Today While The Sun Shines - November Newsletter

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Today While The Sun Shines Newsletter

Issue #2 November 2016

Why Sprouts?

Sprouts are one of those things that as seeds have an indefinite shelf life, but are a live food. They are inexpensive, super packed with nutrition, will grow in any climate, any time of the year, don't need soil, rivals tomatoes in Vitamin C, and takes very little preparation or clean up.

An incredible story about the value of sprouting:

FROM A 1977 FOOD STORAGE FIRESIDE IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
A BISHOP’S EFFORT TO PREPARE

“This is the story of one bishop, amongst many other leaders and members, all who played
an important and tireless, behind-the-scene role in the development of the Church’s Food
Storage Program. Bishop West put forth considerable effort to first set his own house in order,
after which he labored helping the members of the ward he presided over to prepare. There
were many mistakes and much to be learned, but what was learned has proven to be an asset to many of the Saints today.

In the fall of 1977, Jack H. West was asked to give firesides in the Sacramento, California, area on the subject of food storage because of the part he played in its on-going
development. Some of Bishop West’s comments are taken from notes recorded in one of those firesides.

Bishop West indicated that he was “set apart as the first bishop of Glendora Ward” and
immediately set about doing surveys to determine who in the ward had adequate food storage. The results indicated that “less than 5% of our people had even a year’s supply of food,” let alone a two-year’s supply. In order to set a leadership example, he discussed with his wife that: “Maybe we had better set the pace for the rest of the ward.” The results were that there shortly appeared “two giant trucks and trailers” turning into his driveway, sufficient
to meet the needs of feeding a “family of eight” for two years. And I said, “You’re
kidding--we can’t possibly be eating that much food.” Well, she took me to a full-length
mirror and turned me side-ways and I didn’t have any more questions.

What his family found out was that not only did they have a great deal of canned food but
a lot of frozen food as well, especially meat. He said they immediately began experiencing a
number of problems. A freak loss of power in the Glendora area resulted in the loss of their
meat. They then faced the problem of how to organize and rotate cases of food that were
“stacked nine feet high.” To correct this problem he built shelves and: . . . angled the 2 x 4's just exactly one can apart and we’d fill those slanted units with the cans of food. Then when we pulled a can out from the bottom, every can rotated like they had asked us to do.

But with this type of storage, the problem was that he never could tell how many cans were left. Another problem which became apparent was that Sister West could only estimate how much of any given food they would use in two years, and so: . . . the first thing we knew, we were using more of one thing than another. . . . Well, it did not work.

As Brother and Sister West checked, they determined that their diet became very unbalanced. Procrastination resulted in a failure to replace used products as they should have, bringing: . . . bulging cans everywhere you looked. . . . The first thing you know, the whole thing was completely shot to pieces. . . .

Well, I went back to the [ward] welfare Committee and said, “Look, one of the things the Word of Wisdom tells us to do (and that’s the direct word of the Lord) is to use the food in the season thereof. We are using two-year-old food constantly in times of non-emergency and I just couldn’t believe that was the program the Lord had in mind for us.” So I said, “Let’s fast and pray about this thing--we’ll get the whole ward to fast and pray about it and see if we can come up with some better answers for a year’s supply of food, or even a two year’s supply.”

So we did, and then we started to search the scriptures, of course, and we found in some 72 places, as I remember, it mentioned the “land flowing with milk and honey” as the ideal land. So we made note of that--we marked down milk and honey--there might be something to that. And then we went to the Word of Wisdom and we found that the staff of life was “grain” . . . particularly “wheat for man.” So we went to the scriptures again and we found if the “salt has lost its savor” . . . We marked down salt as maybe an important thing.” [Surprisingly, they didn’t include olive oil, which is also in the scriptures.]

Bishop West was acquainted with two well-known dietitians and wrote to them, asking, “What would you think about it, if we were to use four basic foods as an emergency supply-- wheat, honey, salt, and milk?” They wrote back and said: “You’ve just about hit the jackpot. There is just one thing you’d be low on and that is vitamin C, and that you’d be dangerously low
on.” So we went to vitamin C tablets.

As it turned out, vitamin C tablets do not have a long shelf life, so Bishop West reviewed
various alternatives as they tried to find a suitable source for vitamin C; in relationship to this he related the following incident:

Then I was over in Mesa, Arizona, one day and--have you ever seen someone walking toward you on the street that you were just absolutely certain had died two years before? That was a real thrill. I saw this young fellow walking toward me who was all hunched over the last time I had seen him and his bones were knurled and he looked like death itself and he told me that he had less than two months to live. Well, here he was walking towards me hale and hearty and straight as an arrow. I said, “Ted, is that really you?” He said, “Yes, it is me.” He was the brother-in-law of one of my counsellors in the bishopric. I said, “What in the world saved your life?” He said, “Wheat greens.” I said, “What? Wheat greens--What does wheat greens have in it that would save your life?”

He said, “It is the highest known source of vitamin C in assimilable form for the human
system.” And I said, “Great Scott, that’s an answer to prayer! We have been looking for
something that would give us vitamin C and here we’ve had the wheat all the time.” You
grow greens as you need it from the wheat you have on hand.

He then went on to relate that he had a friend, Anne Wigmore, Ph.D., MD, and DD, who
had written a book called Wheat Grass--God’s Manna, who told him how to grow wheat grass. He then called his two dietitian friends who confirmed the value of using wheat grass, especially as it relates to vitamin C.

A cousin of Bishop West, Elder Harold B. Lee, wrote to him several times requesting
information on the four basics. Bishop West notes:

When he became President of the Church he twice asked for more literature. Just before he passed away, he completely changed his mind from asking people to get a year’s or a two-year’s supply of their normal food, and rotate it, to reversing his field and coming back to the identical four basics that we had found worked so beautifully.

Out of the prayerful and persistent effort that Bishop West and his ward put forth came an
organized, functional food storage plan which became a part of the cornerstone in the Church’s current food storage program.”

What an incredible story! Even if you feel like you would never use the wheat in your buckets in your basement, you wouldn't grind them and make bread, or you have a gluten intolerance so would never use it, you could always SPROUT it! What a relief to know that you could grow your own greens and not only survive, but thrive by using wheat, and wheat grass.

There is no better survival food than sprouts. Do your own research if you don't believe me. You will find that as soon as a seed has sprouted, it immediately increases the food value of that particular food, exponentially.

You can eat sprouts on sandwiches, in soups, in salads, in stir frys, and so many other forms of cooking. You can eat them just raw by the handfuls. They are wonderful and delicious.

General Sprouting Method:

Soak beans in a large glass jar, over night. Place a small piece of screen or cloth over the mouth, secured with an elastic band. Drain off water and rinse again and drain. Let sit on counter out of the direct sunlight. Rinse twice a day until the desired sprouting is finished.

Pretty basic right? You can pay a ton for a fancy sprouter, or use a mason jar. Either way you will get the desired sprouts. Do a little research on the best times for certain seeds to eat, for they are not all best sprouted the same amount of time. Some are better after only a day or two, and some after a week or so.

November Monthly To Do List:

