Big News!!

I have some big news!  Guess what calling I got today at Church??  (I am a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we are asked to lead and teach each other through different callings, or jobs, in the church.)  I am so excited that I will again be my new ward's Food Storage Specialist!  

That means I'll be posting more frequently and trying out new and old food storage recipes.  I look forward to this opportunity and to also get to know the members of my new ward.  I came across this video today and it touched my heart.  

 

Prepare Today Homemade: Homemade Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal

As pay day comes closer, out pantry gets smaller.  And my children claim that there isn't anything to eat in the whole house.  Translated...they don't want to make anything in the house.  One of the items that are dwindling in our pantry is cold cereal.  It's not the healthiest, but it's quick and my kids like it.  For a June day, it was only 40° outside, so I decided it was a good day to heat up the kitchen with some baking.  

Clear back when I started this blog, I remembered a recipe for Honey Bunches of Oats cereal that I posted.  Could I find it anywhere on this blog?!?!  I figured it I couldn't find it then you probably couldn't either.  I went through almost every post I wrote during my first year of publishing this blog, and I found it!  It turned out to be one of the easiest recipes I've made in awhile and tasted good too!

 

Boil the sugars and mix in with the oat/cereal mixture.

Homemade Honey Bunches of Oats

10 C. quick oats

1 18oz. box of corn flakes cereal 

1 C. of honey or corn syrup (I used honey)

1 C. brown sugar

1/4 C. water

1. Preheat oven to 300°.  Stir together the quick oats and the cereal in a large bowl.

2. In a small saucepan combine the honey, brown sugar, and water.  Bring to a boil and stir until sugars are dissolved.  

3. Pour sugar mixture over the oats and stir until combined.  Spread onto a greased cookie sheet.  Keeping the thickness to about 1/2".

4. Bake at 300° for 30 minutes.  (I felt it needed a minute or two longer so I stirred it before cooking 5 minutes longer)

5. Let sit until cooled and store in an airtight container. Will last 2-3 months if tightly sealed. 

 

It tasted just sweet enough and had a good crunch to it.  My kids are so excited to try it for breakfast tomorrow.  

Update:  This batch lasted only a few days. It was really good!  Every single one of my kids ate it!  All 5 of them!  This is definitely a keeper!!

Chilling Food Without Electricity- The Zeer Pot

I just received my Every Needful Thing monthly newsletter, from the Global Sun Oven company, and this article really caught my interest.  Chilling Food Without Electricity by using a Zeer Pot.  A Zer Pot is a grouping of terra cotta pots and wet sand stacked together, and used to keep produce chilled.  It can help produce stay fresh, and edible, for up to 20 days longer than without a fridge.

Zeer Pot from Prepare Every Needful Thing

Click HERE to read the full article on how the Zeer Pot is made and why from the Global Sun Oven newsletter....Every Needful Thing.




Click HERE to sign up to receive the newsletter.  It's free and has so much information on preparedness.

And Click HERE for even more information from 4dtraveler.net. This link has great info on how much it cost to build a zeer pot and where to buy the materials. 

My Freezer Had No Power For How Long???

A good friend of mine shared a really cool idea with me and I had never heard of it before, so I had to share.

 

The Mason Jar!  It has so many uses besides the obvious canning job.  Store water in them, seal your salad in them, keep your chocolate fresh for years, AND use it to let you know if your fridge lost power for a long enough time for your food to go bad. 

Use a quart mason jar, lid, and ring. Fill halfway with water and freeze.  Once frozen, turn upside down.  Now, if you go out of town or can't make it home during a disaster, and your power goes out check the frozen status of the water in the jar.  By the look of the frozen, or not so frozen, water in the mason jar, you'll be able to tell how long your power was out.  If you have just liquid left in the jar, don't eat the food.  If you have a frozen ice cube....probably safe to cook and eat.

A few tips on helping your frozen food stay frozen if the power goes out.

1. Keep your freezer full!  Full freezers without opening the door will stay cold for 2-4 days.
2. Don't open the door! Keep the cold air in!
3. Keep the fridge unit in a darker, cooler area of the kitchen.  Not in the sun.  I know that this isn't possible in all kitchens.  But if you are planning a new kitchen, something to think about in the planning stage.
4. Find a thick blanket and use it to cover the fridge.  It will help insulate the fridge and keep the cold air in.

Keep a thermometer in the fridge/freezer as well.  Then you can be sure what the temperature will be.  (it's like the mason jar trick with a gauge)

I found this tip to be useful if you were planning a trip out of town. Because, let's be honest, that is the only time something bad happens to your house, right?!

Bread Crumbs, Green Onions, and Parmesan Cheese Lids

I'm still here....still prepping.....but life is crazy and I haven't had the time to blog in a long time! 

This will be a quick post of something that I found on pinterest (because who comes up with any idea on their own anymore) and have been using, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

I'm sure all of you recognize this green lid.  It's from a Parmesan cheese container.  BUT it also fits onto the regular mouth mason jars.  I have been keeping these lids "just in case" I might need them, and guess what???  I found a couple of great uses for them.  On a side note....the lids from the name brand cheese containers, like Kraft, fit a little better then the generic brand containers that I also had.  

A little blurry when taken out of the freezer :)

 

I didn't know what I would use these shaker top lids for, but the other day I was shaking my frozen bread crumbs out of a baggie and a light bulb went off in my head!  If I transferred my bread crumbs to a mason jar and added the shaker-type lid, I could just pour out the amount of bread crumbs without messing with a plastic bag!  I was kind of excited! (doesn't take much)

Then, also in my freezer, I noticed my cut green onions that I had been storing in a plastic water bottle.  That was also something I found on pinterest, but trying to get cut green onions into a small water bottle was WAY more trouble then it was worth.  But again, the mason jar and shaker lid were perfect!!  I snipped my green onions into the mason jar, tightened the lid, and store it in my freezer for use in many recipes.  

I have loved the convenience of both these ideas!  It also helps keep my freezer more organized because I can see the jars much more easily then a bunch of plastic baggies all bunched together.  

And don't forget THIS TIP about re-growing your green onions.

After I snipped all my onions into their freezer jar, I put the roots into a jar on the window sill.  This is about 5 days worth of growth. The grow quickly and you can snip off what you need and they will continue to grow!!  Cool, huh?!?!?

I still encourage all of you to continue with your food storage, everyday,  even if it's something small like a Parmesan cheese lid :)

January Case Lot Sales

For those of you in Utah, there are several stores having case lot sales right now.  

Smiths,
Harmons,
and Ridley's are all having sales. Check the prices and take stock of what your family uses before going to the store.  

Check out the link below for an amazing price comparison list.

Click HERE to read that list!

I'm purchasing:
Smiths
peanut butter
campbell's chunky soup
Kroger toilet paper
Hunt's pasta sauce

Harmons
tomato paste

Ever Wonder What Products Are Best of The Best.....

I have a favorite food storage website.......

myfoodstoragecookbook.com, and I have learned so many things from Megan.  She comes up with the most inventive ideas when it comes to using food storage.  Her latest post is one that should be read by everyone.  It is titled "Food Storage Products That I Buy", and it is chock full of her recommendations for the best food storage products on the market today.  And, she isn't sponsored by any of these companies, so you know her reviews are unbiased.  And I have to say, I agree with everything she reviewed!

Check out Food Storage Products That I Buy, from myfoodstoragecookbook.com.