23Jan 2017 by Jodi and Julie 1 Comment

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Cold winter? Feels like it's never ending? Homemade broth made in minutes? Creamy chicken noodle soup? YES PLEASE! The other day we posted a meme on facebook about how sometimes after a big grocery shopping trip you end up ordering pizza because you are too tired to cook. Sound familiar? Well I discovered a way to avoid that when I do my Costco trips. I pick up a rotisserie chicken on the way out and a yummy pre-made salad. It ends up being a whole lot healthier and I get 2-3 meals out of that chicken. We usually eat half the chicken the first night it comes home and then I make a soup out of the rest of the chicken with the yummiest broth thanks to the INSTANT POT!…

15Jan 2017 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

Complete Self Reliance eLibrary for Just $29.97

Self Reliance

Over the last 8 years of running this blog we have learned that there is so much more to the world of being prepared than just having a food storage. That is a GREAT place to start but it feels even better to develop skills and acquire tools to become more self-reliant and less dependent on outside sources to meet your family's needs. We have taken really gone "back to the basics" to learn things that used to be common knowledge but are completely lost skills these days. It's been a grand adventure but one thing is for certain, there is always more to learn! Introducing this year's Back to Basics Bundle We are thrilled to be a part of the Back to Basics Bundle this year which is a…

10Jan 2017 by Jodi and Julie 2 Comments

Vegetarian White Bean Soup

Bean Recipes

Are you looking to eat a little healthier this year? I've recently switched to a vegetarian diet for a number of reasons so I've been on the hunt for new and delicious recipes. Lots of white bean soup recipes call for ham or ham bone and most are cream-based so not very good for the waist-line either. I subscribed to about a million vegetarian/vegan blogs and have spent the last few weeks salivating over new recipes and adding them into my weekly meal planning to try them out a few at a time. This soup from vegetarianventures.com definitely did not disappoint and with a few substitutions is a perfectly acceptable shelf-stable food storage recipe to add to my arsenal! Ingredients: 1 T. olive oil 1/3 c. freeze-dried onions 1 c.…

07Jan 2017 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

How to make bread

Uncategorized

Making bread is a skill that you may choose to incorporate into your daily life, or you may just save it for a rainy day. In last month's newsletter we sent an article all about wheat, wheat grinders, and included a whole bunch of recipes. Wheat is the most popular item in food storage plans because of it's long shelf-life and nutrient dense properties. One of the recipes we included in the handout was our FAVORITE bread recipe. Today we wanted to give you three things: A recipe card of our bread recipe you can print A handout that includes an FAQ about making this bread A video where we invite you into our kitchen and show you hands on how to make it We know making bread can be intimidating for…

29Nov 2016 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

Light The World!

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We hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and got to enjoy some time with family and friends. We spent the day together and enjoyed great food and felt grateful for so many things. With Thanksgiving over we're in full swing of the Christmas spirit over here. We usually don't blog a lot in December because we spend extra time with our family at this time of year but we do have a few things we will be sharing this month. We're participating with the #LIGHTtheWORLD Christmas challenge on Mormon.org. Whether you share our faith or are of another faith we invite you to join in the Christmas spirit and spread love this season. Think about these two scriptures as you watch this video: "I am the light of the…

04Nov 2016 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

Spaghetti Squash – 2 ways to cook it and a recipe

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I think it's safe to say gardening season is over here but I am still enjoying the spaghetti squash I grew this year. I consider myself a beginner gardener but I'm proud of what I've grown so far. My kids join in and I love teaching them some good self-reliance skills. So I completely over planted the spaghetti squash this year (LIKE REALLY).So today's post features a couple ways to cook it and a recipe! Back to my dozens of spaghetti squash...They grew well so that was cool but it had left me with so much squash. I don't mind because I love it but I'll admit I don't love how long it takes to cook in the oven. I know you can cook it in the microwave but I…

27Oct 2016 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

FREE.. WHAT TO DO WITH WHEAT HANDOUT

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Do you have wheat in your food storage? Do you know how to use it? If aren't signed up for our free email checklists you MISSED OUT. We sent this handout today to all subscribers. If you missed it and you are signed up make sure you check your spam and add us to your safe list. Since we don't want anyone to miss out though, we are publishing it on the blog too. Make sure you're signed up in the future though, cause we might have some COOL stuff coming soon! DOWNLOAD THE HANDOUT HERE

08Oct 2016 by Jodi and Julie 2 Comments

7 Day Challenge 2016 RECAP

7 Day Challenge

We hope you all had a great experience participating in this year's 7 Day Challenge, whether you actively did each day's tasks or just read and followed along with the group. Here is a summary of the links to each part of the challenge following the Preparedness Cycle we introduced this year. DAYS 1-2: PREPARE These two days were spent preparing for an upcoming "emergency". Last minute preparations included filling water containers, updating 72 hour kits, and other similar tasks. DAY 3: PRACTICE - Natural Disaster Earthquake strikes! An intense earthquake struck your area and knocked out the power lines, gas lines, and city water pipes. DAY 4: PRACTICE - Family Emergency Times are tough! Due to some unexpected and rather large medical bills your family has run into financial…

26Sep 2016 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

7 DAY CHALLENGE – DAY 7: PROCEED

7 Day Challenge

Monday, September 26 Welcome to the LAST day of the 7 Day Challenge! We hope you have enjoyed the new format this year and really learned a lot by following the steps of the Preparedness Cycle. We have prepared, practiced, and prioritized ... and now we are ready to PROCEED. We've come up with resources you can use as you start to do, learn, and buy the items on your priority lists you worked on yesterday. Feel free to share your experiences in the Facebook event or follow us on Instagram to view our personal journeys. TO DO Fill out or update emergency preparedness plan Make or rotate 72 hour kits Fill or refill water containers Make or update emergency binder Update/Inventory your three month supply plan Update/Inventory your long…

25Sep 2016 by Jodi and Julie No Comments

7 DAY CHALLENGE – DAY 6: PRIORITIZE

7 Day Challenge

Sunday September 25 Well aren't you glad THAT'S over with? It really is amazing how much you can learn when you "practice" preparedness. Now is a good time to reflect with your family, answer some questions, and prioritize what your plan of attack will be to go forward and improve on your preparedness plans. To help you with prioritizing we have some checklists for you. Print 2 copies of these lists off. COPY 1: BRAINSTORM- The first time through list ANYTHING you can think of from the last few days that your family needed to learn, to do, and to buy. Don't worry about the order. COPY 2: PRIORITY LIST- After you have listed all the things you needed to learn, to do, and to buy, re-write them on the…