Vegetables to Grow from Store-Bought--Or Eating the Trash

Right now, many of us have made and are making changes to our habits due to the economic challenges of COVID-19.  And if COVID-19 were to disappear tomorrow, we'd go back to our old ways.
Learning how to re-grow vegetables from store-bought is not one of those practices I'm going to abandon when food supplies become plentiful.  This practice is here to stay.  The chickens may never taste the root ends of celery, lettuce, or onions again.

About a week or two ago, in response to the difficulty individuals across the country were having in obtaining vegetable seeds, the internet exploded with references to YouTubes and articles about propagating vegetables from grocery store produce.  After all, such information could be really practical at this period in our lives.  If true, this is basically free food without any real effort on our part.

The articles focus primarily on three different categories of food production.  Today's blogpost will only lightly touch on the first type, since those foods aren't trash, and go into much more detail for the other two categories.

The first category uses perfectly good food to produce more food.  This involves root crops like ginger, garlic, and potatoes.  Ginger is a tender plant that must be grown indoors in most of the US, but it's easy to do.  Garlic is a favorite many are familiar with raising in their gardens each year.  One must be wary of planning to use store-bought potatoes for gardening, however.  Most are sprayed with a sprouting inhibitor and may slow to sprout, yielding little to nothing in the garden.  So keep that in mind.

Now on to the vegetable "trash" that can be used to produce more food.

In this second category are root crops.  While neither carrots nor beets will regrow the root vegetable, both carrot and beet tops can be replanted to produce more greens.  Even if you are not interested in eating them, they can be a great way to raise some fresh greens for chickens and rabbits.

• Carrots.  Carrot tops aren't commonly eaten as food in this country, but they are considered edible and may make a fine addition to salads and soups.  Remove the carrot top greens.  For planting in the soil you want the top end with about 1/2" of carrot included.  Plant this in the soil with about 1/4" of the top above the soil surface.  Leaves will start appearing within about one week. 
• Beets.  Beet greens are much more likely to grace the dinner table in salads or sauteed as a side dish.  Remove the beet greens.  Like with carrots, for planting in the soil you want the top end with about 1/2" of beet included.  Plant this in the soil with about 1/4" of the top above the soil surface. Leaves will start appearing within about 10 days.

This third category of food is what we're really interested in here:  using the trash roots to produce more food for us.  The roots may be planted in pots for growing indoors or directly in the garden.  This works for green onions, lettuce, celery, leeks, and bok choi.  Here's how:

• Green onions.   When slicing up green onions, leave at least 1/2" of onion attached to the root end.  Plant so that the top is just barely above the soil surface.
• Leeks.  Begin with leeks that have healthy-looking roots.  When slicing up leeks, leave 1/2" of leek attached to the root end.  Plant so that the top is just barely above the soil surface.  New growth will begin to appear within two weeks.
• Bok choi.  Save the bottom 1 1/2" of the bok choi for replanting.  With a sharp knife, remove a very thin slice from the root end, just enough to expose a fresh surface for growth and rooting.  Plant the root end about 1/2" deep in the soil.  New leaves will start growing in about two weeks.
• Lettuce.  Save the bottom 1 1/2" of the lettuce head for replanting.  With a sharp knife, remove a very thin slice from the root end, just enough to expose a fresh surface for growth and rooting.  Plant the root end about 1/2" deep in the soil.  New leaves will start growing in about two weeks.  Propagating lettuce in this way has about a 50% failure rate.
• Celery.  Save the bottom 1" of the whole celery (not individual stalks).  With a sharp knife, remove a very thin slice from the root end, just enough to expose a fresh surface for growth and rooting.  Plant the root end about 1/2" deep in the soil.  New growth will appear in about 10 days.

All of these transplants must be watered very well daily to get the little roots growing and established.  Once established, water on your normal schedule.

Using the root ends of these vegetables gives you a huge head start on growing, especially with crops that take much longer to reach maturity like celery and leeks.  Furthermore, when it's time to harvest, you don't even have to pluck these ones out of the ground.  Just cut them off about a half-inch or so above the soil surface and let them start regrowing again.  They already have their root systems well established and won't suffer from any transplant shock.

And don't cease your growing in the winter.  All of these may be grown indoors during the off-season in a sunny window or with grow lights.


For more information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJuXpiEjdcc

https://www.askaprepper.com/53-plants-herbs-you-can-propagate-from-cuttings/
https://www.wikihow.com/Regrow-Bok-Choy

Medicinal Herbs to Easily Propagate from Cuttings

The herbs listed below can be easily propagated from cuttings.  At a time when seeds are difficult to come by in some areas, these herbs can be purchased in the produce section of the grocery store.  If a friend is growing these, perhaps you can get a cutting--at a safe distance of course.  If life gets even more challenging, you can use these herbs to create your own cuttings and propagate plants for sale.  Some propagate more readily than others, but they're all very easy to do.

