Folks, please forgive me. It has been a mighty long time since I've posted.

Some of you may recall we're expecting our second bundle of joy. We've frantically searched for a larger home (current one is sooo tiny!) - but, alas; people have slap lost their minds in the rental arena in our area. The prices they are asking - the condition of the homes - their locations... it has been one thing, or another. Since time is now of the essence, and we HAVE to start readying for our new little bundle of joy, we have decided to simply buck up, & batten down the hatches here. Yes, our ability to do all we'd like with prepping is limited here. Hopefully, the economic forecast won't take a massive downturn, and all such manner of doom & gloom will be afar off.

This is an unexpected turn of events for us. We really thought we'd have an easier time of finding a place. But we're simply unwilling to burden ourselves with too-high rent, bad location (often for more money, WHAT?) or have to pull a HAZMAT team in to decontaminate a home before we move in.

So, at least for the time being, here we will stay.

And I guess that's what I sort of wanted to write about: Prepping where you are in life.

When we begin prepping, it's often fraught with anxiety: about all we lack, about what we need, about where we live.

Just about 'where we are' at that point in time.

But I feel it's unnecessary stress we place on ourselves. The books & articles about how to be completely protected, provisioned & possessing the ability to be fully self-sustaining are multitudinous. I agree with all of it. What a beautifully prepped world it would be, if only we could all live in the country with a farm, a garden, a well or two, and enough land to sustain us, and our 'plans'. Reality, tho, in modern Americana, is a vast departure from this dream. For most of us, anyway.





On top of that, LIFE EVENTS will, necessarily & rightly, shift our focus from time to time. You'll never catch me saying that prepping shouldn't be one of our highest priorities; and yet, there are simply seasons of life that will require it take a lower position on the priority list. Family, work, illness, finances, even our spirituality, will take place front & center on our radar.

That is certainly the place in which we find ourselves currently. While we are still slowly working on the food storage, our primary goals & objectives of late revolve around preparing this tiny home for a whole new person.. a baby. Our work around this house will be to make accomodations for that. My chickens will have to wait. My garden for the year, which I *had* originally planned on, is put on hold for next year. We'll spend an inordinate amount of time rearranging our tiny space so that we can have a functioning kitchen, functioning space for baby AND food storage.

And frankly, that's ok. Life happens, and just goes right on & on, regardless of our 'readiness' for it. "All we can do," says my wise ol' father, "is the best we can do." I'd only add, "and the best we can do is enough."

Life is to be lived, experienced and enjoyed. So don't be too concerned about prepping where you're at. Do all you can do, and it'll be enough for now. PLEASE don't stress about all the things you 'should' be doing. What we should be doing, at any given moment, is meeting the demands of life.

So it's ok if you're healing, and not training.

It's ok if you're stretching your dollar to feed your family THIS WEEK, and not storing food.

It's ok if you're whole mind is wrapped up in a family reunion. Family is important, and none of us is guaranteed the morrow.

It's ok if you're nesting, and not prepping.

Man, I love the internet! You can just find all sortsa information!

So, it was via facebook that I found this neat little blog: Canarella.

I haven't done any blog posts, myself, on canning as a means to becoming a Mom more Prepared, yet.. but that's only because I feel some pressure to actually begin using the brand new canner I've got sitting in storage. :-/  The only reason I haven't, yet, is that my home is exceedingly small, and I'm having issues just making room for all the rest of my food storage!

But I WILL start canning, soon. I will, I will, I will ;-)

If YOU are a canner, or are new to it, or want to begin.. check out Ms. Canarella's blog.

In addition to it's natural fabulosity, Ms. Canarella is also doing a Giveaway, open thru January 31st.

Check out these goodies!

• The Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
• Jams and Preserves - Gina Steer
• Two jars of Vanilla Beans from Silver Cloud Estates (3 beans per jar)

• One 4.7 oz jar of classic pectin
• One 5.5 oz. jar of pickle crisp granules
• One Bread & Butter Mix
• One Kosher Dill Pickle Mix
• One box of Lids w/Bands (regular mouth)
• One box of 12 lids

Just a neat little collection of goodies to get you and help you on your way into grander canning adventures!

