FOOD STORAGE

Hello! It's been a long time since I've posted, so consider this post to be very important to me! Barry and I are happy to say that we have finally put away a chunk of change in the "rainy day" fund in a secret hiding place at our home. Yahoo! Now, it's on to tackle food storage. Below is an email that was sent to me by a gal in my church. Great ideas!

Food Storage Steps

Our General Store - week 1

You all remember Old Mother Hubbard…. The poor thing had nothing 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 the 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.

1. Get a notebook, a permanent marker and an empty jar.

2. Take that empty jar and 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. Get the whole family to contribute. This is just one of many ways we will discuss to fund our General Store.

3. Set a budget. Sit down and calculate what you normally spend on food each week or month at the grocery stores. 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 peach of mind later.

4. 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 versatile and provide good nutrition.

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

6. Finally, using your marker, date items around the house that are not single use items. If it 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 nonfood 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 heard some people advise their audience to guess-timate 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?

7. If you have been following our Seven Steps Preparedness program this past year, you may have done these steps already. If so - you are in luck and you'll have a very easy week!

Building our General Store - week 2

This week we are going to think water and gardening.

1. This week store 10 gallons per family member. You can purchase a water barrel, store in liter soda bottles after disinfecting, bleach bottles, glass bottles, but NEVER plastic milk bottles. Be sure some is stored in small enough containers that should you have to take your water with you when evacuating it can be lifted. Be sure to store some water in personal size, store bought bottles. These can be easily rotated and are great if you have to evacuate, to carry in your hand or on a lanyard around your neck.

2. We should all be thinking of doing some gardening this year. There are many vegetables and a few fruits which do very well grown in pots. Please check with friends and family this week to see who would like to share gardening with you. If you have a small space you could grow vegetables which take little room and the herbs and someone else could do the corn and bigger varieties. This week create a gardening plan. It is also a good time in many areas to plant fruit trees and bushes. Determine this week how much you can afford to spend and work those into your plan. They may be a little more expensive but they will produce food for your family for years to come. Plant drought resistant varieties if you live in areas prone to drought.

Building our General Store - week 3

This week we are going to begin purchasing food for our three-month supply. If you can only afford to purchase part of the week's assignment then do that. It is far more important to have a complete supply for a month, or a few weeks, than to have lots of veggies and no grains. The goal is to have a well balanced diet.

1. Purchase 4 cans of soup per family member. These soups should be both those you eat as a meal and those used as ingredients. Store a few that are easy to digest, too, such as chicken noodle, for those recovering from an illness.

Please store only CANS of soup NOT packets. We do not want to store foods that need added water to be eatable.

Building our General Store - week 4

Because fruit is so important in a well-balanced diet, we are going to concentrate on fruit this week. Canned fruit is packed with either a fruit syrup (no sugar added), a light syrup or a heavy syrup. Simply read the label to decide with one you want to purchase. During an emergency the syrup can be used to cook oatmeal or other cereals and the sweetness in the syrup can replace the sugar or honey you would normally add. Of course, your best option of all is to can your own. By doing this you control the amount of time from picking to jar and also the amount of sugar added. Just another reason to consider planting a fruit tree or two this year.

1. Purchase 5 cans of fruit (14-oz.) per family member. If you have a large family and purchase the large cans, just adjust the number of cans needed by calculating the weight. Again, if this is not within the budget, purchase as much as you can afford. If fruit is not on sale near you, wait to purchase until the grocery ads come out this week. You may find some deals then. Do not purchase frozen fruits this week. March is frozen foods month and the prices will be better then.

2. If you have not already done so, please design an inventory system which will work for you and do it now. Your inventory should include a column for the item, how much you need for a 3-month supply, how much you have on hand, how much you still need to purchase, and where you have it stored. You may also want to add a column for where you purchased the item and how much you paid, but this is not really necessary. When you bring home supplies, be sure to remember to date them so you are always using the oldest ones first.

Building our General Store - week 5

It's March and that means its Frozen Foods Month. This is the month to stock up. Obviously we do not want all of our fruits, vegetables and protein stored in a freezer. The power can fail at any time and this approach would be foolish. But some freezer storage is very acceptable.

1. Purchase 10 cans of vegetables per family member. Ten cans may sound like quite a lot but in reality it is only a 10-day supply.

2. Since it is frozen foods month, think frozen when you think vegetables. One 16-oz. bag of frozen vegetables is equivalent to 2-1/2 cans of veggies.

3. Also remember that tomatoes and spaghetti sauce count as a vegetable, so if they are ingredients in your emergency menu, don't forget to store some of them.

Building our General Store - week 6

Protein is critical to muscle strength, repair of damaged tissue, bone strength, healthy skin and blood, and the development of brain cells. Proteins may be stored in the form of meat, fish, eggs, dairy, peanut butter and nuts. Beans are also a source of protein but an incomplete source.

This week Frozen Month continues, so as you consider the protein to add to your General Store, think frozen. March will give you the best prices of the year.

1. Purchase 5 pounds of protein per family member this week.

Building our General Store - week 7

Grains are a significant part of our diet and an absolute necessity when we plan for long-term storage beyond our three-month supply. This week let's add to our General Store by purchasing grains. Think variety as you plan: wheat, oats, white rice, brown rice, pasta, cream of wheat, cold cereals, rye, barley, sorghum, millet, buckwheat and quinoa.

Store what you eat! Emergency eating is no time to experiment with a product your family has never eaten before.

1. Purchase 6 pounds of grains per family member this week.

Building our General Store - week 8

This week we are going to add juices to our General Store. Don’t be scared…. be prepared!

1. Purchase 3 (64-oz. each) bottles of 100% juice, per family member. This will not only provide nutrition but also help with our need to remain hydrated (water storage).