It's random, lovely, full of misspelled words and terrible punctuation. It's about me, Erin, my family and friends, in real life. There's sugar but no sugar coating.
"Come what may, and love it!......Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result." ~ Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
Showing posts with label emergency preparedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emergency preparedness. Show all posts
"The greatest events that have been spoken of by all the Holy Prophets will come along so naturally as the consequences of certain causes, that unless our eyes are enlightened by the Spirit of God, and the spirit of revelation rests upon us, we will fail to see that these are the events predicted by the Holy Prophets." - George Q. Cannon
I would dare to say that some of those events are taking place. As my dad would say, "If I'm right you'll be prepared to feed your family and take care of them and if I'm wrong you'll still have peace of mind."
I'm getting excited just starting to write about this. I think that's why I call myself an emergency prep. geek. Also, when we moved I couldn't find my grinder and I admit that I did freak out (a little).
OK, a few people have asked me how I would suggest getting started with food storage and preparedness.
Well, the first thing I would suggest is start NOW, RIGHT THIS SECOND! Reading this post is a good start :)
Whether it's grabbing extra canned goods at the grocery store next time you go shopping or looking up things that might be important to you if something did happen.
Start a notebook and print and collect information that you are interested in.
Look at the things you eat. If your family likes ketchup, stock up. If you cook with a lot of a certain seasoning, stock up.
Look at local sales and use coupons. I look to see what's on sale for the week and then I buy multiple coupons at www.thecouponclippers.com and on www.ebay.com. I just got a ton of vanilla for $1.
Think about things like toilet paper, toothpaste, diapers, tampons. Things you wouldn't want to go without. Again, use coupons.
Use the cannery for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. These are going to be the best prices for food canned and ready for long term storage. The basic things to store are wheat, powdered milk, oil, salt, honey or sugar, and water. If you add a few extras like yeast, baking powder, powdered eggs, and baking soda the list of things you can make will grow tremendously.
Start with a variety. Don't just buy all your wheat first because if something happens before you can get everything, you're going to be stuck eating just wheat. Bet it wouldn't take you long to realize you'd rather not eat than eat wheat AGAIN.
One thing that is easy to get a year supply of for cheap is salt.
Baking soda is a great thing to store. You can use it in baking, brushing your teeth, as deodorant, as a cleaning agent, to wash your face, etc
The best thing I can tell you is try to focus on something and NOT FEEL SO OVERWHELMED THAT YOU DO NOTHING AT ALL. Let the thought of your starving children, spouse, family be your motivation. That was mine.
Start storing small amounts of water. Everyday preparation will have great benefits.
I would for sure start planning for a spring garden now. Make preparations on how big you want your garden, what your going to grow, etc. This is a good book from the church that I think will help you A LOT. $1.50 well spent.
Then I would suggest looking in to how you can store what you grow. Learn how to water bath can and pressure can. This all takes time. Don't be overwhelmed, talk to your grandma, and have fun. Not to mention you'll know exactly where your food came from and what's on it.
I figured when I started that this would be lengthy. I will post again. But this is a starting point. Good luck!
Allergies are on the rise. As you know we are gluten-free.
Just wanted to share some of the best info I have found on being gluten free.
Go HERE for great information.
This tells you all the gluten-free grains and compares them nutritionally to wheat.
If you have an egg allergy, here's some good info for you.
Egg Replacer Options:
To replace eggs in baking recipes you have several options, each of these options makes the equivalent of 2 eggs in baking: 1/2 cup applesauce + an additional 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder OR 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds + 6 tablespoons hot water + an additional 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder OR 1 tablespoon of Ener-G Egg replacer + 4 tablespoons hot water. I also think it's a good idea to add an additional tablespoon of oil per egg to replace the fat/moisture content from the egg yolk!
“Eggs” from unflavored gelatin (Knox): The gelatin is less expensive than powdered eggs (as little as 3 cents per tsp) and has an indefinite shelf life.
Making one egg: Combine 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin with 3 Tb of cold water and stir until dissolved. Then add 2 Tb of hot water and stir. When using your own recipes, decrease the liquid called for in your recipe by about ¼ cup to compensate for the added water from the “egg”.
Eggs: Storing fresh eggs for up to 1 year. Rub warmed mineral oil on your hands and coat the entire surface of the fresh egg with the oil. Replace egg in carton with the point down. In cold climates they can be stored in a cool, dark place. In warmer climates, place in the refrigerator. Rotate once a year. (This is taken from Wendy DeWitt's "Everything Under The Sun" handout which you can get in it's entirety by emailing her. This is her blog (her email address is there.) It's a great emergency prep handout.
Store some of these things in your food storage.
You can store gluten-free grains like you do other grains. Store in #10 cans or buckets with oxygen absorbers. They don't store as long as wheat but should store for a good 10 years or so.
If you are gluten-free it's A TON CHEAPER to grind your own grains than purchase the flour.
You want your grains to be hulled unless you plan on doing the hulling yourself which is a process.
And finally Milk allergies.
For storing milk they do make powdered soy milk and powered coconut milk. You could store nuts to make nut milk. Of coarse, these are all more expensive. sorry!
Anyway, it's true that Asher gained a pound. Yes! Also, true that my dad owns a tattoo gun. BUT also true that it's for using on goats.
You probably don't think this is as cute as I think it is but I know the grandparents will love it. Asher's eating his mac n' cheese. I make his with extra butter, whole milk, and extra cheese talk about extra calories.
It's true that I found some peanut butter last night called The Bee's knees It has honey already in it. I love it. now I don't have to mix anything to make Noah sandwiches.
Also, solar powered + LED light bulb = good things to look for in an emergency preparedness flashlight. Learned that from my dad. - the emergency preparedness tip of the day
And I guess the reality of what Asher is going through and might have to go through has set in.
It just seems like a different world to me after the last few visits to the doctor.
He's so cute and sweet.
He is eating pretty well.
The doctor (well, really the dietitian) suggested that we try to switch to sippy cups and decrease the milk consumption and replace it with solid food.
We have been attempting this but today was the best day yet.
Honey nut "o"s (of the organic variety), part of a blueberry muffin, and whole milk (also organic) for breakfast
for a snack he had strawberry yogurt melts.
for lunch he ate some pasta with little pieces of meat and some kind of sauce (our bishop made it last night for a relief society meeting and we all got left overs) and some cake.
he had a snack of cheese and crackers. um...he also ate a small kit kat (what? I'm tryin' to help him gain weight)
For dinner fruit smoothie and garlic mashed potatoes. (tried to give him a little chicken, he wasn't into it)
He had 3 bottles in between all that.
Anyway, I call that a successful day.
Things have been good lately.
We have gotten to spend more time with Heath and the weather is nice enough to play outside.
It almost feels like we are a real family whose dad gets to come home in the evenings ;)
We play ball with a plastic bat and wiffle balls. Heath tries to strike me out but he can't.
what a good dad!
The "show me your muscles" pose
The truth is that I would like to find a sugar maple tree and learn how to tap it next year (there is a season for it that has already passed) and make my own maple syrup. Some more truth is that we ran out of milk today and I decided to try out some powdered milk. I love milk and thought it wasn't half bad. I heard you can add a little vanilla and sugar to to enhance the flavor. It was pretty good both ways. Also, did you know that if your powdered milk gets bad (turns yellow and smells funny) you can use it to make cheese and yogurt (and that's the emergency preparedness tip of the day.)
"The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people of Noah." - Ezra Taft Benson
"For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity, but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead...and we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually..."
- Bruce R. McConkie
"We will see the day when we live on what we produce." - Marion G. Romney
"The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat."
- President Brigham Young
"The great blessing of being prepared gives us freedom from fear, as guaranteed to us by the Lord in the Doctrine & Covenants: "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30)
-L. Tom Perry
"We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a week's food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. As all of you recognize, this counsel is not new. But I fear that so many feel that a long term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all."
He's a Grad student. He makes pots. He likes hunting and hanging out with his boys. You can visit his blog at www.checkoutmyblogatmyblog.blogspot.com (or click the picture).
"We artist are indestructible, even in a prison cell or a concentration camp I would be almighty in my own world of art. Even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell." - Pablo Picasso
Asher helps me develop faith. He has a nerve injury on his right arm. He also has trouble gaining weight. He sees an occupational therapist 2 times a week. He is sweet and shy but has a funny personality.
this is our story.
i called him. he said yes. he kissed me. i said, "i love you." he said, "i like you twelve." (that equals i love you.) he said "will you?" i said, "yes". we got married. he started school. we had noah. i became a mom. he became an artist. we moved to pa. he became a grad student. then came asher and i became the mom of 2. we moved back to utah. he became a teacher. me? the mom of three. we are happy. we are blessed.
Children are made readers on the laps of their parents. - Emily Buchwald
