Melanie’s solution

My friend Melanie lives in a one bedroom 730 square foot apartment with her husband and young child. There is no pantry, only one closet for clothes, just enough cupboard space for dishes and an attic crawl space that’s not temperature controlled (which is not a good place to store food in Georgia summers).  So we had to start looking around to find available floor space for a solution. Her bedroom had enough space for three dressers: one for her, one for her husband, and one for baby. By paring down their wardrobe to a minimum they were able to free one dresser and turn it into a food storage pantry.

Things to keep in mind when storing food in a dresser

1. Label the top of food items with date purchased, expiration date, and what’s inside. This makes it easy to see at a glance what you have and what needs to be used first
2. Keep like with like. Melanie has a different type of food in each drawer so finding food is quick and easy. It also makes it easy to tell when you need to restock a certain area, if your grain drawer is full but your veggie drawer is almost empty you can tell at a glance that it’s time to order more vegetables.
3. Use a sturdy dresser made of solid wood. Melanie was able to use this dresser because it’s a solid wood antique dresser that’s been in the family for a very long time. Some good places to find good, solid dressers are flea markets, auctions, antique malls, or thrift shops

Jeanette’s Solution

Jeanette also has a small home with minimal cupboard space. When we began our search for available floor space we were out of luck so we moved our search to the walls and doors. Her solution came in the form of a hat rack and over the door shoe holder.

By punching a hole in a Thrive pouch above the seal, you can easily store them on a traditional wall mounted hat rack along with snack pouches found in grocery stores. You can usually find an over the door shoe holder at big box stores for under $10 and the pockets are the perfect size for pantry cans or Thrive Express.

A few more “out of the pantry” ideas:

1. A china closet with drawers in the dining room
2. An under the bed Harvest rotation shelf for each bed in the house
3. A bookshelf in the dining room with food in decorative containers or baskets
4. In mild climates a few Harvest rotation shelves work wonders in a garage or storage shed

You might also enjoy:

1. Pantry Challenge Update
2. My Pantry Challenge
3. THRIVE foods tip: Buy Pantry Cans!

Welcome to week #6 in the “Survival Kit Ideas: A week by week approach” series.

This series is all about making it simple and do-able (and a bit fun!) to get a survival kit (aka 72 hr kit, bug out bag etc) put together for you and your family: something that will help you care for yourself without the aid of others for at least 3 days!

Creating such a kit can be overwhelming and financially difficult to do all at once.  So, through this series, I’ve broken it down for you into 26 small steps!  Just take one small baby step each week and in 6 months you will have a well stocked kit!

You can even go through the series a few times over a year or two adding just the most basic supplies the first 6 months and then a few more  “extra” supplies each time you cycle through it again.  No need to get overwhelmed.  Just do what you can!

And don’t forget that I give stuff away each week too!  I not only want to make this simple for you, but each week, I’d like to help one of you out financially by providing supplies to help you fulfill the coming week’s goals. To enter the drawing each week simply leave a comment on the current week’s post about what you have done or plan to do for your kit that week!

Last Week:

I hope all of you were able to add dinner items to your kit  last week.  Food is an essential part of your kit!

Week #5: Cooking

If the foods you added to your 72 hour kit require any sort of preparation, you will want to be sure you have the tools necessary to make use of your food.  Much of the food I suggested did not require any prep, and it is a great goal to have most of the food in your survival kit meet this ideal.  But chances are that some of your food will require some preparation.  So, this week, we will talk about things you may need to prepare & cook your food and next week we will talk about the tools you will need to actually eat your food.

Many of the tools below are “multi-tools” meaning they serve many different functions.  I highly recommend quality multi-tools in your kit as they will cut down on weight and save space.  If you’d like to read about some of the other types of “tools” I will be recommending later in the series, you can read over these posts:

• Week #15: Hand Tools
• Week #16: Communication
• Week #17: Light
• Week #18: Random Tools

Based on the foods I listed in the last two posts, here are a few suggestions of things you might want to consider.  I’ve included some links to items you can buy from me through Shelf Reliance.  To be clear, if you choose to do this I am compensated (and thank you for it). You can read more about that here.  You may be able to find some of these things for less elsewhere or you may already have these in your home.  If so, just be sure to add them to your kit.  I simply want to give you some ideas & options!

