Motivational Monday

"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. 

The question is: what are we busy about?

Henry David Thoreau

Food Storage WIN!

Our congregation at church is very transient.  It's full of students and medical/dental residents, so every spring we have a huge turnover of people.  Over the next 7 weeks, 14 families are moving out of our congregation and we'll probably get about a dozen more (or closer to 2 dozen if it's anything like last year!).

For some reason, food storage seems to fall by the wayside for many people who are moving.  They would rather just leave it behind and start over in their new home.  I understand that reasoning, especially if you are trying to move "light".  Food storage takes up a lot of space and is anything but light.  It can also be bulky and just hard to pack. In fact, in both of our moves over the last two years, we have opted to eat through our storage so that we wouldn't have to move it (we ate it rather than selling it).

So, I scored big time a couple weeks ago when an email went out to everyone in our congregation.  A woman was selling boxes of wheat for $8.  Yes, those boxes of 6 #10 cans that sell for $28 online!  I called her right away to confirm that she was sure on the price, and when she said that she was, I told her that I would come pick them all up right away.  When I got there, she also threw in 2 cans of oats, 2 cans of powdered milk, and 2 canisters of salt.  Oh, and half of a BIG bag of wheat gluten (not pictured).  So, I basically bought about $250 worth of food storage for $64.  Score!

While I am happy about my purchase, I also have to say that I was a little disheartened by the fact that only one other person at church contacted this woman about buying her food storage (and she did sell her an extra box, by the way).  Even at this great a deal, no one was even interested.  I understand that many people don't eat/store wheat for whatever reason, but I would have hoped that more people would have responded to this great deal (although, let's be honest, I was happy to not have much competition for it).  I would hope that most people would have at least $8 laying around that they could have spent on just one box.

Great deals like this are another reason it's important to save money as well as saving food.  When great deals come along, you can jump on them and pay with cash!  When I was first married, I certainly could not have afforded to spend $64 on a bunch of food storage (we could only afford $100 per month on food to eat!), but I hope that we would have been able to scrape up at least $8 for one box, just to get us started.  Every little bit helps, and when a great deal comes along it's nice to be able to take advantage of it.

As more and more people are moving out, I've been asking around to see if anyone needs any help "unloading" on some food storage before they go. :)  This is a great way to find a good deal, especially if people don't want to move it anyway and are looking to get rid of it.

Have you ever gotten a great deal on food storage?

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 a basic first aid kit.  You can find these in any big box store.  The small pouch kits would probably be fine, but find whatever you think will work for your family and add it to your kit.  Make sure it will fit in your car kit box.


How's your three-month supply coming along?  It can be hard to plan a three-month supply of food based around meals that you don't normally eat.  In my family, I mostly prepare meals from fresh ingredients.  I rarely cook prepared meals or things from a box, so it's hard for me to think of possibly eating these types of foods for three months if an emergency came up.  Keep in mind that you don't have to only store these kinds of foods for your three-month supply!  A bag of pinto beans, some dried onions, and a variety of spices simmering in the crock pot all day make an incredibly delicious meal, and it's very filling.  Add rice and it will go even further.  You don't have to only store Ramen and cans of prepared soup!  Check out our food storage recipes for some more ideas as you plan your three month supply.


This month for our longer-term storage, we're gathering rice.

Motivational Monday

“We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour,
each day, making choices. We choose the thoughts we
allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves
to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to
perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever
value system we’ve selected to govern our lives. In
selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way,
making the most important choice we will ever make."

Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790

Southern Gardening Update

Yes, I know that today is Friday, and we usually share food storage recipes on Friday... I'm a day late on this post but I wanted to share how our garden is going here in Florida.  It's quite a bit different from Abs' northern garden that she shared last week!

I'm really glad that my husband thought to plant the big vine plants on the edges... that way they can just hang over the side and not encroach upon the other plants.  Good thinking!  We have watermelon and cantaloupe there on the bottom corner.


We've already harvested some lettuce for salads and sandwiches... we ended up keeping all 4 of our lettuce plants in the two squares we planted them in.  I originally thought I'd have to move some, but they haven't gotten too large or close together so I think they'll stay put.  In the picture it looks like they are all over each other but in fact they are separated quite nicely.  And I have to say, I've been pretty impressed with how quickly they recover from harvesting.  I ripped leaves off almost an entire plant about 4 days ago, and it looks full again already.  I am really glad we planted that lettuce!

