephrine in a shit+fan situation, so I was thrilled to find out that Primatene Mist actually contains this medicine. However, the government/FDA/medical-powers-that-be have decided to take this drug off the market in 2012. But believe me, I'll be stocking up on Primatene Mist sprays and tablets before the end of the year, although they're pricey as hell.)

In the meantime, I figured the best thing I can do to prevent a potentially deadly situation is to avoid getting stung. Sounds simple, right? Well, it probably is. Usually I check patio chairs before I sit on them, I don't walk around outside barefoot, and I stay away from smokers outdoors (cigarette smoke seems to enrage wasps).

Then Hubby told me that he saw a TV show years ago about wasps and bees. Apparently, especially for a certain type of bee, the color black pisses them off and makes them want to sting.

He tells me this as I'm standing under a wasp's nest wearing a black t-shirt.

Actually, almost my entire damn wardrobe is black.

I like black clothing. It's a flattering color for my face. It's slimming. It's neutral. And it's simple, like me.

But I'm sure as hell not going to wear something that actually attracts stinging insects.

So I bought a pack of white Hanes men's t-shirts to wear around the house, and I've been browsing online for some other white shirts to wear out and about.

Damn. All this trouble because of a little bee....

I'm Going To Practice Walking

The rule of thumb about survival skills: practice them before you need them. Otherwise, what looks easy on a YouTube video (e.g. making fire with flint and steel) is likely to see damn near impossible when you're trying it for the first time under a stressful situation.

So I'm going to practice walking.

Yes, I've been walking since I was about a year old. And yes, I walk every day (though some days I walk more than others). But a recent post at The Apartment Prepper's Blog got me thinking: even though I'm not a city dweller, it's very possible that my family may need to hit the pavement someday to get out of dodge. And since my kids are very young, the most likely scenario is that Hubby and I will each be wearing a child in a backpack kid carrier.

Recent kid-wearing experience tells me that my current physical condition would allow me to comfortably carry a child for about a mile. Walking slow. On even terrain. In optimum weather conditions.

Obviously, this is not acceptable. At my current physical ability, even the slowest zombie would eventually catch up to me and eat my brains.

(How does that saying go? Something like "A gazelle doesn't need to outrun a lion. It only needs to outrun the slowest gazelle.")

So, I've decided to start practicing walking. I've committed to hiking 2 times a month (minimum) with Hubby and kids. I'm going to engage in more physical activity overall, and I'm going to strengthen my "babywearing" muscles.

It's time for this mama to get in shape.

I'm So Lazy...

...that I am trying to lose weight with microwave meals.

Now, I used to be an eco- and health- conscious vegan. I shunned preservatives, chemicals and artificial flavorings. I ate mostly whole natural meals, and indulged in very few processed foods.

Then I had a kid. And another kid. And suddenly, my biggest effort for healthy eating was buying organic boxed mac and cheese. Hubby and I started grabbing meals whenever we could, and I ate whatever I wanted, because I just didn't have the energy or motivation to focus on what I should have been eating.

Now all those months of ignoring my diet has led to this point, where I've got some weight to lose, and I can't imagine cooking three different meals--one for Hubby, one for kids, one for me--every evening. So, instead, I'm relying almost entirely on pre-packaged meals. They're loaded with sodium, chemicals and preservatives, even if they do have the words "natural" and "healthy" printed on the package.

But they're also portion controlled, calorie controlled and convenient. I just nuke one in the microwave, scan the package barcode into my diet diary app on my phone, and I can easily track how many calories I am eating each day.

I don't plan to do this forever, because I can't imagine eating meals that taste like cardboard forever. Also, it's an expensive way to eat. But, for now, it's an easy way for me to control my diet and lose a few of the extra pounds.

So, yeah, I'm a lazy ass dieter. I admit it.

Like A Zombie

I am so tired today.

Fatigued to the point of being non-functioning.

At this point, my lumbering, exhausted walk resembles that of a zombie.

Hell, I am too tired to outrun even a zombie today. He'd be having my brain for lunch. (Not that my brain is fully functioning today either.)

Am I A "Femivore"?

Someone sent me a clipping from a magazine. It was short and sweet: just the definition of the word "femivore."

Femivore: A highly educated opt-out mom who stays home to raise kids, vegetables and, increasingly, chickens

I was annoyed at being pigeonholed. But apparently this is how everyone sees me. Hubby, upon reading the definition, said, "That suits you perfectly." Another close friend said, "Well, that IS you."

But I like to think there's more to me than a 2-dimensional definition.

Anyway, I started doing some reading about femivores, and it seems that most of the media thinks that this type of woman does what she does because it legitimizes her innate desire to return home. Since she is doing the always-socially-approved job of making her family "greener" and serving her kids local, organic food, she has completely justified her decision to ditch the workforce.

The more I read about femivores, the more I realized that this definition does not fit me at all. Not even a little bit.

Sure, on the surface I am all those things: I'm educated (not highly, just a Master's degree), I'm a stay at home mom, and I'm raising kids, vegetables and chickens.

