seven units

* Basic Food Storage on A Budget

2012-02-15T04:01:00.000-08:00

The following information I obtained from Bear ridge blog survival site. I've made modifications.

We use 5 gallon buckets for storage. They are easy to move and hold a considerable amount of food. Here is the math 1 gallon = 16 cups so 5 gallons = 80 cups of whatever you are storing.

Rice Stocks

Lets say you eat one cup of dried rice per day. This is a common high energy food so one cup a day would be reasonable. That's 365 cups of rice per year or 22.8 gallons. Lets round that up to 25 gallons for the sake of easy math which gives us five-5 gallon buckets per person annually.

Note that it takes about 30 pounds of rice to fill a 5 gallon bucket. It will cost you about $60 for your 150 pound annual rice supply.

One cup of dried rice will make 3 cups of cooked rice with a total of about 650 calories.

Bean Stocks

Beans have a very high nutritional value and one cup a day should do. That's 365 cups of beans per year rounded up gives us 25 gallons or five (5) gallon buckets per person annually.

It takes 32 pounds of beans to fill a 5 gallon bucket. This will cost you about $90 for your yearly supply.

One cup of dried beans will make 2 1/2 cups of cooked beans with a total of about 620calories.

Flour Stocks

Using the following simple ingredients you can make one loaf of bread; 3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons (1 pack) of yeast and 1 1/8 cup of water. There are roughly 14 fat slices per loaf. Our 5 gallon bucket of flour holds around 26 loafs of bread. At two loafs per week our bucket of flour will last 13 weeks.

You will need four 5 gallon buckets of flour per person annually. Now lets throw in an extra bucket so you can make bread for trade and possibly some cakes, that brings our total up to five-5 gallon buckets for one person every year.

Every bucket holds 25 pounds of flour and 26 packs of yeast. Just put the packs of yeast in with the flour this keeps everything that is necessary for the bread together. A five bucket supply will cost you about $82 per year per person.

One slice of bread contains 110 calories four slices per day contains 440 calories.

Other Stocks

Additionally you will need spices, sugar and powdered milk. We are not going to delve into amounts or costs of these items because they are not necessary for survival and will vary greatly depending on personal preferences. You may also want to consider stocking a few months supply of multi-vitamins.

Everything here can be prepared on a wood stove or in a solar over. The list is meant to hold you over until your garden can start producing.

Drying Foods

2010-10-13T08:46:00.001-07:00

This site is being updated. Stay tuned

2009-09-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

*100 Items to Disappear First

2008-10-23T04:06:00.000-07:00

I found this list online. Gives you an idea of what may need to be stored.

100 Items to Disappear First

1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy...target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice - Beans - Wheat
11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,)
12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly)
13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY - note - food grade if for drinking.
16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur.
17. Survival Guide Book.
18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry)
21. Cookstoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous without this item)
24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms)
26. Bow saws, axes and hatchets, Wedges (also, honing oil)
27. Aluminum Foil Reg. & Heavy Duty (Great Cooking and Barter Item)
28. Gasoline Containers (Plastic & Metal)
29. Garbage Bags (Impossible To Have Too Many).
30. Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels
31. Milk - Powdered & Condensed (Shake Liquid every 3 to 4 months)
32. Garden Seeds (Non-Hybrid) (A MUST)
33. Clothes pins/line/hangers (A MUST)
34. Coleman's Pump Repair Kit
35. Tuna Fish (in oil)
36. Fire Extinguishers (or..large box of Baking Soda in every room)
37. First aid kits
38. Batteries (all sizes...buy furthest-out for Expiration Dates)
39. Garlic, spices & vinegar, baking supplies
40. Big Dogs (and plenty of dog food)
41. Flour, yeast & salt
42. Matches. {"Strike Anywhere" preferred.) Boxed, wooden matches will go first
43. Writing paper/pads/pencils, solar calculators
44. Insulated ice chests (good for keeping items from freezing in Wintertime.)
45. Workboots, belts, Levis & durable shirts
46. Flashlights/LIGHTSTICKS & torches, "No. 76 Dietz" Lanterns
47. Journals, Diaries & Scrapbooks (jot down ideas, feelings, experience; Historic Times)
48. Garbage cans Plastic (great for storage, water, transporting - if with wheels)
49. Men's Hygiene: Shampoo, Toothbrush/paste, Mouthwash/floss, nail clippers, etc
50. Cast iron cookware (sturdy, efficient)
51. Fishing supplies/tools
52. Mosquito coils/repellent, sprays/creams
53. Duct Tape
54. Tarps/stakes/twine/nails/rope/spikes
55. Candles
56. Laundry Detergent (liquid)
57. Backpacks, Duffel Bags
58. Garden tools & supplies
59. Scissors, fabrics & sewing supplies
60. Canned Fruits, Veggies, Soups, stews, etc.
61. Bleach (plain, NOT scented: 4 to 6% sodium hypochlorite)
62. Canning supplies, (Jars/lids/wax)
63. Knives & Sharpening tools: files, stones, steel
64. Bicycles...Tires/tubes/pumps/chains, etc
65. Sleeping Bags & blankets/pillows/mats
66. Carbon Monoxide Alarm (battery powered)
67. Board Games, Cards, Dice
68. d-con Rat poison, MOUSE PRUFE II, Roach Killer
69. Mousetraps, Ant traps & cockroach magnets
70. Paper plates/cups/utensils (stock up, folks)
71. Baby wipes, oils, waterless & Antibacterial soap (saves a lot of water)
72. Rain gear, rubberized boots, etc.
73. Shaving supplies (razors & creams, talc, after shave)
74. Hand pumps & siphons (for water and for fuels)
75. Soysauce, vinegar, bullions/gravy/soupbase
76. Reading glasses
77. Chocolate/Cocoa/Tang/Punch (water enhancers)
78. "Survival-in-a-Can"
79. Woolen clothing, scarves/ear-muffs/mittens
80. Boy Scout Handbook, / also Leaders Catalog
81. Roll-on Window Insulation Kit (MANCO)
82. Graham crackers, saltines, pretzels, Trail mix/Jerky
83. Popcorn, Peanut Butter, Nuts
84. Socks, Underwear, T-shirts, etc. (extras)
85. Lumber (all types)
86. Wagons & carts (for transport to and from)
87. Cots & Inflatable mattress's
88. Gloves: Work/warming/gardening, etc.
89. Lantern Hangers
90. Screen Patches, glue, nails, screws,, nuts & bolts
91. Teas
92. Coffee
93. Cigarettes
94. Wine/Liquors (for bribes, medicinal, etc,)
95. Paraffin wax
96. Glue, nails, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
97. Chewing gum/candies
98. Atomizers (for cooling/bathing)
99. Hats & cotton neckerchiefs
100. Goats/chickens

*Disaster Preparedness On A Limited Budget

2008-10-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

The time to build the cellar is before the tornado hits. If your resources are limited, anything you can do to extend your “margins of safety” in terms of the basic necessities of life helps you prepare for a disaster or emergency (such as loss of a job, sickness, eviction, earthquake, tornado, economic collapse, war, etc.) Think carefully about the challenges you may face. Make lists and check them twice. If a disaster doesn’t happen, you still benefit because you made these preparations: you have increased the safety, health, security, and wellness of your family and community — and you’ve fulfilled an important aspect of your civic duties as a citizen. Don’t procrastinate or wait to the last minute! Got Free information? Available in libraries, schools, on the internet (libraries often offer free internet access), & from long talks with older people about how things were in the past. The other BETTER TIMES Emergency Notes cover issues that can help you prepare within your resources. Consult them for inexpensive ideas regarding water, emergency heating, and cooking. Enroll in free classes. Ask questions. Use maps and dictionaries. (Often.) Read the instructions. Use time constructively. Remember: A stitch in time saves nine. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Waste not, want not. If you don’t know, ask! Keep books in your home. Read them to your children. Learn many things. Practice many skills. Teach others. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Got smart shopping? Look at flea markets/garage sales for stuff that would be useful in an emergency: extra pots & pans (such as a Dutch oven), blankets & winter clothing, towels, water & food containers, food processing equipment (grain and meat grinders, mason jars, pressure cookers), candles, matches, blankets, towels, rope, tools, camp stoves, flashlights, lanterns, rolls of plastic, fishing poles and tackle, etc. Stop throwing stuff useful stuff away: this includes plastic & glass containers & their lids, newspapers, plastic & paper bags, kitchen scraps, cardboard, lawn trimmings. Start a compost heap (makes fertilizer for future gardens). Think of your trash as a resource to be used rather than a problem to be disposed of.
Got contingency plans? Planning involves no out-of-pocket expense so decide what your family will do during emergencies. If people aren’t at home, or can’t get home, where should the family gather? If you have to evacuate, where would you go? Prepare small “evacuation kits” for each family member. Pack them with a 3 day supply of food, water, a blanket, small battery powered radio, addresses, phone numbers, and other items that would be useful if your area has to be evacuated quickly. Note that if civil disorder threatens the area, the best course is usually to stay home, avoid crowds and public gatherings, and become as invisible as possible. If the disaster is large and widespread, it may be days or weeks before help arrives. Make sure you have paper copies of all your vital documents, including birth and naturalization certificates, bank statements, etc.

Got community organizing? A resilient neighborhood is a better and safer place to live. Resilience is a word that describes the ability of a community or family to successfully meet challenges. If a major disaster hits your neighborhood, work together with your neighbors to increase the safety, security, health, and wellness of your family and community. “Neighbors” can include: friends, family, the people next door & on your block, churches, service clubs or other organizations (like Scouting or 4-H), schools, neighborhood associations, government agencies, co-workers. Pool resources, work on projects together, and plan what you will do during an emergency situation. Past experience in disasters indicates that trusting relationships that begin before a disaster endure through the event and help people be resilient in the face of grave challenges. That history also teaches us that a disaster is a hard time to establish such relationships, so NOW is the time to get to know your neighbors. Be ready to help others by organizing a community response to a bad situation. Take special care of those who are particularly vulnerable: people with serious medical conditions, the elderly, the very young, those who have emotional or mental problems. Be aware of the tendency to resort to bad habits when you are under stress. Don’t leave anybody behind, there’s room for everybody in the boat.

Got water? It’s cheap and so are containers to store it in. Make sure you have plenty. Start collecting empty bottles (soda pop, etc.) Wash with dish soap and rinse with a chlorine bleach disinfecting solution (see BETTER TIMES Emergency Notes #4). Don’t rinse the bottle with plain water after rinsing with the disinfecting solution. Fill immediately with clean tap water, put the lid on, and store in a dark and cool place. Store as much as you can. Clean, large plastic trash cans with lids can be used to store water for washing and flushing purposes.
Got juice? The essentials of a cheap power system include a source of power (car alternator, portable generator, wind or solar power), batteries, an inverter (to change the battery’s 12 volt DC power into AC power), and a way to distribute the power. Small inverters are as cheap as $30 and will run a couple of lamps or a radio, or even a small TV (up to 140 watts, look at electronics or auto parts stores, or catalogs). They plug into the cigarette lighter of a car, a good quality extension cord that plugs into the inverter will bring the power into the house. When the battery gets low, the inverter automatically shuts off and the car can be started to recharge the battery. Small solar panels are available ($100 or less) that can provide enough sunlight for a couple of hours of lights each sunny day. Emergency lights can be run directly from a battery (such as brake or backup lights removed from a car or bought for this purpose). Flashlights & battery powered lanterns are useful; for less money than you spend on batteries in a few months, you can get an inexpensive $20 solar small battery charger and some nicad rechargeable batteries ($2 - $6 each, depending on the size). A step down voltage converter (plugs into the cigarette lighter) can be used to run small “C” or “D” powered radios or CD players from a car battery. For all alternative power applications, an inexpensive volt meter will be very useful. This flyer has only a bare minimum of information on this subject, use it as a source of ideas. Do further research in libraries or by talking to electricians. Got more energy ideas? Look for cheap candles at dollar stores & churches, buy lots of the tall ones in glasses (they last 3 to 6 days burning continuously and produce light as well as heat, don’t leave them burning unattended or while you sleep).

Got Food? click here for budget food storage. the more

If you can’t buy it all at once, buy a little at a time until you have 2 or 3 months emergency supplies on hand. Store carefully so roaches and rodents don’t get in — look for food grade plastic containers such as 5 or 6 gallon buckets with lids, you can often get them cheap or even free at bakeries, donut shops, restaurants, or other places that serve a lot of food. Empty 2 liter pop bottles are another cheap storage container for dry goods like beans, rice, and flour. Rotate your supplies, use some of the flour, rice, beans or whatever, and then buy more. “Store what you eat, and eat what you store.” Use this list as a guide, customize it to meet the needs and tastes of your family.

Got more food ideas? Buy produce directly from farmers or on sale at the stores and preserve it yourself by dehydrating or canning. (You can learn how to do this if you don’t know how.) Dehydrators are cheap & the dehydrated foods can be stored double bagged in ziplocks or in mason jars. You could also dry food in the oven. Set it to 140 degrees, spread food in trays, prop the door open a little, check frequently. Consult your local home extension office or library for more information. You can grow tomato plants, peppers, and other such plants in containers inside your house, or on a porch or balcony. If you have pets, don’t forget pet food.

Text (c) 1999, 2001 by Robert Waldrop, Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House, Oklahoma City. Permission is given to reproduce this flyer for free distribution. The information is compiled from sources deemed credible, but readers use it at their own risk. http://www.bettertimesinfo.org, rmwj@soonernet.com . These notes are not meant to provide all the details, but rather to suggest ideas for coping with prolonged disruptions due to natural disasters or the collapse of unjust and unsustainable systems of economics and government.

* Emergency Childbirth: What to do

2008-10-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

Emergency Childbirth

When birth is imminent and medical help is unavailable, it is important to understand the normal course of labor and childbirth. The mother and anyone who is helping can make the birth easier and safer by knowing exactly what is happening and how best to help.

Labor is Divided into Three Stages:

First Stage - the womb contracts by itself to open and bring the baby down to the birth canal.
Second Stage - the mother pushes (bears down) with the contractions of the womb to help the baby through the birth canal and out into the world.
Third Stage - the afterbirth is expelled.

First Stage
In this early part of labor it is often helpful for the mother to keep occupied as long as she does not get too tired. She should be patient and calm, relaxing as the contractions come and go and breathing slowly and deeply during the contractions as they become strong. Emptying the bowels and frequent urination will help to relieve discomfort. The mother will know she is in true labor if she has regular contractions of the womb which are prolonged and become strong and closer together. When she knows the baby is on the way, she should choose a place to have the baby that will be clean and peaceful. She should be able to lie down or sit in a leaning position (with her back well supported).

The following events occur as part of the first stage of labor and delivery.

The state of dilation: the first signs may be noticeable only to the mother, low-backache and irregular cramping pains (contractions) in the lower abdomen.
As labor progresses, the contractions become stronger, last longer, and become more regular. When the contractions recur at regular 3-4 minute intervals and last from 50-60 seconds, the mother is in the latter part of the first stage.
The contractions will get stronger and more frequent. The mother will often make an involuntary, deep grunting, moan with each contraction. The delivery of the baby is now imminent.

What To Do During the First Stage
Those helping the mother should know how to time the contractions. This information will give them an idea as to how far into labor the mother is and how much time remains until the baby comes.

Place a hand on the mother’s abdomen just above the umbilicus. As contractions begin you will feel a hardening ball. Time the interval from the moment the uterus begins to harden until it completely relaxes.

Time the intervals in minutes between the start of one contraction and the start of the next contraction. As labor progresses this time will decrease.Walking or standing tends to shorten labor, so if that feels comfortable to the mother, let her. Also, if she becomes hungry or thirsty, let her eat or drink small amounts of food, fruit juice, or suck on ice chips.

Don’t Leave the Mother Alone!
Make no attempt to wipe away vaginal secretions, as this may contaminate the birth canal. The bag of water may rupture during this stage of labor and blood tinged mucous may appear.

At the end of the first stage, the mother may feel tired, discouraged and irritable. This is often referred to as "transition" and is the most uncomfortable part of labor and such feelings are perfectly normal. The mother may have a backache, may vomit, may feel either hot or cold (or both at the same time), she may tremble, feel panicky or scared, cry or get very cross with her husband and birthing attendants. She may even announce that she has changed her mind and is not going through with it. At this time she needs plenty of encouragement and assurance that things are proceeding normally and that her feelings are normal. Birth attendants, the husband, and others present at the labor and birth should have a cheerful, calm appearance. Nervousness, panic, or distressing remarks can have an inhibiting effect on a laboring woman. Comments on how long the labor is lasting, how pale or tired the woman looks can have a terrible effect on her morale. Even talking quietly can irritate a woman having an intense contraction because it is hard to concentrate on relaxing when there is noise in the room.

Relaxation is very important. A woman’s husband or labor coach should instruct her to go limp like a rag doll and breath deeply, making her tummy rise and fall. This is called abdominal breathing. Begin each contraction with a deep breath to keep the tissues (of both mom and baby) oxygenated. Observe the kind of breathing you do when you are nearly asleep and try to simulate it. Help her to relax her hands, face, legs etc. if you see that they are tense. Tenseness in the body fights the contractions and intensifies the sensations of "pain." Relaxation helps a woman to handle the contractions easier and have a faster labor.

Sometimes a woman will breathe too fast and get tingling sensations in her hands and feet. She needs to be coached to slow down her breathing. You can have her follow your breathing until the tingling goes away. Firm hand pressure on the lower back by those attending the mother may help to relieve the back ache. Alternately, the mother may prefer to lean her back against a firm surface. Deep rhythmical breathing helps to relieve annoying symptions. The discomfort seldom lasts for more than a dozen contractions.

When the womb is almost fully opened the baby will soon enter the birth canal, and there will be a vocalized catch in the mother’s breathing when she has a contraction. The will signal the onset of the second stage.

Second Stage
The contractions of the second stage are often of a different kind. They may come further apart and the mother usually fells inclined to bear down (push) with them. When she gets this feeling she should take a deep breath as each contraction comes, hold her breath and gently push. There is no hurry here. The mother should feel no need to exert great force as she pushes. She may want to push with several breaths during each contraction. After it passes, a deep sigh will help her recover her breath. She should then rest until the next contraction. She may even sleep between contractions.

Some general instructions for the second stageof labor:

Be calm! Reassure the mother and be prepared to administer first aid to both the mother and baby. (Possible respiratory and cardiac resuscitation for the baby and hemorrhage control and prevention of shock for the mother may be needed).
Discourage onlookers from crowding around the mother.
Use sterile materials or the cleanest materials available. Clean towels or parts of the mother's clothing can be used. Place newspaper under the mother if nothing else is available. If she must lie on the ground, place a blanket or other covering under her.
In order to prevent infection, refrain from direct contact with the vagina.
Prepare for the delivery by assisting the mother to lie on her back with the knees bent and separated as far apart as possible. Remove any constricting clothing or push it above her waist.
When the baby's head reaches the outlet of the birth canal, the top of the head will first be seen during contractions but will then become visible all the time. The mother will now feel a stretching, burning sensation.

She must now no longer push during the contractions, and to avoid this, should pant (like a dog on a hot day). This will allow the baby's head to slide gently and painlessly out of the canal. If possible allow the head to emerge between contractions. This will prevent the mother's skin from tearing and will minimize trauma to the baby's head. It is important that the mother pant instead of pushing until both of the baby's shoulders have emerged.

Delivery of the Baby
As the baby is coming down the birth canal, keep the perineum red or pink by massaging with warm olive oil (if none is available simply massage the area with your hand). Any place that gets white will tear more easily so keep massaging and keep all areas red. Use olive oil on the inside too and pay special attention to the area at the bottom, as that is the most common place to tear. Do this massage during a contraction when it will not be noticed or it may irritate some women.

You can support under the perineum with your hand on top of a sterile gauze pad or washcloth. Do not hold it together, just support it so the baby's head can ease out. The other hand can gently press with the fingers around the baby's head so it won't pop out too fast causing tearing. As the baby's head is born, support it with your hand so the face doesn't sit in a puddle of amniotic fluid. Gently wipe the face with a clean or sterile washcloth. Check quickly around the neck for the cord. If you feel it, just hook it with your finger and pull it around the baby's head. Check again. Some are wrapped more than once. If the cord is so tight it cannot be slipped over the baby's head, just wait until the baby is born to untangle it. Most cords are long enough to permit this. IF the cord is too short to permit the baby to be born, it has to be cut and clamped and the baby delivered rapidly. In this situation the baby may be in distress because the oxygen supply was cut off prematurely. With the next contraction, one of the shoulders comes and then the whole body slips quickly out. IF several contractions have passed without a shoulder coming, you may have to slip two fingers in and try to find an armpit. With one or two fingers hooked under the armpit, try to rotate the shoulder counterclockwise while pulling out. Usually this does it. As the baby's head emerges, it is usually face down. It then turns, so that the nose is turned towards he mother's thigh. Support the baby's head by cradling it in your hands. Do not pull or exert any pressure. Help the shoulders out. For the lower shoulder, support the head in an upward position. As the shoulders emerge, be prepared for the rest of the body to come quickly. Use the cleanest cloth or item available to receive the baby.

Make a record of the time and approximate location of the birth of the baby. With one hand, grasp the baby at the ankles, slipping a finger between the ankles. With the other hand, support the shoulders with the thumb and middle finger around its neck and the forefinger on the head. (Support but do not choke). Do not pull on the umbilical cord when picking the baby up. Raise the baby's body slightly higher than the head in order to allow mucous and other fluid to drain from its nose and mouth. Be very careful as newborn babies are very slippery.

The baby will probably breathe and cry almost immediately. If the baby doesn't breathe spontaneously, very gently clear the mouth of mucous with your finger. Stimulate crying by gently rubbing its back. IF all this fails, give extremely gentle mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Gently pull the lower jaw back and breathe gently with small puffs--20 puffs a minute. If there seems to be excess mucous, use your finger to gently clear the baby's mouth.

