Self Reliance Tip #19 Keeping a cooler house in the heat!

Ok, raise your hand if you love alternative cooking!!! MEEEEeee!!!


Awesome! One of the reasons I love all these different ways of cooking is that most of it can be done outside. When summer is here it can be SOOOoooOOoo hot. It keeps the kitchen cooler when I can cook outside. That's a big deal!


This video can be applied to anything, even self reliance...I used this video for FHE last night and it was an excellent teaching tool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I

This week's tip is on a little thing called a rocket stove. What is so special about a rocket stove? Well, it is more than just fire in a can, the can in insulated where you only use a handful of sticks as opposed to building a huge fire to boil water on. I have seen big ones and small ones. They are easy and fairly inexpensive to make. This site shows step by step instructions through pictures.

http://www.iwillprepare.com/index_files/Rocket_Stove_In_A_Number_10_Can.htm

If you don't want to trouble yourself with making one and you have a little bit of extra cash around, here is a professionally made one.
http://www.stovetec.net/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=35

This is a video on how to light rocket stoves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7BcZD_IzCQ


There are TONS of rocket stove videos!


One thing you should know with rocket stoves is that there will be soot on the bottom of your pan. Some users will put dish soap on the bottom before they use it and it makes it easier to clean. I haven't tried that yet. But, Mr.Clean magic eraser worked better than anything else I have tried.


And Another Thing....


I've been experimenting with freeze dried cheese and wanted to share my experience. Its awesome!


When I first rehydrated the cheddar cheese and poured off the extra water. It was kind of gloppy and not very...sprinklable? But when I added it to a cheese crisp, an amazing thing happened. It melted. My kids didn't say ANYTHING about it tasting "funny" or anything.


I did the same thing with the mozzarella cheese (but "sprinkled" it on some pasta with spaghetti sauce and it also melted wonderfully!


Happy Day!