Pilgrim’s Pantry

Last week, a freak storm blew through North Texas.  First came the thunder, next the wind gusts over 50 miles per hour.  Finally, the lights went out.  Losing power in Texas during the summer is a frightening thing – it’s hot and sticky, and since it was after 8pm, it was also getting dark.

At first we weren’t too concerned.  We have an emergency system with flashlights, radio, and a small power source.  BUT - when we went to get it, we found that it had been unplugged for a long time, and had no power stored up.  Oooops!  We stumbled around in the growing dark trying to find our flashlights and batteries, which didn’t seem to be stored in proximity to each other.

We finally found the right batteries for each flashlight (since they each took different sizes – kind of problematic for storage).  Luckily we also found some hand-cranked flashlights, so we were set.  The kids started in with their “light wars”, flashing the lights around the room as if they were light sabers from Star Wars, and we parents went for a cold drink from the fridge.

Second problem – the filtered water we dispense from the refrigerator doesn’t seem to work when the power is out.  We had ice, but no drinking water.  I really prefer not to drink the tap water in Texas – our only sources are lake water, and in the summer you can smell and taste the algae (nasty!).  I filled a glass with ice, and waited for it to melt.

So – there we were in the dark, with no ready source of cold water.  We had some bottled water stored in the garage, but since our garage is a disaster area, I was hesitant to brave it with only a small hand-cranked flashlight to guide me.

At this point, the lights came back on.  Hurray!!  Having learned a hard lesson that night, I sprinted to the fridge to fill up my water mug.  I had no sooner topped it off when we lost power again, and it didn’t come back for the next five hours.

Lessons learned?

1)      If you are going to keep emergency power sources, you need to keep them ready to go.  Ours had been unplugged, and so was useless in this emergency.

2)      Know where your light and energy sources are so you can easily find them in the dark.  I really loved my hand-cranked flashlight – no batteries needed!  (insert link to store, maybe amazon, for affiliate)

3)      Store extra batteries for flashlights and lamp sources.  If your batteries are old, they might not last during an emergency.

4)      Have a convenient source of water during the summer – you never know when you might need it!

We weathered the freak storm last week, but it got me going again on my organization and storage goals.  I realized I was woefully unprepared, and need to get better. 

How do you prepare for these types of emergencies?  What lessons have you learned that will help others get through weather events?

You know you eat out too much when NOTHING sounds good - not a sit down restaurant, not fast food, not even my perennial favorite - Pizza.  My family reached that state this past January - and I knew I had to do something about it.  Not only was eating out busting our budget, health, and waistline, it wasn’t even appealing at this point.  Something had to be done!

How did we get to this place, you might ask?  Well, I work full time, and my husband stays home with our two children - our three year old “busy body” daughter, who never stops going (and going, and going), and our five year old son, who is autistic.  My son’s autism means that much of my husband’s time is spent with in home trainers and therapists, and taking my son to external therapies (such as horseback riding therapy at Spirit Horse Therapy Center), so he doesn’t cook much.  By the time I get home, I don’t feel like cooking.  So it’s easy to fall into the fast food trap.

In January, 2008, when we literally we sick at the thought of eating out, it became apparent something needed to change.  As I thought about the problem, I first thought about OAMC - Once a Month Cooking.  So I spent a weekend cooking meals and freezing them.  It worked for a little while - we had home cooked meals that my husband could just heat and serve.

I also tried to come up with some easy recipes he could cook himself, as well as buying some convenience foods at the grocery store (like frozen stir frys, lasagnes, etc.).  We were doing fine - for about three weeks.  Then life got in the way again!

I’m slowing trying to get back on track where we are pre-cooking meals, planning ahead, and trying to use up what we have stored.  But it’s not easy.  That’s one of the reasons I am writing this blog and putting together all the resources I know that can help you and me succeed in providing for our families and living providently.  I need help - and I needed a place where I could get to the reference sites and find help and inspiration, without wasting time searching all over the internet.

I hope you find this site, and my blog sharing my experiences with trying to live a more provident life, to be helpful and maybe even inspiring.  I am not an expert - and I’m far from perfect in these areas.  It’s a daily struggle - but I hope you’ll join me in the journey, and we can help each other become more perfect in storage and preparedness!

And hopefully - someday - we’ll get off fast food.  Just maybe not today! 

Early last week, financial writer Brett Arends wrote an article called “Load Up the Pantry”.  The article has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, on Yahoo! Finance, and has been discussed on talk shows such as “The Glenn Beck Show” on CNN and on talk radio.  Essentially, Mr. Arends states that pre-buying food is a good investment, and will net you more than sticking the same amount of money into a savings account.

For years, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as “LDS” or “Mormons”) have been saying the same thing.  They have advised members to set aside a year’s supply of food, clothing, and where possible, fuel and money, to carry families through economic hard times or times of crisis or disaster. 

Ironically - most people who hear of this don’t understand the counsel.  They consider it “hoarding food” and point to the current times of plenty.  Well folks - those times are getting less plentiful, don’t ya think?  There are wheat and rice shortages around the world due to drought and other cropping priorities (like growing corn for Ethanol).  Granted, we don’t have shortages in the U.S. right now, but we have all seen rising prices on basics such as milk, bread, cereal, and other products.  Sam’s Clubs and Costco’s around the country are limiting the number of bags of specialty rice individuals can purchase, although there is no shortage or limits on regular long-grain rice. 

It’s interesting that now analysts are saying that food is a good investment.  That’s an interesting way to look at it - you are locking in food at today’s prices.  So as prices go up, you are eating cheaper because you are consuming your surplus bought at lower prices.  Eventually, you will have to replace at higher prices, but if you stock well enough, you might be able to ride out temporary price increases over the course of a few years.

Of course, I have to ask myself - why is this surprising?  Haven’t our leaders, whom we sustain as prophets, seers, and revelators, told us the same thing for decades?  Will articles like this help us turn the corner towards obedience?  I have to admit - my family does not currently have a year’s supply.  But we are diligently working to obtain one, mainly through trial and error.  I would encourage you and your families to do the same - not just becuase it makes economic sense, but because our church leaders have promised us blessings for being obedient.

If you want to read the article in full, you can check it out at one of these sites:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/104914/Load-Up-the-Pantry

What are your thoughts on this article?  Please share them by posting comments - I’d love to hear what you think!

Welcome to my new blog and website - Pilgrim’s Pantry.  The goal of this site is to provide information on building a simple and effective food storage program and increasing your personal preparedness.  I am on the same journey as most of you - living on fast food, overwhelmed by the thought of purchasing, storing, and using a year’s supply of wheat and dehydrated food, and lost on the internet when trying to find a single, effective site of suggestions and help.

What I hope to do is inform, inspire, and motivate you to start preparing your family, at whatever level works for you.  I also hope to provide a single entry portal to the best resources on the web, so you can spend your time preparing your pantry, instead of crawling the web looking for help.

Good luck on your journey!