The Wonderful FoodSaver

First thing I need to do is to apologize for my post yesterday.  Somehow I erased the first paragraph and a half.  I didn't even realize it until late last night.  Sorry for any confusion there. I figure I will just leave it as is for a reminder to self... Self check your dang posts twice silly!

I found an article I wrote awhile back over at the American Preppers Networks Forums.  Its a great place to find some good prepping information as well as a great place to find answers to most anything.  The folks there are wonderfully friendly and there are no "dumb" questions other than the ones you don't ask.  Stop on by and check them out.  I don't think you will be disappointed.

I love my FoodSaver. My hubby bought me mine as a Christmas gift. (I know, he's romantic like that! ) Truth be told though we both really wanted one and they were having a sweet deal thru the survivalblog last year. (And free shipping)
There are tons of ways to use one of these wonderful tools! The one most people are familiar with is the use of bags to freeze meats, veggies, fruits, anything you want to keep air out of.
I had to flip my freezer recently and found several packages of different meats I had put up last year around this time. Still as good as the day it was sealed!
Our FoodSaver came with two rolls of bags, a vacuum hose, a wide mouth jar sealer, and a large and small canister. Well it wasn't long before I discovered how expensive the bags can get. I'm pretty particular now about what I use my bags for. But the use of jars really started getting my attention. If the lid's are good and you get a good seal you can put up all sorts of stuff. I use my old canning lids for this and they work just fine. It also recycles those old lids.
Just think, you can open a fresh can of coffee, pour it in a jar, seal it up and it will retain its freshness. We don't drink alot of coffee ( I know....weird ) so vacuuming it makes good sense.
If you looked in your fridge right now....do you have an onion or peppers or some veggie in a plastic ziplock? You know you do. I use jars to seal up all those type things up in jars and set them in the fridge. They last at least twice as long stored in jars. I hate tossing out fresh veggies because I didn't use them fast enough.
Another wonderful thing to store with the FoodSaver is cheese. I hate it when my cheese starts to mold. Put your bulk cheese in jars and vacuum seal them after each use. You would be amazed at how long cheese will keep like that. With no mold either! I even put up my leftovers in jars and seal them. Again, they keep longer.
I use jars to help with food rotation as well. I have buckets of things stored and when I need to get into some them, I don't really need the whole bucket. So I will fill a jar with dry milk,yeast, or sugar, or salt or "fill in the blank" and reseal the bucket. Then I vacuum the jars after each use.
Eventually you run short on jars!
So here I was using all my widemouth canning jars for storing dry goods. I didn't have (and still don't) a small mouth jar adapter. It set me to thinking. I went surfing the net and finally found a solution. And not just ANY solution. I found a way to not only seal my smallmouth jars, but almost any jar that has a rubber gasket for a lid. Like your spaghetti sauce jars, jelly jars, peanut butter jars. Anything with the rubber seal on the lids. It doesn't matter what weird size lid it is. Even Pace picante jars with their weird shape can be used. The secret is......the large canister that came with my "package" deal. You can buy these separately at their site. You fill your recycled jar, put the lid on it, place it in the large canister and vacuum the air out of the canister. Release the vacuum and take the jar out. The lid should be concave and sealed. It works great and I don't have to forfeit my canning jars. Just be sure to check your jars for a good seal while doing your pantry check. I have found that sometimes,even when using regular canning jars, they sometimes loose their seal. Therefore, I recommend using bands on your vacuumed jars. You don't want a surprise when you go looking for that jar of dried carots!
There are tons of other uses for the FoodSaver, but I will save that for another time!

Little Known Obama Care Approved Liberal Procedures:

Little Known Obama Care Approved Liberal Procedures:

1. Thin Skin Grafting: Yes, tou too can have Obama-like thin skin. Medicare approved thin skin grafting ensures every patient they can whine and cry anytime they are challenged--just like our president!

2. Deer Eye Transplants: Inspired by Janet Napolitano, the deer-eye transplant guarantees the patient will have that 'deer in the headlights' look 24/7! Deer eyes are not functional for normal activities, so stay away from this procedure if you ever find yourself having to actually read a bill.

3. Disc/Spine Removal: This is the perfect addition for the patient who wants to bow to everyone he meets. Commies, dictators, sworn enemies...you can bow, bow, bow...just like our president! Spine removal helps the patient to meet pressing problems by naming commissions, panels, and perfecting the use of the word 'blue ribbon.'

4. Journalist Muscle Relaxer: This 'journalist-only' procedure ensures that when stories of White House corruption pop uo, your hand won't. The mega muscle relaxing operation renders the right arm as saggy as a wet noodle. No way will your hand ever go up.

