Emergency Preparedness, Food Storage and Monthly Assignment (Week of July 12th)

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

Do the simple things first!

I think we tend to make emergency preparedness to complicated and get overwhelmed with the process. Do the simple things first!

Start with canned and packaged foods your family eats on a regular basis. Most families eat the same things within a month. Keep track of what your family eats in a month, items you purchase to make the dishes your family eats. I have said this many many times--DO NOT STORE ITEMS YOUR FAMILY DOES EAT OR LIKES! It is a waste of your hard earned money. Each time you go grocery shopping pick up some extra cans or packages of food or extra case at the big box stores you shop at. Do not forget your baking goods too.


First start by getting a two weeks supply, then add additional weeks until you reach your goal of 1-Month, 2-Month, 3-Months, or 6-Months of food storage. Do not forget spices, herbs, seasonings and other ingredients in your dishes. And do not forget to also store treats, like I mentioned last week, cake and brownie mixes, candy, etc.

Also, remember to store water. You cannot live without water for more than 2-3 days.



After you have completed your food storage goal of canned and packaged foods then move onto the long term storage freeze dried/dehydrated products like on emergencyessentials.com or other emergency preparedness companies.




 Once again, remember to store all food storage in a cool (70 degree or below), dry, dark place (cupboards, closets, under beds, side/coffee tables with closed storage spaces.

If you have any questions about food storage please leave your question below in the comment section or email me at theark.carsonward@gmail.com.

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs . . .

Did you know there is a shortage of eggs? Yes, due to the bird flu many of the US chickens have died and our egg supply is very limited. Egg prices are sky rocketing due to the lack of eggs.

Emergency Essentials and Thrive/Shelf-Reliance are out of stock on their freeze-dried powdered whole eggs and do not know when they will get more in. Their freeze-dried powdered scrambled eggs are on back order. The only place I have been able to find freeze-dried powdered eggs is thejimbakkershow.com. They are $110 for 144 servings of eggs (1 whole egg), about .76 cents an egg while supplies last, long term shelf life is 10 years. Only thing is purchasing their products you are contributing to the ministry if that is alright with you. Mountain House through Emergency Essential also has powdered scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage or other ingredients added.

Grocery stores and big box stores prices are continually going up. Costco today (July 9th) was $6.49 for organic eggs, 24 count, and $4.49, 18 count, for regular eggs. A few days ago I paid over $5.00 for regular eggs, 18 count, at a local grocery store.

Click here to read an article written by Emergency Essentials regarding the egg shortage and how it will effect you. Other newspapers are also reporting the storage and higher prices.

What can you do? One thing is to purchase eggs before they become to high in cost or unavailable and freeze them. Or, you can purchase the freeze-dried powdered whole eggs from thejimbakkershow.com until supplies last. I also found them by Googling "freeze-dried powdered whole eggs" from other companies. Figure out how much they are per egg (serving) to see if it economical.

Yes, you can freeze eggs? You can use ice cube trays or muffin/cup cake pans. Crack an egg into each ice cube section, cover with saran wrap, freeze, remove them from the ice tray, saran wrap each one individually quickly. Or, line each section of a muffin or cup cake pan with saran wrap, then break an egg and drop the whole egg in each section, carefully cover the egg in each section and freeze. Once frozen place each individually wrapped egg from the ice tray or muffin/cup cake pan in a large plastic freezer zip lock bag, write the date on it and they will keep frozen for up to a year. Thaw as needed.

July Month Assignments

Food Storage: Dairy

 

Emergency Preparedness: 

               Shelter and Sanitation

                                                    

               

                                                                     

Go back to "Week of June 28th" to learn about adding these items to your Food Storage and Emergency Supplies. 

 

Emergency Preparedness Ideas

How much cash do you have on hand at home, 

                                                   in your car and at work?

Most of us have heard about what happened in Greece last week with their banks. Banks were closed and ATM machines were empty. For a whole week none of the people in Greece were able to access their money in the bank. Once the bank reopened the most you could withdraw was $67 a day. 

 

 

What if that happened here? What if the banks were closed for weeks, a month or more? ATM, debit and credit cards could not be used? So many of us use our debit and credit cards these days to pay for everyday things. How would you access the money needed to survive? What if the electrical grid went down, how would you access your money?

Church leaders admonish us to keep at least one months salary in cash at home, or as much as possible. It is a good idea to keep cash at home, in your car and some at work. You should only keep small bills like one dollar and 5 dollar bills and change. Why? Because when things like this happen, or their is civil unrest or Martial Law, and you need to purchase some food or water the person or store selling it will tell you they cannot make change. You may end up spending $20 for a small can of soup or a small bottle of water that would otherwise cost you a dollar. Keep your money in a safe place, like a fire proof safe with a combination in your home, or buried someone in your home. Keep some cash and change in your glove box or the trunk of your care hidden. Also, it is a good idea to keep a small amount of money at work hidden to give you cash if you needed food and water and transportation home. You never know when you might need cash on hand.  

Be wise, be smart!

Family members with special needs or disabilities . . .

 

Click here to read an article on emergencyessentials.com blog regarding "6 Ways to Prepare People with Special Needs and Disabilities". Some great information. 

Comments and Questions: Please share your comments below. We all learn from each others experiences and knowledge. If you have any questions you can leave them below or email me at theark.carsonward@gmail.com. I will research your questions and answer it on the blog next time. Thank you for your comments. Need help posting a comment or asking a question, go back to last week's posting for instructions.