I'd rather die

So much for sleeping in, I woke up with a headache.  The headache pills have caffeine, which had me wired.

I decided to conduct an experiment today; but first, a little background.

In popular slang, I'd be considered a "Prepper".  A lot of reasons behind that; Ron was hurt, no cash to hire a cab to go to the hospital, because the cabs that came to my area didn't take debit cards; no storage foods to depend on when Ron came home, and I couldn't get a ride to the grocery store; running out of cat food, again, and having to open up a can of people tuna; and isolation after natural disasters in Houston.

You see, this is what happens in a disaster: the "authorities" come to town and say, "Come to Fifth and Market."  When you drive up, they supply you with bottled water, MRE's, and other supplies.

What if you don't drive?  Even though the mayor asked people to "Look after your neighbors with disabilities" somehow we were forgotten.  I don't blame the neighbors.  When your roof is "gone with the wind" and you don't have electricity, it's hard to remember Ron and Heather.

The final straw, for me, was the water, cut off, in the middle of my bath, 3 days after the hurricane.  I was washing my hair under the spigot, and no water.  My hair was full of lather and I was so angry I didn't have water on hand.  I had to use my drinking water stash to rinse my hair, and swore that would NEVER happen again.

I couldn't go to the distribution center.  I couldn't go anywhere.  I find it a little ironic, how much trouble average folk are having, living without a car in the hurricane areas.  That's my whole life, living without a car.

Even the government says people should have supplies for after a disaster.  www.ready.gov is an excellent web site, but I'd say TWO WEEKS of everything.  Three days isn't enough time.

That said, I have a few supplies I've deemed appropriate.  Food, water, medication.  Cat food.  Hygiene.

However, I haven't eaten some of it.  I got a really good deal on some whole kernel wheat.  I used to love to buy whole wheat at the health food store, cooking it whole.  I loved the texture and mouth feel.

Did I still like it?  How about in a survival food situation?  I decided to take today and test out some of my foods.  I cooked 1.5 cups of whole wheat, the way I'd cook rice.

Most survival type foods are not complete protein, unless you manage to get a squirrel or something.  So, you have to combine it with another food that has a complementary amino acid profile.  A good ratio is 2 parts grain to 1 part bean.  They are cooked in a similar fashion, 1 cup dry to 2 cups boiling water.

So, to complete the amino acid profile, I cooked some lentils.  I love lentils and they are a feature of my kit.   I wanted to try curried lentils.  I ended up putting half a cup of lentils, and 1/4 t curry powder, with a pinch of salt.  They were very good, not too spicy but flavorful.

The wheat was even better than I remembered.  I plan to buy more for personal use eating.  "Some hardship" I thought to myself.  Ron ate it and said it was OK.  Good, at least he doesn't hate it.  One of my Facebook friends hates the taste of beans.  That makes planning difficult.

When the food was cooked I dished up about 1/3 of each item, mixing them well.  It was a very good meal, I'd have paid $6 or so for it, eating out. Even better, that "third" filled me up, keeping me full.  I even took my lithium and had very little nausea.

I put away two more BIG servings of leftovers.  I'll look forward to eating them when I get hungry again.  

The meal cost pennies.  I could easily cook it over a small camp stove or small fire in the smoker.   Good.

I think, if you want to prepare, it's important to know that you like the food.

How awful if someone spent hundreds on freeze dried food and went "Oh, yuck, I'd rather die".