Real Food Homestead

Grow. Raise. Cook. Preserve.

Preparedness

12 Homemade Pickle Recipes to Preserve Your Cucumbers

by

Some years are better than others in the garden. Weather, personal problems and pests can be a big factor in whether or not your garden thrives from year to year.

If you have an abundant amount of cucumbers in your garden, you can only eat so many raw. You need to do something to preserve the rest for winter.

Here is where a great pickle recipe can come in. It can take that garden fresh cucumber and keep it yummy for much longer.

So today, I want to share with you 12 recipes that will help you preserve the harvest long after summer is over.

pickle ingredients

12 Homemade Pickle Recipes to Preserve Your Cucumbers

Easy Bread and Butter Refrigerator Pickles Recipe @ Whole Fed Homestead

Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles Recipe @ Flour On My Face

Spicy Overnight Pickles @ Snappy Gourmet

Jalepeno Garlic Basil Pickles @ Dizzy Busy and Hungry

Grandma’s Dill Pickle Recipe @ Lovely Greens

Fire and Ice Pickles @ I Believe I Can Fry

The Best Sweet Pickle Recipe @ A Modern Homestead

The Best Classic Kosher Dill Pickle Recipe @ Tiaras and Tantrums

Homemade Claussen Pickles Copycat @ Amanda’s Cookin’

Basic Quick Pickles @ The Pioneer Woman

Mom’s Refrigerator Sweet Pickles @ A Farmgirl’s Dabbles

Lacto Fermented Pickles @ Practical Self Reliance

Don’t those just look yummy! I can’t wait to pickle some cucumbers this year.

I hope these recipes inspire you to try something new with your pickling this year. I always love finding a new favorite recipe. Happy pickling!

homemade pickle recipes pin

What are your favorite kind of pickles to eat? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

Emergency Preparedness for Beginners: One Week of Food and Water

by

Sometimes simple is the only way to go.

Because we are all busy with our everyday lives and taking on just one more thing can be hard.

I get it. You are busy. I am busy. We are all busy.

Maybe busier than we need to be, but I’ll save that for another post.

So in this post, I’m not going to get fancy. I am just going to tell it to you straight.

Are you ready?

If you don’t have one week of food and water stored in your house for emergencies, you are doing your family a disservice.

Click here to subscribe

Why do I think this is such a big deal?

Having enough food and water for your family for 1 week is the MINIMUM you can do to help your family in times of emergency.

I’m not talking about months or even a year of food and water storage. 7 days is all I am asking for. You can do this, you just have to make it a priority.

What kinds of emergencies?

Sickness

Job Loss

Accident or Injury

Power outage

Natural disasters

What kinds of food?

I’m not talking about organic, real food. I’m talking about things you can eat to survive for one week.

These may not be things you eat regularly, and they don’t even have to be healthy.

After all, you don’t plan on eating them for that long.

They should be non perishable or at least shelf stable for several months.

Some easy to store foods include:

Canned vegetables, meats, soups and meals.

Freeze dried foods or MREs.

Granola bars, beef jerky or protein bars.

Ramen noodles or boxed mac and cheese.

PopTarts, oatmeal packets or dry cereal.

Crackers, peanut butter or tuna packets.

family shopping in grocery store

How much food do I need for 1 week?

This depends on the size of your family. You usually want to shoot for about 2000 calories a day per person, depending on the size, age and activity of the person.

My teenage boys eat much more than I do. They eat several servings of a food, so I can’t go by servings alone.

And I don’t want to skimp on their meals because they will probably be doing a man’s share of manual labor in an emergency situation.

Whatever amount your family normally eats in a day, multiply by 7 to get an accurate amount of food.

How much water do I need for 1 week?

It is commonly accepted that you should store 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking and cooking.

You may want to store more if you are using it for bathing or washing dishes/clothes.

You can store water in small water bottles, 7 gallon jugs or large 50 gallon barrels. Whatever you have room for in your home.

Don’t try to get fancy:

You don’t need to make a complicated meal plan for your emergency food storage.

Here is an example of a simple meal plan for a full day of food:

Breakfast: 1 PopTart pack

Lunch: Canned Tuna and crackers, canned fruit

Dinner: 1 Box Kraft Mac & Cheese, canned green beans

Snack or Dessert: Granola bar

Multiply this by 7 and then by the number of people in your family.

Of course, you can mix it up if you want. You may not want to eat the same thing every day for a week.

But don’t over think it. The more complicated you make it, the more likely it won’t get done.

Get to the store:

Once you have your list, get to the store and get it this week!

If you have a Costco or Sam’s club near you, you can get these things in bulk to save money.

