Calling All Food Storage Bloggers!

Do you write a food storage or emergency preparedness blog? Do you have a weekly or monthly food storage or emergency preparedness column on your blog? Do you have a favorite food storage or emergency preparedness blog? Are you talking to this blog post? (Sorry Even Stevens flashback.)

I'm compiling a link list of all emergency preparedness and food storage blogs for reference. Leave a link in the comments or email them to me at safelygatheredin (at) gmail (dot) com so I can check them out.

Thanks for your help!

Weekend Roundup: Try a Tin Foil Dinner

A couple of weeks ago, our family went camping. I decided to try tin foil dinners for the first time. Mountain Man has had them a lot, but it was my first time.

I made his and her tin foil dinners. Mine had a fish (tilapia) fillet with chopped veggies (zucchini, sweet potato, and red pepper). I put the fish in raw (scary) and sprinkled everything liberally with salt and pepper. Then I triple wrapped it in tin foil!
Mountain Man requested a pork chop. I sliced apples to go on top and added brown sugar and butter. He added the hot sauce. :)

This is after it had cooked in the fire. The veggies and fish had steamed perfectly in the foil. It was SO delicious.

Perfect camping food!

Served with this salad on the side. Try a tin foil dinner, it's so easy to make them to suit your tastes. Check out Sarah's tutorial here!

Saturday Roundup

Just a few things for you to read over the weekend.

LDSHelp4Hire Blog interviewed Hannah about food storage and gardening. Check out her answers here and here.

One of our sponsors, Emergency Essentials is doing a water barrel giveaway over at their blog. If you need a water barrel, go enter.

Finally, want an in depth review on the different types of oats? Simple bites has all the information plus a few great looking recipes.

Have a great weekend, ya'll!

Monthly Roundup: January

My Food Storage Deals has a great article on weevils in food storage and how to prevent and deal with them. I've had my own run-in with crawly bugs in my oats and its no fun!

Check out Food Storage Made Easy for an informative post on Emergency Heat Sources.

Interested in a peek at what a LDS dry-pack cannery looks like on the inside? Check out I Dare You to Eat It's tour right here.

Looks like Self-Reliant Sisters focused on wheat this month. They have a little chart up about what would 400 lbs of wheat make? As well as a diagram of a wheat kernel. Very informative.

Finally, don't forget to check out LDS.org's new page on Self-Reliance. At the heart of food storage is this principle of taking care of oneself and one's own family.

What are some of your favorite food storage and emergency preparedness sites?

Saturday Roundup: Welcome to December!

Some THRIVE meat has been recalled via All About Food Storage, details here. And totally unrelated to meat, there is a delicious looking recipe for dried apples here, now that's a reason to get dried apples.

Everyday Food Storage has a pdf download available on how to survive the flu as a mom. My strategy is the dvd player, saltine crackers and sprite. The ideas here are much more in depth.

Wanna learn more about split peas? Food Storage Made Easy has an informative post here.

If your home runs on gas, iPrepared explains how to shut your gas off in case of an earthquake. Also from iPrepared, details on why it's not a good idea to wax cheese to preserve it.

A great Christmas gift idea from Preparedness Brings Peace: have a neighborhood food drive instead of exchanging gifts. That would be a time and stress saver, not to mention the added benefits of service. There is even a sample invitation here.

Preparedness Matters has instructions on how to make homemade cheese from powdered milk. Looks instense, but if you are a cheese lover you may be interested.


Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Roundup: Give, Share, Serve

There are lots of good reads for this weekend!

I Dare You to Eat It has made what looks to be a delicious Apple Crisp from dehydrated apples. If you have loads of dried apples and don't know what to do with them, this recipe looks like a winner.

For those of you who have wheat allergies, Food Storage Made Easy has put up a post about wheat alternatives in food storage.

Have holiday parties on the menu? Hold off on the finger foods. Totally Ready has some tips on throwing holiday parties without passing on the germs.

The Self Reliant Sisters have scanned in the nutritional labels for all the food items available at Mormon canneries. If you aren't LDS you can go to a cannery with a Mormon friend, so buddy up.

Most importantly, Preparedness Brings Peace posted about donating canned goods that are nearing expiration dates to food banks during this holiday season. What a good way to share what you have with others.

This is also a good way to rotate through items you store, but don't care to eat. For example, if you store canned vegetables in the case of emergency, but prefer to eat fresh as often as you can, give some of the canned to those in need and restock your own supply.

You don't have to donate to a food bank either, there are families in your neighborhoods and areas who need help, ask around tactfully, and drop off an anonymous basket. Nothing will make you feel better than serving others this time of year.

Have a good weekend!