Hand Knit Wool Socks, Bisrolls, and No Bake Cookies oh my...

  Well, around that time I went through a "down" period.  You know the ones right?  I was having a case of the blues that I couldn't seem to shake.  And so this dear sweet lady decided that she would make those socks for me to lift my spirits a little. Is that not one of the nicest things you ever heard? I have not met Mushroom in person yet but I am looking forward to spending some time with her someday soon.  I am happy to have met her and even happier to call her my friend.  Thanks for brightening my day and more importantly for brightening my life Mushroom.


  Some of you know that I cheat when I make bread.  I have a bread machine and I use it all the time.  I have caught alot of static about my machine but  decided awhile back that I don't care!  I have been using it for a year now and if my memory serves me correctly I have bought store bought bread only twice. Both of those were purchased while in the middle of moving. Well yesterday I had a loaf in the machine and then...tragedy struck!  A power surge caused the dang machine to stop and then it wouldn't reset. Now I know I could have dumped it out and finished the bread by hand but it was already past its second rise when it decided to "reset" itself to start again.  Anyway, not to be discouraged, and not wanting to have the oven fired up for the 40-45 minutes it would have taken to bake a loaf, I improvised. They turned out kind of like a cross between biscuits and rolls.  They tasted fine but didn't "rise" to the occasion.  I think I will call them Bisrolls!

  In keeping with the theme of not wanting to heat up the trailer I made some No Bake Cookies as well.  Its the first time I have made them and I was pleased with the outcome.  Even without having wax paper they turned out pretty good.  Another recipe for my rotation!

If anyone has any No Bake "sweet" recipes they would like to share they would be appreciated this summer! It's officially to hot to bake.

Texas HoldEm

Have you ever played Texas Holdem?  It is probably one of the most interesting poker games out there.  I started playing a few years ago and absolutely LOVE the game.  There is alot to be said for the game.  And in a way its like a life primer.  The same rules can be applied to both. And the strategies can be quite similar.

We all start out with the same amount of chips.  It's how you take care of them and work with them that make the chips grow.  Some people are just better at holding onto them than others. Sometimes you have to be quite creative to make your chip stack grow. And of course, the object in the end is to hold all the chips isn't it?

You must always watch your position on the board.  You need to know where you are in relation to where and what you want to accomplish.    If you play out of position your odds of winning are not always as high.  As in life you should always try to be aware of just exactly where you are are. Is the time right to make that choice- that decision?  Would it be better to hold back a bit and wait?  Is this the proverbial Being in the right place at the right time? Remember - Position is a key to power if you just learn how to use it.
This goes hand in hand with betting your position. Sometimes where you are in life determines the decisions you make. If you are in a good place to make a move don't be afraid to take the opportunity.

Watch your fellow players.  Learn to "read" them. They will show you how they play if you are patient enough to watch and learn.  Knowing how others will act and/or react will give you an advantage in many situations.  Watch their body language, their tone of voice, how they hold their cards. (and how they deal with life)

In Texas Holdem when someone "looses their cool" its called going on  Tilt. This is something you need to avoid at all costs. This is where mistakes are made because you have let emotions get in the way of the game. Playing with a cool head will always be advantageous.  When someone goes on tilt you can use their crazy thinking to your advantage.  As in life, little things learned about others can teach you volumes about how they will react in some situations.

Unless required to do so NEVER show your cards. It keeps the competition guessing.  You don't want to show them what you were playing with.  This would give them an advantage in "reading" how you play and how you bet.  You don't want to give your opponents any ammo to use against you, because in poker as in life you can bet they will if given the chance. Always leave them wondering!

Bluffing is not cheating but you better be pretty dang good at it to come out ahead of the game. And if you get caught you have to be ready to pay the consequences .

Remember that pocket pairs may not always be as good as they appear.  Sometimes cards (situations) that you think are sure to be winners will be your downfall.  Play these cards with caution. Remember that sometimes you have to admit that they weren't as good as you first thought they were.

Sometimes it is better to "check" than to make a bet. You don't always want to let others know that you have a decent hand.  You want to keep them in the game with you if you can.  Remember, you're in this to win. Sometimes it is possible to "bring them along" with you  which means more money in the pot.  If you aren't sure where on the board the card that can beat you is, try making a "feeler" bet to see if you can flush it out. If someone has a better card they will probably play with you.  Its an easy way to find out who can beat you and you can adjust your hand (life) accordingly.