The mother will probably want to hold the baby. This is desirable. If the umbilical cord is long enough, let her hold the baby in her arms. If the cord is short, support the baby on the mother's abdomen and help her hold it there. It is of benefit to the baby and makes the afterbirth come with less bleeding if the baby can be allowed to suckle at the breast as soon as it is born. The cord should not be cut until the afterbirth has completely emerged.

Third Stage
The placenta delivery or afterbirth is expelled by the womb in a period of a few minutes to several hours after the baby is born. No attempt should be made to pull it out using the cord. Immediately following the afterbirth, there may be additional bleeding and a few blood clots. The womb should feel like a firm grapefruit just below the mother's navel. If it is soft, the baby should be encouraged to nurse, and the mother may be encouraged to gently massage the womb. These actions will cause it to contract and lessen the chances of bleeding. If hemorrhaging occurs, do the following:

The uterus should be gently massaged to keep it hard.
The woman should lie flat, and the bottom of the bed should be elevated.
Put a cold pack (such as a small towel dipped in cold water and wrung out) on the lower tummy to irritate the uterus to contract.
Put pressure on the perineum with several sanitary napkins and the pressure of your hand.
Most importantly, have the baby nurse. Sucking stimulates the uterus to contract. Another problem to be alert for is shock.

Symptoms of shock are vacant eyes, dilated pupils, pale and cold or clammy skin, faint and rapid pulse, shallow and irregular breathing, dizziness and vomiting. If you notice any of these symptoms, keep the woman warm, slightly elevate her feet and legs, use soft lights, and talk softly and calmly to her. The baby has some danger of getting an infection through the cut cord, so it should not be cut until sterile conditions are available. If there is a possibility of getting medical help within a few hours, do not cut the cord but leave it and the afterbirth attached to the baby. If there will be no medical help, wait until the afterbirth is out, or at least until the cord is whitened and empty of blood. The cord should not be cut until it quits pulsating so the baby can have a transition time before he absolutely has to breathe on his own. As long as the cord is pulsating, the baby is still receiving oxygen from his mother.

If the cord is long enough, the baby can be put on his mother's tummy so she can hold him and talk to him. IF not, the father should touch him and talk to him. After the cord has stopped pulsating and has become limp it can be clamped or tied about one inch from the baby's tummy with a cord or sterile cloth and then cut.

As the placenta separates from the uterus, the cord will appear longer. Wait for the delivery of the placenta. It will usually be about 10 minutes or longer before the placenta is delivered. Never pull on the cord. When the placenta appears, grasp gently and rotate it clockwise. Then tie the cord in two places--about six inches from the baby--using strips of material that has been boiled or held in a hot flame.

The placenta and attached membranes must be saved for a doctor's inspection. Leaving the cord and placenta attached to the baby is messy but safe. Save all soiled sheets, blankets, cloths, etc., for a doctor's examination. Check the amount of vaginal bleeding; a small amount (1 to 2 cups) is expected. Place sanitary pads or other sanitary material around birth areas. Then cover mother and baby but do not allow them to overheat. Continue to check the baby's color and respiration. The baby should not appear blue or yellowish. When necessary, gently flick your fingers on the soles of the baby's feet; this will encourage it to cry vigorously.

The mother will probably need light nourishment and will wish to rest and watch her baby. She should keep her hand away from the area surrounding the birth outlet. If uncontaminated water is available, she may wish to wash off her thighs. She may get up and go to he bathroom or seek better shelter. All care should be taken to avoid introducing infection into the birth canal. The mother can expect some vaginal discharge for several days. This is usually reddish for the first day or so but lightens and becomes less profuse within a few days.

Stay with the mother until relieved by competent personnel. This is a relatively dangerous period for the mother, as hemorrhage and shock may occur. Almost all emergency births are normal. The babies typically thrive and the mothers recover quickly. It is very important when assisting with an emergency delivery that you continually reassure the mother and attempt to keep her calm.

* Emergency Preparedness For Children With Special Needs

2008-10-23T04:00:00.001-07:00

1. Think about your child's special needs in an emergency.

In an emergency, we all have to plan to be self sufficient, and possibly spend several days without utilities, medical aid or communications.

Consider your child's needs if there was:

No electricity, telephone, heat, air conditioning, computer
No water
No local access to prescription refills or health products
No refrigeration
Separation from family
Evacuation to a shelter or elsewhere
Confinement to home
Limited health care access
Lack of transportation
Limited emergency rescue services

2. Plan for Special Needs

Talk with your family about different types of emergencies, how to prepare for them, and how to care for your child with special needs during an emergency.

Talk with your child's doctor or health care team about how to care for your child during different types of emergencies. Develop a plan for how you will communicate with your child's care team during an emergency.

Learn about emergency plans at your child's school or child care. Learn their plans for shelter-in-place emergencies and how your child will get treatment, medications etc. Get their emergency contact numbers (these may be out of state).

Store extra medicines and equipment at your child's school.

Plan for back up sources of heat, refrigeration, and electricity. For more information go to: Using a Generator When Disaster Strikes. or Life Support Systems and Alternative Power Sources. Your family can use an emergency shelter for storing medicine, charging equipment, help with medical needs, getting a meal and more. You do not have to be staying in a shelter to use its resources.

Create and practice an escape plan for your home. Are there clear exit paths for a child who uses mobility devices or has vision loss?
For each person in your home, keep a pair of shoes stored under their bed to use in an evacuation.

If your child depends on dialysis or other life sustaining treatment, know the location of more than one facility and find out their plans for emergencies and how your child will get treatment, medications etc. Get their emergency contact numbers (these may be out of state).

Talk to your local police and fire departments to see if they have emergency services or plans for people with special needs.

Plan for your child's service animal.

Obtain a medical alert and/or identification bracelet for your child.

In the event of a large scale disaster, listen to your emergency radio station.

Create a Support Network

A support network may include family, neighbors or friends that can help you and your child. They may be your first source of help in an emergency.
Tell your support network about your child's special needs and where your emergency supplies are stored.

Give a trusted member of your network a key to your house or apartment.

Agree upon a system with your neighbors to signal for help if phones and electricity are not working.

Show others how to handle your child's wheelchair or other equipment.

Talk to other families who have a child with the same condition as your child about ideas and tips.

3. Pack Emergency Supplies

Special needs supplies include: A copy of your child's up to date Emergency Information Form and care plan.

Current medical information and important records stored in an easy to carry format such as a CD or flash drive. Keep at least one paper copy in a waterproof bag.

Two-week supply of medical supplies such as syringes, dressing materials, nasal cannulas, or suction catheters.

At least a 3 day supply of medications-fourteen days is ideal. It may be a challenge to get extra medications for emergencies, so talk with your child’s doctor about how to obtain an extra supply. Keep prescription information in your wallet, car, and survival kit, along with the name, location and phone number of an out of town pharmacy. Ask your doctor or pharmacist how to properly store medication for use in an emergency. In a disaster, if you can’t contact your doctor or pharmacy, you can ask for help from emergency responders or staff at emergency shelters or service centers. You can also call your local Red Cross.

Back up power support (generator or battery back up) for electrical medical equipment. Due to deadly fumes, only use generators, camp stoves or grills outdoors.

Get an AC adaptor for your car that can run small electrical equipment such as a nebulizer. Know how long your battery will last while using the adaptor.

Have a way to charge your cell phone without electricity. You can use a car adaptor or a hand crank radio/flashlight that includes a cell phone charger. These are available at home and hardware stores. Look for battery powered or travel versions of medical equipment your child uses.

Manual wheelchair or other non-electric equipment.

Extra contact lenses, glasses, and lens supplies.

Batteries for hearing aids, communication devices.

Special dietary foods and supplies.

Cooler and chemical ice packs for storing medications that must be kept cold.

Items that calm or entertain your child.

Identification to be carried by each child in case your family gets separated.

Proof of service animal status to insure a service animal can go with you into a shelter.

Pack a smaller "to go" version of items for use in an evacuation. See link below for more information.

Store your supplies in waterproof and pest-proof containers that are easy to get to. Update supplies each year and replace water every six months. Update emergency contact and medical forms. Store batteries out of devices until ready to use.

Living (mostly) off the Grid

2008-10-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

*How To Survive A Flash Flood

2008-10-23T03:59:00.000-07:00

Floods are among the most frequent and costly natural disasters in terms of human hardship and economic loss. As much as 90 percent of the damage related to all natural disasters (excluding droughts) is caused by floods and associated debris flows. Most communities in the United States can experience some kind of flooding. Over the 10-year period from 1988 to 1997, floods cost the Nation, on average, $3.7 billion annually. The long-term (1940 to 1999) annual average of lives lost is 110 per year, mostly as a result of flash floods.
What Causes Floods?
Flooding occurs in known floodplains when prolonged rainfall over several days, intense rainfall over a short period of time, or an ice or debris jam causes a river or stream to overflow and flood the surrounding area. Melting snow can combine with rain in the winter and early spring; severe thunderstorms can bring heavy rain in the spring and summer; or tropical cyclones can bring intense rainfall to the coastal and inland states in the summer and fall.
Flash floods occur within six hours of a rain event, or after a dam or levee failure, or following a sudden release of water held by an ice or debris jam, and flash floods can catch people unprepared. You will not always have a warning that these deadly, sudden floods are coming. So if you live in areas prone to flash floods, plan now to protect your family and property.

As land is converted from fields or woodlands to roads and parking lots, it loses its ability to absorb rainfall. Urbanization increases runoff two to six times over what would occur on natural terrain. During periods of urban flooding, streets can become swift moving rivers, while basements and viaducts can become death traps as they fill with water.

Several factors contribute to flooding. Two key elements are rainfall intensity and duration. Intensity is the rate of rainfall, and duration is how long the rain lasts. Topography, soil conditions, and ground cover also play important roles. Most flash flooding is caused by slow-moving thunderstorms, thunderstorms repeatedly moving over the same area, or heavy rains from hurricanes and tropical storms. Floods, on the other hand, can be slow- or fast-rising, but generally develop over a period of hours or days.

Learn about flooding and flash flooding in your area by contacting the local emergency management office, National Weather Service (NWS) office, your American Red Cross chapter, or your planning and zoning department. If you are at risk, take steps to reduce damage and the risk of injury or loss to your family.

Awareness Information
Know the difference between WATCHES and WARNINGS.A National Weather Service (NWS) WATCH is a message indicating that conditions favor the occurrence of a certain type of hazardous weather. For example, a severe thunderstorm watch means that a severe thunderstorm is expected in the next six hours or so within an area approximately 120 to 150 miles wide and 300 to 400 miles long (36,000 to 60,000 square miles). The NWS Storm Prediction Center issues such watches. Local NWS forecast offices issue other watches (flash flood, winter weather, etc.) 12 to 36 hours in advance of a possible hazardous-weather or flooding event. Each local forecast office usually covers a state or a portion of a state.
An NWS WARNING indicates that a hazardous event is occurring or is imminent in about 30 minutes to an hour. Local NWS forecast offices issue warnings on a county-by-county basis.
Many more WATCHES are issued than WARNINGS. A WATCH is the first sign a flood may occur, and when one is issued, you should be aware of potential flood hazards.
Be aware of flood hazards. Floods can roll boulders, tear out trees, destroy buildings and bridges, and scour out new channels. Flood waters can reach heights of 10 to 20 feet and often carry a deadly cargo of debris. Flood-producing rains can also trigger catastrophic debris slides.

Regardless of how a flood or flash flood occurs, the rule for being safe is simple: head for higher ground and stay away from flood waters. Even a shallow depth of fast-moving flood water produces more force than most people imagine. The most dangerous thing you can do is to try walking, swimming, or driving through flood waters. Two feet of water will carry away most automobiles.

Plan for a Flood
Develop a Family Disaster Plan. Develop flood- specific planning. Learn about your area's flood risk and elevation above flood stage.
Contact your local Red Cross chapter, emergency management office, local National Weather Service office, or planning and zoning department about your area's flood risk.
Knowing the elevation of your property in relation to nearby streams and dams will let you know if forecasted flood levels will affect your home.
If you are at risk from floods:
Talk to your insurance agent. Homeowners' policies do not cover flooding. Ask about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
Use a NOAA Weather Radio with a tone-alert feature, or a portable, battery-powered radio (or television) for updated emergency information.
Develop an evacuation plan. Everyone in your family should know where to go if they have to leave. Trying to make plans at the last minute can be upsetting and create confusion.
Discuss floods with your family. Everyone should know what to do in case all family members are not together. Discussing floods ahead of time helps reduce fear and anxiety and lets everyone know how to respond.

What to Tell Children
If you come upon flood waters, stop, turn around, and go another way. Climb to higher ground. If it is moving swiftly, EVEN WATER SIX INCHES deep can knock you off your feet. Many people are swept away wading through flood waters, resulting in injury or death.
Stay away from flooded areas. Even if it seems safe, flood waters may still be rising.
Never try to walk, swim, drive, or play in flood water. You may not be able to see on the surface how fast flood water is moving or see holes and submerged debris.
If you are in a vehicle and become surrounded by water, if you can get out safely, do so immediately and move to higher ground. Vehicles can be swept away in two feet of water.
Watch out for snakes in areas that were flooded. Flood waters flush snakes from their homes.
Stay away from creek and stream banks in flooded and recently flooded areas. The soaked banks often become unstable due to heavy rainfall and can suddenly give way, tossing you into rapidly moving water.
Never play around high water, storm drains, ditches, ravines, or culverts. It is very easy to be swept away by fast moving water.
Throw away all food that has come into contact with flood waters. Contaminated flood water contains bacteria and germs. Eating foods exposed to flood waters can make you very sick.
How to Protect Your Property
Keep insurance policies, documents, and other valuables in a safe-deposit box. You may need quick, easy access to these documents. Keep them in a safe place less likely to be damaged during a flood.
Avoid building in a floodplain unless you elevate and reinforce your home. Some communities do not permit building in known floodplains. If there are no restrictions, and you are building in a floodplain, take precautions, making it less likely your home will be damaged during a flood.
Raise your furnace, water heater, and electric panel to higher floors or the attic if they are in areas of your home that may be flooded. Raising this equipment will prevent damage. An undamaged water heater may be your best source of fresh water after a flood.
Install check valves in building sewer traps to prevent flood water from backing up into the drains of your home. As a last resort, when floods threaten, use large corks or stoppers to plug showers, tubs, or basins.
Construct barriers such as levees, berms, and flood walls to stop flood water from entering the building. Permission to construct such barriers may be required by local building codes. Check local building codes and ordinances for safety requirements.
Seal walls in basements with waterproofing compounds to avoid seepage through cracks.
Consult with a construction professional for further information if these and other damage reduction measures can be taken. Check local building codes and ordinances for safety requirements.
Contact your local emergency management office for more information on mitigation options to further reduce potential flood damage. Your local emergency management office may be able to provide additional resources and information on ways to reduce potential damage.
Assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit
Flood-specific supplies should include the following:
Disaster Supplies Kit basics.
Evacuation Supply Kit.
If you live in a frequently flooded area, stockpile emergency building materials. These include plywood, plastic sheeting, lumber, nails, hammer and saw, pry bar, sand, shovels, and sandbags, even a row boat or inflatable raft.
Media and Community Education Ideas
Have your community join the National Flood Insurance Program. Any community may join the NFIP. Check with your local emergency management office for more information.
Use a NOAA Weather Radio or a portable, battery-powered radio (or television) for updated emergency information. Local stations provide the best advice for your particular situation.
Listen for distant thunder. In some types of terrain, runoff from a faraway thunderstorm could be headed your way.
If you are stopping your vehicle, camp or park away from streams and washes, particularly during threatening conditions. Flood waters can rise quickly and carry you or your belongings away.
When in or along stream channels, be aware of distant events, such as dam breaks or thunderstorms that may cause flash floods in the area.
What to Do During a Flood WATCH

When a flood or flash flood WATCH is issued:
Listen continuously to a NOAA Weather Radio, or a portable, battery-powered radio (or television) for updated emergency information. Local stations provide you with the best advice for your particular situation.
Everyone in a WATCH area should be ready to respond and act quickly. Floods and flash floods can happen quickly and without warning. Be ready to act immediately.
Be alert to signs of flooding, and if you live in a flood-prone area, be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. Floods can happen quickly and you may need to leave with little or no notice.
Follow the instructions and advice of local authorities. Local authorities are the most informed about affected areas. They will best be able to tell you areas to avoid.
If your residence is in a flood-prone area:
Fill bathtubs, sinks, and plastic bottles with clean water. Water may become contaminated or service may be interrupted.
Bring outdoor belongings, such as patio furniture, indoors. Unsecured items may be swept away and damaged by flood waters.
Move your furniture and valuables to higher floors of your home. If flood waters affect your home, higher floors are less likely to receive damage.
If you are instructed by local authorities, turn off all utilities at the main power switch and close the main gas valve. In some areas, local authorities may advise you to turn off utilities to prevent further damage to homes and the community.
Get your preassembled disaster supplies ready. You may need to act quickly. Having your supplies ready will save time.
Fill your car's gas tank, in case an evacuation notice is issued. If electric power is cut off, gas stations may not be able to operate pumps for several days.
Be prepared to evacuate. Local officials may ask you to leave if they truly feel your home is at risk from flood waters.
What to Do During a Flood WARNING
When a flood or flash flood WARNING is issued:
Listen continuously to a NOAA Weather Radio, or a portable, battery-powered radio (or television) for updated emergency information. Local stations provide you with the best advice for your particular situation.
Be alert to signs of flooding. A WARNING means a flood is imminent or is happening in the area.

Produced by the National Disaster Education Coalition: American Red Cross, FEMA, IAEM, IBHS, NFPA, NWS, USDA/CSREES, and USGS. HTML formating By the Disaster Center
From: Talking About Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages. Produced by the National Disaster Education Coalition, Washington, D.C., 1999.

* Emergency Car Survival Kit

2008-10-23T03:32:00.000-07:00

Items to keep in the trunk of your car:

Bottled water.

A small radio with batteries. We recommend a handcranked radio which can also power your cell phone.

A flashlight. Batteries last longer with a LED Flashlight.

Sleeping bag and string (so you can tie the sleeping bag firmly to your backpack)

Extra clothing -- I recommend two pairs of sweat pants, and two hooded sweat-shirts (two sets of each, so they can be worn in "layers" for added warmth), wool socks, and a stocking cap (if it's fall or winter, you'll need to have warm clothes that are sure to protect the extremities). Also if it's fall or winter, you should have a coat with you at all times. A ski mask is an added bonus. Look for one that only has one large hole where your eyes and nose go. (Only wear it if you absolutely have to to keep warm, otherwise you're going to freak people out, and the last thing you want to do is call attention to yourself in a situation where there's panic and chaos.)

A canvas tarp (if it's folded and compressed, it will take up very little space).

A good knife.

A lighter (actually, pack multiple lighters, and protect them from moisture in a Zip-Lock freezer bag -- you can hand these out to people in need).

A candle (very useful for getting a campfire going, as the constant flame will help ignite wet tinder).

A compass.

Two extra-large heavy duty garbage bags: One you can use as a rain coat -- poke holes in the sides for your arms, and poke another hole for your head. The other, you can attempt to curl up and sleep in, if no other shelter is available, or if you forget to pack a canvas tarp, as advised above. Another, you can wear over your backpack, to keep dry when it rains.

Good shoes, such as those used for "cross-training" or "trail-running" (it's very important that your shoes lace-up well, so that they don't come un-tied if you have to make a run for it.).

As mentioned above, have a small backpack. Nothing big, or someone else might want to take it from you while your hiking through the city. Also, make sure it's dark in color (so it doesn't attract attention), and waterproof. (If you don't have the money for a waterproof backpack, use the garbage bags to protect your backpack's contents.)

State map. Keep this map in your backpack, stored in a Zip-Lock freezer bag, to protect from moisture.

Also keep a few pieces of paper in this freezer bag, along with your lighter. The paper can be torn into strips and used to start a camp fire, if your candle runs out. Use the knife you're carrying to carve wood shavings out of trees or branches, to help ignite any wet wood you may be stuck using.

5 - 10 high calorie energy bars (just be sure to check the expiration date). These energy bars should be enough food to last you until you make it to your house.

First aid kit with burn care dressings and gel
Sanitation and sundry items including soap (hand sanitizer is a great idea because it does not require any water)

Chemical lightsticks are recommended because of their safety

Road flares can be used but are not as safe as the lightsticks

Candle with windproof/waterproof matches (remember, in some cases it is not wise to light a match in case of a gas leak)

Emergency blanket or bag

Other useful items to remember:

Jumper cables
Car repair kit
Try to always maintain at least one-half tank of gas

Cell phone to report any emergencies (many disconnected cell phones may still be able to call “911” when charged)

Fire extinguisher

Paper and pencil for leaving notes or recording any thoughts
Toys and other special consideration items for children
Books and games for entertainment

Short rubber hose for siphoning

There are many ways to customize your emergency car kit. It is also important to consider special needs such as those with diabetes or hypoglycemia, babies, elderly, and people with allergies or chronic illness. For a person with diabetes, remember to have extra insulin on hand. For a person with hypoglycemia, store high energy snacks in addition to their ration of food. For babies, store extra diapers, formula, blankets, and clothes.

If you have no way of calling for help, tie a bright red piece of cloth on your antenna. This is generally recognized as a call for assistance. Remember to always let someone know what time you left and what time you expect to arrive at your destination.

By taking these precautions, you can prepare your family for an emergency and feel more confident in your travels.

Essentially, depending on the problem you're most likely to face (which I believe is being stranded in a large city when you're miles from home -- while your wilderness supplies are all at your house), you can decide what you may need / not need in this backpack you store in the trunk of your car.

Important: You should have three backpacks. One in the trunk of your car, and the other (much larger, commonly used for multi-day hiking) at your home and office, already packed and ready to hit the wilderness.

Use a canning jar with your blender

2008-10-23T03:31:00.000-07:00

BlogoWogo - The Blog Network | Use a canning jar with your blender

* How To Can Butter (recipe)

2008-10-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.

3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

4. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

7. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time. We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years.] Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

How To Make Liquid Laundry Soap

2008-10-23T03:29:00.000-07:00

SAVE TONS OF MONEY!

* When There Is No Garden, Grow Sprouts

2008-10-23T03:28:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent source of survival food. The seeds are small but the yield is large.

