Motivational Monday

"Each age has deemed the new-born year 

the fittest time for festal cheer."

~ Walter Scott

source

Motivational Monday

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.  

To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, 

is to have the real spirit of Christmas"

~Calvin Coolidge

source

Merry Christmas!

Roundup

Every so often, we like to look around the web and see what other people are saying about food storage and emergency prep.  Here's what we found interesting over the last little while:

30 Links for Winterizing Your Car

How to build a water/food storage shelf for your garage

How to make a thin pull-out shelf for all those extra cans

Here's a cute printable free family emergency planning kit.  Just download, print, and fill out. (Don't  forget to store it somewhere helpful!)

Here's a tutorial on making personal-sized meals in a jar.  These would make cute gifts!

Hopefully you can find some great inspiration in some of these links.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Gift Giving Roundup

Still looking for ideas of gifts to give neighbors and coworkers?  How about something from your food storage?  Here's a roundup of food storage friendly gift ideas from over the past few years.

Wheat and recipe

Peanut Brittle

Wheat Grass

Granola (bottom of page)

Hot Cocoa Mix

Fudge

Chocolate Cereal Mix

Coal aka charcoal briquettes

Also, never underestimate the power of bread as a holiday gift.  A warm loaf of bread paired with some homemade jam that you made in the summer time can make a thoughtful and delicious gift for your neighbors.  Do a quick search for bread on our site and you'll come up with dozens of recipes for bread, in the mixer, by hand, in the bread machine and so on.

Do you have any gifts from food storage that you share with your neighbors and friends during the holidays?

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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! 

Today for your emergency car kits, add a pack of wet wipes and a roll of toilet paper.  To save on space, take the cardboard insert out of the toilet paper roll so that you can store it flat (and in a ziploc bag to keep it clean).

How's your three-month supply going?  I wish I had a bigger pantry to keep all my food in!  I have learned to maximize any space I can find -- under beds, in closets, even in my little laundry room.

This month for our longer-term storage, we're gathering "other" items... flour, honey, yeast, sugar, etc.

Motivational Monday

"Courage is resistance to fear,

 mastery of fear,

not absence of fear."

~Mark Twain

source

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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!  

Today for your emergency car kits, add a flashlight and the necessary batteries, if needed.

My three-month supply is still kind of at a standstill... planning to start replenishing it in January.

This month for our longer-term storage, we're gathering "other" items... flour, honey, yeast, sugar, etc.

Motivational Monday

"Decisions determine destiny. 

That is why it is worthwhile to look ahead, 

to set a course, to be at least partly ready 

when the moment of decision comes."

President Thomas S. Monson, 2004

Winterizing the Car Kit

As you know, we are big proponents of having a car kit in your car for little emergencies.  Ideally, you should check your car kit regularly, but the reality is...that just doesn't happen.  But I do try and check my car kit twice a year: once when summer starts and once when winter starts.

So this week, I pulled out the car kit to see what was missing and needed to be replaced or replenished.

First up, I opened the box!  My first car kit I put in an open box and realized quickly that it wasn't going to work. Dirt got everywhere. Now I use a lidded box.

 Three fruit strips were all that was left of the snacks.

 Not quite sure where the jumper cables disappeared to.

Checked the first aid kit to make sure I have everything.

 A few odds and ends in the bottom.

 Used my notebook to write down a few things I needed to find/buy.

 At the store I picked up some snacks (non melty ones, although that doesn't matter as much in the winter), bandaids and water. I love the mini size water bottles, especially with kids.

I also raided my change jar and scrounged up $10 in coins.  Hopefully having the money in change will discourage my husband from using it to buy Burger King, which is what happened to my last emergency stash of money.

All set back up in the car--for just in case.

If you have a car kit, have you checked yours lately?

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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!  

Today for your emergency car kits, add water and some high-energy snacks like granola bars.  If you've already completed a car kit (maybe last time we did it?), now would be a good time to check on your food and rotate it, especially the water in plastic bottles.

My three-month supply has been dwindling quite a bit lately, and I haven't been good about keeping track of what we have eaten!  One of my goals for the new year will be to re-assess everything we have, look over my meal plan, and write up a new shopping list.  (I know not to take on something this big around the holidays!  I am hoping to stay sane this month!)  We have a lot of really good food storage recipes on our blog that can help you come up with a three-month plan, too!  For example ,we love spaghetti, so I've planned a spaghetti dinner every Monday night if we were to eat from our three-month supply exclusively.  That means I need to store 12 lbs of spaghetti, 12 sauces, etc... (for the 12 weeks).  Once I have all that, then voila! I have Monday nights done for my three-month supply.  When the right sale hits, I can really stock up and hopefully even get it all done in one trip to the grocery store.  For more variety, you could just plan "pasta night" for once a week and have several different sauces to choose from.  Don't have the time/energy/interest to plan 12 weeks of meals?  We've done that for you in our food storage e-book.

This month for our longer-term storage, we're gathering "other" items.  I was able to stock up on honey over the summer (found a great deal on Craigslist from a local beekeeper), so I'm going to focus on something else this month.... maybe after I check out my local grocery store's weekly flyer.

Motivational Monday

"Work is honorable. Developing the capacity to work will help you contribute to the world in which you live. It will bring you an increased sense of self-worth. It will bless you and your family, both now and in the future.

One of the blessings of work is developing self-reliance. When you are self-reliant, you use the blessings and abilities God has given you to care for yourself and your family and to find solutions for your own problems. Self-reliance does not mean that you must be able to do all things on your own. To be truly self-reliant, you must learn how to work with others and turn to the Lord for His help and strength."

For the Strength of Youth, Work and Self-Reliance

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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!   

We started putting together car kits last Spring but never finished them fully, so we're starting again!  Now is the perfect time to hop on with us and following along as we prepare for emergencies and inconveniences in the car.

The first thing you need is a box to hold everything in.  Just a small-ish plastic box is fine.  Scan the list of items on the right that you will be gathering so that you can get a good idea of what size you will need.  You might even have something perfect already in your house that you could use.  Or, if you want to wait a few weeks, you could probably get a good deal on something in late December/early January when organizational stuff tends to go on sale.

How's your three month supply of food coming along?  Make a food storage menu plan and shop from there.  Organization is so important when it comes to food storage!  If you have a menu plan and a master shopping list, you will always know what you have and what you need, so that you can take advantage of sales and such.  You can get some great menu ideas from our food storage recipes page here.

For our longer-term storage, we'll be gathering "other" items for our longer-term storage.  These are things that you might want more than three-months' worth, so that you can supplement your basic longer-term foods.  These items include yeast, powdered milk, sugar, honey, pasta, salt, flour, etc.

Motivational Monday

 “Children need to work with their parents—to wash dishes with them, to mop floors with them, to mow lawns, to prune trees and shrubbery, to paint and fix up and clean up and do a hundred other things where they will learn that labor is the price of cleanliness and progress and prosperity” 

President Gordon B. Hinckley 

Motivational Monday

Come, Ye Thankful People

Come, ye thankful people, come; 
Raise the song of harvest home.
All is safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God's own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God's own field, 
Fruit unto his praise to yield,
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

~ Henry Alford

The gift of preparedness

It's time for our annual preparedness gift guide!

Not sure what to give your friends and loved ones for Christmas?  Well, you've come to the right place!  Each year we post a gift guide to give you some great ideas for gifts to give the people you love.  I'll admit, it may not be that fun to give or receive food storage or preparedness items for Christmas, but I truly can't think of anything more realistic to spend money on.  Plus, giving someone the gift of preparedness is really a thoughtful gift, if you ask me! 

Not sure what to ask for for Christmas?  Consider adding some of these items to your wish list!

*Note: these prices listed below are based on quick online research. Shopping around or buying used will help you find the best deal on any of these items.  Also, some products are listed under two price brackets because they may be different sizes or of a different quality. 

Under $20

our very own Safely Gathered In food storage e-book :)
Small first aid kits (this is a pack of two... a great deal!)
Crank Flashlights (get some for the whole family!)
Jumper cables
Fuel for camp stoves or grills
water storage containers
spices and herbs
Emergency Mylar thermal blankets
emergency preparedness books/guides (ideas here, here, here)
work gloves
seeds for the garden
bottles/jars for canning
batteries!!  Always helpful to have around.

$20-60
Water purifiers (this SteriPen looks interesting!)
Water treatment tablets
good-quality sleeping bag
heavy duty jumper cables
Dutch oven
Solar (or crank) powered radio (or solar radio/flashlight combo)
Wheat grinder (very small, hand cranked - useful if you lose electricity!)
small rotating shelf system
food dehydrator
Water Bob (these seem really neat! Great idea for water storage in an emergency)

$60-100
Ready-made 72-hour kits (this one's a 2-person kit)
Wheat grinder (small - hand cranked or automatics)
Pressure cooker (small)
Dehydrator (large)
55-gallon drum for water storage
72-hour emergency meal kit

$100-200
Rotating shelf systems (small)
Wheat grinder (small electric)
Small gas-powered portable generator
72-hour kit deluxe (this is a 4-person kit)
Pressure cooker/canner (large)

$200+
Rotating shelf systems (small to large)
 Electric wheat grinder (I hear this one is great!)
Pressure cooker/canner (huge)
4,000 watt generator
Good quality, large solar oven

Anything you think we've missed?  What kinds of "preparedness" gifts would you like Santa to bring you this year?