Dinner Is In The Jar by Kathy Clark



SOG Specialty Knives & Tools F01T Tactical Tomahawk, Black



 



I Can't Believe It's Food Storage by Crystal Godfrey




This is one of the very first books I bought about food storage. I must say, I'm rather pleased with it.

Mrs. Godfrey is most assuredly a Mom, Prepared! She was among the first whose blog & videos I frequented. I learned a great deal from her. She's clearly rather experienced in what she teaches, and her heart is evident in her efforts to educate the rest of us. So, naturally, it didn't take me long to purchase her book. I'd actually seen her book on Amazon a few weeks before I happened upon her; once I realized that it was she who wrote 'that book I saw', I purchased it right away!

This fine lady is a believer, and there is a small bit of Scripture-quotin' in this book. I am a Christian, (though not LDS, as is Mrs. Godfrey), so I personally do not mind this aspect in the slightest.

What You'll Find In The Book:

* Simple equations to determine how much of what you'd need to store for your family.

* Ideas to get the whole family involved in the food storage goals.

* TONS of recipes using some of the more common dried food storage ingredients, such as: Powdered Milk, Powdered Eggs, Whole Wheat, Dried Beans, Dried Fruits & Veggies.

* Unlike some books on Food Storage, the recipes are NOT all long-term food storage ingredients. They may call for fresh ingredients, or something canned, such as a can of corn, or diced tomatoes. So these are easy-to-incorporate-into-your-daily-use types of recipes.

* She's included conversion charts - so yes, you can use these food storage ingredients in YOUR OWN recipes, too!

* Special Recipes, such as "Magic Mix", a basic white sauce recipe, and a recipe to make your own sweetened condensed milk.

* So much more.

I really like her style, and her heart toward helping others. I don't know Mrs. Godfrey personally, but you just get the sense that her primary motivation is to help others, and by doing so, equipping them to, in turn, help others still. I admire the boo-diggity outta that! Go, Crystal!

I just can't find a single thing to make this book not worth every cent you'll pay for it. I absolutely give this book a bright, sparkly, 5-star recommendation!

Being nearly half way through my second pregnancy has my mind on prepping for baby. It has inspired me to post a comprehensive list of  "Baby Preps", which I am still working on, well, because I really want it to be comprehensive. Look for it in the coming weeks.

But what I wanted to address today is sparked by a question recently posed, and it's a question on the hearts & minds of a lot of women, whether they already have children, or have yet to begin their families.

"Should I have a (or another) child?"

Personally, I don't think family planning should be a decision made upon the possibility that TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) could happen. Of ALL the things we take into consideration when planning our family, that should, generally speaking, be on THE bottom of the list.

The only time it *MIGHT* be a worthy consideration is if the mother has significant health issues.

Otherwise, what's to consider?

Not much beyond that, in my estimation. Adding a child to your family means adding more prep storage. As long as mother is healthy, then why not go for it?

Ya know, the thing is, none of us know when/if this life-altering scenario might take place. It *could* be tomorrow. Or six months from now.

Or it could take years.

A decade.

What if it's two?

On the other hand, women are created with a very specific window of fertility. We can't just get pregnant any ol' time, nor do we have the option to, forever.

What happens if you put off having children because you think society is falling apart.. but then, it turns out, that it doesn't?

If you will regret having never had children, or not having another... then there's your answer to "Should I have a baby?"

No, the world is not perfect. Yes, it seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, as we speak. We don't know, though, when it will arrive at that particular destination.

But Life Goes On.

And, if you ask me, it should.

'Cause life's always worth livin' :)

I wrote that I'd be getting some Bega Processed Cheese 'in a few days' in a recent post. Just due to circumstances, I wasn't able to get it in those few days. But I *DID* order it, and it has arrived. My review is below.

First let me tell you: I'm a cheese lover, and I'm also picky about it. Going in, I was worried about the taste of this cheese. After all, I'm not purchasing this cheese for day-to-day use; I'm purchasing it, because, should everything come crashing down around us, and access to cheese is limited or eliminated... life would be very bleak for me, indeed. Soon, I'll write a post about why we need to store various 'eats' that our family truly enjoys.. simply for the 'quality-of-life' aspect. In an emergency scenario, perhaps you and your loved ones could go without foods you love, for the short-term... but for the long term, you will definitely want to have these foods on hand, or the ingredients and know-how to make them.

