Buckets

I started out this post wanting to recommend buckets as another option for long-term food storage, but now I'm not so sure if it is a good way to store food for the long term. Let me tell you what I found out, and by the end maybe well see if it's still a good way to store food for longer than a year or so.

First of all, if you are planning on using buckets for food, you need to make sure the buckets and lids you're using are food grade and made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). To make sure the bucket is HDPE, you'll either see HDPE on the bottom of the bucket or a small triangle with a #2 inside. To make sure the bucket's food grade you'll have to ask the seller, especially if you're buying it used. Even though a bucket is technically food grade, it might have been used for paint, oil, or other things that shouldn't be digested. If you can't find out for sure how the bucket was used previously, you shouldn't store food in it or put the food in something else before putting it in the bucket (i.e. mylar bag/pouch).

How do you get buckets?

When you google "plastic buckets" or "plastic drums," quite a few websites of sellers pop up. One good seller that I've found is Baytec. They're about 40-50 miles southeast from here. Comparing their prizes to others, they seem to be relatively inexpensive.

The website is http://www.bayteccontainers.com/

There's also a list of sellers in the phone book under Barrels, Drums & Kegs-New.

You can also ask local bakeries, ice cream manufacturers and parlors, large restaurants or kitchens, or food processing plants for their used ones. I've personally talked to the Three Brothers Bakery (on S Braeswood and Stella Link, 713-666-2551) and the bakery at Target on Main St. When I called the people at Three Brother's, they were hesitant at first, but ultimately gave me five buckets that they were going to through away. The main baker at Target didn't have any empty ones on hand when I ask her on a Friday or Saturday. She knew, however, that she'd have some empty ones by Monday, so she said that she'd hold some for me to pick up that day. I've also randomly asked for buckets at Kroger and Sam's. They've never had any on hand, but both have seemed happy to give me some if they had them and told me to ask again.

Not all Lids are created equal

No matter how you get a bucket is seems you must purchase a lid separately. Even if you pick up used buckets, the lids are usually useless, and when you purchase buckets online or from a company in the phone book, you usually need to buy the bucket and the lids separately.

From looking online, I've seen that the cheapest lids should definitely only be used for the long term. Once you take it off, there's no guarantee that the lid will seal tightly again when you put it back on.

There's another lid with a spout on the top, but I hear it's not always easy to use (some foods being easier to pour out than others).

The most expensive, yet more practical option (in my opinion) is the Gamma Seal lid, which is basically a screw on lid for the bucket. Here's a video that the baytec people made explaining the Gamma Seal lid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqIa21b4VLc

How to best use a bucket for food storage?

The main thing is to make sure the lid is on air tight. To do this, they need to be hammered on with a rubber mallet or a regular hammer with the assistance of a 2x4 acting as a buffer.



Here's the point where using buckets for long term buckets gets hazy. For food to get their longest self life, they need to be in an oxygen free environment. To make the food stored oxygen free, you use oxygen absorbers or vacuum out the air. I personally don't know how to vacuum out air, so one would assume that using oxygen absorbers is the best option. However, on the church catalog website for oxygen absorbers, it says "absorber packets do not work well in containers such as plastic buckets or zip-seal plastic bags." Why do they say absorber packets do not work in plastic buckets? I don't know. The website doesn't say, but then, again, it doesn't say not to use them, either. So...then what does that mean "absorber packets do not work well in containers?" Does it mean that you shouldn't use buckets to store food for the long term? Are plastic buckets fine without oxygen absorbers? Unfortunately, I don't know. The questions need more research.

Here's what I do know, though.

From what I've heard, read and watched on youtube, I think the best way to use buckets for long-term storage is to use them in conjunction with Mylar bags (aka pouches). You seal the food and oxygen absorbers in pouches first (filling the a single pouch while it's in the bucket), and then seal the pouches in buckets. Pouches on their own are not rodent proof, and buckets on their own aren't exactly bug proof, only bug resistant. Together, they would be protected from both and stored oxygen free.

Also, buckets would not be a bad way to store food that you use regularly. For example, your family eats a ton of oats, but you have problems with bugs getting in the huge bag you buy once it's open. Try using a bucket with a Gamma Seal lid.

I'll look into more information about buckets, but if you know anything about storing food in buckets, please comment or email. I'd love to know.

How do you get your food storage?

