Meal Planning

Here's some tips for MEAL PLANNING!!

-Have a list of meals your family likes. (Don't feel bad if ramen noodles or Hamburger Helper is on your list)

-Space out similar meals. For example, you may not want to have spaghetti and lasagna in the same week. This is on reason I prefer planning for the whole month. I would make breakfast food every other day if I could but my husband doesn't love that, so I plan on one breakfast food meal a week.

-Plan for a leftover night. We usually have one day a week when we need to clean out the fridge. It doesn't always fall on the same day every week, so I have to be flexible, but I LOVE leftover night.

-Plan for new recipes! To shake things up a little, plan a new recipe once a week or once every other week. This can help you find new favorites for your meal list. (Remember to use recipes that include your food storage, so you can learn HOW to use ingredients you may not be used to and so that your food gets rotated.)

-Use a blank calendar and/or make a list of all the meals. A few months ago I was writing meals done on a blank calendar that I printed from Word. I liked this way. Lately, I have just been writing a big list of what I have ingredients for so I can cook whatever I feel like that night.

I also like to keep track of what I actually ended up making (or if we ate out) so that when I am meal planning I can remember what we've had most recently and try to plan so different meals. I have a binder with my calendars and lists so I can look through it quickly. My favorite recipes are also in this binder and print outs or notes about recipes I want to try.

Meal planning helps me to feel a little more in control of my day, helps with my general sanity, and saves me money because I'm not going to the store every other day for things I need.

HAPPY PLANNING!

*This is an update post from earlier this year, I know. But I think it's good to review. :)

72-hour kit REVIEW

Over the last 9 months we have been talking about building a 3-month supply as well as 72-hour kit. If you've been following the PLAN 9 steps created by the Southwest Utah Health Department, you've gone through ALL 9 steps in the last 9 months. Hooray!

Here's a review of the 9 steps!!!

Step 1: Water! It is recommended that we store a 2 week supply of water, which is 14 gallons per person.

Step 2: Food! There are lots of choices when it comes to food, but it's smart to store what your family will actually eat. In case of emergency, you don't want to make it more miserable by eating cardboard.

Step 3: Clothing! Having at least a set of clothing for each family member in your kit is great. You may also want to have a sweater and extra shoes.

Step 4: Medication! It's handy to have extra over the counter medications in case of evacualtion or just to have in case you run out at home. You also may have prescription meds that will are necessary to have on hand in case of an emergency.

Step 5: Flashlights! Having a couple flashlights with extra batteries will be necessary in more emergencies.

Step 6: Can Opener! I don't have a can opener in my 72-hour kit, because I don't have cans in my 72-hour kit, but because so much of my food storage is canned, I need spare can openers for my food storage.

Step 7: Radio! Having a battery operated radio may be necessary in case of an emergency. If something happened to the satelites and all the cell phones and the internet went down (AAHHH!!) radios may be the only way for communication.

Step 8: Toiletries! Items like soap, toothpaste, feminine products, diapers, etc. are an important addition to your 72-hour kit.

Step 9: First Aid Kit! You can put together your own first aid kit or buy one at the store. Either way, having the basic frist aid items is important.

So we've made it all the way through...but don't worry. We're just going to start over! If you have the items we talk about, you can rotate them or just pat yourself on the back!

3-month supply: Veggies

From WikiCommons, by: Elina Mark

Let's talk about your 3-month supply of Vegetables!!!

How much? According to THIS spreadsheet, you need to store about 30 lbs per person. Since the fruit amount is 15 lbs, I am personally going with 15 lbs per person.

What? There are dozens of different vegetable products you can store. Here's a short list: Canned vegetables (peas, corn, green beans, carrots, potatoes, etc.), frozen vegetables, dried vegetables, potatoe flakes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, pumpkin, pickles, and more.

The best thing to do is to think of what you use in your family. You may not want to store something that you never eat, although remember that VARIETY is so important.

Here are some prices. Keep in mind that these are low, stock-up prices and you may not see these often.

Canned corn, green beans, carrots and peas: $.03/oz which is $.49 per can.

Tomato sauce: $.03/oz.

Diced and stewed tomatoes: $.03/oz.

Spaghetti sauce: $.03/oz.

Canned potatoes, beets, and mixed vegetables: $.05/oz.

Frozen veggies like corn, peas, mixed: $.05/oz.

Tomato paste: $.07/oz.

Salsa: $.10/oz.

Potato flakes: $.11/oz.

Green chilies: $.12/oz.

Canned pumpkin: $.12/oz.

Canned mushrooms: $.13/oz.

Dried onion: $.17/oz.

Dried carrots: $.19/oz.