Need help with your food storage...?

Food Storage Made Easy

When we lived in California, we were told over and over to prepare ourselves, get our food storage in order. It took some time, but I began to work at it monthly, using a list and sticking to one or two items (for each family member). It wasn't really all that hard, just time consuming and it could be costly at times. I'll admit, I was never really taught how to 'store' food, or what to start storing first. Sure, we had many lessons, over and over about wheat, how to cook it, how to store it...but I really never considered having it because it seemed like such a hassle. Besides, we had our spoiled conveniences like Costco and Sam's club, why did I need to store wheat? Our food storage was food we ate, and while not big is size, it would have sufficed for about 4 months or so. Honestly, I really didn't know what I was doing...and so I wasted a lot of time storing items that were not totally essential. Kind of sad. We never thought about wheat grinders, canning supplies, dehydrators...until we moved to Nebraska! The week before our move, when the moving company came to do our walk through, they took note of the large amount of canned food items we had and quickly told me that they COULD NOT move those items. What?? Are you serious? With our freezer chock full of food, and several floor to ceiling cabinets in our garage full, I was forced to either purge or give away. The Missionaries in our Ward scored big time, as did one of my dear sweet neighbors. The girls and I went through each and every can of food to determine if the shelf life was expired or if it was worthy to be given away. If you must know a small tidbit of information...the whole 6+ months Dan was out of work, we relied on that freezer and food from my so called 'food storage'. What a blessing it was, and trust me, we ate good! You would have never known. Sure, we bought groceries, but it was the food I so carefully stored (just in case).

After moving to Nebraska I soon discovered that food storage is a main staple of life here. From gardening, to knowing people who know people who are willing to share thier bounty. Last year it started with a truck that pulled into town loaded with Colorado peaches, to this year where I have been able to can 30+ cases of food. Not only that, I've learned from some of the best people how to use your wheat, like bread making, how to store it, how to grind it...and thanks to some really awesome food storage blogs, I've learned some pretty nifty tricks as well. You see, if you know me, you know that I'm a visual person, hands on, that is how I learn. Recently, we were given 50+ lbs of dry beans (white & kidney)..did you know that you can replace oil in your baking goods with pureed beans? Seriously, it's the best, and you don't even know it's beans! I'll share a bit about that in a later post.

I'm so grateful for the progress in which we're going. Food storage is so very important, something I will not take for granted any more. I'm so grateful for those who have taught me, and been there when I'm not sure what I'm doing...they've guided me along the way. I'm grateful for moving to Nebraska, and for the many things in which I 've learned...canning is A LOT of work, but so worth it when you can stand there and gaze at all the jars filled with bright colors of your favorite foods! And what's even better...when you can't keep your kids out of it because they say it's the best they've ever tasted! That's pay off in itself..I mean, we are supposed to eat what we store right?

One of the blogs I follow is FOOD STORAGE MADE EASY...Talk about information overload, but in a super good way! Most of us are confused about food storage, or just really don't know where to start. These great gals take you through food storage in baby steps, guiding you along the way. They've created easy to follow lists, and tools to help you get started. You could spend hours on their site, reading and learning. If you are eager to get started, or help you back on track with your food storage, this is the place to go.

One of the most important items you'll need in your food storage (or your kitchen) is a wheat grinder. Dan and I just bought our first wheat..you betcha, I want to keep moving forward with my winter goal, which is to MASTER the art of making bread! Dan's always been the bread master, but I'm getting better! Anyways, we've been discussing the need to quickly get ourselves a wheat grinder. Then just today I got an email about a WONDER MILL giveaway from now until November 25th. Yes!! It's worth a shot, right?! This is an awesome wheat grinder, and I would be so honored to be the lucky recipient...What about you? Would you like to own one of these??

Along with the giveaway, you can also get a $30 rebate until November 25th!
That is on both, the electric grain mill or the hand grain mill...of course, we all love the convenience of electric power, but we also need to remember that at some point we could lose that electric power and would need something to get us through.

Good luck to all that enter, and a great big THANKS to Jodi & Julie, the girls who make this possible!