Self Reliance Expo-Part 1

Christmas came early for me this year!  I was able to spend 5 hours surrounded by food storage, portable potties, generators, water storage containers & purification containers.  Today I attended the Self Reliance Expo at the South Towne Expo Center and it has to be the best expo I have ever attended. I was so lucky to win tickets from one of my favorite blogs, blog.totallyready.com. Every booth was filled with products for and about emergency preparedness.  Of course I took my camera and documented my day.  You may want to get comfy because this could be a long post, but there was so much information that I wanted to collect to pass on to all of you.  I tried to get a website for each of the vendors that I am spotlighting so please visit their sites for more information.  

The fun started outside the venue where they had trailers set up with all the comforts of home inside.  They are from the Timberline Range Camp company and you can see more at their website trccamps.com.

The Humless Roadrunner Generator & The Ultimate Bag 72-Hour Kit

 The first booth to catch my eye was the Hummless Roadrunner company.  The small black box on the ground is a generator and is a silent, clean, safe, ultra portable unit.  You can charge it from a regular outlet, use solar panels, or hand crank/ bicycle crank.  It is safe to use indoors or in a tent and it has a 110AC outlet, 12VDC outlet, and USB ports.  There were different sizes and I believe they ran from $200-$1500.  Check out amazon.com for the portable lithium generator. 


The other item that really intrigued me was the 72-hour kit duffle bag that zipped open and can be hung up. It is called the Ultimate Bag and you can see it in the picture above.  What a clever idea to have all your kit supplies in a designated compartment and in such a small bag.  I thought this was such a great idea.  Check out www.theultimatebag.com for more information.

Kitchen Kneads

 Kitchen Kneads is a great local company that sells all things food storage related.  In the picture is the Sun Oven (they can answer any question you have about a Sun Oven), the Wonder Mill grinder and many food storage canned goods.  They are located at 7579 S. Redwood Rd.  and their number is 801-561-9616.   They have some great sales around LDS Conference times, but you should check them out before April :)

Augason Farms

 One of my favorite stores is the Augason Farms store (formerly the Blue Chip Group).  They sell the Maggie Moo's brand of milk and have many food items.  I buy applesauce powder, canned cheese, canned meat, oats, etc., AND they have a really fun outlet room with great prices.  They are located at 3431 S. 500 W, just west of I-15 off the 33rd south exit.  Check out their website augasonfarms.com .  We got to test the broccoli soup and the potato cheddar soup and it was delicious!  The small cans in the picture are only $2.50.

       Of course Emergency Essentials was at the expo.  They are a wonderful company that sell canned food, dehydrated food, MRE's, sleeping bags, candles, porta potties (with lids that seal),  water drums, wheat, oats, rice, you name it they sell it!  They have a really amazing food storage analyzer that will help you keep track of what food you have stored and the vitamins and nutrients that you may be lacking in your storage (check their website for more info).  My sister and I answered a trivia question and I received a reusable hand warmer.  It is like the one- use Hotties except you can boil it and it returns to it's original state. You can get 10 of them for $20.  Guess what my family is getting in their stockings this year.  You can find all of their info at beprepared.com or visit their store at 110 W. 33rd S.

Some of the best books on food storage are written by Peggy Layton.  Cookin' With Home Storage is one of my favorites and I refer to it many times when I am cooking.  She has also authored the Cookin' With series that includes Cookin' With Potatoes, Cookin' With Powdered Milk, Cookin' With Dried Eggs, and Cookin' With Beans and Rice.  I highly suggest owning these cookbooks and to get to know them.  Peggy really knows what she is doing when it comes to using your food storage and also maintaining your food storage program.  Her book Food Storage 101 "Where do I Begin?" is a great book to get you motivated on starting your food storage.  For more information check out peggylayton.com.

Easy Water Storage company

There were several companies with really great water storage ideas.  The Sure Water company sells the 260 and 525 gallon water tanks. They cost $395 & $525 and they ship free to Utah and SL counties.  For more information visit their website at easywaterstorage.com or call 1-800-797-2207.


I had such a great time at the Expo and I have much more to share.  There were many more vendors at the Expo so stay tuned for Part 2 of the Self Reliance Expo next Saturday, November 13th!!

November Goals:

1. Cooking essentials-yeast, baking powder, baking soda, spices, oils, flour, sugar,salt, etc. 
2.  Personal Hygiene supplies.  Watch for sales and buy enough to last for 3 months.  This includes all feminine hygiene items, diapers/wipes, soaps, shampoo's, deodorants, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, hand sanitizer,etc.  And if you don't have a portable potty, this is the month to finally get one put together.  Click HERE to view a previous post on luggable loo's.  

Enjoy the journey!

Enjoy the blessings!

Feel the peace!!

Grocery Deals!!!

