Week 5 - Long Haul

You guessed it. 

 

This week we are still working on getting the sugar/honey into our long term storage.

 

So, once again, the task is:

1. to either purchase at least 8.3 pounds of sugar/honey for every two people in your family

OR

to take an envelope, and put in $5 for every 2 people in your family so you can save up to buy it in greater bulk.

2. If you purchase this week, be sure to label it with the date of purchase. (Properly canned sugar and honey last for many years, but you will still want to be rotating it after you get your full amount in storage, and you will want first in/first out.) Then put the sugar in the place you have designated for your year's supply.

So far I have not heard from any of you that you have completed your sugar storage. Please let me know when you do. I have this scheduled for a number of weeks, but if we are all done, I'd be glad to move on sooner to other things.

Have a sweet week,

Marie

Week 5 - Provident Pantry

Morning sisters,

It must be time for breakfast.

This week we are going to focus on cold cereal. From the menu/ingredients lists that you have sent to me, it looks like we all have some amount of cold cereal in our plans. Please spend your $5 per every two people in your family this week on the cold cereal boxes of your choice.

Be sure to put your stickers (with the expiration dates) on the boxes and store them in your identified place. Remember, each time you start using a stickered item, that you write it immediately on your grocery list, so that it is quickly replaced in your 3 month storage.

Judging by the number of boxes I see in your calculations, it looks like we will need a minimum of two weeks to get this goal accomplished. For those of you with higher needs, remember there will be weeks ahead where you will already have what you need of other items, and you can come back and fill in your cereal needs.

Also, cold cereal companies are generous with coupons, as are grocery stores. So if you are a couponer, this is a great place to use your skills in stretching your budget. As always, if you know of good deals going on at local stores, or if you have good websites you use to get cold cereal coupons or if you have a bunch of coupons sitting there that you won't use and would like to share with the sisters, please let us know.

The alternate assignment for those of you that already have your 3 month storage of cold cereal is to look down your ingredient list for spices you will need and spend your alloted money on them instead.

Here's to fine breakfasting,

Marie

Week 5 - 72 Crew

Dear 72 Crew,


Sometimes life comes with soundtracks. Today as I started this email, there is was: Food, Glorious Food. I LOVE that song from the musical "Oliver". So, here 'tis - a youtube link for one company's production of it:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5DvrSP0Nd0&feature=related


And with that for the opening song, we get to this week's focus: A 3 day supply of food per person and pet in your family. On your checklists, you will see a number of suggestions from Protein Bars to Jolly Ranchers. Don't feel that you have to have all of these. Do focus on protein and energy. You are also going to want things that take little preparation. You may be able to mix with water. You may be able to warm things, but maybe not.


Some families use MREs. These have been used by the military for years and are easily transportable and compact, however, there are many brands out there and the "eatability" quotient of these is variable. So if you choose these, be sure you have an evening when you have these for dinner and make sure your family will really eat these before packing them in your 72 hour kits.


Take the same consideration and trial for protein bars. There are some wonderfully nutritious bars out there. But passing the gag test on some of them may be a family challenge. It could make for a fun FHE, though. One of my son's family regularly has taste test challenges on a variety of things for their FHEs.


If you choose to have canned items, remember that this will increase the weight of what is transported. Make sure you can accomodate that. And unless you choose the pop top variety, be sure to pack a can opener this week also.


Another FHE idea to accomplish this is to take your family to the grocery store and tell them the task is for them to find things that are individually packaged that they would eat for 3 days of meals. You'll have to have a talk before you turn them loose regarding "packability" and nutrition.


Over the years, Mark and I and the kids have put in various things. Right now, we have granola bars for breakfasts, tuna lunch kits for lunches, and pop top soups for dinners. We'd love to hear what each of your have/are deciding to put in your 72 hour kits.


If you have babies, don't forget their needs as to formula or strained foods.


Remember your pets. Measure out what they would need to eat for 3 days and put it in strong freezer type ziplock type baggies. If one of your bags is "communal", keep it in that bag. If not, store it in the 72 hour bag of the person in your family most likely to have charge of the pets during an emergency. To provide them a "feeding station" you may be able to make due with the containers from things you are eating. However, you can often find a cheap pet feeder at a "dollar" type store, and you may appreciate its convenience later on. So that may be a good thing to add to your kit.


