Gardening Link

 Emergency Essentials had the same idea that I did. Gardening must be on everyone's mind.

Click HERE To read their article on preservings seeds and gardening.

April Goals & Homemade Cleaners

April is great so far and I hope you are all ready for a new month of goals. Today's warmer weather made me feel like organizing, cleaning out, and getting the garden started. We have 3 goals this month. They are:

1. Shop the case lot sales at Smiths or Maceys and stock up on items for your 3-month menu plan. Click HERE to view the case lot prices for each store.
2. Plan a garden, plant a garden or container, and learn how to sprout seeds/grains for nutritious sprouts.
3. Stock up on cleaning supplies. Whichever you prefer. I like to make some of my household cleaners so if you do too then stock up on vinegar, baking soda, ammonia, rubbing alcohol and bleach.

I found a very interesting post on container gardening with soda bottles and milk cartons. Click HERE to read and see the great pictures. And click HERE to see another post by the same ladies on milk carton gardening. If gardening seems too intimidating these ideas are simple and look like they will give you great results.

April is a great month to plant the cold weather plants like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, lettuce, onions, and cabbage.

Sprouting wheat is a great way to get to add nutritious nutrients to your food without having to buy vegetables. This is great if we had an emergency and fresh produce was not available. Click HERE to read my previous post on sprouting wheat. Sprouting is a great way to get your children involved with gardening too. Check Amazon.com for some great sprouting kits. To learn more on sprouting other seeds besides wheat, click HERE.

Cleaning supplies vary vastly from home to home so this area is going to be mostly personal preference. When I find a good deal on cleaning items I stock up and hope another sale comes before I run out. I don't like paying a lot of money for them. I also don't like the harmful smells and toxins that are in many cleaning supplies. I found some great "recipes" online that I use to clean with.

Laminate Floor Cleaner
1/3 part rubbing alcohol
1/3 part water
1/3 part white vinegar
I marked a spray bottle with the lines for each third and then I have floor cleaner that lasts a long time. I use a micro fiber mop that I can throw in the washer after I clean.

All -Purpose Cleaner
1/2 gallon water
1/2 C vinegar
1 C ammonia
1/4 baking soda
Add enough water to make 1 gallon. Shake well, use in spray bottle. I keep this in an old juice bottle labeled cleaner and pour into my spray bottle when needed.

Window Cleaner
1 pint rubbing alcohol
4 T ammonia
1 T liquid detergent
Add enough water to make a gallon. Add blue food coloring if you want it to look like the store's brand.

Aprils Goals:
Shop the case lot sales.
Garden, garden, garden!
Gather cleaning supplies.

Enjoy the journey!
Enjoy the blessings!
Feel the peace!

April is Here

Welcome to a new month, April is here! Next to December, April is one of my favorite months. This is the month of case lot sales, Conference, Easter, and maybe some warmer weather. This is the month to take inventory of your 3-month supply. There are many sales on canned goods that make it very easy to stock up for at least 6 months worth of food. If you need canned oranges or pears, or maybe tuna this is the month for you!

I want to give everyone a challenge this month. Make a list of ingredients from the recipes that you are going to use for a 3-month supply. (If you haven't already made one) These can be recipes that you use now or maybe some simpler recipes that you could make without a lot of prep. Which ever you choose, make a list of ingredients. Use this list to shop from and you will have stored food quicker than you thought. (Click Here if you need more info.)

Case lot sales start on April 7th and go for 2 weeks. This is a great opportunity to save a lot of money and get a lot of food. I will list the prices and deals as soon as they are available.

April's other goals are to gather seeds/sprouting supplies and to have cleaning supplies stored. Gardening is a wonderful way to become self-reliant. Being dependent on the grocery store for our food is not a safe insurance policy for food storage. Learn how to garden or plant something new this year. I have just gotten into gardening and am excited to plant more than I did last year.

Cleaning supplies are items that you will really want to have on hand if you aren't able to get them from the store. Disinfectants and sanitizers are a necessity when there is sickness around. In a disaster this becomes even more important as cleanliness will help to keep infection and disease from spreading. Storing ingredients to make your own household cleaners is a topic we will cover in later posts.