But the eco-friendly and health aspects of eating from my backyard are merely extra benefits. They aren't the sole reason for my activities. Nor do I have some type of hankering to get in touch with my inner pioneer woman. (Although I admit that this is a fun part for me. A trip to Tractor Supply Company always makes me feel very empowered, for some reason.)

My true motivation for these projects is to get one step closer to self-sufficiency.

And as for my choice to "opt-out" of the workforce to be a stay at home mom, well... that's a simple one: I've always hated the drudgery of a full-time job. Besides, daycare costs would eat up almost all the money I could earn if I worked outside of the home.

So, yes, on the surface I'm a femivore. But deep down, I'm just a lazy, pragmatic woman with a desire to be self-sufficient.

Casseroles. Casseroles. Casseroles.

I have a history of being really wasteful with food. I am not a big fan of leftovers. Also, I am paranoid about food safety. Leftovers generally have a three day limit in my fridge. After that, they get tossed. (Although Hubby will eat them well into the 7th day.) I usually throw away a ton of food. A TON.

Anyway, as the possibility of shit+fan becomes more of a reality, I've been trying to approach my food as if I were already living in difficult times. This means I scrape every last grain of rice of the pan. And I've been putting the bread heels into a plastic baggie in the freezer. Stuff like that.

However, as a result of trying to use up my bits of this and pieces of that, I have been making a shitload of casseroles. And now that I've discovered Magic Mix for making cream-of-whatever soup, I've been even more likely to make a casserole from leftovers.

Now, I like casseroles for a couple of reasons:

First, I can make them ahead of time. This means I can get the kitchen all nice and clean and organized, and I don't have to face a mess of dishes at night. All I have to clean after the meal is the casserole dish and a couple of plates.

Second, they are one of the easiest ways to use leftovers. Had roast chicken and rice for dinner last night? Toss it with some frozen veggies, cheese, and cream soup, and it's magically a chicken and rice casserole.

Third, it can cook while I relax with Hubby after the kids are in bed. We sit together and have a glass of wine while the casserole bakes, and then the meal is ready after we've had some downtime together.

My two most recent casseroles:

• Salsa Chicken Rice: Leftover roast chicken, leftover white rice, salsa, some sour cream (which I needed to use up), shredded cheese, a little frozen corn I had in the freezer, and a can of black beans

• Hamburger Hashbrown: Leftover ground beef, cream of mushroom soup made with Magic Mix, leftover green beans, shredded cheese, and shredded hashbrowns
  

Unfortunately, I also kind of hate casseroles. They all taste the same to me, and they aren't exactly the most diet-friendly meal. It's summertime, so it's not really soup weather anymore (which is my go-to solution for leftovers in the winter). Anyone have another suggestion for a healthy (low calorie) and easy way to use leftovers that I can make ahead of time?

Preserving Food

So I am hoping to have some garden surplus to preserve at the end of the summer. (I'm not optimistic about it, but who knows? Anything is possible, right?)

I know canning is a very popular and very useful method of food preservation. I've never done it personally, but my best guy pal does it. My mother-in-law does it, too, and my own mother used to do it. I've considered experimenting with it, and every once in a while I get close to buying some canning supplies, but then I change my mind. I know I'm going against conventional wisdom here, but I'm not sure canning is the best method for food preservation for me. Here's why:

• Canning is hard to do without electricity. I've heard of people who can foods over propane camping stoves. So I guess you don't need a regular household stove to do it. But though I don't know much about canning, I am pretty sure I read somewhere that it's important to maintain a steady temperature (which is one reason some glass-top stoves are not suitable for canning). Because of this, I imagine it would be difficult to can food over an open fire or other long-term shit+fan cooking method. (Plus, I own one of those aforementioned glass-top stoves, and I don't want to buy a propane stove just for canning.)
  

• Canning supplies may be difficult to obtain in a shit+fan situation. Although I know they make reusable lids for canning, most canning lids cannot be reused. So unless I get a shitload of them stored away, I'm eventually going to need to find another way to save my food. In addition, glass jars can break. All it takes it one good earthquake, and the jars are nothing more than shattered glass.

This is not to say that I think canning is a pointless method of food preservation. If a shit+fan scenario only lasts a year or three, then all that canned food in your pantry will be some damn good eatin' during that time. BUT, if the shit and the fan combine for a very very long time, then another method of food preservation is probably going to be needed.

Rather than spend my time and money practicing a food preservation technique that doesn't really suit my lifestyle, I've decided to try some other methods. This year, I'm going to focus on dehydrating. Now, I realize my electric-operated dehydrator won't work during a no-electricity situation, either. But I'm also reading up on solar drying. If my electric dehydrating experiments work out ok this year, I may try solar drying next year.

This assumes, of course, that my garden even produces something I can dehydrate... (weeds don't count!).

Budget "Get Home Bag"

A friend of mine started a job that requires a 90-mile commute (each way). His car--though in good condition and designed to last for a long time--is older. He's a resourceful and resilient guy, so I am certain he'd have no problems without an emergency kit. But I decided to put together a basic Get Home Bag (GHB) for him as a little gift.

