The Spirit of Ma'at — September, 2011 — Emergency Preparedness: Food without Fear

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Emergency Preparedness: Food without Fear

By Phoenix Rising Star

If you read last month's article on The Art and Science of Emergency Preparedness, you'll know that your homework, if you chose to accept it, was to create a list of all the foods you prepared for one month. These foods you love so much, you would want to stockpile the ingredients so you could make them whenever you desired. This is a place to begin with stock-piling, in case of emergencies where food is not readily available.

All I could think of to stock-pile was chocolate.

I was talking with a few friends of mine about this topic.

One friend said, "I'd stock-pile Coffee."

Another said, "I'd stock-pile Walnuts."

We just looked at her.

Everyone has his/her thing. The thing that trips our trigger. The thing we can't live without.

Alcohol, pot, meat, whatever; There's at least one thing that comes to mind with the question, what would you stockpile if you thought there was an emergency?

This preparedness topic takes us beyond our basic cravings into a lifestyle change.

We are talking about stockpiling for at least six to nine months, creating healthy meals that will not only sustain you, but allow you to thrive in challenging times.

Now what would you stockpile?

I still say chocolate. But that's because I'm referring to the raw cacao, which is pure cacao, unsweetened, unadulterated, unchanged from its natural state. And it's considered a super-food.

When I was explaining this to someone, they just looked at me and laughed as though I was in total denial.

I needed to explain super-foods.

A super-food provides multiple disease-fighting nutrients, fills you up so you can enjoy plenty of food without excess calories, and are easy to include in everyday meals. They include things like Maca Powder, Lucuma Powder, Acai Powder, Chia Seeda, Reishi Mushrooms, Bee Pollen, Raw Cacao, Coconut, Hemp Powder and more. Considered a staple of a raw-food diet, these super-foods are easily added to protein shakes to create fullness, nutrition, and energy. These super-foods are not adulterated. They don't have sugar added to them to make them taste better (like Nestle's Cocoa or some of the Acai drinks). Each ingredient adds their nutritional supplements found in nature. Making them pure. Easy to digest. Long-lasting nutritionally. Energy-providing.

That's why I stock-pile raw cocoa. And some of the other above ingredients.

In fact, looking at some of the reasons why we might need to stock-pile (interruption in transportation, lack of availability of ingredients, lack of quality ingredients, computer shut downs resulting in not being able to order on-line, etc.) it makes sense to me that nutrition is going to take a turn.

For the better.

After all, if we find a protein drink that supplies all of our nutritional needs, gives us energy and vitality, is easy to use and assimilate, what could be easier? We really don't need an energy source to stir powder into water. We just need the powder. And the water.

(Back to last month's article on how do we stock-pile and replenish water.)

I'm not saying that all we should stock-pile is protein drinks and raw energy powders.

I am saying it might be a good idea to supplement our diet with a high quality protein drink and the high quality energy powders to keep us going as long as possible.

Until we learn to breathe prana.

Okay, that's another article. I'm not ready for that yet either. I really like my cacao.

Back to food.

Now that we've approached the raw food powders and protein drinks, let me tell you. There's a lot of different stuff out there. And not all of it tastes that great, or feels that great to digest. So be picky. Look around. Try samples of protein shakes. Just because it's supposed to be good for you, doesn't mean it tastes good. And if it doesn't taste good, let's face it. You won't use it. Unless you're starving. Then you'll die of resentment. And what is the point of that?

I have tried many protein shakes. These are the products I really like:

Peaceful Planet, Sun Warrior, Manitoba Harvest, just to mention a few. I don't have anything against any of the others. But what I like about these is they have pure ingredients, they feel good to my body, my body absorbs them easily, and they create energy and fullness that keeps me going. Everyone will have his/her preference, so try all different kinds to see what works for you.

Regarding the energy powders, I love these two sites: www.livesuperfoods.com and www.earthshiftproducts.com for high quality ingredients. Just to give you a place to start.

I also love www.vitacost.com because they offer bulk and specialty items for low cost and great shipping. Check them out. I was able to order Pomi strained tomatoes by the case. (One of the items I chose to stock-pile was strained tomatoes for making spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce or any sauce.)

Back to food and meal preparation. Were you surprised at the meals you eat in one month? Did you see a pattern of chosen foods? Those will be the easiest to stock-pile. But there are all kinds of ways to stock-pile.

If you find yourself eating a lot of fresh fish, you may need to look at some alternatives.

You might try fish jerky (salmon jerky is fairly easy to find). You might try smoked fish or dried fish. You might try farming fish in a barrel. (I AM serious!) It just depends on how far you want to go with this. How serious are you about eating fresh fish?

If you find yourself eating a lot of beef, pork, or other meats, you might want to look at some alternatives such as jerky (again!-but let's face it, it's easy to store), dehydrated meat (yes, really!), canned meat, and pressure canning. There are even survivalists who raise rabbits for their meat.

Do you see a pattern here? Mostly I'm talking about stock-piling food that does not need refrigeration, or a power source to keep it edible.

Now that's stock-piling!

You may have been surprised at how much you eat out during a month. At how little you cook for yourself. That may change in a hurry. So maybe it's time to learn how to cook some basics you like. Things like a hamburger or veggie burger, spaghetti with sauce, beans and rice. Remember, you have to like it, or there's no point in stock-piling it.

The other point is you have to be able to do something with what you have stock-piled.

I overheard someone saying at one of the survival stores, "Well, I'm buying wheat now, and I'll figure out what to do with it when the time comes."

Oh no! Not a good idea.

First of all, if you don't know what to do with it, an emergency is NOT the time to learn. Learn now. See if you even enjoy it. See if it's easy to cook with. Then decide what to stock-pile.

Second of all, wheat in particular, is not something you want to stock-pile as your only ingredient. Wheat tends to create an intolerance in people very quickly. If that's the only grain you've got, you could be very ill quickly. With no other options.

Note to self: What do I like? How can I prepare it without a traditional energy source? What varieties can I like enough to stock-pile?

I began to make a list (besides my protein drink and energy powders) of all the ingredients I would need to make my favorite dishes. I broke them into categories:

Protein, fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs and spices, other. And I began to investigate what was available without refrigeration (in case we don't have power), and how to store them.

Some things were very easy. Dehydrated fruits, vegetables, powdered eggs, powdered butter, even meat come in #10 cans, which are large sealed cans. All you do is add water.

(Note to self: Please remember to order the rain collector barrel!)

Again, not all dehydrated ingredients appear the same.

READ THE LABELS.

A strawberry dehydrated is still a strawberry. Or it should be.

Not a corn syrup infused, sugar-added glaze strawberry.

I prefer a plain strawberry.

I don't prefer added ingredients, particularly ones that don't agree with me.

And if I don't know what the ingredient is (I.E. disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, autolyzed yeast extract, caramel color, natural flavors, etc.), I am definitely not interested.

These sites have a variety of dehydrated foods. Again, read the label to choose what is best for you. They even have gluten-free options!

www.alpineaire.com

store.honeyvillegrain.com

But I don't know how long I can live out of a can without dying of resentment or disappointment. (I do love to eat.)

So I explored some other ways of storing food without refrigeration.

I found the food-grade buckets, oxygen absorbers, and mylar bags. For the serious stock-piler who might be stock-piling for five to ten years. Or more. Or less.

The idea here is that five gallon food-grade buckets prevent air, light and moisture from coming in, especially with tightly sealed lids. The mylar bags are used as an additional layer to prevent air and light from entering the food. Just before sealing the mylar bag, place an oxygen absorber into the bag to suck out all remaining oxygen and create a non-friendly environment for bacteria and bugs. This is great for flour or grains or even beans. While I obtained some buckets, I also figured that freezing flour and grains for 24 hours helps kill all bacteria and bugs. So I might not need to use all those buckets I bought.

As a cook, I knew it was important to stock-pile herbs and seasonings. Sea salt goes a long way for taste, and it's useful for treatment of radiation. So you can eat it and bathe in it.

I also like Italian seasoning in my spaghetti sauce and other dishes. So I stock-piled that.

Variety is the spice of life, so I also added cinnamon, garlic powder, onion powder, and other seasonings my recipes called for.

The 'other' category consisted of anything that didn't fit in any other category but I would miss if I didn't have: soap, shampoo, toilet paper, etc. while non-edible, are what I consider essential.

One thing I noticed was how hard it was to find dehydrated organic fruits and vegetables. If you're as crazy about organic as I am, you may want to invest in a dehydrator (or a sun oven-see below) and dehydrate your own. Yes, it takes some time and energy, but at least you know they're organic.

These are the sites I recommend for nuts and nut/seed butters, which technically are protein, but just in case you didn't consider them:

www.livingnutz.com

www.livesuperfoods.com

I figured I can last a long time on almond butter. Or organic peanut butter.

And just when I thought I'd have to buy a back-up generator (solar of course!) I found a solar oven that cooks higher than 350 degrees. Check out www.sunoven.com/ to see if this would work in your area. I've been having a blast cooking all kinds of great things in it.

Remember? Don't wait until you're in an emergency to learn how to use this. Do it now.

I've made lasagne. Which I stuck in the oven at 10 in the morning, and ended up not coming home until 7:30 that night. We thought it would be hard, blackened, crusty, and tasteless. It was fragrant, hot (even though it was dark by that time), delicious and amazing! Not dried out at all. The solar oven has a great deal of moisture that gets retained in the cooking and adds to the flavor. I've made corn-bread, scones, brownies, vegetables, and fish in it. Sometimes things are a learning experience, but mostly, things taste so much better! Anasazi beans, slowly cooked in the sun oven are amazing!

I may still investigate a backup solar generator for my laptop, cell phone, etc. just in case we have a connection.

But in the meantime, don't forget about stock-piling for your animals! Buy up several months supply of pet food and wild bird food if you can and desire. They'll thank you for it! (and you won't die from their resentment!)

Anyway, have fun with this and see where it takes you. A new lifestyle perhaps? A new dietary shift? Living on prana? How fun is that? And how easy! And cheap!

Without fear,
With love,
Phoenix

Next month: Those others actually include homeopathics and essential oils to help make your life easier and healthy.

View our YouTube Videos at www.youtube.com/sedonaheartwalk

Email me at sedonaheartwalk@yahoo.com for comments or ideas

About Phoenix Rising Star

Phoenix Rising Star