Emergency Preparedness and Provident Living Newsletter
November 2023
Please follow me over on my preparedness blog
For the last two years I have been having several issues with Google trying to restrict how many people I can email the same thing each month. I got a message recently that said I would lose all of my Google accounts. That would be a disaster!
So, I have recently reactivated my blog and I will be uploading my newsletters and other preparedness items to that blog. I may not get much done on that until after Christmas but please keep checking. The link to the blog is HERE: Little Red Hen Preparedness (littleredhenpreps.blogspot.com) For those who receive emails directly from me, it is the FIRST BLUE LINK under my email signature. Once you are on the blog page, you can save that website link to one of your favorites on your computer. Please do this as I may have to stop sending these in an email until I get set up to use an email service such as Mailchimp. If you suddenly stop getting my emails, please check the blog.
I am also going to post the newsletters in the few groups that I admin on Facebook. If you need a suggestion on a group to join, email me with that question at wendydriggsprep@gmail.com
Church of Jesus Christ Home Storage Center
This is a good resource for very basic, long-storing dry foods such as wheat, oats, flour, sugar, pasta and dry beans. These items are already packaged in large #10 cans. You can shop in-person or you may order online to have them shipped to your home. Shipping cost for home delivery is around $6 for the whole order. You do not have to be a member of this church to buy items in person.
To find a Home Storage Center near you, click this link HERE: Find a Home Storage Center (churchofjesuschrist.org)
For the current price list for the USA click this link HERE: Home Storage Center Order Form (U.S.) (churchofjesuschrist.org)
For USA Spanish price sheet click this link HERE: https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/providentliving/content/Home-Storage-Center/2023%20Home%20Storage%20Order%20Form%
For Canada price sheet, click this link HERE: Home Storage Center Order Form (Canada) (churchofjesuschrist.org) .
To order online for shipping to your home, click on this link HERE: Food Storage | Store (churchofjesuschrist.org)
Another great resource for food storage- Azure Standard
Azure Standard - Azure Standard or www.azurestandard.com This company has been in business for over 30 years. They offer thousands of healthy, all-natural and organic products. Many of these products can be ordered in a variety of sizes. Your order will be delivered the week after the order cut-off. Orders are delivered via semi-trucks. You meet the truck and take your items home. Delivery to most “drops” are once a month.
How does Azure Standard work?
You browse their website. Once you are ready to order, you create your account. During this process you will be prompted to choose a drop location. There are hundreds of drop locations across the US. Most drops are located along major highways. To choose your drop, scroll to the bottom of the home page. Click on FIND A DROP. You can search for a drop by city and state or zip code. You can change your drop at any time. Drops can be at a home, business or in a parking lot. Within a day or two after placing your order, you will get an email with the anticipated delivery schedule for your drop. Any issues with your order or delivery will be emailed to you. You will want to check your email once a day. The drop coordinator should also contact you with delivery updates as well. The delivery often varies and many times it will be during a workday. If your coordinator is not willing to hold on to your order until you can pick it up, you will need to have a friend pick them up for you.
I have been very pleased with the number of products offered, the quality and customer service. This is a fantastic resource for those who live in areas where it is hard to buy real, healthy foods in bulk. During the shutdown when many stores were out of typical food storage foods, Azure still had them in stock.
My favorite things to order from Azure Standard are bulk sprouting seeds, bulk legumes, bulk grains, bulk spices, bulk dried herbs, homesteading type books, Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers and large containers of oils like coconut oil.
Are you new to preparedness and need a lot of help?
My friend Joan Haney, and her husband have started a new adventure. They are both retired from their former careers and have started a new preparedness website. They have many years of living a self-sufficient lifestyle including law enforcement, self-defense and farming using old-time techniques. Please take a few minutes and check out their website at www.thepreppermom.com They will be doing regularly scheduled webinars. Their YouTube channel link is here: https://youtu.be/8DoHRNNFuR0?si=ufMOhf4unW3dYU3R
Deals to stock up on in November
Turkey, freeze extra for meals later in the future, pressure can or freeze dry.
Baking supplies- watch for specials and stock up
uncarved, whole pumpkins-cut, bake and then puree. Take the puree and freeze, freeze-dry or pressure can it.
Cans of broth of your choice
Stuffing mixes- long shelf-life. You can also learn how to take broken stale bread and make your own from scratch like my Grandma used to make. All you need is dry bread pieces, onions, butter and herbs.
