Next Step

Even though you had planned to start your food storage as soon as your debt was paid off—you had thought to do it little by little. However, with Dallas being ground zero for the Ebola virus, you got caught up in the frenzied, scared talk going around. So the first step to food storage is:

1. Freak out. Make sure you tell your husband you are having nightmares. He'll probably get on board.

2. Do research on the basic, life sustaining foods. Realize you probably won't eat some of it. Ever. Powdered milk? Bleck.

3. Go to Costco and buy a A LOT OF IT. (But you make sure you go on a Saturday for all the free food samples. Always.)

4. Buy out all 250 mylar bags from the Home Storage Center. And think "neener neener" in your head because you just bought the whole supply available.

5. Prep your bags by labeling them.

6. Prep your jars by washing them. Wonder to yourself…am I becoming a "Prepper?" That could be scary expensive.

7. Invite a friend over and have a treat ready to eat while working.

8. Help one another fill each other's bags and seal them with goodness inside:
110 lbs. of flour.
125 lbs. of sugar. 
100 lbs. of rice. 
50ish lbs. of oats. 
4 bags powdered milk

25 lbs. beans

25 lbs. steel cut oats

9. Remember the Food Saver your mother-in-law gave you? But you didn't understand what it was for? After watching a few YouTube videos on dry canning it hit you that you have the tool for that! Now don't you feel sheepish for even considering letting it go?

10. So the next step is to dry can and seal into jars:
chia seeds
variety of herbs in bulk
aluminum free baking powder
and help your friend can her M&M's (all the time wishing you'd thought of that.)

11. After four hours step back and look at all your spoils. You can't keep your eyes off the pillowy,  shiny bags of food (face it you like sparkly things.) But you are also so proud of all that work. (Your new job paid for it after all.)

12. Cross your fingers that the oxygen absorbers do their work, or you'll have to re-do EVERYTHING.

13. Realize you now have to find a place to store all of this. Plus, you're not even close to having all the different varieties of food you should.

14. Go to bed satisfied and begin wondering how long the shelf life for Nutella, chocolate, and cookie butter is.

So, do you want to know the REAL reason I'm doing all this? Click here.

Our church is VERY big on emergency preparedness and has been for years. We are constantly advised to prepare against the hard times or calamity—because they do and will come. Good advice! Every time I read lessons given on this topic it ALWAYS says to have a food and financial reserve, food and financial reserve, food AND financial reserve. They are BOTH important. I am SO GLAD we have a plan for both and the plan is working for us. It's so awesome to witness! I just want EVERYBODY to get on board!