Roundup: Chicken in a Crockpot

I was really happy to see a tutorial on preparing a whole chicken in a crockpot from Happy Housewife. Cooking an entire chicken is something that I'm quite shy about (slash scared to death) but this post made it seem very easy and manageable. Plus there's the added bonus about getting the chicken broth to boot. A great basic cooking skill to have!

Have loads of wheat but no grinder? Check out this post from Food Storage Made Easy about 7 ways to use wheat without a wheat grinder.

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For our designated food storage meal this week I made burritos. Instead of just eating away, we loaded the beans into the tortillas and baked them for a few minutes to set them. Check out my awesome cell phone picture. Why can't you ever find your camera when you need it?

And yes, because I'm mom I got the dregs of the chip bag!

What did you make from your food storage this week?

Saturday Roundup

All About Food Storage has a downloadable pdf file for powdered egg and milk conversion. If you are using powdered eggs or milk in a recipe, this will make it that much easier. If you are interested in powdered eggs, check out Hannah's review of them.

All About Food Storage also had a great idea about using snack mixes to get your kids acquainted with food storage. Looks delicious to me!

Food Storage Made Easy has an extensive food substitution and measurement list, always handy to have in the kitchen.

Oh The Places You'll Go has a great idea to use food storage as a wedding gift. What a great way to get a couple started on food storage, and what cute wrappings she uses!

Finally, Self-Reliant Sisters have put together 30 days of pantry meals. They have downloadable forms for you to print off and fill out for your food storage meal plan. To read more about this idea to plan for your three-month supply read this.

Saturday Roundup: Argh! It be scurvy!

iPrepared had a couple of great posts this week. First up, making sure you have enough vitamin C stored away in your food storage. Vitamin C is the one vitamin that is not covered by the grains and beans we store.

Also, check out her great idea to have an earthquake family home evening lesson, it never hurts to prepare your children in a way that doesn't incite fear. This was a great exercise to teach older children (able to write) how to handle different situations. Often times we are more scared of the unknown, and when we think through situations before being exposed to them we are better able handle them when needed.

A thoughtful walk through of what could be missing in your food storage should you have to stop going to the store for whatever reason: Gaps in our Stockpile by The Prudent Homemaker. Via Self-Reliant Sisters.

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This week as part of our goal to constantly rotate our 3-month supply, our family had Aleasha's food storage pizza. Delish! It worked great because I split the jar of alfredo sauce between the pizza and another pasta meal later that week. And to make it an even easier meal, I used this pizza crust mix from Jiffy. It wouldn't work for a large family, but for us it's a fast, simple, and food storage friendly way to have pizza.

What did you do this week to rotate your food storage?

Saturday Roundup: Car kit revamp edition

One of the most important things to realize about food storage and emergency preparedness is that its not something you can finish and cross off a list. Food storage and emergency preparedness is ever changing and evolving, there's always rotating to be done, always clothes to update in the 72 hour packs and in my case this week, a car kit that needed to be re-done:

I glanced into the back of my car after taking a load to Goodwill and thought, what a mess!

I don't know that I'd even want to use anything from that kit.

So I cleaned it all out and repacked it, and this time, I took Hannah's advice and grabbed a box with a lid so no dirt or dog hair could get in on my emergency car kit.

What have you done this week to keep on top of your food storage?

Saturday Roundup

First up, Pioneer Woman does jam, and who doesn't love Pioneer Woman, or strawberry jam? I really like the idea of heating the jars IN the water bath pot, it makes perfect sense! So why didn't I think of it before? Part one and part two of Strawberry jam with beautiful pictures and instructions.

The Self-Reliant Sisters do a comprehensive review of water storage and why it's our #1 Priority.

Preparedness Matters shares a link to a free pdf download about home food storage and canning and all that jazz from the Utah State Extension Service.

Finally, I found Totally Ready's essay on 9/11 and other disastrous events interesting--it's true that a self-reliant person, one who has prepared for life by working hard and holding on to good values, is going to react differently than a person who believes they are entitled to help. Read A Day to Remember and Prepare.

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Roundup: Quinoa

This was one of those weeks where I didn't have a chance to breathe! I frantically called Hannah last night and yelped: "I forgot to do a Food Storage Friday!" So sorry everyone, but I did add a recipe to the test kitchen for Curried Quinoa, go check it out.

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Food Storage and Preservation posted an article about gathering your own wild edibles, might be a good skill to have. I could certainly use it when camping with Mountain Man. It takes him forever to get all set up and get dinner going! I just don't understand the big deal about getting the tent set up before dark--he's got a flashlight doesn't he?

I'm VERY interested to try this black bean brownie recipe from I Dare You to Eat It. There are just times you need something sweet, but don't have any eggs! Plus, a little extra protein never hurt anyone.

A few of you have written in about having really old beans and not knowing how to cook them. iPrepared has written a post about how to cook OLD beans. Love it when someone else does my work for me.

