December 2015 Newsletter

Emergency Preparedness and Provident Living Newsletter

December 2015

Now that the Holidays are here, it is hard to think about working on your food storage and preparedness.  There are some simple things you can do this month to keep working toward self-sufficiency.  I will list some things below.

1.      Always keep your vehicle’s gas tank at least half full.

2.      Stock up on cough and cold medicines while you are at the store.  Keep things you use the most on hand at all times.  As you use one, buy another to replace it.    Also stock up on facial and toilet tissue when they go on sale.  Extra paper goods for busy days, company, or when the dishwasher breaks down or when there is a power outage are very good to have on hand.  

3.      As you put winter linens on the beds, make sure you have plenty of extra blankets on hand.  If there is a winter storm and the power goes out you will need them.  Blankets and quilts make great gifts.

4.      This is one of the best times of the year to stock up on baking ingredients.  Stores are already having price wars on items like, sugar, flour, salt, powdered sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips, corn syrup, flavorings etc.  If you keep basic baking ingredients in stock you can always make something delicious and comforting for less than buying it.

5.    

          Do some of your Christmas shopping with preparedness for your loved ones in mind.  See my Christmas list later in this newsletter.

Information on the LDS Home Storage Centers

You can find your location for the local Home Storage Center by doing a search on lds.org or providentliving.org    https://providentlinving.lds.org/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations.map?lang-eng  There are 101 of these in the US and Canada.  Most of them will only allow patrons to stop buy and purchase foods in bulk or already in #10 cans.  There are only 12 HSC in the country that allow patrons to can their own foods, (if they choose), while there.  Those 12 HSC still have all items already in the cans as well.

To find out the address and operating hours of your HSC look for the phone number of the one nearest you and call them to get the latest information.

You don’t have an LDS Home Storage Center near you?

Remember that stores like Costco and Sam’s Club and Amish grocery stores sell basic food stuffs in bulk every day.  You may also be able to find bulk rice or beans for sale at Ethnic grocery stores as well. Many regular grocery stores do sell larger bags but will place them on the very bottom shelf.

Black Friday Deals on Food Storage Products:

Many of the major food storage companies, especially the ones based in Utah, will have Black Friday deals.  If you do not get a newspaper where you can see these, you can check your favorite dealer’s websites.  You can also “like” your favorite dealers on their Facebook page to get their notifications of sales.

Thrive Life Company has great Black Friday sales every year.  This is when we have bought most of the Thrive shelving that we own.  They usually are knocked down about 40% off.  To check on the Thrive Life Black Friday deals go to http://www.thrivelife.com/picker/index/quickpick/ and click on “Show Black Friday pricing”.  Their Black Friday deals can be seen online now but will not be effective until 8am Nov. 25^th and will run through 11:59pm Nov. 30 MST. You may also be interested in buying a specialty package on occasion throughout the year.  Sometimes those are a better deal.

You do not have to purchase through a Thrive Consultant.  But, if you do…it can help her as well as you can do an on-line party and get products at half price or even free.  In the past I have also just requested to have my item added to someone’s online party, (So I could get the deal), even if I did not know the host.

To take advantage of the Black Friday deals here is what one of the consultants told me to pass along to you.

Make sure you click the Big Black button that says “Show Black Friday Deals”.

You can fill your cart BEFORE the sale and then wait to CHECK OUT during the sale window

Items will not display at the correct sale prices until that sale window and you will need to refresh your cart before checking out. 

Christmas Preparedness Gift Ideas

As in years past I will share a list of some gift ideas for Christmas.  You may also want to look at my blog for past ideas.     The blog is called littleredhenpreps.blogspot.com

Preparedness books, cook books

Foods in #10 cans or 72 hr kits in a bucket or backpack

Teach someone a skill like gardening, canning, sewing, shooting, outdoor cooking etc.

Outdoor cooking equipment or camping tools (too many to list)

Emergency lighting (many options available)

Food preservation equipment like a canner, seed sprouter, dehydrator etc

Build a kit: sanitation kit, emergency lighting kit, car kit, First aid kit, etc.  There are lots of kit ideas available on the internet.  Search for:    DIY __________kit of your choice.

