So Sorry!!!!

I'm so sorry that I got a bit behind with some of these weekly challenges! I tried to keep up with them as best I could but life got busy and I forgot sometimes. I hope that this helped you out in getting your years supply in an organized way and made it less overwhelming.

Week 52 Challenge! Last one for the year!!

Finish off your years challenge with a bang! Get 50 pounds of wheat for every two adults. Again this is SUPER easy to get at the cannery. They have it pre-packaged and ready for you to buy right off their shelf!

Week 51 Challenge

Add this to your grocery list! Eight cans of tomato soup. Super easy to add to the budget and to your grocery cart!

Week 50 Challenge

THis one is easy if you make a trip to the cannery. It says to get 20 pounds of sugar for every two adults in the family. They have sugar on hand quite often at the cannery and if it's not on the shelf then you can go in and can it yourself! They make it very easy for you.

Week 49 Challenge

Here's a super duper easy one to get again. Five pounds of honey! They sell containers at costco for around $13 for six pounds of honey. Makes it easy peasy to get.

Week 48 Challenge

It's soup time again! This week it says to get 5 cans of cream of mushroom soup . Again this is for every two adults in the family.

Week 47

Sorry I got a bit behind again and I'm trying to play catch up!! This week calls for 20 pounds of sugar. Good thing it's on sale right now! The cannery has it there all the time and it's $4.30 for a number 10 can or I noticed this week that Fry's has their case lot sales going on and sugar is one of them.

Week 46

THis week try and get 6 pounds of macaroni....this should be a piece of cake! The cannery has macaroni that you can buy if you just want the noodles and if you buy it there then you will have it ready to stay on your shelf for the next 30 years. :) Fry's also has macaroni on sale right now if you are wanting it in the bag.

week 45

This week calls for 50 pounds of wheat! Super easy to get at the cannery since they have it already boxed up and ready to go for you!

Week 44

Another super easy one to get...8 cans of tuna for every two adults in the family. :)

Week 43

Super easy to grab and go! 1 bottle of 500 count multi vitamins. I would suggest costco for this purchase since they carry lots of vitamins and seem to always have the best deal on them. :)

Week 42

This week get ten pounds of rice. This is an easy one to add to the grocery cart when you are already at the store. They also have the number ten cans of rice at the cannery all the time and they sit on the shelf waiting for you to buy them!

Week 41

Here's an easy one again! 5 cans of cream of chicken soup. This is for every 2 adults in the family. Soups have been going on sale at all the different grocery stores so keep your eyes peeled for the good deals!

Week 40

50 pounds of wheat again!!! Remember that the cannery has it already boxed up nicely for you and it's $21 for roughly 36 pounds or so. Easy to get and not too expensive!

Week 39

Sorry I fell a bit behind! This one is perfect for all of the grocery store sales! 8 cans of tomato soup for every 2 adults....Happy shopping!

Week 38

This week get 20 pounds of Sugar for every 2 adults in the family. :)

Week 37 Challenge

Here is a super duper easy one to get! Woo hoo! This week try and get 6 pounds of salt for every two adults in your house. :)

Extras....costco currently has some good deals on their food storage buckets online so check them out, they are great to add to your supply. Also costco has 54 ounce jars of coconut oil for $15.99 right now. They are excellent for your oil supply for cooking. You can use it for all sorts of things besides cooking as well and the best part is that it never expires! They put an expiration date on there but as long as you don't open it, it can stay good for as long as you need it to!

Week 36 Challenge

This one's another easy one! Try and get 7 boxes of macaroni and cheese for every two adults in the family. :)

Week 35 Challenge

Try and obtain 50 pounds of wheat this week for every 2 adults in the family. The cannery sells almost 40 pound boxes that have 6 number 10 cans in them for only $21.00. They make it super easy to just grab off the shelf and checkout. :) You can't beat that price for wheat either! They offer hard red wheat and white wheat.