The prices at the LDS cannery have dropped! Everyday Food Storage has written about it and has included some valuable links about the price changes and bulk to can ratios.

Totally Ready Blog has written an article about CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) explaining how it works and its benefits. Sounds like a great idea for people interested in buying local and who can't garden on their own.

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Do you have a food storage and/or emergency preparedness blog? Email me at safelygatheredin@gmail dot com, so I can include you in my roundup!

Weekend Roundup

I made granola this week, eating it with yogurt and fresh fruit. Oh, it's SO good.


What did you make this week from your food storage? Post about it on your blog and leave your link below!

Note: Please remember that this rotation link is to share what meal you or your family cooked out of your food storage this week. Links promoting merchandise or websites will be deleted. Please link directly to your 3-Month Supply Rotation post.

Weekend Rounup: Gardening Edition

Don't have money for peat pellets? Plant your seeds in egg shells, tutorial here at Imagine Childhood via the Crafty Crow. Looks like a fun activity to do with kids.

Check out The Simple Dollar's garden preparation post. It covers all the basics of a return gardener.

And finally, Preparedness Brings Peace has a bunch of gardening links here


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Enjoy General Conference everyone, and don't forget to rotate your 72 hour kits!

Weekend Roundup: The 'I Forgot to Post Last Week' Edition

Not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and wondering why we Mormons make such a big deal about food storage? Explore the Provident Living home page here and Humanitarian Aid and Welfare here.

Also, everyone ought to check out the March 2009 edition of the Ensign, a Church published magazine. In it are three articles dedicated to food storage and self-reliance: The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Becoming Self-Reliant Spiritually and Physically, and Family Home Storage: A New Message pretty darn awesome. You can download the March issue as a pdf file in it's entirety here.

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I Dare You To Eat It has a great idea about using your dish washing soap containers for storage here, I will definitely be adopting this idea, she also has several water storage links for those who are interested.

Have you ever needed cake flour but didn't have it in your pantry? Preparedness Brings Peace has a recipe here and also a common substitution list here.

For those of you who are confused about the difference between white wheat and red white, What's With All The Food? has a great comparison post up here.

A new website has popped up, dedicated solely to exploring the different types of flashlights. So if you have any burning questions about flashlights and which kind is right for your family, head on over to Emergency Flashlight Now. You don't have to respond now, that's the actual name of the blog.

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We have finally set up a feed burner on this here blog, to deliver posts via email. I have transferred everyone who was on our blogger email list, as well as those who emailed but didn't make the cut...because blogger only accommodates 10 emails. So, if you are interested in getting our posts via email, add your email to the feed burner on the right hand column. You will have to confirm this decision by going to your email and clicking on a link provided by feed burner.

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Wow. That's a lot of links. I hope I didn't mess any up.

Weekend Roundup: PW and a winner

We have a winner for our first aid kit!

We had 255 comments by midnight on Friday, so we asked Random.org to generate us a number.

And it came up with.....

210! 

Congratulations, Sondra!  (I know it looks like it's comment 10, but for some reason our comment counter starts over at 200, so don't worry, it's right).  Please email us at safelygatheredin (at) gmail.com with your mailing address so we can get your prize to you.

And now for a few favorite articles from the week...

I love Pioneer Woman. She's witty and funny and down to earth, and makes great food. I think that if she knew who I was, she'd like me too. As it is, she has no clue I exist. But that's okay, especially when she pulls out a refried bean recipe. That's right--PW herself makes homemade refried beans and they look delicious.

On the soft side of food storage, check out The Simple Dollar's post on The Giving Pocket. It is my personal belief that God gives us the commandment to have a food storage not just so we can always feed our families, but also so we will always have enough to help those who don't have any. "Because I have been given much, I too must give."

Weekend Roundup: Winners Announced (and a recipe contest from Shelf Reliance!)

Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's giveaway - we got a lot of great comments!

We used Random.org to generate 2 random numbers for us. The winners are....

Numbers 96 and 41!!

Congratulations, Michelle and Nat! Please email us at safelygatheredin (at) gmail.com to claim your first aid flash cards. If you didn't win, but are interested in purchasing these cards, check out Nuru's website. It looks like shipping is free for these cards.

And in other news....

Shelf Reliance is having a recipe contest using food storage items!! Send in your recipes to them, and they've got some GREAT prizes to give away. The recipes don't need to be non-perishables only - they just need to use some sort of food storage! Sounds exciting... I know WE will be entering! For more information, check out their website here. Hurry, because this contest ends in 1 week!

I Dare You To Eat It has a wheat berry tutorial up using a crockpot. She puts these wheat berries in all sorts of recipes, no grinder needed.

Looking for a use for your empty #10 cans? Preparedness Brings Peace has a tutorial up for making a stove out of your used cans.

If you didn't win the cansolidator last week and desperately wanted one, Food Storage Made Easy has a tutorial and directions for making a can rotating rack using a cardboard box.

