In recent months I have been asked repeatedly how new comers can catch up. I’ve been asked for a summary of our Seven Steps from last year (365 Days to be prepared) as well as a list of what we have already added to our General Store. I have been asked where to get more information on topics we have already discussed. With this in mind we are introducing a Totally Ready Newsletter.

You will no longer have to wonder what you missed when on vacation or recovering from an illness or just a busy week. I will announce special offers for preparedness supplies as I find good deals or arrange for discounts with suppliers or manufacturers. For a complete list of the sections and topics to be covered please check out the information on the newsletter link above.

Wedding season is upon us and a gift subscription would be a great way to help get the newly webs off to a great start! And of course there is Father’s Day!

A great gift for those you care about most…

Many of you have told me of your frustration with friends and family who are not preparing.

Our first newsletter will explain the importance of preparedness, review our three month supply, introduce the General Store concept,

bring you up-to-speed on the H1N1 flu virus, and include an e-book discount for our new e-book – all this for subscribers only!

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

If you are a member of a preparedness or other group, please contact me directly about a group rate

Carolyn@TotallyReady.com

I have said in the past that I am not a big coupon shopper but I understand it is a very valid way to stretch your shopping dollar. Supermom commented on Monday’s post that there were coupons available for soup on the internet. That got me thinking again about coupons and some ways to get our three month supply with limited funds. Here are a few thoughts:

Know store policies:
(1) Do they take coupons? Do they double coupons every day, some days or never?  Do they honor Internet coupons?

(2) Know which stores give rain checks. Always ask for a rain check and be sure to ask if the item on sale is regularly stocked or if it was just brought in for that sale. At Christmas I asked for a rain check at Longs and they told me the marshmallow cream I wanted was a seasonal item, and sure enough they never had it again. Darn! Wanted that for smores in an emergency.

(3) Will the store match a competitors price? If they will you are really in luck, no driving around town to take advantage of sales. When I find an item in a sale flier that I want to purchase I throw the flier in the car so as I run errands I am sure to have it with me.

(4) Know when sales begin. Around here grocery stores begin their sale week on Wednesday. The discount pharmacy stores on Sunday. As we move forward with our General Store this becomes very important. For example, this week we are working on soup. No one around here had soup on sale Monday but Wednesday the sales change so we have two chances to get that soup on sale. Maybe today someone will have soup on sale. Advice for future weeks, when we discuss an item to be purchased that week, if it is on sale get it before Wednesday. If it is not on sale wait until Wed.( or whichever day of the week new sales begin) and see if it goes on sale then. It’s awful when you run out Monday to purchase something and then on Wednesday it goes on sale. Do keep up however and don’t wait until next week or you will fall behind in obtaining your three month supply.

(5) Know your prices. You may want to start a list in your binder with a column for the items and columns for the stores you frequent. Copy prices from your sales receipts onto the list and before long you will have a record of where an items can be purchased the least expensively. If you want to accomplish this more quickly take your older children with you and give each one a list of items to price. Go to several stores, and compile a complete list when you get home. This will also teach children to become wise shoppers, as they see the price differences can be considerable. Now when a store has a sale you will know if it is a real bargain or just so, so.

(6) Remember the seasonal sales. Many grocery store items are on sale every six weeks. Others have a 12 week cycle and some are seasonal. I will try to have you add seasonal items to your General Store when it is appropriate but you should also have your own list of those times for when you are restocking as you rotate. The list is in Mother Hubbard or if you followed our seven steps you should already have it in your Seven Steps binder.

Coupons:

(1) Collect coupons for items you normally purchase. If they have a one week expiration and the item is not on sale right now, don’t bother. Clipping coupons for items you don’t use is a budget killer. You just end up tempted by the savings and using your money on items other than those you really need. Remember your goal to become self reliant. You want all your efforts focused on the essentials for a three month supply and after that is accomplished you can be more adventurous with your grocery budget.

(2) Combine coupons with store sales. Purchase the limit allowed. Even if you only need three cans of spaghetti sauce to complete your three month supply purchase the fourth. Don’t get carried away but when it is just a can or two buy it.

(3) Get organized. You have a binder that you are using for your General Store so add some page protectors to that and use them to organize coupons. Be sure to have one for each category. A recipe box is also a good way to organize by category. Also create a system for organizing your coupons while you are shopping. More than once I have checked out only to discover I never gave the clerk my coupon for an item. Am I the only one who has done this?

(4) Coupons can be found in many places. Newspapers; the Sunday paper, local coupons appear in weekday ads, paper carriers often have extra papers, some schools supply newspapers to classrooms (get to know a teacher). Share with friends. Ask friends for their newspapers or begin a swap group at work, church or with other soccer moms. Magazines have coupons. If you find one while waiting in the dentist’s office or at the hairdresser ask if you can clip it.

