This morning, I was directed to this new site found on LDS.org on self-reliance: Self-Reliance.
Preparedness doesn't always happen in ideal conditions or situations. It was very difficult for our family to collect and store a three-month supply and even harder to store longer-term storage items while we moved around the country and lived in small, temporary spaces. We tried to take as much storage as possible each time we moved. In some cases where moving storage was not practical, we sold or gave away some of our storage supplies.
Once again, we've been sick with the stomach flu. And once again, we were glad for our food storage. The lessons that I learned during the first round of sickness paid off. We had chicken noodle soup, crackers and soda on hand. We even had enough for our guests who were also sick.
Last February, I attended a training meeting specifically geared for LDS church leadership. We learned all about self-reliance and welfare principles. And in fact, our stake has encouraged us to teach these principles for our first-Sunday lessons, which we have been doing for almost a year.
Is there anyone on your Christmas list for whom you have a hard time finding a Christmas gift? Well, home storage gifts can solve all of your problems! It really is rare to find a person that is completely prepared. Here are a few ideas that might solve your gift-giving woes.
I'm not sure if we've had H1N1 flu or not. The doctor didn't do the test - said that he wouldn't treat it any differently regardless. Still, we spent the past 48 hours with two members of our family having fevers, nausea, and in one case significant coughing and respiratory junk. We're crossing our fingers that the rest of us have dodged the virus (whether or not it is H1N1). The remaining three of us were immunized for H1N1 on Monday -- not quite long enough to have any immunity yet (apparently we need 8 to 10 days to develop decent immunity).
Do you still think of home storage in terms of a one-year supply? After decades of using the term "one-year supply," you might be surprised to know that "one-year supply" is no longer mentioned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the instructions for home storage - not even once. It's been 2 1/2 years now3 since the new program was introduced. It seems to be taking some time to think about home storage in a new way.2 It is definitely a paradigm shift that might take some getting used to.
Scurvy was a disease that used to afflict sailors as they crossed the ocean. It was caused by a lack of vitamin C in their diets. Long voyages meant that sailors often ran out of perishable fruits and vegetables which supplied necessary vitamin C to their bodies. Scurvy is not very common anymore. Food preservation techniques have made vitamin C abundant throughout the world regardless of season. A longer-term supply full of grains and beans may keep you alive, but vitamin C is completely lacking in this diet. Consequently, it is advised to store vitamin C as a part of your longer-term supply.1
Baking soda is a great item to have for longer-term storage. Not only is it important for cooking old, dry beans (see information on cooking old, dry beans here), but baking soda can also be used for cleaning, as a toothpaste substitute and as a laundry boost. Baking soda is also a great leavening agent and is an important ingredient as such in many recipes.
I taught a lesson on preparedness last night for FHE (family home evening). Here is a synopsis, if you would like to try something similar: 
Though 72 hour kits are not a specific part of the home storage program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they are a good part of preparedness generally. I created 72 hour kits for my family many years ago and had been pretty good about rotating and updating them. I confess that I have not been as good about doing so lately.
It's interesting that during World War II, one of the most desired, but difficult to find cooking items was cooking oil.1 It makes sense when you realize that many foods need a little bit of fat in them. There are times that you can substitute beans or applesauce, but this doesn't always work well. Other oil substitutions include different varieties of cooking oil, shortening, mayonnaise, peanut butter, miracle whip, and high oil/fat content salad dressings (oil based vinaigrette, ranch etc.).All of these oil-based products have very short shelf lives – anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. When they get too old, they are usually inedible. Because of this you HAVE to rotate these products regularly. One way that you can keep these products regularly rotated is to donate any items that are close to date expiration (but not over) to a local food kitchen. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is supposed to store longer than other oils, but is also the most expensive. By storing and using a variety of oil products (see above), you are more likely to be able to rotate within appropriate time frames.