Anyway, CHEESE is the 'must-have-on-hand' food for this Mama.

Alright, now that I've enlightened you to my unique perspective on cheese ;-) - on to the review.

I could cheer! No, seriously!

Alright, the specifics :)

It's labeled "Bega Processed Cheese". It does not read "Cheese Food" or "Cheese Product". It's a bit the size of a tuna can.. tho smaller around, and deeper. Made in Australia, and 200g Net Wt.

As I open the can, I see just what I've seen described on the 'net: A cheese, tightly packed within the can, the color of any ordinary white cheddar cheese. Indeed, the flavor of this cheese *is* a mild, white cheddar flavor.

It will not pop or slide out of the can; it must be sliced out.

Also, as I'd read in reviews online, it has the look of Velveeta.. altho it's not that way thru & thru; it also has a bit of a crumby texture to it, also... rather like real cheese. If you made a hybrid of Velveeta's texture, and real cheese's texture... this may well be what you'd end up with.

The taste testers were myself, the hubster, and our elementary grade daughter.

We tried it both alone, and on crackers.

Reviews as follows:

Dear Daughter: She doesn't like it. Sadly, this didn't surprise me a whole lot; she is the 2nd pickiest eater that I've ever known in my WHOLE. ENTIRE. LIFE. Haha! She doesn't even like Macaroni n' Cheese.. save for ONE kind (and no, its not Kraft!)  But she's also the kind of kiddo that gets ONE THING in mind that she loves, and she kind of closes herself off to anything else like it.. for a long time. Eventually, she comes around... and I think she would on this cheese. Mama's experience.

Da Hubster: "It reminded me of a spreadable, processed cheese.. like cheese & crackers. It was tasty. Yes, it was. It was tasty."

Mom, Prepared: I really could've cheered! I was so pleasantly surprised at how good it was. It does taste like a mild, white cheddar. The texture was acceptable.. nothing weird to me. And.. it was just GOOD. I bet this *would* make a good mac n' cheese, as one reviewer noted. I also think (and Hubby agrees) that it would be good anywhere: in a sandwich, in/on eggs, for Mexican.. I think mostly anywhere.

I am personally such a 'Cheesie' (my husband called me that - think: Foodie) that I won't limit my cheese food storage to just this brand. As a cheese lover, I need & desire OPTIONS here. But I can definitely tell you that this product has earned it way into the food storage budget.

Well done, Bega!

Earlier in the year, my husband and I were discussing our preps, and how far behind we feel we are, overall. In discussing ways in which we could budget more preps into our.. well.. budget, I suggested that we use Christmas as an opportunity to do so. After all, we're going to spend the money on SOMETHING, why not dedicate it to purchasing prep-related items?

He agreed that was a great idea!

Funny, how... just a month before Christmas, he sorta forgot about that whole, entire conversation. And how, when suddenly confronted with the idea of getting, perhaps, long-term food storage as a gift, he no longer thought it was such a jam-up idear.

Hahahaha!

Well, anyway. I mostly stayed true to my goal. Now, as a mom, and mom to a little, I didn't get our DD anything like that for Christmas, altho.. think not that she is 'prep-less' altogether. "She's" got more crayons and colored pencils stored than you could shake a stick at, for example. But clothes, books, pencils, etc.. those are the extent of her preps, I acknowledge.

Anyway, for hubs and myself, tho, I did manage to keep it mostly prep-related. No big high-dollar items... couldn't do that right now. But I did get us items that we can absolutely use in our preps.

BTW - I *didn't* get him food storage ;-)  But...Shhh! I kinda like the idea of him sweating that out, a little ;-)

So. You, now, fellow "Mom, Prepared". Are you gonna give any 'preppy' gifts for Christmas?

Bug-Out Bags. Go Bags. Get The Heck Outta Dodge Bags. Or, whatever else ya might happen to fancy callin' 'em...








Disclaimer: You'll soon see that Emergency Essentials is one of my favorite 'go-to' resources for all things preparedness. No, I don't work for the company, and I'm not being re-imbursed by them. I just really like 'em a lot.

One way that this "Mom, Prepared" has (sheepishly) not become prepared yet is our 'Go Bags', also known as "Bug-Out Bags". My bestie, one of my kindred spirits, & fellow "Mom, Prepared" is Counter Culture Mama.

