Another Successful Forum! This one on Rotation of Storage.

Items we can use daily from our storage!

If  kept in a seldom used location we will 

    tend to forget to use our storage. In the case of food storage, absence doesn't make

     the heart grow fonder!!

     Again, we are happy for all that attended the forum this Thursday.  Thank you for taking the time to come and learn as well as add to the knowledge.  We talked about Rotation this week.  In doing so we learned that the reasons to rotate are: 1) to keep our storage fresh as possible allowing our family to get the most nutrituon and taste out of the stored foods, 2) to get our family accoustomed to eating some of these foods so that an emergency doesn't become a crisis, 3) so that our items don't turn to dust and our money wasted.
    Food Storage is not going to jump out of the closet, track you down and let you know that it's shelf life is ending and it is time to eat it's contents.  When we place our storage out of site it is also out of mind.  Therefore, we need to keep some of the items in our kitchens where we will use them daily.  Things like powdered milk & eggs, rice, pasta, yeast, wheat, beans, dried fruits and vegetables, etc. can easily become apart of our daily use if we just put forth a little planning and thought.
    For example: Powdered milk can be used in place of  fresh milk when baking or cooking, the same with powdered eggs.  We can also use it instead of buying fresh milk on a regular basis or we can mix it 1/2 and half to stretch our milk out.  Powdered milk is great to use in making protein shakes, just add to the blender with the water and other ingredients and blend.  Use dried vegetables in soups and stews.  They look and taste like fresh!  Instead of candy and treats for our kids, give them dried fruit!  It is much healthier and gets them used to these great snacks.  Grains can be used for hot and cold cereal, breads, pancakes, waffles, muffins- the list is endless!   Beans is my challenge!!  I have recently used beans alot more, learning how to make them work for my family.  I am glad to say we are making progress!!  Dried Potatoes are great in soups, stews, casseroles, etc.  Dried onions, peppers and spices are things we used daily!! We just don't think of them as using our storage.  These are just a few examples of  daily usage which equals rotation. For more suggestions please contact us. In the case of food storage, absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder!!
     We gave out the challenge to make at least one meal a week with stored food.  Last Sunday at our house we made Chicken Stew in a crock pot, (ready when church was over), bread, and strawberry shortcake complete with whipped cream.  It was fun to see how using these ingredients out of our dried,  canned and boxed items really worked!  The reason for this challenge is to put your storage to the test!!!  You will notice that your food storage isn't as rounded as you'd like it to be. Perhaps you don't have enough breakfast foods, or protein, or vegetables.  It is better to find these things out now so that it doesn't become a crisis later.
      The next weeks forum is on Sanitation Needs.  This will be important informaton to have to remain heathy and disease free!!  Please come to gain this knowlege for your family.  Please see the ward program each sunday for that week's forum topic.  Also the ward newsletter has the topics each week for the whole month.  The topics for February are also listed on a previous blog, so scroll down to see them.  Please leave comments and questions by clicking the comment button below.  Thanks!! Remember it is better to be prepared years early than a day late!!