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I stayed up far too late. I did wake up and try to get going, but the engine simply would not light. I thought about napping a bit longer, to try to at least get over to Ogden. As I laid down to try and get to sleep, the people cleaning or painting my former neighbors apartment moved in and were as quiet and delicate as a jackhammer crew. No, no, I understand. It was daytime and they are several women with a man coming in once in a while to see how it is going. And, they do a good job. It was simply not a good time to try and sleep. So, though I did eventually actually get to some kind of sleep, the notion of a nap did not work at all. Here it is, 19:00, and I am just crawling out of the shadow of sleep. No real problem though. The rifle purchase may have gone a bit south, or is iffy at this moment. And the Ogden run can happen tomorrow, as it is not work. It is more the idea that days and nights have mixed again. I will have to see what I can do.
I tried the regular dried skim powdered milk and the can of condensed milk. I used hot water with the mix, added a can of the condensed milk, and then refrigerated it overnight. I did shake it a few times during the night, as I was cooking the beans, and then I shook before drinking it. I do not think shaking it other than before you drink it was at all necessary. It did not seem as though there was much settling. As for taste, it was not too bad. There were slight hints. But for someone who absolutely hates powdered milk, this was not bad. I would like to try the whole milk version though too, and experiment with the other types of canned milk. All in all, I think even if this is as good as it gets, it is worthy of the effort.
I am cooking rice as we speak. I will probably have a bean and rice dinner. Later I plan on using some of the reconstituted milk with warm rice to create a little desert. I would like to try this milk in as many ways as I can think to try it to get a better idea of how well it works in other things, cooking, and baking if I get to that. I just took a sip of the milk to see if there was anything I could add. It is this. When I first drink the milk, I taste nothing out of the ordinary. I only taste the artificial as an aftertaste. And, yes, that makes a huge difference.
It would be good to get to laundry. I am simply not sure I will get going in time to get out before things close. That is one thing I miss about Iowa, at least where I lived. You could find many 24 hour businesses, including laundromats. Still, for what I get, it is an easy loss. I think laundry is about the only service I have not been able to find in a 24 hour format. And, technically, it does exist. Here at the apartments and a few others. I just will not use those too late at night, as I think it is unfair to the people who live around those machines. Even if they did not know it was me keeping them awake, I would know.
Mom opened another can of her Provident Pantry instant milk and mixed up a quart for my taste test.
ReplyDeleteSide by side I had this milk and a glass of 2% (which is what she had on hand).
I can honestly say that this brand of instant powdered milk is every bit as good as fresh milk. There were *no* discernable powdered milk clues. The only difference was the lack of butterfat, which was a subtle texture thing. It is honestly *better* than fresh skim milk--and how such is possible I do not know. It doesn't have that disagreeable flavor that fresh skim milk seems to have.
Fifteen bucks plus shipping and you could give it a whirl to see if it will meet your intermediate needs for milk when TSHTF.
Super! I will really have to give that a try then. It IS on my list. And, I wonder if adding canned milk would even up that texture (not that it is absolutely necessary, just a luxury from time to time). My other reason for doing this, is for camping, packing in for a week or two at a time. Having milk when wanted is just one of those good things.
ReplyDeleteMany of my SHTF items are dual purpose, along with extending out of doors experiences, and enhancing those without too much extra weight or high tech (fallible) devices. KISS, in all things, within reason.
Oh, and beans and rice were delicious, actually. I did add cheese to one of my meals. It does add a little zing, but cheese is not exactly terribly available or easy to store or make, in the long run, without milk. Though I think powdered milk will make cheese, but it ups the amount of necessary storage (and powdered is rather spendy, give or take).
This is the fun part of the work, looking for options, experimenting, and getting ready for the right buys. Thanks for all the help, advice, links, and guidance friend. I will certainly be sharing what I learn. And, thankfully, live in a community with at least a strong impetus toward these same ends. Who knows but that helping another may simply help one's self more directly that might be known off hand. God can be funny that way. And the world, if it doesn't always seem that way, loves a good son and God always does. (Well, okay, God truly loves us all, it is only we who can break the link.)