• $2 per week / person - store away for emergency cash on hand – remember that container that has the lid glued on? Use it weekly, adding in $2 per week, per person in your home. Keep it in a spot so you remember to do it, but also one that won't advertise to everyone that you have it.
• Add another 14 gallons of water per person to your water storage
• Take this month to add sugars to your storage – brown sugar, white sugar, honey, molasses, syrups of all types, icing sugar, or any other types your family may use
• Add things like a snow shovel, a new broom or mop and bucket
• Winter clothing, space heaters, winter boots, hand warmers, foot warmers – These have a really long shelf life. Even though it doesn't say so on the package, I have many of these that are almost ten years old and they still work!
• Create a place near the door for the winter clothing, with high hopes of keeping mittens, hats, scarves, etc all together and easy to find, and easy to return to when you come in from the cold
• Inventory your breakfast foods, baking supplies, beans and proteins, paper and plastic products. Get a thick notebook to keep inventory notes, and to purchase notes in. Each week you will be inventorying items and figuring out what you need to purchase. Keep notes on all of these things, for your own knowledge, but also if your husband or kids want to help out, you will all be working together and not repeating each other
• Gather recipes for breakfast foods, and proteins like beans. Hopefully by now you have started gathering your recipes and organizing them into a binder with sections. Remember this isn't just another recipe book. This book is to place your favorite recipes, as well as the ones that are great for food storage, ones that you will always turn to.

November

Weekly To Do List:

Week 1

• Set aside $2 per person in your cash fund
• Add water to your water storage, at least 3 gallons per person
• Purchase white sugar, and honey
• Make sure you have a good snow shovel, and a winter coat
• Create a space near a door for all of your winter clothing and supplies
• Inventory your breakfast foods, cereals, pancake mixes, muffin mixes, rolled oats and other cereal grains, yogurt starters, milk supplies and things like that

Week 2

• $2 per person add to your emergency cash fund
• Add another 3 gallons of water per person to your storage
• Purchase brown sugar, and icing sugar as needed
• Purchase a good broom, or a mop head, to have a spare on hand
• Make sure everyone in your home has a good pair of winter boots
• Gather winter supplies to the winter location, put summer supplies in a bin and move to storage room
• Inventory your baking supplies. Things like baking powder, soda, salt, flour, vanilla, etc

Week 3

• $2 per person add to your emergency cash fund
• Add another 3 gallons of water per person to your storage
• Purchase molasses, corn syrup or pancake syrup as needed
• Purchase mittens, scarves and hats for winter use, if needed and add them to the winter location you have created
• Inventory your beans and other proteins like canned meats, lentils, Tvp, etc.

Week 4

• $2 per person add to your emergency cash fund
• Add any extra water you need to make the 14 gallons of water per person for this month
• Purchase any extra sugars you would like to add to your food storage
• Purchase or find your space heaters and have them prepped and ready in case of any power outages during winter storms
• Purchase hand and foot warmers and have them in your winter location for mittens etc
• Inventory your paper and plastic products like: paper plates, utensils, cups, napkins, paper towel, toilet paper. These things are very important in case of power outages when water for washing might be scarce. Throw away is a good thing in an emergency situation.

Sprouted Lentil Vegetable Soup

First take the time to sprout whole green or brown lentils. Make sure they are not the small red cracked lentils. The seed needs to be whole, not split or your attempt at sprouting them will simply turn to mush and mold. Soak and sprout them until they have a nice tail sprout on them about 1/4 inch long. At this point you can allow them to dry, either by sitting on the counter spread out on a sheet, or in a dehydrator, or a freeze drier.

Why would you let them dry? Because then they are ready to use in any recipe calling for lentils, and they have the exponential nutrients because the sprouting has activated them.

Okay now for the soup.

2 cups of sprouted lentils, either fresh or dried

1/2 cup chopped onions or sub with dried onions

1/2 cup chopped celery or dried celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots or dried carrots

1 clove minced garlic

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

Italian seasoning to taste

1 quart of tomatoes canned, or large can of diced tomatoes

Extras you could add in:

pasta, rice, beef or chicken bouillon or other vegetables, make dumplings to add on top

Bring all ingredients to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour until all lentils and vegetables are tender. If you add in pasta, don't add in until the last ten minutes or it will mush.

Serve with crackers, biscuits, toast, or fresh made buns.

Super nutritious, super inexpensive, and super easy to make. Super delicious and it will likely become one of your family's favorites.

Long term vs three months......

What a world we are living in right now!  I honestly don't know how someone can go through their days and not see signs of the times all around them, everywhere they look.  But, sadly, many don't see it.  I guess in some ways they choose not to see it.  That makes life easier when they don't have to worry about it, or do anything about it.

I see it, and thus have been working on a project.  We took out a set of stairs in our house, which created a

closet for a basement bedroom and this.....a pantry!
We are not finished it yet, but I am so excited to fill these shelves.  It ought to go a long ways to holding my three month supply of food.

I also should share with you, what I have been working on with creating my three month supply of food.  See you can create your own three month supply out of short term foods or longer term foods.

Short term foods, like fresh tomatoes, can turn into three month supply by canning them.  Long term foods like dried beans can turn into three month supply foods, by canning them.  Frozen

chicken is a short term food, but when freeze dried, can turn into along term storage food. Flour on the shelf, when combined with the right ingredients, can turn into a mix that is easy to use, a three month supply food, instead of a longer term storage food.

Why would I go through the work to do all of this?  Because as a mother, and the chief cook in the house, I realize that I am pretty much the only one that can walk into my storage room full of beans and flour, and figure out a great tasting meal out of all the stuff on the shelves.  Everyone else would stand there with their mouths open, and watering, and not know what to do with all of the longer term food storage items.

Thus, a three month supply of ready to eat, or easy to prepare meals.  You know when you go to

dried beans vs canned ready to use

a craft store (ladies), and they have all the patterns free, stuck to the sides of the shelves, where you can take it and add to your collection, so you come back and buy their stuff?  Well, I am also going to do that in my new pantry and long term storage room, only with recipes on how to do what.  I am going to have recipes taped to the walls, or shelves, on how to use certain items.  I think that is a big part of turning a long term storage item, into a three month storage item.  Somebody has got to know what to do with it other than myself, in my household.  Now I should give some of them credit, they could do it, but in all reality, they probably wouldn't want to.  It takes work, thinking, and planning to use long term food storage items.  So I turn them into more user friendly items.

So next time you are working on pantry items, or long term storage items, think........"How can I turn this into an item that will be more user friendly for my family?"  "How can I make it something that they can open and use instead of running to the store to buy it?"

Long term storage - not so user friendly - unless you have some knowledge and training

Three month storage - user friendly for anyone in the family

Using Food Storage for Cooking Vegetarian

It is easy to use the same grains and legumes - with a variety of  vegetables and spices, and make yourself hundreds of different versions of meals.  

There are two charts here, showing the basic ingredients in vegetarian cooking with food storage, and a list of different spices to offer different tastes.

Grains should equal 40 - 50% of your meal, with vegetables 30 - 50% and legumes the remaining 10 - 20%.  Eating this way will offer a complete protein always, with high vitamin and mineral content. Extras you could add to this might include cheese or dairy products, salad dressings, and other things like lettuce and fresh vegetables. 

Grains 40 - 50%	Vegetables 30 - 50%	Legumes 10 - 20%
Rice – all variations bread and bread products oatmeal, oats barley hot grain cereals quinoa bulghur pasta	Onions and garlic carrots – chopped or grated celery cabbage canned tomatoes peppers potatoes corn zucchini peas green beans etc	Lentils – red or green Beans – black, red, brown, pinto, white, garbanzo, kidney, etc split peas

Choose your grains you want to cook.  Rice is a staple in my home, at least four times a week we eat it.  Then choose your veggies, depending on what you have on hand or in the garden.  Choose your legumes, depending on what is available or ready in your fridge, freezer, or pantry.