*Extra something to add....I was at costco this past week and they have their 4 pack of lysol wipes on sale for $9.79. It's an important thing to have in your emergency preparedness items because it's the only thing that can prevent your family from getting very sick with tuberculosis, the flu, colds, and many other illnesses. Also you might want to pick up some water if you don't already have your supply. The recent boil water scare in the area was a nice reminder to make sure your water supply is up to date. :)

Week 34 Challenge

Here's another super duper easy one to get at the grocery store. This week obtain 5 cans of Cream of Chicken soup for every 2 adults in your family.

 Happy food storage shopping! :)

Reminder!!

Don't forget that the cannery is this saturday at 9:00 am and our young women will be going to fill orders for those who can't make it. Let me know if you want the young women to fill your order and I will need to collect the money by thursday of this week.

Week 33 Challenge

Here's a super simple one to get! Buy one bottle of 500 count aspirin or multiple bottles if you can't find one that large. This is an essential in your food storage because it can be used for so many different purposes including helping in the event of a heart attack. Remember this is the recommendation for every 2 adults in your family so increase it if you have more members.

Week 32 Challenge

This challenge calls for 10 pounds of powdered milk. They sell the morning moo brand at walmart which is supposed to be a tasty brand as far as powdered milk goes and it's in a number ten can size. It makes it nice and easy to buy or you can buy it at the cannery and they have in various sizes and quantities.

Week 31 Challenge

It's time for some macaroni and cheese! It calls for 7 boxes for every 2 adults in the family. This one should be super easy to grab some extras of at the grocery store.

Week 30

Time for some more wheat! Go and get yourself 50 more pounds of wheat. The cannery has them already packaged and boxed up in 6 cans and it weighs about 36 pounds for $21.00 It's nice and quick and easy to get!

Reminder!

This saturday is our cannery assignment at 9:00 a.m. Let me know if you need a ride or have questions.

Week 29

This is another easy one! Get 5 pounds of peanut butter. Costco sells peanut butter in packs of two for around $12. I'm not quite sure on the amount of pounds that they are but it's quick and easy to get. Otherwise just buy some at the local grocery store. :)

Weeks 27 and 28

Sorry about getting behind, I had the baby and forgot to update last weeks weekly challenge. So for week 27 it calls for 10 pounds of powdered milk and for week 28 it calls for 10 pounds of rice. Both of these are easy peasy to get. You can buy both items in pre packaged forms at the cannery, walmart or any online food storage company. It's generally the cheapest at the cannery unless there are random sales going on for those items elsewhere.

Extra Challenge: Try and set aside a small amount (if you haven't already begun) to put into savings for a rainy day. Even if it's only $1.00 you'll be surprised by how quickly it can add up.

Week 26

Here's another easy one to get! This week try and get 5 pounds of honey for every two adults in the family. Costco sells 6 pound containers for around $13 each. Honey never expires either so once you buy it you won't need to worry about it. Agave nectar is another alternative if you are allergic to honey or just don't like it. This is EXCELLENT to have in your food storage.


Extra Challenge: Buy feminine hygiene products to have extras of. This is something that I definitely suggest having extras of. You never know when you'll need them and you would definitely want them in an emergency situation.

Week 25

It's that time again! Time to buy more wheat! Try and get 50 pounds of wheat for every two adults in your family. They have the pre packaged boxes at the cannery of hard red wheat and hard white wheat for $21.00 a box. There are 6 #10 cans in a box and it is around 35 pounds of wheat in a box. Very easy to just grab and go!

Don't Forget!

The cannery is this saturday at 9:00 am. If you need a ride or have questions then contact me at pecanranchcannery@gmail.com

Week 24 Challenge

Here's another easy one to get! 6 pounds of shortening. They now sell shortening in a powder form so that you have a longer shelf life. Walmart has it in their food storage section and if you can't find it there then you can buy it online at many of the food storage sites. www.beprepared.com has it if you don't know of any sites to check and they tend to be the best priced out of all the companies.

Week 23 Challenge

This is an easy peasy one to get. This week it calls for 8 cans of tuna for every two adults in your family.


Extra Challenge: If you don't already have enough water then buy more! It's easy to pick up a case of water bottles while you're at the grocery store. You can never have too much water, especially here in Arizona!

Week 22 Challenge

This week get 20 pounds of sugar for every two adults in the family. Sugar is a great one to have because it can be used as a preservative and you can cook soooo many things that call for sugar in the recipe.


