Christmas Presents

I started making some of my Christmas presents this week.  I decided to focus on preparedness items instead of just "stuff".  I'm making these really cute decorated fabric bags that will be filled with all the items needed for a full meal.  The meals will of course be three month supply meals since all items will need to sit on a pantry shelf.  I'm making a set of three bags, the recipe cards will be included.  The idea is that it's a quick and easy meal in a bag that you can grab and make without any preparation instead of stopping in the drive-thru on the way home because dinner wasn't planned before hand.  It can also be used as a quick and easy meal that your husband or older children can make without supervision or a lot of explanation.  Ideally I'd like to have 5 or 6 bags on my pantry shelf that are always ready to go.  Once you make one of the meals you just replace the food items so that they are always ready for the next time.

Food Storage

I've been working a little each day on getting my food storage into a system that works for me.  Today I went through Costco and updated my pricing on all the items that I purchase there.  One day next week I'll do the same thing at Wal-mart so that my quick glance pricing on all the items I purchase will be updated.  I'm hoping to update it periodically as I purchase things so that the upkeep of the list doesn't take so long as it takes to go through each and every item at one time.

Surfin' the Web

LOVE these...
Prepared Not Scared  check it EVERY day!
SugarDoodle my new favorite thing for help with my new calling!
Livestrong My Plate great way to keep track of what you're eating, your exercise and setting weight goals.
Amazon  what can I say?  I love to shop on this site, free tax and shipping gets me every time.  That and the fact that I can get such good deals on most things.

Goulash

I made this for dinner last night (I made several changes from the original recipe), definitely a keeper, the kids and hubbie loved it and it's a perfect addition to the 3 month food supply - BONUS  

Goulash (recipe from preparednotscared.blogspot.com)

1 pint canned beef

4 cups dry pasta (any kind you prefer)

1/2 cup dehydrated onions, added to pasta to rehydrate)

3 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

14 oz can green beans – drained

11 oz can corn – drained

1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

1 to 2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

Cook & drain pasta (don't forget to add onions or rehydrate in water and add later)

Add everything else and stir well.

Serve!

Pop-Up Tent Trailer

Our latest family "love". We had been borrowing Kenny's friend Daniel's the last few times we went camping. What can I say? Kenny has been bugging me for years to buy one but until i stayed in one I really never grasped how truly wonderful a camping experience can be. A few weeks before Labor Day we decided to take one last camping trip for the summer. Our kids Love to go camping! They get to ride the quads, go fishing with their Dad, play with their cousins and run around doing whatever they want while Mom is busy playing card games and relaxing. LOL
So we decided to buy our own trailer for this trip and I'm SO glad we did. We ended up finding a wonderful deal on one that was a great shape for only $1800. We love it! It has a lot of really nice features, and the bonus is that we were able to pay cash for it so there was no debt to come home to after we got back from the trip (love Dave Ramsey).  We also decided that this was helping us to be better prepared, if there ever came a time when we had to just pack up and leave we could actually hook up the tent trailer and we'd have a place to sleep at night that is already furnished...
My parents and Amy and her kids were able to spend Labor Day weekend with us in our new favorite camping area just North of Forest Lakes. The weather was beautiful, I'm so grateful for family and the time we get to spend together!