Three Easy Steps to Getting Your Food Storage

**Clarification: 14 gallons of water for a TWO WEEK supply..NOT 14 gallons per day :) It is recommended to have 28 gallons for two weeks of drinking, washing, & cleaning water per person.

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KSL 5 News Tonight at 10:00pm

My Food Storage Deals is going to be on KSL 5 with Nadine Wimmer tonight at 10pm! Yes, you heard me right! We are being heard. Thank you for all your emails you have sent.

This is how it all happened. I sent an email to KSL last night informing them about our website and what we offer. I recieved a call from them this morning and they told me they would be here in ONE HOUR! So it was crunch time to make sure my food storage room looked great! My stomach was filled with butterflies, but I was ready to tell the state of Utah all about us.

Check out their website http://www.ksl.com/ to watch the live video and read the transcripts!

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Grocery Budget

Frequent question:

"I just have two quick questions for you, how much do you spend on a monthly basis on grocery/household expenses(on average, I know it probably fluctuates) and how big is your family? I just stumbled onto your site and I'm trying to take it all in! I'm getting excited about getting a food storage for my family, I always used expense as an excuse to not have one."

~Kristine

That is a common reason why people put off getting their food storage--they think it is too expensive. The complete opposite is true!! Having your food storage SAVES you money!

I have a family of six--my husband (who is a BIG eater), four children (who have their fathers appetite) and myself (who unfortuatetly LOVES to eat). So...we are not small eaters by any means! We also have close family and have AT LEAST one family 'party' a week where it wouldn't be complete with out LOTS of food for 20+ people. I obviously LOVE to cook and average cooking 6 meals a week--plus, breakfasts, lunches & many snacks, desserts & homemade breads in between! Having said that, we spend an average of $300-$400 a month. The national average for a family of 6 would be $600 or more. This total also includes obtaining my families year supply of food along the way.

There are however, months where I spend MUCH less than the $400. Right now I am (for fun) seeing how long I can go without buying any meat for my family's meals. My freezers (three--scary!) are FULL! I stock up on meat when it goes on sale and have realized that I need to be on strike from buying meat for awhile! I have 100's of pounds of meat in my freezer--chicken, steak, roast, bacon, pork, sausage, turkey, whole chickens, etc. I only buy meat when it goes on sale for GREAT prices, stock up and over time you have a whole freezer filled with meat. It has been over two weeks and all I have bought is produce. I have averaged about $50 a week for produce, so at this rate I will only have spent $200 this month on groceries. That is what is so great about food storage and having your freezer stocked! Over time you find you really don't need anything for your food storage. This Macey's case lot sale all I needed to add to my food storage was 2 cases of applesauce, 2 cases of pasta sauce & 1 case of tomato paste. Once you start buying food storage you may think it will never end, but it does! You will find you are eventually just maintaining and replenishing your food storage instead of buying everything in bulk. When you buy a little food storage each time you go to the grocery store, and buy those items on sale for 'red/great' prices (we tell you which items to add each week) you will find it will not take any extra money, and you will begin to get your year supply, ONE WEEK AT A TIME!

One other tip that may help your family get your food storage is to put away $100-$500 of your tax return to go directly to your food storage. This is when we buy many of our long term items and make sure we are up to our 'year supply' totals. Many of these items we buy at the LDS Cannery (wheat, dried beans, powdered milk, potato pearls, oats, dried onions, hot chocolate, etc. IN BULK!). Other items we stock up on are rice, flour, pasta, etc. at Costco. The rest of the food storage items we buy, we buy throughout the year when they go on sale for great prices. You will be surprised how much food you can buy with $500! Even if you have only $100 available from your tax return, you can stock up on quite a few items.

My only number one rule, is I don't EVER buy groceries that are not on sale (if an item isn't on sale & I need it, I go to Walmart because it will be the next lowest price available)! To keep your grocery bill low, it does take will power! I rarely buy fruit snacks, treats, twinkies, chips, processed foods, etc. If my children want a snack, they get something homemade (cookies, popcorn, homemade granola, fruits, vegetables, etc.) These 'quick' meals and foods are MUCH more expensive than making them homemade. Learning to make many of your breads, snacks, and desserts from scratch will save you SO much money and will be much healthier for you.

With a little planning and dedication, you can get your year supply of food..and you will find it will be FUN & EASY! Begining in a small way as President Hinckley says will give BIG dividends in the future.

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GREAT water sale!!!

If you like to have water bottles in your food storage, NOW is the time to buy them! I keep them in my 72 hour kits, car kits, & for drinking water in my food storage. Maceys is having their Dannon Spring 24 pk. on sale for $1.99 (check with your local Maceys to make sure they are offering this deal, Tooelle & a few other stores are not offering this price)!! If your local Maceys is not offering that price, price match Walmart 24 pk. of water for the same price.

It is recommended to have 14 gallons of drinking water per person for a two week supply (this does NOT include washing, cooking or cleaning water). I try to have 2 weeks of drinking water in water bottles because it is convenient & then our washing, cleaning & cooking water is stored in the 55 gallon drums. I don't think you can store too much water. So, if you need water, this deal is good through Tuesday January 20th.

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My NEW favorite whole wheat bread recipe!!

Okay...so I thought I could bake a pretty good loaf of whole wheat bread, until... I had my friend Emilies bread & WOW, she put mine to shame! For the longest time we couldn't figure out what the difference was in our bread. Mine was great right out of the oven, but hers was AWESOME out of the oven AND several days later. It was moist, soft & elasticy (is that a word??) like store bought bread. We compared recipes & realized she does three things different. First, her recipe has Vital Wheat Gluten in it, second, she 'sponges' her dough (I will explain this process below), and third she uses special bread pans (not really...just ones that acctually make your bread come out without ripping the sides apart!) These three additions to your homemade bread will make ALL the difference! So...here is the 'secret' recipe:

Emilie's Whole Wheat Bread

Makes 4 8/4 inch loaves.

7 c. whole wheat flour (grind your own if you have a wheat grinder)
2/3 c. vital wheat gluten
2 1/2 T. instant yeast

5 c. steaming hot water (120-130 F)

2 T. salt
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey or 1 c. sugar (I like honey the best!)
2 1/2 T. bottled lemon juice

5 c. whole wheat flour

Mix together the first three ingredients in your mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes (this is called sponging). Add salt, oil, honey or sugar, and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes until dough reaches top of pan. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks. This recipe can be halved to make 2 loaves.

*She ONLY uses Bakers Secret 8x4 inch non stick pans (we could only find them at Smith's grocery store, strange enough).

**Another tip..when the dough is put into the bread pans, squish the dough softly into the corners of your bread loaf pans. This will make your bread cook more evenly and not have the large lump in the middle of your loaf.

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Great food storage recipe!

This is a delicious & EASY recipe that uses EVERY ingredient from your freezer or food storage. I have TONS of rice in my food storage so I am always looking for good recipes that can help me use it up :) Try this recipe with pork or chicken--it is delicious!
(Thanks mykitchencafe.blogspot.com for the picture & recipe. I LOVE your site! I adapted the recipe a little :)

Honey Glazed Pork Chops
2 lbs of boneless pork chops
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
5 TB butter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground ginger
Cayenne Pepper to taste-depending on how spicy you like it

Serve over rice Heat oven to 350. In a shallow dish combine the flour, garlic powder and salt & pepper. Dip each pork chop in flour mixture and coat evenly.Melt 2 TB butter in a shallow baking dish, large enough to accommodate pork in a single layer. Arrange pork chops in pan and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes (depending on how thick your pork chops are) at 350 degrees. Don’t over cook or pork will get tough.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt remaining butter and add honey, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger and cayenne pepper. Boil for several minutes until sauce begins to thicken.After pork chops have baked for 15-20 minutes, turn each piece over and pour sauce mixture evenly over pork. Bake another 20 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve over rice. This recipe is also great on chicken.

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Food Storage Classes

Do you have a community opportunity or church function where you would like me to come and give a class on food storage, meal planning and emergency preparedness? I would LOVE to come meet you and give a presentation. I have loved getting to know many of you and meeting you at enrichment nights, stake emergency preparedness activities, and community gatherings. If you live in the Salt Lake Valley (Utah), and would like me to come and teach, email me at Shandra@myfoodstoragedeals.com and I will check my calender for availability. I hope to see you soon!

(There is NO charge for my presentation--I just do it for fun. I also DON'T talk about our business, I just teach on the basics of food storage and meal planning :)

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