Resources for Emergency Preparedness and Food Storage

Resources for Emergency Preparedness and Food Storage

This is just a list to get one started.  There are many resources and websites dedicated to Preparedness and Food Storage.  Start with these websites and they can lead you to similar websites.  There are also blogs and Facebook pages on these topics.  On Facebook, once you have “liked” one page other pages that are similar in nature will be advertised on the right side of your computer screen.  Some of the retailers listed below also have recipes and blogs for more information.  Many of these companies and websites below have free classes, webinars and videos posted online.

www.lds.org

www.providentliving.org

http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage

www.ready.gov                                              Espanol    www.ready.gov/es

www.fema.gov                                               Espanol    www.fema.gov/es

www.redcross.org                                          Espanol   www.redcross.org/cruz-roja                              

www.beprepared.com

www.foodstoragemadeeasy.com

www.foodstorageandsurvival.com

www.preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com

www.safeharboralliance.com

www.foodstoragemoms.com

www.thepatriotnurse.com

www.healthypreparedness.blogspot.com

www.thesurvivalmom.com

www.prepared-housewives.com

www.littlehouseliving.com

www.seedsavers.org

www.urbanorganicgardener.com

www.simplycanning.com

www.freshpreserving.com

www.reusablecanninglids.com

Food Storage and Supplies Retailers in Utah and online

Augason Farms   www.augasonfarms.com

Daily Bread   www.dailybread.com

Emergency Essentials   www.beprepared.com

Honeyville Grain   www.honeyville.com

LDS Church food storage   www.store.lds.org

The Ready Store   www.thereadystore.com

Thrive Food Storage   www.thrivelife.com

Wise Food Storage   www.wisefoodstorage.com

My Patriot Supply   www.mypatriotsupplycom

Saratoga Jacks  www.saratogajacks.com

November 2015 Newsletter

Sales for the month of November:  Watch for sales on baking items for the holiday season such as sugar, flour, brown sugar, powdered sugar, chocolate chips, and flavorings.  Also, if you wait to buy your Thanksgiving turkey until the week BEFORE thanksgiving, you will save a lot of money.  Buy a second turkey to donate to the food bank or to put in the freezer for a few months from now.  Remove left-over meat from the carcass and freeze for casseroles later.  

Preparedness Classes for the Copper Hills Stake:  We will not schedule any more preparedness classes for our stake until the New Year.  We had a different preparedness class nearly every month from January through October in 2015.  When we have the class it is for ANYONE in our stake, no matter which building it is held in.  We encourage EVERYONE to take at least some of these FREE classes.  Asking someone to get you a handout from the class is a good thing, but you miss out on a lot by not attending.  Nothing beats being there in person.  In a time of crisis your attitude, faith and knowledge will be more important than the things you have.

What can I do with a 5 gallon bucket?   I recently came across this website for Preparedness Ideas.  You may want to check this out.  This website has ideas and lists for kits and many other uses for 5 gallon buckets.  It is called,  fivegallonideas.com  If you have a 5 gallon bucket addiction…this website is for you!  Or if you want to make some kits that have handles or be frugal and crafty for lots of projects…this website is for you.

How to use powdered milk:  If you would like to be better at using the powdered milk you have stored there are several cook books for this on sale at preparedness stores, Deseret Book Stores and online.  I took a Powdered Milk Class at the Preparedness Expo in September and it was great!  In addition to teaching us about the different kinds of powdered milk and all the ways we can use it, we sampled a couple things and at the end the teacher had her book for sale.  I bought it.   The book is called 101 Things to do with Powdered Milk.  It sells for $10. It contains helpful hints, recipes for yogurt, milks, creams, cheeses, breads, dips, main dishes, soups, sauces and desserts.   She states that all of the recipes in her book were created using the LDS Home Storage non-fat dry milk.

