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-   -   30 Days! (http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=145293)

omegaman 06-11-2007 08:42 PM

30 Days!
 
So the wife and I are going to try 30 days living strictly off of our preps, coupled with what we can gather, grow, and shoot - as well as whats already in our fridge.. Our food preps consist mainly of beans, rice, and wheat. We will begin tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully this shows at least some of the holes in our food prep plans.

I'll keep you all posted. I will monitor my weight as well.

AgAuGal 06-11-2007 08:52 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Great! Will be good to hear first hand where you feel the need to adjust your preps plan (where reality did not live up to your expectations). Looking forward to the updates.

Kahlil Gibran 06-11-2007 09:02 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 634786)
So the wife and I are going to try 30 days living strictly off of our preps, coupled with what we can gather, grow, and shoot - as well as whats already in our fridge.. Our food preps consist mainly of beans, rice, and wheat. We will begin tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully this shows at least some of the holes in our food prep plans.

I'll keep you all posted. I will monitor my weight as well.

Please keep a Diary and document this test as much as possible. In another thread a GIMer posted his challenges in growing a 50 x 50 garden and this info is very educational to all GIMers. I think many of us are armchair Survivalists and we need this reality test.

:smile:

gunner 06-11-2007 09:10 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 634786)
So the wife and I are going to try 30 days living strictly off of our preps, coupled with what we can gather, grow, and shoot - as well as whats already in our fridge.. Our food preps consist mainly of beans, rice, and wheat. We will begin tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully this shows at least some of the holes in our food prep plans.

I'll keep you all posted. I will monitor my weight as well.

Thanks - thread saved !!

Darkside 06-11-2007 10:40 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
great idea!

I'll be checking back for updates

randymatt 06-11-2007 11:09 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 634786)
So the wife and I are going to try 30 days living strictly off of our preps, coupled with what we can gather, grow, and shoot - as well as whats already in our fridge.. Our food preps consist mainly of beans, rice, and wheat. We will begin tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully this shows at least some of the holes in our food prep plans.

I'll keep you all posted. I will monitor my weight as well.

Yeah, thought about doing this as well, and also cutting the water and power grid just to test (oh no!, no GIM :dong:), lets us know how this turns out.

____hoot____ 06-12-2007 02:03 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Would be a piece of cake for me. Fact is I ought to do it to just knock down some of my old canned stock. EEK! that means that I have got to get through some more of those 30 quarts of canned blueberrys from 2004 that were put up before I perfected my stem removal tumbleing process!

GoldWampum 06-12-2007 02:12 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Yes please keep us informed. Your experience will be interesting and appreciated.

Wyldwil 06-12-2007 06:34 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I plan to enjoy and savor all the creature comforts I can, while they're still available to me. :D

.....still.....thread saved. :adore:

BeefJerky 06-13-2007 03:18 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I am also interested in following this unique thread. Keep us posted.:D

Tn...Andy 06-13-2007 09:20 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Should be a good experiment.....one all serious preppers ought to try.

Following with interest.

AgAuGal 06-13-2007 03:17 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kahlil Gibran (Post 634808)
Please keep a Diary and document this test as much as possible. In another thread a GIMer posted his challenges in growing a 50 x 50 garden and this info is very educational to all GIMers. I think many of us are armchair Survivalists and we need this reality test.

:smile:

KG, do you have a link to this thread - I don't recall this at all but I know there I times I find I have not seen some threads. I would be very interested in this thread. TIA

Kahlil Gibran 06-13-2007 03:20 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by AgAuGal (Post 636607)
KG, do you have a link to this thread - I don't recall this at all but I know there I times I find I have not seen some threads. I would be very interested in this thread. TIA

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=144297

:smile:

<SLV> 06-13-2007 03:31 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
We have decided to spend a week in the wilderness as a family each year for the same reason. All we will take is our bug out bags. Some food in the bags, some will have to be caught/shot. I know a week isn't much, but it will help us learn.

A month? Wow... are you sure you're ready for that?

omegaman 06-13-2007 05:16 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Ok day one was a breeze. I ate oatmeal with raisins for breakfast, and enjoyed 2 cups of coffee. I skipped lunch and had leftover goulash for dinner. I made a HUGE batch yesterday with only foodstuffs we had on hand, and plan on freezing the rest.

Tonight I'll snack on radishes from the garden and maybe popcorn if my wife pops some.

