Magic Mix

Kitchen DIY: Magic Mix

Magic Mix

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
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Today we are going to talk about a food storage tip that is both frugal and useful. We are going to show how to make (and to some extent use) Magic Mix.

The majority of convenience mixes you buy at the store are just flavored magic mix – The cheese flavored powder in mac&cheese, ranch dressing powder, white gravy powder, cream of anything soup is (well we will save that for a later post)…

If you know how to make magic mix and have access to spices you can make a multitude of foods for pennies on the dollar.

So what is this Stuff? Magic Mix is a mix made from powdered milk, butter and flour.

Procedure

  1. Combine 2 1/3 cup of powdered milk, 1 cup ALL PURPOSE flour, 1 Cup (2 sticks) of room temperature Margarine or Butter (must be one of those two – NOT SPREAD)
  2. Mix until it reaches the consistency of corn meal
  3. Store tightly covered in your refrigerator
  4. To use your Magic Mix to make a White Sauce (1 cup)
  5. Combine 2/3 cup Mix and 1 cup water in a saucepan
  6. Stir rapidly over medium heat until it begins to bubble

That’s it – and you can use this sauce in any recipe that calls for a white or cream sauce.

Don’t Say Bawk Bawk

Don't Say Bawk Bawk
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l don’t imagine anyone else is interested in my Don’t say Bawk Bawk Bawk video, but this is one of my favorite videos I have ever made.  My son wanted to sit on a riding lawn mover I have just bought that was sitting in the back of my truck.

When the chickens started clucking and crowing he decided he needed to be the boos of something and told them “Don’t say Bawk Bawk Bawk”

I keep this hear because I like to watch it and because when I am working at the computer trying to keep up with this website and my son feels left out he will climb all over me and showing him this video makes him laugh.  Of course it also means I have to listen to a 4 year old say “Don’t say Bawk Bawk Bawk” about a hundred times and ask me questions about chickens and goats, and that he wants a dog, and when can he go to the land and hunt dinosaurs with a “real gun”.

Fun times, and I would not miss it for the world.  But it is also why I am sitting here at 145 am working on updating this website so I can get a little work done.

I could probably change the name of this post to something more catchy, but bawk bawk is an easy to search for term that I don’t forget and the computer does not get confused.

Little W.T. can easily ask to see the bawk bawk video and I know exactly what he wants.

I do worry, slightly, about him becoming vain from how much he likes watching himself on camera, but I am told it is a normal reaction of him wanting to be like me.  Personally I hope he turns out a lot better than me.  I know I stay busy trying to teach him all the stuff I wish I was taught as a kid.

Knots: Taut Line Hitch

Knots: Taut Line Hitch
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Today’s knot is the Taut Line Hitch.

Since it can be slipped to tighten or loosen a line, and it also holds well under load, it is a great not for camping.

This makes it useful for lines that may need adjustment.

I learned it in the boy scouts and use it to tie tent and tarps to stakes, because it slides freely, yet jams under load, which makes adjustments easy.

Tying a Tautline Hitch

  • Make a turn around a post or other object several feet from the free end.
  • Coil the free end twice around the standing line working back toward the post.
  • Make one additional coil around the standing line on the outside of the coils just made.
  • Tighten the knot and slide it on the standing line to adjust tension.

The taut line hitch was the first knot I learned in the Boy Scouts (but I already knew the square knot from my dad).  This knot is perfect for guy lines on tarps and tents.

I can think of 8 taut line hitch knots being used semi-permanently at the land – tying down the tarp at my campsite, and trying down a tarp on the back of the shed.

Wildfires

Wildfires
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Wildfires stay in the forest only if firefighters can keep them there, so your property can be threatened.  Remember that public service announcement that ended with the echoing words, “I never thought … we were living in the forest.”

  • Outfit your property with fire extinguishers and work up a neighborhood wildfire.

Know where to get emergency information (usually radio or television).

  • When wildfire threatens: clear all foliage within 100 feet of your structure; keep your vehicle parked in the open, facing the direction you would evacuate – and know where the keys are at all times.
  • Much of your structure fire plan will be applicable, like the two or more escape routes from each room.  Know your plan, and use it.
  • As evacuation grows more likely; close windows, vents and doors, turn off gas at main as well as pilot lights and propane tanks.
  • If you have a fireplace, open the damper and close the screens; move furniture to the center of the structure; wear long-sleeved shirts and long-legged pants and have a wet kerchief available to cover your face.
  • If time permits as you leave, wet any shrubs within 15 feet of the home.  This is not just to protect the shrubs; since they will kindle before the home, they increase the risk to the structure.
  • Know where to meet to count heads; your wildfire plan’s provision should be much farther away than the one in your structure fire.
  • Since a wildfire is more likely to take on community proportions than a structure fire, have an out-of-town contact whom all family members who are not together will call.
  • Just as you never go back into a burning building, do not return to the evacuated area until authorities tell you it is safe to do so.

The Frugal Cook

The Frugal Cook
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In modern America almost a third of all food purchased is thrown out.  Frugality is not cool – at least for some.

Of course, the readers of this website are opposite of that.  We embrace the make do, reuse, and refuse to waste mindset.  In the Frugal Cook recipes are given for frugal but very tasty recipes.The lost art of thrift is rediscovered in this cookbook through a wealth of fantastic recipes, from budget breakfasts–Spring Vegetable Frittata or French Toast with Polish Cherries–to easy midweek suppers, such as Thai Beef Salad or Linguine with Stilton and Onion.

In a time where about a third of all the food purchased is thrown out, this book is ideal for anyone who is eager to cut out waste and make the most of everything they buy.

With a full glossary of ingredients and ideas for how to use them up, as well as a myriad of thrifty tips that promise to transform even the most sorry leftover into an inventive and tasty meal, this is a kitchen manual that no home can afford to be without.

The Frugal Cook is a great book for the money, and while it is not the sole answer for frugality, it does make a good place to start.