The Run Down

Are you ready?  Here's a condensed version of some of the things I was up to while on my blog hiatus. 

Out to lunch on St Patrick's day with the cousin's in Showlow.

I took Sammi skiing for the first time.  (She was terrified!)  It was a fun day - just the 2 of us!

Made a million Easter cookies!

I love the little bunnies!

Went with Nathan's kindergarten class to the bear factory.

Organized my food storage closet and rotated my food.  SHWEW!

I sliced and ate way to many of these.  (They were on sale at Sprout's)

Then I made a ton of freezer jam to hold us over until next spring.

Tomorrow I will be frosting more cookies for a shower, baking 2 cakes, organizing my closets, and working on cleaning out the office (it's really the junk room, but office makes it sound better).   

Now if I could just fit a pedicure in somewhere...

Did You Know?

Did you know that despite what they tell you at the cannery, you don't want to can white flour or sugar. I don't know why, but it makes it taste funny. I have tried to use it anyway and hide it in a recipe. I doesn't work. It just makes it taste gross.

Here's what you need to know.

Purchase some 5 gallon plastic food storage buckets. They sell them here, but you might be able to find them locally for cheaper.

Buy your sugar at Costco in the big bags and store it in the buckets. You don't even need to seal it, because bugs won't get into sugar.

Do the same thing with white flour. I have 4 buckets full of white flour, and I just keep them rotating. They are in a closet close to the kitchen. I keep a plastic container full of flour in the pantry. When it runs low, I head to the closet to fill it up again.

Trust me on this one. You will regret it if you can these two items. Buckets are the way to go!

Good Luck!

The Envelope

I was recently helping a friend organize and plan for her food storage.

She kept asking me how much would it cost her to get her year supply. I asked her how much could she afford?

She wanted a number, a goal she could shoot for. She wanted to save up the money, then get her supply.

I advised her otherwise.
I told her to get and envelope. Every month, place as much cash in the envelope as you can spare, $20, $40, whatever.

Just keep doing this every month.
When you have a good amount saved up, call the cannery and schedule an appointment.

Jeff and I like to get a bunch of couples together, go canning, then go to a nice dinner afterwards. It's not a bad date night, and we did something worthwhile.

I don't know the exact amount it takes to get a year supply. I just know what I could afford each month, and I did this until I had everything on my list.

Wheat

As a former ward canning specialist... I have had several people ask me every question you can think of concerning food storage.

I decided that I would post tips periodically about the things I have learned in attaining my year supply. There are definitely some things I have learned the hard way, and I will try to spare you the same mistakes.

Today, we're talking about wheat!

If you're purchasing wheat from the cannery, and don't know the difference between White or Red wheat... always go White. Why you ask. Plain and simple, it just makes better bread.
The gluten (binding protein) is so much better and you will get a lighter, and less crumbly bread.

Now if you are like me, and purchased a good amount of wheat from the cannery before they offered white wheat, no worries. You can still make good bread. I just add white flour to the mix instead of using 100% whole wheat flour. It comes out wonderful.

For anyone interested that lives in Mesa, I am teaching a couple of friends how to make homemade wheat bread in August. You will need a wheat grinder, and a Bosch mixer to make the bread recipe I will be using. If you don't have these, you can still come and learn anyway!

Just let me know.

If something happens and we really have to eat this stuff, you be glad you know what the heck you are doing!