If not (we don’t have those things close to us either), just go to your local WalMart or grocery store and pick up what you need.

Don’t wait for a sale! Get it this week!

These things aren’t that expensive. Get the store brand to save money.

You don’t want to be going to the store at the last minute with everyone else. That is when we see empty shelves and price gauging. Do it now!

Peace of Mind is worth it:

Once you buy and store one week of food and water in your house for emergencies, you can have peace of mind.

Peace of mind that if disaster strikes you have provisions to live on.

Peace of mind that if you get sick your family can fend for themselves.

Peace of mind that if you lose your job you don’t have to go to the grocery store for a week.

And that peace of mind can be worth its weight in gold. I promise you that.

Take the steps today:

What are the steps to get one week of food and water for my family?

  1. Evaluate how much you need for your family.
  2. Make a list of the items you want to buy to fulfill your goal.
  3. Go out and buy enough food and water (or containers) for one week.
  4. Store it in a dry, easy to access place in your home (this doesn’t have to be the pantry).
  5. Rotate this food every few months to keep it fresh.
  6. Enjoy your peace of mind.

This is just a drop in the bucket for emergency provisions that you could be making in your life, but it is a big, important step forward.

I want your family to be prepared for whatever lies ahead. Gathering one week of food and water is the first step. Get started today!

What do you like to store in your short term food storage? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

Click here to subscribe

Winter Preparedness: 7 Tips to Stay Safe In An Emergency

by

It’s November and some people are already experiencing winter weather.

We have been in a drought this year in SW Colorado, so we are hoping for a heavy snow year.

But when it comes to preparedness, winter can be the most dangerous time for emergencies.

I wrote a post a few months back about losing power and what to do. You can check that post out here —> 10 Tips For What To Do When The Power Goes Out.

snowy forest

7 Tips to Stay Safe In A Winter Emergency:

1. Stay warm

This is probably going to be the most important part of this whole list. If it is freezing outside and your power goes out, warmth is going to be your most important priority.

Here are few things to think about and get ready for this winter, before disaster strikes:

  • Have a heat source that doesn’t require electricity. This could be a wood stove, fireplace, propane heater, etc.
  • Have extra blankets and sleeping bags to stay warm.
  • Seal off windows and doors to keep the warmth in.
  • Have extra clothes to wear to keep warm, including socks, coats and long underwear.
  • Have a stash of hand warmers (other camping hacks) to stay warm in your house.

Click here to subscribe

2. Winter car kit

One of the worst things that can happen in a winter storm is to get stuck in your car on the side of the road. It’s a scary place to be.

But if you live in a place where winter storms are normal, it is highly likely that this will happen to you at some point.

In order to prepare for this situation, you need to put together a winter car kit to help you survive. Keep these things together in a basket or box in your trunk or backseat for easy access.

Items to put in your car kit:

  • Food: nuts and granola bars, canned fruit, pop tarts and other non-perishable snacks
  • Bottled water
  • Light: flashlight, glow sticks, solar lantern, extra batteries
  • Blanket
  • Warm Clothes: gloves, socks, coats, snow boots, hats, pants
  • Tools: jumper cables, ice scraper, shovel, flares or reflective triangles
  • Cat litter or sand for tire traction
  • Small First Aid Kit
  • Phone charger and/or solar charger to charge your phone

cat and dog in snow

3. Take care of animals

Animals can take a beating in a winter storm. It may even be hard to reach them if you get alot of snow. Here are a few things you can do to help them out and keep them safe.

  • Keep water from freezing.
  • Provide shelter.
  • Bring them inside.
  • Add extra bedding.
  • Give them extra food.

I have a blog post on this topic, so if you want more information —> 21 Resources to Help You Keep Your Animals Warm In The Winter.

4. Keep pipes warm

One of the worst things that can happen because of a very cold winter is pipes bursting. What a mess!

Here are a few things to think about:

  • Unhook your water hoses and drain them before the first freeze.
  • Cover or insulate pipes that are not freeze proof to protect them from sub-freezing temperatures.
  • If you have a well, make sure it is insulated and covered in the winter.
  • Seal holes and cracks in the foundation of older homes with caulk or insulation.
  • Let a faucet drip if the pipes will be exposed to below freezing temperatures for more than a few hours.

5. Snow removal

Do you have a snow removal system in place in case you get a large amount of snow at once?

Right after a large snow storm, the emergency room can get visits with people over doing it on snow shoveling.

