Sugarless Treats Have a Place in Prepping

          

chefintrainingwallpaper.blogspot.com

       Those who subscribe here and know me well know that I have said that I would not become a recipe blog.  There are lots of people, some of them friends who are excellent cooks and I think the recipes should be left to them.  This said, a lot of the things we discuss here, are, shall I say, "off-putting".  A lot of the news lately is discouraging, and this means that you at home, and I should find ways of diverting ourselves on occasion, and considering even just for a moment, more pleasant subjects.

                  As many of you know, one of my adult children has been a juvenile diabetic since age nine, and so we work hard to have at least some sugarless food here for her visits.   In addition, I have found that well made sugarless food can be quite pleasant for me as well.  Sugared foods can cause your own beta cells of your pancreas to unleash insulin, driving appetite, and leaving you seeking the same amount of sugar the following day.   I just keep refined sugars to a minimum because I feel better, when I do.

                  Yesterday, I modified a cake mix recipe in order to make some sugar free mini cupcakes.   The addition of the chocolate chips to the top, in lieu of icing, does make them very slightly sugared, but they are still very low sugar.

                  The reason this is important is that store bought sugar free baked goods are extremely expensive. Making your own and freezing them not only saves you money but it makes it more likely that you will eat properly, treat yourself when appropriate, and then be in the best weight and condition for hiking and the world's emergencies

These can also be iced, but I would not glop too much icing, even if sugar free type.

(Photo: somemoreplease.wordpress.com)

Low Sugar Cupcakes/Mini muffins

Required:

Box Pillsbury Moist Supreme Sugar Free Premium Cake Mix (Either Devil's Food or White Cake)

(Sweetened with Splenda)

¼ cup oil

2 small eggs

cup of water

Hershey's semi sweet chocolate chips      (I used ones that are 70 calories a tablespoon)

Mini cupcake cases (which I placed in mini cupcake tins)

Yields: About 43 mini cupcakes

1. You will need to divide the cake mix in half. I did this using two bowls and a quarter cup measure, dividing a quarter cup at a time in one bowl and then in another and so on. Save one half of the mix in a freezer bag for next time, and mark it, as such.
2. Place your cupcake cases in your tin.
3. Then take your powdered mix into a bowl, add one quarter cup oil, then 2 small eggs. Then add first a half a cup of water and then an eighth of a cup of water. Mix on a medium speed for two minutes. It will become creamy.
4. Now, heat your oven.
5. Then fill each cupcake case with the batter, to about one half full using a small cereal spoon.
6. Then, place three chocolate chips in each cupcake pushing them into the batter slightly. This is time consuming on numerous small cupcakes and this is why I had you set your oven later than we would normally.
7. Place them into the oven for about nine or ten minutes. Check them often at the end of baking as they will over bake easily.

Made as directed here, each cupcake will be about thirty calories by itself and the three chocolate chips have added an additional seven calories.

A serving would be two cupcakes.

Each serving of two cupcakes 74 calories very little sugar, sodium and saturated fat in this sized serving.

I recommend that you make these periodically and freeze and label them as reduced sugar and with calorie counts. This way, you will have them available when you want one. It is possible to skip the mini cupcake cases if you have the mini tins and spray them with Baker's Secret or other low calorie spray. I think it's a bit neater to use the mini cupcake cases which are available at Wal-Mart.

Don't forget to make the remaining half a mix as mini cupcakes to freeze later. You may also ice these with a moderate amount of Pillsbury's frosting, and freeze them for later use. Don't forget to revise the calorie count if icing them.

I keep a “Mini Cupcake Kit” assembled which has the half mix of Pillsbury Sugar Free cake mix, the Hershey's semi sweet chocolate chips, and mini cup cake cases.

You can experiment with the two different batters by Pillsbury and different types of chips. The Hershey's chips are 70 calories per tablespoon so just be careful to buy some that are similar in total calories.

If placed in a tin these can be a wonderful birthday or Christmas gift to diabetics, or those watching weight, especially if you include a card with the calorie counts and specifics.

Picture Heavy Eye Candy for Preppers

              

      Well, it's now official.  Canada is in recession.  Greece is still navigating life on the fiscal brink.  Italy, Portugal and others are not far behind.   Puerto Rico is slated to default on its debt today.  No matter where you are the fiscal news is not good.  This said, most of those who are reading this blog have long recognized that financially a lot of the world has been functioning using smoke and mirrors for quite some time, and many of us have already cut back, sold what we could, paid off what was possible, etc.

