Week 6

FOOD STORAGE TIP OF THE WEEK


Food Storage: 6 lbs of Jam



Some local bargains:

Lin's
Western Family Grape Jelly - 32 oz @ $2.39 (7.5 cents/oz.)

Dollar Tree
Apricot Jam - 12 oz. @ $1.00 (8.3 cents/oz.)
Orange Marmalade - 12 oz. @ $1.00 (8.3 cents/oz.)
Grape Jelly - 20 oz. @ $1.00 (5 cents/oz.)

Big Lots
Algood Grape Jelly - 32 oz. @ $2.30 (7.2 cents/oz.)

Smiths
Welches Grape Jelly - 32 oz. @ $1.88 (5.9 cents/oz.)

Wal Mart
Snickers Strawberry Jam - 32 oz @ $2.50 (7.8 cents/oz.)
Great Value Strawberry Jam - 32 oz. @ $2.44 (7.6 cents/oz.)
Great Value Grape Jelly - 32 oz. @ $1.93 (6 cents/oz.)
Smuckers Grape Jelly - 32 oz. @ $2.23 (6 cents/oz.)
They also have a variety of others under 10 cents/oz.

Extra Item: 20 lbs of Oats

Get-em at the Cannery! Remember our cannery day is the second Thursday of each month at 5:00 pm, which means THIS THURSDAY! We look forward to seeing you there.

Cannery prices:

Quick Oats - $2.05 (#10 can) - weighs 2.6 lbs.
Regular Oats - $2.10 (#10 can) - weighs 2.7 lbs.


Click below to pull up the new Cannery Price Sheet, effective January 1, 2011:










72 Hour Kit: Personal Hygiene Kit: travel-size shampoo, bar of soap, chap stick, lotion, razor, comb, brush, nail clipper, tooth brush, toothpaste, floss, handy wipes, hand sanitizer, 1 roll of toilet paper, small package of tissue, feminine items. Place all items in a gallon zip lock bag.



Family Preparation: For communication during a power outage, make sure you have a corded phone. Cordless phones don't work when the power is off.



Spiritual Preparation: Read D&C 63:33-34 and "The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace and Happiness" by Richard G. Scott, Ensign Nov. 2006 pp 40-42. True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ.


Food For Thought:

Oats are one of the foods richest in Silicon, which among other things helps renew bones, connective tissue, hair and nails (some nutritionists call it the "beauty mineral"). Oats also contain Phosphorus, which is required for brain and nerve formation during youth. When you think about it, they are perhaps the only whole-grain cereal that some people eat.

Oat flakes are nearly as nutritious as whole oat groats, as they have been only lightly processed by rolling and steaming. Oats can be used in soups, puddings, breads, crusts, toppings and desserts. Oat flakes are very soft and easily grind up into flour in the blender which makes a wonderful and delicious thickener in gravies, soups and stews. Try making a gravy using your own oat flour instead of store-bought white flour. It's better for you and really good!

Externally, oats can be used as a poultice to relieve itching and is considered healing and beautifying to the skin when used as a pack.

Instead of buying instant oatmeal packages, why not make up your own personalized packets for your individual family members? They would be great to have in everyone's 72 hour kit.

INSTANT OATMEAL PACKETS:

Makes 10 packets of instant oatmeal

To make individual instant packets:

Blend 1/2 cup of oats until powdery (flour).

Into each of the 10 packets (perhaps individual ziplock sandwich bags), combine the following ingredients:

1/4 cup unpowdered oats
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
2 Tbs powdered oats (oat flour)
1 tsp sugar (optional)

To individualize packets, see what your family likes and add their favorites such as raisins, dried cranberries, dried apples and/or powdered milk (from the Cannery, of course!), cinnamon, brown sugar, and whatever other creative ideas you come up with!

Close the top, pressing out the air as you go, label with name, contents and date, and store in a dry place.

Microwave directions for cooking:

Empty packet into mirowaveable bowl.
Add 2/3 cup water or milk.
Microwave on high about 1-1/2 minutes; stir.

Conventional directions for cooking:

Empty packet into pan.
Add 1/2 cup boiling water;
Cook and stir over heat until thickened.

OATMEAL RAISIN MUFFINS

One egg
3/4 cup milk or water
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white or whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar (see Week 3 blog if you want to substitute honey for sugar and remember to lower the cooking temperature!)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Grease bottoms only of about 12 medium muffin cups or line with cupcake liners (or use silicone cupcake sheet).
Beat egg; stir in milk, raisins and oil.
Mix dry ingredients separately then stir into liquid mixture all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.
Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Remove from pan immediately.

Variation: if you want to use some of the jam you bought this week (hint, hint), leave out the raisins, fill the muffin cups about 1/2 full and drop in a big dollup of jam then finish filling the cups up to 3/4 full and bake as directed above. This way you'll use your oats and get a yummy surprise as well!

Week 5

FOOD STORAGE TIP OF THE WEEK


Food Storage: 8 Cans of Fruit

Extra Item: 8 Rolls of Toilet Paper

Some local bargains:

Wal Mart
Great Value Pineapple (20 oz.) - 4.6 cents/oz.

Great Value Apple Sauce (46 oz.) - 3.0 cents/oz.

Quilted Northern Toilet Tissue (24 pack) - 54 cents/roll

White Cloud Toilet Tissue (24 pack) - 46 cents/roll

Big Lots

Del Monte Pineapple (20 oz.) - 4.5 cents/oz.

Smith's

Kroger Pears (15.25 oz.) - 4.8 cents/oz.
Kroger Pears - no added sugar (15.25 oz.) - 6.6 cents/oz.

Kroger Apple Sauce (46 oz.) - 4.1 cents/oz.

72 Hour Kit: Outer gear - correct for the season (winter coat, rain gear, hat, gloves) per person


If you like to crochet, here's a quick easy winter hat pattern that can be adjusted for a child all the way up to an adult size:
Crocheted Hat with Brim
The flower on the side of the hat is the flower from the following pattern: White Twinkle Choker

This Ribbed Ski Mask is a crochet pattern that can be done for a man or a woman and would be great to have with your cold weather gear.

Family Preparation: Provide a safe alternative heat source for your home. This could be a fireplace, wood stove, and propane or kerosene space heater. A year's supply of fuel is preferable, but for emergency purposes, a two-week supply would be acceptable. Any time an alternative heating system is operating, have at least one carbon monoxide detector in use and ventilation must be provided to prevent Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Spiritual Preparation: Begin working on your family history. Read the Ensign November 2003, p 52 "The Phenomenon That is You", by James E Faust. As President Boyd K. Packer has said, "If you don't know where to start, start with yourself. If you don't know what records to get and how to get them, start with what you have." You will learn about the phenomenon that is you. Tell your children and grandchildren about their grandparents and other ancestors.


Food For Thought:

As the year progresses, we'll be talking more about storing fruit and vegetables but with bananas available fresh year round, if you have a dehydrator, here's a fun idea that's really easy with only two ingredients. Make sure your bananas are fully ripe (no green on skin) or they will be starchy and not sweet as the natural sugars won't be developed yet. Also, my personal preference is to use organic bananas. I have found that when I take fruit and vegetables down to a dehydrated state and compare organic produce with non organic, that the organic makes a superior-tasting product virtually every time. However, organic produce is generally more expensive.

Recipe: Dehydrator Banana Cookies

Mash 4 ripe bananas (or more if you want a bigger batch) in a large bowl then mix in several cups of puffed millet which you can find at the local health food store (Sunshine Nutrition in Cedar City) in the cereal section.

When it's all mixed up there should seem to be a little more banana than cereal in the mix to keep things wet and sweet enough - you can add more of one or the other ingredient to adjust accordingly.

Spoon mixture onto dehydrator sheets or mesh trays in rounds the size of cookies. I just put them right on the mesh sheets but you can also put them on butchers wrap or parchment paper but NEVER freezer wrap or waxed paper. Put in the dehydrator and turn on.

Time varies depending upon the temperature you use - I set mine at 115 degrees in the late afternoon and they were done the next morning. "Done" is when they will pop off the tray and are chewy/crunchy in texture. If you leave them in a lot longer, they get more brittle and are harder to chew. If you use a higher temperature they will be done a lot sooner so check every couple of hours until they are the consistency you like.

These should keep for at least 6 months if everybody doesn't eat them first!

Variations:

- Bananas and WIDE Coconut Shreds (quality of the coconut is crucial here - I got mine also at the health food store and they were so good it was amazing!)

- Bananas and Puffed Rice Cereal

- Bananas and Chopped Nuts