Advanced Topics in Preparedness

Here is where the rubber meets the road for me and G.W.!  We have decided to test our readiness to face adversity with a four-month experiment.  From December 1 until March 31 we are going to make an honest attempt to live solely from supplies we have on hand.

For virtually everything in life, practice makes perfect. When it comes to "prepping" I believe that practice is vital to success. You can have shelves and shelves full of cans and jars of food along with all the other things you think you'll need like toilet paper. But you won't have the assurance that you've thought of everything until you actually live from your stored supplies.

We decided on four months because that time period is easily translated into what we would need/use in one year. During our four month experiment, we plan to carefully log everything we use. Once we have that list of four month's worth of supplies, we can multiply by three and (theoretically) know what we'd need for one year.

Doing this dry run during the winter provides some extra challenges. Our garden will be buried under snow so we can't rely on it for food like we do in summer. The chickens don't lay as many eggs through the short daylight period of winter, so we can't expect a steady supply from them. This will force us to rely on food we have stored.

If we do buy something during the four months, it will either show us a hole in our supply plan or else something about our personalities that we couldn't or wouldn't make do or do without.  We do have a few exceptions to our "no purchases" rule. We'll be in the middle of some home renovation/remodeling projects through the winter. Things we need for those projects are allowable purchases.

Over these next four months (August through November) we will be getting ready for the four months without purchases. I'll be busy canning, freezing, and dehydrating produce.  And we'll be making our lists of things we need to buy for storage. 

In my next post, I'll explain to you how we are determining what and how much to have on hand to get us through four months without additional purchases. 

Food Storage Friday - Cooking Old Beans

This technique for rescuing old cooking beans comes from my friend "M". She doesn't know yet that her method is the feature of Food Storage Friday.  Thank you, "M"! (Until and unless someone gives me permission to use their name, I will refer to them by their first initial.)

Rice and beans should be a staple in anyone's food storage. Together, they provide all of the amino acids you need to survive. Plus, it's relatively inexpensive. I say "relatively" inexpensive since food prices have skyrocketed lately and nothing is truly inexpensive anymore!

Below is the email I got from "M" that explains how to cook dried beans that have been in storage too long. I'd tried cooking pinto beans and despite nearly an entire day in the crockpot, the beans were still semi-hard. "M" came to my rescue with this technique. I used it on the rest of the pinto beans from that same bag and it worked! I had beautifully plump and tender beans.

Thank you, "M"!

The Mesa, Arizona LDS Cannery had a visit from the top employees of the Quality Control Lab of the LDS Church. They shared something interesting that I thought should be passed on.

 

 

 

 

 

  There are many complaints of not being able to cook “old” pinto beans. After many tests, the following information teaches how to cook old beans. 

 

By boiling the water FIRST then adding the beans, certain enzymes are released and actually allows the beans to soften and cook. By adding the beans and bringing the water to a boil, etc., the labs have found the bean enzymes aren’t released and you will be cooking bean “rocks.” 

 

The longer dry beans are stored, the longer they may take to cook. First, sort and rinse the beans. For each cup of beans, bring 3 cups of water to boil, add the beans to the boiling water, and boil for two minutes. Next, add 3/8 teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for each cup of beans, cover, and soak for 1 hour or more. More baking soda may be required for older beans. Next, drain and rinse the beans thoroughly, cover with water, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1-2 hours or until tender.

 

Do not add salt or other ingredients until the beans have softened adequately.

Water

One of the exercises in last week's 7 Day Challenge from the Food Storage Made Easy website was to act as if there was a water outage for the day.

At the time, I had no water stored at all. Had that been an actual emergency, I'd have been in deep trouble. To make things even worse, I had empty water containers in the garage. I'd have been kicking my dry, parched, dehydrated self.

Happily, those containers are now full and I have 36 gallons of water at the ready.

 

Thirty-six gallons is a start, however it's not nearly enough for us. Our three horses will need a bare minimum of 30 gallons of water every day. Add to that one gallon per person per day for drinking and cooking, plus another one gallon per person per day for basic hygiene. Realistically, we need about 50 gallons of water per day.

 

I have found a unique bucket designed to fit into modern well pipes. Lehman's Non-electric sells a nifty one for $70. A real bargain considering that's about the only option we have for getting water from our well in the event of a power outage.

 

Rain barrels are also in my plans for water storage. I'd put a few at the house and a few more at the barn.