Suggestions / Ideas:

Opening Your Food:

• Sewing Kit
• 12-in-1 Scissors
• 14-in-1 Multi-tool
• Leatherman Style tool and lockback knife
• Deluxe Pocket Knife
• Knife with LED Flashlight
• Crank can opener (great for #10 cans)
• 14-in-1 Multi-tool
• 6-in-1 Survival shovel

Heating Your Food (Oatmeal, Hot cocoa, or soup / entrees etc):

• Stove in a Can
• Wing Stove
• MSR Windpro
• Heat Cell (small, light,  just $4 and will burn hot enough to boil water for 4 hour or warm a tent for 8-9 hours…safe to use inside a tent)
• 5 Piece Mess Kit
• 16 Piece Cook 
• Aluminum foil (thanks to reader Marcia for this suggestion!  Wrap food in foil and throw it in a fire to cook w/o needing any cookware!  Easy, cheap, light and small!

Anything Ive missed? (Next week we will talk about the tools you will need to actually eat your food)

What we have done in our family:

We have a small sewing kit, a 6-in-1 Survival shovel  and a fancy pocket knife my husband uses for backpacking (which he owned before we were married).  We also currently have 3 heat cells and a wing stove in each of our two adult kits a well as a 5 Piece Mess Kit.  in the main kit.

How About You? / Enter Drawing

Leave me a comment and tell me how you will cook the food in your kit and what you will include to make that possible.  What are you adding?  Why?  What will you be doing this week?  Remember, everyone who participates by leaving a comment between today, May 16th  and 9:00 am PST on Wednesday May 23rd will get one entry into this week’s free product drawing!   This week’s winner will win a 16-piece cookset which will help them fulfill next week’s challenge:

And don’t forget….

Add $1 per person to your survival kit this week.  Make sure you use $1 bills and / or quarters.

Last Week’s Winner:

I had 39 entries (only 1 entry per person and only comments between May 9th and May 16th count) and according to random.org, comment number 40, or Emily D., was the winner of the Camp Stove!    Emily said:

Congrats Emily!  I will contact you by email with details about how to claim your prize that should help you with this week’s challenge!

Skip to:

You might also enjoy:

1. Survival Kit Series Week #7: How ya gonna eat?
2. Survival Kit Series week #9: Where ya gonna sleep?
3. Survival Kit Series Week #25: Rotate

Thanks to all of you who commented on the last roundup.  I’m glad to hear that you like them and find them helpful.  I will try to post one every 1-2 months!  Here is what I’ve got for you today:

Chicken Burrito Bowl inspired by Chipotle Mexican Grill by Joyce from THRIVE Quick Dish. All I really have to say is, YUM!
	Whole Wheat Crackers from Megan at My Food storage Cookbook.  My kids could not live w/o crackers.  So I’ve got to have a few good homemade recipes up my sleeve!
Black Beans by Laura are Real Food Storage. THRIVE instant beans make it so easy to cook tasty, yummy beans!
	Tasty English Muffins from Heather at Cooking with my Food Storage.  No need to “scald” your milk with these!

A big thanks to Joyce, Megan, Laura and Heather for sharing their fabulous recipes!  Jump on over to their sites and try them out!

You might also enjoy:

1. Food Storage Recipes Roundup 1/10/12
2. Food Storage Recipes Roundup 3/20/12
3. Food Storage Recipes Roundup Nov 15, 2011

Today’s post is from one of you!  Yep, that is right!  Today’s post is from one of my fabulous readers!  One of my favorite things about this blog’s growth is that as it grows I get more comments from all of you.  And you know a lot!  Many of you know far more than I about many topics related to preparedness and I enjoy learning from you and the comments, thoughts and suggestions you leave.

A while back, I did a post about hand tools that you might consider including in your survival kit.  Reader “John K” left a fantastic comment on that post about using maps.  I have very little knowledge / skill in this area, but it is something I would really like to improve on.  I asked John if he would be willing to share his knowledge with me (and therefore all of you) and he quickly agreed to do just that.  Even with work and Army duty he has taken the time to write a fantastic 5-part series on the topic of Land Navigation.

A bit about John!

John is a United States Army Reserve Master Sergeant with 23 years of service included several deployments.   His deployments include support of Desert Shield/Storm, Uphold Democracy, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.  He is an avid hunter, fisherman and target shooter who grew up in rural Massachusetts and currently makes his home in Virginia.  He also coaches youth sports and plays soccer.  He is the father of two wonderful children.

Wow!  He most certainly has my gratitude for his service as well as my respect and admiration.  I’m excited to learn from him about navigation over the next few weeks!  I hope you all learn as much as I have!