The thing that I've noticed about using older oil from my storage is that it tastes/smells just fine when I first open the container. But if the oil is very old, it becomes rancid very quickly. Because of this, I like to store my oil in very small containers. It makes it more likely that I'll be able to completely use (and not waste) a container of oil before it goes bad. It also helps to keep oil products in a completely dark area. I double pack my oil bottles into boxes so that light exposure is limited.
Sources:
1 - World War II Food Rationing
Salt is one of the easiest and cheapest items to store. It stores indefinitely as long as it doesn't get wet. You can usually purchase enough salt for your three-month supply and a bunch (9 months-worth) for your longer-term supply for less than $10! It is often available for $.33 per 1 1/2 pound container. It is also available at Costco in large quantity sacks for a similar price. Make sure that you purchase "Iodized" salt.
Sugar is a fantastic addition to longer-term storage. In tough circumstances, it would be great to make a batch of cookies and put smiles on your family's faces. Sugar makes everything a little more palatable and versatile.
If you like the idea of using powdered milk regularly in your cooking, you'll probably need a conversion chart. I used to write the conversion amounts onto the paper labels of my #10 cans of milk. Unfortunately, I often threw away the can without remembering to transfer all of my math. So, my can would sit, unused, until I sat down and refigured the numbers. Now I keep a conversion chart on my fridge. 
Milk provides calcium and protein, both of which are particularly important for growing children and nursing mothers. Milk also adds flavor to many recipes and sauces. Evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, shelf-stable milk, chocolate milk or cocoa mix (with milk included), and/or canned cheese, can also be stored to provide calcium needs. These other calcium products, however, have shorter shelf lives and need to be rotated regularly.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states on providentliving.org, "you may also want to add other items to your longer-term storage such as sugar, nonfat dry milk, salt, baking soda, and cooking oil. To meet nutritional needs, also store foods containing Vitamin C and other essential nutrients."1
Yesterday I received my September 2009 Ensign magazine. There is a fantastic article in it, entitled, "Two Cans of Corn: Home Storage for Newlyweds" by Allie Schulte (I'll link to the article here once they get it online).
Like I said in the last post, beans are a wonderful, versatile food. They can be used as a meat extender, a salad garnish, a main course, or as a soup. My favorite creative use for beans, though, is in cookies and cakes. Yes, really! Here's how:
Beans are very versatile! They can be used to make dips, casseroles, soups, cookies, salads, and more. Beans vary in color, size, texture and flavor, but are easily interchanged in recipes. All of this and they store well for up to 30 years. They really make the ideal food for your longer-term storage.
Today is the one year anniversary of iPrepared!
How do I cook old dry beans?
Our current goal is gathering our longer-term storage.
You might wonder why I'm including a post on pasta as we work on storing grains. Most pasta is made from semolina flour, which is ground durum wheat. Once the pasta is dried, unless it is made with eggs, it has shelf life of up to 30 years1 in ideal storage conditions.
Peanut butter and oil are two products on my shelves that don't store well for very long. These are important products for my three-month supply, but sometimes we don't consume all that I've stored before the foods hit their expiration dates. For many foods, expiration dates are just a rough guideline to ensure the highest quality of the food product. But foods with high oil content, like peanut butter, turn rancid fairly quickly and the expiration date is worth paying attention to.
Foods that are part of your three-month supply should be foods that you regularly eat. As I have collected foods, I've acknowledged that there are some foods that I need for my three-month supply that just don't store well (especially if there is no electricity or refrigeration). In an effort to have easily-storable foods on hand, I often purchase items for my three-month supply in a form that I don't necessarily use regularly. For example, I use frozen or fresh onions in my cooking, but I've stored freeze-dried and dehydrated onions for my three-month food supply.
There are many other grains available besides wheat, corn, rice, barley and oats. Each of these grains, however, has a different oil and moisture content. It is important to be aware of these characteristics when choosing grains to store in your longer-term storage. If the oil content is too high, like brown rice or pearled barley, these grains may store better short term.