PETE Jars

Convenient and Air-Tight Food Storage Containers

PETE Jars

Many people have been using PETE Jars for storing food for years.  However, not everyone is familiar with these containers.  Plastic PETE Jars derive their name from the symbol on the botom of the container.  On this particular type of jar, the symbol is 1 with the letter designation of PETE or PET.  This type of plastic is considered BPA Free and air tight.  This type of plastic container is commonly used for juice containers, sports drinks and other liquid and food products.

So, why use PETE Jars?  For us, having our grains, seeds, nuts and legumes in PETE jars encourages us to use and rotate our food storage.  Keep the jars in the pantry, in your cupboards or on a bookcase like we do and have easy access to your for storage.  The PETE jars  are so air tight that you can add an oxygen absorber with a metal lid and it will hold a tight seal and help provide a great long-term food storage option.  Many of them are made in a square design, so they maximize space.  They are clear, which helps you see the contents easily.  However, this also means that for long-term storage they should be stored in a box or kept in a dark place.

We also prepared a short video on storing food in PETE Jars.  This will help you see how easy it is to use them for short or long term food storage.

 

Volcano 2 Cookstoves

Multi-Faceted Outdoor and Emergency Cook Stove

Volcano II Cook Stove

The Volcano II Collapsible Cook Stove is a multi-functional stove and grill that can be fueled by three different sources.  This stove and grill can be heated using wood, charcoal, or an optional propane burner.  There are many unique designs that have led to this stove being extremely versatile, efficient and useful for outdoor and emergency use.

The grill itself has double wall construction.  This means that the inner liner is in contact more with the heat from the fuel source, but an air space between the inner wall and outer wall improves the effieciency of the stove and maintains a lower temperature on the outer wall.  The stove then has three bottom legs that provide support and stability, while maintaining air flow under the unit itself.  The outer wall has air ventilation holes that help to feed air through the bottom of the inner liner and focus the heat up.  The stove has a ventillation control that allows you to bank the coals with little air flow or stoke the coals with increased air flow.

At the bottom of the stove the coals or wood are supported by a steel grate.  This grate allows ash to spill off of the coals and allow improved coal efficiency.  A few inches above the grate a heat plate fits in.  This heat plate helps transfer heat around the stove or helps hold the coals closer to the grill.  The heat plate can also be moved up to the top of the stove to support a pot or pan.  The top has a removable grill top that can be left in place to grill meat or vegetables, or removed to provide a place for a pot, wok or dutch oven.

As you can see, the Volcano II Cook Stove works well with dutch ovens.  A 10" dutch oven will fit fully inside of the Volcano II Cook Stove.  When using the 12" dutch oven, insert the heat plate and the dutch oven will protrude slightly from the stove.  Dutch ovens ranging from 14" to 16" will sit on top of the stove.  You still use coals on the top of the dutch oven, but you now have a dutch oven stand for your dutch oven.  You can even light your briquettes in the stove and then remove the necessary coals and place them on the lid.

Volcano II Cook Stove with Propane Burner

The Volcano can also be fueled by an optional propane burner.  This burner provides you with another option for cooking everyday or in the outdoors.  The limitation with the burner is that it is not very wide, and so the heat is focused in a small area.  This limits the food you cook to a small area on the grill itself.  It does however provide a very hot cooking surface for pots, pans and woks.

The stove collapses down to about 5 inches high and comes with a carry case.  Volcano now makes a Volcano lid for the stove.  This Kevlar lid makes the stove even more efficient and improves cooking time.  The lid packs down nicely and fits in the pouch inside of the bag for easy store.

 

The video review above helps you get a good look at the Volcano II Cook Stove and provides information on how to use the Volcano as a stove or grill.  Hope you enjoy.

Wheat Montana White Flour

What Makes This the Best White Flour?

Wheat Montana High Protein Natural White Flour

We all know that grinding your own wheat and grains is more nutritious than using previously ground flour that has been stored for some time.  We also know that the process for milling white flour is to remove the germ and the gran, thus leaving the starchy interior portion of the wheat berry.  Thus, freshly ground whole wheat flour is more nurishing for our bodies.  However, there are times when you desire white flour for certain recipes or additions to food.  When choosing white flour we recommend that you choose the best.

Natural White Flour from Wheat Montana is the best white flour on the market for several reasons.  It is the highest protein white flour on the market.  This flour has not been bleached and has not been bromated.  It also is certified chemical free and GMO free as well.  Harmful chemicals and pesticides have not been added and the wheat berries have not been genetically modified.   This helps you to know that you are not adding harmful chemicals to your body.  The flour is then enriched with B vitamins, iron and niacin.  Finally, the flour includes a small protion of malted barley flour to help as a baking enhancer.  When you combine all of these factors you find that Natural White is simply the best white flour available.  Try some Natural White out on your next batch of holiday goodies!

