WENDY DEWITT EQUIVALENCY PAGE

http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html


365 Loaves of Bread Whole Wheat Bread - 1 loaf per day - Total for One Year


i copied and pasted the title of what i wish i could legally post here, but know i cannot. please go to her nov 1, 2008 post and scroll down to making 365 loaves of bread whole wheat bread. she has the equivalency of what is needed for one loaf a day for a WHOLE year.

Mrs. Survival forum

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24440

THE LETTER

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31692&hl=pinto+beans+lbs.

In this topic i found a lady whose husband spilled the beans to their entire family about their food storage. of course she got the "i know where i'm going in the event of an emergency" from a relative or two. she got many responses of support about having THE TALK with her husband. then one lady shared THE LETTER. i loved the letter so much i decided to post it here. enjoy.

SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH

SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH.

Are you prepared for any type of disaster or emergency? Are you ready for an every day emergency? This month has been put aside by the U.S. government, as it does yearly, to encourage Americans to prepare for disasters.
And just how do we prepare for them, you ask? Take baby steps, as Jodie and Julie are known to say on their website www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net . They started off by learning as they went along. In fact many people learn as they go along on how to prepare for an emergency. These ladies took it a step further and made a website showing how they started two years ago and have dramatically improved from their anemic food pantry to one year food storage. You may also find them on facebook.

lanterns from metal coffee cans

click on the label at the bottom and you will find a link on how to make lanterns out of metal coffee cans.
www.designspongeonline.com/2010/07/diy-project-karens-coffee-

Earthquake year!

IN a news report I heard on the radio recently it stated that last year there were only 30 earthquakes the whole year. Now from January to now we have had over 70 earthquakes. Suddenly there is a multitude of quakes here in sunny southern California. If this isn't the hint to prepare for a major quake then I don't know what will get you ready.

After the quake in Haiti, and seeing the total devastation, my parents decided to go to Costco and buy a 3 person tent for themselves. They are 77 years 0ld! They are taking precautions for themselves. My younger sister already has a tent and is working on her food storage. She has the two 35 gallon water barrels I picked up for her cheaply as well. And while my sister's pantry may be anemic, my parents are overflowing. Since they live a few blocks from each other its a simbiosis.

GET A JOB, GET A BETTER JOB, GET A CAREER

Friday I finished job club at LACOE. I went through the program ready to take on the world. I had a few falls. My email was wrong; therefore, her emails to me were being sent to another person with the same name. I had no money to buy gas to go to job interviews; hence I did a lot of calling, faxing and emailing for job leads.

Right now I have Work Source agencies calling me with job leads. They call me because I was part of the job club program. Job Club's motto is...

GET A JOB

GET A BETTER JOB

GET A CAREER

People in job club have preferential status in knowing before anyone else when jobs are being posted on CALJOBS. We get to know 24 hours before the rest of the population does.

Clients who were under the age of 25 were given entry level jobs with the YOUTH CORPS. They usually disappeared...graduated...from the group within the second week. Once that is done, real job hunting can begin by real adults!

powdered mixes + water = nice drink

At the 99cents only store I have come to realize there are more powdered mixes now than before. Who has gotten into the act? Well, coffee (10packets ) and tea (40 bags) have been there practicaly from the beginning. Powdered milk and Tang are neck and neck with them. Following them are the ones catching me by surprise. These mixes don't just come in a can for bulk purchases. They come in individual packets...10 to a box.

coffee
tea
powdered milk (3 qts/box sometimes 8qts/box)
GATORADE!!!! comes in individual packages now!
Crystal Lite
Carnation Instant Breakfast! Cited as the best source of CALCIUM for meal replacement. BETTER THAN ENSURE!
Pedialyte!!! that's new to the mix! Add it to your bottled water and your child is set to go. This is especially good if you are on a trip and your child suddenly becomes ill. We've all been there...both as children and as parents!


So I decided to calculate how many boxes of each item I would need to carry me through a year. Well at 10 packets to a box for 365 days I would need 36.5 boxes each...or really 37 boxes each.

What about powdered milk? At the calculation of one quart a dayI divided 365 by 3 quart boxes to give me = 121.5 boxes or 122 boxes of 3 qt packets of milk. Double it for two quarts a day or triple it for three quarts a day. Who needs three quarts a day? large families for one. also, if you plan to bake or cook from scratch, you will definitely appreciate the extra quarts daily. One more thing... consider the ability to trade with it... Don't believe me? Read Kathy in Fl story of THIS IS ME SURVIVING. The character of Kiri does a lot to trade. She sews new clothes and she prepares ready to mix packets...