Alfalfa Sprouts are very nutritional. They are tasty too on salads and sandwhiches.
Visit your local health food store and purchase them by the pound. They are very inexpensive and easy to grow. If you don't have a garden, or when times get hard, you can have fresh sprouts available to you, in just 4-5 days.

Easy Sprouting Directions (for most small seeds)

Soak Put 1 to 4 TBS. seed in a wide mouth jar. Cover with mesh and secure with rubber band. Add water, swirl, and drain. Add 1 cup cool water and soak for 4 - 8 hrs.

Rinse Twice a day, refill jar with cool water, swirl, and drain. Invert jar and prop at angle in sink or bowl.

Enjoy In three to six days, when sprouts are 3 to 5cm (1 to 2") long, enjoy. Cover the jar with plastic and a rubber band, or transfer to a covered container, and refrigerate to store.

To green up sprouts, leave them without a cover for a few hours in bright light, but not direct sunlight. Sprouts grow best between 18C and 25C (65F and 75F). Use luke-warm water for soaking and rinsing in cool room temperatures, and cold water in hot room temperatures. Drain the sprouts well before they go in the fridge. Rinse in the morning, cover and refrigerate in the afternoon.

Sprouts make a delicious addition to sandwhiches.
Layer whole wheat bread with:
Sliced Avacados
Sliced Tomatoes
Red Onion thinly sliced
Thinly sliced Swiss Cheese
Mayo or Brown Mustard

* Emergency Survival Bar Recipe

2008-10-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

3 C. cereal (oatmeal, or wheat flakes)
1/4 tsp. salt
3 T. honey
2 1/2 C. powdered milk
1 C. sugar [Photo]
1/2 C. Knox Gelatin (a Kosher "Jello")
1/4 C. water
add raisins if you like
Place all dry ingredients except Jello in a bowl. Bring water, honey, and Jello to a boil. Add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Add water a little at a time until mixture is just moist enough to mold. Place in a small square dish and dry in the oven under very low heat. Wrap and store. This will make 2 bars, each containing approx. 1000 calories or enough food for one day. These will store for a long time if they are cooked until quite dry, and are excellent for emergency packs, etc. Eat dry, or cooked in about 3/4 C. water.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just for fun, the web page author did a nutritional analysis of the above recipe's contents using rolled oats and powdered milk fortified with vitamin A. He found this to indeed be a very nutritious bar. One bar contains only half of the nutrients of the whole recipe and therefore you may wish to set aside two bars per day to get the following:

NUTRIENT PERCENT RDA
---------------------------------
Food energy 74%
Protein 135%
Total lipid (fat) 12%
Carbohydrate, by diff. 93%
Total saturated fat 8%
Cholesterol 10%
Sodium 441%
Total dietary fiber 60%
Vitamin A 121% (If Vit A fortified powdered milk is used.)
Ascorbic acid 16%
Thiamin 154%
Riboflavin 191%
Niacin 16%
Vitamin B6 38%
Folacin 113%
Vitamin B12 114%
Potassium 177%
Calcium 218%
Phosphorus 308%
Magnesium 116%
Iron 80%
Zinc 90%
Pantothenic acid 75%
Copper 55%
Manganese 212%
Linoleic acid (18:2/n6) 122%
Linolenic acid(18:3/n3) 9%
Histidine 234%
Isoleucine 491%
Leucine 615%
Lysine 610%
Methionine+Cystine 396%
Phenylalanine+Tyrosine 630%
Threonine 563%
Tryptophan 503%
Valine 488%

Probably the biggest problem is the low vitamin C. However, in a pinch, a person could live a long time off these bars alone. They are also a bit short in the calorie department, but are excellent in protein, over half of the B vitamins, and excellent in the minerals category. These bars, no doubt, nutritionally beat many of the expensive bars you can purchase from the different companies, and properly sealed would probably last as long.
Al

Copyright 1993 by Peggy Layton and Vicki Tate These recipes may be freely used for non-profit purposes as long as the book source and author remain intact. Express permission of the author, Vicki Tate, must be received for commercial profit.

Updated: 28 Nov 96

*How To Change A Tire

2008-10-23T03:25:00.000-07:00

* Water Storage Containers

2008-10-23T03:23:00.000-07:00

Water Storage Containers

During those times of emergency one of the crucial things our bodies need for survival is water and we can't live long without it. You figure that an normal use of water for one person is 140 gallons of water per day for drinking, bathing, laundry, dishes, watering lawns, etc. But for subsidence purposes you would need 2 quarts for drinking and 2 quarts for cleaning and bathing purposes a day. That is a big difference and not a lot of water. The more water storage containers you can have the better your situation will be. Fourteen gallons of water per person is the suggested amount to store for a 2 week emergency situation but to have more would never hurt. If you have the room to store more you probably will want to do so. For traveling, if necessary you might want to consider getting also hydration backpacks.

The easiest way to store the bulk of your water is in 55 gallon, polyethylene (plastic) water drums. These can be obtained from most food storage companies or from local container companies found in the yellow pages. It is important that you use only food grade, good quality containers. Many times you can get food grade containers from companies that distribute beverages or syrups. If you clean them well, they can provide a good water container that costs considerably less. One word of caution, however, often the taste or odor of the previous contents has leached into the plastic and over time may reintroduced to your water. If you plan to use previously used containers make sure that what it had in it before is something you wouldn't mind tasting or smelling in your water. To economize many people are tempted to use empty milk jugs, but don't plan to store water in these for more than 4 months. They are biodegradable and will break down within 6 months. Not only may you loose your water, but if they are stored near food or other items, they may damage them.

Most water container tanks come in 5 gallon, 15 gallon or 55 gallon sizes. A suggestion is that a family stores between two and six of these smaller water containers along with their 55 gal. drums. This is a prudent suggestion in situations where you might need to transport water, in the normal course of events or in a situation where your normal water source might be disrupted, such as after an earthquake, hurricane, etc., and you might have to go to a secondary water source such as a water truck, stream, etc. to refill. Water weighs approximately 8 lbs. per gallon. Fifty five gallon drums are much too heavy to handle (440 lbs.) and awkward. Smaller water containers don't hold enough water and would require too many trips, especially if you have to go on foot. Five 15 gallon water containers are more practical and can easily be put into a wheelbarrow or child's wagon and wheeled to and from an area. Two liter pop bottles make a good water container for additional water storage and cost nothing if you save them and fill them with water as you empty them. Heavy water containers should always be stored close to ground level and secured to prevent breakage or possible injury in the event of earthquake, etc. Be sure to store your water containers away from any harmful chemicals or objectionable smelling products.

* Free Storage Buckets: where to get em

2008-10-23T03:22:00.000-07:00

These are great for storing beans, rice and other grains.

Just go to your local grocery store (bakery dept) and ask for their buckets. Usually the bakery department has them, such as Kroger's. The usually have frosting for cakes stored in them.

Also check with resturants like Chik Filet and other. Try to avoid the ones that contain pickles. It's hard to get rid of the smell.

* Tents For Emergencies

2008-10-23T03:20:00.000-07:00

We chose to have a tent for recreation and also for privacy if we ever have to evacuate to shelter

Tents & Canvas Tents
Tents come in all different makings, styles and uses but choosing the right ones to use for emergencies and disasters is crucial to have ones that will last. If you were in a cold winter environment then you would want to a choose the $1,000.00 tent that is well built. It would stand up to high winds and the material would not tear because of high winds and extreme cold. However, if you were in a situation that you were on the run in warm weather, than maybe a $29.99 tent should stand up to those elements just fine. A lot of factors need to be considered went choosing a tent that would be best in your situation. Here are a few things to consider when purchasing a new tent:

The Floor of the Tent

The floor should be the most water-resistant part of the tent. By putting pressure on the floor of the tent, it absorbs water into the tent through the fabric. This is why most floors are heavily coated with urethane for waterproofness. Look for a tent that has a one piece floor, it's less likely to seep water than a tent that has seams in the floor. You also may want to consider getting tents that have bathtub floor where the floor actually wraps up along the sides up to four to six inches from the floor level keeping the water out and alleviating of you having to dig trenches around your tent. The bottom of your tent is usually made of reinforced material that is thicker than either its rain fly or tent walls, the ground floor is an abrasive place. To prevent accidental punctures from rocks and the like, lay a plastic ground cover under the tent's floor. Its still not a bad idea to put a tarp under for extra protection. Tent floors made out of Polyweave are good for water repelling but can easily tear on sharp rocks. This is the same stuff you use to cover your trailer or boats.

They are heavier than nylon floors and won't pack as small nylon will, which might be a hindrance if having to carry your tent for long distances. Nylon floors are better abrasive resistance and come in different thickness but if not treated with a urethane base it won't be water proof. Also make sure your corners on your tents are sealed being that some manufactures don't tape them.

If trying to save on money, use old shower curtains which make great ground clothes. They should not extend beyond the edge of the tent; otherwise they will collect moisture or rain which could enter your tent. This groundsheet should be cut to fit the shape of the tent floor-as big, but no bigger. A groundsheet that sticks out from the edges of the tent will channel water underneath, and no degree of waterproofing will stop water from seeping inside. You can buy material for groundsheet at both outdoor-equipment and hardware stores. Plastic from hardware stores is perfectly fine and often cheaper.

The Rain Fly

Most tents come with a rain flys today and it is what usually takes most the beating of the tent weather. According to the fly it may just cover a central part of the roof, or it may extend all the way to the ground. It may incorporate an integral vestibule or annex by the tent door(s), or even a porch-style awning on some family models. It is usually somewhat heavier than the rest of the tent, as the fly takes the most abuse over time from UV light, winds, rains, birds, trees. .

They are also good for ventilation being it leaves a double wall between you and the outside for summer time use. For winter camping you would want something different such as a canvas tent. Its good to have a couple of extra flys for your tent when you purchase it because models change and won't be able to find a replacements down the road. It's cheaper to buy a couple of flys than it is to buy a new tent. It is also good to waterproof them every so often to help protect your tent and make it last longer. Some of the modern tents are single walled tents that are made with waterproof and breathable material like canvas. Canvas tents are more expensive but will last for years to come. You can live winters in them if you had too with all sorts of wind, rain, and snow and still stay dry inside. Some are made with a special wax coating so that no rain can come in and moister won't build up on the inside walls, keeping things dry inside and preserving your tent.

Size of Tent

Depending on the size of your family, group and gear that you have will determine what size of tent you will need. Also today's tent manufacturers rate tents for sleeping in only with zero gear. If you want your gear included inside, minus in half the amount of people that the tent rating says to accommodate it all, and it will be pretty close to the room you need. Some tents even have a separate "dining room". This is usually a screened-in area for eating and lounging. Things to consider are the height of the tent; Are you tall and is there room to stand in it? Also is there enough room to stretch out to your full length when you are in your sleeping bag? Can you sit up comfortably and will you be spending a lot of time in the tent? Decide how much room is needed and important to you before purchasing a tent.

Tube Tent

These are relatively inexpensive. I purchased one for a couple of bucks to keep in our Jeep and car from Big Lots.

Weight of Tent

Depending on your situation will determine the weight of your tent. For example, if you knew a hurricane was coming and had time to prepare.
You could have a large tent taken to a camping park out of harms way and have the room needed to live comfortably for a time if having to set up a base camp of sorts. If you had to go quickly, having a couple of smaller lighter tents might be more ideal in that kind of situation. Tents can range in weight from a couple of pounds to over 100 lbs each. It would be recommended to have both kinds handy but if not affordable, cheaper and lighter tents would be better than nothing.

Three or Four Season Tent

Three season tents are usually made to be used between spring and fall where a four season tent is for all seasons. The three season tents are made of the lighter materials and is what you find in most sport stores and usually cost less.

These kind of tents are almost entirely no-see-um netting for ultimate ventilation, which are great for summer camping. The four season tents are heavier built and are usually made of canvas. They have very little ventilation and sometimes feature a cook hole in the floor so that you can cook inside your tent. Four-season tents keep you warm or cool depending on the season, whichever the case may be, year-round. These tents usually have stronger poles, heavier fabrics, less mesh, and remain sturdy in the wind and snow. They also have a little more room for gear and cooking. Basically, the more weather and snow you camp out in, the stronger your tent needs to be and a four season tent would work well.

Tent Poles

There are a few different types of tent pulls to considered all thought most tents you buy today have them all ready included. Fiberglass are poles are much stronger than aluminum poles but aluminum poles are much lighter and easier to carry.
The fiberglass poles are more common now made and are usually made with the shock-corded poles that have the bungee cord running through them. They are easier for packing for over all use but in time they do tend to splinter because of weather and would need to be replaced. For long time use they probably wouldn't be the way to go. Aluminum poles bend easier but they are more durable and much cheaper in replacing when needed. There are different grades of aluminum for them also. Some of the larger canvas tents are made up of galvanized steel tube. The weight is quite heavy but nothing will beat the durability of them and are great for the four season canvas tents.

Tent Pegs

Most tents you buy today come with the skinny metal stakes which break easy and are junk. You want to get the large plastic stakes which are much more durable and will keep your tent securely on the ground. Have extra ones handy if you lose or brake one, they aren't very costly. There are also some good metal stakes you can get also they work fine. When removing the stakes, for a word of caution, don't use the loops on the tent to pull the stakes out of the ground. You will end out tearing your loops if you do so. You can buy stake pullers that do the job very well or some claws on hammer fit well and work great.

* Lighting for Emergencies

2008-10-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

Light During an Emergency

Light sources are essential for any emergency preparedness plan. It is crucial to be able to see what you are doing and where you are going in an emergency. Children and individuals with special needs especially need light not just to see, but also to feel safe. It is nearly impossible to cook food adequately without a light source. Luckily, fireplaces and emergency stoves generate light as well as heat to use when cooking. It is recommended by preparedness experts to have several emergency light sources available.

When emergency light sources are mentioned, most people think of flashlights. Flashlights are great because they are small, portable and easy to use. Flashlights are good for directional light, but they are not as effective in lighting up a whole room. Innovative batteries can be recharged many times, even by the sun. Rechargeable batteries are one way to be sure you will have continual power for your flashlights. Be sure to purchase a battery charger for your rechargeable batteries. We recommend having a flashlight at your bedside in case of an emergency during the night.

Another option is a hand cran
k flashlight. This type of flashlight has a lever that you crank or pump for light.

One of the advances in preparedness is the LED (light emitting diode) bulb. These bulbs use space-age technology that allow an incredible life span of thousands of hours and emit a bright light. They do not have a sensitive filament to break and withstand much abuse. Many cars and homes are now switching to this new type of light. LED flashlights are highly recommended for any preparedness plan because of their longevity and reliability. A favorite type of LED for an emergency are headlamps. Their lights leave your hands free and are very light weight.

Another source of light is old-fashioned decorative kerosene or lamp oil lanterns. Not only are they great for emergencies, but they are also classic decorations. In the category of liquid fuel lamps, kerosene and lamp oil lanterns are the safest type of lanterns for indoors, and they put off a good amount of light. There are all kinds of different sizes, styles, and types of lanterns you can buy.

Propane lanterns are quite common because people have them for camping. For the most part they are not recommended for indoor use because of lethal fumes, but there are some new propane heaters available on the market that are safe for indoor use. These propane heaters have automatic shut-off valves and will shut down if there are low oxygen levels. Otherwise, propane should only be used outside or indoors where there is a lot of airflow.

Candles are a very reliable light source, since all you need is a match to light them. Wax candles are inexpensive and easy to have around the house. Scented candles are great decorations and can provide a comforting and warm smell during an emergency. There are also liquid paraffin candles that last longer than wax candles, and liquid paraffin is smokeless and odorless, which is nice for indoors. The longer the wick the more light it will emit.

It is recommended to store different sources of emergency light. One source that is highly recommended to store is a chemical lightstick. These lightweight and easy to use lights are great to use in case of possible flammable fumes or possible gas spill. They are completely safe in any emergency and will offer light for up to 12 hours.

When you are preparing yourself and your family for emergencies, don't forget about light sources. Consider how much light you will need for your house. Be sure to consider the people in your house who will need lighting. When the power does go out, you will be thankful you took the time to prepare.

* Traveling During The Winter

2008-10-23T03:16:00.000-07:00

Traveling In The Winter

One of the most important concepts to remember when planning winter excursions: If there are winter storm warnings and watches don’t travel unless it is absolutely necessary! If you must travel or have traveled into a winter storm, we have compiled some tips to help you survive.

The first key to traveling safely in the winter is to avoid getting stuck in the snow.

In order to prepare adequately, you need to be informed. Knowing the terms used to forecast winter weather conditions will help you know what to expect.

Traveler's Advisory. Snow or ice is expected. Travel and visibility may be difficult.

Winter Storm Watch. Severe winter weather is possible. Stay tuned to the TV or radio for more information.

Winter Storm Warning. Heavy snow or freezing rain is expected. Freezing rain is forecast when the expected rain is likely to freeze as soon as it strikes the ground creating a coating of ice on roads and walkways.

Blizzard Warning. Heavy snow, winds of 35 mph or more, and temperatures of 20 degrees or lower are expected.

Severe Blizzard Warning. Very heavy snow is expected with winds over 45 mph and temperatures below 10 degrees. Visibility can be so poor that you will not be able to see for more than a few yards.
If you are nervous about driving in bad weather, it is recommended to use public transportation. If you must drive, stay on major routes that will be plowed and maintained. Let someone know the route you plan to take and call them when you arrive. This way your route can be checked and you could be found sooner if you get stuck. Once you are on your way stick to your preplanned route. Drive cautiously, leaving a greater than normal following distance between you and any cars in front of you. In heavy snow slow down until you can see for at least a few feet in front of your car. If the snow is so heavy that it prevents you seeing much at all take the first opportunity to stop in a town and wait out the storm.

Another important key to traveling safely in the winter is preparation. If you know that you will be making a trip this winter, take time now to make sure your vehicle is in the proper condition for safe winter travel. Make sure you check your vehicle at least one week before your trip because some repairs (like repairs to a rear window defroster) may need to cure for a few days before you can use them. In preparing your car you will need to have a mechanic (or yourself if you are able) check the following:

Battery. One of the first problems that can occur during cold weather is a battery problem. If you are unsure about your battery, it may be wise to have a mechanic check it out.

Ignition system. It is important to be able to start your car in any weather predicament. Be sure to check for any damaged wires or cracks in your distributor cap that could cause a sudden break down.

Lights. Make sure both your front and back (including brake) lights function properly. Be sure your front lights are aimed correctly. A headlight that is aimed too high will only contribute to obscuring your vision because it lights up the snowflakes instead of the road, and the glare on the falling snow obscures your vision beyond it.

Brakes. Make sure they will brake evenly to help prevent skidding. Do you know how to use brakes on the snow and ice?

Tires. These are the only connection between you and the road. If they are worn or improperly inflated it will diminish your starting, stopping, and turning ability. Be sure to rotate your tires if needed.

Exhaust system. Have the exhaust system checked for leaks of deadly carbon monoxide gas. If you become trapped in your car this check could save your life.

Heating and cooling system. Make sure the radiator cap, water pump, and radiator are working properly. Check the hoses to make sure there are no cracks or leaks. Test the strength of your antifreeze to make sure it is not too weak. Make sure both the heater and defroster work well.

Windshield. Check the wipers and replace if necessary. Fill up on windshield washer fluid (make sure it is the kind that won't freeze in the reservoir), and make sure it can reach your windshield by checking the motor and making sure the nozzles are not clogged.

Oil. Check the oil level and make sure you have the right kind of oil for low temperatures. This should be specified in your owner’s manual. Check with your mechanic or an auto part store.

Gas. Try to keep your tank as full as possible (above 1/2 tank) so that if you are stranded you will have plenty of fuel to run the car and be able to use the heater.

Now that you have your vehicle checked out, you will want to make sure you are prepared with the necessary items in your car. It is recommended to store an emergency car kit. For more information, see the Insight Articles on Car Preparedness and Safety and How to Build an Emergency Car Kit.

In addition to the emergency car kit, we recommend having mittens, scarf and stocking cap. Also have 30 feet or more of drapery cord or strong nylon string. If you must leave the vehicle to inspect outside conditions, tie a long cord to the vehicle and yourself so you can find your way back. If you have a cell phone keep it charged.

If you do break down DO NOT leave your car. It is the best shelter you can have in a winter storm. Call for help on your cell phone if it is working. While you are stuck, start the car and run the engine for about 10 minutes every hour to use the heater. Make sure you crack a window on the side away from the wind to get fresh air. Periodically check to make sure your tail pipe is not blocked by snow or other objects. If it is, you should clear it before using the engine to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Avoid strenuous exercise or exertion. Sweating will only make you colder. When the engine is running turn on your lights so that rescuers can see you. Tie a brightly colored cloth (red, if possible) to your antenna for the same reason. If there is more than one person in the car you should take turns sleeping so that one of you can be alert to watch for rescuers. Make sure you ration battery power. Try not to use any of the car's electrical devices without having the engine running. If your battery does run done, you should be prepared with an emergency power generator. Your main goal if you become stranded is to stay warm until help arrives. After keeping warm, your priorities should be water, food, and then signaling for help.

Once the storm stops, you may be tempted to go for help. In most situations it is better for you to stay with your vehicle. Help may have been delayed by the same storm that trapped you, and your vehicle is easier to find than you are. Remember to ask yourself some important questions. Is your water and food supply portable so that leaving your vehicle won't create more problems? Do you have a way of maintaining a constant direction and not walking in circles? Could you leave a note for rescuers to tell them where you went? If you answered no to all these questions you should not leave your vehicle. You won’t increase your chances of being found and you decrease your chance for survival. If you must get out and do something then clear your car off so it is easier to see. Make a signal in the snow that passing planes could see. Spread out a brightly colored blanket on the snow to make a signal. In all these activities remember that cold weather makes exertion harder on your heart and your body, so don't sweat and stay warm. It is easier to stay warm than to get warm again.

Traveling in the winter can be a lot of fun once you have properly prepared. Hopefully this information will help you to prepare for winter traveling.

