As is standard for the new year, Abbie and I have made some food storage / emergency prep goals for 2010. Now is the perfect time to make goals, in my opinion. It's winter... it's cold... we stay inside a lot. The holidays are over. Now I can actually contemplate what I would like to accomplish this year, and actually write down my aspirations and how I will accomplish them. Because goals without stepping stones are just dreams, in my opinion.
Abbie's 2010 Goals
1. Switch out 72-hour kits to follow the guidelines talking about in this post (specifically the shaker cups and protein shakes) to cut down on bulky packs.
a. start price-comparison shopping for these items, both online and in stores
b. start buying them as I can afford them, and switch them out as I get them
2. Build water storage
a. buy a case of bottled water each quarter
b. wash and fill five 2 L bottles each month according to this post
3. Restock my 3-month supply. I used up a lot of it during a tricky financial time and it's pretty pathetic looking now. Just macaroni and cheese and some vegetables.
a. buy a few extra items each trip to the grocery store
b. look over my menu plan and perhaps tweak it to include some of our newer non-perishable recipes.
Hannah's 2010 Goals
1. Finish 72-hour kits for our family. Would you believe that my kits aren't done yet, even though we have completed the 72-hour kit on-going project twice?! Yeah, pitiful I know. :)
a. buy the items from the on-going project when we do 72-hour kits again
b. actually add them to our kits. Sometimes I just put the items next to the kits in my closet. Because I'm lazy. But that doesn't do my any good if I'm in a rush and only grab my backpacks/buckets.
c. buy something better for our kits to be in. Right now we have just backpacks but I'd love to also have a rolling suitcase or something like that.
2. Decide what to do with my 3-month supply
a. My husband will be graduating from medical school this year (woo hoo!!) and we will be moving in May/June. The only problem is, we don't know where we will be moving for his 5 year residency. We also don't know if we will be moving once or twice (he has to do a preliminary year somewhere first, and it may or may not be in the same place as his 4-year radiology residency). If we move someplace for 1 year and then have to move again for the last 4 years, we will probably be putting a lot of stuff in storage for the first year, until we get a house in residency. Do I store my food storage? Do we bring it with us to a tiny apartment (which is where I'm guessing we'll live)? Do we just eat through it now and start all over again? Do I just give it to Abbie? haha no (sorry Abs!).
3. Practice now so that I can be confident in an emergency.
a. I really don't know how well I would do without electricity. Could I cook a decent dinner over a fire, or with a camp stove? Where do I start?
b. Once per month or two, make a meal using our food storage recipes, and don't use electricity.
4. Make a will (this definitely counts for emergency prep!)
a. We don't have any assets (med school, remember?), but we have two kids that would need taking care of. We owe it to them (and our extended family) to have plans made for what we want to happen to them, and to our things.
We'll be updating you monthly on our progress, so keep us honest!
What are your 2010 food storage / emergency prep goals?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Best of 2009
2009 was a great year! We have come a long way with our food storage, and we hope you have too. Here are some of our favorite posts from 2009. Be sure to check them out, especially if you are new to our blog!
Small Steps to Emergency Preparedness
How to Grow Wheatgrass
What I Wish I'd Known During the 2008 Ice Storm
72-Hour Kits: For Pets
72-Hour Kit Distribution: Who Carries What?
Cooking with a Solar Oven
Home Tour: Hannah's Food Storage
Home Tour: Abbie's Food Storage
Food Storage for Sick Days
Review: Adequate Nutrition During an Emergency
Cold Weather Preparedness
Keeping Discouragement at Bay
Food Storage Gift Ideas
We are really looking forward to 2010 - more things to learn, more things to share with you, and more food storage!!
Small Steps to Emergency Preparedness
How to Grow Wheatgrass
What I Wish I'd Known During the 2008 Ice Storm
72-Hour Kits: For Pets
72-Hour Kit Distribution: Who Carries What?
Cooking with a Solar Oven
Home Tour: Hannah's Food Storage
Home Tour: Abbie's Food Storage
Food Storage for Sick Days
Review: Adequate Nutrition During an Emergency
Cold Weather Preparedness
Keeping Discouragement at Bay
Food Storage Gift Ideas
We are really looking forward to 2010 - more things to learn, more things to share with you, and more food storage!!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tuesday: It's a New Year!
We hope your New Year is going well, and we hope you are all revved up to start a GREAT year, full of food storage and emergency preparedness. I mean, isn't that what ALL your resolutions were about??? No?? I can't imagine that any of you would be thinking of anything else. I know WE aren't... ha. Speaking of resolutions, Abbie and I have each made some food storage/emergency prep-related goals, and we're going to share them with you on Thursday. We'd love to hear about yours then, too!
We are almost done with our 72-hour kits! This week, get a camp stove and/or BBQ, and fuel. Now, these can be a bit pricey, but shop around. Check out secondhand stores, and shop for deals online. Sometimes you can find great deals on these. You could even just get a backpacking stove, which Abbie's husband tells us all about in this post. Be sure to also get the right kind of fuel for whatever unit you get.
I know this can be a challenge, and it will cost some money. Think about the food in your 72-hour kits, though. How do you plan to cook it? If you think a campfire will suffice, that's fine. However, it's a good idea to look into camp stoves as another option as well. If anyone has any recommendations, make a comment - we'd love to hear them!
How is your three-month supply coming along? Remember, your three-month supply should be made up of food that your family eats regularly. Tweak your daily recipes so that they can be made with non-perishables only, and then store up all the ingredients in your three-month supply. One huge benefit to this is that you'll rotate your food without even thinking about it, because you'll be eating it normally! Just be sure to add the items to your grocery list when you take them off the shelf. Check out our "Tutorials" page to read about some of our favorite rotation tips. Click here to read about how to make a plan for your three-month supply - you don't have to do it all at once!
This month we are gathering beans for our longer-term storage. Canned beans, dry beans, whatever you want! Beans are very versatile and there are so many kinds you can get. Click here to check out our bean recipes - they use non-perishables only, so they're great for your three-month supply meals too! We've got lots of food storage recipes that I'm sure you'll enjoy.
We are almost done with our 72-hour kits! This week, get a camp stove and/or BBQ, and fuel. Now, these can be a bit pricey, but shop around. Check out secondhand stores, and shop for deals online. Sometimes you can find great deals on these. You could even just get a backpacking stove, which Abbie's husband tells us all about in this post. Be sure to also get the right kind of fuel for whatever unit you get.
I know this can be a challenge, and it will cost some money. Think about the food in your 72-hour kits, though. How do you plan to cook it? If you think a campfire will suffice, that's fine. However, it's a good idea to look into camp stoves as another option as well. If anyone has any recommendations, make a comment - we'd love to hear them!
How is your three-month supply coming along? Remember, your three-month supply should be made up of food that your family eats regularly. Tweak your daily recipes so that they can be made with non-perishables only, and then store up all the ingredients in your three-month supply. One huge benefit to this is that you'll rotate your food without even thinking about it, because you'll be eating it normally! Just be sure to add the items to your grocery list when you take them off the shelf. Check out our "Tutorials" page to read about some of our favorite rotation tips. Click here to read about how to make a plan for your three-month supply - you don't have to do it all at once!
This month we are gathering beans for our longer-term storage. Canned beans, dry beans, whatever you want! Beans are very versatile and there are so many kinds you can get. Click here to check out our bean recipes - they use non-perishables only, so they're great for your three-month supply meals too! We've got lots of food storage recipes that I'm sure you'll enjoy.
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