In brief, the assignment for all of you this week, whether you are refreshing or buying for your kits for the first time, is to spend your $5 (per every two people in your family) on getting food items for the 3 days of food for your family members.


We will have this assignment for the next 5 weeks as well. (I've budgeted $5 per person per day. Your budget may be a little higher or lower based on your family's likes and needs.) Remember that some things you may find you can take right out of your pantry.


For those of you who are still putting things in cardboard boxes while you save for carrying bags, put any leftover money you have during this 6 week period in your savings envelope. Please let me know as you get your bags purchased.


Food, glorious food. In an emergency, we may be able to get by on gruel, but your family will be comforted if they know they have food they like in their kits to tide them over for 3 days.


Happy shopping,

Marie

Week 4 - Long Haul

Sweet Sisters,


This week, it is same song, 2nd verse.

So again the task is:

 

1. to either purchase at least 8.3 pounds of sugar/honey for every two people in your family

OR

to take an envelope, and put in $5 for every 2 people in your family so you can save up to buy it in greater bulk.

2. If you purchase this week, be sure to label it with the date of purchase. (Properly canned sugar and honey last for many years, but you will still want to be rotating it after you get your full amount in storage, and you will want first in/first out.) Then put the sugar in the place you have designated for your year's supply.

 

While I have sugar/honey scheduled for a number of weeks, please email me when you have your sugar in place. If you all finish early, we will move on to other things.

Happy storing. You are doing great.

 

Week 4 - Provident Pantry

YOU SISTERS ROCK,


You have done the hardest part. You have completed your menus. You have completed the ingredients list. You have completed the calculations. Yahoo!!! Give yourselves pats on the back.


Today we start stocking. The first thing you will need is stickers. Rule of thumb is keep them colorful and make sure you can write on them. A rectangular file label sticker works fine as do the round ones. EVERY food item in your home that is part of your 3 month food supply needs to have a sticker on it.


So: The first task this week is to go around your kitchen/pantry/storage and put a sticker on everything that is already part of your 3 month food supply. Be sure you check the expiration date and write it on each label. You may realize that you need to do a little organization as you complete this task, because you will need to be using up the food that has the earliest expiration date first. Those of you who have served in the Bishops' Storehouse or worked in a grocery store have seen this organization on a much larger basis.


Alternate sticker assignment: You can also just put the stickers on the individual items as we address them each week.


As I have looked at the menus you have sent me, it looks like something most of us need is a 3 month supply of milk for our family. However, I also see that some of you already have your milk supply, so if you do, the alternate focus this month is nuts. (And if you already have milk and nuts, pick something you think is a little more unique to your family and work on getting it.)


Milk: Using myself as an example, my first preference is "straight from the grocery store" 2% milk. However, as you saw on my example, I need 15 gallons and there is no way I have room for that in my refrigerator. So the first task for me has been to find an alternative.


The Home Storage Center offers a high quality nonfat dry milk. I believe a 25 lb bag costs about $47.20 and if you can it in the #10 cans with the oxygen absorbers or seal it in the pouches it will store up to 20 years. (I do not know how many servings are in 25 lbs.) So, it is one of those things you could purchase, put your sticker on it with the expiration date, and not worry about rotating it into your daily eating as you will be most of what we have in our 3 month supply. Indeed, many of you already have it in your long term storage.


What I have found with Mark and I, though, is that we generally gag on nonfat dry milk for drinking, although we can easily use it for baking. So I have found an alternative that mixes very well for drinking although it needs to be cold and have a little vanilla in it. If you are interested in the specific product I use, I would be glad to share that with you on an individual basis, but I am not going to be trying to "sell" certain items, brands or food storage companies to you, so I will not include it here in the general group email or in the blog.


Again, we do welcome price shopping hints from any of you. As you go out to buy your milk and you find a good deal, please let the rest of us know.


