Week 30 Food Storage Challenge

 

20 Pounds Rice / School Supplies

20 Pounds of rice, Wal-Mart has rice for 8.92 for 20 LBS. When storing I just put in a bucket and add some bay leaves then put the lid on and store in my shed. We do get hard freezes in the winter so the rice gets froze to kill all the bugs. You might want to put in the freezer for 24 hours before you put in buckets, if you don't get hard freezes or it wont be stored where it will freeze.

School supplies, even if you don't have kids in school now is the time to get extra paper, pens, pencils, tape, glue, ect. while they are all on sale for back to school.

Have you been able to find very many kids clothes? This is something to keep in mind year around then if you come across a good deal at a yard sale or some where you can pick them up for next to nothing.

Get the rest of the information off the computer.

Add some more water and a little more to your money stash.

Have a great week and keep safe it is getting crazy out there.

This week in daycare,Camping

The theme this week was camping. I got off to slow start so we didn't get to do the letter of the week this week we will focus on it a little more next week.

First off we made some Camp Fires. The kids loved making these, and they were so easy.

I set the tent up in the living room for them to play in. They just love playing in the tent.

We roasted marshmallows over our "campfires" they were so funny, they would pretend it was hot and say oh that's hot and blow off the marshmallows.

 

I had wanted to do a picnic outside but it was so stinking hot, I figured the living room floor would be just as good.  So I laid out a big blanket and we had a indoor picnic. Plus as a special treat we put a movie on to watch while we ate.

Had two sensory boxes this week the sand which they loved, not to sure that hasn't be the most favorite one yet.

Then we had a water table outside, I was going to make some moon sand for it but didn't get it done so I put aquarium gravel in the bottom and gave them cups and funnels. They did so good I really thought they would get all wet but they stayed dry.

Here are a couple of the books that we read this week.

Next week is going to be castles, princesses and princes, the letter W, and if we have time the color blue.

Making a pretend camp fire.

 

 

Our theme this week was camping and you have to have a camp fire when camping. So we made these they were super easy (even the two year old was able to make one) and the kids loved making them.

 

 

 

We started by coloring the outside edge of a paper plate brown

 

Then we glued yellow, orange, red construction paper that I had cut to fit toilet paper rolls, I just kind of zig zaged them when I cut them. We did a different color on each side orange and yellow and the red and orange one some.

 

We made 5 per paper plate.

Very easy to make,  we  used these on camping day to roast marshmallows. They had so much fun with them.

 

 

 

 

July Sensory Box

 

 

This one is super easy and the kids love it. I don't have a real sandbox outside yet ( working on it) So I decided to make a small one in the sensory box, just play sand and a few sand toys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katie had to play in it as soon as I got it done. I think she played with it for an hour haha. So it is good for all ages even 18 year olds haha 

 

 

The kids played for hours.

It was in the house so I put a shower curtain under it to catch all the sand that got spilled (which wasn't much). I think out of all the sensory boxes I have done this was the biggest hit.

Dehydrating Frozen hashbrowns / Potatoes

Here is a super easy way to dehydrate potatoes and hash browns especially if you are strapped for time or don't have a  inexpensive source of fresh potatoes.

Use frozen hash browns   

Country style for shredded potatoes  

 

And Southern style for cubed potatoes.

 

As I said very easy

Just pour the potatoes onto your dehydrator racks.  If you have large holes in your racks you will need to use your fruit rollup sheets. Or make your own sheets to use like I do for small vegetables and fruits.  I get large sheets of screen at the hardware store for not very much, they sell it by the foot so it is easy to get just what you need. Then I cut it to fit my trays.

 

 

 

Dehydrate at 125 for about 12 hours or how ever long your dryer takes. I store in gallon size ziplock bags and in quart jars. When I put in jars I go ahead and dry pack them.

You can use the shredded for hash browns just rehydrate and fry up.

The cubed you an use in soups and stews.

Orange, Pineapple, Mango Jam aka Sunshine in a jar.

I seriously love this stuff, it is one of the jams that I could just eat out of the jar, and may have on occasion haha.

I got several oranges in my bountiful baskets and decided to make up some of this and some Orange chili jam ( I will post that recipe in a couple days).
Start with about 4 pounds of oranges, cut the ends and then half then quarter slice out the pit and seeds then cut the quarter in half then slice into 3 pieces,

Put in pan  add 4 cups water 1 can crushed pineapple ( 1 jar if you have your own canned) 1 can of mangos or about 3 fresh chopped mangos.

cook for about for about 1 hour .

 Add 6 cups of water and 9 cups sugar

Cook down for about another hour then use a hand blender and puree.

 Add 2 packs of sure jell bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add to sterilized pint jars, water bath for 10 minutes.

 

 

Orange, Pineapple, Mango Jam 

 

 4 Pounds Oranges

1 Can crushed pinapple

1 can chopped mangos or 3 fresh chopped

4 cups water

9 cups sugar

6 cups water

2 packs Sure Jell

 

Cut the ends, then half, then quarter, slice out the pit and seeds of oranges then cut the quarters in half and slice into 3 pieces,

 

Put oranges in pan add 4 cups water,crushed pineapple, and mangos. Cook down for about an hour . Add 9 cups water and sugar cook down for about another hour. Then use a hand blender and puree. Add 2 packs of sure jell bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add to sterilized pint jars, water bath for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

Week 29 Food Storage Challenge

20 cans of canned milk/ Flashlights and Batteries.

20 cans of milk, Wal-Mart has it for 92 cents a can. When storing canned milk you want to be sure and rotate. It does have a couple year shelf life but not much longer. As with all your canned goods it is best to store in a cool dark place.

Flashlights and Batteries, Flashlights with led lights seem to be brighter and the batteries last longer, although they are a little more expensive, I do think they are worth the extra price. Batteries, I try to have all different sizes on hand. You might even want to invest in a charger and some rechargeable batteries. Batteries will last longer if stored in dry cool places.

Have you been able to get extra kids clothes or even sewing patterns  and fabric to make your own.

Have you been getting the information off your computer? Even if you spend 10 minutes a day on this you can get a lot off.

Add a little more to your money stash and put back more water.

Have a great week.

Week 28 Food Storage Challenge

 

5 Pounds Honey / Oats

5 pounds honey, if you an get local honey all the better, I don't have a price on honey. You can also get honey powder it taste just like honey, but it is made from sugar not honey.

Oats, I get mine at IFA ( our local feed store)  30 dollars for 50 pounds. Wal-Mart price is 13.58 for ten pounds in the food storage area or 2 LBs 10 oz for 1.68.

Have you been able to find extra kids clothes? I was able to find a small bag of girls size 9 mo to 12 mo for a dollar. Got them washed up and put back.

Are you getting information off the computer?

Put back more water and add a little more to your money stash.

Hope you have a great week.

Camping up at Haycamp

We were able to go camping this last weekend, so we decided to go up to haycamp, We also wanted to look around and see if we might want to go hunting up there this fall. It was so nice and cool.

We took the jeep out both days and drove  around all over the place. 

So many pretty flowers were in bloom.

The mountains in the distance, You can tell there was a fire here several years ago.

There were columbines everywhere, guess that is why they are our state flower, and the fact that they are so pretty.

 

A little creek we came on, it was so nice and cool.

Sharks tooth in the distance, we went to it then part way around it.

Jersey Jim lookout fire tower.



I would be very hard pressed to climb that much less sleep in it hahah.



More flowers.

 

I love  fences like this, they just look so old and rustic. Although I wouldn't want to be the one to have to build it.

This is the spot that we camped in so nice and peaceful.

It was so nice to get away for a couple days, I didn't even want to come home. When we did get back home and it was hot and every where I looked was work to be done I really wanted to just turn around and go back haha.

Week 27 Food Storage Challenge

With all the unrest in the country, the riots the hate, and random shootings I think it is a good thing to be prepared at least you wont have to risk getting out in all the craziness. There are a lot more riots planned for this next weekend, If you live in a large city or close to one be very carful and be very aware this weekend. 


50 Pounds Wheat / Flour, Feminine Products

I don't remember the exact price of flour at Wal-Mart, but I know it was right around 9.00 for 25 pounds. So a little under 20 dollars for 50 pounds.

50 pounds of flour or wheat, if you have a grinder you can get wheat, if not get flour. White flour will last longer then wheat flour in storage. If storing in the winter and you live where it freezes a lot you can  just pour in a bucket, add a couple pieces of spearmint gum, and put the lid on. If not, if at all possible put in the freezer for a couple days, if it freezes real good for at least a few days, it will last a very long time (This kills all the larva and other creepy crawlers in the flour, I opened some flour a few months ago from 08 and it was still good). If you don't live where it freezes and can't put in the freezer you will need to put it in some Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.  If using Mylar bags you still need to put them in buckets, this will keep varmints from trying to chew through.



Feminine Products,   Get enough for all the women of the home and if you have preteen girls get some for them.When you store these you need to have them in something to keep critters out of them. You can also make your own pads, learn how HERE. Even if you just store the stuff to make them then you will not need to worry about running out. If you are going to make your own you need to store some Flannel, thread and snaps or Velcro. You can also buy reusable online just search for Luna Pad, I know it sounds awful to use reusable but they are so much better for you.
Are you getting all the information off of the computer and getting it organized?

Have you been able to find extra kids clothes? Garage sales are the best for this, they are usually pretty inexpensive. Get a wide range of sizes for both boy's and girl's.

Put  little more into your money stash.

Add some more water.

Stay Safe.