So, look at the big picture and calculate what you will need for that.

Food Storage Lunch--Short Term non perishables

This past week and a half I have been rotating out my food storage from my car. What does that entail, you ask? envelope packaged corn, spam singles, fish---it was Lent you know.... and....7 oz bag of pasta and powdered drinks.

What did I do? Well, my every day carry bag held my lunch of the day, as well as the car.

the first time I ate out of my car food storage, it was a necessity...Due to family obligations, I was forced to endure half an hour drive from the work training site back home and then back to the work training site. When I arrived there the lunch hour had ended and I did not have my lunch yet...What to do? What to do? I remembered that I had pimped out my EDC leather purse with food and water. BUT, the car was what held the specialty! I really went all out (in my limited income) and had gone to the 99cents only store and bought non-perishable items to use in an event of an emergency and we had to drive to a motel or camp out for a duration. Personally, I'm aiming for the motel.

Well, from my purse I grabbed the spam single. In my car I grabbed the enveloped corn and a cup of apple sauce. I was given a paper plate and allowed to eat my meal during downtime of training. While I was greatful for what I had I noticed I was still hungry and actually bought something from the vending machine. I thought to myself, what am I missing that I am still hungry?

It came to me a few days later....GRAINS!!! I forgot the grains! So, the next time I went to my truck, again. I had the option of opening a 1 lb. bag of white rice or pasta or a 7 oz. bag of noodles. I opted for the 7 oz. bag of noodles.

I honestly thought that 7 oz. bag of noodles would be spent in one day...IT WAS NOT! In fact, its still in my purse tucked away in a zip lock! Just about everything is ziplocked in my EDC purse. Well, I opened up my bag of noodles and took out about one ounce of noodles and placed it in my STANLEY THERMOS (tm.) I added the whole 7 oz bag of cornand the packet of salmon. What I decided NOT to open was my spices. Even so, I was wishing for some added flavor, other than the salmon or white albacore I was eating all last week!

E.D.C. came through AGAIN!

MY dd's backpack/edc came through again. this time it was for another student whose parents were not prepared. i'm sure they have learned from this freak weather and will plan accordingly.

in Spring the weather is FREAKY! COLD then HOT then COLD then HOT then add in RAIN! we have to dress in layers to get the most of this weather.

WHO ARE YOU?

YOU ARE KNOWN BY THE COMPANY THAT YOU KEEP.

YOU ARE KNOWN BY THE COMPANY THAT YOU KEEP!

YOU ARE KNOWN BY THE COMPANY THAT YOU KEEP!!

MAHATMA SAFFRON YELLOW SEASONING RICE 5 oz. pak

I would like to recommend a product that my family and I just tried tonight. Mahatma Saffron Yellow Seasoning Rice in the 5 oz. package. This rice only required a small amount of water. You can find it in the rice aisle at Pavillions. The cost was minimal at less than $1.50 if I recall correctly.

When I asked my m-i-l if she thought I should buy it again, she readily said, "yes".

B.O.P./E.D.C.

I have come to the realization that I am using my purse not just as a bug out purse, but as an every day carry purse, really. That's not a bad thing, either. On Monday I ended up having to use foo from my b.o.p/e.d.c. because of a family obligation I had. Because I already had it in my purse, when I arrived at my destination and break arrived I was able to nuke a single serving of Spam and an envelope of corn. It was followed by apple sauce.

The only thing I needed to do was scrounge up a paper plate and plastic utensils...Yes, I had forgotten those...silly me! Now I have my dd's old microwaveable baby plate and reusable utensils.

What else? Oh, yeah...I went to my local pharmacy tonight and bought imitation L'EGG's knee high pantyhose. positive thing about them? drop them in the purse and go. E.D.C. can be for work, too, you know. Don't believe me? Watch that episode of MAD ABOUT YOU where the wife and her sister switch purses by accident. The wife ends up with her ditzy sister's purse and she is no longer prepared. On the other hand, the ditzy sister has her level headed sister's purse and reaps all the benefits of having an E.D.C bag complete with an umbrella, a flashlight and a wallet with actual money in it.

4.4 earthquake off Whittier fault line

This morning at 4 am a 4.4 earthquake hit Leg Lake off of the Whittier fault line. The quake was a short jolt. However it served as a reminder and wakeup call to Angelenos to be prepared for a major earthquake. www.ready.gov , www.fema.gov , and www.lakewoodcity.org , have all been saying the same thing: be prepared to be on your own for at least seven days. During and immediately after the earthquake city emergency units will be busy making sure infrastructure is secured. The fire department will respond to major emergencies first...this being major structure fires, fires due to gas leaks, etc... Police will respond to major civil disturbances...including and especially domestic violence, major accidents, etc...

In the mean time, 9-1-1 already knows an earthquake happened please do not call them to report it. Please take the time to check on your neighbors, especially the elderly and enfermed. If any live wired are brought down by the quake, PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THEM. LIVE WIRED CAN AND WILL KILL ANY LIVING BEING TOUCHING THEM.

Bug Out Purse/Bag

Recently I bought my dh a B.O.B. that will mesh with his work clothes in his new training job. I myself have also bought myself a B.O.P. to go with my work clothes and the environment.

My dh bag is a laptop bag. Mine is a beautiful black leather satchel. the first day I got him his laptop I tricked it out. I got him the following...

2 1L bottles of water
travel size hand sanitizer, refillable at home
1 80 ct soft case wipes
1 dental hygiene travel kit
1 box (9ct) instant coffee with sugar and cream included
1 box (40ct) chamomile tea
1 notebook...because he may be required to take notes!
3 energy bars
1 cinnabon caramel bar...first time trying it!
6 ct. top ramen nodles; beef and shrimp flavors
1 soft pack instant bisquick mix!! new item at the store!!!
2 triple antibiotic ointment! .33 oz.
1 small tarp

What have i gotten myself so far?

3 Carnation Instant breakfasts
2 Lipton Chicken noodle soup envelopes
2 Spam single lite
1-5 oz. bag Mahatma flavored rice
1 1L bottle of water
3 Gatorade powder mixes

$2.25 Emergency Menu plan part 2

today I continue my thoughts on the $2.25 menu plan. this plan used to be called the $2.00 plan. basically all you do is buy rice and beans! or pasta and tomato sauce with meatballs. however, i thought about it. if you are only able to buy two items worth at a time from the discount store weekly, per person consider this idea:

week one; buy two grain items
week two; buy two protein items
week three; buy $1.20 in canned veggies and $1.00 in canned leafy greens
week four; buy two cans of fruit...preferably the 29 oz. cans.
week five; buy two liquids such as soy milk, soda, coffee/tea, etc...
week six; buy two items re: fats/oils/sweets
week seven; buy $2.20 worth of baked goods
week eight; buy $2.10 worth of one gallon of water!
week nine; buy $2.00 worth of spices!

if each week you plan to spend$2.25 but don't use all of the change then save it in a piggy bank until you have enough change saved up to buy an item, or two, or ten.

at nine weeks worth of items to buy, and rotating the purchases you would cycle through this plan at least 5.77 times a year.

what's the worse that can happen if you do not purchase a variety of shelf stable food? well, worse comes to worse you buy beans and rice once a week! it may be boring and bland (heck yeah!) but at least you will survive.

$2.25 EMERGENCY MENU PLAN

this is it... THE BARE BONES DEAL. any cheaper than this would be one dollar for one can meals. with only two dollars and possibly twenty-five cents the combinations are ENDLESS (LOL). you want to get the most bang for your buck...litereally!

1. grain/protein combo
2. water/liquid

1. grain
2. protein

hmmm....choices, choices.

i already gave an example in the $4.25 emergency menu of canned meals combining grains and proteins. here is one more i'm sure many people would recognize.... beef stew. it has grains, proteins, and more! it has vegetables as well.

as time goes on you will definitely want and need vegetables and fruits to compliment your diet. both of these categories supply needed vitamins andminerals to help keep the body balanced. if you believe you will not be able to store fruits and vegetables, might i suggest a vitamin supplement to be taken immediately after eating your meal. a vitamin supplement will only work with a full stomach. why? it needs the fat from the foods to help break down the supplement for better digestion.

btw... the 99 cents only store also sells supplements.

$4.25 EMERGENCY MENU

back in the late 80's and 90's $4.25 was minimum wage. it would have only taken you one hour of work to buy these items at the 99cents only store! for those subsisting on minimum wage today and still want to prepare this may be the plan for you: especially if there is more than one person involved.

