She happened to mention something about being out of laundry detergent, and I was like, wait, what? (I happen to have a good size stockpile.) That's how I found out since she's new to southern California, the county services won't help. People in her church are dragging their heels too. I'm like, well heck...I practice REAL FOOD storage, so I went into the garage, got a bunch of stuff and took it over.
Wasn't much...just to tide them over, really: #10 can of rice, #10 can of oatmeal, quart of made up powdered milk to see if her kids like it (there's more where it came from if they do), #10 can of macaroni, some pre-made powder mix which makes Cream of Chicken soup (for casseroles), enough spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes and frozen pre-cooked hamburger to last 6 meals...oh and laundry detergent and fabric softener !
This isn't about me (as in, how great thou art). This is about how cool it was to see a need, have the surplus and be able to step in quickly. None of those food-stores are going to make or break us. In fact, our family is going to benefit by us being able to rotate them out. My friend Wendi was able to do the same thing right after 9/11 (like, within hours of, literally.)
I thought about this woman's 16 year old and how (if they are interested) I could teach her/them how to work their way into building up a stockpile and become more self-reliant themselves: cooking from scratch, baking breads, canning, freezing, thinking meals ahead (i.e., get 2 meals worth of spaghetti rather than just one when stuff is on sale or you have extra money.) Again, not because "how great I am" but because I realized that my kids have grown up doing this kind of thing and have at least absorbed the gist of it without realizing it (can't say for sure they've absorbed the SKILL of it, LOL.)
Those are skills and mental acuity which will last a lifetime...teaching a man to fish as it were.
Cheryl Driggs author of Pantry Cooking (http://www.simplyprepared.com) was kind enough to send me a copy of her book of recipes which only use ingredients found at the LDS food pantry for its church members. I have two of Cheryl's books. I already thought she was a genius, now I KNOW it. I plan on buying many of the ingredients (at a regular store) and trying them out...and I'll YouTube them. Why I haven't done it before with her Pantry Cooking book, I don't know. This one just seemed so much simpler...maybe because the ingredients are fewer....after all, the food pantry is not the LDS version of Costco for crying out loud.
A lot of people don't stock enough to share. I'm glad we have. Some stock enough to share, and choose not to. That's their privilege. But if I have to err, I'd rather be securely inside the Matthew 25:34-40 campgrounds, than walking close to the BorderLands of Matthew 25:41-46.
Except for my toilet paper <grin.> You'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead, hands.
Wasn't much...just to tide them over, really: #10 can of rice, #10 can of oatmeal, quart of made up powdered milk to see if her kids like it (there's more where it came from if they do), #10 can of macaroni, some pre-made powder mix which makes Cream of Chicken soup (for casseroles), enough spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes and frozen pre-cooked hamburger to last 6 meals...oh and laundry detergent and fabric softener !
This isn't about me (as in, how great thou art). This is about how cool it was to see a need, have the surplus and be able to step in quickly. None of those food-stores are going to make or break us. In fact, our family is going to benefit by us being able to rotate them out. My friend Wendi was able to do the same thing right after 9/11 (like, within hours of, literally.)
I thought about this woman's 16 year old and how (if they are interested) I could teach her/them how to work their way into building up a stockpile and become more self-reliant themselves: cooking from scratch, baking breads, canning, freezing, thinking meals ahead (i.e., get 2 meals worth of spaghetti rather than just one when stuff is on sale or you have extra money.) Again, not because "how great I am" but because I realized that my kids have grown up doing this kind of thing and have at least absorbed the gist of it without realizing it (can't say for sure they've absorbed the SKILL of it, LOL.)
Those are skills and mental acuity which will last a lifetime...teaching a man to fish as it were.
Cheryl Driggs author of Pantry Cooking (http://www.simplyprepared.com) was kind enough to send me a copy of her book of recipes which only use ingredients found at the LDS food pantry for its church members. I have two of Cheryl's books. I already thought she was a genius, now I KNOW it. I plan on buying many of the ingredients (at a regular store) and trying them out...and I'll YouTube them. Why I haven't done it before with her Pantry Cooking book, I don't know. This one just seemed so much simpler...maybe because the ingredients are fewer....after all, the food pantry is not the LDS version of Costco for crying out loud.
A lot of people don't stock enough to share. I'm glad we have. Some stock enough to share, and choose not to. That's their privilege. But if I have to err, I'd rather be securely inside the Matthew 25:34-40 campgrounds, than walking close to the BorderLands of Matthew 25:41-46.
Except for my toilet paper <grin.> You'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead, hands.
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