And, you can't see them very well in the back corner but I'm a little unhappy with how a couple of the tomatoes are doing... I don't know if we planted them too early or what, but they just aren't growing nearly as well or as quickly as the other plants.  I will give them a bit more time, but I am tempted to buy some starters if they don't start to perk up.  Tomatoes are my favorite garden vegetable so I am really counting on them to do well!


How are your gardens going?

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 a package of wet wipes and a roll of toilet paper.  Wet wipes can always come in handy, even if you don't have children.  For easier (and smaller) t.p. storage, take the cardboard out of the center of the roll so that you can store it a bit flatter to save space.  Just put it all in a plastic bag to keep it clean.


How's your three-month supply going?  There are so many reasons why a three-month supply of food is important.  There are personal reason - job loss, sickness, unexpected emergencies.  There are also larger-scale reasons.  In an uncertain world, we just don't know life is going to bring us.  For example, natural disasters seem to happen regularly, in many parts of the world.  We just don't know when something is going to hit us, and it's best to be prepared.  Wouldn't it be comforting to know that you could survive in your home for 3 months, without ever having to leave if you didn't need to?  I find it comforting (well, it would be comforting, if my 3-month supply was done!  It's always a work in progress).


This month for our longer-term storage, we are gathering rice.

Motivational Monday

"We are all self-reliant in some areas and dependent in others. Therefore, each of us should strive to help others in areas where we have strengths. At the same time, pride should not prevent us from graciously accepting the helping hand of another when we have a real need. To do so denies another person the opportunity to participate in a sanctifying experience."

Marion G. Romney, “The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance,” Ensign, Mar 2009, 61–65

Northern Garden update

While Hannah already has plants growing in her garden down south, up here in the north things are moving a bit more slowly.

Our apartment complex has a great feature in a community garden. Anyone who is interested in gardening can sign up for a plot for have for the growing season. Just last week we were assigned our garden plot.

I wish I would have remembered to take a before picture but here's our after. We spent probably two hours weeding and turning over the garden with shovels. It was definitely not as easy as using a tiller!  Mountain Man isn't convinced that we don't need to till it still since the clumps are so big and hard to break down, but I do think we've made some progress.

These are the other plots next to ours, so you can kind of get a before idea.  Each light colored stick signals a different plot.

All the area behind the fences are garden plots. Although we live in a city, the apartment complex is set back next to a county park so there's quite a bit of wildlife.  There are all fences surrounding each garden area (there are three different gardens) and small rabbit fence surrounding each plot.  Since this is our first garden here, I'm interested/scared to see what damage the critters will do.

Next up: plan the plants, and wait for the freeze warnings to stop.

Anyone else up north getting ready to gear up and garden?

Jamming

One big part of food storage is learning to preserve foods on your own.  It's strawberry season here in the South, and last week I took my daughters with me to a u-pick farm.  We picked 20 lbs!


                                            


Instead of using a conventional freezer jam recipe, though (you know, the recipe on the pectin box), I decided to try a new (to me) recipe that uses agave or honey instead of sugar.  I was kind of nervous because the pectin box says "Do NOT use sugar substitutes like honey", but I am assuming they say that because, if you use honey with their recipe, it will not set up correctly.  But, I used a different recipe altogether so it was okay.


(We've made strawberry jam here on the blog before.  Here is the regular freezer jam method that uses sugar, and here is the more traditional, non-freezer strawberry jam method).


The recipe is below.  I didn't take step-by-step pictures but it is pretty straightforward.  I made 4 batches, and used just over half of my berries.  Sadly, I don't know exactly where this recipe is from (my mother-in-law sent it to me), but if anyone knows, please tell me so I can credit them!


                                            
   Honey Strawberry Freezer Jam

   Makes about six 8-10 oz. jars

   4 pints of strawberries (about three pounds of berries)
   1 cup of apple juice
   1/2 cup of water
   1 package of No Sugar Needed Pectin
   1 T lemon juice
   1 cup of honey/agave

   1.  Clean and stem berries.  Mash one layer of berries at a time
in a large bowl until all berries are mashed.

   2.  In a small saucepan, whisk together apple juice, water, and
pectin.  Bring to a hard boil and boil for one minute.

   3.  Add honey/agave and lemon juice to berries and stir well.  Add in
hot pectin mixture and stir well again to make sure everything is
combined.

