Homemade Groceries & Supplies

reply to post by whitewave


I'd like the recipe for Bedford Griddle Cakes.

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To antar: you're welcome. It really is a money saver. Cleans just as well as what you buy at the store. The website breaks down the costs in comparison to store bought laundry soap. Huge savings.

reply to post by whitewave


Mead makes a great gift, especially if you bottle it attractively. Choose corks, bottles, and seals to compliment the color of your mead and you will be able to make one stunning gift.

To whomever posted up the laundry soap, star for you.

And, on oatmeal. Remember that lye soap recipe in the OP? Well, stir some oatmeal and rose petals in with the soap before it hardens and you have yourself a nice healthy soap for your skin, especially your face.

My great aunt used to make that stuff all the time.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
reply to post by HunkaHunka

 

While you're on a bread kick, and while we are in frugal rather than survival mode, this might interest you and others: bread that doesn't require kneading:
artisan bread in five minutes

Hilarious that you should post that.

I received this recipe from a friend this morning, and well you can see my results. I used the variation...

Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)
Time: About 45 minutes plus about 3 hours’ resting and rising
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough
Cornmeal.


1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

This was easier than I thought it would be. Following this recipe, with the two ovens I have, I can make 16 loaves of bread in one hour of baking.

This picture shows only three, because I was busy munchin on the 4th one

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/cd77ac820ec8b338.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by undo


That was hilarious. Thanks for sharing that totally irreverent but funny clip.

Here's the recipe (so you don't have to resort to filet of oats):
Bedford Griddle Cakes:
2C. oats
2-1/2C. sour milk
1t. salt
1t. baking soda
1-1/2C. flour
2T. butter
Soak oats overnight in sour milk. In the morning, mix and sift dry ingredients. Add baking soda (dissolved in hot water). Add melted butter; beat eggs and add. Fry like pancakes.
I like them with apple butter on them instead of syrup but syrup is good too.

reply to post by Mr Headshot


oh sounds nice! so manna errr..oatmeal/rose petal soap! we have a couple rose bushes in the yard. they aren't in bloom at the moment, but i usually pick the flowers before they die, so i can use the petals as potpourri (dry out, stuff in sock, tie sock, stuff in clothing drawer).

i just used normal drying though, most of the oils evaporate, so i think you have to use a quick drying method like a dehydrator to trap the fragrant oils inside the dried petals. i'd just sprinkle some fragrant oil on them to refresh. but surely there's a better way..which i'm thinking is the dehydrator. you can also use a press to remove the oils from the petals but that's gotta be done before they dry up and i don't recall the last time i saw that kind of press.

reply to post by whitewave


manna burgers. manna bagels. manna patties. filet of manna. baMANNA bread. hehe

thanks for recipe! i'm diabetic, so i'd be eating them with butter only, but still sounds good.

reply to post by undo


Before this thread turns into the cooking show, I've got recipes for wild edibles on another thread. If you're interested in cooking with roses, I've got an entire cookbook of old recipes for roses. Apparently, they were widely used in the kitchens of our ancestors.

Here's another homemade substitute-for canning lids called "Brandy Paper":
Brandy paper was actually a very fine rag content letter paper. Cut out a "round" to measure about an inch over the opening of the jars. Soak it in brandy, fit it to the top of the filled jar and tie it down well. Take the bladder of an animal (sheep, goat, etc.), wash thoroughly, spread it flat and soak until very soft then tie over the paper. It makes an excellent air tight container.

reply to post by undo


I wouldn't even dry them manna

@WW

PM comming your way.

[edit on 6-9-2009 by Mr Headshot]

reply to post by whitewave


have any interesting lentil bean recipes? i hear daniel the prophet, and his buddies, had a diet of lentil beans and apparently it became quite popular. i imagine they've lost some of their umph since then, but i'd be interested in any recipes or alternative things that can be done with them. those were two of the four things i thought would be most relevant to keep:

1. oatmeal
2. lentil beans
3. local honey
4. tea

reply to post by undo


I do have some lentil recipes but I think I'll post them on the wild edibles thread in the morning. Have one for Ezekiel bread if you like that. I hate paying $5.00 a loaf for that stuff even though it tastes really good. If you'd rather have a different recipe, let me know.

Ghee (clarified butter):
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over very low heat until it is completely clear and a white residue has settled to the bottom. Skim off any froth on the top and carefully strain off the clear butter into a thoroughly clean container. Ghee is much less likely to burn, will keep well much longer and have a more delicate flavor than ordinary butter.

Rennet:
The curdling agent, rennet, from the acid rennin is a substance extracted from the stomachs of young animals. It can be made by simply soaking the stomach of an unweaned calf in water and retaining that water to stir into milk. OR: the stomach may be dried until it resembles parchment (will keep indefinitely when dried) and then a small piece is broken off and soaked in water. Pieces of dried rennet 3 inches x 1/2 inch should be soaked in 1/2C. warm water for 24 hours. This water will curdle about 1 gallon of milk (for making cheese).
Yellow bedstraw (the plant) will curdle milk as well as rennet.

I think this post should go into an ATS arhive or something and be commemorated! This post, is proof, cleaning and taking care of yourself can be fun! yuor actually learning how to do and make things, much more healithier and down to earth, than some canned areosol chemical that is subjected to being ovepiced
star n flag!!!

Very Interresting.

Could you also provide a list where to get some of the substances?
Are they beeing sold in the chemistry for example?

Great post, Thanks a bunch OP. Will come in handy I'm sure as times get harders and harder. I've recently been wanting to try my hand at making home made noodles anyways this might get me to try it!

Star & flag for you, White Wave, & all of the rest of you who have posted such wonderful things. A few caveats, if you will...

It's legal in the US, as far as I know, to make up to 200 gallons of your own wine or beer a year- as long as the maker & all the drinkers are of age, of course, & as long as the booze isn't sold. It isn't legal to make whiskey or other hard booze.

There's a big difference between Brewer's yeast, which is used for alcoholic drinks, & baker's yeast, which is for baking bread. Also, sterile conditions & strict attention to details are a must! It can be as easy to brew poison as it is to make booze, if you're not careful. That's why that winery has a Phd chemist's help.

I refer you all to a great old book (try Amazon) called "Home Brewing Without Failures". Less danger to everybody that way, & it also teaches how to make medicines. Better to be safe than sorry!

Great thread and loads of good information.

For anyone in Britain or Europe a great site for buying natural products, to make your own products, is www.thesoapkitchen.co.uk.... I think they ship worldwide but not sure how economical it would work out.

I buy most of my natural supplies from them and there's free recipes on the site too.

Something else I bulk buy is Soda Crystals (at supermarkets). Add some crystals to every laundry load for brighter clothes and at the same time it helps stop limescale build up in the washing machine. Works well in dishwashers too. It's an all purpose cleaner and I always make sure I have at least one pack in my cupboard.

reply to post by Dynamitrios

What sort of substances are you looking for? I think lye was the only one that was somewhat difficult to find and a source link was listed as well as how to make your own. What specifically are you looking for?

reply to post by MisterPbody

I've found that flat noodles are the easiest. When you roll them out they need to be flatter than you might think they need to be. They will swell up in cooking and if they're too thick will be chewey when cooked so roll them thin.

Also, there are pasta machines that will squeeze the dough into whatever shape you're trying to make but I've never invested in one. If you're really interested in making a lot of noodles often, maybe someone here knows where to get a pasta making machine.

reply to post by Deianera


Well, now you've got me scared to try my own batch of home brew.
LOL. I've got cookbooks from bygone ages that tell very simple ways to make wine and as long as a few basic rules are followed, I think it can be made safely without endangering family and friends.

As a nurse, I'm very familiar with clean technique as well as sterile technique and I do use a cleanser specifically made for cleaning all my equipment before use. I buy it at the brewers shop here in town. It's very inexpensive but if times come when I can't even afford that, I still know how to cleanse all the equipment safely.

Good point, though. Maintaining hygienic conditions will be difficult under the best of circumstances in a survival situation. For now, while people are learning and practicing, it shouldn't be too difficult.

reply to post by Maya00a


I've never even heard of Soda Crystals. Thanks for the link.

Originally posted by soldiermom
Hi WW.

Here's my contribution to the thread.

Homemade Laundry Soap

We've been doing this for about three months and it's a real money saver.
We don't add any oils to the soap. Just use fabric softener. The softener is about the same price as essential oils.

Great thread. Starred and flagged.

[edit on 9/6/2009 by soldiermom]

This is the same website where I learned to make jelly.