Christmas the Self-Reliant Way

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I really can't believe that December is almost here. Time to think Christmas and what to get your family and friends for gifts this year. Food storage items make great gifts, especially for those hard to buy for people. I recommend Emergency Essentials for some great gadgets. My favorite right now is the hand crank radio that also charges cell phones and plays MP3 players. (as the mom of a teenager, this is a must for entertainment) It is called a Kaito Voyager (model KA500). I also want the solar battery charger. You supply the rechargeable batteries and the sun does the rest. Then worries over having the right amount of batteries is taken care of. They have almost every emergency item available and right now their water barrels are on sale- 55 gallon is $39.99- 30 gallon is $34.99-and the 15 gallon is $24.95. Check out their website for all the fun things- emergencyessentials.com  (I don't get anything for talking about them, I really love their stuff :)

Another gadget that I recently purchased is a hand crank for my Bosch mixer. Kneading dough by hand is not my idea of fun and I am so excited to try out the hand crank. I found it at bestkitchenmachines.com and it ran $14.99 with free shipping. I know several ward members own a Bosch and thought this would be a great gift idea.

The top item on my wish list is a Sun Oven. This handy suitcase sized box cooks your food with the sun. Cold temperatures don't affect the cooking, you only need the sun. Check out the website HERE and see what they can do. The Bosch Kitchen Center on about 6200 S and Highland Dr. carry these. They are pricey, around $300.00 but you can use them all year round. Think how great it would be to have dinner cooking outside in the middle of July.
And lastly, click HERE to read a great post from the Preparedness Pro of her gadget must haves. I really like her website and get a lot of information from her.

I know that many of us don't "need" anything, but home storage items would make wonderful gifts. I would talk to your family ahead of time to make sure the items that you want to buy are items they really want and could use. I really want "real" sleeping bags for my family this year. I think my children would be ok with that as a gift.