🌽 🥘 🍗Prepper Cook-Off Challenge #3 - Over 50 STEEM in Prizes!😅 🤢 🤮
It is time for the Prepper Cook-Off Challenge #3!
This one is going to be a little different than the previous two iterations of the challenge. This time you will test your cooking skills by trying to prepare the most palatable meal possible from food you have foraged!
Photo by Michelle Spencer on UnsplashMany of us in the homesteading community have prepping and survivalist tendencies so I decided to come up with a challenge that plays off of those traits. This challenge will be a fun test of your ability to find and use wild foods by preparing some sort of meal. If you aren't into prepping, that is OK, you might still find this challenge entertaining!
The Prizes
The quality of entries from the second Prepper Cook-Off Challenge blew me away; All of the contestants put in some serious effort. For this version of the challenge, I have decided to put together a substantial prize package!
- 1st Prize - 10 STEEM + 15 Steem Basic Income (SBI)
- 2nd Prize - 7 STEEM + 10 SBI
- 3rd Prize - 5 STEEM + 5 SBI
- Most Gag Worthy - 2 STEEM + 3 SBI
- Most Creative - 2 STEEM + 3 SBI
- Sasquatch Award - 4 STEEM + 4 SBI
- All other qualified entries - 2 SBI
What is @steembasicincome? It is a program where you sponsor people by buying them shares. Both the sponsor and the sponsored get a share which provides continued upvotes to member content.
Learn more about Steem Basic Income.
The Scenario
In the near future, a massive EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) from the sun has knocked out the electrical grid and the world has devolved into chaos.
When we last left off, you and your party had fled into the woods to escape being overrun by marauders. After following a small unmaintained road for many hours you came across this cabin in the woods.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
A thorough search of the cabin yielded two food items and you were able to prepare a tasty, or not so tasty, meal to feed your party. While you appear to have used all the food to be found in the cabin, other than the remaining spices, here seems to be a safe place to stay and rest up for awhile because of its seclusion.
You did manage to find a single storable food item at the bottom of your pack that you somehow missed when you were preparing your last meal. Perhaps a foraging expedition in the woods will yield enough to prepare a decent meal to feed your bellies one more day?
How to Enter
Note: The rules have been revised since the last Prepper Cook-Off Challenge. Make sure to read them entirely before entering.
1. Declare your intention to enter. This will be the starting point for your entry. Now it is time to forage! This means plants and funguses only and they have to be wild. No cultivated plants are allowed. However, wild specimens of normally cultivated plants are allowed. For example, a wild apple, plum or raspberry plant would be accepted.
2. After foraging, think about what you want to try making and declare a single storable food item by replying to your first comment. This item can basically be anything that can be stored, without freezing or refrigeration, for 6 months or longer. Hopefully this will allow you to make what ever you managed to forage edible.
3. Cooking oils, sugar, salt and spices are permitted but they must be used in a reasonable amount. You can't use so much that they become a main item.
Herbs (other than what you foraged) are fine as long as they are dried or in some other shelf stable form. No fresh ingredients. They have to be storable.
Stock cube is permitted.
Corn starch or other starches used as thickeners or binders are OK if you only use a tbsp or two.
Wine, hard liquor, vinegar and other sauces and condiments are fine but try and keep your combined liquid ingredients to a shot glass worth. The idea is that they don't contribute much to the meal other than some flavor. Once again, they need to be shelf stable so sauces and condiments kept in the refrigerator are not permitted.
If it isn't obvious, water can be used in any quantity.
If you are not sure about an ingredient or if a certain quantity is OK feel free to ask.
4. Create a post about cooking your meal and describe the ingredients and steps that you used to do it. It could be a single dish or two or more. It is up to you as long as you stick to your ingredients. Video entries are fine but you still need to document everything as you would for a written entry.
5. One of your tags needs to be #preppercookoff so I can find all of the entries.
6. Mention and link to this post in your entry post.
8. You have until August 1st at 11:59pm MST (UTC -7) to submit your entry.
The Judging
I will be judging based on a number of factors as follows:
- Overall quality of post and effort level.
- Was the foraging and meal preparation well documented.
- Difficulty of area(s) foraged and trials endured.
- Creativity of item use and how the meal was prepared. Utilizing off-grid cooking and preparation will be scored higher.
- Staying in character and adding to the storyline details.
- Presentation of the meal: Photo quality, plating, etc.
I will score each factor on a scale of 1-10 and the highest total scores will win. There are also prizes for most creative meal, most gag worthy meal, and the sasquatch award. These are more subjective and won't necessarily be scored on the same point system.
Conclusion
Hopefully, that all makes sense. If not, take a look at Prepper Cook-off Challenge #2's Winning Posts.
First Place - @riverflows - https://steemit.com/preppercookoff/@riverflows/making-something-out-of-nothing-cooking-post-apocalypse
Second Place - @revisesociology - https://steemit.com/dlive/@revisesociology/4926eb10-759e-11e8-827c-49f76fdbeab3
Third Place - @senorcoconut - https://steemit.com/food/@senorcoconut/a-prepper-cook-off-challenge-i-m-making-smoked-oysters-in-rice-with-seet-potato
I will also be participating just for fun so you can always watch and see what I end up doing. I am hoping to see a lot of friendly competition and interaction.
I would like to thank all past qualified contestants and list them here to let them know that another challenge awaits them should they choose to accept the challenge:
@webbie, @el-nailul, @girthbomb, @riverflows, @revisesociology, @senorcoconut, @tacostate, @sagescrub, @roselyn028, @llfarms, @mosic, @boodles17
I am sure there will be some pretty interesting meals and food combinations as always. Time to get foraging and cooking everyone!
The contest is now closed. I will need a day or two to finish judging. Make sure to watch for the Winners announcement post.
Oooh... this one shall be a learning experience for sure. This is not my statement of intention to enter the contest... not yet! I have to think about it!
Thank you for the mention by the way !
Well there has to be something worth eating around where you live. I am pretty sure I have seen a post.of yours on berry foraging already!
There are many berries for sure... you're right!!! Sorry though in the middle if our mini birthday festival for Mrs Coconut. I'm not going to be on the internet much till the 1st of august!
Thinking about the 1st... do you have a quote of yours you'd like to see for the month on my post signatures?
Are you looking for something that we have said in one of our posts or can we make something up?
It can be anything you want as lomg as it's one od yours!
Ok well I used this one in the article I wrote tonight.
"Some people have a green thumb, I think I may have a green hand!
Lol, I would say you do too... starting a nursery and all from seed!
Ok, I'm using it.
Thanks! I feel like there must be something better or more enlightening then that but I can't seem to think of anything.
Look for another last minute entry from me. :-) Though current temps (high 30's) in UT make wandering around the wilderness a bit uncomfortable.
That sounds too hot for my liking. Hopefully it will cool so you have an easier time foraging.
Here is my entry.
https://steemit.com/preppercookoff/@girthbomb/learning-from-failure-foraging-a-new-skill
Entry received. I will read it over tomorrow.
I think i saw that it needs to be vegan, is that indeed the case?
The foraging is plants and fungus only but you can add meat if you choose with the single storable item. See rule #2.
Dang, I just found this. This will be fun, I would love to participate. I think I'll actually round up some food from the woods around here(North Georgia Mountains). I don't guess I can use the wild kiwi I found in the middle of the woods the other day because it is not supposed to be where it was... Too bad it's only vegan, I literally just took pics of a rabbit, squirrel, and a deer in my backyard. The deer was eating the blueberries. Just for clarification are Bugs and Grubs off limits as well?
I never considered the bugs actually. I think for this challenge I will stick to the plants and fungus's only but I will ask for feedback for future challenges if people want to include bugs.
There were a few reasons why I decided not to include animals. One was to be more inclusive and also because hunting, trapping and fishing restrictions can vary considerably from different regions and countries and sometimes also requires licenses.
You can still include meat or dairy with your single storable item you are allowed to add if you want.
I think including bugs and grubs is a great idea! I'm not convinced I will do it, but knowing our options is important!
Sorry I'm so late in replying. I'll keep bugs in mind for future challenges. Although I am certainly not keen on eating any I would if I had to.
Any inclination to give this challenge a shot?
I'm in the middle of a city and struggle to get out to forage at the moment, so probably not this time. I even missed getting to the elder tree to find flowers this year... Sorry.
But this is a great challenge!
No problem there will be more challenges and they don't always involve foraging. Thanks for the interest and support!
It's OK, I was just having a bit of fun. Many people would be surprised at what you can eat. Really, I don't blame you on the animals. There are so many ways that could go wrong in a hurry.
You can use the wild Kiwi as long as it is just growing all on it's own without being intentionally planted and maintained.
Sorry, I somehow glossed over this question earlier.
It's ok, I think I'm good, it was growing wild in the middle of a national forest, and loaded with kiwi. I had never seen one so I posted a pic in the ghsc photo share to verify.
Btw, we found a bag of egg noodles behind some junk on a shelf in the cabin.
I just have to find the time to finish writing this all up. I made it a evening exercise for the kids.
They like the zombie apocalypse scenerios better they said they are more fun.
Great, can't wait to read it! Who says this couldn't be part of a zombie apocalypse? You have to eat something right?
Hey guys, sorry I just couldn't get it done.... I have just finished up with work, Maybe I'll catch the next one. It's been a busy couple of weeks.
That's alright. Thanks for letting me know.
Sounds fun! I’ll be on the search for food around my cabin in Vermont.
Excellent!
There are so many aspects about your challenge that I truly love!
The cooking challenge itself plus the community involvement and how you set up the scenario!
This alone is a GREAT way to set the scene and get the readers involved!
Thanks, I do my best to make it fun and engaging. So far have been very impressed with the effort level and outstanding entries.
I will definitely in on this one @canadianrenegade. I will come back to check the rules and take action on!
Finally I finished the post few minutes ago and here is the link for my official entry my friend @canadianrenegade. Lets have some fun cooking :D
https://steemit.com/esteem/@el-nailul/survival-bamboo-cooking-pot-f141f5d98db55est
Thank you for your entry!
That sounds good. Were you the one who had mentioned doing a jungle cook?
Yes, I did, that is very interesting to take the things from jungle and cook it. my additional shelf stable is brow sugar. Is that allowed @canadianrenegade?
Yes, brown sugar is fine. Sorry I somehow missed this question earlier.
would cooking in a solar oven or rocket stove count lol
Absolutely. You can cook on a regular stove too you just get more points by using off grid methods.
I'm up for the challenge but I did make it a little hard on myself leaving it to so late(just found out about it) I will be posting on the very last day of the contest but I live in a cabin in the woods and like to forage so all is good!
You should be a pro at this then! 😂
Yep! It's right up my alley!
I will be making Nettle Potato Soup with the dehydrated potatoes I found in my backpack. Along with sauteed wild mushrooms, I have a couple of herbal teas and a berry delight for dessert. Plus my dilemma about protein in my meal was solved which I will share in my post.