Food Co-Ops??

QUESTION: Have you heard of the foodco-op.org? It was on news at noon and it sounds a lot like the vegetable groups that some people are involved in, but I don't know if it is the same thing? Would you look at the website and see what you think about it and let me know if you think it is a good idea?

ANSWER: They had an article on this organization in the paper, so I have been looking into their services--many people have asked me to look into this option. Here is what I have found..let's just say it is better than Winder Dairy pricing, but nothing too fabulous. It seems to be more of a hassle than it would be worth for me (the pick up from downtown Salt Lake, the groups, the money exchange, the distribution of items, the mandatory volunteer hours, etc.). You can still save more money by just stocking up on the 'red' deals of the week. Reams has their produce generally for great prices, and if you match them all at Walmart then you are buying ALL of your groceries at the lowest prices and can do quick one-stop shopping.

I also don't like having someone tell me exactly which items I have to buy each week. The recipes and food they have on their lists are not necissarily the ones I would generally need for my family. This company, although there is good to it, does not focus on food storage either. It is important to be buying produce and meat, but also long term food storage items that you can add to your food storage. Food storage needs to be bought, rotated and added to each week, or atleast monthly. They claim you will save 30-50% on your groceries. If you are buying the 'red/great' deals of the week from all the stores (going to each store or matching prices at Walmart) then you should save WELL OVER 50% on your groceries. If you are using the Meal Planner and creating your meals around those items that are on sale, then you will dramatically reduce the amount of money you will be spending on your monthly groceries. Doing this will also give you more flexibility to which items you would like to add to your food storage and freezer. Many of the meats that they offer are not ones I keep on hand in the freezer (chicken thighs, drumsticks, sausage links, salmon, etc.). I would rather stock up on items when they go on sale (check the 'tips of the week' for EXACTLY which items to add each week to your freezer and food storage.

If there is a benefit to this group, I would only sign up for the produce package. The produce are pretty good deals (equal to 'red' deals), but I'm not sure of the quality--I have never tried it. Personally, I like to pick out my own fruit and vegetables and choose the ones that are in the best condition. Even if they are good quality, I'm not sure with the pick up if it would be worth it for the $14 produce package.

I don't want to discourage anyone from joining this company. Check it out! If you think it will work for your family and the foods they order are the ones you will use, then definetly try it. The $4.95 you would spend on a monthly memberhsip to My Food Storage Deals should help you save MUCH more than you would if you use their service--the important thing though, is that you are saving money on groceries! With gas prices, food prices and the state of the economy, if you find something that works for you, then you should do it ;)

Hope that answers your questions. :0)

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My Favorite Quick & Easy Meal!!

One of my FAVORITE quick and easy meals (or appetizer). Southwestern Egg Rolls (like the ones at Chilis). Another added bonus is that almost ALL of the ingredients are staples in your food storage, or items I recommend having a 3 month supply of in your freezer (these items have a * next to them). It makes for a quick meal in a hurry! Enjoy ;)

Southwestern Egg Rolls

1 chicken breast fillet, diced *
½ red bell pepper, minced *
2 T. green onion, minced
¼ c. white onion, minced
1 can corn (or frozen about 1 c.) *
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained *
2 T. spinach, sliced very thinly (optional)
1 small can green chilies *
½ T. parsley *
½ t. cumin *
½ t. chili powder *
¼ t. salt *
dash cayenne pepper *
1 c. Ceddar Cheese, shredded*
Flour Tortillas *

Avocado-ranch dipping sauce:
1 c. ranch (any style) *
1 whole avocado, mashed (Or more if you like it!)
1 tsp. minced onion *
Salt & Pepper *
Blend together with blender.

Cook chicken and dice. In large bowl mix all ingredients together.
Sauté all ingredients (including chicken) until warm. Remove from heat and add shredded cheese. Mix well. Warm tortillas. Place ½ c. or so of mixture inside a tortilla. Fold completely together so mixture can not escape. Place inside a panni grill or George Forman to grill and melt cheese. You can also make like a grilled cheese sandwich, just put something heavy on top of burrito to grill. Serve with dipping sauce.

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Freeze Dried Mania!

It seems there is a new craze of Freeze Dried Food Storage going around. I have multiple people email me whether or not this type of food storage is a good idea. I even had a man come to my door the other day wanting to show me his food and pamphlet (he didn't know who he was messing with!) I have had people also email me price sheets for companies that do this (Mountain House, Daily Bread, etc.) and the prices are OUTRAGEOUS! I had one lady email me all excited that she bought her and her husbands year supply for only $3000! A price sheet I just looked at today had a year supply for $2499 per person! Ugh! (and that was a 'promotional price')

So...why don't I think this is a good idea? The reason is food storage needs to be food your family is eating currently, foods they will continue to eat and foods that you are rotating through and using on a regular basis. I do have to say freeze dried food has it's place in my food storage and that is in the following areas:

*72 hour kits. I have several MRE's in my 72 hour kits and car kits because they last a long time and are easy to make when just adding water. (Although a can of tuna fish, peanut butter, stew from a can, chili from a can is the same idea and a lot less expensive!) So.. I have some of both in my kits.

*I do have a few canisters of freeze dried fruit and vegetables in my food storage. Home grown produce is best, store bought is next best, frozen is third place, canned is next and freeze dried is my last option. People may give the arguement that freeze dried is better for you than canned vegetables and fruits--however, the price difference is TOO much and so I will sacrifice the difference in quality for price. The LDS cannery sells all sorts of dried fruit and vegetables. Get a price sheet and buy it in bulk. You can can it in #10 cans if you want or just keep in tupperwares in a cool dry place (this is assuming you are going to eat it in the next 3-5 years)--which if you are buying the appropriate quantity of each item you will easily go through it in that time frame.

*I also have #10 cans of powdered eggs, butter and margarine. These are great options when cooking solely out of your food storage and can easily be incorporated into your daily cooking when the expirations are up.

*Freeze dried meats are also a good idea to have in small quantities. I buy a few #10 cans of these as well because they are good to have in case the meat in your freezer and food storage were eaten up and you needed another option. I buy all of these products at Maceys when they have their annual emergency preparedness/case lot sales. I have price matched them and generally they are MUCH less than the ones you can buy online or at Emergency Essentials.

So...these items do have their place--however, they need to be used sparingly and bought in SMALL quantities. It is a good idea to have food in all forms. If you think of your food storage as a 'store' it will make it easier for you to figure out what items you want in your storage. When you go to the grocery store do you hang out in the freeze dried isle because that is where you buy the majority of your food? No! You buy produce, meat, grains, pastas, vegetables, fruit, baking goods, beans, rice, etc. Stock up on those items in the store that your family uses the most often.

To give you an idea of how inexpensive a year supply of food is, here is how much it would cost ONE person to get their YEAR SUPPLY OF BASIC ITEMS: (these prices are assuming you are stocking up on items when they are on sale for 'red/great' prices. If you don't know what prices these are, then become a member and I will tell you exactly when and how much of each item to buy ;)

**I've been told that prices at the Cannery are going to go up soon (possibly as soon as tomorrow) so don't wait to stock up on those items!

Grains:
300 lbs. per person:
*100 lbs. of wheat: $6.75 x 4 (25lb. bags)= $27.00 (LDS CANNERY)
*75 lbs. of flour: $9.50 X 3 (25 lb. bags)= $28.50 (LDS CANNERY)
* 10 boxes of cereal: 10x $1 (Watch the Ads)=$10
*10 lbs. of cornmeal: $1.98 x 2 (5 lb. bags) = $3.96 (WALMART)
*20 lbs. of oats: 2x $10.40 (25 lbs. bags)= $20.80 (LDS CANNERY)
*40 lbs. rice: 2 x $10 (25 lb. bags) = $20.00 (COSTCO OR CANNERY)
*40 lbs. pasta: 40 x $1 (40 1lb. boxes) = $40 (WATCH THE ADS/COSTCO)
*10 lbs. mixes: 10x$1 = $10 (WATCH THE ADS)

Legumes:
*60 lbs. of variety of beans (black, kidney, pinto, refried, lentils, pork n' beans, etc.)
60 x .40-.50 a can (WATCH THE ADS) = $30
Milk:
*16 lbs. of powdered milk: 25 lbs. powdered milk $44.45 (CANNERY--this price just was lowered by almost $25--stock up!!!!)

