Adventures in Food Storage- Our Rules

We have decided that we will not purchase any food, personal hygiene products, or cleaning supplies until after August 15th. The reason we are doing this for a whole month is because we do have items in our fridge and freezer that we will be allowed to use up. There is no way I want to throw out unused perishable items. We just can't afford that so I figured after a week or two those things should be pretty well depleted so we will be strictly onto canned and dried goods from then on. Also, there are a couple of previous commitments we will have to honor. I will be having dinner at girl's camp one night this week and Steve will be allowed to eat at work when they have their "lunch meetings" or when he has to take a customer out to lunch. Since both of these activities are part of his job and his company pays for it, he can do it. I also have to shop for an extended-family campout (I'm in charge of the meals) and an activity that involves an eating contest for Nate. These were also previous commitments so I feel I need to honor them.

I know this won't be "exactly" like it would if we were eating our food storage during an emergency. We will be using our refrigerator, stove, and microwave which we wouldn't have if it was the "real thing" but hopefully it will be a good gauge on what we need to do better on. On one of the blogs I read they call this eating from the pantry. You can eat anything and use any modern convenience- you just can't eat out or shop.

Adventures in Food Storage

Can you believe it? Yes, it's me the terrible blogger. It's been a long while since my last post, but I have decided I'm going to do better! Yes, I finally have something to blog about- our journey in surviving on our food storage for a month.

The initial reaction I get from people is "why". Why would you want to subject yourselves to something like that? Well, I guess it's because I love food storage! I love buying it, I love having it, and I love that I'm actually following through on something that I've been commanded to do. It's been really surprising to me that most people think you should only bring it out in the event of an emergency. This is what it says in the new Family Home Storage Pamphlet. "Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage. For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans".
So, if you've built up your 3 month supply it shouldn't be so bad-right? I mean, who just wants to eat for sustenance? I want to eat what we always eat and have happy, non-complaining kids.

Lately, I've been seeing such an interest in food storage among members of the church and non-members alike. There are blogs everywhere about it. There seems to be a sense of urgency about storing food in the case of an emergency. People have seen calamities in our country and world-wide and know that they need to prepare because governments can't be relied upon to meet the needs of it's citizens. A wonderful by-product is that people are learning new skills such as canning, bargain shopping, gardening and such in their drive towards self-sufficiency. I also feel that call. I feel the Holy Ghost whispering to me about the need for preparedness so here we are!

What I'm hoping to learn from this challenge ( eating out of our food storage for a month) is where our gaps are. What important things am I missing that need to be stored in case of a real emergency. I also hope to inspire someone to do better with their storage and realize that it doesn't have to be 300 lbs. of wheat to be called food storage.

Are you as prepared as you think you are? Join the challenge for even a week or two. Tomorrow I will be outlining the rules. At least the rules we are going to live by for the next month.

Grapes, Grapes, and More Grapes

Well, I think I've pretty much given up on saying how I'm going to post more often and be a better blogger- It's probably never going to happen. In my defense, we have been really really busy lately. In case you were wondering- this is what 125 pounds of grapes looks like. It was a family event and everyone pitched in to help. It definitely is satisfying to look at the finished product. Hopefully it's enough jelly and juice for the coming year. That is if I let anyone actually eat it! It took so long to do (4 days) that we might just have to leave it on the counter to admire for just a while longer :)

You Know He Loves You When......

It's Friday night at 9:30 and you ask your husband for the tiniest little favor. Can you go to the store? It should be easy right? He asks what you need. Not even a trace of complaining in his voice. This is what you tell him- Go to customer service and ask for an ad, find the double coupons, cut them out, put them with the other coupons I'm about to give you, find the stuff on the list, make sure it matches the coupons, and go pay. But wait! Make sure that you separate the items, do a transaction, wait for the catalina to print and then ring up the other stuff and pay for it with the catalina that printed in the first transaction. I don't know what amazes me more- that he did this without protesting even once or that he actually knows what a catalina is. Who needs roses and the romantic dinners, this is true love and I'll take it any day!!!!

Just a typical morning.........

Mason says, "thanks babe" to Nate. Nate says, "shut-up! I'm not a girl". Mason replies, "o.k. then handsome". I say "stop it!". Mason says "sure thing Jen".
Ahhhhh, another day at the Wennergrens.

Breaking News........

There's breaking news out of a home in Clinton. 10 year old boy is charged and convicted for his masterminding and carrying out of a major crime spree involving guns and trespassing. The child in question "shot up" the house with water guns and broke into the food storage room. Major damage occurred, mostly to the child's digestive system after eating oh let's say, 40 candy bars or so. He was, however, conscious of eating a more balanced meal and finished it off with pickles, salsa, pasta, water, juice and other condiments before being apprehended. The sentence is being carried out as we speak. $46 in restitution to be paid and $200 to be worked off at his mother's discretion- yes, slave labor. He is also grounded for life. If his parents are unable to carry out this sentence a sibling or spouse will ensure the sentence is carried out. Some have criticized this sentence calling it cruel and unusual punishment because there is no Nintendo DS or Game Cube time allowed, but the most cruel may be the missing of Scout Camp. The cruelty is to the mother of course, for having to deal with having the child complain to her about it for the whole day. When the mother was asked for her comment, she only asked "Does anyone know what the law says about child abandonment until the first day of school?" That should not be puzzling to anyone with children. Oh how we all love summer!

Cow Appreciation Day

Yikes!!! It's been a long time since I've posted here, but this is definitely blog worthy. Do you remember the line from the movie "As Good As It Gets"? "Go sell crazy some place else- we're all stocked up here", well that's us! I have been sick for the past few days. This is down in bed sick with an earache and fever sick- but wait!!!! It's cow appreciation day at Chick-fil-a. Who misses that? I asked the kids if they still wanted to go and Mason resolutely answered "Absolutely!" Nate was game as long as there were other cows there. We got all our spots on and headed to chick-fil-a. I think we hit every stop light and the stares were comical. Of course chick-fil-a is in the mall too. All those people! Oh well, it's free food. It was so fun :) We got there and there were plenty of other cows and people were yelling "cute costumes". They rang the bell when they saw us and ushered us over to spin the wheel for prizes and had a basket full of candy for the kids. We won free drinks and sandwiches for our next visit. We ordered our food and the cashier said she loved to see families coming in to do this- not just the kids. She gave us all adult combo meals and told us about the new store that was going to be opening soon and that the first 100 people in the store on opening day would win free food for a year. Hmmm maybe a campout in our future? As we headed home I realized that we were out of gas. I so didn't want to get gas in a cow costume- maybe we could make it home. Yeah right- maybe if there wasn't an accident that diverted us totally off our route home. What's worse than getting gas in a cow costume? Running out of gas in a cow costume. All in all it was such a fun day. It was a nice change to be "fun and crazy" mom for a change instead of just "busy and serious mom".
*o.k. I know Mason looks like he has rabbit ears, but that's the best we could do with a cat costume. Nate's ears look like Goofy, but from the side they are cow ears.