Fresh cranberries-freeze, freeze-dry or make into juice. I have also made a fresh cranberry-citrus relish that I have bottled and frozen or freeze-dried.
Ivermectin and Nature's 'Mectin is now available to the public
Ivermectin has now been approved for us to use for Covid treatment in the USA. Some sources for Ivermectin in table form for Human use are, your Primary Care Physician with a prescription, online at Ivermectin.com and JASE Medical Emergency Antibiotic Medication Kits .
At Jase Medical you can now order Ivermectin as an add-on when you order a year supply of antibiotics. When you order these medications from this company you are in contact with a legitimate physician who will consult with you and prescribe 5 different antibiotics for your kit. These are usually purchased as an emergency back up for traveling or for future emergency use.
Another source of Ivermectin that is an herbal mix that treats CV19 symptoms. You can order this at anytime from my friend Mickey B. on her website The Healer's Art (thehealersart.com) . This herbal version is called Nature's 'Mectin. You can take the herbal powder and fill empty gelatin capsules. She includes instructions and dosage information with your order.
Practical Christmas Gift Ideas
The following is a list of practical gifts ideas that will be great for your loved ones and those who are concerned about being more prepared for the times we live in. I hope you find some of these ideas to be helpful.
Water filters such as a Sawyer or Life Straw or water filtering bottles, ceramic filter or water purification tables, water barrel and barrel pump. Make sure the water barrel has NEVER had any chemicals in it and it should be blue or other color to prevent algae growth.
Items that can be part of a 72/96 hour emergency kit.
Food storage items that you bought or preserved yourself. Who doesn't like canned fruit or jam? Freeze-dried food has the longest shelf-life. If you have a freeze dryer you can make it yourself.
Give a power outage kit that you assembled or some kind of solar light, batteries etc.
Warm clothing is always nice. You could give someone new Winter gloves, wool socks, outerwear etc.
Does every adult in the family have a good, old-fashioned detailed paper map? You can give them a map for an area that this person would most likely be in during a long power outage or crisis. Everyone needs to know or be able to find alternate routes to get home.
Give a gift that uses one of your talents. Do you sew, bake, garden, do woodworking, knit, crochet, do leather work, make herbal tinctures or make soap etc.? Your gift could be something you made with a promise to give the recipient a lesson or two.
First Aid kits are useful. Everyone should have one in their home as well as in your camper, at work etc. I find the ones you assemble yourself have better things in them than the cheap ready-made ones. Maybe you can find some items that can be ADDED to their existing kit that they probably do not have.
Give books on gardening, homesteading, canning, herbal remedies, cast iron or camp cooking, foraging and other interests they may have. You can often find like new books at thrift stores.
If you make herbal tinctures and salves you can gift a couple of those with instructions for dosage and storage. You could share some plant starts with someone who wants to grow these plants and learn how to use them.
Give a roadside emergency kit for a new driver, college student or young married couple.
Maybe you know someone who is on assistance for food uses an EBT card. They cannot use that card for non-food items. They may appreciate toiletries and cleaning supplies. Those are not cheap! Make a useful but cute basket or bucket of the items and dress it up a little.
Some foodie ideas that I have done in the past that were well received were to type up a bunch of family recipes and print them out and put in sheet protectors and then put in a 3ring binder. I prefer the binders that have a clear cover pocket so I can create a nice “cover” and put that in the front. If you have any recipes that have been passed down from older generations, include those. I like the binder because we can add more pages as time goes on.
I have gifted small containers full of herbs and spices to someone who is moving out on their own. Spices can be expensive but add so much to each meal. I buy many of them by the pound. If the recipient will not use that much before they get too old, give them half in a smaller container and you keep half of each one. I like to give them all in the same kind of container so they look nice and uniform. You can even repurpose containers you would have recycled.
If you buy the spices in bulk you can save a lot of money. Some sources for affordable bulk spices that I am aware of are; Alison's Pantry in Pleasant Grove, UT. Costco, Sam's Club, Smith & Edwards (2 Utah locations), and Associated Foods Stores in Utah and Eastern Idaho.
The last few years I have tried really hard to support friends or family who have a small business. I have commissioned them to make something for me to gift to another. Of course I paid them. I have also supported local small businesses and friends who offer a good product or service that I could afford. Even if all you can afford right now is to SHARE THEIR INFORMATION, they will greatly appreciate it.
