Several years ago, my parents built a house to accommodate my aging grandparents. It included sort of a granny flat where they could have their own separate spots. When they moved in, there was a convergence of so much "stuff" from two households that it filled up the basement and 4-car garage quickly. My mom and my grandma set out to go through it all--my mom hoping to purge as much as possible. As they were organizing, my mom came across a can of powdered milk that had expired 30 years previous. As she went to toss it, my grandma stopped her. "Wait!" that's food storage, you can't throw it away!" My mom tried to explain that it was not any good and just needed to be tossed. "But," continued my grandma, "It might still be good, we could give it to DI." My mom explained that DI could not possibly want it, and they do not take food anyway. "Well, " my grandma thought, "How about the food pantry?" Grandma was not about to let that can of powdered milk go to waste. I think my mom had to end up pretty much sneaking it into the garbage.
I often use this story to help people understand the mentality fallacy of "Once I have my food storage, I've got it forever and I can't use it let go of it." This thinking is not healthy--literally. Food storage needs to be rotated--used and replaced regularly.
But today, we are talking about Milk for your long term storage. The minimum recommendation is 16 lbs per person. For my family, that is 152 lbs.
Dried (or powdered) Milk comes in two forms: Instant and Regular. The main difference is that the Instant dissolves in water, well, instantly. The regular milk needs stirring and chilling before fully reconstituted.
Dried milk can be found online on a number of websites. It can also be purchased in bulk from Winco. You can buy it in a box at the grocery store, but that is usually the most costly way. Watch out for "milk alternatives" that do taste a bit better (as they add whey, high fructose corn syrup, and other ingredients) but does not have the protein and calcium as your basic dried milk has.
I personally do not drink dried milk. If you want to try it straight, I do suggest adding a bit of vanilla and sugar just to help it taste better. My go-to use for dried milk is cooking. If your recipe calls for a cup of milk, use 1/4 c. dried milk and 1 c. water. It is especially good for breads. Dried milk typically costs a bit less than using store-bought milk and can easily store in an air tight container for 3-5 years (Though I try to use and replace mine within 2 years). 30+ years for a can of powdered milk is probably stretching it a bit too far.
I challenge you to add powdered milk to your food storage and discover how to use it on a regular basis.
If you would like to add other items to your food storage:
Wraps & Bags: Aluminum foil, saran wrap, ziploc bags, garbage bags, wax paper
Apples: Pie filling, Applesauce,
Vinegar, powdered eggs, powdered cheese
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
THE DEFINITION OF PROVIDENT
One of the things I learned as a Political Science major many years ago was to carefully choose words. Especially knowing the exact meaning of words was crucial to convey meaning.
Often I think about my calling as "Provident Living Supervisor" and pick it apart to understand what it really means.
Provident is defined as (1) making provision for the future: prudent. (2) Frugal, Saving.
So, I see it as living in a way to continually prepare for the future while being frugal and saving resources for a rainy day. And then, not only living this way myself, but helping all of you to live the same way. Living frugally is not always easy. It takes effort, vigilance, and constant watchfulness.
The Church has a Provident Living website that is fantastic. It has resources on so many topics ranging from education to food storage.
This week, take a look at this site, find a topic that interests you or maybe just something you would like to learn more about. Take just 15 minutes or so and read a Conference Talk or look through a pamphlet. I often feel like Church leaders can say things so much better than I can. Prayerfully consider one thing you can do to live more providently to prepare for the future.
Often I think about my calling as "Provident Living Supervisor" and pick it apart to understand what it really means.
Provident is defined as (1) making provision for the future: prudent. (2) Frugal, Saving.
So, I see it as living in a way to continually prepare for the future while being frugal and saving resources for a rainy day. And then, not only living this way myself, but helping all of you to live the same way. Living frugally is not always easy. It takes effort, vigilance, and constant watchfulness.
The Church has a Provident Living website that is fantastic. It has resources on so many topics ranging from education to food storage.
This week, take a look at this site, find a topic that interests you or maybe just something you would like to learn more about. Take just 15 minutes or so and read a Conference Talk or look through a pamphlet. I often feel like Church leaders can say things so much better than I can. Prayerfully consider one thing you can do to live more providently to prepare for the future.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
SUGAR & HONEY
Halloween is right around the corner. I read an article that said that kids, on average, consume 3 cups of sugar on Halloween. That is between trick-or-treating and parties. That is a lot of sugar. For various reasons, our family has gravitated more toward the "fall festival" theme more than Trick-or-Treating and Halloween-y stuff. But trust me, our fall festival has plenty of sugar...caramel for apples, treats for snacking, and pumpkin love. We do love our sugar
Since this month's long term storage goal is sugar and honey, I wondered if candy could count in that 60 lbs per person. One year, we did buy at 25 lb. box of Hershey's Miniatures and kept it in an air-tight bucket. It stayed good for a long time. Well, I leave storing candy up to you. Meanwhile, I will share a couple of my favorite "sweet" recipes to celebrate our month of storing sugar and honey.
Sweet Soy Marinated Chicken
2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken pieces (breasts and/or thighs)
Marinade
1 c honey
3/4 c soy sauce
2 T crushed garlic
1 t ground ginger.
Mix marinade ingredients together. Put chicken in baking dish, pour marinade over chicken and bake for about 1 hour at 350* turning chicken halfway through.
Serve with Rice
Note: This recipe is also great for a crock-pot meal (or InstaPot) or a freezer meal
Pumpkin Spice Bars
4 large eggs
2 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin
2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1 c chocolate chips (optional, but I like the mini choc. chips best)
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream cheese frosting (below)
1. Heat oven to 350*. Grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch, lightly with shortening.
2. Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin in large bowl until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cloves. Stir in choc. chips. Spread in pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 min or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle with walnuts. Cut into 2 x 1/ 1/2 inch bars. Refrigerate any remaining bars.
Cream Cheese Frosting
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 c stick margerine or butter, softened
1 t vanilla
2 c powdered sugar
Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth.
Since this month's long term storage goal is sugar and honey, I wondered if candy could count in that 60 lbs per person. One year, we did buy at 25 lb. box of Hershey's Miniatures and kept it in an air-tight bucket. It stayed good for a long time. Well, I leave storing candy up to you. Meanwhile, I will share a couple of my favorite "sweet" recipes to celebrate our month of storing sugar and honey.
Sweet Soy Marinated Chicken
2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken pieces (breasts and/or thighs)
Marinade
1 c honey
3/4 c soy sauce
2 T crushed garlic
1 t ground ginger.
Mix marinade ingredients together. Put chicken in baking dish, pour marinade over chicken and bake for about 1 hour at 350* turning chicken halfway through.
Serve with Rice
Note: This recipe is also great for a crock-pot meal (or InstaPot) or a freezer meal
Pumpkin Spice Bars
4 large eggs
2 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
1 can (16 oz) pumpkin
2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1 c chocolate chips (optional, but I like the mini choc. chips best)
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream cheese frosting (below)
1. Heat oven to 350*. Grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch, lightly with shortening.
2. Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin in large bowl until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cloves. Stir in choc. chips. Spread in pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 min or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Sprinkle with walnuts. Cut into 2 x 1/ 1/2 inch bars. Refrigerate any remaining bars.
Cream Cheese Frosting
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 c stick margerine or butter, softened
1 t vanilla
2 c powdered sugar
Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
MAKING LIFE SWEET
My mom always made homemade bread with honey instead of sugar. It tasted so good all warm out of the oven. We always smothered butter and honey all over the top of it and stuffed ourselves full before the bread cooled all the way down. It was amazing.
This month, our long-term storage goal is sugar or honey. 60 lbs per person. For my family, that is 570 lbs.
I have found that sugar does not like to be stored in air-tight containers. It seems to clump and smell funny if it is packaged in air-tight mylar bags or cans. The best luck I have had is to put it in 5-gallon buckets (available at WinCo). The buckets seem to have a bit of air permeability that keeps the sugar happy. I have always had great luck with Tupperware too. Our family stores White Sugar, Powdered Sugar, and Brown Sugar. The best prices I have found for these are Costco. I typically buy my brown and powdered sugar at the Costco Business Center as they come in 25 lb bags. The white sugar is available at either Costco Business or the regular Costco stores. (And, if you are super fancy, Costco Business even carries Turbinado Sugar).