Select stems that are green and not woody or brown.  Cut stems that are about six inches long and nothing that has any flowers or seeds.  Remove all the lower leaves--anything that will be in the water.  If your water is chlorinated (most municipal water is), let it stand for 24 hours before making your cuttings.  Using filtered water or bottled water also works.  Place all cuttings next to a window to receive some sun each day.  The roots will develop within two weeks, and at this point the plants can be transplanted to pots or garden beds.

Basil.  This favorite herb produces so many seeds and volunteer plants the following season, but as they are not at all cold hardy, it takes forever for them to start.  Being able to take a cutting at the end of summer and keep it as an indoor plant all winter will provide us with fresh herbs year-round.  Of course, this can be done with all the herbs listed here. 


Mint--spearmint, peppermint, catnip, lemon balm (Melissa).  All of these spread very easily and should be grown in containers or boxed beds if you don't want them overrunning your yard.

Oregano.  The remaining stem cutting should have only two to three sets of leaves.  Make a second cut at a 45-degree angle.  Oregano will take longer to produce new roots, about four weeks. 

Parsley.  This one is a little more difficult to start from a cutting.  Adding an aspirin to the water and letting it dissolve before adding the parsley cuttings may help. 

Rosemary.  Rosemary will not develop as many roots as most of the other herbs listed here.  However, once the roots are at least two inches long, they will be ready to plant.


Sage.  Like oregano, sage needs a 45-degree angle cut on the stem and takes about four weeks to root. 

Thyme.  Ignore the part about needing a non-woody or brown stem.  Just start like the others, and in a few weeks it will be ready to plant. 



Links to related posts:

Catnip
Lemon balm
Oregano
Parsley
Peppermint
Rosemary
Spearmint
Thyme

For further information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJuXpiEjdcc

02.02.22

Another Episode of Food Storage and Learning from History

There are patterns in all aspects of our lives, patterns that repeat with regularity so that we can order our lives.  We know the sun rises in the east every 24 hours.  Spring always follows winter.  Babies gestate for nine months.  Some historians have noted that Earth gets a good pandemic every hundred years or so, and one might note that the COVID-19 pandemic is frequently compared to the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920.

Of course, there are always smaller scale epidemics that occur as well.  Pandemic or epidemic, people throughout history respond the same.  It happened with the yellow fever epidemics earlier in our nation's history, and it happened with the Spanish influenza one hundred years ago.  The vast majority of people are not at all prepared, and when faced with difficulties of the disease spreading around them, they refuse to take precautions.  They can't avoid going out into public because they need to provide for their families.

Daniel Dafoe is most known for his novel Robinson Crusoe.  The following excerpts taken from his Journal of the Plague Year provide a detailed account of the bubonic plague in London, England in 1665, which killed one-quarter of the population.  They sound all too familiar to our circumstances today, except for the astronomical death rate.

"Nothing was more fatal to the inhabitants of this city than the supine negligence of the people themselves, who, during the long notice or warning they had of the visitation, made no provision for it by laying in store of provisions, or of other necessaries, by which they might have lived retired and within their own houses, as I have observed others did, and who were in a great measure preserved by that caution"

".. nor were they, after they were a little hardened to it, so shy of conversing with one another, when actually infected, as they were at first: no, though they knew it.

I acknowledge I was one of those thoughtless ones that had made so little provision that my servants were obliged to go out of doors to buy every trifle by penny and halfpenny, just as before it began, even till my experience showing me the folly, I began to be wiser so late that I had scarce time to store myself sufficient for our common subsistence for a month...

Who went shopping?  Those who were the least prepared.  The poor.

"And here I must observe again, that this necessity of going out of our houses to buy provisions was in a great measure the ruin of the whole city, for the people catched the distemper on these occasions one of another, and even the provisions themselves were often tainted; at least I have great reason to believe so.

However, the poor people could not lay up provisions, and there was a necessity that they must go to market to buy, and others to send servants or their children; and as this was a necessity which renewed itself daily, it brought abundance of unsound people to the markets, and a great many that went thither sound brought death home with them."

All people tried to take precautions, but again, the poor had fewer options. 

"It is true people used all possible precaution. When any one bought a joint of meat in the market they would not take it off the butcher’s hand, but took it off the hooks themselves. On the other hand, the butcher would not touch the money, but have it put into a pot full of vinegar, which he kept for that purpose. The buyer carried always small money to make up any odd sum, that they might take no change. They carried bottles of scents and perfumes in their hands, and all the means that could be used were used, but then the poor could not do even these things, and they went at all hazards."

We live in extremely interesting and challenging times.  COVID-19 is only the beginning.  The global economy is about to crumble.  Locusts are plaguing Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.  Famine is in the cards.  So, likely, is war.  It's not something I or anyone else wishes for.  It's history.  It repeats.  Prepare or perish.

