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Have you thought about what type of food storer you are? Remember, there are three types of storers: Siege, Practical and Provident. Today we are going to talk about the Siege storer. Some of us might remember the “Y2K – Everything, as we know it, is going to shut down and leave us without the use of computers and we will revert to the Dark Ages” time. (Some people will be scratching their heads saying, "What?" Boomers understand and remember.) It was a time that, if you were in the emergency food storage business, you were going to make millions on people’s fear and lack of preparation. The selling of pre-boxed, pre-fixed food storage kits that would last a person for a year, was the rage. The cost was anywhere from $1,300.00 to $2,000.00 per person – for a family of four that was over $5,200.00 (with convenient monthly payments)! I know that my food budget is smaller than most families, but that is MORE THAN DOUBLE my food budget for my family for the entire year! So technically, instead of buying the prepackaged kit, I could have gone out and bought two years’ worth of the food that I eat every day. I had a friend that went through difficult financial times, and they broke open their families “one year pre-packaged food kit” – it only lasted them for four months and no matter how creative she got while cooking this food, her family was not impressed. The big selling points of these kits were that you could buy it, store it and never have to use it – except during an emergency or crisis. For the Siege storer that is very appealing: 1) They don’t have to think about bad times, yet still feel confidant, 2) They don’t need to sit down and figure out what their family really uses in a year, and 3) They have the possibly false sense of security that they will be able to provide food for their family in an emergency. Okay, the Siege storer will have food on hand, but will it be palatable? If they are buying just to store it and hopefully never use it (after all it was EXPENSIVE), it will go rancid; it needs to be rotated. I know that they say that it will last 25 years, but if there is granola, anything with flour, or other food with oils in it, it will go rancid long before the 25 years are up. I don't care what their sales pitch says. Also, did you try the food to see if your family will eat it before buying it? If your family is in a high stress environment (the kind where you would be eating your emergency food), they need to be eating comfort food, food that they enjoy and know, not food that is foreign and sometimes just downright yucky to their taste buds. The food that you provide for your family should not cause them stress; it should give them comfort. Other Siege storers might be tempted to store just the basics and not spend the money on the prefab food kits. Instead, they will go out and buy: Grains (mostly wheat) – 300lbs*, Powdered milk – 75lbs*, Honey or Sugar – 60lbs*, Salt – 5lbs*, Shortening/Oil – 20lbs* and Legumes (a variety of dried beans) 60lbs*. (*Approximate amounts for an adult, for a year.) Again, they will buy these items, enough for each family member, and then they will store them in their basement without giving it another thought. That is okay if that is all your family ever eats, but I suspect that most of you, especially those with the Siege mentality, are not grinding your wheat, drinking powdered milk, or preparing and eating beans on a weekly basis. When you are forced to eat what you store, are your bodies going to be able to handle it? Will you get sick? It has been proven that after a time, people that are forced to eat what they do not enjoy will simply stop eating. Depression and lack of variety will do that. In the book “Food Storage for the Clueless” the authors, Clark L. and Kathryn H. Kidd give an easy reminder of how to remember what you need to store as a Siege storer (i.e. Salt, Honey, Powdered Milk. Legumes, and Wheat): “Siege Storage Has Produced Much Loud Weeping” (pg. 31). Stop weeping and start storing what you eat. Don’t punish yourself and your family in an emergency with the food that you have stored. Instead, look at how you can have an effective, tasty, easy to maintain food storage that will not financially break you. You can store food for your family that will not only help them to survive, but also to thrive. I’ll be sharing ideas of how to do just that in my future articles – so stay tuned and work towards becoming, at the very least, a Practical storer. Dawn

If you went out and bought three or four cases of tuna and a table round and covered it with a pretty tablecloth to make an end table, you have made me proud! I hope that you took a second look at the different ways you can incorporate your food storage into small houses or apartments. For those of you who have plenty of space for food storage – did you get your water storage filled and put into place? Two gallons, per person, per day, for a two week period. Of course you did! Let’s talk about attitudes. Not the 15-year old teenager attitude, but the different food storage attitudes. There is a wonderful food storage book that I would recommend, called “Food Storage for the Clueless” written by Clark L. and Kathryn H. Kidd (Bookcraft). They explain the three different types of attitudes about food storage in the most succinct and clear way I have ever seen. They put food storage attitudes into three different categories, explaining the three different personalities, the benefits and/or downfalls of each group. Siege Storers: They use money outside of their regular food budget to buy in bulk those foods that they hope they’ll never have to use. Barrels of wheat, jugs of water and cartons of powdered milk fill their shelves, but they really don’t know how to use them. They are waiting for the end of the world to use their food storage. Practical Storers: Eat what they store and therefore don’t spend extra money to buy food that will never be used. Their shelves are full of foods they like because they buy a few extra cans, or cases, or boxes of those things each time they go to the store. Eventually, they will have a cache of tuna, or peanut butter, or frozen corn on hand that could readily be used in case of a winter storm, or a break of employment. Provident Storers: Spend less money on food and less time in the grocery store because they produce and preserve many of the foods they eat. There is no “emergency food” for these storers. Their regular diet includes their food storage. They can/bottle, garden, dry, dehydrate, freeze, and culture their foods. Therefore, they’ve learned to not rely so much on others for their food. Think about the descriptions above. Which category do you fit in? Which one would you like to fit in? What changes