* What to do before and after a flood

2008-10-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

What Should I Do Before A Flood?
How to Plan

Nobody can stop a flood. But if you are faced with one, there are actions you can take to protect your family and keep your property losses to a minimum.

The most important thing is to make sure your family is safe.

Before a Flood

Keep a battery-powered radio tuned to a local station, and follow emergency instructions.
If the waters start to rise inside your house before you have evacuated, retreat to the second floor, the attic, and if necessary, the roof. Take dry clothing, a flashlight and a portable radio with you. Then, wait for help. Don't try to swim to safety; wait for rescuers to come to you.
Buy Flood Insurance

One of the most important things that you can do to financially protect your home and family before a flood is to purchase a flood insurance policy.
You can obtain one through your insurance company or agent. Flood insurance is guaranteed through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Your homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage.
Don't wait until a flood is coming to purchase your policy. It normally takes 30 days after purchase for a flood insurance policy to go into effect.
For more information about the NFIP and flood insurance, contact your insurance company or agent, or call the NFIP at 1-888-FLOOD29 or TDD# 1-800-427-5593.
If time permits, here are other steps that you can take before the flood waters come

Turn off all utilities at the main power switch and close the main gas valve if evacuation appears necessary.
Move valuables, such as papers, furs, jewelry, and clothing to upper floors or higher elevations.
Fill bathtubs, sinks and plastic soda bottles with clean water. Sanitize the sinks and tubs first by using bleach. Rinse, then fill with clean water.
Bring outdoor possessions, such as lawn furniture, grills and trash cans inside, or tie them down securely.
What Should I Do During a Flood?
Once The Flood Arrives

Do not drive through a flooded area. If you come upon a flooded road, turn around and go another way. More people drown in their cars than anywhere else.
Do not walk through flooded areas. As little as six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet.
Stay away from downed power fines and electrical wires. Electrocution is another major source of deaths in floods. Electric current passes easily through water.
Look out for animals - especially snakes. Animals lose their homes in floods, too. They may seek shelter in yours.
What Should I Do After A Flood?
After The Flood

If your home, apartment or business has suffered damage, call the insurance company or agent who handles your flood insurance policy right away to file a claim.
Before entering a building, check for structural damage. Don't go in if there is any chance of the building collapsing.
Upon entering the building, do not use matches, cigarette lighters or any other open flames, since gas may be trapped inside. Instead, use a flashlight or a lightstick to light your way.
Keep power off until an electrician has inspected your system for safety.
Flood waters pick up sewage and chemicals from roads, farms and factories. If your home has been flooded, protect your family's health by cleaning up your house right away. Throw out foods and medicines that may have come into contact with flood water.
Until local authorities proclaim your water supply to be safe, boil water for drinking and food preparation vigorously for five minutes before using.
Be careful walking around. After a flood, steps and floors are often slippery with mud and covered with debris, including nails and broken glass.
Take steps to reduce your risk of future floods. Make sure to follow local building codes and ordinances when rebuilding, and use flood-resistant materials and techniques to protect yourself and your property from future flood damage.
Floods and flash floods occur within all 50 states and can be extremely dangerous. They are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters next to fire, so knowledge and preparation is extremely important and will help keep losses to a minimum.

* Car Emergency Preparation

2008-10-23T03:12:00.000-07:00

Car Preparedness and Safety

The following is a recommendation of items to put into an emergency car kit:

Water for drinking and cooking
Food and snacks (compressed high energy snack bars are excellent because of their ability to withstand most car temperatures)
Flashlight with extra batteries. (batteries last longer in LED flashlights)
First aid kit with burn care dressings and gel
Sanitation and sundry items including soap (hand sanitizer is a great idea because it does not require any water)
Maps and compass
AM/FM radio. We recommend having a radio with more than one source of power, or hand crank radios.
Chemical lightsticks are recommended because of their safety
Road flares can be used but are not as safe as the lightsticks
Candle with windproof/waterproof matches (remember, in some cases it is not wise to light a match in case of a gas leak)
Emergency blanket or bag
Extra clothing
Other useful items to remember:

Jumper cables
Car repair kit
Try to always maintain at least one-half tank of gas
Cell phone to report any emergencies (many disconnected cell phones may still be able to call “911” when charged)
Fire extinguisher
Paper and pencil for leaving notes or recording any thoughts
Toys and other special consideration items for children
Books and games for entertainment
Short rubber hose for siphoning
There are many ways to customize your emergency car kit. It is also important to consider special needs such as those with diabetes or hypoglycemia, babies, elderly, and people with allergies or chronic illness. For a person with diabetes, remember to have extra insulin on hand. For a person with hypoglycemia, store high energy snacks in addition to their ration of food. For babies, store extra diapers, formula, blankets, and clothes.

If you have no way of calling for help, tie a bright red piece of cloth on your antenna. This is generally recognized as a call for assistance. Remember to always let someone know what time you left and what time you expect to arrive at your destination.

By taking these precautions, you can prepare your family for an emergency and feel more confident in your travels.

* Winter Auto Preparedness and Safety

2008-10-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

Winter Auto Preparedness and Safety

Several years ago, the nation was riveted by the plight of a young couple from Idaho that were stranded in the snow. Their experience serves as a warning that winter storms can hit suddenly and severely. Staying safe in the car is a necessity, since 70% of all winter deaths occur in cars.

However, winter traveling can be safe and event-free if a few simple precautions are taken. Preparing your car for the winter can be as easy as adding a few supplies and taking a few necessary steps.

In addition to your emergency car kit, we recommend these items to store in your car during the winter:

Tire chains in each vehicle
Basic tool set including jumper cables, flat fix, duct tape or electrical tape, an adjustable Crescent wrench, Philips and flat head screwdrivers, and pliers
Fold up shovel and windshield scraper
Tow rope
Sand or kitty litter to place under tires for traction in the snow.
Extra gas in proper container
Compass and road maps
Cell phone and charger for emergencies. Some disconnected cell phones may still be able to dial 9-1-1 when charged
Extra blankets, clothing (preferably wool, or synthetic), shoes and sleeping bag
First aid kit and manual
Knife and multipurpose pliers
Hand and body warmers
During the wintertime it is important to drive safely. The roads and highways can become dangerous if precautions are not taken in every instance.

Here are some driving tips for staying safe during the wintertime:

Maintain a half tank of gas in your car in case you get stuck or need to use your heater to stay warm
Don't let cold temperatures tempt you into starting your car in a closed garage. Carbon monoxide can be fatal when breathed in a confined area
Slow down on bridges and overpasses which freeze first. Avoid sudden changes of speed or direction as you drive over them.
Look out for other danger zones while driving, like intersections, hills, and curves. Reduce speed and watch for other drivers that may be skidding
Keep windows free of snow and ice
Keep your speed steady--avoid sudden stops or accelerations
Use brakes cautiously. Abrupt stopping can cause brakes to lock up, causing you to lose control of your steering
Practice slow-speed maneuvers in a snow or ice covered parking lot; also practice hard braking and steering in skidding situations
Read your car's owner manual carefully for information on its equipment and handling characteristics
Add weight to the bed of a truck to improve traction
If you get stuck in the snow, straighten the wheels and accelerate slowly. Avoid spinning the tires, and use sand or gravel under the wheels
If you get stuck in a storm and help is not visible, don’t leave your car. Poor visibility and freezing temperatures can be fatal
If you have or can get access to a GPS (Global Positioning System) device it would be especially helpful in winter conditions in unfamiliar areas.
By taking these types of precautions, you can prevent winter disasters and keep your family safe and warm on the road.

* Hypothermia First Aid (never rub victim...)

2008-10-23T03:08:00.000-07:00

Did you know you should never apply direct heat, such as a heating pad to a person suffering from hypothermia. Read here for more on how to properly treat hypthermia.....more

* Knocked Out Tooth

2008-10-23T03:06:00.000-07:00

A knocked out permanent tooth is a dental emergency. Baby teeth do not need to be put back in, but quickly putting a permanent tooth back in it's socket is the key to preserving the tooth.

WHAT TO DO
1. Find the knocked out permanent tooth, a baby tooth has a smooth edge. Call a dentist or a doctor or go to your local emergency room immediately.

2. Handle the tooth only by it's crown (the top part, never by the root).

3. Gently rinse (don't scrub) the tooth immediately with saline solution or milk. Tap water should only be used as a last resort. It contains chlorine and can damage the root.

4. Keep the tooth from drying out until you see the dentist by:
*Inserting the tooth back into the socket if the child is old enough to hold it
in place.
*Store the tooth in milk, not water or
*Placing the tooth between your cheek and lower gum.

5. See the child's dentist or go to the emergency room right away.

Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnosis, consult a doctor.

* Communicating During and After a Disaster

2008-10-23T03:04:00.000-07:00

Communicating During and After a Disaster

Even though we cannot predict or prevent earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, or other natural cataclysmic events, we can prepare our families to cope and survive as optimally as possible. Learning what communication options are available during and after a disaster will bring confidence that you can better protect you and your loved ones. Establish a "meeting place" where family members can gather in the event of an emergency. You may want to select a local school or church. In a case where it is not possible to gather, having a common message center is vital.

One of the most important keys to receiving and sending information to family members who may be in various places when a disaster occurs is through an out-of-state contact. This is a friend or relative designated to handle messages should you not be able to call or locate your local family members. While most local private phone lines may be out of order for hours after a disaster strikes, pay phones are usually operable much sooner. The out-of-state contact can receive and relay messages from family members so you will know they are safe.

Tips for Communication
Establish in advance who your out-of-state contact will be.

Everyone should carry with them a card with the out-of-state contact's name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. Let your children's teachers know who the out-of-state contact is for your family. That way, if your children are at school and you cannot pick them up, school representatives will know whom to relay a message concerning where your children will be taken.

Each family member should carry a phone card or enough change for several phone calls.
One woman whose family lives in California has designated her sister who is a stay-at-home mom in Michigan as the out-of-state contact. Family members carry laminated cards in their wallets with the following information: (1) emergency meeting place with the address (outside the home); (2) alternate meeting place and address (outside the neighborhood); and (3) name and day and evening phone numbers of out-of-state contact.

It may be helpful to find out in advance if you have a ham radio operator in your area. They are very helpful and can deliver messages from both private and community sources during and after a disaster. If a pay telephone isn't readily available, and your out-of-state contact is several states away, you can communicate via this type of relay system. Your local ham can contact another ham that will contact another ham, and so on, until they find one within your out-of-state contact's area. The ham operator closest to your contact can then phone the contact and deliver any messages.

A battery-powered or hand crank radio is helpful in monitoring the status of the disaster. Be sure to keep a fresh supply of batteries on hand. Check expiration dates on the batteries and rotate them regularly. Do not keep batteries inside the radio because they expire more quickly and may leak.

When charged, most cell phones are able to call 9-1-1 even when they are not active. It is wise to have a cell phone (even not activated) when traveling or for emergency use.

Emergency kits containing supplies and food to cover a minimum of 72 hours are essential because local and national relief agencies may take three days or longer to get services up and running. It is especially important to have at least one gallon of water per person per day.

Remember that preparation brings confidence. When planning for an emergency, don’t forget that communication with your family members will be especially important. The tips provided in this article will assist you in creating a plan to contact loved ones during unexpected events.

Preserving Peppers The Easy Way

2008-08-14T07:48:00.001-07:00

The best peppers for pickling are thick-fleshed varieties, such as the bell, Hungarian, Cubanelle, sweet cherry, wax and jalapeno pepper. Small peppers may be pickled whole, though you should pierce them with a knife in a couple of places so that the pickling solution can fill the inside of the pepper. In recipes that call for salt, use granulated, non-iodized canning or pickling salt. You may use either cider or white vinegar, as long as it has 5 percent acidity, but cider vinegar may discolor your peppers.

If you want to put away some of the bounteous, late-summer harvest of peppers for future use but don't want to bother with pickling, freezing is the simplest option. You can roast the peppers first by broiling them,

turning frequently, until the skin chars, and then freeze them on a cookie sheet before placing them in a zip-lock bag for storage. Easier yet, you can freeze peppers without even bothering to blanch them by following these simple steps.

Freezing Peppers

1. Wash and core peppers. Chop, dice or slice according to how you plan to use them.

2. Spread in a single layer on a tray of a cookie sheet. Place tray in the freezer for an hour or longer.

3. Loosen pepper pieces from the tray and pour into zip closure freezer bags. Immediately place sealed bags in the freezer. The pepper pieces will remain separated for ease of measuring. Simply remove as many as you need, reseal the bag and return to the freezer.

Benefits of Lemons

2008-08-07T17:59:00.001-07:00

Refreshing and crisp, lemons are not only versatile and low in calories, they provide important health benefits. Like all citrus fruits, lemons are a good source of vitamin C.
Lemon and its properties

Circulation - It does not permit the formation of blood clots, improves and strengthens circulation by giving elasticity to the walls of the arteries. Lemon is helpful and recommended to avoid arteriosclerosis and edemas. It fights the retention of liquids in the body, does not allow the formation of calcium or hardening of the arteries, permitting an easy circulation of the blood without any arterial pressure.

In the blood, it helps in the fight against anemia, helps the body absorb the iron in food because of its high content of vitamin C. Lemon is rich in folic acid which contributes to a better production of blood and acts as a major protector for the body especially in women who are pregnant. Lemon should be at your table at every meal.

In the bones, lemon helps to alleviate arthritis, gout and other rheumatic symptoms, because of its powerful alkali, which facilitates the elimination of harmful substances.

Outdoor Party Mosquito Control

2008-07-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Use Good Mosquito Control For Every Outdoor Party

Effective Mosquito Control plans are absolutely mandatory if you ever spend any time cooking and/or entertaining outdoors. Everyone has been to cookouts or outdoor get-togethers where mosquitos literally take over. In some locations people just don't have any backyard get-togethers because the mosquitos are so bad.

When mosquitos start to swarm, bite, and sting, it makes you want to go inside and stay there. Mosquito control usually means a can of mosquito spray placed in every corner. In situations like these, the only ones partying are the mosquitos.

Of course, mosquitos carry diseases like the West Nile Virus, so it is absolutely a must that you keep these little biting pests away as much as possible.

With just a little planning and a few pest control ideas, you don't ever have to let mosquitos get past your backyard fence and onto your patio or deck again. There are really good mosquito products and ideas today that will make you forget about your mosquito problems forever.

The first thing to do for mosquito control is to practice a little preventative maintenance. Mosquitos lay their eggs in stagnant water, so anywhere around your house that water has a chance to collect should be taken care of.

Look for any old tires, pales or buckets, or trash cans that rain water might have a chance to collect in. Also, look under the house for any places that water can collect. Keeping your yard mowed will help also.
Good pesticides are the most effective mosquito killer. But if you absolutely will not use pesticides to kill mosquitos, here are a few ideas that will help to get rid of those nasty little pests that yard maintenance didn't:

Mosquitos do not like anything lemon scented, so mix up a batch of equal parts lemon dish soap, lemon juice, and lemon ammonia. Spray it with a small sprayer ever couple of weeks, and the mosquitos will hate you.

Along the same lines, place pots of lemongrass around your yard. Although it's not actual lemons they're smelling, mosquitos don't know any better and will stay away.
Buy or build a bat house or a purple martin bird house. Bats and these devour mosquitos and other insects like crazy. Bird or bat houses can be purchased at various home and garden spots.

Of course, citronella works great and comes in various forms like candles or oil. You can wet pieces of cloth or old sponges with the citronella oil and place them ar various spots around the yard.

Mosquito control is just a matter getting rid of a few things that mosquitos love and adding a few things that mosquitos hate. Taking care of those things will help greatly with your mosquito problems.

Fruit Combining

2008-06-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Did you know, that you shouldn't combine certain fruits together? Mixing certain fruits together can wrecK havoc on our digestive system. Many times you'll see fruit salads which will combine all types of fruits and included in that recipe are melons. Melons should always be eaten alone. Why? Because melons digest immediately. Combining them with slower digesting fruits can cause indegestion.

This fruit combining chart is based on the different enzymes needed to digest the different fruits. All fruits listed in one classification may be combined and eated with another, but not with any other classification of fruit.

*Melons should be eaten alone.

Acid Fruits

Orange
Lemon
Sour Peach
Grapefruit
Lime
Sour Plum
Pineapple
Sour Apple
Tangelo
Pomegranate
Sour Grape
Tangerine

Sub-Acid Fruits

Fig
Sweet Peach
Huckleberry (Bilberry)
Pear
Sweet Apple
Mango
Sweet Cherry
Apricot
Papaya
Sweet Plum

Sweet Fruits

Banana
Persimmon
Sweet Grape
Mango
Papaya
Sweet Cherry
Fig

Sub-Sweet Fruits

Plum
Nectarine
Apricot
Tart Cherry
Tart Grape
Peach
Melons (Melons should be eaten alone)

Watermelon
Crenshaw
Muskmelon
Cantelope
Charentais
Persian
Casaba
Honeydew

Berries

Blueberry
Raspberry
Strawberry
Blackberry
Boysenberry

Mango Lassi recipe

2008-06-01T16:10:00.001-07:00

Okay, I haven't been posting anything for a while, so here's a recipe that I want to try...and you too. I occassionally like Indian food. The only thing about it, is that it can be rather too spicy. Not so much for me the "Heat", but the fact that they have soooo many spices and so many different dishes for a main course. I try to eat as simple a possible. But here's a drink that I thoroughly enjoy. It's actually a "desert" for me. Enjoy...
Mango Lassi Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
4 teaspoons sugar, to taste
A dash of ground cardamom (optional)

Method
Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve. Can sprinkle with a little cardamom.

The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

Makes about 2 cups.

More Gas Tips

2008-04-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

By Benjamin F.T. Jones

If you're at all interested in fuel economy, I'm sure you've heard all the standard advice by now. Go take a look at the government's fuel economy advice and tell me, do you really see anything new? Slow down, keep your car maintained, don't drive to the curb to pick up your mail or take out your trash.

Luckily there's a lot more to it. Don't be confused, the EPA's advice is good stuff that you should follow, and I'll discuss it a bit, but for the average person there's still a little bit more to know. That said, I'll try to go over some of the most basic things you need to know to get great fuel economy, and then let you decide how aggressively you want to pursue each course of action.

The first, and likely most important, thing for you to realize is that aggressive driving kills fuel economy. Instead of driving, imagine yourself riding a bicycle. How strenuous would it be for you to pedal like mad from every light just to slam on the breaks to barely make a stop? How about going up hills? It's extremely easy to coast down, but huge energy savings can be had from taking it a little bit slower uphill and gaining your speed back on the downhill.

Finally, try going as fast as you can on your bike. You'll find that at a certain speed you just can't go any faster because the wind is just too much. Your car is the same way except you don't notice how much more difficult driving 75 is than driving 65.

Furthermore, don't ever let anyone tell you that there is a "best speed" for fuel economy that is something like 55 or 65 MPH. Every car has it's own "best speed," and that speed is usually as slow as you can go with the car in the highest gear or the torque converter engaged (if you're driving an automatic). Most so-called "best speeds" are just recommendations, and you should remember that slowing down, from any speed, will almost always increase your fuel economy.

Next, it's also important to keep your car in as best condition as possible. To continue with the biking analogy, you wouldn't want to show up to a race with a flat tire, bent rim, and wobbly handle bars, would you? So make sure you keep up with your basic maintenance like clean air filters, low weight oil, properly gapped spark plugs and well-inflated tires. In fact, overinflating your tires is one of the most common tricks used by hypermilers. While it's generally safe to do, you shouldn't inflate past the max psi on the sidewall of the tire and should understand that handling comfort may be affected.

Finally, don't forget that the best way to save gas is to use less. A tautology, to be sure, but a lot of time people forget they can take the bus, ride their bike, or even just plan trips so that they are taken care of on the way to or from work. If you really want to save gas (and not just get better fuel economy), stop letting your car idle to warm up, don't make frivolous trips, and try to work as close to home as possible.

I'll get much more in depth in the future about some advanced techniques, but try these basics out and see how well you do.

Tips On Getting The Most From Gas

2008-04-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Tips On Filling Up At
The Gas Station
Author Not Known
4-9-8

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon..
Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,8 00,000 gallons. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying i ts empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount. Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some f the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money. DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

GMO FOOD LIST

2008-04-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

How To Not Buy Genetically Engineered Foods

*Children With Healthier Diets Do Better In School, Study Suggests

2008-04-01T04:43:00.000-07:00

Children With Healthier Diets Do Better In School, Study Suggests

Food Price Inflation Changes How We Shop

2008-04-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

Food Price Inflation Changes How We Shop
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER Associated Press

Steadily rising food costs aren't just causing grocery shoppers to do a double-take at the checkout line — they're also changing the very ways we feed our families.

The worst case of food inflation in nearly 20 years has more Americans giving up restaurant meals to eat at home. We're buying fewer luxury food items, eating more leftovers and buying more store brands instead of name-brand items.

For Peggy and David Valdez of Houston, feeding their family of four means scouring grocer ads for the best prices, taking fewer trips as a way to save gas and simply buying less food, period.

"We do more selecting, looking around, seeing which prices are cheaper," said David Valdez. "We are being more selective. We have got to find the cheapest price."

Record-high energy, corn and wheat prices in the past year have led to sticker shock in the grocery aisles. At $1.32, the average price of a loaf of bread has increased 32 percent since January 2005. In the last year alone, the average price of carton of eggs has increased almost 50 percent.

Ground beef, milk, chicken, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, coffee and orange juice are among the staples that cost more these days, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall, food prices rose nearly 5 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That means a pound of coffee, on average, cost 57 cents more at year's end than in 2006. A 12-ounce can of frozen, concentrated orange juice now averages $2.53 — a 67-cent increase in just two years.

And a carton of grade A, large eggs will set you back $2.17. That's an increase of nearly $1 since February, 2006.

"The economy is having a definite impact on shopper behavior," said Tim Hammonds, president and chief executive officer of the Food Marketing Institute, a retail trade group. "People are significantly changing what they do."

Soaring prices are causing shoppers to rethink long-held habits such as store loyalty.

Wal-Mart and other supercenters that sell food now account for 24 percent of the market, according to the most recent annual survey of shopping habits by Hammonds' organization.

