Great advice from a Great site...

After my long and rambling post last night, I didn't want to leave you with the impression that there is nothing you can do to prepare so not to do it. Quite the contrary! This morning I came across a post on a favorite site of mine that summarized a perfect list of things you can do to prepare for an earthquake. Enjoy!

http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2011/03/12/lessons-to-learn-from-japans-earthquake/food-storage-recipes

Reflections on Japan - Thoughts about Preparedness

So I'm sure that many of you, like me, have been glued to the news stations and internet updates about Japan today. So many thoughts swirl around in my head as I watch the videos and hear the news reports. There are family members locally that don't know the status of their loved ones in Japan, there are images of homes and cars being tossed around like a child's discarded toys, and there are the "other" disasters that just keep piling on top of one that should have been a stand alone tragedy. With my passion of helping others help themselves become more prepared - I'm at a loss here. I know that we are due for a BIG earthquake soon and have made sure that I am aware of the risks that I need to prepare for - make sure things are bolted to the wall, know where to go in our home that is a structurally sound place, know how to shut off the gas, have food and water on hand as well as ways to stay warm in the event of this type of disaster. From what I've heard, Japan, unlike many countries that have recently experienced earthquakes, was structurally prepared for an earthquake. Their buildings were somewhat still in tact and we probably wouldn't have seen the desolation that we've seen in other countries following earthquakes of lesser magnitude. What was far more devastating was the tsunami that hit as well as the nuclear power plants that pose a very serious risk to the survivors in the area. The question that comes to mind is how could these people have possibly been better prepared for this 1-2-3 punch? How can we be physically prepared for what we know will come in addition to the unknown?

I think the answer is that we can't. There is absolutely no way to physically be prepared for every unknown detail that can be thrown at us. I'm sure it is possible for those people in Japan to have lived on top of the mountains in the most structurally sound buildings and just not have power and then this disaster would not have been quite so devastating, but at some point you have to live your life and not be controlled by fear of the what ifs. So, what do we do? We prepare for life. We make good choices with the time we've been blessed with. We love and cherish our families. We develop talents and educate our minds. We develop a strong relationship with our Savior and share His love with all those we meet. Beyond that, we do what we can to meet our physical needs.

Here is what I've learned in the last few months. The concepts of preparedness actually help me live a simpler life where I can focus on the BIG things such as my kids and husband, developing the talents of the members of our family, being able to serve others as Jesus Christ would have me do, etc. Because I have a grocery store in my basement, I can whip up a dinner in 10 minutes after dance lessons. I can bring a treat to a friend having a hard day. I can nourish my family with very little effort. We are healthier and happier and are actually saving money. Learning how to communicate with alternate ways will allow me to comfort family members from all over the country regardless of what is going on. 72 hour kits, alternative cooking, etc, etc - this all allows me the ability to focus on the important things and not the menial needs. I have felt that being prepared is all about being prepared to live - now - not just in the event of an emergency. If we aren't applying and using these skills, we are really missing out on the blessings of this program.

When we are faced with our BIG one, whether it be an earthquake, loss of a spouse or family member, loss of a job, fire, flood, etc. - if we have been able to focus on family and our spiritual preparedness, we'll be more prepared than any amount of food or clothing could prepare us. So, I'm just throwing this thought out there: Maybe all of the physical preparedness is actually a means for us to be able to be spiritually and mentally prepared. It has become a lifestyle for me and it has brought a peace into my life. I have time and resources to focus on my family and service that I didn't have before. Maybe that is what it is actually all about.

As a side note, I opened a couple of cans of Freeze dried meat this week that I had stored for only 5 of the 25 years it is good for. Unfortunately - it was not edible. To purchase food just to store it does you NO good. Use it. Rotate it. Enjoy the blessings now!

March Newsletter

Food Storage

The Goal this month:

From the list you determined, package and store the grains, pasts, beans and other dry goods you need for your 90 day food storage.

