7 Day Challenge 2023 Day 3: MEAL PREP

Welcome to DAY 3 of the 2023 7 Day Challenge. For 7 days, we are testing our Emergency Preparedness and Food Storage Plans. Each day will bring a NEW mock emergency or situation that will test at least one of the reasons “WHY” we strive to be prepared!

In order to receive each day’s emergency scenario in your email please sign up for the 7 Day Challenge email list or subscribe via text by texting 7daychallenge to 717-788-3663.

REMEMBER: To get the most out of the challenge, don’t be too literal about the scenarios. Modify them to fit YOUR family’s situation. Also, try to actually DO each day’s tasks. Don’t try to justify why you wouldn’t “need” to. The point is to PRACTICE our skills!

GIVEAWAY WINNER:

The winner of the DAY 2 GIVEAWAY is Teri Everest who shared a picture of her fantastic emergency laundry set-up on our facebook daily thread. Hope you enjoy your WaterBricks Teri!

DAY 3: OH BABY! (Meal Prep)

A NEW BABY IS COMING! You (or a friend/loved one) are about to have a baby. Prepare a week’s worth of freezer meals or meals-in-a-jar that your family can make quickly and easily while you are resting up and soaking in that time with your newborn. While dinners are the main ones to think about, also consider what the family can eat for breakfast and lunch without having to go to the store.

PRACTICE:

Make a meal plan for all three meal for seven days.
Put together or plan for 7 breakfasts for your family (this can be some make-ahead muffins or breakfast burritos, smoothie packs, or oatmeal-in-a-jar)
Put together or plan for 7 lunches for your family (single serving jar meals, cup-a-noodles, easy mac, homemade uncrusteables, etc.)
Prepare 7 freezer meals or meals-in-a-jar for dinners for your family (check out my freezer-meal ideas or use my meals-in-a-jar book or blog posts for recipes)
Inventory your non-food household items and make sure you have enough on hand to get you through the week and maybe even he next few months
ADVANCED TASK: Plan ahead in case there are complications for you or the baby. Do a three month meal plan and inventory your ingredients. Make a shopping list to fill in any gaps. (Use my 3 month supply calculator to help with this)
Share your experiences in our Facebook Group daily thread

📸 Take a picture of your prepped meals and share it on social media. 📸

SHARE YOUR PHOTO/VIDEO AND ENTER TO WIN TODAY’S PRIZE: MEALS-IN-A_JAR MADE EASY

Post in the Facebook Group daily thread
Do a public post on Facebook and send me a link to it
Share on Instagram #fsme7daychallenge
(tag me @jodi_foodstoragemadeeasy)
Do a short video on youtube or tiktok and send it to me
Text the picture/video to me at 717-788-3663

You must tag me or send me the links so that I can see your entries!

EVALUATE:

Inventory your resources for having a three month supply. Here are a few questions to ask yourself :

3 Month Food Supply: Do you consider freezer foods towards this supply? Do you have recipes you are basing it off of or just have a lot of ingredients stored? Do you have a complete inventory of what you have and what you still need to buy? (view Babystep 3 for more help on this topic)
Non-Food Items: Do you have extra toiletries on hand? What about toilet paper and paper towels? Cleaning supplies? First aid items? How long could you go without going to a store for basic supplies aside from food (view Babystep 10 for more help on this topic)
Meals-in-a-Jar: Do you store freeze-dried or dehydrated foods that can easily be put together as complete meals in jars? Do you know how to convert recipes to be able to do this? Do you have access to recipe ideas for jar meals? Is this something you even want to have as part of your food storage plans? (view this post for more education and free recipes)

PREPARE:

Print out the worksheets below and add items you need to do, to learn, and to buy as you find holes in your preparedness plans throughout the week. Print multiple sheets as needed. These worksheets will become your road map for improving your preps over the next few months.

I will also be posting a lot on instagram (@jodi_foodstoragemadeeasy) over the next few days as I go through the challenges on my own. Come join the fun there and use hash tag #fsme7daychallenge if you are sharing your own adventures as well.