It's Tuesday!

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your 3-month supply, and your longer-term storage. If you are new to our blog, don't worry! You won't be left behind. Just start up where we are and follow along. You will eventually have everything completed! Once the car kit is complete, we'll be putting together 72-hour kits again (week by week). Once those are done, we'll gather the car kits again. So don't worry, just jump on in and join us where we are today!

This week for your emergency car kits, add some high energy snacks. Granola bars, nuts, are trail mix are just a few options. Remember, you probably don't want anything chocolate in there because it will melt (but, if you don't care about that sort of thing, then go for it!). If you put together your car kits the first time we did it last fall, this would be a good time to rotate your snacks (and perhaps your water, too).

How is your three month supply coming along? Back when we wrote our article about how to plan your three month supply, we talked about making a 2 week plan and rotating through that 6 times to make 3 months of meals (2 weeks x 6 = 12 weeks, or 3 months). Now that we have so many recipes available, you could easily make a 3 or even a 4 week plan. If you decide to make a 3 week plan, you'll need to buy enough food to make each meal 4 times (3 weeks x 4 = 12 weeks). If you make a 4 week plan, each meal will be eaten 3 times in the 12 weeks. I love the variety that this offers, and it makes rotating through these meals even easier (rotating: when we eat the meals as everyday food, not in an emergency. It's a good idea to rotate so that none of your food goes bad. I try to make 1-2 food storage meals per week, then just replace the food at the grocery store when I shop next. That way, I always have a full 3-month supply, and I'm always using it, too - it's not collecting dust!) Want to learn some methods for keeping your 3-month supply in order? Check out our food rotation methods listed on the how-to page.

We're still gathering beans this month for our longer-term storage. How is that coming along for you? Personally, I like to store my longer-term food in #10 cans. Many other people like to use 5 gallon buckets. Both are fine. The buckets are great because when you are rotating through the food, you can keep the food in the bucket, and just use a gamma lid. Gamma lids allow the food to remain airtight and preserved, even as you are eating through it. Gamma lids also help you remember which bucket you are eating from, and when the food is gone, you can just put the gamma lid on a new bucket of food and refill your empty one, sealing it shut with a regular lid until you are ready to eat it.