Stainless Steel Popcorn Popper

High Quality Popcorn Popper That Produces Superb Results

Stainless Steel Popcorn Popper

Stainless Steel Popcorn Poppers are a great way to make popcorn the old fashioned way, with direct heat and oil.  Stainless steel poppers also hold up to heat and perform better than their aluminum counterparts.

Making popcorn in the stainless steel popper is quite easy.  You place the popper on the stove top and turn the heat to medium high.  You then add 1-2 Tablespoons of coconut oil (or oil of your choice) and 1/2 cup of popcorn to the popper.   The handle has a rotating, gear-driven attachment so you can keep the popcorn mixed while it is cooking to avoid scorching.   You then add salt to taste and you have 6 quarts of great tasting and healthy popcorn.

This stainless steel popcorn poppers make great gifts.  Pick up one for someone special, and then make sure to pick up one for yourself!

The AquaMira Military Frontier Pro Water Filter

Now Available to Consumers

AquaMira Military Frontier Pro

AquaMira is one of the most trusted names in water filtration.  They specialize in ultralight water filters, purification tablets and liquid purification solutions.  For years the Frontier Pro Water Filter has been a mainstay in the backpacking and emergency preparedness arenas.  Now, they have made available on a commercial basis the Military Frontier Pro Water Filter.

This filter has a bite valve on the top and the tube has active carbon to filter the water.  The filter removes 99.9% of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, cysts and protozoa, while at the same time improving the taste and clarity of the water.  The filter is extremely functional.  It includes a straw for drinking right out of a lake, stream or pool of water.  The Frontier Pro screws into most small water bottles and also Platypus soft water bottles and Platypus canteens.  The filter can also be used in-line with hydration packs.  The Frontier Pro now also includes a quick coupler device for use in the place of the bite valve on Camelbak Brand hydration packs.

The benefits of the AquaMira Military Frontier Pro Water Filter include the compact design, the light weight of the unit, its compatibility with hydration packs, its military package, solid reputation and overall reliability.

This filter is perfect for storing in the car, keeping in a scout backpack, storing in a 72 hour kit or keeping in a bug out bag.  The filter has a 50 gallon capacity and does not have a shelf life for time stored.  The AquaMira Military Fronter Pro Water Filter is a superb filter backed by an industry leader.

Food Pantrie Dehydrator

Functional Non-Electric Dehydrator

Food Pantrie

The Food Pantrie by Duer International is a wonderful tool for self sufficiency and preparedness.  This non-electric dehydrator is a great way to dehydrate food.  The unit itself is less expensive than most electric dehydrators plus you get the benefit of using no electricity.

We enjoy using our Food Pantrie to dry our sprouted Spelt, Wheat and Kamut before making sprouted wheat flour.  We soak the grain overnight in a 1 gallon glass jar and then allow to sit in a collander covered with a towel for a day.  We then rinse three times during the day.  When the small sprout appears, we take the sprouted grain out of the collander and place the grain on the Food Pantrie trays to dry.  On a hot dry day, the seeds can dry in 24 hours outside.  If you keep the Food Pantrie indoors on a cold day this could take several days.  Test your seed by biting into it.  If it is crunchy and dry you are ready to grind.

EVOO

Olive Oil of Superior Quality

Bragg Organic Extra Virgin First Cold Pressed

Many individuals know Bragg by their wonderful Liquid Aminos, while others recognize Bragg as the bottler of the highest quality of olive oil out on the market.  Bragg Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is as good as it gets because it is certified organic, is extra virgin in quality and is first cold pressed.  Bragg Olive Oil comes from organically grown Kalamata olives.  This olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants.

Olive Oil Sealed in a Can for Maximum Shelf Life

Supremo Italiano Extra Virgin First Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Supremo Italiano is the grower and distributor of a high quality Extra Virgin, First Cold Pressed Olive Oil.  The oil is packaged in an air tight square can, which also protects against light.  These cans last at least 18 months, but in many cases the oil can be good for 5 or more years sealed in this manner.

Try either of these oils  in this delicious Balsamic Dressing Recipe:

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard

1/2 teaspoon Real Salt

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder (Optional)

Stir together the mustard and vinegar.  Add this mixture into a jar of olive oil.  Sprinkle in the salt (and garlic powder) and stir well.  Keep unused portion refrigerated.

How to Grind Your Own Stone Ground Flour With the WonderMill Jr. Delux

Grinding Your Own Nutritions Stone Ground Flour is Easy with the WonderMill Junior Deluxe

WonderMill Junior Deluxe with Stone Grinders

There are many advantages to grinding your own flour, and nutritionally, there is nothing better than stone grinding your own flour at a slow speed.  We enjoy the fact that the WonderMill Junior Deluxe comes with a set of stone grinders that make grinding your own flour easy.  You can use the stones to crack wheat, mill farina (creamy wheat) or grind flour down to pastry fine consistency.  No wonder the manufacturer calls it the World's Best handmill!

WonderMill Junior - Kid Friendly and Parent Approved

Multi-Functional Hand Grain Mill

WonderMill Junior Deluxe

This is a grain mill that even children will get excited about.  At least for a few minutes that is!  While it is hard to sustain the excitement with younger children, many older children and teenagers will often take the challenge seriously to mill grain for you.  This is because it is somewhat gratifying to enjoy the fruits of your labors by cracking your own wheat, grinding your own fresh, creamy wheat or milling your own super-fine pastry flower.   Of course, it is so much faster to turn on your electric mill and effortlessly watch as the machine finely mills your grain into flour.  However, the newer high impact electric mills feature high speed steel grinding burrs and plates that are not able to crack wheat or make coarse grade corn meal.  The best these electric mills can do is a medium flour or fine cornmeal at best.  The lower temperature of hand grinders will also help conserve additional nutrition of your flours and cracked cereals versus high-speed electric grinders.

Freshly Ground Creamy Wheat (Farina)

The grinder stones that come with the deluxe model hearken back to the older box style mill that featured stone heads that I enjoyed growing up.  The stones can be adjusted in the front of the mill using the adjustment knob.  You can crack wheat, grind creamy wheat consistency and even get down to pastry fine flour in one single pass.  The stones are obviously designed for dry, non-oily grains and seeds as stones are mildly porous.  The stainless-steel burrs on the other hand are ready for moist and oily nuts, seeds and grains.  The stainless-steel burrs are great for grinding brown rice flour, bean flour and corn meal.  You can really open up a wide spectrum of possibilities with having both stone and steel grinders and being able to control the consistency of your milling.

Stone Grinders Above and Steel Burrs Below

You can grind flax seeds, process lime soaked corn for masa and even make peanut butter using the stainless steel burrs.  Below you can see a picture of corn cooked in lime for tortilla masa that has been run through the WonderMill Junior.  Truth be told, this was a slow and laborious endeavor, probably better suited for a meat grinder, but I was able to do it in the WonderMill Junior and then completely clean my grinder afterword.

Yellow Corn Masa

Just one look at the WonderMill Junior shows you that this mill means business.  The WonderMill Junior is solid piece construction with a food grade powder coating.  The hopper will hold just over one quart of grain!  The WonderMill Deluxe has a set of grinder stones and a set of stainless steel burrs.  The large double clamp on the bottom of the mill allows for clamping on to a surface up to 2 inches.  The mill seats nicely on tables and counter tops due to the double rounded mounting plates that tighten down firmly using large, rounded tightening knobs.  The double clamp and mounting plates are both powder coated to protect your table top and counter.   

There are cheaper and more expensive hand mills out on the market, but in my opinion the WonderMill Junior hits the mark as to quality, versatility and price.  The key here is solid piece construction, heavy duty features, stone grinders and stainless-steel burrs.  These qualities make for a nice, heirloom quality hand grinder.

Red Feather Processed Cheese

Red Feather Processed Cheese Delivers on Taste and Quality

Red Feather Processed Cheese is a high quality canned cheese that is really quite tasty.  This processed cheese is very comparable to the cheese that you find in holiday food packages around Christmas time.  While it is not as hard as chedder cheese, it has a much more firm texture than Velveeta.   The ingredients consist of the following:  Cheese (Pasteurised Milk, Salt, Culture, Enzyme), Water, Sodium Citrate, Butter, Salt, Sodium Polyphosphate, Potassium Polyphosphate, Citric Acid, Nisin (to retard spoilage).

Red Feather Processed Cheese has a Best Used Before date of one year from the time of processing.  However, we have received reports that this cheese can last 5-10 years or more if stored in a cool dry area.

This cheese has been quite poplular in the food storage world that past few years and so we decided to put together a brief video on the cheese so you can at least see the cheese and get an idea of its consistency.

As you can see in the video, the cheese is a white processed cheese that is not overly soft but can be used as a spread.  While processed cheese has more soidum and phosphates than we generally care for, a bit of Red Feather Cheese in moderation is really quite enjoyable and is hard to resist!  In an emergency or extended camp this would definitely be a very delicious commodity.

