52 Weeks to Family Preparedness: Week 12

Download Week 12 here.

Danae's Deals of the Week: 2/23 - 3/1

Albertons -

• Ground Beef 85/15 - $1.99 lb
• Mix-N-Match - Each of the following are only $1:
• Glaceau Vatmin Water or PowerAid
• Bar-S Meat Franks
• Knorr Side Dishes
• Healthy Choice Soup
• BumbleBee Tuna
• Swiss Miss Cocoa (10 ct.)
• Daisy Sour Cream
• King's Hawaiian Rolls
• And More!!

 Save-A-Lot -

• Hamburger Helper/Tuna Helper Meals - $1.00
• Foster Farms Whole Fryers - $.99/lb
• Hungry Jack Specialty Potatoes - $1.00
• Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix - $.39/box

Web Spotlight: StillTasty

How long will your favorite food or beverage stay safe and tasty? What's the best way to store it? 

Get the answer for thousands of items at www.stilltasty.com!!

This is a great site. Really really. However, take their word with a grain of salt. 

Take mayonnaise for example. It has an indefinite shelf life. 

Yes. Indefinite. 

Mayo for Eternity. 

However, the StillTasty website states 10-12 months. 

So Happy Browsing, with a grain of salt. : ) 

Laura

Web Spotlight: Emergency Essentials

“Helping People Prepare…for over 20 years. Offering Food Storage, Emergency Kits, Water Filtration, First Aid, MRE (Meals Ready to Eat), Survival Kits, Camping Gear, disaster preparedness and more! We are committed to serving you with over 900 products!" 

I will be forming an Emergency Essentials group to take part in their Group Buys Program each month. They offer several products each month for a discounted price if you buy over a certain number of the product. ALSO, they offer FREE SHIPPING on the items purchased in the group buy, as well as any other item purchased at the same time!

If you'd like additional information on the Group Buy Program through Emergency Essentials, visit this link: 

Group Buy Program

If you are interested in signing up to be part of the group buy each month (no purchase required every month) send me an email, or comment below. 

Happy Prepping!!

Laura

Video Spotlight: SouthernPrepper1 on YouTube

There is a man on YouTube (okay there are hundreds of men - and women - on YouTube) who has dedicated his life to Preparedness efforts. His "handle" is SouthernPrepper1 and his information is fantastic!!

Here's some general information on his profile:

 "I am married and the father of 2 great teenagers. Retired army infantry, prepper, survivalist, homesteader and most important a Christian. I am interested in helping people survive the hard times that are coming. I have a very supportive wife that lets me prepare for the disaster that is heading our way. My only goal for this channel is to help people."

 

Here's my DISCLAIMER: I have not watched all of his videos, but what I have seen I find to be appropriate and extremely useful. Take a look at his channel if you like. 

You can find his videos here: 

SouthernPrepper1 YouTube Channel

52 Weeks to Family Preparedness: Week 11

Download Week 11 here.

Food Preservation: Canning Chicken

I love preserving. That's no front page news. But this year, my mother (bless her soul!) has gotten me addicted to meat preservation in all it's forms!! So we'll start this series of Food Preservation posts with something that is so simple a ten year old could manage.

Canning Chicken. 

1. First things first - gather your supplies. 

You will need: 

 

a pressure canner

salt

 

raw, boneless, skinless chicken breast

quart or pint jars w/ lids and rings

And... cinnamon rolls for breakfast. YUM! 
(Not required, but helps tremendously.)

2. Prep your breasts. Laugh all you want. 

 Trim the fat as much as possible. If you buy chicken breast in bulk, it will most likely come with a relative amount of fat still attached. 

 Also, you will probably need to separate the breasts. They are not sold singularly in bulk like they are when you buy them packaged and weighed in the store.

 

Lovely fat, eh?

 

Add 1 teaspoon salt to each empty quart jar (1/2 tsp for pints) and start stuffing the jars with chicken! 

 

Fill 7 jars, and stop.

 Give them each a lid and a ring, screw 'em on tight, and put them in your canner. 

Process for 90 minutes at 15 lbs of pressure. 

Voila!

Congratulations, it's chicken. This chicken is cooked, and ready to be thrown into whatever recipe strikes your fancy!! It's not slimy like so many other canned meats are, and since you haven't added any liquid to the jars, that lovely chicken broth that's staring at you there is just dying to improve the flavor of dinner. : ) 

And FYI - I canned 40 lbs of chicken breast yesterday. It gave me 18 Quarts and 5 lbs of jerky. Chicken Jerky recipe in the dehydrator to come!

Danae's Deals of the Week: 2/16 - 2-22

Albertsons -  

- Grade A Large Eggs dozen - $0.99 each

- Blueberries 6 oz - $1.50 each

FYI - Albertsons has dry ice for $1.39/lb if you're needing some for sealing buckets! 

***Don't forget that WalMart will price match. I went on their Corporate site for details on exactly how it works, and here are their guidelines for price matching: 

Our unbeatable promise:

Store managers make the final decision in always taking care of our customers, but we do have guidelines for matching our competition.

• We do honor "Preferred Shopping Card" advertised prices. Must be like items, be advertised and require a competitor's shopping card, for the discount to apply.
• We do not honor advertisements that require a purchase in order to receive the advertised price or free product.
• We do not honor "Buy One / Get One Free" advertisements.
• We do not honor double or triple coupons or percent off advertisements.
• We do not honor other retailers' "Misprinted" advertised prices.
• We do not honor Internet Pricing.
• We do not honor competitor advertisements from outside of the store's or Club's local trade territory.

52 Weeks to Family Preparedness: Week 10

Download Week 10 here.  (Naomi Raven, am I on the ball, or WHAT!?!)

52 Weeks to Family Preparedness: Week 9

Download Week 9 here.

52 Weeks to Family Preparedness: Week 8

Download Week 8 here.

52 Weeks to Family Preparedness: Week 7

Download Week 7 here.

Grocery Spotlight: Winco Foods

 Winco Foods is one of those amazing, Employee-owned, 24-Hour, high quality, low price markets that just really does it for me. Most people realize they have a bulk foods section that would make other stores blush, but what you may not realize is that you can make special bulk orders on stuff you use regularly. Just visit the bulk section of any Winco and speak with their Bulk Rep - you know - the guy refilling the bins.

Yes. It's as easy as that.

You let him know what you want, he writes it on his fancy clipboard, takes your name and number, and BAM! It's there two days later.

This year alone the Cherry Family has ordered white rice, brown rice, wheat flour, white flour, 5 different kinds of beans, 8 different kinds of pasta, flax, spices, corn meal, dried mango, dried banana chips, and Skittles in bulk. Yes. Skittles.

Needless to say, they Bulk Foods employees know me on a first-name basis. They just chuckle every time I approach with that look in my eyes. They don't even ask anymore. They just reach for the nearest clipboard.

It's awesome.

You won't find their prices online (company policy) but Winco Foods does have a website with a link to in-store coupons! Also, they have a list of the foods you can purchase in bulk from them. Just click on the section you'd like to view!

Baking goods, DOG BISCUITS, candy, staples... it's all there folks. It's so convenient.

We use  this stuff day-to-day and we've put some away in storage. Like the the rice we buy in 25 lb sacks... I keep one sack open in the pantry, but we've also borrowed the canner from the Bishop's Storehouse and put some away for our long-term storage. Rice and pastas will last over 10 years if stored that way.

Needless to say, I am a big advocate of Winco Foods... mainly because they let me buy in bulk and they let me do my grocery shopping at 6 am or 11 pm. I'm anti-social. What, you didn't know that?


Winco's Bulk Foods Section. You've got to see this list.

Danae's Deals of the Week: 2/9 - 2/15 AGAIN!!

So here's the skinny folks: Danae's Deals of the Week will now be going up on Wednesdays for a Wednesday to Tuesday rotation. (Most of the coupons and ads we're using come out on Wednesdays... go figure.) So tada!! You get ANOTHER Danae's Deals of the Week post today! Yay!!!

And while we're talking food... did you know WalMart will price match?!? 

Winco (still the same)

• Cheerios 14 oz. for $1.58
• Long Grain White Rice - 20 lbs for $8.48 (same price as Cash-N-Carry minus the drive!!)
• Del Monte Spaghetti Sauce - 26.5 oz (large can) for $0.78 (Comes in all sorts of flavors - four cheese, mushroom, garlic&onion, tomato basil - YUM!)

Albertsons

• 85/15 Ground Beef - $1.99 lb
• Hunts Pasta Sauce - $1.00 each
• Albertsons Canned Vegetables - .50 each

Danae's Deals of the Week: 2/7 - 2/13

Dunnn duuunnn duuunn dduuuuuuuunnn!!!! Here they are folks!

Winco:
Cheerios - 14 oz. for $1.58
Long Grain White Rice - 20 lbs for $8.48 (same price as Cash-N-Carry minus the drive!!)

Albertsons:
Heinz Ketchup 36-40 oz - $1.50 each (must buy 2, limit 2) - only good thru Tuesday!!
***Just got word from a friend that "Chunky" brand soups are $.99 at Albertsons right. This has NOT been verified, but if it's true, that's an incredible deal!!***

Spiritual Preparedness: Making the Most of Your Scriptures

I love my scriptures a lot. A lot, a lot.

There are several things I do to 'personalize' my scriptures. For me personally, I know I will use and turn to my scriptures more often if they're indeed mine. They need my stamp on them. I need to feel some connection to and ownership over my scriptures in order to grow really close to them. I mark them, I write notes in them, I highlight, I tape, I glue, I do all sorts of things to them (all respectively, of course) and as I add "personal touches" to them, I grow more attached to them.

Others feel differently about their scriptures. *This is completely okay* Take my D, for instance. My husband does not mark in his scriptures. He does not highlight. He never has, he probably never will, and it has holds no bearing on how close he feels to them. He holds them in just as high a regard as I do mine. We're just different in that respect... probably one of the few things we can say that about!

If you are like me, however, here are several suggestions on what to do to make your scriptures truly yours!

1. Add your name. 

Have your name printed on the front of them, or on the front of your scripture case. An employee of Deseret Books would be more than willing to do this for you! Many other church bookstores (family-owned) have the tools to do this. You never know unless you ask! But this is one of my favorites. There's just something glorious about seeing your name - YOUR NAME!! - in gold or silver on a book as beautiful as scripture... Parents, I believe this is especially important for children. Some get their first set of scriptures at their baptism. I kind of like that... the age of accountability, and you celebrate it with your own scriptures. 

Yeah... I like that. : ) 

2. Add your Patriarchal Blessing

This is, by far, my favorite. I cannot count the number of times I have sat during the Sacrament and read the words of my Patriarchal Blessing, only to see something or feel something completely different, and equally important, than the last time I read it. When I received my blessing, I decided I would read it often, and then only way for me to remember to do that is to make it available. 

I now read it during the Sacrament every Sunday, and because of that, my Patriarchal Blessing means more and more to me every year. 

3. Add 'trigger memories'.

This yellow "CHARACTER MATTERS" sticker was given to me by one of my Sunday School teachers. Brother Bradford taught us so many things, but this lesson stands out in my memory as one of the most important. At his work, he began placing these stickers in common places. It spread like wildfire. In an environment outside of church, he was making a profound statement. Character does matter. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I will never forget the way it made me feel, as I sat on the stage in the 66th street building as a youth, the moment I truly understood that what we do Monday-Friday is just as important as what we do on Sundays. So add something that triggers an important memory or learning experience like this one. 

4. Add sticky notes/reference quotes

There is a company that sells these lovely little sticky notes to put in your scriptures. Though I love them, as just a warning note, they tend to rub off after years of use, and there are some I can hardly read anymore. 

Which brings me to my next suggestion...  

5. Add quotes!

Nearly every once-blank inch on the front and back pages of my scriptures are filled with my favorite gospel quotes. I have, on more than one occasion, used these to add to a lesson I was sitting in on or a discussion I was a part of. Prophets and Apostles and Church Leaders have said all the things I wish I had the poetic sense to say. Sometimes, their words are just what I need to share a spiritual point with others, and it's so much better to be able to reference quickly and accurately than the alternative of, 

"Oh one time I heard someone say... oh who was it... it was really important. Anyways, they said, oh I want to get the words right but uhh... dur dur dur dur durrrr..." 

You get my point.

 

This is one has helped me smile when I have felt the nagging feeling to do otherwise...

"Mortals make mistakes!"

Amen Sheri Dew! AMEN!! 

 

6. Highlight!

  

Here's what I love about highlighting: On this page, with a moments glance, I can tell that there are three verses on affliction, two verses on repentance, one verse on joy&peace, two verses on obedience, and two verses having to do with Christ. I can flip pages quickly on a bad day and find numerous scriptures on how to handle trials. Or notice more than usual all the verses having to do with the need to repent... again. 

Love it. 

And it's pretty.

7. Add personal impressions/thoughts

It is really, really interesting to read my thoughts and notes in the margin of my scriptures. Every time I get a new set, I transfer all the thoughts over. I have impressions, promptings, and insight from ten years ago still in my scriptures. Every once in awhile, I'll run across something and think, "Wow! That's a really good point, Laura!" Not to toot my own horn or anything. But this is a great way to remember promptings from the Holy Ghost, sent specifically for your life. Yours. From Heavenly Father. Because He knows you. Personally. And he puts those thoughts into our hearts through the Spirit because that's the best way to communicate with us, especially when we're receptive!

 8. Add flowers! 

 

Just because they're a nice touch. : ) 

9. Add poems/stories

This is a really funny poem about all the different ways/places we can pray. I got it during a lesson as a handout while I was in the Single's Ward, and I've used it several times since! 

 

10. Add a key!

I mentioned highlighting. Equally important is the need for a key, because believe me, just when you think you'll never forget what red stands for, you forget. It happens. 

11. Add Important Information 

I know, I know, I said there would only be ten. And there's no picture to go with it. So sue me. 

One really important thing I like to do is to record my full name, baptismal date, marriage/sealing date, and membership record on one of the blank pages in the back. This has come in handy more times than I care to mention! 

"The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ." - D. Todd Christofferson

My prayer is that, as you make your scriptures your own, you will feel begin to draw nearer to our Savior. He is the reason we search, ponder, and pray. He is the reason we have to rejoice. And His Atoning Sacrifice makes all that we love possible.