What are your ideas?

Since this is soup week for our General Store, here are two coupons I found along with a coupon site I like:

http://progressotastechallenge.com/Progresso_Soup_Coupons.aspx

http://walgreens.shoplocal.com/walgreens/Default.aspx?action=browsepagedetail&storeid=2425446&rapid=650726&listingid=-2090333232&pretailerid=-99389&afsrc=1

coupon website

http://www.ppgazette.com/coupons.php?actn=cinc

grocery circulars

http://www.ppgazette.com/circulars.php

What have been your adventure in “couponing”?

Just a quick note before we begin discussing food storage. I received a great comment yesterday to last week’s post Teaching Children to Budget, Family Dollars. Check it out. It is a long, but well thought out and full of more tips concerning incentives for your children.

Secondly, I announced our January Give Away winner yesterday. Time to get busy and enter our February Give Away by sharing your thoughts and commenting on posts this month.

You all remember Old Mother Hubbard…the poor doggie had none because her cupboards were bare. That will not happen to us. Today we begin our quest to fill our cupboards, just in case. Remember the days of General Stores? They had everything to meet your needs from food, to cloth, to cleaning supplies, seeds and tools. Together we are going to build a General Store within our own homes.

A few weeks ago I asked you to prepare for today by getting a note book, a permanent marker and an empty jar. Now, let’s get started!

1) This week I would like you to designate that jar as part of your food storage fund. Each night place all your coins and any change you find on the street or in the sofa in the jar. I never spend change at the store anymore, except for my pennies. Be sure to include your spouse in your plan and even get the kids involved in adding money to the jar. This is just one of many ways we will discuss to fund Our General Store.

2) Set a budget. Sit down and calculate what you normally spend on food each week or month. Now realistically decide how much you can afford to add to that budget. Can you skip a movie rental or a trip to get fast food? When a disaster strikes and the grocery shelves are empty or your bank account is empty,  you are going to kick yourself over and over if you didn’t give up a few luxuries now for peace of mind later.

3) Time to get out that binder. Sit down with your family and make a list of their favorite meals, about 10. Now make a list of their favorite desserts. Once this is done use this list to create a master list of all the ingredients in each recipe. For example if you have rice in a recipe write it down. The next time rice appears in a recipe make a hash mark next to rice. When you are finished you will be able to determine if your family likes rice or  pasta the most. When we begin purchasing grains you will then know to purchase more of the one your family likes best. There is no magic to wheat or rice or oatmeal. The important thing is to have healthy grains stored that are versatle and provide good nutrition. If you have my ebook,  Mother Hubbard: What She’s Doing Now you can find out exactly the amount you need to store, however, you alone will determine the exact foods which will achieve that goal. We’ll get more specific as we go along.

4) Using your permanent marker go to your pantry and make a slash mark across all the cans and boxes you currently have. These are the foods you will use first when preparing meals. More on that later.

5) Finally, using your marker date items around the house that are not single use. If the item is already open draw a line at the level of the contents on the outside of the container and date it. Now, when you use up that item you will know how long it took you to finish the bottle and you will know how much you need to purchase to have a three month supply. Mark both food and non food essentials. Some items to get you started: oil, shortening, pancake syrup, salad dressing, ketchup, toothpaste, deodorant, dish detergent, laundry detergent, hand lotion, shampoo, etc. To determine how much TP and hand soap you will need simply save the wrappers in a drawer for a month and count them at the end of the month. I have found this to be the best way to determine what you really need. I have heard some lecture and advise their audience to guesstimate how much they will need. Why guess when you can know? I have also never…met a family who needs to store as much oil as food storage calculators normally advise. Why waste your money stocking up on too much of an item when that money could have been spent to purchase things you really do need? Can you tell this is a frustration to me? I hate wasting anything, but especially money!

That should keep you busy for the week. If you have any questions please ask and please let us know how it is going. Remember every comment enters you into our February Give Away.

I watched with great interest as Suze Orman appeared on the Oprah Show this week. It was frightening to listen to her speak of the future and the financial mess that faces us. She pointed out that many, if not most of us, have become too focused on short term pleasures and ignored the consequences of our appetite to accumulate stuff. There are some who have been caught in a situation that was beyond their control and they are starting over and those who have been foolish and are now just waking up. She encouraged people to pull their money out of anything that is not FDIC insured unless they are prepared to leave it there for the long term, more than 5 years. She always encourages people to get a second job to pay off debt. But what if you can’t find a job or are unable to work? Right now in our area jobs are very scarce and many college kids could not find work this summer. Many of my friends have been looking for months. What if you have no money to move to an FDIC secured account? Then, you need to be cutting your expenses. If you can’t make more you need to save more. I can help with that.

I have watched as friends have given their children cars, cell phones and game boys. They have purchased “the latest” fashions and hired limousines for graduation and proms. Their children have suffered. As they went away to college they accumulated credit card debt and huge cell phone bills. Now they are getting married and are still charging or running to mom and dad for a bail out, and getting it. Now mom and dad are having problems and there is no more money to dole out. These same young adults still believe when there is a crisis they will be able to run to the store and charge what they need. Don’t they know that some times store shelves are bare? Ask the people in Houston and Galveston. Don’t they know credit cards can be canceled when you don’t pay the bill?

Tomorrow I will be speaking to a group who have labeled themselves the Preparedness Posse. They work together to prepare for the future needs of their families and are striving to become self sufficient. They share ideas and tips, buy in bulk, share the fruits and veggies from their yards, learn skills like canning, and trade and barter whenever possible. I will be teaching them about water storage. You can do this too. Call your friends and family today and form your own preparedness group. If you feel you are alone in this, you are not, just join us here at Totally Ready. Once you have a group formed let me know how I can help.

I will be giving you tips each week to get you closer to the goal of having a stash of food and cash. What is more important than feeding your family? During the depression food banks and churches could not keep up with the demand for food and people were on their own. Just think, once you have a month or two of food stored you will never have to buy food again unless it is on sale…saving you a bundle!

Don’t feel depressed, overwhelmed or hopeless. You can do this and I am here to help! Let’s work together to prepare and along the way we can help those around us, especially our families, to learn the skills to give them the confidence and peace of mind to keep moving forward and achieving their dreams. So today, go gather that group and plan that first meeting! Don’t forget to check back for tips and don’t forget to share your own.

You can do this!

Consider cooking in batches. When I make a stew, lasagna, pot pie or other dinner that freezes well I always make at least two and freeze one. There are a few tips for freezing meals.

1. Purchase several containers of the same size. A dish that is square or oblong will leave the least wasted space in your freezer. I use glass because it is both microwave proof and oven proof.

2. Before freezing allow the meals to cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly over the food and smooth out any air bubbles. Next cover the dish with aluminum foil and wrap and seal all the edges. Use heavy weight foil or two layers of less expensive foil. Before heating remove the plastic wrap and replace the foil if using an oven. When using a microwave remove the plastic wrap and replace with new plastic wrap. This method really cuts down on freezer burn and allows you to store foods much longer.

If you have a pan with a plastic lid place the plastic wrap on the food, smooth out the air bubbles and then cover with the lid. If ice crystals form you simply remove the plastic wrap and ice together and the food underneath is fine.

Allow the food to freeze before stacking.

3. Cook in batches the basic ingredients. If I am making taco salad I cook up enough ground beef for several meals. I season it and prepare it so it is ready to go. This works great with leftover spaghetti sauce, creamed chicken or anything you are serving over rice, potatoes or pasta. I place a meals worth of the food in a zipped freezer bag, squeeze out as much air as I can and lay it flat in the freezer to freeze. When they are frozen I place them in a larger freezer bag and label the larger bag. This method keeps the food safer and keeps me from losing the smaller bags in the freezer. In the case of taco meat I simply pull one out, heat it and I am ready to go for tacos, tacos salad, tostadas, taco soup, burritos, enchiladas…

4. Use your crock pot. With winter coming for those of us in the northern hemisphere a crock pot will not only warm up the kitchen but allow you to purchase cheaper cuts of meat. When the meat is tender remove it from the pot, cut off what you need for one meal and cut the remaining into meal size pieces. Do not shred or cube meat before freezing. Wrap meat in plastic wrap squeezing out the air as much as possible. Place in zippered freezer bag and lay flat in the freezer. When the meat has frozen place in a larger freezer bag. This may seem like lots of bags but they are all reusable and all this care will prevent your food from tasting of freezer burn. Now you have meat that can be shredded for fajitas, salads, soups, stews or mixed with barbecue sauce for sandwiches or potato topping.

I have also set aside a Saturday and spent the whole day making meals ahead. It’s great to be able to come home after a busy day at work or soccer practice and pull out a meal that is ready in minutes. If you have your three month supply of food storage the sides will also take just minutes to prepare.

Healthy, great tasting meals, in minutes, at sale prices, what could be better!

This past week my son had the opportunity to help a family in Texas as they began recovery from hurricane Ike. He traveled with a group of men from Church and they cut down and cut up trees which had fallen on a home. They cut it into small pieces so FEMA would pick it up. They had a challenge getting home as the gas stations were still without power, as was the whole town. Do you think those people would be laughing at our stash of glow sticks? How do you think they feel about a home inventory? What about food storage? They still have a home, at least part of a home that is habitable, but the stores are empty or closed. I’ll be food storage would not seem foolish to them. Yes, this can happen to any of us, and we will be ready! This week:

1. Add anti bacterial ointment to your first aid kits. These do expire so check the ones you already have to make sure they are still current. During the cleanup process after a disaster you will want to make sure you have this available as there will be plenty of rusty nails and other dangers which may cause injury.

