October's Order

This month's food storage order is as follows:

#10 Freeze-dried Apricot Slices $25.35
#10 Freeze-dried Zucchini $14.40

All orders (including money) are due no later than Nov 1st! Please make checks out to Chris Juvenal, or you can pay with cash.

Food Storage Analyzer

One of the most commonly-asked questions regarding food storage is, "How much do I need to store?" Emergency Essentials has created a Food Storage Analyzer that will take into consideration your family dynamics (number of people, number of males, number of females, and ages) and help you identify what you have and what you still need. Click here to view their site.

There are several great advantages to this site:
1.) It helps you calculate what you need based on your current family; so, if you have young children, you can prepare for their food intake now and not what you'd need to prepare for if they were adults.
2.) You can easily update your family and instantly see what you need, so every year you can add to your food storage appropriately as your family grows.
3.) Your inventory is all saved online, so no need to worry about tracking your food storage on paper, then losing it (as I did) Just make you sure you update it if you are using your food storage, so you keep track of what you use (unless, of course, you replace it).

The only disadvantage to this site is that they list their products, so you have to enter everything according to their product line. But, it's pretty easy to substitute what you have in terms of their product line.

Sales!

Macey's Grocery is having a sale on their food storage items. Here are a few prices:

1.) 50 pound bags on hard red or hard white wheat for $11.99. This is slightly higher than the cannery's prices, but still a good deal and perhaps more convenient than going to Lindon.
2.) #10 can banana slices for $5.99
3.) #10 can scone mix: $7.99
4.) #10 can blueberry or buttermilk pancake mix: $6.99
5.) #10 can blueberry or chocolate muffin mix: $6.99
6.) #10 can cornmeal: $5.99

And so on. To see their ad, click here: http://maceys.mywebgrocer.com/Circular.aspx?c=45701&n=11&s=58113271&g=16f3bddf-7f6c-46b7-b35b-dc3a0d937d1c&uc=6E0A438 (food storage items are on pages 10-12).

Prices good through 9/22/09.

Leftover Casserole

2 Cup Cooked Freeze Dried Roast Beef* or Freeze Dried Chicken*
2 Cup Noodles or Macaroni
2 Cup Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese*
1 Cup Dehydrated Fat-Free Milk*
10-3/4 Ounce Cream of Chicken Soup
*Reconstitute before using

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, combine meat, macaroni, cheese, milk, soup; mix well.
3. Spread mixture into a lightly greased 9"x 13" baking dish.
4. Bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes or until bubbly hot.

September's order

Here are this month's orders:

#10 can Egg Bowtie Noodles $5
100 Hour Emergency Candle $3

Orders are going through the stake rep again, so checks need to be made out to Chris Juvenal. Money is due to me by October 4th.

This really isn't food storage related, but it is a good lead on free stuff! Check out GiveAwayToday every weekday for a new giveaway. Today's giveaways include:

Free jeans
Free jewelry
A scripture tote
A basic of homemade crafts
A paint job for your car
A spa package
Circus tickets
A photography photo shoot
A month of gymnastics lessons for kids

It's a great site!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I got the following from a friend I grew up with in California. The rest of this is in her words:

4 cups hot water
1 Fels-Naptha bar of laundry soap $1.09/ bar
1 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda $3.19/ 3 lbs 7 oz box
1/2 cup Borax $3.99/ 4 lbs 12 oz box

Grate Fels-Naptha bar (small grater side). Dissolve in 4 cups hot water over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, till completely dissolved (about 10 min). Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with warm/hot tap water. Stir in dissolved soap mixture, 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup borax. Stir till completely dissolved. Fill bucket the rest of the way with more warm/hot tap water. Stir. Cover and let sit overnight so it can gel. Next morning, stir, fill an empty Costco liquid soap dispenser carton half way with newly made laundry soap and fill the rest of the way with water. Shake to mix. All done! Save the 5 gallon bucket to refill Costco container about 4 more times with same half and half method.

When you add up the cost, it's about $2 for the 10 gallon mixture - about a 6 month supply for my family of 8. To buy the equivalent Kirkland brand at about $15 a carton, that's $75. Spending about 20 minutes to save yourself like 90% is worth it in my book. So try it. Try it and you may, I say.

I got the recipe from googling "Duggars". They have a show on the discovery channel called "17 kids and counting." It's a documentary style program that shows how they make things work for a family of that size; making their own laundry detergent is one of their staples to financial freedom.


**Update: I realized that this is missing a key note: Once you mix the soap and water, each at 50%, into your Costco container, use 1/2 c. per load of the mixture for regular loads and up to 1 cup for large loads. I use 1/2 cup for all loads with my and my husband's clothes, and 1 cup if I'm washing my kids' clothes. For added stink-remover, put up to 1/2 cup white vinegar in a Downy ball (or add during the rinse cycle). You will not believe how well it works until you try it, and I guarantee no vinegar smell can be detected on the clothes!

Food Storage Sale at Macey's

For those who are interested, Macey's is having a sale on food storage items this week. Most of their items can be purchased cheaper at the Lindon Cannery, but they are selling 16 oz yeast packages at 2 for $5 (a cheap price is $3.50 each, and this is $1 cheaper than that!), and 27 oz. wheat gluten for $5 (I think this is a good price, but I've never bought wheat gluten before).

August's Specials

Freeze-dried sliced peaches: $17.50 (FYI, Walmart is selling freeze-dried diced peaches for $16.52 without tax; however, the peaches are diced instead of sliced, and I've never had that brand so I don't know if it's any good)
# 10 can baking soda: $9.26
# 10 can cornstarch: $7.20
Freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches--approx 16 sandwiches in a #10 can: $21.62

Money is due to me by Sunday, August 30th.

Limited time only! Macey's is selling #10 cans of baking soda for $6.17 and #10 cans of cornstarch for $4.11. Sale goes through August 25th. I am buying a few extra for members of the ward on a first come, first serve basis. Or, you can buy your own at Macey's in Pleasant Grove through August 25th.

July's order

This month's specials are as follows:

#10 can Freeze-Dried Strawberry Slices: $16.48
#10 can Applesauce: $19.56

Money is due by July 26th.