Well, last weekend was a BLAST! Not only did we get to go see the Botanical Gardens, the St. Louis Basilica, with and entire mosaic ceiling consisting of 1/2" pieces of tile, but we also got to go to Daniel Boone's house. It was awesome and it made me realize how my Daniel is much like Daniel Boone in his thriftiness, and hard work ethic. Mom and I also spent some time getting my house decorated while Dan went to class. It was tons of fun because I wasn't doing it alone while trying to take care of the baby. Curtains are up, photos are hung, rugs are down and it feels a whole lot more like home. Mom bought us two new rugs. Which brings me to a great little tidbit. We purchased the two rugs at The Home Depot where one of the rugs was on clearance. It was originally $57 and can you believe that we bought it for $.01!? Yes, that's right! a penny! And it looks every bit of it's $57 goodness at the top of my stairs. Also Charlotte started to try and walk around while holding onto the sofa. She's not too fast at it, but she eventually makes it to where she wants to be.
This morning, while taking out the garbage I discovered another little exciting project was done. Dan bought us storage shelves for our food storage and other things in the basement so I will actually be able to see what we have. Today I found that he's put them together! I was so excited that I organized them then and there. I then decided to inventory what we currently have. Then I looked up what we needed for one year. Oh boy! We are gonna need to get crackin on this whole food storage thing. As far as grains go we're gonna need about 600 lbs of them for a year for all of us and we have a total of 15 lbs. Well, it's something to work on. My only concern is that I couldn't find a solid numerical target for food storage of things like sugar, salt, fruits, baking soda. I found concrete numbers for grains (including wheat, rice, and corn), legumes, and water, but that was it. How am I supposed to get a year's worth of food storage if I don't know how much we'll need? Frustrating, very frustrating. Oh well, I'm sure it's just because I've never really thought about needing it before. (We actually have absolutely no water stored which seems really dumb now that I think about it.)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
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14 comments:
Hi Margs,
my mom says she can send you some info from the Mesa Cannery that will help you figure out what you need. Also on lds.org there should be some info for you.
I miss you!
Maggie, if you go to lds.org provident living it should give you the amount of all the stuff you should have stored. Do they have a cannery in St Louis? If they do, sign up to go and put some stuff in cans. it's an easy way to build up your supply.
Loose
Lose
What is the difference?
Secret Spelling avenger
What's with Mormons and food storage? What sort of disaster are you waiting for?
I went onto LDS.org and all they gave me was the ammount for grains and beans. Although very good, I don't think I'd want to eat just that for a year. I'd love to get some more information! I'm very goal oriented so not having one really makes for a hard target.
Anon-Keeping food storage is a good idea for anyone. If you experience loss of income you know you can still feed your family without going into debt. If a natural disaster happens you wont only be able to feed yourself, but hopefully you'll also be able to help your neighbors. It's not only about being ready in case of a disaster, but also about helping others, and being self-reliant.
Heather-PS. I'm glad Ezra got to come home! Yeah for good news!
I'm so jealous... my house refuses to stay in order so I'm envious of your progress.. and happy for you.
Seriously? A rug for a penny? Now I have to give up my Supreme Shopping Goddess crown to you. Darn darn!
I didn't ask the anonymous question... but thanks for explaining that. Information breeds understanding.
As a Catholic, I feel that we're right up there with Mormons regarding bizarre assumptions and misunderstandings about our faith!
That people ask questions is a good thing.
This is what I'm going to do (when we actaully start accumulating food storage....we're bad).
For 1 month I'm going to make a list of the food we buy and the things we made. I am a full believer of only stocking food that we actaully will eat. If you've got to have a food storage it might as well be for meals we actaully like vs tons of dried milk (gross).
Then I'm going to multiply that list by 12 and get started. That way it will be easy to rotate the supply like we're supposed to. It will be like having a little grocery store at home.
Which will be nice because you know how much I like going to the grocery store....
TRS- I can't really take credit for the clearance deal. I thought it was only half off, but then when I brought it up to the register it came up as a penny. I asked the lady there and she said they were supposed to take items off the shelves when they reached a penny on clearance, but since we got it before they took it off the shelves it was mine! I had a sneeky suspicion that she just didn't want to price check, but I wasn't going to argue.
As for food storage, it probably sounds really strange to most people. But in the mindset of being prepared it's not a bad idea. We also have a 72 hour kit for our family in case of an emergency (flashlights with batteries, hand powered radio, food, clothing, etc.). It reminds me of when I was in elementary school and we had to bring one to class every year. One year I actually got to use mine during a windstorm that took out all the power. My mom packed treats in it that we rarely got to eat at home. I ate everything in it in one afternoon before my mom came to pick me up. So much for it lasting 72 hours!
Katie-that's a good idea, but what about perishable items (ie. your husband's tendency toward eating tons of fruit)? Are you gonging to start canning? I think I should probably can fruits and veggies, but I'm not that far yet. Baby steps right?
From what I read, it's a good idea to have three months of stuff you normally eat handy, then beyond that just stuff to sustain. Although that instant custard that is older than I am we got from Grandpa Willie will come in handy someday, right? Hmmm, probably I should "rotate" that one out of there.
Ooh. I like Katie's plan. I hope to be half that organized one day. I'm lucky if I'm able to eat what I buy in a week much less plan two to three weeks... never mind a year ahead.
Impressive.
I really admire the thought that the food storage is not just meant for you... but to help others if they need it. That's beautiful.
Still, Maggie - that rug - what a deal! That happened with me regarding a really cute pair of pants that I thought was marked down to $19.99... when the cashier scan it it was $4.99. That just happened to be on my birthday so I considered it a gift!!
And one of my favorite skirts ever was a .97 cent purchase at Old Navy! But you really have me beat.
Post a picture of this fabulous rug and/or your newly decorated home.
Well as a school nurse I have been giving mandatory pandemic flu prepartion/education presentations to all district staff members. In those presentations, it is heavily emphasized to have food and water storage for at least 3 months time not only for you and family, but also pets. It is also important to keep track of medication needed daily and try to keep a small surplus of those things as well.
So anonymous, Mormons are just a little more prepared than the rest, but our government is expecting everyone to become self-reliant so should pandemic flu become a reality people can care for themselves and not rely on the government. And really, if you look at the government's history of dealing with and being able aid in times of disaster (think Katrina), do you really want to have them as your only back-up?
oh wonderful!! another med school wife in the blogosphere! i haven't read your posts yet; i'm just thrilled to read your tag line.
funny enough, i grew up in columbia, mo. my husband ben (who is from montana) and i live in DC, where he's in school.
have you been lonely while your husband's in school? just wondering. i've been so lonely that we're taking a crazy step: as of today, we're co-housing with two other married couples (both other wives are preggers), a toddler, and a dog. maybe we're insane. i just know that i have to have real live people in my home.
looking forward to checking in on your blog. do you know of other med school wives who are blogging?
best,
laura
www.oakies.wordpress.com
WOW! I never knew something as boring as food storage could generate such a flow of conversation!
I'll totally get a photo of the rug.
At about.com, you can enter Food Storage Calculator in the search window and it will take you to a couple of websites that will break down what you need from brown sugar to salt to peanut butter. Also, I have recently become converted to freeze-dried food for fruits and veggies. My kids think the triple berry (strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)tastes like candy. If you are interested, just let me know and I'll see if I can get a deal through my friend who owns the company.
The Church is shifting to longer term storage since most estimates put it at about 5% of US LDS who have a year supply of food storage. There is also a new system called 19 by 19. You figure out 19 meals and then buy 19of the items you need to make each meal. Hope that info is helpful!
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