So far its more or less normal because we haven't started running out of anything we normally use. The real test will begin in a few days no doubt.

gpond 06-13-2007 05:18 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Great idea. Pass me some of that popcorn. I'm gonna pull up a chair and watch this.

Best of luck. We may ALL learn something on this one, and that's good.

omegaman 06-14-2007 11:05 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Day 2

Well day two was almost a carbon copy of day one, except today I skipped breakfast and had goulash over rice for dinner. We have run out of bread though. When the flour runs out I will have to grind wheat.

Oh yes my weigh in weight at the outset of this was 153 pounds. I hope to shed at least 10 pounds over the next month.

I've also noted that although I eat very little in the way of sugary junk, my desire for donuts (my one food weakness) has been off the charts. Hopefully this will settle down after a few days.

electric-amish 06-14-2007 11:13 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I have been searching the Web for a couple of years and have looked at a lot of Survivalist sites and threads.

This will be one of the greats.

I will be watching this with great interest.

Thanks for your willingness to journal for us.

Good luck.

Electric-Amish

shades2 06-15-2007 02:01 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 637912)
Day 2

Well day two was almost a carbon copy of day one, except today I skipped breakfast and had goulash over rice for dinner. We have run out of bread though. When the flour runs out I will have to grind wheat.

Oh yes my weigh in weight at the outset of this was 153 pounds. I hope to shed at least 10 pounds over the next month.

I've also noted that although I eat very little in the way of sugary junk, my desire for donuts (my one food weakness) has been off the charts. Hopefully this will settle down after a few days.

Expect to get sugar-withdrawl headaches. It's a powerful drug that your body is conditioned to having on demand. They will go on for a day or two then dissappear and you will feel great afterward.

Keep your carbohydrates up, so yeah bread etc. mainly as fuel. Stay hydrated. If you feel hunger pangs you can have a drink instead a lot of the time.

<SLV> 06-15-2007 10:38 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
:bear_innocent: You weigh 153 and you HOPE to lose 10 pounds?

TLM 06-15-2007 12:59 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Are you going hunting this weekend?
I wanna here some squirrel and rabbit recipes?
Good thread.
Please keep a journal so at the end you can post the whole thing so we don't
have to filter through all the posts, like the one I just wrote, to get the whole
story.

Good Luck & God Speed :applause_ :coolbeer:

TLM

Ghost Recon 06-15-2007 02:29 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by <SLV> (Post 638158)
:bear_innocent: You weigh 153 and you HOPE to lose 10 pounds?

yeah...I noticed that to. I wish I could get back to 153. At this point, I'll settle for 165. Been riding the bike every night. We'll see...

omegaman 06-15-2007 03:33 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by <SLV> (Post 638158)
:bear_innocent: You weigh 153 and you HOPE to lose 10 pounds?

Lol I was 120 until about 4 years ago. Then I quit smoking and rapidly blimped out. I'm only 5'7 too, so losing a few pounds definitely won't hurt.

omegaman 06-16-2007 10:33 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Day 3

Again no major hardships yet. I had another early appointment so I skipped breakfast again, and for lunch, you guessed it - leftover goulash. You will probably be glad to know we have frozen the rest for later consumption. For dinner my wife made a fantastic batch of shepherds pie, using almost a pound of our precious hamburger. I definitely didn't approve of that, but after voicing my opinion I thought I told you so's later on would serve better than getting into a big argument now. (By comparison the batch of goulash I made used only 1/4 pound of hamburger and almost 2lbs of various dried beans.)

Later on in the evening I snacked on radishes from the garden.

We have now just about run out of butter. The oranges are gone and the few remaining bananas are almost too ripe to eat. We will probably freeze them to make banana bread later.

So far I have noted that the first thing that I really miss (other than donuts) is snack foods. I normally will make a sandwich, or bread and butter along with a fresh green pepper or something to snack on. Now I have been more or less restricted to radishes and leaf lettuce from the garden.

If anyone is interested here is the recipe for the goulash I made the other day. As you may have noted it is lasting us a long time and its stretches the harder to obtain food items (like meat and fresh vegetables) quite a bit. All amounts given are approximations only. I never really measure anything. All weights for beans are dry weights.

