Monday, February 11, 2008

It Never Hurts to be Prepared

I went to a class on Saturday with an old friend from Casper. It was at Kitchen Kneads in Ogden and the couple who own the store talked about how they lived on their food storage for 11 months in Montana. So basically they talked about how you can actually live on just the foods stored. They claim that in that 11 month period they did not purchase one thing from a store---no dairy, no meat, no vegatables, nothing. They gave demonstrations on how to prepare foods with wheat, beans, and rice basically. Oh, also, the art of sprouting. They actually covered a-lot, it was a 3 1/2 hour class.
So I thought I would share one of my favorite things.

The first thing he told us about--- was a candle that will burn 3 hours made out of toilet paper.
Buy cheap toilet paper for this:
1 roll of toilet paper with the center roll and approximately a 1/2 inch thick of paper left on it pulled from the center.
1 empty new quart can with lid. (looks like a small paint can)
1 32 oz bottle of rubbing alcohol
take the roll of toilet paper and place inside the can, pour the entire contents of the alcohol over the toilet paper.
To store, place lid on top and always store upright. Will eventually evaporate--but will last for a fair amount of time. (If it's possible to store upright in a car, this is a great thing to carry along in-case of an emergency)
Another great use is that you can turn it into a makeshift stove. Place a #10 can (the ones we use to can with at the distribution center) after punching holes around the top of the can and the bottom of the can, and of course one end off, place over the small can. Presto stove, cook on the top of the #10 can.
You just basically light the alcohol in the can and the toilet paper serves as the wick. The best part: the toilet paper doesn't burn, you just replenish by adding more alcohol. Good one, don't you think!

So there you have it. Thought I was going to share a recipe or two did you not. I was considering it, but decided you probably have seen all those things before. It really was a fun class and I am now asking that Bryan buy me a wonder mill for my birthday. So I can make flour out of anything and everything I can.