Three Month Food Supply

In this section we are not talking about super pails of rice and wheat, but rather having on hand ingredients that you normally use in everyday cooking and recipes. The easiest way to accomplish this is to create a simple weekly or 10-day meal schedule you would feel comfortable repeating throughout a three month time span and then acquire the necessary ingredients for those meals. These should be meals you enjoy and should not drastically change your normal diet. For example, let’s say you choose spaghetti dinner as one of your meals. For a 10 meal schedule you will need to store 10 boxes of spaghetti, 10 jars of sauce, 10 cans of green beans (or ten portions of frozen broccoli, or whatever vegetable you choose), and the ingredients to make rolls 10 times. I know 10X10 isn’t 90 so we will actually have more than three months of normal meals stored, but who wants to store 9 of everything? If you do a weekly schedule, you will need to store 12 of everything. I just thought 10 and 10 was nicer and easier to remember (and more variety!). I know. I'm a dork.

Below is a sample schedule assuming three normal meals a day. We chose 7 different breakfasts, 10 lunches, and 10 dinners, which we will eat on a cycle throughout the three month-period. If you don't need as much variety in your life, you could choose fewer meals and focus on building up the ingredients for those meals. To rotate the food for these meals, I incorporated 1 or 2 of them a week into my 6 week rotating dinner calendar. (I know. I’m insane. =o] But it takes the stress out of making dinner! The worst part is deciding what to make, so I just have it all planned out so I don’t even have to think about it.)

The sample schedule assumes that there is electricity; in other words, it assumes freezers, stoves, and ovens are readily available. The schedule would need a drastic overhaul if this were not true. The basic operating assumption here is that this three month supply would be used under normal circumstances at home, and not under the extreme conditions assumed for a year supply storage plan. So you can't replenish anything fresh by going to the store, but the food you already have at home isn't in immediate danger of spoiling.

Breakfast:

In this list we have given a suggestion for each day of the week. Or if your family doesn’t need variety like we do, just store one or two of the ideas. The main thing again is to choose meals you enjoy that don't require a lot of ingredients or a big time investment to cook. For example, for the muffins, pancakes and biscuits, consider finding a "just add water" mix. We also assumed all breakfasts to include milk, juice, and dried fruit (although you can certainly tailor this to suit your own meal preferences and dietary needs).

Day	Meal Suggestion
Sunday:	Pop Tarts (or substitute Cream of Wheat or smoothies)
Monday:	Cereal
Tuesday:	Sausage & Biscuits
Wednesday:	Oatmeal
Thursday:	Muffins
Friday:	Granola Bars
Saturday:	Pancakes/Waffles

Lunch:

Below are ten suggestions for easy lunches. As always, choose meals that your family likes. We assumed all lunches to include canned fruit and frozen vegetables.

Meal
1	PB&J Sandwiches
2	Couscous
3	Rice-a-roni
4	Burritos
5	Soup
6	Chicken Salad Sandwiches
7	Chicken Nuggets & Tater Tots
8	Pasta
9	Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches
10	Chips & Salsa

Dinner:

Lastly, here are ten suggestions for dinner. The same recommendations for rotating meals given above apply here as well.

Meal
1	Tuna Fish Casserole and Veggies
2	Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
3	Chili Dinner (Chili, Corn, Corn Bread)
4	Tacos
5	Meat Pie
6	Hawaiian Haystacks
7	Spaghetti Dinner (Spaghetti with Sauce, Green Beans, Rolls)
8	Chicken Divan
9	Shepherd's Pie
10	Fettuccini with Black Bean Sauce

·         We also store ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies on Family Home Evening night. J

The following recipes are the ones our family currently uses for our three month supply meal. In general, try to simplify your recipes so that you do not have to store so many ingredients. Wherever possible, try to find "just add water" mixes. We know some families who only eat the meals planned for in their three month storage except on special occasions, however we enjoy a bit more variety than that! Besides we like to cook and try new recipes, which means this is subject to change if we find a recipe we like more.

Breakfast:

·         Sausage and Biscuits

The cheap pre-cooked frozen sausage actually tastes pretty good, but we recommend cooking on a griddle or frying pan versus the microwave. Of course if you have more gourmet tastes, feel free to go with something of higher quality.

Country Style Biscuits

2 1/4 c. Flour

1/4 c. Corn Starch

1/2 t. Salt

2 T. Sugar

2 T. Baking Powder

1 c. Milk

1/3 c. Vegetable Oil

Preheat oven to 450. Sift together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Form a well in the center. Combine milk and vegetable oil and add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir gently with a rubber scrapper, incorporating dry ingredients and forming a very soft dough. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat to 1/2 in thickness. Cut into 2 1/2 in rounds and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes until lightly browned.  Serve with butter and honey or jam.

·         Muffins

We buy the Betty Crocker "just add water" mix which is cheap and still good. But you could also do sweet breads instead on this day.

·         Pancakes

We buy a mix and use the ratio of one rounded cup (a little more than) of mix and one scant cup (a little less than) of water.

Lunch:

·         Bread for sandwiches:

Miracle Method Bread

1. Miracle Riser:

Soften 3 pgs active dry yeast in large mixing bowl (there are 2 1/4 t of yeast in each packet) in 2 c. warm water. Let stand 5 min.

Add 4 T. Sugar, 2 t. Salt, 1 c. Flour

Mix until smooth

Cover and let stand in warm place for 12-15 min. Mixture will bump up and become foamy.