1 cubanelle pepper
1 green pepper
3 medium onions
1 large can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of mushrooms
1/2 pound navy beans
1/2 pound black beans
1 pound kidney beans
3 cups frozen corn
3 cups frozen cut green beans
1/4 pound hamburger
chili powder
4 cups dried pasta

I think thats all of it but I probably forgot something. Anyway you let the beans cook in a crock pot all day to soften them up, or soak them overnight. Brown the hamburger. Dice all the fresh vegetables. Put the beans hamburger, onions, canned tomatoes, mushrooms and chili powder into a LARGE pot on the stove, add water and let it simmer for a while. About 5 minutes before you want to eat it add the pasta and frozen vegetables. Two minutes before its done add the fresh veggies, so that they will be more or less raw when its eaten. Continually add water as necessary as the pasta soaks it up, and to obtain the desired thickness.

Enjoy.

<SLV> 06-16-2007 03:04 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Oh, Man, O-man! I'm with you on the donuts!

I TRULY believe that sugar is addictive. I'm not just talking about the synthesized poisons ("Nutrasweet", "Fructose", and "Splenda" - which is just chlorinated sugar). I'm talking about plain old sugar!

My wife and I have recently quit eating anything with refined sugars. The only sweetener we use is locally grown, raw, unfiltered honey. When we first did this we went through intense hunger cravings. We found ourselves eating meals between meals - but that was the deal - we could eat as much as we wanted of anything on the "approved" list, and we could eat whenever we wanted. I found myself frying an egg in coconut oil before bed just to take the edge off the hunger. About 2-3 weeks later the hunger cravings disappeared. We also SERIOUSLY started dropping weight, and the only change we had made was the elimination of sugar (... well, I guess we seriously cut our dairy intake and our grain intake also - with the exception of brown rice, we actually eat a lot more rice).

Everyone should check out the ingredient lists before puting anything in the shopping cart. The ingredients are listed in order of quantity - the higher on the list, the larger percentage of the product is made with that ingredient. Sugar is in almost everything (and sometimes many forms of sugar on one label).

I think the masses are going to flip out when TSHTF, and they can't get their sugar fix.

AgBar 06-16-2007 03:08 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Wyldwil (Post 635774)
I plan to enjoy and savor all the creature comforts I can, while they're still available to me. :D

.....still.....thread saved. :adore:


Agreed, totally.

:coolbeer:

<SLV> 06-16-2007 03:10 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I just had another thought that is only slightly off topic... let's call it "near topic"... it is sanitation. When TSHTF I'll bet that trash will start to pile up. Fortunately, my wife and I live in the country, and due to EXTREME budget pressures we had to cancel our trash pick up about 6 months ago. At first I wasn't sure what that would mean, and it was very inconvenient. We burn our trash in a couple barrels now, and I've become pretty good at knowing what burns and what doesn't (diapers are really hard to burn). I've also learned to make sure that the wind is blowing the smoke away from our house. Burning plastic is toxic, so I'm very cautious with the wind direction.

This has had an unintended consequence. We are now more consumer conscious about packaging materials. We understand that when we buy something WE have to dispose of the packaging. The first thing we did was start requesting all of our groceries in paper instead of plastic. Paper burns "cleaner" and it just plain burns better. By putting our trash in the paper grocery sacks (rather than "trash bags") we are saving the cost of the trash bags and making it easier to start the trash fire (the plastic bags seem to suffocate the fire).

Horn 06-16-2007 03:14 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 638903)
Day 3

For dinner my wife made a fantastic batch of shepherds pie, using almost a pound of our precious hamburger. I definitely didn't approve of that, but after voicing my opinion I thought I told you so's later on would serve better than getting into a big argument now.

Uh oh, omegaman, yous guys saving "the big argument" for later???

Good Luck to you...

omegaman 06-18-2007 01:02 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Days 4 and 5

Not much else to report. We have completely run out of fruit now and this morning oatmeal. I'm already wishing I had stocked it (oatmeal) in my preps. It is the first major deficiency I have found that needs corrected. Other than that everything else has been pretty much the same. Both the wife and I have been struggling with moderate indigestion - probably as a result of all the beans added to our diets recently.

I will keep you posted.

omegaman 06-20-2007 06:45 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Days 6 and 7

Ok so we survived the first week! We have begun eating wheat berries cooked in a thermos for breakfasts and the occasional lunch. Our meat is still holding up with a little hamburger left and some cuts of turkey. So far I haven't had time to gather/shoot anything extra because my I've had a large spurt of new business come my way and have been really busy.

