Whatever your style, make sure you check out our BabyStep 3 Page: 3 month supply. We have a spreadsheet that can help you plan your meals, and then it automatically populates an inventory list and takes the guess work out of figuring out what to buy. Before you start on the spreadsheet, ask yourself these five three month supply questions to help you get started with the planning process.

Well this weekend on our Facebook page we had one of our readers share something about her 3 month planning that was FABULOUS and we thought everyone needed to hear about it. If you’re not on our Facebook page, make sure you join because it’s AWESOME. We learn so much from our readers, and we feel so great when we see you all helping each other out on questions. Even if you don’t HAVE Facebook, you can see the discussions and learn if you type this in your browser:

So here is the little gem of knowledge we learned while talking about our Shelf Stable Saturdays this weekend from Kim S. on Facebook:

Jodi, Julie + all… My DD & I have SO many recipes to share, but I’d really like to tell you WHY we have them! March ’09, inspired by YOU, we took your 3 month food supply EXCEL spreadsheet (baby step 3) & worked out 30 dinner recipes (br…kfst & lunches were a bit more repetitive). We really wanted to work with meals we are used to, family favs, etc., so we worked pretty hard at this, converting them , not just to food storage ingredients, but also to serving sizes for each of our families.

Taking ingredients for one recipe at a time + multiple bowls spread out on the counter, to each, we added all the dry ingredients that would be in that recipe (if something needed pre-soaking, or pre-prep, we put THAT ingredient folded into wax paper, to keep it separate, ie peas or beans). We ordered mylar bags & oxygen absorbers, but vacuum sealed bags should work, just as well.

Note that mylar bags are quite large – but – if you cut them in quarters, edges can be carefully sealed w/ a flat iron for hair (I bought a small one for $4 at discount store). These are the 11 x 13 mylar bags from the LDS distribution center’s online store.

Into each of our now-resized mylar bags went the the dry ingredients + an oxygen absorber. Sealed them up w/ the flat iron, added sticky labels to the front w/ Recipe name, ingredients to be added at time of making (water, canned ingr., etc.), instructions, and “serve with”.

The “serve with” became important when we were planning, not just the main entree, but what we were going to have WITH it! This way, our food storage inventory could be complete w/ what to have on hand for sides, etc., and to plan *variety*.

Because they are uniform 1/4 sized mylar bags (large families – go w/ a 1/2 bag), they stand up nicely in a shoe box. When it’s a “what can I make tonight?” night, those “space food” mylar bags get whipped out! I’ve just sent the scalloped potatoes & hams recipe to you, but have Chicken Scallopine, Creamy Italian Chicken, Cajun Pork, etc., as well. (think canned meat subbed for roasts or chicken breasts – and yes, we buy on sale and can our own). This is not ALL our food storage, but if using food storage became necessary, food prep time might be precious.

I know this got long, and debated whether an email would be better, but figured this could be shared. This all came about because you inspired us, so THANK YOU! Much work over one week, but soooo worth it!

Kim even shared some pictures of this awesome idea on our Facebook wall. Kim was right- this was a great thing to share and we’re glad she let us share her personal plan with all our readers on the blog! We’re sure this will give you all some inspiration and motivation to get cracking on your three month supply!

If you have a unique plan or photos of something fun in your storage come on over to Facebook and share today!

If you’re following Grandma Lori’s Extreme Food Storage Makeover, you know that last time we left off with a “to be continued” after Julie TEASED you with pictures of the 3 month supply shop. Well now we are showing your the pantry – all organized and BEAUTIFUL! I love making labels… can you tell? Watch the video to see how Grandma Lori reacted when she saw it all put together!

NEXT UP: THE SCARY STUFF….LONG TERM FOOD STORAGE…

If you’re following Grandma Lori’s Extreme Food Storage Makeover, you know that last week we left off with a “to be continued” after Julie asked Lori all the questions to make Grandma Lori’s personal 3 month plan.

Julie opened up her favorite computer software program…. excel… and went to town putting in Lori’s dinner recipes into our 3 month supply planning sheet.

• We put in 12 different dinners, then repeated the more popular ones to get 30 days of dinners
• We then watched excel do all the math for a 3 month supply
• We put in a variety of lunch, snack and breakfast ideas and guessed what she would use in a month and allowed excel to do the math to get us 3 months
• To see the completed excel click here
• We now have printed her master ingredient list (see pdf)

• We’re going to inventory what Lori has on hand and put it into excel
• We’ll see what’s left to buy
• Buy and stock pantry

Stay tuned as we keep at it… This is not an overnight project!

Isn’t this so fun? WHAT ARE YOU DOING to build your Food Storage. Join us in our April 1st “Don’t be a Food Storage Fool Day”

It’s recommended before getting heavily into storing “long term foods” such as grains and legumes, to start with a 3 month supply of foods you typically eat. Ideally you’ll start gradually using your grains and legumes in foods you typically eat, but before getting overwhelmed with that … start with your typical foods:

Options that are Free or Under $1

Planning Sheets

Print out these worksheets to help someone get started on their 3 Month Plan. There is an Instruction Sheet, a Menu Plan Sheet and an Inventory Sheet. You will need to print the Menu Plan Sheet multiple times depending on how many different meals you want to plan. There is also a video tutorial to go along with these forms found here. Put the printed worksheets in sheet protects or roll them up and tie a ribbon around them. Don’t forget to attach the Day 4 tag!

An Option that is $5-$20

Subscription to Deals to Meals

Deals to Meals is a subscription service that helps people save money on groceries. You can purchase gift certificates from them for whatever number of months fits within your budget. At $4.95 a month this can be an inexpensive gift that provides huge value to the person receiving it.

A More Expensive Option

A Basket of Canned Goods

If you’re feeling really generous, get a cute basket, and fill it with tons of common foods. Tell the person, they have to use this in their Food Storage as a way to get a great jump start. Don’t forget to add the Day 4 tag as a finishing touch.

Back to the 12 Days List

Up until now we have had this intense and “awesome” spreadsheet. However we’re excited to announce two new ways to plan your three month supply – a new and improved excel spreadsheet, and printable forms. The new excel spreadsheet is a lot more intuitive and easy to fill out with the same end results of the old one. We also created printable forms you can use to fill in with good old fashion pens and pencils for those of you who may not have access to excel.

The NEW Excel

To download the new excel form, click here. This form will automatically calculate the number of ingredients you need to purchase for three months. You can also use this spreadsheet to keep track of prices, and as an inventory tracker.

Here is a little tutorial on how to use the new excel (we STRONGLY suggest watching it – there are many ways you can interpret how to enter the info and it needs to be a certain way):

The Printable Forms

To download the printable forms, click here. There is an Instruction Sheet, a Menu Plan Sheet and an Inventory Sheet. You will need to print the Menu Plan Sheet multiple times depending on how many different meals you want to plan.

Planning Tools

We have added these spreadsheets to the BabySteps 3 page and to the Tools page. REMEMBER, check out all our tools on the tools page. We make sure to add any of our most helpful posts in there.

SO- I printed out my little sheet that tells me how much I usually spend for things at Walmart. Since I had the sizes and price per oz, it was so easy for me to decide which items to buy at COSTCO vs. WALMART. Anyways, I was really excited it was so useful.

Make sure you take a closer look at the spreadsheet and the tutorial and get yours started today.

How do you decide what to include in your 3 Month Food Supply?
How do you determine how MUCH of each item to buy?
How do you keep track of your current inventory and what you still need to buy?
How do you make sure you are stocking up when items are ON SALE?

We couldn’t find a solution for these questions, so we created one!

We have developed a 3 Month Food Supply Worksheet that will help you outline meal plans, convert them into the number of items you need to buy AUTOMATICALLY, and then track your inventory including current prices for each product.

View our instructional video before you get started!

Let us know what you think of the 3 Month Food Supply Worksheet and how it is working for you. How is your step 3 coming along?