# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Gardening >  Brown Rice/Beans/Multivitamin?

## joe_

Can you just survive off mainly this with maybe small weekly supplementations to this? I am still in urban but trying to pinch every single penny I can... have some property down in Georgia and plan to live off the land as much as possible and not participating in the economy. 

Thanks.

----------


## Rick

Joe - This is one that one of our medical folks really need to answer but I'll give you my 2 cents. I don't think multi-vitamins can replace a balanced diet. They are supplements not replacements. Fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy life style. You should be able to plant your own food in Georgia and/or take advantage of natural food foraging. Think in terms of a farm lifestyle and you can be pretty self sufficient.

----------


## joe_

Yeah my basic plans is to travel around, do volunteer work... My family also has a place on the coast that is very minimal, and 2 places I can go between my parents... 

So I am trying to setup where I have about 5 places to go, also going on a site called couchsurfing which I am an ambassador for, places to travel around... volunteer for free food/etc... and bike around the country. 

Hope that better explains my situation  :Smile:  

I am just sick and tired of working for companies.

I have a website and design company setup for residual income through site hosting. And can always do consulting if need be in IT...

----------


## Tony uk

Multi-vitimins like what you buy in the store dont contain enough of each vitimin to replace a balanced diet, there only made to boost the ammount you get from food. I dont take them, I do take vitimin C tablets in winter though but thats really the only time

----------


## joe_

I don't get the store ones. I take NOW Adam, it is pretty packed and iron free.

----------


## crashdive123

Hey Joe, the nutritionally minded (docs) as Rick said can probably answer this best.  IMO a balanced diet is probably best.  Portions are probably anoter matter (mine tend to be bigger than they should be).  But, can you survive for an exteded perriod with just rice, beans and multi's - sure.  When you get a chance how about popping over to the Introductions section and telling us a bit about yourself.  You can find it here http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

----------


## Chris

You'll get your fiber, carbs, some protein, some antioxidants (pinto beans are very high in antioxidants), and whatnot from that diet. But as others have said multivitamins should be supplements, not replacements. So you'll want a good source of beta carotene and vitamin C, at least, added.

Vitamin C
Grapes
Oranges
Currants
etc etc

Beta Carotene
Carrots
Squash
Pumpkin

If you were just wanting to be minimalist I would recommend buying a can of plain pureed pumpkin at the store, one of the healthiest things you can buy, and it'll keep a long time, a great survival food. You can mix it in baked goods, meat loaves, soups, or just eat it out of the can... but that is buying, not living off the land.

You could grow butternut squash easily enough, those will keep 6-12 months if stored right, so you get year round eating. Root veggies like carrots or parsnips too can be left in the ground and pulled when needed.

Then aim for a summer berry crop of some sort, raspberries are a favorite for mine for ease of growing, and preserve it by making jams & preserves and whatnot for the winter months. 

Protein is another thing to worry about... beans are not a complete (all amino acids) source of protein. If you could catch a fish a day in a pond or lake or whatever, that'd fill your needs, milk is also a good source of protein, and small game would work too. Assuming you'll have a freezer you could go after big game and then freeze it after butchering.

Also... plant some nut trees. Nuts in the shell keep a long time, provide protein, lots of calories, good fats.

----------


## wareagle69

you could get by for quite a while on beans and rice with supplements but it does get rather boring best learn about wild edibles even just the salad greens then will help you along alloot

----------


## MCBushbaby

Talk to some vegetarians.  They buy this god awful protein paste/powder to supplement their protein and other nutrient intake when they swear off meat.  My old housremate left a jug here when she moved away.  If it wasn't flavored "mixed berry", it would've tasted like chalk.  But you can get a gallon of the junk for about $30 and a cup will give you 100% daily recommended of everything you need, and some extra stuff you didn't even know about.  Oh man... I'm recommending vege-foods  :EEK!:

----------


## Alpine_Sapper

Ok, first, I use protein powder as a supplement to my diet, because honestly, a $15 tub of whey protein that lasts two weeks is a LOT cheaper than trying to make all that protein up with tuna, turkey, chicken, and beef.  It's really not that bad, you just have to find a decent brand. Yes, there are a lot of bad ones out there, but that's why you add a banana and some peanut butter or a banana and some berries. Once you've been drinking it for a while you get used to it, just like anything else. Most people who have an aversion to it, it's cause it's all in your head.  :Smile:  Mind over matter people.

Regarding the beans and rice, most slaves in the southern united states lived predominantly on that for most of their life. Why? Because it was plentiful and cheap. 

The body adapts amazingly quickly to changes in your protein intake. That diet is loaded with carbs, so you should have no lack of energy. Other than the fact that it's going to get real boring real quick, you can survive on that for a LOOOONG time. Notice I said survive. It's not balanced by any means, and probably won't be that healthy if that's ALL you eat, but as long as you can get one or two other meals a week you'll should be ok.

Remember, it's not really about your daily intake, but more about what you consume over time, like a week or so.  So, yeah, Chris's suggestion to get a can of pumpkin, or find some other fresh veggies is a really good idea.