I wanted to do this on a budget because, well, I'm on a budget right now. Here are the things I put in it that I already had lying around the house:

• A black backpack
• Safety pins
• Rubber bands
• A small tube of sunscreen
• Gallon Ziplock baggies
• A plastic water bottle
• A hand-crank flashlight/cell phone charger
• A battery operated LED flashlight
• A roll of duck tape
• A roll of toilet paper
• A contractor-grade black trashbag
• A few individually wrapped antibacterial towelettes
• A couple of MREs
• A plastic fork and knife
• Matches
• Nylon cord
• Rubber gloves
• N-95 Masks
• Ibuprofen and daytime cold medicine
• Hand and body warmers
• Nylon string
  

To complete his GHB, I had to purchase:

• A space blanket
• A light disposable poncho
• Emergency food bars (enough for 3 days)
  
• Small first aid kit
• Insect repellent towelettes
• Pouches of water
• Lightsticks

Total cost: $28

If you're already a prepper, you probably have the same things I did in your home. And since items like N-95 masks and contractor trash bags usually come in packs, it's easy to spare a few to make a Car Kit or a GHB. Most people give me a very strange look when I give these as gifts, but at least I know my loved ones are prepared. And who knows? Maybe someday it'll save a life.

The Early Riser Experiment

I am a night owl by nature.

When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I'd be up past midnight (on a school night) reading books by flashlight in my room (until Mom came in and yelled for me to go to bed). In high school, I often stayed up past 2AM just watching TV... and typically much later if I were hanging with friends. In college, I usually didn't fall asleep until shortly before dawn.

Sure, joining the workforce forced me to bed early--to an extent. But, for the most part, I continued to stay awake late and sleep as late as possible. Even now, although my kids wake me very early most days, I have nights when I'm still awake at 1 AM.

As a result, I sleep in as late as possible. Or I catch a nap on the couch whenever I can.

However, I'd like to find out if I can actually become an early riser, stay awake throughout the day, and generally be more productive. If I could just get up by 6 am, I would be able to at least exercise every day. And, some days, I might even be able to get a little writing done, too.

To someone who's used to going to bed only a few hours before this time, this sounds... impossible.

But I'm going to try, dammit.

So I'm going to try an Early Riser Experiment. The first thing I'm going to do is utilize an app on my phone. It's an alarm clock, but it forces you to do math problems to turn off the alarm. Maybe this will wake me up enough to get me moving in the morning.

Collecting Rain

I'm fortunate to live in an area of the USA that gets a fair amount of rainfall. We've had mid-summer droughts--it's been so dry that all the vegetation has withered and died... fried to a crisp. But, mostly, we tend to get our share of rain without it being an overwhelming amount.

I've been trying to think of ways to collect rain that would help keep the water reasonably potable. I can easily put a rain barrel under a downspout for watering the garden and such, but what about drinking water? A typical rain barrel set-up presents two problems for drinking: The rain water runs through unsanitary gutters first, and the barrel usually has a large enough opening to allow the collection of leaves, bird poo, etc.

I guess, if shit+fan happens, then I'll probably just have to put barrels in the middle of the yard when it rains and hope for the best. It would certainly be just as clean (if not cleaner) as the sludge in our local creek.

I wish I could get Hubby on board about saving water. But he just refuses to store something that, as he says, "falls out of the sky." I've tried to explain that the zombie hordes might prevent us from reaching the nearby spring or creek, but he doesn't seem to see that as a possibility...

Better Than Rice-A-Roni

Ok, so I confess: I really love those seasoned rice mixes (like Rice-A-Roni). Although I will eat rice plain, I prefer it to have that little extra flavor. Unfortunately, those mixes-in-a-box tend to be pretty expensive (even with sales/coupons). In addition, they're loaded with preservatives, chemicals, salt and other kinds of nastiness that I don't want to feed my family.

Rice is pretty much a staple in most food storage pantries. So I was pretty happy to discover a recipe for rice seasoning mix at Allrecipes.com. I made a few modifications based on my own taste and what I typically have on hand. Then I tried it out on guests. Wham! Instant success! In my opinion, it tastes better than boxed rice mixes (no chemical taste!), it's just as easy, and it's less expensive.

I made up a big batch (three times bigger than the recipe) and have it stored in a glass jar. This way, I can easily make some flavored rice whenever I want it.

Rice Seasoning Mix

MIX
2 TB dried parsley flakes
2 tsp dried dill weed
2 TB dried minced onion
1 tsp seasoned salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 TB dried celery flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper

RICE
2 c chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 c white rice
1 TB butter
1/2 tsp lemon zest
toasted sliced almonds (optional)

Mix together and store in airtight container.

To prepare rice, bring broth and 3 TB mix to boil in a saucepan. Add rice, butter and zest, then lower heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Top with toasted almonds if desired.

I've seen similar recipes that call for lemon pepper instead of black pepper, and omit the lemon zest. This would definitely make it more pantry-storage friendly. I am sure it could also be made with chicken bouillon and water instead of broth, too.