Honey is a great natural sweetener. I like to buy mine from Cox's Honey. They have about the best online prices for raw honey and usually give free shipping. (Their creamed honey is oh so good, it is worth a try!). Their store is in Shelley, ID, so if you are ever headed to Idaho Falls or Yellowstone, stop by and grab some. You can buy it in 45 lb buckets at their store.
I challenge you to add to your long-term storage by adding sugar, honey, or other sweeteners of your choice. Try to get the 60 lbs per person so you are ready in case of emergency!
This month, our long-term storage goal is sugar or honey. 60 lbs per person. For my family, that is 570 lbs.
I have found that sugar does not like to be stored in air-tight containers. It seems to clump and smell funny if it is packaged in air-tight mylar bags or cans. The best luck I have had is to put it in 5-gallon buckets (available at WinCo). The buckets seem to have a bit of air permeability that keeps the sugar happy. I have always had great luck with Tupperware too. Our family stores White Sugar, Powdered Sugar, and Brown Sugar. The best prices I have found for these are Costco. I typically buy my brown and powdered sugar at the Costco Business Center as they come in 25 lb bags. The white sugar is available at either Costco Business or the regular Costco stores. (And, if you are super fancy, Costco Business even carries Turbinado Sugar).
Honey is a great natural sweetener. I like to buy mine from Cox's Honey. They have about the best online prices for raw honey and usually give free shipping. (Their creamed honey is oh so good, it is worth a try!). Their store is in Shelley, ID, so if you are ever headed to Idaho Falls or Yellowstone, stop by and grab some. You can buy it in 45 lb buckets at their store.
I challenge you to add to your long-term storage by adding sugar, honey, or other sweeteners of your choice. Try to get the 60 lbs per person so you are ready in case of emergency!
Thursday, October 4, 2018
RECHARGE WEEKEND AHEAD!
One of the main parts of Provident Living (that's the real title of my calling) is spiritual preparedness. This may be kind of a different concept to grasp, but as I understand it, it is building your testimony each and every day so that you continually have spiritual stores for those days (weeks, months?) that are just harder than normal. The thing is though, it is not like wheat where you can store away 400 lbs. and figure you are done for 20 years (though you shouldn't technically do that either). Spiritual preparedness is everyday prayer, scripture study, pondering, and building a relationship with our Savior. It is continually working to help our testimony grow and develop. It takes effort and work, but oh is it worth it!
Spiritual experiences come in one of two ways. One is a jolt--something amazing and life-changing. Like an "Alma the Younger" experience. Funny though, these kinds of sudden changes don't always last (remember Laman and Lemuel?). The second spiritual experience comes as we put in time and effort to really know. Just like I said above, it takes everyday, but it sustains us through much. I think this second way is the best and will help us have the results we need.
This weekend is General Conference. I see Conference weekend as a time to (mostly) block everything else out and focus on what Heavenly Father wants me to hear. As sisters, we get to listen to more conference in a 2-day period than we ever have before (5 sessions!). It is going to be great! But, then again, I have seen a direct correlation with my pre-conference preparedness and how awesome my experience with Conference is. As I spend time pondering where I am spiritually, what questions I have, and praying for our general church leadership, I find I am more engaged in Conference and listen more intently when I have done my "spiritual homework" ahead of time.
On lds.org, there is a great article about learning from General Conference. I highly recommend reading it and using some of the suggestions to prepare. It just might help you get through that Sunday afternoon session tired-time. One more suggestion is to pray for our church leaders. I think President Ballard especially could use extra prayers at this time with the recent passing of his wife.
Take advantage of this time with our church leaders. And if this conference is anything like the last one, we won't want to miss a single minute, or we might not know what has changed!
I challenge you to choose one thing to help you be more prepared for Conference. I promise the results will be worth it!
Spiritual experiences come in one of two ways. One is a jolt--something amazing and life-changing. Like an "Alma the Younger" experience. Funny though, these kinds of sudden changes don't always last (remember Laman and Lemuel?). The second spiritual experience comes as we put in time and effort to really know. Just like I said above, it takes everyday, but it sustains us through much. I think this second way is the best and will help us have the results we need.
This weekend is General Conference. I see Conference weekend as a time to (mostly) block everything else out and focus on what Heavenly Father wants me to hear. As sisters, we get to listen to more conference in a 2-day period than we ever have before (5 sessions!). It is going to be great! But, then again, I have seen a direct correlation with my pre-conference preparedness and how awesome my experience with Conference is. As I spend time pondering where I am spiritually, what questions I have, and praying for our general church leadership, I find I am more engaged in Conference and listen more intently when I have done my "spiritual homework" ahead of time.