2. Purchase or set aside a container for your Grab and Go Kit. A large duffel bag or a 5 gallon bucket both work well. The bucket can be used as the bottom of a port-a-potty. These buckets do not have to be new.

3. Copy your mortgage and homeowners insurance policies and add them to your 72 hour kits. Be sure to add a copy of each to the envelope you are preparing to mail to your out of state contact. I can not stress enough how important these papers are. Please be sure you copy your important documents. You will never be sorry you took the time.

4. Prepare now to wash clothes without electricity. I have a friend who loves to hang her wash on a wash line in the backyard. She loves the way they smell. I remember hanging clothes, and then I got spoiled. I am prepared to wash clothing and dry it just in case there is a prolonged power outage. There are still over a million people without electricity in Ohio and Texas today, as well as other areas, a week after hurricane Ike passed through. You will need a method for washing. I purchased a good old wash board. You will also need liquid laundry detergent or a bar of laundry soap. Once your clothes are washed they will need to be dried. I remember when we were young my sister and I would each grab an end of a piece of laundry and we would both turn it to the right and ring it out before hanging. You will need a rope and clothes pins and the hardware to secure the rope to your home, a pole or a tree.

5. Add work gloves to all your kits, 72 hour, car and Grab and Go. When cleaning after a disaster they will wear out so don’t skimp and decide you don’t need them in a 72 hour kit as long as you have a pair in the car. If you are ever stranded in your car during the winter they will keep your hands warm as well as being a great asset when changing a tire or digging out from a snow bank. Check out the Blog Readers Special this week.

6. Meet with your family and discuss what you will do if you are separated from each other, both during a disaster or just on a visit to Disneyland.. Where will you meet? Who should a child go to for help? Do they know their full name and address and mom and dad’s names? Are all the family phone numbers memorized?

7. Add one can of protein per family member to your food storage. If you want some suggestions for protein sources check your inventory list in your Mother Hubbard:What She’s Doing Now ebook.

Good Luck!

When those master mix recipe books came out years ago, I tried many of the recipes. I learned something about myself in the process. I decided that I really did not have the room to store all of my food storage and also the large containers needed to store the mixes. I also decided that I liked to either just make a recipe or “dump one”–meaning, I didn’t want to measure again out of a large mix–most of the time. The one large mix I do like to use is the biscuit mix. So, I started to make my own mixes, as you advocate, only I would make them one at a time and put it in a ziplock bag or twist tie bag, so that later I could just “dump” it into a bowl and then add the wet ingredients. Even though I would do each recipe separately, it would save time later because I wouldn’t have to pull out all of the ingredients, measure, and then put everything away. Once for Home Evening we made three muffin mixes this way for a cooking lesson–my husband, our youngest child, and me. Our names were put on each separate bag and then frozen. It was a nice convenience later on.

I have mainly cooked from scratch most of my life and have thought a lot about what my personal preferences are. When time really is short a ready prepared mix is a life saver. You can either buy it or make it yourself.

There are other things that make cooking from scratch unattractive to all of us at times–not wanting to get our hands sticky, clean-up, what to do with a big batch of cookies when they are all baked, etc. Also, a person may now be alone and balk at having to eat the same thing for weeks at a time. What can you do and still store and use basic ingredients when there is just one or two to cook for?

Suggestions I have are these:
l.Decide what you consider convenient. What type of convenience do you look for at the store and buy? If you like the smell of freshly baked cookies and buy the rolls of dough, then make rolls of dough with your own ingredients and freeze them. If you are single and can’t eat a whole roll of dough in a reasonable amount of time, then when you make your own rolls of dough, make them shorter. You will bake fewer at a time, but each time you do, they will be fresher than if you had a bunch of stale cookies. If you are in the mood to bake something, make the regular recipe and freeze unbaked portions in smaller batches to be used later. If there are other recipes that can’t be divided in half because one of the ingredients is an egg, consider buying a small can of dried eggs. That way you can easily divide an egg in half and not waste the other half. Your supply of other ingredients will seem easier to use because you won’t have the hangup of “the egg” problem. This may also help if you simply do not have freezer space at all for baked goods and could use the convenience of mixes and also use your stored supplies.

I decided that I also did not like to make drop cookies the normal way–with one teaspoon and scooping it off with my finger, or even with two teapoons, pushing the dough off with the second spoon. I invested in a small ice cream scoop that does the job much faster. These scoops are sold all the time now as cookie scoops. If you have never used one, get one. You will find that the work goes much faster. Also invest in sheets of parchment paper. Put one of these on your cookie sheet and your cleanup will be much easier. You can do MANY batches of cookies with one sheet of parchment paper.