are you going to have to make in order to feel comfortable with your choice when you go to use it? We’ll look at each personality type, one each for the next three weeks, and talk about the “The GOOD, the Bad, and the Ugly” of each – giving you the information for you to choose which type of food storer you will become. I’m a Practical Storer with tendencies of being Provident. Let’s start our food storage with something inexpensive (actually you will find that if you take it a “bite-at-a-time” your food storage won’t be as expensive as you might think). I want you to go buy SALT. Don’t buy it in the little cardboard cylinders Buy it in a 25lb. bag. You can find it with or without iodine (without for canning) and it only costs, on average, $2.79 a bag. (This price was in 2006.) It is suggested that you have 8lbs. of salt for each adult, per year. At this time, we only have three adults in our family and so we need no less than 24lbs. (When my children were small, I counted them as adults because they were growing so fast.) I actually keep 50 lbs. on hand because it is inexpensive, less than $6.00 for more than a year’s supply, and I could use it to preserve meats or bottle food in an emergency. It is also a good barter item. You can find 20 lb. sacks at most grocery and bulk buying stores. It is a good start, a really good start. (Hint – don’t store in a metal container, it will rust. A plastic 5-gallon container is best. This is from experience.) A quick recipe using salt. Tortillas 3 cups of flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder ¼ cup oil 1 cup of warm water Mix ingredients together and knead until smooth. Cover with moist cloth and let rest for about 5-10 minutes. Cut dough into 12 balls and roll out, without flour, until round and thin. (They do not have to be perfect. They eat well in any shape.) Cook on a dry, cast iron skillet, on medium high heat until it starts to bubble up, flip and take off heat when it starts to bubble up again. If you cook it in oil, it will make it crispy (chips), without oil it makes it soft and pliable. This is a good “kid-can-make” recipe. Enjoy. Dawn

Ok. Enough with the earthquakes and kits. Those things are for immediacy during an extreme condition – and we must be ready for those types of experiences when they happen, but let’s go on now to life, everyday life. When I lived in Denmark, the families that I lived with didn’t know about the concept of food storage (AAAGHHH!!!). Every morning my Danish father would go downtown to get the mail and breakfast at a Danish bakery (which by the way was PHENOMENAL) and my Danish mother would go shopping nearly every day for what we were to eat that day. I was in a panic. What would happen if some tragedy occurred, and they couldn’t get to the store? When I lived at home, I never worried because we had two rooms in the basement dedicated to food storage: 1) the “freezer/wheat room” and 2) the “rest of the food storage” room. You would think that after going through WWI and WWII, and the other catastrophes that Europe has experienced, that the people would store more food. But the families I knew, didn’t. I realize that not everyone, everywhere, can have a good food storage program because of climate, availability, and laws against “hoarding” (which to me is just next month’s casserole, I don’t understand the problem), but we don’t have any of those problems in this area. As a matter of fact, we are ENCOURAGED to have at least a one year food and sundry supply storage for every family. Some of you may think that I left out the lack of storage space as a deterrent to a good food storage program. WRONG! I have been there and done that and believe me, you can store a lot of stuff in a two bedroom apartment. Let’s talk about the storage side of food storage. Where do I put it? When we lived in our two-bedroom apartment, I had to get very creative. We had moved from a house that had plenty of storage room, to an apartment that was meant to store only four people and little else. I found that the biggest thing that I had to overcome was the “this can’t be done” attitude. Once I started to get creative, the thoughts and ideas just started coming to me. I used a case of toilet paper, with a piece of wood on the top and covered with material (okay, it was an extra sheet), as a nightstand between my kids’ beds. It was big enough to hold two lamps (one for each child, of course), a radio/alarm clock, a couple of dolls, and my son’s dinosaur collection. I was reminiscing with my married daughter, about creatively hiding food storage items, when I reminded her of that. She had no idea that her nightstand was a box full of toilet paper. She just thought that it was big so that she and her brother wouldn’t fight over space. My year’s supply of flour went behind my couch like a couch table. It was up against the wall and all I had to do was put a plank down and cover it with more material (yes, another sheet). It looked nice and we had a place to decorate and keep the remote. In your clothes closet you can put down cases of cans and use them as a place to put your shoes on instead of a shoe tree, one row of shoes on the box and one row in front of the box. You can also store water on each end of the closet. (Two gallons of water, per person, per day, for a two week period.) Another good place is under the bed. But not like you think. This takes a little more planning. Use either a strong blanket that can be pulled on, or better yet, a sheet of plywood with handholds cut out. Place the items to be stored on the blanket or plywood and make a map of it,and then just push or pull it from under the bed. You can cover the items with a sheet (extra sheets are handy), and it will help with the dust problem, if you want to. With your map of items stored and the ability to expose the items easily, food storage will be easy. Another idea is to buy a bed that the mattress can be raised and you can store items inside the bed. My dad helped me build one when I was a teenager. I took it to college with me, and it was really handy. Coat closets are also good. I “built” shelves with five-gallon buckets and planks to hold cases of canned and bottled goods. We had one of those under the stair closets that was shaped in a triangle. All of the 25-lbs. and 50-lbs. bags of stuff went in the extreme part of the triangle and everything else went on my bucket shelves facing the door. I kept a map of this too. Believe me, food storage maps are very helpful. I bought a coat stand for the coats. It was kind of cute. There are a lot of really good ideas out there for tight storage possibilities. Now stop making excuses and go get creative. I’m thinking three or four cases of tuna and a table round would make a darn cute end table (yep, I did that too)!

