( 10 reviews )
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Posted: May 20 2009
Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook I bought this book many years ago and have found it to be a very useful resource for home food storage. It is loaded with recipes that can be used in everyday meals. These recipes are geared around using your food storage so it can be rotated. Although these recipes discuss using an oven to do the cooking, easy alternatives include Dutch ovens and box ovens. More information on those will be located on my site. Suffice it to say, about 10 charcoal bricks on a Dutch oven or in a box oven (box wrapped in foil) will give you about 350 degrees for cooking. Using these things will make the recipes work well in any condition where you can maintain the temperature. The real magic of this book is the charts, conversion tables, and research that were put into it. One of the charts helps you to calculate your "Family Factor" so you know exactly how much food storage your family needs. No other book or food storage calculator does this. They just lump you in with some general number. James Stevens was years ahead of everyone when he created this. Not sure where to get your emergency preparedness and food storage supplies? He takes care of that too. There are thousands of dealers listed by state and zip code. All you have to do is look up your state and zip code and voila. Although printed in 1997/98, many of the links and phone numbers to business are still good, but there are many that aren't due to attrition. Over 750,000 copies of this book were sold. I look forward to his 11th ed. I highly recommend it for your library. Or, add it to your cookbooks. It is a must for anyone who prepares for emergencies or has food storage. Jim
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Posted: Apr 23 2009
This book is excellent in that it gives you a great starting point in preparedness. If you're concerned about the economy, terrorism, disasters, etc., and you want to be ready for anything life throws you, this book will provide you with a blueprint to follow, and Stevens lists what you need chapter by chapter in the order of importance: Water, then wheat, then powdered foods such as milk and eggs. The amounts he lists are a bit overwhelming and more than we actually needed, but the information he provides - such as storage techniques and the many ways you can use wheat - can't be beat. I have to admit, I'm not crazy about the recipes he lists. I much prefer my own, but if you've never cooked with whole wheat before, they are a great starting point. Try some of his recipes and then branch off, making variations that suit your own particular tastes. I also like his advice: Use it or lose it. In other words, if you buy a lot of food and then never eat it, you're throwing good money away. Instead, store what you use, rotate it, use it and replace it. Overall, the advice is excellent, and I highly recommend this book.
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Posted: Apr 20 2009
"This is a great book for the hard core survivalist, or in aiding average persons, to survive in an emergancy. Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, or even Terrorist attacks or Invasion. Clear and easy to read instructions from water purification, shelter construction, weapons; even gathering food. Check it out!"