Extra Challenge: Buy some camping gear. There are lots of sales going on right now for camping equipment and many of those items can be used in emergency situations so they are great to have on hand and ready to use.

Week 21 Challenge

Here's another easy one to get! This week it calls for 8 cans of tomato soup for every two adults in your family.

Reminder!!!

This week we have our hot water bath class on Thursday May 17th at 7:00 p.m. at Jessica Hathcock's home. You won't want to miss it! It will be great! We also have our cannery assignment on Saturday May 19th at 9:00 am. Jot it down on your calendars!

Week 20 Challenge

Get your wheat again! Obtain 50 pounds of wheat for every two adults in your family. We have our ward cannery date this weekend too so it would be very easy to buy a box while you are there. No packing it yourself or anything! You just grab it off of the shelf. :)


Extra Challenge: Buy lysol disinfectant. It is the only product that can kill hepatitis, tuberculosis, and all forms of contagious diseases if used properly. It's an excellent thing to have on hand!

Strawberries

Many of you have probably heard that at the Superstition Farmers Market located off of Apache Trail and Meridian in Apache Junction has had strawberries on sale for 25 cents a pound! It's a great time to buy them and it makes for some excellent jam. I also cut up a bunch of the strawberries and put them in gallon ziplocs in the freezer to have for making yummy smoothies.

Chicken!

Chicken is on sale again at www.zayconfoods.com It's 1.89lb right now and the chicken is delish! The price is generally a little higher during this time of year and then goes back down again towards the fall/winter. It comes in 40lb boxes and you go and pick it up right here in queen creek. They load it right into your car which makes it nice and easy as well. You can freeze whatever you don't use or can it.

Week 19 Challenge

This should be an easy one to get! For this week it says to buy 5 cans of cream of mushroom soup for every two adults in the family.


Extra Challenge: Buy extra charcoal or propane for your grill. If our electricity were to go out for an extended amount of time it's always good to have extra materials to be able to cook with. Charcoal is also great for dutch ovens if you don't have a grill to use it on.

Farmers Market

At the superstition springs farmers market they have strawberries on sale for 3 pounds for a dollar! It makes excellent jam! Freezer jam is very easy to make and tastes wonderful and then cooked jelly is also easy but has a few more steps. You will need lots of sugar, pectin, and containers to store them in. If you need help then let me know and I can help you make some! The box of pectin has the instructions on it as well if you need them.

Week 18 Challenge

Obtain 10 pounds of powdered milk for every 2 adults in the family. Walmart sells the Morning Moo brand of instant milk and it has a 25 year shelf life. They are decently priced but the cannery also sells milk for $8.60 a can and it has a 30 year shelf life. Milk is a good one to have in your food storage!

Extra Challenge: Buy seeds for your garden. Seeds are an excellent thing to keep stored for emergencies and can supplement your supply by a lot. Even if you  don't  currently have a garden or know how to garden you should still keep seeds on hand because you can always learn as you go if you need to or hopefully have friends or family nearby who can help you learn. If you store them in your freezer they last longer too.

Week 17 Challenge

Buy one bottle of 500 multivitamins. Vitamins can help you out a lot if ever there were an emergency where you can't get the right amount of nutrition you will be able to supplement with the vitamins. Plus it will keep your immune system up.

Extra Challenge: Buy some razors. They can come in handy for many reasons and keep you clean shavened. :)

Week 16 Challenge

Time for more soup! This week get 5 cans of Cream Of Chicken for every 2 adults in the family. This one should be a pretty easy one to get. :)


Extra Challenge: Buy toothpaste and extra toothbrushes. Good hygiene is important for emergencies because it helps keep you healthy in a time where it's easier to get sick and for germs to spread. Plus it can make you feel better when you may not have been able to shower in a while but can at least brush your teeth. :)

Week 15 challenge

Time for more wheat! Try and get 50 pounds of wheat for every 2 adults in your family. The cannery has pre packaged boxes of around 35 pounds of wheat for $21. That's a great deal and no effort to grab the box off the shelf. :) Remember if you follow the weekly challenges you will have a year supply in a year. Even if you have skipped some weeks you will be working towards your ultimate goal!