6.1.23

Blender Wheat Bread

The following is a wonderful recipe for beginning bread bakers just starting to incorporate some wheat into the bread, and perhaps those who don't yet have a grain mill but do have the grain.

Blender Wheat Bread
1 cup wheat berries + 2 1/4 cups hot water in a blender for about 5 minutes  OR
2 cups cooked wheat berries plus 1 1/4 cups hot water in a blender for 1 minute
2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 salt
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
3-3.5 cup flour

Combine all ingredients except 1 cup of flour in a large bowl.  Mix well with large spoon until dough begins to develop some elasticity.  Work in another 1/2 cup of flour.  Knead dough on countertop, adding as much remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking.  Knead for 7-10 minutes, adding flour if needed.

When the dough is smooth and elastic (it will feel like your cheek), cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 45-60 minutes.  Shape into two smooth logs and place in greased bread pans.  Cover and let rise until nearly double again, another 45-60 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let cool ten minutes in the pan and then remove loaves.  Cool on a wire rack.  Makes 2 loaves.

To adapt your own recipes using blender wheat:

1 cup of uncooked kernels yields 1 1/2 cups of flour;
1 cup of uncooked kernels + 1.5 cups of water yields 2 1/4 cups cooked kernels

If using uncooked berries in place of cooked wheat in the blender, you may use any liquid already in the recipe--milk, juice, mashed fruit (50% water), eggs, oil, etc.  

Links to related posts:
Wheat
Wheat bread

Is Baking in Canning Jars Safe?

And why would people want to?  Actually, there are a lot of reasons.

1. Well, because it's a novelty.
2. The half-pint jars are just cute, perfect for making single-serving casseroles or pot-pies and all kinds of desserts.  Check out Pinterest and you'll see what I mean.
3. The wide-mouth half-pints are the size of ramekins.  You could put a half-dozen in a Dutch oven.  Because taking a bunch of canning jars camping is such a good idea.  
4. Most preppers have a lot of canning jars, and we're going to be re-purposing canning jars, especially if and when we run out of lids. 

As far as the safety goes, we've got a couple of issues to address.  Is the food baking in canning jars safe to eat?  Is the jar itself safe for baking in?  And what about the lids and bands?

So to address the first issue, yes, the food baked in canning jars would be safe to consume, assuming that it's eaten within a day or so.  However, there is another issue to consider.  Baking bread in canning jars became popular among prepping-type women about a decade ago.  It was promoted as a way to prepare bread in advance of a disaster.  The idea was that this supposedly shelf-stable bread would be good to consume up to a year after it was baked.

Except for one little problem.  It's called botulism.  Baking bread in a canning jar and then capping the jar, either right after removing it from the oven or after it cools a little, creates the perfect conditions for botulism to grow and thrive--low acid food in a moist, low-oxygen environment.  Did you want a little death sprinkled on your toast?  While the oven temperature may be far above the 250 degrees required to kill the bacterial spores responsible for producing the botulism toxin, the interior of the bread dough usually doesn't get above 200 degrees.  Even if it did reach 250 degrees, without a lid on, botulism spores could settle right in during the cooling process.  (Botulism spores are found in abundance in the soil.  However, most cases of infantile botulism arise from spores carried by dust in the air.)  It's just not worth the risk.[1, 2]

If the bread (or any other food) were to be consumed right away, it would be safe, if we didn't have other issues at play.

But we do.

So for the second issue, is the jar itself safe for baking in?  Actually, according to the good folks that make Ball and Kerr canning products, the jars are not safe for baking.  The glass is annealed glass.  Tempered glass, like what Pyrex is made of, is designed to withstand thermal shock.  Even if tempered glass is exposed to a serious thermal shock and breaks as a result, it breaks into pieces that are more blunt and less likely to injure a person.  Annealed glass, which is what canning jars are made of, cannot withstand thermal shock as well as tempered glass.  A jar with cool or even lukewarm food in it risks shattering when placed on the pre-heated rack of an oven.  It can even happen as the oven heating element cycles on and off during the baking process.  And that jar may especially shatter when removed from the oven after baking.  The shards may go flying and inflict some serious injury.

Is the novelty of baking in canning jars or the cute dessert really worth the risk?  Especially if we don't even have good medical care?

And finally, we have the canning jar bands and lids, because some pretty cute desserts are also made with those.  They make a pretty handy post-apocalyptic miniature springform pan.  However, canning lids and rings are not recommended for baking, either. Well, if you ask Ball, that's what they say.  If you ask Bernardin, they say it's ok.  Now that they are all one big happy family, I can't find what they currently say.  