Our Focus is Grains, Pasta, Beans, Dry Goods.

Storing Dry goods is more economical and space saving than storing their hydrated counter parts. We will have a Tour and Workshop at the Dry Pack Cannery in Sandy on March 9 from 1-5pm (you don’t have to stay that long.) Contact bradleighann@gmail.com if you are interested in coming and/or if you need child care to participate.

Thanks to our wonderful teachers of our Bread Making Classes. If you did not get to attend one, please let me know and I will come to you with my recipe and teach you how. We would like to offer a bean workshop as well as a Vacuum sealing workshop this month. Watch for times and places.

Lastly, visit our new recipe blog that hosts our food storage recipes being submitted: www.southmountain2recipes.blogspot.com

Feel free to contribute recipes by emailing me at the above e-mail address.

EFFAK

Now that you have your Binder and sheet protectors you are ready to start gathering your information.

The Goal this month: Create your Family Contact Information sheet. Include land lines and cell numbers (and HAM call signs if they have them) of all extended family members you would want to contact in an emergency.

Gardening

I have been approached by some of the men in our area who are willing to help build raised garden boxes. More details to come, but e-mail me at bradleighann@gmail.com

if you are interested in this project.

The Goals for this month:

If you plan to start plants from seed, begin planting those now. Toward the end of the month, as it gets warmer, you can clean out your garden and prepare for the early season planting.

72 Hour Kits

Goal for this month: Find or purchase your containers for your 72 hour kits. Ideas are bins, back packs, or buckets. If you choose to use hiking backpacks, plan on putting your items in garbage bags inside the backpacks so that you can easily remove and replace the items when you occasionally use the backpack for other purposes.

Communications

Goal for this month:

1. Look at https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

This is a service of the American Red Cross. During an emergency, the Red Cross will take portable computers into the area and help people register if they are safe and well. Family members from around the world can then log in and check the status of their family members. Check this out to see if it would be of value to your family and pass along the link.

2. Take the HAM license test on March 22 7pm at Salt Lake County Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
3380 S. 900 West (west side of the street). (Contact me if you need study materials)

First Aid Kit

Goal for this month: Find or purchase a container for your First Aid Kit that will help keep your items organized and accessible.

I will be posting information and links on our preparedness website: www.preparetoprevent.blogspot.com

Please check this site often for updates and information. Also – please share this information with your friends and neighbors!

Announcing a Recipe BLOG

I am all about not having more paper in my house and always being able to find that favorite recipe that I'm looking for - SOOOO, I have launched a blog that has all of our recipes that we've had compiled so far for food storage and I'll add recipes as we have more workshops. I hope you will feel free to submit recipes for me to add so that this can become a favorite one stop shop for all of us!!!

Eat What You Store, Store What You Eat is the name of the blog. I hope you enjoy it and will add to it!

Bread making classes!!!!

Don't miss out on this AWESOME opportunity! Choose the class that works best for you or go to all of them!!!

Wednesday, Feb 23 1pm - Cassie Jacobson (855 Rocky Mouth Ln - basement apartment - go around back and knock on door on the ground level) 801-376-0656

Thursday, Feb 24 1 pm - Aimee Christy (655 Rocky Mouth Ln) 801-553-1200

Thursday, Feb 24 7pm - Barbara Pahl (14290 Elsbrook Circle) 801-619-6468

Saturday, Feb 26 9am - Fancher Murray (791 Molasses Mill - He is the one who made the DELICIOUS bread at the preparedness fair - this class is for everyone but is especially for you men who want to become more self reliant!) 801-545-0333

Wheat..

Each month we will have a spotlight of sorts - this spotlight can be found on the Food Storage spotlight tab so just in case the blog post gets buried, you know how to find the spotlight of the month quickly.

February Spotlight: Wheat!!!

When considering Food storage, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is Wheat. There is good reason for this because it is a versatile food and because it stores for so long. The downside to this is that many people store wheat and then do nothing with it - thinking that in the event of an emergency, they will be just fine. Unfortunately, eating whole grains, like wheat may take some adjustment. Your body may have "issues" with going from a refined, easy to digest diet to a more complex food. That is exactly why we need to store what we eat and eat what we store.

I have found that my bread fails miserably when I use the hard red wheat so I try to store more hard white wheat. When stocking up on wheat, I find that the Hard wheat is more readily available than the Soft wheat.

To use my wheat I:

• Make my own bread
• Use wheat flour instead of white flour in cookies, waffles, pancakes, crepes, etc.
• Sprout wheat for use in smoothies, salads or just to eat by the handful
• Cook the wheat for a warm breakfast cereal.

Below is some information about wheat from various sources. There is a lot of information available on the web if you would like to search for some more!

Different Types of Wheat:

Wheat comes in a number of different varieties. Each variety is more or less suitable for a given purpose based on its characteristics. The most common classifications for wheat varieties are spring or winter, hard or soft, red or white.

Winter: Planted in fall, over winter in the field and are harvested the next summer.

Spring: Planted in early spring and are harvested in the fall

Hard: Kernels tend to be small, very hard, and have a high gluten content. As a general rule, hard varieties have more protein than soft.

Soft: Tend to be larger kernels, plumper and softer in texture. They have less gluten content and are often used in pasties, quick breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals.

Red: Comprise most of the hard varieties

White: Comprised most of the soft varieties.

Recently, hard white wheats have been developed that are suitable for raised bread making. Some feel the hard white varieties make a better tasting whole wheat bread than the hard red.

The most commonly stored are the hard red varieties, either spring or winter because of their high protein. they should have a protein content of no less than 12% with higher even better. The hard white spring wheats are still relatively new but have the same excellent storage characteristics as the hard red wheats.

Source: South Mountain Emergency Preparedness newsletter September 2008

Whole wheat is one of the most wholesome food items that ensure consumers a diet rich innutrients. The best aspect about whole wheat is that it retains all the parts of the grain kernel (i.e. bran, germ, and endosperm) during the flour making process, in contrast to the white refined grains, which retains only endosperm. Talking about the various health benefits of whole wheat consumption, the grain is extremely beneficial for healthy living. This low-calorie food reduces the risk of heart diseases and also helps in regulating blood glucose in people with diabetes. To get detailed information about the health benefits of eating whole grain, read through the following lines. In addition to this, we have also provided handy cooking tips and some concerns that you need to look out for.

Health Benefits Of Eating Whole Wheat

• Whole wheat reduces the risk of heart disease by decreasing cholesterol level, blood pressure, and blood coagulation.
• A diet that is rich in whole wheat consumption reduces the risk of cancer amongst people. The dietary fiber present in it plays an important role in the prevention of cancer.
• Whole wheat products prove to be an extremely rich source of the mineral, selenium.
• Daily intake of whole wheat products ensures an overall increase in health and decrease in obesity.
• Rich in nutrients, whole wheat provides consumers a feeling of fullness, thereby reducing the risk of overeating.
• For figure-conscious folks, whole wheat comes as a boon. Gaining weight is inversely proportional to consuming whole wheat. As per a study conducted, women who consumed whole wheat products are less likely to gain weight than those who consumed refined grains.
• Consumption of whole wheat reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, thereby preventing visceral obesity or the "apple shaped" body, low levels of protective HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides and high blood pressure.
• In contrast to the refined grains, whole wheat consumption does not have harmful effects on your body, i.e. no weight gain and no risk of insulin resistance.

Caution

• For those people who are prone to allergic reactions, whole wheat consumption can lead to allergies, such as skin rash, hives, itching, and eczema. Swelling of the lips, tongue, or throat or tingling sensation in the mouth can also be seen.
• Another concern is the presence of oxalate in whole wheat. These are the naturally-occurring substances found in plants, animals and human beings. High concentration of oxalates in body fluids can crystallize, thereby causing health problems.