She & her husband, in all their awesomeness, already have one giant bag (it's, like, 6 feet long?) of supplies, AND individual bags for themselves & each of their 3 children. I should probably enlist her aid in this, just so I can get it done... even if that aid is only in stayin' on my fanny to get it done :)

In addition to needing to compile those, I also need something that my husband can keep in his truck. His job requires him to be out and about in a very large city, every day, and its always in the back of my mind: "If something major were to happen, and he couldn't get home with the truck, how will he get home to us?" I brazenly admit, I dislike the thought of this very much. But, if it ever is a necessity, we are unprepared for him to have to hoof it home.

Enter the 3 Day Emergency Kit.
Price - $54.95 (they have bigger and smaller kits, also)

This kit has a lotta stuff in it. Their description reads:

"The 3-day emergency kit is a compact emergency kit with a daypack that includes basic emergency items for three days, providing items for shelter, water, food, first aid, warmth, light, communication, and more. The food, water, and other items in this 3-day emergency kit store well in a range of normal temperatures, making it a great automobile kit. The 3-day emergency kit is a great way to start preparing each person of a family, office, school, or workplace unit."

There are some things that I would add to it, like hand sanitizer. The larger kits contain these, but I have that in my stores, so that's an easy addition. But this kit has many of  the essentials that would be required for a 3 day trek home (or a 3 day trek somewhere).

I am seriously considering getting my husband one of these for Christmas. Maybe I should buy each of us one, and say Santa is a prepper, too ;-)

If you are a seasoned Mom, Prepared - you already know this. If you are just beginning your journey, you will quickly learn to adopt a bit of the point of view: "Any port in a storm."

This means that we may have items or brands of items in our stockpiles that we might not 'choose to use' on a regular basis.

This is true especially if you use coupons to grow your stores.

So, whether you are brand new, OR have been at this for some time, please go check your items for Kotex brand tampons.

According to Consumer Reports Health, in an article dated November 11, 2011, "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall warning for specific lots of Kotex tampons contaminated with a bacterium that could cause vaginal infections and other health risks."

You can read the full article here.

Please, please.. check your stockpile for any of the products listed in the recall. When removing them, be sure you call Kimberly-Clark for disposal instructions!

"Consumers with the recalled Kotex Natural Balance Security Unscented Tampons should immediately discontinue use of the product and contact Kimberly-Clark's toll-free Consumer Services Division (800-335-6839) to make arrangements for safe disposal of the recalled tampons."

I've had this conversation a few times, now.

"I can't afford to buy food storage."

"Yes," I say. "You can."

I already mentioned the use of coupons, which will only help in your quest. Soon, I will be posting about a recent shopping trip where, using coupons, we purchased several items that were already on sale. That trip, we got lotsa things to add to the stockpile and saved 50% at the register buy doing so. No.. it wasn't a year's worth of food. In fact, half of it wasn't even foodstuffs. But all were needed items, and we saved HALF at checkout. HALF, people! :)

But, I know there are some who haven't gotten that far yet; still others who may never utilize coupons. That is utterly a personal decision, but beyond that, I want to address those who, for whatever reason, feel like they simply can NOT afford to work on their preps.

How can you afford food storage? It's simple.


Spend $5 a week on your food storage/preps.




Now, you can simply add an extra Five Bucks wortha somethin' to your cart each week, or, if you are more disciplined, you can save it each week and buy $20 worth at the end of the month. That part is up to you. But even with this small amount, you most certainly CAN add to your food or other prep storage goals.

And I do mean add, significantly.

With just five bucks, you can buy a bag of rice, and a bag of dried beans. You can buy a few cans of soup. You can buy a few lbs. of salt (Yes! Salt and other seasonings are SOOO important!) You can buy some extra sugar, or honey.

I hope you're beginning to see that, even when money is tight, you *can* add to your stores, and if you are diligent, you will, over time, amass a respectable stock.

What if you don't have an extra $5 to spend?

Here, I will go back to couponing :) 

Because you can easily use enough coupons to save that $5 to then spend on your storage :)

I could certainly compile a list of Five Buck Preps, and, I probably will soon. But for the right now, let me share with you another prepper's list that I found online. It comes from 'AZPrepper' and he posted this list on the forum known as LDS Preppers.

