Wednesday Prep Day is Moving to Tuesday.

Alright, now that my blogs have been merged, it's time to get going on this again. Are you guys all excited? I know I am! I think the easiest thing to do is begin physical preparedness at the beginning instead of the middle where we currently were on my previous site. So, without any further adieu, lets begin...

If you look on the right side of this site, you will see a few lists. Each week we work on gathering items for a 72 hr. kit and short term storage. Each month we work on long term food storage. There is no need to run father than you are able, no need to spend what you do not have. Set a goal and consistently work at it. With persistence and help from our Heavenly Father, you will achieve it.

This week for our 72 hr. kits, we will be gathering something to place everything in. It can be a backpack, bucket, duffel bag, Tupperware bin, whatever you have. You want something sturdy and easy to grab if you have to leave in a hurry. Shoulder straps, or handles, will make carrying easier. Look around your homes and see what you have available. Start thinking outside the box. You will be inspired!

How is your three months of short term storage coming? Do you have a plan? If so, keep pluggin' along. You'll get it. If you don't have a plan, lets make one together. To start, make a menu: seven breakfasts, seven or fourteen dinners. Seven's easier to plan, fourteen gives you more variety. (As we continue our Sample BASIC Menu on the right, you can use it for ideas. More of that to come later...).

1. Write the recipes for each breakfast and dinner down.
2. If you do seven meals, multiply the ingredients by 13 to find out exactly how much of each item you need for three months. If you do fourteen, make it simple and multiply each by seven. When facing hard times, a little extra food never hurt anybody.
   
3. Make a master shopping list.
   
4. Begin shopping always remembering to stick to your budget. Little by little you will cross all the items off. Just be persistent and patient.

I have slowly been working on a menu from Grandma Simmonds book titled Once Upon the Ark. This is a wonderful resource that she has provided for us. Unfortunately, her computer crashed and it was lost. If you would like a copy, I will be working on making this available from the site. You can use this menu to jump start your menu planning.

This month, we are collecting Wheat for our long-term storage. Orson Hyde said, "There is more salvation in wheat than in all the powers of man combined." Liesa Card suggests a food storage program that fits the way we collect long-term storage on this site; although, there are many ways to go about gathering your storage.

Or, another way that makes sense is gathering a one years supply at a time. (When you have one year gathered, just do it again). If you have one year for one person, you will also have a six month supply for two people, a four month supply for three, and so forth. Isn't that COOL?! I thought you might like it! Happy collecting...

Here's an important note:

Never spend what you do not have. If you do, your things will own you, and that's just not the way preparedness, or anything else, should be done. Always be persistent, never running faster than needed; because, as you "Do the best you can, the Lord will provide the rest." (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf)