Survival Cooking, Prepping and Living

May 14: Grocery Vs Garden

I try to be hopeful that we will raise enough money for my son to get brain surgery this year (3 surgeries multiplied by about 3 to-and-from trips each equals approx 9 trips ). I have to juggle a lot of balls... Chores. Conversations. Doctor appointments. Medical tests. Surgeries. Raising money.

You get the gist.

As much as I miss growing plants, harvesting fresh fruits and veggies, and collecting eggs from my beautiful chickens and quail, this will not be the year to get back to it, although we need it desperately. With food prices increasing, including eggs (thanks to the Orange Idiot), and some things not even appearing on shelves anymore, I have to find alternatives to paying $8 for a carton of eggs vs growing my own food.

Maybe a little sprouts system? (See pic below).

But going that route ... Weslee won't eat sprouts, and I would miss the bite of a sweet strawberry, the juicy tomato, the freshness of cucumber, the crunch of raw green beans (we both love them that way), and just the variety of trusting and eating what we grow.

Oh, and ... the lettuce! Yum!

Evrn if I can get his next surgery scheduled in August, the garden will have to be ignored for weeks around that time, while we are in Cleveland (we live in Louisville). Same goes for chickens and quail. I have a little space on my patio, but again, who will water/feed them, and collect their eggs?

I am open to suggestions. Anyone?

I got this in 2020 for about $25. It now costs about $35! Unbelievable!

.......

Weslee needs more brain surgery for his seizures. Please go to his Medical GoFundMe or to our Paypal ... Thank you.

Apr 30: Prep For Boredom

When I first heard about covid, my mind started racing. Coughing. Loss of smell. Highly contageous. Released on purpose. Inject bleach? Horse mdds? Shine a light ... up .. where?! Sorry...don't get me started.

But my main concern ...

See, my son had only a few months prior (mid-June 2019) been released from the hospital. He had had a brain surgery which caused a stroke, coma, and a plethora of side effects. He had to relearn to walk, talk, hold a cup, and much more.

If a pandemic quarantine / lockdown was going to happen, I needed to be ready.

Hygiene? Check. Food? Check. Extra seizure meds? Check. Water? Check. Projects and/or crafts to keep us busy? Uh, not nearly enough.

First, I figured I would just prep for six months or so. Then I went to the Dollar Tree store and got all kinds of things. I placed an order through Amazon. I got out six cardboard boxes and labled then by month.

Each got a snack or three, a book, a dvd or blu-ray disk, stuff to do a project (which he hated!), and so on. He got to choose one thing from the box every few days.

I ended up re-using the boxes as the quarantine dragged on. [I called them the "bored boxes"].

But all of this prepping made me think, so I excitedly researched and wrote 'The Bored Book". I ended up doing quite a few from my Bored Book list. Such fun!

The worst of the covid pandemic is over, but the way things look in the USA, we might still need a supply of Bored Boxes.

Plus this book can be used at home when recovering from a medical something, winter blizzards, or just about any time.

Let me know what you think. Vikki

.......

My 28 year old (but mentally and emotionally is about 12) son, Weslee, has intractable epilepsy, autism, OCD, ADHD and lots of side effects from lots of brain surgeries. After a week stay at the Cleveland Clinic in 2024, his team of doctors is suggesting more brain surgeries. We need help to get there and back plus with copays, etc. Please donate through the link below then share this link: https://gofund.me/085ca903 ..

...OR...

To donate directly through PayPal :

Click here to go to:

www.paypal.me/VIKKIWESLEELAWRENCE

Thank you.

Apr 21: I am Back!

I can't believe it has been about 4.5 years since I posted here. Wow!

Changing that, because (1) I miss it, (2) the world sucks, and maybe I can help at least a little.

...

After a lot of starts and stops with blogging, I will keep updating only THREE blogs:

Epilepsy Awareness, my son's struggle with seizures ...and why I am called 'That Purple Mom" (and includes my storefront): ThatPurpleMom.com
Prepping / Survival Cooking / Living, and getting through these difficult times: www.survival-cooking.blogspot.com (this one)
My journey to get healthy: www.veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by.

Vikki

.........

...OR...

To donate directly through PayPal :

Click here to go to:

www.paypal.me/VIKKIWESLEELAWRENCE

Thank you.

Ripe and Unripe Tomatoes and a Harvest

Besides watching a seed burst out of fertile soil, or that seedling grow into a producing plant, my next favorite part is when it is finally time to pick ripe fruit and veggies. Oh, and cutting herbs like parsley and mint, or hmmm... lettuce.

Here are a few pictures of one of my harvests. Feast your eyes!

