How to Make Perfect Tea With a French Press

 

Review: KONA French Press
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I have never used a french press before, but after the Alabama Tornado a couple years ago I realized that having a non-electric coffee maker might be something preppers should have.

So when Kona contacted me and asked if I wanted to review their french press I said sure (they supplied the press, but they aren’t paying for the review).

I found the press to be very simple, and I liked how the press is made of wire screen, and is replaceable (it came with extra, but I think you could also make it).

What I did not like was the fact that the container was glass.  While this might not be an issue for normal usage, this isn’t something you would take camping.

Since I don’t drink coffee, I tried tea.  After drinking french press tea, I went and bought loose tea, because I thought it tasted much better than what comes out of my “Mr. T” tea machine.

Once again, I have received nothing except the press in return for my honest opinion, and my honest opinion is that this is pretty useful but since I don’t drink fancy coffee I am going to put this press in the closet until I need it to make tea when I don’t have electricity for my Mr. Tea machine.

Recipe: Garlic Cheddar Cat Head Biscuits

Recipe: Garlic Cheddar Cat Head Biscuits
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This recipe is a great clone of the famous garlic biscuits served at a chain seafood restaurant.

I use this a a biscuit, but I also use this as a crust on casseroles.

These cat head garlic cheddar biscuits are tasty and easy to prepare.*

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups self rising flour
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 2 tsp. dried oregano 1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, mix together biscuit mix, cheese and garlic powder.
  • Add in cream, and stir until well mixed.
  • With a spoon or with your fingers, shape the dough into biscuit-sized clumps, and drop onto the baking sheet.
  • Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until biscuits begin to brown slightly around the edges.
  • While the biscuits bake, prepare the warm butter mixture by mixing together the melted butter, oregano and garlic salt in a small bowl. As soon as the biscuits are removed from the oven, brush the biscuits (while they are still on the baking sheet) with the mixture until they are well-coated.
  • Serve warm.

*Note:  After reediting this video and uploading it, I had a craving for these biscuits and decided to experiment with using the dough as a topping for a chicken casserole.  It was awesome….

Survival Punk Paleo Food Bar

 

Kitchen DIY: Survival Punk Paleo Food Bar
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One of the friends I have made while creating this site is James Burnette of Survival Punk.

While we share a strong DIY ethic, we do have a lot of differences.

Most notably in the areas of fitness and nutrition…  However, while out working on the land James offered me some of a Paleo Food Bar he developed.

Jame’s Paleo food bar is a mixture of 4 ingredients – Lemon, dates, coconut oil, and shredded coconut.

While I much would have preferred a burger, I can see where a paleo ration bar has a use in preparedness or survival.  While, I don’t like coconut, it tasted pretty good.

Watch the embedded video to hear James talk about his bar and why he created it the way he did.

My wife has experimented a little with paleo diets as she has worked to get healthy. I still am not convinced any diet is better than just eating a balanced diet and working hard physically.

However, since I still eat mayo, cheese, sweet tea and beef as my four food groups you should not consider me an expert.

*Update:

I dropped sweet tea as a food group.  I now drink water.  That helped my diabetes.  I am also working on my cholesterol so mostly I eat Cheerios and grumble.

dry milk

Kitchen DIY: Dry Milk to Whole Milk

Kitchen DIY: Dry Milk to Whole Milk
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Dry Milk to Whole MilkIn order to reduce rancidity to help with long term storage, almost all powdered milk is no-fat, in order to use powdered milk as whole milk in recipes, you will need to modify it slightly

Because powdered milk has no fat, it is a poor substitute for cooking and baking recipes that require whole milk.

The milk fat gives recipes (baked items, especially) a consistency that cannot be found without fat.

Preppers can benefit by knowing how to substitute the powdered for fresh in recipes.  If you want to turn dry milk to whole milk follow the guide below.

To Turn Dry Milk to Whole Milk Simply:

  1. Combine 1 cup water with 1/3 cup powdered milk.
  2. Stir the ingredients together well to dissolve all the powdered milk. Use a blender or mixer for best results.
  3. Add 1 tbsp. oil after the powdered-milk mixture is well blended.
  4. Mix or blend the mixture thoroughly.

It is not that hard – 1 tbsp. of oil for every cup of milk…

This is a bit of kitchen knowledge that, while not common, is something every person with home food storage should know.  This tip will help turn pounds of dry milk powder into something usable for recipes

How to Make Sticky Rice in a Crock Pot

How to Make Sticky Rice in a Crock Pot

Kitchen DIY: Cooking Rice in a Crock Pot
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There is not a lot to say about cooking sticky rice in a crock pot other than saying how easy this is, and how cheap rice is.  Preppers already know that rice is a great preparedness food because it is cheap, filling, and lasts a long time if stored properly.

How to Cook Sticky Rice in a Crock Pot

There is not a lot of difference between cooking rice in boiling water on the stove and cooking rice in a crock pot.  The ratios of water to rice (2 cups water to 1 cup rice).  The only real difference is the time required.  Since crock pots are fix and forget cooking utensils – they take longer than stove methods because they don’t get as hot.  Depending on you settings it takes about 2 hours to cook rice in a crock pot, but time is not as important as getting the water absorbed.

The way you go about cooking rice in a crock pot is exactly opposite of cooking rice in a pressure cooker.   A crock pot takes much longer, but you don’t have to watch it –  which is quite useful for us busy folks.

Cooking Rice in a Crock Pot works well, but it does come out a little stickier than normal methods.  Especially in the video because I did not wash the grains to get rid extra starch.  I like sticky rice.

This turned out more like rice pudding than individual grains.  Some would sayI cooked it too long.  However, I like it this way.

I put in a lot of creamy chicken soup and shredded chicken and eat on it for a week.

If you like it less mushy then cook is a shorter time.

It never occurred to me that not everyone likes to make sticky rice.  I like mine with some stick to the ribs gooey factor.  I normally throw in some shredded chicken and some cream of chicken soup.

If you want the rice to be less sticky, rinse the grains first and cook for a shorter time at a higher temp.