Stands, Cans, and a Brand New Plan

I have been working on a food storage plan for a while now (half-heartedly, anyway).  There are many reasons that people undertake a food storage program.  If you are a Latter-Day Saint, then you know that your church leaders have been encouraging and counseling members to do so for many, many years.  Some people get into food storage as protection from economic or natural disaster.  (Sometimes the economic disaster is personal.  Most of the people I know who actually have lived off of their food storage did so after one or more family members lost a job.   All of them have said that not having to worry about feeding the family helped a lot!)  Some people use it as a hedge against inflation.  Some people simply like having a large supply of the basics on hand because for those who do a lot of “home” cooking, it makes it very convenient.  Some of us get into food storage for a combination of the above reasons.

My original approach to food storage was to simply store A LOT of the foods that we use on a regular basis.  I soon accumulated an incredible amount of cans, and keeping them rotated and organized was quite a chore.  This is when I originally became acquainted with a company called “Shelf Reliance”.   They sell a wonderful food rotation system.  I was able to catch them when they were having a sale and order the size and configuration that was perfect for my needs.  It has become my very favorite item in my kitchen (even better than my polka-dot bake ware):

It’s very simple to use; you load the new cans in the top of the row and take cans from the bottom of the row.  That way you are always using the oldest food first, saving you from having tons of stuff expire because it got pushed to the back of the shelf:

The company offers other sizes and configurations, including small, single-row units that will fit on your existing kitchen shelves.  The one I got just happened to be the one that was perfect for all the stuff that I had (plus, it holds around 400 cans!).

For my staples, I frequently went to the LDS cannery near me.  If you want rice, flour, powdered milk, etc., their prices are really good (as long as you don’t mind canning it yourself).   In just a few trips, I was able to add lots of #10 cans to my stash!

I also have been trying to learn to garden – my dream is to someday live in the country and grow a lot of our own food.  We even bought a dehydrator so that we could have the option of dehydrating all of the wonderful things that we would be reaping from our garden.  There’s just one little catch:  I just can’t seem to get the hang of the whole gardening thing.  Granted, each year is a little better than the last, but there is still much to be desired.  (I have chronicled this whole sad affair in my gardening/emergency preparedness/food storage blog called “The Gan-Green Thumb”.   I must say that I read many wonderful blogs with interest and amazement, and I find so much inspiration there.  For example, just the other day I was so very impressed (and just a tad envious) when I read about the harvest of blue berries that the maven from “Bee Haven Acres” enjoyed from her 100(!) bushes (to see for yourself, click here).

To make matters worse, in addition to my poor gardening skills, we live in the city, on a typical city lot…eighty-percent of which is totally shaded by two huge oak trees in the front and two huge oak trees in the back. Even though I am not going to give up on gardening (I will conquer!), I know that if we are going to live off of what we grow any time soon, I think we will be pretty hungry.  Therefore, I recently decided to really get with the food storage program.  After taking inventory, I found myself thinking, “I sure hope we like beans and rice and apple chips”.  Yep.  Variety was not abundant in that pantry.  Well, if I can’t grow it and the LDS cannery doesn’t have it, I was just going to have to find another source to get a better variety of food into my storage program.

I will tell you that there are other companies that offer food storage products, but I remembered the “Shelf Reliance” company and decided to check them out.  To supplement the items that I already had, they feature a whole line of freeze-dried fruits, berries, vegetables, dairy, and other products.  Did you know that there is such a thing as powdered eggs and powdered sour cream?  Yep, there is!  You can also buy a #10 can of the powdered cheese that is similar to that found in macaroni-and-cheese dinners (although a lot of people like to sprinkle it on their popcorn for some cheesy goodness).  One unique feature of “Shelf Reliance” is that if you buy at one of their home parties (or through an independent consultant), you are able to not only purchase the #10 can size, but you may also buy a size called the “pantry can”.  About three pantry cans fill a #10 can and it is perfect for smaller families or those with limited space, or to use as a “try me” size for an item with which you are unfamiliar or unsure.

Even more exciting for me was the Shelf Reliance automatic home delivery plan called the “Q”.  There is a feature on their website that will help you figure out how much food storage you need for your family based on the number of adults and children, plus their desired daily caloric intake.  Or, if you know what you want, you can go through yourself and make a list of items that you want in your food storage plan.  It will then ask you for a dollar amount that you want to set as your monthly budget, and using that budget, it will pull from the items that you have listed in your plan and set up automatic monthly shipments.  It is my own understanding about the following points:   The minimum dollar amount for your budget has to be enough to cover whatever is the most expensive item on your plan.  Another thing that you really have to consider is that once you commit to set up a plan, you are committed for at least three months.  After that, you are free to suspend shipments or leave the plan.  Also, once you commit to a monthly budget/dollar amount, you are not able to change the amount during the first 3-month trial period (although after that, it can be adjusted).  However, you are free to adjust which products you want with each shipment if you do not like the order of items the plan has set up for you.  Once you are set up on the plan, you will receive a shipment automatically each month.

Therefore, this is something to not commit to lightly, but I was ready!  I was so tired of saying each month, “I really need to order some butter powder and vegetables or something this month,” only to have the end of the month sneak up on me with no food storage ordered.  This plan was made for me!  I will always budget for something for which I am committed, and sometimes I just need a little kick in the tail to get me going.  I am so excited to have a plan and actually be working each month toward my goal!

In fact, I am so taken with this food storage program and the “Thrive” line of food products that I just signed up as an independent consultant.  If you would like to learn more about Shelf Reliance, you can visit my personal website (click here).  Also, I love teaching others about food storage and emergency preparedness, so if you are interested but not sure where to start, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!

Have a wonderful week!

Lori

Oh, So Temp-ting! (More Silly Little Things)

As I have stated before, I have the ability to become excited over things that others might consider small or even silly.  The latest installment in my “silly little things” saga is actually due to a quality that I inherited from my mother.  My mother’s family was quite poor when she was growing up, so poor in fact that for much of her childhood they did not have a set of dishes that matched.  Her mother’s dinnerware was a hodgepodge of various dishes, and they used Mason jars as drinking glasses (although I purposefully have used Mason jars as drinking glasses – I think stuff tastes great from them!).  My mother swears that these early childhood experiences are what have fueled her incredible obsession and LOVE of dishes.  And when I say that she loves dishes, I mean that we would have 75 different sets if our kitchen was just large enough to hold them all.

I’ve heard that as a woman gets older she often turns into her mother.  Yep.  That would be right.  I, too, love dishes;  they don’t even have to cost very much.  Through the years a dish or set of dishes from Wal-Mart or Dollar General have thrilled me to my toes.  And so, I proudly present my latest treasure:

Most of the items in this display are from a line of ceramic bake ware called “Temp-tations” that is designed by a woman named Tara and is offered exclusively on QVC.  I love them because you can bake in them (up to 500°), and they are dishwasher and microwave safe.  Most of the pieces come with wire baskets and glass trivets making them so cute that you can serve right from the baking dish (although some sets come with extra serving bowls).  They also come with snap-on plastic lids, and even though they don’t give the perfect seal that you get with some plastic storage stuff, it has done an adequate job for me when it comes to stacking and storing left-overs in the refrigerator.

My original set was in a pattern called “Old World” in the color choice called “Confetti”.  Here is a serving bowl to give you an idea of what that looks like:

I like the “confetti” color because it incorporates most of the colors available in the Temp-tations line, including lilac.  I have never seen a kitchen done in lilac before, but the more I think about it, I bet that would be really pretty!

Well, it just so happened that I was watching a presentation on QVC one day when Tara showed a set in a pattern called “Floral Embroidery”:

Apparently, it was one of the very first patterns in the line and had been discontinued for quite some time.  Due to customer request, she was bringing this pattern back in this one set for a one-time offer.  “That’s really cute,” I thought.  Mom agreed and so I ordered it.

When it arrived and we first saw it, Mom and I squealed like pigs.  It is so cute!  It's even cuter than the picture because there are flowers on the inside that are raised/embossed.

Somewhere along the way I remembered that Tara had shown just how great this set looks with her polka-dot dinner ware.  Curses!  Now I was going to need that dinner ware!

The dinner ware is sold in sets of service for 4, and since I needed enough dishes for 12, I ordered one set in yellow, one in red, and one in green, all with white polka-dots.  I still smile every time I open the cabinet and see them all stacked there:

I especially liked the yellow set, so much so that I just KNEW that I needed to order the square bake ware in the yellow with white dots.  When I got that set, it was SO bright and SO cheerful that I needed something else.  I was over the moon when the little canister set arrived:

Adorable!  Still, there was something missing.  Oh, I know:

The tail feathers in this little chicken are no ordinary feathers – those are measuring spoons.  How stinking cute is that?!

So now you know my dark, awful secret:  The sight of floral and polka-dot bake ware can turn me into a giggling school girl, as I continue to find joy in silly little things!  Like a moth to the flame I return to QVC for more stuff for the kitchen!  (Dear Tara:  I haven't decided if I really love you or hate your guts for sucking me in to your Temp-tations web!)

If you would like to see this cute bake ware, I feel that it is my responsibility to warn you that one set is not enough.  It is very easy to go from being someone who simply bakes with ceramic bake ware to someone who collects ceramic bake ware (the path to the dark side is short, indeed!).  However, if your restraint is greater than mine, you may examine it at your own risk:  If you wish to enter into "Temp-tation", click here.

Message for My Daughter

Dear Daughter:

I have had the privilege to be your mother for your whole life, and then joy of joys, I had the privilege of being there as you were granted the privilege of motherhood for yourself.  It gladdens my heart to watch you as you tote, wag, cuddle, and care for my beautiful grand-daughter.

And now you have been told that she is behind on some of her major developmental  “milestones”. You worry about her.  And you question yourself.   You think you should have done more of this…or less of that…or whatever.  Well, I’ve had the opportunity to live long enough to see the child-rearing process come to fruition, and I’ve learned a few things along the way.

You and your cousin were only three months apart.  My sister was a stay-at-home mom and I was a single parent, forced to leave you every day to go to work.  I absolutely hated it.  But, I tried to make up for it by spending all the free time that I could with you, doing lots of learning activities.  I was so tickled because by kindergarten you already knew all of your “ABC’s”, numbers, and a few other things like that.  Then I learned that your cousin was already reading books.  Talk about “mother failure”!  I became convinced that you would forever be doomed to the task of trying to catch up with your peers, subjected to a life of squalor and struggle, all because of your loser mother and her shortcomings.  Well, we both know how that turned out!  Somewhere along the way you learned what you needed to know, in spite of me!  There are some things that can only be seen from the top of the mountain.

But even if things don’t progress as we would like, there is much to be learned and gleaned.  I KNOW that you remember the struggles that our family faced when your brother was younger.  They lasted for years:  The scary “possible” diagnosis, all of those doctor and counseling appointments, and wondering just how “normal” his life would be.  I was so worried and sad…so sad for him…my baby boy!  What would his life be like?  Would he be able to even have a normal life?  I’ve always wanted my children to live up their potential, but with some conditions, it’s hard to know what that potential is.  My heart ached for him.

I have to confess, there was a period of time when my heart ached for me, too.  I LOVE being a mother…I loved both of you before you were even born.  The day each of you was born was the "best" day of my life!  But just like the fact that I would like to live in a location that actually has seasons, I had wanted my life to have seasons, too, each to be savored for its own unique beauty.  When we were told that he MIGHT end up being with us forever, I was a little frustrated.  The prospect of an endless summer loomed large before me.

“Why is this happening to us?” I asked God one day.  “Why am I having to go through this trial?”

He didn’t answer right away…in fact, He didn’t answer for quite a good while.  But when the answer came, it was clear as a bell.

“It is not YOUR trial.  It is HIS.  HE’S the one who has to live with this every second of every day.  HE’s the one who gets made fun of at school.  It’s HIS trial.”

If that realization wasn’t profound enough, the next part totally changed my perspective and my life:  “You are just the person I placed in his life to help him endure it.”

I was humbled that God had enough faith in me to even entrust me with such a task.  Doesn’t He know how inept I am at so many things?  Surely, there must have been someone smarter, more patient, more EVERYTHING than I am.  But there I was.  So armed with this new perspective, I tailored my attitude and my life in order to help your brother endure his trials and to helping him find his place in the world.  My new knowledge didn’t mean that the struggles disappeared, but this, plus other revelations, have helped me to see being his mother as the privilege that it is.  The lessons that his particular trials were designed to teach were HIS to learn; I had other lessons to learn, but I was here to help him when he needed help.   And although it DID take him a little longer than some, he IS on his own, doing very well at his job, and finally having the success and the friends and fun for which he has so long desired.

I have faith in our girl, that she will be just fine…and I will do all that I can to help with this.  But I also have faith in you…to be her mother.  Don’t doubt yourself.  Paisley was sent to you because you have whatever it is that she needs to help her in this journey that we call life.  And the day will come that you, Paisley, and her Dad will stand on TOP of the mountain, hand-in-hand, and say, “All is well!”

A Good Egg!

I'm not sure which of our girls was responsible, but when I went outside this morning to feed the birds, I spotted this inside the chicken tractor:

Our very first egg!  Not exactly "extra large", but I am so proud of those girls anyway!  Hooray for chickens!

Color My World....

Outside it is rainy and gray, but here in the house things are colorful and bright:

May your day be wonderful, whatever your weather may be!

Silly Little Things

I have had more than one person tell me that they have never seen anyone get as tickled as I do over little things.  I explained to all those people that due to the financial struggles that we had for the early part of our marriage, I HAD to learn to get tickled over little things or there would have been nothing to get tickled about!  Although life is a little easier now, my ability to get tickled over silly, little things has continued.  I also seem to have the need to decorate common items and to find beauty in places where you would least expect to find it.

I have recently become a fan of the galvanized trash can.  I bought one in which to store chicken feed, another in which to store wood shaving for the chickens’ bedding, and a much smaller one in which to store my bird/squirrel feed.  They are practical and sturdy and fairly cheap, but a little ordinary for my taste.

I had hoped to perk them up by doing a little decorative painting on them.  I have always wanted to sit down and learn the “one stroke” painting method created by Donna Dewberry.   However, I have yet to really take the time to work on it.  Therefore, I just did not feel comfortable enough with my proficiency level to commit to painting something permanent.  One day the can with chicken feed will have a checkerboard design with some baby chicks, and the “bedding” can will have some painted quilt blocks on it.  One day.

However, I lucked out with my can for the bird feed.  A few years ago, Home Shopping Network carried a product called “tatouage”.  A decorative artist painted all sorts of cute things, and then her designs were used to create a dry-rub transfer that you can use to create your own mural on your wall (to learn more, click here).  I had decorated our foyer with some vines and yellow flowers, and I remembered that I actually had some of that stuff left.  Would it work on my bird feed trash can?

I cleaned the trash can first with rubbing alcohol and then with vinegar, just for good measure.  I then rinsed it with water.  I was delighted with just how easily and quickly the tatouage went on.  Before I knew it, my little can was fully decorated.  The only snag I hit was when I sprayed it with a sealant designed for acrylic paint.  This caused a little bubbling in a couple of spots, and the old, perfectionist me would have “trashed” the whole project.  However, the new, tired me just said, “Aaah, this makes it look vintage”, and called it a day.

Is it perfect?  NO!  But I still get a little chuckle over this silly, little trash can every time I see it in the yard:

Ruby and Opal Woodbury: Warrior Cuddle Chickens

It’s been awhile since I have written about the girls, so I wanted to do an update on how they are doing.  They have grown to be quite big now, and they certainly have personalities.  As I have stated before, I knew that chickens would be great to have for fresh eggs, but I had no idea just how much fun they could be (although there IS a little bit of work involved, too).

It’s fun to watch the crazy things they do, such as sunning themselves like so many teenaged girls:

I had read in a book that if it is at all possible, if you want, let’s say, four chickens (our goal), it is best to get all four at one time.  It’s not impossible to add to a flock, and I’ve seen that people do this quite often.  However, you have to be able to handle the squabbling and fighting that can occur between the new chickens and the older chickens in order to establish that “pecking order” thing.  “Pecking order” is not a myth – one of the reasons I picked Opal was because her little tail had been pecked at by all those other chickens until she was bloody, and I wanted to save her.  Since the girls are always sweet to me, and seem to get along well with each other, I thought we would be immune from this pecking order rule (which is good – I don’t have the stomach for squabbling and  bloody tails).  However, watching the girls in action has made me think otherwise.

I first noticed the “warrior chicken” come out in Ruby.  When they are running around in the yard, Opal and Ruby generally stick pretty close to one another.  However, every now and then they will go their separate ways.  Before you know it, here comes Molly, trying to sniff Opal’s bottom.  Ruby Woodbury, “Warrior Chicken”, springs into action and is across the yard before you know it.  She has no qualms about taking Molly on, and Molly is driven away from Opal, sent away to sniff someone else’s bottom.

The girls will often team up against the wildlife in the area.  I love feeding the birds and squirrels, and I usually put their food in the fenced area behind the garden.  But there are times that it is too muddy to go back there, so I will pick some random area in the yard to dump the seed.  If Opal and Ruby are out in the yard, heaven help the wild life!  I was shocked at how aggressive they were in chasing off a dove one day.  Even sparrows can’t catch a break – the girls become warrior chickens and make sure that everyone knows that this is THEIR yard!  STAY OUT!

Despite their warrior chicken tendencies, when it comes to interacting with us, they are certainly loving, especially as evening sets in.  Once the sun is low in the sky they feel the need to cuddle, and if anyone makes the mistake of sitting in a chair, the girls are on it!  (Although standing doesn’t always save you – I was out raking some leaves one evening and Opal flew up to my shoulder while I was still raking!)  Every evening, before they go in for the night, I try to set aside some “chicken time”.  Usually Opal ends up roosting on my shoulder and Ruby ends up sitting on my arm or lap (which actually allows for more petting).  Tonight, Robert was the lucky ducky who got to enjoy “chicken time” while I snapped some pictures:

So there you have it:  we are the proud owners of warrior cuddle chickens!