Cicadas
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Home Food Storage
Our church has always counseled us to be self-reliant. And one of the ways they encourage us to do so, is by having 3 months to a year's worth of food store up. This is nice to have when there is an unexpected decrease in income such as a lay-off or illness. This also makes it possible to not be completely dependent on the grocery stores. When a natural disaster hits, your local Walmart shelves can be swept clean within hours. Stores don't stock things like they use to and it may take days maybe even weeks before they are restocked during a disaster. We've all heard the news in the last couple of years, times are tough right now. So when something, like any of these scenarios, happens it is good to be prepared. I've heard it said that it's better to have money invested in a year's worth of food than to have that money in the bank. For instance, what if that same natural disaster makes it impossible to get to the bank and get your money out. How would you feed your family during that time? There is a certain peace of mind that comes during these tumultuous times when you know all is prepared and stored safely away.
So how do you go about gathering a year's supply of food? I know this can sound overwhelming but if you start slowly, like buying a few extra cans or boxes of the foods your family normally eats and check out some of the links I have listed, you'll be off to a good start. And you'll feel more at ease the next time, say, your car brakes down and needs repairs.
www.homestorage.crookedtreefarm.com
http://www.lds.org/Static%20Files/PDF/Magazines/Liahona/English/2009/LI_2009_03_04___04283_000_005.pdf
Once you've gotten the idea of what food storage is, I have some tips to help you get started...
1. Sit down and make a 2 week menu (including all ingredients) of the meals your family is use to eating. This is no time to get creative and try out new dishes. If your family is under extreme stress there is nothing like comfort food to make everyone feel safe and secure. So write a menu of the foods you're use to cooking and you know your family likes. Double this menu. Families usually eat the same thing twice during a month. Make sure you've included breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. This should give you an idea of what kinds of foods to stock up on.
2. Buying in bulk can be good as long as you can eat all of the food before it goes bad.
3. Once you start bringing your food home, make sure you mark and rotate your food. The idea is to eat the food you already have and rotate in new food as you use it. To do this you'll need to get a permanent marker and mark (on the items)the date you bought the items you bring home from the store. This system helps you see immediately which items are new and which are older. The reason for doing this is to try and cut down on waste. We've all found food in our cabinets that we are not sure if it's still good or not. Wasted food means wasted money.
4.An excellent way to get your food storage up is by growing a garden. You can then put up your harvest by canning, freezing, and/or drying it.
5. We've also been counseled not to go into debt to get our food storage. Just do it a little at a time, bit by bit. And you will be blessed for your efforts.
Our church also recommends that we have a 72 hr kit for every one in the family, in case we have to leave our homes quickly and suddenly. This allows us to be able to get our kits and walk out the door within a moment's notice and have everything we need to survive for 3 days. Here is a couple links for disaster preparedness.
www.fema.gov/
www.redcross.org/
http://www.osha.gov/dts/oohn/disasterrecovery_shchecklist.html
I am making this entry not to alarm or scare anyone. I just wanted to bear testimony that if we do all in our power to be prepared, we will feel at peace even if the world around us is in discord.
So how do you go about gathering a year's supply of food? I know this can sound overwhelming but if you start slowly, like buying a few extra cans or boxes of the foods your family normally eats and check out some of the links I have listed, you'll be off to a good start. And you'll feel more at ease the next time, say, your car brakes down and needs repairs.
www.homestorage.crookedtreefarm.com
http://www.lds.org/Static%20Files/PDF/Magazines/Liahona/English/2009/LI_2009_03_04___04283_000_005.pdf
Once you've gotten the idea of what food storage is, I have some tips to help you get started...
1. Sit down and make a 2 week menu (including all ingredients) of the meals your family is use to eating. This is no time to get creative and try out new dishes. If your family is under extreme stress there is nothing like comfort food to make everyone feel safe and secure. So write a menu of the foods you're use to cooking and you know your family likes. Double this menu. Families usually eat the same thing twice during a month. Make sure you've included breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. This should give you an idea of what kinds of foods to stock up on.
2. Buying in bulk can be good as long as you can eat all of the food before it goes bad.
3. Once you start bringing your food home, make sure you mark and rotate your food. The idea is to eat the food you already have and rotate in new food as you use it. To do this you'll need to get a permanent marker and mark (on the items)the date you bought the items you bring home from the store. This system helps you see immediately which items are new and which are older. The reason for doing this is to try and cut down on waste. We've all found food in our cabinets that we are not sure if it's still good or not. Wasted food means wasted money.
4.An excellent way to get your food storage up is by growing a garden. You can then put up your harvest by canning, freezing, and/or drying it.
5. We've also been counseled not to go into debt to get our food storage. Just do it a little at a time, bit by bit. And you will be blessed for your efforts.
Our church also recommends that we have a 72 hr kit for every one in the family, in case we have to leave our homes quickly and suddenly. This allows us to be able to get our kits and walk out the door within a moment's notice and have everything we need to survive for 3 days. Here is a couple links for disaster preparedness.
www.fema.gov/
www.redcross.org/
http://www.osha.gov/dts/oohn/disasterrecovery_shchecklist.html
I am making this entry not to alarm or scare anyone. I just wanted to bear testimony that if we do all in our power to be prepared, we will feel at peace even if the world around us is in discord.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What are your favorite homeschooling tips, websites, books to read, etc.?
I'm just curious. It's a very rainy day and I'm taking some me time to blog today. So tell me what are you favorite things you use in your homeschooling routine? It could be anything from a smart idea that helped pull your homeschool together, your favorite curriculum, books you've read as a family, places you've visited. Some of my favorite things are Currclick . They have Affordable curriculum, lapbooks, & homeschooling resources. They also have a freebie every week. And I'm not talking about cheesy freebies. I'm talking about things like downloadable lapbooks. And if you sign up for their newsletter they will alert you of the freebie every week. I really like Sonlight for a complete curriculum. They believe in teaching through "Living Books". If you are like me though and can't afford to buy the whole thing I just piece mine together used. I also like a company called Beautiful Feet Books , they also offer a "Living Books" curriculum. Theirs is not a complete curric though, they are more the reading and history part. You have to add math science and such. A few other great resources are Latter-day Family Resources, and Tobin's Lab. LDFR has pretty much everything you need for HSing or it can just give you some good ideas. I take their books and look for them at the library or try and find them cheaper on Amazon.com, ebay, or local HS book sales. Tobins Lab is a great place to find Hands-On Science Materials For Families. Some great FREE resources are your local homeschool groups. And if you can't find any locally, you can always search yahoo groups for a HS group that tickles your fancy. Being able to get support and advice is invaluable when you are first starting out. In our local HS group we alert each other of field trip opportunities (usually free or inexpensive)and are try to help each other with any questions and/or concerns we may have. Its really nice to know there are others out there who have gone through the same things I am.
But my best piece of advice I can think of right now is...Things will not always be perfect, nor do I think they should be(there's no learning in perfect, we learn through mistakes), but that's okay! Figure out what works for you and your children. This may take months or even years,( I've talked to many veteran HS moms who, through the years, learned to keep an open mind when it comes to curriculum.) If it does work for your family find something that does. Don't buy anything pricey without getting it in your hands and really looking at it first. See if you can borrow it for a few days from a HS friend. Then if you still like it, pray about it. Again I try to get things used as much as possible. Any ways after you've gotten your routine down, RELAX and have fun with your kiddos. Learning is so much fun if you let it be.
But my best piece of advice I can think of right now is...Things will not always be perfect, nor do I think they should be(there's no learning in perfect, we learn through mistakes), but that's okay! Figure out what works for you and your children. This may take months or even years,( I've talked to many veteran HS moms who, through the years, learned to keep an open mind when it comes to curriculum.) If it does work for your family find something that does. Don't buy anything pricey without getting it in your hands and really looking at it first. See if you can borrow it for a few days from a HS friend. Then if you still like it, pray about it. Again I try to get things used as much as possible. Any ways after you've gotten your routine down, RELAX and have fun with your kiddos. Learning is so much fun if you let it be.
Community Supported Agriculture ( CSA )
We have a farm down the road from us (Randle Farms) that allows those in the community who are interested, to be able to pay for a share of the farm's harvest. So I bit the bullet and went for it. I'm so excited to get fresh produce that still has its nutrients in it. Did you know that by the time most produce arrives at the supermarket it has lost almost all of its nutrients. And don't even get me started on pesticides. SO other than growing my own garden (WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND) this is the next best thing. You may be asking yourself why I don't just grow my own garden, and my lame excuse is that I'm a one task at a time kinda gal. And with just starting Home Schooling this year, I'm not ready to start another project just yet. But I do intend on making gardening part of our HS routine in the near future.
If you are curious about CSA Farming, just click on Randle Farms up above, and it will take you to the page where they explain this service. Then maybe you'll want to google a farm near you. Its a wonderful thing, you get to support local farms and you get fresh produce. Truly a win/win situation.
If you are curious about CSA Farming, just click on Randle Farms up above, and it will take you to the page where they explain this service. Then maybe you'll want to google a farm near you. Its a wonderful thing, you get to support local farms and you get fresh produce. Truly a win/win situation.
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