No Oven

We've had no oven for the last week. Granny B's just up a died and then we found out you couldnt get parts for it anymore. So now we await the new oven which is on order.

So we've been experimenting with different ways to get our cooking done. I've fallen back on the breadmaker to make bread, and we've been trying out different things in the Weber Q (like roasts, grilling vegies).

Its at times like these it's really handy to have back up options and I think back up options that dont necessarily run on mains power. Obviously my breadmaker is one of these things but having different methods for a power outage situation is a great idea. We have a Weber (works on hot rocks/charcoal), and Weber Q (gas bottle) but we also have a camp oven to work over a fire (and have practiced cooking basic things like meat, damper, casseroles when we have camped).


But having no oven makes you think a tiny a bit outside the box. I've changed our desserts to fit around the methods we have to cook. And also some of our meals. But it still takes me unawares how much we rely on the oven, especially since we cook so much from scratch.

I'd love a Solar Oven like Bec & Tricia have recently posted about using. But what I'd really lurve is a wood fired oven that's is freestanding. Yes my friends that is my idea of absolute heaven. Maybe at the next house.

Be Prepared - Home Preps & a Go Bag

Still in Week 2 of the Be Prepared challenge - this week has focussed on Acquire.

Home Preps

We have done a lot of the preps suggested over at Bec's, mainly because we live in a high bushfire zone. Our old house was in what is known locally as "the indefensible zone", so we have always taken the notion of being prepared very seriously. Whilst where we live currently is marginally better (the CFA will actually come to this area *bonus*) we still take it to heart.

The other problem with living in such an area is we often live with power outages during hot weather. In fact our electricity provider often sends out letters saying they cant guarantee power during summer (we also lose power in winter but that's from trees coming down).

So we have to make sure that we can cook, be warm / cool, hear important messages - and that's where preps come in.

Some key home preps we have are:

* wind up lanterns

* battery operated lanterns

* solar charger for our mobile phones

* a wind up radio which can also run on batteries

* a portable gas hot plate

* a bbq and gas bottles

* wool blankets (good in summer and winter)

* our stockpile

* well stocked first aid kit

** and obviously all the trappings for fire readying your home

Another key thing we have is water tanks. And water purifying tablets. I would not hesitate to drink the water from our rain water tanks should we need to do so. Mind you that's probably because I come from South Australia originally and drinking rain water is normal over there.

Go Bag

Again an obvious necessity in a bushfire zone. And one unfortunately that we have fine tuned due to evacuating a few years back around Black Saturday. Make sure you check at Bec's post at Eat at Dixibelle's for a really comprehensive look at Go Bags.

We have a couple of dedicated bags for this. One is a bigger duffel type bag that stays in the boot of car during fire season. It contains mainly change of clothes, a few precious things and sits with our sleeping preps (sheets, pillows, a couple blankets). We also always have a car first aid kit.

Then we have another backpack that stays inside the house by the front door. This has a copy of our important docs (i.e. rates notice to prove you own your house, ID docs, insurance docs), a mobile hard drive plus USB's (photos, backups of work docs for Mr B), some snacks, some money, and most importantly Little B's bedtime lovey. Everyone knows they grab this if nothing else!! LOL

Now money may seem like a strange thing but in times past I always assumed I would grab my hand bag. But we evacuated for a fire and had smoke whipping around the house a few years back (though we found out later fire wasnt that close) but in the panic, I left it behind. Mr B was in another car,ten minutes behind me and we were going to our safety meeting point. BUT I was alone with a 2 year old dressed only in a cloth nappy (it was 46 degrees) and I had no ID and no money. Now nothing bad happened but still it was not a good idea!! Not making that mistake again!!

Another thing we did was buy an exact replica of Little B's bedtime lovey and keep it at a safe house. Which makes me feel better as he couldnt sleep without this and its a little well of security when you cant be at home and are camping / sleeping somewhere different / unusual.

Snacks are also a key thing for our go bag as we cant whizz out and buy Little B something to eat due to his allergies. In high summer, I always have a little kit of things I can snatch and go. Plus the few things we can buy and store easily.

Both these preparations are really important - even if it's just having copies of important docs. And it always helps to be prepared for a power outage in winter or summer. Once you can get the mind set it just becomes a common part of your thinking. For example, it's going to be 40 degrees here today and we already organised a meal for dinner tonight in case there is no power.

Be Prepared Challenge - Acquire Week #2 - Stockpiling Food

This is week 2 of Gavin & Bec's "Be Prepared" Challenge. Gavin's post today is about doing an inventory to work out what you would like in your stockpile. Bec's post focusses on the questions you need to answer to work out what you might need (and it's a fab list which will really get you thinking). Julie from Towards Sustainability did a great post last week about what she keeps in her stockpile.

The best adage I've heard is to only keep foods in your stockpile that you will actually eat (I've learnt this the hard way - uht pineapple juice was not a good addition to our stockpile in times past). Our stockpile has changed over time...in the beginning it had some canned meals for Mr B, plus toilet paper & cleaning supplies and pasta. Then progressed to things like canned tuna, dolmades, canned fruit and beans.

Due to my distrust of BPA, I dont like to focus so much on canned goods anymore (though I do use some Fish 4 Ever canned tuna) and my New Years goal is to preserve more food in glass. I know some prefer plastic and in tough times I wont be picky but an earthquake is extremely unlikely where we live, so I'm not worried about using glass.

Now my stockpile holds more "from scratch" type foods and items:

- dried & BPA free canned beans (pinto, cannellini & adzuki)

- rice

- two kinds of pasta

- bread flour

- yeast

- SR & plain flours

- home-made jams

- a few uht milks (cow & oat)

- sugar (caster & brown)

- salt

- maple, rice malt & golden syrup

- weetbix

- oats

- dried lentils (red and green)

- oils (olive and sunflower)

- a variety of organic herbal teas (peppermint, raspberry leaf & rosehip)

- jarred capsicum

- tomato pasta sauce (hopefully soon to be home made)

- baking powder, citric acid

Laundry / Bathroom

- toilet paper

- borax

- soap flakes

- pure soap

- tissues (for illness, otherwise we use handkerchiefs)

- bicarb soda

Medicinal

- I always have 6 months supply of the supplements Little B needs to take for his allergies

- olive leaf extract

- Bepanthen first aid cream

- sambucol (elderberry extract)

- flustop

- up to date first aid kit

- tea tree oil

- manuka honey

- the herbal teas are good here too (i.e. peppermint tea for fever)

From this I can always make bread / rolls / flat bread, cook porridge / weetbix for breakfasts and make a variety of main meals from beans & lentils supplemented with veggies from the garden.

"Animal, vegetable, mineral: A year of food life" by Barbara Kingsolver is a great read for how to plan your veggie garden to feed you throughout the year BUT when you have anomalies in the weather like this year, your whole garden could be destroyed by flood / fire, or just stunted by bad weather.

So for this part of the challenge, my aim is to look at what veggies I could can / preserve to supplement this. Blanching / freezing is great but what if you suffered from power outages??

Take a look at Bec's post above if you are interested in which questions to answer to help you along in being more prepared. Think of a stockpile as insurance - sure its great during a disaster but it's also insurance against higher food costs, the loss of a job or even just as some security while you go about daily life.