72 Hour Kit - Week 1

The main focus for my preparedness goal this month is my
72 Hour Kit. I  thought I would work on it each week and
share some information that might be helpful for anyone who
is wanting to make their own kit or update an existing kit.

First of all - What is it?
It is a temporary "home away from home",when you have to
quickly evacuate because of some kind of disaster or emergency.
Such disasters include: earthquakes, tornados, fires, floods and
hurricanes, leakage of hazardous chemicals or radioactive waste,
terrorism, etc.  We all think these things will never happen to us.
But disasters can happen to anyone and you never know when
you will have to leave your home in a hurry.
The most important thing to prepare in any kind of evacuation
is to assemble a 72 Hour Emergency kit ( 3 day supply) for
each member of your family.
These kits used to be considered " a mormon thing", as we have
been counseled for years by our church leaders to be prepared.
Now, everyone is talking about them - sometimes calling them
Emergency Flight Kits or Bug out Kits.  I even saw a public
service ad for one on a billboard in a large city.  This is a good
website with lots of information if you are new to this idea of
72 Hour Kits.  Here's another one from Homeland Security.

The first thing to do is decide what container you will use for
your kit.  Your container needs to be waterproof and have
some type of carrying handle.  Some ideas for containers are:
backpacks, polyethylene plastic buckets, duffel bags, plastic
storage tubs, luggage, etc.
I am putting together three different kits.  One for myself that
can be used as a backpack, but also has wheels so it can be
pulled.

One for Mark, which is a large backpack.

And one extra, smaller kit.   This is the size that
our kids had when they were at home.  Each
one had their own kit.  (See Dillon's name
on the top of this one.)

After choosing your container for your kit - the next item of
importance for me is food and water.  I don't want to go hungry!
I made a menu of items for three days of meals and headed to
Walmart.  After wandering the aisles and picking out all kinds
of highly processed foods, that I don't usually eat,(but would be
happy to eat, if I was hungry!) , I came home and spread it all
out on the counter.

I bought these Mountain House meals at Walmart for dinner meals.
The package says each one serves 2 people ( or maybe one
really hungry person?)   My boys ate a lot of these when they
were hiking on the trail, so I figure I could eat them for  three
days if I needed to.

Food for Day One
Breakfast - Juice, Granola Bar, Applesauce
Lunch - Ramen Noodles, Pork and Beans
Dinner - Mountain House Beef Stew, Fig Newtons
Snacks - Peanuts, Granola Bar and Mini Candy Bars

Food For Day 2
Breakfast - Oatmeal with Peanut Butter, Hot Cocoa
Lunch - Tuna Salad with Crackers, Chicken Noodle Soup, Craisins
Dinner - Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef, Fig Newtons
Snacks - Peanuts, Granola Bar, Energy Drink Mix,  Mini Candy Bars

Food for Day Three
Breakfast - Oatmeal with Peanut Butter, Applesauce, Hot Cocoa
Lunch - Chicken Salad Kit, Craisins and Cheese- its
Dinner - Mountain House Beef Stroganoff
Snacks - Peanuts, Beef Jerky, Peanut Butter Crackers, Mini Candy Bars

These are fairly generous menus - like I said, I don't want to
go hungry!  Plus, I expect that if I had to use this, there would
be others around me who weren't prepared and I would be
sharing with them.  Also notice that I have included chocolate
for each day.  These are my morale boosters!!

Each days meals go in their own ziplock bag.

Much of this food requires water and next week I will talk about
water for our kits.  But I am assuming ( and hoping) that I would
have access to water.
So that's it for this week.  A container for your kit and food!

When I watch the news and see people who are in emergency
situations, who have fled their homes for shelters, I think to
myself how much better off they would be if they had their own
kit of supplies for at least the first 72 hours.   But instead what
I usually see are frightened people, who quickly become angry
because the government is not taking care of their needs.

It's our responsibility to be prepared for our families.


* Goal #18 - Work on monthly storage and preparedness goals.

Signs of Spring

I am on the lookout for signs of spring.
I am over winter....
Don't these just make you smile?

As I was out for a morning walk, I saw this bluebird fly out of

its house and land on this branch.

I was surprised to see my chives have come back to life.

The first of the fresh herbs.

I snipped some forsythia from my yard to

force into bloom inside.

This cat is so busted!!   After chewing

on them and turning the vase over...

 I moved it to here.

A couple of days later and it was in
full bloom.  Isn't it beautiful?
I am ready for spring!

* Goal # 26 - Improve photography skills.

Chili when its chilly!

