Feeling the Pinch
Thank you for your comments, this site does seem to having a few problems at the moment. Have lost part of the toolbar that allows me to choose the font, so am having to use the one that just comes up. Have done an early 'publish then delets' and it seems to fine.
Sorry to hear that Kim does not have 'Archives' come up when she enters this site. Have had that happen to me once or twice, but it usually returns again. Keep trying and if there is still a problem, then let me know and I will notify the blogsite.
Sharron,not sure but believe a Dutch oven is a large heavy iron pot with lid. Was given one once, and absolutley loved it = perfect for making stock -then the 'indian Giver'asked for it back, and I missed it dreadfully. Once food has bean heated in the Dutch oven in the normal way (bob or convential oven), it would probably continue cooking on a barbeque, but normally food on a barbie is cooked directly over the coals. Dutch ovens are more for cooking casseroles over a low light, as they retain the heat. A whole chicken cooked in a Dutch oven, when sitting on a bed of vegetables plus a little water, was discovered to end up almost like a roast chicken for the iron lid appeared to have got hot enough to reflect the heat down.
Marjorie, in cookbooks I have read that golden syrup can be substituted for corn syrup. They are similar, in that they are both syrups, bit believe golden syrup is thicker, and corn syrup more the consistency of mapple syrup. Also corn syrup is colourless. Once you have got the recipe to your satisfaction you end, let us have it anyway for maybe corn syrup is sold in this country (let us know if it is), and we can still experiment using the golden syrup.
You sent a very thought-provoking comment Ceridwen, and feel that the time will soon come when we will all be calling for a new election so that another party can sort this mess out. At least you have 'tied' your fuel prices for a further year at least, so by then things should have got themselves sorted out. We still have the option of finding out a cheaper supplier when the need arises. Presumably both gas and electricity companies compete with each other as do supermarkets.
As you say, feeling cold is utterly miserable, so we should try and keep ourselves warm in whatever way we can. Interestingly, the more people that are in a room, the more we can lower the thermostat as each person gives off a certain amount of bodyheat. We wrap up in cold weather not just to keep out the cold, but also to keep in our own warmth.
In the past, rain water was used for many things. In some countries today (Bermuda for example), where fresh water is in short supply, house all have a steep roof so that when rain falls, it collects in gutters and drains into a tank. Presumably the water then gets filtered, also has to be boiled but where there is little pollution in the air the rainwater is fairly clean. Cannot say the rainwater in this country would be fit to drink, but it certainly can be used for flushing the loo, possibly it could be boiled for washing the pots (having a bowl of clean hot tap water at the side for a final rinse). Am pretty sure that we can find out more re the use of rain-water by surfing the Internet.
If we do have a bad winter, then snow could come into its own. In the old days, when the air was cleaner, snow was used to make very light pancakes, and there is nothing stopping up packing snow into buckets and letting it thaw down and use we would rainwater, for that is what it is. Don't forget, when defrosting a chest freeser, the ice-crystals are frozen condensation, and - when thawed - can be used to top up car batteries instead of distilled water.
One of my gardening books says that snow (thawed and at room temperature) is excellent for watering house plants because of the minerals it contains. Are these minerals the chemicals that are said to pollute our air? A scientist would know.
By the same token, save the water that has been used for boiling eggs, for again it has picked up minerals from the eggshells.
Now you see, here ia a poser. Have always believed we should never drink the 'egg water', yet a few months ago saw a cook on TV boil eggs in the same pan, along with some potatoes he was using for another dish. He said it saved fuel. Obviously it does, saves water too, so if anyone knows anything about chemistry, can they let us know what water is safe to use and what is not. Boiling may kill bacteria, but it won't get rid of minerals or chemicals.
