“None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. We have a great welfare program with facilities but the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program.” Gordon B Hinckley
“Recent surveys of Church members have shown a serious erosion in the number of families who have a year’s supply of life’s necessities. Most members plan to do it. Too few have begun… it is our sacred duty to care for our families, including our extended families.” President Thomas S. Monson
Since President Monson made this observation, we have learned much having lived through a pandemic. Even with this experience we know the number of those preparing has gone down. This year let’s make preparing for a self-reliant lifestyle a priority.
As a family ask and answer the following questions:
What foods was your family craving during the pandemic? In our house it was chocolate. I’m sure we were not the only ones missing chocolate. I did have some, cake mix, hot cocoa, and chocolate chips stored but not those dark chocolate bars. I’m sure your heard…”Are you sure we don’t have any_______”. Fill in the blank and add the items to your list of must haves.
What foods and supplies were missing from the grocery store? In our area it was TP, flour, and yeast to name a few. We were mailing canning lids to Utah where they could not be found.
What foods do you need to store for family members with special dietary needs? Think of needs like gluten free. There are very few gluten free options on store shelves but during a trucking or port strike or major weather disaster store shelves may not be replenished and all those needing gluten free will quickly empty the shelves.
What foods are traditional for birthdays and holidays in your family? We had a child who always wanted German chocolate cake, another loves cheesecake and another pie. Christmas would not be the same without breakfast casserole.
Finally make a list of 10 family meal favorites. Be sure to consider breakfast, lunch and dinner. Once you have this list you will have a list of ingredients needed to make these meals. Of course, you will be able to make a variety of meals from these same ingredients not just those 10. Never store planning to make only those 10 meals. The goal is only to have all the ingredients available.
Don’t forget desserts. Make a list of favorites.
Now you are prepared to move forward and begin purchasing.
- Set a Budget. If you fail to budget for food storage purchases, they just won’t happen. If you received money for Christmas, you may want to start with that but plan to also purchase throughout the year on a weekly or monthly basis. If you plan for $5.00 a week but nothing you want is on sale that week, be sure to add the cash to a jar every week until you have saved enough for expensive items or items are on sale.
- Create a shopping list. Once you have completed the exercise above, it is time to get out the recipes. In a chart or spread sheet, record all the ingredients from each recipe. Continue this process until you have a master list of all ingredients in all your meals, all ingredients for desserts, items missing from your stores during the pandemic and foods the family was craving.
- Time to shop. Pull out the grocery ads. Sit down with your ingredient list and see what you can find that is on sale. Don’t go crazy hitting too many stores, it won’t be budget friendly. Remember it is far more important to have a one, two or three-month supply of a balanced diet than a one-year supply of oatmeal. Don’t shop more than once a week. Shopping more often equals spending on those extras you really don’t need that will break the budget. Purchase enough food for a balanced diet for one week, then one month, then three months. If a disaster strikes next month, a one-week supply of every food group will serve you better than a three-month supply of olives and tuna or rice and beans.
- Mark your purchases. You need to decide if you want to mark your cans with purchase dates or expiration dates. I prefer to use the date I purchase foods. Every manufacturer has a different method of dating their products. All mean something different, therefore, I prefer to use the date I purchase an item and then I know I am using food, oldest first. Decide on a method that works for you and mark those packages of food. AND remember expiration dates, pull dates and best by dates are only suggestions and benefit the manufacturer so they don’t need to store samples longer. If a recall is issued a manufacture needs to have stock on hand to test. Canned foods are safe years beyond those dates.
- Make room. A coat closet does not have to be a coat closet. Move the coats to the bedroom, add shelves and it’s now the grain and condiments closet. For storage ideas check out: “You may Think You Don’t Have Room” at Meridian Magazine https://latterdaysaintmag.com/you-may-think-you-dont-have-room-think-again/
- Move on to non-food items. Now it’s time to make a list of non-food items you use regularly. Include items such as medications, toiletries, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and laundry detergent. One approach to creating a list is to brainstorm with the family and then post the list on the fridge. Ask everyone to add items to the list for a week. Again, ask yourself what was difficult to find during the pandemic.How much should you store? Mark the times with the date it is opened and then when the container is empty you know how long it lasted and how much you will need to store.
- Rotate. I record everything on a grocery list as I use it and then transfer to a shopping list as items go on sale. You may find the best prices online.
President Nelson has stated, “Brothers and sisters, now is the time for you and for me to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.”
Heavenly Father has warned us what we need to prepare for through modern-day prophets and in scripture. He loves us and wants us to be ready for those times.
We need to prepare spiritually but we also need to be prepared to care for our family’s and our own temporal needs. “All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal.” D&C 29:34
You can do this! We can all succeed no matter our living conditions or our budget. We have been promised as we do all we can do Heavenly Father will fill in and our needs will be met. We must pray and ask for guidance, ask for help when needed and then do all we can do. We must all ask ourselves, “am I really doing all I can do”?
“I don’t know how things will work out. People say to me, “What will we do? If we have a year’s supply and nobody else has anything, it will be gone in a day.” Well, it will last as long as it lasts, but I’m not worried about that. If I do what the Lord tells me to do, and you do what the Lord tells you to do, he will take care of us all right.” Marion G. Romney
For help with your self-reliance goals visit Totally Ready on Facebook. Or message Carolyn by commenting on this article or at: cj**********@gm***.com.