We've had a string of beautiful spring days this week,
nice and warm.  Today, I left the house to run errands
in my "spring" clothes and darn if it wasn't cold outside.
I was freezing all afternoon.  Note to self - it's not spring
yet.   Take a coat when you leave the house!

Determined to warm myself up,  I decided to make chili for
dinner.  And, I knew just which one I wanted.

In January, I visited Brevard Branch for their yearly
Branch Conference.  ( a branch/ward is a local
congregation in our church)  As the Stake Primary President
(more on this later), I travel throughout western NC and visit
and train, when necessary, the leaders who work in the Primary
with the children.  On this Sunday,  I had a great time with
these children and their  leaders.

After the meetings, we share a wonderful meal that has been
prepared by the women in the church.   I don't know what it
is about attending church that makes you so hungry, but I'm
always starving.  And the food is sooo  good at church
dinners, don't you think?
On this day, I had some Black Bean chili that was delicious.
With help from a friend (thanks Anne), I tracked down the recipe,
except it really wasn't a recipe. It was more like a list of ingredients.
This experienced cook doesn't use recipes.  She just cooks from
memory and creates dishes as she goes along.  So, I've taken her
list of ingredients and tweaked them a little to come up with my
own version of her chili.

My Version of Debbie Simpson's Black Bean Chili
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 box chicken broth
1/2 cup barley
1/2 cup lentils
1 can black beans
1/2 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 t. cumin
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix ( I didn't use it all)

 Chop the veggies.  The garlic didn't make it in this picture.

Saute the veggies in a little olive oil. Add the garlic last, so it
doesn't brown.
Then add the liquids, the lentils and the barley.

I didn't use quick cooking barley. Since the lentils have to cook
for a while,  I saw no point in using quick cooking.  I let this
simmer for about 45 minutes.  I wanted the barley and lentils
to be tender, but didn't want the lentils to turn to mush, which
can happen if you cook them too long.

Near the end of the cooking time, I added the remaining ingredients.
The corn, tomatoes, black beans and spices.
If it thickens up more than you like, just add more chicken broth
or water.

This is how it turned out.  I added pepper jack cheese to the top
with a little sour cream, chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice
squeezed on the top right before serving.  The cilantro and the
juice gave it such a fresh taste.  It was yummy!!!

I made mexican cornbread muffins to go with it.

I followed the recipe on the back of my cornmeal mix to make
regular muffins and then added 1/2 diced jalapeno pepper,
pepper jack cheese, and 1/2 can of corn.  ( I used the other 1/2
of the can in the soup).  They turned out well.

I'm full and happy and ready to go climb in bed, snuggle
under the covers and watch movies with my hubby.
I love Friday nights!


* Goal # 10 - Eat three meatless meals a week
   Goal # 23  -  Try 50 new recipes

A Little Friend

Sometimes I just love hanging out with little kids.  I'm
especially fond of three to five year olds.

This is my friend Kelly.  We got to know each other
when she was two and I was her nursery leader at church.
Then I got to be her Sunbeam teacher ( 3 year old class) -
for two weeks, before my friend, Pam was called to be
her teacher.  (Pam, did I ever tell you how lucky you
are to be the Sunbeam teacher?   It's my favorite
calling in the church.  Love those three year olds!)

There are some things that are just more fun to do
with a little one.  Like playing with Polly Pockets.....

Or jumping on the trampoline.

Or peaking through the holes on the trampoline...

Petting horses.....

And chickens.....

Eating ice cream....

Picking apples......

And pumpkins......

Going to Halloween parties.......

Wow!!     This girl is seriously fun to hang out with.

 On Monday, she turned five!

She's a big girl now - big enough to zip her own jacket, go under

water at the pool and start school in the fall. 

And to help with baby Spencer.

Happy Birthday Kelly!!  I'm sure glad you are my friend.  

I love you bunches.    

Now, don't you just want to go find a little friend to play with?

A Short Month - A Long Post

Today is March 1st.  Where did February go?  It was a good

month for me, just short!  It's that time again for my
end of the month report on goals.

Way back at the beginning of February, I had lunch with my
dear friend, LaWren, to do a little "late" birthday celebrating.
I say "late", because on her birthday, she was in the middle of the
ocean on a beautiful cruise ship with her  husband.
Man, some people really know how to celebrate getting older!
Never mind that we were late - because we have fun whenever
we can get together!  We had lunch at P.F. Changs (my first
visit - yum!).  The meal was great. We had to try those lettuce
wraps that our friend, Emily, recommended.  Now we know why!
LaWren is holding part of her gift that I gave her.  Remember,
when I told you about this book back here.  I had to get a copy
for LaWren because we discuss Ann Voskamp and her blog
often.  We've both learned so much from it over the years.

I am blessed to have this lady as my friend.  We've had so many
amazing times together and I look forward to lots more.

                                                                                                                         

*Goal #3 - Do something fun with a friend each month.

These are the books I've read this month.

Starting at the top:

*The Horse and His Boy - C. S. Lewis

   This is the third in the Chronicles of Narnia series.   I liked it. 

    Shasta and Aravis, along with two talking horses enter the 

    story and find themselves in the center of a terrible battle.

    Next book in this series - Prince Caspian.

* The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

     This is an historical novel about the Battle of Gettysburg.

      I wouldn't normally want to read a book about war, but

      the book presents this important battle in such an interesting way,

      the reader feels like he/she is there.  The story is told from 

      the viewpoints of Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet and others

      on both sides.  I have visited Gettysburg and felt a reverence

      as I walked over those battlefields.  I felt like I was on sacred

      ground.  This book brought all those memories back.

      Thanks to Brother Howerton for loaning it to me.

* One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp

     I'm not going to say much about this now, because I plan to

       do an entire post on this book.  I read it, I loved it.  I'm reading

       it again this month, slowly, in order to process it better.

*  Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

     Sometimes I like Nicholas Sparks and sometimes I think his books

      are kind of cheesy.   I haven't read anything by him in a number

      of years.  But this was recommended by a Facebook friend, so I

      thought I would give him another chance.  And I 'm glad I did.

      I liked this one a lot.  

* The Mormon Way of Doing Business : How Eight Western

     Boys Reached the Top of Corporate America - Jeff Benedict

       This was one of the biographies I read this month and it was so interesting.

       What do the former CEO's of JetBlue Airways and Dell have in common

       with the CFO of Citigroup and the Former Dean of the Harvard Business

       School?  They're all devout Mormons.  In this book, they share how 

       there faith and Mormon values  have helped them be incredibly

       successful.    

* Choosing to See - Mary Beth Chapman

     I knew this was going to be a tough book to read.   In this book the

     author unveils her struggle to allow God to write the story of her life,

     both the happy chapters and the tragic ones.  The greatest tragedy that she 

     and her family have faced  is when their five year old daughter was hit 

     and killed by a car in her own driveway, driven by her brother.  

     Can you imagine the pain of this type of tragedy?   

     This was the second biography I read this month, while eating breakfast.

     Yes, there were some tears in my oatmeal.   But as sad as this story is,

      there is incredible hope displayed by the entire Chapman family and 

     their  faith in how God is using this for good will inspire every reader.

     Thanks to my sister for gifting me with this book, after she heard the 

     author speak at a women's conference.

*  Handle with Care - Jodie Picoult

    I listened to this book on CD's as I traveled back and forth to Greensboro.  

     I love Jodie Picoult.  I have read many of her books and she is one of

     my favorite authors.  But this book bugged me.  I did not like the way

     it ended.  She is good for keeping you in suspense till the end (did you 

     ever read, My  Sister's Keeper?  or see the movie? ) and I usually like

     that about her books, but only when I'm ok with her ending! :)

     As always though, I learned a lot about a subject that I knew very little

      - this time it was about a child born with brittle bone disease.

* Goal #9 - Read 50 books

I worked on my storage and preparedness by adding nuts

to my freezer.  Pecans and walnuts.  They keep at least a

year in the freezer and I use a lot of nuts.

Also, I added chicken broth.  I use a ton of this in my recipes.

I have about 25 boxes in storage now.  I like using these 

boxes, that you can just close and put back in the refrigerator if

you don't use the entire box.  I think it tastes better than 

canned broth.

And I added oatmeal to my storage.

*Goal #18 - Work on monthly storage and preparedness goals.

I had a good month with my exercise goals.  Check out all 

those green highlighted days!

*Goal # 16  - Exercise 50 minutes 5 days a week.

I'm caught up on reading my National Geographic magazines.

I've subscribed to this magazine for years, because I love learning

about the world - a way to travel without leaving home. 

Unfortunately, in the past I've just skimmed through them, looking at 

the pictures- have you noticed how long those articles are?

This year, I am making an effort to read them.  

 * Goal #46 -  Read my National Geographic each month.

Some favorite photographs that I've taken.

We've been eating some great navel oranges from California.

Roses from my Valentine.

Abbie's bathtime.

Sherri and Virginia

* Goal #26  - Improve my photography skills