Obviously, there are many ways to get food, but I believe the best way is through the Church. The Church's regional canneries provide foods storage items of good quality and economical cost.

To order from the cannery...

1. Save the Family Home Storage Food Products order form on your computer


2. Type in what you want in the "Number of cans," "Number of pouches," and "Number of packages," and/or "quantity" columns.


3. Click on "Order Total" on the bottom right to have the total calculated for you.


4. Save your changes.


5. Email the form to Brother and Sister Peacock (our stake's canning coordinators) at rpeacock8123@yahoo.com.

The Peacocks would like to receive all orders one month before the next canning date, but if the next canning date is less than a month away, email them and ask if there's space for your order to be canned that day.

To get what you order...

1. Go to the cannery on the scheduled canning date (see Canning Schedule post)


2. If you ordered cans, you and everyone, who ordered cans, work together to can everyone's order. Also, everyone who ordered pouches will be sealing pouches together. Essentially, everyone will help out until everyone's order is filled. If you ordered in bulk, though, you can either simply pick up what you ordered and leave or help others out.


3. Drive home with your order. :)

For more info and guidelines, see the Canning Schedule post.

Ordering Online

I finally found where you can order your food storage online. It's at ldscatalog.com. It is more expensive (case of 6 No. 10 cans of quick oats $20.50 vs. $13.25) to cover shipping, but it might be worth it for you. To see the online catalog for food storage items, click here.

The rest of the information here was in the Longer-Term Supply post, but for clarity purposes, I moved it here.

So...how should I store the food? In No. 10 Cans, Pouches, or Bulk?

When we were first looking into buying our food storage, I didn't know whether to buy it in No. 10 cans, pouches, or bulk. Since then, I've talked to several people about what they've done, and I've found that it all depends on how you're planning on storing it and use it once you get home. For our family, we went ahead and got all boxes of No. 10 cans. They stack well. They're protected against bugs and rodents, and when I open a can, I don't have to worry about how to store the rest of the food I don't use. The No. 10 cans I bought came with plastic lids.

Some people are die hard pouch fans. One advantage is that pouches are cheaper to buy and hold a bit more food than the No. 10 cans. Also, you have more readily available opportunities to pouch than to can your food (if you pouch your own food). I believe every ward has a pouch sealer, and some members have even bought their own sealer. One disadvantage is that although pouches protect the food from bugs, they are not rodent proof. You'd have to store the pouches in another container (i.e. large plastic bins with covers or 5/3 gallon drums). Also, once you open a package, you're opening a bag as opposed to a can with a lid.

Buying in bulk is definitely the cheapest way to buy, but you run into the problem of how to store the food once you open the large bag. This is where having access to a pouch sealer comes in handy. After you buy 25 lb bag of _____ and a bunch of empty pouches from the cannery, you borrow the ward's or a friend's sealer, and then, bada bing bada boom, you'd have your food storage.

Canning on your own requires more planning. The stake has a canner you can borrow for five days (talk to Sister Peacock in Sugarland 3rd ward), and a sister in the Mablewood 2nd ward (Sister Margarita Trudo, I believe) has a canner. With canning you should remember, it's difficult to can more than one type of food item at a time because you have to meticulously clean between each food you'd like to can.

According to Sister Trudo, it's best to setup canning parties where only one food item is being canned. For example, you want to can wheat, so you invite all your friends with wheat to come join you and can wheat for a couple hours. During that time, your kids play together, everyone bring treats (hehehe), everyone helps clean up, and then everyone goes home happy with their canned wheat. Then you set up another date (the next day or the next time you borrow a canner) with all your friends who want to can oats.

Sound's good? Well, personally, I think it's easier to order canned food items from the cannery, go to the cannery on our stake's schedule day, help everyone fill everyone's order, and go home happy with all of what you ordered already canned, but don't necessarily take my word for it.

Well...Happy Food Storage Building!

Longer-term supply

The fourth and final topic of the Family Home Storage Pamphlet is the Longer-term supply. The pamphlet simply says that "for longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans."

The following chart shows what the Church recommends storing and at what quantities for a single adult.

So, if you want to build a year supply for two adults, the church recommends you getting 600 lbs of grains (25lbs * 2 people *12 months) and 120 lbs of dry beans (5lbs * 2 people *12 months). My husband, Nate, and I decided to just get 9 months worth of grains and dry beans since we already had a three month supply of food.

The Church also says on providentliving.org that "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."