Buy a cookie rack and place it over a large brown paper bag. After the cookies are cooled and put away, you can also throw away the brown paper bag and not have to scrub your counter. If you don’t have a cookie rack, just put the freshly baked cookies on the brown paper bag.

If the batch of cookies is large, I freeze them by eights in sandwich ziplock bags. Place four cookies upside down in the bag and place the other four right side up on top of the first four. All of the flat sides will be touching. If the cookies are moister, slide a small piece of wax paper on top of the first four cookies before you put the others on top. Then they will not stick together.
Some may think it silly of me to try to address all of these hang-ups. But I realized at a certain point that if things got really bad, I would be more stressed, not less. I was already committed to cooking from scratch in order to rotate my food storage. It is important to personally address these issues when times are more normal. Think now of being Pandemic Flu ready. If you are taking care of a house full of sick people, or even just one person, and cannot go out to get food for one reason or another, you will be stuck with what you have in your home. ANYTHING you can do to make cooking easier in that scenario will be important. Not only will you need to eat, but you will also have to get some food into those who are sick.
If no one in your home is ill at that time, you very well could be asked to care for more who are not ill–children maybe–so that they will not be exposed–reverse quarantine.

Thanks Again!

This week let’s concentrate on creating a master mix. Many years ago there were some very popular cook books that advocated creating a master mix and then using it to make several recipes. I did that for years and then I asked myself “why not make your own”? It’s really very easy. Here is how…

Take your favorite recipe

List all the dry ingredients

Determine how many batches you want to have available

Multiply by that number…just like this

To make 8 batches of Double Chocolate Cookies

Double Chocolate cookies

1 ½ C flour x8 equals 12 C flour

½ C sugar x8 equals 4 C sugar

½ C cocoa x8 equals 4 C cocoa

½ tsp. baking soda x8 equals 4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt x8 equals 2 tsp. salt

1 1/3 C chocolate chip x8 equals 10 1/3 C chocolate chips

3/4 C brown sugar x8 equal 6 C brown sugar

Now place all the dry ingredients for eight batches into a large bowl and mix well. Be sure

everything is equally distributed throughout the mix.

Go back to the original recipe and add together the measurements for all ingredients.

Don’t worry about the small amounts such as the baking soda and salt.

1 1/2 C (flour) plus 1/2 C (sugar) plus 1/2 C (cocoa) plus 1 1/3 C (chips) plus

3/4 C (brown sugar) = 4 1/2 Cups

When you are ready to make a batch simply measure out 4 1/2 cups of mix and add the

wet ingredients from the original recipe. No clean-up,

quick and easy .

I use this same method to make batches of favorite desserts, quick breads, breads and

rolls to have on hand.

If your mix includes nuts store it in the fridge or freezer. If not store in air tight container

in a cool, dark place.

This is a great way to use the ingredients you have stored in your food storage. When we

began working on our food storge I asked you to

choose 5 favorite desserts. Why not try making batches of those to begin with.

Questions about our storage system check out the posts on

Where to begin food storage or Mother Hubbard:What She’s Doing Now

Try it, you’ll like it!

I have a question, and wasn’t sure where to ask it…. My husband and I, with our 6 kids, have been trying to get more prepared. 2 years ago he built a huge outdoor shed for an office, storage, etc. and we included a very large food storage room. That is the good news. The bad news is he never finished it (nor can we afford to in the near future) so while it has lots of nice shelving, there is no electricity or heat. It stays very cool in the summer, but our winters up north here are very long and bitter cold. Now that we have a substantial food storage, I am worried about certain items freezing over the winter and going bad. I know I can leave some things out there, but what would you recommend I move inside? Will the canned goods freeze and be ruined if I leave them out there? Thank you for any advice you can give me! I’d prefer to leave a much as possible out there, as we built it because we don’t have the storage room inside the house!

My Answer:
In a word insulate. How?
1. Cover the floor. You have some time so if the floor is not already carpeted, carpet it. Don’t buy carpet. Do you know someone who installs carpet? If not, visit a local carpeting store. Ask them to either save you remnants or tell them you are looking for carpet that people are pulling out and replacing. You do not want carpet that has gone through a fire or flood or that has pet smells. Get as much as you can! Cover the floor with at least one layer and if you have extra staple it to the studs on the walls in place of sheet rock.
2. Newspaper is a great insulator. Use newspaper between the studs. You will want to roll the newspaper tightly are lay it flat. Crumpled paper will burn much more easily and will not insulate as well. If you are familiar with paper fire logs (rolling newspaper, soaking it and drying it to be used in place of firewood) these would work really well and would be like storing fuel at the same time.
3. Plastic. If you can afford to buy heavy weight plastic place this directly on the inside of the outside walls and then add newspaper.
4. Cardboard. This is also easy to come by. Ask the local grocery store if you can come by every day and pick up boxes. Cardboard can be used in place of carpet either on the floor or on the walls. It is also great to place on a window to cut down on drafts.