                So now, the task for many of us becomes staying sane and sensible in an increasingly challenging world where job loss, the loss of homes by friends and family and other issues surface with some regularity.  It also means that we will need to learn to find solace and pleasure in simply inexpensive things, without eating ourselves silly.

                In keeping with a change of pace following all the negative and concerning posts necessity has caused me to bring to you of late, today I am posting some picture heavy eye candy.  I generally receive a lot of positive responses when I post pictures of cabins and cabin interiors as many people seem to find these inspiring and encouraging.

This is a nice functional cabin kitchen.

The same cabin has laundry facilities just off the dining area. This is unconventional, but works in small space.

This is a different cabin entirely, but a tranquil small bath nonetheless.

This is the master bedroom from yet another cabin.

Cabins don't need to impress anyone.  They need to be affordable functional systems for the families who occupy them, either on vacations, in emergencies, or as longer term living alternatives.

                    A cabin can be a place that you and your family move down to either because financially it would be a softer road to hoe, or even because your cabin could be a more favorable jurisdiction in which to homeschool.    Your cabin might be a place your father or grandfather passed to you.  It could be a place you built for simple weekend vacations.   It might also be a place to go where the noise of life itself and the stressors which accompany it may be muted.

                    Best of luck in navigating these times, and in finding simple places and pleasures which aid you and your family in the  recharging which is necessary in meeting life's challenges.  Have a great weekend.

Shifting Gears After Job Loss

         

Picture: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

     I haven't mentioned this, because we have been rather busy in the interim, but several weeks ago, one of my adult children, who works for a technology company, was laid off.  It's always tough to deal with a job lay off and all the implications of such.  The subject employer is restructuring their large technology department and many people who made high salaries there will be out of a job. This will be true across the country for employees and managers of this particular company.

                 When I was young, we were taught that we could make ourselves virtually lay off proof.  Being a valued employee, taking all the certifications and courses offered or possible through an employer, and doing a really good job with whatever the undertaking were just a few of those strategies.  However, there is no such thing now.  Perhaps, rather than making ourselves lay off proof, it probably makes sense to follow some of the strategies that maximize our marketability to other companies. Perhaps, gathering the ability and flexibility to shift gears rapidly is the skill for which we should be working.


1. NEVER live within your means, ALWAYS live below it.  Always save as much money as you can for rainy days.  Where you should put your money can and does change, but that you should save does not. Pay yourself first, preferably directly from the paycheck if possible. Then live on what is left.  Adjust this sum regularly, as needed.

2. Always keep an updated resume.  My kids have ten different versions of current updated resumes.  They do this because one focuses on one aspect of their education and training, and another focuses on others.  My eldest son, for example, doesn't include much detail on his resume concerning his sculpture degree, when applying for a technology job.  However, when applying for a fabrication job, he might go into some detail regarding his welding experience.    My nursing resume wouldn't have too much detail on my writing, although it is mentioned.

3. Keep a hard copy manila file of names and addresses of companies to which you would apply if your job today went South.  When there is a sudden layoff, it can be hard to recall the possibilities if you don't have the prework already done.  If you know the names and contacts of manager and human resources workers, that might help too.

4. Whenever you can, gather the names, addresses, e-mails and phone numbers of the people with whom you work and the managers and bosses that you believe would give you an excellent reference. Jobs and companies change so quickly now that it can be very hard to verify your employment somewhere.  There is absolutely no one left at Lockheed who was there when I was an industrial nurse.  

5. When people leave your present employer, stay in touch with them through Linkedin or via phone etc.   Many times, someone who has left your prior employer has gone to a company that may well be able to hire you too. Sometimes an encouraging word to a prospective employer from a new employee, is all it takes to get you hired too.

6.  This should go without saying but always treat everyone well.  Student nurses who once did clinical under me have later finished advanced degrees and have been my boss in future years.  My treating everyone well is why people know me to have integrity and why it has been rare that I have been treated badly in the workplace.   The other way of looking at this is that the people you treat well on the way up will be there for you on the way down.

7. Network not because you share the same profession, but because you are a human being genuinely interested in the people with whom you have worked.  Spontaneously networking doesn't work well.  Networking in the long term does.

8. Always keep a 3-6 month emergency cash cushion at the place of your choosing.   In Mr. Obama's "improving economy" it can take six months and an awful lot of resumes sent out in order to translate into an actual job offer.  That new job may not offer the salary to which you were accustomed.