   4.  Ladle into clean jars (glass is fine) and screw on lids.  Let
sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to set up and then transfer to
the freezer to store.


(I let mine sit on the counter for several hours while they set up, then transferred them to the freezer.)


The jam was delicious and I think it's just as good (if not better!) than the jams that are full of sugar.  It's definitely worth a try!  I used agave for 2 full batches, and then honey for two other batches (though I think one batch had a mixture of the two).  All taste great!


Good luck!

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 some high-energy (high calorie) snacks, and a flashlight & batteries (or, a crank flashlight that doesn't need batteries).


Some ideas for snacks would be: some sort of jerky, mixed nuts, granola bars (without melt-y chocolate!), etc.  You could also put in crackers, etc... whatever you feel like you might want or need.


How's your three-month supply going?  To be honest, I'm struggling at the moment.  Do you ever go through phases where you are just tired of food?  I'm sure I'm not the only one.  I get tired of thinking about it, tired of all the planning it requires, tired of just looking at it sometimes (is it obvious that I'm pregnant?  Thankfully the first trimester will be over in a few days and hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!).  But seriously, I have been having a really hard time even looking at food that food storage has been a bit challenging lately.  The idea of food in general has just been nauseating.  In fact, some of our supply has been depleted lately because I can't even think about making a trip to the store and seeing all that food.  Just another reason why a three-month supply is so important!  We have certainly not starved as a result of my temporary sickness, thanks to a rather healthy supply that we started out with.

This month for our longer-term storage, we are gathering rice.  However, don't let that keep you from stocking up on other things that you might want or need!  I just scored an incredible deal on some #10 cans of wheat that I bought from a friend who is moving... I'll share the details with you soon.  But, don't forget to think outside the box when it comes to acquiring food storage, and don't limit yourself to what you will buy each month... you don't want to pass up an opportunity to stock up on something different!

Motivational Monday

"Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

 

Alma 37:6

Food Storage Recipe from the Archives: Homemade English Muffins

Don't you hate when you reaaaally want a certain thing to eat, but it's nowhere to be found in your house?


I hardly ever buy English Muffins, but I love them.  Instead of hopping in the car to go buy some, it's a bit easier to just make them at home sometimes (because let's face it, when you have kids at home all day, there's no such thing as hopping in the car and going to the store for just one item).


Abs shared this English Muffin recipe a while back, and it's definitely worth a shot if you're a bread lover like I am!



Do you ever see a recipe and decide to make it right then? That's what happened when I saw an english muffin recipe at The Happy Housewife. I love english muffins and started them mere seconds after reading the recipe. They were delicious, so naturally I thought that I ought to see if I could make them food storage friendly. So I did, and here they are.




And just because they are made with only non perishables, didn't stop me from slathering the freshly baked ones with loads of butter.


Ingredients: Flour, powdered milk, water, honey, oil, salt, yeast and cornmeal. When 70% of the food is in nontraditional packaging, you know it's food storage.


Start off by adding your powdered milk to a mixing bowl. When you reconstitute powdered milk you add 1/3 cup of powdered milk to 8 oz or one cup of water. Perfect measurements right? Well, when you only need 1/2 cup of milk you can still do 1/2 cup of water but you have to eyeball the powdered milk because, unfortunately for me, I don't have a 1/6 measuring cup. Oh, how I wished I did if only for the sake of food storage.


Add the water to reconstitute the milk, as well as the water called for in the recipe.


Add the salt


and the honey and mix together.


Now add half the flour


and the yeast


and mix again until it looks like pancake batter. I did this all by hand by the way.


See? Pancake batter.


Now cover and let rise for one hour.


When you come back, the dough should look like this, all bubbly and hopefully bigger.


Now add the oil, I used canola oil.


And the rest of the flour. The first time I made these, I used half white flour and half whole wheat, and they were delicious. This time I used all white flour, and they were still delicious. It's a win-win situation.


Mix together, if you aren't using a mixer, you may have to get your hands dirty a little bit to combine the dough.