Cooking Tips

• The simplest yet tasteful whole wheat preparation comprises of sandwiches of the whole wheat bread. They are good for health and also taste delicious.
• Another delicious and appetizing breakfast choice is to have wheat flakes. They are similar to rolled oats and can be prepared as hot breakfast cereal.
• You can opt for sprouted wheat berries in vegetable and grain salads. This would make way for yummy eating option.
• Instead of using refined grain, you can opt for whole wheat pita breads as the crust for making pizzas.
• For those who are in love with pasta, try the whole wheat pasta treat. They are available in different types, such as spaghetti, spirals and penne and would suit your recipe needs perfectly.

Source: Lifestyle website

The latest research is clearly supporting this vital distinction. Refined grains and the foods made from them (e.g., white breads, cookies, pastries, pasta and rice) are now being linked not only to weight gain but to increased risk of insulin resistance (the precursor of type 2 diabetes) and the metabolic syndrome (a strong predictor of both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease), while eating more wholegrain foods is being shown to protect against all these ills. Common features of the metabolic syndrome include visceral obesity (the "apple shaped" body), low levels of protective HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure. (Source Whole foods website)

February Newsletter

Prepare to Prevent

www.preparetoprevent.blogspot.com

February 2011

Food Storage

Each month we will have a goal and a focus for food storage. The goal will be an action item for you to do and the focus will be what we will hold workshops on and distribute information about. The Goal this month:

Determine a list of recipes for a 3 month food supply and determine your shopping list. We will be sending out a list of recipes that are tried and true as well as a template to create your shopping list – watch for that in the coming days.

Our Focus is Wheat. We will be holding block workshops towards the end of February that will focus on bread making, sprouting, and “puffing” wheat. – watch the e-mails for the places, dates, and times!

EFFAK

This acronym stands for Emergency Financial First Aid Kit – a compilation of your important papers to have when evacuating. The template I used to assemble mine is found here:

http://www.operationhope.org/effak/effak_english.pdf

Each month we will set a goal and by the end of the year, your EFFAK should be complete.

This Month’s goal is : Gather 1 large 3 ring binder and 50 8.5X11in Sheet protectors.

72 Hour Kit

Hopefully you have your recent inventory of your 72 Hour kit fresh in your mind.

The Goal this month: If you haven’t already, inventory your 72 hour kit and create a shopping (or gathering) list. Make sure clothing fits, food is current, and at the very least you have a list in a prominent place of the last minute items you need to grab and their locations.

Gardening

Gardening seems like a lost art these days. It is definitely something I have struggled with being successful at. I am still learning and hope that all of you will learn with me. I have benefited from the “fruits” of other people’s gardens and I know that much of my family’s needs could be taken care of if I could be successful at gardening and then be prompt at preserving the harvest. Gardening is actually a year round activity. Remember I’m new at this and would appreciate guidance from those who actually have successful gardens.

The Goals for this month:

Make a list of the items you would like to grow in your garden and if you plan to order seeds – make those orders now. Make a garden design – where will you plant items, how will you stagger early crops and late crops to utilize your space?

First Aid Kit

Goal for this month: Make a shopping list of the items you were missing based on the First Aid check list.

Communications

Goal for this month:

1. Create your family communication plan and give a copy to each family member. A good template to use can be found here: http://www.ready.gov/america/_downloads/family_communications_plan.pdf

2. Register your cell phones and VOIP phone lines with Salt Lake County’s Reverse 911 system – you will receive a call if there is an evacuation for our area. You can do this here: http://166.70.83.157:8080/voip/login.php

3. Take the HAM license test on February 22 7pm at Salt Lake County Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
3380 S. 900 West (west side of the street). (Contact me if you need study materials)

I will be posting information and links on our preparedness website: www.preparetoprevent.blogspot.com

Please check this site often for updates and information. Also – please share this information with your friends and neighbors!