If you need to remove large amounts of snow, get a machine to do most of the work:

  • Snow blower
  • Tractor
  • Truck or four wheeler with a snow blade

If you must shovel the snow yourself, make sure and pace yourself. Shoveling is hard work and can wear you out quickly. Take breaks and don’t over do it.

vintage canned goods in a pantry

6. Food/ water storage

Just in case you get snowed in your house for several days, you should always have emergency food and water storage available to use.

This could include quick meals you can eat without preparation or something you can cook without electricity.

Here are a few ideas:

  • Ramen noodles or boxed mac and cheese
  • Canned meals, fruits and vegetables
  • Snacks like crackers, granola bars and nuts
  • Beef jerky and freeze dried meals
  • Oatmeal packets and Poptarts

For more on quick food/water storage, check out this post —> Emergency Preparedness for Beginners: One Week of Food and Water.

7. Clear trees and limbs away from your house

One thing that can happen in a big winter storm is that heavy snow can weigh down trees and power lines.

If you have power lines near your house, there isn’t really anything you can do about that.

But you can trim trees around your home so that they don’t cause damage if they get weighed down by snow in the winter. The last thing you need is a hole in the roof or busted window from a branch that breaks and falls on your house.

If you are in an area that gets large amounts of snowfall every year (or every few years), it is important to be prepared. Extreme cold can be very dangerous, especially without protection from the elements.

I hope this list helps you get your family prepared this winter! You won’t regret it!

winter preparedness pin

What do you do for winter preparedness? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

Click here to subscribe

8 Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About Emergency Preparedness

by

As parents, we often take on most of the emergency preparedness tasks ourselves.

But I think it is equally important to teach our children emergency preparedness skills as well.

How do we make emergency preparedness fun for kids? How do we get them excited about participating?

Click here to subscribe

I have come up with some ideas on this subject. I have teenagers, but I think most of these tricks will work on kids of all ages.

8 Ways to Get Your Children Excited About Emergency Preparedness

1. Practice with Drills

Kids attend drills all the time at school: fire drills, tornado drills, lockdown drills, etc. Why shouldn’t we do them at home as well?

You can make a game out of it by timing them to see how long it takes them to exit the house and get to their designated meeting location.

Practicing with drills helps kids become more comfortable with emergency procedures so that they might be more calm during an actual emergency.

2. Teach them outdoor survival skills

My boys do this with their boy scout troop, but parents can teach this information as well.

You can have a campout in your backyard or go on a family campout in the wilderness.

Skills such as gathering wood, building a fire, cooking on a fire, setting up a tent, basic first aid, etc are important for kids to know in emergency situations. It’s fun too!

3. Add fun things to 72 hour kits

72 hour kits (bug out bags) are bags you put together with enough food, water, clothing and supplies to survive for 3 days.

But besides these essentials, it would be fun for kids to add a few extras in their bag as well.

Some ideas would be: games, cards, word puzzles, candy or a small toy.

To find out more about 72 hour kits, you can read this post —> How to Make 72 Hour Kits to Get Your Family Prepared for Emergencies.

4. Make a game

Kids love to play games, so why don’t we use games to get them excited about emergency preparedness?

I love this post by Mom with A Prep —> 10 Pretend Games to Develop Preparedness Skills In Kids. 

My favorite from that list is the We’re Going On A RoadTrip Game. What a great idea!

5. Review skills when something happens

Anytime something big happens (locally or in the news) that involves an emergency situation, use that as a teaching moment to discuss it with your kids.

This could be any kind of natural disaster, terrorist attack, school shooting or other emergency. Even the power going out can be a good time to teach your kids what they should do.

Kids will remember these things and hopefully recall what you told them if they are in an actual emergency.

6. Let them help you get prepared

Kids love to help, so let them help you get prepared.

Let them help pick out or stack food for food storage. Let them fill up bottles or gallon jug of water for water storage. They can help you put together 72 hour kits or power outage kits.

The more involved they are, the more excited they will be (especially young kids). That also gives them a sense of pride that they can help the family in an emergency.

kids doing a science experiement

7. Do weather experiments at home

Kids love science, so why not show them the science behind storms and natural disasters.

Inspiration Laboratories has some great resources on their site —> Weather related science projects.

8. Use entertainment involving disasters

Children love to watch movies and read books about natural disasters.

Some of our favorite weather movies are:

Twister, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, Dante’s Peak, and San Andreas.

For younger kids:

Frozen, Ice Age, and Eight Below

While watching these movies, we should discuss with our kids what we would do if those situations happened at our house.

We don’t do this to scare them, but to educate them and get them thinking of what they should do in different situations.

Emergency preparedness can be a scary thing for kids, but it doesn’t have to be.

By doing these things, we can open up a conversation with our kids about emergencies and what we should do if we have one at our house.

