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Sunday, May 25, 2008

3 month food supply preparation

A little bit ago, the First Presidency changed the directives on food storage. First step is to build a 3 month food supply that is part of your normal, daily diet. Next, store drinking water. Third, establish a financial reserve. And fourth, "build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, rice, and beans." For more information, see ProvidentLiving.org
We did a lot of work under the "old" food storage program, which focused more on the long term storage. So now, we (mostly me actually) have been focusing on the 3 month food supply. I thought I would share what we did and how it turned out. First, I sat down and made a dinner menu plan for 6 weeks (I am focused on dinner because the leftovers can be lunch and breakfast is generally cereal which we have a lot of right now). I then made a list of the ingredients from the recipes for Weeks 1 and 2, then 3 and 4, and finally 5 and 6. I added like ingredients together and came up with a minimum needs list for each 2 week period (we are paid every 2 weeks so that's how I shop for groceries).
Then I compiled all 3 lists twice (twice because 2 times 6 week makes 3 months basically). I then figured out what I needed to purchase, which is often different from what the sum was because of packaging verses recipe requirements. This is now my 3 month food storage checklist. I did the same thing for each 2 week period to have a shopping list for each pay period while I'm building my supply. Eventually, I'll be doing my "shopping" from the food storage and then using my 3 month supply shopping list to figure out what I need to buy each pay period, except fresh produce. I don't include produce because most won't last 3 months before going bad (aren't I smart?).
Tomorrow, I hope to post my actual 3 month list for you to get an idea of quantities for your family. I'll also post my menu plans.

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