Unless things change, recipes now will need to take into account the time a dish takes to cook. It is easy enough to give a recipe that for an inexpensive casserole, but if the oven needs to be on for a few hours, then how much will that add to the cost? This is something I need to get my head around. To cook a speedy meal, the food needs to cook quickly, and if using meat, then this means buying the expensive cuts. There needs to be a solution, and finding out will be given top priority. For the moment though, being the warmer months, we can get away with perhaps one major baking session a week, and live off cold cuts and salads as often as possible.
If we wish for a hot meal, the best way is to cook a one-pot-on-the-hob dish. Only one burner used and the meal cooked in the shortest time possible. So here today are a few recipes that do just this.
Oriental Spiced Rice with Prawns: serves 4
8 oz (225g) long grain rice
4 oz (100g) frozen peas, thawed
2 tblsp oil
1 onion, chopped
3 - 4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
1 tblsp curry paste (or powder)
8 oz (225g) prawns, peeled and cooked
1 egg, beaten
Boil the rice for 8 minutes then add the peas. Bring back to the boil and cook for a further 3 minutes then drain well. Return to the hot pan, cover with lid and set to one side to keep warm.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and when hot stir-fry the onion and bacon. When golden, stir in the curry paste. Fry for 1 minute then add the prawns and stir0fry for a further minute to heat the prawns through. Do not overcook or the prawns will toughen up.
Push the contents of the pan to one side, and add a tsp of oil to the cleared side and drop in the beaten egg, stirring it around so that it 'scrambles'. Then bring back the other ingredients and mix together with the egg. Stir in the rice and when everything has been combined, pile into a warmed dish and serve.
this next dish is also speedy, but admit to using a grill to complete the dish. If anyone uses those chef's 'flame-throwers' used to cook-off certain dishes, one of those could be used instead of the grill. Alternatively, stir the cream cheese into the pasta, heat through until it has melted into a sauce, then serve as-is with a dish of Parmesan at the side to sprinkle over as we wish.
Pasta with Spinach and Blue Cheese: serves 4
12 oz (350g) pasta shapes (any kind)
8 oz (225g) frozen spinach, thawed
3 oz (75g) Stilton cheese crumbled
dash Tabasco (optional)
250g tub Philadelphia cream cheese (or use home-made)
1 oz (25g) Parmesan cheese, grated
Cook the pasta as per packet instructins until al dente. Add the spinach to the pasta and heat through, then drain. Mix in the Stilton and Tabasco (if using)and tip into a shallow dish. Put spoonfuls of the cream cheese over the top and finish with a sprinkle of Parmesan. Place under a hot grill for a few minutes until the cream cheese has melted into the pasta and the top is turning golden.
Quite a speedy meal is my Beloved's favourite: Liver, bacon, cabbage and potatoes.
The potatoes are usually small, and even so cut into smaller chunks (so old potatoes would do as well). These are cooked in a small amount of water, a 'petal'steamer placed on top of the potatoes, and finely shredded white cabbage placed in that. Lid on and the lot cooked together. Using a large frying pan, smoked streaky bacon rashers are fried until just beginning to crisp, then these pushed to one side, a little extra oil poured into the pan, and 'gougons'(thin strips) of floured lamb's liver and added to the pan. These take only a few minutes to cook. By this time the potatoes and cabbage should be ready, so the liver is pushed to one side, the cabbage added to the pan and stirred into the pan juices to pick up the flavour. The potatoes drained, also added to the pan, and when all nicely coated in the juices, served on a warmed plate. Any residue (cooked flour etc) in the pan is scraped up and spooned over the cabbage. Reckon the meal can be made in less than 15 minutes. The timing depends on how long it takes to cook the potatoes.
Strogonoff is another quick and easy dish to make. Avoid using the traditional fillet steak for this is mega-expensive. Instead use strips of liver or lean chicken for these cook just as speedily. Use less meat, add more mushrooms. onions too if you wish. For a quick sauce stir in creme fraiche. More and more I have taken to using Philadelphia cream cheese as a substitute for sauce, as once heated it dissolves down into a thick cream.