2. Mix the Dough - To the Starter Add:

2 1/3 c. Warm Water

1/2 c. Dry Milk

4 T Sugar

4 t Salt

4 c. Flour

4 T Shortening

Beat for 2 min.

Work in additional flour, about 8 c., or until dough is moderately stiff. Turn out dough onto floured board, shape into round balls. Cover and let rest 10 min.

3. Fold 'n Roll

Roll dough to 1/2" thickness, fold over, roll and fold a total of 5 times. Divide dough with knife, form into 4 balls. Cover and let rest 10 min.

4. Shape Loaves

On lightly floured board, roll each ball into a rectangle, turn dough over twice during rolling. Place long edge in front of you. Fold 1/3 of dough toward you; seal. Flatten to remove large gas bubbles, take hold of both ends; lengthen by slapping gently against board.

Fold each end over to the center so that ends overlap then seal with heel of your hand. Roll dough toward you, jelly-roll fashion. Seal edge with heel of your hand; seal ends with sides of your hand. Place seam down in greased pan, against one side of pan. Grease top lightly.

5. Rise and Bake

Cover shaped loaves and let rise in warm place for 40-45 minutes or until double in size. Bake at 375 for 35-40 min or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Remove loaves from pan immediately and place on a wire rack to cool. For a shiny crust, brush with softened butter while loaves are still hot.

·         Burritos

We make burritos out of Costco tortillas, or you can make your own if you have a recipe you like. To the tortilla, we add refried beans, corn, cheese and salsa. You could also buy the frozen kind.

·         Pasta

Add butter or olive oil and herbs to any pasta. Our favorites are sage, oregano, or the "Italian herbs" mix we have. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.   

Dinner:

·         Tuna Fish Casserole

Tuna Fish Casserole

2 1/2 c. Rotini Noodles

1 Can Tuna Fish

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 c. Crushed Saltine Crackers (Any other cracker or bread crumb product may be substituted)

2 c. Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in a bowl mix tuna and cream of chicken soup. When pasta is ready, drain off water and put into an 8" x 8" glass baking pan. Mix in soup mixture. Top with shredded cheese and then crumbs. Bake until topping browns. Serves 4.

·         Shepherd's Pie           

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Can Tomato Sauce

1 Can Green Beans

2-3 c. Mashed Potatoes

1 c. Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix beef and tomato sauce; pour into 8"x8" glass baking pan. Then pour on a layer of green beans. Cover with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese browns. Serves 4.

·         Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

2 1/2 c. Penne Noodles

1-2 Chicken Breasts (cooked and cubed)

1 Jar Alfredo Sauce (we use sun-dried tomato Alfredo)

2 c. Broccoli (any style blanched and drained)

1 c. Bread Crumbs

2 c. Mozzarella  Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in a bowl mix chicken and sauce. When pasta is ready, drain off water and put into an 8" x 8" glass baking pan. Place broccoli on top, then pour over the sauce mixture. Top with shredded cheese and then crumbs. Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the topping browns. Serves 4.

·          Chili Dinner

            We use canned chili and corn for this meal. We use a corn bread mix. Left over corn bread isn't good, so we only make one small loaf using one cup of mix and half a cup of water. Serve with margarine or butter and honey.

·         Fettuccini with Black Bean Sauce

           

Fettuccini with Black Bean Sauce

8 oz Fettuccini

1 Small Green Pepper, Chopped (obviously you can't store this, so omit unless it's harvest time

1 T Olive Oil

2 C. Garden-Style Pasta Sauce or 1 can of stewed tomatoes

1 Can Black Beans, Rinsed and Drained

2 T Minced Fresh Basil or 2 t Dried Basil

1 t Dried Oregano

1/2 t Fennel Seed

1/4 t Garlic Salt (I use garlic powder)

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Cook fettuccini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, sauté green pepper and onion in oil until tender. Stir in the pasta sauce (or stewed tomatoes), black beans, and seasonings. (Sometimes I add a little milk at this point.) Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Drain fettuccini. Top with sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

·         Chicken Divan

There are many ways to make chicken divan ('divan' just means 'with broccoli') but here's the recipe we use:

           

Chicken Divan

3-4 Chicken Breasts, Cooked and Quartered

3 c. Broccoli, Blanched (steam for 5-7 minutes to "blanch")

Sauce:

2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup

2 t. Curry Powder (or more to taste)

1/2 c. Mayonnaise (optional)

1 t. Lemon Juice

Topping:

1 c. Cheddar Cheese, Grated

Bread Crumbs

Arrange broccoli on bottom of a glass baking dish. Cover with chunks of chicken. Combine sauce ingredients and pour over the chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle on the cheese and crumbs. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Serve over white rice.

·         Meat Pie

This classic recipe of beef stew in a pie crust is possible for three month storage because we use canned stew. If it is harvest time you can make a vegetarian version from your garden. Here is our favorite pie crust recipe (you will need to double it for the bottom and top layers):

Pie Crust

1/3 c. Plus 1 T Shortening

1 c. Flour

1/2 t. Salt

2-3 T Ice Water

Cut shortening into flour mixture until particles are pea sized. Sprinkle in water, incorporating it with your hands until sides of the bowl are clean. Gather pastry into a ball; shape into a flattened round on a lightly floured surface. Roll with a floured pin until 2 inches wider than your pie plate. Roll onto pin and ease into pie plate.

Fill with stew. Place second pie crust on top. Pinch layers shut and cut vents in the top. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Serve with milk to drink.

           

·         Hawaiian Haystacks

There are so many ways to do this, here is ours:

           

Hawaiian Haystacks

Rice

Chicken, Cooked and Cubed

Cream of Chicken Soup

Paprika

Cheese

Frozen Mixed Veggies

Any Salad Toppings we Have (Cucumbers, Tomato, Green Pepper, etc.)

Pineapple

Chow Mein Noodles

Slivered Almonds

Raisins and/or Crasins

Coconut

Ham

Mandarin Oranges

Just about anything else you like!

Cook rice. Make sauce by heating up the cream of chicken soup with cubed chicken and 1 tsp (or more to taste) of paprika (I also add a little milk). Prepare toppings and set everything up buffet style. Then make a 'haystack' with rice on the bottom, sauce next and then adding whatever toppings suit you!

Also, we make rice in a pot on the stove. Here is the method:

Ratio of rice : water is 1:2, with a pinch of salt and pat of butter. Boil water with salt and butter. Add rice and bring just to a boil again. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook about 20 min until steam holes appear in the surface of the rice. Turn off heat and let stand about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.

·         Spaghetti Dinner

Make spaghetti the way you like. Here is our favorite roll recipe to go with pasta:

Sixty Minute Rolls

1/2 c. Cold Water

1 c. Scalded Milk (heat milk just to boiling to "scald" it)

2 T. yeast

1/4 c. Margarine or Butter

3 T. Sugar

1 t. Salt

3 1/2- 4 c. Bread Flour

Combine water and milk in a large bowl. Add yeast, butter, sugar, salt, and 2 c. flour and beat well with a mixer. Stir in additional flour by hand to make a soft dough. Knead well. Let rest for 10 minutes then shape as desired. Let rise until double (about 30 minutes). Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 3 dozen rolls. (I always make these into braids. Divide the dough in two, and then divide each half into three parts. Make 'snakes' and then braid them together, tucking the ends under so they don't burn. Just before baking gently brush each braid with a mixture of butter, garlic and herbs.)

·         Tacos

Again, use the tortillas of your choice.

Tacos

1 lb Ground Hamburger

1/2 c. Rice

1/4 c. Taco Seasoning (or one packet)

1 Can Black Beans

1 Can Corn

1 c. Cheddar Cheese

Ketchup or Salsa to taste

And obviously you can't store these fresh items but we also put on avocado, lettuce, and tomato.

Brown hamburger and drain off fat. Add rice, 2 cups of water and seasonings and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally. Once the rice is done, remove the lid and increase heat to high to get rid of excess moisture. Prepare the other ingredients and serve buffet style.

To prevent tracking our inventory of ingredients from becoming overwhelming, we use a simple spreadsheet to help us keep organized (my idea, but Kent's creation =o]). You can find a template for a great one here: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/03/09/long-term-food-storage-calculator/. Or you can make a master list by hand and tape it to your pantry door; whatever works for you!

So our assignment is, decide what meals you want to store, make lists of ingredients and gather recipes, and then in 2 weeks we’ll talk about inventory, rotation, price checking, and couponing! (I'm going to my parent's house next week- hooray! And besides that it is the week before General Conference so I'm doing a media-fast!) Good luck to us all!  

"year supply" food storage

As much as I hate to admit it, this is a hard one for me. I think it’s because it is like the long term in that you have to have tons of food (possibly literally depending on the size of your family!) but you also have to have a purchase and rotation schedule like in the three month supply plan. I’m going to be upfront and say that I have a mental block about using powdered milk. Kent refuses. =o] I’m going to try and start rotating what I have though and trying recipes because dairy products are a huge part of our lives. Seriously, Kent and Caleb think cheese is a food group. I have heard that butter and cottage cheese can be made quite easily with nonfat dry milk but we shall see. Now that I have that off my chest, on with the post!

I promised a list of ‘best buy places’, but this also includes convenient/popular places:

www.providentliving.org

www.beprepared.com

www.shelfreliance.com

www.yourfoodstorage.com

www.usaemergencysupply.com

http://store.honeyvillegrain.com

www.mountainhouse.com

For actual food storage food we also shop at Costco, WinCo, and sales at super markets in our area. You have to do some price checking but it will be worth it.

How should you go about acquiring your year supply food? Start with the essentials. Remember the year-of-food survival list:

300lbs of grains

60lbs of dried legumes

75lbs of powdered milk

20lbs of fats

60lbs of sugar and/or honey

5lbs of salt

Since all the dry goods are part of your long term supply (and don’t need to be rotated) for this section we will cover the milk and fats. You probably already use cooking oils in your weekly diet, so EVERY time you are at the store, get a container of cooking oil (olive, vegetable, canola- whatever!). There are approximately 2 pounds per liter (depending on which cooking oil you are using). So if you buy a 5 liter bulk container of olive oil at Costco next time you pop in for some milk, you are half way there! For one family member at least. =o] And really, you don’t have to worry about it going rancid unless you store it in like 90*F, and even if it does go bad you could always use it to make an oil lamp for light!

Dry milk (some people say powdered but it is the same thing) is a bit different. To me. Again, I can’t really talk about this because I don’t do it. But what I am going to start doing (THIS WEEK!!) is to price check dry milk at local stores against provident living and the other websites. I know they don’t sell it at my Costco, but other than that, I have only ever randomly purchased 23 lbs total over my entire food storage-ing career and all of it is sitting on the shelf in my storage room. Yikes! I know I’m horrible. That is why I’m committing to do something about it now! =o]

Other year supply items could include baking necessities like (white?)flour, yeast, baking soda and powder, and egg substitutes. Unless of course you have chickens. Once upon a time Natalie was allergic to eggs so I learned this egg substitute for baking:

1t unflavored gelatin, 2T + 2t boiling water, 3T cold water – pour boiling water over gelatin and mix until dissolved as much as possible (much like jell-o) add cold water and stir vigorously until the gelatin is completely dissolved. It smells horribly, but it gets the job done!  Thanks to this little recipe, I have “60 eggs” in my cupboard right now. =o]

For your year supply you also might want to have vitamins, herbs and spices, and garden seeds. If you can, or “jar” as my brother in law calls it, fruit and vegetables become part of your year supply. Otherwise you buy a three month supply and rotate them throughout the year and/or until their expiration date.

you can buy comercially packaged seeds and store them with your food storage, or if you buy them at the store in packets keep them in a sealed package in the fridge.

i have never 'jarred'- gasp! this is from my primary president. don't worry, it's on my to do list for this summer =o]

Which brings me to the next subject that I wanted to cover in this post: expiration dates on food packages.  This tremendous website I stumbled across http://www.stilltasty.com has invaluable information, but again it takes time and effort to sift through it all. I will give you an overview of what I have learned here, but if you ever have any specific questions just look them up there.

The information printed or stamped on food packaging that references a date is a voluntary statement on quality, not safety. “Sell by” refers to when the product will no longer be deemed fresh. “Best by” or “use by” refers to when the product will retain optimal taste, texture, and appearance under normal storage conditions and if unopened. The "shelf life" of a product (an opened product) depends largely on the way it is stored and the taste buds of the consumer. =o] A good rule of thumb is ‘go with your gut’- if it looks, tastes, smells, or feels off to you, chances are it is. Is the box of pasta that expired in 1998 you found in the back of your mom’s pantry going to negatively affect your digestive system? Most likely no. It will just no longer have as much nutritional value or be as appealing to eat. Is the jar of mayo that you found in the back of your mom’s fridge that expired in 2008 going to negatively affect your digestive system? Possibly. Different people have different tolerances to bacterial growth and mold. Like I said, it all depends on you!

From the companies I have called about this, and from the research I have done, it seems like the general consensus is that those labels are to protect manufacturers from lawsuits. Once a product is opened the date becomes invalid anyway, so it is just a guideline not a hard deadline. It is important to rotate your year supply and your three month supply so that you get used to eating those foods and so you don’t waste them. If it was sealed properly and is still sealed properly when you go to eat it, chances are it will not hurt you. It just may only count toward your caloric intake for the day, not for nutrition.

so, to re-cap year supply: just buy in bulk things you use normally rotating as you go, and set small realistic goals for yourself to implement food you wouldn't normally use but that would be invaluable in your diet if you had to live off your food storage (like me with the dry milk ;0]) 

'til next week-- 

long term food storage part 2

here are the follow up videos i made after that first day of storing food in mylar bags and buckets.

when oxygen absorbers didn't work

when oxygen absorbers work

using a hair straightener to seal mylar bags

end of it (ah! i had to post it on youtube again): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43wuQkxyKvY

long term food storage

As I mentioned in my last post, it is estimated that 300lbs of grains, 60lbs of legumes, 75lbs of dry milk, 20lbs of fats, 60lbs of sugars, and 5lbs of salt could sustain the average adult for one year. My family has four people, so we need to store 4x those amounts. We decided because of taste preferences and familiarity to break it down like this:

Grains- 1,200lbs= wheat 400lbs, rice 375lbs, brown rice 25lbs, oats (quick) 200lbs, oats (rolled) 100lbs, corn 100lbs

Legumes- 240lbs= beans- black 100lbs pinto 40lbs white 60lbs, lentils 20lbs, peas 20lbs

Dry milk- 300lbs nonfat dry milk (this is actually a year supply item because it needs to be rotated unless in absolutely ideal conditions in which case it would last as long as rice)

Fats- 80lbs= oils- olive 50lbs vegetable 5lbs canola 5lbs, shortening 20lbs (these are year supply too for rotation reasons)

Sugars- 240lbs= sugar- white 150lbs brown 50lbs, honey 40lbs

Salt- 20lbs table salt

Wow, right? Don’t get overwhelmed. 25lbs of salt is $3.99 at Costco.  Boom! Done with a whole category! =o] Seriously though, just take it one step at a time. Start with the items that you don’t need special equipment to prepare, would only need water to make, and are already familiar to your family- like rice. Building food storage takes time. So make a plan (including a budget!) and stick to it.

Just a little side note about my legumes section: I have never cooked with lentils or dry peas. Once I try out some recipes these percentage divisions may change. They are both valuable to have for sprouting, even if we don’t actually use them to cook with though, so again, I’m just going to have to see how my experiments go…

I feel like I need to do some explaining about oxygen absorbers here. I didn’t know much about them, but after a little research and practice I feel more confident. Here is a site that was especially helpful: http://www.sorbentsystems.com/o2absorbers_1.html

To know how many oxygen absorbers to put into your food storage bag you need to know how much oxygen there is trapped inside. To do that you need to know the volume of your container when empty minus the volume of the food you put inside. Once you have the amount of space left ‘around’ and ‘on top’ of your food you will have the ‘air volume’ and can figure out the grade of oxygen absorber you will need to soak up the oxygen in that air. Confused? Just go to that page and see if you can make sense of their way of explaining it. Here is a useful table:

container type - volume in empty container
#10 can - 3,980 cc
5 gallon plastic pail - 18,942 cc
6 gallon plastic pail - 22, 730.4 cc

And a useful example, both from that site:

We want to know what size oxygen absorber to use for a 5 gallon bucket of rice.

1. We determine from the table above that there are 18,942 cubic centimeters in a 5 gallon plastic bucket.

2. The rice weighs 35 pounds which converts to 15,876 grams.

3. 18,942 (cc) container volume - 15,876 (g) rice = 3,066 cc residual air volume.

4. 3,066 (cc) residual air volume x .205 (oxygen fraction in air) = 628.53 cc oxygen volume

5. Since the size of oxygen absorbers are rated and named according to the amount of oxygen they absorb, we know that a 750 cc oxygen absorber will be sufficient for this bucket of rice

Now, I made some videos to help you (and me! Teachers are the ultimate student, right?) learn how to store your food long term. The first one I did was way too long to load on this blog so I put it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf6JsR1zUTI and then here is the second part of that same night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzTEvzr0kPM

i have made some follow up videos since that first day but i just tried to load them all for like an hour and then when i posted it there was nothing in the post. lame. so i'll try again tomorrow. i'll also post our go-to sites for supplies then (which were also eaten by cyberspace), but now it's like an hour past my bedtime...

Food Storage Introduction

Have you ever met someone with a food storage hobby? You know the Molly Mormon I’m talking about. Some people catch the Spirit of Elijah and do Family History like there is no tomorrow. But other people catch what I call the Spirit of Joseph (Gen 41) and do Food Storage like there is a tomorrow and they want to be eating then! Well if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am one of those people. I LOVE preparing for emergencies. Whether it be by ‘doing’ food storage or otherwise, it is honestly like one of the most interesting things I know of to pass the time.

BUT, if that’s so not you, never fear! This post is for you! Because long term food storage is for everyone or the prophets wouldn’t have told us to do it. It is true that you will have to devote some time and energy into storing food for your family, but it will be well worth the effort. It doesn’t have to take over your life (though I dare you to not get sucked in!), you just have to have a precise plan and follow it to the letter.  

Food storage falls into three categories: Long Term Supply, Year Supply and Three Month Supply.

Long Term Supply is staff-of-life, dry-packed food like grains, legumes, sugar, salt, heck even macaroni (honey is the miraculous exception). This food storage is the easiest and the cheapest to do because: A) It is basic life sustaining food and thus is widely available and does not have to be too varied. B) The less a food is processed the less it costs to get on the shelves, so buying whole/raw food is inexpensive. If you know where to get it! C) You don’t have to rotate it. HEAR THAT? Yes I said you don’t have to rotate it. Or at least I don’t think you have to and here is why: the Second Coming is coming. I know, I know. Call me crazy; but think about it. The food items I am talking about here have a 30 year shelf life (in optimal conditions) and if Jesus hasn’t come by then or my house hasn’t sunk into the ocean or been covered by a mountain in an earthquake with my food storage in it then I guess I will deserve to crack open my super-pails and eat my less then fully nutritious wheat. But by then my kids will have grown and moved out and so I won’t care about the quality of my food as much. Another reason is that I honestly believe that we have not been asked to store a year supply of food so our families can eat for a year without going to the market. I believe we are meant to share it. So when there is an emergency and I give all my rice away I will just start from square one and the 30 year timer on my supply will start ticking all over again. We need to learn to use this stuff in our daily diet, but we do not have to rotate it.

Year Supply foods are things like flour, powdered milk, cooking oils, baking essentials (yeast!) and spices, canned foods, daily vitamins and garden seeds. These food items are still basics for home cooked meals that are stored in the ‘pantry’, but they need to be used and replaced regularly. There is a wider spectrum of foods involved here so the cost depends on each family’s preferences.

The Three Month Supply is the most volatile of the three because this is basically just your weekly needs multiplied into 12 weeks. And this section includes water. (I know that with God all things are possible, and that is pretty much the only way most of us would be able to store more than three months worth of water for our families! See my Water Kit post.) Your freezer and refrigerator finally enter the picture here too. So in this plan you should include everything from breakfast cereal to cheese to frozen vegetables to… literally whatever your family loves to eat!  

I hope you are not feeling overwhelmed.  If you are feeling some trepidation just take a deep breath and keep reading. I promise this isn’t as hard as it may seem!

Over the next couple weeks we will be learning how to acquire and properly store your food storage. I hope to supply you with the tools you need to accomplish this task or at least point you in the direction of helpful resources. Here we go!

Let’s review the section I posted in physical preparation on food:

Eat Right- I say "right" instead of just "healthy" because physical preparation for an emergency is different from a good diet. It takes time for our bodies to learn to digest whole grains if we're not already used to them. Oatmeal and beans and rice every day is a bleak prospect for pop-tart and pizza type people. You don't need to cut those things out entirely, just add the right things in! In most cases (including in our family) sweets are a part of our daily lives; we need to learn self restraint in that area too. Try going without any sugar for a week, and you'll be surprised how your body reacts (I was!). And if you are a caffeine junkie (or addicted to any substance), you might consider kicking the habit now. It's not just that soda is bad for you, but that the last thing you want in an emergency is to have to deal with a crisis while also feeling the physical effects of needing an addiction fix! The current recommendations for caloric intake and food sources specific to your body type and stage in life can be calculated at http://www.mypyramid.gov/ .

Now with that in mind, take a look at these stats.

It is estimated that the following could sustain the average adult for a year on 2,300 calories a day:

300lbs of grains

60lbs of dried legumes

75lbs of powdered milk

20lbs of fats

60lbs of sugar and/or honey

5lbs of salt

Young men and nursing mothers need more than that, while children and the elderly would be fine with a little less. Learning to cook with just those things (and to digest them) can be difficult in today's world and with our typical eating habits and schedules. Only store what you would actually eat and know how to use.

All of the categories listed above are Long Term Storage items except the ‘fats’ section. Powdered milk can be stored for 30 years, but the conditions have to be constantly optimal or it will be considered inedible within 3 years, so it is safer just to plan on rotating it.

An excellent resource to purchase these items is www.providentliving.org which is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Under the ‘Home Storage’ link, click on the “Home Storage Center Order Form” on the right hand side and check out the nationwide price sheet of food storage products available at the food distribution center nearest you (look under the “Locations” tab at the top of the page for addresses and phone numbers). These really are great products and prices because they are literally selling them at cost straight from church welfare farms. Other than the white rice we found slightly cheaper at Costco (which might just be locally grown) these are far less expensive than anywhere else. But, if you follow sales and use coupons you might be able to save some money on certain items. The Lord doesn't give commandments without preparing a way for them to be followed, so this is possible! The Church printed a pamphlet called All is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage to help members get started (which again can be found on that same page). I think they made it almost overly simple to encourage people to at least do something instead of feeling overwhelmed when they see those few Molly Mormon food storage-rs and thus do nothing.

Now let’s talk containers for Long Term Food Storage. I think that we can all agree that 30 years of peace of mind is worth an investment in quality. Use only food grade containers so the integrity of your food is not compromised. Proper packing will ward off pests and prevent premature food deterioration. Storing conditions determine the shelf life of your food no matter the container.

·         Commercially packed super pails

·         Super pails with Mylar bags and an oxygen absorber you fill and seal yourself

·         Commercially packed #10 cans

(though this will not last 30 years, you get what i am refering to. we try to only buy pre-packaged things we can't do ourselves- like freeze dried food!)

·         #10 cans with an oxygen absorber you fill and seal yourself

(again, same story. we are only using super pails for long term storage, but i wanted you to see an example.)

·         Honey is the only non-dry long term storage item. And unless you are a beekeeper, just keep it in the jar you bought it in and it will keep indefinitely.

·         Keep your food storage in a cool, dry, dark place. 

·         High and fluctuating temperatures are detrimental to shelf life. Keeping your food storage below 75 degrees but never freezing it will lengthen the shelf life to the 30 year mark I mentioned.

I just realized that I may need to define “shelf life” for long term storage. We all know when a carton of milk goes bad because it smells sour and sickening. It is also easy to tell when a vegetable or piece of fruit has gone rotten and shouldn’t be eaten. These foods have passed their expiration dates or their shelf life. Long term food storage items don’t rot or sour like that, but they do expire. They begin to loose nutritional value (vitamins, minerals, and proteins) and then rapidly decrease in appeal via taste and texture. It is hard to tell just looking at it (unless you are an expert), it is when you go to cook and eat it that you realize there is a problem. That is why it is so dangerous- your stomach may be full of bread, but the nutrients your body needs aren’t there! The caloric content would only drop slightly so it would still sustain life, but eating expired foods like that for an extended period of time would compromise your health.

Now let’s talk menu. The stark reality is that long term food storage is survival based. So if you literally only store the things in that list above, your typical day would look like this:

Oatmeal with milk and sugar for breakfast. Some sort of unleavened bread for lunch (usually wheat, sometimes corn), possibly with honey on it if you don’t use sugar at breakfast. Rice and beans for dinner.

Yum, right?

BUT, if you buy a food storage cook book, or even look up recipes online, you can literally spice up your life! You just need to plan in advance! For example, you could sprout your wheat kernels and have a salad. You could make tortillas, bran flakes, pancakes, even pasta! But you have to get the recipes and instructions and try it out now! And you have to get your Year Supply functioning. After I finish with the information, acquisition, and storage portions of each type of food storage, I’m going to go back and document my adventures with trying recipes from each type of food storage, including alternative ways of baking and cooking! Such fun! Can’t you just feel the excitement? I sure as heck can. But then again I’ve caught the Spirit of Joseph. ;0]

This post is far too long so I will end now, although I could go on for pages more. If you made it all the way, high five! Until next week then--

pandemic preparedness

the first time i heard about and studied pandemics was in college when my cousin (who is an RN) told us about some training she was having to do for an avian flu outbreak and how she would have to report in to the hospital when it happens because they will need every person with medical experience they can find. i listened in stunned silence to the scenarios she rehearsed to me about government plans, statistics, historical records and the prophecies to back up the reality of the event. i'm not afraid anymore. but you might want to buckle up! 

…a desolating sickness shall cover the land- D&C 45:31; 2 Nephi 13:24; Revelations 9

Experts say and history shows that pandemics do and will happen, so get informed and be prepared. For example, the H5N1 virus (avian flu) has hundreds of confirmed cases worldwide, even though none have been reported in the U.S. And to date, there are only a couple confirmed cases of the virus being passed from one person to another person (infected people have usually contracted it from birds). However, as soon as the virus mutates and can be passed easily from person to person via contact or proximity it will be around the globe, some say, in a matter of days. The U.S. has plans in place to slow the transmission of the virus, but all experts agree there is no stopping it once it starts to spread. You can read those plans (and those of each state) at http://www.flu.gov/. The World Health Organization (WHO) has six stages of influenza outbreak and we are currently in stage four. Thus far there is a 60% mortality rate for those who contracted the virus, but experts say that may increase as the virus gains speed and strength and less medical attention is available for infected patients.

The plan to slow the spread of the virus in the U.S. is to shut down all airports immediately upon discovering an outbreak of human transmitted H5N1. All public gatherings will be banned, public places will be closed down, and all government buildings will be converted into hospitals. Essentially, the entire U.S. population will be quarantined to their homes for three months, during which time it is hoped the initial outbreak and follow up mutations that are projected will occur and subside. It is projected that 2/3 of the world population will contract the pandemic virus and of that 50% will die. The scary part is that healthy people are the most likely to die because the virus turns your body on itself. There are antiviral drugs available that have proven effective in lessening the severity of the flu symptoms (tamiflu and relenza), but there is no cure.

Some things you can do to prepare include the following:

Ø  stock your first aid kit with flu symptom relief medications, essential oils, herbal remedies, and fluids with electrolytes to ward off dehydration

Ø  stock your first aid kit with respirator masks, latex gloves, body suits, and antibacterial hand soap for caregivers

Ø  have a three month supply of food, water and essentials (all your kits)

Ø  practice flu prevention habits like washing your hands with soap and water regularly, sneeze into a tissue and throw it away, stay home when you have a fever, and don't touch your eyes, nose, mouth or ears with possibly dirty fingers

i'm not trying to be an alarmist here. i truly believe that an once of preparation is worth a pound of cure! good luck!

Quarantine Preparedness

The first time that I read about the U.S. plans for home quarantine I was living in Massachusetts. I told some friends about it while visiting teaching and we spent the rest of the time talking logistics. It just seemed so overwhelming—even impossible. I dedicate this post to them. We CAN do this!

Quarantines

And there shall be men standing in that generation, that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge; for a desolating sickness shall cover the land. But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die. -D&C 45:31-32

Quarantines happen when there is a pandemic or other biohazard, airborne or otherwise, that is spreading rapidly and the government is trying to stop it. The U.S. systems in place include three levels of quarantine. Level one means everyone is requested to stay in their homes or on their property. All businesses, stores, and community buildings are closed. Electricity and plumbing still work until something breaks. This is for a designated period of time and is also usually "self-imposed" for the most part. Level two is more serious, requiring everyone to stay inside. This is also called "mandated" or "enforced" quarantine because people will be confined to the inside of their homes by force. The military and/or police will ensure that the quarantine is followed.  And level three calls for underground long-term sheltering. The government will issue specific instructions when the quarantine is announced, but here are some general things to be aware of and prepare for. (You can look up these plans for your home state and community. The federal plans are a PDF file and thus I can't go to exact pages so i'm not providing hyper links here.)

Ø  Since it is important in quarantines to create a routine and stick to it, especially when children are involved, here are some suggestions: Change your sleeping schedule to match the sunlight and darkness hours. Make designated family and personal alone time each day. Exercise daily. Solidify gospel routines (family prayer, scripture study, etc.) and plan the day around them. Create routines around mealtimes. Plan a different kind of activity for each day of the week to break up the monotony. Knowing what to expect gives everyone, especially children, a sense of security and control even in extremely trying situations.

Ø  Plan for one gallon of water per person per day. Also store fluids with electrolytes.

Ø  Use your three month food supply plan. In addition, you may want to store healthy food that can be easily prepared by any member of the family, just in case both parents are ill and cannot prepare meals. Also include foods high in antioxidants to build up your antibodies like dried blueberries or mangos. Foods rich in Vitamin C (for example, oranges) might actually work against you with some virus strains (H5N1 for example), so concentrate on storing antioxidant rich foods to build up immunity instead.

Ø  Teach your family now to have good sickness etiquette: stay home from work or school when you are sick, sneeze and cough into a tissue or your arm, wash your hands frequently and thoroughly, and do not touch your eyes, nose, mouth or ears with dirty fingers. Practice healthy personal hygiene and cleaning habits in your family and home now so it will be natural while quarantined when it could mean the difference between life and death.

Ø  Do not plan on having electricity or gas for light, heat, cooking, etc. Store wood for fires (or an ax to get some), gas for a camping stove or grill, coal for a Dutch Oven, flashlights and lamps with extra batteries, etc. Remember that candles and fires not only use oxygen to burn, but also present a hazard, so have camping lamps and battery operated lights to use until they run out.

During quarantines:

4  Stay at least 20 feet away from other people, animals, and standing water. If you live in a rural area this shouldn't be a problem and you will most likely be able to go outside your house into your yard for some sunshine each day. But if you live in the city, especially in an apartment building situation this will be a bigger challenge. Do not open your doors or windows when other people are closer than 20 feet. Close your vents if they are connected to ducts shared by other apartments in the building. Even though you can't go outside try to let in fresh air and sit in direct sunlight each day. 

4  Designate one room in your home for the care of sick persons, preferably one with a bathroom attached. The sick person should stay in this room at all times, and only the care giver should have contact with them. The caregiver needs to be shielded properly with a gown, mask, and gloves that are disposed of after each exposure. Have extra bedding, entertainment, eating utensils, etc. that are set apart for sick persons. Have a bell or whistle for the sick person to call for aid, as they may be too weak to shout or even speak. Store bleach and other disinfectants to clean with. Use your First Aid Kit and herbal remedies if you have them.

4  Use your Sanitation Kit.

4  If you can't go to church, your family becomes the branch. Keep the Sabbath.

4  Being home all day every day in close quarters can be trying. Store a variety of things to do that are not only fun but productive. Collect reference books so you can learn new skills you never had time for before! Use your home schooling kit.

4  Since you will be spending the majority of your time inside, the air in your home needs to be recycled. Have at least one plant in every room, and more if you can manage it. Depending on how close your neighbors are, you may or may not be able to open your windows to let in fresh air. But do not attempt to seal your windows or door shut as you will quickly be oxygen deprived.

4  Listen to the radio for updates on the situation or watch the news if you can. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt.

This past week I used my birthday money from my grandparents to buy these two new plants for our house:

natalie even painted the pot for the one we put in her room. i would tell you what kind of plant it is but the old asian guy at the nursery didn't know the name in english =o] but it is an air purifier, only needs to be watered once every two weeks, doesn't need direct sunlight and only needs to be repotted once every couple years. meet "greenie" as natalie lovingly calls it. we will be getting two more of these babies for the living room and our bedroom when the money comes up next in the budget...

 and this beautiful aloe vera plant!! i was going to put it in the kitchen, but it needs 3 hours of direct sunlight a day which doesn't happen, so it is currently loving life in caleb's room.

we made flyers for all our neighbors telling them about BASIC preparedness and pointing them in the direction of providentliving.org. do you know your neighbors? might be a good idea to meet them because in any disaster working with your community is essential for success!

i also filled up the water barrel i got for my birthday =o]

heads up for next week: pandemic flu prep! and then on to food (which is taking me a while to get ready!)

sanitation kit

i'm giving you fair warning to not read this post while eating your lunch =o]

there are several reasons you might need to use this kit, but we created it with a home based quarantine in mind. in the united states there are three stages of quarantine, and the effectiveness of this kit depends on where you live and which stage your community is in. i bet you can guess what next week's post is going to be about...

Sanitation Kit

Suggested Materials:

·         2 Trash cans with lids

·         Shovel

·         Black trash bags (small and large)

·         Bleach and/or enzyme 300

·         Bucket with a lid and plunger

·         Hand Sanitizer

·         Detergent

·         Wet wipes

·         Vinegar

·         Flannel Toilet Paper

·         Baking Soda

·         Mesh bags

·         Old #10 can with lid

·         Old tennis ball

·         Peri-bottle

·         Old Phone books

·         Rocks/gravel, pine needles/leaves/twigs

This sanitation kit is meant for “stage one" quarantine. This is the plan for when H5N1, the avian flu, hits- see pandemicflu.gov. It is projected that sanitation problems will kill as many people in quarantine situations as the disease or biohazard. We create so much waste!

Unavoidable Trash:

-Burn, compost, recycle/reuse what you can, then throw the rest away in a can or pit compacting as you go. If it is stage two and you can't go outside designate a room in your house as the garbage room and keep everything in doubled up black trash bags. The garage is most feasible.

Bio- Waste:

-Everyday Toilet- Use your current toilet with no water or a bucket. Plug the hole with an old tennis ball. Line the bowl with a black garbage bag. Use old phone book pages until they run out, just for bowel movements, or start with the flannel toilet paper right off (see below). Change the lining everyday and add bleach or the enzyme to the bag before sealing it and putting it in a larger black bag lined trash can. (Not the same one as your other trash.) When the can is full double up the current bag and then bury it. The waste must be at least 50 yards (about 80 paces) away from your living area and covered with at least 2 feet of dirt. Dig down 8 feet if you can. Use hand sanitizer after each contact with any part of this process.

To use Flannel TP you need three sets of wipes for each person. Each set has three wipes. Use one set a day. You can color code them if you want to make sure you use the same sets each time, or everyone can use everyone else's after washing. Plan on washing them every other day or at least every third day. If you are not using old phone book pages for bowel movements, designate one of your wipes for that and the other two for urine. Have a #10 can next to the toilet with a mesh bag for each person's flannel TP. At the end of the day put all the TP into a bucket of cold water to soak overnight. The next morning dump out the dirty cold water and wash the TP with  a mixture of hot water, baking soda (one large pinch per set) and detergent. Once the cloth appears clean, dump out the dirty water and soak the TP in a mixture of vinegar (one capful or less per set) and water. Wring out each TP square and hang up to dry in the sunshine.  Never use bleach on your flannel TP as it ruins the absorbency.

*To make Flannel TP: Prewash flannel alone in hot water. Dry in the dryer alone on hot setting. Cut flannel cloth with pinking shears into 6 inch squares. If you don't have pinking shears hem the edges.

 

-Feminine Supplies- Keep a three month supply of tampons (only keep pads if there is a possibility of childbirth) or purchase a diva cup.

           - Make flannel TP designated for just that week and use a peri-bottle

-Diapers-  Make or purchase cloth diapers. The old fashioned ones with the plastic pants for each size and diaper pins would not be my first choice. Cloth diaper systems made by Bum Genius or Gro Via are much more manageable.

-Make or buy flannel baby wipes. Be sure to scrape off everything you can into the 'toilet' then wash your cloth diapers the same way you wash the flannel TP.

Wash Water:

 If your drain systems aren't working, you will need to dispose of the water you use to cook, do laundry, and bathe because it is now greasy and not good for the soil and will attract pests if just 'thrown out'. Make a soakage pit to dump it into. Dig a hole roughly four feet squared by two feet deep. Fill the hole with rocks and/or gravel. Spread a layer of pine needles, twigs and/or leaves on top to catch most of the grease; occasionally burn and replace the topping to avoid the attraction of pests.

best of luck!