Weekend Roundup and Q & A #8

Every once in a blue moon we will post some questions that readers have asked with some (hopefully) good answers. Please be patient as we try to answer all your questions. More questions? Email us!

Previous Question and Answer Posts


Other Informative Posts:
All About Oats
All About Beans
Let's Talk About Wheat
All About Rice
All About Rice Storage


My hubby always gets the wheat grass "shots" at Jamba, is this the same thing?

I had a couple of questions about the wheat grass in smoothies when I posted the wheat grass tutorial. My daughters both have low iron in their blood and as they aren't big meat eaters, I make them spinach shakes for breakfast occasionally. I puree either fresh or frozen spinach with orange juice concentrate (to increase iron absorption) as well as frozen or fresh fruit and yogurt. When I have wheat grass growing, I'll snip off a handful and throw it in the blender with all the rest. It's delicious, and my daughters, as well as Mountain Man love the result. I don't know if the wheat grass really increases the benefits of the shake, but it sure makes me feel better. Like they're getting TWO servings of vegetables for breakfast! Kind of makes me chuckle.

So, what is wheat grass juice? According to my research (gotta love google) it's wheat grass that is fully grown and put through a juicer. This made me shudder because when I was young, my parents invested in a juicer and made us all drink carrot juice for breakfast. Any of my social or emotional issues I blame on this period of my life. I did some more "research" to see if you could make wheat grass juice in a blender and came across a slightly disturbing youtube video of a man making wheat grass juice. He blended wheat grass in a blender until it was a ball of pulp, then he put it in a sieve type bag (I'm guessing cheesecloth would work as well) and squeezed all the juice out of the ball of pulp with his hands. He then proceeded yell and rant about how this juice would cost him $10 in a store and he made it without an expensive juicer. While I applaud his ingenuity, quite frankly, he scared me. But there you have it, with a blender, cheesecloth or some type of sieve, and wheat grass you can make wheat grass juice too.


I have always wanted to make English Muffins, but have been a bit scared over the griddle part. What's an approximate time per side?

Honestly I don't know. I've never been a timer type of gal. I just hang tight next to the stove top for my first couple of batches, checking the bottom of the muffin to see when it is lightly browned. Depending on the heat of your griddle, I would say 1-2 minutes. And I ALWAYS test the first batch to make sure it's done all the way through--I'm just looking out for my family. It's just like pancakes though, so don't be scared. Um, do you have a smoke detector?

How did you store the leftovers (english muffins)? I wonder if I could freeze some after they have cooled...

I'm sure you could freeze them. Almost anything bread-like freezes well. I've never frozen them because they don't ever last long here. We eat lots hot off the griddle, because that's when they're best, then toasted for breakfast, and then for english muffin mini pizzas. Kids love 'em.

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Have a wheat allergy in your family? Preparedness Brings Peace has an article about the different types of substitutions you can make when baking.

Totally Ready has put out an informative post all about glowsticks and their uses in emergency situations which I found interesting, my only exposure to glowsticks being at firework shows.

Weekend Roundup: Thank You Edition!

Thank you readers for all your positive support. This blog wouldn't have lasted very long with out the response you have given. Especially reader Christy sharing the idea of using Reeses Peanut Butter Cups instead of chocolate bars in Smores. Oh sweet mercy.



Thank you to Just Organize Yourself for nominating us to the Kreativ Blogger award and








to Confessions of An Overworked Mom for nominating us for the Lemonade award. I feel so popular.



Food Storage...A Necessary Adventure alerted me to the chart on Today While The Sun Shines. It has all sorts of food storage equivalents, for example, one gallon of wheat is equal to 7lbs. Handy!

Holy storage, Batman! Check out the long list of storage space ideas at Food Storage Made Easy.

Self-Reliant Sisters has done a Sample 72 Hour Kit post including pictures, very informative.

Weekend Roundup: Wheat bread Anyone?

Don't know how much of a food you eat? Try writing the date you open a package on the bag itself or in your calendar, then when the food is gone, compare back to the opening date.

Smitten Kitchen has a delicious looking recipe for wheat bread here; totally food storage friendly.

Besides making me long (as in 'want') for an iRobot, I enjoyed this article about the spiritual aspects of getting prepared from Food Storage and Preparation.

iPrepared shared an informative article on ways to stay warm when the heater isn't working. Sounds like one big sleepover to me!

Washing clothes by hand is not on my top ten list of fun things to do, but Preparedness Brings Peace has a tutorial for what supplies you need and how to do it if there was an emergency situation.

Hannah and I recommend making a menu plan for your 3-Month Supply and shopping off of that, so you have specific meals you can use during an emergency situation. But if you like basic lists, check out Everyday Food Storage for a pdf file of 3-Month Supply basics.