7 Day Challenge Day 7: Meals-in-a-Jar

Welcome to the final day of the 2024 7 Day Challenge. For 7 days, we tested our Emergency Preparedness and Food Storage Plans through a series of mini challenges designed to test different areas of our preparedness. Today is the last mini challenge for this year!

In order to receive notification of next year’s challenge 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 challenge. Don’t try to justify why you wouldn’t “need” to. The point is to PRACTICE our skills!

DAY 7: Meals-in-a-Jar

Today we are going to focus on long term food storage. We often get caught up on storing INGREDIENTS and forget to think about what we will actually make out of those ingredients. For this mini challenge we will put together a few meals and do a quick inventory of the rest of our supplies. Food is one of the things we KNOW we will need in ANY emergency situation!

POSSIBLE SCENARIOS:

Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, and Floods: Can disrupt food supply and damage stores
Winter Storms or Blizzards: Unable to get to the store and shop for food
Quarantines or Lockdowns: Stores closed or fear of going out in public
Job Loss or Financial Instability: Food storage enables you to save money for other expenses
Hyperinflation or Food Price Spikes: Lessens the burden of food price increases
Supply Chain Disruptions: Can lead to food shortages
Prolonged Power Outages: Must depend on long term shelf stable food if no refrigeration available
Droughts or Crop Failures: Can drastically reduce food production
Wildfires: May cut off access to fresh food.
Injury or Illness: Having emergency food storage allows you to still eat while recovering.
Loss of Transportation: Use food storage if unable to drive to the store to buy food
Global Food Crises/Regional Famine: Could lead to food shortages on a large scale
War or Severe Economic Crises: Governments may impose rationing systems on food supplies
Political Instability: Access to food may be unpredictable, with only sporadic availability at stores
Food Allergies or Dietary Restrictions: Always have what you need for your diet on hand

MINI CHALLENGE: Make a few Meals-in-a-Jar

Remember the mini challenge can be done at any time during the day that fits your schedule. Take some time to actually DO the task and don’t just “think” your way through it.

🫙 Look through my Thrive blog and pick 1 or 2 meal-in-a-jar recipes to put together today
(I like to base my recipes on what is on sale at Thrive each month but use whatever you have on hand!)
🔢 Look at various food storage calculators and determine how you want to calculate your food needs
(Recipe based) – (Basic ingredients) – (Basic ingredient plus freeze-dried foods)
📝 Take an inventory of what food you already have and make a plan for purchasing what you NEED
📷 Take some pictures along the way of your adventures today
🗣️ Share your experiences in our F acebook Group daily discussion thread
✔️ Go through the “evaluate” section below and look for any things missing or that need to up updated in regards to long term food storage. Add them to your worksheets found under the “plan” section.

EVALUATE:

Inventory the food storage supplies you currently have to prepare your family for any type of long term emergency. Food storage is often separated into a three month supply of shorter shelf life “regular” foods and longer term staples which are more basic ingredients with a long shelf life. Here are a few questions to ask yourself about this topic:

3 Month Food Supply: Do you consider freezer foods as part of your 3 month food 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)
Longer Term Food Storage: How long of a supply of basic foods do you want? Are you working towards a full year supply? Do you have any dietary limitations for your supply? Do you have a non-electronic source for recipes using these staple foods? Are you familiar with how to cook with basics like wheat and dried beans? (view Babystep 4 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)

PLAN:

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.