June Item of The Month

This month I am offering Motorola "Talkabout" 2-Way Radios. They come in a 3 pk which contains not only 3 handsets, but also 3 earbuds with push-to-talk features. These radios supposedly get a 20mile range in ideal conditions, and run on rechargeable batteries. Also included is a cradle for all 3 handsets for charging, and 3 swivel belt clips. One additional feature of these 2-way radios is a built in LED flashlight and NOAA weather radio capability. The last day to sign up is Sunday, June 29th and payment is due to me by June 30th. The price on this is $85.14 - no additional taxes or shipping fees. I know I've done two pricey items the last two months. Next month I will try to offer something relatively inexpensive.

Is Obedience Ceasing to be an Irritant?

I've heard this quote several times throughout my life:

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power." - Ezra Taft Benson

Just a little food for thought (no pun intended, really).... There is a newsletter I really love to read, that I've mentioned previously, called The Prepare Today Newsletter. As I was reviewing some of the information that this woman has gathered together, I picked up on the topic of a 3 month/90 day supply. I will go into this a little more in a minute, but for those of you just starting, I would recommend the following order of approaching your food storage (and again, I repeat, this is Kari's opinion only):

1. Store Water (I would store one 55 gallon barrel per person if it were me)
2. Get 72 hour kits updated for every member of the family
3. Begin getting your staples - eg. wheat, rice, beans, powdered milk, oats (dried goods that the church has told us to get for years and years and years!!)
4. A month's supply of food that you can make entire meals from out of cans
5. 3 months/ 90 days of canned goods you can make meals from (also incorporating some of the long term grain)
6. Year's supply of Grain/and canned goods you can make meals from

You get the picture - go from there

Now back to the 90 supply. Maybe you feel you've got adequate food, but have you considered hygeine items such as TP, Tampons and Pads, Diapers, Toothpaste, or even baby Tylenol and Motrin? How about vitamins? Its my understanding that you can store Vitamin C in tablet form for many years. Why not add a bottle of those to your storage? Do your family members have any special medications and do you have an extra amount you can rotate as you fill their prescriptions?
Now I know its taboo to talk about pandemics, and people love to roll their eyes and write you off for being an extremist if it comes up, but the fact is that it is realistic. The reason I'm associating this with a 90 day supply is because of something this woman put in her newsletter that made me think. She speculates that the reason there is so much emphasis on a 90 day supply is because in the event of a pandemic, we would likely be quarantined for that long. Again, this is purely her speculation, but because she posted it, it made me think about trying to get my family prepared for something like that. I share this information not to scare you, but perhaps to make you think a little more about it. Here are some links she posted on her site and I'll share them with you.

http://streaming.byui.edu/safetyoffice/flu.wmv - this one is kind of long, but informative
http://www.byui.edu/safety/Pandemic_Web_Page.htm

http://www.byui.edu/safety/Pandemic_Web_Page.htm - just a slideshow (no sound)

Again, start small and get going. Don't panic, just get started. It doesn't matter how much you can do right now, it just matters that you are putting it into motion and trying!

"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to extablish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve." - The FIrst Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, Feb. 2007

May's Item of The Month

The May Item of the Month is the Blend-Tec Kitchen Mill Wheat Grinder for $150. I was able to get the best price from the manufacturer. However, in my searching, I found this product for sale on another website (at a higher price, of course), and this site listed alot of specs for the product, that the manufacturer doesn't. Here's the site with all the info:

http://www.harvestessentials.com/kteckitmil.html

Again, this is not the correct price, on this link, just additional information about the product if you are interested. As usual, the last day to sign up will be Sunday, May 25th and the day payment is due will be Monday, May 26th. I would be overwhelmed with joy if you would get your payment to me before I have to (I mean, get to) make a dozen calls. Thanks!

More Chaos At The Cannery

In case you haven't tried to contact the cannery lately, here's what's been going on. They have been getting hit with waves of people coming in and buying up all they have in stock for a few months now! I called this morning to see if they had any rice in stock and they told me they didn't have any grains - wheat, rice, oats, nor any of the pre-packaged kits the church is starting to sell. They didn't even have cans to can at home! In the same breath, the sister missionary told me a truck had just come in and that she wasn't sure what exactly was on it. I thought, I'd go down and just see what was in, hoping that maybe I'd get lucky..... and I did. I'll tell you though, I walked in to stand in a line of at least 3 dozen people and all their non-school age kids (as well as my own) and it was chaotic! After an hour, I finally was able to fill my order and they are in fact, rationing. Everyone was only allowed to purchase 6 bags maximum of dried goods (to take home and can yourself). And of those six bags, you could only buy 2 bags of each product, maximum (eg. 2 bags beans, 2 bags oats, 2 bags red wheat)! The sister missionary there told me that the cannery is no longer buying white wheat until the next harvest because white wheat is not a product the church grows and the prices are so high. The church grows red wheat on their farm land in Montana and they will continue to supply that.

