But what if the power grid is down for longer? Then you might want to look at some real alternative ways to cook.

The Solar Oven

You can cook things over a gas stove for a while, or charcoal-plan to use both. But if an emergency drags on for weeks, those fuels may get scarce. At that point, you may want to go solar.

There are many varieties of solar ovens. By one count, there are over 65 major designs and hundreds of variations on those basic designs. All solar cookers share some basic principles:* Concentrating sunlight. A mirror, or some type of reflective metal, is used to concentrate light and heat from the sun into a small cooking area, making the energy more concentrated and therefore more potent.

* Converting light to heat. Any black on the inside of a solar cooker, as well as certain materials for pots, will improve the effectiveness of turning light into heat. A black pan will absorb almost all of the sun's light and turn it into heat, substantially improving the effectiveness of the cooker.

* Trapping heat. Isolating the air inside the cooker from the air outside the cooker makes an important difference. Using a clear solid, like a plastic bag or a gla.s.s cover, will allow light to enter, but once the light is absorbed and converted to heat, a plastic bag or gla.s.s cover will trap the heat inside. This makes it possible to reach similar temperatures on cold and windy days as on hot days.

You've probably already seen a solar oven in action. Your car becomes a solar oven on hot days as the sun's rays enter the car, are converted to heat, and trapped inside. I've even seen recipes on the Web for baking cookies on your car's dashboard.

Now, you can buy a top -of-the-line solar oven at SolarDirect. com. However, the cost of a solar oven from that outfit, including shipping, was about $275 including shipping when I checked. And when I saw that price tag, I about coughed up a lung: $275 for a solar oven? That had better be one darned good oven, because you can make a pretty good one for next to nothing.

Do what you want, but I'm not spending nearly $300 for a solar oven. So, let's go over some cheaper options:* Do-it-Yourself Solar Cooker. InTheWake.com is a good survivalist web site, with some nifty plans for a solar cooker. (See Figure 7.1.)Figure 7.1 shows a panel cooker. The reflective part of the cooker can be made by folding aluminum foil over corrugated cardboard. If you don't like using aluminum foil because it tends to bend and wrinkle, consider using aluminum-type duct tape, which you can purchase at your local hardware store.

The web site recommends placing a black pot in a clear plastic bag when you use the stove, as this allows for better heat retention. A simple wire frame can prevent the bag from touching (and melting) on the pot. It will also keep the pot off of the ground, reducing heat losses from conduction. This solar design (as well as the others) can also be used to boil or disinfect water for safety.

You can find out more about this solar cooker, as well as InTheWake's other cooking ideas, at http://www.inthewake.org/b1cooking.html.

Figure 7.1 Folding Solar Cooker You can buy a very similar solar cooker, factory-made, from Solar Cookers International for $25 plus shipping. To order one, point your Web browser to the Solar Cookers International Marketplace at http://tinyurl.com/cy9ezv.

And you can find plans to build many different types of solar cookers and solar ovens at Solar Cookers International's archive: http://solarcooking.org/plans.

If you try solar cooking and enjoy it, you really need to check out the solarcooking.org web site. It has everything.

Two things to keep in mind: First, a solar oven isn't going to work on a rainy day. Second, cooking with a solar oven takes a lot longer than a normal electric or gas oven. Table 7.3 shows some comparative cooking times.

Cooking time will vary, depending on how hot you can get the solar oven, and foods like chickpeas and split peas need to be pre-soaked. But you get the idea-a solar oven is going to take time. Fast cooking time is a luxury of the modern age. Our forefathers were used to meals that took all day to cook, and we might have to get used to that as well.

Table 7.3 Comparable Cooking Times Source: TheOilDrumCampfire.com.

FoodStove top timeSolar oven time White rice 20 minutes 1 hour Brown rice 50 minutes 2 hours Wild rice 50 minutes 2 hours Lentils 30 minutes 2 hours Chick peas 1.5 hours 5 hours Split peas 30 minutes 2 hours * Prize-Winning Kyoto Box Oven. This won the $75,000 Kyoto prize awarded to the best idea to fight global warming. It is the brainchild of Kenya-based entrepreneur Jon Bhmer and costs all of $6. Basically, the Kyoto Box is made from two boxes, one inside the other with an acrylic cover, which lets in the sun's power and traps it.Black paint on the inner box and silver foil on the outer box help concentrate the heat, while a layer of straw or newspaper between the two provides insulation.

In other words, it's a simple solar oven. You can build ones just like it using plans found at Solar Cookers International. But heck, if the dude gets a $75,000 prize for it, who am I to argue? And if it makes you feel better to buy a solar oven that wins prizes, go for it.

* Parabolic Cooker. This is a variation on a solar oven. The parabolic shape concentrates the sun's rays like a magnifying gla.s.s. You can go through the trouble of making a parabolic-shaped oven. Or you can find an abandoned DishNetwork Parabolic receiver; there may be some lying around after a big disaster.Once you make or buy one, line it with aluminumized duct tape, and voila. It should get hot enough at the focal point to ignite paper in just a few minutes. You may have to jerry -rig a platform or tripod to suspend your cooking pot at the focal point.