1. grain/protein combo
2. vegetable or fruit
3. fats or baked goods
4. liquids

notice how suddenly you have to choose between one or the other. in #1 there are many canned goods that can be boought with both grain and protein combined. examples are....

a. mac n cheese
b. beef n mac in tomato sauce
c. red beans and rice
d. black beans and rice

all you need to do is look in the canned goods aisle of your dollar discount/loss leader store.

REMEMBER...ROTATE ROTATE ROTATE!

$5.25 EMERGENCY MENU

a condensced version if you are on a tighter budget and have more people to prepare for.

1. grain
2. protein
3. vegetable
4. fruit/oil
5. baked goods/liquids

this one was originally titled $5.00 emergency menu

$7.25 EMERGENCY MENU

this was the original menu i planned for myself and my sister after she got on the bandwagon. we both are in agreement that cali is due for a MAJOR QUAKE! one that could shut off our water supply for days if not weeks. therefore we want to plan accordingly. however, my sis was on a very tight budget. both checks were going to completely pay her two major bills: house and car. and her dh was laid off because his assignment in construction had run its course.

well to help her i reminded her of the 99cents only store. to get her started i created this menu, originally titled $7.00 emergency menu. then i went to the store and got her a gift card for $9.99. also i got her a gift basket for the family. the basket was of a cheap plastic bucket. in the bucket i put in $7.00 worth of food to start off her pantry. i got her one of each of the following

1. grains
2. protein
3. vegetables/soup
4. fruit
5. liquids
6. oil
7. baked goods

so waht did i get her? same thing i get any of my friends to start their pantry with

1. rice
2. beans
3. senecal vegetables (2)
4. applesauce
5. soy milk---shelf stable and didn't expire for ONE YEAR!
6. vegetable oil
7. pancake mix--no eggs required just add water. perfect for camping out or for emergencies

at the time everyone had the flu in their homes. my sis' family was on the BRAT DIET. so i tried to give her food that went along with it. BRAT DIET is a bland diet that will help bind and not cause bowel movements. it is a low fiber diet for when people, especially children, have a stomach virus.

B Banana
R Rice
A Applesauce
T Toast

and don't forget now you can by pedialyte at the 99cents only store!!! it comes in four different flavors there!

$8.25 emergency grocery

1. grains
2. protein
3. vegetables/soup
4. fruit
5. liquids/powder mixes
6. fats/oils/sweets
7. baked goods
8. WATER!!!


i personally have used the dollar store (99cents only store) to store up my pantry. since it is canned goods it is considered mainly short term food storage. short term food storage is good for people who are just starting to store food for emergencies. the idea is to change out the food within 6 months to one year. eventually you want to expand to storing long term storage (lts) foods. however, that requires more income and a working credit/debit card. of which i have neither! SO FOR NOW short term food storage works for me.

the $8.25 menu plan was the latest creation i made for my endeavours. i originally started with a $7.00 menu. water was included in #5 along with milk, sports drinks, juices and powdered mixes. finally i said, just add a dollar more and have the gallon of water included automatically! that way you can still have your flavored drink or other beverage of choice.

VILLAGE OF THE HOMELESS

in this blog i hope to write/type out stories i have written about various homeless people. the first story i wrote was ab0ut a homeless person. no age, no gender, no race description. in this manner you can imagine the person as yourself.

this person lives in an old rv permanently parked in a supermarket parking lot. it is my hope that if college film students ever did a scene out of the story they would do a split screen with one male and one female version. this story was supposed to be just the description of the rv and ended up being a story that takes place over the year. due to what was going on in my life, this first story was VERY THERAPEUTIC for me.

i also wrote a story of homeless preschoolers. it is written in a way it can be a BIG BOOK, just like in preschools, and read out loud to TPTB! this story takes place during a day.

I wrote another story that has a "He said, She said" mentality. this story takes place over a week.

THE BUS ON OLYMPIC BOULEVARD is the first one i intend to post since it is a short narrative essay. the description slowly unfurls leaving the reader torn and teary eyed. i enjoyed writing this story because i was able to recall from memory our "twinkie" vw bus my dad bought used back in the 80's without telling my mother. but that's another story.

yet another story is of a foster child who is an orphan after his parent(s) were murdered. turning 18 he finds himself on the streets and out of the system. his extended family cannot and will not help him as they have their own issues to deal with.

one last story close to me was of a teacher who lost her job, home and husband because of her pregnancy. this one was close to me because i lost my job while pregnant. subsequently we lost our apartment because of it.


i hope you enjoy the stories as i am able to post them. your positive critics are always welcomed.