Where Do I Begin?...

Acquiring a storage of food can be a daunting task. What do I get? Where do I start? Where do I put all of this stuff? Have you found yourself asking any of these questions? I have often felt overwhelmed and wondered if it was possible to really have a years supply of food. The answer is YES and I hope to help you do it.

First and foremost, let's shrink the picture you have in your head of all of the food you need to buy. That thought is like the messy room you can never quite muster up the motivation to clean...you know it needs to be done, but it is just too overwhelming. Let me introduce a couple of words...BABY STEPS! That is going to be our theme for this month...for this blog! Start small and just do the best you can. The best thing you can do is just do something! President Hinckley said " The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes. We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one weeks food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so beyond their reach that they make no effort at all."

The first place to start is to make a plan. There are many tools out there to help you do it and we will discuss a few. But before we even go that far, first think of meals your family eats consistently. Write them down. After you have come up with a good list (2-4 weeks worth of meals), make a list of the ingredients required for those meals. This is a good place to start when creating your plan. You want to be storing what you eat and eating what you store. Now that doesn't mean that just because you or your family doesn't eat wheat bread that you shouldn't store wheat...but we will discuss that later :)!

So, if you haven't done so already...the homework for today is to just make a meal and ingredient list.

Throughout the rest of this week we will be discussing some of the different planners available to help you get organized.