As I move further on down today's posting am becoming more and more nervous. Because the font is not the correct it seems to have gone into 'edit' mode and not even the form that I am familiar with. Not even sure if words that need emphasising, as in dark print (names etc) or in italics (recipes ets) will be as they should be for when I click on the right button, all sorts of additional symbols come up that mean nothing to mean, the print just remains the same.
Unfortunately grandson leaves for his holiday tomorrow, so may not have time to sort the problem out for me. But as long as I can post something, then this I will surely do. If further problems arise, then I will have to take a week (or more) off until it can be sorted. With Beloved also away next week, am just keeping my fingers crossed this is not the start of a train of unfortunate events. Everything happens in threes. Well, Beloved did capsize on Tuesday evening, and ruined his mobile (silly man kept it in his pocket), so had to buy another. That's one thing. Yesterday this site went wrong. That's two things. Today another problem with this site, so maybe 'everything comes in threes' has now worked its way through. Can only hope.
It is not yet 8.00am but feel I had better finish while my luck holds. Hopefully back again with you tomorrow.
Sorry to hear that Kim does not have 'Archives' come up when she enters this site. Have had that happen to me once or twice, but it usually returns again. Keep trying and if there is still a problem, then let me know and I will notify the blogsite.
Sharron,not sure but believe a Dutch oven is a large heavy iron pot with lid. Was given one once, and absolutley loved it = perfect for making stock -then the 'indian Giver'asked for it back, and I missed it dreadfully. Once food has bean heated in the Dutch oven in the normal way (bob or convential oven), it would probably continue cooking on a barbeque, but normally food on a barbie is cooked directly over the coals. Dutch ovens are more for cooking casseroles over a low light, as they retain the heat. A whole chicken cooked in a Dutch oven, when sitting on a bed of vegetables plus a little water, was discovered to end up almost like a roast chicken for the iron lid appeared to have got hot enough to reflect the heat down.
Marjorie, in cookbooks I have read that golden syrup can be substituted for corn syrup. They are similar, in that they are both syrups, bit believe golden syrup is thicker, and corn syrup more the consistency of mapple syrup. Also corn syrup is colourless. Once you have got the recipe to your satisfaction you end, let us have it anyway for maybe corn syrup is sold in this country (let us know if it is), and we can still experiment using the golden syrup.
You sent a very thought-provoking comment Ceridwen, and feel that the time will soon come when we will all be calling for a new election so that another party can sort this mess out. At least you have 'tied' your fuel prices for a further year at least, so by then things should have got themselves sorted out. We still have the option of finding out a cheaper supplier when the need arises. Presumably both gas and electricity companies compete with each other as do supermarkets.
As you say, feeling cold is utterly miserable, so we should try and keep ourselves warm in whatever way we can. Interestingly, the more people that are in a room, the more we can lower the thermostat as each person gives off a certain amount of bodyheat. We wrap up in cold weather not just to keep out the cold, but also to keep in our own warmth.
In the past, rain water was used for many things. In some countries today (Bermuda for example), where fresh water is in short supply, house all have a steep roof so that when rain falls, it collects in gutters and drains into a tank. Presumably the water then gets filtered, also has to be boiled but where there is little pollution in the air the rainwater is fairly clean. Cannot say the rainwater in this country would be fit to drink, but it certainly can be used for flushing the loo, possibly it could be boiled for washing the pots (having a bowl of clean hot tap water at the side for a final rinse). Am pretty sure that we can find out more re the use of rain-water by surfing the Internet.
If we do have a bad winter, then snow could come into its own. In the old days, when the air was cleaner, snow was used to make very light pancakes, and there is nothing stopping up packing snow into buckets and letting it thaw down and use we would rainwater, for that is what it is. Don't forget, when defrosting a chest freeser, the ice-crystals are frozen condensation, and - when thawed - can be used to top up car batteries instead of distilled water.