Don't chase cards.  Odds are if you don't have what  you need to  "make that straight"  you aren't going to get it.  Getting a gut shot straight is pure luck and can never be counted on. Chasing cards is is like continuing to hope that everything will work  out even when you already know there's little hope of it doing so.

Admit it when there is no way you can beat the board.  Folding is not always a bad thing. It is actually a smart move when you know there is no good outcome.  Besides, you  want to stay to play another hand right?

Some say that a good player will only play about 2 out of every 10 hands.  You should never try to play every single hand.  Be patient.  Wait for the right opportunities to come to you.  And when they do present themselves, identify them and be ready to move on them.  Don't let them pass you by because you weren't paying attention.

And there you have it.  A few tips that just might make playing this game we call life a little easier.

BP Sucks

Please take the time to read this one.

Frustration mounting over BP delays, lack of progress in Gulf of Mexico oil spill

By David Hammer, The Times-Picayune

May 23, 2010, 9:50PM

View full sizeMATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser points to an oil-covered pelican in Barataria Bay while talking to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal about the oil from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. VENICE -- On a Sunday of expanding coastal destruction from the Gulf oil disaster and little progress in containing it, frustrations bubbled to the surface from local and state leaders in Venice to federal officials in Houston and Washington, D.C.
Parish leaders and Gov. Bobby Jindal emerged from an afternoon strategy session at a Venice fishing harbor to complain about a lack of urgency from federal agencies and BP to address the oil washing into coastal marshes day after day.
Jindal said he supported a decision by local and Jefferson Parish leaders on Grand Isle on Saturday to commandeer about 30 fishing vessels that BP had commissioned but hadn't deployed to lay down protective boom as the oil came ashore.
The normally dispassionate Jindal even joked that he would go to jail with the mayors of Grand Isle and Jean Lafitte if federal authorities tried to stop them.
More than 65 miles of Louisiana's shoreline has now been affected by oil, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- more than the total sea coastline of Delaware and Maryland combined, Jindal said.
Meanwhile, in Houston, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar blasted the British oil giant for consistently missing deadlines it had set for shutting off the massive well leak still spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico each day.
"I am angry and frustrated that BP has been unable to stop the leak, " Salazar said at a news conference following hours of morning meetings with the company. "We're 33 days in, and deadline after deadline has been missed."
Salazar specifically cited the company's slow schedule for employing a "top kill" to block the oil spewing at the well head 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.
The plan is to use two 6-5/8-inch hoses to blast 16.4-pound-per-gallon mud into the choke and kill lines of the failed blowout preventer, in hopes of stopping up the four-story-tall device through which the oil is flowing.
Salazar noted that BP had originally promised to kill the well May 18. Five days later, it had planned to do it again, and then put the procedure off to Tuesday.
Now, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said Sunday afternoon, officials expect to wait until Wednesday to conduct the top kill, allowing engineers enough time to run tests.
As the well kill has been repeatedly delayed, rumblings have increased that BP is more interested in saving the expensive and potentially lucrative well.
U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt bristled at that suggestion, calling on the gathered media in Houston to combat those perceptions.
"When it comes to containing flow or killing the well, whether you're a member of BP, others in the industry or the public sector, we are all united in wanting the same result. We all want to kill this well and stop polluting the ocean. We are all on the same page with that."
BP spokesman John Curry said Sunday the company plans to explain the top-kill process further in the coming days. He said it's still possible the company will need to shoot junk, in the form of golf balls and other debris, into the blowout preventer after the mud, and then follow up with more mud to completely stem the flow.
With each criticism of BP and the federal government's inability to force the company to move faster when oil is spotted coming ashore, local officials have started to clamor for President Barack Obama to federalize the disaster response under the Oil Pollution Act.
But Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, reiterated on the Sunday morning talk a message he's been sharing almost since the disaster struck April 20: Industry, and not the federal government, has all the resources to deal with the leak 5,000 feet below the sea and as it comes toward land.
View full sizeBOB MARSHALL/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Oil from the BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico seeps into a brown pelican nesting area in Barataria Bay on SUnday. Thousands of pelicans, along with some terns, roseate spoonbills and herons, are nesting on a series of small mangrove and grass islands on the eastern side of the bay. The fear is that if Obama federalizes the response and supplants BP, not only will it be more difficult to get the company to pay for the response efforts, but the federal government may not have the capacity to get the job done.
Landry of the Coast Guard instead announced that the federal agencies would double their oversight teams in hopes that more people will be able to push BP to muster resources in the right places as oil comes in.