I have made a list (finally) of important items that should go into a 72-hr. kit. This by no means is the “end all” list. There are thousands of lists, and variations of lists, on the internet or in preparedness stores. Like I said before, sit down with your family and make up YOUR OWN LIST using this as a reference guide. Listen to your kids. Get their insight. If they say it, then “it” is important to them, you should heed that. It will help them during the disaster to know that what they “need” is in their kit. Make a personalized kit that each child can carry – don’t try to carry everyone’s stuff. Share the load. One thing to keep in mind, tools (knives, hatchets, small shovels, string, rope, etc.) should be made a priority. If something you include in your kit breaks, then a tool can help you replace it. Also, make sure that everything included in the kit can be used for more than one purpose. 72-hour kit list • 2 gallons of water per day, per person, for two weeks. The water should be stored for sanitation and drinking – and you could/will DIE if you don’t have clean water to drink. Make water portable so it can be carried. • Method of water purification (e.g., filters, straw filters, bottle of potassium iodide tablets, etc.). • Food – Easy to prepare and nutritious. Twinkies just won’t do it here. Make sure that you include items that are high in protein. Try out the MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat) and see which ones your family likes and which ones they won’t eat. They also have TV dinner type MRE’s that come in a tray and are self-heated in the box with included heat packs. Check them out. Expensive, but very convenient. • Windproof/Waterproof matches and a SECOND method to start a fire just in case the matches won’t start. Fire starters. • Lightweight camp stove, fuel, mess kits and other cooking equipment and utensils. • Tent and/or shelter (garbage bags can be used in an emergency until you can buy a tent). • Wool-blend blanket (not cotton) or sleeping bag AND an emergency reflective blanket (good to help keep out wind and cold). • Hand and body warm packs (these are cheap and oh-so effective). • Poncho or large garbage bags (garbage bags are very versatile). • Light sources such as: flashlight with batteries or rechargeable, candles (also good for heat source and cooking), or light sticks. • Tools: Pocket knife, shovel, hatchet or axe, adjustable wrench and multi-use screwdriver – or just get a Leatherman™. • Sewing kit – make sure that the thread and needles are good quality – the cheap emergency sewing kits just don’t cut it. • 50-foot nylon rope. • First aid kit and supplies. Make it a good one, don’t skimp here. Make sure that the bandages are the ones that actually stick. Also include sun block, insect repellent and anti-itch cream. Hand sanitizer and wet wipes are also good. • Vitamins and extra medications, including prescription drugs. Talk to your doctor about getting an extra months’ worth. If you wear glasses, make sure that you include a backup pair. • Burn gel and dressings (Sun Burn Care™ is the BEST burn care ointment I have ever used). • Radio with batteries or radio with alternate power sources (you’ll want to hear what’s going on). A handheld “walkie talkie” FRS radio to communicate with your family or authorities. • Whistle with neck cord (you have one in your “Under the Bed Kit” – get more, they are not expensive). • Personal sanitation and comfort kit. Include toilet paper, soap, toilet paper, toothbrush and gel, toilet paper, brush or comb, toilet paper, sanitary napkins, razor, wet wipes, dental floss, and did I mention toilet paper? You just don’t want to run out of that, and other needed items. If you have young children remember diapers, wet wipes, and baby stuff. • Complete change of appropriate clothing for each family member. Include extra socks, underwear, hat, sturdy shoes, and gloves. This is very important, especially for a positive mind set. It also helps if you need to layer during cold the season. • Money – $100.00 minimum in small bills; it is hard to get proper change back during an emergency. Be sure to include a roll each of quarters, dimes, and nickels if possible. Pre-paid card - but remember, there may not be electricity and you might not be able to use them. • Stress Relievers such as games, books, and inspirational reading (scriptures are good.) For children: small toys, paper and pen, or favorite security item (i.e., blanket or doll). Hard tack candy. It is good to suck on and it lifts the spirits. • Copies of important papers and documents that are important to your family such as: birth certificates, marriage licenses, wills, insurance forms, out-of-state and important phone numbers you might need, and credit card information. Put these in a sealed bag for protection. • Duct tape – your 72-hr. kit won’t be complete if you don’t have duct tape. • Don’t forget what you are going to carry your kit in – a durable water-resistant duffel bag, frame pack, or daypack is best, but until you get what you want, use what you have. For other ideas and options, you can search the internet for “72-hour kit” or B.O.B (Bug Out Bag) and get thousands of results. Do some research and planning and then take action and put it together. This something that you don't want to put off. Have fun gathering your 72-hr kit supplies, you will feel sooo very good after. Dawn

Last week I said that I would talk more about 72-hour kits. I also said that the name of these kits could give us a false sense of security. Let me explain. I am the biggest believer of 72-hour kits, and I also believe that if you are caught in a disaster, you will be very sorry if you don’t have one. I think that what makes me nervous is the name “72-hour kit”. It could give us the false sense that after the initial disaster that we will be taken care of, by somebody – anybody (the government), within three days’ time. Sorry, won’t happen. My friend talked to two gentlemen whose families lived in two different communities in California but lived through the same earthquake. Both of them said that WATER was important to store (two gallons, per person, per day, for a two week period) AND that it was 14 days before either community saw anyone from outside their cities. That is two weeks without outside help. Some people have said that the church groups will send help, and I’m sure that they will, but remember – their warehouse and distribution buildings may likely be in the same disaster that everyone is experiencing. If you live in small communities you have to live with the fact that the larger metropolitan areas will be helped first, and then when they are under control, and only then will the help that you need start looking for you. You will not be first on their list. Don’t feel bad about it, just get prepared so you can survive and play the waiting game. Your 72-hour kits can be used in at least two different ways. You will “grab n go” and park your family on your front lawn, possibly still having access to some supplies in your house, much like those caught in earthquakes or tornadoes, OR, you will literally have to take your family and physically leave the area, like those in New Orleans. My friend’s sister was one of those that had to leave. She lives in Slidell, Louisiana and she packed her car and left the area before the storm Katrina hit. When she got to the first motel that had rooms available, she was barely in an area where she could find food, WATER, and other necessities, but just barely. And, she had traveled over 500 miles. Everything up to that point, including gas, was either sold out, or in short supply. Chances are, we here in Utah, will be in an earthquake and we won’t be able to jump in a car and drive very far before the road will give out on us. The people in New Orleans had to deal with extreme heat and humidity. We may have to deal with extreme cold and/or heat, and very uncomfortable situations. You won’t know what kind of situation you and your family will be in, so pack your 72-hour kit for either situation. It would be a good idea to go through it every six months and pack it according to what season is coming up. Every April and October. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Conference weekend would be a good time for review, or remember every Easter and Halloween to re-evaluate and take a good look at everything. Change out food that might go stale and change the clothing to be appropriate for the next six months – hot or cold. Make sure that you have a good first aid kit and extra medications that you will need. Talk to your doctor about stockpiling extra medications. Another thing that you might consider is if you have medications that require refrigeration, how are you going to keep them cold? If we stay near our homes, we can use generators to run a refrigerator (if you have a generator), or you can use propane fridges in your trailer (if you have a trailer). Another alternative is to buy those little mini fridges that you can hook up to your car accessory power outlet to keep them cold, but that will only work if you have a full tank of gas. Sometimes it is hard being a negative Nancy, but you have to think about these things so that when bad things happen, it won't be as negative. Next week, after you have discussed with your family what your needs are for your 72-hour kit(s), I will give you a list of items that will be helpful to include in your kit (really, I will this time). I want to emphasize, again, that 72-hour kits ARE CRITICAL TO YOUR SURVIVAL. Even if your neighbor has food storage that they might be willing to share with you during a crisis, their 72-hour kit simply won’t be big enough to share. Take responsibility and get yours put together today - NOW! Make kits for your children that they can carry – share the load. Now, go talk to your family about what they need to survive for three days, or 72 hours – whichever. Dawn

My neighbor has already started to plant seeds in her garden, the early seeds like beans and peas. I, on the other hand, have done nothing. I know that there are a lot of talented gardeners that have itchy green thumbs that really want to get out there and get started – I’m not one of them. Thankfully, my husband was born with a green thumb and so we will have a garden. I am not going to advise you about how to prepare your soil or what kind of plants you need to plant because I don’t know any of that. I have a brown thumb and live plants shriek as I pass by in fear that I might try to take care of them. That means certain death. What I am going to ask you to do is to put a lot of thought into what you will realistically need and use – fresh and bottled, and then plan accordingly. Now is the time to think about how you are going to build your food storage before you plant your garden. What do you eat? Can you bottle a meal in a jar? I like to bottle stewed tomatoes because I can make anything with them from lasagna, spaghetti, salsa soup, tomato soup (go figure), Parmigiana Chicken and any other tomato based recipes. I don’t mind adding a few herbs and spices when I open my stewed tomatoes and so I don’t add anything but lemon juice and salt when I bottle them. My friend on the other hand likes to bottle spaghetti sauce, tomato soup, and tomato juice all separately. She will also bottle some stewed tomatoes, but she will spice them up. Her food is delicious, and she will only have to open up her bottles and warm the contents in order to have a delicious meal. Me? As I am warming my stewed tomatoes up, I'll figure out what I am fixing for dinner and then add my spices. Sit down and figure out how many tomato plants you need to accommodate your family’s favorite meals for an entire year. Tomato plant information cards will let you know how much you can expect to get off of each plant and then plan accordingly. I need a lot. Green beans. I love green beans. One of my favorite meals is to take fresh green beans and fry them in oil until they go limp, and even be a little charred in places. At the end, add a little butter for flavor, and then salt and sprinkle with garlic to taste. Continue to fry a little bit longer to caramelize the garlic. And yes, I have eaten just that for a meal before. I am definitely going to be planting green beans. To store them for future use all you have to do is to pick them, wash them, blanch them, and then freeze them. You don't even need to snap them! Hardly any work at all and you can just taste the rewards. And of course, you can also bottle them. I could go on and on with all of the different things that can be grown in the garden like corn, potatoes, chard or spinach, beets, and so forth, but I think that you have the picture. Decide what you like, figure out how much you need to grow to take care of your family for a year and then plan accordingly, just like the pioneers used to before they could run to the grocery store every day. Now get out there and plan, and then get to work. Now, for the rest of you who don’t have talented spouses that can grow amazing gardens, or you don’t have space for a garden, or you are just like me and don’t like to garden, we just need to look at this differently. If you aren’t going to go out and get your hands dirty and become one with the earth, then you are just going to have to dig deeper into your pockets. By that I mean that you will need to sit down and make your own plan. First, sit down and figure out what you are going to need to eat for the year, just like your neighbor the gardener, and then figure out how much you are going to need to BUY in order to get your family prepared. Then, watch the ads and buy what you think you will need. Now, on those hot summer days when you see your neighbor out taking care of his garden, I expect you to make some fresh cold lemonade and take it over to him/her after you have unloaded the cases of fruits and vegetables that you just bought. Best Lemonade Recipe in the World 1 cup lemon juice 1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute) 6 cups of cold water Mix and serve over ice. You can add freeze dried or fresh crushed fruits to add flavor to your lemonade. Strawberries or raspberries are especially good. Really delicious! If you are really nice, when you take the lemonade over, your neighbor might share some fresh strawberries or raspberries to crush up and put in the lemonade – YUM! Dawn

A couple of years ago, I turned on the news and my heart sank. I was listening to a story about the tornado that ripped through Enterprise, Alabama, destroying the high school, the hospital, half the town and killing several people. There had been 17 tornadoes the day before along “Tornado Alley”, but they hadn’t been as destructive to so many buildings and they hadn’t killed anybody, at least of which had been reported. At times like these — and for the earthquake victims in Haiti — people want to help those who have lost everything, and many of them did lose everything – including their health, or in some cases, their loved ones. We can gather essential items like clothing and hygiene kits together to ship to them and, as the news has reported, the people who are receiving these generous donations are extremely appreciative. Many were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. I am so glad that we can help others in their time of need and know that if we are in a desperate situation that there are other generous souls that would be willing to help us. The nice thing about helping others is that we can do it anytime, not just when the news alerts us to a particular tragedy. As I have said in the past, a disaster doesn’t have to be big and involve the entire community; it can be smaller – only involving your immediate family. If you want to be able to serve your friends, neighbors, community, or even total strangers, there are several ways that you can help that won’t cost you a dime and you won’t have to send it anywhere, but you will be helping in a big way. Let’s start with the easiest way – giving blood. You can donate blood every eight weeks. Contact the Red Cross at www.redcross.org and get more information about where to go and what to do. They will be very happy to help you get started. Your local hospital can also help you get involved and they have several programs to which you can donate different fluids (which are quickly replaced by your body). Some larger employers even sponsor blood drives for their employees to participate in every eight weeks, on company time – WOW! If you do decide to donate blood then, I would suggest that you drink a lot of water to make sure that you are fully hydrated. (Remember – you want to store two gallons of water per person, per day, for a two week period, but drink no less than 8 – 8oz. cups of water a day). Staying hydrated will help you not experience complications such as collapsed veins or getting lightheaded. Another way to help is to donate plasma. You aren’t actually “donating” because you do get paid each time you go (which can be helpful if you are a starving student, or are just lacking funds). You can go two times a week and it generally takes about 1 ½ to two hours from start to finish each time (which works out to be about $15.00 an hour). (This is what they paid in 2007, it is more now.) You can use the time to read, study, or just relax and watch the video that they are showing. Again, make sure that you are fully hydrated when you go. If you do, the draw will go a lot faster and you won’t have complications. You will also want to make sure that you eat a low fat, high protein-based meal before you go. There are several plasma centers in our area. Just look online to locate the one nearest you. You can also sign up for the bone marrow/stem cell registry. Go to bethematch.org to find out more about getting signed up. They have made it so easy for you to sign up. If you are ever given the opportunity to help someone by donating bone marrow or stem cells, you will be fortunate indeed. With the incredible advances that the medical community is making in curing cancer and other horrible diseases, the least we can do, as healthy individuals, is to give our replaceable resources that others need in order to continue living. I donated both bone marrow and stems cells and it was an incredible experience both times! I know that some people won’t be able to donate blood, plasma, bone marrow or other bodily components because of poor health or other problems, but those of you who can, give it a try – it is so satisfying. What you are donating is life itself – something that only you can give. We need to continue giving clothes and food and the other necessities of life to those in need during a disaster, but we don’t need to wait for a disaster to be able help somebody in need. What a wonderful way to serve each other. Dawn

I know that I have given you different Internet addresses in the past for emergency preparedness sites and heaven only knows how many I have visited (put the Internet or Facebook down and back away slowly), but you need to visit this one – and make sure that you take your kids with you. The site that I’m talking about is the one that the government, both state and federal, have been advertising – www.ready.gov. I finally got around to visiting it. I don’t know why it took me so long to go there – oh yes, I do, I thought that it would be a “dry” and boring site, I mean how exciting is the government? Well, I don’t know who hired the site developer, but they did a great job and they should get a raise. (This site has grown even better since I originally wrote about it in 2007.) There are three different sections to the site: 1) the adult/family site: informative and very helpful with a lot of good suggestions and preparedness lists. Next, 2) the business/employee safety and preparedness area: how to prepare your business financially for a disaster and how to help your employees be safe and what to expect of them. And then finally, 3) the kid’s preparedness site: THE REALLY FUN PLACE! Preparedness sites fascinate me, and I am always mentally comparing what I have versus what they all say that I need (They say one gallon of water, but I prefer two gallons, per person, per day for a two week period). I also try to predict the most impossible problems above and beyond the most likely ones (like that pesky tsunami that is going to hit us in the middle of our desert community) and then prepare for it, BUT this is the first time that I have ever had fun on a preparedness site. I know that I was in the section for kids, but it was a lot of fun. Even though it is for kids, and if you are just too adult to go on the kids’ site by yourself, then go to the adult/family section first and then just mosey over to the kid site. Actually, make sure that you grab your kids and have them go there with you, they will really learn a lot and have fun doing it. I did word searches, crossword puzzles, took quizzes (of which I got 100%, thank you very much) and learned about The Mountain Lion Family: the dad – Rex, the mom – Purrcilla, the daughter – Rory and Rex’s best friend, Hector, the bird. Each of these characters helps to teach about different aspects of an emergency, the things that you need in an emergency and what you need to do, as a child and as a family. Another thing that I really liked about this site is that they have made a printout of wallet sized cards that you can fill out for each member of your family. They provided a place for you to write all of the emergency numbers that you need, including a place for an out-of-state contact. It is colorful and so it would be easy to find in a wallet, purse, or backpack. I would have been sold on this site just for that reason, but then why stop there when you can go play. You can let your kids go to this site on their own and they will learn what to do in an emergency without getting them scared. I like how the people who put this site together not only made it fun and informative, but they also made it empowering, and not scary. Your kids will feel more confident and not scared about the possibility of an impending disaster. It also teaches them why certain items are important to have and what you would use them for – they make it make sense to kids, not more confusing. There is a section where it shows pictures of each type of disaster, like tornadoes, thunderstorms, hurricanes and more and then it goes on to describe each one and what happens during each of them. This is not dumbed down for kids; adults will find it interesting and informative as well. I am definitely going to go back and visit this site again, if for nothing else so that I can finish the crossword puzzle that I didn’t have time to finish the first time. See you online. Dawn

When I was young, I honestly don’t ever remember eating a casserole, or they also might be known as “one-dish meals.” My dad didn’t like them and so my mother never made them. As a matter of fact, I had never even made a casserole until after I got married. My first casserole was a disaster! My husband ate it because he is a nice guy, but he did tell me that if I am going to make a tuna casserole that people will usually expect to have the tuna added. Okay, after you have stopped laughing and have wiped your eyes so that you can read again – I will go on. Also, I had decorated the top of the casserole with a leftover hot dog thinking that it would be nice. A hot dog? No tuna? What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn’t. The thing that I like about casseroles is that they are so food storage friendly and easy. You can use any kind of noodle or pasta in place of the noodle or pasta that you might be out of. You can also substitute soups in a pinch. I know this because I have done it myself. If I am out of Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Celery works just fine. You might have to use a few different herbs or change a few different spices, but you can adapt the casserole to just about anything that you have in your cupboard. You can use potatoes in almost any form: mashed, shredded, diced, cut up, or with tater tots (I love funeral potatoes – and talk about adapting a recipe!) I have learned how to make casseroles that are completely acceptable and that my family actually looks forward to eating – I’ve come a long way. Now let’s talk about Shepherd’s pie. I got this recipe from two guys when I was working at an auto supply shop when I was still single. I can’t remember how the two guys who came in to buy a battery got talking about food, but when they found out that I had never heard of Shepherd’s Pie, they looked at me like I was an alien. I mean, after all, who hasn’t eaten or doesn’t know how to make Shepherd’s Pie. They then proceeded to share with me their favorite version, of which I have since found out that there are hundreds of different recipes with the same name. After I got married and after my tuna casserole fiasco, I thought that I would try the Shepherd’s Pie recipe. It was a hit – and I didn’t forget a thing (you really can’t forget anything because you just add what you want.) The recipe that the two guys gave me was very simple: brown one pound of hamburger and add all of your leftover vegetables for the week. Add a can of tomato soup straight from the can and mix with the meat and the vegetables in a deep casserole dish. Salt and pepper to taste. On top of that mixture add a two-inch layer of mashed potatoes and cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Put in the oven, covered, at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted on top. This is my son’s favorite version of the Shepherd’s pie recipe. Our Favorite Shepherd’s Pie Brown one pound of hamburger. In a deep casserole dish, mix together the hamburger, a can of drained green beans, and a can of tomato soup (straight from the can). Add salt, pepper, garlic, and rubbed sage to taste. Cover mixture with layer of cheddar cheese. Add a layer of mashed potatoes, my son says the more the better, and then cover with another layer of cheese on top. Put in a hot oven, uncovered, for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. We like the cheese to be a little crispy on top. So easy, so quick, so inexpensive, and so “I don’t have to go to the store shopping because I have everything I need in my food storage” kind of recipe. Remember, with casseroles there are no hard and fast rules, and like the young men who shared their recipe, it is a way to use up the leftovers in your refrigerator in a tasty and most acceptable way. After you have gone leftover hunting you can then sit back feeling smart and frugal while enjoying a tasty meal. Dawn

I went to a training meeting the other day and there was a young mother with a cute little seven month old boy that was a little tired. She took him out into the foyer, and he softly sung, in a baby sort of way, to himself. It was very endearing to listen to him sooth himself to sleep. Small babies and young children are very quick to catch on to different ways to quiet and calm themselves, but their ways generally involve us to help them to feel safe. It is our responsibility to keep our children safe, especially during an emergency. What do we need to do to protect them? Well, it all depends on their age. Little babies need things like diapers, proper food for their age, seasonal appropriate clothing, and non-stressed caregivers. In a crisis I know that it might be difficult to be calm and stress free, but your little babies can feel when things are out of whack, and they can take on your stress. Do what you can to make things as normal as you possibly can and try to keep as much of a normal schedule as possible. As far as diapers go, I think that disposable diapers are great, but if that is what you are going to use, then make sure that you have a lot of them on hand – I mean A LOT. What you might want to do is have some cloth diapers on hand that you can wash over and over as a back up. When my daughter was born, they had disposable diapers, but I just didn’t have the money to buy them, so I used cloth diapers. It is not that bad - really. I bought these blue disposable liners that I would place in the diaper as I had folded the diaper for use. If there was anything substantial in the diaper when I changed her, then I could just lift it out and flush it away without having to dip the diaper. It made it really nice, and it was very inexpensive. I would suggest making your own diapers, they are cheaper, and you can make them a little bigger than what they sell. Clean cloth diapers can also be used for a variety of other uses in an emergency: slings, bandages, etc. Also make sure to have cleansing baby wipes on hand, not just for their little tushies, but also for everybody else to use for cleaning up in case you haven’t stored enough water (Shame on you! You should have 2 gallons, per person, per day, for a two-week period – GET IT STORED). Small children, especially babies, have very special dietary needs. As they get older, they can basically eat what we do as long as we smash it up, but if your child is still nursing you need to make sure that you, the nursing mother, has plenty of water (the water thing again). If your child is drinking formula, then again, you not only need to have plenty of formula on hand, but you need plenty of drinking water (I am sure that by now you have your water stored and so I won’t say anything). Make sure that you have stored rice and not just wheat. Rice is easier on children’s stomachs, and you can use it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert and it is easy to eat and to prepare (we went through cooking rice last week). Also, make sure that you have baby medications that they might need if they start teething, if they get a yeast infection, come down with a cold or sore throat, or have a diaper rash. You will be sorry if you don’t. Finally, make sure that you have proper clothing for the little ones. Little babies can get so cold so fast. Make sure that you can keep them warm. Have plenty of blankets that you can keep them wrapped up in and comfortable. Also have an alternate heating source so that they don’t have to use all of their energy up keeping warm. You want them to stay comfortable, so they don’t stress themselves and get sick. Speaking of getting sick, I just want to let you know that as I am writing this article I am looking out for my health by eating some Dove Dark chocolate - the things that I do to stay healthy. Dawn

I have another really yummy recipe for you to try. I think that you will find that this is going to be another family favorite. Another really good thing about this recipe is that absolutely all of the ingredients are food storage friendly. I’ll bet in a fit of desperation you could even use canned chicken, you just wouldn’t fry it up. The sauce is what really makes it. Dorisanne’s Sesame Chicken Take 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts and cut them into 1” square cubes. Put approximately ½ cup of cornstarch into a gallon-size plastic bag. Put the chicken in the bag a little at a time and shake until well coated. Add enough oil to your skillet to generously coat the bottom. Fry the chicken until it is a crispy medium brown turning only once while cooking – don’t sit and play with it. I also like to drizzle a little bit of sesame oil on the frying chicken for flavor. The smell is divine! Pour prepared sauce over the chicken and simmer for 3 minutes. While thickening the sauce up, add 1-½ cups of pre-cooked (not overcooked), or frozen broccoli, and sesame seeds (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) to taste. When the sauce thickens, serve over hot sticky rice. Sesame Sauce: (I doubled the sauce recipe for you because I think it needs it.) 2 2/3 cups water ½ cup sugar 4 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon granulated garlic 4 tablespoons cornstarch 4 tablespoons oyster sauce (absolutely necessary ingredient) This is a really yummy recipe and really quick to make. As the recipe says, you should serve over rice. I prefer sticky rice, but you can use regular white rice, or to be even healthier, you could serve over brown or wild rice. A lot of people are frustrated when cooking rice and they say that it just won’t cook right. It really isn’t that hard to cook and I would hate to have you revert to (that yucky) instant rice. Just remember - 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Do not rinse the rice, just add the water to the rice, and add a little bit of salt to flavor, cover with a lid and put on a medium heat. Do this before you start cutting the chicken up and by the time you finish cooking the main dish, the rice will be done. When the rice starts to get hot it might start to boil over, just turn the heat down. When you think the rice might be done, check it with a spoon. The way you do that is to pull the rice away from the bottom of the pan; if there is no more water, then turn it off and leave the lid on to let it finish. If you let it cook too long and the rice sticks to the bottom, turn the heat off and cover with the lid. If you let it sit for a few minutes then the rice on the bottom will release itself. Now, if you accidentally cook it way too long and it burns, don’t worry – you can still save it. First open the window in the kitchen and air it out. Next, spoon the top part of the rice out into a bowl making sure that you don’t spoon out any of the burnt area (leave about an inch of rice on the bottom). The Sesame Chicken will probably cover any burnt flavor that might be lingering (actually I know that it does from experience. That’s why you want to air the kitchen out, nobody else will know that you burnt the rice. Trust me on this.) Or you can buy a rice cooker - whatever. Dawn

Here today, gone tomorrow. I’m talking about your health. Well for some of us anyway. It is our responsibility to make our today’s last as long as possible. It amazes me of all the different diseases and disorders our body can put up with. We are so fragile and yet so resilient, but ultimately it is our responsibility to keep up with our changing body. I’m not talking so much about the common cold or getting the flu, I’m talking about genetic disorders or debilitating diseases, some of which can be prevented. We all need to start taking better care of ourselves. I am not saying that we need to start spending 3 hours a night at the gym, but we can go for more walks, plan ahead and eat healthier foods, don’t smoke, or drink, and get preventative health care. I know that it can be expensive if you don’t have health insurance because it has only been recently that I got health insurance through my job. Before that, our family didn’t have insurance for 14 years and so I understand that it can be difficult, but it is less expensive to have an annual physical than to try to clean up a medical disease/disorder gotten out of hand. Now that I have gotten that off my chest I want to talk about the realities of a disaster and medicine availability. What kind of medications do you need? Are you diabetic? How are you going to keep your insulin cold (okay, pretend that it is summer and not below freezing outside). By changing a few bad habits, could you control your diabetes or do you have that really nasty diabetes 1 or out of control diabetes 2? Will you be able to get sugar free food or control your carbohydrate intake? Stressful times can contribute to bad side affects and I don’t want bad things to happen to you. Talk to your doctor about how much supply you can have on hand. Also, how will you store it? Consider these things and get prepared. How about those with heart disorders or other problems that need to be monitored closely? Do you need oxygen? Do you need electricity? Do you have a debilitating disease that requires you to take pain medications and other controlled substances on a regular basis? Have you talked to your doctor about being able to have a little extra on hand, just in case? How about talking to your pharmacist? Do they have a protocol setup as to how they will conduct business during a disaster and how they intend to dispense certain types of medications? And what about their supply? How long will their supplies last without deliveries? Do hospitals or emergency personnel have first priority in an emergency? I don’t know, but it would be a good thing to find out. Fortunately, I have very good health, but many of my loved ones do not, and this makes me concerned. In fact, I was so concerned that I bought a small used trailer just because I needed to make sure that I could take care of my loved ones during a disaster, healthy or not. I think of it as an extension of my 72-hour kit. It has a refrigerator for medications (and food), heat to keep them comfortable and a place to lie down and rest comfortably. It also has a generator for electricity. Not only is this good for them physically, but also emotionally. Remember? Stress is bad. I know that not everyone can afford a trailer, even a used one (I bought mine by selling my plasma for two years), but it might be a good idea to plan with someone that does have a situation that could be helpful to you in a tight spot. These are hard things to think about, but better to think about it, prepare for it and be at peace knowing that if something happened that everyone would be taken care of. Isn’t that all we want, for our loved ones to be safe, whether they are healthy or not? Dawn