This week is a hot week to shop at Smiths!!  There are some amazing stock up deals!  I am a coupon user and I save a lot of money by clipping coupons.  Today I bought 80 items for $32.78, with my total being $94 before my coupons were scanned.  I am telling you this because even though the sale at Smiths is really good, with coupons it is amazing!!  I got free pasta, toothbrushes, cough drops, .24 Propel waters, Stove Top Stuffing for .25, etc.  I am willing to help anyone who would like to coupon shop.  Contact me and I can show you how!  


The following amounts are what a person or family would need for a year storage. I only show these so you understand what it will take for a family to live off of storage. Work on your 3-month storage until that is complete and then work toward the year long storage.

PP=per person and PF=per family

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 185LBS EACH PF (fresh, canned, and dehydrated)
MEATS 20LBS PP(frozen, canned and fresh)
DAIRY 16LBS PP
GRAINS 300LBS PP (this includes pastas, cereals, crackers, rice, oats, wheat and flour)
OILS & FATS 25LBS PP (salad dressings, peanut butter, shortening, butter, mayonnaise, and oils)
SUGAR 60LBS PP (honey, white sugar, powdered and brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, jams & jellies, flavored gelatin, and powdered drink mix)

WATER 14 + GALLONS PP FOR 2 WEEKS

**REMEMBER THAT I ONLY LIST THE DEALS THAT I FEEL ARE THE BEST PRICES**

• GALA APPLES 3LB BAG $3.99
• APPLES-GRANNY, RED OR GOLDEN $.79LB
• PETITE CUT SIRLOIN STEAKS SUPER VALUE PACK $2.49LB
• TOP ROUND ROAST SVP $2.29LB
• LOIN ROAST-PORK SOLD WHOLE IN BAG $1.99LB
• KROGER CHEESE 32OZ $4.99 ($3.99 IF YOU USE COUPONS)
• KROGER CREAM CHEESE $1.00
• KROGER DIPS, SOUR CREAM .88
• SMITHS DOZEN LARGE EGGS .99
• HERSHEY'S MORSELS 8-12OZ. $1.79
• PILLSBURY BROWNIES $1.00 (.50 EA IF YOU USE COUPONS)
• KROGER VEGETABLE OIL $1.99 
• KROGER BAKING CHIPS 16OZ $1.69

 MEGA EVENT PROMO-BUY 10 ITEMS GET $5 OFF/PRICES SHOWN BEFORE & AFTER DISCOUNT

• AMERICAN BEAUTY PASTA .99/.49 (THE QUICK COOK AMERICAN BEAUTY PASTA IS FREE IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• ANNIE'S MAC N CHEESE .99/.49 (ORGANIC)
• BOULDER CANYON CHIPS $1.49/.99
• CAMPBELL'S CHUNKY SOUPS $1.49/.99 (.49-.79 IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• CAMPBELL'S CREAM SOUPS .99/.49 (FREE IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• CAMPBELL'S HARVEST SOUP OR CHOWDER $1.49/.99 (.49-.74 IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• CARNATION EVAPORATED MILK $1.19/.69 (.44 IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• COLGATE TOOTHPASTE OR TOOTHBRUSH $1.50/$1.00 (THE TOOTHBRUSH IS FREE IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• DEL MONTE TOMATOES .99/.49
• GATORADE .99/.49
• JELLO OR PUDDING $1.29/.79
• KROGER CANNED FRUIT .99/.49
• NESTLE HOT COCOA .99/.49
• OCEAN SPRAY CRANBERRY SAUCE $1.25/.75
• PROPEL FITNESS WATER .99/.49 (.24 IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• SIMPLY POTATOES $1.49/.99
• STOVE TOP STUFFING $1.25/.75 (.25 IF YOU CLIP COUPONS)
• RICCOLA COUGH DROPS $1.00/.50 (FREE IF YOU USE COUPONS)
• SWANSON BROTH .99/.49 (.34 IF YOU CLIP COUPONS) 

So you see if I had just gone to the store and purchased my items without using coupons I would have saved quite a bit, but I would also have paid $94.00.  With clipping coupons my total went down to $32.78.  That is quite a savings!!

November is here and we have new goals to start.  This month will be all about storing cooking essentials and personal hygiene items.  In November the stores have many baking sales and we need to take advantage of these low prices and stock up!!  Watch for yeast, baking soda, baking powder, oil, spices,salt, etc. to be at rock bottom prices.  Flour and sugar are also great deals, and we will be storing those in Dec., but feel free to purchase those if you find a great price on them.  Watch for canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, stuffing mixes, olives, cake & brownie mixes to also be on sale.  It is kind of a big month for stocking up on groceries so pace yourself and stay within your budget!!

November Goals:

1. Cooking essentials-yeast, baking powder, baking soda, spices, oils, flour, sugar,salt, etc.

1. Personal Hygiene supplies.  Watch for sales and buy enough to last for 3 months.  This includes all feminine hygiene items, diapers/wipes, soaps, shampoo's, deodorants, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, hand sanitizer,etc.  And if you don't have a portable potty, this is the month to finally get one put together.  Click HERE to view a previous post on luggable loo's.  

Enjoy the journey!

Enjoy the blessings!

Feel the peace!!

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!!