Spices

Basic	Indian	Warming	Mediterranean	Savory	Oriental	Mexican
Salt pepper garlic ginger onion lemon juice dill	Turmeric cumin coriander bay leaf mustard seed fennel chilies	Allspice cinnamon cloves nutmeg pepper cardamom	Basil oregano marjoram thyme bay leaf mint lemon juice red wine vinegar balsamic	Rosemary sage parsley thyme pepper nutmeg marjoram basil bay leaf	Soy sauce rice or wine vinegar basil chilies sugar miso garlic black bean garlic sauce	Chilies cumin oregano garlic chipotle taco seasonings

Decide on what flavor choices you want to use for your meal.  Decide if you want soup, stir fries, casserole, crockpot, salad, or something else, and go to work making it.  I know it is hard for some people to cook if they don't have a recipe to follow, but practice will make it easier.  And remember, I always say, "Google is my best friend, and the library is my university!"  If you want to find recipes, look them up and experiment.  Soon you will be a pro at it.

A Year From Now.....

Have you completely lost your marbles?

Food storage is one of those things that you either love and do, or you avoid.  I can always tell when I am talking to someone about it, which side of the fence they are sitting on.  It really isn't that hard to tell.  Those that do it will love to talk about it and will tell you there stories, or ask questions.  Those that don't will sometimes keep quiet and look at you with this look, (you know they think you are totally nuts), or they will change the subject, or just turn and walk away.  There aren't very many in between fence sitters.

There are those who want to do it and some day they will get their food storage together, you know, when they have the space, or when they have the money, or the time, or whatever their reasons are.  To them I say this.....

It's not that far away

A year from now where will you be?  Will your situation be any different from now?  What if you start today with one little thing at a time?  What if you don't?  You can either start today and build up your food storage a little bit at a time, or you can be in the same spot one year from now, wishing that you had started today.  What will you do?

It really doesn't take very much to start.  Let me tell you of my story a little bit. 

I have grown up always gardening with my family.  When we were kids we used to have a huge garden and we would have major corn canning days, pea freezing, chicken butchering, etc.  We lived on a farm and we lived off of what we produced.  We canned or froze everything.  There was very little that we ate that was not home made.  So this way of life has never been new to me. 

But then of course as I grew up a bit, I fell into the trap for awhile that it was easier to just go to the store and buy stuff.  It was so much work to grow and preserve it all.  And it was.  It is a lot of work.

As a young married couple with little ones running around, again I realized that my parents were pretty smart,

yellow zucchini - mmmmm

and I always tried to grow a garden, whether it was in the ground or in pots.  I learned to shop the sales and do my own canning to save money.  I realized that money was something that was really hard to come by, and often we went without if I didn't produce or make it myself.  It was a hard life, but a good one.  Learning step by step and remembering the things I had been taught as a child.

There were many miracles along the journey that helped us.  We saw the blessings directly from trying our best to gather our food storage.  The windows of Heaven were definitely opened to us.  But it wasn't until about 10 years ago, that I really had the biggest change in my life regarding food storage.

LDS Temple in Cardston

We had gone to our church temple to seek for some guidance and help.  Prayer and fasting was a big part, because we really wanted some answers.  We stopped at a book store after, and I purchased a book about dehydrating food.  I really felt like I wanted to start doing more food storage again.  Ours had depleted pretty severely over the years and we hadn't really replenished it like we should have, but I didn't know where to even begin again.  So I had prayed.  I asked for help.  I promised that if Heavenly Father would help me get food to preserve, I would do it all.  I would whatever I could to get my food storage for my whole family.  I really wanted it. 

Miracles started to happen within minutes of me voicing that prayer.  I immediately received a phone call from a friend who had scads of apples that she wanted to give me!  I was shocked!  My prayer was immediately answered!  He cared and He really wanted me to do this!  I was encouraged and motivated like

none other.  I had work to do! 

The calls and opportunities to this day have never stopped.  I can not even explain to you how the windows of Heaven have been opened to us on a scale that I never imagined possible.  All I had to do was ask, and be willing to go and do.  Today I can say comfortably that my food storage will sustain us for quite some time.  Sure there are things that we may run out of, but there are basics that I have that will keep us alive for a long time.

So let me ask you again....... A year from now where will you be?  Will  you still be giving excuses as to why you can't do it, or will you be one year ahead, watching the miracles and blessings unfold before your eyes because you took that leap of faith and were obedient?  The choice is yours.  You can look at me, and others like me, and think we are crazy, or you can engage in conversation with us and learn and grow with us. 

A year from now where will you be?  Still struggling from paycheck to paycheck to put food on the table, or building up your own little store in your home? 

A year from now where will you be?  Still waiting for something miraculous to happen, or making miracles happen?

A year from now where will you be? Unprepared and hoping that disaster doesn't strike, or prepared and saying come what may....

A year from now where will you be? Being obedient to the counsel we have been given or still making excuses as to why you can't do it?

A year from now...................

Famines and Food Storage

This is the Current Horn of Africa Famine 2011

FAMINES!! I want to talk about famines today. I have a deep abiding passion for food storage . and many people think that I am kind of crazy about it. In fact I have been called worse than that, haha. And, unfortunately, anyone reading this article is likely right there with me, you probably aren't the ones that need to read it, but if you are, I hope it will open your eyes to the scary reality of famines.

If you follow this link List of Famines and I think you all should, you will be shocked at the amount of famines that have happened in history. Also take note of the causes listed for most of the famines – war and drought. This list takes us from 400 BC right up to 2011 and the current famine in the Horn of Africa. It is quite extensive and if you want to take a look at more information on the various famines, just follow the links.

So what are the major causes of famines?? Drought, or poor weather is the usual cause of famine, or at least it used to be. Now you mix in there war and civil unrest with no crops and you have the perfect storm to cause a famine. Check out some of these pictures of drought that have caused famine. A few of them are even from this year pretty close to home.

Texas drought and wheat crop damage 2011

On this website Kohm news you can find several articles that talk about severe drought issues now ocuring in the United States. Huffington post here is another article that is worth the read.

Okay so the internet and newspapers are full of these kinds of articles. Check some of them out below. But what I want to point out here is that there is a cycle that is associated with famines. Crop failures – which include drought or wet conditions, grasshoppers, or whatever the reason – for three to seven years in a row will often lead to a famine. Also throw in there a few natural disasters like hurricanes, wild fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes, and you again have a perfect storm for what??? Right, a famine of huge proportions. Are these things happening close to home right now? Yep, they are!! Have they been happening close to home for a few years now? Yep, they have!! Are they increasing in intensity? Yep, they are!! Do we have political issues? Yep, we do!! Do we have economic issues? Yep, we do again!! So my BIG question to you is............If this continues for a couple or a few more years, can we see what we are headed for? It is history repeating itself over and over! The warning signs are all there. We are lining ourselves up for a serious crisis and most of us don't even see it coming. Put all of the factors together and see if you can see what I see, serious trouble ahead.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/extreme-exhausting-tornadoes-drought-flooding-hurricane-124800998.html

http://feww.wordpress.com/category/canada-flooding/

http://www.worldbank.org/foodcrisis/

http://www.wfp.org/global-food-crisis-in-depth

I have come across so many quotes from prophets, and so many scriptures that talk directly about famine in our day. I have decided not to post them at this point, just because some of my readers are not LDS. But even so, look at the facts around us, watch this perfect storm come into play, and if you are LDS, then start doing some research because it will awaken your spiritual reality to this whole storm as well.

So if we can see serious trouble ahead, what should we do about it? We should dang well be preparing in any way we possibly can, while we still can. Food storage, medical supplies, water treatment supplies and storage, survival skills, and so on. But the big one I want to emphasize today is food storage.

The LDS church says that we should have:

· 72 hour kits for every person in our family – in case of emergency evacuation, emergency sheltering in place, and unforeseen events

· 3 month supply of food – if you check on many government websites, church websites, and preparedness sites, you will find that they all recommend having a 3 month supply of easy to prepare, familiar foods for your family. This will be beneficial in case of sickness, short term crisis, pandemic quarantine or shelter in place. These items will be things that even your kids could prepare if mom or dad were sick. EASY to prepare and FAMILIAR to your family.

