Monday Message

"The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency … [and] God will sustain us through our trials." (James E. Faust)

I think squirrels are good at storing nuts and just awful at finding them. I keep cutting down little walnut trees all over the yard. So if you store food, be sure you can find it!

The smoke from the Canadian wildfires keeps me from going outside to do much due to asthma. I cannot imagine the damage and the manpower to put them out, so sad.

So much going on that is destructive, we do need to keep building our storage but even more, we need to store the basics and build skills to work with them. It isn't enough to say I have twenty-five pounds of wheat, if we don't know how to use it. There are skills you need to know...first, if you go from store-bought white bread to whole wheat everything, your children will revolt. It won't be pretty :p

Do you have a way to grind it? Makes me think of the Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her family had only the coffee mill to grind the wheat they were able to get. They had ingenuity and lots of skills.

It is hard for kids to go from store-bought bread to homemade bread, let alone wheat bread.

I cannot do red wheat as it causes my digestion issues but white wheat I have no issues. So I store white wheat. Only store what you eat. This is very important. If you think if you'll get hungry enough you will eat it...nope, no way does that work. So just store items you eat. Store the things to make what you like.  If you store flour just think how many things you can make out of flour, not just bread but cakes, cookies, pancakes, waffles, brownies, and gravies, pies, you name it. So store ingredients to go with it like shortening, yeast, baking powder, salt, sugar, baking soda, the basics.

And be sure to get those basics ahead for when you're in a time of need.

As soon as temps dropped I made a batch of granola. This is a basic healthy version.

Healthy Granola

One large container of old fashion oats

One large can of frozen apple juice

1/4 cup real maple syrup

I use pecans, as much as you like.

1 Tbsp or 2 of cinnamon

I mix together and spread on sided cookie sheets. Put in the oven at 200 degrees, stir every half hour till this is dry (I turn it off and leave in oven overnight if it takes too long then I check, if still not dry, turn on oven and do this for another hour till dry). Cool and put in airtight container. This can be added to, if you want to add fruit and other things, it is up to you. I like to sprinkle this on yogurt. My husband likes it to top his cereal or snack on it. I think it would be good to sprinkle on muffins before baking.

I would suggest making a binder with recipes using the basics.

This is why I suggest getting some of those old church cookbooks. Because these usually have ingredients that are basic and in our storage.

https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/whole-wheat-blender-pancakes/ - if you don't yet have a wheat grinder, these pancakes are easy to make with wheat berries and your blender and are soooooo good.

This week I finally got those project bags sewed up.

It is hard for you to see in the picture but I have an old sewing machine in a cabinet where if I flip down the top it gives me an extra surface for working on.

These are the project bags I have worked up. I am looking forward to putting them to work.

Keep working on skill building as well, these are good things to have in your bucket.

Missy says build your skills. She is watching me sew, she is building her skills she says.

Tippy Longstockings says store things you eat, she says she wouldn't like to eat icky things.