Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Monthly Assignments (Week of Juanuary 18th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Torrance Stake Family, Family and Friends,

What happens when an emergency strikes?

You are usually left on your own!

Would you be able to feed yourself, your family? 

Would you be able to provide safe drinking water for yourself, your family?

Would you have a 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Bag (or Bug-out-bag) for each family member if you needed to evacuate?  

Would you be able to shelter down right where you are living?

Would you have a way to cook your canned and dehydrated food storage? How about without using a flame, there may be gas leaks?

Would you have shelter if you could not stay in your home?

Would you have light if there was no electricity?

Would you have a way to stay warm, heat if needed?

Would you have sanitation if you could not use your plumbing or your toilet?
Would you be able to shut off leaking gas and your water at the main valve? 

Would you have medical supplies to take care of injuries?

Would you have basic first-aid skills to take care of others?

Food and drinking water are priorities in emergency situations, they are the main necessities of life. If you do not have extra food and drinking water on hand for emergency, why not? If no, the best time is to start right now! Yes, the other things above are important too, but we all need food and drinking water to survive!

A few mornings ago I woke up with a warning from the Holy Ghost--

"You need more food storage!" What? We need more? I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and that we are spiritually prepared enough to receive and heed this warning. Being spiritually prepared is just as important as temporal preparation, if not more so. We can and will be guided by the spirit to know what we need to do to protect our self, our family and our loved ones.

Many of us think about emergency preparedness in regards to natural or man made disasters. It is much more! There are also economical disasters, loss of a job and income. There are local and world events that effect us directly, causing civil unrest, rioting and looting. There are personal health issues that effect us economically, physically and spiritually. In our day there seems to be cyber attacks happening daily which can effect us in so many ways. 

We need to be prepared with extra food and drinking water, cash in small bills and change on hand, keep important documents together and easily accessible, and emergency and medical supplies on hand.

Many say they have faith that their needs will be taken care of and do nothing to prepare for tomorrow. What do the scriptures say, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2: 20 & 26). We need to prepare ourselves, not rely on others. It is our responsibility to take care of our self and our own family. "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8).

Peace comes from being prepared. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" (Doctrine and Covenants 38:30).

Continue to work on your January Monthly Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness Assignments 

January Monthly Assignment: 
   Food Storage . . . Soups, Broths and Chili

This month we are going to add soups, broths and chili to our food storage. This is a great time of the year to add them to your Food Storage since most of these items are on sale due to the winter months. Some people like to make their soup from scratch, including us, but it is always a good idea to have canned soups on hand in case of an emergency situation or disaster when you do not have the resources or time to cook from scratch. I also make soups, broths and chili up ahead of time and freeze them in plastic freezer zip lock bags (doubled) or freezer type plastic containers. Make sure you date them.

You can store soup, broths and chili in a variety of ways; commercially canned, small dehydrated packages like Lipton Onion Soup or Chicken Noodle Soup, large commercially #10 cans of dehydrated/freeze dried soups, broths and chili and frozen. You can purchase soups, broths and chili from your local grocery store, big box stores like Costco and Sam's Club and emergency preparedness online websites like emergencyessentials.com or other online companies. Remember as in all canned and packaged food storage, store in a cool dry dark place like your pantry, under beds, in closets, etc. The garage is too hot! Watch the expiration dates when you purchase them, especially if purchasing them from a discount store.

Figure out how many cans of soup and chili your family eats in a month and then multiply by the number of months you have set your food storage goal towards. Remember to include soups like creamed soups you use in casseroles and other dishes you make.

January Month Assignment: Emergency  Preparedness . . . 
      Preparing for a Disaster, What to Do and  
         What to Do and Not Do During a Disaster

What type of disaster do you have where you live? Be aware of your surroundings and prepare for those types of disasters. Example: If you live where there are seasonal hurricanes you should have stored all year long wood, nails and a hammer for boarding up windows and doors, drinking water, canned foods, lighting (flashlights, lanterns, candles), medical supplies, etc. If you live where there are earthquakes you should have your home earthquake proofed as much as possible; book shelves strapped to the walls, TV and electronic equipment secured, know where to go during the earthquake, how to shut off the gas if necessary, etc. Check the postings on the right under "Postings"-- "What to Do and Not Do During a Disaster" and "Before, During and After an Earthquake". Check your local community and government websites for life saving information on what to do before, during and after a disaster in your area. Sit down as a family and make a family plan for your type of disasters. Discuss them often so your family knows what to do when it happens.

Emergency Preparedness Ideas  

Meals in a Jar . . .

This is a great way to put together a meal by placing all the dehydrated and freeze-dried ingredients in a sealed Mason jar for future use. It makes meal planning easy. Click here to learn how to prepared this"Meals in a Jar".

How to create a food storage for $5 a week . . .

This a great way to create your food storage on a weekly budget. This system may not work for all, it is based on a two person family. You would need to multiply it by ever two people in your family. Just thought I would share more ideas and ways to create and add to your food storage. Click here to learn how this accomplished.

Emergency Preparedness Goals and Dos and Don'ts of Food Storage from EmergencyEssentials.com . . . .

Click here to find some great ideas on how to prepare for an emergency or disaster.

Click here to learn about 12 Dos and Don'ts of Food Storage. 

Comments: Please share your comments below. We all learn from each others experiences and skills. We love to here from you.