Extra challenge: Make copies of all of your important documents and organize them for your 72 hour kits so that you can have them in case of an emergency or disaster. You will have them ready to go and won't need to worry about finding them at the last minute.

Week 14 Challenge

This should be an easy one to get! It says to obtain 7 boxes of macaroni and cheese for every two adults in your family. So next time you head out to the grocery store at macaroni and cheese to your list!


Extra Challenge: Buy soap! Whatever kind you'd like whether it be hand soap, laundry soap, dish soap just buy a few extras or a lot of extras so that you can have them in your pantry in case of emergency or just for convenience sake. I know it's been great having extras and whenever I need it right at that moment I can just go to my closet and grab it. :)

Week 13 Challenge

This week it calls for 10 pounds of powdered milk for every 2 adults in the family. Walmart has morning moo's milk and chocolate milk in 4 pound cans. They have a 25 year shelf life so it will stay good for a long time. The cannery also has instant milk and we will be canning it in April if you are wanting to get it there.


Extra Challenge: Buy Bleach! Bleach is a great thing to have on hand because you use it to keep your water fresh in your barrels and it is important to have for disinfecting purposes. It is good in case of flu epidemics or worse happening and you not being able to get to the stores to buy other cleaning products to help prevent your family from getting sick.

Week 12 challenge

Try and obtain 10 pounds of rice for every 2 adults in your family. Costco has giant bags of rice that you can purchase for good prices or the cannery always has extra things of rice that are already canned. Either way it's an easy thing to stock up on.

Extra challenge: Try and stock up on medications for your family. Buy tylenol, or ibuprofen or things that your family could use in case of an emergency and in case the stores don't have them so that if someone in your family gets sick you will be prepared.

Sun Ovens

Sun Ovens are a great thing to have out here in the valley of the sun in cases of emergency or just for saving money on your electric bills. :) They are on sale through April 12th and are normally $399 but are $284.99 right now. Go to http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/Global_Sun_Oven_Special_Deal.html to view the deal. If anyone would be interested in learning more about them then I can set up a time for someone to come teach a class on how to use them so that you can decide on if you want to buy one or not. If you are interested in a class then email or call me and I will get a group of us together since the lady lives in Peoria I want to make it worth her trip. :)

Chicken anyone???

Zaycon foods has their chicken for sale right now. They are all hormone free and cage free and taste delicious! I only buy my chicken from them now. It is on sale for $1.89 lb and the chicken breasts are HUGE. They come in 40lb boxes and have a pick up site where they load it straight into your car. You just drive up. It's great! Go to www.zayconfoods.com to order or find more information.

Cannery this saturday!!!

In case you didn't receive the email with all of the information for this month's canning items then here it is. Remember it starts at 9:00 am and you order when you arrive. Wear close toed shoes! You can also can any of the items that the cannery sells after we are done canning the assigned items for the month.

Black Beans $4.55 The suggested amount of beans for a year supply is 75lbs of any variety of beans per person. A #10 can has 5.5 lbs in it and they have a 30 year shelf life.

 

Regular Oats $2.50 The suggested amount of oats for a year supply is 50lbs per person. A #10 can has 2.7lbs in it and they have a 30 year shelf life.

Dry Onions $6.90 There isn't a suggested amount, it's just an extra to add flavor to anything that you will be cooking with. A #10 can has 2.4lbs in it and they have a 30 year shelf life.

Potato Flakes $3.25 There isn't a suggested amount, again it's whatever you think your family would like. It's a great thing to have in your food storage because it adds a good filler to meals that you will be cooking. There are 1.8lbs in a #10 can and they have a 30 year shelf life.

Granulated Sugar $4.50 The suggested amount is 40lbs per person for a year supply. It also suggests having brown sugar (8lbs), honey(5lbs) and jams (4lbs) in your storage for a total of 65lbs per person of sugars. A #10 can has 6.1lbs in it and it also has a 30 year shelf life.

Week 11 Challenge

This week try and obtain 8 cans of tomato soup or soup of your choice. This is for every 2 adults in your family.

Extra challenge: Try and obtain a month supply of toilet paper for your family. It's currently on sale at Fry's for 5.99 for a 12 pack of toilet paper.

Water Water Water!!

Don't forget to be adding to your water supply. You need a MINIMUM of 28 gallons per person for a total of 2 gallons per person per day for a two week supply. Living here in Arizona you aren't going to want to be short on that! You can store water in plastic soda bottles, your water barrels and you can buy them bottled at the store. If you have questions contact me. I am hoping to be able to do some more research on this area and find a good place to get water barrels at soon.

Week 10 Challenge

This weeks challenge is to get 50lbs of wheat for every two adults in your family. You can purchase one box of wheat that contains six #10 cans at the cannery for $21.00. It is just around 35 pounds in one box. They have hard red wheat and hard white wheat available. If you follow these weekly challenges then you will end up with a year supply for two adults or if you are adjusting it according to your families needs you will have your years supply!

Farmers Market Finds!

I was just at the superstition farmers market again today and they have their green beans on sale again for 89 cents a pound. Great for canning! Green beans are extremely easy to can and as always if you'd like for me to show you how to can them then just let me know! They also have red delicious apples on sale. I bought a 38 pound box for $7.50 and I am going to make applesauce with that and can it. If you would like to learn how then you know who to ask. :)

Week 9 Challenge

This weeks item to get is 1 pound of yeast for every person in your family. This is a pretty easy one to get if you have a costco membership. They sell 2 lbs of yeast in a package for $4.95 and if you keep it stored in your freezer it will last for 5 years. It's a must for your bread making! They also sell individual little packets at all of your local grocery stores. This is your entire years supply of yeast so you can buy it and not have to worry about it again for another 5 years unless you use it of course!

Some Wet Pack Info

I am not in charge of the wet pack cannery and don't know much about it yet however I do have some information in case anyone is wanting to know. The shifts begin at 8:00 am and you have to call ahead and make reservations. The phone number is 480-967-8551. The instructions say that you can call ahead to make reservations for the  month starting on the first business day of the prior month. March's dates are the 2nd and 30th and they will be canning pork chunks on the 2nd and ground beef on the 30th. If you have questions then feel free to give them a call.

Classes Offered at The Cannery

They have some spring classes that they are offering every Monday from 9:30-11:00 am. The next one coming up is on Monday the 27th and they will be teaching you how to incorporate longer term storage into your three month supply. It is held in the wet pack orientation room and there are no sign ups or registrations needed. Everyone is welcome to attend.The upcoming one is on March 5th and it will be on finances. It's a basic budgeting and debt reduction class with Glen Tolman. Let me know if you have any questions!

Week 8 Challenge

Sorry this is a day late, but for this week try and get 8 cans of tuna for every 2 adults that you have in your family. You can adjust the amount for kids and if you don't eat tuna then try and buy some form of canned meat that your family will eat. Costco has canned beef, chicken and tuna in packs that range in the amount of cans depending on what you are buying. Otherwise just head on over to your grocery store of choice and you'll be able to find your tuna.

Our cannery assignment

This Saturday the 18th is our cannery assignment at 9:00 am. In case you didn't get the info on what will be canned then here it is.
White Beans $4.55 The suggested amount of beans per person for a year supply is 75lbs of any variety of beans. There are 5.5 lbs in a #10 can. They have a 30 year shelf life.
Macaroni $4.30 The suggested amount of pasta per person for a year supply is 25lbs. There are 3.4lbs of macaroni in a #10 can. It has a 30 year shelf life.
Potato Flakes $3.25 There is no suggested amount, just however much you feel your family could use. They have a 30 year shelf life and there are 1.3lbs in a #10 can.
Granulated Sugar $6.00 The suggested amount of sugar is 40lbs per person for a 1 year supply. A #10 can is 6.1lbs and it has a 30 year shelf life.
Hot Cocoa Mix $9.90 The suggested amount of powdered drink mixes is 8lbs per person for a year supply. A # 10 can is 5.8lbs and it has a 2 year shelf life.
These are based on adult size portions so just modify it as needed.