Sugar:
*Brown Sugar 3 x $1 (2 lb. bags)= $3 (WATCH THE ADS)
*Powdered Sugar 3 x $1 (2 lb. bags)= $3 (WATCH THE ADS)
*Honey 3 lbs. x 1 (6 lbs. $8.79)= $8.79 (COSTCO)
*Jam 2 jars x $2= $4 (WATCH THE ADS)
*Jello 1 lb= $2 (WATCH THE ADS)
*Maple Syrup 3 lbs. x $1 = $3 (WATCH THE ADS)
*Granulated white sugar 2 (25lb. bags)x $10.50 = $21 (CANNERY)

Oils:
*Vegetable oil: 2 (48 oz.)x $2 = $4 (watch the ads)
*Peanut Butter: 4 jars x$1= $4 (Watch the ads)
*Salad Dressing: 2 jars x $1 = $2 (watch the ads)
*Shortening: 1 tub $2.50 (watch the ads)
*Mayo 2 jars x $2= $4 (watch the ads)
*Butter 4 lbs. x $1.50= $6 (watch the ads--or Costco)

Salt:
*25 lbs. $3 (COSTCO)

Meats, fruit, vegetables, cooking essentials, auxillary foods and condiments are all EXTRAS and should be bought when they go on sale for red/great deals and the totals you need for each of those can be found on the FOOD STORAGE INVENTORY SHEET that you can download off of our website under the FREE DOWNLOAD tabs.

TOTAL FOR BASIC FOOD STORAGE FOR ONE PERSON: $305.00 (+ tax)

Compare that to the $2499 and you can see why I don't recommend buying your food storage that way. Even when you factor in the vegetables, fruit, meat, baking goods for one person, you will come out ahead by nearly $2000!!! You can buy a YEAR SUPPLY for nearly EIGHT people for the same price as ONE person with the freeze dried food!

Remember.. the church only recommends you have a year supply of BASIC life sustaining food. The extras like cake mixes, ketchup, fruits, etc. are GREAT to have a year supply of, but don't get overwhelmed. Focus on the basics until you have your year supply of those items. Gradually add items to your food storage each week. If you don't have a year supply of the 'basic' items listed above and I have put what store you can buy those items at, I would recommend buying them as soon as you can! With the prices of wheat, rice, flour, pasta, corn, etc. skyrocketing you need to take advantage of the low prices and get those items now. The Cannery and Costco are the best place to go for most of your grains. If they still have some in stock, don't delay :)

Hopefully this helps make food storage reasonable. I don't know about you, but we recieved the LOVELY check from Pres. Bush a few months ago and the amount we recieved would EASILY buy my families (plus a few other families) year supply of the basics. Many of us get tax returns--that is a great time to stock up on items you are low on! Christmas is around the corner. Make your families Christmas present this year your year supply. I promise it will bring you MUCH more peace of mind than toys under the tree :)

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

**Maceys case lot is coming up in August so SAVE your pennies ;)

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COUPONS--TO BE OR NOT TO BE???

This is a question I get quite often...so, here is my philosophy on coupon clipping (PLEASE no one be offended ;) If coupons work for you, then that is great! This is what I have found though...

I used to be a 'coupon clipper' and still do on occasion, but I have found that watching the deals each week saves me more on groceries than cutting coupons. I know you may beg to differ :) I do have several people who are avid coupon clippers that use my sight and wish I did more with coupons but here is my philosophy:

1- You can still use coupons along with my program. When you see something on sale for 'red' prices AND you have a coupon--by all means, use your coupons. The only problem is I have found this rarely happens. It seems items that are not on sale for Red/Great prices are not the ones that have coupons (red deals mean they are less expensive than Costco, Walmart and other warehouse stores). I have found that coupons (generally) are on items that are not necessarily long-term food storage items and are on mostly frozen goods, processed foods and specialty items. These items are great to buy one or two, but the idea of our program is you are stocking up on your year supply of items that go on sale, not just one or two. For example, last week ketchup was on sale for .50 a bottle. When items go on sale for these prices, you are to buy as much of that item as you can afford (a year supply is 15-24 bottles per family). With coupons you may save $1, but when you buy 24 bottles, that savings isn't as significant as the $20 you saved by buying them at RED prices.

2- Buying your year supply saves you time and money! I found that when I clipped coupons I was only buying one or two items at a time (mostly because Utah stores don't double coupons, so each coupon had a Limit 1 on them). So..if I bought one or two items at a great price, that only lasts me so long, so when I run out of that item, I then have to go to the store and buy another one at regular price. If you stock up on items when they go on sale for ROCK BOTTOM PRICES, and buy a year supply, then you won't have to buy that item again for a YEAR--and can guarantee you bought that item at the best price.

3- Coupons do 'sweetin' the deal if they are used on the right products. A few weeks ago the newspaper had coupons for the Lawry's marinades, Best Foods Mayo and Lipton Sides. All of these are some what basic food storage items (counting towards your oil, grains, etc.) and were worth clipping the coupons for because they were items I would add to my food storage anyway. I DO look through the newspaper every week and cut the coupons out for the items I KNOW I will buy anyway (I post coupon information in the 'tips of the week' for members). For example, cereal coupons and toothpaste coupons are worth clipping for me because I KNOW they will go on sale and then I will get the item basically free. Granted, I only get ONE for free, but every bit helps. This week General Mills cereal is on sale for $1 at Harmons (with in ad coupons), if you have coupons for $1 off General Mills cereals, go ahead and use it and get a box of cereal for free. I buy 25-50 boxes of cereal at a time when they go on for this price, so I'm not sure how much I care about the ONE free box of cereal--but it makes me feel good! (I get the newspaper because of my 'business' but I still think I haven't saved enough to make my monthly newspaper subscription worth it).

4- Focus on foods your family eats on a regular basis and you won't waste money on groceries you don't eat. Go to our website and download under the FREE DOWNLOAD tab the FOOD STORAGE RECIPES and get an idea of recipes that you can make the COMPLETE meal with items found in your food storage. The idea of food storage is that in the event you have to feed your family solely out of your storage, you would be able to make complete meals. Instead of focusing on which coupons there are to cut each week, focus on basic food storage items that your family eats.

5- Learn to cook from scratch! In my experience many of the coupon deals are items that I could LESS EXPENSIVLY make on my own. This seems to be a lost 'art' for many. Our society is so used to eating out of boxed items, prepackaged foods and processed foods that we have forgotten how to make meals from scratch and how to use basic food storage ingredients! Why buy pancake mix when you can easily make your own with a little sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, milk, oil and eggs (all of which are BASIC food storage ingredients). Learning to cook this way will save you SO much money!

6- Use the Meal Planning Tips (post below) to help you plan your families weeks menu and save you time and money by not having to make extra trips to the grocery store.

Bottom line, you need to find a system that works for you! We all will obtain our food storage and feed our family differently. The important thing is that we are working towards a goal and saving money in the mean time! If you have the time and energy to clip coupons, then go for it! That is great and hopefully between your coupon clipping and our program you will be saving more than the rest of us ;)

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Meal planning tips to help you SAVE money

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Here are a few ways I have found that help me save money on my monthly groceries and help make menu planning a cinch! Of course you can become a member of My Food Storage Deals and I will do ALL the work for you--but if not, here are some easy tips to save money! (You can download all of these from our website under the FREE DOWNLOAD tab and the MEAL PLANNER TIPS PDF file.)