9. If you are married, and you can, if both of you work, try to save the equivalent of one salary after taxes.

10. In the good times, try not to invest in really expensive cars that cost a great deal to maintain.  Always research the cost of car parts and routine maintenance of the car before buying it.  I think a BMW is a lot of fun to drive, but I don't like paying for even the oil and air filters on such an expensive car, and I'm not even going to start talking about Mercedes Benz, a Jag,  or a Bentley !  During a job loss a car whose parts can be found at the local Advance Auto will be a great blessing.

11. When you do buy a home, and chances are you will, buy a basic home in a decent area that will be a home for all seasons.   A McMansion might suit you as a young executive, but it won't suit you during hard times, and its maintenance and retrofits may be expensive. A cathedral ceiling could make the home hard to heat and cool.  Consider a home with a bathroom on the main floor in the event that you or someone else breaks a leg and can't navigate stairs for a time. Homes with a full bath and a bedroom on the first floor also make it possible for you and your spouse to "age in place" if you wish.  Since we can't possibly anticipate everything, life becomes about maximizing our choices in the future.

12.  Long term supplies of emergency food is not just for tornadoes, floods, civil unrest, etc.  Sometimes, especially after a job loss, we need the cash we have to pay the mortgage or to make hard copy resumes, our friends might take to work with them.   I know several families who ate out of their emergency pantry while their family was out of work.  It was the first thing they began to restock, once they were employed once again.   Food banks are wonderful, but many of them are stretched beyond capacity, as people like me who used to give regularly to them, can no longer afford to.


              My eldest child was able to find another job within the same company.  Of course, no job is guaranteed, and anything can happen. Entire departments implode sometimes.
 Best wishes to you and your employment, wherever you are.

Obama Compiling Detailed Personal Information on All Citizens

 

     According to the New York Post. president Barack Hussein Obama has instructed his minions to create a vast database of detailed personal information on all Americans with particular interest in their race and ethnicity.    Mr. Obama seems to believe  that the expensive collection of information on banking, mortgages, ethnicity, neighborhoods, employers, healthcare, education, and how your children are disciplined in school, when married up to data concerning race will underscore a pervasive picture of US institutional racism.  It has been theorized that afterward an internet framework will exist allowing a legal basis for attornies to begin to hammer for reparations to African Americans.

      Here in Virginia the last person to collect detailed racial data for a specific agenda,  and to house birth certificates of the races separately was a physician and  eugenicist  Dr Walter Ashby. Plecker.  Plecker held the role of physician and head of Vital Records in Virginia from 1912 to 1946  He kept records with the agenda of proving that non whites were inferior and he helped to criminalize the marriages of anyone who was not 100% white.  Those with "one drop of black or Indian blood" were forever classified as non-whites and were only permitted to marry someone "just like them" so that "inferior blood and breeding would be prevented from spreading."   His work is broadly regarded to be quite evil today.

       The last person who kept such detailed data on human beings without their knowledge was Hitler.

        For a moment, let me digress.   My ancestors never kept slaves.  On my father's side, they left Scotland for England and when work was thin, my ancestor John Easson, a master builder,  became an indentured servant to the King of England  as one of the first European settlements on Nova Scotia.   If I recall correctly, in the 1730s,  after four years of indentured servitude to the project for the King, my ancestor was to have received forty acres via land grant and then be free to start his own business.  Sadly, things did not go well with the original settlement of Nova Scotia, and my great great great etc. grandfather remained an indentured servant quite a few more years than he originally intended.  The family had not recovered by the following generation.  Things were so tough that one of his sons spent some time in the Poor House in Annapolis Royal.    There is no doubt that my ancestors, who were lilly white, by the way, were treated as slaves and that the deals they were given were broadly unfair and favored the king.  This was true of many people of the era.  We all worked like dogs and many of us died early.   What am I to do ?  Shall I petition Queen Elizabeth for at least one of the bracelets from the crown jewels as restitution for the behavior of her ancestor the king ?   Of course not, because that would be ridiculous.  Queen Elizabeth can't be held responsible for the actions of her ancestor, just as I can't claim the laurels for the achievements of my own ancestors.  Arguments concerning restitution are equally as tenuous.

          On the other side of my family, my ancestors were Mayflower travelers who ultimately moved across the country settled in California as ranchers.  They also did not keep slaves.  They did employ some Chinese workers and they and their children worked right beside them because to do anything else would not have ensured anyone's survival in such a barren and difficult land.  In fact, in my ancestry, there are also American Indian ancestors and a solitary Chinese woman.

        I am fortunate in that I have grown up knowing a great deal about my ancestry, and also knowing that my successes and my failures are my own. My successes have been achieved by the grace of God and by hard work. Almost everyone knows poverty at some time.  Everyone has it tough at one time or another, and life is never fair.

       I grew up, as did most of the people with whom I went to school, believing that God created all of the races and that God loves us all.  No race is superior to another.   I have friends of different races and ethnicities.  I don't like everyone, just as I don't profess to like everyone who is white ! Nice people come in all colors.

          The establishment of a database with racial information such as the New York Post says exists is proof of a couple of very concerning things.  One, it shows that Barack Hussein Obama is not thinking about the repair and rehabilitation of our crashing economy or about jobs for all races, colors, sexes,  and creeds.  Prior to his presidency, there was not racial perfection in the US, but as each generation of young people move through schools which are more or less racially integrated and more and more African Americans attain university educations and professional positions, the segregation of the races seemed more and more ridiculous.  Mr. Obama has done more to derail racial integration and to underscore racial slights that may have been imaginary, than anyone.   A racial database makes it seem as if Obama's entire presidency was about revenge against caucasians for slights real or imagined.    At the very least,  Obama's edict for the creation of such a database places him squarely in the category with Plecker, and at worst, may place him in a category with Hitler.   What is next Mr. Obama ?  Will we seize the assets of caucasians or simply  sterilize them ?

           This needs to be an immediate focus of Congress and of the American people.  Your private identifying information is your own. It should not belong to any government, particularly to an administration which has continually proven its general ineptitude if not outright dishonesty.

Thoughts on the Chattanooga Shooter

         
 

This is the alleged Chattanooga shooter

     Yesterday, a devout Muslim young man used a rifle to kill four marines at a military recruiting office in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  In the US, even soldiers are not permitted to bring weapons to work, when work is a facility, even rented by the federal government.   The devout Muslim young man actually attacked two facilities yesterday, but was killed by police before he was able to take additional lives.  There are other individuals this man injured and at least one of their lives still hangs in the balance.  Because they were not permitted to be armed while at work, the soldiers in the recruiting station were sitting ducks.

             The shooter is said to be a very pious Muslim young man who was raised in Tennessee. I will not dignify him or his actions by even stating his name.  He was born in Kuwait, had Jordanian citizenship and had been a naturalized American citizen. He held an electrical engineering degree from a Tennessee university. He was given all the opportunities we have available here. He is said to have belonged to a good family who are "good people".   Classmates in high school remembered him to be "very bright".   He squandered all the chances given to him by this nation, and he squandered his own life as well, and dishonored his family here.

           A few weeks ago I posted an entry where I explained that ISIS had hacked US military information and was publishing the names of military officers and their families. They actually created a "Hit List/Wish List" just in the event that anyone who was already in the US and wished to do them a favor would have a place to start.   If I knew this, then the US military certainly did, as did the FBI.  Were additional security measures taken in view of the ISIS hit list ?  Doesn't an attack on a recruiting station does sound like a likely progression from such a list ?    Will the federal government revisit their policy concerning no firearms in federal facilities, even in the hands of soldiers ?

             Americans are not at war with Muslims.  However, radical Islamists have made it very clear that they are indeed at war with Americans and particularly with anyone who has ties to our military.  They are determined to bring the war home to us, and to our doorsteps.

              Americans need to remain watchful.   Anyone who is legally able to obtain a concealed weapons permit, should do so.  A gun is not a charm, however.  Simply owning one and carrying one does not protect you, in itself.  In fact, owning one without proficiency may actually place you at more risk as the weapon can be taken from you and used on you and your family.  A weapon is a serious responsibility.    One must allocate time and money to practice regularly and to become safe and proficient. Once one is safe and proficient, then time and funds must still be allocated for practice ammo to retain that level of proficiency.

                        Remember that in study after study, active shooters who encounter armed resistance tend to take their own lives, and this ends the incident.  Perhaps we should all be ready to be that resistance to an armed shooter.


  When ISIS fighters realize that at every turn, their band of operatives will encounter competent armed resistance 24/7 perhaps attacks on the United States homeland will become less appealing.