So try to involve your kids in your emergency preparedness efforts. I hope you will reap great blessings knowing that your kids are more prepared for whatever comes their way.

kids emergency preparedness pin

What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

Click here to subscribe

5 Ways to Prepare for Death or Disability Now

by

No one wants to think about death (or disability). It seems morbid to worry about those things when you are perfectly healthy.

But if you have ever had a close friend or family member pass away suddenly, you know how hard it can be on the people that are left behind.

Not only are they upset about losing that person, but they can be overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done after that person is gone.

Cleaning out their things.

Selling a home.

Paying bills or debts.

Funeral services and arrangements.

Who gets what after they are gone.

And while we can’t completely alleviate these burdens, there are some things we can do to make it easier on those we leave behind.

I believe this is an important part of emergency preparedness and should not be put off until it’s too late. We never know when that time will be.

So today, I want to talk about some things you can do to help your friends and family when it is your time to go. After all, you never know when your “last minute” will be.

older couple sitting on couch looking at laptop

5 Ways to Prepare for Death or Disability Now

1. Make your wishes known

The best thing you can do to make things easier on the loved ones you leave behind is to make your wishes known now. Sit down and have a discussion about the things you feel are important. These could include (but aren’t limited to):

  • Where you want to be buried.
  • What you would like to the service to look like.
  • The contents of your will (we will discuss that next)
  • What to do with social media accounts
  • What are your medical wishes if you are in a coma or on life support.

2. Make a will

Making a will can be frustrating and time consuming, but it will make things easier for your family in the end. Wills should be clear and concise. They also need to be updated often to account for changes in your family or property.

I am not an attorney, so this is not legal advice. I suggest you consult an attorney to get your will taken care of. Here are a few things you might think about including:

  • Who will be the executor of your will?
  • Who will take care of your children if you die?
  • Who will take care of your animals if you die?
  • Who will inherit your home and other property?
  • Who you would like to leave certain personal items to?
  • Who will take care of your finances (pay off debt, pay bills, etc)?

3. Life Insurance

If you or a spouse (or both) die, your family finances would take a major hit. It doesn’t really matter if the person was a wage earner or not.

So while it would be financially devastating to have the primary provider pass away, it would be just as financially devastating for the stay at home spouse to pass away. Both contribute to the family finances in different ways.

When thinking about life insurance, it is important that both parents be insured. If either spouse dies, the other could use the money to keep the family a float.

If both parents die together, life insurance would ensure the children would be looked after financially and will help whomever is a thrust into the caregiver position on their behalf.

4. Keep good records

Good record keeping can be crucial to settling your estate and finances once you are gone.

We discuss in this post how to keep your personal documents stored for emergencies —> How to Gather Important Family Documents for Emergencies.

It is important that someone can easily find what they need if you aren’t there to guide them.

But more than that, they need to know how you conduct the business of your household. Here are some items you might want to organize and document just in case:

  • What bills you pay? How do you pay them?
  • Passwords to online websites for banking and paying bills.
  • Insurance documents
  • Property deeds
  • Family budget

If you have a spouse and he/she doesn’t know these things, you need to show them. Should accident, injury or death occur to you, do they know how to keep things running at home?

5. Don’t leave a mess

Are you a hoarder? Do you have so much stuff that you don’t even know what all of it is or why you have it?

Leaving behind a mess for loved ones to clean up once your gone is not thoughtful or helpful.

Are you getting up in age? Maybe it’s time to pair down your belongings and start sharing with your family members while you can see the joy it gives them now.

Do you need to keep all of their old toys and childhood things? Maybe you should give them a chance to go through them with you and relive the memories together. And then, if they don’t want to keep them, give them away to someone who will really enjoy them.

Have a large garage sale and use the money earned to go on a family trip together. Memories are much more priceless than tons of stuff just laying around and catching dust.

Wouldn’t it be great to know that your passing won’t put an undo burden on your family? That you have things organized and designed to help them in their time of grief.

I encourage you to take these steps to prepare for death or disability now, no matter what your age. It will help you be more organized and aware of what you have, and it will help those that live on after you to take care of things for you. It is a win-win for everyone.

death or disability pin

Do you have your life in order to prepare for death or disability? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

Click here to subscribe

10 Tips For What To Do When The Power Goes Out

by

It can be a scary time when the power goes out.

All of the sudden, you need to know where things are in your house that can provide light.

You need to be prepared to cook and heat your home without electricity.

If you know it’s just going to be for a couple of hours, no big deal, right?

You play games with your kids or just ignore it if it’s during the day in the spring or fall.