1. Decide how many times a week (on average) you cook a home cooked meal. Take into consideration how many times you go out to eat, or make quick frozen meals (i.e. frozen pizza, burritos, etc.) This number might change week to week, but it will give you an idea of how many meals you will be making in a two week period.
2. Get out the cook books! Make a list of each of the meals you cook for your family. Add to this list any new recipes you want to start incorporating into your families dinner menu. Be creative and try new things. Don’t get stuck in a rut of cooking the same meals every night. You will reference this meal list when choosing which meals you want to cook in the next two weeks. Search the internet for food blogs or recipes that give you fun ideas on meals to make for dinner. One of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOOD BLOGS (infact that's where the photo came from) is http://www.workingwomanfood.blogspot.com/ . It is created by a woman after my own heart! She tries recipes and then blogs about what she did or didn't like about it and has great pictures so you know what your food will (or should) end up looking like! Check it out--it's great!)
3. Plan meals for a one week to two-week period. This will save you time and money from not having to make impulse shopping trips to the grocery stores. Produce will last about two weeks, so I’ve found this time frame works best.
4. Take your meal list from above and organize the meals into starches and categories. This means, organize which meals you generally have with the following: rice, pasta, potato, soup, salad and sandwiches. It is easy to eat the same meat two times in a row, but not as enjoyable to have the same starch. This will make menu planning easier because you can choose one meal from each category for each day of the week you cook. This will keep your meals interesting and give you some variety.
5. Choose which meals you decided you want to cook in the next two week period. You don’t need to decide which day you will cook each meal, just which ones. Once you have this list, you can begin creating your shopping list. Find each recipe for each meal and look over which ingredients you already have in the fridge or pantry. Try to choose meals that you already have most of the ingredients for.
6. It’s time to shop! Never go to the store without a shopping list. You will spend more money, and it will take longer, if you don’t know exactly what you need. Watch the ads carefully. Buying items when they are on sale, and buying multiples, will keep your pantry stocked and cut down on trips to the store. As your pantry becomes stocked, it will not only start your food storage, but it will save you from buying items when they are not on sale.
7. Choose meals every now and then that you can double the recipe and save half for a later date (as a freezer meal). It doesn’t take much longer to cook double the amount, but it saves you a lot of time on a busy day, when you don’t have time to cook. Label your freezer meals clearly so you know what items are in your freezer. If you plan your meals around what food is on sale in the ads, this will also save money because you will be making two meals at a great deal.

These are all pretty basic tips, but it is amazing the difference it makes when you plan your meals and have a well stocked pantry and food storage! It really makes cooking fun! I was talking to a lady the other day and she mentioned how she hates to cook because she makes the same dinners over and over. I told her I would hate to cook too! The part of cooking that is fun for me is trying new recipes and switching up my weekly menu with fun salads, cooking on the grill and trying new flavors and dishes. This weeks meal planner has a few adventurous meals that I think everyone will love! Some of those 'new' dishes are Thai Steak Tacos with Cilantro and Lime Slaw, Coconut Shrimp with Pina Colada dipping sauce, and Walnut, Apple & Bleu Cheese Salad, and Egg Salad BLT's (see picture above). Why pay $40 to go out to dinner when you can play around in the kitchen and come up with recipes that are even better than the 'real' thing!

Have fun cooking and if anyone has favorite recipes they would like to share...I would LOVE to hear about them. Just email me at Shandra@myfoodstoragedeals.com. Good luck saving money and planning your meals this week ;)

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QUESTION: I have decided to store bottled water and use 55 gallon drums for cleaning, bathing, etc. I have not filled my drums yet, because I do not understand the best way to do this. Because I am not going to be drinking it do I need to treat it at all? Have you heard ofthe pumps they sell that go into the drums that supposedly filter and pump out thewater? Do you like them/dislike them? Any info. would be great.

ANSWER: You no longer need to treat water with Bleach because our water is now treated in a way that makes this no longer necissary. The only precaution you will want to take is to NOT have your water (or drums) be touching cement (on the sides or bottom of drum). The water in drums (that you will be storing for cleaning, bathing, etc.) will still be fine for drinking—even without a filter. You could always boil the water, get purification tablets or use bleach if you were nervous about the quality. Even still, I think it is a good idea to have some sort of filtration system in case you needed to purify other water sources. We have a Katadyn water filter (Costco used to sell them, but now I have only seen them at stores like Cabela’s). It was only around $60 and can filter muddy river water into clean drinking water. It is awesome! It comes with a little tube that you put into your water drums and siphon out the filtered water. This is a great thing to have camping and is small enough to be stored in your families 72 hour kit. Water bottles are convenient for drinking, but if you needed, it would be great to have the large 55 gallon drums as well. I don’t think you can ever have too much water ;)

http://www.cabelas.com/

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