Land Navigation Part One: Maps and Equipment

Prior to beginning any trek, there is some basic equipment that is needed to successfully navigate. At a minimum a map and compass will be needed. Handheld GPS units are great but have two limitations; First is they require batteries once those are dead the unit is useless, second in areas that there is significant mountains or overhead cover they may not be able to get enough signals to determine your location. A small straight edge, a piece of string and a pencil are very useful.

A compass

A compass is a device that uses the natural magnetic field of the North Pole to determine your direction of travel. It contains a marked 360 degree floating dial. North is always 0 or 360 degrees with east south and west being a 90 degree intervals.   There are several different designs of compasses. The most common are the map, sighting and lensatic. Each has a use and will suit your purpose.

• The map compassis a flat compass with a clear bottom. The advantage to this is that the compass can be placed directly on the map to determine direction the disadvantage less
  

  Map Compass

  accurate in determining the direction of travel.

• The Sighting Compass has a base similar to the Map compass but has a hinged top that allows the user to sight a target to navigate to as well as track azimuths on the map. This make over the ground travel much easier.
• The Lensatic Compass is a military style compass that has a solid base, a hinged top, a sighting device and thumb loop.   Used with a protractor this is the most accurate (my opinion) method. When the cover is opened to a 90 degree angle a small wire can be seen. Using the sighting device which contains a lens and a sighting slot is placed a 45 degree angle they can be used to aim the compass in the exact direction of travel.
• A protractor is a clear plastic device that is used on the map to determine the azimuth (degrees) that the direction of travel will be. This is also used to help determine your location of your lost (will be covered later).
• Button, watch and other small compasses are sufficient in an emergency however they will not be as accurate as the larger ones listed above.

A map

A map is a scaled representation of the Earth’s surface.  The most common ones are road maps and topographical maps. Each has purpose and limitations.

• Road mapsare representations of the road networks of a specific area. They may cover areas as small as a town or large as entire countries. They generally provide a legend which
  

  Photo Credit: Norman B. Leventhal

  details the symbols on the map. These maps are very useful when traveling by automobile. They display the type of road are contained in the network i.e. Highways, main streets and dirt road (sometimes labeled as unimproved).

• Topographical maps are representations earth surface with natural and manmade features depicted.  These maps contain grid lines which represent recognized latitude and longitude lines marking specific regions of the earth. The maps also contains contour lines, these represent the shape and elevation of the Earth’s surface. This feature is very useful when traveling by foot. I will allow you to avoid possibility difficult terrain. By doing this you can choose a route that is easier and matches your physical ability.

There are many different styles and sizes of maps available to the public, both Road and Topographical. There are single sheet maps that fold up to small packages and the scale varies. Atlas contain a large area but with pages broken down to smaller areas of that region. They are available in both types of maps. Typically Topographical maps do not list street names only that one is there.

GPS

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a device that receives signals broadcast by a series of 24 satellites orbiting the Earth. The receivers triangulate the signals from three or more satellites to determine the exact position within several meters. A minimum of three signals are required to obtain a 2D reference and four to obtain a 3D position. GPS units are available in vehicles, phones and on hand held units. They can be used to locate, plot a course find the way back to origin etc. They are extremely accurate and useful for traveling in unfamiliar territory. While these are excellent devices they pose two disadvantages, battery life and technology failure. For extend periods of use spare batteries or a method of recharging will be required. As with any electronic device technological failure is always possible and could render the device useless.

Ranger Beads

The final piece of equipment and information is your pace count and “ranger beads”. These will be needed when you are moving on foot. Ranger beads are simply a set of beads that can be used to keep track of the distance you have traveled. They are usually two sets of beads on a string with a knot in the middle. You slide beads up or down to keep track of the measured distance you travel.  The top set is used to count the complete revolution of the bottom set. Pace count is a method of measuring distance using the number of footsteps taken over a measured distance.

• To determine you pace count go to a place with a mark distance of at least 110 yards. A football field is the best. A football field is a total of 120 yards. The end zones are each ten yards and the middle playing surface is a 100 yards.
• Starting at the goal line walk with a normal step to the end of the opposite end zone. Count the number of steps you take with one foot. Repeat at least four times and average the number. This is the count you will use to track a 100 meters. (100 meters is 109.4 yards therefore you will be within one step of 100 meters) Meters are much easier to use then yards since most maps contain a metric scale, partial distances are easier to compute and do not require converting yards to miles.