So the assignment this week is to either spend $5 per every two people in your family on a fresh milk substitute or put that $5 per every two people in an envelope and put the envelope in a safe spot where we can collect money that we will be spending on milk a little later in the year. On the envelope write that the money is designated for milk storage. If you purchase this week, be sure you label it and put it in the area you have designated for your 3 month supply.


If you have your milk, spend or save your $5 per every 2 people this week on nuts. For example, in my plan, I need 5 Cups of almonds. I purchase mine at a local store where I measure it and put it in a bag at the store and then transfer it to a heavy duty zip bag where I label it and put in the box under my bed. Then when I am done with the partial bag that is in my cupboard, I get the bag from under my bed and start using it, and immediately buy another 5 C bag of almonds to label and put under my bed. This is also a good example of the kind of rotating you will be doing with most of the items in your 3 month storage. As soon as you have the complete amount of an item you need for 3 months, you rotate it into your daily eating, immediately replacing the amount you take out of the 3 month storage.


Have fun this week, stocking or saving for your milk and nuts!!!

Week 4 - 72 Crew

Good morning sisters,

 

Mark had such a good time with you all at the special RS meeting on Saturday. It sounds like LOTS was accomplished!!!

 

OK, so you have or are working on getting your bags/containers, you have underwear and a change of clothes for everyone in your family. Now we are going to work on WATER.

 

The rule of thumb for water is: 1 gallon per person per day. In Mark and my situation, therefore, we figure 2 people times 3 days and add some for dogs...so we came up with needing 7 gallons (we have little dogs). So do the math for your family and see what you come up with.

 

Living where we do, the water you can usually take right out of the tap. So coming up with water is not the challenge. However, what to put the water in can be a challenge. The containers can also be a $ item.

The other rule of thumb is that it needs to be quickly transportable. Those of you at the Saturday activity heard that the Bastrop people were given 1 minute to get out of their homes. Remember a 72 hour kit is pretty much a "grab and go" arrangement.

 

And water is heavy, so you have to solve the transportability issue. So this week you will need to study water containers and decide what you want.

 

The other challenge can be the purification issue. I have taken the following quote from the Josephine County Oregon Emergency Preparedness Handbook. "Purify water by boiling it for 5 to 10 minutes or by adding drops of household bleach containing 5.25% hypochlorite. FEMA recommends 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water. Water purification tablets or a filter system such as those designed for campers and backpackers also work." My understanding is that if you are using distilled or nursery water, that this process has already been done. I have also seen much smaller amounts of bleach recommended in other sites. I am no water expert. So I again will leave this to your own research, judgement and prayer as to how to prepare your water.

Here is the link to the handbook I just referenced. We have found it to be a very good guide to preparedness.

 

http://www.co.josephine.or.us/files/2009bookfinal.pdf

For those of you who were at the Saturday activity, you saw the water containers Mark and I are currently using. The last revision we made to our 72 hour kits, we had decided to simply pack gallon containers of distilled water into our rolling duffel bags. Bad idea. Only 1 out of the 7 made it through the 6 months. So we have invested in two more durable stackable containers. Our plan is that they stack on top of each other and are strapped to our dolly, so that we can either heft them into the back of our jeep or can pull them behind us.

 

As, I am sure you are realizing, 72 hour kits are all individually designed to meet the needs of your particular family. So please share with us how you address getting the water needs met for your family in your 72 hour kit.

 

Assignments:

RED Team: Again put $5/every 2 people in your family into your envelope in your cardboard box for your 72 kit containers. Determine how much water you will need and how you are going to store and transport it. Look around your home for storage containers you can repurpose for water. Until you get/can afford what you want, start cleaning out those containers that your milk, soda, etc. comes in and fill them with water and put them in another cardboard box with handles in the sides, so you can pick them up and go if you need to.

YELLOW and BLUE Team: Review your water needs and transportation needs. Do you have enough water? Has it been changed out in the last 6 months? Is it in containers that are transportable. If you have suggestions of things that have worked for you in regards to water storage, remember we have sisters here who are just beginning the water storage journey and would love to have the benefit of your experience, so please feel free to share your stories with us.

