Happy Thanksgiving!

November Week 4: Potatoes - buds, pearls, scalloped, etc.

This week's food storage items are:

November Week 4: Potatoes: buds, pearls, scalloped, etc.

Let's first talk about long-term storage. The potato flakes you see in the can in the photo, are from the Family Home Storage Center, and I dry-packed them myself. They last 30+ years. You add milk, butter and salt, as well as hot water, but since I have all of those items in long-term storage, it should work out just fine. I like these potatoes really well, so we are able to use them in a pinch. But, since they have such a long shelf life, there really isn't much need to rotate through them at this point. You can order these by the 6-can case by clicking here.

The other package is also from the Family Home Storage Center, but these already have the milk and butter incorporated into them. You only have to add hot water to them. Since they have the fats in them, they have a much shorter shelf life. These generally last a year or so. That means that these ones I definitely have to rotate through. Again, they make a good mashed potato, and I generally would much rather whip up a batch of these than go through the rigors of making mashed potatoes from scratch. But that's just me.

Also, if you use any other sort of potato that is boxed, such as scalloped, this would be the time that you would re-stock your shelves. These have a shorter shelf life as well, so take that into consideration.

Now, decide your family's needs for potatoes. If you have a Family Home Storage Center nearby (to locate the Centers, click here), I would encourage you to make a visit. You can buy the instant potatoes there easily, and sometimes they even have some Potato Flakes canned and ready for the taking. Even if you have to can your own, it is a quick and fun process to learn. To see an order form of all that is available at the center when you visit, click here.

If you don't have access to a Center nearby, you can look into Emergency Essentials, or any other on-line provider of food storage items. I haven't ever ordered potatoes from any of them, so you're on your own with that venture.

Otherwise, you can do a shorter term storage and be sure to rotate through before they expire in a year's time. After you have your list of items to purchase, buy them the next time you are in a grocery store, and get the items on your shelves. Update your Inventory Sheets, and sit back and enjoy Thanksgiving with your family!

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the blogpost that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

72 Hour Kits: Task 4 - Tools & Fix-Its

If you haven't had a chance to check out the previous three Tasks, click on the 72-Hour Kit tab above, and you can find all of the information you need. On to Task 4....

Since these are very comprehensive 72-hour kits that we're working on, we have broken them down into "do-able" segments. At the end of the time, you'll have a complete 72-hour kit, and you'll just need to check it once a year (we check ours in the fall) to update it.

The items for Task 4 are Tools and "Fix-Its". All of these items are kept in the duffel bag portion of our kit. Again... organize in the way that makes most sense to you. Our way may not be your way. You can always change the list around to accommodate your own needs.

The items for Task 4 are:

-survival knife and/or utility knife (depending on the knife... you may only need one)
-hammer, screwdriver, wrench
-pliers, wire cutters
-400 feet of bailing wire
-nails and screws
-small shovel
-small ax
-100+ feet heavy duty nylon cord
-4 large eye hooks (to make clothesline with cord)
-100 clothespins
-work gloves
-electrical tape
-duct tape
-super glue
-rubber bands

These items can be found at Home Depot, Walmart, or your own garage. Gather what you can from what you already have around the house, and then go from there. We'll give you a month to gather these things, since there are quite a few things on the list. Just keep a list in your purse or on your phone, and whenever you have the time, purchase or gather the items. When you have them gathered, place them in the duffel bag.

Keep in mind that my 72-hour kit list has been compiled from many lists I have come across for the past several years. I have fine-tuned it to what will meet my family's needs, and you will likely fine-tune my list to your needs.

Also, all of these items will fit into the "non-expiring" group, so you won't have to ever replace them. Yay! Once they're in your kit, they stay there, and shouldn't have to be moved or changed.

To read each of the posts about the 72-hour kits, or to find instructions on how to receive an email with the complete 72-hour kit lists, click on the tab above.

