Week 14 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

$10 Challenge

Store 5kg of wheat or flour

$20 Challenge

Store 10 kgs of wheat or flour

Ahhh now we've come to the 'good' stuff. I LOVE hot bread. The smell of it baking especially on a Winter's morning is just wonderful. Hot bread with butter...

I personally store both wheat and flour. I dont' have a hand grinder for my wheat, but I do have a Thermomix which will grind grains (including wheat and rice!!!).

Wheat

Nutrition benefits of wheat:

You don't want to store this if you are gluten intolerant though. If stored properly, wheat will last for a very long time. We're talking over 30 years and it still being able to sprout.

I purchased a hard white wheat, which will last for a long time. The hard wheats are the best ones to use for bread making. Soft wheat is used for cakes and pastries however doesn't store for quite as long.

You can sprout the wheat and eat the sprouts if you need some 'green' in your diet. I have tasted 'swamp water' before and I have to say that I would need to be really desperate to drink that! It really tastes like the smell of cut grass, if you can imagine that!

Remember also that you probably don't want to switch from eating store bought flour to whole wheat flour immediately unless you are already using whole wheat in your diet. People can develop intolerances to wheat by doing this.

Ground whole wheat flour needs to be used up fairly quickly or it will go rancid - because of the natural oil it contains. Store it in your freezer and it will last longer. Simply bring the amount you want to use to room temperature and put the rest in the freezer.

Flour

All the hard work of milling has already been done for you. You lose some of the fibre but you are still able to make bread, tortillas, cakes and even pasta by using your stored flour. If stored properly, it can last a long time too.

The biggest problems with both wheat and flour are weevils. I store mine in foil pouches with oxygen absorbers and haven't had a problem yet. Weevils can't survive without oxygen. I have heard that after you have purchased your flour, if you put it in the freezer for a day or two, it will kill off any weevils that may be hiding in the flour.

Types of flour

Okay, now we're getting tricky. Usually I store just wheat flour (plain flour) but you can also store different types of flour for variety - depending on what you plan on cooking. You can store rice flour, cornflour, self-raising flour, semolina, spelt flour etc.

You have to keep all flour cool and dry. Do not store flour near onions or soap or things with a strong smell as flour will absob the smell (Mmmm soap flavoured cake!). I store plain flour and baking powder so I can have self-raising flour when I need it.

Week 13 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

No, we're not pill popping this week, we're storing multi-vitamins.

$10 challenge

Store 2 bottles vitamins (100 tablets each bottle)

$20 challenge

Store 4 bottles vitamins (100 tablets each bottle)

We're storing (multivitamins) this week because, depending on the reason you are using your food storage, if you are not getting enough fruit and veggies, you need to supplement the vitamins you would get out of that food. Some people are just not vitamin/tablet lovers and that's fine. Store something else that you would use.

My kids love the chewable raspberry flavoured ones, so that is what I purchase. You would need to use these vitamins up for two reasons: they don't have a super long storage time, and secondly; they are expensive. You don't want these to go to waste.

And just because it's funny: when my daughter was little, she was most upset one day. "Mummy, why do I have to eat mouldy vitamins? Me: "Whaaaaat?" I checked just to make sure. Nope, they were fine. I had to explain to her that they were "Multi" vitamins, meaning lots of vitamins, not "Mouldy" vitamins. LOL!

Blog Award

Scather over at Scathing Weekly has nominated me for the "One lovely blog" Award. Thanks Scather! (and my apologies for being a little late in accepting it - it has been intensely crazy recently). You can view her blog here: http://scathingweekly.blogspot.com/

The requirements of accepting this award are as follows:-

1. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.


2. I have to tell you seven facts about me you may not know.


3. Pass the award along to as many as fifteen blogs you have found recently.


4. Notify the bloggers of their awards.

So... seven things about me you may not know:-

1. I really don't like the taste of black jelly beans.
2. I can't knit to save my life, and not for lack of trying.
3. I have been a violinist since the age of 8.
4. According to me there are only two foodgroups; Cadbury and Darrell Lea ;D
5. Volcanology fascinates me!
6. I have a phobia of driving a car (yet am very brave, and attempt it on occasions).
7. Went to a Performing Arts High School and apart from the first two years (nasty!), had an absolute ball there :D

Some blogs I have found recently (in no particular order):

• http://felicitysbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/
• http://juniorbabyblog.blogspot.com/
• http://beehivemessages.blogspot.com/

Now to notify them :D

Kids, Pocket Money and Money Jars

Bit of a different post this one. A while ago I was watching Gail Vaz-Oxlade of 'Til Debt Do Us Part' on tv. Something that stood out to me was that kids should not be given pocket money for doing chores around the home. They're part of the family, they SHOULD help! Pocket money will help them in the long run by teaching them how to look after it, how to manage it and to save.

