I Heart Food Storage

I love case lot sales. For those who don't know what this is, it is a wonderful thing that a nearby grocery store does twice a year. They price typical food items for a cheaper price in bulk and you can pick up some to build on your food storage. As a LDS woman, I find this concept important because food storage is made to help out in times of needs whether there is a disaster by nature or a disaster financially which happens a lot these days. There have been times in the past where we have had to scrimp and save to amend our budget for different life style periods. Those moments have been easier to manage while having an ever growing food storage in my own home. It gives me a huge peace of mind knowing that if anything bad should happen, I can still provide common needs for my family and my kids.

Anyone who knows me well, knows this for a fact. They also know that I have devoted my pantry which is huge to begin with, but also another closet on the side. After this passed case lot sale, I have even moved into underneath beds for storage. We also received 2 huge water barrels to start up our water supply storage as well which is VERY important for us.

Anyways, on this recent pilgrimage to my semi-annual case lot sale, I encountered three funny comments from passers by. The first one was by a middle aged black woman as I was stacking my cart with the cases full of things. She saw my cases of sugar and said, "Is that sugar?"

I replied with "yup." Then she asked, "You can buy it in a case like that? How much is it?"

I then whipped out my spreadsheet that I prepare every time and responded with, "They are each $1.89 for 4 lb. bags and there are 10 in a case which you can get for $18.90."

She replied with, "Wow! That's really good and smart. You can buy sugar all at once and not have to come back and forth to the store to buy more whenever you need some."

That just flabbergasted me because I have been doing this since college and it never occurred to me that people spend so much money just buying a little at a time and have never considered buying and storing lots in their own home. Craziness! Should I be telling my friends more to do this as well?

The second comment came after I had picked up all the cases I needed. I was working my way through the store, picking up my less than a case full of items. I was in the baking isle and my cart had 6 bottles of vegetable oil and 5 jars of peanut butter and I was proceeding to file in 10 boxes of cake mixes. A young woman around the same age as be passed by and when she got a little further away she back tracked and said, "Excuse me. If you don't mind me asking, What exactly are you making?"

I smiled and told her, "Nothing in particular. Every year, this store has a case lot sale where you can buy things for cheaper. I like to bulk up on things I use so I can store them at home. This creates a sort of mini grocery store in my own house so that if I need something to bake with, I don't have to pile my kids in the car and go to a store in order to bake it."

She replied with a simple, "Oh, okay, " and walked away.

Then finally, I had to get help out to my car because I had 2 carts full of food. The middle-aged man who helped me out asked me "if I liked baking?" as we loaded all of the flour, sugar and other essentials into my car. I responded with an energetic, "I sure do!"

I guess that ends my experience this time, but I just wanted to leave you all with a thought to ponder. These really are hard times and life is pretty unpredictable with the economy. You never know what kind of storms will approach you next that you have to work your way through and I just want to reiterate how important I find food storage in my life. I encourage everyone to try and build their own up as well. It will bless you in times of need and if you need help figuring out what to do or how to do it, let me know and I'll try to help you out.

Good luck and take care! Happy Storing!

A Butcher, A Baker, A Momma...Wait!

That's not how it goes, but that embodied my day today :0)

Who buys 14 pounds of hamburger?!  Wait, I did.  Who then takes those 14 pounds of hamburger and then browns, tags and bags it all into portions for the freezer?  Wait, I do.  Two days before that, I also had about 12 pounds of London Broil Beef Top Steak since it was on sale too and bagged and tagged those for the freezer.  I also bagged and tagged to freeze 5 pounds of Mozzarella and 5 pounds of pepperoni.  Yeesh.  I think I've got things down to a system now.  My freezer is once again adequately stocked with meat for future dinners and I am feeling good.  So that covers me as a butcher.  Check.

Baker.  Today is bread making day.  Typically, I make 4 loaves worth of dough for bread and then make 3 loaves and a dinner of either calzones, pizza or chicken pillows.  We bought pizza last night as a fundraiser so instead, I'll half the recipe and end up with just 2 loaves instead.  Now I'm a baker.  Check.

And of course, last but not least, I'm a momma of 3 kids that each demand a part of me during every instance of the day.  It's some juggling act somedays and although I admit I was sooo done yesterday, it's a new day and I am going to try to make it better.  I've played with the kids, cuddled Addison, helped Hayden read his book from school a couple times and look forward to cleaning up a little more today in hopes of rescuing my sinking ship of messes placed around my downstairs.  I'm a Momma of 3!  Check.

What's New

So I have recently decided to make my life a little more occupied by accepting my new calling of Cub Scout Committee Chairperson.  I thought it only involved organizing and planning events and 1 monthly meeting, but apparently it involves more.  I have another meeting in put in the mix and another meeting every couple months with the den leaders and master as well as attending the pack meetings and putting on the Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold.  Of course, a lot of it is delegating and what not so it probably isn't as bad, but it still does change the routine again.  

On top of that, Jared and I are on the PTA at Hayden's school and will be helping with putting together the school's yearbook.  Crazy, huh?  We volunteered to be photographers for events we can make and then to do design and layout.

And finally, I am trying to do Joy School with Hadley still.  I got one person interested, but now I am feeling a little overwhelmed and so now I'm not sure.  I want to help a person out, but I need to organize that and get it going to know what my teaching weeks would look like.  Oh my goodness.

Deep breaths.  Anyone know any stress relieving tactics for when kids are screaming and yelling and not listening?  :0P  I guess they were right when they said your life gets busier once your kids start attending school on a daily basis.