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!!!