Thread: BASIC LIST / SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL

The Top 8 Deadly Myths About Survivalism

Dan & Sheila
Surviving Survivalism
March 8th, 2013
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For the last several years, our family – Dan, our son Jesse and I – have been living what some may call the “survivalist” lifestyle. Actually, we live the off-grid (so far off the grid that there is no land line and no cell phone service available), self-sufficient life. We’re not here to get away from the world for a few days while chaos happens and calms down – we don’t think that’s the way it will go, anyway. We’re here because we have chosen to separate ourselves from the rate race, the system, and not be swept away in the tide of what we see as society running amok. This is not a temporary lifestyle to us, it’s a wonderfully peaceful, sometimes difficult and always rewarding life. Regardless of what does or doesn’t happen “out there”, this is how we choose to live.

We were basically “city folk”. But over the past 20-plus years, we formulated, clarified and realized our vision to make the transformation to our current life. We understand the fear and panic many are now feeling in contemplating making a lifestyle change in a short time because world events require that it be done. That is why we wrote our book, Surviving Survivalism – How to Avoid Survivalism Culture Shock.

At one point we chose to lease parts of our land to form a small community of “like-minded” people (I would rather call it “like-spirited”) to help each other make it through what we know is coming down the pike soon – geo-politically, earth-chages-wise, etc. In that search for the right people (who we eventually did find) we met many types of self-proclaimed “survivalists”, most of whom were in reality “survival tourists”, a phrase our son coined for those who only wanted to investigate survivalism just deeply enough to find the reason they couldn’t/shouldn’t do it (“Phew, I almost had to wash my dishes by hand!”).

We met people who spent lots of money on land, a shelter and storage foods, only to forget the prepare the most important thing – their minds! It’s going to take so much more than a gross of toilet paper to save your ass. You’re going to have to put on your “big boy pants” and deal with things like going out in the cold to get firewood, learning to make pancakes with just flour you’ve ground, an egg and water and wearing the same clothes for years without falling apart (neither the clothes nor you!).

The things you might think are important now will seem silly to you when you’re more concerned with the dailiness of your chores that simply keep you alive through a cold winter. We met people who didn’t think they could live without their 62” plasma screen TV. We’ve been watching the same 1200 piece library of DVDs on our laptop for our evening’s entertainment for several years. We know the scripts backwards and forwards, but it takes our minds off the day’s work when we need it.

Before we were able to have our well drilled, we were depending on a local water delivery service (2500 gallons at a time, not a 5 gallon visit from the “Culligan Man”) who suddenly decided that he didn’t want to make the rough trip to our ranch any longer. We had to make our last 500 gallons last throughout a brutally cold winter, washing dishes with 2 gallons a day, washing our hair about once very 2 weeks. But you find that you make it through.

Here are The Top 8 Deadly Myths about Survivalism:

1. It’s just like camping. It’s nothing like camping. When you go camping, if you can’t take a shower for a couple of days, no problem, you’ll take one when you get home. This will be your home, and you’ll have to figure out how to keep your body (and clothing) clean all year long, in the cold, snow or wind. You can do without anything for a couple of days, even weeks, on a camping trip or you can jump back in the car and go to the nearest grocery store to pick up what you need. What if there were no grocery store available? How will you feel when your daily habits are interrupted, not just for a few days trip, but for the foreseeable future?
2. You can buy enough food and supplies for forever. No, someday what you have will run out. You’ll have to learn to grow and/or gather new food supplies and to learn to use what you have, even if that means pancakes without baking powder. Someday you will have to wipe your butt with a washable rag instead of disposable toilet paper. Someday there will be no gas to get to the store and the store won’t have anything on the shelves anyway.
3. Your neighbors will gather around and help each other. Think about your neighbors who haven’t got a clue – or can’t bear the thought – about their comfy suburban lives changing when the reality of where society is going hits them “upside the head”. What if your neighbors can’t get their daily supply of cigarettes, beer, Prozac, soda pop, etc., etc., etc.? Are they going to be the kind of people you can depend on? For how long?
4. If I buy enough gadgets (mini washing machine, generator, solar tracker, ) I’ll be OK. If you truly believe that society is in for a big shake up, you’ll realize that this is not a time to spend money unnecessarily, but to put every penny you can into what is practical. Gadgets are going to break down and then you will have to learn to live without them anyway. Why not learn now?
5. I can get to my survival location when TSHTF. This is the most flawed – and perhaps the most popular – plan: thinking that when all hell breaks loose you will know in advance enough to travel the hundreds of miles to your survival location. When the door slams shut the highways will be blocked, the urban and suburban streets will be blocked and patrolled and no one will be going anywhere!
   Even if your survival location is only a few miles away, you probably won’t be able to get there. If you truly understand the need for being “survival-minded”, why not begin living the self-sufficient lifestyle NOW? Learn what it really means to live off-the-grid NOW, not when there is chaos all around you. You may find that it’s a much better lifestyle than the one you are living now.
6. I can convince my “significant other” that this is the right move. No, you can’t – and you shouldn’t. All you can do is give them information and allow them to do with it what they do. People either get this or they don’t. It’s not for everyone. This goes for all family members. I’m not saying go or don’t go without them. That’s an individual, circumstantial decision and action. If all members of your family are not on the same page, you’ll have to determine what to do. Staying where you are may be your choice. Just do it as an informed decision.
7. I don’t need to prepare a place. I’ll just grab my Bug-Out-Bag and find a cave somewhere. How many others do you think have that same plan? Especially those who live near caves, already know where they are and already expect to be occupying them? And can your bug out bag hold what you really need for an extended period of time?
8. My kids will be bored. Your kids will be learning so many new ways of living, so many daily activities and chores, connecting with nature in so many new ways, they won’t have time to be bored. Allow them the freedom to discover things like what bugs are in the grass around your home, what plants grow, what wildlife is still abundant on this beautiful land…if your attitude is one of wonder, not worry, so will theirs be. Help them look at this as an adventure, not a burden.

If you do not yet understand why it might be time to make a move from your comfy, familiar, suburban lifestyle, you’re not watching the news. Or maybe you are only watching mainstream news, who tell you “everything is as it should be.” It’s not.

Friedrich Nietzsche was right… “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” It’s amazing to see just what we are capable of living through, of accomplishing when we depend only on ourselves. When there is no safety net, sometimes you just learn to fly.

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

Contributed by Dan & Sheila of Surviving Survivalism.

From the authors of Surviving Survivalism – How to Avoid Survivalism Culture Shock available at Surviving Survivalism Blog.

The Top 8 Deadly Myths About Survivalism

Craft, Home and Garden Ideas

Tropical Key Lime Cannoli

Ingredients

Oven Baked Cannoli:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup quick cook oats
2 tablespoons almonds, finely chopped
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 egg whites, lightly beaten

Key Lime Cannoli Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest (no white bitter pith)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
fresh lime wedges for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line cookie tray with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, oats and cocoa in a medium sized mixing bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl mix the melted butter, vanilla, almond extract and beaten egg whites using a wire whisk until well blended.

Add wet ingredients gradually into the flour and sugar mixture and mix until well blended.
Place one tablespoon of batter on parchment paper and spread with a spatula into a circle. Repeat to make 12 shells. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until slightly soft.

Immediately transfer cannoli (while still on parchment paper) to a wire rack. Quickly roll each cannoli around a metal cannoli tube, 1-inch in diameter. Ends should slightly overlap.
If cannoli becomes to hard to roll, return it to oven for 60 seconds to soften.

Cool completely before removing cannoli tube. Carefully remove tubes as cannoli shells are fragile.
While cannoli shells are cooling, prepare key lime cannoli filling.
Mix cream cheese and sugar on low speed until blended. Scrape well and mix on low speed until lumps are gone. (Do not mix on high speed as this may cause the filling to become runny.)
Add lime zest and juice and combine well.

Mix in ricotta cheese and mix until well blended.
Pipe or spoon into cooled cannoli shells.
Garnish with lime wedges or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

Craft, Home and Garden Ideas

Craft, Home and Garden Ideas

Jalapeno Bacon Poppers

Makes 18 poppers

9 jalapeno peppers
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
9 slices bacon cut in half

Cut the jalapenos in half and remove all of the seeds. Combine the cream cheese, salsa verde and shredded cheddar in a small bowl. Once combined, add to a pastry bag or a sturdy 1 quart ziplock bag and cut off one corner so you can squeeze the cheese out of the hole and into the peppers. Fill the peppers with cheese mixture. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in the microwave or saute pan for a few minutes until it’s starting to brown a little but is still soft and pliable. Cool and then wrap each jalapeno half in one piece of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet (with sides) and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. Set the oven to broil and cook for 2-3 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don’t burn! This gives the peppers a nice roasty flavor and ensures that your bacon will be crisp. Remove the jalapeno poppers from the oven and cool slightly before eating. Super low carb appetizer and soooo delicious!!!!

Craft, Home and Garden Ideas

Craft, Home and Garden Ideas

Keep them guessing how you got the candy in the egg

Craft, Home and Garden Ideas

Easter Nest Cookies

Ingredients

1 package (16 oz) Pillsbury® Ready To Bake!™ refrigerated sugar cookies (24 cookies)
1 container (12 oz) fluffy white frosting
1 cup flaked coconut
Food color
Jelly beans

1 Bake cookies as directed on package. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.

2 Frost cookies. Add coconut to a 1-quart resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add 2 to 3 drops favorite food color, shaking bag to blend color. It may be necessary to add 1 to 2 teaspoons water to help disperse the color evenly or additional food color until desired color is reached. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon coconut on each cookie.

3 Top with jelly beans or candy coated chocolate peanut candy.

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Sistahintheraw

Cranberry Pistachio Energy Bites

8 oz. (about 1 packed cup) chopped dates
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. chia seeds (optional)
1 Tbsp. ground flax seeds
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups organic oats (dry, not cooked)
1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup cocao nibs (optional)

Combine the dates, honey, chia seeds, flax seeds and salt in a food processor, and pulse until smooth and combined. You should be able to stir the mixture -- if it is too thick, add in another tablespoon or two of honey.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and stir in the oats, pistachios, dried cranberries, and cacao nibs until evenly combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Once the mixture is cool (and easier to work with), use a spoon or cookie scoop to shape it into your desired size of energy balls. Alternately, you can line a small baking pan with parchment paper, and press the mixture evenly into the pan, let it cool, and then cut into bars.

Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. (Storing them in the refrigerator especially helps the energy bites hold their shape.)

Via: gimmesomeoven

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