Let me add here that he compiled this list back in 2009; as we all know, prices *have* changed, and mostly not for the benefit of the buyer ;-)  But I still post this list because it's representative of what doing 'A Little At A Time' can do for your food storage.

He wrote:

Blogs & websites, books & T.V. - these are all wonderful, wonderful resources to learn about, & get inspired about, being prepared. The blogosphere has blogs a'plenty... there's myriad websites out there. More and more folks are writing books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the subject. The most surprising, to me, anyway, is that you are seeing more and more of it on television. In the past year, alone, I've seen SEVERAL specials on the prepping lifestyle.

It almost makes ya wonder... is someone *trying* to prepare us for something?

ANYway, another wonderful resource is youtube. I will tell ya.. I've gotten more and sometimes, better info from watching other preppers' videos, than I have practically anywhere else.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to one of my personal favorites.

Her screen name is zappo888.

This woman is a sweet, dear thing. She strongly reminds me of probably *the* sweetest, dearest woman I ever knew. She is so soft-spoken, and just a little self-conscious; however, this woman is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. She is a long term prepper, and the stuff she knows will just knock your socks off. She is mindful of people's time, so she makes a concerted effort to keep her videos to a scant length - some less than 10 minutes, even. She not only gives 'how-to's', but she will sometimes give a recipe, or share a deal she found at a local dollar store. She is overflowin' with practical advice from her many years of living this lifestyle.

I will mention that she is LDS. But she doesn't push that. She isn't afraid to mention God, tho, so if that's a problem for you... well, I dunno. Her channel is about prepping, and I personally feel that ANYONE could gain a great deal from her sage wisdom.

So, here's the link to her channel. On the right hand side, you'll see her video list. It appears short, but be sure you click 'See More'. You'll find she has a whole, whole lotta videos - 330, as I write. Then spend some time perusing them. I'm 99% sure that you'll be glad you did.

If you do, subscribe to her channel!

Her message to all the Lady Preppers out there:

I'm taking a break from clipping coupons. We had discovered the awesome way in which we could save with couponing, and began doing so with earnest. (Earnest? Ok, maybe not *earnest*). But then, being a one-car family, which hubby requires for work, our couponing efforts came to a screeching halt. His work picked up, then took him out of town for a couple of weeks, and then we just fell off the couponing bandwagon.

And we've felt it at the register!

I've also felt it in our stockpile.

We had so recently begun using coupons, that we didn't really have a whole lotta stuff in said stockpile. I mean, we've got some toothpaste & shampoo, lemme tell ya... but we were lower on the foodstuffs, just because we hadn't been doing it so long.

But now that things have settled down some... AND we've felt the effects at the register of not having coupons... AND we've seen our food stuffs dwindling from use, but not replacement, we are finally jumping back into it.

Just what can you accomplish from couponing?

Have you ever watched the show "Extreme Couponing"?

Now, don't get in a snit, here... I know many, many people who coupon who HATE that show, find it a gross misrepresentation of the fair and normal practice of couponing. I would have to agree on a couple of levels, there. But the fact of the matter is simply this: Once you learn it, and commit to investing the necessary time into it... you will slash your grocery bill by at least 40%. The aforementioned show often highlights, well, extreme cases, with savings that are much higher, usually 90% or even more. Depending on where you live, and your stores' coupon policies, this may or may not be a true reflection of the savings that YOU could net.

As for us, there is not a single store in our city, that we can find, that actually doubles coupons. If you have access to a grocer like that, count your blessings and grab a coupon insert & scissors!! But, if you are like us, without such a store in sight, you can still benefit greatly from the use of strategic couponing. It is not uncommon for us to save between 50% and 70% at checkout.

We are not shelf clearers; nor are we extreme couponers in any fashion. Unless you plan on realistically outfitting your whole neighborhood's pantries with hot sauce, I can't see a single, solitary need to lug 102 bottles of the stuff outta the store. I will always urge someone new to couponing (or even the pros) to use common sense, and fairness in their couponing endeavors. I do know, tho, that some people don't; because of this, couponers & the use of coupons has become somewhat villifed of late.

But that is definitely NO REASON to be wary of couponing.

The simple fact is this: Coupons are like money in your wallet at checkout.

Well.... back to clipping! Have an amazing day :)