So there you have the word straight from the manufacturers and cooperative extension offices.  As with everything, we've got to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and make our own decisions.  The botulism risk is real.  I'd never eat bread baked in a canning jar more than two days previously.  I'd have to question the safety of eating anything prepared by someone who bakes bread in canning jars for long-term storage.  As far as the safety of using canning jars as bakeware goes, well, at least the person isn't going to kill me by doing it.  Would I do it myself?  It's possible.  For all the cool pics of baking in canning jars on Pinterest, I'd think we'd hear more about exploding jars if it happened a lot.  As far as the canning lids and bands go, well, I think dealing with all the grooves would be a major hassle.  It's not for me.

For further reading:
Safety of the food baked in canning jars
[1]https://extension.usu.edu/tooele/files-ou/food-preservation/FN-FS_250_10.pdf
[2]https://www.clemson.edu/extension/food/canning/canning-tips/36cakes-breads.html

Safety of using canning jars as bakeware
[3]https://www.freshpreserving.com/faqs.html
[4]https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/advice/a43870/can-you-bake-in-mason-jars/

Safety of using canning lids and rings as bakeware
[5]https://www.healthycanning.com/baking-in-canning-rings

4.13.23

Lemon Balm Shingles Relief Cream

You know, I have to admit that researching shingles got me a little concerned.  Even those who are vaccinated can still get this illness.  The vaccine only prevents the disease half the time if you get the old vaccine.  The newer vaccine is more effective, but not 100%.  Alternative therapies are going to be pretty important for something so painful and so common, especially for those who didn't get vaccinated.  One-third of us will get to experience shingles at least once in our lives, and quite a few will have recurrences.

The following cream from Stephen Buhner's Herbal Antivirals is reported to be extremely effective.  Unfortunately, it takes three days to prepare, not exactly ideal when someone is in excruciating pain.  I do have to wonder if incorporating essential oils or tinctures of the ingredients into a cream would be at all effective.  But until a family member has shingles, and so far, there are no volunteers for testing, I will just have to continue wondering.  

Lemon Balm Shingles Relief Cream
3 ounces licorice root
2 ounces lemon balm
2 ounces birch bark
2 ounces rosemary

Simmer the herbs in one quart of water in a slow cooker for three days.  Cool the solution and strain out and discard the herbs.  Pour the liquid into a pot.  Bring this to a boil and reduce heat.  Watching very carefully to prevent burning, which is very easy at this point, simmer until two ounces remain.
Put the resulting cream into a jar.  Apply the cream six to ten times per day as needed.  In most cases the rash will be resolved within three days.

Another option for topical pain relief, especially while waiting for the above cream to be completed, is to use pine pollen infused oil on the sores. 

Links to related posts:
Herbal Antivirals book review
The Medicinal Uses of Rosemary
The Medicinal Uses of Lemon Balm
Shingles 
7.3.23

Oat Milk

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  And the desperate times and measures we face individually will vary.  Some of us run out of milk because we didn't store enough powdered, or we're limited to one gallon (which, incidentally, doesn't go far for a family of six) due to COVID-19 rationing.  And going to the store every day in the current environment is ridiculous.

So maybe there's something to be said for oat milk.  I have to admit, I find the idea a little sketchy.  But I'll give it a try in the name of research.  It's quick and cheap.  Now to see whether it's worthwhile.

Oat Milk
1 cup oats
4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Blend for one minute.  Strain through a coffee filter, cheesecloth, or a clean t-shirt into a quart jar.  Use the oat solids in bread or cookies or feed them to the chickens.  Serve the oat milk immediately or store it in the refrigerator.  Shake before serving as it separates a bit.

Alternate method of preparation:  Soak overnight and strain in the morning.  No blender (or electricity) necessary.

Some people say blended oat milk feels slimy and prefer overnight soaking.

Now for the honest truth.  Somebody's been smoking some powerful stuff.

I had my son, the one who absolutely loves milk but cannot have it so he drinks almond or rice milk instead, take the first swig.  And he was very willing to give it a try.  He wasn't coerced in any way.  It was well chilled and he shook it thoroughly and poured.  We both figured that if nothing else, it would at least work for cereal.

No.  It's not that it tastes bad.  It kinda even resembles real milk, though a little brownish.  But it just tastes like oat water.  It was absolutely pointless.  It was a waste of time and perfectly good well water and perfectly good oats.

I realize that some hopes just got dashed here and that you might think we wasted a tree and ink here, but the fact that I tried this out so that you don't have to means that I saved you time and money.  And I had to tell you about it.  Because stuff like this starts circling the net and people think there must be something to it.  And there isn't, other than someone wanted to make sure she wasn't the only one suckered by something so stupid.  

Rice Krispie Treats, Downsized Recipe

Rice Krispie Treats, Downsized

As a product of modern industrial food manufacturing, Rice Krispies have graced the breakfast table of most every American home for decades.  Unlike a lot of products, however, they did not start off as a DIY project at home.  Rice Krispies can't by DIY'ed.  Many have tried.  All have failed.  When industrial production ceases, the Rice Krispies go away.  And it will be a long time before they come back.

Most people won't even miss Rice Krispies for breakfast.  There are lots of other good things to eat.  But Rice Krispie treats are an entirely different matter.  Whoever invented these was a genius.  They are a comfort food I'd like to be able to make every once in a while.  Because Rice Krispies will be a precious commodity, the treats will not be made for church potlucks.  They won't even be made in regular batches.  They need to be spaced out.  Small batches.  Enough for one or two after dinner.

I've already blogged about the shelf life of Rice Krispies.  Vacuum-sealed, they're good at least eight to ten years.  We know about substituting coconut oil for butter.  A few months back I posted a recipe for making marshmallows.  So we have the ingredients covered.

Unfortunately, marshmallows are pretty time-intensive.  I don't want to make them if I don't have to.  And if I had to make them, Rice Krispie treats might only happen once or twice a year.  Unfortunately, vacuum-sealing marshmallows does not work at all.  When the gases are sucked out of the jar holding the marshmallows, the marshmallows get all the gas sucked out of them, too.  They kind of collapse and become a sticky mess.  Epic fail.

I made that first attempt at preserving marshmallows by vacuum-sealing ten years ago.  About a month ago, it occurred to me that they could possibly be preserved in Mylar bags or canning jars with an oxygen absorber, and yesterday I tested it out.  So far, it's successful.  The jars sealed and the marshmallows held their shape.  I'll can several more jars of marshmallows today and test them out over the next year.  Quality control.  Strictly for research purposes.

Here's the original recipe, straight from the Kellogg's Rice Krispies website:

Rice Krispie Treats
3 tablespoons butter
1 package (10 oz, or 40) regular marshmallows OR
10 ounces/4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

That, of course, makes a whole pan of Rice Krispie treats.  They're like brownies and chocolate chip cookies.  When you need them, you really need them.  But you know you don't need a whole batch.  Downsizing the batch will stretch our supplies.

Rice Krispie Treats, Mini-Batch
1 1/2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil (if using coconut oil, also add 1/2 teaspoon water)
14 regular marshmallows  OR
1 1/3 cups miniature marshmallows (3 1/3 ounces)
2 cups Rice Krispies

Melt the butter or oil over low heat in a small saucepan.  Add the marshmallows and stir until melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the Rice Krispies.  Press into a buttered bread loaf pan, cool, and cut into squares.

Links to related posts:
Homemade Rice Krispies
DIY Marshmallows
Coconut Oil for Butter Substitute

For further reading:
https://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/recipes/the-original-treats-recipe.html

Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Cafe: TEOTWAWKI Muffins, Or Just-Add-Water Muffin Mixes

OK, I know you're wondering about TEOTWAWKI Muffins.  They're something I've been thinking about for a little while now, and I finally decided today to make them a reality.  Of course, it helps to have more guinea pigs in town for a visit.  I need their input and suggestions as well.
My absolute favorite muffins are raspberry-lemon and blueberry streusel.  Naturally, using fresh fruit is always best, and so is making everything fresh from scratch.  A pre-made mix using dehydrated fruits will never duplicate.

But in early spring, or the middle of TEOTWAWKI or a pandemic, fresh fruit is hard to come by.  Even if we have managed to store dehydrated or freeze-dried berries for the muffins, there won't likely be an excess of them.  We'll want to conserve their use.  And in trying situations a just-add-water mix saves a lot of time and extra dishwashing.

This morning I adapted a few of our favorite muffin recipes so that they are small-batch just-add-water mixes, and we gave them a try.  Nope, they aren't the same as fresh, but they are pretty darn good.  I'm going to post the mini-batch recipes right here, and the original recipes they were adapted from at the end of this article, just in case you want to refer to them for some reason.

Raspberry-Lemon Muffins (Just-Add-Water Mix)
Six muffins


2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered eggs
1 tablespoon powdered butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 packet True Lemon
1/2 teaspoon dried lemon peel, optional
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons dehydrated raspberries, or 1/2 cup freeze-dried raspberries
1/2 cup warm water

Combine the first nine ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cut in coconut oil until it is evenly distributed.  Put this mixture into a pint-sized freezer bag.  Put raspberries in a snack-size bag and seal, and then put the raspberry bag into the freezer bag with the other ingredients.

To prepare the muffins, rehydrate the raspberries in 1/2 cup warm water for 15-30 minutes.  Drain the berries and reserve the rehydrating water.  Add water to make 7 tablespoons and add this to the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Stir well to combine, but do not overmix.  Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  Let cool five minutes before removing from pan.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins (Just-Add-Water mix)
Six muffins

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk powder
1 tablespoon egg powder
1 tablespoon butter powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup dehydrated blueberries, or 3/4 cup freeze-dried blueberries
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon warm water

Streusel:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons flour
1 tablespoon butter powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons coconut oil


Combine the first eight ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cut in coconut oil until it is evenly distributed.  Put this mixture into a pint-size freezer bag.  Put the blueberries in a snack-size bag and seal, and then put the blueberry bag into the freezer bag with the other ingredients. 

