Even though we have six nice glass lanterns with globes for our own use, several solar lights that can be charged during the day and brought in at night, three very nice LED lanterns, and enough “puck” light (LED’s) to light an airport (plus T-lights, votive candles, alcohol lanterns and Sterno), we know that in an emergency, there would be neighbors that would be without lights if the power went down.
One of the things that we’ve determined to keep adding to our emergency pantry are “hand out” candles for those neighbors to keep them from feeling so terribly threatened if the power goes out. The decision about whether or not to help out your neighbors is a personal one, but we see the benefit.
I remember a couple of years ago the power went down in our whole city, so knowing Mother relies on oxygen and doesn’t drive, we jumped in our vehicle and headed to her house.
When we went in the living room she was sitting in her recliner clutching her portable oxygen tank … in the dark with nothing but a hand held flashlight. She was VERY glad to see us! We decided then and there that she too needed LED’s. Not candles because her shaky hands would be dangerous with a match, etc.
Last year during a summer storm our neighbors took a lightning strike to a nearby tree that traveled the power line to the power box on the side of their house, knocking out the power to their complete house for several days waiting for the power company to come repair the outside lines and they had to repair their box and inside wiring. They were really happy when we walked across the alley with a few of our Dollar Tree candles and a puck light.
That is (in our opinion) good “community building”. They watch our home like a hawk! When a group of thugs tried to take MrWE2 down, they immediately called 911 and told them “you better get here in a hurry. This is an older couple and somebody is gonna get hurt”. When the dispatcher asked, “Are there any weapons?” They said, “Yes, the elderly man has a shotgun“.
These candles cost us $1 each and burn for hours and, as far we’re concerned, are priceless in community building. Letting people know you care about their welfare. We’re stocking up at the roost also for this very reason. Even though we haven’t “moved in” there yet, it’s our sort of “bug out location” and we’d be there if we had to leave here in an emergency.
That’s why we’re also planning to plant our raised bed garden right smack dab in the front yard at the Roost, to create curiosity and build relationships with the small neighborhood there (about 10 houses). We also think it creates the mindset that if we’re planting a garden we must need the food.
Even if it’s just a bag of T-lights, they’ll be worth handing out to your neighbors even if you have to walk a ways to get it to them. We can then show them how with a handful of bricks & twigs they can cook for themselves or heat a cup of the Ramen-type cup of soups with hot water for a warm meal…which we also plan to stock up on to give away.
We can buy cases and cases of Ramen noodles at Aldi’s for nickels and dimes and they would be worth their weight in gold if your neighbors are cold, hungry and in the dark.
Ramen noodles are what we use as a base for meals in a jar except we put our meals in mylar bags with 02 absorbers. Just add some veggies and freeze dried meats to the noodles and spice packet. I just now thought it might be a good idea to add a few hardtack biscuits in with the mix also. We use the mylar bags because they are lighter than quart canning jars and are easier to store in plastic tubs. Add a gallon of water and a family of 4 or so can have a decent meal and if they are frugal can probley have two meals out of it.
We keep an empty gallon jug or two liter bottles for every meal we store. (we can fill the jugs anytime)
Dan,
I’m curious about your recipe. Just one bag of ramen noodles to the one gallon of water?
Also, what size of Mylar bags are you using?
Bev
No the gallon of water is also for drinking. We add 3 cups of different veggies and 1 cup of FD meat. We put that in a on gallon bag. (We crush up the ramen noodles) About half a gallon of water should be sufficient to rehydrate and cook the meal.
We have downloaded a bunch of recipes for meals in a jar as well as purchased a book of them. Most of the recipes can be doubled in a gallon mylar bag I think. Most of them recommend using dehyrdrated veggies and noodles even though they aren’t from preppers sources.
Wifey here…in my opinion, ramen noodles can be made soooo many ways. I’ve used them to make a sort of “speghetti” by just letting them cook alot longer than usual. I’ve used them to make chicken noodles soup by adding a can of chicken, a few dehydrated carrots, onion flakes, celery etc. and a cube of buillion. Also have crumbled them up in a salad for some added “crunch”. It’s my thinking that if a person is hungry a few packages of those would be mighty welcome along with a bottle of water. The only meals in a bag that I make are the ones we keep in our travel trailer, because if mis-handled, they will indeed puncture and the oxygen absorber becomes as useless as the food in the bag. We had a 25# bag of powdered sugar fall over onto another item & punctured the bag. I think Bev’s going to be posting another of our stories of how we put rice, beans etc., into anklet-type socks before we put them into a bucket or into mylar to avoid them puncturing. We use mylar and we use vacuum seal bags…but they go into buckets or other protective containers. Just our way :-)
My kids say I’m weird, but I like cheese in my ramen. Rather than paying more for the specialty kinds that come with cheese, I just add a slice of American or a handful of cheese powder. It makes it a little more filling that way and provides a change of pace when you’re so tired of ramen that you kill the package before cooking it.