Coming Soon…

This is the basic equipment and knowledge that you will need to have to successfully navigate over land by foot or vehicle.  How to use the equipment will be covered in later posts:

1. Land Navigation Part One: Maps and Equipment
2. Land Navigation Part Two: Map reading
3. Land Navigation Part Three: Plotting a course
4. Land Navigation Part Four: Basic Navigation
5. Land Navigation Part Five: field expedient methods

You might also enjoy:

1. Survival Kit Series week 4: Food Part One
2. Survival Kit Series Week 5: Food Part Two

Yet, more often than not, that is exactly what happens.  I’ve worked with many people over the last year and a half that have had a well stocked home store for a lot longer than I have. You may wonder why these people have come to me as a food storage consultant if they already have a home store stocked with food.   Well, the reason is that most of them have effectively “killed” or wasted that food in one of four ways:

#1 Way to “Kill” Your Food Storage: Heat

Food should be stored between 40-70 degrees Fahrenheit: the cooler the better.  Most of the “shelf life” ratings you will find on food are based on a storage temperature of about 60-70 degrees

As a general rule, for every 10 degrees over 60-70, you cut your shelf life in half for most products.  So, if you have a can of green beans from the grocery store that says they expire in 3 years, but you’ve stored them at 80 degrees, you should probably throw them out after about a year and a half.

On the flip side, for every 15 degrees under 60-70, you double your shelf life for most products (to a point).  So, if you store that same can of green beans at 50 degrees, you would likely be safe using them 4-5 years later.

Heat alone typically will not make your food unsafe, but it will cause it to lose it’s nutrition and flavor which makes it unappealing as useless as a nutrition source.

Some may say, well, it is 40 degrees in my garage in the winter and 90 in the summer, so that balances out to an average of about 60 degrees, so I’m good, right?  Wrong.  Large temperature swings are almost as bad for your food as high temps.  Big fluctuations in temperature like that can cause cans to expand and contract and mess with the seams causing a poor seal (and exposure to oxygen & moisture).

Many of the good intentioned people I mentioned above stored their food in a hot garage and effectively “killed” it.  When they went to open it and use it, they found the food completely inedible even though it had a shelf life of 25 years and maybe it had only been 20.

Don’t make the same mistake!

#2 Way to Kill Your Food Storage: Light

Photo Credit: Turbidity

Exposure to both natural and artificial light can damage food.  It is called photodegradation.  Light causes a chemical reaction food that can cause it to develop off-flavor or a change in color or vitamin loss.  Oil is especially susceptible as are vitamins A, D and E.

As often as possible, food should be stored in opaque containers kept in dark closets / areas of your home that are rarely exposed to light.

I’ve met many good intentioned people who spent hours and hours over years of their lives canning food to preserve for later, and then putting those beautiful glass jarred goods in an open pantry with lots of light exposure.  When they went to eat the food they had spent so much effort on, they were sorely disappointed to find that all that light exposure had “killed” their food stores.

Don’t make the same mistake!

#3 Way to Kill Your Food Storage: Humidity & Oxygen

Have you ever wondered why freeze dried food has a longer shelf life than dehydrated food?  The reason is that is has a lot less moisture left in it.  Humidity and oxygen speed microbiological growth and can make your food unsafe to eat.  Ideally, you should store your food at 15% humidity or below.  However, this is very unreasonable for most areas.

So, the solution is proper packaging. Buy things that are already correctly packaged and sealed in food grade buckets or mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.  Or, learn to properly package foods this way yourself.

In addition, even when food is properly packaged in a metal can, humidity can cause those cans to rust.  This is one reason why Shelf Reliance double lines all their THRIVE cans.  They are the only company I know of that does so.

I’ve seen many well intentioned people spend money on big bags of flour or rice, or anything else from Costco and throw it on a shelf in their cool, dark, but humid pantry.  Sadly when they went to use it, they found it rancid.

Don’t make the same mistake!

#4 Way to Kill Your Food Storage: Time

Are you using your food storage?  If not, you need to!  Yes, 10-30 years is a very long shelf life, but it is still limited.  And unless you are doing very well at all the above mentioned things, the shelf life of many of your foods will likely be shorter.  If you don’t use your food before that shelf life, you will waste it, and the most expensive food we buy is the food we throw away!

