Penny's 100% whole wheat bread

Penny Brown has discovered and tried out the following 100% Whole Wheat bread recipe. She says it is delicious. She especially likes that it is so versatile- click here to get the recipe.

My paste button won't work- that's why there is the extra step of downloading the file- SORRY. This would be a great recipe to keep and use with your food storage.

Save Money on Christmas Gifts

Wow- have you checked out all of the amazing Christmas gift ideas on the web. There are free patterns and tutorials everywhere on how to make beautiful creative gifts. This might be a way for you to stretch your Christmas money and then use what is saved for some food storage :0)

Here are a few places to start looking for ideas- there will be many more as we get closer to the holiday!

Living Grace made the cute dish mat pictured above. She offers twelve tutorials of some very nice looking gifts here

Sew, Mama, Sew has a list of ideas for every day of the month- so, click on each day to see bunches of ideas! You can also check out her 2007 and 2008 lists as well.

Freda's Hive started a list of craft ideas for Christmas last January! See her list here.

The major magazines have craft projects galore. Here are a few Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens, and Country Living.

Hopefully you can find a project among the list- if not just type in your request on your search space at the top of your screen- for example type in "free pattern for crochet snowflake"- you'll have tons of free patterns pop up- enjoy!

Year Supply One Month at a Time

Sister Penny Brown in Midland 2nd ward has come up with a way to gather her long term food storage one month at a time. She found a wonderful bread recipe that will be shared shortly.

I searched the web to come up with some of the numbers and found a consensus on amounts among a few- so, here is the info:

These quantities are for a one month supply of food per person (over age 7).

25 lbs. of wheat, white rice or other grains (remember Pres. Benson said that wheat was the most important of these options)

5 lbs. of dry beans and/or other legumes

5 lbs. of sugar or honey

5 lbs. powdered milk

1 can evaporated milk

2 pounds of shortening, oil or other fat

1/2 pound of salt

And a source of vitamin C

Thanks Penny for your great idea- hope this helps someone get started!

Hot Cereal for Breakfast

If you are a fan of oatmeal or cream of wheat you might want to try Honeyville's 6 grain and/or nine grain cereals. They don't store as well as plain wheat and oats- so, I'd say store those things first. As a healthy addition to your basic storage and if you enjoy a warm healthy breakfast you might want to add some of this to your storage and start eating it now. My husband and I like it- the kids- not so much :o)

Inspirational Quote

President Ezra Taft Benson gave some excellent instructions about home storage:

“For the righteous the gospel provides a warning before a calamity, a program for the crises, a refuge for each disaster. …

“The Lord has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to prophets and stored at least a year’s supply of survival food. …

“Brethren and sisters, I know that this welfare program is inspired of God. I have witnessed with my own eyes the ravages of hunger and destitution as, under the direction of the president of the Church, I spent a year in war-torn Europe at the close of World War II, without my family, distributing food, clothing, and bedding to our needy members.

I have looked into the sunken eyes of Saints, in almost the last stages of starvation. I have seen faithful mothers carrying their children, three and four years of age, who were unable to walk because of malnutrition. I have seen a hungry woman turn down food for a spool of thread. I have seen grown men weep as they ran their hands through the wheat and beans sent to them from Zion—America.

“Thanks be to God for a prophet, for this inspired program, and for Saints who so managed their stewardship that they could provide for their own and still share with others.” (October 1973 General Conference, “Prepare Ye,” Ensign, Jan. 1974, pp. 69, 81–82.)