May 2014 Newsletter

Grocery Shopping Tip:  This is so easy that most families do not even do this.  Check the weekly grocery store ads that are mailed to you.  Take just a few minutes to look them over and make your shopping list from the items you use that are on sale for great prices.  No coupons necessary.  Plan your meals around the food items that you are buying on sale.  Most grocery stores have their weekly ads on their website.  Some even have down-loadable coupons that can be down-loaded to a smart phone.  This month’s bargain buys will be strawberries and Mexican foods because of Cinco de Mayo.

The Gardening Corner:  You can still plant cool weather vegetables for 2-3 more weeks.  Once it is hot out most of them will not do well and will have to be harvested.  Lettuce, Kale and radishes should be harvested before they bolt and go to seed.  Once they bolt they will be very bitter.  Most years it is safe to plant your warm weather or “tender” vegetables such as tomatoes, in the garden around Mother’s Day.  If you do not trust the weather, or you plant them earlier, be sure to protect them with Wall-o-water plant protectors for a while.  These also will protect the small plants for wind damage.  Remove the plant protectors once it is consistently very warm or the tomato plant is too large for it.  Remember, tomatoes need plenty of room for their large roots.  3-4 inches of soil depth will not be enough.  They can be planted pretty deeply too if you want.  They will grow roots all along the entire length of the stem.

In Honor of all women, How to store chocolate:   Chocolate should always be stored in a cool, dark place. The best temps are between 60 and 75 F.   If you buy it in bar form is should stay tightly wrapped.  Dark Chocolate actually gets better with age.  When stored very long a white or gray coating will develop on it.  It is called “Bloom” and is caused by the cocoa butter or sugar rising to the surface when temperatures fluctuate between hot and cold.  This does not affect the taste and will disappear once it has been melted.  For more information you can visit the Hersheys or Ghiraradelli websites.  I buy bags of chocolate chips when they are on sale and I pour them into a cereal-storage type of plastic container and keep it all in the basement.   You can never have too much chocolate!

Cocoa powder is considered to be a non-perishable food item.  It can be stored indefinitely.  Keep it tightly sealed in a cool place.  Information here was from an article in The Deseret News Feb. 12, 2014 from Leslie Probert, co-Author of “Emergency Food Storage in a Nutshell”.

Things to consider for Emergency Preparedness:  Two months ago I attended a Riverton, Utah Stake Emergency Preparedness Night.  The Special Guest Speakers where some Firemen, policemen and City Officials from Riverton City.  I wish everyone could have attended.  I took lots of notes and will share with all of you things that you should know and prepare for incase there is ever a LARGE DISASTER such as an Earthquake with major damage or a tornado.

1.       City and other Government officials are now advising people to prepare for 96 hrs or 5 days of being on your own before help may arrive.  This has been upgraded from 72 hrs.

2.      Public utilities and government employees have families too.  They will be allowed to go to their own families to check on them first. Then they will report to work. For example, once the Firemen return to work they will assess the fire station and then go out around town.  The Police Department is a little different.  Off-Duty officers with check on their families, then report to work.  On –duty officers keep working.  Then they will do damage assessments.  They will not stop at single-family homes first!

3.      The first responders will go to the HARDEST HIT areas first.  Then places such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools.   The question was asked that night “What if my neighbor is laying in his front yard with a broken leg and broken ribs?  Will you police officers stop when I flag you down?”  The answer we got was, “No, We cannot stop…there will be much worse injuries and higher priorities to get to.  You will have to tend to him yourselves.”  This is why each family needs a First Aid Kit and some medical and hopefully, CERT Training.

4.      To keep logistics in perspective; Riverton City has a population of about 38,000.  It only has 3 Fire trucks, 3 Ambulances, 8 Police Cars, 4 Backhoes and 5 Dump trucks.

5.      If there is ever a Major Valley-wide Disaster such as “The Big One” Earthquake…911 will not work.

6.      Each town has its own EOC or Emergency Operations Center.  If your city’s EOC is overloaded requests will go out to the County, then the State and then Federal.

7.      This is what your city leaders want each family to do:  A) Prepare to take care of yourselves for at least 5 days. B) Have an emergency plan in place.  C) Have 3 weeks of food and water stored.  D)  Have at least a Basic First Aid kit in home and car.  E) Get to know your neighbors and block captain.

8.      A word about CERT TRAINING:  Get at least a few people in your neighborhood CERT Trained!  Once trained and when there is a disaster CERT trained people are to stay in their neighborhood.  Major roads may be closed-off to all but local traffic and Emergency Vehicles only.  CERT people are meant to stay put and help their neighbors.

9.      To start a CERT Class or attend one, contact the Unified Fire Authority.  They have trainers and start classes all the time.  These classes are 40 hrs. in total length.  Some of the classes and tests can be done on-line.

10.  Startling Fact:  BEFORE Hurricane Katrina in 2005, 85% of people believed that the Government would take care of them in a disaster.  What is worse?  80% still believe this and we all saw how that did not work out.  

Product highlight of the month:  Cast Iron Cookware

 

                                               

Cast iron cookware has been around for hundreds of years for a reason.  It really lasts!  I used to buy non-stick skillets and every year or so I had to replace them.  After about 20 yrs of that I decided to listen to my mother’s advice and go old school.  As each of my non-stick pans needed to be replaced I replaced it with a cast iron skillet.  They actually cost about the same as Teflon non-stick.  But with cast iron it will last a life-time.  You cannot ruin an item made from cast iron. If it gets rusty and things stick to it just clean and re-season it.  Directions for seasoning and the care of your cast iron is on the label or you can look it up in a book or on-line.  They also work beautifully over a camp fire outdoors.  One set of pans for indoors as well as outdoors.  You do not need to buy an expensive cast iron seasoning product.  Any solid vegetable shortening such as Crisco works just as well.  I have a large family and I cook a lot.  I now have 2 large skillets, 1 med skillet and 1 small and a Dutch oven that is enough for us.

The items pictured at the upper right are a set of cast iron handle mitts.  They slide over the handle and keep you from burning yourself.  They are worth every penny.

Tips for Cast Iron care:  Found in an article in The Deseret News April 2, 2014 

1)      Preheat your cast iron before each use.

2)      Do not oil the pan after use and then store.  The oil will go rancid and it makes it hard to remove too.  Store where it is dry.

3)      Do use soap to clean it.  It will clean off any food particles and any oils that can go rancid.  Yuck!

4)      Season before each use.  While the pan is still cold, apply a thin coat of vegetable oil to the entire surface of the pan.  Then preheat the pan before placing food inside.  If the oil starts to smoke too much just turn down the heat a little.

5)      Don’t worry about a little rust.  Every time you wash and re-season your pans it will disappear.

6)      Information from Michele Nielson at www.dutchovencookout.com