Gail's biggest tip was to give each child a dollar per year. I.e. my son is 10, so he gets $10. My daughter is currently 6, so she gets $6.

They each got a jar, decorated it and put their names on them. It is where their money gets stored each week. I put their pocket money aside each week, and they have an 'interview' with Dad, who gives them about 10-15 mins each to see how they're going at school, if they're making wise choices, and just to generally chat about things they're happy about, or concerned about. They love this special time with him, and look forward to it each week.

My children firstly pay 10% tithing (to our church), and they do so willingly. They know what happens to it, and don't have a problem with it. The rest is theirs to do as they like. They put some in their bank accounts, and they save some to buy things they want. I think it's important to teach them to prioritise. Saving comes before spending (I'm still figuring that out, but at least they're being taught it!!!)

My son recently saved up for 6 months to purchase a Nerf gun. He has some Nerf guns already, but he had his heart set on this big one. I bought it when it was 20% off, and he had to pay me the money before he could have it. If I REALLY wanted to teach him a lesson in real life, I could have charged him interest, but I think I'll leave that to a later date.

My daughter wanted a Barbie DVD, so I bought it and as soon as we got home she raced to her money jar to hand over her hard-saved cash. She had saved in advance to be able to do it though, she just didn't take her money to the shop (she loses it - we're working on that too).

They don't usually purchase things like this though. Generally they only use their money to purchase books via Book Club at school. It is a good way of teaching them to save, and to wait for purchases.

Week 12 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

This week is another easy week. More soup.

$10 challenge
Store 3 cans soup

$20 challenge
Store 4 cans soup

You could choose to store double the number of cans and get ready made soup, or condensed soup. The choice is up to you. Ready made up soup requires no extra water, and you could eat it cold if you really had to (depending on what kind of soup you get). Condensed soup cold and made up is just nasty!!!

Now's here's a tricky question for you. What do you store if you don't like soup?

Earthquakes in Australia? You betcha!

I remember when Newcastle had an earthquake. I was in the city on an outing with my Nana purchasing ice creams when the 'Streets' guy, who was listening to his walkman at the time exclaimed "Oh my goodness, Newcastle has just had an earthquake" to which my Nana replied "Oh that's nonsense. We don't get earthquakes in Australia!". It must have been the only time Nana was wrong, because when we got home, she turned on the news and there it was again. Yes, Newcastle had indeed suffered an earthquake.

Recently, Mother Earth has gotten a little jumpy at the surface, and managed to move Japan 2.4 metres, and is still shaking that poor Island. Other areas in the Pacific Ring are being shaken up as well, and even Australia has had a tiny taste.

This site holds the fascinating information (my picture to the left just doesn't do it any justice, but you can find it at the link below). Big dots with big red rings around them are NOT good. Look at all the ones surrounding Australia!

http://www.ga.gov.au/earthquakes/initRecentQuakes.do

Week 11 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

This week's challenge is adding to what you already have:-

$10 Challenge

2 boxes macaroni and cheese, 2 cans tomato soup

$20 Challenge

5 boxes macaroni and cheese, 4 cans tomato soup

It's about storing fast, cheap meals that will get you by in an emergency. If you want to store something else, please do. Remember YOU are the ones eating your family's food storage, so store what you eat, and eat what you store.

My prayers go out to those currently experiencing hardship from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and surrounding regions.

We have had a few worrying days as my Brother-in-Law and his family are in Japan. Trains were stopped. My Brother-in-Law couldn't contact his wife to check they were okay, then had to walk for 8 hours during the night to get home. He has sore feet, but is relieved they are safe

It has made me all the more determined to do this challenge. Heaven forbid something should happen here - I want to be as prepared as I possibly can though. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark!