Ideas for Emergency Preparedness Christmas Gifts
By Carolyn Nicolaysen Meridian Magazine
This week Glenn Beck issued the challenge for all families to prepare by storing food. This, of course, is not new to us but for many of us we have been procrastinating, or we have family who has been. With this call from someone in the national spotlight and with the beginning of a grassroots movement, I am beginning food storage 101 classes at Totally Ready.
The first lesson was this past Monday so, if you, or someone you know, is still in need of help please visit the blog now, and get on board at the beginning. Also, I have set up a Facebook page so please go to facebook and sign up at Totally Ready so you can receive timely updates, special announcements and special deals!
Toasters, ties, and toys. The season for giving not only tests our imagination and budget, but can also stretch our inspiration. Well, just in case your friends and kin could benefit from a little more Emergency Preparedness, here are some ideas on how to remember them with creative gift ideas that are fun, practical and inexpensive, some even free!
Gift Idea #1: The Theme Gift.
Light: “You light up my life” or quote John 12:35: “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.” Include glow sticks, flashlights, maybe a flashlight and radio combo, candles in glass jars for power outages, or solar lights that can be charged during the day and brought in at night during a power outage.
Eat, drink, and be merry: Give MRE meals, water, energy bars, and a travel game.
Commuter survival: Orange safety vest, large safety glow sticks, work gloves, food and water.
Food storage starter kit: A case or cans of food from each of the food groups Or a starter kit from the storehouse.
The weather outside is frightful: Space blankets, rain poncho, hand-warmers, glow sticks, flashlight, battery-powered radio, hot cocoa and hot cider mix.
Garden Kit: Purchase a garden bucket, add some packets of seeds, a trowel, a planting guide and a gift certificate good for your help in next Spring’s garden. Add the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett for family reading.
Gift Idea #2: Gift Certificates - free or almost free
Canning Kit: ( almost free). Give a case of new canning jars, either new or used with new lids - include a few of your favorite canning recipes and a gift certificate for a lug of fruit from your local
orchard or your own tree next summer, or a day of canning help. If you have your own fruit trees, this gift is free except for the lids.
Canning Season Order Form: (free if you ask for return of the jars!). Create a gift certificate that is an order form for next canning season. Label the top of the certificate “Redeemable from Summer 2011 Crop”. Directions: “Choose one from each section” Then create sections for items you normally can. For example, “Fruit” - choose from pears, applesauce or peaches. You could include a jam and jelly section, vegetable section, and a “Just for Fun” section which could include such things as pickles and spaghetti sauce. Then next summer deliver their selections all canned and ready for the shelves of their General Store.
Disaster Preparedness Kit: (free). Send for, or download, information concerning natural disasters known to occur in your area. This information should also include counsel on what to do to be prepared for such emergencies. Wrap it in a gift bag and add a gift certificate from a provider of 72-hour kits and preparedness items or collect items from around your home such as a backpack, whistle, flashlight, and roll of TP to begin their kit. You will not only have “warned your neighbor”, but will have provided them with a way to act on the knowledge they have gained.
Family Home Evening: (free, except for dessert). Give a gift certificate and an invitation to join your family on specific dates for FHE. When your guests arrive, teach them preparedness skills. Make dinner and dessert in a Dutch oven or foil dinner, teach them about evacuation and give them information to study (see the September 2009 issue of the Totally Ready Newsletter), and then surprise them a few weeks later by calling them and telling them it's time for an evacuation drill and give them 20 minutes to get to your home with everything they will need to live for the next three weeks. Serve them dessert and evaluate how they did.
Inventory: (free). Give a gift certificate for six hours of service to inventory and organize their food storage.
Be their photographer: (free). Create a gift certificate for six hours of photography, take your digital camera and shoot pictures for a home inventory. When you are done, download the photos to their computer and advise them to put them on disc and mail them to their out of area contact.
Gift Idea #3: The Survival Kit.
Great for anyone, but especially college students and newlyweds.
1. Cookies and dinners in a jar. You’ve seen these and they are great for students with little time to fix meals. Layer cookie ingredients or the ingredients for soup in a quart canning jar. Attach the direction for preparing the foods. Pack 6 jars of cookie mixes and 6 jars of a variety of soup mixes in a canning jar box. Check out the books: Dinner is in the Jar
2. Dinner basket. Purchase a large laundry basket and fill it with a copy of your favorite, or your student’s favorite recipe. Purchase all the ingredients to make that recipe 5 times. Taco soup would be a great example since most of the ingredients are canned. Check out the book 100 Day Pantry.
3. Private cache. Purchase a case of a favorite food. This is also great for young children. It helps them realize just how much is really needed for a years supply and teaches them your commitment to having a year’s supply of food. Brownies or Mac & Cheese are perfect here.
4. Auto survival. Every student who drives a long distance to school should have an emergency car kit. Sadly, college students have frozen returning from Christmas holidays, when cars break down in severe cold temperatures. So in addition to coats and blankets carried separately during winter, kits should include glow sticks for light if you need to remain in the car for an extended period, water packets, food bars, mylar blanket for warmth in winter or to cool a car during the summer, flashlight, poncho (preferably yellow for better visibility when walking), first aid kit, whistle, and towelettes for after changing a tire or putting on snow chains. This should be in a backpack or fanny pack, to keep hands free. This is important as in an emergency you want hands free for balance, especially in the snow or when dealing with debris.
5. Healthy semester kit. Remember college diets and late semester colds and flu? Prepare a healthy semester kit by including vitamins, cold remedies or preventatives, tissues, robe, slippers, and chicken soup.
Gift Idea #4: Miscellaneous Maps
Purchase local maps and regional maps. Mark several routes to exit the area in case of an emergency.
Gift Idea #5: Family Shirt
Or whatever… something that identifies you as part of a family unit is an important way to improve your chances for being reunited quickly in a Katrina-scale disaster. Purchase a solid color t-shirt for each member of the family. Shirt sizes for children should be at least one size larger than they are now wearing. Include a set of fabric crayons and instructions to create a family shirt. These shirts will then be placed in their 72-hour kits and worn when the family needs to evacuate. Each shirt should have the same picture on them, but not a name. Have each member contribute something to the picture, iron it on to a shirt and then recolor and reuse for each additional shirt. Shirts should be a bright color to make them easier to spot in a crowd and more memorable. I remember the frustration during Katrina when family members were looking for their children. Everyone had seen a pretty little girl with curly hair, but there were hundreds of pretty little girls with curly hair. If your family is all wearing the same distinctive shirt it is much more likely that someone will remember seeing your child. Even better, you might get a member of the media to say “This child is wearing a shirt just like this one”. You can also use the same tactic with bandannas and baseball caps. Just remember to make them all the same and distinctive from those you can purchase.
Gift Idea #6: Spiritual Preparedness
Oil for your lamp. Don’t forget spiritual preparedness. Give a set of scriptures or a small inspirational book to be kept in a 72-hour kit or in the car for times when you are stuck waiting for a road closure or children. The small-print style scriptures are a compact possibility.
Scripture-a-day. Compile favorite scriptures from family members and create a scripture for each day of the year or just a month. When my sons were on foreign speaking missions I got copies of the scriptures in those languages and made them a scripture a day flip book in their mission language.
Order a subscription to the Liahona magazine for a family member or friend who served a foreign language mission. Some language editions are published each month and some only once a year, but all are wonderful to receive. Of course, The Ensign, New Era, Friend, and Church News are excellent gifts for family who are not taking advantage of these resources.
Gift Idea #7: Financial Preparedness.
Savings bonds are a great gift for anyone and especially for young children. They are tax exempt when used for post high school education.
Cash for a rainy day. What will we do for cash if the power and internet are down at your local ATM? It takes discipline, but some well-hidden cash is an important part of preparedness planning. And of course, for college students, rolls of quarters are always appreciated. Likewise for students, a gift certificate to a local grocery store.
Savings accounts. Why not set up a savings account for a grandchild? They will love going with you to the bank and it will make them feel very grown up and responsible. Help them understand that the money is for college or a mission. You can add to the account as they grow. We have a piggy bank at our home and when our grandchildren visit and help with chores, we place money in the banks. You could use their savings account in the same way.
So, these are a few ideas for the gift of preparedness. With a measure of imagination and inspiration, anyone can make preparedness fun and personal. And in an emergency scenario, being prepared is so much more fun than the alternative!
Remember, preparedness is rooted in a foundation of spiritual and mental strength. When I say spiritual I’m talking about a person’s core system of values. When I say mental, I’m referring to knowledge, skills, mindset, and mental fortitude.... (Continue the article here): Happy Thanksgiving!
Why You Should Teach Children to Cook
By Leanne Ely, C.N.C.
As many of you know, I'm a firm believer in mixing together kids and kitchens. Cooking with our children provides opportunity for teaching valuable life skills, quality "talk-time" to learn what's going on with your kids, and it's a great memory maker.
Time in the kitchen with your children teaches time management, organization, math, nutrition and cooperation. It also increases their awareness of healthy eating, menu planning and budgeting. Allowing them to help you in the kitchen might mean your kitchen doesn't stay as neat and clean and it could take longer to make a meal, but years later, it pays off in huge dividends, especially when your children start to choose healthy foods over fast food all on their own--it happens, I promise!
There are countless object lessons you can use with your children while you cook together. For example, one meal might focus on the importance of teamwork and working together for a common goal (or recipe) as a family. Another teaching opportunity can be found in the necessity of completing the steps of a recipe in order. With older children you can compare this to the order of life and the importance of age appropriate curfews, chores, and expectations. Or how about the significance of following directions? Intentionally leave out a few ingredients in a recipe to illustrate the point and discuss this with your child.
Getting kids excited about learning to cook will serve them later on in life when it's time to strike out on their own. Learning to cook will save your grown child a lot of money and help him or her eat a lot better than their peers. Many young adults who were not exposed to the kitchen when younger eat poorly and have no clue what to do in that room with the big appliances.
The act of cooking allows us as parents to share and laugh and bond together. Counselors have counseled many a parent to do some kind of activity while having a conversation so your child doesn't feel like he's "put on the spot". Conversation over cutting boards and sinks of suds can allow you and your child to talk about school, friends, choices, and dreams without the intimidation of a one-on-one sit-down.
Children grow up and leave the nest too soon. These moments together in the kitchen can become cherished memories--don't miss out!
ALSO......
check it out at:
http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/four-everyday-reasons-for-food-surplus/
For those of you local: Intersection of 12 ave and 20th street in Miami has local produce in bulk. They are open 6 am until noon.
By Kellene Bishop
I frequently hear people say something like “Well, when everything goes South, it won’t matter if we have paid our mortgage. “When the earthquakes and the tempests take place, it won’t make any different whether I have water or not. Or “When the EMP hits, it won’t matter if I have a concealed carry permit.” To be quite frank, this kind of thinking is flawed....You see, preparedness is so much more than “preparing for the big one.” It’s about being able to endure the speed bumps, the hills, the mountains, and any other analogues fluff-words I can come up with NOW before any grand finale takes place.
When it comes to emergencies there’s items that are necessities and there’s items that are luxuries. Generally speaking you want to tackle the necessities first and then add additional items to increase the comfort level of the situation.
Here are 9 essentials you should have during a sheltering in place scenario, (keep in mind that you may be required to shelter in place somewhere besides your own home):
2. Food - A supply of 3-5 days per person. For a lot of people the first couple of days can be supplemented by what’s already in the house. However, to insure that you always have your emergency food supply ready to go I recommend one of our 3-21 Day Food Supplies. 3. Clothes - In your 72-Hour Kit you want to be sure you have an extra pair of clothes and shoes for each person in your group/family.
4. Medications - It’s a good practice to collect 3-5 days worth of any prescription medications that you’re taking. Also be sure to note expiration dates so that you can rotate them appropriately.
6. Can Opener - This is another item that you want to be sure is high quality. There’s nothing worse than a can opener that won’t open cans.
7. Radio - The ideal option for a radio is one that has multiple options for powering the radio including, batteries, hand-crank, AC/DC, and/or solar. The ULTIMATE Dynamo Solar Powered Survival Radio is a great option for this. 8. Hygiene Kit - Start with just the basics, soap, toilet paper and a toothbrush is enough to get most people by for 3-5 days.
9. First Aid Kit - Again, from a starting point perspective make sure that your first-aid kit at lest includes, antiseptic, gloves, bandages and your non-prescription medicine such as aspirin or Tylenol.
Put these 9 essential items in place and you’ve got a good foundation for a sheltering in place emergency kit!
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Fun and Useful Information for Home Bakers
- 45 Pounds of wheat berries in a 6 gallon pail yields 158 cups ground flour. Roughly 50 loaves of bread.
- 1 pound or 3 cups wheat berries yields approximately 4 cups ground flour.
- A scant 2/3 cup wheat berries equals approximately 1 cup ground flour
- Use approximately 1 ½ lbs of dough in an 8X4 bread pan for a nicely domed loaf, or fill the pan about 2/3 full.
- The larger 9 X 5 loaf pans are best for quick bread recipes, such as banana and zucchini bread. Whole grain bread doesn't rise well in the wider/larger pans.
- French and Italian Breads use very little oil and hence stale very quickly.
- Cool freshly baked bread on a wire rack so the steam can escape and the loaves don't become soggy.
- Refrigeration of whole grain bread will retard mold ing, but accelerates the staling process. Hence I like to use honey in my breads which promotes shelf life.
- Frozen bread loaves (only after they have completely cooled) will store well up to 3 to 4 months. Slice the bread before freezing so that if you forget to thaw the bread you can still have a slice!
· Ingredients to improve flavor and texture for Whole Grain Breads
· Vital Wheat Gluten This is extracted from high protein wheat. It is the protein portion of the grain and, makes the dough more elastic, moister and rise better. If your flour is less than 14% protein you will need to add gluten. It also helps to compensate for the damage done to the gluten in your bread dough due to the bran's jagged edges interfering with gluten developement. Use 1-2 Tbsp per loaf. · Honey – Promotes shelf life, activates the yeast.
· Oats or Oatmeal - They add crunch and moistness, makes good toasting bread. Use about 1 cup rolled oats per 2-loaf recipe. Soften the oats by pouring 1-2 cups boiling water over rolled oats, mix and let cool before incorporating to yeast mixture. Decrease liquid requirements by that 1-2 cups.
· Nuts and Seeds – Add flavor and texture to basic bread recipes. Use chopped or ground nuts, ground or whole seeds like sesame seeds.
· Dried Fruit, Spices, Herbs, Cheeses, etc. - Adds nutrition, crunch, flavor, variety, and varies the appearance. Once you have gotten the "feel of the dough", start experimenting and be creative. Your family will thank you! It is best to soak dried fruit in boiled water first, but not required if you are short on time.
November 7—Daylight Saving Time Ends at 2:00 A.M.
In 2010, Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 7, at 2:00 A.M. Remember to “fall back” by setting your clocks back 1 hour. Did you know? Benjamin Franklin suggested the idea of a time change in 1784. Daylight Saving Time was first observed in the United States during World War I and then again during World War II.
When you lose your water supply, you quickly assess what water needs are most important. First off, it’s important to have drinking water. After that, cooking probably takes a close second. Laundry and personal hygiene can take the back burner for a few days, but after that – you need to start figuring out how to make the most out of your stored water.
· First off, FILL YOUR WATER CONTAINERS. We heard from SO many people they had containers they just hadn’t gotten around to filling yet. The challenge has been over for a couple weeks, quit procrastinating and get to it TODAY!
· Bathe in a large bucket, and use bottles that have the types of tops that squirt (refillable condiment containers) when pressure is applied. This will help with faster rinsing. Use the remaining bath water in the bucket for flushing toilets.
· Use coralite bath wipes, for quick bathing.
· Store some no rinse shampoo and conditioner for hair.
· Have paper plates, plastic cups, and disposable tableware to use to allow you to cut back on dish water.
· Use recipes that mix most ingredients in one dish, or pan that you serve straight from to cut back on dishes.
· Store wet wipes, and hand sanitizer to help clean up messes, and wash hands.
· Tap into your water heater for water if you run out of stored water.
· Wear your hair in ponytails, or wear hats when you can’t wash your hair as frequently during prolonged times with no water.
· If you have a swamp cooler that runs on water, make sure you have back up cooling methods such as fans, or wet rags to cool your body off during hotter weather.
· Fill liquid soap/detergent bottles with water. You have water for washing small load of dishes. Soapy water for hands, and the bottles squirt out better then soda or juice containers.
· Save water from cooking noodles, or boiling water. Use water from canned vegetables.
· Don’t wait until you are out of clean clothes to do laundry!
· If you have to do laundry get a bucket, put a little baking soda, a tad of water, plunge by hand or with plunger. No need to rinse with baking soda. Baking soda will eradicate smell too.
· If you’re water has a funny taste, store drink flavoring to improve the taste. You can also aerate the water by pouring it back and forth between two containers. It adds oxygen to the water and gets rid of the stale taste.
· Flush conservatively. Use water you previously used for bathing to flush the toilets.
My favorite:
Berkey® Water Filtration and Purification Systems http://directive21.com/
Don't forget to stock up on drug store items too... food storage is first, never go into debt to gain storage, but what would life be like without toilet paper? CVS and WALGREENS are also on Southern Savers...Karla, you're beautiful for sharing! Yesterday I got 8 free scotch tapes and 50 cent panty liners, Quaker variety oatmeal packs for 50 cents, a dozen command strips and hooks and it was all another 15 % Off (one day only) because of an ad that Gina told me about on Southern Savers...THANKS GINA! I spent a whole 1.25 when my bill started out at almost $30! I told the cashier it was my other part time job so I could stay home with my kids! <grin> I can hardly accept any excuse of funds keeping me from my preparedness...ONE DOLLAR TWENTY FIVE????? Extreme couponing is very lucrative! I cannot tell you the deals I have gotten lately, and you probably wouldn't believe me anyway...unless you're doing the same. KNOW that in these tough economic times there is recourse to saving BIG on things we use everyday! Gina and I are also contemplating doing classes on extreme couponing as a sideline...more info later or ask if you're interested! 
PUBLIX-BOGO (buy one get one free) Pitted Prunes, GREAT storage item and they make great CAKES too...Uncle Ben's Rice, GREEN GIANT canned veges are 14 cents each with a coupon, without, they are only 64 cents, half price but you must buy at least 2. Olive oil, Idahoan instant mashers are FREE when you use printable coupons in addition to the bogo. 
get a $5 off Hallmark for that special card..