Gina Pierson, a music teacher in Columbia, Mo., buys her family's staples at local grocery stores but makes regular trips to Wal-Mart to supplement the weekly shopping list. Like many families struggling to get by, Pierson and her husband, a public school teacher, are adjusting their approach to buying, cooking and eating food. Restaurant meals are now almost a luxury.

"Between food and gas, it's just cheaper to stay home," she said.

In 2007, the FMI survey showed the average number of weekly shopping trips falling below two per household for the first time.

Paula Curtis, a mental health worker in Montpelier, Vt., said her grocery bill has been steadily climbing by $10 to $20 a week. She has cut back on meat, fruit, vegetables and snack food, and buys milk at the gas station, where she said it's cheaper.

"Every time I go, it's more and more," she said. "I make a list, but I don't necessarily get everything on it because I can't afford everything."

Nationwide, a family of four on a moderate-cost shopping plan now spends an average of $904 each month for groceries, an $80 increase from two years ago, according to the USDA.

Those who can't absorb the added expenses are increasingly seeking help from food pantries. America's Harvest, which distributes nearly two billion pounds of food and grocery products each year to more than 200 food banks across the country, estimates that its overall client load increased by 20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The jump has been even higher at the Central Missouri Food Bank's pantry in Columbia, a college town halfway between Kansas City and St. Louis.

The food pantry served 7,200 people in 2007, an increase of more than 50 percent over two years, said executive director Peggy Kirkpatrick.

Columbia used to be considered inflation-proof because of its high-paying university jobs and proximity to the state capital, 30 miles away in Jefferson City.

"That's not the case anymore," she said.

Shary Auer visits the Columbia food pantry once a month to help extend the family's $800 monthly food budget. The mother of five children, ages 9 to 19, is buying more canned food instead of fresh produce. Portions are smaller around the Auer dinner table, and salads are added regularly to stretch the servings of meat and poultry.

Auer, a part-time postal worker and supermarket cashier, said she fastidiously tracks food prices.

"I watch for sales, save my receipts and highlight what I save," she said.

Not all shoppers are struggling with the changes. At the Whole Foods Market in downtown Seattle, Beth Miller didn't think twice about paying $6.39 for a gallon of organic orange juice, or $4 for a dozen eggs at the store, which specializes in organic and natural foods.

"I'm used to having a small gasp at the cash register," said Miller, who favors local produce and organic food for her husband and 12-year-old son. "We try to be really careful about what we eat."

Among retailers, the surge in commodity prices — from corn, now in high demand because of increased ethanol production, to wheat that has tripled in price over the past 10 months — has some industry observers suggesting that higher food prices aren't a temporary fluctuation but instead may be here to stay.

"We don't exactly have a crystal ball," said Whole Foods' Perry Abbenante, a senior global grocery buyer. "But I'm not sure (prices) are going back. We're preparing for a new threshold."

*Sesame Seed Candy Recipe

2008-03-22T12:56:00.001-07:00

Ingredients
vegetable oil or butter for the pan
2 cups sesame seeds(about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar or light brown sugar

Directions
1Coat a 9-inch-square baking pan or dish with oil or butter, set aside.
2Put the sesame seeds into an ungreased 10-inch skilletand stir them over medium-high heat for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and aromatic, or spread on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
3Temporarily transfer the seeds (they will be hot) to a bowl, making sure that none are left in the skillet; set aside.
4Put the honey, brown sugar in a pot.
5Slowly bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
6As soon as the entire mixture comes to a full rolling boil, cook it vigorously for exactly 2 minutes.
7Remove the skillet from the heat and immediately stir in the sesame seeds until well mixed.
8Quickly turn out the hot mixture into the prepared pan and use a metal spatula that has been dipped into cold water to press the candy into a very smooth and even layer. USE CAUTION, this get's extremely hot.
9Cool the candy in the pan for l5 minutes, or until it is solid but still lukewarm.
10Run the spatula around the edge of the candy to loosen it.
11Then turn out the whole slab of candy onto a wooden board or other cutting surface.
12Use a sharp knife to cut the large square of warm candy into very small squares, diamonds, or rectangles.
13Cool the candies completely; then store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
14If a professional look is desired, roll each cooked candy in a small piece of stiff cellophane and twist the ends.

*Feed The Birds (children's project)

2008-03-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

There are wonderful, fun activies you can engage your children in and get them away from the TV and Video games. You will be surprised at how much fun simple projects like these can be...

FEEDING THE BIRDS
Ages: 18 months and up

Watching his feathered friends eating from a homemade feeder will likely fill your little ornithologist with fascination -- and swell his heart with pride. Best of all, these seedy classics are a cinch to make. Be sure to hang them near a sturdy branch so your guests have a place to land while dining.
Toast feeder: Help your child spread nut butter on a piece of toast. Cut the toast into a fun shape with a large cookie cutter, then poke a hole in the top with a skewer or straw. Let your child press the nut-butter side into a plate full of seeds. Thread a ribbon through the hole, knot the ends, and hang. (The feeder should last for at least a week, or until a downpour.)

Pine nut Smear nut butter onto a pinecone with a paintbrush until it's well coated. Give your child a ziplock bag filled with birdseed, then have him shake the pinecone in the bag until it's thoroughly covered with seeds. Tie a piece of ribbon around the end of the pinecone, knot the ends, and hang.

Cone-servationist Let your child nibble a small hole in the tip of a sugar cone or poke a hole with a skewer in the flat bottom of a wafer cone. Spread nut butter on the cone with a butter knife or rubber spatula, then roll it in birdseed. Thread the ends of a ribbon into the hole, make a knot too large to slip back out, and hang.

BIRD BOOKS FOR BEGINNERS
Help your budding bird-watcher identify his dinner guests with one of these tot-friendly guides.

Fandex Family Field Guides: Birds This handy, hinged deck offers color photos and fun facts on 47 common bird species. (Workman Publishing, $10)

Birds: A Golden Guide Since 1949, this classic series has guided thousands of novice naturalists. Now fully revised and updated, the charmingly illustrated book is a super starting place for tots. (St. Martin's Press, $7)

Peterson FlashGuides (birds series) Also classic in the field, each of Peterson's regional editions boasts a 24-panel foldout guide with color illustrations and stats on more than 100 species. (Houghton Mifflin Company, $9)

*Let's Go Fishing!!

2008-03-21T13:18:00.001-07:00

Spring has sprung and the fish are spawning. This is the best time to go fresh water fishing. Get a pole and some worms and take the children fishing.
There are many places you can go, check out "Where can I go Fishing."

You don't have to spend money on expensive equipment. Simple Crappie pole, which is basically a bambo stick, can be a wonderful way to start a child off learning how to fish. There are even fishing events for children located at some of the state parks who offer fishing programs to children in early spring months.

Fresh water fish that are plentiful this time of the year, they are Brim, Bluegil, Crappie, Trout and Bass.

Some private organizations stock their lakes or ponds and offer fishing to the public for a small fee.
Make sure, to check out the license recquirements to fish. Salt water fishing does not require a few. Obey the laws. Be careful and never leave children unattended, even around "shallow" water.

*Spring Cleaning: Turn junk into riches via Craigslist"

2008-03-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

It's spring cleaning time and also a time you may be able to earn a few dollars by simply selling somethings you have in your closet or garage.
Remember, one man's junk is another man's gold.
If you can't hold a garage or yard sale one way to get rid of somethings is through
craigslist. This is a free online want ad. You can adverstise just about anything her. Check them out.

*Simple "Green" Cleaning Tips

2008-03-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Save Time, Money, and the Environment at the same time
General Household Cleaning:

Clear the Clutter
Time to spend: 15 minutes per room
Make your way around the house with a large laundry basket and remove any misplaced items. This is an excellent tip for simplifying and organizing your house with out using any cleaning products at all, and you will be amazed at how much cleaner it looks once you have removed all the misplaced items. Start room by room and move clockwise around the house to avoid scattering and being overwhelmed.

Other Projects:
Bathroom
Bedroom
Family/Living Room
Kitchen
Get rid of all that stuff in the garage/attic/basement/closet
Time to Spend: A whole day
Have a lot of expired stuff you don't know what to do with? Maybe you have a car battery that's been sitting in the garage for ages, or an old TV that doesn’t work, telephone books from last year, and so on and so on. You feel bad about throwing them away, but don't know what use they could be or who could rescue them. So they just sit and sit and sit. If you’re tired of watching all that stuff gather dust, we may have an answer. A lot of it can be recycled, donated, or reused.

Yard Sale: One man’s trash is another’s man’s treasure. This is an excellent way to clear your house of clutter, and let others benefit from items that you no longer want. You can bask in the warmth of the sun as you get money for your unwanted goods., and you may even be able to donate your proceeds to your favorite non-profit. Another way to do this is to have a virtual garage sale, by posting you unwanted items to be sold on Ebay or giving them away through free cycle.. If you choose to use Ebay, you can even donate a portion of your proceeds to the Center for a New American Dream by selecting donate to a non-profit option when posting your item for sale. .

Donate to Thrift Store: Bring your items to a Salvation Army station, second-hand stores, church or school clothing drive.

Regift: Offer old clothing, lawn care items, etc, to a neighbor, friend, or co-worker who may need them.

Recycle: There are ways to recycle almost anything these days, from computers to glass to cell phones to tires. The trick is finding out where to take them. That’s where the Earth911 website comes in. Just enter your zip code in the form below and you'll be taken to a site that will give you information on all the recycling centers in your area. They'll also tell you what's ok to leave on your curb and what you'll have to take to a center. So pop in your zip code and start clearing out that garage/attic/basement/closet...

Let us not underestimate the value of recycling products such as plastics, glass and paper. Here are some statistics to keep you motivated in continuing the recycling loop:

Recycling all of your home’s waste newsprint, cardboard, glass, and metal can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 850 pounds a year.
Recycled aluminum saves 95% more energy than virgin aluminum; recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours (Reynolds Metal Company).
Recycled glass generates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution (NASA)
Recycling one ton of recycled paper uses 64% less energy, 50% less water, and 74% less air pollution. Plus, it saves 17 trees and creates 5 times more jobs than manufacturing one ton of paper from virgin wood pulp.

Reuse: Newspapers can be the best glass cleaner, and can be reused for cleaning and then recycled. Everyday Americans buy 62 million newspapers and throw out 44 million. That’s the equivalent of dumping 500,000 trees into a landfill every week.

At Home & Abroad Enjoy Classical Music

2008-03-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

To those of you familiar with this site, you will notice it now has music. Last night, I installed a musical widget for your enjoyment. If you scroll down the page on the right sidebar, you will see it. The music is all classical compositions. You have the option of playing it.

I hope to post to the site, some basic guidelines for understanding classical music in the near future.

In the meantime, I have several wonderful pieces and if you want, you can just simply use this site to enjoy the music posted, while visiting this blog or surfing the web. If you would like to fast forward to the next song, simply push the double arrow keys on the "Sonic" widget.

Also, please scroll down and check out something awesome I found... A musical performance by James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti.

*How To Boil An Egg: Keep eggs from cracking and turning green

2008-03-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder why the egg cracks when you place it in the water to make hard boiled eggs? Ever wonder what makes the egg green around the yolk of a hard boiled egg? See how to boil and egg.

*How To Check Your Car Oil

2008-03-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

James Brown & Luciano Pavarotti

2008-03-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this when looking for Luciano Pavarotti's rendition of Ave Maria.
I was thinking..."James Brown and Pavarotti???. This is AWESOME.

Enjoy.

* What To Do When A Tornado Strikes

2008-03-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

When a tornado strikes.

click here and read what you should do to protect yourself, family and friends.

Know Your Tornado Terms
Familiarize yourself with these terms to help identify a tornado hazard:

Tornado Watch
Tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television for information.

Tornado Warning
A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately

* Save The Rind From Fruit

2008-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Save the rind - don’t discard the rind of lemon, grapefruit or
oranges. It makes excellent flavorings for cakes, frostings and
such. Wash it well and grate, being careful not to include the
bitter white part (called pith) under the rind. Put it in a
tightly covered glass jar and store in the refrigerator.

Leftover apple, orange, or lemon rind can be put into your tea as
it’s steeping to add a wonderful flavor and aroma just like the
fancy gourmet tea blends. But only for ORGANIC fruits, as others have been spread with dangerous chemicals.

* How to sew on a Button -- Basic Sewing Skills

2008-03-02T23:50:00.000-08:00

* Rubber Gloves: Don't Throw Away

2008-03-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Rubber Gloves
Don’t throw away your rubber gloves that get holes in the
fingers. Cut them in strips from the wrist part down to the
fingers and use them for rubber bands. They’re sturdy and don’t
break.

* Homemade Heating Pad

2008-03-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

Make your own heating pad out of rice and fabric.

You can make these pads in a variety of shapes. I made a long tube shape for my lower back and also to place around my shoulders. It's so sooooothing.

You will need

Fabric
Rice
Filler Options:

Uncooked rice (not instant)
Wheat
Feed corn
Buckwheat hulls
Barley
Oatmeal
Beans
Flax seed
Cherry pits
You can also add the following to the above for a soothing fragrant heating pad: Spices, herbs, essential oils.

Ideas: lavender, rose petals, ground cloves, nutmeg, ginger, rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint oil, crushed mint
If using: Mix herbs, spices and essential oil with choice heating pad filler (such as rice) and let sit in a sealed container for a few days (occasionally stirring). This will help set and distribute the fragrance a bit.
Fabric Options:

Cotton: (plain, prints, flannels, denims)
Alternate ideas: old socks (sew or knot end closed), washcloths, old towels
You can also choose to make cozy, removable & washable outer pouches. This is especially nice to do when giving as gifts.

Fabric Ideas: use old towels, fleece, velour knits, pretty fabric prints and flannels (don’t microwave anything other than cotton fabrics). The softer & fluffier & better!
You can even use cotton tube socks. Just fill the sock and stitch the end closed.

Simply cut two pieces of fabric in a square or other shape and sew the three sides together, turn inside out and fill with rice. Then stitch the opening end closed.
Voila you have an instant heating pad.

When ready to use, place the pad in a microwave for 2-3 minutes to heat.
CAUTION: I made one with a filler of rice using a cotton dish towel. These can get extremely hot, so use caution.

Check out Sew, Mama, Sew for a more sophisticated pattern.

* Homemade Scouring Powder

2008-03-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

Here's How:
Measure 1/4 cup borax; pour into a container.
Add 1/4 cup baking soda.
Add 1 1/2 cups hot water.
Stir until mixed.

* How to thread a sewing machine

2008-03-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

How to thread a sewing machine

* How to Dry Flowers with Borax

2008-03-01T23:54:00.000-08:00

Here's How:
Cut flowers you wish to preserve, with or without stem.
Sprinkle borax on the bottom of a small box such as a shoe box.
Add up to two flowers.
Completely cover with more borax.

The flowers will take 1 week to dry

* Make Your Own Natural Cleaning Products

2008-03-01T23:53:00.000-08:00

Another alternative is to make your own natural cleaning products. Using homemade natural cleaning products makes "cents," because it is cheaper, healthier and non-toxic, and it is fun.

To clean with natural products all you need is:

* Baking soda
* Vinegar
* Borax
* Hydrogen peroxide
* Liquid castile soap
* Organic essential oils (optional)
* Mixing bowls
* Spray bottles
* Micro fiber cloths

Baking Soda is great to scrub your bath and kitchen. Put it in a glass grated cheese container with a stainless steel top that has holes in it, and just sprinkle the baking soda on the surfaces and scrub. You may add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to this. Lavender and tea tree oil have anti-bacterial qualities.

Baking soda mixed with apple cider vinegar is a bubbly combination that has many uses. As a drain cleaner, sprinkle baking soda down the drain then add apple cider vinegar and let it bubble for 15 minutes, then rinse with hot water. This is a safer alternative to dangerous drain cleaners. Baking soda and apple cider make a wonderful spa-like bath for soaking away aches and pains and detoxing. It also cleans the tub and the drain.

Baking soda can also be used as a fabric softener in your laundry.

To polish silver, instead of using toxic silver polish, fill your kitchen sink with hot water, add a sheet of aluminum foil and baking soda, and let the silver pieces soak until clean. It is an easy and fun way to clean silver.

Vinegar can clean almost anything in your house; you can add liquid castile soap, essential oil (optional), and filtered water, then clean floors, windows, bath, kitchen, etc. Vinegar can also be used as a fabric softener. Never use dryer sheets -- they are toxic too. In the laundry, use vinegar in the wash cycle to prevent fabrics from fading.

Commercial window cleaners contain butyl cellosolve -- a toxic ingredient that is not listed on the labels, so vinegar and water is much safer. Use a micro fabric cloth, not newspaper, which contains toxic dyes.

Borax is a good laundry booster and cleaner (it can even remove mold) -- and is safe and non-toxic.

Hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant, and is safer to use than chlorine bleach for disinfecting and whitening. Lemon juice is also a natural whitener.

Liquid Castile Soaps can be found in health food stores and are safer than commercial liquid cleaning products.

Organic essential oils may be used in homemade cleaning products depending on your personal preference and tolerance to these scents. Never use synthetic fragrances or air cleaners.

Commercial fabric refreshers also contain dangerous chemicals, therefore, use vodka in a spray bottle to freshen up chairs and upholstery. The vodka is cheaper, non-toxic and the alcohol evaporates, and is not harmful. The alcohol in hand sanitizers is harmful, however, and should not be used on children since the alcohol absorbs into your body via your skin. Therefore, use only hand sanitizers that are plant based from the health food store, or just good old soap and water.

Making your own natural cleaning products is rewarding and fun, and you can use the natural scents that you prefer while ensuring that your home is safe from dangerous chemicals that are harmful to your, and your family's, health.

Make your own scouring powder
Here's How:
Measure 1/4 cup borax; pour into a container.
Add 1/4 cup baking soda.
Add 1 1/2 cups hot water.
Stir until mixed.

* Health Benefits of Beans

2008-03-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

Navy beans are a good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, as are most other beans. In addition to lowering cholesterol, navy beans' high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. When combined with whole grains such as brown rice, navy beans provide virtually fat-free high quality protein. But this is far from all navy beans have to offer. Navy beans are a very good source of folate and manganese and a good source of protein and vitamin B1 as well as the minerals phosphorous, copper, magnesium and iron.

A Fiber All Star

Check a chart of the fiber content in foods and you'll see legumes leading the pack. Navy beans, like other beans, are rich in dietary fiber. A cup of cooked navy beans provides 46.6% of the recommended daily intake for fiber. Soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance in the digestive tract that combines with bile (which contains cholesterol) and ferries it out of the body. Research studies have shown that insoluble fiber not only helps to increase stool bulk and prevent constipation, but also helps prevent digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulosis.

Lower Your Heart Attack Risk

In a study that examined food intake patterns and risk of death from coronary heart disease, researchers followed more than 16,000 middle-aged men in the U.S., Finland, The Netherlands, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Greece and Japan for 25 years. Typical food patterns were: higher consumption of dairy products in Northern Europe; higher consumption of meat in the U.S.; higher consumption of vegetables, legumes, fish, and wine in Southern Europe; and higher consumption of cereals, soy products, and fish in Japan. When researchers analyzed this data in relation to the risk of death from heart disease, they found that higher legume consumption was associated with a whopping 82% reduction in heart attack risk!

Navy beans' contribution to heart health lies not just in their fiber, but in the significant amounts of folate and magnesium these beans supply. Folate helps lower levels of homocysteine, an amino acid that is an intermediate product in an important metabolic process called the methylation cycle. Elevated blood levels of homocysteine are an independent risk factor for heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease, and are found in between 20-40% of patients with heart disease. It has been estimated that consumption of 100% of the daily value (DV) of folate would, by itself, reduce the number of heart attacks suffered by Americans each year by 10%. Just one cup of cooked navy beans provides 63.7% of the recommended daily intake for folate.

Navy beans' good supply of magnesium puts yet another plus in the column of its beneficial cardiovascular effects. Magnesium is Nature's own calcium channel blocker. When there is enough magnesium around, veins and arteries breathe a sigh of relief and relax, which lessens resistance and improves the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Studies show that a deficiency of magnesium is not only associated with heart attack but that immediately following a heart attack, lack of sufficient magnesium promotes free radical injury to the heart. Want to literally keep your heart happy? Eat navy beans--a one cup serving provides over one-quarter 26.8%) of your daily needs for magnesium. Potassium, an important electrolyte involved in nerve transmission and the contraction of all muscles including the heart, is another mineral that is essential for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. Navy beans are ready to promote your cardiovascular health by being a good source of this mineral, too. A one cup serving of navy beans provides 669.8 mg of potassium and only 1.82 mg of sodium, making these beans an especially good choice to protect against high blood pressure and atherosclerosis.

Navy Beans Give You Energy to Burn While Stabilizing Blood Sugar

In addition to its beneficial effects on the digestive system and the heart, the dietary fiber found in navy beans helps stabilize blood sugar levels. If you have insulin resistance, hypoglycemia or diabetes, navy beans can really help you balance blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy. Studies of high fiber diets and blood sugar levels have shown the dramatic benefits provided by these high fiber foods. Researchers compared two groups of people with type 2 diabetes who were fed different amounts of high fiber foods. One group ate the standard American Diabetic diet, which contained 24 grams of fiber/day, while the other group ate a diet containing 50 grams of fiber/day. Those who ate the diet higher in fiber had lower levels of both plasma glucose (blood sugar) and insulin (the hormone that helps blood sugar get into cells). The high fiber group also reduced their total cholesterol by nearly 7%, their triglyceride levels by 10.2% and their VLDL (Very Low Density Lipoprotein--the most dangerous form of cholesterol) levels by 12.5%.

Iron for Energy

In addition to providing slow burning complex carbohydrates, navy beans can increase your energy by helping to replenish your iron stores. Particularly for menstruating women, who are more at risk for iron deficiency, boosting iron stores with navy beans is a good idea--especially because, unlike red meat, another source of iron, navy beans are low in calories and virtually fat-free. Iron is an integral component of hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is also part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism. And remember: If you're pregnant or lactating, your needs for iron increase. Growing children and adolescents also have increased needs for iron. A one cup serving of navy beans provides 25.1% of the daily recommended intake for iron.

