Storing Halloween Candy!

Halloween is here! My children returned home with their bags filled to the top with candy.  I have two kinds of kids, those who save their candy, and those who eat as much as they can until they feel sick.  Although they are different they both want their candy to last for a very long time.  A part of my family's food storage is actually candy, brownies, cake mixes, etc.  I want our routine to be as normal as possible in an emergency and so I store candy.  

Sealing up the Halloween Candy in the foodsaver canister.

Storing candy is quite easy if you own a food saver.  If you don't have one you may need to add it to your Christmas wish list.  I use a food saver to store many items in mason jars.  I buy my spices from Winco in large quantities and I seal them in mason jars until I need to refill my plastic spice containers.  It works the same with candy!!  I fill my jars with similar pieces of candy so the flavors don't blend and then I vacuum seal them in the jar.  They will last for years this way.  

 Individually wrapped candy works the best.  I tried to seal candy corn one year and it got really sugary and sticky.  I like the small size candy bars and jolly wrancher type candy.  They fit in the jars well, store well, and are good for portion control :)  So think outside the food storage box and add some fun food to your food storage this Halloween!

October Goals

 

Beans-60lbs per person per year.  Beans, peas, lentils, nuts, and sprouting beans.  Store in a cool dry place and dry beans will last 30+ years.  Canned beans have a shelf life of around 2 years.  Rinse your canned beans and soak dry beans to lessen the "effects" of beans.  Soak dry beans for 8-12 hours, rinse and add new water.  Simmer and cook as directed. 

 

Cold weather clothing and bedding-Take inventory of your coats, hats, gloves, boots, sleeping bags, long underwear, ski clothing, bedding and blankets.  Have a year supply of clothing for children.  Keep blankets and gloves in your car for emergencies. 

 

Enjoy the journey!

Enjoy the blessings!

Feel the peace!

Success When Eating Legumes

When my children hear that we are eating beans I usually get more than one groan from them.  Beans are so healthy and adding them to your diet will help your health, and they are cheap so you'll be saving money as well.  Now...if there was only a magic bean that children loved like candy.  Don't worry, I found some great ideas on getting your family to eat more legumes. 

All of these ideas came from plentyofpicnics.blogspot.com!!

Success When Eating Legumes:

• Choose the easiest form!  Use canned, precooked beans to simplify recipes (no soaking needed). Keep the pantry stocked with a variety of canned legumes for a quick addition or side dish to any meal.
• Power up recipes!  Add dry or canned beans and peas when preparing casseroles, stew, and sides.  Make chili more interesting with combining pinto, black, and kidney beans.
• Serve satisfying soups!  Attract your family with split peas, lentil, minestrone or white bean chili.  Use pureed beans to thicken soups and sauces.
• Make it fun!  Call baked beans COWBOY beans!  Chili could be Chuck Wagon Chili, etc.  Instead of a tostado call it taco pizza, a flat shell, refried beans, hamburger, black beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes.
• Use colorful garnishes!  Kidney beans are beautiful in taco salad, or in any salad.  Edamame is a brilliant green! Black beans add great contrast to your refried bean burrito and chili.
• Salad Bar Sundays!  Enjoy the textures and colors of beans.  Have a salad bar & offer red kidney beans, black beans, green Edamame beans, yellow lentil beans, ant then of course fun sunflower seeds or peanuts and cheese & veggies & wonderful low sugar dressings!  Have you tried the spray dressings?
• Bring back the classics!  Pair baked beans as a side dish with oven-baked chicken!
• After School Snacks!  Corn chips with bean dip.  Flour tortillas with refried beans and cheese.  Edamame beans are fun to pop out of their shells & kids love them.  Trail mix with soy nuts and peanuts mixed between and craisins & pretzels.  Tortilla with cheese, black beans, and salsa.
• Healthy Substitute for meat!  Add some black or kidney beans to your ground hamburger once it is cooked and then you can decrease the amount of meat (which means you also decrease the amount of fat & cholesterol too!)  Great in taco & burrito meat!  Sprinkle some beans in your shepards pie too.
• Try a New Legume Each Week!  Taco salad with kidney beans, refried beans on burritos & double tacos, white beans in white chili, variety beans in taco soup, etc.  

October Goals

 

Beans-60lbs per person per year.  Beans, peas, lentils, nuts, and sprouting beans.  Store in a cool dry place and dry beans will last 30+ years.  Canned beans have a shelf life of around 2 years.  Rinse your canned beans and soak dry beans to lessen the "effects" of beans.  Soak dry beans for 8-12 hours, rinse and add new water.  Simmer and cook as directed. 

 

Cold weather clothing and bedding-Take inventory of your coats, hats, gloves, boots, sleeping bags, long underwear, ski clothing, bedding and blankets.  Have a year supply of clothing for children.  Keep blankets and gloves in your car for emergencies. 

 

Enjoy the journey!

Enjoy the blessings!

Feel the peace!

72-Hour Kit Time Capsule

A friend and neighbor called one day and asked if I would want some old survival kits that were in her home from the previous owner.  Of course I wanted them!  Does a chocoholic like chocolate? I didn't even hesitate and ran over to pick them up.  I was excited to open them up and see what was packaged and what may be still useful.  (We'll get to that later)  My sister was visiting my home and she is interested in all things preparedness so we set up on the back deck with a screwdriver and excitement.

Survival Kits made by the Perma Pack company.

  The kits were sealed in a tin can and were made by Perma Pack in 1961!!!!  I know the date because there was newspaper stuffed into the top of each can with that date on it. I was excited because it said that all the contents fed 6 people and I couldn't wait to see what they had in there.  Well, after we pried the lids off the first thing we noticed was the smell.  I wish I had a scratch and sniff sticker so you all could participate.  You could say the smell was a little overwhelming, and what I really mean is A LOT overwhelming!!  It was very rancid, but we had to keep going to see what was inside.  

This was also fun to read what was going on in 1961.

1961!!!

Inside were packs of dehydrated and powdered food.  My favorite was the powdered multi-purpose food :)  What you would make out of that I don't quite know.  There were powdered drink mixes, cocoa  mix, syrup powder, pancake mix, crackers, rope, kleenex, hand wipes, a sewing kit, plastic spoons, dehydrated carrots, oats, honey powder, instant pudding, fuel tablets, alcohol wipes, instant chicken and beef soups, instant gravy, instant potatoes, powdered applesauce, dehydrated peaches, instant milk powder, camp stew mix, aluminum foil to make a pan with, water disinfectant tablets, multi-vitamins, salt packets, and a whistle.  We did come across the rancid smelling item and it was dehydrated peaches.  I tell you, I can still smell it just by thinking of it.  We actually had to go inside and take a break and get some water.  We all took deep breaths and headed back outside.  

I would love to know what you make with this :)

The source of the awful smell, rotten dehydrated fruit!

 I assume that the food was originally vacuum sealed since it was purchased from the Perma Pack company, but it hadn't held up and the bags all had air in them.  The food was all inedible and rotten.  So if any of you out there have kits that have been sitting in your basement or garage, I highly suggest you find them and go through them.

There was a package of crackers in each can.

We dared my daughter to eat one, and she couldn't do it.

 The only items of use were the plastic cups, spoons, sewing kit, rope, and the matches.  The kits were impressive because they were packed to feed a family of 6 and it was all contained in the tin can.  There were a lot of mixes though and you would need quite a bit of water to make all of the food.  I filled an entire garbage bag with the contents from these kits, so that shows how much actually fit in the cans.

These were all of the item in each can.

 It was like Christmas for me and I had fun opening a time capsule of survival ingredients from days past.  The lesson learned was to keep our 72-hour kits up to-date.  If you could have smelled what I did you would be adding to your kits on a weekly basis :).  

October Goals

 

Beans-60lbs per person per year.  Beans, peas, lentils, nuts, and sprouting beans.  Store in a cool dry place and dry beans will last 30+ years.  Canned beans have a shelf life of around 2 years.  Rinse your canned beans and soak dry beans to lessen the "effects" of beans.  Soak dry beans for 8-12 hours, rinse and add new water.  Simmer and cook as directed. 

 

Cold weather clothing and bedding-Take inventory of your coats, hats, gloves, boots, sleeping bags, long underwear, ski clothing, bedding and blankets.  Have a year supply of clothing for children.  Keep blankets and gloves in your car for emergencies. 

 

Enjoy the journey!

Enjoy the blessings!

Feel the peace!

Recipes Using Beans

Since we are storing beans this month I thought it would be helpful if I shared some great recipes to use them.  In the graham cracker recipe you will use white bean flour and this combined with the flour makes a complete protein.  This makes the cracker healthier and almost equal to the protein you would get from meat, nuts, or dairy.  In a situation where meat may be scarce using your beans a protein source will be helpful to keep your family healthy. 

Graham Crackers

1 ¾ C whole wheat flour
¼ C white bean flour
1/3 C powdered milk
¼ t baking soda
1 t (scant) baking powder
½ t cinnamon
pinch of salt
Mix all above ingredients and then add:
1/3 C oil
½ C warm honey
1 t lemon juice (or vinegar)
1 T vanilla
2 T water
Mix all until well moistened. Spray a jellyroll pan with cooking spray and roll out dough thinly onto pan. Prick with fork. (I actually flip my pan upside down and roll the dough on that side. It makes it easier to cut after cooking) Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into graham cracker rectangles with a pizza cutter. It can be tricky finding the right depth to roll the dough. The thinner the dough the crunchier the cracker.


Black Bean Cakes with Mole Salsa (from tasteofhome.com)
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 egg beaten
1 C shredded zucchini
½ C dry breadcrumbs
¼ C shredded Mexican cheese blend
2 T chili powder
¼ t each salt, baking powder, and cumin
2 T olive oil
Mash the beans and add all ingredients and mix well. Shape into 6 patties and brush both sides with oil. Place on baking sheet and broil 3-4” from heat for 3-4 minutes.

Salsa-
2 med. Tomatoes chopped
1 T lime juice
1 small green pepper, chopped
1-2 t minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
3 T grated chocolate
1 t honey
1 green onion thinly sliced
2T minced fresh cilantro
Combine all ingredients and serve over patties.

October Goals
 
Beans-60lbs per person per year.  Beans, peas, lentils, nuts, and sprouting beans.  Store in a cool dry place and dry beans will last 30+ years.  Canned beans have a shelf life of around 2 years.  Rinse your canned beans and soak dry beans to lessen the "effects" of beans.  Soak dry beans for 8-12 hours, rinse and add new water.  Simmer and cook as directed. 
 
Cold weather clothing and bedding-Take inventory of your coats, hats, gloves, boots, sleeping bags, long underwear, ski clothing, bedding and blankets.  Have a year supply of clothing for children.  Keep blankets and gloves in your car for emergencies. 
 
Enjoy the journey!
Enjoy the blessings!
Feel the peace!

October Goals

Fall is here, Conference has started and we have a new month of goals to accomplish. If you have been procrastinating all year, today is the day to start. This month we are storing LEGUMES. Beans, peas, and lentils all fall into this category and you will need to store 60lbs per person per year. Many legumes can be purchased at the LDS cannery.

Black beans 25lbs $14.50
Pinto beans 25lbs $16.30
White beans 25lbs $14.10

Beans eaten with grains or nuts will make a complete protein. In a situation where you don't have meat or eggs you can still have a complete protein with beans and grains.

I found a great site that has sorted out all the different kinds of legumes and has great pictures and definitions. Click HERE to read this great information.
Our other goal for October is to store cold weather clothing, shoes and bedding. Could you live for a year without buying winter coats, boots, hats, mittens, etc? If you have children you need to have a year's worth of clothing stored. In the event of an evacuation or an emergency and you were in a car or tent over night in the middle of winter, would you be prepared with blankets and sleeping bags?

Don't hesitate! Prepare today!!