$10 recipe book with 128 pages of recipes.

fivegallonideas.com

October 2015 Newsletter

Sanitation kit add-ons:  If you already have a sanitation kit, such as a portable toilet, soap, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, t.p., wipes etc,  you may choose to add a couple other items to your kit.  It might be a good idea to add some mouse traps, rat traps and some fly traps.  These would come in very handy after a disaster where there is no sanitation as we know it and there may be a lot of pests that spread disease.  Get some now while they are cheap and easy to find.

Kit idea of the month:  Fire starting kit 

This would come in handy for camping or for cooking and heating during a long power outage or for a gift for the outdoor adventurer on your list.  This kit is small, is expensive and easy to assemble.  Keep with your 72 hr kits or your camping supplies.

Supplies for kit:   1 9v battery, ball of steel wool in a zip lock bag.  Do not store it in contact with any battery!  Water-proof matches, several small pieces of cardboard, a package of Wetfire fire starter, a small set of flint and steel, 1 or 2 Bic lighters, and a small, plastic tackle box to store it all.  This idea is from www.diypreparedness.net

    

                                                   

Homemade Fire starters using lint

Save lots of lint from the clothes dryer for a while.  Save several card board egg cartons and buy some paraffin wax or re-use some old candles. You will also need an empty #10 can and some tin foil.  You can also use the same idea but stuff empty toilet paper tubes with the lint instead.

1.       Place a ball of lint in each cup of the egg carton.  Put egg carton on the tin foil to protect the counter top.  Put some paraffin wax in an empty #10 can and place the can inside a larger pan that has water in it.  Heat the wax until it melts.  Pour melted wax over the balls of lint in the egg carton.  Fill each cup of the carton mostly full.  Allow a little of the lint to stick up above the wax so you can light it.  Let it sit until it is cool.  You can then store the egg cartons as they are in a plastic tub or tear apart into sections and then store.  To start a fire you can light a piece of this as kindling.

How many ways can you cook without power?

Each family needs to have AT LEAST 1 way to cook without electricity and have the fuel stored for that method.

Food Insurance

We all have home owners insurance, car insurance, health insurance and life insurance.  Have you ever thought of having food storage as having “Food Insurance”?  We cannot live without food and any number of things could happen that would make it harder to have enough in times of trouble.  Please think of food storage as food insurance.

                                            

5 day kits and evacuation plans for your animals

If you ever need to evacuate from your home, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR ANIMALS AT HOME!  Government agencies as well as Animal Control agencies and veterinarians now tell everyone to take your animals with you when you leave.  If you leave them at home they may not be rescued, fed or watered for many days, if at all.  Also, many people have left their animals at home and have endangered their lives or the lives of rescuers demanding that they go back for the animals.  Your bug-out or evacuation plans and kits need to include preps for your animals as well.  Well before any emergency you should make a plan for where you would take your animals if you had to evacuate.  The best and easiest option would be to take them to the home of a friend or family member who lives out of the area of danger.  You could also keep a list of pet friendly motels or boarding places.  For large animals, this is a little more difficult.  The best and most common places for these animals would be fair grounds.  If you have 4 horses, you better have a way to evacuate them in a trailer large enough to hold all 4 of them.  You do not want to make 4 trips.

Each kit should contain:

A way to contain or restrain your animal such as carrier, crate, pen, leash and muzzle.  Even the sweetest of dogs under stress and surrounded by strangers can bite.  Have a muzzle just in case you need it.

Several days-worth of food and a food dish and a water dish or bottle. You can get a bowl made for trips or just buy a plastic inexpensive version of what you use at home.  You can keep most of these items in a plastic tub all the time and label as the animal 72 hr kit.

Note on the food:  As pet food has a high fat content, you will want to place food in a gallon zip-lock bag and replace/rotate the food every 6 months.  Write a use-by-date on the bag.  This way the food in your kit will never be more than 6 months old.

Snacks and toys to comfort them. An old towel or blanket if they like that.

Medications that they take

Copies of their most recent vaccinations.  (Most motels and boarding places require them).

