Book research for Homemade MREs, Gluten Free Cookbooks, and Medical Marijuana



I sent a gluten-free gnocchi recipe to some tasters/testers yesterday. I am still working on lots more recipes for the gluten-free cookbooks, so input is greatly appreciated. 

I still have another 75 recipes or so to test for my homemade MRE cookbook using dehydrated ngredients we are storing. I need more testers!

Now, to the medical marijuana book...

I started a fb group (  https://www.facebook.com/groups/EmbracingCharlottesWeb/ ) initially about Charlotte's Web to gather info for a book I am writing about using medical marijuana to help with health problems. Decided to cover all strains of med mmj. (As you know, my almost 18 year old son is autistic with epilepsy and will be getting a med mmj card soon).

I am asking for everyone's help to get people's stories about using medical mmj, including the ailment, strain(s) they use, success or failure, how it has changed them, etc. Stories should be 3-5 pages long. They need to include contact information, and permission for the story to be in the book.

People can comment here, join the above mentioned Facebook group, or email me at vikkibooksatyahooperiodcom.

Thank you so much for your help.

Vikki

P.s. Today is epilepsy awareness day! Did you wear purple? Help people know if they have a lot of de ja vu episodes, they COULD be having simple partial seizures!

Pet Food

You know those metal trash cans I mentioned in the last post? That would be a good way to store a few bags of your pet's favorite food.

Or you could make sure to put cans of wet food in your pantry.

What about snacks?

But the dry would go stale and the wet is in a can lined with BPA. Neither of which are good. Your cat is a hopefully a mouser, very necessary, and your dog barks are people coming up the drive, also very necessary. You need to take care of them.

I will be working on a book with pet food and pet snacks recipes this summer, but meanwhile, here is a few tips:

1a. Store pre-made when you can.

1b. Store toys, rawhides (NOT from China!), etc.

2. Make your cat work for its food. Lots o mice!

3. Make your dog work for its food. Guarding, alerting, and helping you hunt.

4. Raise rabbits. Great source of protein, and if you can't stand the thought of eating them yourself, let your dog and cat. Never give the whole live rabbit to your pet or one day you will go into your rabbitry to find all of them dead and eaten. Kill it and skin the rabbit (keep the hide to tan for muffs or whatever). THEN give it to your pet somewhere where it is ok to get blood everywhere.

5. Learn how to make snacks, like dog biscuits.

6. Slowly, gradually, change your animals over to food you can make yourself. For instance, we are changing our dogs from regular dry food to foods from our kitchen, garden, and farm. Chicken or turkey or eggs, rice or oats or millet or quinoa, and vegetables.

That's it for now. Give it some thought.

If you have suggestions or questions about feeding your pet, including those other than cat or dog, please ask in the comments below.

Thank you.

==========================

For more information about Vikki or to find out about her current and upcoming books, please visit the website: www.vikki-lawrence-williams.blogspot.com . Meanwhile, subscibe or visit this blog often because I will be updating it on a more regular basis. THANK YOU!

Storing Food Against Pests

First, I was supposed to have knee surgery yesterday, Friday, but didn't. I had a lump in my mouth that needed a biopsy. Taking that piece out gave me a bad infection on top of what turned out to already be an infection (not cancer, thank god). So, to avoid the infection going through my bloodstream and into my newly sliced knee, we post-poned the surgery until two weeks from now.

Can hardly wait to be able to walk again!

But... this post is about storing your foods.

On Tuesday my son informed me that he was out of cereal. Oh no! Tragedy! I vaguely remembered that I had packed some stuff downstairs, so we clumped down where I had two metal trashcans (with lids) tucked away. The first one bore four packages of cereal, two of which he would eat! SCORE! No mice had attacked because the lid was on tightly. But boy howdy it was stale!

Lesson 1: Remember where you store your food, and what is there.

Lesson 2: Rotate your food!

Lesson 3: Metal trash cans with lids are a good storage system, for some things. We have quite a few in our garage that we store our livestock's feed in. Mice do not get in those either.

Lesson 4: Glass jars.

So, you bring home food, like packages of beans and peas and pasta, and you place the package intact in a tub or bucket. Close a lid on it, and your done.

That could be good for long term storage, but what do you do when you bring it out to use? Keep it in it's original packaging and place it on your pantry shelf?

Please don't.

Go to your local ACE Hardware Stores and ask where the canning jars are. You should be canning anyway. Get as many half-gallon jars as they have, and order more. My kitchen pantry is filled with half-gallon jars, with the Ball plastic lids. Easy to open yet bugs canNOT get in there. Neither can mice.  Keeps the pasta, beans, peas, cereal, grains, etc safe and you can easily see how much is left.

PLUS...

...doesn't the plastic packaging bother you? What is that stuff anyway? Do we really want the plastic leaching into our food and into our bodies? If we are in an emergency situation, we need every morsel of food and every drop of liquid to be super-healthy for our bodies.


