January Newsletter 2009

Scripture / Quote of the Month

"And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts

of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to

make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:17

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! This new year is going to bring each one

of us new challenges – some which perhaps we can predict are coming, and

some which we cannot. With these new challenges we have two options:

●

we can look forward to them and accept them and be grateful for

the opportunities for learning and growth, and in this way be a happy

people that look forward to the coming of the Savior,

●

or, we can say "why me", and look at our challenges with anger and

frustration, blaming God or others and allowing these challenges to

make our lives miserable

I am choosing to see the good in the challenges. For the Lord is preparing

a people that will be ready for Him when He comes, and we, have the

choice, to be a part of that people. Make it a GREAT year! And PREPARE!

MY GOAL THIS YEAR AS YOUR WARD PREPAREDNESS PERSON ......

to use the time that has been alloted to us as a people, wisely by:

●

sharpening our home making, survival, educational, spiritual, social,

physical, and all types of preparation skills

●

fine tuning our storage by discovering what we like to eat and

learning how to use our storage, using new recipes, and finding out

what we really need

●

practicing emergency techniques, and emergency drills

●

sharing recipes, stories, and testimonies of our success' and our

failures, for we learn and grow from each other

I believe that the day has come for us to no longer ignore the

words of the prophets concerning being a prepared people.

DO

IT

FOR

YOUR

FAMILY

...

THEIR

FUTURE

DEPENDS

ON

YOU

Please feel free to share stories and recipes and whatever you feel

would be of benefit to others in our quest for being obedient, and

being prepared.  djatwood@shaw.ca

Beans and Rice

Beans and rice are great additions to your food storage. They are nutritious,

delicious and inexpensive sources of protein and fiber. Don't forget to attend

our Magical Beans class this month to learn more, gather recipes, and be

inspired!

How many beans to store??

●

60 lbs per person per year.

●

This will provide about ¼ cup cooked beans per day and about 150

calories per day.

●

They can be stored in glass jars, buckets, #10 cans, mylar bags, or

other air tight food storage containers, and when kept dry, they will last

for years.

●

Eating one cup of beans every day means you should have 365 cups of

beans which is equal to 25 gallons or 5 gallon buckets.

●

For four people this would give you ¼ cup beans per day per person.

Do the math if you want more than your ¼ cup.

Bean Facts

●

1¼ cups of cooked beans will provide the same number of

calories as in a 3-oz steak and yet deliver 50%

more usable protein

with NO cholesterol. Most beans contain at least 20% protein.

●

Most beans are high in carbohydrates, which provide long-lasting

energy. In addition, beans provide essential B Vitamins, Iron, and they

are one of the richest sources of fiber.

●

Beans ground to a fine flour can be whisked into boiling water and

seasonings to make an almost instant soup or thickener in

only 3

minutes

.

●

Bean flour can be used in any recipe calling for flour by replacing up to

25% of the wheat flour with any variety of bean flour

.

●

Bean flour stores for up to 6 months on the shelf, 1 year under

refrigeration, and is great to have on hand for "instant" soups, sauces,

dips, sandwich fillings and gravies, and to add to almost everything you

cook or bake.

●

Legumes and grains, eaten as much as 2 days apart will still combine

properly as a complete protein, as the body extracts and stores the

amino acids from the beans and combines them into proteins as a

variety of foods are eaten.

●

Beans mixed with grains form a high quality complete protein that can

be tolerated by people of all ages, even infants

●

A pound of dry beans ground to a fine flour measures approximately 5

cups.

For more information on using food storage, and just plain

getting back to the basics of life, check out my new blog. It will be full

of links and great information to help us be a more self-sufficient people.

www.goingbacktothebasics.blogspot.com

RICE

Rice is an extremely healthy food for a number of reasons. Rice is a complex

carbohydrate, which means that it contains starch and fiber. Complex

carbohydrates are digested slowly, allowing the body to utilize the energy

released over a longer period which is nutritionally efficient. Rice has low

sodium content and contains useful quantities of potassium, the B vitamins,

thiamin and niacin. An average portion of rice (50g) provides about 11% of the

estimated average daily requirement of protein.

●

There are about 12.5 cups of rice in a #10 can

●

A #10 can contains about 5.5 lbs

●

1 cup of white rice weighs 7 oz

●

1 six gallon bucket of rice contains 44 lbs

●

1 six gallon bucket of white rice = 8 #10 cans

●

1 six gallon bucket contains 100 cups

●

one serving is approximately ¼ cup dry rice (1.75 oz)

Use these numbers to figure out how much rice your family should store for

one year.

