Financial and Time restraints.......

I got an email last week for a lady who wants me to come teach a class on financial and time restraints in the area of food storage. I called her up and “picked her brain” as to what she really wanted in that area. The points she wants me to get across is how to shop to save money and how to cook quickly in this fast paced world of working mothers and busy families…..It didn’t take me long to come up with what I wanted to convey. As a member of the LDS church, the Mormons, we believe that we need to have a storage of food for times of emergency. I have been teaching classes on this subject now for about 20 years or so. The basics would include wheat, rice, oatmeal, beans, powdered milk, flour, macaroni, salt, shortening and etc. My mind started running and here are a few things that I came up with.

1) If you have a family, buy in bulk. - With fall and winter upon us oatmeal is a great breakfast item that can be purchased in bulk at a much reduced rate. Why pay grocery store prices when you can buy a 25 lb. bag for about ¼ the price. The last couple of days, I have been cooking a big pot of oatmeal in the mornings. Bonnie likes hers with butter and brown sugar and I like mine with butter and cinnamon. TF likes his with butter, maple syrup and brown sugar. It cooks quickly and is good for you.

2) Want to save time? A crock pot is a girls best friend. - At night, before going to bed, put 1 cup of whole wheat kernels in your crock pot, add 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Turn the crock pot on low and let cook over night. In the morning, about 30 minutes before eating, you can add some chopped dehydrated apples, to sweeten the taste. You could also add some raisins, or chopped walnuts or whatever your family likes to eat. The left over cereal can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for three weeks. I use leftovers to extend meatloaf, or I mash it and use it like I would refried beans. There is so much you can do with wheat and I have recipes galore. Talk about cost efficient, I can purchase a 25 lb. bag of white wheat for around $ 6.00.

My sister is a single mother, who works outside the home for a living. She was coming home at night and trying to cook a complete meal for her family. I asked her if she had a crock pot and she said yes. I said, “Barb, why don’t you use it?” I started giving her easy recipes that she could fix using her crock pot and now she does 90% of her cooking in it. Now she comes home and all she has to do is make a quick salad and dinner is ready. It has been a life saver for her and it saves her precious time. Tip from Lucy: Rival makes a crock pot that has a base unit with a pot that sits on top of it. The pot can be used on the stove top and the base unit can be used to fry eggs on. This is the best crock pot that I have ever seen. I have had several crock pots and this is by far the best I have ever used.

3) Another way to save money is to shop with coupons – Grocery store coupons have saved me a bundle on groceries. I take advantage of sales and double/triple couponing. A word of advice: Buy only things that you are going to use. Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon. If you are not going to use it, don’t buy it.

4) The famous last words, at every class that I teach are, Store what you eat, eat what you store and rotate, rotate, rotate………

I have other ideas for the class, but this is just a sampling of what I will teach….I hope it has given you some ideas… Have a great week.