The Everything Guide to Living Off the Grid (30 page)

These small, deep red beans are popular in Asia. You might have tasted them if you have ever had sweet bean paste in Chinese buns and other dishes. To cook, it’s best to presoak them and then boil. Their flavor is milder than kidney beans, but they can be used in chili or other dishes that traditionally use kidney beans.

Black Beans

Black beans are common in Central and South American cuisine. They are small, dark brownish-black, and oval shaped. Because of their tendency to “bleed” once cooked, the beans should be rinsed before they’re added to other recipes to avoid a “muddy” appearance in the dish.

Because legumes contain small amounts of certain uric-acid-forming substances (chemically known as
purins
), they should be avoided by people with gout. However, soybeans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), etc., contain flavonoids, which work as the female hormone estrogen, providing women some relief from menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes.

Black-eyed Peas

Popular in the southern part of the United States, black-eyed peas are also known as cowpeas or field peas. They are small and cream colored, with a distinctive black spot on them. They cook quickly, and traditionally are combined with rice or cornbread.

Chickpeas

The primary ingredient in hummus and falafel, chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are one of the oldest cultivated legumes. They are tan or cream colored and larger than most beans. Their unusual round, kernel shape and nutty flavor make them a favorite ingredient in salads. They retain their firmness even after cooking and are often used in Indian cooking.

Great Northern Beans

These white, mild-tasting beans take on the flavor of the other ingredients with which they’re prepared. Often used in soups, salads, and baked beans, the Great Northern is versatile and one of the most commonly eaten beans in the United States.

Kidney Beans

Although most people think of kidney beans as reddish-brown, they also can be white, mottled, or light red. One thing won’t change—the familiar kidney bean shape. Kidney beans are meaty and have a distinct taste. Kidney beans are used in three-bean salad, chili, and many soups.

Lentils

Lentils are not a bean and not a pea—they have their own distinct classification in the legume family. They are high in protein and fiber, and can be a substitute for meat. They are also high in folate and potassium. Unlike other legumes, lentils cook quickly without presoaking. Be sure to rinse them well before adding them to recipes. You can also just boil them until tender and add seasonings of your choice. They are delicious over rice or mixed with vegetables.

Lentils come in three main varieties: brown, green, and red.

• Brown lentils are the least expensive and are best used for soups because they soften when they are cooked and can get mushy.
  
• Green lentils are also known as French lentils. They have a nuttier taste. They are a good choice for salads because they stay firm after they’ve been cooked.
  
• Red lentils are the fastest-cooking lentil. Although they start out red, when cooked they quickly lose their shape and turn golden yellow. Their taste is sweeter and milder than their counterparts, and they are often used in Indian cooking.
  

Lima Beans

Also known as “butter beans,” lima beans are another common legume. Their shape is flat and broad and rounded. They have a slightly sweet flavor that is a little bland, and are one of the main ingredients in succotash. Their color can range from pale green to speckled cream and purple.

Mung Beans

Mung beans are best known as sprouts, but they are also common in Indian and Asian dishes. They are related to the field pea, with a similar shape but a darker color, ranging from medium green to nearly black.

Navy Beans

Navy beans are similar to Great Northern beans, but they are smaller and retain their shape well when they are cooked. They are often used commercially for pork and beans. They received their name because they were a staple food of the United States Navy in the early twentieth century.

Peanuts

Peanuts are not traditional nuts, like walnuts, pecans, etc. They actually grow underground, like potatoes, and are considered a legume. Peanuts have high protein and a good deal of fat. Peanuts can be ground for peanut butter, roasted, or baked, and in some regions of the United States, they are boiled.

Peas

Yellow or green, dried peas are often used in soups and also in Indian cuisine. If the peas are whole, they will need to be soaked before you cook them; however, dried split peas can be used without soaking. Split peas are best known for their use in split-pea soup.

Pinto Beans

Pinto beans are the most widely consumed legume in the southwestern area of the United States. Small, oval, and reddish-tan, pinto beans are used for refried beans, soups, and many Tex-Mex dishes.

Cooking Supplies

Many of the foods you might have purchased at the local supermarket before you started living off the grid will now be homemade—more delicious and definitely better for you. To ensure that your cooking efforts aren’t frustrated, be sure you have a pantry that is stocked with the essentials you need. You can go to a warehouse store and buy many of these items in bulk. There are also wonderful cookbooks, like
Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable and Seasonal Kitchen
by Amy Pennington, that show you how to make some of your favorite items at home. The following list just suggests supplies you should keep on hand; be sure to create your own list to include the things your family likes.

