Pressure Cooker

So this is a different pressure cooker than I had planned on getting, but I think it's better! It even allows you to do canning. (I don't know if the other one does, but that's pretty much what sold me) Waiting for it to come in the mail. They said it wouldn't be here till March 25th...so I still have a couple weeks, but it will be a good birthday present!

I love Costco!

So...the KitchenAid I wanted was on sale for $100 cheaper than the one I was saving up for on amazon...so I just bought it because the sale only lasted until yesterday (Sunday). I got it on Saturday! And, of course, I've already used it. Made cookies last night!

I am saving up my money to buy these:

Wondermill Wheat Grinder:
KitchenAid Pro 5 Plus Series: (I've been wanting one of these since we've been married. I think it's about time to get one)
Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker:
This adds up to a whole lot of money, but one by one I will be getting them. Yay for me. I think the first on the list will be the KitchenAid mixer, then the wheat grinder, and then the electric pressure cooker (I already have a regular pressure cooker that you use on the stove top, but I really want the electric one) Watch this video. It will give you all the cool details on one.

Grand total of what these three gadgets will cost...before shipping and tax:

$674.56 +tax +shipping

Yes, you read that correctly. I better start saving!

LDS Cannery Order

Just made a cannery order for a few things. The church absolutely amazes me! I think it's so cool how they have everything you need to help you in every part of your life. Amazing.

Here's what I ordered:

3 #10 cans of black beans
2 #10 cans of pinto beans
1 #10 can of white beans
3 #10 cans of nonfat dry milk
2 #10 cans of hard white wheat

2 cases (6 #10 cans each) hard red wheat

That should get me up to date.

Food Storage Room

Here's the finished product for our food storage room. Josh finished it in December, but I just haven't posted pictures. Now I just have to fill it up with food storage.

Here's the door to the food storage room. We put a deadbolt on there because it was more flush than a handle. We just leave the key hanging in there...then we won't lose it.

Here's the food and water I've acquired so far.

Just another picture of the food we have accumulated.

Here's a picture of the back. I don't have much back there...yet.

Here is our disaster kit. It's just right inside the door in case we need to grab it quickly.

72-hour kits!

I was asked to post what is in my 72-hour kits, so here's the list:

3 packages of Ramen Noodles

2 packages of crackers

3 packages of oatmeal

2 packages of fruit snacks

1 packages of peanuts

3 packages of hot chocolate

3 granola bars

1 2oz. pkg of trail mix

1 5 stick pack of gum

3 sticks of beef jerky

2 4oz. cans of fruit

9 jolly ranchers

That will take care of the food portion. Everything will fit in a gallon plastic baggy. Put the gum in a mini baggy and then inside the gallon baggy (this will keep it from making everything else taste like mint).

3 capri suns

These will fit in a quart baggy.

The 72 hour kits are good for one year, so write the date that you packed them all on the front of the baggies.

You can also check out Food Storage Made Easy for their ideas on 72 hour kits.

I think I'm actually going to make two more 72 hour kits using the ideas on FSME (Food Storage Made Easy) and then put my already made ones in the trunk of my car, along with 3 or 4 two liter bottles of water. Then if I ever get stranded anywhere, I will be set.

Past to Present

So, here's a quick review of what I've done so far, just to catch you up to the present.

Checklist 1

• Started to put together my emergency binder, which includes important documents, family plans, passwords, etc.
• Backed up my computer

Checklist 2

• Filled out my grab list for emergencies.
• Started clearing out a space for my disaster kit and food storage. (This would be why Josh built me my underneath the stairs food storage closet)
• Made 72-hour kits.

Checklist 3

• Compiled everything for my Disaster kit.

Checklist 4

• Josh continues to work on food storage room. Shelves are now up.
• Created 3 month food supply plan.
• Researched shopping with coupons and saving money (I still really need help with this. I think I want to take a class to help me get in the groove.

Checklist 5

• Started collecting and filling water containers. (I bought a few gallon water jugs, already filled, and then I've been collecting two liter soda bottles from my parents. Much cheaper than buying a bunch of containers.)
• Started purchasing things off my 3 month supply list.

Now, technically I'm supposed to be on Checklist 7, but since the Holidays were during these two checklists, I'm a bit behind. So, there you go. I have to do two checklists at once, and quick, so I can get back on track.

Here's what I need to do over the next week.

Checklist 6

• Purchase long-term supply of wheat and yeast.
• Purchase 6 month supply of toilet paper (we are calculating how much we use in one week so we can purchase the correct amount. I basically told Josh to pick a bathroom and use only that bathroom for the next week. He thinks I'm ridiculous!)
• Start using wheat in my every day cooking.

Checklist 7

• Purchase long-term supply of dried beans, shortening and salad dressing.
• Purchase a few extra containers of laundry detergent.
• Start replacing my canned beans with dry beans in my every day cooking.

I've never purchased anything from the lds cannery, so that's my first challenge. Figure out how to go about doing that. I've emailed food storage specialists in my ward to figure out how to go about doing that, just waiting to hear back. Once I do that, I will be done with half of my huge list!

The Starting Point

Me and Josh have both been feeling like we need to get started on our food storage for quite a while. But it was all talk. We talked and talked and talked about it for about two years. I started googling food storage pretty heavily about 3 months ago. I found a website called Food Storage Made Easy and instantly fell in love with it.

On the website, they offer to send you out free biweekly checklists. I signed up for that but then I found the link to purchase the whole Food Storage Made Easy binder. So, I ended up buying all the checklists plus a TON of other information all at once. I still get the biweekly checklists sent to my email and they help me stay on track, but I absolutely LOVE my binder.

This is pretty much where it all started. I got addicted and was constantly googling different things and watching all of the You Tube videos made by the people of Food Storage Made Easy.

Tonight I will post pictures of our new food storage room (here's a preview, but the link is only when it was about halfway done) that Josh built for me for Christmas underneath our stairs. It's pretty much my favorite room in the house.

My Food Storage Ride

So, I decided I wanted to document my ride on starting my food storage. One of my goals for this year is to have a one year supply of food storage at the end of the year. This blog is intended to help me stay on track.

Today I will work on getting all of the pictures up of the progress that I /my husband have already made.

I hope this will help you on your food storage ride.