On lds.org, there is a great article about learning from General Conference. I highly recommend reading it and using some of the suggestions to prepare. It just might help you get through that Sunday afternoon session tired-time. One more suggestion is to pray for our church leaders. I think President Ballard especially could use extra prayers at this time with the recent passing of his wife.
Take advantage of this time with our church leaders. And if this conference is anything like the last one, we won't want to miss a single minute, or we might not know what has changed!
I challenge you to choose one thing to help you be more prepared for Conference. I promise the results will be worth it!
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
WORST BIRTHDAY EVER
My birthday is this week. I welcome birthdays, they are pretty fun. My grandma always said she loved her birthday because it was the special day Heavenly Father gave her to come to earth. I love that perspective.
Not all my birthdays have been great. 16 stands out as probably the worst. I was so excited to turn 16--driving, dating...it was going to be amazing! I had everything in line to get my driver's license that day, and I did. Later that evening, I had to run to the store to get something for school. YES! First time going all legal by myself. All was great until I turned in front of another car and...suddenly my birthday was ruined. Yep, I wrecked my dad's car (thankfully no one was hurt). The cars weren't totaled, but definitely wrecked. And, my dad is an insurance agent. Let's just say it did not go over well. My dad told me that night that he was taking my license away and I wouldn't get it back until I was 19--until that wreck was off my record. I tearfully agreed, convinced that any punishment he gave me was still too light.
The policeman who responded to my accident gave me the best birthday gift ever, no ticket. My dad, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how to get around the system so that accident would not skyrocket the insurance premium. One idea he had for a few days was try to pay for the car repairs out of pocket instead of having the insurance cover it (and have me somehow work it off). I fretted, worried, didn't eat, and was sure my life was over as how could I ever cover those repair costs with my minimum wage job at the mall candy store?
A bit later, my dad shared with me the conversation he had with our insurance company. The gist of the conversation was that the insurance adjuster reminded my dad why we have insurance. It is there to be used when needed, to cover costs that we cannot possibly cover on our own. And this was a case when it was needed. The insurance company repaired the other car, and my parents covered the costs to fix ours.
My dad didn't take away my license, and he gave me that car just after I turned 17. But, I also got to pay the insurance premiums from that time forward. I took that car into our marriage and we had it until we saved enough to buy our minivan...but that's another story.
Elder Ashton in One for the Money talks about the importance of being properly insured. Insurance is there to cover costs that we cannot possibly cover on our own. Just like there was no way I could have paid for all my accident repairs, insurance helped out. I was, however, able to pay the insurance premiums with my candy store wages, so insurance did its job.
One for the Money also talks about the influence outside factors has on your money, and how to wisely prepare for situations that can and will arise.
I challenge you to read sections 10 and 11 of One for the Money and talk with your spouse about these important topics. Make wise decisions and move forward with any changes you may need to make. These are important topics to help the family budget, and therefore the family.
Not all my birthdays have been great. 16 stands out as probably the worst. I was so excited to turn 16--driving, dating...it was going to be amazing! I had everything in line to get my driver's license that day, and I did. Later that evening, I had to run to the store to get something for school. YES! First time going all legal by myself. All was great until I turned in front of another car and...suddenly my birthday was ruined. Yep, I wrecked my dad's car (thankfully no one was hurt). The cars weren't totaled, but definitely wrecked. And, my dad is an insurance agent. Let's just say it did not go over well. My dad told me that night that he was taking my license away and I wouldn't get it back until I was 19--until that wreck was off my record. I tearfully agreed, convinced that any punishment he gave me was still too light.
The policeman who responded to my accident gave me the best birthday gift ever, no ticket. My dad, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how to get around the system so that accident would not skyrocket the insurance premium. One idea he had for a few days was try to pay for the car repairs out of pocket instead of having the insurance cover it (and have me somehow work it off). I fretted, worried, didn't eat, and was sure my life was over as how could I ever cover those repair costs with my minimum wage job at the mall candy store?
