Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Water Storage and Food Preparation

I got some ads yesterday that are prompting me to write this post. Remember how I said I would give you some ideas on water storage and cooking? Well, at CAL Ranch there are some sales going on that might be helpful to some of you. Big blue 55 gallon water barrels are on sale for $39.99. The 6 gallon water jugs with spigot are $9.99. You can fill these, store them, and keep chlorine bleach or some other form of water purification on hand for when you need it. If you keep them inside, I would recommend keeping them close to a drain so that you can rotate your water regularly. You can also consider buying a water purifier pump. They are made for various levels of clean water, you will want to have one that can clean enough water for your family's use. You can also refill sturdy plastic bottles (like juice bottles), but make sure that they are cleaned and sanitized before you store them and add a little bleach. DON'T use milk jugs! They deteriorate faster and no matter how much you clean them you will always have a little bit of milk residue absorbed into them. Remember to check and rotate your water regularly, just like with your food.
There are also some sales at CAL Ranch on a small, one burner butane stove, a large two burner camp stove (uses propane), and a really elaborate camp range/oven. If you purchase any of these things, remember to have fuel on hand. Other ideas for cooking in emergencies include barbeque grills, fire pits, dutch ovens, apple box ovens (I'll try to find a link online for how to construct one), and reflector ovens. I think it would be fun to have a class on how to cook with some of these different types of cooking sources. What do you think? I would really LOVE some feedback on this!
By the way, the sale at CAL Ranch is good through March 8. If you see better prices or other helpful things elsewhere, let us know! Thanks!

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