Week 28

The world economy is experiencing a downward spiral and the number of unemployed is up. For all of these reasons I think we need to really focus on food storage. We have made great progress in our preparations but while there is still time to purchase and preserve summer produce we will be taking a hard look at food storage.

1. Load your car as you would if you were told to evacuate. I read an interview of a victim of the San Diego fires and she said how prepared she thought she was. She had photo albums, journals, medical records and treasured possessions all ready to take if there were ever a fire. She is CERT trained and knew the dangers and had prepared. When it came time to evacuate she got everything in the car and went back to get her dogs and …no room. Many of the photos and other treasures were left behind so she could make room for her pets. Her home burned all those treasures were lost. Learn a lesson from her and load your car with your important papers, photos and treasures, then add the kids and pets and see where you stand. Do this with the car that is most often at home. If an evacuation order comes dad and/or mom may be at work so load the car that is most likely to be there. You may need to purchase a car top carrier and now is the time to know that.

2. Copy your computer files and mail them to your out of area contact. You may have room to take your computer but you may be away from home when the call comes to evacuate and there may not be time to rescue your computers.
3. Purchase a fire extinguisher for your auto kit.

4. Make a Dutch oven meal. If you aren’t sure how to do this there are great recipes and instruction on the internet or call a boy scout you know.

5. Add a fuel source to your grab and go kit. A camp stove and fuels for that is nice, but also have fire starters in case the stove can’t be carried.

6. Add 1 package of flavored gelatin per person in your family to your food storage. This will be an absolute necessity in the event of a pandemic and it makes a fun dessert if you are living on your storage.

7. Catch up on a step you have missed.

Week 27

I’ve seen people evacuating and know those of us who are preparing would know what to grab and how to evacuate with fewer regrets. If you have not already completed your household inventory make that your goal this week and get it checked off your list. It is one of the most important things you can do. If you were to lose your home an inventory can save you time, money and regrets. In most cases if you fail to list an item as being lost with the insurance company, it is too late later to be reimbursed for the items.

1. This week we are going to begin our Car Kits. For those of you who commute these are essential. It does not take an extreme natural disaster for you to break into your kits. Can you imagine being stuck in the car for many hours do to a road closure or accident?! Wouldn’t it be nice to have something to eat and drink, something to provide a little light, or a whistle to attract help if you should have a health emergency. When traveling long distances, a Car Kit can be a real life saver. If you need to put on tire chains a bright orange vest may save your life as people can see you from a distance. Mylar blankets can protect you from the desert sun and provide warmth during a snow storm. This week find an old back pack or purchase one so you are ready to begin adding items next week. A child’s backpack is the perfect size for a car kit.

2. Add a hammer to your Grab and Go Kit

3. Practice starting a fire with items that you may have on hand if you are stranded on the road. Use a pair of eye glasses to light the fire. Collect some pine needles, dried leaves or small sticks and use them as kindling. Try starting a fire using a battery and steel wool. Get a 9 volt battery and a small piece of steel wool. Wrap the steel wool in a little paper, TP, tissue or other flammable material. Leave a little of the steel wool exposed. Gently rub the steel wool against the battery connection. This will cause sparks so be careful. Blow to increase the flames and drop onto your prepared kindling. Gently blow to keep the fire going until the kindling catches.

4. Learn a new skill. Ask a friend to teach you to can or make freezer jam. Learn to change a tire. Invite a friend to teach your family to build that fire if it is all a mystery to you. Take a CPR class. Learn to sew, or jump your car battery.

5. Add a cooking pot to your Grab bag. A Dutch Oven is nice because they are so versatile, they hold a lot, you can use them directly in a fire and they can take lots of abuse.

6. Purchase milk for your food storage.

7. Practice your new skill.

Week 26

Can you believe we have been at this for 6 months now. We are at our 1/2 year mark! If you copy the steps each week, add them to your binder and cross off the ones you complete it will be easy for you to see later what still needs to be done. Keep saving your change and don’t be afraid to ask for a case of food or pandemic supplies or a 72 hour kit for your birthday, anniversary or one of the holidays. Tell your sweetie not to buy chocolate but rather a case of brownie mix. Then you can get your fix during a time when there is no money for chocolates. This week:

1. Practice building a shelter. There are many websites which can help you with directions for a lean-to, or tents. If you purchased your tarp(s) last week or if you have an old one around practice using that so you can see what else you may want to add to your Grab bag to make creating a safe shelter easier. This will also help you understand how many tarps and ropes you may need to accommodate your family’s needs. Besides this is a great activity with the kids.

2. Purchase cooking utensils for your Grab bag. This is a great time of the year as the barbecue utensils are on sale. You will want long handled items just in case you end up having to cook over a fire.

3. Purchase a set or two of white sheets. If you remember the Seasonal Bargains sheet you copied, you will know July is a great time for white sales. White sheets are important in preparing for a pandemic. Decide which two rooms you would turn into “hospital” room for those who are ill. Purchase at least one set of white sheets for the beds in those rooms. During a health emergency you will want to wash sheets in hot water, soap and bleach to be sure all the germs are killed, thus white sheets.

4. Add 2 cans of vegetables per person to your food storage. Hopefully you can find them on sale.

5. Make or purchase a holiday gift. We are spreading out our expenses by doing this and thus preparing so the holiday season doesn’t have us incurring large debts. If you know someone who loves to barbecue now is the time to find great buys on everything from aprons to marshmallow roasting forks. Holiday fabrics are on sale now.

6. Make more room for food storage. If you are running out of space now is the time to create some more. We will be adding more food to reach that three month supply so be ready.

7. Take time to catch up on one or more of the Steps you have missed.

Week 25

We are being proactive and we will be ready to face a challenge as it presents itself. This week:

1. Place a pot in your grab and go pile. Make sure the pot is heavy as you will probably be using in on an open fire, camp stove, or barbecue grill. You will only be adding one pot as during an emergency you won’t want to be carrying more than that. A lid for the pot is also important and with limited water you may need to reuse any water you have used to cook your food and you definitely don’t want water evaporating.

2. It’s time to think shelter. If you have a small 3 man tent they are great and light weight. A tarp will work. We have added rope to our GGK (Grab and Go Kit) and with the addition of a tarp or two you can make a much bigger and sturdier shelter. Tarps can be used as a tent, lean to, dining cover, ground cover, to temporarily repair a leaky roof and even to haul debris. They are much less expensive than a tent and much easier to carry. If you have a large family, add a few tarps and extra rope.

3. Clear a ten foot area around your propane tank and your barbecue grill. We often hear about clearing a defensible space around our homes but most of us think we are safe because we don’t live in a wooded area. Propane tanks and barbecue grills can be very dangerous. Tanks can and will explode during a weather emergency and barbecue grill can easily create a grease fire with dangerous flame. Grills have also been known to tip over and catch lawns and lawn furniture on fire. Give yourself plenty of space away from your house so you have time to put out the fire before it can cause major damage.

4. Purchase one can or container of protein per family member. This may include; tuna and other fish, meats, peanut butter or beans. This is not the only time we will add protein to our food storage so check the sales this week and add items that are on sale.

5. Move heavy items to bottom shelves. This is especially important during a hurricane, tornado or earthquake. You do not want heavy items falling out of shelves on to family members. Anything that is heavy or with sharp edges should be on bottom shelves.
6. Check you garage and area around heaters and water heaters and move any items that are flammable away from heat sources. If you have a shed store propane bottles, cleaners, lawn mowers (yes, they are flammable) in the shed. Also move any weed killers and pesticides away from heat sources. They can become deadly if they are exposed to a fire.

7. Draw a floor plan or your home. Using markers or colored pencils mark at least two escape routes from each room in case of a fire. Spend time this week walking through those options with your family. Practice good fire safety techniques, low to the ground, feel the door before opening and always practice meeting at your designated meeting place.

Week 24

We are facing tough times right now but we are strong, creative and wise and we will survive and thrive. So, let’s get started!

1. Add cleaning supplies to your preparedness stash and your Grab and Go Kit. Add a bucket, a small bottle of bleach and rags to your kit. Be sure this is separate from the bucket and rags you have in your home. If you need to evacuate for a fire, hurricane, tornado, flood, or earthquake you may come home to a home that is no longer intact. You will need cleaning supplies. Be sure you have a good push broom and a good mop. It is not feasible to take these in a GGK but not all emergencies will destroy your home.

2. Get online and print off a copy of your credit reports. Be sure to check all three credit reporting agencies; TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. If you find anything that is incorrect change it now. A good credit rating can save you thousands of dollars when you want to purchase or refinance a home or even a car. Don’t be caught off guard. Fix any mistakes now!

3. Add clothes pins to your Grab and Go Kit (GGK). Last week we added rope. With the addition of clothes pins we are now ready to dry clothing, photos, important papers, and even build a shelter. We will talk more about all their uses in coming weeks.

4. Add an ax to you GGK.

5. Gather, count and clean all sleeping bags. If you don’t have one per family member this may make a good gift.

6. Add 1 bottle of juice per family member to your food storage. Remember only 100% juice counts as a fruit so make it 100% juice.

7. Copy your tax returns for at least the last 2 years and add them to your adult 72 hour kits and add to the envelope to mail to your contact person.. If you don’t want to share this info with your out of state contact place them in a sealed envelope before mailing them off.

We are to the point now where you are developing quite a good food storage and you might need a good inventory and plan to move forward.

Food Inventory

Using a Food Inventory for your Food Storage
by Miriam Caldwell More from this Blogger
25 May 2006 09:36 PM
Another key to using the pantry principle in food storage is to have a running food inventory. This will allow you to easily see the food that you have available, and the food that you still need to purchase. It can help you to achieve your goal of storing a good supply of food, as well as make sure that you are rotating through the food in a timely manner.
If you haven't done this already, you really need to make a list of the foods that you prepare on a regular basis. You then need to make a list of the ingredients that you need to prepare these items. I have mentioned it before, and I know that I will mention it again. This list is the key to your success in establishing a good food storage and rotation system. If you don't cook on a regular basis, or cook a wide variety of items, you can plan a monthly menu instead of a weekly menu.
I have a five-week menu planned. On the front of each week's menu I have listed the main courses and sides of all the meals that I will prepare during the week. I then list all of the items I need in order to prepare the meals listed. On the back I have the recipes written down, so that I do not need to look them up while I am cooking. I post this list on my refrigerator and it really helps me. When I compile my shopping list, I just check what I have on hand and write down the items that I have run out of. I have a general list of the type and amount of each food that my family consumes during the month. This is the first step of my food storage inventory.
"Food Storage for the Clueless" lays out the next part of the plan. Your next step is to create a chart or a spreadsheet on your computer. On this you list the items that you want to include in your food rotation system. This can include anything from flour to chicken to canned fruit. You then list how much of each item that you would need in a year. Then you list how much you have of each item. (In this column you would add what you had just bought and then list the date.) In another column you would list what you had just consumed and the date. Then you can easily see what needs to be replenished. It would be easier if you listed the canned goods in cases of twelve or the size of box they come in.
After you have started the food inventory, you will need to start purchasing the food. You can watch for sales or put aside a little bit money each week to purchase extra food storage. If you start a little bit at a time, it will really begin to add up. Don't be overwhelmed with this idea. When I planned my five-week menu, I sat down and planned the meals I would eat
for the five weeks. Then I prepared the menu sheet the week that I actually used it for the first time. It only added a few minutes onto my planning that week, and in the long run it has saved me a lot of time.

Week 23

This week we begin something new, a Grab and Go Kit. A Grab and Go Kit (GGK) differs from a 72 hour kits because it contains supplies that you may need following a disaster, however each family member will not need each item. One will be adequate for the whole family. You will keep you GGK with your 72 hour kit and when told to evacuate you will “grab” this and “go”. We will begin to purchase or gather items for the kit and then when we have our items and know exactly how bulky they are, you will purchase an appropriate carrier. As you will discover over the next few weeks, kits will be of different sizes depending on the size of your family.

1. Begin your GGK by gathering or purchasing one large roll of duct tape and a rope at least 75 feet long.*

2. Add 10 $1.00 bills to adult 72 hour kits. Next, check the sofa and chair cushions, under the sofa and chairs, the floor in the car, the bottom of your purse and coat pockets, for change. Place all the change you find in a zip lock bag in your adult 72 hour kits. You won’t miss that at all will you?

3. Add a toy for your pet to their kit.

4. Learn to use the manual release on the garage door. In case of a power outage you want to be able to get the car out of the garage if you need to evacuate.

5. Make a family uniform. We talked about this last week so you could start thinking about what you wanted to do. If all you can do for now is purchase a yard or two of a crazy fabric and make bandannas, do it. You can always add shirts later. Remember you will need something for three days.

6. Add baby needs to an adult 72 hour kit. Don’t spend any money on this one. You have these items around the house if you have small children. Add a pacifier, bibs, bottle, spoon, toy, and a hat. See, you have doubles of all these things.

7. Try a new recipe made from food storage. Remember we are storing a 3 month supply of things we eat so this recipe should include the items in your 3 month supply and only those items.