 I'd also suggest getting some corn meal and learning how to make hot water cornbread (I can tell you if you want, it's easy) but that's just to add some variety.

----------


## Rick

Mitch - I think you just blew any chance of being the national whey powder spokesman. Don't feel bad, though. I don't think it paid all that well. 

Alpine - Any food that I have to "get used to" or have to remember it's "mind over matter"  :EEK!:  is not something I need to eat. Cat poop coffee falls well into that category. So do haggis and grubs, by the way. However, if during my daring misadventures I happen to stumble across a huge cache of whey powder I promise you will be the first one I call. :Wink:

----------


## Alpine_Sapper

> Mitch - I think you just blew any chance of being the national whey powder spokesman. Don't feel bad, though. I don't think it paid all that well. 
> 
> Alpine - Any food that I have to "get used to" or have to remember it's "mind over matter"  is not something I need to eat. Cat poop coffee falls well into that category. So do haggis and grubs, by the way. However, if during my daring misadventures I happen to stumble across a huge cache of whey powder I promise you will be the first one I call.


heh. Point taken. But did you really like the taste of beer when you first tried it? What about whiskey? Those are all (typically) aquired tastes. Usually, the taste is not appreciated but the effect is, until over time, the taste "grows on you". Kinda like most coffee drinkers and drinking it black, right? It's all about the effect man!

----------


## Rick

Strong black coffee and alcohol are a lot like bacon. It's genetic. It's part of the overall survival process that works deep in the brain stem right next to breathing. 

(Opens metal plate) See? That right there is my brain stem. This is the place that controls breathing (touches brain) (GASP!) I hate doing that. And this right here is the part that controls coffee, bacon and alcohol. (touches brain again) (oooh!). I have to go now. I need a bacon sandwich, a shot and a cup of coffee.

----------


## wildWoman

For what it's worth - in our experience of living in the bush and having no way of re-supplying for around 4-5 months at a time: if you're not already a huge fan of a dinner and lunch of brown rice with beans and a multivitamin, you'll most likely find that after a week of it, you'll either be hardly eating at all or finding ways to get the kind of food you like. 
We had that scenario in our first winter in the bush, where we tried sprouts for fresh greens (our other veggies consisted of canned beans and canned peas). We weren't big sprout fans to begin with and after trying to force ourselves to eat some everyday ("but they're good for us!"), we ended up after a couple months of just sticking with the canned veggies. The seeds for sprouting we still have.
So I'd advocate getting the kind of foods you really like and do eat, make it as varied and cheap as you can, because I suspect many of us will just plainly not eat the things we don't like much, even if they're supposed to be good for us.

----------


## Tony uk

Taste is only a feeling, Its what the food does that counts.  :Smile:

----------


## Rick

Jeepers, Tony. That was like a Remy Junior post.

----------


## crashdive123

I make protein shakes with vanilla whey protein that are actually quite good.

2 scoops of vanilla whey protein 
1 Tblspn of flax oil
1 cup of frozen mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, rasberries, strawberries)
1 cup of skim milk

blend on high for about a minute.  Tastes great.

----------


## Rick

Crash - Is this the point at which I say....."Less filling!"?

----------


## Chris

I have protein shakes for lunch every day. I try to eat a lot of protein because I lift weights, and well, this is a pretty healthy but still high protein lunch.

Chocolate mint whey, 1 scoop
http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrit...8046507&sr=8-2

2 bananas
cup of ice
cup of milk

blend for a minute. Good shake.

In the summer when I have them I add raspberries from my garden.

----------


## Alpine_Sapper

> I have protein shakes for lunch every day. I try to eat a lot of protein because I lift weights, and well, this is a pretty healthy but still high protein lunch.
> 
> Chocolate mint whey, 1 scoop
> http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrit...8046507&sr=8-2
> 
> 2 bananas
> cup of ice
> cup of milk
> 
> ...


Chocolate mint...never really thought about that one. The chocolate I have is plain, but I have mint extract.  :Smile:  Thanks for the idea!

----------


## joe_

yeah ... just seeing how good it was, it is the *basis* of my diet supplying most of the carbs...rice and beans, or beans and rice... (various (red/black/pinto/garbanzo) beans/and either brown nishiki or basmati rice)
I have a bunch of spices that last forever and are cheap, and hot sauce/chili sauce/soy to mix up the flavors. 

other stuff I eat that is easily stored is mixed nuts(good cheap fats/dense energy) and sardines (for epa/dha), if I *do* eat out I use it as a time to get a bunch of veggies as it is often cheaper than buying the produce (can't grow it here) either that or sushi (ayce) if possible and load up on variety of raw fish crustaceans seaweeds and other vegetables

I think most modern fruit besides berries are hybridized to be too sweet anyway and aren't good for you in adundance...

----------


## Rick

Joe - Look for heirloom or heritage fruit plants. Thats the older varieties that were planted a couple of generations or more ago.

----------

