Prepped Living Blog

Once again we see a disaster scenario in the news that has affected thousands of lives. Once again, many homes have been destroyed and lives have been lost. For some disasters, you prepare your home, your pantry, etc. In the case of fire, preparation includes having an evacuation plan. While we have never had to evacuate, years ago a wildfire very near our home prompted us to prepare for evacuation. One dry summer, a fire started only a mile from our house, just outside the tiny town in which we lived. The wind was blowing towards our home and the rest of the town. My husband was a volunteer fire fighter and had told me how fast some fires can move. As a precaution, I had the kids grab their go-bags and we loaded them into the car, just in case. We were getting ready to load the Tulle with other items when the wind changed direction. We were fortunate that day that we had so many fire volunteers and that the wind changed direction. They were able to put the fire out before it endangere...

A while back, we juiced a watermelon that was given to us. Out of one watermelon we got 1 ½ gallons of juice. We drank it for a couple of days, but since we don’t drink a lot of fruit juice to begin with, it was quite a lot for the four of us. We started thinking of ways to use it up or preserve it. While not all of these may work with all juices, here are some ways that you might be able to use your extra juice: Mix it in a smoothie – Fruit juice smoothies are refreshing and can be a good way to use up juice and get extra protein in your diet. Make a mixed drink or add to punch – Many juices can be made into mixed drinks or added to a non-alcoholic punch that everyone can enjoy. Blend with other juices for a juice cocktail – If you are just getting bored with plain juice, try blending it with other juices or add to lemonade to create a different flavor. Freeze as ice cubes – Pour it into ice cube trays to put in your juice, punch, lemonade, sangria, or mixed drinks down the road...

We had some leftover greens (beet greens, Swiss chard, kale, etc.) and some microgreens we had purchased that were getting older and were in danger of spoiling. We didn’t want to waste them, so we popped them in the dehydrator. I thought that if we can make zucchini flour for baked goods, why not power green powder and dehydrated microgreens for soups and smoothies? This got us thinking about ways to use extra greens. Below are some of the ideas we came up with.  Add them to your salad Dice and use as garnish for your main meal Slice and toss into a soup Make vegetable broth, add to meat broth, or add to bone broth Blend into a smoothie Dehydrate for a healthy chip alternative (large leaf greens) or for adding to soups and casseroles  Dehydrate and pulverize to make a green powder Freeze them for later use (Note:  Some of these will not work well for lettuce.) Powdered Greens and Dehydrated Microgreens