We are getting near to running out of radishes in the garden and the next batch wont be ready for a week and a half or so. Frozen vegetables are down about 50% from where we started, and eggs about the same.

We hope to go fishing soon to get a little extra protein. Both of us are in quite good spirits, although my wife says she really wants chocolate.

Tonight dinner is salad with canned tuna mixed in for a little protein.

I will keep you posted, things will probably get more interesting in weeks 3 and 4 as more stuff begins to run out.


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-   -   30 Days! (http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=145293)

sliver 06-20-2007 10:11 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by <SLV> (Post 639049)
This has had an unintended consequence. We are now more consumer conscious about packaging materials. We understand that when we buy something WE have to dispose of the packaging. The first thing we did was start requesting all of our groceries in paper instead of plastic. Paper burns "cleaner" and it just plain burns better. By putting our trash in the paper grocery sacks (rather than "trash bags") we are saving the cost of the trash bags and making it easier to start the trash fire (the plastic bags seem to suffocate the fire).

I think you could also compost your paper/cardboard trash to help your radishes next year :)

Maddie 06-20-2007 10:16 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 642631)
We hope to go fishing soon to get a little extra protein. Both of us are in quite good spirits, although my wife says she really wants chocolate.

WHAT???!!! You didn't have chocolate in your food storage??? :shocked_ma: Very brave.

I have no intention of going through an apocalypse without chocolate. I suspect it might also make a good trade item if TSHTF.

omegaman 06-20-2007 10:35 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Maddie (Post 642841)
WHAT???!!! You didn't have chocolate in your food storage??? :shocked_ma: Very brave.

I have no intention of going through an apocalypse without chocolate. I suspect it might also make a good trade item if TSHTF.

Lol Maddie. Point well taken.

randymatt 06-20-2007 10:42 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Hey omegaman, hows the TP holding out?

http://www.wackypackages.org/realpro...05/charmin.jpg

Wyldwil 06-20-2007 10:42 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Maddie (Post 642841)
WHAT???!!! You didn't have chocolate in your food storage??? :shocked_ma: Very brave.

I have no intention of going through an apocalypse without chocolate. I suspect it might also make a good trade item if TSHTF.


Suggestion noted Maddie. Though I imagine chocolate is not the easiest to store.
http://www.medscicommunications.com/just_for_fun.htm

Horn 06-20-2007 10:49 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Lots of sex can be substituded for chocolate.:D

AMforPM 06-20-2007 10:52 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I got basics first, but I have been filling in with things that are not healthy, but if seldom eaten may be major treats, like chocolate pudding mix, brown bread in a can, jam, pie filling, etc. And the other big category of unhealthy... the too salty and full of chemicals long storage fast food - freeze dried meals you add water to. In moderation I think we will appreciate the variety.

But mostly we store staples: beans, grain, salt. Then seeds and sprouting seeds for a source of fresh food.

Sugar is as addictive as mentioned above, but when its use is not everywhere like it is in modern prepared foods, it becomes less harmful, in my thinking, by dilution.

When I have gone processed sugar free for long periods I started noticing how sweet carrots are.

We like oatmeal too, omegaman. I found steel cut oats already put up for long term storage at Honeyville. They are a thermos friendly breakfast. Though if you are using some kinds of wheat it has more protein.

I think it is great you are doing this.

Maddie 06-21-2007 06:45 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by AuAgHorn (Post 642878)
Lots of sex can be substituded for chocolate.:D

Dude, you totally got that backwards!

Just thought I'd add a little female perspective...:D

shades2 06-21-2007 07:26 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 642631)
Days 6 and 7

Ok so we survived the first week! We have begun eating wheat berries cooked in a thermos for breakfasts and the occasional lunch. Our meat is still holding up with a little hamburger left and some cuts of turkey. So far I haven't had time to gather/shoot anything extra because my I've had a large spurt of new business come my way and have been really busy.

We are getting near to running out of radishes in the garden and the next batch wont be ready for a week and a half or so. Frozen vegetables are down about 50% from where we started, and eggs about the same.

We hope to go fishing soon to get a little extra protein. Both of us are in quite good spirits, although my wife says she really wants chocolate.

Tonight dinner is salad with canned tuna mixed in for a little protein.

I will keep you posted, things will probably get more interesting in weeks 3 and 4 as more stuff begins to run out.

