I LOVE Food Storage!!!!

I'm sure the title of this post has you scratching your head, wondering what has happened to the girl formerly known as "Lori: hater of food storage". Well, I've undergone a change of heart recently. Mostly due to the kindness and patience of the Lord as I try to wrap my head around just how much food and what kinds I would need to store for a whole year. I have been steadily working along for several years on my food storage, but without a real plan in place. I guess I just didn't have any idea how to really know how much of each item I would need for my family.

Enter Relief Society (aptly named, might I add!): Dateline, Saturday, February 28, 2009: Preparedness fair at the church. Awesome Day!!!!

The day started with a class on finances, which probably sounds YUCKY, but it was amazing. Our stake president's wife taught it and she had some wonderful ideas. Her approach was so common sense and down to earth, she really focused on behaviors rather than $$ itself. I really felt the spirit and a desire to do even better and make more decisions based on the long-term effects, rather than short-term gratification.

The next class was taught by Vicki Edgar, a fantastic cook, who teaches food sciences at the high school and also runs a VERY successful bakery. She actually gave us all her secret recipes and tons of little tidbits and advice about baking with dough. She brought her grinder and bosch and made cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, braided bread with fruit filling, and crescent rolls (which we all ate for lunch later in the day) in about 50 minutes. I'm so excited about all the recipes she shared. The best part? Everything she used was directly out of food storage. She even taught us how to make the fruit filling for the bread out of reconstituted dried apples from the cannery. She just added 1/2 cup sugar, 2 T. cornstarch, 1 cup water and a 1/2 packet of kool-aid powder to the apples (already reconstituted). Absolutely delicious! I learned about SAF yeast, and about when to use dough enhancer (answer: not very often unless you're in a hurry. Time will usually do what dough enhancers mimic.) She gave us several recipes for different types of breads, but my favorite, and the one she uses most of the time is this all-purpose recipe:

Bread, Dinner Rolls, Cinnamon Rolls and Braided Bread Recipe

2 3/4 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
7-8 cups flour

Put water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Lightly mix. Add oil and salt. Then gradually add flour until a soft, but not sticky dough forms. Let mix about 5 minutes after adding the flour (to knead the dough). If you have a Kitchen-Aid, you'll want to switch to your bread hook for the kneading. Shape into loaves, rolls, or roll out for cinnamon rolls or braided bread. Let bread or rolls proof until about double (about 1/2 an hour). Bake at 375 degrees, cinnamon rolls about 18 minutes, rolls about 15 minutes, breads 35-45 minutes, until golden brown.

*You can add 3 eggs and 3/4 cup dry milk for a richer dough (some like that for cinnamon rolls, etc.) She says she usually doesn't because it's just as good without going to the added expense.

If you have a Bosch (you lucky dog, you!) you can double this recipe and it will work perfectly.

We made cinnamon rolls for the neighbors yesterday, they were yummy! I love the idea of one dough with so many possibilities. One of my favorite ideas (which I'm going to try for dinner one night this week) was to make taco meat, then spread into the center third of a rolled out rectangle, sprinkle on some cheese, then cut 1 inch slits in the sides of the dough and braid together on the top. After baking just add some lettuce and sour cream. You've got a complete dinner right there. Maybe I'll take some pictures when I make this so you can see the braiding process.

The final class was all about Food Storage (that sorta used to be the F-word at our house) and Preparedness. I could have stayed all day asking questions. They had information on everything from food to sanitation to light to disease prevention and control and much, much more. I was able to get a couple of ingenious little oil lamp wick kits made by a lady in our stake. They are made with copper wire and a cotton wick and fit inside a pint jar. You just fill the jar with about 3/4 cup olive oil (or any other oil, except corn oil which smokes too much), adjust the wick to about a 1/4 inch above the oil and light. Did you know that that tiny amount of olive oil will burn for around 1000 hours? Crazy, huh? So if you have any rancid oil, don't throw it out. These oil lamps are the perfect use for it. If you're interested in the kits let me know and I'll email her phone number. I don't think she has a website, or I'd just link you there.

We learned about the different types of food-grade plastic and how to identify them. Also, the importance of having latex gloves, particulate masks, tin foil, plastic and duct tape. They each have so many uses and can be adapted to many different situations.

I particularly loved the following ideas:
1) Fill a can with a wide variety of garden seeds and seal it (but don't put an oxygen absorber in with them, it will kill them.)
2) Be sure to have sprouting seeds (such as alfalfa seeds) in your storage. They can sprout indoors without dirt any time of the year in pretty short order. They can take the place of other greens when not available. A sandwich with sprouts is totally yummy! Just as good as lettuce!
3) Create a birthday-in-a-can with cake mix, candles, matches, small toys and games, balloons, etc. (#10 can)
4) "Can" some extra money for your 72-hour kits in small denominations. Take a small pop-top can, cut the bottom off the can with a can opener that cuts the entire rim off (not the kind that cut inside the rim), empty the can, clean and dry it well. Put money, including coins, in the can, then seal the bottom back on with gorilla glue. Be sure to include coins so you or someone else doesn't assume the can is empty and just throw it away!

I could go on and on, needless to say, the day was well worth it. Thank you Relief Society!

We ended the day with lunch. Several sisters made different soups using only food storage ingredients. Then we enjoyed hot rolls and cinnamon rolls for dessert!

I should be getting an email from the Stake R.S. with all the recipes, tips, etc. so I'll forward it on to any and all of you who are interested. Maybe it's one of those "had to be there" scenarios, but I am completely energized and excited about getting my family more prepared for whatever may come. There is such peace in preparedness, isn't there?