Example:

A family of six eats rice twice a week using a total of 4 cups of dry rice per

week. Eating 4 cups per week for 52 weeks, they would need

17 #10 cans

.....or.......

1 six gallon bucket plus 9 #10 cans

This is equal to 30% of the recommended amount of grain to store for one

adult per year

Example #2:

Plan for 2 oz of rice per person per day. A family of six would need to store

6 people x 2 oz x 365 days = 4380 oz rice 4380 oz rice = 274 lbs rice for one

year. This is equal to.....

6 six gallon buckets plus 2 #10 cans or 50 #10 gallon cans

These numbers can a also be used for brown rice, with the exception that

brown rice does not store as long as white. White is better for longer term

storage.

RECIPE

Berry Bean Blast – Serves 4

1 can Navy beans – drained and rinsed

1 ½ cups orange juice

2 cups strawberries sliced

2 tbsp honey

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

6 – 8 ice cubes

Process all ingredients except ice cubes in blender until smooth. Add ice.

Process until smooth. Serve in glasses. If you use frozen fruit instead, ice

cubes will not be needed. You may need to add a bit of water to adjust the

consistency. A very healthy way to serve smoothies to your family.

Healthy Living Tip

Spices that kill 100% of bacteria in food, are garlic, onion, allspice and

oregano. Thyme, cinnamon, tarragon and cumin kill 80%. Hot chillies kill

75%, and ginger, anise seed, celery seed, lime and lemon juice kill 25% of

bacteria in food.

Great Value In Disaster

Thomas Edison's laboratory was virtually destroyed by fire in December, 1914.

Although the damage exceeded $2 million, the buildings were only insured for

$238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof.

Much of Edison's life's work went up in spectacular flames that December

night.

At the height of the fire, Edison's 24-year old son, Charles, frantically searched for his

father among the smoke and debris. He finally found him, calmly watching the

scene, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind.

"My heart ached for him," said Charles. "He was 67 – no longer a young man – and

everything was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, "Charles, where's your

mother?" When I told him I didn't know, he said, "Find her. Bring her here. She will

never see anything like this as long as she lives."

The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, "There is great value in

disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew."

Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver his first phonograph.

By The Sower's Seeds

from A 3

rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

Copyright 1996 Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Long Term Storage Goals:    Rice and Assorted Beans

Grocery Items 

10 bars of soap per person

Non-Food 

With your family designate an emergency meeting place with maps and escape plans

72 HR Kits  

Mylar blanket for each person, Plastic tarps enough to cover tents,

Immunization Forms up to date for everyone

Garden Tip  Start planning what seeds you want – we will be ordering seeds bulk in February

– think long term seed storage – heritage seeds

Today while the sun shines, work with a will.....
Prepare for tomorrow by working today.

Weekly Wisdom #14

 

Weekly Wisdom #14

Motivational Monday - "As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect. And, above all, my brothers and sisters, let us move forward with faith in the Living God and His Beloved Son." (Gordon B Hinckley, Ensign Nov 2001, 73)

Church Guidelines

The church counsel on food storage is simple:

• Build a three-month supply of foods that you normally eat.

• Lay in a supply of drinking water.

• Put aside foods for longer-term storage until you have a year's supply of food.

Since we are looking at a New Year this week, and thinking and planning, and hopefully goal setting....now is a good time to take a good look at what we have achieved over the past year regarding our food storage, and home preparedness, and take an inventory. Once you have taken the time to inventory, then you can use your guidelines as to what your family needs regarding your three month supply, drinking water, and longer-term storage, and set some goals that will help you accomplish these three goals for the coming year.

Here are some of the things that I will be helping you to accomplish this year, (with my many helpers):

January – Ordering Beans and Other Grains / Pandemic Supplies – In Home Care Class

February – Water Filtration / Garden Seeds – Co-op Garden Beginnings

March – A Great Trip to the Dry Pack Cannery in Lethbridge / Powdered Milk Class

AND MUCH MORE!

Timely Tuesday - "Keep your eye on the Prophet, being self-reliant has always been part of the Church. Statistics are that no matter what the church does, no (more) than 15% of the (membership) have (any) storage. Our people are going to need it. For example, what if somebody released a virus? What if the virus caused a pandemic? What if the pandemic led to quarantine? What if the quarantine was enforced? What would you do? The responsibility lies with the head of each family." (Presiding Bishop of Church David Burton Sept. 1,2006)

Keeping our eye on the Prophet and their counsel in the next while will be so important. They have told us to get out of debt, store food, strengthen home and family, and their most recent counsel on the provident living website is on pandemic preparedness. If you want to know what the prophet is telling us today, take time today to visit www.providentliving.com

Workin' Wednesday - Kids Activity Survival Kit

You may have to leave your house during a disaster and may sleep somewhere else for a while. It's smart to put together your own Kid's Activity Survival Kit so you will have things to do and share with other kids. These can all be stored in a backpack or duffel bag. Just make sure you can carry it easily. Some suggested items for your Activity:

A few of your favorite books

Crayons, pencils or marking pens and plenty of paper

Scissors and glue

Two favorite toys such as a doll or action figure

One or two board games

A deck of cards

A puzzle (One with lots of pieces is good -- it takes a long time to do!)

Small people figures and play vehicles that you can use to play out what is happening during your disaster -- such as ambulance, fire truck, helicopter, dump truck, police car, small boats.

Favorite stuffed animal or puppet

Favorite blanket or pillow

Pictures of the family and pet

A "keep safe" box with a few treasures that make you feel special

Thrifty Thursday – Don't feel deprived – Sometimes we feel deprived when we are trying so hard to cut back on expenses. We are trying so hard to put away our food storage, pay down our debt, and be frugal, that we sometimes want to splurge on something just for us. In order to avoid these splurges, and feeling this way, we should treat ourselves on a regular basis. Today, make a list of five things that you like to do that do not cost any money. Tape this to your fridge or to your bathroom mirror and do one of these things each week to treat yourself. Another thing you can do is make a list of your five food storage treats that you would like to have, and once a week or every other week, purchase one thing and stash it away for your food storage. Then if you ever feel like you need to have a treat, you won't have to spend money, you will already have one handy. Make sure you replace it on your next time to purchase.

Food Storage Friday – The Seven Major Mistakes in Food Storage: Today we will cover the first mistake, VARIETY!! Most people don't have enough variety in their storage. They store only the basic survival foods, but statistics show that most people won't survive on this diet unless they are using these items on a regular basis. Many won't be able to digest the wheat.....wheat is too harsh for young children and they can only tolerate it in small amounts......we can get what is called appetite fatigue. WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT......Store a variety of grains, particularly ones your family likes to eat. Store a variety of beans to add color and texture. Store flavorings such as tomato, bouillon, cheese, onions, spices and other things you like to cook with.

RECIPE

Honey Bran Whole Wheat Bread

6 cups all purpose flour

1 cup oat bran

1 cup wheat bran

1 ½ tbsp yeast

2 tbsp oil or melted butter

1/3 cup honey

5 cups lukewarm milk (use pwd and water)

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 tbsp salt

In large bowl mix all purpose flour, brans, and yeast. Make well in the middle of flour mixture and pour in oil, honey, and milk. Mix well, and then slowly add whole wheat flour until 4 cups have been added and you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 6 or 7 minutes. Place the mixing bowl over the dough, and let rest for 20 minutes. Flatten dough with hands and sprinkle salt over dough and knead well into it until salt is completely mixed in and dough is soft and smooth. Place dough into well greased large bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently. Divide into three equal pieces and shape into loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise until well above the rim of pans. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes until golden brown.

I adjusted slightly this recipe for sake of room on this page, but this original recipe can be found on www.ayearinbread.earthandhearth.com

Weekly Wisdom #13

 

Weekly Wisdom #13

This is an easy week. I only have two assignments this week for you.

1. Enjoy your family. Spend time with them and savor each moment. Make memories by remembering the simple things in life. Serve one another. Love one another.

2. Enjoy the Christmas Season. Remember the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Spend some time this week to reflect on what that actually means in your life. Spend some time to reflect on what it means for your future. Serve others around you. Love others as He would.

Weekly Wisdom #12

 

Weekly Wisdom #12

Motivational Monday - When Disaster Strikes, the Time to Prepare Has Passed - The degree of our preparation will be equal to the extent of our obedience. This will in turn determine our peace of mind and the degree of normal life we will be able to enjoy during the difficult times ahead.

Some food for thought – It really is all about the obedience!

Brigham Young warned," If you are without food, how much wisdom can you boast!"

Timely Tuesday – Well winter hit us with a vengance in so many places this weekend. This is the time of year that we need to remember to dress in layers when we go anywhere. Layering clothes helps to prepare us for any conditions or activities, disasters, or storms. Use three layers when thinking of how to dress for the weather.

Underwear – this provides a basic insulation and will move the moisture away from the skin, preventing chill when your activity stops. Choose long underwear, or thin, snug fitting pants and a long sleeved t-shirt

Insulation – use one or more layers depending on the severity of the weather, including layers of pants to keep your legs warm, sweaters, and other types of sweatshirts are good insulators as well.

Outer clothing – wear clothing that is windproof and waterproof is possible. A good fit is very important. If it is too big, heat loss can happen quickly, and too small and you may not have enough room for other layers.

Workin' Wednesday – Today is the day to gather a few of the non food type items that we need to have especially for winter / flu season. Here is a small list of items, but adjust it according to what you think your family would need in case of.....

cough / cold medications, cough drops, various versions of pain relief, cotton balls, herbal or natural medications, antibacterial soaps and wipes, and hand sanitizer. These basic items should be included in your 72 hour kits / first aid kits / and flu kits. Of course add any other items that you think your family would need.

Thrifty Thursday - "Wherever possible, produce your non food necessities of

life." Improve your sewing skills; sew and mend clothing for your family. Develop handicraft skills as the sisters have told us, and make or build needed items."

(Spencer W. Kimball, "Family Preparedness," Ensign, May 1976, pp 124-25

EMERGENCY SEWING KIT

• Suitable container with lid

• Small scissors

• Straight pins and safety pins

• Sewing needles and a variety of thread colors

• A few buttons

• Tape measure or ruler

Food Storage Friday – I have found this in several newsletters and a couple of emails from various people, and so the original source I am unsure of, but it is some great information.

Where Do I Store My Family's Food Storage ?

The coolest parts of your home are the best locations. Under beds, inside closets, inside cabinets and consider building an insulated shed outside your home.

A one-year supply for one person requires approximately 100, number 10 cans.

Under bed storage: How many number 10 cans can I fit under my bed ?

(Packed in cardboard cases – 6 cans to a case)

Double: 96 Queen: 108 King: 120

Inside a closet:

Use the number 10 can cardboard cases as a shoe shelf.

6 cans fit into one case, the case size is 13 inches wide x 19 inches long x 7 inches tall.

Water Storage:

The best location is on the north side of your home or garage, where the water containers receive the least amount of sunlight. For added protection, after you have added bleach and sealed the containers cover them (including the sides and top) with black plastic sheeting.

Non-perishables:

Other storage items that are non-perishable can be stored in warmer areas like your garage.

Recipe – Here is a great soup recipe for a hot day. Make this and eat with some fresh home made hot bread. Yummmm!

Crockpot Navy Bean Bacon Chowder

1 ½ cups dried navy beans, rinsed and drained ( or one can )

2 cups cold water

6 slices bacon

1 medium carrot sliced

1 stalk celery chopped

1 med onion chopped

1 tsp dried italian seasoning

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 large can chicken broth (46 oz) or water and chicken bouillon

1 cup milk

Soak beans overnight in the water. Cook bacon in medium pan over medium heat. Drain and crumble. Combine carrot, celery, onion, seasonings, beans and bacon in crockpot. Mix and pour in broth. Cover and cook on low for 7 – 9 hours or until beans are cooked tender. Ladle 2 cups of soup into blender and process until smooth. Return to crockpot. Add milk, cover and heat on high for 10 more minutes until heated through. Serves 6.

Weekly Wisdom #11

 

Weekly Wisdom #11

Motivational Monday – President Kimball said: "How often do Church members arise early in the morning to do the will of the Lord?... How often do we say, "Yes, I will obey the commandment to store food and to help others, but just now I have neither the time nor the money to spare; I will obey later"? Oh, foolish people! While we procrastinate, the harvest will be over and we will not be saved. Now is the time to follow Abraham's example; now is the time to repent; now is the time for prompt obedience to God's will."

"We must do more to get our people prepared for the difficult days we face in the future. Our major concern should be their spiritual preparation so they will respond with faith and not fear. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:21). Our next concern should be for their temporal preparation. When the economies of nations fail, when famine and other disasters prevent people from buying food in stores, the Saints must be prepared to handle these emergencies. This is a matter of concern for area, region, and stake councils." President Benson

These days are upon us. We see daily the economies of nations failing, famines throughout the world, and talk of more shortages of food. I believe the day to procrastinate the counsel to get temporally prepared has come and gone. We must give our temporal and spiritual preparation our top priority.

Timely Tuesday – Take a quick preparedness test today. If you can, do it with your family. And find what areas you perhaps need to focus on.

Preparedness Test

1. Has your family rehearsed the fire escape routes from your home?

2. Do you know what to do before, during, after an earthquake or tornado?

3. Do you have access to an operational flashlight in every bedroom? You could have light sticks instead.

4. Do you keep shoes near your bed to protect your feet if you have to evacuate during the night?

5. If a water line was ruptured, do you know how to shut off the main line to your house?

6. Can this line be turned off with hands or do you need a tool? Is the tool close by?

7. Do you know where the main gas shut off is to your house?

8. Do you know how and would you be able to shut off this valve if you smelled gas?

9. Do you know how to safely restart your furnace when gas is safely back on again?

10. Do you have working smoke alarms in place?

11. Do you have a fire extinguisher handy in case of small fires?

12. Do you have duplicate keys and copies of important papers stored outside your home?

13. Do you have an emergency radio and batteries?

14. Do you have a meeting place if your family has to evacuate your home?

15. If an emergency lasted for three days or longer:

    1. Would you have sufficient food for your family?

    2. Would you have the means to cook without electricity?

    3. Would you have sufficient water?

    4. Do you have your 72 hour kits easily accessible?

    5. Have y ou established an out of area contact for your family?

    6. Do you have first aid kits in your home and each car?

    7. Do you have emergency cash on hand in small bills or coins?

    8. Do you have ways to heat at least part of your house without electricity?

    9. Do you have at least a month's supply of medications on hand?

    10. Do you have sanitation plans for alternate toilet facilities?

    11. Where are you in your food storage supply? 3 months? 6 months? 1 year?

This should give you a basic overview of how prepared you are for basic survival. If you have answered no to any of these, then work in that area. If you answered yes to them all....good for you, and think in those areas of how you can improve and make it even better.

Workin' Wednesday – Pick one of the areas above that you answered no to, and do something today to help change the answer to a yes.

Thrifty Thursday – I got this idea off of a thrifty tips website. I thought it was a good one, and I do this alot, because I find that if I grab a cart when I go into the store, it inevitably gets full. So if I only have a basket or my hands, I am more likely to come out with what I actually went in for.

SHOP WITHOUT A CART

"Have you noticed how big shopping carts are getting? They are designed to keep you shopping! Avoid the spending trap by only taking a cart when you know you have alot to buy, or are buying something big. Use a basket to carry your items, or go for one of the smaller carts available. You will be less tempted to impulse buy when you don't have the space to carry everything.

Then before you get to the counter, quickly look over your items and make sure that they are something you really need. There are likely things you could put back until another time. Impulse buying is one of the worst money wasters of all! Take a list, take a basket, and think thrifty!

Food Storage Friday – Today lets quickly review the minimum requirements for long term storage.

This is for 1 adult male for 1 year and = approximately 2300 calories per day.

Grains – 400 lbs – white flour should be a part of this as well as rice, pasta, and other grains your family uses, learn to sprout grains, this greatly increases their vitamin content, and wheat grass is one of the best vitamin supplements you can use.

Beans & Legumes – 60 lbs – Black beans cook quickly, soy beans can be used to make soy milk and tofu, most beans are good for sprouting,

Dairy –minimum 16 lbs – milk powder can be used to make cottage cheese, cream cheese, and hard cheese, sour cream, whipped topping, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and of course drinkable milk

Oils – 10 quarts – This will help boost the calories and supply your essential fatty acids, as well as making cooking so much easier

Sugars – 60 lbs – This includes honey, syrups, white and brown sugars, candy and other sweets that will help keep appetite fatigue away

Salt – 8 lbs

Water – minimum 14 gallons

Two five gallon buckets will hold about 75 lbs of wheat, rice or other grains. So you will need 11 buckets of grain for each person in your family. Beans – a 25 lb bag of beans will fit in a 5 gallon bucket with a bit of space left over, so 2 buckets would hold about a one person supply for one year.

If you divide 400 lbs of grain by 365 days, it equals to just over 1 lb of grain per person per day. That is approximately 2 cups of unground grain to cover your three meals for the day.

If you divide 60 lbs of beans by 365, this works out to 0.16 lbs of beans per day or 2.6 oz, or about ¾ cup.

This isn't much food to live off. It would keep you alive, but wouldn't be wonderful or pleasant. Get these basics for each person, and then work hard to add other kinds of food such as canned or dried fruits and vegetables. If all you have are the basics, then you are going to live off the minimal survival diet, but at least you will be alive. One example of this would be this minimum diet would provide about 6 small biscuts per person, per day, or one plateful of pancakes.

Recipe

Lentil Soup – Serves 8 – 10

2 cups lentil

1 ½ quarts water and 6 chicken or beef bouillon cubes, or broth equivalent

1 large can or bottle stewed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

3 carrots sliced

1 onion diced

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb cooked hamburger or tvp substitute (optional)

other vegetables sliced or diced (optional)

Put all ingredients in kettle and bring to boil (except hamb or tvp) let cook until tender. Add hamburger and heat. Serve with corn chips or biscuts.