McDonalds starting to look good yet? :)

shades2 06-21-2007 07:27 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by randymatt (Post 642871)
Hey omegaman, hows the TP holding out?

http://www.wackypackages.org/realpro...05/charmin.jpg


Moth-food.

A good bunch of non-irritating tree leaves can work wonders...

omegaman 06-24-2007 03:18 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Days 8 - 10

Ok I can't believe how well this is going. We seem to have plenty of food, and whenever we run out of something we seem to be able to substitute with something else. I have lost 5 pounds and feel great! Overall things are going very well, but as somebody mentioned earlier I have been having HORRIBLE cravings for McRaunch - normally I hate the stuff.

Our diet has changed quite a bit with meat and dairy greatly curtailed, vegetables and whole grains are filling the gaps. One thing I am very greatful we have in abundance is coffee. This experiment would have been a dismal failure without it.

The latest casualties in our larder have been:

-my favorite salad dressing
- radishes until the next batch is ready in just over a week
- milk
- frozen veggies are getting critically low

Things should continue to get more interesting as stuff runs out.

Oh P.S. My better half made a great rhubarb pie the other day. Our first sweet treat since this began.

Donnie740 06-26-2007 12:23 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Excellent idea to put a survival plan through a dry run. I'd imagine things would go even better if you were to plan ahead and know you had to make do on your own. Canning & freezing fruits & vegetables from the garden will easily carry a family through the winter.

Ideally you'd have some acreage to raise your own chickens for an endless supply of meat and eggs. Add in a few beef cows and some pigs and you'll never go hungry. If you're not into killing and dressing yourself, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to barter with a local abitoir.

Knowledge of how to grow & raise your own food is going to be the key to surviving any kind of serious economic issue. To me, it's a much better strategy than storing up food. You'll run out of canned food but berries fruit trees and vegetable seeds are all sustainable. Add in a few roosters and a bull and you've got your meat supply taken care of.

Unfortunately most city folk have no clue how to go about this kind of thing - - I'd say 80% of the population in north america would have no chance at raising their own food even if they had the land to do so. Now if only I can convince my wife to move back to the farm we'll be all set.

Horn 06-26-2007 12:36 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
*************.:sleepy13:

AMforPM 06-26-2007 01:14 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
We found it easy to have more fruit, veggies and eggs than we could eat on a double suburban lot. I did not use even half of it and we had an amazing amount of food.

To grow all the hen feed I would have had to expand to farming 2/3 of it with a plot of millet and some sunflowers.

Some crops (large watermelons, pumpkins)are space hogs not suitable for yard farming, and a farm is nice for large livestock too, but you can survive and even have plenty of variety, on a big lot in town.

No cow it is true, and we don't eat friends, so we ate eggs but not hens. The protein is just as good, though.

But if all you needed to trade for is coffee and butter and a few things like that it would not be that trying. And they would not be life or death.

I DO think stored food matters though. You can have a crop disaster any year (bad hailstorm, severe drought, locusts in some places)

omegaman 06-28-2007 11:27 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Two Weeks - and all is fairly well. But some cracks are starting to appear. The temptation to stop and grab a coffee or whatever while I'm traveling for my business has been almost overpowering at times. The other thing that really gets to me is when I'm in a hurry to get to an appointment, there is nothing I can grab and take on the way. Almost all of of preps require quite a lot time to both cook and eat.

My wife has begun making comments indicating that she isn't sure this is the best idea I've ever had. I believe it not only stems from the dwindling variety in our diets, but also from all the extra work involved in preparing it. And we haven't even started grinding wheat yet!

We haven't run out of anything else since my last post, but meat has become a treat - not part of our daily diets. Canned tuna excepted of course.

If TSHTF in the wintertime we would be really hurting without all the fresh veggies. Something I will be keeping in mind.

Baphomet Jones 06-28-2007 11:36 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 649704)
Two Weeks - and all is fairly well. But some cracks are starting to appear. The temptation to stop and grab a coffee or whatever while I'm traveling for my business has been almost overpowering at times. The other thing that really gets to me is when I'm in a hurry to get to an appointment, there is nothing I can grab and take on the way. Almost all of of preps require quite a lot time to both cook and eat.

My wife has begun making comments indicating that she isn't sure this is the best idea I've ever had. I believe it not only stems from the dwindling variety in our diets, but also from all the extra work involved in preparing it. And we haven't even started grinding wheat yet!

