Prepare Today Homemade- Cupcakes with Beans

With 5 kids, birthdays seem to happen quite a bit at our house.  My son's birthday was this past weekend and besides his cake, he needed cupcakes to share with his class.  I thought this would be a perfect time to use food storage. (they will never know, hehe)  I substituted white beans for the oil called for in the boxed cake mix that I used.  (white beans for yellow cake, black beans for chocolate cake)

 I followed the cake mix exactly like it says on the cake mix box except for the oil.  My cake mix called for 1/3 C oil and I simply added 1/3 C pureed white beans instead.  They bake up just as moist and fluffy as oil baked cupcakes.

My son wanted a Lego birthday and I found a Lego chocolate mold so we made Lego pieces to sit on top of the cupcakes.  After melting the chocolate I thought if I hadn't used the microwave to melt the chocolate I could have used my Saratoga Jacks thermal cooker as a double boiler and melted the chocolate that way.  Why do I always think of these things after??

Prepare Today October Goals

October is here!!  It is time for Conference, fall, and cooler weather (one can hope).  Our goals this month central around organizing and cleaning out.  Don't get scared :)  it's all pretty simple.

3-Month Supply Goal:

It's all fine and dandy to have buckets full of food in your basement, but if you had to cook without food from your fridge, could you do it?  This month's challenge is to find at least 5 recipes that can be made using shelf-stable food.  You may find that these recipes are easier than your regular recipes and they taste really good!  I recommend the books "Dinner, It's In The Bag", and "100 Day Pantry".  They both use only shelf stable foods in their recipes.  You may wonder how that is possible, but meat does come in a can, milk does come in a shelf stable carton (Gossners milk is at the Dollar Store), and it really does taste good!!  Also, check out this website:  myfoodstoragecookbook.com for some amazing organizational ideas for your meal plan along with amazing shelf stable recipes!!!  I have found some of my family's favorite recipes from that website.


Water Goal:
If you have a 55-gallon water barrel and it sits outside in the sun you need to change the water.  I would do this every year for water that is near a heat source.  You never know what may be growing in there.  

Financial Reserve Goal:
Christmas is getting closer and closer!  Putting money aside now will help you later!  A great idea for Christmas gifts is to give preparedness items.  I ask for food storage and emergency preparedness items every year from my parents.  It is useful, necessary, and helps!!

Long-Term Supply Goal:

This month our focus will be on FATS & OILS.  This includes OILS, BUTTER/MARGARINE, PEANUT BUTTER, SHORTENING, NUTS, AND MAYONNAISE.  These items are kind of hard to store long term because of how quickly they go rancid.  When storing oils/fats remember HALT: H=heat, A=air, L=light, and T=temperature.  If you keep them in a cool, dark place, they will last longer.  There are many oils, like coconut oil, that have a shelf life of at least 5 years.  Your typical vegetable and canola oils have about a 1 year shelf life.  If you store shortening you can heat it until it turns into a liquid and use that in cooking.  What ever works for you, store it!  Butter will last longer in the freezer.  The price of butter right now is extremely high, so stock up if you see it below $2, and store it in the freezer!!

Emergency Preparedness Goal:

This month is 72-hour kit inventory time!  For me it is just easier to know I will be home all weekend on Conference weekend and pulling out the 72-hour kits is something that can get done.  In October it is time to make sure you have winter items, like hats, mittens, gloves, long pants, sweatshirts, coats,etc. Also check the food items and replace any expired items.  You could go as far as taking your kits and hiking somewhere and having a family picnic.  This way, you would know for sure what worked and what didn't.  

Enjoy the Journey!
Enjoy the Blessings!
Feel the PEACE

July Goals

Happy 4th of July! With this in mind this is a new month and a great month to stock up on all the BBQ supplies that come with summer holidays. For the month of July we are focusing on storing water, oils/fats, and paper goods. July is a really hot month here in Utah, and having enough water stored should be on our minds all month long. You will need 14 gallons of water per person, and that is the bare minimum for 2 weeks.

WATER- Store your water everywhere that you can and in all sorts of different containers. Soda bottles are great water containers. The clear bottles can store drinking water and the colored bottles can store your cleaning water. (the color from the bottle can leak into the water) I even store water in my empty laundry detergent bottles, clearly marked as water. I will use that water for cleaning as well. (click here to view an earlier post on water) Watch for cases of water to be on sale this month, $2.50 or less is a great price for 24 bottles of water. If your family are not big water drinkers then make sure to store drink mixes in your pantry. The cannery sells a #10 can of fruit drink mix for $6.90 and Emergency Essentials sells Peach, Apple, or Orange drink mixes in #10 cans for $10.99.

If you store your water in 55 gallon containers don't forget to rotate it every 6-12 months, and store it up off of the concrete floor of your basement or garage.

OILS & FATS- 25lbs Per Person Per Year
I know, I thought how on earth could we be eating 25lbs of fats per year. It sounds like a lot, but think of all the times you use oil in cooking, or butter in baking. Or how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches do you make in a year for your children? Here is a rough estimate of different fats and how much you will need for a year supply per person.

Butter 2lbs (can store in freezer up to 1 year)
Cooking oil 5lbs
Margarine 2lbs
Mayonaise 4lbs (2 jars)
Olive Oil 3lbs (can use for skin care as well)
Peanut Butter 4lbs (4 18oz jars)
Salad Dressing 2lbs (2 bottles)
Shortening 1 tub per person

This list is just a estimate of what one person would use in a year's time. If you don't like peanut butter then you wouldn't store it, and you may need extra in another category. I know I would need a lot more than the 2 packages of butter per person. Start keeping track of what you use and when these go on sale stock up. Look for condiments to be on sale this month for sure. With all of the grilling and holiday's this month, it is a great time to get your year's worth of mayo and salad dressing. Ketchup and mustard also go on sale, store those as well. I know that my children will be more likely to eat things with ketchup and ranch dressing on them. In stressful times I don't want to have to argue with my children about eating the food in front of them, ketchup may just save your sanity. Get your paper goods this month too. I don't want to worry about doing the dishes if our water is turned off, and it is just one less thing you'll have to worry about in a stressful situation.
Grilling is in full force during the summer months and now is the time to find great sales on charcoal. Even if you don't have a charcoal grill you will want to store it. Charcoal stores indefinitely is kept dry (5 gallon buckets work great). Remember to store newspapers, canned heat, or lighter fluid to start the charcoal. For an apple box oven or dutch oven: 1 hour a day = 24 #15 bags of charcoal to be able to cook one meal a day for a year. If you have a butane stove then store charcoal for extra help when cooking. Remember to never cook indoors with charcoal, it produces carbon monoxide and that is a deadly poison.
If you would like more information on how to build your own apple box oven, CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

or HERE FOR MORE INSTRUCTIONS


You now have your assignments for July. Even with summer travel and kids home from school, don't let preparedness get left behind. If you are overwhelmed start with the water storage. You feel immediately feel the peace of knowing you have water to drink and clean with. You will feel motivated to keep going and to slowly build your storage piece by piece. I know that everyone can do it and I am here to help if you need it.
Enjoy the journey!
Enjoy the blessings!
Feel the peace!