Copper & Manganese—More Help with Energy Production Plus Antioxidant Defenses

Navy beans are a very good source of manganese and a good source of copper, trace minerals that are essential cofactors of a key oxidative enzyme called superoxide dismutase. Superoxide dismutase disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells).

Copper is also necessary for the activity of lysyl oxidase, an enzyme involved in cross-linking collagen and elastin, both of which provide the ground substance and flexibility in blood vessels, bones and joints.

As explained above, iron is primarily used as part of hemoglobin, the molecule responsible for transporting and releasing oxygen throughout the body. But hemoglobin synthesis also relies on copper. Without copper, iron cannot be properly utilized in red blood cells. Fortunately, Mother Nature supplies both minerals in navy beans. Just one cup of navy beans supplies 50.5% of the DV for manganese, 27.0% of the DV for copper, and 25.1% of the DV for iron.

Maintain Your Memory with Thiamin (Vitamin B1)

Thiamin participates in enzymatic reactions central to energy production and is also critical for brain cell/cognitive function. This is because thiamin is needed for the synthesis of acetylcholine, the important neurotransmitter essential for memory and whose lack has been found to be a significant contributing factor in age-related impairment in mental function (senility) and Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is clinically characterized by a decrease in acetylcholine levels. Don't forget to make navy beans a staple in your healthy diet: a one cup serving of navy beans provides 24.7% of the daily value for thiamin.

Protein Power Plus

If you're wondering how to replace red meat in your menus, become a fan of navy beans. These hearty beans are a good source of protein, and when combined with a whole grain such as whole wheat pasta or brown rice, provide protein comparable to that of meat or dairy foods without the high calories or saturated fat found in these foods. And, when you get your protein from navy beans, you also get the blood sugar stabilizing and heart health benefits of the soluble fiber provided by these versatile legumes. A cup of navy beans provides 15.8 grams of protein--that's 31.7% of the daily value for protein.

Description

Navy beans are small, pea-sized beans that are creamy white in color. They are a mild-flavored bean that is dense and creamy.

* Baking Bread (how to video)

2008-03-01T23:50:00.000-08:00

* Walking Benefits

2008-03-01T23:49:00.000-08:00

If a daily fitness walk could be put in a pill, it would be one of the most popular prescriptions in the world. It has so many health benefits. Walking can reduce the risk of many diseases — from heart attack and stroke to hip fracture and glaucoma. These may sound like claims on a bottle of snake oil, but they're backed by major research. Walking requires no prescription, the risk of side effects is very low, and the benefits are numerous:

Managing your weight. Combined with healthy eating, physical activity is key to any plan for long-lasting weight control. Keeping your weight within healthy limits can lower your risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.

Controlling your blood pressure. Physical activity strengthens the heart so it can pump more blood with less effort and with less pressure on the arteries. Staying fit is just as effective as some medications in keeping down blood pressure levels.

Decreasing your risk of heart attack. Exercise such as brisk walking for three hours a week — or just half an hour a day — is associated with a 30% to 40% lower risk of heart disease in women. (Based on the 20-year Nurses' Health Study of 72,000 female nurses.)

Boosting "good" cholesterol – the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Physical activity helps reduce low-density lipoproteins (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) in the blood, which can cause plaque buildup along the artery walls — a major cause of heart attacks.

Lowering your risk of stroke. Regular, moderate exercise equivalent to brisk walking for an hour a day, five days a week, can cut the risk of stroke in half, according to a Harvard study of more than 11,000 men.

Reducing your risk of breast cancer and type 2 diabetes. The Nurses' Health Study also links regular activity to risk reductions for both these diseases. In another study, people at high risk of diabetes cut their risk in half by combining consistent exercise like walking with lower fat intake and a 5% to 7% weight loss.

Avoiding your need for gallstone surgery. Regular walking or other physical activity lowers the risk of needing gallstone surgery by 20% to 31%, found a Harvard study of more than 60,000 women ages 40 to 65.

Protecting against hip fracture. Consistent activity diminishes the risk of hip fracture, concludes a study of more than 30,000 men and women ages 20 to 93.

The list goes on and on. Many other studies indicate a daily brisk walk also can help:

Prevent depression,
colon cancer,
constipation,
osteoporosis, and impotence
Lengthen lifespan
Lower stress levels
Relieve arthritis and back pain
Strengthen muscles, bones, and joints
Improve sleep
Elevate overall mood and sense of well-being.
Keep it Steady
A steady routine is the most important factor in getting the most out of your exercise program. Walking for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 or more days a week is recommended.

Use these tips to keep you on track:

During your walks, you should be able to maintain a conversation. If you're breathing too lightly, increase your pace. If you can't catch your breath, slow it down.

Walk around the local area during your lunch hour. Dedicate 15 minutes to walking up and down stairs. Climbing is an excellent way to strengthen your heart.
At night, trade a half hour of TV for a brisk stroll around the block. Take a friend with you for company or get the whole family involved.

The Best Medicine
Any amount of walking is good, but for the best health results, set a brisk pace and walk for 30 minutes at least 5 times a week. Be sure to check with your doctor on the level of exercise that's best for you.

* Health Benefits of Raw Milk

2008-03-01T23:48:00.000-08:00

There's little mention in the mainstream media these days, of traditional foods having healing properties. Sure, there's a ton of hype touting unfermented soy products, vegetable oils and supplements as modern saviors, but in reality, these items have risk-to-benefit ratios like many drugs do.

Few people are aware that clean, raw milk from grass-fed cows was actually used as a medicine in the early part of the last century. That's right. Milk straight from the udder, the "stem cell" of foods, was used as medicine to treat, and frequently cure some serious chronic diseases. From the time of Hippocrates to until just after World War II, this "white blood" nourished and healed uncounted millions.

Clean raw milk from pastured cows is a complete and properly balanced food. You could live on it exclusively if you had to. Indeed, published accounts exist of people who have done just that. What's in it that makes it so great? Let's look at the ingredients to see what makes it such a powerful food.

Proteins

Our bodies use amino acids as building blocks for protein. Depending on who you ask, we need 20-22 of them for this task. Eight of them are considered essential, in that we have to get them from our food. The remaining 12-14 we can make from the first eight in the chemical factories of our bodies.

Raw cow's milk has all 20 of the standard amino acids, saving our bodies the work of having to convert any into usable form. About 80% of the proteins in milk are caseins- reasonably heat stable but easy to digest. The remaining 20% or so fall into the class of whey proteins, many of which have important physiological effects (bioactivity). Also easy to digest, but very heat sensitive, these include key enzymes (specialized proteins) and enzyme inhibitors, immunoglobulins (antibodies), metal-binding proteins, vitamin binding proteins and several growth factors.

Current research is now focusing on fragments of protein (peptide segments) hidden in casein molecules that exhibit anti-microbial activity.

Lactoferrin, an iron-binding protein, has numerous beneficial properties including (as you might guess) improved absorption and assimilation of iron, anti-cancer properties and anti-microbial action against several species of bacteria responsible for dental cavities. Recent studies also reveal that it has powerful antiviral properties as well.

Two other players in raw milk's antibiotic protein/enzyme arsenal are lysozyme and lactoperoxidase. Lysozyme can actually break apart cell walls of certain undesirable bacteria, while lactoperoxidase teams up with other substances to help knock out unwanted microbes too.

The immunoglobulins, an extremely complex class of milk proteins also known as antibodies, provide resistance to many viruses, bacteria and bacterial toxins and may help reduce the severity of asthma symptoms. Studies have shown significant loss of these important disease fighters when milk is heated to normal processing temperatures.

Carbohydrates

Lactose, or milk sugar, is the primary carbohydrate in cow's milk. Made from one molecule each of the simple sugars glucose and galactose, it's known as a disaccharide. People with lactose intolerance for one reason or another (age, genetics, etc.), no longer make the enzyme lactase and so can't digest milk sugar. This leads to some unsavory symptoms, which, needless to say, the victims find rather unpleasant at best. Raw milk, with its lactose-digesting Lactobacilli bacteria intact, may allow people who traditionally have avoided milk to give it another try.

The end-result of lactose digestion is a substance called lactic acid (responsible for the sour taste in fermented dairy products). Besides having known inhibitory effects on harmful species of bacteria, lactic acid boosts the absorption of calcium, phosphorus and iron, and has been shown to make milk proteins more digestible by knocking them out of solution as fine curd particles.

Fats

Approximately two thirds of the fat in milk is saturated. Good or bad for you? Saturated fats play a number of key roles in our bodies: from construction of cell membranes and key hormones to providing energy storage and padding for delicate organs, to serving as a vehicle for important fat-soluble vitamins (see below).

All fats cause our stomach lining to secrete a hormone (CCK) which, aside from boosting production and secretion of digestive enzymes, let's us know we've eaten enough. With that trigger removed, non-fat dairy products and other fat-free foods can potentially help contribute to over-eating.

Consider that, for thousands of years before the introduction of the hydrogenation process (pumping hydrogen gas through oils to make them solids) and the use of canola oil (from genetically modified rapeseed), corn, cottonseed, safflower and soy oils, dietary fats were largely saturated and often animal based. Healthy cultures all over the world thrived on the use of butter, lard, tallows, poultry fats, fish oils, tropical oils such as coconut and palm, and cold pressed olive oil.

Now consider that prior to 1900, very few people died from heart disease. The introduction of hydrogenated cottonseed oil in 1911 (as Crisco) helped begin the move away from healthy animal fats, and toward the slow, downward trend in cardiovascular health from which millions continue to suffer today.

CLA, short for conjugated linoleic acid and abundant in milk from grass-fed cows, is a heavily studied, polyunsaturated Omega-6 fatty acid with promising health benefits. It certainly does wonders for rodents, judging by the hundreds of journal articles I've come across! There's serious money behind CLA, so it's a sure bet there's something to it. Among CLA's many potential benefits: it raises metabolic rate, helps remove abdominal fat, boosts muscle growth, reduces resistance to insulin, strengthens the immune system and lowers food allergy reactions. As luck would have it, grass-fed raw milk has from 3-5 times the amount found in the milk from feed lot cows.

See my Fat Primer for a better understanding of saturated fats and fatty acids and their impact on our health.

Vitamins

Volumes have been written about the two groups of vitamins, water and fat soluble, and their contribution to health. Whole raw milk has them all, and they're completely available for your body to use. Whether regulating your metabolism or helping the biochemical reactions that free energy from the food you eat, they're all present and ready to go to work for you.

Just to repeat, nothing needs to be added to raw milk, especially that from grass-fed cows, to make it whole or better. No vitamins. No minerals. No enriching. It's a complete food. Heated milk must have destroyed components added back in- especially the important fat soluble vitamins A and D.

Minerals

Our bodies, each with a biochemistry as unique as our fingerprints, are incredibly complex, so discussions of minerals, or any nutrients for that matter, must deal with ranges rather than specific amounts. Raw milk contains a broad selection of completely available minerals ranging from the familiar calcium and phosphorus on down to trace elements, the function of some as yet still rather unclear.

A sampling of the health benefits of calcium, a 'macronutrient' abundant in raw milk includes: reduction in cancers, particularly of the colon; higher bone mineral density in people of every age, lower risk of osteoporosis and fractures in older adults; lowered risk of kidney stones; formation of strong teeth and reduction of dental cavities, to name a few.

An interesting feature of minerals as nutrients is the delicate balance they require with other minerals to function properly. For instance, calcium needs a proper ratio of two other macronutrients, phosphorus and magnesium, to be properly utilized by our bodies. Guess what? Nature codes for the entire array of minerals in raw milk to be in proper balance to one another thus optimizing their benefit to us.

Enzymes

The 60 plus (known) fully intact and functional enzymes in raw milk have an amazing array of tasks to perform, each one of them essential for one key task or another. Some of them are native to milk, and others come from beneficial bacteria growing in the milk. Just keeping track of them would require a post-doctoral degree!

To me, the most significant health benefit derived from food enzymes is the burden they take off our body. When we eat a food that contains enzymes devoted to its own digestion, it's that much less work for our pancreas. Given the choice, I'll bet that busy organ would rather occupy itself with making metabolic enzymes, letting food digest itself.

The amylase, bacterially-produced lactase, lipase and phosphatase in raw milk, break down starch, lactose (milk sugar), fat (triglycerides) and phosphate compounds respectively, making milk more digestible and freeing up key minerals. Other enzymes, like catalase, lysozyme and lactoperoxidase help to protect milk from unwanted bacterial infection, making it safer for us to drink.

Cholesterol

Milk contains about 3mg of cholesterol per gram - a decent amount. Our bodies make most of what we need, that amount fluctuating by what we get from our food. Eat more, make less. Either way, we need it. Why not let raw milk be one source?

Cholesterol is a protective/repair substance. A waxy plant steroid (often lumped in with the fats), our body uses it as a form of water-proofing, and as a building block for a number of key hormones.

It's natural, normal and essential to find it in our brain, liver, nerves, blood, bile, indeed, every cell membrane. The best analogy I've heard regarding cholesterol's supposed causative effects on the clogging of our arteries is that blaming it is like blaming crime on the police because they're always at the scene.

Seriously consider educating yourself fully on this critical food issue. It could, quite literally, save your life. See my Cholesterol Primer (also still under construction) to learn the truth.

Beneficial Bacteria

Through the process of fermentation, several strains of bacteria naturally present or added later (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Pediococcus, to name a few) can transform milk into an even more digestible food.

With high levels of lactic acid, numerous enzymes and increased vitamin content, 'soured' or fermented dairy products like yogurt and kefir (made with bacteria and yeast, actually) provide a plethora of health benefits for the savvy people who eat them. Being acid lovers, these helpful little critters make it safely through the stomach's acid environment to reach the intestines where they really begin to work their magic (Above right, Lactobacillus casei).

Down there in the pitch black, some of them make enzymes that help break proteins apart- a real benefit for people with weakened digestion whether it be from age, pharmaceutical side-effects or illness.

Other strains get to work on fats by making lipases that chop triglycerides into useable chunks. Still others take on the milk sugar, lactose, and, using fancy sounding enzymes like beta-galactosidase, glycolase and lactic dehydrogenase (take notes, there'll be a quiz later!), make lactic acid out of it.

As I mentioned way up yonder in the Carbohydrate section, having lactic acid working for you in your nether regions can be a good thing. Remember? It boosts absorption of calcium, iron and phosphorus, breaks up casein into smaller chunks and helps eliminate bad bugs. (I told you there'd be a quiz!)

Raw milk is a living food with remarkable self-protective properties, but here's the kick: most foods tend to go south as they age, raw milk just keeps getting better.

Not to keep harping on this, but what the heck: through helpful bacterial fermentation, you can expect an increase in enzymes, vitamins, mineral availability and overall digestibility. Not bad for old age!

A Word About Diet In General

Use common sense and stick with whole, unprocessed foods, free from genetic tweaking and you'll likely be ahead of the game.

Cook your foods minimally, and you'll be even better off. Question everything before letting it past your lips.

* New York Times No-Knead Bread video

2008-03-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

When making this bread, preheat the pans before baking.

* Steps To Save Yourself When Natural Disaster Hits

2008-03-01T23:38:00.000-08:00

By Glenn Derene
Popular Mechanics Published in the August 2007 issue.

22 Steps to Save Yourself When Natural Disaster Hits

• Earthquake
Crawl under a sturdy table and cover your face and head with your arms. Stay away from windows and large bureaus or bookcases that could fall. If you become trapped under debris, cover your mouth with a cloth or shirt, and tap against a pipe or other object to make noise. (Don’t yell for help unless you have to; you risk inhaling dangerous quantities of dust.) If you are able, leave the building once the shaking stops—aftershocks can bring down a structure compromised by the initial quake. Finally, if you’re outside during the quake, steer clear of buildings and utility wires.

• Tornado
Once you hear a storm warning, tune to a NOAA weather radio for tornado alerts. If an alert comes, seek refuge in a basement—either your own or a neighbor’s—or go to an emergency shelter. As a last resort, stay on the lowest floor of your home. If you’re in a car as a tornado approaches, get out and seek shelter indoors. If you’re caught in the open, lie flat in a ditch or depression and cover your head with your hands.
• More Tornado Survival Tips

• Flood
If a flash-flood warning is issued, move to higher ground immediately—don’t wait to gather belongings. In any flood, avoid downed powerlines and moving water. Six inches of moving water can make a pedestrian fall, while a foot will float most vehicles.
• More Flood Survival Tips

• Hurricane
Heed evacuation orders, first shutting off utilities ("Shut Down Your Home in 5 Minutes"). If you stay home, turn off gaslines and fill your tub with water. Secure shutters. During the storm, move to an interior room and close all doors.
• More Hurricane Survival Tips

* Garlic Health Benefits

2008-03-01T23:35:00.000-08:00

Fresh, dried and powdered garlic are available in markets throughout the year, however, fresh varieties from California are in season from June through December.

Garlic is arranged in a head, called the "bulb," averaging about 2 inches in height and diameter consisting of numerous small separate cloves. Both the cloves and the entire bulb are encased in paper-like sheathes that can be white, off-white or pinkish. Although garlic cloves have a firm texture, they can be easily cut or crushed. The taste of garlic is like no other-it hits the palate with a hot pungency that is shadowed by a very subtle background sweetness. While elephant garlic has larger cloves, it is more closely related to the leek and therefore does not offer the full health benefits of regular garlic.

This chart graphically details the %DV that a serving of Garlic provides for each of the nutrients of which it is a good, very good, or excellent source according to our Food Rating System. Additional information about the amount of these nutrients provided by Garlic can be found in the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Garlic, featuring information over 80 nutrients, can be found under the Food Rating System Chart.

Whole books have been written about garlic, an herb affectionately called "the stinking rose" in light of its numerous therapeutic benefits. A member of the lily or Allium family, which also includes onions, garlic is rich in a variety of powerful sulfur-containing compounds including thiosulfinates (of which the best known compound is allicin), sulfoxides (among which the best known compound is alliin), and dithiins (in which the most researched compound is ajoene). While these compounds are responsible for garlic's characteristically pungent odor, they are also the source of many of its health-promoting effects. In addition, garlic is an excellent source of manganese, a very good source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C and a good source of selenium.

Cardiovascular Benefits

Numerous studies have demonstrated potential benefits of regular garlic consumption on blood pressure, platelet aggregation, serum triglyceride level, and cholesterol levels. Routine eating of garlic may also help stimulate the production of nitric oxide in the lining of blood vessel walls, which may help to relax them. As a result of these beneficial actions, garlic can be described as a food that may help prevent atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, as well as reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke. However, exactly which individuals are most benefitted from garlic consumption remains a matter of some debate. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that garlic did not help lower LDL cholesterol in adults with moderately high (versus very high) levels when consumed at approximately one clove per day, six days per week, for 6 months. However, these researchers simulateously concluded that garlic might still have cardiovascular benefits for these same individuals, even though it did not help lower their LDL levels. While more large-scale research studies are needed to determine the exact nature of garlic's benefits, this food can definitely be considered a potential ally in heart health.

A study published in Preventive Medicine shows that garlic inhibits coronary artery calcification, a process that serves as a marker for plaque formation since the body lays down calcium in areas that have been damaged. In this year-long study, patients given aged garlic extract daily showed an average increase in their calcium score of 7.5%, while those in the placebo group had an average increase in calcium score of 22.2%.

One reason for garlic's beneficial effects may be its ability to lessen the amount of free radicals present in the bloodstream. According to a study published in Life Sciences, a daily dose of 1 ml/kg body weight of garlic extract for six months resulted in a significant reduction in oxidant (free radical) stress in the blood of patients with atherosclerosis.

Since atherosclerotic plaques develop when cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream is damaged or oxidized, garlic's ability to prevent these oxidation reactions may explain some of its beneficial effects in atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. A German study published in Toxicology Letters indicates that garlic also greatly reduces plaque deposition and size by preventing the formation of the initial complex that develops into an atherosclerotic plaque. Called "nanoplaque," it is formed when calcium binds to proteoheparan sulfate and then to LDL cholesterol. Garlic prevents the binding of calcium to proteoheparan sulfate, thus decisively inhibiting plaque generation.

Research presented at the 6th Annual Conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology held by the American Heart Association in Washington, D.C., suggests that garlic can help prevent and potentially reverse atherosclerotic plaque formation. The laboratory studies, conducted by well-known German scientist Professor Güautnter Siegel, M.D., from the University of Medicine in Berlin, Germany, found that powdered garlic (Kwai ® garlic) reduced the formation of nanoplaque (the first building blocks of atherosclerotic plaque) by up to 40% and reduced the size of the nanoplaque that did form by up to 20%.

Dr. Siegel's research shows that garlic acts in a manner similar to HDL ("good") cholesterol, which prevents the build-up of nanoplaques by hindering the docking of LDL ("bad" cholesterol) to its receptor sites in blood vessels or existing plaques.

Both garlic and HDL were able to reduce plaque formation and size within 30 minutes of incubation in these experiments. Existing plaques were dissolved by up to 25% within 15 minutes after the garlic was introduced, indicating a reversal of existing problems related to build-up of arterial plaque. In addition, calcification of the cholesterol docking sites in the arteries was reduced by up to 50% in the presence of the garlic extracts.

New Research More Fully Explains Garlic's Cardiovascular Benefits

Laboratory research by US and Swedish scientists published in the August 2005 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the mechanism behind garlic's cardiovascular benefits.

The compounds in garlic responsible for its pungency also excite a neuron pathway providing cardiovascular benefits. Garlic's pungency-and that of the other members of the Alliumgenus of plants, such as onions, leeks and chives-results from its organosulphur compounds, allicin and diallyl disulphide (DADS). In this current in vitro study, allicin and DADS were found to activate perivascular sensory nerve endings, inducing the relaxation and enlargement of blood vessels, lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow throughout the body.

