It’s seems appropriate to be entering into the month filled with love and sweets by adding the worlds sweeteners to our food storage!!

This week is all about the sugars!!
White
Brown
Powdered
Raw
Splenda
Stevia
Agave
… any sweetener that you use in baking, cooking, etc.

A woman who is a food storage goddess in my eyes recommends a great way to store sugars.

“Keep them in their original bag and place those bags in a Rubbermaid type bin.”

~This storage method is great because keeping the sugars in their market packaging helps keep their ultimate freshness… putting them in the plastic container keeps them pest free!!

Here’s a great tip for your sugars… Make your OWN brown sugar!

Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of molasses. Stir together with a fork until there are no clumps. It’s the BEST brown sugar you have ever tasted!!

Can you believe that the first month of 2010 is almost over?! It’s Nuts!!!

But unlike our fast moving month this week is NOT about nuts… it’s about randomness.

Now you may be asking… what does randomness have to do with food storage? Well this week we are being a bit random in our stocking up items. Most weeks have a common theme… grains, dairy, $$$, etc… but this week!

So to get to the items for this weeks food storage!

Dry soup mixes

Crackers

Cookies

Granola bars

All four of these items are not only food storage necessities but are important parts of your 72 hour kits. I take gallon food storage bags with each family members name on it. Then I fill each bag with granola bars, individual packages of cookies, envelopes of soup mix and packets of bullion from broth. I put one “tube” each of Ritz and saltine crackers to top them off.

These bags are put in my 72 hour kits and are changed out every August. We take the bags with us on our annual camping trip for snacks, etc.

So there you go… go out and buy your randomness!!

Always remember to have fun with this and stick to you rules! I would love to hear how you are doing with these challenges and what your purchasing!! The more ideas we share with each other the easier things get for all of us!

Happy Preparation!

As always, purchase meats that your family will eat.

My suggestions:

Tuna

Chicken

Beef

Turkey

Salmon

…. while spam and vienna sausages aren’t the most healthy but they will work as well!

Here’s a fun recipe with SPAM: (if you dare to try it… go on… I DARE YA!)

3 tbsp butter

7-oz can SPAM, cubed 1/4″
1/2 cup chopped onion

10 pitted black olives, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper

6 eggs
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 1/4 “
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp pepper

In 10-inch omelet pan or skilet melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper and potatoes; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisply tender (5 to 7 minutes). Add SPAM and olives; continue cooking until SPAM is heated through.
Loosen sauteed ingredients from bottom of pan; add remaining 1 tbsp butter. Tilt pan to cover bottom with butter. In small bowl mix eggs, water, and pepper; pour over SPAM mixture. Cover; cook over low heat 12 to 15 minutes or until egg mixture is set on top. With pancake turner, loosen edges and bottom; invert onto serving platter. Yield: 6 servings

Now New Year is a time for starting over, getting things set right, make goals and challenges and re-committing to your weekly food storage plan!

So let’s get this year start off right!! If you haven’t jumped on our food storage journey now would be a great time to hop on the wagon!

January week #1 is all about: $$$$$$$$$$$ Money$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Having a cash supply on hand is EXTREMELY important in an emergency.

Your cash supply should have the following in it:

* Coins for telephone (quarters and dimes)

* No bills larger than $20.00

* keep a MINIMUM of $100.00 in cash storage. (or as much as your budget allows)

We keep our cash storage in a plastic bank bag in our fire safe. That way we always know where it is and if there is an emergency the fire safe with all our docs, etc would be one of the first things we would grab.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

May your new year be filled with love, safety and blessings!!

Baby…. it’s cold outside!!

So let’s stock up on HOT CEREALS!!

My favorites are oatmeal and cream of rice! But choose cereals that your family will eat!!

Suggestions:

Oats

Instant Oatmeal

Corn meal

Grits

Cream of Wheat

Cream of Rice

Malt O Meal

and many others…

Hot cereals are a great source of vitamins and nutrients and can be used for more than a cereal! It’s important to keep both regular cooking AND instant varieties in your storage. We keep instant oatmeal in our 72 hour kits and regular cereals in our main food storage.

~ TIP! Hot cereals are a great item to buy in bulk and split between friends and neighbors. My friends and I buy 50lb bags and then split them up into Gallon storage jars. The jars are a safer way to store them and keep then pest free!