When The Furnace Stops Working

It never fails, the snow falls, the temperature drops (I'm talking like -18 in the mornings), and the furnace stops working.  I kept hoping that it would magically kick back on but I had to call a repair man.  Unfortunately he couldn't make it to my home for 2 days.  This was a prime time to open up the Mr. Heater Buddy propane heater. 

There were several things that I learned while using this heater...

1. It works very well and we didn't need to sit too close to feel the warmth.  It kept my kitchen comfortable.  It sat about 6ft away from the kitchen table and we could all feel the warm air.
2. I went through the small propane tanks pretty quickly.  I used 3 of the canisters, with the heat setting on high, in the 2 days that we used it.  I didn't have it on constantly only when we were cooking and eating meals, but in an emergency I would definitely ration the propane for essential heating only.  
3. It didn't smell and was quiet to use. I also need to store more D batteries to be able to use the fan option on the heater.  That really did heat the room faster.
4. The heater didn't like to light when I turned it on.  I had to clean the small wick piece every time I turned it back on. 

It was nice to know that this heater worked and that it kept us warm.  In a true emergency situation I would be using this heater in a smaller room (ventilated).  My kitchen is very open to every other room in the main floor and the heat wouldn't be keeping us all warm.  I would have to hang blankets and close off the larger areas of the house to keep the heat in one area.  I would recommend this heater and I also recommend trying it out before you actually need it.  Unlike my example of waiting until we were freezing to open the box :) 

Find this heater online, in big box stores, and emergency preparedness retailers.

Self-Reliant Saturdays

Saturday is the one day of the week where I feel like I can catch up on life, and maybe have a minute or two to focus on finishing up the many projects I have.  It is also a great day to take a few moments and accomplish a food storage related task.  I was inspired by the Mormon Channels January of Self-Reliant Saturdays.  I am going to run with this idea and post a Self-Reliant Saturday idea/goal/quote, every weekend here on Prepare Today.  I will also link you to the Mormon Channels posts every week. Sometimes the larger goals that we make can overwhelm us and we don't ever complete them. My hope is that by sharing a few of the smaller self-reliant goals and ideas that I have, maybe you will feel inspired to accomplish them, and then feel motivated to move onto the larger goals.  

Today's Goal

 Gather a change of clothing (winter clothing if necessary), including underwear, shoes, and socks, for each family member.  Include winter coats, boots, gloves, hats, etc. Store them in your 72-hour kits, or in an accessible plastic bin that is ready to go at a moments notice.  (Remember that it's easier to turn winter clothing into summer clothing. ie: cutting pants into shorts and longer sleeved shirts into short sleeved t-shirts. You can store clothing for both summer and winter, but if you're short on space go with winter clothing only.)

Here is the link for week 2 of the Mormon Channel's Self-Reliant Saturday post.  Click HERE

Recommended Reading- Backyard Winter Gardening by Caleb Warnock

While scrolling through facebook the other night, I came across a video by Caleb Warnock, all about winter gardening.  

I found it fascinating and I ordered both of his books, The Forgotten Skills of Self-Suffidiency and Backyard Winter Gardening, from amazon. I have actually attended a class that Caleb taught at Honeyville, and loved listening to him speak, but I never purchased his books.  The books are very interesting from a historical standpoint, but the information on gardening is why I bought them both. 

Just like in the video above, I really want to try using cold boxes to have fresh greens all winter long.  The books are full of colorful photographs and tons of information on gardening, chickens, history of the pioneers in Utah, etc.  There are even a few recipes included.  I felt these books were good enough for me to share with all of you!  I highly recommend adding both books to your preparedness library. 

How The Sun Oven Saved Christmas Dinner!

I hosted my first Christmas dinner for my family this year.  It wasn't hard to come up with recipes but getting it all cooked at the same time had me worried.  

My sister brought over a ham for our dinner and I was also making a turkey.  I only have one oven and I still had the sweet potato casserole to bake. I didn't know how I was going to get it all cooked in my oven and it was on my mind all morning. After the Christmas morning festivities we were getting ready to head over to my in-laws when I had a light bulb moment.  Why don't I put the ham in the sun oven to warm while we are gone and then it would be ready for dinner later, and then I could use the oven for the turkey.  I was so excited.  My husband thought I was looney.  It was about 24° outside with quite a bit of snow on the ground from the storm the night before.  But I knew it didn't matter what the temperature was, just as long as there was sun, and we had a lot of sun on Christmas day.

I had to dig out my sun oven from all of the boxes we have for moving, and then I had my husband shovel off the deck so I could get to where the sun was.  I am totally kicking myself for not taking a photo but we were so late in getting to my in-laws that I totally forgot to take a picture. So here is a picture of some corn cooking in the sun oven, just to give you an idea of what I did. Just picture a lot more snow and a ham ;)

 I put the ham in an oven bag and tied it closed.  The ham didn't fit on the leveling tray inside the oven, so I took the tray out and placed one of the sun oven baking racks inside the bottom of the oven.  These are sold wherever Sun Ovens are sold.  They are for cookies, pizza, etc. and now ham.  To cook food properly in the sun oven you have to have air flow around the food.  The rack kept the ham of the bottom of the oven so it cooked evenly.

The sun in winter is so low in the horizon that I needed to lift my sun oven with the back leg all the out.  I had the leg on the last possible notch.  I turned it a little to the south so the sun would still be on it when I got home and we left for grandma's house.

