Starting Your Three-Month's Supply

Now that we have our 72-hour kits together, we are going to concentrate on the next step--Your 3-month supply of food. By definition, this should be "a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage (Provident Living website)."

There are several ways to go about doing this, but two of the easiest tools are:

1. Buy two, use one--If you need a jar of spaghetti sauce for dinner this week, buy two and keep one on hand. Always have at least on jar unopened in the pantry.


2. Choose 15 meals and multiply the ingredients needed by 6--For example, Spaghetti, veggies, & croissants is your meal. If, in one meal, you go through 1 box of spaghetti, 1 jar of sauce, 2 cans of veggies, and 2 cans of croissants, this is what your 3-month supply of this meal would look like:

• 6 boxes of spaghetti noodles


• 6 jars of spaghetti sauce


• 6 pounds of hamburger meat (can be stored cooked in the freezer for 3 months)


• 12 cans of veggies or 6 bags of frozen veggies


• 12 cans of refrigerated croissants

You would just repeat this process for 14 other meals. Having 15 meals will ensure that you only have to eat the same meal twice in a month. If you don't mind having the same meals every week, you can use less recipes. Gradually build up your supply of each ingredient with the "Buy two, use one" principle.

Remember to make a few things from scratch to be able to use your staple, or long term, storage items, too. Here are some websites to look at to get some ideas for easy meals:

• Kraft Foods


• Campbell's


• Betty Crocker: Dinner Made Easy


• Pillsbury

Also, here are a couple cookbooks and recipe search websites that have GREAT recipes that don't have a lot of ingredients:

• All Recipes


• Recipe Zaar


• A Man, A Can, A Plan: 50 Great Guy Meals Even You Can Make


• Eating For Life--Recipe book based on the Body For Life diet & exercise plan (Great tasting, healthy recipes even if you don't follow the plan itself)


• New Cookbook (Better Homes & Gardens)

Challenge: For Family Home Evening, discuss with your family what their favorite meals are. Come up with 15 and gather the recipes to determine how much of each ingredient in that recipe you will need to build up to a 3-month's supply.

The Sharpsburg Ward has put together a 3-month supply booklet with recipes, budgets, and ideas for planning for your 3-month supply. I would like to do this for our ward also. Please send your 3-month supply recipes to Sis. Schaefer at justjen@stsweb.com. The deadline for getting recipes in will be March 29.

Financial Preparedness...Saving With a Happy Heart!

This post comes from Sis. April Craig and the Sharpsburg Ward Family Preparedness Newsletter:

"Sometimes when we are cutting our budgets, curbing our spending and trying to put all extra towards eliminating our debt, we can find we're in an emotional state of 'self pity' and feeling sorry for ourselves. We might be feeling grumpy about not being able to 'spend freely' or 'satisfy our many wants.' When this happens, our depressed spirits become a tool in Satan's hands. Don't give him that power. We should change our way of thinking. Instead of the common statement, 'I can't afford that,' we can tell ourselves, 'I choose to live within my means; and that item is not in my budget.' As we choose words of empowerment instead of enslavement, we gain confidence and discipline...our attitudes will change and Satan will no longer be able to twist these concepts in our minds. Challenge: Read the Jan 2008 Ensign Article on pages 58-63 entitled, 'Happily Living Within Our Means.'"

72-hour kit content list

As many of you know, we have completed the ordering for the 72-hour kits. Anyone that has participated each month has 95% of everything they need for their kits. There are just a few more items that need to be gathered/purchased to complete your emergency kits. Here is a list of the contents of a 72-hour kit. Anything in yellow, we have purchased as a group. Most items are per person. Non-consumable products can be per family (tent, shovel, etc...).
Put map and all documents in waterproof bag.
Place all items in a portable container near an exit of your home or in your garage.

A basic 72-hr kit should include:
*Water (emergency supply + 3 gallons)
*Food (for 3 days)
*First Aid kit (include any prescription meds)
*Complete change of clothing (including shoes)
*Emergency Blanket
*Tube Tent (1 per 2 people)
*Rain Poncho
*Battery Powered or hand crank radio
*Flashlight
*Extra batteries (if needed)
*Multi-purpose Utility Knife w/can opener
*Whistle
*Compass
*Map of local area (state)
*Emergency contact list with phone numbers (cell #’s and 2 out of state contacts)
*Waterproof matches
*Plastic garbage bags (3)
*Sanitation wipes (baby wipes)
*Dust mask
*Cash (smaller bills and at least 2 rolls of quarters--about $300 per family)

Additional items to consider:
*Hygiene kit (tooth brush/paste, deodorant, comb, shampoo, washcloth, feminine supplies, lip balm, insect repellant, sunscreen)
*Signal Flare
*Light sticks OR
*Emergency 100-hr. candle
*Duct tape
*Plastic sheeting/tarp
*Small shovel
*Regular Tent
*Work gloves
*Nylon rope
*Small sewing kit
*Hand/body warmers (Hotties)
*Water purification tablets
*Mess kit
*Portable stove
*Wool Blend Blanket
*Comfort items: books, games, cards, pencil/paper, hard candy
*Personal ID: Copy adults drivers license, Social Security cards, birth certificates and other important financial and medical documents, wills and insurance cards. For Children: put name, birth date, parental contact info (cell #s), 2 out of state contacts, physical description, current photo, and right thumb print on laminated card stock. Copy insurance card on back before laminating.
*Family documents: copy of pictures, hard drive, genealogy, etc… on disc
*Extra keys
Let's finish and assemble these by the end of the month. Post to the comments section when you are finished. Let's see how many people in the ward we can have done by January 31st.