Try This Quick, Easy Way to Make Jerky

Preserving big game meat is a real survival skill!

Jerky is the original high energy survival/snack food, and maybe you’re thinking about making your own. Here’s some expert advice about a quick, easy method that uses meat from the grocery store, items you already have in your kitchen, and an oven.

A Survival Recipe to Make Your Own Handsoap

Staying clean during a survival situation can be critical: the inability to properly wash your hands can transfer contamination and seriously affect your health!  At some point, you might  run out of handsoap. Here’s a recipe from soapmaking expert Karla Moore that uses two ingredients to produce a very mild and usable cleansing bar!

Off Grid Cooking Expert Ann Gawith on Preparedness Radio

Gerald and Ann Gawith

Ann and Gerald Gawith are construction building contractors and remodeling experts, based in Central Oregon. Together with Gerald and business partner Linda Stephenson ( author of “Linda Stephenson’s Wild Game Cookbook” and several other cookbooks) the trio operates a cast iron catering business named “Grub Masters.”
Gerald and Ann, both accomplished off-grid cooks, regularly use a woodstove for heating and cooking.
Ann was recently a guest on SurvivalCommonSense.com Radio on the Preparedness Radio Network, and talked about some of the things you can do to retrofit your home for stormy weather and power outages. You can hear the complete interview here.

Foil Wraps: A Great Choice For Survival Cooking

In a survival situation, food should taste good. When (fill in the acronym) happens, previously-fussy eaters will find that hunger is the best sauce. But the same diet everyday will soon grow monotonous. Really, how many MREs can you eat before all the entrees taste the same?
So food preparation in survival situations is important, and tasty food can start with just a piece of aluminum foil. (I carry a big piece in most of my survival kits!)
Here is how to cook using nothing but a piece of aluminum foil and some hot coals from a campfire.

Venison Meatloaf: A Favorite Comfort Food!

For me, meatloaf  is a comfort food. I love sitting down to a meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits and some fresh vegetable. This combination is really appreciated after along, cold day outside.
Meatloaf  is particularly gratifying if the meat in it has been harvested by someone in your family! It is a great dish to use up some of the the tougher pieces from a game animal, such as the meat from the neck and lower legs.
Meatloaf can also be is a great wilderness survival food. It can be cooked outside, in a cast iron Dutch oven over coals. Because the length of time the meatloaf needs to be baked is not critical, that means the  meal doesn't require constant supervision.

Restoring a Cast Iron Treasure

Potential treasures!

If you’re a recycler (like many preppers  and survivalists are) and you frequent garage sales and thrift stores, then keep an eye out for good, useful cast-iron cooking implements. Somebody’s rusty, dust-covered survivor of a failed camping trip may end up becoming a valuable addition to your cooking tools.
In a survival situation, a Dutch oven is a useful tool for baking, boiling, sauteing or frying. You can use virtually any heat source, including a campfire, charcoal, a propane burner or  barbecue grill. And talk about something with barter or trade value – a few days without electricity, and everyone will be clamoring for a Dutch oven!

Cookbook Review: Linda Stephenson's Wild Game Dutch Oven Cookbook

Linda Stephenson

It’s one thing to have the meat from a game animal. It may be another to cook it! How often have you heard: “I don’t eat venison (elk, antelope, bear, pheasants, etc) because it’s tough and tastes gamey”?
An important part of every survivalist or prepper’s survival kit and tools are outdoor, campfire recipes. You may be able  to collect a squirrel, rabbit or deer, but not know how to prepare it so the meat tastes good. During an emergency or a disaster, your cooking situation might be a campfire, Dutch oven and game meat.  How do you cook a squirrel, rabbit, grouse or piece of venison outdoors?
“Wild Game Dutch Oven Cooking” can answer many of those questions.

Survival Food: A WWII Chicken Dinner Story

I maintain that  hot, tasty food is a survival tool, and should be in every survival kit.With that proviso, here is one of the few stories my Dad told about his service in World War II. It has to do with a hot Sunday morning, somewhere in Louisiana, when a kindly lady invited a complete stranger to eat dinner with her family.

Getting Started With Off-Grid Cooking

Does this sound familiar? Somebody finds out you are a prepper or survivalist, and assumes you're somehow...a little strange. But once they learn a few facts, they may change their minds. The next question may be: "What do I do to get started?"

Here are some tips from off-grid cooking expert Ann Gawith on taking that first step.

Survival Recipe: Re-Fried Beans

One of the staples of long term storage are beans. Here's a quick recipe for enhancing burritos, taco salads and other tasty dishes. As a bonus - the recipes uses only long term storage products!