Time for Menu Planning…It’s not painful, I Promise!…Ready for Much Higher Taxes?…One More Reason to Prepare and Create Your Own Hedge
The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. We have all heard that but exactly what does that mean? The current tax rates are 10% for the lowest income earners to 35% for the highest. They will increase to 15% for the lowest and 39.6% for those making the most. The rate on long term investments will go from 15% to 20%. Rates on dividends will go up to 39%. The marriage penalty will return so if you are married you will be taxed more than those who are not. The death tax will jump to 55%. That one really make me furious. All those years of working and saving and paying taxes on your income and when you die those same earnings are taxed again at 55%. The same money being taxed twice! Bottom line, you think it’s bad this year, wait until next!
I had so many on the blog yesterday we crashed the server for a while so I was advised not to post anything new so I waited until today to create a new posting. That should have given you all time to record your recipes and make an ingredients list which is where we continue today.
I am sure you have seen websites that tell you to create 7-10 recipes and multiply what you would need to make those for either three months or a year. I love variety and I also understand appetite fatigue. This is a real phenomenon where you become so tired of the same foods you would rather starve than eat them. It is real, it happens to everyone and it can be deadly. Plan for variety. You have written down the ingredients for your favorite meals and now you are ready to create a shopping list. First let me explain the reasoning behinds this exercise.
When you listed the foods you like you then recorded the ingredients in each menu choice. This has given you a visual understanding of the foods your family like to eat. As you begin to stock your General Store you will add foods by food group. When you get to a grains week you will be able to look at your ingredients list and understand that your family really likes rice much more than pasta or potatoes. Now as you begin shopping you know you should be purchasing more rice than pasta or potatoes. We will always add wheat to use for baking breads and for use in cereals in your long term plan. Yes, you will have to learn to do at least a few basic things with wheat.
You also now have an understanding of the spices and condiments you need to store to round out your food choices and to make them taste really fabulous!
Lastly once you have purchased your three month supply you have foods your family likes to eat. You can combine those in dozens of different ways to create dozens of different menus because you already know your family likes all the ingredients. For example: If I chose spaghetti and meatballs, chicken and rice, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tacos. I now have the ingredients to make burritos, Spanish rice, spaghetti pie, pizza, Mexican pizza, cheese and bean dip, empanadas, and chicken cacciatore. I’m sure there are many, many more. All of these can also then be combined into casseroles.
What is a casserole? Easy, it is a protein (meat, fish, eggs, nuts or nut butters or beans), plus a grain (noodles, rice, potatoes or wheat), a vegetable and a sauce. With the peanut butter for the PB&J sandwich you can make a Thai peanut sauce. You can use the cream of chicken soup from the chicken and rice to make a sauce for pasta and chicken. You can use the pasta sauce to make a ziti, just throw in a veggie and you have a casserole.
Simple. As we move forward I will share recipes which should help you to think creatively while rotating your store and will give you plenty of variety when you must survive on what you have stored. I share recipes every month in my Totally Ready Newsletter so spend some time with past issues and separate them into categories for cooking during a crisis. There are plenty there to start your experimenting.
All these same principles are true of the list you made for desserts your family loves.
Yesterday I got a call to appear at the last minute on the Doctor Prepper Show. We spent the entire hour talking about food storage. Take a listen as it was all about how to get started. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper/2010/07/08/doctor-prepper-show
Confused about the solar storms NASA is anticipating? Take some time and listen to my show with Halli.
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Followed a bunny trail last night. Started at the Survival Podcast where I linked to Dr. Prepper. Listened to his interview with you.
Wow. You are an answer to prayer. Just started prepping this past year. My General Store is a bit “sketchie” w/some empty shelves and no master plan driving me. My efforts are just disjointed. So thank you for the FOCUS. I’m jumping in and feeling the peace. Blessings Sister!
I’m so glad you stumbled in. Let me know if you have any questions or need info you don’t see. Welcome! Check out the yahoo group too. Lots of people there to ask question of.
What a great resource!