 

 But I digress....I was talking about storing water in containers.

 

We have well water, so it is not chlorinated. I added 16 drops of regular, unscented household chlorine bleach to each gallon of water in those containers.

 

 



 



The bleach helps keep icky bacteria from growing in the stored water. I will still boil this water before I'd use it for drinking or cooking.

 

 

It's a good idea to rotate your water storage just like food storage. Water in containers such as these is probably good for six months. After that, use it up and fill the containers with a fresh supply.

 

I strongly urge you to educate yourself on safe water storage. Below are a few links to helpful sites. I cannot be held responsible for any mishaps or illness you may experience if you store water based on the personal experiences I have detailed here. Please read what experts have to say on the subject!

 

Food Storage Made Easy - Water Storage

 

 



FEMA Web Page on Water Storage

Over the last year or so, I've been saving empty 2-liter soda bottles and have a few dozen on hand. I filled those up with water and eight drops of the bleach for safety. Soda bottles and plastic bottles from juice are fine for storing water. Don't use milk jugs though. It's impossible to get them completely clean from milk and the plastic is the kind that degrades quickly.

I know there is much more to do before I can feel comfortable with our Plan B for water. But at least I have some water stored now.

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 7

Today is the final day of The 7 Day Challenge by Jodi and Julie at Food Storage Made Easy. This is the only one I know I can do. Despite the fact that I went into these last seven days feeling pretty good about my efforts to be ready for disasters, the challenges exposed gaping holes in my preparations.

Initially, I was upset with myself over it. But then I realized what a blessing these challenges have been. Better to find the gaps in my emergency plan now when it's only a test, than when it's a real emergency.



Today you felt a prompting to do an act of service for someone in need. A dear friend is really struggling and it would be very helpful if you brought him/her a meal or a special treat. You have a super busy day with no time to run to the store, but you still want to make something NICE.
Goal: Have a go-to meal or treat on hand for “emergency” acts of service

Today’s Tasks:

• Cook either a full dinner or a special treat for someone in need (be prayerful/thoughtful about this and really try to find someone you can do this for)
• Use only ingredients from your food storage
• Make a list of 2 meals and 2 treats that you can always create from your storage that would be nice enough to give to another family. Make sure you keep the ingredients on hand for them (add to your report card if necessary)
• Once you have performed your “act of service” you are DONE with the challenge!
• Compile all your report cards from the week into a master list of things to do, learn, and buy (use our master plan outline to help guide you)

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 6

Today, Jodi and Julie of Food Storage Made Easy have given us what I feel is the most important challenge of all. If you had to evacuate your home right now, would you be ready? If there was a wildfire or a gas leak in your neighborhood and you had to grab everything you could from your home and be out in ten minutes, how would you manage that?

If you do nothing else by way of food storage or preparing for hard times, please do this. Make a 72-hour kit.


A horrible hurricane (or earthquake, or other disaster) is about to hit your area. You have to evacuate within minutes and eat out of your 72 hour kits today. While you were gone your house was destroyed. Lots to think about today.
Goal: Test your family’s evacuation plan and 72 hour kit foods

Today’s Tasks:

• Evacuate your house within 15 minutes of getting today’s email. You do not know if your house will be destroyed while you are gone so plan accordingly. Stay away until after lunchtime
• Eat/drink ONLY out of your 72 hour kits until you return home
• While you are out, make a list of potential reasons you may be forced to evacuate. For each scenario, write down where you would go, what type of stuff you would need in your kits, how long you’d be gone, etc. Use this list to re-evaluate what you may or may not include in your kits.
• Make a list of all of your valuables to submit to your insurance company since your house was destroyed while you were gone (this is more valuable to have BEFORE you actually lose everything)
• Using the daily report card, make a list of things you could do/buy to minimize your losses in a complete house loss (i.e. Fireproof/waterproof safe, computer backup options, safety deposit box for valuables, etc.)

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 5

Here's the fifth day of Jodi and Julie's 7 Day Challenge from Food Storage Made Easy. Today, we're to pretend there's been a power outage that lasts all day.


A drunk driver struck a power line near your house today. Power is out in your entire neighborhood all day long. You must cook meals for your family using no electricity, and make a NICE Sunday dinner! You must also entertain yourself (and your family members) without electronics (the HORROR).
Goal: Practice living without electricity

Today’s Tasks:

• Cook all three meals without electricity
• Make a NICE Sunday dinner from scratch (no opening up a can of ravioli)
• Do something FUN that doesn’t involve power
• Do an inventory of your fuel storage, how many meals can you cook with the fuel you have stored?
• Review one of our powerless cooking classes (online class or recorded live class)
• SHARING TIME: What tools/fuel did you use to cook without power today? Share a picture or description on our Facebook page or on the blog comments!

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 4

Here is today's challenge from Jodi and Julie over at Food Storage Made Easy.  I'm turning this challenge around so that it's G.W. who is leaving and I have to learn how to manage without him.  I don't know much about basic car maintenance or home repairs. If the lawn tractor quit running, I'd be clueless.  My normal response when something quits working is to ask G.W. to look at it.

It'll take more than just this one day to learn all the skills I need, but at least I'm aware now that there's a giant gap in my skill-set!




One of your elderly parents (or grandparents, or dear friend, or child) is having severe health problems and can no longer afford home health care. You were asked to come and live with them for 2 months to help out with their day to day living and have to leave TOMORROW. Today you must help your family prepare for you to have an extended “leave of absence”. If you are single focus on getting your own affairs settled.
Goal: Teach your family knowledge and skills that depend on you

Today’s Tasks:

• Teach the other members of your household how to do any tasks that normally fall to you (i.e. laundry, cooking basics, mowing the lawn, car maintenance, etc.)
• Make sure to pass any financial information on to your spouse, significant other, or another family member. (Use this questionnaire we made last year as a starting point of the type of info you should pass on)
• If you’re the one in charge of managing the family schedule and routines, write it all out and make assignments or arrangements for how the family could make it without you
• If you live alone, make a plan for who would look after your house/affairs if you had to leave suddently
• Make a list of all your logins for important websites that family members may need to access. Either print it and put it somewhere secure or save it in a secure manner on your computer
• SHARING TIME: What is the ONE task that would be hardest for someone else to take over if you were gone for two months? Share in the blog comments or over on our Facebook page.

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 3

Today's challenge is a really good one! I know I haven't put as much thought into a medical plan as I should. What good is having a reserve of food and water if you aren't also ready to deal with medical emergencies? 

Please visit  Food Storage Made Easy because Jodi and Julie have a lot of very good resources to help you begin your emergency medical plan. 





Health care costs in your country have gone through the roof. Battles are waging between government, doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies. All doctors have gone on strike leaving a gaping hole in available medical care in your community. Today will focus on what you will need to do to prepare your family for all kinds of medical emergencies, including getting yourselves healthier to avoid dependence on medications (if at all possible) and/or medical interventions.
Goal: Get your family’s medical history & supplies in order and get healthy!

Today’s Tasks:

• Prepare a family medical plan to include in your Emergency Binder (see this sample medical plan a reader sent to us, you can be this thorough or just jot down some simple info for your family)
• Do an inventory of your home medical supplies. Add items to your daily report card that you need to purchase (there is an awesome comprehensive list of suggestions found on this post Modern Survival Blog)
• Print out instructions for basic first aid procedures (there are some helpful guides found at this link)
• Review our notes from the CPR/First Aid class we attended at our church, then look up when there is a formal class in your area and SIGN UP for it
• Research any specific medicines you are taking, find out how you can stock pile some, make a plan for how to keep them refrigerated if necessary, etc. (Also consider if making lifestyle changes could help reduce your dependency on them)
• Since living a healthy lifestyle is so important for disease prevention, cook healthy meals AND do a physical activity as a family (if applicable) today
• SHARING TIME: Please go to our Facebook page or blog comments and share any experiences you’ve had with providing home medical care and what items were helpful for you. This will help us all make our plans of what we need to add to our supplies.

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 2

This is the challenge I knew would come and that I knew I would fail!

Jodi and Julie over at Food Storage Made Easy have posted the details of Day 2 of their 7 Day Challenge.  Today, they are asking us to simulate a scenario where our normal water supply has been interrupted.

Their amazing website has a lot of excellent information about Water Storage which will help you get ready in case you lose access to however you normally get fresh water.


Please note: Today is a NEW emergency, none of the limitations listed yesterday apply. Your country is experiencing a WAR and the water purification facility in your area has been bombed. All water services coming to your home have been halted indefinitely. (If you use well water, your well was destroyed too!) Today you will practice living without running water in your home and experience cooking, sanitation, hygiene, etc. with STORED water.
Goal: Learn what your water needs will truly be in an emergency

Today’s Tasks:

• Cook all meals (and CLEAN UP) using only stored water
• Take a shower or bath using stored water (Don’t cheat and skip this one!)
• Use stored water for flushing toilets
• Calculate your usage for the day and use that number to determine how much of a water supply you actually have
• FILL any empty water containers you have been procrastinating on filling
• Make a plan for how you will collect/purify additional water if/when you run out (use your daily report card to help)
• SHARING TIME: Post a picture or a description of the task you found most difficult to do using stored water today on Facebook or in the blog comments.

Today’s Limitations:

• For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants
• Do NOT use running water at all. To help you not cheat, you can turn off your main water supply for the day

Advanced Tasks:

• To conserve water, use a sanitation kit rather than flush stored water down the toilet.
• Get ambitious and do a load of LAUNDRY with stored water.
• Go to the nearest source of fresh water and fill up several water containers and purify it.

REMEMBER, TOMORROW’S CHALLENGE WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We have a few 5- and 6-gallon water jugs in the garage. They are empty (ugh!) because we didn't fill them up after we moved them to our new house. And in looking at them, there's not nearly enough to supply our three horses with water. A horse needs 8-10 gallons of water each day. Even if the water jugs were all filled to the top, I'd only have enough water on hand for a day, maybe two!

Our normal water source is a well. It uses an electric pump. If the electricity goes out, I'm up the creek with no paddle. (Although at least the creek would have water!)

An Ohio-based company called Lehmans   offers a Galvanized Well Bucket that's designed to fit into wells as small as 4" inside diameter. It holds 1.9 gal. That might be the solution for us. I should also look into some kind of pulley system on a tripod to make hauling the bucket up a lot easier. And I am going to need a lot of good strong rope, too. The kind of luck I have, our water would be 400 feet down and I'd be standing here with my handy-dandy well bucket and 250 feet of rope!

What are your contingency plans for an extended interruption of your water supply?

The 7 Day Challenge: Day 1

The fabulous ladies over at Food Storage Made Easy have begun their 7 Day Challenge!

Here are the basics of the Challenge, but please go visit Jodi and Julie to take advantage of the resources available on their site!

Welcome to the 7 Day Challenge. For 7 days, we are testing our Emergency Preparedness and Food Storage Plans. Each day will bring a NEW mock emergency, or situation that will test at least one of the reasons “WHY” we strive to be prepared! REMEMBER: No going to a store, or spending any money for the entire 7 days! And please feel free to adapt the scenarios to fit your own family and situation.

Oil prices have skyrocketed causing serious economic crisis and food shortage due to transportation costs. In many areas food is GONE from the shelves. If there is food available it is at ridiculous prices that you cannot afford. Luckily, you have been following our blog and have accumulated quite a bit of food storage. Today you get to USE it!
Goal: Have a PLAN for actual meals you can make from your food storage

Today’s Tasks:

• Cook all your meals and snacks using only pantry foods
• Make a complete meal plan for 7 days (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) using ONLY ingredients you already have in your storage
• Do an inventory to determine how long your food supply will last you (use our 3 month supply and long term calculators to help
• SHARING TIME: Take a picture of your meal plan (or type it up) and share it on our Facebook page or in the blog comments
   

Today’s Limitations:

• For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants
• You cannot use any fridge or freezer food (assume it has been used up)
• You cannot use fresh produce from your garden (pretend it’s winter)
• You cannot use fresh eggs even if you have chickens (someone stole them)

Advanced Tasks:

• Make a meal plan for 30 days instead of just 7
• Add a dessert to your menu tonight as well
• A huge thunderstorm also struck today and your power is out all day. Cook all meals without power!

REMEMBER, TOMORROW’S CHALLENGE WILL BE DIFFERENT.

 

 

I think this challenge is a great idea! Of course I'd planned on going to the grocery store today because I'm about out of eggs and G.W.'s Coke Zero. Oh well....global crisis don't come at convenient times!

 

If you decide to take part in this Challenge too, please share your thoughts and experiences with us! 

 

Comments go through a moderator before they actually post and are visible. You'll experience a delay between the time you submit it and the time you see it posted. It's the best way to avoid having wackos post stuff asking if we need anything enlarged! (Yikes!)

 

Thank you for being patient.

 

 

 

 

Food Storage Friday - How Ready are You?

First, I'm asking for your forgiveness and understanding for my delay in posting this. Thank you!

September is National Preparedness Month. It's a government sponsored awareness campaign to help us understand what we should be doing to get ready in case there is a disaster on a personal, local or national level.

Here's the link to the FEMA website in case you're interested.

FEMA Ready.gov

Even better than the government website is one run by two women who are experts in the field of emergency preparedness. "Food Storage Made Easy" is the brilliant brain child of Jodi and Julie. They began the site as a way to document their journey into food storage. It's one of my favorite resources.

Food Storage Made Easy

This month, Jodi and Julie are running what they call the Seven Day Challenge where they use mock disaster scenarios to help us evaluate how ready we really are. On surprise days in September, they email a "particular emergency situation with tasks and limitations associated with it."  Our test is to survive the scenario under the conditions and limitations specified in that day's challenge.

It's a very good way to see how ready you really are and where there are any holes in the plans and preparations you may have already made.

Seven Day Challenge

Even though it's already well into September, I haven't seen that that the challenge has begun yet, so there is time for you to join in!  All you need to do is provide Jodi and Julie with your email address and you're good to go.

I'm all signed up. I can tell you all right now that I'm probably going to fail each and every challenge because I do not have any water stored up. None. Nor do I have a way to get water in the event of a power failure. Our home has a well that's run by an electric pump. If the power goes out, we have no water.  Even as I'm typing this, I'm getting a little uneasy at the thought.  I could buy some water and store some in barrels, but I've got three horses...they need a lot of water. Hmmmm.....(can you smell the smoke and hear the gears and wheels in my brain as they grind away?)

Food Storage Friday - A 72-hour Kit

If a sheriff came to your door right now and said there is a disaster in your neighborhood and you have to leave in 10 minutes, what would you do (besides panic, that is)?  You'd grab the kids and any pets and stuff them in the car. OK...now what? Do you know where your insurance policies, marriage license, social security card and all the rest of your important papers are?  What about clothes for the kids and pet food? Does anyone take prescription medicines? You'll need those, too.

You could be in a community shelter for a few days. Wouldn't it be nice to have a toothbrush, some soap and a comb? You might find those things in a shelter, but maybe not. Wouldn't it be nice to have some things to entertain the kids for a few days? Extra batteries for those portable electronics they are obsessed with could save a lot of grief!

Your phone charger! Don't forget the phone charger!

In a panic situation will you even have the presence of mind to think of all of this?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends building a 72-hour disaster kit just in case the worst ever happens to you.  Here is the list of things they recommend you have on hand in the event of an emergency.

FEMA 72-hour Kit List

Family Supply List

Ready Kids & The Federal Emergency Management Agency present:
Family Supply List

Emergency Supplies:

Water, food, and clean air are important things to have if an emergency happens. Each family or individual's kit should be customized to meet specific needs, such as medications and infant formula.

It should also be customized to include important family documents.

Recommended Supplies to Include in a Basic Kit:
- Water, one gallon of water per person per day, for drinking and sanitation
- Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
- Battery-powered radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, and extra batteries for both
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First Aid kit
- Whistle to signal for help
- Infant formula and diapers, if you have an infant
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
- Dust mask or cotton t-shirt, to help filter the air
- Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
- Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)

Clothing and Bedding:

If you live in a cold weather climate, you must think about warmth. It is possible that the power will be out and you will not have heat. Rethink your clothing and bedding supplies to account for growing children and other family changes.

One complete change of warm clothing and shoes per person, including:
- A jacket or coat
- Long pants
- A long sleeve shirt
- Sturdy shoes
- A hat and gloves
- A sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person

Family Supply List

Below are some other items for your family to consider adding to its supply kit. Some of these items, especially those marked with a * can be dangerous, so please have an adult collect these supplies.

- Emergency reference materials such as a first aid book or a print out of the information on www.ready.gov
- Rain gear
- Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils
- Cash or traveler's checks, change
- Paper towels
- Fire Extinguisher
- Tent
- Compass
- Matches in a waterproof container*
- Signal flare*
- Paper, pencil
- Personal hygiene items including feminine supplies
- Disinfectant*
- Household chlorine bleach* - You can use bleach as a disinfectant (diluted nine parts water to one part bleach), or in an emergency you can also use it to treat water. Use 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners.
- Medicine dropper
- Important Family Documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container

G.W. and I each have a kit prepared. We use large backpacks to carry everything and we keep them in the basement in a place that's easy to get to. We refer to them as Go Bags or Bug Out Bags. They have just about everything on this list in them, plus a few things unique to our situation and personalities. 