December Newsletter

 

Today While The Sun Shines

Medicine Hat 1^st Ward December 2008

Store Some Sweets!

We are told that we should have some sweet treats in our food storage. These are called comfort foods because they offer us comfort and break the monotony in a crisis. Hard candy has a very long shelf life as does chewing gum. Whatever you choose, make sure that you wrap the items in plastic, store in a bucket or sealed container, to prevent damage from humidity and to minimize flavor loss. This is a good time of year to stock up on candy when it goes on sale around Christmas time. Hot chocolate and other powdered drinks are other sweets with a long shelf life that will add variety to your food storage. Hot chocolate and orange drink crystals are sold through the church cannery for a very reasonable price and can be dry pack canned for a very long shelf life.

Time to set some goals for 2009!

• Spiritual Goals – set goals for yourself, with your spouse, and your family for the year like: genealogy, family home evening, family prayer, service, and scripture reading

• Character Goals – Thomas Jefferson used to pick 13 character traits he wished to improve in himself each year. For example you could pick honesty, kindness, integrity, modesty, gratitude, service, patience, temperance, cleanliness, courage, generosity, loyalty, humility and tact. He would practice each for one week totally focusing on the particular virtue. This can be done 4 times a year. Imagine how refined your character would be if you did this for the rest of your life? If you would like a comprehensive list of 52 virtues go to www.virtuesproject.com

• Food Storage Goals – What would you like to accomplish by the end of 2009? You can start your food storage program with 1 month of food for each family, if you have already achieved this, then set the goal for 3 months, and so on.

• 72 Hour Goals – Make goals to improve and complete your 72 hour kits. Make a goal to practice using them once this year. Look to the spring when with other families you can take an opportunity to live off of them, to evaluate, and improve.

Storing Powdered Milk for Your Food Storage

Powdered milk is a very important food storage basic. It can be used for both cooking and baking. It can be reconstituted with water to make milk and can be used to make yogurt, cheese, and other goodies like whipped topping. It is an important source of nutrition in your food storage. Nonfat milk either regular or instant stores well in airtight, low oxygen packaging. Low oxygen means that the oxygen has been removed, as in dry pack canning. This will increase the length of time the milk can be stored by 2 – 3 times. It also has a better flavor than when stored in boxes or plastic bags. It is important to buy non fat milk as powdered milk with fat has a short shelf life and will go rancid after 6 – 9 months at room temperature. Powdered milk can be packed and stored in the #10 cans and has a 20+ year shelf life stored this way. Each can will hold approximately 7.3 pounds of milk, when shaken down and dry packed.

Provident Living Goal – Make a goal to read 30 minutes a day to your children or grandchildren. If you do not have children to read to, make a goal to read at least 30 minutes a day just for pleasure.

You may have tangible wealth untold: Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be – I had a mother who read to me. Strickland Gillilan, "The Reading Mother"

It's not just about reading aloud to them, it is the time spent together in that loving way. Slip into that world where only your imaginations are the limit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diet and Your Health

In the Doctrine and Covenants we are counseled in Section 89 about our diet. We are taught the importance of abstaining from alcohol, coffee and tea. But there is much more information as to what we are to eat if we want to be strong and healthy. The following is from Section 89:

10. And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man -

11. Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.

12. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

13. and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

14. All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;

15. and these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

16. All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground -

17. Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.

18. And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones.

19. And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

20. and shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint.

So a brief summary: We should eat herbs, grains, fruits and vegetables, and meat – eaten sparingly, if at all.

Most people don't take control over their health like they should. According to the Surgeon General in the USA, the leading cause of death and disability is a poor diet. This leads to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, all things which could probably be prevented by proper diet.

The Lord has blessed us with some pretty specific guidelines and pretty specific blessings if we follow those guidelines. We can sustain and improve our health and the health of our families, by following the Word of Wisdom, and "eating what we store and storing what we eat."

We feel the need to emphasize with greater clarity the obligation for members of the Church to become more independent and self reliant." Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1983.

 

 

 

Spiritual Goal

Decide as a family how you can better remember and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Preparedness Tip

Make duplicate keys for everything. All adult members, and other responsible family members should have a key for everything.

Sore Throat? Just mix ¼ cup of vinegar with ¼ cup honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. Both the vinegar and the honey will kill bacteria.

 

 

 

Ready?

Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come..... D&C 1:12

The people in your neighboring cities have been devastated by a natural disaster, and have been forced to evacuate their area. Your Bishop said that they will be arriving shortly after church today. There are 500 people that are hungry, cold, tired, dirty, and really discouraged. Many are in a state of emotional shock after what they have been through. They need places to stay for at least 5 days, until most of them can figure out what other options they have. How many will you be willing to take into your home?

Your first thoughts are okay, how many beds do I have extra.....so I guess I can take 2 into my home. The Bishop looks at you and says, "Now come on, how many can you REALLY take?" So you have to rethink.....okay, I have couches, a family room, sleeping bags, and lots of floor space. You can take 8 or 10.

How many could you really take in for a few days? Where would you put them? Do you have extra bedding, toothbrushes, and food? Could you include them into your normal flow of daily life? Meals? Laundry? Showers?

How would you be their friend and help them emotionally? What would you do? Could you do it? Are you ready???

Recipe

Lemon Squares Recipe

A great recipe for Christmas!!
Crust:
* 1 cup margarine or butter
* 2 cups flour
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Mix and pat into a 9X13 inch pan. Bake 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Filling:
* 4 eggs beaten well (or equivalent powdered eggs)
* 2 cups sugar
* 6 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 tablespoon flour
* pinch of salt
Beat these ingredients together and pour over the crust. Bake for 25-30 minutes until it has set.
This is very tasty and freezes well.

Weekly Wisdom #10

Weekly Wisdom #10

Motivational Monday - Practice drills for your family are a good way to remind your family what to do in case of emergencies. Today for your family time, take a bit of time to review what your family would do if there were a fire in the house. Go through each room in the house and point our two exits for each room. Then have the kids go and act as if they are doing something they would do each day, when all of a sudden someone yells fire! Have them go through the mock emergency, and their escape routes. You might also want to pair up your kids so that they have a buddy system to ensure that the younger ones have an older one responsible to help them. Or one adult to one or two children as a buddy system. This way you know who you are each responsible for and then the parent is responsible to check in with each of the older ones. Practicing for emergencies will help us to keep calmer in emergencies. It is a well known fact that when in emergencies we all tend to not think clearly, so if we have practiced, then we won't have to think too hard, it will be a natural reaction of what we should do. Preparedness is not living in fear. Preparedness is being aware of things that could happen, so we know how to act responsibly, and confidently, with clear minds. Preparedness is peace of mind!

Timely Tuesday – Ever thought of how much toilet paper your family would go through in one year? Here are a couple of ways you can figure it out. Start today, and either have a small paper and pen beside your toilet, checking off a mark every time you change the roll, or have a bag somewhere in your bathroom where you can place all of the empty rolls for one month. Count them up and multiply by 12, then you will know how many rolls your family will need for one year. I personally would rather use toilet paper, than newsprint, or old magazines. Start storing your toilet paper, every time you buy one package for your house, buy one to tuck away for storage purposes, and don't touch it. Soon you will have a nice little stash! Your family will thank you.

Workin' Wednesday – In an emergency, there are three things vital to your survival. Water, Food, and Shelter. If you have these three things, you can deal with most other problems. In your 72 hour kits, you have your food for a minimum of 3 days, your water and water purification options, and now you should make sure today that you have some sort of shelter ready for your family. The types of shelter you will want for your family will depend on the size of your family and any special needs they may have. If you are on your own and love being in the outdoors, you may get away with a tarp, ropes, and a few stakes as your shelter. However if you have to evacuate and you have a spouse and a few children of various ages, you should think a bit differently. Do you have a comfortable tent that would be easy to grab and go? Do you have enough tarps in case of severe weather, so you can shelter your tent? Think of this third most important survival need and prepare for it today. If you need to purchase some things you don't have, then at least make a list of what you need so you can start working on it. Water, Food and Shelter will keep us alive! Take away any one of these and ..... well you get the picture!

Thrifty Thursday – Today think about saving money by using your clothesline. Don't have one? You can pick up all of the basic supplies to build a clothesline from your local hardware store for fairly inexpensive, compared to even one month worth of using your clothes dryer. I have heard many people complain about the high prices of utilities, but don't think of simple ways like this to decrease their expenses. Plus using a clothesline gives your clothes a great fresh smell that they can only get by being dried outdoors. Even in the winter you can dry your clothes outside. They may be a little stiff, but if you pop them into the dryer for 10 minutes they will fluff up nicely. 10 minutes.....compared to one hour to dry a load. Significant savings, and another important way of being prepared.

Food Storage Friday - I read this quote the other day, "Food in the basement is better than money in the bank." Not sure where it came from, but I my thoughts are, "Ya think!" Take a good long look at the news today, most of us would agree that food in our basement / our own "grocery store", will be to us, as Noah's Ark was to those that boarded it. In fact President Ezra Taft Benson said "The Revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah." I suggest we do it NOW! Start investing in what is important! I am not saying that you shouldn't invest in other things too, but we have been counseled for many years to do this, as was Noah counseled to build the ark, and the time to disregard this counsel, is past. "FOOD IN THE BASEMENT IS BETTER THAN MONEY IN THE BANK!" Think about it!