November Week 3: Oats, oatmeal, cornmeal, cream of wheat, boxed cereal

This week's food storage items are:

November Week 3: Rolled oats, oatmeal, cornmeal, cream of wheat, boxed cereal

For this week, try to consider all of the cereal items you use, as well as cornmeal. There will likely be some that you use for breakfast, but also think about the cookies and baking you do. How much of these items would you go through in a year's time? Just make an estimation, and make a list. Do you already have some of these things in storage? If so, take that into consideration, and adjust your list accordingly. Now you have a shopping list of what you will need this week. In the next couple of days, make a point to go to a grocery store where you can pick up the things you need. After you bring them home, update your Inventory Sheets and get the items on your food storage shelves. Woo hoo! You are done for this week, and you are one week closer to having what your family will need for their food storage.

Now, if oats are packaged for long-term storage (like at the dry-pack cannery), then they can stay good for 30+ years! So, that means that you can have some long-term oats on the shelves, as well as some that you can rotate through for the next year. This is a food storage system that is meant for rotation. As I've mentioned before, I hate to throw away food storage that has gone bad. It feels like such a waste, and then it doesn't get me that excited about replacing it, UNLESS I rotate through the food and use what I am storing. If you check your shelves before you go grocery shopping, you can easily rotate through what you already have. That's why I like to have a little more than a year's supply of most items... so that when I get to the end of my year of "rolled oats", say, then I'm not completely out, but have some to get me by til my shelves are replenished.

Be sure to look at dates on your packages. Many cereals don't have a long shelf life, so work that into your plan.

You could also fill your shelves with everything BUT cold cereal, which is what I do. We don't eat enough of it for me to be concerned about putting it on my inventory sheet, but if you feel that's an item you want to keep track of, then add it to your sheet.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the blogpost that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

Quiet Book Group

What do you do as a group craft when you have two daughters and two daughters-in-law who are pregnant all at the same time? Quiet book pages! We thought it would be fun for each of us to work on a few different quiet book pages so that we could share them with each other and at the end, we'd all have a fun quiet book for the little kiddos in the family to play with.

I made a quiet book when my own kids were little. We had a quiet book group way back then, with 10 people in it. So, we each made one quiet book page (10 times over), and then passed them out to each other. It was so much fun to have different pages in my book that were made by my friends in Huntington Beach. I just wish they had written their names somewhere on the page, because this many years later, I have no idea who made which page.

Fast forward to the present day. I still have that quiet book (although some of the pages have seen their day). I went through and kept the pages that were still in good shape, and added the ones from our new family quiet book group, and it is bursting with fun pages. My, there are four talented girls in my family! They worked so hard on the pages they handed out to each of us! And they are so darling! I can't wait to sit my grandbabies on my lap and go through the quiet book, page by page.

It was fun to be together last weekend to work on the quiet books. You should have heard those sewing machines whirring! We're hoping to have few more 'quiet book page parties' to continue to add to the books. How cute are these four girls in the photo below???? The one in the back, with the dark top on, is due on January 1, the one on the left is due on February 8, and the one on the right is due with twins on February 18. And the second one from the right is due on April 8. They are all as cute as can be, and we are so anxious to meet these five new grandbabies!

The nice thing about this type of quiet book is that after we sewed the pages together, we (meaning Bob) punched grommets through the pages, so that they can all slip onto rings, and the book can be added to at any time.

We couldn't have done it without Bob. Some of the grommets had to go through many layers of fabric and felt, and he muscled through his part of the pages. Such a good guy!

And here are the pages that we each ended up with...

Can't wait for the next round!

November Week 2: Chocolate Baking Supplies

This week's items are:

November Week 2: Chocolate Baking Supplies

Now, you may say to yourself that you can do without chocolate in an emergency situation. I beg to differ. If you find yourself in a long-term emergency situation, don't you think a little chocolate treat might be just the thing to put a smile on your face, along with everyone else's face (who will think you're the cat's pajamas because you have chocolate amid the chaos)? I rest my case.

But, even if you didn't plan for chocolate in an emergency situation, if you use chocolate at all throughout the year in your baking, then you'll want to have it in your year's supply. That way you'll always have it on hand when the chocolate need arises.