Garlic's numerous beneficial cardiovascular effects are due to not only its sulfur compounds, but also to its vitamin C, vitamin B6, selenium and manganese:

Garlic is a very good source of vitamin C, the body's primary antioxidant defender in all aqueous (water-soluble) areas, such as the bloodstream, where it protects LDL cholesterol from oxidation. Since it is the oxidized form of LDL cholesterol that initiates damage to blood vessel walls, reducing levels of oxidizing free radicals in the bloodstream can have a profound effect on preventing cardiovascular disease.

Garlic's vitamin B6 helps prevent heart disease via another mechanism: lowering levels of homocysteine. An intermediate product of an important cellular biochemical process called the methylation cycle, homocysteine can directly damage blood vessel walls.

The selenium in garlic not only helps prevent heart disease, but also provides protection against cancer and heavy metal toxicity. A cofactor of glutathione peroxidase (one of the body's most important internally produced antioxidants), selenium also works with vitamin E in a number of vital antioxidant systems. Since vitamin E is one of the body's top defenders in all fat-soluble areas, while vitamin C protects the water-soluble areas, garlic, which contains both nutrients, does a good job of covering all the bases.

Garlic is rich not only in selenium, but also in another trace mineral, manganese, which also functions as a cofactor in a number of other important antioxidant defense enzymes, for example, superoxide dismutase. Studies have found that in adults deficient in manganese, the level of HDL (the "good form" of cholesterol) is decreased.

Practical Tip: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Level III-3 evidence shows that consuming a half to one clove of garlic daily may have a cholesterol-lowering effect of up to 9%.(Tapsell LC, Hemphill I, et al. Med J Aust)
Anti-Inflammatory, Antibacterial and Antiviral Activity

Garlic, like onions, contains compounds that inhibit lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase, (the enzymes that generate inflammatory prostaglandins and thromboxanes), thus markedly reducing inflammation. These anti-inflammatory compounds along with the vitamin C in garlic, especially fresh garlic, make it useful for helping to protect against severe attacks in some cases of asthma and may also help reduce the pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, allicin, one of the sulfur-compounds responsible for garlic's characteristic odor, is a powerful antibacterial and antiviral agent that joins forces with vitamin C to help kill harmful microbes. In research studies, allicin has been shown to be effective not only against common infections like colds, flu, stomach viruses, and Candida yeast, but also against powerful pathogenic microbes including tuberculosis and botulism.

Although garlic alone appears unable to prevent infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), the bacterium responsible for most peptic ulcers, as well as gastritis, frequently eating this richly flavored bulb may keep H. pylori from doing much damage. A study recently conducted at Faith University in Istanbul, Turkey, compared two groups of healthy individuals: one was selected from individuals who regularly ate lots of raw and/or cooked garlic, while the other group was composed of individuals who avoided it. For 19 months, blood samples were regularly collected from both groups and evaluated for the presence of H.pylori. While the incidence of H.pylori was pretty comparable-the bacterium was found in 79% of garlic eaters and 81% of those who avoided garlic-the garlic-consuming group had a clear advantage in that antibodies to H.pylori were much lower in their blood compared to those who ate no garlic. (Antibodies are formed when the immune system reacts to anything it considers a potential pathogen, so less antibodies to H.pylori means less of the bacterium was present.) Among those who ate garlic, those who ate both raw and cooked garlic had even lower levels of antibodies than those who ate their garlic only raw or only cooked.

Laboratory studies recently conducted at the University of Munich, Germany, help explain why garlic may be such a potent remedy against the common cold. In these studies, garlic was found to significantly reduce the activity of a chemical mediator of inflammation called nuclear transcription factor (NF) kappa-B.
NF kappa-B is itself activated as part of the immune system's inflammatory response to invading organisms and damaged tissue. So, anything that sets off an inflammatory response (e.g. allergenic foods, a cold or other infection, physical trauma, excessive exercise, excessive consumption of foods containing high levels of omega-6 fatty acids-such as meat, corn or safflower oil) can trigger a surge in NF kappa-B, which in turn not only promotes inflammation but sets up ideal conditions for viruses, including HIV, to replicate. In the blood samples tested in these German studies, unfertilized garlic caused a 25% drop in NF kappa-B activity, while sulfur-fertilized garlic lowered NF kappa-B activity by a very robust 41%!

Garlic and Onions Protective against Many Cancers

Making garlic and onions a staple in your healthy way of eating may greatly lower your risk of several common cancers, suggests a large data set of case-control studies from Southern European populations (Galeone C, Pelucchi C et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).

Study participants consuming the most garlic had a 39% reduced risk for cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, 57% reduced risk for esophageal cancer, 26% reduced risk for colorectal cancer, 44% reduced risk for laryngeal cancer, 10% reduced risk for breast cancer, 22% reduced risk for ovarian cancer, 19% reduced risk for prostate cancer, and 31% reduced risk for renal cell cancer, compared to those eating the least garlic. Similarly, those eating the most onions showed an 84% reduced risk for cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx, 88% reduced risk for esophageal cancer, 56% reduced risk for colorectal cancer, 83% reduced risk for laryngeal cancer, 25% reduced risk for breast cancer, 73% reduced risk for ovarian cancer, 71% reduced risk for prostate cancer, and 38% reduced risk for renal cell cancer, compared to those eating the least onions.

Potent, Even Against Drug-Resistant Strains of Bacteria
Results of two studies suggest that garlic is a potent antibiotic, even against strains that have become resistant to many drugs. One study conducted at the University of California Irvine Medical Center and published in the December 2003 issue of Nutrition showed that garlic juice, even when diluted up to 1:128 of the original juice, demonstrates significant antibacterial activity against a spectrum of pathogens including antibiotic-resistant strains such as methicillin- and ciprofloxacin-resistant staphylococci, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and ciprofloxacin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A second study found that garlic was able to inhibit methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) from human patients that was injected into laboratory animals.(MSRA is one of the antibiotic resistant bacteria whose incidence has risen dramatically in recent years in hospitals.)

Promotes Optimal Health

The organosulfur compound found in garlic called ajoene may also be useful in the treatment of skin cancer. In a study published in the July 2003 Archives of Dermatological Research, researchers applied ajoene topically to the tumors of patients with either nodular or superficial basal cell carcinoma, and in 17 of the 21 patients, the tumors shrunk significantly. Lab tests of the tumors before and after the application of ajoene revealed a significant decrease in Bcl-2, an apoptosis-suppressing protein. (Apoptosis is the self-destruct sequence used by the body to eliminate cancerous cells.)
Other studies have shown that as few as two or more servings of garlic a week may help protect against colon cancer. Substances found in garlic, such as allicin, have been shown to not only protect colon cells from the toxic effects of cancer-causing chemicals, but also to stop the growth of cancer cells once they develop. While more research is needed to confirm, recent animal research has also suggested that garlic may confer protection against the development of stomach cancer through its potential ability to decrease H.pylori-induced gastritits.

Cooking garlic with meat appears to reduce the production of carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals that can occur in meat as a result of cooking methods, such as grilling, that expose meat to high temperatures.

Research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore, MD, suggests that the phytonutrient responsible for garlic's pungency may help prevent cancer by inhibiting the effects of one such carcinogen called PhIP.
A cancer-causing heterocyclic amine, PhIP is thought to be one reason for the increased incidence of breast cancer among women who eat large quantities of meat because it is rapidly transformed into DNA-damaging compounds.

Diallyl sulphide (DAS), an organosulfur compound that gives garlic its unique flavor, has been shown to inhibit the transformation of PhIP into carcinogens. DAS blocks this transformation by decreasing the production of the liver enzymes (the Phase I enzymes CYP1A1, CYP1A2 and CYP1B1) that transform PhIP into activated DNA-damaging compounds.

In addition, DAS signals the genes responsible for producing two protective antioxidant enzymes, (glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), which help protect the body against harmful compounds such as those produced from PhIP. These findings suggest that making garlic, onion, chives and other Allium vegetables, all of which contain DAS, a staple part of your Healthiest Way of Eating may help in preventing breast cancer induced by PhIP in well-done meats. And enjoying these DAS-rich foods may help protect the men you love as well: Consumption of Allium vegetables has also been associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

Good intakes of vitamin C and selenium, with which fresh garlic is well-endowed, are also associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer, making garlic a smart addition to any colon cancer prevention plan.

Cardiovascular disease is a well-known side-effect of diabetes, but garlic may provide some protection. When diabetic laboratory animals were given garlic extract for an 8-week period, the hyperreactivity of their blood vessels to noradrenaline (a vasoconstrictive hormone) and acetylcholine (a compound involved in nerve transmission) was significantly lessened. According to the researchers, their results suggest that garlic may help prevent the development of abnormal vascular contraction seen in diabetics.
Promotes Weight Control

The most potent active constituent in garlic, allicin, has been shown to not only lower blood pressure, insulin and triglycerides in laboratory animals fed a fructose (sugar)-rich diet, but also to prevent weight gain, according to a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension. In this study, animals who developed high insulin levels, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides were given either allicin or served as a control. Despite the fact that all of the animals consumed the same amount of food, weight rose in the control group but not in animals who were being supplemented with allicin. In those groups, body weight remained stable or declined slightly when allicin was given. The researchers concluded that allicin may be of practical value for weight control.
Protection against Asbestos

Asbestos, a well-known carcinogen, is thought to cause cell mutations by generating reactive oxygen species (free radicals) and depleting one of the body's most important internally produced antioxidants, glutathione. Garlic contains numerous sulfur compounds and glutathione precursors that act as antioxidants and also demonstrate anti-carcinogenic properties. In a laboratory study published in Toxicology Letters, garlic extract, when administered along with asbestos, so significantly reduced DNA mutations in human blood lymphocytes (a type of immune cell), that the researchers concluded: "garlic extract may be an efficient, physiologically tolerable quencher of asbestos-induced genotoxcity."
Description

For a small vegetable, garlic (Allium sativum) sure has a big, and well deserved, reputation. This member of the Lily family, a cousin to onions, leeks and chives, can transform any meal into a bold, aromatic and healthy culinary experience.

Garlic is arranged in a head, called the "bulb," which is made up of separate cloves. Both the cloves and the entire bulb are encased in paper-like sheathes that can be white, off-white or pinkish.

Garlic cloves are off-white in color, and although they have a firm texture, they can be easily cut or crushed. The taste of garlic is like no other; it hits the palate with a hot pungency that is shadowed by a very subtle background sweetness.

The teardrop-shaped garlic bulbs range in size; however, they usually average around two inches in height and two inches in width at their widest point. While elephant garlic has larger cloves, it is more closely related to the leek and therefore does not offer the full health benefits of regular garlic.

History

Native to central Asia, garlic is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world and has been grown for over 5000 years. Ancient Egyptians seem to have been the first to cultivate this plant that played an important role in their culture.

Garlic was not only bestowed with sacred qualities and placed in the tomb of Pharaohs, but it was given to the slaves that built the Pyramids to enhance their endurance and strength. This strength-enhancing quality was also honored by the ancient Greeks and Romans, civilizations whose athletes ate garlic before sporting events and whose soldiers consumed it before going off to war.

Garlic was introduced into various regions throughout the globe by migrating cultural tribes and explorers. By the 6th century BC, garlic was known in both China and India, the latter country using it for therapeutic purposes.

Throughout the millennia, garlic has been a beloved plant in many cultures for both its culinary and medicinal properties. Over the last few years, it has gained unprecedented popularity since researchers have been scientifically validating its numerous health benefits.

Currently, China, South Korea, India, Spain and the United States are among the top commercial producers of garlic.

How to Select and Store

For maximum flavor and nutritional benefits, always purchase fresh garlic. Although garlic in flake, powder or paste form may be more convenient, you will derive less culinary and health benefits from these forms.

Purchase garlic that is plump and has unbroken skin. Gently squeeze the garlic bulb between your fingers to check that it feels firm and is not damp.

Avoid garlic that is soft, shriveled and moldy or that has begun to sprout. These may be indications of decay that will cause inferior flavor and texture. Size is often not an indication of quality. If your recipe calls for a large amount of garlic, remember that it is always easier to peel and chop a few larger cloves than many smaller ones. Fresh garlic is available in the market throughout the year.

Store fresh garlic in either an uncovered or a loosely covered container in a cool, dark place away from exposure to heat and sunlight. This will help maintain its maximum freshness and help prevent sprouting, which reduces its flavor and causes excess waste. It is not necessary to refrigerate garlic. Some people freeze peeled garlic; however, this process reduces its flavor profile and changes its texture.

Depending upon its age and variety, whole garlic bulbs will keep fresh from two weeks to two months. Inspect the bulb frequently and remove any cloves that appear to be dried out or moldy. Once you break the head of garlic, it greatly reduces its shelf life to just a few days.

How to Enjoy
Tips for Preparing Garlic:

The first step to using garlic (unless you are roasting the entire bulb) is to separate the individual cloves. An easy way to do this is to place the bulb on a cutting board or hard surface and gently, but firmly, apply pressure with the palm of your hand at an angle. This will cause the layers of skin that hold the bulb together to separate.

To separate the skin from the individual cloves, place a clove with the smooth side down on a cutting board and gently tap it with the flat side of a wide knife. You can then remove the skin either with your fingers or with a small knife. If there is a green sprout in the clove's center, gently remove it since it is difficult to digest.

Chopping or crushing stimulates the enzymatic process that converts the phytonutrient alliin into allicin, a compound to which many of garlic's health benefits are attributed. In order to allow for maximal allicin production, wait several minutes before eating or cooking the garlic.

Crush then cook garlic cloves lightly for the most health benefits, say Agricultural Research Service scientists. Garlic's heart-protective phytonutrients—its allicin and thiosulfinates— help lower blood pressure and break up clumps of potentially artery-clogging platelets in the bloodstream. Until now, most researchers assumed eating raw whole garlic bulbs would provide the most phytonutrient activity, but when they boiled (3 minutes), baked (200 degrees C) and microwaved both crushed and uncrushed garlic cloves, they discovered that crushing, which frees garlic's beneficial compounds, is responsible for most of its health benefits. Although cooking for 10 minutes completely suppressed garlic's phytonutrient actions, lightly cooking garlic was no problem—except for microwaving, which almost entirely stripped garlic of its blood-thinning effects. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Feb 21;55(4):1280-8.
A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

Marinate pressed garlic in olive oil and use this flavored oil in dressings and marinades.

Purée fresh garlic, canned garbanzo beans, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice to make quick and easy hummus dip.

Healthy sauté steamed spinach, garlic, and fresh lemon juice.

Add garlic to sauces and soups.

Purée roasted garlic, cooked potatoes and olive oil together to make delicious garlic mashed potatoes. Season to taste.

Safety

Garlic is not a commonly allergenic food, is not known to contain measurable amounts of goitrogens, oxalates, or purines, and is also not included in the Environmental Working Group's 2006 report "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce" as one of the 12 foods most frequently containing pesticide residues.

Do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism, regardless of whether the garlic is fresh or has been roasted.

Nutritional Profile

Garlic is an excellent source of manganese. . It is also a very good source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C. and . In addition, garlic is a good source of protein and thiamin (vitamin B1) as well as the minerals phosphorous, selenium, calcium, potassium, iron and copper.

References

Adlercreutz H. Western diet and Western diseases: some hormonal and biochemical mechanisms and associations. Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 1990:50(S201):3-23 1990.
American Botanical Council. New Research Supports Garlic's Role in Arresting and Reversing Arteriosclerosis. www. Herbalgram.org, the e-newsletter of the American Botanical Council, April 29, 2005.
Andorfer JH, Tchaikovskaya T, Listowsky I. Selective expression of glutathione S-transferase genes in the murine gastrointestinal tract in response to dietary organosulfur compounds. Carcinogenesis 2003 Nov 21 [Epub ahead of print].
Anwar MM, Meki AR. Oxidative stress in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats: effects of garlic oil and melatonin. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. Aug;135(4):539-547 2003.
Baluchnejadmojarad T, Roghani M. Endothelium-dependent and -independent effect of aqueous extract of garlic on vascular reactivity on diabetic rats. Fitoterapia. 2003 Dec;74(7-8):630-7.
Bautista DM, Movahed P, Hinman A, Axelsson HE, Sterner O, HOgestatt ED, Julius D, Jordt SE, Zygmunt PM. Pungent products from garlic activate the sensory ion channel TRPA1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Aug 15; [Epub ahead of print]. PMID:16103371.
Bhattacharya K, Yadava S, Papp T, Schiffmann D, Rahman Q. Reduction of chrysotile asbestos-induced genotoxicity in human peripheral blood lymphocytes by garlic extract. Toxicol Lett. 2004 Nov 28;153(3):327-32. PMID:15454308.
Cavagnaro PF, Camargo A, Galmarini CR, Simon PW. Effect of cooking on garlic (Allium sativum L.) antiplatelet activity and thiosulfinates content. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Feb 21;55(4):1280-8. Epub 2007 Jan 27. PMID:17256959.
Durak I, Aytac B, Atmaca Y, Devrim E, Avci A, Erol C, Oral D. Effects of garlic extract consumption on plasma and erythrocyte antioxidant parameters in atherosclerotic patients. Life Sci. 2004 Sep 3;75(16):1959-66. PMID:15306163.
Elkayam A, Mirelman D, Peleg E, Wilchek M, Miron T, Rabinkov A, Oron-Herman M, Rosenthal T. The effects of allicin on weight in fructose-induced hyperinsulinemic, hyperlipidemic, hypertensive rats. Am J Hypertens. 2003 Dec;16(12):1053-6.
Galeone C, Pelucchi C, Levi F, Negri E, Franceschi S, Talamini R, Giacosa A, La Vecchia C. Onion and garlic use and human cancer. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Nov;84(5):1027-32. PMID:17093154.
Keiss HP, Dirsch VM, Hartung T, Haffner T, Trueman L, Auger J, Kahane R, Vollmar AM. Garlic (Allium sativum L.) modulates cytokine expression in lipopolysaccharide-activated human blood thereby inhibiting NF-kappaB activity. J Nutr. Jul;133(7):2171-5. 2003.
Lee YL, Cesario T, Wang Y, Shanbrom E, Thrupp L. Antibacterial activity of vegetables and juices. Nutrition. 2003 Nov-Dec;19(11-12):994-6.
Salih BA, Abasiyanik FM. Does regular garlic intake affect the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in asymptomatic subjects. Saudi Med J. Aug;24(8):842-5. 2003.
Siegel G, Michel F, Ploch M, Rodriguez M, Malmsten M. [Inhibition of arteriosclerotic plaque development by garlic]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2004 Nov;154(21-22):515-22. PMID:15638070.
Tapsell LC, Hemphill I, Cobiac L, Patch CS, Sullivan DR, Fenech M, Roodenrys S, Keogh JB, Clifton PM, Williams PG, Fazio VA, Inge KE. Health benefits of herbs and spices: the past, the present, the future. Med J Aust. 2006 Aug 21;185(4 Suppl):S4-24. PMID:17022438.
Tilli CM, Stavast-Kooy AJ, Vuerstaek JD, Thissen MR, Krekels GA, Ramaekers FC, Neumann HA. The garlic-derived organosulfur component ajoene decreases basal cell carcinoma tumor size by inducing apoptosis. Arch Dermatol Res. Jul;295(3):117-23. 2003.
Tsao SM, Hsu CC, Yin MC. Garlic extract and two diallyl sulphides inhibit methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in BALB/cA mice. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2003 Dec;52(6):974-80.
Wilson CL, Aboyade-Cole A, Darling-Reed S, Thomas RD. Poster Presentations, Session A, Abstract 2543: A30 Diallyl Sulfide Antagonizes PhIP Induced Alterations in the Expression of Phase I and Phase II Metabolizing Enzymes in Human Breast Epithelial Cells. presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Baltimore, MD, July 2005.

* WD-40 Top 5 Clean Up Uses

2008-03-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

1. Crayon Marks
WD-40 is effective in removing crayon markings from most surfaces. Spray on crayon markings and gently rub with a cloth. Works on your walls and other household surfaces.
2. Adhesive Residue
WD-40 is great for removing that sticky residue left behind by most adhesives. Works on glass, clothing and much more.
More: How to Remove Adhesive Residue
3. Grease Splatters
Grease splatters on and around the stove area in the kitchen can be very difficult to remove. Let WD-40 dissolve the grease for you.
More: How to Remove Grease Splatters
4. Squeaky Doors
A squeaky door can be a minor but very annoying problem in your home. WD-40 can quickly and easily lubricate the hinges to stop that irritating squeak.
More: How to Quiet a Squeaky Door
5. Silly Putty
Kids love Silly Putty, but it can create quite a sticky mess on your carpets. Here's how to easily remove it using WD-

* Vinegar Uses

2008-03-01T23:30:00.000-08:00

Household Hints
Floors
No-wax floors:
To wash no-wax floors, add ½ cup of white distilled vinegar to a half-gallon of warm water.

Carpet stain removal:
A mixture of 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent and 1 teaspoon of white distilled vinegar in a pint of lukewarm water will remove non-oily stains from carpets. Apply it to the stain with a soft brush or towel and rub gently. Rinse with a towel moistened with clean water and blot dry. Repeat this procedure until the stain is gone. Then dry quickly, using a fan or hair dryer. This should be done as soon as the stain is discovered.

Windows & Walls
Streakless windows:
Simply wash with a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and warm water. Dry with a soft cloth. This solution will make your windows gleam and will not leave the usual film or streaks on the glass.

Washing woodwork:
You can ease the job of washing painted walls, woodwork and Venetian blinds by using a mixture of 1 cup ammonia, ½ cup white distilled or cider vinegar and ¼ cup baking soda with 1 gallon of warm water. Wipe this solution over walls or blinds with a sponge or cloth and rinse with clear water. Dirt and grime comes off easily and the solution will not dull the painted finish or leave streaks.

Water or alcohol marks on wood:
Stubborn rings resulting from wet glasses being placed on wood furniture may be removed by rubbing with a mixture of equal parts of white distilled vinegar and olive oil. Rub with the grain and polish for the best results.

Kitchen
Garbage disposal cleaner:
Garbage disposals may be kept clean and odor free with vinegar cubes. Vinegar cubes are made by filling an ice tray with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar and enough water to fill the ice tray and then freezing it. Run the mixture through the disposal, and then flush it with cold water for a minute or so.

Coffee maker cleaner (automatic):
White distilled vinegar can help to dissolve mineral deposits that collect in automatic drip coffee makers from hard water. Fill the reservoir with white distilled vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle. Rinse thoroughly with water when the cycle is finished. (Be sure to check the owner’s manual for specific instructions.)

Deodorize the kitchen drain:
Pour a cup of white distilled vinegar down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.

Clean the refrigerator:
Wash with a solution of equal parts water and white distilled vinegar.

Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards:
Wipe with full strength white distilled vinegar.

Brass polish:
Brass, copper and pewter will shine if cleaned with the following mixture. Dissolve 1teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of white distilled vinegar and stir in flour until it becomes a paste. Apply paste to the metals and let it stand for about 15 minutes. Rinse with clean warm water and polish until dry.

Ant deterrent:
Ant invasions can sometimes be deterred by washing counter tops, cabinets and floors with white distilled vinegar.

Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances
Apply vinegar with a soft cloth to remove streaks from stainless steel appliances. Try in an inconspicuous place first.

Cleaner Dishes and Glasses
Pour 1 ½ cup to 2 cups white distilled vinegar in the bottom of dishwasher, along with regular dishwasher soap. Wash full cycle.

Remove Refrigerator Smells
Place 1 cup apple cider vinegar in a glass and set in refrigerator. Within 2 days, any smell is gone!

Bathroom
Bathtub film:
Bathtub film can be removed by wiping with white distilled vinegar and then with soda. Rinse clean with water.

Shower doors:
Rub down shower doors with a sponge soaked in white distilled vinegar to remove soap residue.

Toilet bowl cleaner:
Stubborn stains can be removed from the toilet by spraying them with white distilled vinegar and brushing vigorously. The bowl may be deodorized by adding 3 cups of white distilled vinegar. Allow it to remain for a half hour, then flush.

Unclog the showerhead:
Corrosion may be removed from showerheads or faucets by soaking them in diluted white distilled vinegar overnight. This may be easily accomplished by saturating a terry cloth towel in vinegar and wrapping it around the showerhead or faucet.

Lawn/Garden
Kill grass:
To kill grass on sidewalks and driveways, pour full strength white distilled vinegar on it.

Kill weeds:
Spray white distilled vinegar full strength on tops of weeds. Reapply on any new growth until plants have starved.

Increase soil acidity:
In hard water areas, add a cup of vinegar to a gallon of tap water for watering acid loving plants like rhododendrons, gardenias or azaleas. The vinegar will release iron in the soil for the plants to use.

Neutralize garden lime:
Rinse your hands liberally with white distilled vinegar after working with garden lime to avoid rough and flaking skin. Clean pots before repotting, rinse with vinegar to remove excess lime.

Keep Flowers Longer
Keep flowers fresh longer. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons white vinegar in a 1-quart vase of water. Trim stems and change water every five days.

Plant Nutrients
Mix vinegar and water in a ratio of 1:8. Mix a separate solution of sugar and water in a mixture of 1:8. Combine the vinegar and sugar mixtures. Add to plant as long as needed.

Bumper stickers:
Remove bumper stickers by repeatedly wiping the sticker with white distilled vinegar until it is soaked. In a few minutes, it should peel off easily. Test on a small invisible area of the car to ensure there will be no damage to the pain.

Paintbrush softener:
Soak the paintbrush in hot white distilled vinegar, and then wash out with warm, sudsy water.

Cleaning the Radiator Vent
Turn down the thermostat. Unscrew the air vent, soak it in vinegar to clean it, then turn the thermostat all the way up. After a few minutes, you'll hear a hissing sound followed by a little bit of water spurting out. Finally, steam will start exiting that hole. Turn off the radiator valve and replace the vent. It should be straight up and hand tight. You should not need or use a wrench.

Frosted windows:
For those rare winter mornings when there is frost on the car, wipe the windows the night before with a solution of one part water to three parts white distilled vinegar. They won’t frost over.

Furniture
Mix olive oil and vinegar in a one-to-one ratio and polish with a soft cloth. Try in an inconspicuous place first.

Cleaning Leather Shoes
Make a solution of one part water to one part white vinegar, and use it sparingly on the shoes. Dip a cloth into the solution, and dab it over the salt-streaked parts of your shoes.
May have to repeat the cleaning a few times before all the salt is removed. Salt actually can damage leather, so it's best to clean shoes as quickly as possible. Don't let the salt stains build up.

Fireplaces
Wash fireplaces with a 50/50 ratio of water and vinegar to remove the blackened soot on glass front doors. If the doors have a spring-loaded clip, remove it, then take out the doors.

Lay them flat on newspapers, spray with the vinegar/water solution and soak. Wipe it off with newspaper.

Cleaner for Gold Jewelry (Winner of June 2007 Vinegar Online Use Contest)
Use one cup apple cider vinegar. Submerge solid gold jewelry item in vinegar for 15 minutes. Remove and dry with cloth.

Remove Lime Stains from Car
Pour a small amount of white vinegar on a clean cloth. Gently rub the area of lime staining with the cloth until the stain is gone. Test a small are first to ensure no discoloration.

Worn DVDs:
If you have a worn DVD that has begun to stick or suffers from the occasional freeze-frame, wipe it down with white distilled vinegar applied to a soft cloth. Ensure the DVD is completely dry before re-inserting in the DVD player. (Note: This only works on DVDs that are scratched of dirty through normal wear.)

Freshen baby clothes:
The addition of 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to each load of baby clothes during the rinse cycle will naturally break down uric acid and soapy residue leaving the clothes soft and fresh.

Clothes washing magic:
Clothes will rinse better if 1 cup of white distilled vinegar is added to the last rinse water. The acid in vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, but strong enough to dissolve the alkalies in soaps and detergents.

Blanket renewal:
Cotton and wool blankets become soft, fluffy and free of soap odor if 2 cups of white distilled vinegar are added to the rinse cycle of the wash.

Deodorant stains:
Deodorant and antiperspirant stains may be removed from clothing by lightly rubbing with white distilled vinegar and laundering as usual.

Hole removal:
After a hem or seam is removed, there are often unsightly holes left in the fabric. These holes can be removed by placing a cloth, moistened with white distilled vinegar, under the fabric and ironing.

Keeping colors fast:
To hold colors in fabrics, which tend to run, soak them for a few minutes in white distilled vinegar before washing.

Leather cleaning:
Leather articles can be cleaned with a mixture of white distilled vinegar and linseed oil. Rub the mixture into the leather and then polish with a soft cloth.

Scorch marks:
Lightly rub white distilled vinegar on fabric that has been slightly scorched. Wipe with a clean cloth.

Setting colors:
When you are color dyeing, add about a cupful of white distilled vinegar to the last rinse water to help set the color.

Shower curtains:
Add 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to the rinse water when you launder your shower curtain. Do not spin dry or wash out. Just hang immediately to dry.

Unclog steam iron:
Pour equal amounts of white distilled vinegar and water into the iron's water chamber. Turn to steam and leave the iron on for 5 minutes in an upright position. Then unplug and allow to cool. Any loose particles should come out when you empty the water.

Clean a scorched iron plate:
Heat equal parts white distilled vinegar and salt in a small pan. Rub solution on the cooled iron surface to remove dark or burned stains.

Cleaning Vintage Lace
Soak the lace in cold water, rinsing it several times. Next, hand-wash the lace gently with a wool detergent, such as Woolite. If rust spots are a problem, try removing them with a mixture of white vinegar and hot water.

Food Preparation
Getting the last drops:
When you can’t get the last bit of mayonnaise or salad dressing out of the jar, try dribbling a little of your favorite vinegar into it, put the cap on tightly and shake well. You’ll be amazed at how much you’ve been wasting.

Cooking fish:
Try soaking fish in vinegar and water before cooking it. It will be sweeter, more tender and hold its shape better. When boiling or poaching fish, a tablespoon of vinegar added to the water will keep it from crumbling so easily.

Boiling eggs:
When boiling an egg and it’s cracked, a little vinegar in the water will keep the white from running out.

Freshen vegetables:
Freshen up slightly wilted vegetables by soaking them in cold water and vinegar.

Fruit and vegetable wash:
Add 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar to 1 pint water and use to wash fresh fruits and vegetables, then rinse thoroughly. Research has shown that vinegar helps kill bacteria on fruits and vegetables.

Meat tenderizer:
As a tenderizer for tough meat or game, make a marinade in the proportion of half a cup of your favorite vinegar to a cup of heated liquid, such as bouillon; or for steak, you may prefer to a mix of vinegar and oil, rubbed in well and allowed to stand for two hours.

Fruit stains:
Remove fruit or berry stains from your hands by cleaning them with vinegar.

Fresh lunch box:
It is easy to take out the heavy stale smell often found in lunch boxes. Dampen a piece of fresh bread with white distilled vinegar and leave it in the lunch box overnight.

Get rid of cooking smells and other odors:
Let simmer a small pot of vinegar and water solution.

Fluffy Egg Whites
Soak a paper towel with 1-2 Tablespoons of white distilled vinegar. Wipe mixing bowl and beaters or whisk with the vinegar-soaked paper towel, then dry with a cloth or paper towel prior to whipping egg whites.

Health
Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting:
Douse with vinegar. It will soothe irritation and relieve itching.

Relieve sunburn:
Lightly rub white distilled or cider vinegar on skin. Reapply as needed.

Relieve dry and itchy skin:
Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to your bath water.

Fight dandruff:
After shampooing, rinse with a solution of ½ cup vinegar and 2 cups of warm water.

Soothe a sore throat:
Put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle, then swallow. For another great gargle: 1 cup hot water, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon vinegar, gargle then drink.

Treat sinus infections and chest colds:
Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer. (Be sure to check vaporizer instructions for additional water measurement.)

Skin burns:
Apply ice-cold vinegar right away for fast relief. Will prevent burn blisters.

Chest congestion:
To clear up respiratory congestion, inhale a vapor mist from steaming pot containing water and several spoonfuls of vinegar.

Toenail fungus:
Soak toes in a solution of vinegar and water, using 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water, 15 minutes per day.

Arthritis Relief
Mix a teaspoon of half apple cider vinegar, half honey in a glass of water with a teaspoon of orange flavored Knox gelatin.

Lessen Morning Sickness
Drink some apple cider vinegar in water, with honey added. This concoction can help calm a queasy stomach.

Stop Itching
Apply a paste made from vinegar and cornstarch. Keep on until itch disappears.

Cleaning Heavily Soiled Hands
Moisten cornmeal with apple cider vinegar. Scrub hands, rinse in cold water and pat dry.

Soft Feet
Combine 1 cup white distilled vinegar to 2 gallons warm water. Soak feet for 45 minutes then use a pumice stone or file to remove dead skin from heels and callused areas of feet.

Wart Remover
Mix lukewarm/warm water with a cup of white distilled vinegar. Immerse area with wart and soak 20 minutes everyday until wart disappears.

Bug Spray
Combine equal amounts of water, white distilled vinegar and liquid dish soap in a spray bottle. Use on skin, as needed.

* Take Emergency Quiz

2008-03-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

Emergency Education Quiz

How much do you know about emergency preparedness? In a crisis, would you panic or prevail? The answer may surprise you. We've made up a fun quiz to test your knowledge on various disasters and emergency preparedness items. See how well you do. (Answers are listed at the end of the quiz; give yourself 5 points for every right answer).

Emergency Education Quiz:

1. True or False? As long as a thunderstorm is five miles away or farther from you, you are pretty safe from lightning strikes.

2. When an earthquake strikes, you should:

A. Run outside to avoid falling building debris

B. Take cover under a heavy piece of furniture

C. Panic

D. Lean against an inside wall or stand under an inside doorway

E. B and/or D

3. What is the minimum amount of water that you need to store for one adult for two weeks?

A. 5 gallons

B. 10 gallons

C. 14 gallons

D. 21 gallons

4. Which areas of the United States are vulnerable to earthquakes?

A. The West Coast, particularly California

B. The Eastern Seaboard

C. The central United States

D. All 50 states

5. What's the most common disaster that occurs in the United States?

A. Fire

B. Flood

C. Earthquake

D. Tornado

6. What's the number one disaster related killer in the United States?

A. Fire

B. Flood

C. Earthquake

D. Tornado

7. If your car stalls while you're evacuating from a flood, you should:

A. Stay inside the car until assistance can arrive

B. Leave it

C. Call a towing service

D. Flag someone down to help you start it

8. True or False? Small games and a teddy bear can be very important o keep in your 72-hour kit.

9. When treating frostbite, you should

A. Rub the limbs down with snow

B. Give the victim a cup of hot chocolate to warm up

C. Gradually warm the body by wrapping in dry blankets

D. Plunge the affected areas in HOT water

10. The most dangerous part of a hurricane is

A. The breaking waves

B. The gale-force winds

C. The flood-causing rains

D. The landslides

11. How often should you practice your emergency evacuation plan?

A. Once a year

B. Every six months

C. Every three months

D. Only during an emergency.

12. Why are 72-hour kits called 72-hour kits?

A. Most disasters are over in 72 hours or less

B. Three days is just about as long as you can take eating survival food

C. You can't carry more than three days' worth of items at a time

D. It generally takes at least 72 hours for emergency personnel to reach you

Answers:

1. False. If you can hear thunder, you could be in danger. Just because the storm is not right on top of you, does not mean that you are safe. Lightening can strike as much as 10 miles away from the rainy area. Be sure to take cover in a building or car, if possible. However, you can estimate how far the storm is from you. Just count the seconds between when you see the lightning flash and hear the thunder crack, and divide by five.

2. (E). Either B or D. Take cover under something heavy, like a sturdy desk or chair. Or you can use an inside wall or doorway. Just make sure to keep away from where glass could shatter, like mirrors or windows.

3. (C). 14 gallons is the minimum amount of water you should store for an adult. This amount allows one adult 1 gallon of water to use per day for 14 days. It is estimated that the average person uses 65 gallons of water a day, for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sanitation purposes. You will probably want to store more based on your family's needs.

4. (D). Even though earthquakes occur most frequently west of the Rocky Mountains, all 50 states and U.S. territories are at risk for an earthquake. Forty-one of those states and territories are at moderate to high risk for earthquakes to strike.

5. (A) More homes will be threatened by fire than by any other disaster. This is one of the reasons why a fire escape plan is crucial for every home. Flood is the second most common disaster.

6. (B) Floods, particularly flash floods, are the number one weather and disaster related killer in the United States. Flash floods cause an average death toll close to 150 people a year.

7. (B) Leave your car and move to higher ground. Many deaths have occurred when people try to move their stalled cars in a flood.

8. True. A few small games or a stuffed animal really provides comfort for small children and even adults.

9. (C) Make sure the victim has dry clothes, and wrap him/her in a blanket. The body temperature needs to rise gradually, to avoid damage. Do NOT give them hot drinks or any drink with caffeine. As a stimulant, caffeine can speed up the heart, and quicken the effect that cold has on the body.

10. (A) Even though much death and destruction is caused by wind, rain, and landslides, it is the breaking waves, known as the storm surge that causes the most damage. During a hurricane, this wall of water slams into the coastline, causing flash floods and structural damage to buildings.

11. (C) Your emergency evacuation plan should be practiced at least four times a year so your family is familiar with the evacuation plan.

12. (D) During a major crisis, it often takes at least 72 hours for services to be up and for emergency personnel to reach you. In many circumstances, it takes even longer than 72 hours.

Give yourself 5 points for every right answer.

(50-60 points) Consider yourself a graduate of the School of Emergency Preparedness! You probably would know what to do in an emergency and would keep a level head. But remember, this quiz only covered a small portion of emergency preparedness. Even experts in emergency preparedness do not know everything. And recommendations from disaster agencies may change over the years, depending on new advances and changes in our society.

(45-35 points) It may be time for a refresher course. You know a lot about emergency preparedness, but you could use a little brushing up. You ought to check out the emergency resources listed at the end of this article. The more information that you have available at the time of an emergency, the more secure you will feel in an emergency.

(30 and under) We recommend learning more about emergency preparedness to prepare yourself. Fortunately, there are many ways you can find out how to prepare yourself. Sign up for a first aid course, or read some of the excellent books written on emergency preparedness. We've provided a list of emergency resources in this article that can help you get started on the road to increased awareness and greater peace of mind.

Here are some great links and resources available.

The Internet. If you are reading this article, you probably already know about Emergency Essentials ® Insights, where we try to bring you some of the most useful information on emergency preparedness. Other sources on the Internet that we have found to be informative (as well as entertaining) are various government and disaster agencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Website or FEMA is specifically designed to give you information about disasters and how to prepare for them. There is a library of information online on various topics, as well as news flashes on the latest disasters. Another site to visit is the United States Geological Service Website or USGS. This site can provide you more in-depth information on earthquakes and why they occur. A really interesting feature of this site is that you can sign up to be e-mailed every time an earthquake occurs around the world. The e-mail lets you know where in the world the earthquake occurred, and how it measured on the Richter scale. We've found it really eye opening to find out just how often earthquakes happen around the world. The Red Cross also has a comprehensive website; you can find information on this charity's activities, as well as tips on how to avoid accidents and disasters. There are great tips on how to prepare for different months and other useful information. There's also ways to find information about your local Red Cross chapter.

Books. For more in-depth information on emergency preparedness, you can turn to many of the excellent books that have been published on the subject. Some that we recommend are Emergency Essentials’ Tips for Preparedness, The Sense of Survival by J. Allen South, Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton, and various books by Barry and Lynette B. Crockett including: A Year's Supply, and How to Assemble a 72-Hour Emergency Kit . Other wonderful books are also available.

Apply What You Have Learned. One of the most important steps to take in becoming prepared is applying what you learn. We recommend having a fire drill as a family. You can also stock up on first aid kit items. It also is recommended to teach everyone in your family how to turn off the gas and water in your home.

We hope this information has opened your eyes and has helped you learn something new about emergency preparedness. Remember, information and application are the key to effective emergency preparedness.

* How to remove urine odors from mattress

2008-03-01T23:27:00.000-08:00

Accidents do happen...

Here's How:
Measure 1/4 cup borax; pour into a container.
Add 1/4 cup baking soda.
Add 1 1/2 cups hot water.
Stir until mixed.

*How To Make Non-Toxic Cleaners

2008-03-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

It's Spring cleaning time!
Most modern synthetic cleaning products are based on age-old formulas using natural ingredients that were passed down through the generations because the chemistry was right. Going back to the original naturally derived ingredients is a way to make cleaning products that work, don't pollute and save you money. Most are found in your kitchen cupboards. Mix and match with well-chosen and environmentally friendly green cleaning products found in health food stores, and you can easily and simply transform your home into a non-toxic and healthy haven.

Non-toxic cleaning can give you a deep feeling of gratification in knowing that your family's health is protected, and that your home is a place for your bodies to rest and recuperate rather than promote harm.

SIMPLE SOLUTION: Making your own nontoxic cleaning kit will take you no time at all with these simple, straightforward directions, and with this kit you will be supplied with enough cleaning product for months of cleaning.
As an added bonus, ounce for ounce homemade cleaning formulas cost about one-tenth the price of their commercial counterpart—and that includes costly, but worthwhile essential oils, and concentrated, all-purpose detergents for homemade recipes.

SUPPLIES
Baking soda
Washing soda
White distilled vinegar
A good liquid soap or detergent
Tea tree oil
6 clean spray bottles
2 glass jars

Read more about these 5 basic cleaning ingredients, and a vinegar update.

CREAMY SOFT SCRUBBER
Simply pour about 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl, and add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting. Scoop the mixture onto a sponge, and wash the surface. This is the perfect recipe for cleaning the bathtub because it rinses easily and doesn't leave grit.

Note: Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin to the mixture and store in a sealed glass jar, to keep the product moist. Otherwise just make as much as you need at a time.

WINDOW CLEANER
1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups water
Spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand. The soap in this recipe is important. It cuts the wax residue from the commercial brands you might have used in the past.

OVEN CLEANER
1 cup or more baking soda
Water
A squirt or two of liquid detergent

Sprinkle water generously over the bottom of the oven, then cover the grime with enough baking soda that the surface is totally white. Sprinkle some more water over the top. Let the mixture set overnight. You can easily wipe up the grease the next morning because the grime will have loosened. When you have cleaned up the worst of the mess, dab a bit of liquid detergent or soap on a sponge, and wash the remaining residue from the oven. If this recipe doesn't work for you it is probably because you didn't use enough baking soda and/or water.

ALL-PURPOSE SPRAY CLEANER
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
A dab of liquid soap
2 cups hot tap water

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake until the washing soda has dissolved. Apply and wipe off with a sponge or rag.

FURNITURE POLISH
1/2 teaspoon oil, such as olive (or jojoba, a liquid wax)
1/4 cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Mix the ingredients in a glass jar. Dab a soft rag into the solution and wipe onto wood surfaces. Cover the glass jar and store indefinitely.

VINEGAR DEODORIZER
Keep a clean spray bottle filled with straight 5 percent vinegar in your kitchen near your cutting board and in your bathroom and use them for cleaning. I often spray the vinegar on our cutting board before going to bed at night, and don't even rinse but let it set overnight. The smell of vinegar dissipates within a few hours. Straight vinegar is also great for cleaning the toilet rim. Just spray it on and wipe off.

MOLD KILLERS

Tea Tree Treasure
Nothing natural works for mold and mildew as well as this spray. I've used it successfully on a moldy ceiling from a leaking roof, on a musty bureau, a musty rug, and a moldy shower curtain. Tea tree oil is expensive, but a little goes a very long way. Note that the smell of tea tree oil is very strong, but it will dissipate in a few days.

2 teaspoons tea tree oil
2 cups water

Combine in a spray bottle, shake to blend, and spray on problem areas. Do not rinse. Makes two cups.

Vinegar Spray
Straight vinegar reportedly kills 82 percent of mold. Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the moldy area, and let set without rinsing if you can put up with the smell. It will dissipate in a few hours.

HELPFUL HINTS: Make sure to label all your homemade cleaning products, and keep them away from pets and children.
For more on natural cleaning products you can make at home click here.
By Annie B. Bond, author of Clean & Green (Ceres Press, 1990).