Week 2 - Breakfasts

Following on from last week's message about the weekly food storage reminders, here's this week's suggested purchase item(s):

• 1 box instant oatmeal packets per member of the family. There are 8 packets per box, however, so if you have 7 family members then you really only need to purchase 6 boxes as the remaining family member can use the extra packet per box per day.
• Because these are instant, you can mix them with just water. If you do not have any water storage, it might be a good idea to consider getting some to go along with these. About 1 water bottle per box should be sufficient as it doesn't take much water per packet.

If you wish for a more homemade option because you like to cook from scratch or you have sugar/salt concerns due to health, you may want to consider buying a tube of ROLLED oats - probably about 1 tube for every 2 people in the family because in an 18 oz tube you will have 6 cups of oats (or so).

If you choose to purchase the tube of oats, you may also want to purchase some of the following to help you cook it/to add flavor:

• canned milk
• brown sugar
• cinnamon
• salt

If you've never made homemade oatmeal before, but you want to give it a try, let me suggest two starter recipes:

1. Butterscotch Oatmeal - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/butterscotch-oatmeal/detail.aspx
(I recommend you cut the sugar by half in this recipe or it is too sweet - and it may need more milk. Reading the reviews on this recipe is very helpful.)

Or, if you're someone who doesn't have time to sit down for breakfast in the morning, consider cooking your breakfasts on Sunday night and cutting it out into portions to eat in the car on the way to work. Here's a recipe, then, for such an idea -

2. Baked Oatmeal - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-oatmeal-ii/detail.aspx
(This recipe is particularly good because it works well with dried fruits, so it helps to rotate through any food storage dried fruit you may have in your homes).

As a cooking note: The above recipes both require eggs and butter, which can be difficult to store long term. But, if you really, really want to be able to cook it from scratch instead of buying the instant, you can purchase canned butter and dried eggs from various online sources.

When deciding which option to choose,

please remember that whatever works best for your family's needs will be the better option.

If your family doesn't enjoy oatmeal, but you are a cereal eater, then you may want to consider purchasing more cereal this week. Many of the major grocery stores are having sales on namebrand cereals right now. Just check out their ads in the Wednesday mailer/paper to see a few. For example, SaveMart is having a sale on cereal and granola bars - $1.80 each if you purchase 5 at once. I know it is not the only store to have such a sale, and many stores will price match, so be sure to check the ads before you go out and buy! I will post any additional sale info I become aware of on the blog throughout the weekend, so you can always check that out as well if it is more convenient.

I hope all this information helps you and your family as you work towards the worthy goal of getting a useable 3-month supply of food storage in place.

Happy Storing!

Note: The opinions expressed in this e-mail are the sole opinion of the author and are not meant to promote sales for any institution, nor to represent the opinions of any church, business, or institution.