February 2011

Meals in a Bag   

Today we will talk about a different concept with food storage. Recently, there were some articles in the paper about Michelle and Trent Snow from Kaysville, who use their food storage in a unique and practical way. It may not work for everyone but it is worth looking at.

The Snows have developed a convenient, economical and space saving food storage system of bag meals. Each bag has all the ingredients including spices, seasonings and water, to create a dinner on short notice. In addition, the recipe for that meal is also included in that bag. As I think about it, many of us have bulk food storage, but we may well lack or cannot find the recipes or seasonings for them to make full proper meals in a time of an emergency. In this system, the bag meals are complete, portable, and even ready to go if we need to leave our homes. It is simple enough that even our children can prepare a nice full meal by grabbing a bag and follow the instructions. It is like making a homemade "Hamburger Helper" with the hamburger and water already in the bag. The nice thing about this system, is that you can eat the meals your family likes and is accustom to eating. You can actually use a food bag weekly to rotate it, and then replenish it by making more new bags when you have time.

Michelle and Trent have perfected their bag meals and have written a book called, "It's in the Bag". In their book, they teach you their system and give you over a hundred bag meal recipes. They will also teach you how to home can fruits, vegetables, beans, beef, poultry and fish to be used in your bag meal recipes. They discuss how to sprout seeds and beans, how to make your own yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream and some soft cheeses.

Bag meals are a great concept and can be used in conjunction with whatever food storage system we may have. It always helps to diversify our food storage. I encourage you to try to make your own bag meal and use it. If any of you are interested in the book, I plan on making a group book order in February. Let me know if you are interested. Best wishes and thanks for your time!

January 2011

3 Month Food Supply      

Imagine  if we all could have a pantry that can hold 3 months worth of food. Each time we grocery shop, we then would replace and replenish the pantry items we used. Items would be dated so we could follow the expiration dates. Most foods (except perishables) would well last for 3 months. For the perishables (milk, bread, eggs, etc), we could stock up on ingredients to make our own bread, etc., have powdered milk or other freeze-dried food items that would normally be perishable. We could then incorporate them, now and again, in our meals along with regular weekly perishable purchases. In this way, we could still be self sufficient with a 3 month supply and know how our food storage works and tastes. It would be very reassuring to know that you can be totally self sufficient for 3 months as the First Presidency has recommended.

Let this year, 2011, be the year we begin. If it is too difficult for a 3 month supply, let us work on a 2 or 1 month supply. One month is much better than not having anything at all!

 Here are a few ways to get started:

1) The First Presidency suggests that we purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months.

2) We can plan out what food we need and then purchase it when we can. An easy way to do this is to just track what your family eats in a one month time period and then multiply that amount by the number of months of food storage you want. For example, if your family eats three 15 ounce cans of fruit a week, then you are going to need to store at least 36 cans of fruit for a three month supply. Also, you may want to include extended family, friends and possibly neighbors in this number.

3) Identify the storage space that you will use for your food supply. Once you start storing food, you will quickly realize that store bought canned goods and other products take up a large amount of space. Plus, these items, in large quantities are very heavy. If your food storage space is at a premium, you may have to invest in a selection of freeze dried, dehydrated foods. These foods come prepackaged in bulk sizes and are stored in their own boxes for easy handling and storage in your home.

4) Other thoughts on your food storage plan:

• Remember to include a variety of foods in your plan. No one wants to eat the same thing for three months straight.
• Be sure to include the incidental cooking supplies that you so often take for granted. Examples include salt, spices, vinegar, yeast, baking powder, corn syrup, and cocoa.
• Rotate your food supply. Use the food stores in your everyday diet. Rotate the oldest food items into your regular meals and replace them with newly purchased items.
• Mark each food item with permanent marker. Include the month, day and year that you purchased it. This will help you keep track of which foods are the oldest and need to be eaten first.
• Don't buy things for food storage that you do not normally eat. Stick to items on your family's regular diet.
• It's best to store canned foods or dried goods, versus frozen foods. Electricity for your freezer may not be reliable during difficult times.

Our 3 Month Food Storage will be well worth our efforts. The hardest part is not to procrastinate. Let us make sure that 2011 is the year we become better prepared.