5. Caulk. I’m sure you have probably already done this but if not caulk is cheap. Caulk around doors and windows, then place cardboard in the window, duct tape it down further sealing the edge of the window.
6. Cover windows. Further cover your windows with blankets or plastic. Take a firring strip or 1/2 round or 1/4 round molding strip. Place the blanket or plastic over the window opening, place the wood strip on top and nail through the wood. You will have created an air pocket between the cardboard and the blanket. That air space is important. It will act as an additional barrier cutting down drafts.
7. Lower the ceiling. If you still have open beams in the ceiling staple blankets, plastic or even carpeting to the studs. Again the air above is ok. Treat the roof beams as well as the ceiling beams. If you have enough cardboard you can place it between the roof studs and then lower the ceiling.

Be sure to move portable shelving away from the walls and cover the walls behind them and the flooring beneath.
All of this may leave your room looking very funny. Take pictures and just enjoy the adventure. In fact, please share the picture with us. You will be amazed how much these free items will keep the cold and winds out and help to protect your food.

In answer to your canned food question. I would leave any cans that are dry packed, rice, pasta, oatmeal,even chocolate chips will be fine. Anything canned in a liquid should be moved inside. If these cans freeze they will expand and the seals could rust or break destroying the food. All cans that are frozen will not be unsafe. If something freezes place it in the fridge and let it defrost. If there is no leaking and no rust the food is probably good. If you have any doubts toss it.

If you are storing water in this building be sure to leave enough room in the container to accommodate the expansion of the water as it freezes.

I hope this gives you some ideas. Please let me know what you decide to do. Good Luck!

Any other tips out there? Please share.

I recently read an article in which the author encourage people to get food storage. Some of it sounded a lot like what we are doing, store what you eat, store a well balanced variety of foods, and store non food items. That is where the similarity ends, however.

When I was writing Mother Hubbard:What She’s Doing Now I tried to take a systematic approach to storing food. I hope you will seriously look at the plan I have outlined and follow it.

I have asked you to create a space to store foods before you begin shopping. This does not have to take months but can be a matter of just an hour or two of re-arranging a few things in your home and garage. The ebook has many suggestions so if you have not read through that section please go back and review it. You can also find some of the information in the “Where to Begin Food Storage” section on this blog. Remember your food needs to be easily accessible or you won’t rotate it. Preparing a space in advance also serves another purpose. It is a great boost to your commitment and such an awesome feeling to watch those cans and boxes begin to accumulate on those shelves. I love going in and looking at what I have accomplished!

The article also stressed the importance of storing non food items. We have spent lots of time talking about that not only in Mother Hubbard but also in the posts here and our Seven Steps. My problem with the advice in the article was to guestimate the amount you need. Please, please don’t do that. Isn’t that exactly what has been the reason for all the food and supplies that have ended up in a landfill? Medications expire and so does food. Know what you need. I have encouraged you to date items and then determine how much you actually use and then to purchase what you really need. Again there is a comprehensive list in Mother Hubbard and a shorter list in the Where to begin Food Storage section. The shorter list will help you to begin brainstorming the items you need to date.

Yes, time is of the essence, but taking the time to do things right will save you not only time, in the long run, but also money. That saved money can then be used to buy more of what you need to care for your family. Please commit to begin today.

We could talk all day about the importance of having food storage: temporary job loss, natural disaster, flu pandemic, etc. And heck, it’s a great way to save money too, because you can just buy certain foods when they go on sale! The point is, however, that while it’s smart to have food set aside, it’s also daunting. That’s where this article comes in—here’s one method of organizing and collecting food storage that has worked for us and perhaps will work for you, too.
The first thing to do is decide how much food you want to store. We have a goal to store 3 months of food in our homes, so that’s what our focus will be here. We recommend that you store at least 1–2 months of food.

Second, see how much food you are going to need. In breaking down three months, we have 13 weeks of food: 91 dinners, 91 lunches, and 91 breakfasts. (This is an approximation based on 1 month being 31 days and the other 2 months being 30 days.)

Next, draw out a 2-week chart. This is where you’re going to plan your meals. The first week is “Week A,” and the second is “Week B.” Now, for each day of the week, plan one breakfast, lunch, and dinner that you can make using food-storage items only (for many, this is the hardest part). This makes a total of 14 different dinners to plan.  If planning all 3 meals is too overwhelming, start with just dinner and go from there.