When we returned home 3 hours later the ham was still cooking at 250 degrees.  My only problem was the loss of the sun so early in winter.  After about 4:30 I had to keep the ham warm in my oven inside until dinner was ready.  I forgot that I had a roaster oven for the turkey, so I only had the casserole to bake in the oven and then dinner was done.  I was so excited that I figured this all out and my emergency preps had saved my day.  I don't know why I think so literally and don't go outside of the box when it comes to cooking, but I was so excited that I thought to use my sun oven.  (humor me, I have a lot going on right now ;)    

Preparing For The Storm

I have been thinking a lot these past few days of the warnings the people on the east coast are getting right now.  The storm of the century is suppose to hit early next week and it looks and sounds pretty scary!  What I also thought about was how prepared would I be if I lived there.  I think we have all the food an water to ride out a storm, but I would really like a portable heater.  It is actually what I want for Christmas this year, so I hope there isn't a disaster before that.  A friend of mine lives in New York and she said as a side note, we better fill up the milk jugs with water there is a storm coming.  I think this is the thinking of many, many people.  We will just run to the store or fill up a few milk jugs a few days before the storm hits.  What's wrong with this thinking is that everyone else is doing the same thing.  Grocery stores will be cleared out!!  Many people are not actively preparing before a disaster.  What if this storm is as bad as they are predicting??  Electricity and water could be out for weeks before they get around to fixing everything.  Scary situations!!!

I wrote a post on preparing for winter with suggestions of things to do BEFORE the storm.  CLICK HERE TO READ THAT POST.

 And if you had to shelter in your car, check out THIS POST.

Do you have all the essentials for an emergency?

And click HERE to view a post on Cold Weather Preparedness.

Take the time NOW before the storm arrives to prepare your family!!

When The Lights Go Out & You Have No Heat

On Sunday morning, a few years ago, the power went out. I lay in bed with my electric blanket that slowly got cooler and wondered how long this was going to last. It was cold outside and I knew we didn't have long before we were going to be cold too. We all put socks and sweatshirts on and thought of ways to keep busy. I knew we had warm sleeping bags (that I could pull out, but are for Christmas) if we got really cold, but we really had no other heat source. This really got me thinking of what it would be like if this had been an earthquake and we didn't have power for days or weeks. I do have a wood fireplace, but we don't have any wood stocked for it. Plus if the chimney had collapsed during an earthquake then what would we do? I do have a Sun Oven so we have a way to cook, so my focus is going to be a way to heat my home and keep my family warm.

What to do when your power goes out: (from preparednesspantry.blogspot.com)

1. First, check to see if your neighbors have power. If you are the only home without electricity, check the main fuse in your electric service panel or fuse box to see if the main circuit breaker has been tripped or if a fuse has blown. If you don’t know how to check, consult a qualified electrician. If your neighbors do not have electricity either, then you know there has been a power outage in your area.
2. Report your power outage to your local utility company so they know which area has lost power, especially in a storm. Only call once to report your outage.
3. Turn off all major non-essential appliances such as your electric range and washer/dryer. Turn off the majority of your light switches, but leave a few on so you know when the power has been restored. This reduces the electrical demand once the power has been restored.
4. Unplug sensitive electronic equipment such as your TV, personal computer, VCR and microwave. This will reduce chance of damage caused by electric surges.
5. Try to keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed to conserve the cold inside. You never know how long the power will be out, and you don’t want your food to spoil.
6. Open the window shades to allow more light to come in.

Take the time to prepare for a power outage and to gain the knowledge needed to respond safely and effectively during the emergency. A few simple preparations can greatly reduce the inconveniences caused by a power outage.


I also strongly suggest printing out this handout HERE and keep it as a reference to living without light. I will quickly list the ideas Debbie Kent suggests if the lights go out.


-List what your family's needs


-What will you cook and how?


-How will you heat your home?


-What lighting will you use? (all main rooms of your house should have some form of emergency lighting, like a flashlight or crank flashlight)


Debbie then lists in detail; lighting sources, kinds of flashlights, cooking, heating, power sources, batteries, and fire starters.

If you need some last minute Christmas presents, crank flashlights, or headlamps would make a great gift. Even for children, they would love having a headlamp to play with or light sticks for their 72-hour kits.


I found a store called Recreation Outlet on 3160 S. State St. in Salt Lake City, Utah (801-484-4800) that has a lot of emergency preparedness items for a lot less. They have hand warmer packs, headlamps, portable stoves , crank flashlight/radios , full 72-hour kits in a backpack , mylar emergency blankets , coats, boots, clothing, sleeping bags, snow shoes,etc. I could spend all day in that store. :)




I want you to think of your family and what would be an essential to have if we had no power for 1 week. I would be miserable without heat and if my children were suffering because of the cold I would be really stressed. I think a propane heater may be on my birthday list and finding a way to store cut wood for our fireplace is another idea. What are your goals for warmth this winter?

Self-Reliant Goals for December:
Long Term Goals:
Flour 75lbs PP-Sams club has 25lb bags for $10
Sugar 60lbs PP

3-Month Supply Goals:
Substitute a canned version of a fresh ingredients in one of your recipes sometime this month. Even if you love to use fresh ingredients, you will need a canned version if there was no electricity or major disaster.

72-Hour Kit goal:Search out little Hotties body warmers. The packs of body warmers will definitely be needed if we encounter a disaster in the dead of winter. They even have an adhesive product to stay where you want it. Make sure that everyone in your family has gloves or mittens. Trying to find a matching pair in the dark and in a hurry could potentially be impossible :) The body warmers should also be kept in your car kits as well.  Mylar blankets are a great thing to have in a car kit and 72-hour kit. Make sure to have 1 per person.