We haven't run out of anything else since my last post, but meat has become a treat - not part of our daily diets. Canned tuna excepted of course.

If TSHTF in the wintertime we would be really hurting without all the fresh veggies. Something I will be keeping in mind.

This is all great, try and keep in high spirits, the knowledge you're gaining can't be learned from anything other than first hand experience, no matter how many times you read it, some things you just gotta experience to fully grasp. Keep it up man!

AMforPM 06-29-2007 03:25 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Exactly. So much better to know now when you can fix it. Our not so healthy 'add water' long storage meals are in the plan to fill that 'I'm sick of cooking and want junk food' niche.

Maybe we should follow your example and test ours. We have tasted stuff, but not tried to restrict ourselves to it.

shades2 06-29-2007 04:21 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
1 Attachment(s)
I would have a hard time living without these. :)

Baphomet Jones 06-29-2007 09:36 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by shades2 (Post 649818)
I would have a hard time living without these. :)

Haha, thats cruel shades. At least post small pictures, and not big juicy delicious looking pictures...

I'll be back in a bit, goin to wait outside taco bell til they open... :bear_tongue:

Fiat Mutiny 07-02-2007 06:22 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
[quote=omegaman;649704]Two Weeks - and all is fairly well. But some cracks are starting to appear. The temptation to stop and grab a coffee or whatever while I'm traveling for my business has been almost overpowering at times. The other thing that really gets to me is when I'm in a hurry to get to an appointment, there is nothing I can grab and take on the way. Almost all of of preps require quite a lot time to both cook and eat.

My wife has begun making comments indicating that she isn't sure this is the best idea I've ever had. I believe it not only stems from the dwindling variety in our diets, but also from all the extra work involved in preparing it. And we haven't even started grinding wheat yet!
[quote]


One good thing about TSHTF is you won't have to work for a living anymore and you will have more time to grind wheat, farm, etc.

shades2 07-03-2007 05:27 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Baphomet Jones (Post 649934)
Haha, thats cruel shades. At least post small pictures, and not big juicy delicious looking pictures...

I'll be back in a bit, goin to wait outside taco bell til they open... :bear_tongue:


I know, I'm terrible...

But after surviving a week in 2001 on just white rice, water, (and salt/pepper). I know how this sort of thing feels. I can guarantee you I was very bored of rice for weeks after that, even though I like it. :)

Yup, there I was in 2001 eating bowls of rice, while some eFraud company CEO was spending his shareholding on high class restaurants and hookers. And people wonder why I'm angry...

Goldhedge 07-03-2007 08:21 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 649704)
My wife has begun making comments indicating that she isn't sure this is the best idea I've ever had. I believe it not only stems from the dwindling variety in our diets, but also from all the extra work involved in preparing it. And we haven't even started grinding wheat yet!

That's the difference between then, and now: "Time".

Back then, folks had plenty of time to prepare - grind, bake, grow, gather, etc. Today, society is instant. Perhaps the one 'fatal flaw' in its current design?

I used to do the au natural diet. Made my own granola, ground my own wheat etc. baked bread, but I was young and had lots of time to do it.

Today's society has no time, no desire, nor inclination, nor family bonds to support it.

I admire your attempt. Many things can be learned by a trial run.

omegaman 07-03-2007 02:09 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Days 14- 18

Here I am shame faced, but on day 16 we messed up. Having been out on calls all day and my wife being out with me, we got a bad case of the hungries; compounded by us knowing dinner would take an hour or two to prepare. So we stopped and bought a bite at a burger joint.

Please accept my sincere apologies. The spirit is willing etc, etc, etc.

Anyway other than our slip up we have continued on with our exercise. We ranout of meat as of yesterday; except for a couple of turkey carcases I froze to make soup from. And of course we have our canned tuna left.

My wife bought a bread maker at a garage sale we hope to save some time baking with so I can grab something on my way out the door.

I will keep you all posted.

Goldhedge 07-03-2007 03:33 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
A bread maker is nice as a time saver.

I use one of those little Hobart mixers...really saves time making the dough. Doesn't bake the bread however.

omegaman 07-09-2007 11:59 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Days 18- 24

Over 3 weeks now and we are still alive! Our diet is quite bland now, as you have probably already guessed. We are now completely out of meat, other than canned stuff. Cooking oil is running very low, despite me having socked away quite a lot some time ago. It would seem my wife has been using it up without replacing it :banghead:. No big deal though as it has shown me the need to take regular inventories of our preps.