Essentially, instead of planning 91 food-storage dinners to store, you are only planning 14. If the time came that you had to live off your food storage alone, you would be eating the same meal once every 2 weeks—not too bad, especially since these should be meals that your family truly enjoys. In fact, if you don’t mind eating the same meal once a week, just plan 7 different meals. Likewise, if once every two weeks is too repetitive for you, plan 21 dinners and rotate every 3 weeks. It’s really up to you.

So, if we were living off food storage alone, we’d have 7 weeks of Week A and 6 weeks of Week B food.

For example, my Monday meal for Week A is spaghetti with a side of veggies. Over a three-month period (and planning 2 weeks of meals to rotate), we would eat this meal 7 times. So, according to how much we eat, for this meal alone I would need to store about 7 boxes of pasta, 7 cans of spaghetti sauce, and 7 cans of veggies.

My Tuesday meal for Week A is chicken pot pie. Like I did above, I need to write down all the ingredients for this meal and multiply by 7, and then I’ll have 7 weeks of Tuesdays planned.  Next write down what goes into each meal—all the ingredients. Don’t forget spices and oil and things like that; there’s no need for your food-storage meals to be bland.

Like we stated above, planning these meals may be the most difficult part for many. Use the food guideline recommendations to make sure that the meals are balanced and healthy. Please plan for your own family’s needs and likes. These are simply examples. We prefer to use only nonperishable food items in our meals because they store longer and there is less risk of them spoiling. If you have trouble coming up with meals, try searching the internet. We also have a good number of recipes on our website that you are welcome to check out.

Finally, add everything up and make a master shopping list. List how many jars of spaghetti sauce you need, how many cans of fruit, etc., for the entire 3 months (don’t forget breakfasts and lunches!). Once you have this completed, check your current food storage to see what you already have so you can cross those items off your list.

Obviously you will not go to the store and buy 94 cans of fruit at once, but you can buy little by little. Take advantage of the sales, and keep track of what you buy AND what you eat. It might be helpful to have an Excel spreadsheet or a chart to help you keep track of what you are buying/storing and what you are using.

I hope this walk through has helped you become a little more confident about gathering a 3-month supply of food. It really is doable if you have a plan.
For more information, or to check out our food storage recipes, visit our website at http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/ .

Thanks Hannah and Abbie!

Money Saving Wednesday…little things do count

I thought it was definitely worth a few added comments. This really makes the point that small savings add up and small habits may not really be so small.
I had to pipe in here. I actually recently decided to do this to see how much money I’m wasting on Diet Coke (embarrassing I know!). So here is a weekly summary:

2-3 cans per day = 14-21 cans per week
3-4 44 oz refills from gas station per week

12 pack soda = $2.50
44 oz refill = $0.84

Minimum total = $5.46

Maximum total = $7.77

So in a month I could save between $20 and $30 if I could eliminate this coke addiction. (editorial note: in other words, $240.00 to $360.00 per year)

If you have been following our Where to Begin Food Storage or have purchased Mother Hubbard: What She’s Doing Now you understand the concept of purchasing a 3 month supply of the foods we eat. This has never been more important than right now.

If you have the calculator included in the book it will be easy to figure out exactly what you need to be storing for your family. Following the plan, a one month supply for one adult will cost you about $120.00, which means, by kicking the Coke habit and saving $240.00 a year you could purchase a 2 month supply of food. For the $360.00 a year you could save you could buy a complete 3 month supply for one person.

OR With the $20.00-$30.00 you save this month you could buy:

a three month supply of dessert ingredients for a family of six or..

a three month supply of toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo for an entire family or..

a 3 month supply for a family of six of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and salad dressing or..

a 3 month supply of pasta and rice

You get the idea. Can you imagine the savings in a family where both husband and wife have a Coke habit? We haven’t even begun to consider the cost savings in medical and dental bills. I have a friend who was addicted to breath mints. Her dentist recently had to do quite a bit of expensive dental work and he told her it was due to sucking on all those mints. She quit!

Many of us have addictions which we can run away from. We can save money and our health and be a better example to our kids and grandkids so they don’t get caught in the same trap.

1. This week we are going to begin our Car Kits. For those of you who commute these are essential. It does not take an extreme natural disaster for you to break into your kits. Not too long ago there was a massive accident on a freeway causing traffic to be stopped for 12 hours! Can you imagine being stuck in the car for that many hours! Wouldn’t it be nice to have something to eat and drink, something to provide a little light, or a whistle to attract help if you should have a health emergency. When traveling long distances a Car Kit can be a real life saver. If you need to put on tire chains a bright orange vest may save your life as people can see you from a distance. Mylar blankets can protect you from the desert sun and provide warmth during a snow storm. This week find an old back pack or purchase one so you are ready to begin adding items next week. We have our packs on sale at Totally Ready this week and the Child’s backpack is the perfect size for a car kit.