Sprinkle a clean surface with cornmeal


And roll out the dough


Dip a cup or cookie cutter into flour to keep it from sticking to the dough


Princesses are very big at our house and coincidentally are perfect size for making english muffins.


Cut out the english muffins, and when you've cut out as many as you can out of one rolling, gather up the leftover dough and roll out again to cut out more muffins.


And place them on a sheet of wax paper. Place them cornmeal side down (not like I did) and then they won't stick to the wax paper.


I can't remember from making these how many the recipe turns out, but it looks like from this picture there are 18.


Cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise for another hour.


They should look like this, nice and puffy.


Heat a griddle over medium high heat and drizzle with a little oil to make a nonstick surface.


Grill your english muffins on each side. You'll have to watch your first batch carefully to determine what your optimum cooking time is. You want them to be browned on each side and it's okay to taste test one to make sure its done in the middle.


Hello, beautiful. You can actually pull this apart with your hands, just like the store bought ones, no knife necessary.


Eat straight off the griddle, or toast to have with your breakfast in the morning. They are delicious any way you try them!


English Muffins
adapted from The Happy Housewife


1 cup hot water
1/2 cup prepared powdered milk or 1/2 cup water and half of 1/3 cup powdered milk
2 tsp honey
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour (you can use 1/2 white 1/2 whole wheat)
2 tsp instant yeast
2 Tbsp oil
Cornmeal


Add water, powdered milk (and water for powdered milk), honey and salt to a mixing bowl. Combine. Add 2 cups of flour and yeast and stir until combined. Cover with a clean towel and allow to rise for one hour. Add remaining 2 cups of flour and oil and stir until well combined. Roll out onto a cornmeal covered surface and using a cookie cutter or cup, cut out round shapes. Let cut muffins rise, covered, for another hour. Heat a griddle to medium high heat and grease with a little oil. Grill muffins on both sides until lightly brown and cooked in the middle. Eat!

Southern Gardening Update

Hannah is planting a raised-bed garden in Florida - follow along with her if you are in a similar climate!

How is your garden coming along?  Here is the most recent picture of ours.  As a recap -- I am doing a 4' x 4' raised garden bed.  We have planted strawberries, peppers, jalepenos, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe.

As you can see above, we did double up on a couple plants in each square foot.  The reason for that was that we weren't sure how each plant would do, so we wanted to "start" a couple plants in each square.  Notice that we have 2 lettuce plants in 2 of the squares (4 plants total.... the lettuce is in the center on top of the picture).  It appears that all 4 plants have done well, which is good, but they really are too close for optimal growing.  So, we will transplant two of the plants, probably to other parts of the yard to see how they do.  Hopefully they will mature quickly and we can start eating that lettuce soon.  It's starting to get quite warm here and lettuce is mostly a cooler-weather plant (which we discovered after we planted... guess we didn't read up well enough on that!).

Everything else seems to be coming along pretty well.  Our biggest concern is keeping the squirrels away... does anyone have any suggestions for that??  We have some pretty crazy squirrels in our neighborhood... one even keeps eating the wires in our neighbors car, costing them hundreds of dollars for repairs.  I'm not even sure a net would keep these guys away from our garden.  Does anyone have any ideas?

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 bottled waters.  In the past, there has been some controversy about how to store water in your car.  Many people believe that it is unsafe to store bottle water in your car in hot weather, because the plastic could release toxins.  If you are concerned about this, rotate your water regularly.

You should have at least one water bottle per seat in your car.

How is your three-month supply coming along?  A three-month supply of food in your house can be a great blessing in many situations, and it doesn't have to be saved for emergencies only!  I love knowing that I have many meals to choose from in my pantry, even if I haven't made it to the grocery store recently.  Many days, I have good intentions of making it to the store but for one reason or another, I just don't.  Having a three-month supply meal plan puts my mind at ease!  I also like knowing that if something dire did happen in our family (a job loss, short or extended sickness, etc.), we would still be able to feed our family pretty well no matter our financial situation.

This month for our longer-term storage, we are gathering rice!!

Motivational Monday

“The world is busy with its own cares,
sorrows and joys, and pays little heed to
you. There is but one great pass-word to
success,—self-reliance.”

William George Jordan
(1864 - 1928)