Our garden is producing quite a lot now, which really helps offset the other deficiencies in our diet. We would appreciate any suggestions anyone has for replacing veggies/fruits with something storable; as its pretty hard to garden in the winter months here in canuckistan.

The past week I managed to catch a couple of small rainbow trout.. We haven't had them yet, but they will be a welcome treat when we do.

Overall I am actually quite impressed so far. Despite our cravings for junk, we seem to be reasonably well prepared.

BeeYourself 07-10-2007 02:27 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Very good work so far. The diet you end with is probably the one you should stick with. As crazy as that sounds that is about my actual diet now. We just tasted our 5 gallons of red wine that we made last month and its really good.

I would be curious about what region you live in because one thing you do not seem to be doing besides fishing is looking around your yard and nearby lands for what is edible.

I hammermill my own flour from mesquite and palo verde trees. There is also various cactus, cactus fruit and editable weeds around here in abundance. I am not there yet, but I am getting closer to not even needing a store at all WTSHTF. You can even dig up the worms in your garden for protein.

Its amazing what you can find with a bit of research on the net. You can also bake young male pine cones if you live in that climate.

Quote:

This has had an unintended consequence. We are now more consumer conscious about packaging materials. We understand that when we buy something WE have to dispose of the packaging. The first thing we did was start requesting all of our groceries in paper instead of plastic. Paper burns "cleaner" and it just plain burns better. By putting our trash in the paper grocery sacks (rather than "trash bags") we are saving the cost of the trash bags and making it easier to start the trash fire (the plastic bags seem to suffocate the fire).
I suggest that you ask for paper once. Take good care of them when you get home pack them away in the trunk of your car. When you go to the store, pull them out and ask them to pack your groceries in them. That way you won't need to burn anything. If you don't want paper at all, then use a backpack or large purse bag. Or you can take the paper and use it for your kids to draw on, shred it for compost, use it as a firestarter, line bird cages and use the poop collected for the garden, store household items in it like rice or cloth pieces etc... Its endless really.

I would like to see this same experiment done by turning off the city water, city gas and city electric for a month. 3 months - 12 months would really get people surviving. Having a job would screw with that though.

Good job so far! If you get done and still crave mcdonalds and crap like that then go another month till you kick it! ;-)

omegaman 07-10-2007 02:50 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I live in Ontario Canada, on a 500 acre farm with many, many, acres of woodland. We are literally surrounded with wild foods I could hunt/gather. I used to hunt quite a lot. But since I've become self employed, even in the past month with no groceries - I just simply haven't had time to do it.

BeeYourself 07-10-2007 02:56 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I see, so your back is covered. ;-)

brewer 07-12-2007 06:25 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
We grow Butternut, Acorn and Spaghetti squash for winter storage,also we buy local Johnathon and Winesap apples.
Properly stored these will last until april/may.
Carrots are planted this week in raised beds, after they get a good start we mulch them in the fall and harvest thru winter until march/april.
We start cherry tomatoes in portable containers now, before the first hard frost we roll them into the house to harvest until late nov/dec
We live in SE Ohio.
ROOT CELLARING by Mike and Nancy Bubel is great book for food storage .
Good luck

Tn...Andy 07-12-2007 07:22 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
This has been a good story to follow Omegaman.....hope you've kept day to day notes and have time to post them.....valuable info for all here. Thank you.


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AMforPM 07-14-2007 04:11 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

We would appreciate any suggestions anyone has for replacing veggies/fruits with something storable
Though expensive, freeze dried long storage fruits and veggies taste pretty good and sprouts are easy and supply the wonderful fresh food nutrients.

The root cellar long storage fruits and veggies are a good suggestion too. Cabbage, carrots, winter squash, long keeping apple varieties, onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes all store well. When selecting seed or trees, choosing varieties that are good keepers makes several months difference in how long the foods keep.

On 500 acres if TSHTF you would have time to hunt, trap, fish, and gather, so you would likely be fine. You might plant more fruit trees and berry bushes and nut trees right for your climate now to have gathering made easier and more abundant later.

<SLV> 07-14-2007 06:16 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by AMforPM (Post 663489)
Though expensive, freeze dried long storage fruits and veggies taste pretty good and sprouts are easy and supply the wonderful fresh food nutrients.