2. Add a hammer to your Grab and Go Kit

3. Practice building a fire. If you have a fire pit in your yard use that or check around for another family who does and practice together. Practice starting a fire with items that you may have on hand if you are stranded on the road. Use a pair of eye glasses to light the fire. Collect some pine needles, dried leaves or small sticks and use them as kindling. Try starting a fire using a battery and steel wool. Get a 9 volt battery and a small piece of steel wool. Wrap the steel wool in a little paper, TP, tissue or other flammable material. Leave a little of the steel wool exposed. Gently rub the steel wool against the battery connection. This will cause sparks so be careful. Blow to increase the flames and drop onto your prepared kindling. Gently blow to keep the fire going until the kindling catches. If you have purchased the ebook That Won’t Happen to Me copy the article Ordinary Items for Extraordinary Survival and practice using some of those items to build a fire. Once you have practiced and have a fire going strong make smores!

4. Learn a new skill. Ask a friend to teach you to can or make freezer jam. Learn to change a tire. Invite a friend to teach your family to build that fire if it is all a mystery to you. Take a CPR class. Learn to sew or jump your car battery.

5. Add a cooking pot to your Grab and Go Kit. I like a Dutch Oven because they are so versatile, they hold a lot, you can use them directly in a fire and they can take lots of abuse.

6 . Purchase milk for your food storage. If you have purchased a copy of Mother Hubbard: What She’s Doing Now you have the calculator to do the math for you. If you haven’t purchased the ebook do it now…or figure the amount yourself by going to the Where to begin Food Storage section.

7. Practice your new skill.

I have had some of you asking about my cook book for rotating your food storage. I’m working on it! I hope to get it to the printer in the next few weeks. Thanks for asking.

I became curious about the cost of storing dehydrated foods so I spent an hour this morning doing a little research. If you follow the plan in Mother Hubbard: What She’s Doing Now, the same program we have been using in our Where to begin food storage, you would spend about $1,300 for a three month supply for a family of four. I checked several places today and the cost of a three month supply of dehydrated food for four people is between $2,000 and $4,000. Quite a significant difference. Think of the bills you could pay with the $700 to $2,700 difference and you would be able to feed your family real food!

Actually, I was pretty surprised just how big a difference there really is in the cost. So, once again food storage is not only a great comfort in case of disaster but also a great hedge against inflation and a great(and easy) way to save money.

The book includes a calculator, an inventory sheet and guidelines for how, where, and what to store. The calculator will let you enter the number of people in your family and will then calculate the amount of food in each category you will need to store in order to meet your family’s needs. Categories are the same ones we have been working on; dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. You can determine how many weeks or months you want to prepare for, from 2 weeks to 1 year. That’s right, finally, you decide what foods you will store, how much of each and how long you want to prepare for.

The inventory sheets include over 375 items; from foods and spices to toiletries and cleaning supplies. In one column you simply add the number of units you have on hand for each item. In the next column you record your goal for each item. The number of items you still need to purchase will appear in the third column. There is also a column to record the storage location for each item. Most of us don’t have a storage room, consequently, our storage is spread out in many locations.That’s right everything is completely interactive, change it as your needs change.

Topics in the guide include: A Beginning Look at Food Storage, Store What You Eat and Eat What You Store, Where to Start?, Making Space for Food Storage, Let’s Get Started, Decide What to Store, Plan Your Shopping Trip, The Self-Reliant Shopper, How to Buy Food Storage Without Breaking the Bank, Sales Checklist, Seasonal Bargains, What about Rotating?, What if the Tap Goes Dry?, Water Purification, Life Experiences, Storage Goals, and List of Items to Date. I hope you’ll take a look.

We can’t give up or slow down our efforts now. Times are changing and food is always a great hedge against inflation. After all, you can have all the money in the world but during a time of crisis you can’t eat money!

Today’s big news is the rise in milk and dairy prices. Did you know the price of milk has increased 12% in two months and in New York City it has increased 70% since the beginning of the year.

Ephraim Leibtag, a retail food price economist at the Economic Research Service with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, “When prices first started to rise, we looked at beef, pork and poultry prices and those prices are up, but not rising as quick as dairy prices.” Powdered dairy products are traded globally and supplies are down. He pointed to two recent changes that have had an impact on the international supply of dried dairy products: the European Union recently ended subsidies for dairy production, which has resulted in a reduction in supplies, and worse, Australia — the world’s second largest exporter of dairy products after the United States — has been suffering through a severe drought for the past several years. You can read more in the following stories.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CreativeConsumer/Story?id=3320972&page=1

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287135,00.html