Family Preparedness Song

I found this on the Preparedness Brings Peace Blog - so cute! (It's a FABULOUS blog with TONS of food storage recipes - check it out!)

THE FAMILY PREPAREDNESS SONG
Tune: Did You Think to Pray? Hymn #140

Ere you spent your family's paycheck,
Did you think to save?
Just a little for the storage,
Just a little for the porridge
When the Times are grave,
Oh, how storage helps the faithful
When the Prophet's words we heed,
So, if you would not be Fearful,
Plan what you will need.

When your neighbor tried to teach you
How to can and sew,
Did you feel in-ti-mi-da-ted
And your plans pro-cras-tin-a-ted?
Now you're feeling low!
Oh, how empty are the cupboards,
Oh, how ragged are your clothes.
How you'll wish that you had listened
When the "good life" goes.

Wheat and beans and salt and honey
May not sound so hot.
But if you are going hungry,
If your tummy's cold and grumbly,
They can hit the spot.
Store some diapers for the kiddies,
Everything to see you through;
Cloth and patterns, thread and needles.
Store some long Johns, too.

If this topic's repetitious
And you're dull and bored,
When you've naught but empty dishes
And you've used up all your wishes,
You'll wish you had stored...
Food that's tasty and nutritious,
Cloths and bedding, tools and seeds,
Skills that guard your family's future
Gather what you'll need.
--Anonymous

FABULOUS Food Storage Burrito Recipe

I found this recipe in this month's Family Circle magazine (March 09) and tried it tonight. I'm definitely not a vegetarian, but will make and eat these again - they were so yummy! Here you go - enjoy! (I did modify it a little, and will note them in parentheses.)

Quinoa & Red Bean Burritos

1 cup Quinoa
2 tsp McCormick Smoky Sweet Pepper Blend
1 can (15 oz) Red Kidney Beans, drained, rinsed and lightly mashed (I used Black Beans because that's what I prefer and have on hand.)
1 1/2 cups jarred Salsa (I actually pureed just one cup to make it go further - plus I didn't want it chunky)
8 Whole Wheat Tortillas (I just used regular flour tortillas)
1 cup shredded Mexican Cheese Blend

• Place quinoa and pepper blend in a saucepan and cook following package directions. (All you do is boil 1 1/4 cups of water and add the quinoa, lower the heat for about ten minutes and then cool for a few before fluffing with a fork.)
• Once cooked, stir in beans and 1 cup of the salsa.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees while the quinoa is cooking and coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
• Heat tortillas in microwave for 45 seconds to soften. Place 1/2 cup of the quinoa mixture in the center of each tortilla and fold like a package. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. (I didn't have the large tortillas, so I just rolled them and placed them seam down.)
• Lightly coat tortillas with nonstick cooking spray and top with remaining salsa and cheese, dividing equally.
• Bake burritos at 350 degrees for 12 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

Per burrito: 315 calories, 8 g fat (4 g sat.) 14 g protein, 47 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 734 mg sodium, 13 mg cholesterol

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The result? They were fantastic! Ric thought that adding some shredded chicken would be even better - maybe next time! The best part is that it's a flavorful meal right from your food storage! (Yes, I'll be storing quinoa from now on!) Here's some more info about this grain, it's really good and good for you too!

Daily Survival

I was poking around Facebook the other day - did you know that they have an application you can add to promote your blogs?

Anyway, I found this great preparedness website called Daily Survival. It's a collection of preparedness and survival articles that are found on the web. There are TONS f great ideas that link back to the original blogs if you are interested.

Make sure you check it out - I've added a link on the sidebar. You can also go to: http://daily-survival.blogspot.com/

I was practically PAID to shop!

Part of being prepared is building up your food storage for those times when you might need it. Because of this, I'm a completely obsessed coupon and sale shopper. For a while, I played The Grocery Game - which is a great website that tells you what is on sale and when to use your coupons. After some time, I figured out the pattern so I stopped paying for their lists and tried to keep track of things myself. It's a little hard, unless you have a system.

Well...I've found a GREAT system that is starting to pay off even MORE than The Grocery Game did! If you haven't been to The Obsessive Shopper website yet, you HAVE to check it out. Shauntell has a great system for organizing and using your coupons that you need to try! I'm not going to list it all out here, you'll have to go to her website to check it out for yourself - but I will share when I find great deals or save a ton of money as I'm adding to my food storage! (By the way, her website is part of a network called Fun with Food Storage - it's packed with more info than you can every use for your food storage, make sure you take a look!)

Drumroll please......

Today, I was practically PAID to shop at Shaws. Just a few more dollars and I would have been!

First, a little background on how I shop. I do not buy the essentials (Milk, Bread, Eggs, Butter, Cheese, etc.) from the "regular" stores. I have found that the prices are hyper-inflated. Instead, I pick up all of those things from Aldi. (What? Never heard of Aldi? I'll have to tell you the story about that sometime and how a friend turned me on to the BEST place for basics - and much more - ever!) For other things, I scour the ads and check my coupons to get the best deals.

This was my result this week: I spent $6 - and bought 10 jars of Mayo and 12 jars of Peanut Butter. I saved $66.90! (Calculation based on if I had purchased the same products at full price.)

(Before I'm loaded up with peanut butter comments, remember it's the PB that's added to other foods that was affected by the salmonella, not the PB in jars!)

Want to know how I did it?

• Skippy Peanut Butter - 16 oz regular price $2.50, on sale for $1.67. I had 4 coupons that gave me $1 off for every 3 I purchased - AND if I spent so much, I also got a coupon for $10 to use at another time. Result: $6 spent - $24 saved.
  
  
• Hellmans Mayo - 30 oz regular price $4.29, on sale for $3.00. I had 5 coupons that gave me $1 off for every 2 I purchased - AND again, if I spent so much, I also got a coupon for $15 back to use at another time. IN STORE BONUS - I wasn't aware of this before I shopped, but I also got ANOTHER $10 in coupons from Hellmans to use on any products the next time. Result: $25 spent - $25 saved!

I have to say, that I was pretty much skipping to my car with my Mayo and PB. Woo Hoo!

The message I want you get from this is to just spend a little time organizing yourself and paying attention to the ads and sales, and you will SAVE A TON on your shopping! I'd love to hear what you do to save money while you are adding to your food storage! Just leave a comment!

PS - Just so you know, I don't purchase 5 different Sunday papers to get all my coupons, I have GREAT neighbors who save what they don't use for me every week!

PPS - It's so much fun to hear the comments from the gals at the checkout when I'm shopping. Today it was...WOW, looks like you'll be making a ton of potato salad soon! And the other gal said something about liking peanut butter, but not THAT much! hehe They were impressed though, with the final amount I owed in the end!

Food Storage Video Seminar Available

You'll want to check out my sister's blog (Let Us Prepare.) Last November, Wendy DeWitt presented a Food Storage Seminar that was recorded, and now is available!

There are 9 different segments (because of YouTube requirements), but they are all loaded on this post. You can also search YouTube for Wendy DeWitt.

Silly Silly People

A poem...very appropriate for today.

Silly Silly People

Noah told the people that the rain was going to fall
Noah told the people they better get on the ball
Noah told the people to repent and turn to God
Cause God had, had it up to here and the wicked He would trod

Those Silly Silly People, why were they all so blind?
We certainly, would never be, a people of that kind!

Lehi told the people that Jerusalem would fall
Lehi told the people, but all they did was stall
Lehi told the people, to repent and turn to God
Cause God had, had it up to here and the wicked he would trod

Those Silly Silly People, why were they all so blind?
We certainly, would never be, a people of that kind!

Samuel told the people as he stood upon the wall
that Christ would come in five short years and save them from the fall
Samuel told the people to repent and turn to God
Cause God had, had it up to here and the wicked he would trod.

Those Silly Silly People, why were they all so blind?
We certainly, would never be, a people of that kind!

Our prophet tells the people that there's not much time at all
Our prophet tells the people, they better get on the ball
Our prophet tells the people to repent and turn to God
Cause God has had it up to here and the wicked he will trod.

So if we look into our pantry's and find that they are bare
and if our scriptures on the shelf, show not wear or tear.
Could we be silly people? Are we possibly that kind?
That we refuse to hear our God, could we be "Oh So Blind?"

Copyright 2009 Susan Edwards and Roweena Rymer

"3" is a Magic Number

Originally posted on The ReadyStore Blog

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"3" is a Magic Number

The number 3 is a magic number when it comes to emergency preparedness. You can survive for about 3 hours without shelter, about 3 days without water, and about 3 weeks without food. So, to keep with the magic number, we should try to find 3 ways to deal with each of those situations.

For shelter, there may be circumstances where we can shelter in place and use our home as a shelter. Other times we may be stuck in our cars. Keeping some basic items in our car in case we need to use it as a shelter can be life-saving. Some water pouches, survival food bars, hand warmers, emergency blankets, a Ready candle, and waterproof matches can help us keep warm in a winter storm situation. And what if a major earthquake made sleeping in your home impossible? Consider a backpacker dome tent or even a tube tent plus emergency sleeping bags.

Next is water. You can store a lot of water in your home by using the 30 gallon barrels and then adding the water preserver so you only have to change the water every 5 years instead of every year. You can also think about portable water in case evacuation becomes necessary. The 5 gallon stackable water containers are great for this purpose. And what if you had access to water, but it was contaminated? Think about potable aqua and an MSR miniworks water filter. The miniworks can filter up to 500 gallons of water, so it is a great tool to invest in.

Last is food. Survival food bars are compact enough to store in your car or even in your desk at work. You can store MREs and freeze-dried pouches in your 72-hour kits. And the #10 cans of freeze-dried food are terrific to store in your home for longer term food storage.

Emergencies and disasters don’t always happen how we plan, so by taking steps to resolve these 3 essential issues in at least 3 ways, you can feel secure in your emergency preparations.