Food Storage Friday: Ways that Food Storage Can Simplify Your Holiday

This week I spoke at a local church gathering about how food storage can make your life easier during the holidays. Although I don't feel like food storage is very holiday specific, because food storage can simplify your life ALL THE TIME. Here is more or less what I said, plus pictures. :) (Ok, more like more. It's easier for me to present in blogpost form and I don't have the time restraints.)

1. If you are prepared you shall not fear. That phrase applies thousands of aspects of life. Food storage is a great way to prepare for the unexpected. Food storage is the Lord's insurance plan. Isn't that why we have insurance, to help protect us from the unexpected? Why not have insurance where you know that you will use the money that you put into it? It is direction that He has given us through a prophet to help us prepare for whatever may come our way. (Yes, I know that many of my readers are not of my faith, but food storage can still bless you too! Just stay with me here.)

2. Food storage is like Christmas shopping. If you plan a little at a time it doesn't have to be overwhelming. A few cans here, a few cans there.  

3. Using your food storage can save you trips to the grocery store. This can save you time and money.  And frankly I try to spend as little time as possible in the stores during the holiday season to protect my sanity.

4. Food storage doesn't have to be strange and can simplify meal planning. Some common examples: chili, wheat bread, mashed potatoes, sweet and sour chicken, oatmeal cookies, chicken alfredo. Do any of those sound strange? 

 5. Using food storage can save you money. $50 worth of rice can feed an adult for 4 months. Now granted, no one wants to eat plain rice for 4 months, but you can use it to stretch your grocery budget. You can take an average meal of meat, veggies, and sauce/gravy and add rice. A painless way to stretch your budget for mere pennies a serving. If you can incorporate food storage into your meals just once a week, think how that can add up.  Pictured below is my taco salad that I use beans and rice in.

6. You can substitute food storage items for things you are missing. (I think I may have to write an entire separate post on this one. ) Get to know what's in your pantry and how you can make it work for you.  

7. Adding food storage items to your diet can improve your health. Most of  the food storage staples are whole grains. The average American diet can stand to have more whole grain in it. When you increase the fiber content in your diet not only are you getting more "roughage", but if that fiber is the soluble variety (as found in beans and oats) you are also lowering your blood sugar and cholesterol.

8. If you are familiar with your food storage you can prepare meals quickly leaving more time for holiday activities. Store things that you like and your family will eat. It doesn't have to be elaborate, in fact it's probably best if it's not. If you store spaghetti sauce and pasta, that totally counts. If you have it and know what to do with it, you can have a meal ready quickly.

9. There are only 2 things that the Prophet has asked us to purchase: Temple clothing and food storage. Think about the significance of that. If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and believe that the Prophet is inspired of God, don't you think that it is important that we follow his council? If you plan, prepare and sacrifice to build your food storage, blessings will come. I promise. And who isn't interested in blessings?

 10. Having food storage puts you in a position to be more Christ-like. When you are prepared, you are prepared to share. I believe that when it comes down to it that's what this whole holiday season is about. Being grateful for what we have and then giving to others in remembrance of Our Savior. There, the holiday season = food storage. (Just kidding, but it certainly helps.) And you don't have to have lots of money to start preparing. You can start right now. Several years ago, my aunt who lives outside of Seattle decided to take the food storage council to heart. She didn't have a lot of money to invest in food storage, but she did start storing water. She saved juice and soda bottles, cleaned them out and stored her water. Her friends and neighbors thought that she was insane. The Seattle area is never going to have a drought, she was never going to need the water that she was storing. Then one winter they had a very hard freeze and every one of her neighbors' water pipes broke. Because she had water stored she was able to share with them and help them in their crisis. (And it helped that her water pipes happened to not break.) That's just one example, there are hundreds. When you have a little set aside it makes it easier to give when canned food is collected for the needy, or when a neighbor is ill and can use a pot of chicken soup. When you have food storage you are prepared to literally feed His sheep.