Figure out what you normally use in a year's time as far as chocolate chips (milk and semi-sweet), Nutella, cocoa, and baking chocolate squares. Keep in mind that Thanksgiving and Christmas are ahead, so you may go through a little more in the next couple of months then the rest of the year.

After you've come up with the chocolate you'd like on your shelves, then add that list to your grocery list and pick up the items in the next couple of days. Get them on your shelves and update your inventory sheet. It's as easy as that! You are done for the week, and you can feel good knowing you have a few more (yummy) supplies on your shelves for the days ahead.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the blogpost that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets

72 Hour Kits: Task 3 - Completing The 5-gallon Bucket

With Task 1, we gathered our 72-hour kit containers and Task 2 we bought the food for our 5-gallon buckets, as well as for our kids' backpacks. For Task 3, we'll finish filling the 5-gallon bucket. There are some utensil-type items that will fit in your buckets, and fill them to the top.

The Task 3 list is short and simple, and very do-able. So, if you haven't quite finished Task 2, you'll be able to work on both at the same time for the next couple of weeks.

To finish off the items in the 5-gallon bucket:
-eating utensils
-napkins
-can opener

To complete the items in your bucket, you'll need eating utensils. You can do this in one of two ways -- a real knife, fork and spoon for each member of your family, which can be used and washed for every meal they are needed; or, you can buy a box of plastic utensils, enough for each family member to have a set for every meal they would be needed. For my 72-hour kit, I have a combination of the two. I have one real set (just in case we need beefier utensils for cooking, serving, etc. I also have a box of plastic utensils for us, enough to use for each meal, if needed. Of course we can also wash plastic utensils, but if water is an issue, we may not want to use much for washing things. It is personal preference, and you should include in your 72-hour kit what makes the most sense to you and will fill the needs of your family.

You will also include a stack of napkins -- whatever you can fit in the bucket.

And most importantly, a manual can-opener. What a bummer it would be to have all this canned food to eat, but no can opener. Don't forget the can-opener.

Since the utensils, napkins and can-opener are obviously non-expiring items, place them in the bottom of your bucket, and then the food that expires towards the top of the bucket. That way, when it comes time to check your bucket once a year, you will easily find the food items that need to be replaced.

Once you've got your utensils, napkins and can-opener in your bucket, close the lid tightly, and put it on the shelf. You will not need to open that bucket again until next year, when the time comes to rotate some of the food out.

Don't you feel like you're making great progress? You've finished one portion of your family 72-hour kits. In a couple of weeks, we'll move on to one of the other containers. Until then, gather all of your items for your 5-gallon bucket and get it put in place on a shelf or in a closet that is easily accessible for everyone in your family.

To read each of the posts about the 72-hour kits, or to find instructions on how to receive an email with the complete 72-hour kit lists, click on the tab above. 

November Week 1: Vitamins

November Week 1: Vitamins

What vitamins do you and your family take? Keep an extra bottle of each of the vitamins with your food storage items. I keep mine in a bin in my food storage room with medicines and extra first-aid items. Make a list of the vitamins your family takes, and plan on getting at least one bottle extra of each of the vitamins. In a perfect world, you'll want to have a full year's supply of the vitamins, but if you want to start slowly, just buy one extra bottle of each. It helps to buy larger bottles, and be sure to check the expiration date on whatever vitamins you purchase so that you know they'll stay good for at least a year.

In the next day or two, when you have an opportunity to get to the store, pick up the vitamins you'll need, and get them on your food storage shelves. Update your inventory, and pat yourself on the back for doing something to provide for you and your family in the case of an emergency. Yay for you!

And be sure to rotate through the vitamins. When you need more of your daily vitamins, run to your food storage and grab from there. One of the beautiful things about this system is that you shouldn't have things expiring and having to be thrown out. You rotate through and use what you have. Before I started this plan, I used to throw away too much of my food storage. Not any more. Rotate. Rotate. Rotate.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.