The Art of Survival

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I'm sure there has been a surge in interest in survival skills lately, especially since shows like "The Walking Dead" and "Revolution" came out. But there should always be interest in where our food comes from, and a willingness to do for ourselves when circumstances don't allow for the price of convenience.

At the grocery store yesterday, I was approached by a woman looking for cash donations to help her buy more than kidney beans for her kids. She claimed she was short money due to recently moving and going through a difficult divorce. I didn't have any small bills on me, and I desperately wanted to help her, but I was only there to buy flour and yeast for making sandwich rolls from left over whey, after making cheese with past-date milk from the market I work at part-time.

I searched my brain for any way I could help her without breaking my bank. I have worked very hard to spend no more than $50 a week on food for me and my three teenagers currently living at home. I finally said, "I'm sorry. I don't have any small bills, and I haven't received my child support, either." She immediately walked away, and I overheard her similarly approach a woman in another aisle of the store, but her approach stuck with me.

Should I have given her some cash? Should I maybe have offered her more than cash? My job has allowed me to be in abundance of some things - apples and applesauce, tomato sauce, frozen vegetables. I was in the middle of making bread and I could have offered her some. I could have referred her to the food pantry at my church, or directed her to the nearest discount grocery store, where her dollar would have gone further.

In the end, I did nothing. But it bothered me that she seemed to think her only choice was panhandling at the brand-name store. So today's message, is to take time every once in awhile to learn how stuff is made and teach your kids, or other young people in your life, to make stuff. It doesn't have to be a habit - just an experiment in limiting waste. Here are some ideas to get you started:
  • Basic White Bread (you can use a recipe like this to make pizza crust, dinner rolls, braided loaves, pretzels, bagels, English muffins, stuffed rolls, or wheat bread)
  • Biscuits (a basic recipe can lead you to buttermilk biscuits, dumplings, pop tarts, or breadsticks)
  • Pancakes (85 cents to feed the whole family!)
  • Quick Breads and Muffins
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Custard
  • Lemon Curd
  • Fruit Crisp
Feel free to share your favorite recipes or results of your experiments. I'm always learning, and sometimes things turn out better than other times. And always enjoy the process of learning!

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