Having grains and beans, I believe, is a good starting point for your foods storage. That is all Nate and I have right now. Soon, I do want to add the rest of the food mentioned above (sugar, nonfat dry milk, etc.)

Random thought: I'm finding that nonfat dry milk is a good item to have now that milk is getting more and more expensive. By itself, I'm not a big fan of dry milk's taste, but it's a good economical substitute for milk when cooking/baking.

Please note that the Food Storage Pamphlet says "to gradually build a food supply that will last a long time." It said to "gradually build" not to have a headache buying it all at once, and it said that you should get enough to last "a long time" not specifically "for a year." I think, however, building enough food for a year is a good goal.

How do you get your food storage?

Well, I actually made this information a post of it's own.

Money Cent$

Thanks to all who came and helped with our financial planning Relief Society meeting last Thursday!

We wanted to pass along the documents and links to some of the resources that we used for those who weren't able to make it and so that everyone could have master copies of the pdf's for your personal use.

Awesome online financial course--goes through budgeting, getting out of debt, saving, etc.
http://providentliving.org/media/training/peaceheart/main.html

Church website "Family Finances" link
http://www.providentliving.org/channel/1,11677,1709-1,00.html

Family Finances Pamphlet http://www.providentliving.org/ff/pdf/WE_FamilyFinancesGuide_International_04007_000.pdf

One For the Money Pamphlet http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/88720_33293_OneForTheMoney_pdf.pdf

Budget Worksheet http://providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/33293budgetworksheet.pdf

Debt Elimination Calendar http://providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/33293DebtEliminationCalendar.pdf

Online Financial Calculators
http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,6657-1-3438-1,00.html

Great talks from General Authorities, including info on unemployment http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,7443-1-4021-1,00.html

Employment resources
https://www.ldsjobs.org/ers/ct/home.jsf

Attached is the document we used as a handout. (I've copied the handout below)

May the Lord bless you in your efforts to live providently!

Much Love,
The Additional Relief Society Meetings Committee

Money Cent$: Financial Planning Workshop
Hermann Park Relief Society January 2010

Here's the Handout (I had to modify the format a bit)

Money Management: The Big Picture…This is actually not about money at all…

“As we live providently and increase our gifts and talents, we become more self-reliant. Self-reliance is taking responsibility for our own spiritual and temporal welfare and for those whom Heavenly Father has entrusted to our care. Only when we are self-reliant can we truly emulate the Savior in serving and blessing others. It is important to understand that self-reliance is a means to an end. Our ultimate goal is to become like the Savior, and that goal is enhanced by our unselfish service to others. Our ability to serve is increased or diminished by the level of our self-reliance.”
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Visiting Teaching Message, January 2010

“For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?…And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right…O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.”
King Benjamin, Mosiah 4:19-21

“Our resources are a stewardship, not our possessions. I am confident that we will literally be called upon to make an accounting before God concerning how we have used them to bless lives and build the kingdom.”
Joe J. Christensen, Presidency of the Seventy

Money Management: Inspired Counsel

1. Pay honest tithe (10% of income) and a “generous” fast offering

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Malachi 3:10

2. Avoid debt

“My brothers and sisters, avoid the philosophy that yesterday’s luxuries have become today’s necessities. They aren’t necessities unless we make them so. Many enter into long-term debt only to find that changes occur: people become ill or incapacitated, companies fail or downsize, jobs are lost, natural disasters befall us. For many reasons, payments on large amounts of debt can no longer be made. Our debt becomes as a Damocles sword hanging over our heads and threatening to destroy us.
I urge you to live within your means. One cannot spend more than one earns and remain solvent. I promise you that you will then be happier than you would be if you were constantly worrying about how to make the next payment on nonessential debt. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read: ‘Pay the debt thou hast contracted. … Release thyself from bondage.’”
President Thomas S. Monson

a. Spend less than you earn

1. Distinguish between wants and needs
2. Use a budget (see below)
3. Self-discipline and self-restraint

b. Debt only for “modest home,” “education,” “perhaps a needed first car,” or “other vital needs.”

c. Save money to purchase what you need

1. Buy used items until you can pay for quality new items—purchasing poor quality merchandise almost always ends up being very expensive
2. Take good care of your stuff

d. If you are in debt, pay it off as quickly as possible

1. Debt calculator (debt ÷ income); Add up all monthly debt payments and divide by sum of monthly take-home pay and other monthly income; Less than 20% is good, Between 20-30% is caution, More than 30% is DANGER
2. Debt elimination calendar (see DEBT ELIMINATION CALENDAR worksheet); Experiment with different options (maybe highest interest rates first, etc.); Get interest working for you; Pay off debt early for big savings