ID such as collars and more importantly, An AVID microchip in each pet.  Even if your pet does not have a collar anymore, any vet or animal control facility will be able to get your animal back to you if you have them micro-chipped and your info is current.  It is up to you to make sure  that the Avid Company is notified when you move or sell the animal.  www.avidid.com

September Gardening Zone 6

It is nearly mid-September!  I am in the middle of the Fall harvest and canning vegetables from the garden and the peaches are done.  Most of us just think about harvesting and don't give much thought to planting.  If you want to have a Fall crop of cool weather vegetables, now is the time to plant some lettuce, spinach, kale and radishes in any empty places in your garden.  I should have planted mine about 3 weeks ago, but I kept forgetting.  In late Fall, if your cool weather crops are threatened by frost, you can cover them at night and uncover each morning.
  Frost will not harm your carrots or beets.

  Fall is the best time of year to plant new trees or shrubs.  They will have a lot less transplant shock because of the cooler temperatures.  Keep them well watered through the Fall.

  It is also a great time of year to create and fill any raised bed planters.  This is a perfect time to take advantage of cooler temperatures to work outside.  You can get everything built and filled and you will be ready to plant as soon as the soil thaws in early Spring.

Soil amendments or additives that are good for your garden and are very affordable:  wood ashes from a fire place or fire pit, play sand, manure from chickens, cows, horses, rabbits or guinea pigs, wood shavings, or saw dust, shredded newspaper,  vegetable peels, grass clippings, peat moss, and old potting soil.

January 2013 Newsletter

Thoughts for the month:  This is not meant to be a “downer newsletter” but more of an encouragement to help you want to become more prepared. 

November 18^th in the LDS Church News there was a great article on Preparedness that I saved.  It was so good that I will share most of the article here with you.

A week after Super Storm Sandy hit the northeastern part of the United States one observer noted that the storm had transformed an advanced area of the world, at least temporarily, to conditions faced daily in many Third World countries.  Many areas of the East Coast had no power, no fuel, no water, limited refuse collection and no public transportation-all changing a lifestyle of plenty to one of need and dependency on government and other groups.

In 2006, A Time magazine article explored reasons why people do not prepare for disasters. A year after Hurricane Katrina hit the article stated that “people are even less likely to plan ahead.” A poll done in connection with the article found about half of those surveyed had personally experienced a natural disaster but only “16 percent said they were very well prepared for the next one”.

The article found that 91 percent of Americans live in places “at a moderate-to-high” risk of natural disaster, yet many polled explained their lack of emergency preparation saying they believed they were not at risk.  Reasons given for lack of preparation included “it won’t happen to me” and “if it happens to me, it won’t be that bad.”

We are encouraged to plan and prepare and consider having a three-month supply of food, drinking water, financial reserves, medical and first aid supplies and clothing and bedding.

When our government is broke, which it is…FEMA will not have the money to give out to everyone affected by a huge disaster. And even if they are able to help, it takes forever and your world will be drastically changed for quite a while.

Members of the LDS church have been counseled for MANY years to be prepared for temporal and spiritual adversity.  Preparation, both spiritual and temporal can dispel fear and allow us to serve others.  We cannot help our friends, family and neighbors if we cannot help ourselves.  A message we learn in 2 Nephi 25:23 teaches us that we cannot stand still and do nothing and expect that our faith will increase and our afflictions will be resolved.

I read the whole article and loved all of it so much I wanted to share it will all of you. It is sound advice that all of us can use.  Do what you can, a little bit all the time, and it will be worth it!

February 2013 Newsletter

Gardening Corner:  Yes, time to start thinking of the garden already.  If you plan on doing  a garden then this is the month to plan it out on paper and start to order your seeds.  If you wait very long some seeds will sell out early.  In about 1 month you can start some plants from seeds.  Better to plan early and be ready.

 Product Highlight of the month:    Dehydrated or Freeze dried foods

I have had several people ask me from time to time about how to use these foods.  It is rather easy I think.  Don’t think of them, especially the fruits and veggies, as being very different from using canned, frozen or fresh.  If you are to use frozen, you thaw things out first.  If wet canned you open the can, drain and dump.  If you are using dehydrated you just rehydrate for a while and then use like wet canned or fresh.  If you are making a soup or casserole and it will sit awhile you can even just throw the dry stuff in and let it soak up the liquid that is in your recipe.   I personally try to keep 1 #10 can of each commonly used food in my kitchen pantry and throw some of that stuff in as I am making dinner. That way I am getting used to it and I am rotating my stock.  Here are some of the ways I use my dried foods to keep them rotated.