The root cellar long storage fruits and veggies are a good suggestion too. Cabbage, carrots, winter squash, long keeping apple varieties, onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes all store well. When selecting seed or trees, choosing varieties that are good keepers makes several months difference in how long the foods keep.

On 500 acres if TSHTF you would have time to hunt, trap, fish, and gather, so you would likely be fine. You might plant more fruit trees and berry bushes and nut trees right for your climate now to have gathering made easier and more abundant later.

Can you spell out step by step how to begin growing your own sprout garden?

omegaman 07-18-2007 07:31 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Well the 30 days is over. We are both still alive and have learned a lot. I lost 5 pounds in the first week, but failed to lose any more after that. How much weight my wife lost is a well guarded secret. In a nutshell, the lessons learned are:

1. Take stock regularly of your preps. You never know what has gone bad or been used up by others in your household without your knowledge.

2. If the grid is down, your beans, rice, wheat berries, etc will become terribly difficult to prepare unless you like running your woodstove in the summertime when its 95 degrees.

3. Stored food takes TIME to prepare. This was the GREATEST problem we encountered during this exercise. Need to be at a client at 8am? Better factor in 30 minutes to prepare breakfast. Minimum. Lunch? Better have a hour prep time. Snacks? Yikes! Don't even go there.

4. If you suffer from any food addictions (sugar, caffeine, junk, a drink with dinner, etc), you better get over them now; or at least try a withdrawal period, so you know how your body will react when its not there anymore.

5. If you plan to garden, you better learn how to put up what you grow for the winter months. I don't think we would have completed 1 week, much less 30 days if I tried this in January without all the fresh veggies.

6. Get lots LOTS of spices, salad dressings, flavorings, etc. They make plain and/or unpalatable dishes much more enjoyable.

7. Food in your fridge and pantry can be stretched a LONG way, without even using your preps. With a little forethought and discipline it wouldn't be too difficult for the average sheeple out there to live 2 -4 weeks just on what they have in their house. How much forethought and discipline one can expect from the average guy on the street is questionable though to say the least.

8. Learn to eat stuff you don't like now, or at least try different stuff out. After the excrement has hit the oscillating atmospheric manipulator isn't the time to find out you have a food allergy; or for that matter you are too stressed to overcome your squeamishness etc.

9. Finally, eat what you store and store what you eat. That doesn't just mean eating your preps day to day, but also storing the mundane stuff you use everyday (IE salad dressing, chocolate, etc).

If I think of anything else I'll let you all know. Thank you all for your support and your patience waiting for my posts which weren't as frequent as i would have liked.

bl96S5eu 07-18-2007 08:42 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Good job omegaman.

The comment about snacks made me realize I need to make some more jerky and dried fruits as well as trying out some oatmeal bars that we've been talking about trying but haven't done yet.

Baphomet Jones 07-18-2007 08:51 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Awesome, thanks for sharing the experience with us! :D

gpond 07-18-2007 09:43 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Outstanding posts, omegaman!

shades2 07-18-2007 09:51 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
I would argue that a nice fat stash of quality wine, well cellared, would provide you with plenty of bargaining power to source food from others. One thing is sure, during a recession/depression, people still drink, perhaps even more-so.

The nice thing about wine/vodka/spirits, is it will keep for very long periods of time, and in many cases gets better with age. I'm talking 7-20 years here. If nothing happens in the 7 years you plan to keep it, you can enjoy drinking it instead, and buy new bottles. :)

fasTTcar 07-18-2007 10:42 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Thanks Omegaman.

A very nice exercise for all here who read it. It is always important to get a real world view of how things work instead of speculation.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It was much appreciated.

Kahlil Gibran 07-18-2007 10:49 PM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by omegaman (Post 667615)
In a nutshell, the lessons learned are:

:wavey: Thanks for sharing all you learned with us Omegaman!

Brio 07-25-2007 10:21 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
Wow, what an interesting (and encouraging) experiment! Thank you so much for sharing that.

One bit of info I might add, is plant some kale, it grows all winter long (unless you're in -30C zone, in which case, just move it indoors) and has more nutrients and minerals than any plant except broccoli. Most think of it as a garnish, it's much more. I grind it up and freeze it in small bags, then cook with potatoes, perogies, rice, whatever.

buff01 07-26-2007 02:38 AM

Re: 30 Days!
 
thanks, Omegaman.


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