You can live a couple of hours without power, right? No problem.

But what if you have an extended outage? Bad weather or a car accident has disrupted service.

Maybe you live out in the country, so your lines are the last ones to be fixed after a storm.

You could be out of electricity for several days. Add on to the fact that it is the middle of summer or winter, and you could have a problem on your hands.

But don’t panic. Today, I am going to give you 10 tips to help you get organized and ready for just such an emergency.

That way you can make better decisions and find things faster in this kinds of emergency.

10 Tips For What To Do When The Power Goes Out

1. Have many types of light sources together in one place.

You probably have flashlights, candles and even glow sticks laying around your house. These things and other light sources can help you during a power outage. But do you know where they are? If the power went out, could you find them quickly in the dark?

Making a power outage kit could help you gather these things so that when they are needed, you will know right where to go.

Here are a couple of resources to get you prepared with light sources during a power outage:

Power Outage Kit @ Baby to Boomer

11 Ways to Light Your Home When the Power Goes Out @ Urban Survival Site

2. Have a backup fuel source for heating.

If your power goes out in the winter time, you are going to want a backup source of heat.

If you a have a fireplace or wood stove, of course you would start there. You just want to make sure they are cleaned out and in working order each year, especially if you don’t use them often.

Other options are propane heaters, solar heaters and gas for a generator.

I discuss storing fuel in this post —> 7 Types of Fuel You Should Store For Emergency Preparedness

3. Get a generator for backup power.

The #1 rule when using a generator is: don’t use it in the house.

A generator is nice to have to back up things like medical equipment, refrigerator and heating systems.

Try to streamline the devices you need to have power for so you don’t have a web of cords running thru your house.

You will need to store gasoline to use the generator in an emergency.

If you are new to generators, this post can help —> Generators for Beginners @ An Off Grid Life

4. Know where blankets and sleeping bags are for warmth.

One way to stay warm in a power outage is to use extra blankets and sleeping bags. You can even set up a tent in your living room and have everyone sleep together for warmth.

couple sitting by the fire

5. Consolidate cooled food into one place.

As mentioned above, you don’t want your generator to work harder than it has to.

So when the power goes out, you want to consolidate your food cooling needs to one place.

If your deep freeze is only half full, see if you can thaw the food to eat or move it to your refrigerator’s freezer so you only have to power one appliance.

If not, if your deep freeze is full, don’t open it and most things will stay frozen for several hours without backup power.

6. Know how to seal off doors and windows.

Insulation is good anytime you want to keep your home warm/cool. It will keep your electricity costs down and make for a more even temperature around your house.

But when the power is out, you want to make sure your heating efforts are working like you want them too.

This may include:

  • Closing off rooms you aren’t using.
  • Closing blinds and curtains.
  • Putting towels under doorways to keep from losing heat.
  • Put plastic on windows to keep the warmth in.

Whatever you can do to make your home more efficient before a power outage, the better.

7. Make sure you have enough water.

Water is something many people forget about when they think of emergency preparedness.

You should have emergency water stored for whatever emergencies your family might have.

Atleast 1 gallon per person, per day is recommended.

Here is a post I wrote on emergency water that might be helpful —> Emergency Water Storage for Prepared Families.

8. Have a plan for using the bathroom.

Do you know what to do to make your toilet ready to use in an emergency?

Of course, the boys can go outside, but that isn’t ideal for some of us.

Here are some ideas that can help you when you need to go in an emergency:

7 Steps to Maintaining Proper Sanitation During Power Outage @ Modern Self-Reliance

Make Your Own Emergency Toilet @ Mom with a Prep

9. Use clothing to regulate body temperature.

Clothing can help you regulate your body temperature in an emergency situation.

If you are out of heat in the winter, put on more layers of clothing to stay warm.

If you are hot in the summer, put on less or lighter clothing to keep you cool.

These seem like simple ideas, but we tend to forget simple things when an emergency strikes.

10. Take advantage of family time.

From my prospective as a parent, a power outage could be a great time to reconnect as a family.

As long as no one’s hurt, time without electronic devices, video games and tv could be a great time to bond.

Also, shared experiences become great memories if you treat them right.

So grab some candles, a board game and have a good time together.

You could read (or tell) a story, play cards or warm yourselves by the fire together.

Make the most of the situation and enjoy the peacefulness until the power comes back on.

When the power goes out, it can be a scary time. You forget about what you were doing and bring things back to basics.

By keeping these 10 things in mind, you can make it a good experience for you and your family. It could even make a good memory for later.

power outage pin

Do you have anything to add to this list? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

Click here to subscribe

error: Content is protected !!