Week 3 - The Long Haul

Morning,   As I have been thinking about you guys this week, I have often been finding myself singing, "Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime". Wonderful old song!!! Brings back sweet memories!   Anyway, so again the task this week is:     1. to either purchase at least 8.3 pounds of sugar/honey for every two people in your family   OR   to take an envelope, and put in $5 for every 2 people in your family so you can save up to buy it in greater bulk.     2. If you purchase this week, be sure to label it with the date of purchase. (Properly canned sugar and honey last for many years, but you will still want to be rotating it after you get your full amount in storage, and you will want first in/first out.) Then put the sugar in the place you have designated for your year's supply.   Sweet storing, Marie

Week 3 - Provident Pantry

You guys rock!!!

So, you have your menus for 9 days - check!

 

And you have made your ingredient lists for those menus - check!

 

You have identified problem areas, i.e. my fresh carrot storage problem, and changed or adapted the ingredients list - check! (With our carrot problem, I realized that the other way Mark likes carrots is cooked in orange juice, so I changed fresh carrots to dried carrots and Tang to my ingredient list.)

 

Now this week, add up the amounts you need for each ingredient and times it by 10 so you know how much you need of that ingredient.

For example, we use some milk almost every day, and that I have discovered that for the 9 days, I will need 24 cups of milk. 24 cups of milk times 10 is 240 cups of milk. And 240 cups of milk is 15 gallons. Now... times 10 is a piece of cake. Converting to gallons...not so much. So here is one of my favorite internet converting sites:

http://www.calculateme.com/Volume/index.htm

 

If you have another site that works well for you, please share it with the rest of us.

Now, while I would love to have fresh milk, obviously I won't have room for 15 gallons in my refrigerator, so my task now is to decide on which powdered/canned milk when reconstituted with water will taste the best. So I'll ask you guys. Do you have a favorite that your family will actually drink or have on cereal?

 

Now when you have your menus, and calculated ingredients list in place, please send them off to me this week. I will be using these lists to determine our shopping lists for the next weeks. We will be working through a number of basics first. (Don't worry, we'll work in the tapioca and jalepenos down the road.)

There is fun in the preparing,

Marie

P.S. I know there are a few of you who are a little concerned about your families not having enough variety, along the lines of, "Are they going to get sick of having 9 days of meals repeated 10 times if they had to live on that food for 3 months?" I chose this method simply because I thought that it was easily doable and easily calculatable (times 10). However, if you want to prepare a whole month of menus and times it by 3, here is a site I really like:

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babysteps/step-3-three-months-of-normal-food/

 

Week 3 - 72 Crew

Hi team,

This week is "change of clothing" week.

If you are part of the RED team, put $5 more/per every 2 people in your family into the envelope in which you are collecting the money from which you will purchase your bags. And BTW, I and probably others in the group would love to know what you have decided to purchase and why. It would also help us all to keep an eye out for good deals for you. Your second task is to pick out a change of clothes for every member of your family and stick them in your cardboard collection box. This should be sturdy clothing. Think "camping" type clothes. If you didn't include socks in the underwear from last week, be sure to include them this week.

YELLOW and BLUE teams: If you already had a change of clothing for everyone in your kits, this is the week to review it (get the family to help) to make sure it all still fits. If it doesn't fit, replace it with clothing that does.

Happy changing,

Marie

Week 2 - The Long Haul

Hey, hey, hey sisters,

 

So did you get your salt all salted away?

OK...so now we are going to work on sugar/honey/alternatives for actually a few weeks. The church no longer gives recommendations as to how much per person to store for a year. Sugar and honey have very long shelf lives. I have no idea as to the shelf live of stevia (we keep a certain amount of stevia in our storage because I have a son who has diabetes, and I like it in my herbal teas) and other alternatives. Having gone to a number of other websites, it looks like a common goal is 100 pounds per person per year. So that will be our goal. However, you know your families best (perhaps you are very frugal with sugar, perhaps you have a sweet tooth), so feel free to make adjustments to that.

