Yummy Bread!

Some of the tastiest homemade bread I've ever had came from Jill Lybbert's kitchen. Today w/permission we can go to her daughter's blog where you will find the recipe & a step by step picture tutorial on how to make it. http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/01/100-whole-wheat-bread.html Jill notes that she used 1/2 hard red & 1/2 hard white wheat for this recipe. Great pictures, very informative and trust me....the end product is sooo worth it. Thanks Jill & Candace!

Also, from Debbie Kent, my new friend outa California, a handout from a wheat class she gave recently at this site:

http://peaceofpreparedness.com/Resource%20Library/Recipies/Breads%20and%20Spreads%20Recipes.pdf 

Lots of good information here. Be aware that this is in an Adobe Reader format & is 27 pages long so given the length, hopefully you see why I don't print this out for handouts at church! Anyway if you see a recipe you want to try you should be able to click on it and either select current page or highlight it and print selection.

Again thanks to those who are so willing to share. You are appreciated!!!!

Water!

While a person can survive for as long as two weeks without food, the human body was not designed to go long without water. Some experts say to have a least 2 quarts of clean, potable water per day for each person. Others say one to two gallons. Needs will vary depending on climate, age & health. Hot weather can double water consumption. Do you have a baby? Elderly people? Someone with a long term illness? Take these into consideration as you prepare to store water.

Storing water in gallon milk jugs is not recommended. Milk jugs are biodegradable. The plastic will become brittle and break down. Also some companies are offering used or "reconditioned" plastic containers & barrels. Plastic is porous. Even those that have been used only for syrups or juice concentrates can retain residuals of anything put into them and leave an aftertaste in your water. There are many different companies offering new barrels and water containers for storage. Prices vary. Barrels usually come in 15 gal, 30 gal, and 55 gal sizes. Remember that a 55 gal barrel will weigh over 440 lbs. when filled.

I use 55 gal barrels for long term storage. 5 gal containers are portable and convenient for sharing, traveling & daily usage. I also keep several cases of 16 oz. water bottles on hand. All of these need to be used or rotated, preferably every six months, but at least once a year. Remember to use a water storage treatment such as Purogene or Bleach to keep bacteria out of your barrels. Make sure you have a hand pump to transfer water from the barrel to your smaller water container and also to dump old water when you're rotating. And yes, there is always some water available in the hot water tank, toilet tank (NOT bowl) and in the ice cube trays in the freezer, but make sure you don't use water from the pool, spa or waterbed for drinking. These may contain acids, algaecides and other chemicals that can be harmful if ingested.

I have been looking for good deals on 55 gal food grade barrels. I haven't found any locally. US Plastics on the east coast has them for around $45 but shipping costs are running about $40 per barrel. Emergency Essentials is charging $75 per barrel and there is no shipping fee if order is combined with a monthly special order. Everywhere I've looked the prices are in the 75-85 dollar range. So, at the moment, my best price (cringe) for the 55 gal barrel is from Emergency Essentials. If anyone knows where food grade 55 gal barrels can be found for a better price please let me know!!!

Also I'm seeing that some nice, food grade, 5 gal., stackable, containers are available from US Plastics for about $15. If there is enough interest I will see about getting an order together for this. Also, I know that Walmart and some other stores have 5 gal water containers available. Some of these are around $5-6 each. Comments from people who have purchased them, however, indicate dissatisfaction with the quality. Most noting that they are very light weight plastic and not very durable. I know we had one that we used to take camping with us, until a seam sprung a leak...the third time out. So let me know if you're interested in the 5 gal containers.

Further comments on water storage can be found at www.ldsliving.com/magazine/show/2408/storeforthirst Be aware, they appear to be big fans of Emergency Essentials. And yes, I like some of their products. But they are not the final word in preparedness. Please keep that in mind!

Emergency Essentials Order

Remember - if you would like to be included in the Emergency Essentials Order,  they are due by this Sunday, March 21. Orders must be prepaid. Make checks out to Carly.
Be aware that EE has a "sale" on Refried Beans on the cover for 7.99. These available at the Church Cannery for 3.75!

