Order by 11:00am central time for same-day shipping!

Get Prepped Newsletter: July 15, 2011

Accumulating additional food and water to your already existing disaster supplies will ensure that your family has what they need to stay healthy during a disaster.

MESSAGE FROM TESS

Have any of you been wondering when we were going to get to the rice and beans portion of this 52 week series? Well, today is the day! In addition, we will be expanding the simple 3 day food and water supply, which you purchased during the first Get Prepped newsletter, to a 2-week supply.

In one week, I will be uploading my past newsletters to Ready Nutrition, so if you missed an issue, you can catch up. Having the information at your fingertips may help you as well as new readers who also want to be prepared. Another handy feature that I am adding is a prepping calculator for you to calculate how much food and preparedness items you and your family will need, so stay tuned because changes are coming.

Don’t forget to see what we’re up to on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. I like to interact with my readers, and Facebook and Twitter are ways that I can connect with you personally. Why not extend an invitation to your extended family so they can also be prepared by reading Ready Nutrition?

Regards,

Tess Pennington


PREP OF THE WEEK

Week 12 of 52: 2 Week Food Supply

When an impending disaster threatens our area, the first instinct is to run to the store and stock up on emergency food and supplies. However, everyone else has the same brilliant idea, which means emergency food and supplies will be in high demand and depleted if you didn’t time your trip to the store well. There is nothing worse than leaving a crowded store with no storm supplies and a disaster bearing down upon you.

Storing food for storms is not the only reason you should have an emergency food supply. In fact, due to current state of the economy, you are more likely to run into an emergency with a disappearing budget. Food prices have been soaring during the past few years, and there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight. Have you considered looking at your emergency supply as an investment? Many of the food items you will be purchasing over the next year are considered commodities (e.g., sugar, wheat, corn, rice, etc). Why not make the investment and purchase food at today’s prices and consume at tomorrow’s higher prices?

Those of you who have water stored know that it takes up a lot of space. When storing a short term water supply, purchase the 5- or 10-gallon water containers. Note: The 5-gallon water containers are easier to organize if you place them on their sides and stack them.

Another suggestion is to reuse your juice and soda bottles. As long as the container is comprised of food  grade plastic, it is safe to reuse; however, make sure that the plastic container is washed well before reusing. I recommend investing in a water filtration system. While water  filters, such as Katadyn or even Berkey, are a little pricey, they can be used multiple times and would be a good preparedness item to have on hand in case of a longer-term emergency.

The following items will create a broad selection of foods that can be consumed in an emergency situation. You can create foods like biscuits and jelly, cereal and milk, oatmeal, sandwiches, soups, pastas, casseroles, etc. Constructing an emergency menu now before a disaster happens will enable you to see what foods you have and what foods you may need.

Preps to buy for Week 10:

  • 1 gallon of water per day for each member of the family (i.e., 1-2 weeks worth).
  • 2 bottles of juice per family member
  • 2 canned goods (e.g., meat, veggies, soup, and fruit) per family member.
  • 1 each of the following food condiments: Peanut butter, jelly, honey, mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce
  • 2 drink mixes/tea/coffee per family member
  • Spices (e.g., salt, pepper, taco seasoning, apple pie seasoning, etc.)
  • 1 gallon of cooking oil
  • 2 each of the following pre-packaged foods: beans, dried peas, rice, noodles, oats, grains, cereals and pasta
  • 2 bags of flour (Note: Those of you who have wheat allergies, click here for alternatives.)
  • Ramen noodles
  • Powdered milk
  • Powdered potatoes
  •  Infant Formula – Note: Call me crazy, but this has a huge amount of vitamins and nutrients and could be utilized for immune boosts.

Action Items:

1. Date perishable goods with a permanent marker.

2. Find a storage area in the home where emergency food supplies can be placed. Those who are living in small living spaces have rented air conditioned storage facilities to store their supplies.

3. Organize the food and begin creating a list of the items you have according to categories (e.g., condiments, baking supplies, canned goods, medical supplies, etc.).


WHAT WE’RE UP TO

In Our Home:

Herbs love a little abuse, and with this hot, dry weather my herbs are happy as larks. I cut and dehydrated them to make spices for my kitchen. I had my son join in when I made my own Italian and pickling seasonings. When we finished, he was astounded by how much fun he had.

Also, I have spent some time on my environmental wellness and reorganized my desk, which was cluttered with survival books and manuals, so I invested in a bookshelf. It’s amazing what a difference it made.

Family Preps:

Six weeks ago, I ordered a dehydrated vegetable combination, and it finally came in. I have already noted it in my inventory list and stored it away.

Outdoor Activities:

The heat index in Houston is 105°F, so we are spending our days indoors where there is air conditioning. My garden is surviving the heat, but the only plants putting out blossoms are my cucumbers, squash, and peppers. I will have to wait another month or so before it begins cooling off to see if my tomatoes will produce.


RECENT ARTICLES

In case you missed this week’s article, be sure to read this:

Vaseline: A Multipurpose Prep


STATS AND FACTS

Did you know that July is purposeful parenting month?

Sometimes life becomes fast paced and stressful. It is during these times, that we discover that we have set our lives on cruise control, and we really need to stop and focus on our children. We need to ensure that we are parenting with a purpose in mind. Having a child is like having a spotlight shined on you where the good and bad are both exposed. The best way to find purpose in parenting is to spend time with the children. Knowing your child’s interests and concerns can help you mold them into the best adults they can be. I once read that “children spell love…T-I-M-E.”

Spending time with your children demonstrates that you value and love them.  Unfortunately, if you are like most parents, time is a precious commodity that often eludes us. Here are a few ways to give attention to kids on a daily basis:

1. One-on-one time: Alone time with your child is best when you are doing something you both enjoy. Once a month, spend seperate time with each child. This will give you one-on-one time with each child in your family, and in turn, will give them an oppportunity to have special time with their parent.

2. Integrate Together Time into Your Daily Schedule: Children love to help. Do you have a mailing to do? Have them put the stamps on the envelopes. Need to go shopping? Make grocery shopping “fun time” with you. Need to make dinner? Let them help you by contributing to the preparation process. While it might be messier and it may time more time in the beginning, you will see that the children will become your greatest helpers and they will look back and remember that “before dinner” was always special time with you.

3. Phantom Time: Don’t have a moment to spare until about 3 a.m.? You can still let your children know that you care. Write notes and drop them into their lunch boxes. This was one of the top ten things children told me made them feel loved and cared for by their parent. Other ideas would be to record a short video for them using a camera and leaving it for them at the breakfast table. Be creative here!

4. Break time: Everyone is busy. Some parents are busier than others. Slide in a “break time” so that you and your children can spend 15 minutes or a half hour together. Set a timer if you need to so that everyone knows when “break time” starts and finishes. Give warnings to your children when 2 minutes are left so that it doesn’t come as a surprise. Don’t even have break time available? Wake your child up 15 minutes early so that you can spend a little extra time doing something fun in the morning. You might not think that 15 minutes is any significant time at all, but to a child, it is 15 extra minutes with you.

Spending time with your children provides them with opportunities to learn and to be heard. Most of all, it provides you and your children with time to connect. It’s these connections that make your children feel loved. So leave the beds unstripped for another few minutes and put the coffee on an automatic timer. Take those extra moments to spend with your children. When you look back, you will be thankful for the memories and proud of adults they grew up to be.

Excerpts of this portion of the post were provided from this Source


LETTERS TO TESS

One of the perks of my job at Ready Nutrition is to address questions and/or concerns that you may have with your prepping endeavors. Feel free to ask anything that is on your mind because no question is too big or small. You can email questions to: getprepped@readynutrition.com

This week’s question addresses junk coins:

Dear Tess

I just began prepping and have heard that some coins are worth more than others. Can you give me any suggestions of which coins those are?

Bless you,

Kelly S.

Answer:

Hi Kelly,

Great question! There are a lot of preppers who prefer to invest in junk coins because before 1965, U.S. silver coins were 90% silver coins. These coins are being collected to serve both as an investment medium and could be used as “survival” coins should our monetary system fail as many people fear.  The best way to find these coins is to go to banks and ask for rolls of coins that were given to the bank by private persons.  Do not accept the rolls of quarters that were given to the banks by bank security trucks.  Typically, bank security companies sift through looking for these specialty coins already, so the likelihood of finding any junk silver is next to nothing.  So, make sure it is from a private citizen.

Canada and the United Kingdom also has junk silver.  For a list of junk silver in these countries, click here. Here is a breakdown of some of the most popular types of U.S. junk coins you may be able to find:

Penny

  • Wheats –  Pre-1981 and have sprigs of wheat on both sides.
  • Indian heads – Pre-1901 and are very rare to find, but can still be found.

Dimes

  • Roosevelt Type 1946-1964
  • Mercury Type 1916-1945
  • Barber Type 1892-1916 

Quarters

  • Washington Type 1932-1964
  • Standing Liberty 1916-1930
  • Barber or Liberty Head 1892-1916

Silver Half-Dollars

  • Kennedy Type 1964
  • Franklin Type 1948-1963
  • Walking Liberty 1916-1947
  • Barber or Liberty Head 1892-1915

Silver Dollars

  • Pre-1921 Morgan 1878-1904
  • 1921 Morgan
  • Peace Silver Dollar 1921-1935

I hope this helps you get started.

Regards,

Tess Pennington

This article was originally published at Ready Nutrition™ on July 15th, 2011