Treadin' Water & Fats

Does anyone else feel like you are just treading water when it come to keeping up with food storage?

Some people really think I am the expert. I guess, in a way I can be an expert - I have great advice, but right now, I need to follow it better. My three boys are growing and eating SO much more everyday I am starting to wonder if I'll have enough food for the time frame that I'd planned. I can't imagine how it will be when they are in their teenage years! It already seems like the eat all day long. Maybe it will be better because they will be able to make their own food instead of needing my constant supervision for every little thing? But then, they will just inhale more, right?

I think I need to recalculate. Or maybe just start praying for miracles - like that miracle in the Bible where the oil and flour never quite ran out for that lady who shared all that she had - that last cake that was supposed to be for her son.


HAPPY THANKSGIVING WISHES
On another note... I do hope everyone had time to be grateful and celebrate the harvest on that wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I am so grateful {this year, especially} to be able to get together with family and enjoy all the time spent with them. I love being with family.
And I can't wait to decorate for Christmas at my house. Christmas means magic to me.


FOOD STORAGE FOCUS:
I am focusing on oils right now. I finally went to WinCo today and decided to finally stock up on oils - I got 4 cooking sprays (big ones), 2 cans of shortening (with no trans fat!) and 1 bottle of canola oil to add to my collection of stored fats already downstairs.
(Does stored fats sound funny to anyone else but me? I'm laughing really hard about it right now.)

By the way - I use the cooking spray oils a LOT in my bread making, so I go through it really fast.

Until later...
Jamie

Upcoming Holiday Wishes

The talk this week is of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Black Friday.

I am very excited for Thanksgiving and getting even more excited about Christmas.
What about you? Are you getting excited? Is it going to be a happy holiday season for you and your family?

I worry about what the economy is doing - I am hoping that my blogging friends find all well during these holidays and that you are all permitted to celebrate as you please.


On a side note, if you need ideas for Christmas gifts, don't forget to check out my favorite websites for bread ingredients and tools for making excellent bread (HiStakes-Spelt.com) and of course there are some great Christmas deals if you need a grain mill or a Bosch - or better yet, a combination of the two!
And then everyone can give/receive the best hand cream I've EVER used in my life! (See GenevaSpringsOnline.com) I'm working on putting together an excellent holiday special - any suggestions? ;)
I'd love to hear what you would like for Christmas.


FOOD STORAGE SHOPPING LIST:
Have you noticed that $0.99 a can for large cans of pumpkin is a deal? It is on sale for only a few more days. If you use pumpkin at all and didn't bottle it yourself this year, you might want to check that out.

Otherwise, I've been trying to restock my personal supply of yeast (I like to keep at least 2 one pound bricks of SAF yeast on the shelf) and other bread making ingredients (such as dough enhancer and honey).

Happy Shopping...

I have been in craft fair mode for several weeks now. I've done a few already and am now getting ready to do one of the biggest ones in the Idaho Falls area (in Idaho, of course).

So, if you can make it, come see me on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Bonneville High School. I'll be in a hallway somewhere (not the gym) peddling Geneva Springs (Skin Cream) products.

I am looking forward to it. It really is a great craft fair.

p.s. Heather - are you still looking for Clear Jel? I bought some extra if you need it. I got it in Utah last weekend and really, I am working on becoming a vendor for it. (I just found a decent source to work with.)
Let me know - we could meet up at the craft fair.

Clear Jel

Today's Question:
Where do you get Clear Jel for making the pie filling recipes?

Answer:
I get mine in Rexburg, Idaho at a local health food store. If you want directions, call me (390-0595)
They get a large quantity and then repackage it into smaller quantities - so it is labeled with their own label and packaged into ziploc bags.
I've also gotten it in Logan, Utah at Kitchen Kneads.

I'm working on finding a good source so I can sell it on my HiStakes-Spelt website. Wish me luck on that. My ultimate plan is to have a supply of canning items - bottles, lids, clear jel, the works so I can help all my friends who want to pursue the art of canning. I'll let you know when I find it.

Election Results and first food storage assignment

I've been so tied up in the results of the election, I've forgotten to post!

Now that that is over, maybe I can get on with the rest of the important things in my life.

Have you noticed sales at the grocery stores? I prefer to buy Western Family brand items. I love their taste and quality and especially the price.

November tends to be a baking kind of month, so we will look forward to adding baking items to our food storage this month.

Cake mixes are on sale for $0.69 this week. That is a great price to stock up for the winter
and Cooking Oil is a decent price.

So, this week's assignment - take $10 and stock up on those two items for your food storage - what ever you might need in the quantities you might need. Don't over do it, just get a supply for a few months time. We'll do more soon. If you don't eat cake, you can stock up on oil. (But don't you need a supply for making a birthday cake sometime during the year?)

Happy stocking!

Agriculture Challenged - Read this before you VOTE

We found this article very disturbing... I like to eat and would prefer not to go out of the farming business over this. Tell me what you think after reading it... (p.s. This article came from Farm Futures News online) Obama Comments on Agriculture Challenged

McCain-Palin ag committee says it is troubled by Obama's statements to Time magazine.

(11/3/2008)

Jason Vance

On Friday leaders of the McCain-Palin 2008 Farm & Ranch Committee held a telephone press conference to challenge statements about agriculture made by Barack Obama to Time magazine. "I think he really doesn't understand agriculture," said Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "I'm asking people to think twice if they are in agriculture about voting for Senator Obama." The quote in question, which was published recently in Time started as a question about U.S. energy policy, and in his answer Obama made the following comments: "I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it's creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That's just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board." Says Missouri Governor Matt Blunt: "I think this shows a real lack of understanting and a lack of judgement. Barack Obama specifically cited this idea that American farmers are responsible for global warming arguing that American agriculture produced more greenhouse gases than American transportation. That's just not true, that is a statement that is not factual." Blunt says that he thinks Obama says one thing in one place and the exact opposite somewhere else depending on who he percieves his audience is. Charlie Kruse, Missouri Farm Bureau president and co-chair of the McCain-Palin 2008 Farm and Ranch Committee, is troubled by the statements and also offended by them. "Senator Obama seems to suggest that agriculture is responsible for everything from diabetes to obesity to heart diesease," Kruse said. "Another troubling part of this is he tries to connect all of this it seems to me to our use of fossil fuels in agriculture. That right there tells me he doesn't have an understanding of agriculture." Kruse said that he believes practically every clear thinking person in this country knows and understands that we are the best fed and best clothed country in the history of the world because of the hard work of farmers and ranchers. "I'm not interested in an explanation from Senator Obama about why he made these comments. I would just say it is a concern and quite frankly it is frightening that he would say these things in the first place," Kruse said. "I don't want a person like this representing me as President of the United States. One of the many things that impresses me about Senator John McCain, is he'll tell you what he thinks and he'll say the same thing in a small community of 200 people in the Heartland that he says in New York City and Los Angeles."