 

We are going to spend the next 12 weeks on sugar/honey/alternatives. Right now, if you buy sugar at the Home Storage Center, it is $15 for a 25 lb sack. If you find a better deal, let us know by replying to all.

 

So the task this week is:

 

1. to either purchase at least 8.3 pounds of sugar/honey for every two people in your family

OR

to take an envelope, and put in $5 for every 2 people in your family so you can save up to buy it in greater bulk.

 

2. If you purchase this week, be sure to label it with the date of purchase. (Properly canned sugar and honey last for many years, but you will still want to be rotating it after you get your full amount in storage, and you will want first in/first out.) Then put the sugar in the place you have designated for your year's supply.

For those of you that would like to save up for a few weeks and then go out to the Home Storage Center in a few weeks to purchase, I would be glad to set up a time when we could go together. Just let me know if you are interested.

 

In six weeks I am also going to check out the canner to be able to put the sugar in #10 cans. We can do that at the church. We also will be trying to get the canner to the church for the January 21st activity, although that has not been confirmed yet. If you have canned before and want to bring some of your product to can that day, that is also a possibility. Remember you will have had to purchase your cans, lids, and oxygen absorbers before then and bring them with you to the church that day.

 

Take care...and have a "sweet" week,

Marie

Week 2 - Provident Pantry

Good morning sisters,

 

I am getting some of your menus back. Good for you!!! I know some of you are still working on this aspect. Good for you!!!

This week is a little more time consuming. Whereas last week's task probably took you an hour. This week it will probably take you 3 hours. So budget your time. This week you will also be identifying things in your menus that may need to be re-thought. For example, we eat fresh carrots/veggies with a lot of our meals. Fresh won't keep for 3 months, sooooo, what can I replace that with. Mark doesn't like frozen or canned carrots, so we are in discussions as I speak .

 

The other thing Mark and I quickly noted is we have a very limited freezer. And while a number of things will keep in the freezer, we are going to have to change some things to canned rather than frozen.

 

A head's up for next week: Next week we will be calculating how much of every ingredient you will need for the 3 month's supply.

If you do and like spreadsheets, you can use that format. You can just write it all out on paper if you prefer.

One of the things that will help our group's vitality and help us help each other is if we do some talking to one another about our challenges.  I know some of us have to keep vegan, diabetic, celiac, etc., needs in mind. So if you would like some input, please ask us all.

So, in quick summary, the tasks for this week are:

1. Make your ingredient list for all your menus from last week. Remember, you don't need to do your calculations until NEXT week.

2. Identify any areas of your menus that need to be changed and change them.

Can't wait to hear how it is coming,

Marie

Week 2 - 72 Crew

Morning Sisters,

OK, we've had some more wonderful sisters join us, so for review, consider yourself in the RED subgroup if you are beginning to to put together your 72 hour kit

YELLOW subgroup it you are in the middle

BLUE if you have a kit but it needs refreshing.

This week is UNDERWEAR week.

RED TEAM

1. Put another $5 per every two people into your envelope that is going to purchase you carrying bags.

2. Pick out two changes of undergarments for every person in your family and put them in your cardboard box. (1 change will do if that is all you can spare right now.)

YELLOW TEAM

Assuming you have the carriers you intend to use:

Either:

Pick out two changes of undergarments for every person in your family and put them in your cardboard box. (1 change will do if that is all you can spare right now.)

OR

If that is something you have in the kits already, check the sizing on each garment and make sure it still fits. It not, take it our and replace with current underwear. Have the kids and husband help.

BLUE TEAM

Yea, you know where this is going. Get the husband and kids to help you check the kits. It their underwear no longer fits, have them change it out for underwear that fits and hopefully will fit for 6 months.

Note to all: 72 hour kits need to be reviewed every 6 months to do just the kind of things we are talking about, making sure clothing fits and that food hasn't passed their use by dates.

Next week will be Outer clothing, so if you want to do it all at the same time, feel free. It will just be more time consuming to do it all at once.

You guys are great. Talk with you next week.

