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 Unsplash

Many 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.

Source

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.

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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.

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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.

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  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.

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  5. One of your tags needs to be #preppercookoff so I can find all of the entries.

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  6. Mention and link to this post in your entry post.

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  8. You have until August 1st at 11:59pm MST (UTC -7) to submit your entry.

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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.

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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!

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Thanks for reading everyone! Please upvote, follow, and resteem to support this work. As always, comments are welcome.