I speculate that today's surge at the cannery was probably fueled by this article on the front page of the Daily Herald: "Economy Shakes World Food Suppply" http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/264091/36/
It's actually an article from the Washington Post that has been published in our local paper.

One last thing - they had a new sheet/handout at the cannery I picked up and I'll list the information verbatum:

Do You REALLY Have A Year's Supply?

Just how big is a Year's Supply of food? As explained on the previous page, our Church is suggesting the following minimums for each adult:

400 lbs. Grains (17.5 oz./day)

60 lbs. Beans (2.6 oz./ day)

10 Quarts Cooking Oil (0.87 oz./day)

60 lbs. Honey (2.63 oz./day)

8 lbs. Salt (0.35oz/day)

16 lbs. Powdered Milk (0.7 oz./day)

So, just how much is this?

Two 5 gallon buckets will hold about 75 lbs. of wheat, rice or other grains. This means you need 11 buckets of grain for each person in your family.

-----------------------------------------------------------

If you store all your grains in #10 cans.............

Wheat, Rice, Corn, etc...

You would need 64 cans or 10.5 cases per person.

Pasta

You would need 32 cans or 5.25 cases per person.

Rolled Oats

These are lighter but bulkier, so they require more storage containers and space. You would need 124 cans or 21 cases per person.

Beans

1 25 lb bag of beans will just about fit in a single 5 gallon bucket, with a little space leftover, so 2 buckets would hold a one person supply, or 12-13 #10 cans (about 2 cases).

Daily Food

Dividing 400 obs. by 356 days equals out to 1.09589 lbs, or just over 1 lb. of grain per person, per day. That is approximately 2 cups of unground grain to cover your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Dividing 60 lbs. by 365, this works out to 0.16 lbs. of beans per day, or 2.6 oz - approximately 3/4 cup.

The other foods listed would also need to be used in limited amounts.

This is not much food, folks. Get the basics, then immediately begin to ass more kinds of grain, soup mix, canned and/or dehydrated vegetables and fruit, etc. to add variety and provide more than the minimal survival diet.

As an example, the minimum recommended amount of grain, when ground and prepared will yield about 6 small biscuits or a plate full of pancakes. It is enough to keep you alive, but a far cry from being satisfied and not hungry.

"You Are Here. Where Is Your Family?"

Have any of you seen this billboard (or one just like it) lately along I15 going northbound right around the American Fork/Lehi area? Where are you in your emergency plan? If you think about it, the idea of having an emergency meeting place set up must have some credence for the government to be putting these types of billboards out.

A suggestion - have a family night on where you'll meet if something goes wrong. Ask yourselves "If something went wrong, what is our plan?" Would mom stay at home with the kids until dad got there? Would you meet at Aunt June's house? What streets would you take? Suppose you end up at Aunt June's, but your wife and kids or your husband doesn't? Will you have a map handy that lists what streets they anticipated taking if it ever came to that? At what point do you go and try to find each other? After a day? Two days? You get the picture. This is definitely a discussion you need to have amongst your family members. You might try getting online to some place like www.mapquest.com or www.googlemaps.com and print off various routes you might take. It might not be as extravagant as it sounds, but when you're making out your routes, keep in mind there are different severities of disasters. It might be as simple as something like power lines being down in a bad storm, or maybe freeways will be totally inaccessible in the event of the earthquake. If that were the case, you'd need to find a route you could take that would still be in working function.

For your information, here's an excerpt from the Ad Council's website (www.adcouncil.org) with an interesting statistic:

"91% of Americans believe it’s important to be prepared for emergencies. However, only 55% of households report having taken any steps at all to prepare. In order to encourage more Americans to prepare themselves, their families and their communities, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has sponsored public service advertisements that educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to all kinds of emergencies. "

Be one of the 55%!

Back To Basics - This Is Where To Start

Q & A Session:

"Do I really need a 55 gallon drum of water?"

Yes - at least. The Department of Homeland Security has an information page on it. It's at:www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/water . According to FEMA, we should store at least one gallon of water per person, per day. A normally active person needs at least one-half gallon of water daily just for drinking. Take into account your family's needs. Do you have babies on formula, freeze dried or dehydrated food in your food supply, etc. Also, don't forget you're going to want to wash those dishes and bathe yourselves. I was personally in a 6.8 earthquake in Southern California and we did not have running water for 2 weeks. Not to mention all the sediment that was in the water after it hadn't been running for that long.

"What types of containers are the best for storing your water?"

There are a variety of good storage containers. The most ideal for large storage would be the blue 55 gallon drums. Ideally you want the dark blue containers because white drums or light colored drums promote the growth of bacteria. Exposing them to alot of sunlight also encourages bacterial growth. These "food grade" plastic containers come in a variety of sizes - available from 5 gallon and 15 gallon up to 55 gallon drums.

"I don't have enough money for one of the big drums. Is there anything I can do that won't cost alot?"

Water may be stored in 2 Liter soda bottles. Just wash them out thorougly with hot soapy water. I usually fill mine up with water and let it set for a couple days before I dump that water out and refill it with the water I will store ( it helps take some of the soda flavor out). If you store water this way, you need to put two drops of bleach in each bottle. I have heard mixed information on storing water in juice containers. I don't. What I heard was something to the effect of how natural sugars in the juice will turn the water bad after its stored for very long. Also, milk containers are not recommended. When my family was in that earthquake we lived off of my mom's soda bottles of water. They had a tint of rootbeer and orange soda flavor, but they worked! We used to gripe when she'd make us spend one summer morning every year rotating them, but that shut us up pretty quick!

"What about storing water in bleach containers - I heard that you could do that...?"

It's very dangerous to store your water in bleach containers. Not only does it increase the chance of someone drinking full strength bleach on accident, but after time, the chemicals from the bleach that seeped into the container become toxic. It is also important to remember that when you add bleach to your storage water, that it needs to be fresh and cannot have other additives - just plain bleach, or you'll make yourselves sick.

" I heard that we're not supposed to store our water on concrete...why not, and how do you suggest storing it?"

According to preparedness lecturer Kenneth Moravec: "Concrete attracts fluids and 'bleeds.' Anything that has been on or in that concrete will find its way into your plastic water barrel. This includes the lime in the concrete, any hazardous materies (i.e. gasoline, oils, kerosene or anything a contractor used in construction), algae, etc. Usually it is not enough to make the water toxic but it will taint the water enough to make the taste unbearable. And no amount of pouring it fom container to container will take that taste away."

The best way to store that water is on two by fours making a pallet out of it.

"Where can I find the best prices on water storage containers?"

When Macey's runs their "emergency preparedness sale" you can usually get the 55 gallon drums for around $39. I've seen them sell for as high as $89 a barrel at Emergency Essentials. Watch for the sales! There's a place I've used to purchase our water storage barrels for the ward and our food grade buckets/lids and its called Industrial Container. They are located in downtown Salt Lake City. They by far are the best priced! We got them down to somewhere around $32 ea.

I'm going to post this info for now and will be adding to it soon. Anyone with questions can click on the comments icon below and ask, and I'll try to answer it and post it for everyone to learn from.

Beans, Beans The Magical Fruit......(Botanically, That Is)

Ever wondered what to do with all the beans you have in your storage? There is a newsletter I'll frequently refer to, that is a wealth of knowlege. It can be found at preparetodaynewsletter.blogspot.com. I found this information from the "Prepare Today" newsletter and I'll share it with you:

DRY BEANS 411

yield 1 c. of dry = 21/2 to 3 c. cooked beans
bean : water ratio 1 c. beans : 4 c. water
soaked enough? Slice a bean in half. If the center is opaque, soak more.
cooked enough? A bean is fully cooked when you can mash it with a fork.
buying guide: Good beans:
smooth and bright.
Old bean:
cracked seams, dull, wrinkled. (The older the bean, the longer the cooking time.)
most difficult beans to digest: navy, lima, whole cooked soybeans
easiest beans to digest:
Anasazi, adzuki, black eyed peas, lentils and mung

~~~~

HOW OLD?!

The following comes from a newsletter putout by the Wooden Spoon, December 2006.
“In a recent cooking class at The Wooden Spoon we were discussing the shelf life of legumes, which is recommended as 6-8 plus years. True confessions were coming from our students, some of whom inherited their mother's food storage . . .
“We determined on an experiment.
“Charleen Clark told us that she knew she had beans that were at least 40 years old, and accepted the assignment to go home and see what she could do with them. [She] added 1/8 tsp. baking soda and 1 tbsp. cooking oil to a cup of beans while soaking them in three times as much water. She put the beans to soak on a Saturday morning and left them for thirty-two hours, until she observed that the forty year old beans were beginning to sprout! Charleen drained the rinse water, cooked the beans, and brought them to class.
“Christine Van Wagenen, teacher and cook extraordinaire, put her discriminating palate to the test and sampled a bean and declared the results to be a marvel.“

~~~~

Beans—Beans—Beans

Nutritious, filling, versatile, economical, and tasty - sounds like the perfect food!

Sorting
Sorting means picking over the dried beans before cooking them. Remove small rocks, pieces of dirt, beans with holes, badly misshapen or wrinkled beans and those greatly undersized or discolored.
Rinsing
Washing is not part of the packing process because water would rehydrate the beans. Do not rinse beans until you are ready to soak or cook them. Even then you do not have to rinse beans if you're going to soak them. Any field dust will be removed and discarded with the soak water. If you cook
the beans without soaking, rinse them after sorting.

Soaking

Soaking is not essential in bean preparation. Beans are soaked to begin rehydration and reduce cooking time..
During soaking, beans increase two to three times their dried size. Enough water must be used to keep the beans covered while soaking. Once rehydrated, beans cook in 1 to 3 hours, depending on the type of bean.

Cooking Without Soaking

To cook beans without soaking, use twice the amount of cooking water specified in the recipe. Combine the water and rinsed beans in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. The beans rehydrate while cooking so you will have to watch them carefully and add more water whenever necessary to keep them covered.

~~~~

Things To Avoid When Cooking Dry Beans

Add only after beans are soft

The following items will toughen uncooked beans and noticeably increase cooking time.
salt / unrefined sea salt
miso, tamari and soy sauce
sugars
acidic ingredients, including tomatoes, vinegar, and lemon.

Baking soda?

Many recipes call for baking soda to speed cooking and soften beans by increasing alkalinity. Use it only if you have extremely hard water. Baking soda will produce mushy beans, and deplete minerals.

~~~~

BEAN NUTRITION

PROTEIN: Dry beans are the richest source of vegetable protein (21-27% when cooked). Combining beans with a small amount of animal protein such as meat, cheese, or egg or small amounts of grain (corn, wheat, or rice) will create a complete protein equal to that of meat and other animal sources. Protein is important for human health because it supplies the materials for building and repairing body tissues – muscles, bones, glands, skin, and teeth. Beans consistently rank lowest of all foods in cost per gram of protein, according to the USDA.
ENERGY: Beans have long been valued as an energy source. Complex carbohydrates in dry beans digest more slowly than simple carbohydrate foods thereby satisfying hunger longer. One half cup of cooked beans contains 118 calories or less.
VITAMINS: A normal serving of cooked dry beans supplies as much as 40% of the minimum daily requirement of the B-vitamins, thiamine and pyridoxine, and significant amounts of other B-vitamins. The B-vitamins are important in contributing to healthy digestive and nervous systems, skin, and eyes.
MINERALS: Iron to build red blood cells, calcium and phosphorus for strong bones and teeth, and potassium, which is important in regulating body fluid balance, all plentiful in dry beans. Beans are high in fiber, contain no cholesterol, and are low in sodium. Sodium content is low so, when cooked without salt, they are good in low-salt diets.

~~~~

Home Storage Is Not An Event, It Is A Process

When you buy a case of beans from the cannery you will have, depending on the type of bean chosen, between 31 - 33 pounds. At today’s prices the cost per case is from (US) $20.82 - $28.32. With less than 3 1/2 cases and between $68 - $88 you can have 100 pounds of dry beans all securely sealed and tucked away.
Given the versatility and nutrient benefits of beans, dried or wet-pack canned, it seems prudent to become adept at preparing a variety of beans in an array of recipes.
Many people weren’t taught the skills to cook ‘from scratch’ but it’s never too late to learn and in today’s economic climate you really can’t learn too soon! There’s a vast selection of cookbooks devoted just to beans and the internet is a bean cook’s treasure trove.
Whether you use them cold in salads and dips; hot in soup, chili, and ethnic dishes, or ground into flour and added to your baking, beans are a wonderful foundation for healthful, flavorful and money-wise storage.

Bon Appétit—or should I say Bean Appétit!

ProvidentLiving.org

_______________

National Directory of Farmers Markets

http://farmersmarket.com/