Honey Carrot Cake

2 eggs (can use substitute)

½ cup oil

¼ tsp salt

1 cup honey

½ cup butter milk (use powdered)

1 cup shredded carrots (could use dried ones and reconstitute)

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups flour

Beat eggs. Add all other liquid ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Add carrots and mix well. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Weekly Wisdom #9

WEEKLY WISDOM #9

Motivational Mondy – Be thankful and grateful for your freedom of religion. Be thankful we have a living prophet to guide us through these days. Be thankful that our prophets have warned us and guided us to be prepared. "Be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked." D&C 29:8

Timely Tuesday – How can I prepare for a blackout? Have some of these basic supplies on hand: candles, matches, lighters, lanterns, fuel for lanterns, batteries, and alternate cooking source, like full propane tank for your barbecue.

What do I do during a blackout? Turn off any appliances or electronics you were using, to avoid spikes or surges damaging equipment when the power comes back on. Leave one light turned on so you will know when the power comes back on. Leave your fridge and freezer closed as much as possible to keep things cold. Use the phone for emergency only. Eliminate unnecessary travel because signal lights will not be working traffic congestion will happen. Remember to provide for your pets in blackouts. Put on layers of clothing. Never burn charcoal indoors. Have your supplies all ready, easily accessible.

Workin' Wednesday – Add today to your 72 hour kit a list. This list is a "DON'T FORGET" list. Include all items that you need to remember to take with you but are using each day so they can't be put into your kits. Tape it to the side of your kit securely so that it doesn't peel off. The list should include things like keys, wallet, medications, special needs, recipe book, tent, sleeping bags, etc. Write down beside each item where you can find it. In an emergency it is easy to forget even the simplest things. Also if there is someone else helping you evacuate, they can easily find what they need by looking on your kit. Since your kits will already be by your door, ready to go, you should have a few minutes to quickly gather these items, especially if you have your list ready.

Thrifty Thursday – "There is an old wise saying: Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. Thrift is a practice of not wasting anything. Some people are able to get by because of the absence of expense. They have their shoes resoled, they patch, they mend, they sew, and they save money. They avoid installment buying, and make purchases only after saving enough to pay cash, thus avoiding interst charges. Furgality means to practice careful economy." James E. Faust

As we are thinking of Christmas this year, let's not be wasteful on our purchases. Let us have a new way of helping those we love. How many times do we waste money on things that are just that, "things" that have no real value. Give gifts this year that will make a difference in the lives of those you know. Here are a few small ideas.

• A small lantern and fuel for it
• Wind up flashlight / radio
• Grain mill and a few bags of wheat
• 72 hour kit
• Emergency Car Kit
• Good sleeping bag
• Warm outdoor clothing
• Cookbooks for food storage

Food Storage Friday – Price recognition is important in food storage. Before you can take advantage of good deals, you need to be able to recognize them. Create a worksheet or list of items you are looking for, or commonly use. Begin to watch the flyers and check around to various places and start to track the prices and soon you will be able to pick out the good ones. And then when you learn to pick out the good deals, learn to buy them in bulk to stock up on items regularly used in your food storage. Soon you will find that you "FOOD STORAGE SHOP" not "grocery shop". Then you start to see some real results in your home preparedness and it gets exciting.

Sopapillas (These will keep for weeks without refrigeration, and can also be frozen for longer term.)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/3 cup dry milk

3 tablespoons shortening

3/4 cup cool water

Optional cinnamon-sugar coating:

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix together the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening. At this point, you have a mix. Store the mix for no longer than thirty days in the pantry, six months in the refrigerator, or two years in the freezer.

2. To use the mix, place the ingredients in a medium bowl. Form a depression in the middle and pour in the water.

3. Cut the water into the mix. The dough will be crumbly and dry. Remove to a clean surface and knead for two minutes. You will have a stiff dough.

4. Form the dough into balls the size of golf balls. Smash the balls flat with the heel of your hand until they are no more than 1/4-inch thick.

5. Heat cooking oil in a heavy fry pan or Dutch oven. The oil should be 3/8- inch deep and hot enough that there is a slight sizzle when the dough is placed in the oil.

6. Fry each side until brown. You can then slit open one side and fill with taco meat, chili, tuna salad, or whatever your family likes. Or you can dip in cinnamon and sugar.

These will turn into a family favorite and are so easy to make.

Makes about 36