* Haybox. Sometimes disasters happen at the wrong time of year to use the sun's rays for cooking. In that case, you may want to use a haybox, an insulated container that can lead to significant fuel savings-up to 70%. The hay box is a good way to make stews and soups without using up too much of your existing fuel. (See Figure 7.2.)Figure 7.2 Simple Haybox A basic haybox is a simple gadget with a multistep process. First, you heat the food, preferably using a cast-iron pot or some other container that will retain heat.

Then, put the container in the haybox. This can be an insulated cooler, though you'll probably want to stuff more insulation in there.

This insulation uses the heat in the food and the pot to cook the food even further.

Example: You bring a potato stew to a boil in a cast -iron pot on an open fire. Boil it for five minutes. Then put a lid on the pot and put the whole thing in a haybox. Wait one to two hours and the potato stew will cook itself.

You can make a haybox out of any material that won't melt when exposed to heat. Our forefathers used hay in a wooden frame, hence the name.

* A fire pit. This still requires fuel, but your fuel can be sc.r.a.p wood or your neighbor's collection of ugly wooden lawn gnomes (when you think about it, garden gnomes are begging for a fiery end to their humiliating existence). Be sure to choose a location for your fire pit that isn't close to trees, a building, or anything that could catch fire from stray sparks (and there will be sparks). Naturally, avoid underground wires, cables, or pipes, and the flatter the spot, the better.Pick a spot for the center of the pit. Draw a circle around it that is about three to four feet wide.

Remove the soil, dirt, and/or clay inside the circle and dig out the hole to a depth of about one foot. Be sure to keep the sides as straight as possible. If you have time, in the center of your fire pit, dig a hole that is six to eight inches square and 12 inches deep.

Sc.r.a.pe out the bottom of your hole and pour in about four inches of small gravel or stones. Fill the hole in the center with the gravel as well. The gravel will help drain the fire pit and the hole in the center will improve the drainage.

Add about three inches of sand or dry dirt on top of the gravel. The sand will help prevent any fire from spreading to roots under your pit.

Surround the fire pit with at least two rows of concrete blocks stacked on top of each other. Then add a metal grate-one taken from your gas grill that you forgot to buy LP gas for will do just fine. If the grate isn't wide enough to bridge the cement blocks, you can stack it on blocks in the fire pit or bridge the gap with iron rods or other nonflammable supports on which you can rest the grate. Be sure to avoid touching hot metal when the fire is going.

A fire pit isn't just for a post-crash lifestyle; it makes a nice addition to nights outside anytime. If you have the room, consider building one now. It will be easier to do if you're not stressed out, you can buy a grate to fit, and doing it now means you still have the option of a quick trip to the emergency room (always a possibility when I'm building anything) if things go wrong.

More Cooking Outside

If your survival plan includes cooking outside over an open fire, you might want to have the following ready ahead of time:* Pot grips * Kindling, including pocket lint * Bark or paper * Small twigs to feed the fire * Small fire pan * Leather gloves * Non-synthetic clothing-clothing that won't burn if you a spark lands on you To boil water over a campfire, put a flat rock in the fire. Heat it up. Use a stick with a barb on the end of it to lower a pot on to the fire (a.s.suming the pot has a pail handle).

The Least You Can Do * Store only the foods you'll eat. Start by storing enough for one month, then three months, and then longer if you have the room and desire.

* Begin with the basics-the low-cost essentials that are simple to get and store. Whole grains, rice, and beans are the bulk of many long-term food storage larders. Add dried, vacuum-sealed, or canned meats, chicken, or fish to your stockpile if you normally eat them. Likewise, add olive oil or vegetable oil and your usual spices. Comfort foods are fine, including chocolate, peanut b.u.t.ter, and other pre-packaged snacks.

* Do you drink coffee or tea? You'd better pack some that can be made with boiled water-an emergency is no time to get a caffeine jones.

* Acquire food storage containers, such as food-grade plastic pails with gamma seal lids. Put your food in them, seal tightly, and store the containers in an air-conditioned place. You might want to mark one container as a bug-out can to grab if you're jumping in the car and getting the heck out of Dodge.

CHAPTER 8.

Smart Shopping-How to Plan Ahead for Next Week's Meals (and Save Significant Money) In this chapter, we'll talk about smart shopping, which is one of the basic tools of survivalists on a budget. We'll cover coupons, including how to use them and where to find the best coupon web sites. I'll give you seven tips to lower your grocery bill, tell you how to play the drugstore game, and, of course, tell you the least you can do.

Making the Change from Impulse Shopper to Smart Shopper

My wife, Cindy, started preparing for the worst in the way a suburban housewife knows best: shopping.

And by that, I do not mean she went wild with the credit cards and started h.o.a.rding anything and everything. She wanted to increase the amount of stuff we could get while decreasing the amount of money that she was spending, because the price of gas was really cutting into our budget.

Smart shopping became Cindy's part-time job. Yes, she clips coupons, but she also keeps track of sales, reads relevant blogs every day, and buys deals and loss leaders in large quant.i.ties when she can. If nothing else, she figures she'll have our family well stocked with toothpaste, toilet paper, peanut b.u.t.ter, and SpaghettiOs-at least for short-term emergencies.

As for these shopping tips, you might already be following some of them, so this could be an easy transition. Improve your efforts in this area, and you'll set yourself up for success in one of the most vital areas of concern in a crisis.

People form shopping habits that are hard to break. Understand that change is easiest in increments. Do the least you can do at first, and then work your way up.

Step 1: Get a Flyer

Get a flyer from your grocery store, or perhaps flyers from two or three local grocery stores. There are a lot of ways to get these: in a local newspaper, in the mail, or online. But beware-just because a food item is featured in a flyer doesn't mean it's on sale. Research has shown that just putting a food in a flyer can send its sales up by 500%. So, grocery stores tend to feature a mix of sale and non-sale items in their flyers.

Step 2: Find Sales on Food and Items You Can Use

Once you have the flyers, go through them and mark any sales on food products that you and your family will actually use. Again, buying stuff you won't eat or use, even if it's cheap, isn't a good strategy. It won't save you money and will waste s.p.a.ce in your food storage.

The only time when it is a good strategy is if you think the world is going into such a decline that ordinary money isn't going to be useful anymore. In that case, stock up on health and beauty products to use as currencies and bribes. You also might want to buy more toilet paper than you can use in a year.

A great web site for leading you to sales in your local grocery stores is http://www.mygrocerydeals.com.

Step 3: Find Coupons

Coupons can turn your local grocery store's sales into giveaways. My wife is able to find items that are Buy-One-Get-One free (BOGO), and then find a coupon that makes the first item 50% off or more. In a really good deal, she brings home two free items-legally!

The trick is that when a store has a BOGO sale, you are allowed to use two coupons-one for each item.

The average manufacturer's coupon for grocery items has a face value of $1.08, according to NCH Marketing, a coupon-processing firm. Yet of the 281 billion coupons distributed in 2008, only 2.6 billion were redeemed. Obviously, a lot of people are missing out on these savings.

There are web sites that specialize in finding amazing coupon deals. Again, you can google, or you can use some of the following web sites, which Cindy finds useful.

Great Web Sites That Lead You to Coupon Deals * Coupon Cravings: www.couponcravings.com * Common Sense With Money: www.commonsensewithmoney.com * MommySnacks.Net: http://mommysnacks.net * Money Saving Mom: www.moneysavingmom.com And there are also coupons you'll just find online. Here are three of Cindy's favorite web sites for online coupons:* Coupon Chief: www.couponchief.com * Rather-Be-Shopping.com: www.rather-be-shopping.com * Coupons.com: www.coupons.com Finally, if you want to find the food coupons from the Sunday newspaper without buying the Sunday newspaper, check out:* CoolSavings.com: www.coolsavings.com * Valpak: www.valpak.com * Smartsource.com: www.smartsource.com You generally have to supply personal information to register, so familiarize yourself with privacy policies, and use a separate e- mail address from your personal one.

When you find a really good deal where you can combine sales and coupons to get free products, you can purchase more coupons that you need on eBay. (Well, legally you can't actually buy the coupons; you are paying for someone else to cut them out for you.) One time Cindy picked up 15 BOGO coupons for crackers for $3 a box, then combined them with a BOGO sale at our local grocery store, and walked away with 30 boxes of crackers for nothing.

Remember: Don't let coupons encourage you to buy products you wouldn't otherwise buy.

You can use the coupons to find deals on staples and other items you want to use to build up your stockpiles. With the money you save through sales, meal-planning and super-coupon shopping, you should have enough to start bulking up your cupboards.

Step 4: Be Flexible About Brands

You might be buying the same ol' brand of peanut b.u.t.ter or toothpaste out of habit. But is it really your family's favorite-and more importantly, is it the cheapest you can get? Be willing to try different brands when a coupon and sale combination makes something super cheap or free. You might find that a specific brand won't matter. Or you will discover some new product you didn't know existed.

Of course, you and your family will find some products for which you just have a strong preference. For us, there's only one brand of frozen pizza, but we've found we'll use nearly any kind of toothpaste.

Step 5: Build Meals Around What Is on Sale

After you see what's on sale in a given week, you'll know what you're working with. Then you can find recipes that utilize these ingredients plus the food you've got stored. Use recipe search engines (google recipe search engine) like FoodieView and enter combinations of the on-sale ingredients that sound interesting. These ideas will provide the backbone for several meals throughout the week.