Streusel:  Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl.  Cut in coconut oil until crumbly.  Put this mixture in a snack-size Ziploc bag.

To prepare the muffins, rehydrate the blueberries in 1/2 cup warm water for 15-30 minutes.  Drain the berries.  Add water to the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Stir well to combine, but do not overmix.  Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin tins, filling about 1/2 full.  Sprinkle streusel on top.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until browned.


Raspberry Lemon Muffins (original recipe)
18 muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries


In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Combine the eggs, cream, oil, and extract; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in raspberries.s  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
12-15 muffins

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
2 1/3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Streusel topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Links to related posts:
Build Your Own Muffin Recipes
Baking in Dutch Ovens
Just-Add-Water Meals
Altering Recipes

© 2020, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com

Ivermectin for Parasites... and COVID-19?

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on knowledge and understanding you might wish to acquire in advance of a disaster in case no higher care is available.  As long as our society is functioning, you should leave anything more substantial than applying a Band-Aid to the professionals.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care. 



I first became aware of ivermectin several years ago when my daughters began raising French angora rabbits.  Every once in a while one or two would acquire mites from going to a rabbit show.  The mites were easily treated with ivermectin, an antiparasitic medication that did not require a prescription or a trip to the vet.  Unlike many other medications, it is very well-tolerated by rabbits and easy to administer, even for little girls.

In the course of researching mebendazole, worms, and scabies, I came across numerous references to using ivermectin to treat parasitic infections in people.  And then I'd also see that it wasn't approved for use in people.  And that was only partially true.  Now it's time for the whole truth.

Ivermectin for people is by prescription only and is sold under the brand name Stromectol.  It is an FDA-approved treatment for worm infestations, and as such is taken internally.  Stromectol is not FDA-approved for internal use for treating other parasitic conditions.  If the FDA's blessing is important to you, then you don't need to read any further today.  The balance of this post concerns other uses for ivermectin.

Scabies.  The Centers for Disease Control recommends the use of ivermectin to treat scabies in patients for whom other treatments have failed or who cannot tolerate FDA-approved topical medications for eliminating scabies.  Two doses of oral ivermectin are taken 7 days apart, in a dosage of 200µg/kg/dose.[1]  Usually, it is recommended that ivermectin be taken on an empty stomach; however, scabies researchers indicate that the bioavailability of ivermectin is improved when it is taken with food.[2]

Norwegian (crusted) scabies.  With this severe form of scabies, both oral ivermectin and a topical agent should be used.  Oral ivermectin in a dosage of 200µg/kg/dose should be taken with food.  The number of doses depends on the severity of the infection:

• three doses taken on days 1, 2, and 8
• five doses taken on days 1, 2, 8, 9, and 15
• seven doses taken on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 22, and 29[3]

Scabies patients treated with ivermectin overwhelmingly approved this treatment as being easier, faster, and much more effective.  The itching resolved much more quickly and patients were able to sleep better.[4]

Lice.  As with scabies, the US FDA does not approve the internal use of ivermectin to treat lice.  However, oral ivermectin has been used to successfully eliminate lice.  Like the regimen for scabies, it is given in a single dose of 200µg/kg.  The dose is repeated 9-10 days later.  Ivermectin for treating lice is also prescribed in a lotion form which may be used on infants at least six months of age and older. [5] [10]

COVID-19.  As scientists the world over scramble to find a treatment for COVID-19, we hear rumor upon rumor of novel treatments.  Vicks Vaporub or Neosporin rubbed inside the nose, do use elderberry, don't use elderberry,  etc.  By the time a few doctors went on record saying that hydroxychloroquine, sometimes with Zithromax thrown in, was successfully curing all their patients, it was too late to find any anywhere.  Will the same be true with ivermectin?  Preliminary research published 3 April 2020 demonstrated that ivermectin killed COVID-19 in laboratory experiments.  No research has yet been done on people.  Ivermectin for people is available through overseas pharmacies like All Day Chemist.  Ivermectin for livestock is sold in feed and ranch stores.  If you choose to get any, make sure it's the stuff administered orally.  The topical application won't work here.  And really, you should only be getting it as a possible treatment for lice or scabies.  It hasn't been tested in people for COVID-19 and correct dosages have yet to be determined.  If it turns out to work in people for that disease, then you'll have some on hand.[6, 7]

Side effects:  Uncommon side effects of ivermectin include dizziness, skin itching, fever, diarrhea, drowsiness, and loss of appetite.  Aspirin and antihistamines may be taken to counteract these side effects.  [9]

Contraindications:  Ivermectin is not indicated for use in children weighing less than 15 kg or in pregnant women.  The World Health Organization indicates that ivermectin has been used to safely treat younger children in reduced dosages.[8]

