Monday Message

"Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program. We could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward." (President Spencer W. Kimball)

Still the government is shut down at the time of this writing.

They are talking hard times ahead and higher prices still.

https://www.livewell.optum.com/sec_BeWell/sub_bw_CopingResiliency_CopingPeaceofMind/cnt_art_H0005_BuildingHabitsToHelpPrepareforToughTimes?accesstoken=80B38A21-9BE8-11EB-AC53-CBBFBA87E4EC - there are a few ideas here.

https://thehomesteadinghippy.com/ways-to-prepare-for-hard-times/ - ideas.

https://heartscontentfarmhouse.com/how-to-prepare-for-hard-times/ - more ideas here.

https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/personal-finance/articles/-/learn/five-ways-to-prepare-for-a-recession/

I have put a few things up there to read for ideas.

Tippy Longstockings wanted to pop in here and give you a TIP! This week, we had two birds hit the window. We researched what we could do to prevent it and this is the tip we found: If you take a bar of soap and draw on the outside of the window, it breaks that reflection. I think you can have the kids do it for a fun project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4UsgU4q4q4 - I thought this would be helpful or give you inspiration to make your own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4UsgU4q4q4 - this is a second version.

https://getorganizedhq.com/meal-planning-with-an-all-in-one-kitchen-binder/ - this is a bit different, it is my favorite of the three but I wanted you to have a choice. Pick and choose, but I like that the third has an area to write your menu.

I think making your own menu saves so much time and money and that this would be a frugal thing to do. It would be a great gift idea too for your kids who will be leaving home and ones that have left home.

A reminder - cooking from scratch is a skill we all need, especially with food costs rising.

https://dayswellspent.com/cooking-from-scratch-to-save-money/ - ideas.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/cooking/a32416409/how-to-make-a-sourdough-starter/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_ghk_md_dsa_prog_mix_us_19954466556&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19954466556&gbraid=0AAAAADA2MEpDp5_o0_P9n-QDaxh3yrgr8&gclid=CjwKCAjwu9fHBhAWEiwAzGRC__D4qQB6x2BPtPtVGUQCmbLLgTBr5MvukTNaTqlLBt1VCYJhLiR-EhoC8JIQAvD_BwE - how to make sourdough.

I cannot stress it enough - learn to make bread and store stuff to make bread!

I store white flour in five gallon food grade buckets. I put two bay leafs on top of the flour before I put on the lid, then I put the date and label and make sure to rotate the flour in my storage.

I store white wheat berries the same way.

I have big packages of yeast from Sam's Club or bulk places - I keep them in the freezer, except for one quart jar that I keep in the refrigerator. That is the jar I use from and refill it from ones in the freezer.

I store salt.

I store sugar and honey.

I store shortening.

I store vital wheat gluten. I have this in jars I have vacuum sealed, except one in the refrigerator as a using jar.

I store oats and other grains as add-ins.

Learning how to make bread is very very important and to learn takes practice. If you have trouble ,find someone to show you. From that point, the things you can make are unlimited. You can bake cinnamon rolls, danish, donuts, english muffins, english muffin bread, etc.

Just be sure to store the items needed to make them.

It is good to learn by hand, but equally important to use a bread machine. I can do by hand and do if I need to make a lot at once. But my plug is to get a used bread machine. The reason I plug this is we all are busy. I make up my bread mixes. I put the water in and dump my jar with my pre-measured ingredients (yes, yeast is in it). I dump in the jar ingredients and set it to the dough setting and go do other things. That is the beauty in having a bread machine. All of mine are used and I see them all the time.

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/07/monday-message.html

https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/03/monday-message_16.html

Get the recipes in this booklet HERE.

Things are hard now and may yet get harder. Take time now to learn this and you will be in good shape!

Missy says keep working on what you can. If you do nothing, you will wish you had done something.

Tippy Longstockings says to build those skills. Sometimes we feel exhausted but keep working on preparing for harder times.