Thursday, October 8, 2015

wheat "only" 2 of 3


WHEAT ONLY 2

As I was saying before I interrupted myself both because I just got done working a Monday and I was tired and only had so much energy left with to write, and because I have to stretch out every idea as long as possible least I face a complete and utter vacuum of ideas and vapor lock up, you need calories AND nutrients, but without the former the later won’t help all that much ( the much hyped fad from the Seventies/early Eighties about mega-vitamins with a deficit of calories-the argument being that the less food the body had to convert to fuel the less wear would occur- can only work in a Petroleum Age excess of energy for climate control and a life of leisure ).  You place a premium on calories, but you don’t want empty calories ( which is one reason, besides taste, that I advise against a rice survival stockpile-rice is a worthless storage grain without a heavy fresh vegetable intake.  It is the same as white flour ).  Which, I might add, you really should be wary of when it comes to some commercial survival diet packages.  The more processed the food, the less nutritious it is going to be.  I would pick wheat kernels over textured vegetable protein any day ( or, for that matter, after the first week anyway, over MRE’s ).  Wheat might not have a complete amino acid protein, or fat, but it kicks ass in most other categories ( including fresh veggies, if you sprout some ).  For a calorie source, in other words, it is pretty nutritious.  Not completely, but an all-freeze dried/MRE diet is deficient in enzymes, fiber, a lot of vitamins and probably taste.  No one food is perfect.

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I think now is a good time to introduce my second easy to remember, incredibly wise nugget:

IT ISN’T ABOUT ELIMINATING NUTRITIONAL DEFICITS BUT ABOUT MINIMIZING THEM.

Once you have your calorie source, THEN you add on to the wheat only diet.  Remember, wheat is about affordably providing calories, in the least nutrient deficient manner.  Now you need to go up the priority ladder.  I would next add fat.  Not protein.  You will be needing fat for keeping alive in winter, and you won’t need all that much to do the job.  As a container of shortening is still only around $4, it would be criminal to not stock up with several years of fat ( I am not sure how much you need to do the job.  I felt comfortable after I had about 30 containers, but I don‘t know if that will last two years or seven ).  Shortening is a vile, wretched concoction following better living through chemistry, one molecule away from plastic, but it is fat and fat you must have and after the Apocalypse is NOT the time to be worrying about the best kind of fat to eat, but simply whether you have enough of any fat to eat.  Fat is fuel for cold weather ( and you need some, even in Southern Cali or The South, just not buckets of the stuff like the Eskimos need ).  I am NOT discounting the need for protein.  You WILL feel the Siren call of dead animal flesh while eating off your storage wheat.  But we are prioritizing for your stockpile on a budget.  More next article.

END
 
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18 comments:

  1. Long term storage of fats are problematic ,are they not ?

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    1. After five years, lard smelled off. The shortening didn't, but I tossed it anyway. Shortening life might surprise many. You can definitely small rancid oil. As a minion said, even bad oil can be candles or soap.

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    2. I've stored olive oil in the tin cans for over five years in my cool root cellar and every one of them has been fine.

      I also have canned butter down there and store fresh butter in the freezer.

      I do keep a few cans of Crisco on hand for pie crust.

      Some years, I raise a pig and render out the lard. Or I call around and find a friend who is raising a pig and ask them to save the fat for me.


      Idaho Homesteader

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  2. Next up, long pig?

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  3. Since we eat almost no shortening in day to day life, we substitute butter, lard, and various oils (especially coconut) instead and have stocked up on shelf stable varieties of those. You can always use your stored wheat and sugar to feed up small animals (guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, chickens, etc.) to produce fat. Not quite as good as shortening in a money for return investment but a usable alternative if you can get the animals.

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    Replies
    1. I don't eat shortening myself. That is my exception to the Store What You Eat rule. All we do is butter and for the thrice monthly deep fried taters, peanut oil.

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    2. You can also grow black seed sunflowers for oil and nut trees.

      They sell an oil expeller on Amazon (use Jim's link of course).

      It requires a little bit of a learning curve, but it is based in a design found in the Netherlands after WWII when oil was hard to find.

      Also during WWII, I have read stories of people raising pigs in their bathtubs or hidden outbuildings. There is enough fat on a pig to keep a family going for a year.

      Lard is easy to render and can be stored in mason jars.

      You stockpile mason jars and lids, right? RIGHT?!?


      Idaho Homesteader

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  4. I can see your angle on the wheat pros and cons you constantly preach Dr. James, but I see the biggest shortfall of it being the amount of space needed for storage.
    Granted at the current price I could buy many years worth today but would have no place to put it even in my 3 bedroom Condo.
    So years ago I chose rice as my main staple. 6 pounds can be put into a used weight lifting supplement container, duct taped sealed and placed into a cool dark place stacked 4 high. I have 20. To supplement the rice I have hundreds of cans of corn, peas&carrots, assorted meats, plenty of pepper and butter.
    Instead of the "vile plastic like" shortening, I go with many pounds of frozen butter in the deep freeze connected to my back up generator and many cases of canned butter, their are 2 brands out there that taste fantastic, last for 20 years min. and have a price close to shortening with free shipping.
    And last, after 1 of your posts a few years back I purchased a 5 year supply of vitamins, use them on a regular basis and rotate and replace looking for the longest expire date hoping to take them out to 8 years, (a-lot longer than I think I will survive the Zombies and the Feds). Mad Dog 94

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    Replies
    1. Space is of course an issue, but so is living in the city. When you move to junk land you have space. I know, none of us can do all that is smart or even necessary. I'd like to live in a much smaller town, so I am far from perfect. You do what you can and be happy with what that gets you.

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    2. I'm confused -- wheat takes up the same amount of space as rice. The kernels are approximately the same size.

      Wheat has more nutrients (by a small amount) than BROWN rice. Wheat has a lot more nutrients than WHITE rice. Brown rice does not store very well long term.

      Unless you have celiac disease or a wheat allergy -and- you have limited space, why would you store rice?

      Idaho Homesteader

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    3. I used to have rice, a small amount, for variety. Now it is for the in-laws, one third who can't do wheat.

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  5. Hey James, I no longer see your Amazon links at your page?

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    Replies
    1. They are there. Disabled Ad Block for this page?

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    2. Doh! Yes, that was it James. Feel rather foolish right about now. I downloaded it recently at the suggestion of one of the comments, and it didn't dawn on me that that's what was causing it?

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    3. No worries. I hate futzing with anything software, myself. It always makes me feel foolish.

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  6. Another useful fat for long term storage is ghee. You can find ghee at Indian and Pakistani grocery stores or on Amazon. Coconut Oil can be stored for quite some time without going bad.

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