Watch the blog this month for case lot pricing and posts related to cleaning and gardening. This will be a really fun month and hopefully many of you will get a great start or add some great items to your storage.

Self-Reliance and Dressing For Less

So far on this blog I have focused solely on gathering food for our families. Today I want to focus on another area of self-reliance, and that is the managing of money and using our resources wisely. In the January visiting teaching message Sister Beck says,

"Self-Reliance means using all of our blessings from Heavenly Father to care for ourselves and our families and to find solutions for our own problems. Each of us has a responsibility to try to avoid problems before they happen and to learn to over come challenges when they occur.....

"How do we become self-reliant? We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well being"

After reading that quote I realized that there is much more to self-reliance than just having food and supplies stored away. There are other areas that we need to focus on as well, money and budgeting being one area.

One way to save a lot of money is to shop smart when you buy clothing. In the April's Ensign I found a great article by Jane Choate called "Dress For Less". I think next to clipping coupons this is my next favorite obsession. Jane lists 8 great ways to save money and providing clothing for your family on a budget.

1. Learn to sew and mend.
2. Swap
3. Put the word out (Let family and friends know that you would love clothing they aren't using anymore.
4. Sell used clothing (Consignment Shops, Online)
5. Be thrifty (shop thrift stores and garage sales)
6. Cyber-shop (there are many online deals and sales)
7. Shop outlet malls and discount stores.
8. Get on the mailing lists of your favorite store.

As you can see there are many ways to save on clothing. We are lucky here in Utah in that we have great thrift stores. Deseret Industries is like a treasure hunt and I have found many items of clothing for my children and myself there. I also utilize consignment stores. A wonderful children's store "Kid To Kid" allows you to make some money by selling your gently used items. I also sell clothing that I don't use to a consignment store. It is really easy and I can rotate my wardrobe without spending a ton of money.

Number 8 on the list above is probably your best money saving idea. Save all store coupons that you get in the mail or online. Wait for an end of season sale and combine that with your coupon and you have a recipe for amazing savings. Old Navy is notorious for their clearance sales and combing the clearance with a store coupon allows me to buy a year ahead for my children without spending retail prices. That is just one example and many stores have great sales. Keep your eyes open and a lot of times patience really pays off!

MARCH GOALS: IT IS THE LAST WEEK OF MARCH. HAVE YOU COMPLETED THIS MONTHS GOALS?

STORAGE GOALS: MEATS AND FROZEN FOODS. We are in luck this month because there is a lot of meat on sale and also some frozen veggies on sale. Look at your 3 month menu plan and purchase the amount of meat that you will use. Keep in mind freezer space and your budget. Meat will stay good in the freezer for up to 1 year if it is frozen properly. Using a Food Saver machine will help in keeping your meat fresh while in the freezer. It sucks all the air out to lessen the chance of freezer burn. Look over the grocery list as there a few frozen deals.

NON-FOOD GOAL: TOILET PAPER AND PAPER TOWEL. These are 2 items that I personally do not want to be out of. If you don't know how much your family uses try this. For 1 week put all toilet paper tubes in a container and add it up, multiply by 4 to get a rough monthly estimate and then you'll know about how much your family uses. I also want to include napkins in this months goal. I buy our napkins at Big Lots for $1.00 a package.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY!
ENJOY THE BLESSINGS!
FEEL THE PEACE!

Storing Non-Food Essentials

How is everyone doing with their food storage? We are almost complete with our 3rd month and I hope you are able to see the benefits of having a full pantry. I was thinking this week about our goal of paper towel, napkins, and toilet paper and it made me think of all the non-food items that we need to store. I found a great list and thought I would share. I am not sure of the origin of this paper so I apologize to the author.

Non-Food Essentials Checklist

• PAPER PRODUCTS (TOILET PAPER, PAPER TOWELS, FACIAL TISSUE,ETC)
• PLASTIC BAGS RANGING FROM FOOD STORAGE SIZE TO TRASH SIZE
• SOAPS AND DETERGENTS (HAND SOAP, DISHWASHER DETERGENT, DISINFECTANT, LAUNDRY POWDER,ETC.)
• TOOTHPASTE AND TOOTHBRUSHES
• FEMININE HYGIENE SUPPLIES
• SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER, LOTION
• BABY DIAPERS AND WIPES
• FLASHLIGHTS AND EXTRA BATTERIES
• MATCHES
• CANDLES
• PAPER, PENS, PENCILS
• DUCT TAPE, STRING, CORD, ROPE
• ARMY KNIFE
• SCISSORS
• SUNSCREEN, ALOE VERA
• SIX MONTH SUPPLY OF PRESCRIPTION MEDS AND OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATION
• TOWELS, WASHCLOTHS, CLEANING RAGS
• BLANKETS AND OTHER BEDDING
• BANDAGES OF VARIOUS SIZES AND ANTIBACTERIAL OINTMENT
• FIRST AID SUPPLIES
• CLOTHING (Most of us could go a year without clothing, but make sure each family member has adequate cold weather clothing and sufficient socks and underwear)
• HAND CRANK WHEAT GRINDER

As we plan home storage for the security of our families the following areas need to be addressed:
Water for 2 weeks
Basic foods that would keep your family alive if there was nothing else to eat.
A financial reserve.
Additional food items that we are accustomed to eating.
Items for meeting specific and unusual emergency situations.
MARCH GOALS:

STORAGE GOALS: MEATS AND FROZEN FOODS. We are in luck this month because there is a lot of meat on sale and also some frozen veggies on sale. Look at your 3 month menu plan and purchase the amount of meat that you will use. Keep in mind freezer space and your budget. Meat will stay good in the freezer for up to 1 year if it is frozen properly. Using a Food Saver machine will help in keeping your meat fresh while in the freezer. It sucks all the air out to lessen the chance of freezer burn. Look over the grocery list as there a few frozen deals.

NON-FOOD GOAL: TOILET PAPER AND PAPER TOWEL. These are 2 items that I personally do not want to be out of. If you don't know how much your family uses try this. For 1 week put all toilet paper tubes in a container and add it up, multiply by 4 to get a rough monthly estimate and then you'll know about how much your family uses. I also want to include napkins in this months goal. I buy our napkins at Big Lots for $1.00 a package.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY!
ENJOY THE BLESSINGS!
FEEL THE PEACE!

Freezer Meals

Wouldn't it be nice to come home from work or from running kids around and have a warm dinner waiting for you? Freezing dinners gives you the convenience of being gone up to dinner time and still get a warm meal on the table. Most days I am so exhausted and don't have the energy to cook and pulling a thawed meal from the fridge and just cooking it makes my day.



Deanna Buxton is the author of "Dinner Is Ready" ( and she put together the World Wide Ward Cookbook) and she shares how to cook 30 meals in one day. That may sound really difficult but it can be done. All it takes is a little organization and preparation and freezer space. I am not asking any of you to do this, I just wanted to throw the idea out there and let you know of Deanna's book. I have done the 30 meals in a day a couple times and it is wonderful.

What is freezer worthy? Deanna lists several foods that do not freeze well or need special preparation. Potatoes, unless they are hash browns, should not be frozen. Vegetables do soften during freezing and if you are using fresh vegetables they need to be blanched first. If you are adding buttered crumbs or french fried onions add them at baking time or they will get soggy. Pasta can be frozen, but you need to undercook it by 2 minutes. Pasta continues to absorb moisture during freezing and thawing. Anything with gelatin should not be frozen.

I like to use the disposable foil baking pans and gallon size freezer zip lock bags to freeze my dinners. You will also need to use heavy freezer foil to cover the foil pans. And don't forget to label each meal before it goes into the freezer. I like to add the temperature and how long to cook the food. Thaw all food in the fridge. It may take up to 2 days to fully thaw some dinners, so plan ahead if you can. Don't mess with any pasta dish until it is fully thawed or you may get pasta mush.

Onto the recipes. These are a few of my favorites from Deanna's book "Dinner Is Ready".

Cream Cheese Chicken
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1 stick of butter (or use 1/2 chicken broth)
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz cream cheese

Turn your crock pot on high and melt butter. Add salad dressing mix and stir. Cut chicken into 1" strips and place in crock pot and stir to coat. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. Remove the chicken to cool and add soup and cream cheese to crock pot. Stir to melt and mix until creamy. Remove sauce from crock pot and allow to cool. Place everything a freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw and heat until piping hot and bubbly. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or butter noodles.


Taco Pie
1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 package taco seasoning
1 4oz can sliced olives
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
1 C refried beans
1 10 1/2oz package corn chips, crushed
1 C sour cream

Brown groudn beef with onion. Add taco seasoning, olives and tomato sauce. Flatten crescent roll dough and press onto bottom of foil baking pan. Heat refried beans and mix with 2 T of water to make spreadable. Spread over crust. Top with 1 C of cheese. Cover crust with half of the crushed corn chips. Spoon meat mixture over corn chips. Cover with sour cream. Sprinkle with remaining 1 C cheese. To with remaining corn chips. Cover with heavy foil. Label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw and bake uncovered 45 minutes at 375.

This week I challenge you to double one of your dinners and put the extra dinner in the freezer for another meal down the road. Don't forget to add some meat and frozen food to your 3-month supply.
MARCH GOALS:

STORAGE GOALS: MEATS AND FROZEN FOODS. We are in luck this month because there is a lot of meat on sale and also some frozen veggies on sale. Look at your 3 month menu plan and purchase the amount of meat that you will use. Keep in mind freezer space and your budget. Meat will stay good in the freezer for up to 1 year if it is frozen properly. Using a Food Saver machine will help in keeping your meat fresh while in the freezer. It sucks all the air out to lessen the chance of freezer burn. Look over the grocery list as there a few frozen deals.

NON-FOOD GOAL: TOILET PAPER AND PAPER TOWEL. These are 2 items that I personally do not want to be out of. If you don't know how much your family uses try this. For 1 week put all toilet paper tubes in a container and add it up, multiply by 4 to get a rough monthly estimate and then you'll know about how much your family uses. I also want to include napkins in this months goal. I buy our napkins at Big Lots for $1.00 a package.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY!
ENJOY THE BLESSINGS!
FEEL THE PEACE!

March-Frozen Food Month

Welcome to March! I can't believe how fast this year is going already. It's a new month and time for a new food storage goal. Did you know that March is National Frozen Food Month? So guess what we are going to stock up on this month? Look over your 3 month menu plan (click HERE to learn more) and see what foods you use that could be frozen.

If you looked in my freezer right now, which needs organized, you would find lot's of chicken, butter, yeast, vegetables, pureed beans (oil substitute for brownies), cheese, rolls, bread, tomato paste (I don't use the whole can at once), diced green chilies, pizza dough, a few freezer meals, sandwich meat, yogurt (to use as a starter for making yogurt), and many other foods. There are many items that you can store but remember to have an alternate storing method in case the electricity goes out. I also bottle my chicken and it stays shelf stable for years and having a can or two of dehydrated fruits and vegetables will be great if there was no power.

One way to keep the price down on frozen foods is to purchase produce when they are on sale and freeze them yourself. Chopped onions are a time saver and fruit for smoothies are so much cheaper than buying them fresh when you need them. I bought a Food Saver last year and have loved being able to preserve my food and know it won't get freezer burn.
Check Amazon.com and ebay.com for great deals on Food Savers.

MARCH GOALS:

STORAGE GOALS: MEATS AND FROZEN FOODS.  Look at your 3 month menu plan and purchase the amount of meat that you will use. Keep in mind freezer space and your budget. Meat will stay good in the freezer for up to 1 year if it is frozen properly. Using a Food Saver machine will help in keeping your meat fresh while in the freezer. It sucks all the air out to lessen the chance of freezer burn.

NON-FOOD GOAL: TOILET PAPER AND PAPER TOWEL. These are 2 items that I personally do not want to be out of. If you don't know how much your family uses try this. For 1 week put all toilet paper tubes in a container and add it up, multiply by 4 to get a rough monthly estimate and then you'll know about how much your family uses.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY!
ENJOY THE BLESSINGS!
FEEL THE PEACE!!