This is the inside of my fridge after a very busy day of harvesting. Weslee doesn't like watermelon or cantaloupe but I managed to grow a few sugar baby watermelons, a few crenshaw muskmelons (cantaloupes), and a few golden watermelons. Loving the radishes too (ready to slice and pickle!).

Just a quick harvest before the first frost. just a quick harvest before a freeze. Notice the yellow pear tomatoes, orange slicer, and small eggplant. PLUS - our pride and joy, besides the several small orange carrots, we managed to grow 2 atomic red carrots (top of plate) and some cremey-white carrots (just under the red carrots). We also pulled up 2 tiny sweet potatoes, and two small red-bunching onions - very potent!

This is a colander of green (unripe) tomatoes I picked just after a first frost. The plants survived (barely) under two blankets and a big piece of plastic. It was too much work to try to save the plants, and I didn't have room to bring the pots inside. So I picked these to dehydrate then grind into powder. Green tomato powder is added to my all-vegg powder, and also kept separately to add depth to soups and stews. It's not very tasty by itself, and I haven't yet experimented with making green tomato preserves.

Colorful Tomatoes

One of my favorite things to grow is tomatoes. Seeing a big bush or tall vine with colorful fruit beckoning ... is there anything better?

I have to be careful of the acid in tomatoes but over the years, I found a few varieties that my stomach doesn't hate. The ones that seem to do well are: Yellow Pears, Kellogg's Breakfast Orange, and a tiny currant tomatoes that I can't find the name of anywhere!!

The following are a few of my favorite pics of my growing tomatoes:

Black Cherry Tomatoes and a red slicer.
I accidentally planted 2 different varieties
in one pot. Both did well.

This is a pic of one of my harvests. Squash,
peppers, cucumber, eggplant
and, of course,, tomatoes. Yum!!

This is a tray filled with sliced yellow
mamas, yellow pears and small red
roma tomatoes

.

My first dehydrator was a cheap round one but it worked. I love my new Excelsior though!

This tray of tomatoes dried about 6-8 hours until mostly dried and barely pliable. Bagged with a dessicant package added, then placed the baggies in a tightly sealed mason jar.

Living in a small apartment with a small patio (as opposed to when I had the farmette in Colorado), I had to make some adjustments. Most of my gardening is done in pots. Does it matter? Only in regards to quantity ... but not quality. I can still have a plant of each of my favorite low-acid tomatoes and as long as I take care of them, they will produce enough to save for the coming months AND provide some for fresh eating too.

How many of you grow tomatoes on your patio?

Buying Healthy Dehydrated Fruits and Veggies

It's late in the year to begin gardening, at least in the northern Hemisphere. Sometimes, a shortcut is necessary while biding your time. So while you pore over your gardening catalogs, choosing which berry bushes or fruit trees to plant, you might consider adding the following to your stores:

I found http://www.justtomatoes.com/ (NOW: https://www.shopkarensnaturals.com/ when my then baby was beginning to eat solid foods. He tried all kinds, and he expressed a preference to jarred food. Vehemently. A friend mentioned the dried mixed vegetables she'd found at a local health food store, so I picked up a small tub. Liked what I saw: no added ingredients other than the fruit or veggie. Not even sulfur! After Weslee saw me eating the mixture of dried corn, carrots, peas and tomatoes, he dug right in.

We pretty much placed a regular order for Weslee of soynuts (they don't do those any more, or freeze-dried tofu), peas, blackberries, blueberries and mango. I haven't seen the blackberries in a while, but they have added a whole line of powdered fruit that I use in smoothies and refrigerator-oats (peach, banana, etc).

We don't rehydrate any of these so we're sure to drink lots of water.

It's really difficult to calculate serving size but we consider a serving to be a small "Dixie cup" of the fruit and peas, or one tablespoon of fruit powder.

Makes me feel good ... well, better ... about his health.

If you don't have enough bushes, trees and other plants to satisfy your fruit needs, you should check out their site. It's not as good as growing it yourself, but will do in a pinch.

ETA 4/30/25: I think this company went out of business. I can't find them anywhere. I am open to replacement ideas!

Recipe for Instant Italian Pasta

An instant homemade healthy MRE (meal ready to eat) recipe

All ingredients are dehydrated.

2 tbsp ground beef bits

2 tbsp orzo or tiny dehydrated pasta

1 tbsp tomato powder

1 tbsp sweet bell pepper dices

1 tsp onion dices

1/2 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

Mix well. Place in a half-pint jar and tightly seal. Store away from light and moisture.

Directions:

When ready to eat, rehydrate with 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of very hot / boiling water in a bowl with a cover. Let sit for 10-20 minutes.

You could also add the water then microwave for a couple of minutes.

= = = = = =

Please comment with pix and how it turned out for you.