The solution is to only store foods that you enjoy eating and can incorporate into your everyday lifestyle.  I highly encourage you to try food before you buy a large supply of it.  Make sure you like how it tastes, that you can cook with it and that the quality is high enough for your family.  If you would like to try THRIVE food, I would be happy to send you a small sample for just the cost of shipping ($6.99).  Just email me at misty@yourownhomestore.com

I have been very pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use THRIVE in my everyday life.  It is very high quality, good tasting, easy to use food.  I’ve compared it many times with other options and THRIVE has always been the best.  As such, it not only works as “food storage,” or a way to stock my home store, but I buy less groceries b/c I use THRIVE everyday, so it saves me money on our monthly grocery bill.   Best of all, I won’t have to throw away thousands of dollars in food in 20-30 years b/c I never got around to using it.

Sadly, I’ve seen many well intentioned people do just that.  They invested thousands in food to protect their family, only to throw that food away years later b/c they didn’t use it and “killed” it with time.  That was some expensive food!

 Don’t make the same mistake!

You might also enjoy:

1. Top Food Storage Tips: Food Storage isn’t just for natural disasters
2. Top Food Storage Tips: Food Storage will allow you to give.
3. Top Food Storage Tips: Move Beyond Wheat

They don’t know where to start!

I can sympathize with them; it can seem an overwhelming process. But what I have found helpful is getting your mind, life, and home organized. No, this isn’t an article about organization, it is an article about lists, lots and lots of lists; in fact so many lists I even recommend a list of lists!

A list of lists?

Yes, it helps to know what you have and where you have it. Your lists will help you see what you already have, where it’s located, and will also help you realize what you still need. When you inventory your goods then you will be able to catch little things, like maybe you have four cases of brownie mix stored but only four rolls of toilet paper. (A problem I’m sure you want to know about ahead of time.)

Having lists with the items location noted will also help you quickly locate a needed item, saving valuable time in an emergency.

In today’s society of abundance many of us really have no idea what we own. This can lead to us purchasing a duplicate item simply because we do not know what we have. Or it can go the other way, thinking we have plenty of something only to later discover we have already used it.

Compiling our List of Lists and each individual list will take some time. It will also require more than one article to explain it all but that’s OK. By taking our time and doing it right we will not feel overwhelmed and we will have made excellent strides in our preparedness plans.

So, with that we now go to our List of Lists. The first entry of our list of lists is:

Food List

First thing you need to do is to make a list of every edible thing you currently have stored. I know this sounds like a lot of work but it is a step that shouldn’t be skipped.

When you keep a food inventory of what is in your freezer and on your shelves and in the boxes under your bed and hiding on the top shelves of your closet, and…of well, you get the point..it helps to assure a few things.

1. You will know what you have at all times.
2. You will know what you need more of.
3. You will know where those items are located.
4. You will know what your family is and is not eating. (Having a large supply of pinto beans will be a complete waste if your family never opens them.)

One of the most important things to remember in food storage is to store what you eat and eat what you store.

This food list will be your inventory. It will be helpful if you record it on an inventory sheet. An inventory sheet doesn’t have to be complicated, but you will want to be able to list the item, the size, and how many. You will also want a place where you can make a note when you add items in and when you take items out. (I’ll be happy to send you a copy of the one I made. Just drop me an email at brigettedennis@ymail.com)

I won’t go over all the items you will need on your food list right now but you can go to Shelf Reliance’s Food Planner. It will help you plan how much you need to store for your family. Just click on the green link above and it will walk you through everything.

On a side note, I don’t inventory items in my kitchen cupboards. These are foods taken out of my food storage for the week’s meals or they are fresh food. When I purchase food it goes into my storage area, I record it and then I take out my oldest food to stock my kitchen cupboards for the week and I take those items out of my inventory. Otherwise I would be adjusting my inventory sheets several times a day.

I keep my inventory on a clipboard with a pen attached to it and hang it on the end of my shelves. It’s easy, convenient, and saves time.

Water List

Next item on my list of list is my water list. Now please remember not everyone’s list will look the same as not everyone is in the same situation or location. This is just to help you start to think about what you have and how it can be used.

Your water list might look something like this:

List of Water

• Bottled Water

Our first item is relatively simple, how many bottles of water do you have stored and what are their sizes and where are they located.

The rest of the items are often overlooked but I will touch on each one briefly

• Containers to Store Water in

What types of containers do you have on hand that you could fill with water? Do you have large 50-gallon drums (nice but hard to move), sealable 5 gallon buckets, empty jars or collapsible water containers? Where are they? How many do you have? Can you move them or are they to awkward to move?

• Water purifiers, strainers, and water treatments.

Do you have anything on hand to purify water, not filter it but purify it? If so do you know how to use it? Is it light enough to carry? How much water will it purify and how long will its elements last?
Do you have cheesecloth or other woven material where you can strain your gathered water to remove any particles before adding water to your purifier? (This will help your purifier last longer and also keep unexpected minnows out of your water supply; I speak from experience.) What about chemicals to sanitizes your drinking water and do you know how to use them?

• Items needed to help gather water from lakes, streams, springs, and creeks.

Are you located near of body of water? If so, how are you going to draw and carry that water?

• Downspouts and other runoffs

Do you have rain barrels or large sheets of metal and containers where you could gather rain runoff?

• Wells

Most wells today have pumps that are run by electricity. If the electric is down do you have a means to draw this water out?

• Items to transport the water.

Ever try to carry water? It’s heavy! Weather your totting water from a nearby stream or your storage locker in the basement you have to consider how you’ll move it. To this list you might want to list handcarts, garden carts, or even a pull behind shopping cart or baby stroller. Anything that would help you transport water without straining your back or giving you an unexpected bath.

I’ll be back in a few weeks to continue our List of Lists, in the meantime please leave a comment below to let me know how your list is coming along.

And remember, don’t just plan to survive, thrive to survive.

You might also enjoy:

1. Survival Kit Series Week #26: List
2. Wish List Emergency Supplies Bucket

Welcome to week #5 in the “Survival Kit Ideas: A week by week approach” series.

This series is all about making it simple and do-able (and a bit fun!) to get a survival kit (aka 72 hr kit, bug out bag etc) put together for you and your family: something that will help you care for yourself without the aid of others for at least 3 days!

Creating such a kit can be overwhelming and financially difficult to do all at once.  So, through this series, I’ve broken it down for you into 26 small steps!  Just take one small baby step each week and in 6 months you will have a well stocked kit!

You can even go through the series a few times over a year or two adding just the most basic supplies the first 6 months and then a few more  “extra” supplies each time you cycle through it again.

And don’t forget that I give stuff away each week too!  I not only want to make this simple for you, but each week, I’d like to help one of you out financially by providing supplies to help you fulfill the coming week’s goals. To enter the drawing each week simply leave a comment about what you have done or plan to do for your kit that week!

Last Week:

I hope all of you were able to add breakfast and lunch items to your kit  last week.  There were a lot of great comments left and it seemed like many of you were really working on it!  Like I mentioned last week, you have one more week to get all the food you need in your kit.  I know a lot of what I’ve got below is a repeat from last week, but I’ve included it just so you don’t have to jump back and forth between the posts…

Goals:

You should have a few goals in mind when adding food to your kit.  Keep in mind that you may be in a variety of situations if forced to use your kit.  You may be on the move.  You may not have much water.  You may not have much fuel.  You may be very busy.  You may be overwhelmed / scared.  However, there is no one answer for all families.  Everyone is different and some of the following things may be more important to you than others.  But as a general rule, you want your food to meet as many of the following requirements as possible:

• Lightweight
• Can be eaten without a water / heat source
• Easy to prepare (if you choose to use water / heat to prepare it)
• Nutritious
• Appetizing / familiar (consider a few comfort foods)
• High in Calories
• Long shelf life (in case you forget to rotate every six months).  You can also vacuum seal much of what you include to make it last longer.

What to Avoid:

A few things I’ve learned from experience not to include (please add your own suggestions / thoughts in the comments):

• Pop-top cans (soups etc): They can pop open rather easily and create quite a mess in your bag.
• Jolly Ranchers: They melt!  Once they’ve melted they are difficult to eat. 
• Mint Gum: If kept with your other food, it makes everything taste like mint (but you could keep it elsewhere if this is a good comfort food for you)
• Nuts:  Because of the high fat content, they go rancid rather quickly.  If you are really good at rotating them every 6 months, they should be fine, but if you know you tend to rotate less often (like me), you may want to avoid them.
• Crackers / Granola Bars: These are great options unless they are in a position where they are easily crushed/ smashed.  Then, they become difficult to eat.  UNLESS, you use reader Tiffany’s tip: put them inside an older Pringles tube (or similar).
• Fruit / Applesauce cups: They just don’t stay sealed very well, which can result in a big mess all over your kit.
• Canned Goods: This is just personal preference, but they are heavy and bulky.  They don’t taste great cold.  If you do choose to include them, you will also need a can opener.  I think freeze dried options are better.  Ideally you would have water to hydrate them, but if not, they are safe to eat dry.  I will include both options in the list below as canned goods are far less expensive and this benefit may be more important to you than weight.

