Food Storage

We were in Utah last week therefore no posts. I just ran out of time and gas to get anything pre-posted as well. This baby is kicking my butt more than I care to admit. Even with the new thyroid meds that have helped me TREMENDOUSLY, kicking my can.

Usually, you know after I go to Utah, I have to have a talk with Utah about Utah. Not this time. Sure there was a plethora of big trucks, copious amounts of big hair but for the most part Utah, you behaved yourself nicely. Thank you.

But I've mentioned before in Utah you can buy your food storage right there in the grocery store. It's nice really. Here in The Land of Enchantment food storage and emergency preparedness might as well be a foreign language. Obviously in the Latter-day Saint community we're trying, but as a whole....nothing.



All of that said made me turn to my friend the Internets to find what I needed. Here is what I found, and there is so much information out there it can make you spin dizzy circles and want to sit and eat chips instead (although, eating chips is always fun).

The question that unexpectedly presented itself was, Package vs. A La Carte?

Some companies offer "package" deals. What this means is they have pre-prepared, just add water meals for sale in three, six and twelve month supplies. They are kind of pricey up front, but you get all of your food taken care of all in one purchase. You also don't have to worry about what to do with a pail of wheat and powdered milk. I will admit, I have no idea how to cook from that kind of scratch. Some of these companies do sell some of their items "a la carte", which means you can buy individual items or certain items by the case. However, there is not much selection for a la carte items on these sites and there are better places to buy a la carte.

The top three sites I found for package deals are:

Food Insurance
Daily Bread
Wise Food Storage

Daily Bread and Wise Foods will even send you a free sample if you send them an email. We've tried both samples and both were very good. Like I said, the package deals are pricey, but these three companies do offer payment options as well. Finally, buying with a salesman instead of just off the interent could net you some good deals. I'll tell you all the deals we're going with at the end of this post.

If you're looking for a la carte items there are lots of sites out there. For years I've been getting the Be Prepared catalog. They're good, but lately I've been a bit disappointed with their selection and customer service. I wondered if there were similar companies out there, and there are.

The best companies for a la carte items I found are:
Be Prepared
Shelf Reliance
Augason Farms
Honeyville Farms

These companies do have some "package deals" but for the most part they are a la carte sales. Some of the package deals, for example, from Shelf Reliance, for the most part do not have pre-made meals. They sell quantities of items like pasta, oatmeal, flour, freeze dried fruits/vegies/meats and so on. Be Prepared does have pre-prepared meals, MREs and bulk items as well. Augason and Honeyville both have flours, beans, powdered milks/drinks, baking mixes and so on.

Honeyville also offers gluten free flours. Obviously as a food allergy family I pay attention to what kind of food allergy options companies offer as well. With all of the pre-packaged foods they are peanut free, but are made on equipment that processes peanuts and tree nuts. That's ok for our family, but for some families that wouldn't be ok.

Other things to remember when buying preparedness supplies is to include "non-food" items in your supply. You will need things like toilet paper, soap, medicines, toothpaste, and so on.

So why now have we finally gotten our act together to do this? Well, our fire evacuation adventures over the summer pointed out our deficiencies as a family in the preparedness arena. Also if you haven't noticed, the world is kind of going crazy. I'm not going to say that I think it will all end tomorrow (although those Mayans might have a thing in 2012 if Obama is reelected.). However, things are bad, and not going to get better for a while --- at least that's my opinion. The leaders of the Church have been asking us to get prepared for a long time. Living here in The Atomic City means we're somewhat isolated. Our grocery store has only about 2 days worth of food for the whole town. I don't want to worry about the store shelves if somehow trucks were not able to get to our town.



We've decided to get the pre-packaged meals from Wise Food Storage. We're going to buy a three month supply and the special that the salesman is giving us will get us an additional month of food for free. Joseph decided that if I die in a freak asteroid accident he and James should just have some "just add water" meals. My own concerns of what to do with a super-pail of wheat were also prominent in our decision. The other thing that was a deciding factor was that Wise Foods come in mylar pouches of 4 serving meals and then plastic storage buckets. Some companies sell their meals in #10 cans, which for us would have been almost impossible to store. The buckets also stack and are fairly compact. We've already been able to figure out where to squeeze these in the house as well. I'm going to buy some other a la carte items from Augason and Honeyville as well, but I think we're almost set.

In the end, you have to do your homework and decide what's right for your family. The important thing is to do something. If you can't do everything at once, that's ok, just done one thing a month, set a budget, and get started.

Be prepared

I've felt very strongly the last few days to just mention something to you all, who read my blog.

If you've been following the news, and no matter who you are, or what stage of life you are in, you need to be following the news, you will know that the middle east is on fire right now. Libya especially.

We get a lot of our oil from Libya. Yesterday, oil prices went up over $100 a barrel. It will go higher. This means the prices of pretty much everything will also being going up. Right now the ban on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is still in place. So what this all means, oil is becoming even more scarce. The United States will be at the mercy of the world oil markets even more than we are now.

So, what I want to say is this, right now I think things in the middle east will get worse before they get better, and due to the foreign policy blunders and ineptitude of Barak Obama and his administration, we do not know the outcome. That is the simple truth, sorry but it is.

Because of this, I want to encourage all of you friends and family, to get your houses in order. Please make sure you have some food and water stored, and when I say food, food you will actually eat. No one knows what to do with a superpail of wheat, they just don't. The current council of the Church is to have a 3 month supply of things you use. Make sure to include non-food items like toilet paper, sanitary supplies for the ladies, toothpaste, medicines and so on.

If you have debts, please pay them off or reduce them as much as you can. Avoid using credit cards if possible.

Talk to your kids about what is going on. Strengthen your children emotionally and mentally, by teaching them that the Lord is in control. Do this thru family prayer, scriptures, FHE lessons and talking about what you learn in church every week.

Save your money and keep cash in small bills in your home for an emergency. Also, know where your important documents are like birth certificates, passports, home mortgage documents, car titles and so on are.

Pay a full tithe and a generous fast offering. Also consider donating to the Humanitarian Fund of the Church. Even at our worst we have lots to give as Americans.

Please start on your personal preparedness today, if you have not already started. If we are prepared we will be better able to take care of our families and those around us and the Lord will be able to bless us in our time of need.

September is National Preparedness Month

Like the title of this post says, September is National Preparedness Month, sponsered by the Department of Homeland Security. I find it's very appropriate that September was chosen for this. First, six years ago yesterday we had the terrorists attacks of 9/11, and two years ago, we were dealing with the aftermaths of Hurricane Katrina and the impending destruction of Hurricane Wilma. In all cases, it pays to be prepared. DHS, states that they encourage all Americans to be prepared for emergencies at home, school and at work. Our Church leadership has also counseled us for many years to do the same. In the Doctrine & Coventants 88: 119 we read, "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."

In regard to temporal preparedness the First Presidency has stated: "We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve." The Church has also created booklet to help families organize.

In regard to financial preparedness they have said: "We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. . . . If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts." Again, another booklet has been prepared to help members of the Church organize their finances.

So what have we done to become more prepared here in Andersonland you ask? Starting a food storage can be a very overwhelming task. Who does not get scared when looking at super-pails stacked three high at their parents house, full of wheat, and ask themseleves, "How am I gonna get that? And where am I gonna put it once I get it?" Never fear, starting small is totally ok. The Church encourages us to gather a three month supply of the things we eat on a regular basis. For me this means canned goods, powered milk, Nesquik, dry cereals etc. I am always on the lookout for case-lot sales at the grocery store, or I pick up a new case of some canned good every time we go to Sam's Club to shop. Over this past year we've collected a nice, yet motley arrangement of food. It will be interesting if we had to live on what's under the bed, but we won't starve. It's also recommened that you store water--just ask Marie, you never know when your water main will break, or when a freak storm will overwhelm the pipes in your neighborhood. Having water is always a good idea. Be Prepared has many different water storage options.

As for financial preparedness. If you haven't noticed things starting to tank in the economy, you are apparently living under a rock or something. It never hurts to have money saved up for an unexpected purchase, or a rainy day. Joseph is really good at saving money, and really good an keeping our books balanced. Knowing this, and how crazy things are at the Lab right now, it's nice to know we have a fall back. Joseph has also taught me the vaule of credit and not buying things on credit unless you can pay it off right away. This might seem to defeat the purpose of having a credit card, but it helps you seperate your wants and needs from each other. Saving up to buy something is very rewarding, and has made me apprecaite the things I have more.

The Church also counsels us to get out of debt and live within our means. This is very wise council. The US economy and the world economy is based on credit and consumer spending right now. Both of these things are very shaky and could turn downward at anytime. Being out of debt will spare us from financial hardship when the economy goes into recession (because it's commin' baby-it's commin'!!). Being out debt can also help when things like gas prices, and thus the prices of other consumer goods go up. When we are out of debt and there is a rise in prices, we will not feel the impact as much.

As for other emergencies, recently in our ward we had a 5th Sunday lesson on disaster preparedness. In 2000, the Cerro Grande fire burned 30% of the Los Alamos town site, and the whole town had to evacuate. When Salt Lake called to enquire about the members here, the Stake President could not give them an answer becuse there was no plan in place. Our ward is now oraginzed in the disaster districts. Each district is made up of the people within walking distance of each other. There is a calling tree and a number set up to call in to tell the ward leadership where we are in case of evacuation. We've also made an evacuation plan in case of natural disaster or terrorist attack. Yes, terrorist attack--LA is a target because of the Lab.

We also discussed in our meeting the importance of prepraing our children for the worst. Once upon a time, when I was still teaching at Satan's High School there was a lock down. The kids FREAKED OUT! There was no need to freak out, even though most of my students were spawn of the devil himself, I would have taken a bullet for them, I would have gotten them out of the building safely and gotten them to safety. Having also survived a mission in Bulgaria, I am somewhat expericenced at getting out of tight spots--I feel I know what I'm doing. It's important to talk about how to respond and react to an emergency in our families. If we keep calm and think about our response to the situation, we will be guided and lead to safety,

Being prepared is a good thing. We are promised by our leaders that if we are prepraed we will have peace in our hearts. This is very comforting in the times in which we live. Be prepared and we have nothing to fear.