Marie

Week 1 - The Long Haul

<><><><> <><><><> <><><><>

Dear Sisters,   This week there are two tasks:   1. Get some stickers, round ( say with a 3/4 - 1 inch diameter) or rectagular (like file labels) that you can write on. We will be placing a sticker with an expiration date on each thing we add to our year long storage. Choose a color you will notice, because when you rotate it out to use, you will need to immediately repurchase it for the year storage. 2. Identify a place in your home where you will be storing your year's supply. 3. First thing to add this week: SALT. There are debates as to whether it should be iodized or plain. You are welcome to read the debates on the internet, but ultimately the choice is yours.   We will be trying to keep the budget each week at about $5 for every 2 people in your family. (For a family of 4 the budget will be $10 a week, etc.) To give you an idea of pricing, Walmart has a deal where if you buy 24 containers of salt (1 lb 10 oz per container) you get them for 89 cents a container.   So, this week, the goal is to purchase 5 containers of salt for every 2 people in your family, put a sticker on each container with the expiration date, and put it in your identified storage place.  And know, dear sisters that YE are the salt of the earth!   Happy Salt hunting.

Week 1 - Provident Pantry

Dear Sisters,

Here we go!!

This week the task is to design menus for 9 days.  Please include menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack. A heads up, since this is a 3 month storage, you will probably not be using fresh fruits and vegetables, so be thinking canned/frozen/dried. These menus should be meals that your family enjoys and are a regular part of your family's everyday eating.

Another heads up: next week will probably be the most time consuming piece of this project as you will be submitting a list of ingredients for all the menus, so if next week is going to be super busy, feel free to get a head start on that this week.

Have fun creating your menus. Can't wait to see them,

Week 1 - 72 Crew

Here is a possible checklist to use for the 72 hour kits we will be creating.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/preparation/72_hour_kit.pdf   Hi Team,   Yay, it is Week 1 of our getting prepared.   Within this group there will be 3 mini support groups. Some weeks the mini groups will have different tasks. Some weeks we will all have the same task. This week it is a bit of a combo.   Red Team (starting from scratch or re-scratch)   Yellow Team (somewhere in the middle)   Blue Team (needs refreshing)     RED Team 1. Get a cardboard box and label it 72 hr kit   2. Identify the spot in which you are going to keep your 72 hour kit - think easily accessible.   3. Decide what permanent kind of travel container you are going to want to carry your 72 hr kit. There are pros and cons of various kinds. Do you want it on rollers? Do you want it all in backpacks? Think sturdy and transportable. Do a little "window" shopping on the internet and identify what you think you want and how much it will cost.   4. For every two people in your family, put $5 in an envelope labeled For 72 Hour Kit Container and put it in your cardboard box above or in another safe place.   5. Print out the pdf file at the beginning of this email and put it in your cardboard box.   YELLOW Team Print out the pdf at the beginning of this email, mark off everything that you have and scan and email it back to me. If you have another list you are working from, please just send that to me.   BLUE Team Ah, bless your hearts, this is probably the toughest task this week.   1. Pull out your 72 hour kit(s), check all expiration dates of perishable things, and throw away everything that is past its use by date. If you have husband and kids, schedule this at a time that all of them can help you do this.   2. Print out the pdf at the beginning of this and put it with your 72 hour kit.   Onward, ever onward. Let me know as you complete your tasks, and have fun.

Names

After submitting and voting, each group came up with a name to call their group.  Those working on 72 hour kits named their group:  72 Crew.  Those working on completing a 3 month food storage named their group:  Provident Pantry.  And the group working on long term storage named their group:  Long Haul.  As I post the weekly emails/posts, I will refer to each group by week and name.

Intro

WELCOME!

Welcome to the McNeil Ward Preparedness Blog.  For the year 2012, we have 3 groups in Relief Society whose goal it is to become better prepared.  One group is focusing on getting and keeping their 72 hour kits for their families in readiness.  The second is working on stocking a 3 month supply of food that their family normally eats.  The third is focusing on completing a year's supply of long term food storage that could sustain life.  Each week, an email goes out to each group.  It will also be posted here so that participants can refer to it later.  Additionally, we will post various links to websites that may be of interest to the participants.

This is NOT an official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.