Dinner Suggestions:

• Thrive Express! (I will actually be switching ALL my lunch / dinners in my kit to these.  They taste fabulous and are nutritious.  But you will need to make sure you have water to eat them)
• Tuna Pouches (the pre packaged ones at the grocery store with crackers and everything)
• Canned Ravioli / Spaghettios etc.
• Canned beans / chili / stew
• Canned chicken / tuna + mayo / relish packets
• Dried soup mixes (will likely need to be cooked to be eaten…most include dehydrated foods which must be cooked).  These can be purchased in a larger size and then re-packed with a vacuum seal into smaller more manageable sizes..
• MREs (taste similar to Chef Boyardee. Usually come with their own heater and require no separate water / heat source.  Relatively long (5 yr) shelf life.  Are prone to exploding)
• Shelf stable sausage stick (like Hickory Farms.  MUST rotate.)
• Hormel Completes (or similar)

You might also enjoy:

1. Survival Kit Series week 4: Food Part One
2. Survival Kit Series Week #25: Rotate
3. Survival Kit Series Week #6: How ya gonna cook?

THRIVE Package Special: Baking Essentials Pkg: $88.29		Food Rotation System Special: Harvest Under the Bed: $75.99
Retail: $127.84Sale Price: $88.29		Buy 4 & Fit an entire Harvest System under 1 Queen Bed!
(3) #10 cans All New Instant Milk ($3 / gallon) (1) #10 can Butter Powder (1) #10 can All New Whole Egg Powder ($0.81 / doz med eggs) (1) #10 can Shortening Powder		Short on Space?  Did you know you can fit 460 regular cans or 112 #10 cans under 1 queen bed with (4) of these systems?
Sample Pack of the month: Fruit & Veggie Sampler: $67.29		Emergency Supplies Special: Deluxe Backpack: $18.50
Retail: $97.66 Sale: $67.29 New to THRIVE?  Try some samples for a great price!		Retail: $31.99 Sale: $18.50 This is the pack I use for my 72 hr kits.  It is awesome!
(1) Pouch Each (all are freeze dried): 1 Raspberries 1 Blackberries 1 Blueberries 1 Peach Slices 1 Pineapple Chunks 2 Strawberries 1 Broccoli 2 Sweet Corn 1 Celery 1 Spinach 1 Potato Dices 1 Green Beans		Easy adjustable shoulder and waist straps Includes a hood compartment Extra large main compartment Two mesh side pockets Constructed of heavy-duty material

Throw some unique THRIVE flavor into your meals with this month’s specials! Create tasty entrées with Seasoned Chicken Slices, unbeatable baked goods with Blackberries, and fantastic smoothies with Cherry Yogurt. With THRIVE, you’ll have everyone asking your secret to fast, delicious, and convenient meals. Browse our May specials below and save up to 20% when you order! Special pricing end June 1st.

Prices listed are for one #10 can and will be available through June 1st at 5:00 pm MST.  If you buy any product in a case of 6 cans, you will save an additional 5%.  Click on green link below to view ALL the THRIVE #10 can specials:

You might also enjoy:

1. April 2012 Specials:
2. Your Own Home Store Shelf Reliance Specials: September 2011
3. June 2011 Shelf Reliance Specials

IMPORTANT: How to Order

Most of the following specials are not available directly online through my Shelf Reliance website.  If you would like to take advantage of any of these deals, please click on the green link below to be taken to an order form:

Time Sensitive May Specials Order Form

I will then email you a total with shipping and tax, collect your payment info and place your order for you!

Harvest 72″ #10 cans Retail Price: $459.99 Regular Sale Price through me: $270.29 Sale Price through May 20th: $229.99 Details: Holds 112 #10 cans 72″ Tall 36.5″ Wide 24.5″ Deep ORDER NOW To get the $229.99 price, you must following these instructions: Click on this link  (the price you see at this point will be $356.81) Add the Harvest to your cart. (the price you see at this point will be $270.29) Click on the red “checkout” button Log-in or register (if you choose “check out as a guest” instead you will not get the full discount and will pay $270.29) Enter your billing or shipping information Enter payment information (the price you will see at this point will be $229.29!!!) Submit your order