The new changes at the cannery make it possible for us to be able to can whatever else that they sell at the cannery after the assigned items are done. It doesn't take long at all to can your items.

Week 7 Challenge

This week try and obtain 10lbs of rice. This is super easy to do at the cannery if you plan on going this saturday. One #10 can at the cannery is 5.7lbs and it is $4.00. Otherwise you can buy it at the store and if you would like to can it then it is really simple to do with the stake canner that our ward has right now. Remember this is based on a 52 week challenge to have your year supply in a year if you buy the items week by week and it is based on 2 adults so just add more if you need to.

Week 6 Challenge

This week's challenge is to get 6lbs of macaroni. This is an easy one to get especially since we will be canning macaroni next week at the cannery and one can has 3.4lbs of macaroni in it. If you don't want to wait and want to buy it this week then you can easily get boxes at the grocery store. However if it is canned it has a 30 year shelf life.

Canned Green Beans

At the superstition farmers market located off of meridian and main in apache junction they have fresh green beans on sale for 89 cents a pound. That's a great deal and they are very easy to can. If you would like to know more about how to can them then let me know I'd be glad to help! pecanranchcannery@gmail.com

Week 5 Challenge

For this week the goal is to try and get 50 lbs of wheat. This is one of the bigger goals so it's going to be one of the more expensive weeks in the yearly challenge. If you go to the cannery they have pre packaged boxes of 6 cans of wheat for $21.00. It's around 36 lbs of wheat in each box. Wheat has a 30 year shelf life as well so it will be a worthwhile thing to buy. If that's too much to fit in your budget right now then you can go and buy just one can. Every little bit counts! Walmart also sells wheat however the cannery is the cheapest place to get it at.

Week 4 Challenge

For week 4 try and get 8 cans of tomato soup or soups that  you know your family will eat. This week is a great one to get this! Fry's has their crazy 8 sale going on right now. If you buy 8 cans of soup you get them for 88 cents each! Campbells soups are normally 1.50 ea so this is an excellent deal. Remember that this is based on 2 adults so just double it for every 2 people in your family.

One great site!

If you go to www.beprepared.com they have some great deals going on for the month of January. They also tend to be the best priced as far as food storage and emergency essentials go.Check it out! You won't be dissapointed!

72 Hour kits anyone???

January is a great month to get started on your 72 hour kits. I was thinking of re doing the food portion of mine but wanted to check and see if anyone else was interested and so that we could cut the cost (hopefully) and buy in bulk for them. The food kit will include:
Hot cocoa
oatmeal
granola bars
instant soup
drink mix
beef jerky
assorted pieces of candy
canned fruit
trail mix
saltines
fruit rolls
Items may be slightly different depending on if we get a group together and buy in bulk. Otherwise you can use this list for yourself and I can give you the broken down version of how many of each item to have. Contact me at pecanranchcannery@gmail.com if interested!

Weekly Challenges....

I found a 52 week challenge to help everyone gain their 1 year supply in 1 year. I will be posting it weekly to help you gain your storage one week at a time. To keep track of what you have in your food storage you can go to www.foodstorageanalyzer.com. It is a simple program to work with and you can print out what you have recorded and the best part is that it's FREE! Since we are a couple of weeks into January already I will catch us up to the date that we're at and then go from there weekly.
These amounts are based on a year supply for 2 adults so just add more or less depending on your family size.

Week One: Obtain 6 lbs of salt

Week Two: 5 cans of cream of chicken soup

Week Three: 20 lbs of sugar

These are also estimated on a $5 budget a week. This list was made a while ago so the prices will fluctuate. In the end if you are buying for 2 adults you will end up with:
500lbs of wheat
100lbs of sugar
40lbs of powdered milk
40lbs of rice
12lbs salt
45 cans of tomato or your choice soup
15 cans cream of mushroom
15 cans cream of chicken
24 cans of tuna
21 boxes of mac and cheese
500 aspirirn
1000 multi vitamins
6 lbs of yeast
6lbs of shortening

The Beginning

This blog is designed to be a helpful guide for everyone who wants to know more about food storage and preparedness. I will try and put any special deals going on in the local stores or online sites and I will put as much helpful information as I can on here! Happy preparing!