matthaeus sybil: Long Term Storage, Preparedness, & Beans

It?s a beany week here at Kitchen Stewardship ? in honor of the bean theme, I cooked up the biggest batch of beans I?ve ever made over the weekend, in my new great big pot:

big huge pot of beans (1) (475x356)

It?s much bigger than my previous "big huge pot" as you can see. Sigh?I?m in love. Also, pay no attention to the fact that you might be able to see my reflection, still wearing PJ pants. You?re definitely not seeing that right?

We made black bean soup one day, veggie bean burritos another, and a double batch of grain-free brownies from The Everything Beans Book for dessert, and I still froze the equivalent of 4 "cans" of beans (plus 3 jars of black bean soup).

May I just say I love my new pot?

Don?t forget about the 40% off code for The Everything Beans Book: BTBMINI-40 good through Sunday.

Long Term Storage

One thing Tiffany and I didn?t mention in the beans mission this week was? how appropriate dry beans (and even canned ones) are for long term storage in case of emergency (including the "Uh oh I haven?t been shopping in two weeks and I?m out of fresh vegetables?and some other things" emergency).?

Dried beans stay viable for a very long time, can be soaked and sprouted for increased nutrition, including certain vitamins, like Vitamin C, that you cannot get from non-living foods (i.e. canned and dried foods). Sprouted lentils can be eaten raw, like in this sprouted lentil salad.

Of course, you do need access to safe water to soak and cook dried beans, which is why some people keep some cans of beans on hand as well. (Don?t forget to have a non-electric can opener around.) We are fortunate enough to have a Berkey filter from LPC Survival, so we could use our neighbor?s pool water or a local stream or lake for drinking/cooking water if we needed to.

LPC, a long-time sponsor of Kitchen Stewardship, is sponsoring a pretty rocking preparedness giveaway today!

Cool Preparedness Resources

For more prepping info, if it?s a subject you?re interested in:

KS had a whole "real food preparedness" series a year ago, with ideas on how to store all the food groups, long term.
The current GNOWFGLINS eCourse is on dehydrating, a skill necessary for DIY real food long-term storage ? Wardeh is teaching us how to dehydrate things I never even knew were possible to dehydrate! It is so cool!
The most popular "thank you video" from the eCourses is by far the prep video ? Wardeh and her family demonstrate how they prepared and stored an entire year?s worth of food. A.maze.ing. You can buy the video ala carte if you want to be inspired too!

The Giveaway

This is a big one. pail[1]

Jeff at LPC Survival places a lot of importance on eating well, and he?ll be the first to admit that a lot of pre-packaged preparedness supplies leave a lot to be desired in the arena of real food.

He?s done his best to source quality prep foods for long-term storage and emergency preparedness, and he?s got a huge bucket o? food to send to one lucky KS reader this week!

From the company:

The Organic Food Storage vegetarian preparedness pail by Survive2Thrive is the most perfect, nutrient-dense, and affordable 100% Organic Vegetarian Emergency Food Storage product on the market. It provides an adult with enough food for 40 Days & Nights.

Shelf life: 20 years
recipes included
USDA Certified Organic
includes "superfoods"
primarily gluten free (wow!)
needs access to clean water

ENTER HERE

Giveaways at Kitchen Stewardship are run via Rafflecopter widget, which means comments on this post do not count (and will be deleted). In the long run, this is quicker for you if you go for extra entries.

There are 10 possible entries! Here?s what you can do to win:

*Mandatory entry:? Check out the Survive2Thrive Organic Food Storage Set. What is the best feature in your opinion? (Or, if you would actually choose a different food storage product on this site or elsewhere, what do you prioritize?)
Subscribe in a reader or via email to Kitchen Stewardship (or tell me if you already do).
Subscribe to LPC Survival?s blog (or tell me if you already do).
Tell me if you ?Like? Kitchen Stewardship on Facebook.
Tell me if you ?Like? LPC Survival on Facebook.
Email 5 friends about this giveaway along with the link to it. (Email subscribers can forward their message.)
Follow @kitchenstew on Twitter.
Follow @theberkeyguy on Twitter.
Sign up for LPC Survival?s Newsletter (at top right of page)
Tweet this:
I?ll be feeling prepared for anything (and organic!) if I win this huge food storage #giveaway @kitchenstew via @theberkeyguy [URL here]

Remember, comments here DO NOT COUNT. You must use the survey form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will use Rafflecopter, powered by random.org, to choose the winner, who will be announced on the blog and will receive an email.? The giveaway is open to continental U.S. residents only.? Entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, February 11^thand I?ll post the winners that week.

If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God?s gifts of time, health, earth and money.? If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

Disclosure:?? Giveaways are paid advertising. See my full advertising disclosure here.

Official rules and small print stuff: 1) No purchase necessary to win 2) must be 13 or older to enter and have a mailing address within the sponsor?s boundaries (see above) 3) only one survey entry per person 4) odds of winning depend on number of entries 5) employees of Kitchen Stewardship, LLC or sponsoring company not eligible for participation 6) contest sponsored by LPC Survival in CA 7) prizes must be accepted as is and are not redeemable for cash 8 ) Kitchen Stewardship, LLC and sponsoring company are not liable for any injury or damage to persons and/or things as a result of the acceptance of the prize offered. 9) This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.