==========================

For more information about Vikki or to find out about her current and upcoming books, please visit the website: www.vikki-lawrence-williams.blogspot.com . Meanwhile, subscibe or visit this blog often because I will be updating it on a more regular basis. THANK YOU!

Winter Weather in the Spring, and Gardening

Here it is, March 13, and season Spring is only 7 days away. Yet, we are recovering from more snow from Tuesday, and still have more snow on the way.

We live near Denver, CO, on the eastern plains. Technically, this is desert area, but don't tell Mother Nature that! While our summers are usually very hot and dry, we can have super cold winters with precipitation. Snows have been known to fall as late as May, which gives us a really short growing season, about 90 days.

I am itching to get into the garden.

My 17 year old autistic son had two brain surgeries last May for epilepsy. A lot changed about him afterwards. He is 1/4 blind in each eye. He talks slower. And his appetite changed!

For the first time ever, he likes raspberries (hence, we are planting more bushes this year, including yellow raspberries). And he tried snow peas last month. At the time, he said he didn't hate them. But on Monday, when I asked him what one vegetable, besides carrots, does he want us to grow in the garden thsi year, he said snow peas! Who knew!

So I ordered from my go-to heirloom seed place, Baker Creek (www.rareseeds.com) three peas: snow peas, fresh-eating table peas, and blue peas that dry on the vine to store for dry-use.

Just (im)patiently waiting for the seeds to arrive.

So... what are you planting in your garden?



==========================

For more information about Vikki or to find out about her current and upcoming books, please visit the website: www.vikki-lawrence-williams.blogspot.com . Meanwhile, subscibe or visit this blog often because I will be updating it on a more regular basis. THANK YOU!

Meals from dehydrated foods

Hiya. 


Quite a few months ago, my husband asked for more varied quick lunch. Had been making him soups, sandwiches, etc.  He needed more substance. Store-bought MREs have too much sodium, preservatives, and are boring. So are shelf-stable things from Dinty Moore and Hormel, or frozen dinners. Ick.

Browed through our dehydrated and freeze-dried foods, and my wheels started turning. I got out a bunch of half-pint jars, instant rice, tiny pasta, potato flakes, and other ingredients. Lined up the jars. ach got a starch, a protein, veggies, spices/herbs, and some got tomato powder.

He loved them!

So did his co-workers.  Gimme gimme.

Every month, I create a month's worth of breakfasts and lunches, each different from the others. My mother-in-law has also tested for me, as well as friends. One thing led to another, and I started this book about how to make healthy MREs (still working on the title ... stay tuned!). For work, camping, backpacking, prepping/preparedness, everyday use, long term food storage/survival, etc.  I even started a FB group for people to help me test recipes ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/Mealsinjars/ ).

I have sections for lactose-intolerant people (like my Hubby) and gluten-free (me). One person suggested the need for vegetarian and vegan recipes, so I am trying to include a few of them too.  Sections for entrees, side dishes, desserts, beverages, and more.

All kinds... oriental, Indian, Tex-Mex, and many others.

Have somewhere close to 200 recipes but I want a few more.

Hope to (someday!) start posting a few recipes for you to try and comment, so stay tuned! 

NEED YOUR SUGGESTIONS!

This blog needs updating...don't you agree? So help me to help you!

What do you want me to write about?

More stored food recipes?

Homemade cleaning supplies?

Homesteading?

Homemade MREs?

Just a little update on us. We have a tiny farm, just two acres, outside of  Denver, CO.   I am disabled, and awaiting knee surgeries. My hubby works an hour away for pittance. My 17 year old is autistic and ADHD, with epilepsy. He had two brain surgeries in May 2013 but still not sure if they successfully treated his epilepsy.

We have two dogs. We raise chickens (meat, eggs, income, fertilizer, pest control, weed control), royal palm turkeys (meat, income, feathers), and Nubian-cross goats (milk and its products like cheese, income, meat). We have a few fruit bushes and trees but are adding more this year, along with nut trees, oak trees (for when we someday {next year?} get pigs), and sugar maple trees.

We are adding more rhubarb and asparagus, because my asparagus quiches sell like hot cakes! We have a mid sized garden that produces enough for us (fresh, dehydrated, canned) and to sell. Just a tiny storefront by the front door, for when people pick up their eggs, milk and cheese. And other things!

I dehydrate for us (working on a cookbook for homemade healthy MREs) and also sell my homemade MREs. 

Learned how to can last year.  Made some amazing jams with waterbathing, and did meats and veggies with pressure canning. Even did bacon! Yum!

Experimenting with different kinds of homemade bread. Different kinds of goat cheese. Living a cleaner life. A more self-reliant life.

Guess that is about it. 

Be sure to comment below on the things you want he to write about.

Thanks, and be safe.