Landry criticized BP for allowing some equipment that could aid in efforts to block or clean up the spreading oil slick to sit unused, even as oil is washing up onto the Gulf Coast.
"There is really no excuse for not having constant activity, " Landry said.
Landry, who spoke with members of the media after an aerial survey of the oil slick, said she had to pressure BP to use equipment and boats that had been prestaged in areas near the western edge of the oil slick. Some of that equipment went unused, in part because workers had been taking breaks because of the heat, she said.
BP was told to hire additional work crews to ensure equipment was not sitting idle, she said.
"Our frustration with BP is there should be no delays at all, " Landry said.
Of Jindal's complaint about a lack of urgency from federal agencies and BP, Landry said: "There is a sense of urgency, and there has been since day one. We have not backed off on this since day one."
The disconnect between state and federal governments was clear as Salazar trumpeted 1.73 million feet of boom and more than 1,000 vessels deployed on the front lines, while Jindal complained that during a boat tour of oiled coastline Sunday he saw only two vessels trying to protect the shore.
Jindal said 143,000 feet of boom sat in staging areas while oil damaged 65 miles of Louisiana coastline. It has been 20 days since the state asked for 5 million feet of hard boom, but only 786,185 feet of hard boom has been delivered so far, he said.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, along with Jindal and other parish leaders, said the White House's first priority should be granting an emergency permit to skip federal environmental reviews and allow coastal parishes to follow their 3-week-old plan to place dredged sand as berms between barrier islands so oil won't get into delicate marshes, something that wouldn't require any change in BP's role.
"The president has the authority to issue an emergency permit, " Jindal said.
"This is proof that the parish plans work, " he added, pointing at a picture of sand berm in Fourchon laid by Louisiana National Guard troops in four days that kept oil out of an estuary.
Then he pointed to a picture of a oiled pelican at a bird sanctuary on Cat Island, off the coast of Plaquemines Parish, unable to fly or swim because of the oil, and another picture of pelican eggs discolored with brown gunk, saying: "This is the danger of not acting."
Jindal said the state identified "remote sites" away from the oil spill to dredge the sand for the berms and provided those to the Army Corps of Engineers a week ago to address the agency's concerns about churning up oil in the protective barriers.
He also said the plan has the benefit of providing lasting protection against future hurricanes.
But an angry Nungesser said the Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and BP have been unwilling to listen.
"I am so disappointed in the agencies and BP that this continues to happen, " he said. "We are working a plan and we are going to save our coast, but not with the help of the agencies that are standing in the way."
In a crowd of angry parish leaders, no one was angrier than Nungesser. He said he wasn't buying Allen's explanation of why the federal government couldn't take charge of the whole response immediately. He called out Allen personally for what he called a lack of leadership from federal authorities.
"He needs to step up to the plate and be a leader, " Nungesser growled. "How has he not enacted every option at this point?"
As frustrated as local leaders have been with the federal Stafford Act that governs FEMA's response to hurricanes, they are even more bewildered by the response structure created by the Oil Pollution Act.
They say their response plans have been stymied by a circuitous command structure that makes it difficult to get their ideas and concerns to anyone with any authority.
"One frustration is the amount of time it's taking them to respond, " said Jindal, who said that parish presidents would report oil coming ashore, but at times had to wait 24 hours for BP to respond because they needed to get higher-ups at the Coast Guard on the case.
"The parishes may get a sympathetic response from their liaisons at the (Unified Command Center), the Coast Guard liaisons, the BP liaisons, but those liaisons don't have the authority to get things done."
Jindal's suggestion was to have the Coast Guard place commanders with responsibility of directing resources in each of three vulnerable bays: Timbalier Bay in Terrebonne Parish, Barataria Bay in Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes and Breton Sound in Plaquemines Parish.
Meanwhile, Jindal said he would increase the use of state resources to "fill in gaps in the barrier islands." He said the state already has a permit for one dredging project, and it has another 40 projects under way using National Guard helicopters to drop sandbags or build Tiger dams.
As the oil came to Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle's shores, he said he thought of circumventing federal law and dredging himself, but thought better of it.
"You don't know how bad I wanted to go as a pirate and take that dredge and start blowing sand, " he said.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard's Landry said a panel of government and academic experts has been convened to establish a firmer estimate how much oil has been pouring into the gulf.
The government is also preparing an "armada" of research vessels to monitor the impact of the oil, as well as the chemical dispersants being used in an effort to minimize its effects, Landry said.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Landry were to meet with BP officials Sunday night to discuss a government directive ordering the company to use "less toxic" dispersants in the cleanup.