February Week 3: Vegetable oil, olive oil, canned butter

Before I get to the weekly item, there is something you all need to know. I am not one of those crazed food storage and emergency prep people who is delightfully looking forward to a catastrophic event so that I actually get to dive into my food storage. And if there IS a major catastrophic event, my husband won't be sitting at the door of our food storage room, dressed in camouflage with his collection of guns, armed and just waiting for someone who thinks they need our 14 cans of canned butter more than we do.

I have always felt like food storage and emergency preparation were things that I needed to do for my family, and through the years have made feeble attempts at it. It has taken me several years to find and fine-tune a plan that would work for us, since we don't "eat, drink and sleep" food storage. I wanted to come up with something that would work for our busy (one might even say crazy) life. This plan works perfectly for us because it takes so little time each week. When I first began working on it, I was a little doubtful as to whether I'd really stick with it and have my food storage all collected and sitting on the shelf within a year. And after that first year, I had amazed myself. It was just too easy of a plan to not be able to do.

All it takes is for me to look at my weekly schedule every Monday morning as I go downstairs for my daily workout. Then, I can check my shelves and tally up what I have and what I need for that week. It takes about 3 minutes. At the very most. No kidding. And then I write the items on my grocery list, and next time I'm at the store, I purchase the needed items. So, maybe a total of 5 minutes? Who can't spare 5 minutes a week? And then, each week, as you see a few more items on your shelf, you can feel so good about doing something really important for you and your family. Even after just the first week, it should put a smile on your face!

I have received many emails from people very surprised that I would share this so easily with anyone who requests it. Why not? Its a good plan, and it works, and it wouldn't make sense not to share it! I hope that you find it useful and that it enables you to get something on the shelves for you and your families.

If you're just starting, and hate the thought of having missed several weeks of the plan, no worries. That is one of the beautiful things about this plan. Start wherever we happen to be on the list, and follow along week-by-week. A year from whenever you start, you will have your food storage!

Now, to this week's food storage item:

February Week 3: Canola or vegetable oil, olive oil, canned butter, coconut oil

As with all the other weeks, store enough of each item that your family would generally use in the coming year, OR that you might use in a long-term emergency situation. For instance, back in January, we collected paper goods. You may say to yourself "We don't ever use paper plates or plastic utensils, so I don't think I'll worry about storing any". But, if there was an emergency situation where water was scarce, you wouldn't want to waste water by having to wash dishes. Paper goods would sure come in handy. And, if you never use them, then next year when it comes time to check that week's inventory, you won't have to buy any more paper goods!

So, with the items for this week, I will check and make sure I have enough on my shelves to use for a whole year, plus some. I hate to completely go through my stocks within the year, so I like to buy just a little extra. Coconut oil seems to be the latest thing these days, so if you're liking that, store some! Also, you'll notice I have canned butter on the list. I bought some canned butter a couple of years ago specifically for food storage. I don't ever use it, and it lasts quite a while, so I just leave it on the shelf. Who knows... maybe canned butter will be just the thing we'll need when we cook up those potato flakes over our propane stove. Ugh.

Some of you might be saying to yourselves, "If I store what I will use in the coming year, then by the end of the year, it will be totally gone, and I won't have anything in my storage." That is why I always buy a little extra, making sure to check the dates of expiration. By the end of the year, I don't want a bunch of things that I have to throw out because they've expired. So, its a fine line of buying what you need, plus some extra, but not so much that you'll be wasting food. As you go, it becomes easier to judge that.

So, write the various oils on your grocery list this week, and get started!

If you want the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.