Links to related posts:
Scabies
Lice
Mebendazole

References:
[1] "Parasites: Medications," Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/scabies/health_professionals/meds.html (accessed 19 March 2020).
[2] Bart J. Currie, et al., "Permethrin and Ivermectin for Scabies," New England Journal of Medicine, 25 February 2010, 362(8), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20181973/ (accessed 19 March 2020).
[3] "Parasites: Medications," Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/scabies/health_professionals/meds.html (accessed 19 March 2020).
[4]  Terri L. Meinking, et al., "The Treatment of Scabies with Ivermectin," New England Journal of Medicine, 6 July 1995, 333(26), https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199507063330105 (accessed 19 March 2020).
[5] "Parasites:  Treatment," Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/treatment.html (accessed 19 March 2020).
[6] Christine McGinn, "Coronavirus:  Anti-Parasitic Drug Ivermectin Kills COVID-19 in Lab within 48 Hours," https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/anti-parasitic-drug-kills-covid-19-in-lab-c-955457 (accessed 4 April 2020).[7]  Leon Caly, et al., "The FDA-Approved Drug Ivermectin Inhibits the Replication of SARS-Cov-V2 in vitro," Antiviral Research, 3 April 2020, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220302011 (accessed 4 April 2020).  
[8]  "Parasites--Ascariasis:  Resources for Health Care Professionals," Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/ascariasis/health_professionals/index.html (accessed 19 March 2020).
[9] "Ivermectin Side Effects,"  https://www.drugs.com/sfx/ivermectin-side-effects.html (accessed 6 April 2020).

[10] "Ivermectin," rxwiki.com, (accessed 6 April 2020).


https://www.trialsitenews.com/how-a-grass-roots-health-movement-led-to-acceptance-of-ivermectin-as-a-covid-19-therapy-in-peru/

Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Cafe--Beef and Bean Quesadillas

You know, if you take away the sickness, deaths, and economic turmoil associated with COVID-19, you can start to see some benefits.  I no longer have to worry about someone just dropping by the house.  It's not something that happened that often anyway because we live so far out and have four extra-large dogs to deter unannounced visitors, but still, someone would drop by unannounced once a month or so.  But now, I can have the living room a complete wreck without any worries at all.  Not that it's normally a disaster out there, but with the girls home from college and finishing up the school semester online, they somehow feel like they don't have time to clean up after themselves.  And for some reason, they've both decided that the living room is their closet.
With trying to finish up a book and getting it off for printing, it's not like I have time to clean up after them, either.  It's easier for all of us if I don't put my contacts in so I don't see the mess.

And it's times like these when we all really need good food on the table for dinner quickly.  Even if we were the types to do take-out (we totally aren't), it seems like a horrifically bad idea right now.  So a homemade quick dinner it is.  And these beef and bean quesadillas are really awesome.  All food storage and super quick. 

Beef and Bean Quesadillas
Makes 10 quesadillas
1 can (8 ounces) beef, drained
1 pint black beans, drained
1/2 cup canned or frozen corn
1/2 cup salsa
1 tablespoon lime juice
2-3 cups shredded cheddar, colby-jack, or Monterey-Jack cheese
flour tortillas

Combine everything except the cheese and tortillas in a medium bowl.  In a large skillet over medium heat, add one tablespoon of oil or butter.  Spoon filling about 1/4" thick onto a tortilla and spread it around.  Sprinkle with cheese and place another tortilla on top.  Carefully place the prepared quesadilla in the skillet and cook a minute or two on each side.  Serve hot with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole for dipping and refried beans and rice on the side and you have a complete Mexican meal, which is really nice since we won't be going out for Mexican anytime soon.

Links to related posts: 
Flour tortillas
Refried beans
Salsa
Spanish rice



27 june 2024

What Do I Do with All This Cornmeal?

Around the middle of January, my husband got a text from a friend.  He wasn't a close friend, but someone we'd known for almost thirty years from church.  He taught the Sunbeam (Sunday School) classes for both of our sons when they were very young and was famous for bringing graham crackers for his little charges every week.  That and Polaroid camera pictures that the three-year-olds were absolutely fascinated with.  Nice guy.
Anyway, he retired a little ways back and he and his wife decided to move to Colorado to be closer to their children.  (And now, in this midst of this pandemic, I'm wondering whether they wish they'd kept all this food.)  He knew our girls raised animals of some sort, and did we want his food storage for them?  He told Aaron there were twenty-seven buckets of red wheat.

This wasn't the first time we'd been offered old food storage for animals.  The girls are happy for free feed, and the sheep look at wheat as a treat.  So of course, we snapped it up.

But this was the first time that we'd been given good quality stuff, properly packaged with a nitrogen flush and stored well.  Twenty-seven identical six-gallon buckets from Walton's Feed.  The buckets weren't dated, but the labels had been printed on an early dot-matrix printer.  So I'd guess they're at least twenty-five years old.  Probably more.