Well, hello there!

As you may have noticed, (or not?) we took an unexpectedly long summer break from posting.  What started as an innocent holiday, ended up being a serious absence from the blogging world. 

With the events of the past few weeks looming over the news, we are increasingly aware of how important emergency preparedness and food storage is.  It is not something to just think about, it is something to have, both knowledge of and actual tangible supplies. So we're getting back on the horse to continue our journey with you.

The blog will be running a bit differently from now on, mostly to account for the changes in our personal situations, but the general content and ideas are the same.

*a weekly motivational quote:  a thought or scripture to encourage you to keep going, or to give you a pat on the back for doing what you are already doing.

*a weekly guide to what you should add to your supplies:  this is a great way for those of us who are overwhelmed at the idea of having 72 hour kits, car kits and a 3 month supply of food all at our demand.  Each week, we will tell you what it is you need to buy/gather for your supply and that's all you need to worry about until the next week.  Simple, inexpensive and relatively painless!

*some other fun post: maybe a recipe, maybe a tutorial on a particular skill, maybe a real life experience from folks who've lived first hand through natural disasters, whatever it is, hopefully it will provide you with some new knowledge or inspire you in some way.  As always, if you have questions, please email us or leave a comment and we'll do a question and answer session soon.

Be sure and come back tomorrow for our annual emergency preparedness holiday gift guide--get ready to stuff those stockings with batteries!

Inspirational Thought

" A small daily task, if it be really daily, 

will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules."

-Anthony Trollope

Motivational Monday

"It is around the family and the home

 that all the greatest virtues...are 

created, strengthened and maintained."

Winston Churchill

Motivational Monday

Elder James E. Faust taught: “An essential part of teaching children to be disciplined and responsible is to have them learn to work. … The best teachers of the principle of work are the parents themselves. For me, work became a joy when I first worked alongside my father, grandfather, uncles, and brothers. I am sure that I was often more of an aggravation than a help, but the memories are sweet and the lessons learned are valuable. Children need to learn responsibility and independence. Are the parents personally taking the time to show and demonstrate and explain so that children can, as Lehi taught, ‘act for themselves and not … be acted upon’? (2 Nephi 2:26)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1990, 42; or Ensign, Nov. 1990, 34; see also page 50 in the Marriage and Family Relations Participant’s Study Guide).

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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 car kits, add hand sanitizer, a pen & some paper, and pocket knife, and $5-20 in change and small bills.  Sounds like a lot, but it's just a handful of small things that you probably already have around the house already.  After you have added these to your kits, you are DONE!  If you have been following along each week, you should have a completed emergency car kit!  


How's your three-month supply coming along?  Having trouble with rotating all that food?  Check out our 5 food storage rotation methods.


How's your longer-term storage going?  We're finishing up gathering "other" items this month. In June, we'll be focusing on wheat.

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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 car kit, add some jumper cables.  Hopefully you have some in your car already, but if you don't, this would be a great week to get them!  Also add some hand sanitizer.


How's your three-month supply going?  Remember to make a food storage plan, make up your shopping list, and go from there!  We have a lot of great food storage recipes to choose from when it comes to making your menu plan.


This month for our longer-term storage, we're still gathering "other" items.  Flour, sugar, yeast, salt, cocoa, etc... things that will make the basics (wheat, oats, rice, and beans) a bit more interesting!

Motivational Monday

“Teaching children the joy of honest labor is one of the greatest of all gifts you can bestow upon them” 

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles 

 (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 78; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 62).

FSF from the Archives: Recipe Roundup

Lately I've been loving some of the oldie recipes from the blog. This week I've made Super-Charge Me Cookies a big batch of whole wheat  bread and one morning when I found myself without eggs (!) I made the pantry pancakes for my girls.  Delicious!

What have you made recently?

Motivational Monday

"We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. . . . If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts."
—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances, Feb. 2007, 1

Food Storage Tuesday

Every Tuesday, we post specific items you should gather in order to supplement your emergency car kit, your three-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 kit, add an umbrella and a book (maybe scriptures, or just a favorite book you may have).  You can find one of those small umbrellas that fold up to be only a few inches long, so they won't take up too much space in your kit.  I also like to have a new paperback Book of Mormon for myself, or for giving away.


How's your three-month supply coming along?  Don't forget to stock up on hygiene items, medications, over-the-counter medicines, etc.  It's not just about food!


And finally, we are gathering "other" items this month for our longer-term storage.  Last week I found a local beekeeper through Craigslist and was able to stock up on some local raw honey.  It's delicious and I got it for a great price.  Honey is great for food storage because it never really goes "bad". (If it crystallizes you can just heat it up and it will liquify again.)