One of my gardening books says that snow (thawed and at room temperature) is excellent for watering house plants because of the minerals it contains. Are these minerals the chemicals that are said to pollute our air? A scientist would know.
By the same token, save the water that has been used for boiling eggs, for again it has picked up minerals from the eggshells.
Now you see, here ia a poser. Have always believed we should never drink the 'egg water', yet a few months ago saw a cook on TV boil eggs in the same pan, along with some potatoes he was using for another dish. He said it saved fuel. Obviously it does, saves water too, so if anyone knows anything about chemistry, can they let us know what water is safe to use and what is not. Boiling may kill bacteria, but it won't get rid of minerals or chemicals.
Unless things change, recipes now will need to take into account the time a dish takes to cook. It is easy enough to give a recipe that for an inexpensive casserole, but if the oven needs to be on for a few hours, then how much will that add to the cost? This is something I need to get my head around. To cook a speedy meal, the food needs to cook quickly, and if using meat, then this means buying the expensive cuts. There needs to be a solution, and finding out will be given top priority. For the moment though, being the warmer months, we can get away with perhaps one major baking session a week, and live off cold cuts and salads as often as possible.
If we wish for a hot meal, the best way is to cook a one-pot-on-the-hob dish. Only one burner used and the meal cooked in the shortest time possible. So here today are a few recipes that do just this.
Oriental Spiced Rice with Prawns: serves 4
8 oz (225g) long grain rice
4 oz (100g) frozen peas, thawed
2 tblsp oil
1 onion, chopped
3 - 4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
1 tblsp curry paste (or powder)
8 oz (225g) prawns, peeled and cooked
1 egg, beaten
Boil the rice for 8 minutes then add the peas. Bring back to the boil and cook for a further 3 minutes then drain well. Return to the hot pan, cover with lid and set to one side to keep warm.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and when hot stir-fry the onion and bacon. When golden, stir in the curry paste. Fry for 1 minute then add the prawns and stir0fry for a further minute to heat the prawns through. Do not overcook or the prawns will toughen up.
Push the contents of the pan to one side, and add a tsp of oil to the cleared side and drop in the beaten egg, stirring it around so that it 'scrambles'. Then bring back the other ingredients and mix together with the egg. Stir in the rice and when everything has been combined, pile into a warmed dish and serve.
this next dish is also speedy, but admit to using a grill to complete the dish. If anyone uses those chef's 'flame-throwers' used to cook-off certain dishes, one of those could be used instead of the grill. Alternatively, stir the cream cheese into the pasta, heat through until it has melted into a sauce, then serve as-is with a dish of Parmesan at the side to sprinkle over as we wish.
Pasta with Spinach and Blue Cheese: serves 4
12 oz (350g) pasta shapes (any kind)
8 oz (225g) frozen spinach, thawed
3 oz (75g) Stilton cheese crumbled
dash Tabasco (optional)
250g tub Philadelphia cream cheese (or use home-made)
1 oz (25g) Parmesan cheese, grated
Cook the pasta as per packet instructins until al dente. Add the spinach to the pasta and heat through, then drain. Mix in the Stilton and Tabasco (if using)and tip into a shallow dish. Put spoonfuls of the cream cheese over the top and finish with a sprinkle of Parmesan. Place under a hot grill for a few minutes until the cream cheese has melted into the pasta and the top is turning golden.
Quite a speedy meal is my Beloved's favourite: Liver, bacon, cabbage and potatoes.
The potatoes are usually small, and even so cut into smaller chunks (so old potatoes would do as well). These are cooked in a small amount of water, a 'petal'steamer placed on top of the potatoes, and finely shredded white cabbage placed in that. Lid on and the lot cooked together. Using a large frying pan, smoked streaky bacon rashers are fried until just beginning to crisp, then these pushed to one side, a little extra oil poured into the pan, and 'gougons'(thin strips) of floured lamb's liver and added to the pan. These take only a few minutes to cook. By this time the potatoes and cabbage should be ready, so the liver is pushed to one side, the cabbage added to the pan and stirred into the pan juices to pick up the flavour. The potatoes drained, also added to the pan, and when all nicely coated in the juices, served on a warmed plate. Any residue (cooked flour etc) in the pan is scraped up and spooned over the cabbage. Reckon the meal can be made in less than 15 minutes. The timing depends on how long it takes to cook the potatoes.
Strogonoff is another quick and easy dish to make. Avoid using the traditional fillet steak for this is mega-expensive. Instead use strips of liver or lean chicken for these cook just as speedily. Use less meat, add more mushrooms. onions too if you wish. For a quick sauce stir in creme fraiche. More and more I have taken to using Philadelphia cream cheese as a substitute for sauce, as once heated it dissolves down into a thick cream.
As I move further on down today's posting am becoming more and more nervous. Because the font is not the correct it seems to have gone into 'edit' mode and not even the form that I am familiar with. Not even sure if words that need emphasising, as in dark print (names etc) or in italics (recipes ets) will be as they should be for when I click on the right button, all sorts of additional symbols come up that mean nothing to mean, the print just remains the same.
Unfortunately grandson leaves for his holiday tomorrow, so may not have time to sort the problem out for me. But as long as I can post something, then this I will surely do. If further problems arise, then I will have to take a week (or more) off until it can be sorted. With Beloved also away next week, am just keeping my fingers crossed this is not the start of a train of unfortunate events. Everything happens in threes. Well, Beloved did capsize on Tuesday evening, and ruined his mobile (silly man kept it in his pocket), so had to buy another. That's one thing. Yesterday this site went wrong. That's two things. Today another problem with this site, so maybe 'everything comes in threes' has now worked its way through. Can only hope.
It is not yet 8.00am but feel I had better finish while my luck holds. Hopefully back again with you tomorrow.
posted by Shirley at 4:40 AM
4 Comments:
Shirley and all
On fuel economy...
There are some myths about saving electricity that perhaps need to be considered.
Turning off lights etc does not make a significant saving. If you turned off all the lights in your hosue religiously for a year, you might save the same amount of energy as you would be not having one hot bath.
The biggest energy users are devices that use electricity to generate heat - oil filled radiators, ovens, tumble driers, electric fires, immersion heaters, etc. By cutting down on these, you really will start to see some savings.
To calculate your savings - find out home much you pay for one unit of electricity. (You'll be able to do this because even if you are shivering with cold, you'll now have the light on and be able to see the bill).
One unit of electricity is the same as using a device of rating 1000W (also called 1 kW) for one hour... SOOOO....
Get the energy rating of the device (kettle etc) and write it in kW. (If it is already in kW then thats what you use. If it is in W then divide by 1000).
Multiply the energy rating by the number of hours it will be used for (bearing in mind that 1 minute is 1/60 of an hour if necessary to use minutes instead of hours).
If the power or energy rating is already given in kWh then that tells you the number of units you would use each hour.
A tumble drier is about 2.5kWh rating, so every hour it uses 2.5 units. If you used it for 4 horus every week that would be 2.5 X 4 X 52 = 520 units.
Now the first few thousand units are typically at a set price. After that, it can be perhaps 12p per unit. So if I have used up my first set rate units, using the tumble drier would cost me £62 over the course of a year.
(Now actually I know that I use the drier much more than that, as it has been so very wet outside, and also that we probably don't use up all of our initial set price units anyway).
An immersion heater is typically 3kW power rating, so using it for 2 hours a week would be 6 units...could be £37 a year.
If you have an energy saving lightbulb and keep it turned on 12 hours a day, every day, for a year, this could cost £10.50. (The energy saving light bulbs are around 20W which is 0.02kW... compared to the 3kW etc for the immersion heater).
Hope this helps some of you to understand what those numbers etc mean on the information plates round the back of your toasters etc. Beware the high kW numbers.