• Spices and extracts
  
• Baking powder, baking soda, and yeast
  
• Salt—iodized, pickling, kosher, and sea salt
  
• Dry milk
  
• Dry buttermilk
  
• Dutch cocoa
  
• Cornstarch
  
• Cream of tartar
  
• Shortening
  
• Oil
  
• Sugar, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, honey, molasses
  
• Nuts
  
• Raisins, dates, and other dried fruits
  
• Worcestershire sauce
  
• Soy sauce
  
• Vinegar
  
• Condiments
  
• Parchment paper, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and plastic storage bags
  
• Bouillon cubes (beef and chicken)
  

Other helpful items you might want to have on hand are muffin and pancake mixes, gravy and seasoning mixes, various types of pasta, potato flakes, and peanut butter and jelly.

Moving off-grid is no reason to deprive yourself of your favorite comfort foods. Whether you want something that reminds you of happy childhood times or you simply want to indulge, comfort food is important. Family favorites can really help as you make the transition to living off the grid. Make a list of the foods your family loves and can’t do without, and make sure you keep some in your pantry.

Helpful Equipment

The most important items a tradesman has are the tools of his trade. You wouldn’t want to be a carpenter, plumber, or electrician without the proper specialized equipment that makes the job run smoother and helps you to be more efficient. The same could be said about the tools around a kitchen, especially a kitchen that is going to be an essential part of your daily life.

Since you are living off-grid, you’ll want to take into account the energy you are going to be able to produce as you look at appliances for your kitchen. That being said, even though some appliances might pull a great deal of electricity for a short amount of time, the savings in labor might be very well worth it. Keep in mind, too, that your basic kitchen appliances—refrigerator, chest freezer, oven, stovetop, and dishwasher—should be Energy Star rated.

The next level of kitchen appliances—mixer, grinder, and food processor—should be of the best quality you can afford because you will use them often. However, cost does not always equate to quality, so be sure to look at reviews of the items you want to purchase. A stand mixer with a dough hook and other attachments is an item you will use every day. If you
can find one that has attachments for other kitchen tasks, like grinding, slicing, or juicing, so much the better.

Canning supplies are essential. You can purchase them new or find them at garage sales, estate auctions, and online auctions. When buying used supplies, look for items like steam juicers, cherry pitters, food strainers, and large water-bath canners. The items you will want to purchase new are pressure cookers and your canning tool set. You can buy new jars or pick them up at auctions or garage sales; just be sure they aren’t chipped. You will need to buy new rings and lids.

Think twice before buying a highly specialized appliance like a bread machine. Often you will be baking more bread than the machine can handle, and you will be wasting both money and space for a machine that can only do one thing.

Buy good-quality cookware, and be sure you also have cast-iron cookware. Cast iron is not only solid and dependable, and can take a lot of abuse, but the iron also leaches into the food you cook, increasing your iron intake.

You should have a good-quality hand-operated can opener. If you now use an electric model, you can continue to use it. But, in the event of a power outage, you will want to have a nonelectric opener close by.

Buy quality kitchen hand tools that will last and won’t melt when exposed to hot surfaces. Imagine doing your everyday cooking and baking without electricity, and then buy the tools that would make that job easier.

Have at least one good set of measuring cups and spoons and several larger Pyrex multicup measuring cups. Purchase good-quality mixing bowls and bakeware. Be sure you have enough so you can bake several loaves of bread or sheets of cookies at the same time.

Survival Essentials

If there were a national emergency and daily life as you know it was suspended, if trucks could no longer deliver goods, if the grid went down, if
martial law were imposed and you and your family were basically on your own, what are the things you would need to survive?

Of course, you don’t need an emergency or a disaster to have to live in survival mode. What would happen if you lost your job and weren’t able to get employment for months or years? What would happen if you were sick for an extended period of time? How would you care for your family?

There are basic foods and concepts you can learn in order to be prepared for these eventualities. In this small section, you will learn about the basics you need to have in your pantry. However, there are many other excellent ideas about preparedness that should be incorporated into your off-grid lifestyle. Two excellent books that go into great detail about this kind of preparedness are
The New
Passport to Survival
by Rita Bingham and
Making the Best of Basics
by James Talmage Stevens.

According to Rita Bingham, there are seven survival foods—grains, legumes, sprouting seeds, honey, salt, oil, and powdered milk. Grains and legumes have already been covered in this chapter, and you’ve also learned a little about sprouts, but there is still more to learn.