Literally, just like that, overnight, everyone became preppers.

For years we have listened to people claim preppers are radicals, self-focused, isolationists. Yet spring of 2020 proved that they aren’t as nutty as people thought. Have you heard me say that before? Probably – because for years I have heard it about myself.

Yet, how many times did you go to the store over the last number of months and find the paper product shelves empty with NO toilet paper shipment anywhere in sight? What about canned foods, foods in jars, and canning jars had vanished? It seemed for us, most of our local stores had PLENTY of fresh produce and frozen veggies, but meats and all the prepared foods were completely gone. All because of a virus and government control.

The lock-downs and quarantines are only one of the reasons why people have, for years, looked to storing foods for longer term. Some will say that prepping, is ONLY for times like this – when the world looks like it is going to Hades in a Hand-basket.

Well, I am here to tell you that food storage and prepping are for ANY emergency or sudden need.

I will give you a personal example. When my parents moved from Tucson, AZ to far western New York state, their first full winter was a DOOZY! Dad used to talk about how they had gotten 18 FEET of snow up by their house. I will say, that was over the course of the whole winter, but it was a bad year. Even when it melted, it didn’t melt all the way.

At one point, my folks hadn’t been able to leave the house for a few weeks or so. Suddenly, Mom called me one day and said, “Judith! I finally get it! Three weeks without leaving the house and I realize – we need food storage! Help me out! What do I buy first???” Mom and Dad were TIRED of eating Campbell’s soup two and three meals per day. We spent some time that day putting together a list for her, dad, the dogs AND the cats!

A quick note here: I happen to believe that if you are willing to take on the responsibility of animals, you ought to have foods storage for them, too. Not just pets, either, as even livestock will need to be fed during times of trouble.

I didn’t just help mom put together a list of foods to buy her next trip to the store. I asked her what she had IN the pantry and in the freezer – already. And we walked through some healthier meals for the two of them using what they have on hand. My folks were pretty resourceful, so it seemed odd to me that they couldn’t think things through. I think it was just that they were so used to eating more prepared foods and instant dishes. Habits they had developed over the years because both worked full time jobs. Once I helped mom see how much she already had, it made it easier for her to see what things to stick things in her weekly grocery bill and restock their pantry shelves for the next snowstorm or emergency.

Whether flood, tornado, hurricane, loss of employment, or pandemic. Whatever situation or emergency might affect your ability to run to the store to purchase your normal food items becomes a reason for you to keep food storage ready.

In my adult lifetime, I have had to live on food storage at least four times. All of those times involved a financial issue or hardship. Yet I know others who have had to do it because of being cut off from supplies – for example, a family’s home was on the other side of where a bridge washed out. It took over 3 months to repair. They had to use food storage until they could leave again.

My mother experienced even more times where she was trapped. After dad died, she was stuck for a few weeks at a time alone because of snowstorms and drifts blocking the roads enough that she could not get to town. Because she was ready with both supplies and recipe ideas, it was much less a hardship for her than it was early on.

There are a number of reasons for having preparedness supplies in your home other than Armageddon. If you stop and think about your home state, you can easily see the weather patterns, fire hazards, flooding, and other dangers that could leave you trapped and needing to live on what you have stored.

Evaluate your situation, get things stocked and ready now, and when the next adventure comes along, your stress may be greatly reduced because you are ready and able to feed your family, in spite of conflict going on around you.
​
Blessings and Shalom.

Not exactly a prepper portion, but...

​Sharing a funny little trick I did the other day that might help others. Everyone talks about how easy it is to clean a cooking pot of burnt on gunk with boiling water and baking soda. Well, last week, after a few little Thanksgiving mishaps, our burner drip pans were a MESS! I was trying to scrub them in the sink, thinking how much I could use a nice steel wool scrubby or old-fashioned powdered cleanser to get them clean.

As I stood there using elbow grease and dish soap, a thought hit me: What about that boiling water and baking soda method for pots and pans?

So, I grabbed a deep pot that would fit a few, added water, placed the burner drip pans one at a time in the water, sprinkled in some baking soda on top of it, then added another one, doing the same thing until three were in the pot. I only added three so that I could use the fourth burner to cook the pot.

I set it on the burner and brought it to a strong boil, then turned it down to medium to keep the boil while allowing it to simmer a bit. After about 5 minutes, using tongs, I pulled them out one at a time and scrubbed each with my standard dish sponge. I was amazed at how clean they came! Are they perfect? I have to say, no – that is why you won’t see a photo here. They still need some deep scrubbing to get some deep set-in burnt spills, but it should be easier now that they have been boiled.

I wish I had thought of this years ago – It would have made it so much easier so many times. I hope that maybe this idea will help you make your clean-up easier, too – especially if you spill Thanksgiving Turkey juice all over the top of YOUR stove like I did!

Now, if only I had a pot big enough to fit the entire enameled, stove top!
 
Blessings and Shalom!