Today we are revealing the 6th piece of our Seven Day Challenge puzzle: THE THREE MONTH PLAN SURPRISE!

For a Beyond the BabySteps concept for BabyStep 3: Three Month Food Supply, we have been asked by a number of people how we can share our 3 Month Food Supply Plans.

Over the next couple of months as you get ready for the Seven Day Challenge, we NEED YOU to work on your 3 month spreadsheet. We’re going to be developing a way for you to send us your spreadsheets and be able to share the information with each other on the web. If we all come together and share our ideas, we’ll all be more prepared! What a great way we can do our part and share and serve!

We have some of the details planned, and some YET to plan but let’s just say it’s going to be AWESOME!

Hint to make the sharing easier…while you are completing your spreadsheets, open up a word file and jot down any recipes that you are using in your spreadsheet (for meals that require recipes)… We’ll tell you how it will all work after the Seven Day Challenge… Women can only multi-task so much

We decided it would be good to revise each BabyStep as part of our Summer Crash Course. So jump in and get started … it’s not too late! This week we are covering BabyStep 3: Three Month Food Supply (click here to view the full step)

• ADDED ADDITIONAL features to the 3 month food supply spreadsheet!
• Common Foods Sheet included on spreadsheet!
• Non-Food Items Sheet included on spreadsheet!
• EXTRA tutorial video for additional features in the excel plan (includes instructions on how to update your spreadsheet if you have already completed the current one.
• Added a link to our sister site who has great tips on buying your 3 month food supply.

Food Storage and Money Savings

Stay tuned for a more advanced post on this topic coming later this week

Technorati Tags: food storage, planning tools, three month food supply

How to Make an Evaporation Still

An evaporation still will extract water from the soil even if it appears to be quite dry. These instructions will help you create a still that will provide half the amount of water needed for one person per day. It’s definitely more convenient to simply store water, but for a longer term emergency you may find it necessary to find alternate means of accessing water.

Materials:

• A six-by-six square piece of clear plastic
• A drinking tube
• A bucket or container to catch the water

Instructions:

1. Dig a hole three feet deep and large enough at the bottom to hold the bucket or container.
2. Place one end of the drinking tube at the bottom of the bucket and put the bucket in the hole.
3. If possible, line the sides of the hole with shredded vegetation and slices of succulent plants.
4. Place the plastic over the hole, securing the edges all around with soil.  Extend the drinking tube from the bucket under the plastic and up through the soil that holds the plastic in place.  Wrap a towel or clean cloth around the end of the tube to protect it from soil and contamination.
5. Position a rock in the center of the plastic sheet two or three inches above and directly over the bucket.
6. Water will accumulate in the bucket and can be sipped through the tube without dismantling the still.

Make sure that you print out this post and put it in your Food Storage Made Easy Binder so that you can have it on hand in case of an emergency where you don’t have power.

View our other Beyond the BabySteps post about water:
Water Purification
Alternate Water Sources

Technorati Tags: Emergency Preparedness, evaporation still, water still, water storage

We decided it would be good to revise each BabyStep as part of our Summer Crash Course. So jump in and get started … it’s not too late! This week we are covering BabyStep 2: Water (click here to view the full step)

• Updated key points relating to:
  • Water storage for pets
  • Storing water in multiple sizes of containers
  • Refilling your water containers annually
• Revised all of the resources to include more helpful links

Water Purification
Alternate Water Sources

Stay tuned for a more advanced post on this topic coming later this week!

Technorati Tags: alternate water sources, water, water purification, water storage

Today we are revealing the 5th piece of our Seven Day Challenge puzzle: LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION!

Throughout the 7 days of the Challenge you will get an email each day that describes what has happened that day and what kinds of foods/utilities you have access to (hint: you might not always have access to your fridge food). Being that we are all at different levels of preparation and progress, we know that for some people certain aspects will be either too hard or too easy.

So don’t fret! In each email, we will be giving you beginner type scenarios, and advanced type scenarios. You will be able to choose which level of participation you feel ready for (wouldn’t that be nice in a real emergency?). We want this challenge to be fun and to be a learning experience/starting point. If we make it too intense, we’ll be in trouble! After all, we’re participating in the challenge ourselves and we still feel like beginners too!

If you haven’t signed up yet, make sure to fill out the form on our main 7 Day Challenge page.

Technorati Tags: Emergency Preparedness, food storage, Seven Day Challenge

Awhile back, Jodi made a post called From Chaos to Clarity where she organized all her long term food storage. She made these cute labels for her big buckets and since then we’ve had a lot of requests for them. Well, we finally are getting around to making them available for you to download.

We made labels for red wheat, white wheat, flour, oats, rice, pasta, black beans, red beans, sugar, milk and a blank one for the items you store that aren’t necessarily “the typical” items.

To access the pdf, simply click here or click on the image below:

Simply print out how many you need and tape them to your buckets…Hope you like them!

We decided it would be good to revise each BabyStep as part of our Summer Crash Course. So jump in and get started … it’s not too late! This week we are covering BabyStep 1: Shelves (click here to view the full step)

• Updated different shelving idea links
• Added information about storing larger items (5 gallon buckets/water containers)
• Added the #10 can post to the step
• Revised the online resources to include more shelf plan options

How To Build Your Own Can Rotating Rack
Small Spaces Storage Solutions - RESULTS
What to do with Extra #10 Food Storage Cans

Stay tuned for a more advanced post on this topic coming later this week (hint it is something we have received a LOT of requests for!)

Technorati Tags: 7 Day Challenge, Emergency Preparedness, food storage, food storage made easy, food storage shelves

At Food Storage Made Easy we always sell the electric mills and the hand mills at the lowest price available, so when you add the $20 rebate from WonderMill onto that (and our current free shipping promotion) this is the rock bottom lowest you will ever be able to get a WonderMill hand grinder.

All you have to do to get the rebate is purchase a Wonder Junior Basic or Deluxe from our Wheat Grinder product page anytime between June 15, 2009 and August 15, 2009. Once your order has been received we will send you the $20 rebate form from the WonderMill. Make sure to follow the directions carefully.

We are so glad to be Authorized Dealers for this great company. The Wonder Junior hand mills will be PERFECT additions to your food storage if you are planning to participate in the Seven Day Challenge. Who knows, you may be without power for part of it

Technorati Tags: hand mill, hand wheat grinder, wheat grinder, wonder junior, Wonder Junior Deluxe, wondermill, wondermill wheat grinder

Today we are revealing the 4th piece of our Seven Day Challenge puzzle: THE SUMMER CRASH COURSE!

In order to make the Seven Day Challenge easier for everyone to participate (including BEGINNERS) we are going to use the summer to do a crash course. No - you’re not in summer school but you will be cramming! hehe.

Each week for the next 10 weeks we will be focusing on revamping, adding, and simplifying all of our 10 BabySteps with either new research or things we have learned since we wrote them all last year. This is our one year anniversary month and boy have we learned a lot in the past year! The BabySteps are the BASIS for the BabySteps Checklists we send out every 2 weeks via email. The checklists help you gather your food storage over a year, while the actual BabySteps are the research and information organized on the site.

Each week expect the 2 following types of posts:

Early in the Week:
A post explaining the revisions found on each of the Babysteps including a list of the best posts on that topic.

Later in the Week:
A “Beyond the BabySteps” post with more detailed information on the BabyStep we revised earlier that week.

We wanted to include all the new participants and also give some of our long-time readers some new stuff, so be ready for some fun learning to help you get ready for the Seven Day Challenge coming this fall!

SPECIAL NOTE:
Make sure to check back often because in the midst of these posts, we’ll also be revealing more puzzles to the Seven Day Challenge!

Technorati Tags: 7 Day Challenge, crash course, food storage, food storage made easy, Long Term Food Storage

Today we are revealing the 3rd piece of our Seven Day Challenge puzzle: A BUTTON! Plus bonus ways to help you encourage your friends to get involved. For each friend you refer to The Challenge you earn an extra entry for the WonderMill giveaway. Plus it’s so much more fun to do this with friends!

Post a link on your Facebook Wall (and update your status!)
- Link to http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/7day for the main page and sign-up form
- Don’t forget to Become a Fan of Food Storage Made Easy while you’re there.

Post the link on Twitter
- Click here for a sample Tweet

Do a blog post or send an email to your friends
- Feel free to use our samples if you like (PDF Flyer, HTML Post, Plain Text Email)

Add the 7 Day Challenge Button to your Blog
Encourage your friends to join with you (AND give you the credit)

To add the button just add an html widget to your layout and paste this html code inside. Make sure you give the widget a title…

<a href=http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/7day/#.html target=_blank><img src=http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/fsme/images/challengebutton.png></a><br><br>

Come back Monday to find out how we’re going to help you get ready by September (even if you are just getting started). It’s going to be so much fun and it’s our Blog Anniversary gift to you!

Technorati Tags: Emergency Preparedness, food storage, Seven Day Challenge