Wheat Montana Prairie Gold

The Gold Standard in Wheat!

As you can see, Prairie Gold is not just for bread!  This delicious Pizza Crust was made using Wheat Montana Prairie Gold, Wheat Montana Natural White Unbleached and Unbromated Flour and Teff.  Prairie Gold helps to produce incredible results while providing you with the ultimate in whole grain nutrition.  We store whole grain Prairie Gold and then grind it just prior to use in order to retain as much of the nutrition as possible.  In certain recipes where a high-gluten white flour is needed, we use Wheat Montana's Natural White Flour, which is unbleached and unbromated.  This indicates that the flour has not been treated with harsh chemicals to further whiten the flour.

Prairie Gold Hard White Spring Wheat is simply a superb product and has so much to offer in terms of nutrition, composition and baking results.  Wheat Montana farms starts with great soil and the perfect wheat growing climate in Montana to produce its wonderful Hard White Spring Wheat.  Prairie Gold is certified chemical free, meaning that it has not been subjected to pesticides, artificial fertilizers or any other chemicals.  Prairie Gold is GMO free, which indicates that it has not been genetically modified.  Wheat Montana farms avoids cross contamination of virulent viruses and their grains are free of irradiation and pasteurization.  Aside from these wonderful benefits, Prairie Gold boasts an amazing 15% - 16% protein content.  Many of the other hard white berries we have seen have a lower protein content in the 10% - 12% range.  The higher protein content means better nutritive building for your body's muscles  Prairie Gold has a low moisture content of less than 10%, which helps its long-term storage.

We use Prairie Gold in breads, rolls, pancakes, crepes,biscuits, muffins, pizza doughs, cookie doughs, cinnamon rolls and much more.  Prairie Gold also makes a great cracked wheat cereal, and a fantastic Creamy Hard White Wheat Cereal.  The best way for you to find out about Prairie Gold is to use it yourself.  Come in and pick up a bag today!

Ultra Gel

Ultra Gel - The Ultimate Thickener

Ultra Gel is really the ultimate thickener.  While most thickeners work fairly well with heat, they really tend to clump up when added to cold items.  However, Ultra Gel is amazing in that it can be added hot or cold!  Ultra Gel is a food starch made from waxy maize and is great for a myriad of applications. 

Here is how easy it is to thicken gravy:

Add in a few tablespoons of Ultra Gel

Stir in with a wisk, and shortly thereafter you have picture perfect gravy.

When you make sauces with Ultra Gel, they don't separate like when you use traditional corn starch.  Ultra Gel helps to stabilize low-fat products such as salad dressings, add body to low sugar foods, such as jams, and allow other sweeteners to be used in a wide variety of foods.  Even if you do have some lumping, you can usually stir out the lumps.  If not, add a bit more liquid and keep stirring.  As with most products, you do have to add in slowly for the most part, but to enjoy lump free sauces and gravies, there really is only one choice:  Ultra Gel.

Taste Test! Which Instant Milk is Best?!

And the winner is...............I am not going to tell you just yet.

When we are asked about instant milk and which one is the best, I have a firm, definitive answer.  This answer comes from my own preference, but is backed up by our cumulative experience with taste testing at different venues and from customer reports.  We have had samples given out at church meetings, preparedness fairs and in various homes.  There is one milk that wins these taste tests.  There is one milk that is consistently rated as the best by our customers.

And the winner is..................Country Cream Real Instant Milk!

Country Cream is the only milk that we have found that tastes just like fresh milk.  It is real, instant milk.  It has one ingredient:  Milk (OK......it is A&D fortified).  I am somewhat weird in that I love to drink whole milk.  You can prepare Country Cream as per the directions and have a  great tasting non-fat milk, although the taste is closer to 2% which is more to my liking.  However, if you want to have a milk that tastes more like whole milk.......just add a little extra powder!  I also appreciate the fact that Country Cream will store from 10-20 years.  That is a great shelf life for a dairy product.

Country Cream mixes up easily in hot, warm or cold water.  The milk alternatives require hot water for mixing and then you have to chill them.  Many of the other milks on the market are whey based or milk alternatives.  They are often flavored with sugars or syrups and typically have oils.  Morning Moo has been all the rage for years, but I feel like Country Cream is the better choice based on the ingredients and shelf life.  Most children seem to like Morning Moo, but children and adults alike prefer Country Cream in our experience.

As with anything, preferences and tastes will vary by person.  However, Country Cream is the milk of choice for the folks at Preparing Wisely.