Barreled Over

Hello and happy day!

Thanks to everyone who wants a water barrel. Our orders topped over 178 water barrels. You are all helping scouts get their Eagle awards! Thank you.

Either myself or Connor Henderson (Eagle scout-to-be) will be contacting you regarding delivery and payment. The water barrels are expected to be delivered this week- (Feb 1 - Feb 4).

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Dried Eggs

Here's my food storage theory: I don't want to store it if I don't like it. This has naturally forced me to try new things as we expand our variety in food options.

I've always been nervous about dried eggs. They just seem so "M*A*S*H"- you know: tasteless Vietnam war "food" that the soldiers had to eat.

But I need an egg option for when I can't get fresh eggs.

So I bought a #10 can of Dried Eggs from Maceys. And it has been glaring at me from the shelf for a few months now. So, in all truth, I put a can of dried peppers in front of it. Out of sight, out of mind? Not really.

This week, in talking to another food storage believer, she mentioned that she actually cooks with dried eggs. This gave me courage. her children are alive. her husband still loves her. Perhaps, I could too.

This morning I made breakfast muffins for my kids with Powdered Eggs. ( I know- I'm starting small.. but at least I'm starting.)

The verdict is: They couldn't tell. They ate the muffins. We renamed them the "Honey Bear" Muffins because they are brown like bears and have honey in them.



Here's the recipe I used:

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
1 ¼ c whole wheat flour
¾ c quick oats
1/3 c brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp soda
½ tsp salt

2 eggs (2 T. dry egg powder + 1/4 c. water)
1 c pumpkin
1/3 c veg. oil
1/3 c honey (I used reconstituted powdered honey)

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until moist. Spoon into muffin cups. May be refrigerated overnight and cooked in the morning.

Bake 400º for 15-20 min.

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More Eggs?
Yes, so with 1 victory under my belt, I will try another powdered egg replaced in a recipe on my unsuspecting family. And I will report back to you with my results.

The reasons to love powdered eggs (according to Crystal-EverydayFoodStorage.net) are:
Key Points:

• Never run out of eggs again. The cans come with an average equivalent of 226 eggs (18 dozen) in each can.
• They are cheaper. The average price for powdered eggs in $17.00 per can (cheaper here in Utah)- which makes each dozen eggs 94 cents.
• Very easy to use. The conversion is 1T. egg powder + 2 T. Water for a medium egg. For a large egg: 2 T. egg powder + 1/4 cup water. Just add the powder and water to your recipe- can be separate!
• Recipes can be halved!! You can make 1/2 an egg!

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Medium Term Food Storage- Hormel Chili?

We talked about Long term Food stuffs: Wheat, Rice, etc. We covered short term foods: fruits in cans, peanut butter...
Could there be such a thing as medium term? Here's a contender: Hormel Chili.
Hormel labels their chili (Also branded as Stagg Chili) with an expiration date of 3 years. BUT according to their customer service, their canned chili will last indefinitely. Now, this is with the exclusionary statement: "For best flavor and food texture, Hormel recommend using the Chili products within the 3 years." But this Chili can and does last longer! Good to know!
How do they do it? They vacuum pack all the cans of chili and because the chili is processed as such high temperatures, the chili lasts longer and longer and longer.
--please note: this indefinite lasting DOES NOT include their products in glass jars, their meats in cans or glass jars or canned hams.
As where can I get Hormel chili at a good price, you ask? Well, Until Tuesday February 2 at Midnight, you can buy Hormel Chili at Smiths for 79 cents a can. (But you have to buy 10. Or at least 10 qualifying items to get the "instant rebate".) The Hormel chili deal is part of Smith Buy 10 and save and SOMETIMES they extend the sale for more than 1 week. If they do, I'll let you know.

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Action items
This week: Get ready to receive your water barrel. Also, try to cook with powdered eggs.

In Next week's Cupboard: Laundry detergent update! (New & Improved!) More powdered egg recipes.

One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings. -Diogenes of Sinope

I am not young enough to know everything. -Oscar Wilde.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much - Oscar Wilde.

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.—African proverb

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.- St. Thomas Aquinas

Bonus Spreadsheet

Here's a bonus link...

This is a spreadsheet to help you track your own food storage preparations.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tJvo3DCakxhZ-Ln8CtL337A

I can't take any credit for this spreadsheet. My sister, who also does preparedness for her ward in California, sent this to me.
In her words:

"I especially like it because it allows you to set goals
of how much you need to buy for your family, and using the current food
storage price sheet from the church cannery, tells you how much it will
cost to reach your goal. I also like the second tab where you can
record the item you purchased, and record when you expect it to expire,
so you can keep track of food that will need to be rotated sooner than
30 year wheat. I had something similar, but I like this one better.

Hope it is helpful to you as well. You can use it and share it with
whomever you would like."

Take a look... If you find it useful for your preparedness, GREAT!

Welcome back- throw open the Cupboard Doors!

Fling open the doors- Saria's Cupboard is bursting with great stuff!



First and foremost, welcome back to us all. Glad to be back. Let's continue our adventure of learning and preparedness together.

Second, as always, feel free to give me lots of feedback. I don't have all the answers- actually, very few answers. But I'm learning & understanding more and more. This is my universal invitation to talk to me and correct me and help me and keep me straight. Thanks.



WATER:
The Haiti earthquake pictures still haunt me. I pray for those people suffering and trying just to survive. For me, if there is one good thing that can came of this, I hope to prepare myself better. Which brings me to the main thing I've learned from Haiti: WATER. Water really is that critical.

We need water in times of emergency.

So let's talk about water. Do I have enough stored? Honestly, probably not. Do you? No judgement from me- it's meant to be a probing question. Please ask yourself.

If you honestly hesitated or answered "no" to having enough water, let's talk options.

Our ward is emphasizing water storage. We have a source for used 55 gallon water barrels. If you buy one, it will be cleaned, sanitized, delivered and FILLED at your choice of location inside/outside/ beside/by your home.

And all this for $10.

The barrels are $10, the service of cleaning and placing and filling is being provided as part of a service/eagle project. Flyers are coming around from Connor Henderson. But just in case you miss it, I can help you as well. (I like to work with people. :)

So here's my action item: If you need a water barrel, please let me know. The price can't be beat, the service is terrific, the preparedness is essential.

Here's the goal of the Ward: to DOUBLE the amount of water storage that we currently have. Picture what you've got right now and DOUBLE it.

Their goal is based on the following recommendations:
The CDC recommends each individual have 5 gallons of water per day, with at least a 2 week storage. (So for our family of 6- that's 30 gallons a day, x 14 days... that's 420 gallons.) And that's the lowest recommended. Ok, so it's clear to me that we (the Ott household) doesn't have enough water.

If you care to join me in ordering more water barrels, let me know.

Our time frame is ASAP. Would you get back to me by this Saturday, Jan 30, 2010?

Our urgency is partially based on barrel availability. We want to get 'em before they're gone.

Blogs:
Most of you received this as an e-mail. But for your convenience and mine, I've also logged this e-mail and all future e-mails as blog entries. This way, you can find this anytime. You can also search the "archives" and find things you're looking for. (At this very moment the archives are thin- yes, emaciated. but we'll fix that quick enough.)

The blog address is: www.sariascupboard.blogspot.com

You'll keep receiving e-mails, that won't change. But this way, there's more ways to get us together. :)

Coming up next week: Recipes, Bargain hunting, and Water Barrel follow up.

"Strive not to be a success. But rather to be of Value." Albert Einstein

"Don't count the days. Make the days count." Muhammad Ali

"Normal is just a setting on the dryer." Barbara Johnson