Serving Comparison

As I have said before, one of the best way to compare two products' values is according to number of servings (quality is also important, but we'll focus on value this time).  So, I compared just a few items out of curiosity and thought I'd share.  I figured out how many 1/4 cup servings are in each #10 can and compared accordingly unless stated otherwise.  

Item	Servings (¼ cup unless stated otherwise)
	Emergency Essentials	Shelf Reliance
FD Mangoes	36	47
FD Raspberries	39	48
FD Banana	43	49
FD Pineapple	30	41
FD Blueberries	32	50
FD Corn	44	46
FD Celery	37	45
FD Onion	171 Tbsp.	180 Tbsp
Bell Peppers	1.31 lb.	1.54 lb.	(Weight is not a very good comparison)
Carrots	159 Tbsp	196 Tbsp
Whole Egg Powder	96 eggs	236 eggs
Instant Milk	48 (1 cup servings prepared)	97 (1 cup servings prepared)
FD Chicken	48	48
FD Ground Beef	48	48
Butter Powder	48	48
6 Grain Pancake Mix	48	50
9 Grain Cereal	45	43
Egg Noodles	11 cups	18 cups

Home Store Planning

My husband and I are gearing up to make a big order of food storage.  Once we do, we will hopefully have at least 6 solid months of food for storage/rotating.  I'm very excited about this, mostly because we live far away from the store, so it will be nice to "go shopping" in my own home when I find we're running low on food, but it's not quite time for the next shopping trip.  Produce is the main thing we run out of.  I try to only go shopping every 1.5-2 weeks in order to keep the budget under control and to save on gas.  Produce just doesn't last that long, and especially in our desert house which we keep at a cool 78 degrees at best, so it will be so nice to have our freeze dried fruits and veggies to tide us over to the next shopping trip.  That's one thing I love about freeze dried, and even some dehydrated fruits and vegetables--I feel completely comfortable substituting them for fresh produce because I know we are getting the same nutrients and taste as if we are using fresh.  It's also a lot quicker to prepare since I don't have to clean and chop the food myself :) 

Anyway, there is a great printable planning guide, or "shopping list", for buying food storage that Shelf Reliance just came out with.  This is different than their also cool Food Storage Calculator.  The shopping list is actually quite simple, but it is really helping me to organize my thoughts and figure out exactly what I should buy.  Before discovering the helpful tools that are out there, specifically Shelf Reliance's planning tools, I had a hard time deciding what to buy and ended up buying a lot of random food storage products I would never actually use.  This "shopping list" helps you take a look at what food you normally eat and buy food storage that coordinates with it.  This way, you are only buying food you will actually use, and therefore, not throwing away your money!  It is based off the common food storage motto:

Store what you eat, eat what you store!

So, if you check out the link you will find it has 5 main boxes for you to write lists in.  I will list it below as well as an example of what my list looks like.  

THRIVE Foods my family could snack on

Freeze dried fruit (strawberries, bananas, raspberries, blueberries, mangoes)

Freeze dried yogurt bites

Freeze dried corn (seriously, it's delicious!) and peas

Freeze dried ice cream

Foods that take a long time to prepare (defrosting, chopping, cooking, etc.)

Chicken

Ground beef

Roast beef

celery

onion

carrots

potatoes

Foods I commonly throw away

Spoiled fruits and veggies

Unused/spoiled/left over meat

Expired canned fruits, veggies, beans

Eggs

Foods I commonly run out of

Fruits

Veggies

Milk

Butter

Eggs (I know I just said I sometimes throw them away.  It depends on my menu at a given time)

Cheese 

Meat

My Family's Favorite Meals (Foods available through Thrive marked with *)

The format is much nicer on the link, FYI

• Chicken Salad:  celery*, onions*, grapes*, chicken*, mayo, salt*/pepper
• Pot pie:  flour*, corn*, peas*, green beans*, carrots*, potatoes*, onions*, milk*, butter*, bouillon*, seasoning
• Chicken Noodle Soup:  Egg noodles*, corn*, peas*, green beans*, onions*, carrots*, chicken*, bouillon*, seasonings
• Beef Stew:  flour*, celery*, carrots*, onions*, potatoes*, beef*, bouillon*, spices
• Pizza:  flour*, peppers*, tomato powder*, pineapple*, cheese*, sausage*, spices
• Hamburger soup:  rice*, corn*, peas*, beans*, onions*, potato*, carrots*, cheese*, ground beef*, bouillon*, spices
• Beef Stroganoff:  egg noodles*, mushrooms*, onions*, milk*, sour cream*, flour*, bouillon*, spices
• Cereal/oatmeal:  9 grain cereal* or oats*, sugar*, strawberries*, raspberries*, peaches*, blueberries*, salt*, milk*
• Pancakes:  pancake mix*, blueberries*, butter*, sugar*

So, there is just a sampling of the list I made to plan my purchase(s).  Once I have finished my meal list, I plan on going to the food storage calculator to help me figure out a general idea of how much of each item to get and make sure it is enough for the time period I decide on.  

I encourage you to sit down and take a look at what you would benefit from when it comes to food storage so you can be confident that it will benefit you no matter your circumstances.  I am all about being prepared for disaster, but hopefully we won't need it for that and can simply use it to supplement/replace what we usually eat and make life a little easier.  

If you are currently working on your storage and looking to buy food or emergency supplies in the near future, then check back in the next day or so to learn about my Birthday Giveaway (no purchases necessary) as well as my awesome "Birthday Party", which I am so excited to share with all of you!  Those who participate in the party will get THE best deals possible.  If you find a better one let me know, because I'll be all over it, but I really doubt you will!

Lessons from Alabama

If you watch the news at all, then you probably heard about the devastating tornadoes that hit Alabama recently. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see some pictures of the after math here. Things like this always scare me, but this particular natural disaster really hit home for me because my brother, his wife, and two children live in the Huntsville area.

The evening of the first day of tornadoes, my brother reported on Facebook that their house sustained damage (downed fence, broken window, and having their shingles torn off the roof), and the power was out, but they were alive and doing okay. However, the tornadoes continued through the night and due to communications being down we had no further contact with him for the next 24 hours. Thankfully, he did finally contact us and everything was still okay considering. However, they did have to go into survival mode due to the fact that there were no utilities for about a week. This is the first time someone close to me has actually had to deal with this type of situation, so I was really interested to hear what advice my brother had when all was said and done. He has a lot of great insights, so I thought I would share them with all of you.

Lesson #1 Know what natural disasters could occur in your area, then make a plan. (If you don't know the risks in your area check out http://www.ready.gov/ and you can get all the info you need.) You should consider what you would do if something did happen and you were at work, school, home, etc. In my brother's case, he was at work, so he was herded into the tornado shelter on site until it was safe to go home and survey the damage. My sister in law was at home with her two kids plus their son's friend. Once she knew of the tornado danger, she spent the next few hours in the closet on the ground floor of their house, which they had determined beforehand was probably the safest place to be, with the three kids listening to windows break and destruction ensue. She had a plan, and thankfully, it kept them safe.

Lesson #2 Be prepared for looters. Hide valuables, arm yourself if possible, have materials to make signs to deter the looters, and if you are leaving, ask a neighbor you trust to watch your house. Within hours of the end of the actual tornadoes, people who had someplace better to go left, and some of them were smart enough to ask my brother to keep an eye on their house. It had only been over for a few hours when looters arrived. My brother lives in a suburb far from any area he considers dangerous. It was broad daylight, kids were outside riding their bikes, neighbors were chatting, etc. yet the looters still came! Two threatening looking men approached and began trying to enter one of the houses my brother was keeping his eye on even while my brother and some other men stood in the street talking 2 doors down. My brother approached them and asked what they were doing while the other men he was with were ready with guns to back him up if need be. The men said the house was theirs and they were going to take what was in it. Somehow, my brother talked them down and they left once they heard that police were going to be getting involved (although that part was a bluff). His advice in confronting looters, if you must, is to speak with authority, but don't do anything to escalate the situation such as yelling or visibly pulling out a weapon. Chances are they are armed as well and probably more willing to use their weapons on another human being than you are. Try your best to reason with them and show them how they will be better off just leaving. Pretending you are the owner helped a little as well, although not as well as mentioning law enforcement. After this incident, the people who were left in the area then formed a neighborhood watch and posted this sign, which my sister in law made with a sheet and some paint:

The sign says, "Neighborhood watch in effect. Looters NOT Tolerated!"

It seemed to do the trick, so be sure to have supplies to make such a sign in an emergency. This could also be useful if you need to summon emergency help from helicopters overhead as many did during Hurricane Katrina.

Lesson #3 Know your neighbors. Part of the reason for this is apparent in Lesson #2. Luckily my brother has good neighbors. You'll want to know if there is anyone to watch out for in this type of situation as well though. Another reason to know your neighbors is so that you know who to look for and rescue if needed (or so people know to look for and rescue you!). In the neighborhood of my brother's friend they were hit hard. Most houses were leveled and it was up to the safe neighbors to be the first responders/search and rescue for the neighbors who were hurt or trapped. Yet another reason is so that you can work together and pool resources until life gets back to normal. Having friendly neighbors helped my brother because they were able to share food and shelter, make calls for one another when they were headed to one of the few phones that worked, and help return the neighborhood to a livable area.

Lesson #4 Keep a good emergency food and water supply. My sister in law works at a grocery store and the lines there were long and the selection was sparse. Don't count on anyone but yourself for food and water and then you can avoid that whole situation. As soon as you know you are in trouble, fill every single thing in your house with water--bathtubs, sinks, cups, pitchers, etc. Hopefully you also have water stored, but the more water you have, the better off you will be.


Lesson #5 Have the right supplies to deal with all of the aftermath. My brother had some particularly interesting insights in this area. Below is a list of items that he thinks are important to have. If you don't learn something new from this list, I'll be surprised. You should have:

• Everything you need to go on an extended camping trip (because that's what it feels like living in the aftermath of a disaster):
• water (see FEMA's water storage guidelines here)
• non-perishable, high calorie food that tastes good, and that you are used to (this prevents indigestion and ensures that kids and elderly will actually eat.)
• medication -- I forgot to mention my nephew is diabetic. Thankfully they had enough to get him through and were able to keep it at an acceptable temperature. Having some instant ice packs would be a good way to keep certain medications cold once ice melts.
• flashlights/lanterns
• blankets/sleeping bags
• tent
• first aid kit
• Things to fix up your home until it can be done the right way. Anticipate what damage the natural disasters you are at risk for could cause and prepare accordingly.  In their case they needed to cover their roof as much as possible and secure their broken window, since another storm was coming.  His list of essential supplies is:
• staple gun and staples
• tarps
• duct tape
• extra shingles
• tall ladder
• boards
• hammer and nails
• Means of communication
• Walkie Talkies -- these were useful because cell phone service was nonexistent to spotty.
• Ham Radio--There was one man that was having a heart attack, but the phones were down. Someone used a ham radio to call out that there was an emergency and give their location. Someone in a totally different region was able to contact 911 and the man got the help he needed before it was too late.
• battery operated, solar, or hand crank radio to stay updated on what is happening
• 10-15 gallons of gasoline--just like groceries, people will line up and wait for hours to get some and for some the wait is in vain because the gas stations run out. Keeping your tank at least half full will be helpful as well.
• Sunscreen and hats-- he was surprised how much they needed these things
• Charcoal grill, emergency stove, sun oven, or something you can cook with using wood like this camp grill. In an emergency one thing you can most likely count on is wood to burn.
• lighter, matches, fire starter
• A lot of batteries! He suggests about 40 of each kind that you will need. Make an inventory of what type of battery all of your emergency supplies take and stock up! Or you can get rechargeable batteries and a solar battery charger like this one.
• Solar garden lights-- you know, the ones people line their driveway with or use to accent their yard. This one caught me off gaurd, but if you think about it they make total sense. You just stick them out all day and bring them in at night so you don't have to waste all of your flashlight batteries. They also stuck them in windows of abandoned houses at night to make them look lived in and hopefully deter looters. Plus, this isn't a waste of money because it's something that you can use all the time, not just an emergency.
• Solar phone charger--my brother used his Blackberry to update us all on Facebook (he only got reception in the middle of the night or he would have called). You can keep your phones and other devices charged with one of these solar chargers. I'm adding it to my wish list. Here are links to a few options from all price ranges:

• Goal Zero Nomad 7m

• Goal Zero Scout 150
• Crank LED Flashlight w/ Cell Charger
• In house home security system:  I'm not talking the kind that links up to a monitoring company, but one that you put in your doors and windows that alarms when they are opened.  This will help you relax a little, especially at night, by alerting you to a break in/looters in time to hopefully stop them.  It might just scare the criminal away as well.
• Cash! You need a good supply of money on hand. When the power is out stores do not deal with credit and probably won't trust checks. Make sure a good amount of that money is in smaller bills because you never know if someone will give you change or not.

So there are the lessons learned in Alabama.  Thank you Jonathan for letting us all learn from your experience.  I hope to hear my sister in law's point of view in the future, so I will add a follow up post once I've been able to talk to her.  

My Water Dream Team

In my Favorite Things post I had mentioned some water filtration tools I was thinking of purchasing. I have been looking on sportsman store websites for reviews and information as well as blogs and online reviews by outdoorsmen who have actually tried these and similar products out/used them extensively. So, I thought I'd share what I have decided to do for water filtration based on my research. I really want the Katadyn Combi Microfilter, but living where I do, I most likely wouldn't even have any water source to pump out of in an emergency so I can't justify this purchase. FYI, if you are interested in it though, Shelf Reliance sells this for the best price of anyone I've seen in my research.

Personally, I am going to go with a combination of cheaper items that I think will do the same job, with just a little more effort. I think they will work just fine for ensuring my water storage is safe to drink when the time comes.

First of all, I am in love with this cool Frontier Water Filter Straw:

If you find a decent water source, or if you just have a water bottle that is sort of old and questionable, you can drink right out of it through this nifty straw and it will be filtered as you drink. I love it because you can carry it in your pocket and it's so affordable. Much less expensive than a replacement filter for a water purification system.

Next, I think that for purifying larger quantities of water that I'm not hoping to drink right away or if I want to carry some with me on a hike or camp out, this water bottle will do just fine.

You can get it from Shelf Reliance or you can also find a different version of these on at the LDS Online Store. I am also keeping a good stock of Britta filters for my filter pitcher because that seems like it would work just fine as well for times that I don't need to be carrying the water.

My final and favorite item is the Steripen Emergency.

Water filters can only get rid of so much, and if I am going to drink out of a questionable water source, I want to know that all the bacteria, viruses, protozoa, etc. are taken care of. The Steripen uses UV purification. This technology is over 100 years old and is used to help major US cities as well as bottled water producers purify their water. The UV radiation destroys the DNA of microbes so they can't reproduce. And if they can't reproduce they can't make you sick. Sounds good to me! There is also a fancier Steripen Journey, which I looked into. That model has a digital read out to tell you how pure the water is. However, in my research I have learned that the cheaper Emergency model is more reliable as far as potential for product failure goes and does the job just as well since the actual UV technology is the same. Also, the Emergency model takes AA lithium batteries, which are much cheaper and more accessible than the fancy batteries that the Journey model requires. In case you're wondering why I don't just buy this and call it good, it doesn't actually filter the water, so if you want to remove dirt particles and stuff like that you need some sort of filter as well.

If anyone out there has additional ideas I'd love to hear them. If you are interested in buying these from Shelf Reliance, just let me know through the comment section or by email at mythrivehive@gmail.com. Remember, the current party, with the Surprise Host Giveaway is still going on as well. Order by May 5 to qualify for that. If you are interested in a larger order or a group order, contact me as well and I can help you get the party prices as well as the host benefits for your large/group order.