QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS
Just a few days ago I received a kind email from a food storage friend. She had questions regarding emergency, or maybe just necessary, recipe adaptations. It’s easy to get caught up in the “what ifs” of building a food storage so I’m more than happy to share the solutions that have worked for our family.
1. Follow the direction from the First Presidency in building a three-month supply and longer-term supply. They have clearly suggested that we “Build a small supply of food that is part of your NORMAL, DAILY DIET” and “For longer-term need, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans.”
2. Commit to the principle of storing food and create a reasonable plan for its preparation and use. All of my recipes use some amount of three-month ingredients combined with longer-term dry goods, AND fresh ingredients. Without the fresh ingredients my food storage recipes wouldn’t be NORMAL. (And remember, the First Pesidency specifically stated that our food storage needs to be normal.) It’s the fresh ingredients that make my food storage into meals my family actually wants to eat. That’s big. That’s how I protect my investment and begin to reap the financial and time management blessings connected to food storage. It’s really not just about preparing for emergencies. In fact, the Prophet Spencer W. Kimball emphasized the practical concepts when he taught, “Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program. We could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward.”
3. IF something really bad happens and I can’t go to the grocery store (and I don’t have a fantastic garden) my recipes get modified, but they’re still familiar. Familiar to my children and myself, as the chief cook and bottle washer. I won’t have every single ingredient but I’ll have more than a clue of what to do with the food I’ve got stored because I’ve been practicing with it! Plus, the combination of both types of storage food, long-term and three-month, will give my emergency meals less “manna-in-the-wilderness” motif. (Remember the Children of Israel? They had food but the hated not having any variety.)
IF something really bad happens, I’m better prepared to comfort my children. I believe that the preparation of a parent greatly alters the experience of a child. Read I Walked to Zion. The children who successfully navigated a life-threatening journey were blessed with parents who already knew how to cook beans, make bread, and harness the oxen. Preparation and practice matter.
IF something really bad happens, I’m better prepared to “serve in the church”. Maybe that will look like holding a large spoon, instead of a lesson manual, and I’ll be dishing up wheat and rice with a dab of BBQ sauce or cream of whatever soup, for the people in my neighborhood. Maybe there’s a ”calling” out there, from the Bishop, and it will be for food. I want to be on the team that has something to share. I’m choosing now to be ready to say YES in the future. And I want to have some ideas on how I can prepare the food, even if it’s a modified, sans cheese and green peppers, adaptation.
The very first paragraph from the pamphlet All Is Safely Gathered In reads: Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.
I believe food storage is about stewardship and charity. What we’re willing to do right now, and what we would be willing to do in the future, with all that we’ve been given. Ready? Set. Serve~
Tags: anything dried will taste better when combined with a few basic canned goods, modified but still familiar
November 18th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Well said.
November 19th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Hey friend, I also put up my food storage presentation on my blog. http://secretsofmom.blogspot.com/2010/11/food-storage-friday-ways-that-food.html
November 20th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Love your perspective and example Heather! You just keep churning out great stuff.
November 23rd, 2010 at 12:37 am
I so, so agree, and I’m not even Mormon. From my perspective, storing wheat, beans, etc. makes sense because it’s high fiber, higher protein, long term stable and because we include it in our day to day, it’s food our bodies and our palates are accustomed to. Sure, we’d prefer our beans with a bit of ham bone, onion, garlic and some corn bread, but if it was beans, beans and only beans, we’d manage.
The other very important point, about stocking up over time, is important to me because frankly, money is tight. Squeaky tight. If I buy a whole bunch of stuff in bulk and find out that we don’t or won’t eat even 10% of it, I am wasting money that could have been better used. However, if we try something new, find we like it, add a little more to our stores over time, then I’m a better steward of our resources. (And please know I don’t throw things out – if something was not to our liking I’d find someone who could use it.)
It has taken me years, but now, even my backup plans have backup plans. I did it all on a budget, got most of my ‘equipment’ (hand-crank mills, non electric food processing and canning equipment that I’d need if I couldn’t use my Kitchenaid mixer attachments and my food processor, etc.) for pennies on the retail dollar. I truly believe that if you figure out what you can do, you start to realize what you couldn’t do in an emergency – that leads to you figuring out what the next step will be, and often, the little doohickey I need is just a yard sale or two away.
The other super cool thing? My five year old can play ‘Little Red Hen’ with the hand operated stuff, and she loves doing that.
November 24th, 2010 at 11:23 am
I LOVE YOU LAURA. YOU are so great! I’m really thankful that we’re sisters. Liesa
November 27th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Back Atcha, Dear Liesa!
November 28th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I was thinking about this the other day; the three months’ supply of normal food. I have modified ours over the years, and it is now part of the long-term storage as well. I have coconut milk and use it in place of evaporated milk on some recipes because it might be hard to get evaporated milk, and I need a good non-dairy alternative.
December 1st, 2010 at 8:59 am
Great example Carolyn. As we work on our food storage, and use our food storage, we become better at the customization.
January 12th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
May I add a True Story? Last week, we were apprised of a Winter Storm for our area. Georgia rarely gets snow this far south of Atlanta. This past Sunday, in Gospel Doctrine, the teacher…yes, the teacher, asked if we had our eight gallons of milk and 15 loaves of bread. The general consensus was that while no one was worried, it wasn’t because they had food storage, it was because they didn’t think the storm would be that bad…and they would be able to get what they wanted; no sweat. And that was how the instructor was portraying it!
I raised my hand and asked ‘Aren’t we supposed to be using our food storage?’ The reaction was ‘WHO SAID THAT?’ People reacted like I had slapped them.
Weeeellll, the schools have now been closed for the past 4 days. Grocery store shelves are starting to look a bit barren and a few people in the class are looking at their food storage with a new appreciation.
The SNAIR crews are working aroung the clock to keep the interstates open, and aren’t even bothering to clear neighborhoods.
It isn’t dire, but I think people felt that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, and they would only have to worry at most, a day.
School might be closed for a week. Supplies may not be as regular now. While no one will starve, I think a lot of people are rethinking the blessing of having at least a month’s supply!
January 13th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Oh man. Fire in my bones. Wish I could come share, ahem, my testimony…and a thing or two, with your ward! Go get’em Carolyn. Maybe they’ll have ears to hear. You’re a rock star. Thanks for telling us about this. xo
January 28th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
No one died in the Cold of 2011. Ultimately we were out of school for five days. In that time, people did not drive because it was slippery, and dangerous. We have two SUVs and bags of sand. So…if we wanted to go somewhere, we loaded up the sand and went. If we got stuck, we put some sand down and moved anyway.
However, this had an interesting effect on supplies. While deliveries were made as usual, shelves were rather bare and empty. I don’t know if that was because the stockers were unable to come in, or if the few brave sould made food runs for themselves and their friends.
We were fine, because we had our food storage, and ate of the fat of the land. We were blessed indeed.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Thank you Carolyn. Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective and real-life experience. Thank you for being an example. Thank you for being a friend. Much love, Liesa