I also hope it puts some people's mind at rest about switching off lights etc. Other savings are to be made from the energy conservation tips already given by Shirley re curtains, draught excluders around doorframes and at the bottom of doors etc.
Hugs Shirley. I hope your threes of bad luck are over. Thanks for the info on golden syrup. It is a lot cheaper here than corn syrup but then we don't use corn as a sweetener in Canada like they do in the US, we use sugar.
I have some make ahead cooking to do today as we are getting a bad storm. I plan to roast two chickens and make a batch of chili. The DS adore chili.
Hi Shirley, glad to see you back in action. I didn't know what to do yesterday, so I thought I would wait until today.
Have enjoyed your blog and regarding the 'egg water' I have not been able to find anything but I have found this, it has got some very interesting information. See what you think!
WATER
Water is essential to survival - for you and your pets. And, you may also need to have your own source of water for bathing, washing dishes, food preparation, and sanitation. Most water has a shelf life of only one year, so use your stored water as your bottled drinking water, replacing it as needed, so your water supply will always be fresh. If you are not able to use the water fast enough to keep the supply fresh, use the expired water your flowers, rinse your hair, or flush the toilet. Rinse the bottles out, then refill the bottles with fresh water. Even good water bottles cannot be refilled more than once or the plastic may leach into the water. This is another reason to keep buying fresh water and rotating them to the back of the line. Mark bottles that have been refilled a second time so they will not be used for drinking. After a disaster, you can still use this water for baths, washing hair, and flushing the toilet, etc.
Water will be at a premium in a disaster, so stock up on boxed, bottled or canned drinks that are ready to drink instead of getting all your drinks in powdered form. Drinks that are made by adding water should be kept in a good thermos or "cooler" so they can stay safe and tasty longer. Water will also be necessary for use with powdered milk, instant mashed potatoes, etc. You will also want to stock up on paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils, and paper towels to keep the amount of water used for washing to a minimum. Even if your home is totally usable so you have access to all your regular dishes and utensils, you should use water for washing dishes only when you really must and use disposable items whenever possible. To make cooking clean-up faster and easier, line pots with aluminium foil. If you want to cook something like macaroni, try to find something else to boil with it. Both could be in the same pan if each food is put into a good boiling bag. You can boil eggs for egg salad sandwiches in the water with macaroni noodles if you clean the shells first. Using natural apple cider vinegar to clean the eggs will save water. Then scoop the eggs out with a slotted spoon before pouring the macaroni into a colander.
FRESH WATER
You need to have enough clean water on hand to allow for at least 1 gallon per person per day and a half gallon per regular pet (less for the hamster and more for the horse) per day for drinking and food preparation.
You can purchase fresh bottled water in stackable containers, or have bottled water delivered to your home. Find out the shelf life of the water by reading the labels. You can even find some large containers of water that have a spigot for filling cups easily or to act as a faucet for washing hands.
Fill your own containers with tap water. This water can last up to a year. Rinsed-out, two-litre soda bottles are great for tap water. They are free, have lids to keep the water clean, are not too heavy, and are small enough to store in lots of places. Storing some of these filled bottles in the freezer will also keep your food colder while saving on your electricity bill (leave some room in the top of the bottle for expansion as the water freezes). They can also be used in the refrigerator in a power shortage to keep food cold. (Remember that soda bottles may be filled with tap water once for drinking, and only for utility water after the second or third filling.) When the water in the bottles is too warm to keep food cool, you can also drink it.
BATHING WATER
A new, washed trash barrel with a lid is a great way to store water in the backyard for bathing and for washing hair. This water can even stay clean enough to drink for quite some time if you're careful with it. And, if needed, you can add water purification tablets later. Water in a barrel could also get comfortably warm on a nice summer day to make bathing nicer. This water should be replaced before an emergency if it starts looking dirty or smelling. Adding add a little chlorine (bleach) will keep the water clean longer if you are unable to replace it before an emergency strikes.
Another clean barrel can be used to catch rainwater. Simply take the lid off after the rain starts and put the lid back on after the rain stops.
Bathing with a mixture of two parts water and one part natural apple cider vinegar will make your water go much farther and last longer. Apple cider vinegar removes any soap residue, so it allows you to use less water for rinsing - although you don't even need soap for most areas of your body when using this mixture. Washing with the apple cider vinegar/water mixture alone requires no rinsing at all and almost no need to dry yourself afterwards, and it leaves your skin so soft. A little apple cider vinegar under the arms is also a natural deodorant.
With any bathing method, you will not have enough water to waste filling a tub. You instead clean different parts of your body at a time with a washcloth. If it is cold, you can clean part of your body while the rest is still warmly covered.
To conserve water even further or for situations where you have no water, you can still bathe with Comfort Bath Personal Cleansing Ultra-Thick Disposable Washcloths . These require no rinsing and contain aloe and Vitamin E. Another no-rinse bathing product is No Rinse Body Bath (biodegradable, contains no alcohol), which is p-H balanced and gentle.
Hair washed with shampoo needs a thorough rinsing, but this can be done with much less water if you add natural apple cider vinegar to the rinse water. Apple cider vinegar removes soap and will leave your hair shinier and healthier than ever. Be sure to have a dishpan under the hair when you are rinsing it to capture the water for other uses later. EZ Shampoo (sold out right now) allows hair washing anywhere away from running water. It comes with an inflatable basin for you head and hair, with an opening for your neck. The basin catches rinse water, which is held in an inflatable hanging bag with a flexible hose attached. This system is lightweight, portable and collapsible, and you can let the water bag heat up in the sun for comfort.
To conserve water even further, or for situations where you have no water, you can still wash you hair with a Comfort Hair™ Rinse-Free Shampoo Cap , which even contains conditioner. Everything needed for a your shampoo is contained in the disposable cap, and it gets your hair feeling clean, soft and healthy.
Camping and emergencies can still have their luxurious side.
SANITATION WATER
During an emergency, water that was used for bathing, washing hair, and washing dishes should be saved and recycled. Even if you don't have a water supply coming into your toilet, it will flush nicely on its own when you pour in about half a bucket of any liquid all at once. If you keep the toilet lid closed, you might get by with flushing only once or twice a day (when there is
something solid to remove).
EMERGENCY SOURCES
There are many places where you can find water that is clean enough "as is" for bathing, to which you could also add water purification tablets if no other drinking water is available, and which is good for flushing the toilet. One source is the water is in the tank at the back of the toilet (not the water in the toilet itself). This water doesn't come from the bowl, so it is not contaminated. Your hot water heater tank is another source of water for emergency use. You may also have access to a pond, river or stream.
If you have advance notice before an emergency, you can wash out your bathtub, buckets, and large bowls and fill them with tap water.
Chlorine to keep water clean or to kill germs in questionable water should be used sparingly. Chlorine has a strong odour, and it can be hazardous to your health if you use too much in drinking water or if you drink this water for too long. Add just a little to water that you must store for a long time without a tight seal. Boiling the chlorinated water for ten minutes (start counting after the rolling boil begins) will remove the chlorine, as will a charcoal filter. The boiled water can then be poured back and forth between clean containers to re-oxygenate it, thereby making it taste fresh again. Or, you can beat the water with a hand mixer. To purify water from a stream, etc., simply boil the water for five minutes, or use a water filtration system.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WATER STORAGE
If you have a small child, any container of water must have a lid. Little ones can drown in even an inch of water if they fall in, and children have drowned in uncovered buckets. The lids should also be tight so that the little ones can't get them off easily, and someone should always be supervising them in case they manage to remove the lid anyway.
Will put the Noughties on tomorrow, it is already to be put on.
Well have to finish for now, see you tomorrow.
SweeterRita
I've just added a link to your post in our newest "Cast Iron Around the Web" entry at http://www.cookingincastiron.com
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