#10 can Freeze Dried Mango Chunks reg. 23.95/now 16.00
#10 can Carrot Dices reg. 11.95/now 7.00
#10 can Freeze Dried Green Beans reg. 16.95/now 10.00
Large Backpack 17" x 12.5" x 6.5" (red w/ EE logo) reg. 9.95/now 7.00

Also #10 can Cheese Blend (p. 16) is 16.99

If you don't get the catalog, products can be found at their web site http://www.beprepared.com/

Price Comparisons

Occasionally I will try to throw some price comparisons out here. If you find a great deal somewhere please feel free to email me or add it into the comment section and share! Today I was at Winco in the bulk food section. Anything in the bins is available by the box/bag and if you inquire, the manager will order for you and it will usually be there in two days. They no longer attempt to special order items (like Morning Moo) that they don't usually carry. Apparently people place orders and don't pick up, leaving them with product they can't sell....

I'm looking at doing a Blue Chip or Waltons run this summer and will leave a link for those order forms later on. Meanwhile:

                      Winco/ Church Cannery

25# pinto beans 15.69/16.30
25# navy beans 20.20/----
25# white beans ----/14.10
25# long grain white rice 11.40/8.45
25# old fashioned oats (reg) 12.60/8.15
25# sugar 24.00??? wow, that can't be right, I didn't look at the bags in the aisle tho/14.00
25# pasta rotini or linguine 14.06/----
25# bowtie pasta 17.67/----
25# soup mix 21.63/----
25# lentils 18.30/----
25# split peas 13.08/----
5 gal HDPE .090 mil food grade bucket w/reg. lid 5.40/----
Gamma Seal lids 5.78/----

Prices are going up all over. The Curch Cannery pretty much meets or beats Winco and Winco generally has some of the best prices around among the local grocery stores. They also, of course, have a larger variety of items and if you use buckets for storage,  buying by the bag (Cannery or grocery store) is a great way to go.

I'm Ready! How Much Should I Store for my Year Supply?

Where to begin? Good question. The current food calculator offered by the church is found at:

http://www.providentliving.org/

Unfortunately you can't there from here (and make it work.) However if you back out of this blog, and type in the above address, then go to 1) family home storage, 2) longer-term storage 3)then on the right hand side of that page is the heading to click for food storage calculator. Unfortunately I'm not fond of this one. I find it to be too simplistic. I, myself, need a little more direction than that!

The old food storage calculator the church used to use can be found here:

www.lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

I think this will give you a decent idea of where to start. Be aware that after you type in # of family members you'll have to scroll down a bit to see your results.

The Emergency Essentials food storage analyzer can be found here:

http://www.beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=608&

This is a bit too much of a hassle for me, plus they, of course, are trying to sell their products so I'd rather not use this.

I'm know I'm starting to sound like "Goldilocks" eh? Too soft, too hard, ahhhh...just right.

Anyway, if you do a web search I'm sure you'd be able to find others that may work for you also. Please feel free to share if you run across something exceptional. Happy hunting!

Where To Begin

We should begin by following the Prophet's counsel. We only need to read the news to be aware that many unplanned interruptions of life can occur such as:

- natural disasters
- terrorism
- labor strikes
- economic depression
- drought
- crop failure
- personal tragedy
- civil unrest
- layoffs/unemployment
- electrical outages
- snow storms

The list goes on. There is no need to be an alarmist but we have been told that we need to be prepared in case difficulties arise in our lives, and even if we only have to cope with a two day electrical outage, wouldn't it be nice to know that we're ready to handle it?

If you research how to go about being prepared there are so many ideas on where to go and what to do. I think the first thing we have to acknowledge is that everyone has different needs. Everyone is at different stages - not only on food storage and what we and our families like to eat but on personal preparedness in general. There is not a one size fits all plan. This is certainly not the only blog or information source on the subject! My hope is that we'll be able to give you some ideas on where to go, what to do and as opportunities arise for group purchases or we're made aware of good deals to be had, that they can be shared here, and you'll utilize what works best for you and your family.

That being said I feel it's most important to make sure that we follow the counsel of our church leaders:

For those in the early stages of food storage preparations, the first thing they are asking us to do now is start modestly and begin a 3 month supply of food. They suggest this be items that you normally eat and currently have in your cupboards. They suggest buying a few extra cans or boxes of food each week, or time you shop, until you have your 3 month supply. (Then start rotating them and keep rotating them!) 

Also store water that is safe to drink and save some money, "if only a few coins each week" and expand these initial efforts - as individual circumstances allow and where permitted, then begin storing a longer term supply of basics such as grains, beans, and other staples.

They stress that it is not prudent to go to extremes or go into debt to establish your home storage all at once. Gradually build reserves over time as financial resources and space permit. You might also want to assess your current supplies of warm clothing, fuel, hygiene & medical items.
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