A bit later, my dad shared with me the conversation he had with our insurance company. The gist of the conversation was that the insurance adjuster reminded my dad why we have insurance. It is there to be used when needed, to cover costs that we cannot possibly cover on our own. And this was a case when it was needed. The insurance company repaired the other car, and my parents covered the costs to fix ours.
My dad didn't take away my license, and he gave me that car just after I turned 17. But, I also got to pay the insurance premiums from that time forward. I took that car into our marriage and we had it until we saved enough to buy our minivan...but that's another story.
Elder Ashton in One for the Money talks about the importance of being properly insured. Insurance is there to cover costs that we cannot possibly cover on our own. Just like there was no way I could have paid for all my accident repairs, insurance helped out. I was, however, able to pay the insurance premiums with my candy store wages, so insurance did its job.
One for the Money also talks about the influence outside factors has on your money, and how to wisely prepare for situations that can and will arise.
I challenge you to read sections 10 and 11 of One for the Money and talk with your spouse about these important topics. Make wise decisions and move forward with any changes you may need to make. These are important topics to help the family budget, and therefore the family.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
CALM BEFORE THE STORM?
Over the summer, I read a very interesting book that caused me to reflect on many things. Hiroshima by John Hersey chronicles the lives of 6 Japanese survivors during and after the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. (As I have said before, being a homeschool mom, I get to learn all kinds of things!). I was also preparing our 72 hour kits while reading this book, and it was hard not to wonder what really would have helped Hiroshima's people the most in the first hours after the bomb as well as long-term.
For about a month, things have been kind of quiet in our little nook of the world. No fires, no earthquake tremors, nothing to really give us much alarm. I have been wondering though, is this the calm before the storm? To be clear, I am not thinking that an atomic bomb is getting ready to land on Southern California. Rather, my mind tends to wander more toward the natural disasters that seems to be so prevalent in our area.
President Benson said, "The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah" (January 1974 Ensign). I have thought about this quote often, I have also heard that "It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark." The time to prepare for emergencies and hardship is now, when things are calm.
Food Storage is a huge component of preparedness. Having food in your home is always a good idea. Water Storage is a huge deal, you can only live for 3 days without drinkable water. Having emergency kits and preparedness items helps make things easier.
Only you can determine what you really need for you and your family. There are several good resources that can give ideas to help you determine what you need.
The Red Cross has a preparedness site that gives great information to building a kit, planning, and being informed.
San Diego County also has a couple different websites to help inform. SanDiego.gov has an emergency preparedness site that has all kinds of links to different resources. Ready San Diego also has news, ideas, and links to help you be ready. These links also give a good idea of what to maybe expect from the county in case of a disaster. But even then, be prepared in case you need to be on your own for 3 days.
And, there's me. I hope I am a good resource! I have learned a lot and would love nothing more than to help you make a plan to be ready for whatever may come.
I challenge you to prayerfully consider what specifically you need to do to be a little more prepared. Do some research and find something you can do, and then DO IT.
For about a month, things have been kind of quiet in our little nook of the world. No fires, no earthquake tremors, nothing to really give us much alarm. I have been wondering though, is this the calm before the storm? To be clear, I am not thinking that an atomic bomb is getting ready to land on Southern California. Rather, my mind tends to wander more toward the natural disasters that seems to be so prevalent in our area.
President Benson said, "The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah" (January 1974 Ensign). I have thought about this quote often, I have also heard that "It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark." The time to prepare for emergencies and hardship is now, when things are calm.
Food Storage is a huge component of preparedness. Having food in your home is always a good idea. Water Storage is a huge deal, you can only live for 3 days without drinkable water. Having emergency kits and preparedness items helps make things easier.
Only you can determine what you really need for you and your family. There are several good resources that can give ideas to help you determine what you need.
The Red Cross has a preparedness site that gives great information to building a kit, planning, and being informed.
San Diego County also has a couple different websites to help inform. SanDiego.gov has an emergency preparedness site that has all kinds of links to different resources. Ready San Diego also has news, ideas, and links to help you be ready. These links also give a good idea of what to maybe expect from the county in case of a disaster. But even then, be prepared in case you need to be on your own for 3 days.
And, there's me. I hope I am a good resource! I have learned a lot and would love nothing more than to help you make a plan to be ready for whatever may come.
I challenge you to prayerfully consider what specifically you need to do to be a little more prepared. Do some research and find something you can do, and then DO IT.
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