Helpful hints:

• Take time to think through purchases—is it a need or a want? Don’t feel pressure from salesmen or the Joneses
• Avoid consolidating short-term expenses into long-term debt
• Do not use home equity loans for “lifestyle” purchases—don’t jeopardize your home
• Don’t be enticed by low-interest or zero-interest loans—they usually mean inflated prices
• Do not use interest-only mortgages—resize your desires to fit a mortgage that pays down debt

e. A note on unemployment: Work hard and seek education

2. Use a Budget (see MONEY MANAGEMENT: YOUR ACTION PLAN detailed below)

• Keep a record of expenditures
• Record and review budget monthly
• Reduce spending on non-essentials (and reevaluate the “essentials”)
• Use information to establish a family budget
• Discipline!
• Make your budget goal-oriented—how will you best use your surplus—to eliminate debt, to establish your emergency savings, and then invest in long-term savings goals??

4. Build a Reserve

“Financial consultants indicate that ‘most people have it all wrong about wealth. … Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend.’”
Joe J. Christensen, Presidency of the Seventy

a. Becoming self-reliant enables us to help others

b. Look ahead—make your plans based on “worst-case-scenario”

“Too often, people assume that they probably never will be injured, get sick, lose their jobs, or see their investments evaporate. To make matters worse, often people make purchases today based upon optimistic predictions of what they hope will happen tomorrow.”
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

c. Save regularly

1. Emergency savings to cover 3 months of all essential family obligations—keep liquid
2. Long-term savings for missions, education, retirement

d. Have adequate insurance (medical, auto, home owners, and life insurances)—study out alternatives before deciding.

e. Have adequate food storage and be prepared for emergencies

5. Teach Family Members

• If married, work with your spouse as a partnership
• Involve family in creating budget and setting family financial goal
• Teach principles of hard work, frugality and saving
• Stress importance of gaining as much education as possible

Money Management: YOUR Action Plan, YOUR Budget

1. Know how much money is available

2. List expenses--Review statements, checkbook, receipts, cash purchases and add up each category (see MY EXPENDITURES worksheet)

3. Prepare budget (see BUDGET WORKSHEET)

• Adjust spending to fit income
• Prioritize expenses
• Pay Lord first
• Pay yourself (savings) second--“Saving” what is “leftover” at the end of the month does not work. Pay yourself a predetermined amount (maybe a certain percentage of your income—10-50%) directly into savings

4. HOMEWORK: Implement budget and regularly compare actual spending to budget

5. Helpful Hints:

• It may take time to change habits, be patient
• Work together toward a common goal
• Consider including an amount for personal spending
• Find creative, inexpensive entertainment
• Use other sound money-saving strategies

Drinking Water

The information I posted here comes from providentliving.org, but I've added remarks in italics.

Here it goes:

Commercially bottled water in PETE (or PET) plastic containers may be purchased. Follow the containers' best if used by dates as a rotation guideline. Avoid plastic containers that are not PETE. I once bought some water that came in 2.5 gallon jugs that came in boxes. Unfortunately, I didn't know that they weren't PETE until I opened the boxes at home. I pretty much only use juice and soda bottles to store water now.

If you choose to package water yourself, consider the following guidelines:


Containers

• Use only food-grade containers. Smaller containers made of PETE plastic or heavier plastic buckets or drums work well.
• Clean, sanitize, and thoroughly rise all containers prior to use. A sanitizing solution can be prepared by adding 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of liquid household chlorine bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) to one quart (1 liter) of water. Only use household bleach without thickeners, scents, or additives.
• Do not use plastic milk jugs, because they do not seal well and tend to become brittle over time. We had a milk jug filled with water in our car for quite a while because our radiator at the time over heated quite frequently. I could tell that the plastic wasn't strong any more and quite frail. Of course, I didn't notice until I wondered why my road map was warped and had wet stains.
• Do not use containers previously used to store non-food products.

Water Pretreatment

• Water from a chlorinated municipal water supply does not need further treatment when stored in clean, food-grade containers.
• Non-chlorinated water should be treated with bleach. Add 1/8 teaspoon (8 drops) of liquid household chlorine bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) for every gallon (4 liters) of water. Only household bleach without thickeners, scents, or additives should be used.

Storage

• Containers should be emptied and refilled regularly. But I've also read on beprepared.com that "if water is: A) Free of Microorganisms. B) If the container is made of food grade materials. C) The container is clean and tightly closed. D) The container is kept from sunlight. Then it will remain safe indefinitely." Another source says to rotate your water storage at least once a year.
• Store water only where potential leakage would not damage your home or apartment. Our water's all over the floor in the closet in Josh and Caleb's room in juice and soda pop bottles. If I make sure they're upright and their lids are screwed on tight, than I think we're save from damage (knock on wood).
• Protect stored water form light and heat. Some containers may also require protection from freezing.
• The taste of stored water can be improved by pouring it back and forth between two containers before using.

Additional Information

Note: The following links are not to official Church publications but are provided as additional resource material:

www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/water

www.redcross.org/services/prepare

I've read on beprepared.com that preparedness authorities recommend storing at least 14 gallons of water per person. That's 56 gallons for a family of 4. Storage is always a difficulty, but be creative, start small, and gradually build. Good luck.

Why do we need to store water? I just remember when we couldn't use the water out of the tab for drinking/consumption during Hurricane Ike. I was grateful to have a supply of water already safe for use.

Another good website is

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/babysteps/step-2-water/

...the comments are pretty interesting to read through.

Three Month Supply

The Family Home Storage pamphlet says to "build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet" by buying a few extra items when you're at the grocery store, Costco, Wal-mart, etc. Then, bit by bit you'll build up enough food to supply your family for three months.

Building Food Storage
The best advice I've been given is to pay attention to the sales at all the local grocery stores. One week, for example, Dole pineapple was 77 cents a can at Fiesta, so I bought a hole bunch because my family loves Dole pineapple and you don't get Dole pineapple in Houston, TX cheaper than 77 cents a can. This week Sellers Brothers is selling 8 oz tomato sauce cans 6 for $1. I don't recognize the brand, but that's the cheapest prize for tomato sauce I've seen.

If I had more confidence in my organization skills, I'd get into using coupons like some of my friends have. They usually pick up one or more Sunday newspapers on Saturday at Kroger or a dollar store and cut out the coupons. What's really cool is if you coordinate using coupons with the sales that are going on. There are also coupons you can print off online or put on your store cards.

Here's a list of websites to look at about coupons:

http://www.dealseekingmom.com/

http://www.thecouponproject.com/the_coupon_project/

http://www.couponsavinggame.com/

http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10&bid=alk0114130150df14f8f5a15518


Organizing Food Storage
We keep track of the expiration dates on Excel. Ideally, we replace the item before we pull it from the food storage, but we're not perfect yet. We also pull and replace the expiring items out of the closet a least month (or how ever long it takes to eat them) before they expire. Again, we're not perfect, but we're getting better.

One of the most important things I've learned while keeping up a food storage is to only store foods in bulk that your family eats regularly. This might seem obvious, but one time we had 60 cans of something we thought we ate regularly that was expiring the next month. It was annoying to eat them and annoying to replace them all at once. Anyway, lesson learned. You can see we have 41 cans of Ravioli expiring in July. We need to start eating that.

How do you know you have 3 months worth of food?

It takes a little bit of time, but you have to sit down and calculate it out. You think of meals that your family likes, think of the non-perishable ingredients needed, and then decide how many times during a three month period you eat those meals.

It's easier for me to think of it in days. Because three months is around 90 days, you'll need 90 days worth of food.

That's a lot of food, and there is no reason to do it all at once. The best way to build a food storage is no different than accomplishing any other goal or assignment you have. Plan and set up weekly and/or monthly goals. Little by little, you can build up to 90 days worth of food. You can do it!

Where do you put it?

Good question. Wherever and in whatever you have that works for you.

Here's a view of our food storage. Not a pretty sight, but it works.

Family Home Storage

In the Family Home Storage pamphlet, the First Presidency says, "Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."

The pamphlet goes on to list the basics of a Family Home Storage--three month supply, drinking water, financial reserve, and long-term supply. Over the next couple weeks, I'll post what I do, what I've read, and advice that I've been given on each of these basics. Also, I'd like to know what other people have to say about them, so comment! I'd love to hear what you do for your Family Home Storage!