Monday Message

"I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us. We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

We never know what is around the corner. Losing a job comes without notice for the most part. If you just got notified that you lost your job, do you have enough supplies to go a while? It takes a bit of time to find another job. In some cases, lots have lost their jobs all at once making it so that many people are trying to get a job at the same time. If you start another job, it will take a while to get a paycheck.  Keeping in mind that when it comes time it may be needed for housing or car payment so having food stocked up will help you get back up and running again.

Same with making a move. I always hung onto my storage as we needed it badly then as well.

There are a lot of reasons this makes sense to have storage on hand.

The winds have finally let up here and I am thankful. I have never seen it so windy every day for so long.

How are you coming along getting things ready for your garden? Just today I started setting the plants out on the covered porch.

In my area it's planting time. With prices still continuing to be high I hope you are planting something, even in pots. I planted spinach in a big pot on the porch. I have never had it come up so quickly. So because we had freezes and a frost I broke four sticks the same size and put them in the pot then covered with some plastic we had from painting (this I know as I saw paint on it). Then I took one of those plastic crates, turned it upside down and slid down the sticks so that it kept the plastic from blowing away. The crate just barely pushed over the pot. The sticks kept the plastic off the plants. I just took it off today and they are about ready for first harvest...this was much like a green house.

If you did not start seeds for planting, you can still pick up plants. I like to do both. I plant my seeds and have plants to not have all my eggs in one basket.

Not everyone lives in my zone for planting, some are even heading into winter. Some cannot plant due to health or places with no ground for gardening or in an area that doesn't allow gardening or any other reason. That is okay. Keep shopping sales, keep building your skills. Haunt thrift stores for needed items from church type cookbooks to all the things I mentioned last week, it could be anything in between.

If you can't find or even spend the money, then go to your library. Here are some great books to look for or ask for at the library.

You could go to past blog posts for thrifty ideas.

Times are hard so finding more frugal recipes or ways of doing things is a good idea right now.

What things do you have in your kitchen that you could do more with? I have been trying to see what other things I could do with what I have. Same goes for sewing machines. Do you know what all your sewing machine can do? It is easy to get into a rut doing things one way but sometimes there is another way if we take time to learn.

I know how to make bread just using my hands. That is great to know I can do that but finding a cheap three dollar bread machine at a yard sale or thrift store is great. I only bake the bread in the machine if it is brutally hot otherwise I dump in the bread mix I have made up.

I add my jar of dry ingredients to the water and push the dough setting on the machine then I take the dough out and shape it, let it rise and bake. For three dollars, this is a great helper.

As you have already met Tippy (We've had a name change from Mrs. Pickles) in the last post, she now wants also to give you helpful advice. Tippy says work on your skills and keep being kind!

Missy says keep shopping sales and a little at a time build up your storage