We also have a bag with supplies for our cats. Our three horses will need to be evacualted as well. Their travel papers are in a binder in the horse trailer. I just pray that I will be able to get the trailer hooked up and the horses loaded with no problems!  I should probably practice those things now just in case. I know that my horse Kipp can be a handful getting into a trailer on a good day. I can't even imagine how he'd be if there was a wildfire roaring down the side of the mountain! Yikes!

It doesn't take a lot of time or money to put together a 72-hour kit for the people in your family. You may have a lot of the items on hand already.  A 72-hour kit with the basics would make a very practical gift, too!

Having a kit like this doesn't make you a preparedness freak who expects the zombie apocalypse to begin at any moment. It makes you a smart person who realizes that disasters can happen to any of us no matter where we live. Better to be prepared for it and never need it than need it and not be prepared!







 

Food Storage Friday - FoodSaver

This is a FoodSaver vacuum sealer. You need one of these!

I hope this post doesn't sound like some bad TV infomercial!

I bought the FoodSaver when I decided to get serious about storing up some extra food in case of an emergency.  Since the machine vacuums all the air out of the bag, the food doesn't get freezer burn.  Everything lasts about twice as long in the freezer than when I was using ziplock bags.

When I find a sale on meat, I can buy extra and stockpile it.

I also save money by buying meat that the supermarket has marked down because it's near the "use by" date.

This is what I picked up at the store yesterday. All of the "use by" dates were for either the next day or the day after that. Nothing was expired. The discount was about 30% off full price.

I cut that huge pork loin into 3 3-lb roasts, then packaged it all up in the FoodSaver bags.

 

 FoodSaver has all sorts of neat canisters and bags for their system. I got some FreshSteam bags that I'm going to try out next time I freeze some vegetables. The bags can go right into the microwave to steam your veggies.

 

Although I've not tried it, you can use the FoodSaver bags to seal up non-food items, too. It'll keep things like matches and toilet paper dry for your next camping trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 





Food Storage Friday -Intro to Canning

Last April, we had a disaster. Our big upright freezer had a malfunction while we were away. We came home to a freezer full of mostly-thawed meats. Ugh!

Luckily, I had the equipment and knowledge to safely can meat. For three days, I cooked and canned almost everything that was in the freezer. To be on the safe side, I threw out the seafood. But was able to save all of the beef and chicken.

I even saved all of the scraps and fat trimmings and canned them as pet food.

If you can meat or other low-acid foods like most vegetables, use the pressure canning method only.  Water bath canning is only appropriate for acidic food like tomatoes and most fruits.  Don't listen to anyone who tells you differently.  You risk making yourself sick by using another method for canning meat.

Next week, I'll post some information on water bath canning. Depending on what I can find at the store, I'll walk you through making some kind of jam then water bath canning it.

How Not to Manage Your Food Storage

One topic you'll see me talk about at length is food storage. I believe it's vitally important to have at least some extra food on hand in the event of an emergency. The extent to which you store food depends on your unique situation. In upcoming posts, I'll share with you how I do it and offer my suggestions on how to start. Each Friday, I'll post something about food storage.

This, however, is the absolute worst thing you can do when it comes to having extra food on hand.

While we were house hunting, we saw this in the garage of one of the homes we walked through.  Based on the price stickers on the items, all of this came from a place in Colorado Springs called Bargain Mart. It's a discount grocery store that tends to have things that are nearing their expiration date.



Most everything was piled in boxes with no catagorization whatsoever.

How would you know what you have? How would you find something specific? How do you even get to the stuff?

This is a good idea gone very wrong.  I'm guessing the prices were so attractive that the person just loaded up on everything and anything. I saw about a dozen jars of different types of caviar. The price was $1.00 per jar. 

Don't make this mistake. Make a plan, make a space with shelves or other organization system, then make your shopping list. Store what you use and eat, not just what's on sale.

Unless you really, REALLY love Coleman's Dry Mustard, don't buy two dozen tins of it simply because it's an awesome price. You won't use it before it goes bad which means you've thrown your money away.



There's a right way and a wrong way to go about laying in supplies. Please don't get all excited about some "case lot" sale or something you find at a discount grocer and load your trunk up with a bunch of stuff like this person did. 



Who here has some food stored up for a rainy day? If not, have you thought about it? Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter.