Food Storage Challenge week 1

I am starting a new food storage challenge it will be a little different then last years. So if you don't have your food storage yet, or only have some, come and join us. I will cover all areas of preparedness and will try to make it more affordable with a lot of make your own, and some tips on how to save money on your food storage .

Every week I will have two items. Try to at least get the first one the amounts are for two people so if you have more you will need to double or triple the amount. The second item will add some variety to your storage. The second item will not normally have and amount just get what you think your family would use in a year ( A good way to figure that is to think about how much you use in a week and times that by 52 or how much you use in a month and times that by 12)

Every Month I will have and item that if you can you should get.
There will also be an action item every month that you need to try and do.

This months item is a wheat grinder you can find a nice hand grinder for not to much I think I paid about 70 dollars for mine.

The action item this month is alternate light sources.
Obviously, lots of candles would be extremely useful. You can often find used ones for free or next to free at yard sales. If you have bees you can make your own .Save the wax from old candles and broken crayons to make new candles from.
Oil lamps are great to have too. I’ve been picking these up at yard sales for really cheap as well. The larger, outdoor style oil lanterns would be handy as well as the more decorative indoor lamps.  Lamp oil is expensive; kerosene is cheaper and works just as well, although it may produce a little smoke. I’ve also read that you can burn olive oil in lamps… something I want to experiment with.
We plan on picking up some solar flashlights on top of these other things.
They have battery powered lanterns now that are real nice. If you plan to use flashlights or any battery power item make sure to have lots of batteries on hand maybe even a solar battery charger.
Use your daylight wisely. Go to bed soon after the sun goes down, and rise with the dawn. This way you won’t use up your resources “burning the midnight oil”.
Keep a supply of lamp and candle wicks, oil, and matches on hand.

Something new this year is I am going to add a skills challenge. Try to learn a new skill or at least read up on how to do it.These will be things that will come in handy during hard time and they are also things you can use now.

This months skill is to learn to sew at least be able to do some mending. If you know someone who sews I am sure they would love to teach you. once you learn the basics it is easier to move on to other things. When my kids were young I made a lot of their clothes to save money.


This weeks Food Storage Challenge is

1 10 Lbs Pasta /  Dry Soup & Crackers

10 pounds pasta what ever you use the most of.
Dry soups & crackers Dry soups are easy to make with you if you need to be away from home for a while. You can make your own dry soup packs which I will cover a little later on. You can make your own crackers go here to see how When you store crackers be sure to keep them in a cool place. If they get to warm they will taste like the package. Also be sure to rotate.

Every week you need to also put back water you can fill empty containers with water (Do not use milk jugs they do not last long and it is hard to get them clean enough) Juice containers work great.

Every week you need to try and put back a few dollars just what ever you can afford ever little bit will help.

Have a great week.