Ultimate Veggie Pkg Regular Retail Price: $524 Regular Sale Price through me: $378 Sale Price through May 20th: $322.40 Details(all are #10 cans): (3) Freeze Dried Sweet Corn (3) Sweet Potatoes (2) Freeze Dried Green Peas (2) Freeze Dried Cauliflower (2) Potato Chunks (2) Red & Green Bell Peppers (2) Freeze Dried Broccoli (1) Chopped Onions (1) SPlit Green Peas (4) Carrot Dices (2) Freeze Dried Spinach (4) Potato Beads (2) Freeze Dried Potato Dices ORDER NOW

Beef TVP Bucket Retail Price: $77.99 Regular Sale Price: $56.89 Price through May 20th: $47.09 Includes a gamma lid! ORDER NOW	White Rice Bucket Retail Price: $52.99 Regular Sale Price: $47.09 Price through May 20th: $37.29 Includes a gamma lid! ORDER NOW	Water Filtration Bottle 12 pk Retail Price: $359.88 Regular Sale Price: $173.49 Price through May 20th: $131.29 Learn More Here   ORDER NOW
Wheat Flour Bucket Retail Price: $58.39 Regular Sale Price: $45.08 Price through May 20th: $37.29 Includes a gamma lid! ORDER NOW	Chicken TVP Bucket Retail Price: $83.49 Regular Sale Price: $56.89 Price through May 20th: $47.09 Includes a gamma lid! ORDER NOW	H20 Reserve 20 pk Retail Price: $179.80 Regular Sale Price: $134.26 Price through May 20th: $117.59 Learn More Here   ORDER NOW

You might also enjoy:

1. March Specials
2. Aug 2011 Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant Specials
3. December THRIVE Specials:

And when you’re a Girl without a plan, 3pm-4pm is the most stressful part of the day. You know…that moment when you must attempt to answer life’s most persistent question, “WHAT’S FOR DINNER?” And if you’re like me, it’s not just about getting something, anything on the table. I like to cook what I want, when I want and Thrive makes that possible. Planners and organizers take a deep breath in and let it out slowly as you prepare to enter my world.

Step One: Find a Recipe

All last week I had been making eyes at the curvy butternut squash on my countertop, so when Friday afternoon came around pizza was out and butternut squash was in. Google was good to me and lead me to this yummy dish at food.com (original recipe at the end of this post):

Baked Penne With Butternut Squash and Ricotta

Step Two: Start Cooking

First, I set the oven to 375ºF and started peeling and chopping my squash, trying unsuccessfully to get them all even and uniform (it’s just not in my nature). I tossed them with some olive oil, salt and pepper and placed them on a baking sheet to roast (20-30 minutes). Then, I got the pasta going and started on my white sauce. Which brings me to my next step.

Step Three: Discover The Missing Ingredient(s)

And the missing ingredient of the day was…MILK! We weren’t exactly out of it but we didn’t have enough to make a white sauce and still have cereal in the morning. So I guess you can say THRIVE saved my dinner and breakfast. I used my powdered milk and butter powder and some flour to make a quick batch of “Magic Mix” from Heather over at Cooking with My Food Storage, which is great for a basic white sauce. Here is the recipe:

To make the sauce I combined ½ cup Magic Mix and 1 cup water in saucepan, along with some garlic powder, salt and pepper. I cooked the sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickened.

Step Four: Add Something Just Because I Can

I don’t know about you but when I think of baked pasta I think of melted cheese; cue, freeze dried mozzarella. So while the pasta cooked, I put a cup of cottage cheese (substituted for the ricotta) into a small mixing bowl and added the mozzarella. The fun didn’t’ stop there. I also added 1/2 cup of freeze dried spinach. Spinach is often my “Just Because I Can” ingredient. (That 1/2 cup is like adding 3 cups of fresh spinach leaves. It’s just too tempting). I added some water add let it sit while the pasta finished cooking.

Step Four: Sit Down To Eat And Persuade The Little Ones To Do The Same

Finally, my squash had fulfilled its destiny and I was ready to dig in. My work, however, was not done. Once I added that spinach I knew the dish would become 100% less appealing to my five year old. I told him that he wouldn’t even taste it and how healthy and strong it would make his body. And as a last resort, I told him it was broccoli (a green vegetable I know he will eat). Success! And we all ate happily ever after.

Recipes:

Here are the two recipes: First, the original and then my modified version:

You might also enjoy:

1. Ricotta Cheese from THRIVE Instant Milk
2. THRIVE Pizza Quick Bread
3. THRIVE Calzones