I took a new route on Sunday for my run. I was exhausted and sore, my Saturday run was an hour of basically straight up the hill running, then a longer route back. Sunday I decided to combine some trails I had newly discovered (minus the scrub oak and cactus battles) and I had a super run, finally discovering where the coyote dens are. I almost stepped in the side of one, I guess the trail I was on was more of a well worn deer and coyote path instead of a people trail.
Didn't see the coyotes, they were probably down by my house chasing the neighbors cats and getting into trouble. I hear them most every night howling and while I know they are troublemakers, the call of the wild is still nice. When I got home my dogs went crazy sniffing my shoes, this is not a route I will ever take them on. They are also as big as my dogs.
Last night was a Costco visit for my neighbor, she finally decided to do it. I was excited to help her out and we had a good time. I had to educate her daughter on how to make flavored oatmeal instead of buying the packets with flavor already in them. I explained how the pricing works, per pound, item, box, etc. I gave good lessons on why bulk purchases are worth it as long as you know the price in the regular supermarkets for items. I made sure everything they picked up was stuff they would actually eat. This trip filled up the cupboards, next month we will see how much was used and replace it, as well as work on a few bags of rice, beans, etc. for longer term. $350 was a good start, way over her budget, so I suggested she bring a calculator next time.
My other neighbors also pulled into Costco the same time as we did, so we got to all shop together and I sprang for ice cream for everyone at the end. His Dad is getting a dry pack canner, so I will go in on some cans with them and get some dry canning done. They have a well prepared family, as many would expect for a large Mormon family, and with 4 kids at home I can learn a lot about stretching the dollar for meals. They are more loaded with firearms then food, but the rest of the family has a ranch they can head to where the food storage is located. Seems they are set for a long time. It's been a long time since I was able to talk freely about things with any other prepper type families besides blogs. He also works out like a fiend so I get great advice on weights and I give his son advice on the cross country team running.
I've been working on cooking with my food storage, tweaking stuff. Buttermilk biscuits from buttermilk powder, butter powder, shortening powder, etc. They came out awesome, a little too thick but I didn't pat the dough out thin enough so that was my fault. I'm working on putting together some mason jars with dry goods for meals. The jar will have everything measured and just need to have water added and cooked (soups, stews, etc.). This will be great when it's hot in the kitchen and I just want to make a quick meal from food storage, and I decided I will take some camping for the same reasons. I do 90% of the cooking and cleaning at home so anything to make my life easier, I'm all for it. I could do nothing but food storage meals starting today but I'm not sure that would go over too well, someone grew up with steaks all the time from the family ranch and those are hard to give up.
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