The prior post mentioned:

http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2015/03/isis-publishes-us-military-kill-list.html

Taking Prepping From the Top: The Prepping Reboot

         

These are just some of the medical supplies which are almost always available at the Dollar Tree.  (Picture from: article.wn.com )

         Some of our readers have been interested in preparedness for thirty years. A lot of new readers have been interested in learning about it for only a few months. It can be challenging to have something to say which is relevant to both groups, and those in between.   Periodically, I think it is important to take a couple of weeks away from prepping entirely. It is important to actually live the life and the family you are protecting and not to lose sight of that.  I usually do this when on vacation, but because vacations have become a rarity to so many of us, you may have to self impose a period of two weeks where you cease to prep.  I call this process a prepping reboot   Then, look at prepping with new eyes.   I always break prepping down into two main categories, dealing with the issues that would necessitate sheltering in place, and then dealing with family evacuation (which might also trigger a farm evacuation as well.)    However, my friends in Alaska need to prep differently than I.  Our friends who headed to Belize also will need to plan differently than I.  My friends in Ontario will also need to have different items and amounts than my family might.   Following your break, evaluate once again what the most likely emergencies at your location may be.    I might be looking hard at tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes, but some of my friends at 6,000 feet or greater, in Colorado for example, plan most heavily for ice storms and serious snow storms even as late as April.   YOU are the expert of what is most likely to go wrong in your own geographic location.

             After you have dealt with  the most likely natural disasters in your location, and made specific plans for these, then give some thought to the less likely varieties.  In my highly rural location, a spilled hazardous truck is not likely unless the truck decided to take an illegal shortcut through the country.  However, that could happen.  So, look at your second string of man-made potential emergencies, and plan for those as well.  Again, many emergencies neatly fall either into the sheltering in place category or the family evacuation plan.

              When you have considered the first two categories, then consider the financials.  How prepared are you for job loss or some type of financial collapse ?   This can be the most difficult for families to consider.   Still, any amount of preparation is better than no advance thought or preparation whatsoever.  Minimizing debt is probably one of the most valuable financial disaster tools at our disposal.  Living a life in which you earn two incomes but require only one of them is also another useful modality.

               Many people tell me they "can't afford to prep".   The people who need to make advance preparations the most are people who are short of money.   Wealthy people could conceivably take a large amount of cash and simply head out, but if this is not an option for you, then you need to have made plans even more urgently.  Fortunately, this need not be expensive.

               The first place a family new to preparations should go is the Dollar Tree or similar establishment.   In putting together a first aid kit, many things are available there.   These could be bought and stored over several weeks.   These are some of the things available at the Dollar Tree.

    Sterile cloth bandages
    Elastic bandages of several sizes
    sterile gauze in 2x2 and 4x4 sizes
    Small bottle pedialyte (generic) flavored and unflavored
    neosporin generic
    benadryl cream generic
    medical tape
    ice packs    (or skip it, buy sponges,wet them,  put them in baggies,  and freeze them for later use)
     Loperamide  (for diarrhea)   Use for adults.  Use liquid only for children with physicians order)
     Diphenhydramine tablets, capsules, or liquid for children.
     Hydrogen peroxide in bottles.
     Isopropyl alcohol in bottles.
     Witch Hazel in bottles.
     Varietal vitamins including high potency prenatal varieties.
 

There are a lot of fine values in toiletries in the Dollar Tree.  Of course, read the packages. I always prefer items which are manufactured in the USA or Canada, and many of them are now.

      Toothbrush and toothpaste kits
      a broad range of prepackaged snack foods (From individual servings of peanuts to peanut
       butter crackers, baked chip snacks, 
       Generic six packs of ginger ale

  Of course, you can buy larger amounts of these for just a little more money somewhere like Wal-Mart, however if you need to amass a kit fairly quickly, then Dollar Tree can provide a nice start, especially for an evacuation kit.

          Check your kits regularly as everything does expire eventually.  Also, keep your medical items secure from small children and grandchildren.  Isopropyl alcohol and vitamins should never be within reach of small children.

A Friends Thoughts on "Gun Free Zones"

      

   I have many friends who are writers, but few of them write as well or as clearly as this one.   The post below is a friend of mine who simply crystallizes thought more clearly than I, on this, and on a number of other subjects.  Please check out her blog, and also both of her books.

  



  This is a post which deals with "Gun Free Zones" in which I am in complete agreement.


http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-thought-on-gun-free-zones.html