Anyway, it wasn't all red wheat.  Mixed in with the red wheat were three buckets of cornmeal.  What the heck was I going to do with that much cornmeal?  One can only eat so much cornbread, and I have never in my life made anything but cornbread with cornmeal, unless you count sprinkling pans with it for baking pizza or bagels.  And besides, I'd always read that cornmeal has a pretty short shelf-life.

Before spending too much time wondering what to do with it, I figured I ought to find out whether it was any good.

The first test was to open up the bucket and dab a little on my tongue.  And I did it a couple of times, just to be sure.  No problem.  So I made a batch of cornbread, and we were all pretty happy--and shocked--to learn that the cornbread tastes just fine.

But still, one hundred twenty pounds is a lot of cornmeal.  And in six-gallon buckets.  There's just no way I can open a big bucket like that and expect that it won't go rancid before I get to the bottom.  I mean, I don't think I've used that much cornmeal in my entire life. But you know what?  Being that old, it's from before the Roundup Ready era. I don't want to waste it, especially with little hope of obtaining any truly organic cornmeal in the future.  So all the cornmeal in the bucket I opened will get repackaged in more manageable quantities in Mylar with oxygen absorbers.

It's a heckuva lot of cornmeal, and we can't eat that much cornbread, so it was time to find other recipes using this bounty of milled grain.  But before I even started searching for recipes, I looked for other uses of cornmeal, especially rancid cornmeal, just in case.  I thought I'd heard of using it for bug bait at the very least.

There honestly wasn't a lot to find.

Ant bait.  Cornmeal alone does not make an adequate ant bait.  Cornmeal alone is called food in ant-speak.  To make bait, mix 1/2 cup of cornmeal with 1 tablespoon of borax.  Stir in enough cooking oil to make a paste.  Put this in a sealed container with entry holes and place it far away from areas with children and pets.  It is toxic if ingested.  If this bait mix doesn't work well enough, add in a little honey or sugar.

Garden fertilizer and weed killer.  Now, this sounded really interesting.  There is this stuff called horticultural grade cornmeal.  Supposedly it has more gluten in it.  Theoretically, when sprinkled on the soil before planting, it helps kill weeds.  When worked into the soil, it makes a nice fertilizer.

Those are the claims.  But one professor at Texas A&M says it's a bunch of bunk, a waste of food and money.  The professors of my agricultural science major daughter also agree.  Expensive compost.  But if my cornmeal went rancid, I think I'd happily throw it in the garden.

Fortunately, the cornmeal isn't rancid, so it was time to search for recipes.  

My friend Renee sent me a recipe for Mexican Spoon Bread Casserole.  Some people call it tamale pie.  The family said it looked like Mexican-style shepherd's pie.  That's what we're trying for dinner tonight.  (And they were all really happy with it.  I thought it was a little bland.)

Mexican Spoon Bread Casserole
Serves 6-8
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (venison is reported to be really good in this)
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 clove garlic
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (15 ounces) corn, drained
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can (2 1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives

Cornmeal Topping
1 1/2 cups milk (1 1/2 cups water plus 6 tablespoons dry milk powder)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs, beaten (or 3-4 tablespoons powdered eggs)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Brown beef, onion, and garlic in a large cast-iron skillet until meat is thoroughly cooked and onion is tender.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered while preparing the cornmeal topping.

For the cornmeal topping, combine the milk, cornmeal, and salt in a saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat just until mixture boils.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese and eggs.

Pour the cornmeal topping over the meat mixture and spread evenly.  Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the topping comes out clean.

Following that success, I figured I'd check online for other recipes.

Southwestern Bean Soup with Cornmeal Dumplings
Serves 4
Soup
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans or great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8-10 ounces) chicken, shredded
3 cups water
1 can (14 1/2 ounce) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 can (15 ounces) corn, drained
1/4 cup dehydrated carrots
1/4 cup dehydrated chopped onions
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced

Dumplings
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons dry milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 dash salt
1 dash pepper
1 egg white, beaten
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon oil


Combine soup ingredients in a Dutch oven and cook over low heat 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the dumplings, combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  In a small bowl, combine egg white, water, and oil.  Add to dry mixture and stir with a fork just until combined.

After the soup has cooked at least thirty minutes, drop rounded teaspoonfuls to make 8-9 dumplings on top of the soup.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes.  Do not lift the cover.

Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese. (This was ok.  We aren't really into dumplings here.)  More cornmeal recipes next week.

Links to related posts:
Corn for Long Term Storage
Nixtamalization and Making Masa
Cornbread Just Add Water Mix

For further reading:    
https://extension2.missouri.edu/gh1119    storing cornmeal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_Ready
https://www.hunker.com/13406497/how-to-kill-ants-with-cornmeal
http://gardenprofessors.com/cornmeal-myth-busted/

17 february 2023