Milk:  I use to make milk when we are low and I am not in the mood to run to the store.  Make ahead when no one is looking and give it time to get really cold!  Also when making pudding or any dish like potato soup that calls for lots of milk, whisk in a bunch of powdered milk to the water as it cooks.  There are so many other things in there, no one will know that you used powdered milk and not fresh. Use in baking too.

Eggs:  Yes, they have egg powder.  I am not a fan of fresh eggs, and these sound awful but we all use eggs.  I use these mostly when I am baking and have run out of eggs.  So glad I have a few cans of these.  No late night or Sunday afternoon runs to the grocery store.  Keep in mind that most of your ready-made mixes have egg powder in them.  I have not used them like fresh so I can’t comment on that.

Freeze dried or dehydrated fruits:  Rehydrate and use in cobblers or pies.  We recently opened a can of freeze dried strawberry dices.  They are TINY little pieces of REAL strawberries.  They taste really good.  I opened up the can because my child was mad that we bought a plain cereal that had strawberries on the photo.  There are no strawberries IN the cereal.  It became a lesson in product advertising.  She would not eat the plain cereal without strawberries.  I remembered we had some of these and thought “Now is the time to test them out.”  We put a bunch in the box of cereal and shook it up well and “Viola”, strawberry yumminess. 

Freeze dried or dehydrated vegetables:  I use the onions a couple times a week at least, my personal favorite.  And I use the celery dices in soups and other recipes when I realize I don’t have any fresh.  Most of the other veggies I have in #10 cans just to have for hard times.  I also have wet canned from the store and home canned from the garden.

Dehydrated potato products:  We all use potatoes in many different forms. These are really handy to have on hand.  I use the potato pearls and hash browns all the time.

Dehydrated red and green bell peppers:  I keep these in the pantry to use in soups and casseroles. You can also add them to your frozen or fresh hash browns once they have been rehydrated.  I have also used them a few times when canning homemade salsa or pickle relish when I realized I did not have any fresh ones on hand.  These are very small, no need to chop.

TVP/Soy based meat replacements:  They come in several flavors now such as beef, taco, BBQ, chicken and sausage.  I use them on occasion to “stretch” the amount of meat I am using in a recipe.  These are usually not cheap so I buy them when they are on sale.  Great to have when you are out of a job or low on meat. Use on occasion to get familiar with them.

If you are interested in finding some recipes on-line you can find a bunch at www.augasonfarms.com   I will put a couple in this newsletter that I found at the grocery store next to some of their products.

Freeze Dried Corn Chowder by Augason Farms

8 C. water                                                                     ½ C. dehydrated chopped onions

2 T. Chicken Bouillon                                                  1 sm. Can diced green chilies

4 C. freeze dried sweet corn                                     2 t. salt

2 T. dehydrated diced carrots                                  1 ½ t. cumin

1 C. dehydrated diced potatoes                               ½ t. garlic powder

½ C. dehydrated cross-cut celery                            2 C. heavy cream

Place all ingredients except for the cream in a pot and bring to a low boil, simmer 20-25 minutes until vegetables are tender.

1.      Place soup in a blender in small batches and blend until smooth.

2.      Return to pot and add cream.  Mix well.

3.      Garnish with hot sauce and fresh lime juice if desired.

Pasta Salad by Augason Farms

10 oz. Rotini pasta                                                2 tomatoes, chopped (optional)

¼ C. chopped onions, dehydrated                     1 C. chopped mushrooms (optional)

½ C. dehydrated red & green bell peppers, dehydrated

¾ C. fat free Italian style dressing                      1 sm. can sliced black olives

1.       In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al dente, rinse under cold water and drain.

2.      In a large bowl, combine pasta, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms.  Pour enough dressing over to coat; toss and refrigerate until chilled.