Food Storage Made Easy

Valentine’s Day and Food Storage?

Jodi and Julie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:01:20 +0000

We made this post last year- but figured it’s still appropriate since it’s almost Valentines Day again and a lot of our readers have never seen this… If you made this last year remember to restock any foods (if your spouse hasn’t already sneaked them and ate them already). If you haven’t seen this before, then here you go….

Are you having a hard time deciding what to get your “special someone” for Valentines Day? Well worry no more. We have made it easy for you – and what’s better then the gift of preparedness? Send your loved one to work with a special 72 Hour Kit for the Office. We even made a contents list and cute little tag for you to attach to the container you gather the contents in.

For the tag – that reads “Because I always want you to be safe” and contents list, click here. As always, you may customize this list to meet your specific needs and don’t worry if you can’t get all the items at once. Put a few of the items in, and keep giving them extra “parts” as special surprises through out the year.

IN THE KIT (buy trial size if you can)
- food (protein bars, granola bars, beef jerky, candy, fruit roll ups)
- toothbrush/toothpaste
- washcloth/facewash/bodywash
- shampoo/conditioner
- razor/shaving cream/deodorant
- change of socks/underwear
- kleenex/wet wipes
- hand sanitizer
- travel-size first aid kit including small bottle of Tylenol
- work gloves
- rain poncho
- space blanket
- small flashlight with spare batteries
- a whistle (to draw the attention of rescue workers)
- carbon-filtering dust mask (for smoke, dust, debris, etc.)
- small novel
- small radio with spare batteries
- cash (small bills for vending machines)
- contents list

WITH THE KIT
- crow bar
- water

To print the tag and contents list, click here, or click on either of the images. Good luck and Happy Valentines Day!

p.s. If you want to give your husband a hint on something to get for YOU, you can always send him the link to our Food Storage Made Easy Binders

Disaster Kit Scavenger Hunt

Jodi and Julie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:46:11 +0000

Are you STILL procrastinating getting your disasters kit together? Well we thought of a fun way for you and your family to GET IT DONE! Presenting the Food Storage Made Easy….

Get your family together for a fun night. Whether you hunt for the items in your house or at a store, make it fun! Included in the scavenger hunt are strips of paper you can cut with the name and image of the item – that way young kids can get involved too! Cut up the strips and assign different family members different items. Make it a race and see how quickly and fun getting prepared can be!

When you’re all done make sure you store your kit in a safe place you would have quick access to in times of evacuation. Click on the image to download your scavenger hunt kit today!

Also – don’t forget to fill out your family plan and get your evacuation plan including car kit in order!

Food Storage Makeover: Disaster Kits Part Two

Jodi and Julie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:18:30 +0000

Today is the DAY! We got Grandma Lori’s disaster kits all purchased and compiled and she is very excited with the results. We started out this phase of our Food Storage Makeover by discussing the three different options available for disaster kits. After some discussion, we found a solution that worked well for Grandma Lori. Check out our video below to see our discussion and the final results!

We have had a lot of people ask us about options for buying kits that are already put together. We got the one in the video from Emergency Essentials who has a huge selection of different kits you can purchase depending on your family’s needs. We will be doing a post later this month discussing some of the different options. (*hint* There just MAY be a giveaway associated with that post!)

p.s. We came up with a really fun way to get the whole family involved in putting together your kits that we will be sharing with you soon, so stay tuned!

Food Storage Makeover: Disaster Kits

Jodi -- Food Storage Made Easy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:10:44 +0000

We’re so excited about our Extreme Makeover: Food Storage Edition project we are working on with Grandma Lori. We decided to start with getting her Disaster Kits put together. Disaster kits consist of a 3 day supply of food, water, and emergency items). As we went through our Emergency Preparedness worksheets we realized that they might not be ideal for every situation (including Grandma Lori’s). We came up with the following 3 options to discuss with her:

Pros
Inexpensive – if you have a lot of the first aid and emergency items on hand already and purchase food items in bulk at the grocery store
Flexibility – Freedom to choose foods for your 72 hour kits that suit your family’s needs and preferences
Cons
Time intensive – Inventorying your materials on hand can take a while, plus the added time of going to the store to purchase any items still needed
Hard to find – Some items may be hard to find if you don’t have a specialty preparedness store near your home

Pros
Convenience – No need to think or plan, everything you need is available all in one kit, including food and water and backpacks to carry it in
Cons
Expense – Buying everything new could potentially be more expensive then looking for good sales prices or using things you already have

Pros
Personalized – Some people like the kit for emergency supplies, but still prefer to put in real food for 72 hour kits
More complete – Any items not included in a purchased kit can be added in as a supplement
Cons
Consideration – Takes a little more thought then just purchasing a pre-made kit

If you are at the stage to be putting together your Disaster Kits you may wish to consider these three options. We will be going into more details on the three options in the future as we revamp our Disaster Kits page.

Make sure to stay tuned next Monday for the next video in this series to see what Grandma Lori decided on and to see the results of the first phase of her Food Storage Makeover!

Common Substitutes, Measurements and Yields

Jodi and Julie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:40:13 +0000

We recently posted about some info that one of our great readers (Nola) shared with us in a document she put together that had TONS of common substitutions, measurements and yields. We were going to break it up into multiple posts, but then realized it would be hard for you all to use it that way – so we made it into a pdf you can all download!

Print it out and put it in your Food Storage Made Easy Ebook Binder (we’ll be including this handout in our next free binder email updates – just in case you were wondering).

Emergency Heat Sources

Jodi and Julie — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:53:59 +0000

Keeping warm is essential for survival. Loss of body heat, Hypothermia, is very dangerous and can lead to loss of body parts and even death. Wet conditions quickly increase the loss of body heat. When traditional heat sources are not available, below are a few ideas to help you keep warm:

If you get wet from rain, snow or sweat, change into clothing that is dry. Wet clothing loses its insulation value and extracts body heat 240 times faster than dry clothing. Wool clothing and blankets are preferred. Cotton clothing, particularly denim, retains water. Woll clothing is insulating, water resistant, and keeps your body warm even if it is wet.

Covering your head is vital as you can lose up to 80% of your body heat through your head. A knitted wool stocking hat is good.

Feet can be kept warm by wearing wool socks and wearing two pair if your shoes are large enough. A towel could also be wrapped over shoes and duct-taped on.

Several thin layers of loose-fitting clothing retain body heat and can be removed easily if body starts to perspire and/or you are chilling. Water & wind resistant outer clothing with a hood. Also, scarf or towel to cover your mouth to keep cold air from your lungs.

Two or more people huddled together inside two sleeping bags zipped together will be warmer than each in separate sleeping bags. A smaller bag can also be placed inside a larger-sized one.

If trapped in your car during a snowstorm, run heater 10 minutes every hour. Make sure the exhaust pipe is not blocked by snow and open one window a crack to allow ventilation.

Good in wind or rain. Put a wool blanket between you and the Mylar blanket, if possible.

You can also use socks filled with rice/beans and tied shut. Heat the packs/socks in a fire or coals. They will maintain heat for a period of time. Rocks or bricks can also be heated thoroughly, then carefully wrapped in towels or newspapers.

Leaves, newspaper, straw, etc. (stuffed between two layers of clothing). Tie your shoe laces around the cuffs of your pants to hold material in. If you were trapped in a car during a snowstorm, use the stuffing from the seat cushions.

This can be worn as a rain jacket or can insulate the body if stuffed with dry leaves or grass

***Modified from a church handout, no sources credited***

p.s. Do you have any more ideas for alternate heat sources? Share them in the comments below!

What State Do You Live In?

Jodi and Julie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:51:35 +0000

Awhile back we tackled the big question Why Do People Build Food Storages in a 5 part series. One of the main reasons, was obviously Natural Disasters. With the turmoil and devastation that is going on in Haiti right now, we are sobered to remind ourselves and our readers that being prepared for disaster is ever so important.

This year we will be striving to learn new things about specific kinds of disasters and more about emergency preparedness skills (like the whole cooking without power, and a new and improved 72-hour kit)

We thought the best place to start was to know what could likely occur where we live. Some states are more prone to certain types of disasters then others. We remembered this AWESOME chart we wanted to share with you guys to help you get started also. Found in Making the Best of Basics (an incredible resource everyone should have) is a chart that outlines potential disasters by state. DOWNLOAD the chart by clicking on it, look up your state, and start along this journey with us of learning about different kinds of natural disasters and what you need to do in them. Thank you to James Talmage Stevens for letting us share the chart from his book with you!

When we first started our Food Storage programs thinking about all this literally freaked us out, but since we have become more and more prepared, we are now feeling ready to learn more about and tackle some of the sticky stuff this year. If you’re just starting out, don’t get too overwhelmed, start with our checklists that help you start your program little by little!

Exciting New Shelving Solution!

Jodi and Julie — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:57:19 +0000

It seems like organization and rotation seems to be at the top of many people’s lists of things they want to work on with their food storage this year. On our BabyStep One page we have a diagram and instructions for how to make your own can rotating rack.

While the do-it-yourself solution has worked great for some people, there are others (*ahem* Julie *ahem*) who don’t have the patience (or willing husbands) to make the shelves on their own.

One of our readers referred us to a new product called the CanOrganizer which is basically an easy and cheap way to make these shelves on your own. We immediately contacted the company and got some of their products to try. We were so impressed with them that we decided to become affiliates and offer them on our website for those of you who like to do things the EASY way.

To learn more about these awesome shelf units click here. They have great prices, especially if you order in bulk and they ship all over the United States.

We know you will love these shelves as much as we do. The CanOrganizers are going to be playing a large role in our Food Storage Makeover project so stay tuned for more excitement and pictures of the shelves in action!

Jodi and Julie’s Food Storage New Years Resolutions

Julie - Food Storage Made Easy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:36:22 +0000

If you’ve been following us for awhile, you know at the beginning of last year we had some New Years Resolutions. Well it’s a new year, and it’s time for new resolutions. We both have a big goal to help Jodi’s mom get her food storage in order, as well as some of our own resolutions.

My sweet mom (Grandma Lori) donated her food dehydrator to me when we first started to learn about food storage. However, I haven’t been ambitious enough to use it yet. We have had some great tips and resources sent in by readers and I am determined to put some of it into action.

When first getting started in food storage, all of the disaster/emergency prep stuff really overwhelmed me. Now that I have food more under control, I feel ready to step up and start to become better prepared for specific types of natural disasters. Our Seven Day Challenge really made me think and my goal is to get more prepared this year.

I love our three month supply worksheet. I have long wished I had something that specific for my long term food storage. I want to be able to plan meals for my year supply and know I have the right ingredients to make the meals I will be cooking. This is a huge goal for me this year which will take a lot of work but I know it will be worth it!

I want to start sprouting regularly and really use it in more in my regular cooking. I must confess, it still totally scares me. The good news is, there’s a chapter dedicated solely to sprouting in James Talmage Stevens book – Making the Best of Basics … and he sent us both a copy for being on his radio show last month. With his help, I plan to MASTER sprouting once and for all!

I have never been one for following recipes – HOWEVER since I have started using my food storage, I’ll go ahead and admit, I need and use recipes. My current management system of those recipes is pretty pathetic, so I’m gonna beat Jodi on this one and figure out a way to put them all in the same place (and not bring my laptop into the kitchen as I cook anymore!)

I want to learn more about cooking without power. This is a topic I have never ventured into really because …. of fear …. but I’m gonna figure that one out this year too (well at least partially).

Stay with us as we venture into new challenges this year and see if we manage to keep at least SOME of our resolutions. Let us know what some of your resolutions are in comments or head over to our Facebook Discussion and share with everyone. (Remember, you don’t have to have a facebook account to view the discussion)

Extreme Makeover – Food Storage Edition

Jodi -- Food Storage Made Easy — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:50:33 +0000

For months now Jodi’s mom has hinted that she would like us to help her get her food storage organized, under control, and finished! So for Christmas we decided to give her an “Extreme Makeover” – food storage style. We’re going to be documenting the process for you so you can come along for the journey. So let’s get started:

Based on our initial conversations with Jodi’s mom, we have come up with the following game plan to help her achieve her Food Storage Extreme Makeover:

Fill out Family Emergency Plan
Purchase/Compile Disaster Kits and Car Kits
Increase water storage
3 month supply plan
Purchase 3 month supply foods
Work on alternative cooking methods for long term storage

We will be updating this post with links to each part of the “makeover” throughout the next few months so make sure to check back and see what we are up to!

p.s. In case you are speculating … YES Jodi is pregnant