Monday Message

Scroll down for a GREAT recipe for waffles/pancakes.

"Our bishops storehouses are not intended to stock enough commodities to care for all the members of the Church. Storehouses are only established to care for the poor and the needy. For this reason, members of the Church have been instructed to personally store a year’s supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. By following this counsel, most members will be prepared and able to care for themselves and their family members, and be able to share with others as may be needed.” (President Ezra Taft Benson)

"Start now to create a plan if you don’t already have one, or update your present plan. Watch for best buys that will fit into your year’s supply. We are not in a situation that requires panic buying, but we do need to be careful in purchasing and rotating the storage that we’re putting away. The instability in the world today makes it imperative that we take heed of the counsel and prepare for the future.” (L. Tom Perry)

What is your plan??? Yesterday I was listening to the news while doing a chore and this grabbed my attention…. they were talking about what is happening in Venezuela. They were talking to a carpenter, which is a good job, he showed his rib cage then opened his refrigerator and there was very little in it. He eats two meals a day if he can and tries to space it out. He said he used to have his refrigerator full of meat and vegetables but no more. They talked to a woman holding a plantain, which I looked up is a cooking banana. She held it up and said it cost what her house did twenty years ago. They showed many many people lined up to get a loaf of bread. They showed the sellers don’t even bother to count the money instead they weigh it cause it is so much to purchase. There was a man standing in line to buy something and in just the time it took to talk to the reporter the price increased. They use their retirement to find anything to eat.

This is their reality at this time. I am sure they might at one time have said that it couldn’t happen to them. We never know what could happen. No one can know the future. I guess that is why we need to be prepared and the best time to prepare is before something happens.

Our fortunes can change in a second. Then you will need to rely on the skills you developed as well. How are you coming on your skill building?

This pic shows the tube I made and learned dying when my sister was here.

This shows what it looks like rolled up and ready to use.

I used an old Barbie knitter I bought for .75 at a yard sale.  You can see I am using the tube that I made and dyed as a sock blank I am knitting directly from the tube.

Here you can see I am knitting a heel trying to master a different kind heel.

Success in completing the heel.

Finished the sock. It is on a sock blocker I got for a dime at a yard sale.

This is what I have been working on. I also am getting faster, not only from learning the continental method but the more I do the faster I am getting.

I would love to hear what skills you are learning.

I have a new favorite waffle and pancake recipe. I got this recipe from a friend who said it originally came from a cookbook by Tasha Tudor by her grandson Winslow Tudor.  My friend made a change to it that makes it faster to fix. You can do this with one you might have as a favorite recipe. She puts all the dry ingredients in jars ahead so you have this on shelf waiting when you are ready.

Here I am making jars of this waffle/pancake mix up to have ready.

I made small waffles and cooked all the batter. I made and froze the little waffles so I could pop them in the toaster.

Waffle & Pancake Mix (this is just one pint, for larger families double this and put in a quart jar)

1 1/2c flour
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar

This goes into the jar. I just made up six pints this time but how handy is this?

To make…

1 ½ c milk
4 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs

Mix and drop in contents of jar.

This was very good!

I like the idea of having the jars up ahead of time. Also like having the little waffles for toaster and pancakes if one wished.

How are you coming on building your storage? We had a sale on mushrooms at our Aldi’s store for .69 per 8 oz container I picked up ten.

I put the sliced mushrooms in the dehydrator. I washed the mushrooms and used an egg slicer I had purchased at a yard sale long ago.

This shows what the mushroom looks after slicing

Ten packages filled my dehydrator totally up.

Next to the on sale mushrooms were the same but already sliced they where 1.69 for same size containers. So by slicing my own I saved ten dollars, wow that was so amazing!!  It took me less then half an hour to wash, slice, and load the dehydrator. We love mushrooms. This is a good and easy storage item costing $6.90 and by doing my own slicing it did not cost $16.90. So consider the mark up for items you purchase as a money saving option.

So many things we can add to our cutting costs and putting in storage. I would have still had to wash the already sliced kind and would still have had to spread them out on the trays. The only thing I did extra was cut them with an egg slicer which by the way was fun, any child would have loved that job.

What do I do with my dried mushrooms? I put them in pasta sauces, in gravies, and in soups. You don’t want a slice of mushroom you can blend in your blender to be a powder, they just give a richer taste and we love them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FBB3NlFgQA&feature=em-uploademail - I wanted to pass this along I love the title on the bucket luggable loo, I thought all very good ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VroXHIeT8jI - I also saw this gal who has some ideas if your budget is tight these could be helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6BuXjKq2d0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIlvG9HYGxA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg7vXkJCS6A&t=131s - very good idea here as well for a skill building idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgdGk4scI5Q 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4crByHFJgo - here she does a very good visual on money priorities, kind of neat.