· Long Term Supply of Food – We should have a one year supply of longer term, life sustaining foods on hand for our entire family. These items will have a long shelf life and will sustain life for a long period of time.

· Water – we should have on hand at least a 2 week supply of water for each person. We should also store water purification supplies and water filters.

Here at the following links you will find more information on what the church says about it.

Family Resources at Provident Living

http://providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html

Now I have noticed that the church has come down to them saying that for one person, long term storage should include 25 lbs of grains, such as wheat, and 5 lbs of beans or legumes. Now I don’t know about you, but that is strictly survival and if that is all you have got, well have fun chewing that wheat and those beans. The church used to ask us to have a seven year supply of food. If you check out this post Food Storage Timeline you will find a timeline that shows how food storage has changed over the years. I personally think that right now, they just want us to survive, and if we don’t have it as of yet, we had just better get something before it is too late.

Here at this post I have stated why I believe is the minimum we should all have.

Basic Long Term Storage

And here are a couple of blogs that show what that basic amount would look like and what you could do with it – one loaf of bread per day and 1/3 cup of beans per day per person. Not very appealing to me.

http://modernmollymormon.blogspot.com/2009/04/what-does-basic-1-year-food-storage-for.html

http://schoolofgoodenough.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-years-food-storage-looks-like.html

Here is a food storage calculator that you can download and use to figure out just how much your family should have.

Food Storage Calculator

Be proactive. I thought I might actually show some pictures of people in famine, but I will only show one, because they are just way too graphic and disturbing, but if you want to see more, feel free to look here. Famine Pictures

I never want my own family to ever have to go through anything like that. I never want to have to tell my grandchildren that Grandma doesn’t have any food for them today. I don’t think I could bear that. I am preparing daily. I have lots and lots of food storage, but still feel like it isn’t enough and there is always more that I can do. I don’t believe I will ever be done, until there is simply no more food left to store.

Three Classes

I have three classes that I now have to teach within the next month. I will have help with the gardening class, so I am not too worried about that one. However, the other two have me thinking.

One is called "Frugal is Fun" and one is called "Using your food storage and loving it".

I have so many different ideas rolling around in my head, but the one that I am struggling with is, the FUN in Frugal. I know what Frugal is, and I live it.....most of the time. But I don't know how to really find the FUN in it. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to share them. You can comment, or email me djatwood@shaw.ca that would be awesome.

I will most certainly be posting about both of these classes, as well as the garden class, as the planning goes forward! I always love to teach classes, because it makes me study and learn as well.
Looking forward to it!

September 19

Okay, I have had lots of people ask me how I get by on such a small food budget in a month. I will share some thoughts. First off you need to learn to buy things in bulk. For example: if you like pasta, and it goes on a great sale, and you would normally buy 2 packages, instead buy 20 packages or 40. Whatever your budget will allow you to buy, do it. For example, this week
I just purchased 100 lbs of brown sugar, and 75 lbs of pasta. Now I don't have to buy pasta again until it comes on sale the next time, or my store starts running low. If you get into the habit of doing this, pretty soon you will have yourself a grocery store in your storage room and you will never have to purchase things (except fresh stuff), unless it goes on sale. And if it doesn't go on sale, then only purchase it in bulk, like a 50 lb bag instead of a 1 kg bag. When I first started on this way of purchasing we ate alot of pasta and rice in the beginning until we built up a supply of other things, but now we do not HAVE TO buy anything unless it is on sale or in bulk.

Sometimes we still impulse buy, and that is soooooo not good, but we are getting better! So start changing your mind set on how to smart shop, you will be amazed at how fast it can build up. And if you have any questions, please call me because I would love to tell you more about it, and how to store it, and all that jazz!

Challenge for you this week:
Whatever is at the top of your priority list for your storage, locate the best place to purchase it, figure out how much you need, and go for it. Start shopping smart! Start your own store. No more excuses!


Following is a brief outline of what the prophets through the years have couselled us concerning food storage. It is in no way a complete list, as much has been said, lots more recently that I have not included. Search the past few years of Ensigns and church articles on the lds.org website and you will find many more that are recent.

1856 – Brigham Young – store 3 to 5 years of wheat
1857 – Brigham Young and Heber kimball – store 7 years of wheat, pumpkin, squash, currents, apples, peaches, beans, peas and others
1864 – President Young – store 7 years of wheat
1867 – George Albert Smith – store 7 years of wheat
1868 – President Young – still 7 years of wheat, oats, barley, corn, vegetables, and fruit
1891 - George Q. Cannon – still 7 years of grains and fruits
1893 – George Q. Cannon – 1 to 2 years of grains and fruits
1916 – Charles Nibley – 1 year supply of food
1936 – President McKay – 1 year supply
1942 – First Presidency – 1 year supply
1954 – Bishop Buehner – 1 year supply
1958 – July Improvement Era – Counsel Regarding Food Storage - long term & short term storage – parable of the 10 virgins
1959 – September Improvement Era – Wheat 300 lbs, pwd milk 100 lbs, sugar 100 lbs, salt 5 lbs, vitamins 365, water – per adult
1966 – President Lee – 1 year – think what it would take to survive
1973 – President Benson – 1 year of leather and bolts of cloth
1973 – First Presidency – 300 lbs grains, 100 lbs sugar/honey, salt 5 lbs, first aid items, fuel, sewing stuffs
1973 – President Benson – clothes, and sewing stuff
1976 – President Kimball – 1 year supply
1978 – President Packer – 1 year
1980 – President Benson – 1 year supply and grow stuff and be self sufficient with fuels and sewing
1982 – Elder Busche – oils, honey, and pwd milk – 1 year
1988 – First Presidency – 1 year – clothing, fuel, grains, etc, etc,
1995 – Elder Perry – Life sustaining foods
1995 – Elder Perry – If ye are Prepared ye shall Not Fear
2007 – Bishop Keith B. McMullin – Lay up In Store
2007 – August Ensign – Are You Prepared?

Cinnamon and Honey

Some interesting facts about cinnamon and honey.  I am not sure where this information originated, but was handed to me from someone, who got it from someone,.....well you all know how that goes.  But I figured that I totally understand the healing properties of honey and cinnamon on their own, but never realized how effective they could be when combined together.  It is worth the try, because they certainly won't do any harm.  And so my recommendation............store lots of honey and cinnamon in your food storage!

The article.........

CINNAMON AND HONEY

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot.  It will do what some call turning to sugar.  In reality honey is always honey.  However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will do what I rather call "crystallizing".  when this happens you loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the honey container in the hot water, turn off the heat and let it liquefy.  It is then as good as it ever was.  Never boil honey or put it in a microwave.  To do so will kill the enzymes in the honey.  Bet the drug companies won't like this one getting around:  It is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most diseases.  Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world.  Scientists of today also accept honey as a "ram ban" (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. 

Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases.  Science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients.  Weekly World News, in its issue dated 17 January, 1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

ARTHRITIS:  Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder.  If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured.  In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon of Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BAD BREATH:  People of South America, first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

BLADDER INFECTIONS:  Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it.  It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CANCER:  Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully.  Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.

CHOLESTEROL:  Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient has been found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours.  As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured.  According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS:  Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for three days.  This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.

DIABETES:  Cinnamon has been shown to reduce blood sugar and stabilize A1C in diabetics.  Blood sugar can go from 'pre-diabetic' to normal in six months of adding cinnamon to your morning oatmeal.

FATIGUE:  Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body.  Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible.  Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing your teeth and in the afternoon at about 3:00 pm when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

GAS:  According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

HEARING LOSS:  Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. 

HEART DISEASES:  Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast.  It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack.  Do this process daily and you will be kept miles away from the next heart attack.  Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat.  In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients sucessfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged;  honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:  Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks.  Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts.  Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases.