Southwestern Egg Rolls

This is one of my favorite recipes! I didn't know if I would like some of the ingredients combined but it was perfect. I took this recipe from my http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/

Southwestern Egg Rolls (like the ones at Chilis). Another added bonus is that almost ALL of the ingredients are staples in your food storage, or items I recommend having a 3 month supply of in your freezer (these items have a * next to them). It makes for a quick meal in a hurry

Southwestern Egg Rolls

1 chicken breast fillet, diced

*½ red bell pepper, minced

*2 T. green onion, minced

¼ c. white onion, minced

1 can corn (or frozen about 1 c.)

*1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

*2 T. spinach, sliced very thinly (optional)

1 small can green chilies

*½ T. parsley

*½ t. cumin

*½ t. chili powder

*¼ t. salt

*dash cayenne pepper

*1 c. Ceddar Cheese, shredded

*Flour Tortillas

*Avocado-ranch dipping sauce:

1 c. ranch (any style)

*1 whole avocado, mashed (Or more if you like it!)

1 tsp. minced onion

*Salt & Pepper

*Blend together with blender.

Cook chicken and dice. In large bowl mix all ingredients together.Sauté all ingredients (including chicken) until warm. Remove from heat and add shredded cheese. Mix well. Warm tortillas. Place ½ c. or so of mixture inside a tortilla. Fold completely together so mixture can not escape. Place inside a panni grill or George Forman to grill and melt cheese. You can also make like a grilled cheese sandwich, just put something heavy on top of burrito to grill. Serve with dipping sauce.

72 Hr water

***Pack at least 3 - 16.9 oz bottles in your pack for each person.

If you have a pet make sure he has some too. I have a Chihuahua so I won't have to carry much:)

If you are feeling good about getting plenty of water for your packs, toss a bottle in your car for each person as well for a future car kit:)

Extra water info----
My favorite preparedness book "It's Time to Plan Not Panic" by Barbara Salsbury(check it out at the library!) says this: "When deciding how much water to take with you, the question may not be how much should you carry, but how much can you carry"

Water is confusing because everyone seems to say different requirements. We should all have 2 weeks of water stored for 2 weeks that is seperate than this amount. The purpose of the 72 hr kit would be to take it with you in an evacuation situation. I can not take 55 gallon drum on my back:)

You can get those little 8 oz packets of water where emergency prep stuff is sold. On the back of those it says it is recommended that you drink at least 8 oz a day to survive. But your body would need more to be in good health. If nothing else is in your kits, water is a must so carry as much as you can.

For my oldest 2 kids I put in 2 water bottles in their pack....that is simply all they can carry without falling over. Since I want each kid to have 3 bottles at least I will carry the bulk of the water in my pack.


They say that when people are in an emergency they drink more because of the stress, although I think I would freak out and ration myself. I put water bottles in the fridge and gave each of my kids one of the 16.9 oz bottles to carry around for the day. By the end of the day, they hadn't even finished one. They were playing pretty rough all day and were in great shape at the end of the day. Of course this wasn't in the hot summer day either. But I felt comfortable knowing that my kids would be comfortable on one 16.9 oz bottle of water per day. I made sure each one of us had at least 3 bottles in our kit, and then I put in more bottles until it was pretty heavy but manageable. I know we should drink 8 glasses a day of water and eat all of our veggies, but the focus here is too stay hydrated.

Cleaning water is another thing. I don't think I have packed that much for cleaning personally. I have my 2 week water of I had access to my home. I think that I would put off washing the laundry if I knew I needed that water to drink. (That is why you have a extra pair of clothes) Don't get me wrong hygiene is very important in a situation like this to avoid sickness. Along with water I have a lot of wipes, sanitizer, bleach, disinfectant, these cool washclothes that go from the size of a quarter until dropped in a little water and they turn into a full size washcloth. We will get into all of that stuff later. Boy this was supposed to be a short, simple post "get some water" :)
Yes, the national guard, Red cross and other federal help will bring water in, but not immediately. We can't go without water for more than 3 days. After Katrina hit some residents did not recieve water assistance for over a week! It is not the governments job to provide for our families!

Food Storage Recipe perfect for this cold weather

Here is a different twist on chili, that tastes nothing like chili:) It is a good way to cook with the beans in your food storage to keep them rotated.

White Bean Chicken Chili

(from http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/)

6 cans of white navy beans, drained (or about 1 lb. dried white beans--soak them overnight or boil for 1 hour or until tender)
2 c. water or chicken broth (or more depending how thick you want it)
1 jar of salsa
1 can green chilies
2-4 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, diced (or you can use dried)
1 c. shredded colby or cheddar cheese
1-2 cloves garlic (or you can use powdered)
1 T. cumin (or more, I like a lot of cumin)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 T. McCormick Chicken Base (or you can use chicken bouillon)
Cayenne Pepper if you like more of a spicy soup

Garnish with fresh cilantro, sour cream, diced avocados, fresh lime squeezed & more shredded cheese.
Put all of the above ingredients into a large pot. Simmer until beans and chicken are tender and cooked through (I just throw my chicken breasts in raw and let them cook in the water. When they are cooked I take them out and chop them up. They give the broth more of a chicken flavor). Garnish with the above ingredients.


Be superwoman(man) and makes some homemade bread to go with it!

Lunch for 72 hrs

You can use a lot of the breakfast ideas for your lunch meals as well. Go for lightweight, tasty, convenient and familiar food. It is not as important to have balanced meals as it is to have high calories and nutrition. When it comes to food for your kits it is completely up to what your family prefers and what you can carry. Here are some ideas: -Granola bars, cereal bars, pop tarts, dried fruit , fruit cups, oatmeal to go, fruit leather, Energy bars , cup of noodles+ water+ cooking equipment+ utensils , tuna fish, tuna to go pack , pb and jam sandwich, instant soups+ water+ cooking equipment, vienna sausages ,MRE (meals ready to eat) found at Emergency Essentials ,freeze dried meals+ water+ cooking equipment+ dishes. Keep in mind if you choose things such as freeze dried meals, you will need to include the water and any dishes and cooking equipment needed. I had these previously and it weighed down my pack quite a bit. I had MRE'S(meals ready to eat) in my pack when I was married and it was fine just for me, but having 3 kids with those meals weighed more than I could carry. Also MRE's really gross me out personally and I am pretty sure my kids wouldn't go for chicken in a pouch. Canned items are really convenient but it adds up quickly. It was determined that if you used canned foods for your kit for 2 people it would be 55 lbs. I have to carry the bulk of the weight for 5 people, so I eliminated all cans from my pack. Water is essential and heavy, so you need to plan on the bulk of the weight for the water. Here is my lunch plan if it gives you ideas: Day 1:

Energy Bar and Applesauce cup-Energy bars can be found at Emergency Essentials for $1 or in the nutrition aisles of most grocery stores. Applesauce cups are sold in packs of 6 for $2.

Day 2:

Peanut Butter and jam sandwich with dry fruit-These slices of bread are typically sold with MRE packs but can be bought at Emergency Essentials for less than $1. They last for about 5 years. The peanut butter and jam packs are less than $.50 a pack. I bought a 24 pack of dried fruit at Costco for $13, but they are found at most grocery stores individually for about $1.

Day 3:

Poptart and fruit leather- Poptarts can be found at most grocery stores for about $2 for a 4 pack. To avoid crushing put it a tupperware. All a dollar has a 2 pack of tupperware for $1. Fruit leathers are found at Costco, or sold by the fruit snacks at Walmart for $3.

Food Storage for 3mth supply

There aren't any amazing long term food storage deals at the stores this week. There are good deals on food like milk and cheese and meat. This would be part of your 3 mth supply.

I like to buy cheese and milk on good deals and freeze it since we go through it so fast here. You can basically freeze anything, although I have never tried eggs:) It grossed me out when I was a kid and my mom froze everything but really it is nice to know that when I run out of something I have a supply in my freezer.
-You can get milk for $1.50 this week at Smiths---Pour a little out so it has room to expand in the freezer.
-Cheese is $3.99 for 2 lbs this week at Maceys (you can also ad match at walmart)With the cheese I grate it and put in freeezer bags. Cheese can get really expensive so it is great to stock up when you get it cheap. If you freeze it in the block it has to defrost competely in the fridge and it will not crumble. It tastes and has the same texture as before!

It is a good idea to have a good suppply of meat in your freezer as well. It saves in the end when you buy it at a great price and get extra for other meals. -lean ground beef at Albertsons for $1.99
-Alberstsons has a lot of meat choices for $1.88 that is a great deal to stock up on: boneless pork loin chops/roast, beef roast, boneless chicken breasts, pork country style ribs.

If you need ideas on great meals check out http://www.dealstomeals.com/ She takes all of the sales for this week and turns them into meals. I have tried 3 new meals from last week and they were awesome- carne asada tacos and tonight a mock Kneaders turkey avocado sandwich. Sometimes I don't buy the meat on good deals because I am not sure what I can make with it, so this adds some variety to our menu.

Recipe Tuesday!

I learned something new about wheat last week that I thought was important to share. There are 2 really important reasons why we should get used to cooking with wheat now.

1- Wheat can be tricky to cook with. Whole wheat bread is not like ordianry dough and takes some practice. In my case it would help if I didn't half everything in the recipe except for the sugar:) It was sweet and moist but heavy. I was annoyed becasue it took me 30 minutes to grind the wheat and then I end up messing up the recipe:) Anyways, if we had to rely on cooking all of our food ourselves by using our food storage, we need to know how. I will try again using the right measurements...

2- Apparently wheat is something your digestive system needs to get used too. I also learned this after my wheat bread experience last week. My kids and husband liked it despite my ingredient mishap:) Rob ate several pieces to my one piece but I had some stomach pain the rest of the night. I was told a few days later by an expert that it would not be a good situation if we went from eating no wheat in our diets to relying on it daily. I seem to be one of those who needs to break in gradually. I have added half wheat to my white flour but never tried whole wheat until lst week.

So here are a couple options to try this week. If you have a grinder for your wheat you can try that or straight wheat flour from the store. If you don't have a grinder (I bought my first last week at Macey's for $60) you can still use the wheat whole in the chili recipe. I will try it later next week as well.

Makes 2 8/4 inch loaves.
Whole Wheat Bread

3 c. whole wheat flour



1/3 c. vital wheat gluten (helps retain moisture, extends shelf life)



1 1/4 T. instant yeast



2 1/2 c. steaming hot water (120-130 F)



1 T. salt



1/3 c. oil



1/3 c. honey or 1/2 c. sugar



1 1/4 T. bottled lemon juice (acts as a dough enhancer)or 3T dough enhancer



2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

Mix together the first three ingredients in your mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes (this is called sponging). Add salt, oil, honey or sugar, and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough.Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.



Wheat Chili-

I assume you could just do your regular chili recipe and just add the wheat portion to it, or to other casseroles, tacos, soups, etc.

4-6 cups steamed wheat

1 lb ground beef

1 qt. whole tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 clove garlic, diced

1 qt tomato juice

1 large onion

2 cups tomato sauce


Brown meat, onion, garlic, and drain. Drain excess water from wheat and combine all ingredients in crock pot. simmer for at least 2 1/2 hours.


Steamed wheat-add 2 cups wheat in 6 cups water. bring to a boil for 5 miuntes then turn off heat and let sit overnight. Drain and rinse or





2 cups wheat and 4 cups water in crock pot 2-3 hours on low until wheat is tender.

Breakfast for 72 hrs

Anyway, when it comes to food for you kits it is completely up to what your family prefers and what you can carry. I actually exchanged a lot of stuff a few months ago because I realized the weight of the packs would be too much for my kids and for me since I was carrying the bulk of the stuff. I also has stuff that I wondered if my kids would eat. I don't want to chance that in emergency. I went for lightweight, tasty and familiar food.

Here are some ideas: Granola bars, cereal bars, box cereals(serving size) ,instant oatmeal+ water, freeze dried foods + water, trail mix, pop tarts, dried fruit, fruit cups, oatmeal to go, fruit leather, Energy bars.

Keep in mind if you choose things such as freeze dried breakfasts, instant oatmeal, you will need to include the water and any dishes and cooking equipment needed. I had these previously and it weighed down my pack quite a bit. Can fruits will also be heavier. If you have those mini cereal boxes you may decide if you need milk to go with it and will need a instant milk pack plus water as well. I assumed that in a disaster I will be stressed and my children will be scared. I want the flexibility to reach into my pack and grab their breakfast instead of setting up a hot plate, waiting for it to boil and making a freeze dried meal that was foreign to them. I have a hard enough time cooking dinner now without them getting impatient and cranky:) Here is my breakfast plan if it gives you ideas:

Breakfast: Day one: Granola bar with fruit leather -both can be found at Walmart. Granola bars average $3 a box. Fruit leathers are $3 a box as well an found by fruit snacks.I get the big box at Costco which has all flavors. Approximately $6 to feed my family of 5 for breakfast. I also put in a extra granola bar for my husband since it will take more to fill him. Day 2: Energy Bar and Applesauce cup -I bought this meal bar at Emergency Essentials for $1. I have seen bars similar to this as well in the grocery stores. They have a selection of different flavors and provide all of the calories you need for a meal. Applesauce cups are $2 for 6 cups. It cost $7 for my family of 5 for this breakfast.

Day 3:Oatmeal-to-Go and Dried fruit

-I bought both of these at Walmart. The oatmeal-to-go has tons of fiber and a lot easier and less mess than cooking instant oatmeal. They are also very filling. They cost about $3-$4 for 6. The dried fruit comes in a box of 12 for $3, so I had extra for other meals as well. Cost $7 for my family of 5.

*I use these items for lunch ideas as well, because they are so convenient and lightweight. You will spend less of course if you are only doing a kit for 1. You could buy a pack of granola bars and use it for all 3 days instead of buying these other food items. If your kids won't eat these foods then try one of the other options. It is important they eat these foods not only too avoid pickiness in a disaster, but in a year you need to rotate these foods. After 1 year these were still in good condition and we rotated them with new ones and put the old stuff in the "snack drawer" that the kids can pick from once a day.

Recipe Tuesday

This recipe was taken from www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com. I made it with my kids and they thought it was so much fun. It is a great snack or good with milk for breakfast.

All of the items for granola can be found in your food storage, so it is a great recipe to have on hand to use up and rotate items in your food storage.


Homemade Granola:
1 c. sliced almonds (or any nut you prefer-I tried whole almonds)
5 c. oats (quick or old fashioned)
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. raisins (I used a mix of dried blueberries, cranberries)
1/4 c. sesame seeds (optional)
1/4 c. sunflower seeds (optional)
1/2 c. flaxseed (optional--good for you and you can't even tell it is there)
1/2 c. REAL maple syrup(This is about $5 for a small bottle but you can use it for 2 batches of granola. I have not tried but I bet you could use regular syrup too)
1/2 c. honey
1/3 c. canola oil


Mix ingredients all together until all ingredients are covered in the honey, maple syrup and oil. If you need to add a little more honey you can do that. You don't want it very sticky, just enough to keep the granola together. Place granola on a baking sheet (don't spray) and put in the oven at 150-170 degrees and bake for approx 2 hours (or until COMPLETELY dry and crunchy). Every 30-40 minutes take the granola out of the oven and stir around to make sure all of the granola is evenly cooked. You can also put the granola in a dehydrator for 3-4 hours on medium heat until dry. By not cooking the granola at a high temperature you are keeping all of the nutrients and healthy enzymes in tact--it is the healthiest way to eat your grains. Let granola cool and then store in ziploc bags, Tupperwares or canisters. Will last for several months in your pantry (as long as it is completely dry).

Family Idea

There is this great site that I link to this blog that had family night ideas for families the 3rd monday each month. It could be adapted for all faiths. Check it out and see if it works for your family and helps you get prepared! Check out www.safelygatheredin.blogspot.com

Thursdays deals

Maceys is still having their case lot and emergency prep sale this week. So look at last weeks post here for those great deals that are good for one more week.

Also Smiths is having an amazing deal on American Beauty pasta this week. Usually it is a great deal when it is $1 for a 16 oz bag. But if you buy 10 bags they are only .50 each!!! You need 25 lbs of grains per person for a month of food storage. Look here for more suggested amounts.If you eat a lot of pasta this would be as low as you will see it for a very long time. They have a big variety as well. I keep my pasta in those rubbermaid totes and stack them in my storage room. Pasta is good for 2 years and can be easily rotated. Just make sure you date them. I have my kids put labels with the dates on them to keep track, or when they are feeling less helpful:) I use the magic marker.

Recipe Tuesday!

This recipe idea is taken from www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com There are tons of great tips for emergency preparedness, deals, recipes and of course food storage!

Wheat is intimidating to me. I bought 50 lbs at the cannery for $6 each and now I wonder what am I going to do with it! It stores for over 30 years, but I would like to incorporate it into our meals now. The other problem is that you need a grinder to make it into flour. Those are pretty pricey if you can't find one to borrow.So I was excited to run across this idea:


Put 2 c. of wheat in a crock pot with 4 c. water. Turn on medium heat for 2-3 hours, or until wheat is tender and soft. Watch to make sure the crock pot does not run out of water. Add a little extra water if the wheat absorbs the water more quickly than is expected.

When wheat is soft and tender, serve with milk and honey for cereal or add to several of your recipes. Wheat is great to help many recipes stretch. Add a 1/2 c. to your meatloaf, taco meat, meatballs, etc. and you will NEVER know it is there. Not only will the wheat help your recipes stretch but it will add extra nutrients to your meals as well. Keep a tupperware full of cooked wheat in your fridge and you will be surprised at how many recipes you can throw it into.

Life Caps and Toilets

These two topics don't go together except for the fact they are both useful in your 72 hr kit:)

I mentioned in my first container post that it is important for each family to have at least one 5-gallon bucket in their 72 hr supply. It can be used to hold your 72 hr kit supplies for now and also can be used for a toilet in an emergency. A bucket can be transformed by simply putting a garbage bag inside and securing it with a large rubberband. There is a also a enzyme you can buy that breaks up waste and helps eliminate odor. The tiny bag of enzymes is $1.50.

These buckets are at a great price at Macey's right now for $3.99 including the lid. These buckets are also perfect for holding food storage. A bucket can hold a 25 lb bag of flour, sugar, wheat, etc. and keep it protected from moisture, rodents and and gettign stale. A toilet can be found at Emergency Essentials for $17 as well and it comes with the toilet seat, enzyme packet, and a 5 gallon bucket. It is $10 more but would be worth it if you used it for other purposes such as camping, hunting trips, etc.


I also wanted to mention a product I ran into recently. Another alternate to food in your 72 hr kit are "Lifecaps".
It is a pill that you take for each meal and it provides the same nutrients to keep your body satisfied for up to 10 days. It must be taken with your emergency water for survival. It can be swallowed or chewed and can be for adults or children. It states that it can eliminate hunger pains within 20minutes. I think these would be great in car kits in case of emergency as well as 72 hr kits becasue they are light and easy to store. I plan on getting a 72 hr supply for all members of my family to add to their current 72 hr kit. 72 hrs is just an estimate between the time the disaster strikes and when Red cross can establish help and resources. There is no guarantee it won't be longer, so I figure if we run out of food after 3 days we will still have another 3 days of nutrients to keep my family satisfied.It is all natural. Packing more food is also an option, but my bags are already pretty heavy. Check out the site www.lifecaps.net if you are interested. There is a short clip from Good Things Utah about it. They are typically sold for $1 a pill and can be sold in 72 hr packs for $10, or a container of 30 for $30. Right now the small packs are $6 at Maceys. You can get a raincheck for later if they are out. Deseret book also sells them for $10. If there is a big interest I am able to order a large quantity of the bottles online for $15 each(for 30 pills).

Water containers

If any of you still want to sign up for 55 gallon water containers, it is always open for additions. I have found another source who has agreed to sell them to me in large quantities for $11. They previously held propylene glycol:

Propylene glycol is a clear, colorless, slightly syrupy liquid at room temperature. Propylene glycol is practically odorless and tasteless.

Propylene glycol is used to make biodegradable antifreeze and de-icing solutions for cars, airplanes, and boats; as an ingredient in termite control; to make polyester compounds; and as solvents in the paint and plastics industries.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified propylene glycol as an additive that is "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. It is also used to absorb extra water and maintain moisture in certain medicines, cosmetics, or food products. It is a solvent for food colors and flavors.

The seller assured me it is safe and non toxic and he has stored and used water in it personally. He said it is cleaned just like the other juice ones and leaves no taste or odor.

So here is the info. I personally would have no problem storing my water in these and feel good about it. If you want a guaranteed water source and don't want to wait for the other ones, please pay $11 instead of the $10 and as soon as I have all of the money I will call him. I am still collecting them from the other source as well but feel it will take a long time to get everyone set. I don't know his demand for these 20 so let me know if this is what you want. I would love to get them right now, but I don't want to pay $$$ out of my pocket and have 20 barrels in my yard:) He says he has 40 each month to sell. If you need to know where to drop off payment email me at tiffsterzer@hotmail.com If you are not in my neighborhood I am happy to help you out as well, but will not drive around the valley to deliver them:) I will have them delivered to my house and we can make arrangements.

Recipe Tuesday!

All of these items can be found in your food storage. This recipe is just one of many you can find on www.myfoodstoragedeals.com. You can try her program free for 2 weeks and then it is $4.95 after that. She gives you a menu for the week using the sales in the weekly ads. She has a system that tells you the best deals at every store so you don't have to do the work. You just print off the sheet and ad match it at walmart or go to the other 5 grocery stores. She tells you how much of each item you should buy to get your year supply. I give her the credit for getting me excited and building up my storage.She has a family of six and lives in the same city as me, and she has a goal to help as many people as she can. She was recently featured on the local news as well! She also has a blog at www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogpspot.com (Both of these sites are linked on the right)

Tortilla White Bean Soup

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (you can use your storage in the freezer or even canned chicken added later. I think it may get to soft if it is in the crockpot too long)
24 oz Great Northern Beans (white beans)
8 oz Pace picante salsa
2 c shredded cheese (can use powdered cheese if you didn't have any in the freezer)
2 t. cumin
2 cans chicken broth

Throw all into your slow cooker and simmer for at least an hour. Add just before you serve:

1/4 cup cilantro (from garden, store or dried)
1/2 cup fresh lime, squeezed (or lime juice from food storage)

Garnish with:
corn chips
sour cream (powdered or fresh)
guacamole (don't think this can be in food storage but it is only optional

Simplest way

I will add a list of everything to put in your 72 hr kits soon. It's been a long day:)
I wanted to tell you about a great thing to put in your 72 hr kits, and in your cars. At stores such as Emergency Essentials there are 3600 calorie bars. They have several different kinds and are about $6. They also let you sample them at emergency essentials. If you were in an emergency you would be able to survive on these bars for 3 days. 3 squares a day will give you all of the calories you will need to survive. I have one of these in my car, but chose to not use them in my 72 hr kits just because I wanted to find a more variety of things for my children to eat each day that they were used to.

If you choose to not get them for your 72 hr kit(I will have more options for food on a later post) I would recommend them for your cars.

They are a bit crumbly and have a powdery texture and taste like a pecan sandy cookie.For a sample you can go to Emergency Essentials in South Jordan 968 W. South Jordan Parkway (10600 s.)

Your year supply one month at a time

Let's begin by saying I am not a professional in this area. I begin seriously last year after joining a friend's food storage program(www.myfoodstoragedeals.com). It got me excited and helped me to stress less and start simple. So that is what I am trying to pass on.
I took the information from the LDS church website, although I want to stress that this is a city wide program and not a church program. The LDS church has boundaries of neighborhoods already in place and the city thought this would be the easiest route.
It is less overwhelming for me when I look at it monthly instead of the full year
Suggested amount for 1 month for one person:

Grains: 25 lbs per person of any of the following:
-cold or hot cereal
-cornmeal
-flour
-mixes(muffin, cornbread, pancake)
-oats (quick or old fashioned)
-Rice
-wheat(grind to make wheat flour)
*For a family of 4 you could get a 25 lb bag of flour, 25 lbs of oatmeal, 25 lbs of rice, and 25 lbs of wheat- then you have a good variety. I know this seems a no-brainer but don't get things your family won't eat!

Legumes: 5 lbs per person
-Black beans
-chili beans
-kidney beans
-lentils
-pinto beans
-pork n' beans
-refried beans
*Beans are an important part of your diet. If you don't know what you would do with these, I have a lot of good recipes that I will pass on every Tuesday. They have gotten as low as .50 a can and if possible get as many as you can. I am getting low but right now they are a bit too much per can so I have been focusing on other stuff on sale.

Milk: 1.5 lbs per person
-Evaporated milk
-powdered
-sweetened condensed
*Powdered milk can come in handy when you run out and need some for a recipe or to drink. My kids can't tell the difference when I make it. In fact they think it is cool that I can make milk myself:)

Sugar: 5 lbs per person
-brown sugar
-corn syrup
-powdered syrup
-honey
-jam
-jello
-maple syrup
-molasses
-pudding
-white sugar
*Watch for good sales on all of these items and you will be able to stock up on more. I will let you know when there are great deals on Thursday.

Oils/fats:2 lbs per person
-butter
-oil
-margarine
-mayonaise
-peanut butter
-salad dressing
-shortening
*These items are essential in cooking. If you don't cook much then you could get a lot of peanut butter! I figure that if we had nothing we will at least have peanut butter and a spoon:)

Salt: 1.5 lbs a personIf you want to start simple start with the salt. It will cost you less than a dollar:) If you had the bare minimum to eat you would at least have salt to make it taste better.

Meats: 1.5 lbs per person
-canned chicken
-canned tuna
-canned turkey
-meat soups
-clams
-stew
-spam
-vienna sausages
-TVP
Fresh meat/freezer
-bacon
-beef/roast
-chicken
-pork
-sausage
-seafood
*It has helped me so much to have a supply of meat in the freezer. It makes it convenient as well as less costly. You get the meat when it is on sale then you can get more of it for other meals. Of course it is good to have canned meats as well in case the power to your freezer is out and it spoils.

Fruits: 15 lbs for ENTIRE family
-applesauce
-dry fruit
-fruit cocktail
-peaches
-pears
-pineapple
-mandarin oranges
*This is another easy place to start. 15 cans of the fruit your family enjoys most. I would get about 30, because my kids like to have a fruit with their dinner each night.

Vegetables: 15 lbs for ENTIRE family-beets
-carrots
-corn
-green beans
-green chili's
-instant potatoes
-mixed veggies
-mushrooms
-onions
-peas
-pickles
-pumpkin
-salsa
-spaghetti sauce
-tomato paste
-tomato soup
-tomatoes
-yams
*If you plant a garden this year you will save tons of money in this area. Last year I canned 35 jars of tomatoes and it cost me $2 for the lids. If you have never done this, I will post about it closer to gardening time! My family doesn't eat canned vegetables so I focus on frozen vegetables, salsa, tomato products for pasta sauce, and we love pickles.



Cooking essentials: At least one of each that you would need for cooking
-baking powder
-baking soda
-cocoa
-vanilla
-vinegar
-yeast

Auxillary foods:-Spices
-vitamins
-cake mixes
-crackers
-marshmallows
-casserole mixes
-chocolate chips
*These are just things to make your life a little more pleasant, and make your food a little tastier

Condiments:
-bbq sauce
-ketchup
-mustard
*You would be able to survive with all of these but it helps to have them on hand when you run out. I bought ketchup for $.50 a bottle last year and got a year supply. It is just one less thing I have to buy full price on grocery day.


Now you know what you need to buy, now you just wait for great deals and stock up! Maceys case lot sale is coming up and they may have some great deals. I will try to get a price comparison on later between the LDS cannery, walmart and cosco. If you have a cosco membership they have the best deals on Peanut butter, flour, brown sugar, and sugar most of the time.Sometimes case lots can beat them. Wheat and oats can't beat beat at the LDS cannery. A lot of the "cooking essentials" are the best prices at the Walmart price.

Recipe Tuesday

So once you start building up your food storage, what do you do with it? You cook! For all of you who are fans of quick, easy, and fast food are just going to have to start somewhere! It may seem extreme to have hundreds of lbs of flour in your pantry if you only use one bag of flour in a year. The storage is there for you when you don't have the option to get the stores.
1- there is a disaster in your hometown and you are unable to get to the stores for a long period of time.
2-There is a disaster somewhere else and the cost of food skyrockets to a point where you can't afford it.
3- You are faced with unemployment and your family cannot afford the groceries for the time.
Whatever the situation, you should have your own little "grocery store" in your own home.
Lets start with the basics. Even if you aren't a gourmet chef, you know how to make a peanut butter sandwich:) Do you know how to make a loaf of bread from scratch?
I am putting the most simple recipe for white bread that I have. It has simple ingredients that should be in your long term storage. We will do a wheat one later for those of you who have wheat but aren't sure how to use it in your recipes.
Many of you may have great bread recipes that you can share as well. I try to make bread of some sort each week, but that doesn't make me good at it:)

White Bread
2 Cups warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
5-6 cups flour

Add yeast to the water in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Add flour one cup at a time between mixing.
Knead for 9 min and rise for 40 minutes. Place in a greased loaf pan.You can let rise again for another 30 minutes, but is not vital. Cook at 350 degrees until lightly browned. You can also roll it out thin and use it for a pizza crust.

Now once you have peanut butter, jam, flour, yeast, salt, sugar in your food storage you can live on peanut butter and jam sandwiches for months if you had to:)

How Long Can You Survive without Water???

As I review the surveys, I have noticed that many families have little or no water supply.Establishing a supply of food is essential in many ways, but water is more important than any food you may have.
A person can go without food for several weeks or more, but without water you can survive only a few days.
How much water do you need? For a 2 week supply you need 28 gallons a person- 14 for drinking and 14 for washing, per person.
You may need more if:
-you have pets
-you have a baby in need of water for formula
-you have any dehydrated foods that will need water prior to eating
-you live in extreme hot temperatures
What if a disaster struck today and you have no water supply? There is some other options.

1. Hot water heater: can hold up to 50 gallons of water. The trick is to getting it out. Opening the drain faucet at the bottom of the tank can access the water. To get the water to flow, you have to turn the faucet on somewhere else in the house to release the pressure. BUT if the source of your "emergency situation" is an earthquake your water heater could tip or break and lose all of your water. Also, in my case it is in the basement and may not be accessible in an emergency.

2.Toilet tank: I am talking about the tank in the back, not the bowl:) It can hold anywhere from 3-5 gallons of water. I personally don't want to rely on my source of water coming from the toilet, but I would use it for my pet or for cleaning. It IS clean water but still...it's the toilet.

3.Can foods: You can get liquid source from can fruits, vegetables, soups that may be on your shelf. It will sustain you but may not be the most refreshing or the most practical for washing purposes.

Anyway, there is no need for any of those options if we start now to prepare.
There are plenty of options for all budgets.

1. Milk jugs- This is the cheapest but not a long term solution. After you finish a gallon of milk, rinse it in cold water and fill it up to store. This plastic is thin and disintegrates quickly. I bought water in the gallon containers and in less than a year they collapsed and leaked all over my garage.


2. 2-liter soda pop bottles- These containers or juice containers are made of a thicker plastic and last longer. This is economic if you drink these on a regular basis and have them laying around anyway. It would take a lot of them to equal the suggested 14 gallons. I have a few of them and they have stored well for many years.




3. Single serve water bottles- These are the most convenient, although you would need quite a bit of them as well. For one person's 14 gallons you would need 5 of the 24 packs. I have these and stack them up in my garage. When summer comes they get to amazing prices to stock up on. You shouldn't pay more than $3 for a 24 pack of water. In the summer they can get to just under $2 and you could easily get your supply. Every 2 weeks I would buy 4 of them and spend less than $10.


4. 5 Gallon water jug. There are a lot of different sizes that you can get to store your water. They all range in prcie as well. These containers are square shaped which makes it convenient to stack. Although you will need quite a few for your family.You will need 5-6 per person to meet the suggested amount. These can be found at Emergency Essentials for $11 each. I am currently trying to see if they will give me a group discount.
5. Water barrels- This is a great way to store a lot of water without having tons of containers around.I keep them against my garage wall. They need to be inside in our Utah temperatures. For a family of 2 you would need one 55 gallon container for both your drinking and cleaning. Once you fill it though it can be over 400 pounds. Every year you can empty it and water your grass, and put fresh water inside. They may seem bulky but I have 3 of them in the far end of my garage and I can still park my SUV and open my trunk and have plenty of space to walk around.

A siphon hose pump is the easiest and most logical way to get it out.I bought one for $6 when Macey's has their preparedness sales. You may have seen these barrels and noticed that they range around $50 a piece. But because I am cheap I looked for another option:) I found a woman on KSL who sold them previously used for juice concentrate. I bought 3 of them for $10 each. I now have enough water for all of my family and another one in the future. It is an amazing piece of mind. I talked to this same person last week and she told me she can get more of these containers if any one is interested. Because she now works full time she cannot keep up with the cleaning of them. This should not be a problem for any of us. It is a simple solution and water and you are set.We could even plan a day to do it in the park in warmer weather. LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE PUT ON THE WAITING LIST! She will start collecting them depending on the need.

Rotation- Water can be stored up to 5 years at a time or more. It may not taste that great but any stored water is without oxygen will not maintain a overly pleasant taste. Think about it- tasty water or no water at all...With my bottle waters I use the oldest ones first for our current use. When I see a good deal I will get another one to replace it.

Place all water containers on top of a wood board if it is stored on top of cement. My husband just used some 2x4's and created a platform pretty simple. He can help out anyone as well who needs some assistance with that.I do not know the scientific reason, but the concrete can contaminate your supply.

Blog schedule

I have been thinking of ways to get the info out that I want without mass blogs. I think I will start off the week with a recipe on Tuesdays to help you implement your food storage into your meals.
On Thursdays I will focus on food storage items and tell you of any awesome deals to stock up on that week.
On Saturdays I want to focus on 72 hr kits and Emergency Preparedness tips
We will see if I can stick to that and if it works out:)

Surveys

I know it seems like I have forgotten about the blog, but I am just trying to get everyone on board first. Our neighborhood consists of 200 homes and I am gradually getting our info out. There is a survey link to the right that we need all of our neighbors to fill out and give back to me.

Who has their tax return back? Out of the chunk of money we got back, I was able to take $200 and get a good amount of food storage to add to my supply. I tried to get more out of my hubby, but alas I was grateful for this:) It is important to set aside money for a cash reserve as well as a little out of each paycheck to get supplies. I take at least $20 every 2 weeks from our one income family paycheck and I don't even notice it. But it greatly increases my storage. Some will have more or less to spend, but it is something. I don't really believe that getting one can every time you go to the store is going to build th esupply you need. If that is all you can do for now, than it is great. Think about what amount of money you can actually set aside specifically for preparedness. THEN when good sales come you stock up on that. You can get twice as much for your money.I will let you know when some of those awesome deals come each week as well. I will blog soon about how to get started and figure out what and how much you need to buy for your family.