Homemade yogurt with instant non-fat powdered milk

Mix 1 quart warm water (like for yeast) with 1 1/3 dry milk powder
Add 1/4 cup yogurt with active cultures (use plain) and mix well.
Pour into quart or 2 quart jars and cover with plastic lids. Place the yogurt in a picnic cooler with two quart juice or 1/2 galloon milk jugs filled with very hot water. Alternate yogurt jars with hot water jugs in cooler. Cover cooler with towel and let stand for 3 hours. Yogurt is ready when it pulls away from jar. If not ready in 3 hours, check every half hour. If you leave it too long yogurt will curdle and smell yeasty. You can still use this for cheese by straining through cheesecloth.
Honestly,  it has always taken longer for me and I have had less luck with this recipe. Maybe my tap water just doesn't get hot enough. But I have know others that prefer this recipe and have had great success and it is a great way to rotate your powdered milk. Good luck!

2013 Resolution!

Hello Everyone

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to get back to work! I have an assignment for everyone. In order to make self reliant/ food storage goals for this new year, first we need to know exactly where we are at. So here it is; I want everyone to make an inventory of everything you have right now, food, water, fuel, savings. Count what's in your pantry and freezer, too. Pass this chore onto the kids, if you can. The more you can make food storage and self reliance a family activity, the better. You'll discover at least two things by doing this. First, I think you'll be surprised by what you already have put aside, and you'll discover areas that are lacking. Once you have a clear idea of where you are at, then you can map out what you need and make some goals to help you achieve it. Remember, "He who fails to plan, plans to fail." Benjamin Franklin. 

It is also a great time to pull out those 72 hr kits and rotate food and clothing if needed. Decide as a family where you need to start. If you don't have an emergency 72 hr kit, that is a great place to start. You'll feel greater peace to be prepared. If you have your emergency kits, make sure you are making progress on your 3 month supply of food and that you have water. I know that it can be very overwhelming, but just start somewhere and you will feel empowered. 

Start putting money aside for a cash reserves, decide how much, even if it's small, and put it aside each pay check. Make a goal to have a certain amount saved or to get out of debt by the end of the year. 

Tips to make that dollar stretch so you can add to your 3 month supply:

DIY Dishwasher Detergent

1.5 cup Washing Soda  (washing soda is a natural water softener, abrasive, and is pure cleaning power – baking soda will only act as an abrasive and is not nearly as effective as washing soda, so I just leave it out)

1/2 cup Borax  (Borax – again, an abrasive not super effective, but I have found it helps with glass, which seems to need a finer abrasive)

1/4 cup Citric Acid (citric acid, which is also used in canning, will counter your washing soda, so you have to be very conservative with it.  But it can be the only way to deal with some hard water marks and residue)

OPTIONAL: 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of Dawn  (this just adds more cleaning power – be very careful with it though, just a small amount or you’ll end up with an overflow of suds all over your kitchen floor)

Double or triple the recipe as needed.  Combine ingredients and shake up real well.   1/4 cup in your “Wash” compartment should be all you need for a whole load of dishes!  

I have found many recipes that only called for Borax and Soda, so see what works for you.

I have had great luck using vinegar in the “Rinse Aid” compartment to help get my dishes shiny and residue free.  Since we have hard water, I ALSO add a splash in the bottom of the washer before starting a load.  I found that it made a huge difference. 

Homemade Crockpot Yogurt

Homemade yogurt is a great alternative for a healthy, inexpensive snack. Flavored store bought yogurt on average has 25 to 35 grams of sugar. (Lowfat yogurt has about 12g) A Snickers bar has 30 grams of sugar, a Hershey’s has 21g. The FDA suggests we eat 32 grams of sugar a day! When you make your own, you know exactly what is in it. It’s so yummy, you really don’t need to add any, especially if you add fruit. Add you save a lot, too!

--8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized.
--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter)
--2/3 cup nonfat dry milk or gelatin to thicken- optional
--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring
--thick bath towel

This takes a while. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor.
Plug in your crock-pot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.
Unplug your crock pot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crock pot. Stir to combine. If you want a thicker style yogurt, add 2/3 cups of nonfat powder milk or one packet of unflavored gelatin to the mix after stirring in the yogurt with active cultures. Put the lid back on your crock pot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours. In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened--- it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.
Blend in batches with your favorite fruit. Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.

If you add fruit to the yogurt it never thickened back up the way the plain did. Freeze in smaller containers and send with your kids in their school lunches, they defrost and stay cold. Works great! Enjoy, it’s so yummy!

November Tips from the Stake

I'm passing along some tips sent by the stake. Obedience requires sacrifice, below are some ideas to help us finance our food storage. I'm not suggesting you sell your rings either, but I like many of the ideas listed below. Every year my mother-in-law asks what we want for Christmas. Last year it was a microwave (ours had died an infamous death) this year we are choosing something that will help in our self reliance goal. Remember  "the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" (1 Nephi 3:7). Have a wonderful Christmas! Please feel free to ask questions or request a personal consultation, I'm here to help!

Mary McBride

Dear Ward Specialists,

Included below are two snippets about food storage.  Feel free to pass these along to your wards.

Christmas is a great time to give gifts of preparedness! 

A Legacy of Obedience
In the weeks leading up to our engagement, Shelley and I had spent significant time talking about how we wanted to raise our family and what we wanted our marriage to be like.  One of the things at the center of that discussion was our determination to always follow the prophet.  Two months before we were engaged, we listened to lots of talks at the October 1976 general conference reinforcing the principles of self-reliance.  President Kimball, in the closing session of the conference, reminded Latter-day Saints of the scripture in Luke 6:46, where the Savior says, “Why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”  After our engagement, unbeknownst to each other, both of us were thinking about how to start home storage for our family.  But how were we supposed to do it?  We were students–and would be for many years to come–and didn’t have a lot of money.  The Holy Ghost gave both of us, separately, the same answer: we needed to sell the engagement ring. 

Please don’t misunderstand me and please don’t sell your rings!  There are many ways we can follow the prophets and apply their counsel to our personal lives.  In the years since, we have been blessed in many other ways by heeding the prophetic word.  We have learned that by acting–and acting immediately–on their counsel, our lives are blessed.  Now we watch our children raise their children, we are grateful that faithfully following the Lord’s prophet, Pres. Monson, is part of their family life as well.  To us this obedience is a wonderful legacy.  (Elder Randal K. Bennett of the Seventy, "Follow the Prophet" Ensign, Mar. 2012)

Where Do I Get The Money?

“Here is how you do it:
1.    Decide as a family this year that 25 or 50 percent of your Christmas will be spent on a year’s supply. Many families in the Church spend considerable sums of money for Christmas. Half or part of these Christmas monies will go a long way toward purchasing the basics.
2.    Cut the amount of money you spend on recreation by 50 percent. Do fun things that do not require money outlay but make more lasting impressions on your children.
3.    Decide as a family that there will be no vacation or holiday next year unless you have your [food] supply. Many Church members could buy a full [food] supply of the basics from what they would save by not taking a vacation. Take the vacation time and work on a family garden. Be together, and it can be just as much fun.
4.    If you haven’t a [food] supply yet and you do have boats, snowmobiles, campers, or other luxury possessions, sell or trade one or two or more of them and get your year’s supply.
5.    Watch advertised specials in the grocery stores and pick up extra supplies of those items that are of exceptional value.

“The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment, for every Latter-day Saint family to have a supply of food reserves. . .  All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place; the way will be opened.... We will prove through our actions our willingness to follow our beloved prophet and the Brethren, which will bring security to us and our families.  . . . The great God of heaven will open doors and means in a way we never would have supposed to help all those who truly want to get their [food] supply. I know we will have time and money if we will commit and keep the commitment.”  (Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, “Food Storage” Ensign, May 1976)

Let's Begin!

Hello everyone, this is Mary McBride your food storage specialist with some tips and links to help us in our 3-month supply goal. I fully believe gathering our 3-month supply is not just a temporal principle but a spiritual principle as well. All obedience requires faith and sacrifice, and when obeyed, even when it seems impossible, blessings follow. 1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  We can choose to respond like Nephi and know that if the Lord requires it, He will help us obey. I testify this is true and have experienced it many times in my life. I hope to give ideas and encouragement with these monthly emails that will help us in our food storage goals.  Not every tip will work for every family, but I will send out enough that you can choose what will work best for you. Please feel free to respond and share your ideas, too.

Tip #1

Bake your own bread. Store bought bread is expensive, if you are like us, we go through at least four loaves a week with sandwiches for school lunches and all. On average a cheap loaf cost about $2 a loaf, that's $416 a year! If you bake your own bread the cost per loaf is about 75 cents, or cheaper if you buy your ingredients in bulk.  (And if you use a natural yeast starter instead of the store bought commercial yeast, you can save even more! But that is a whole other concept or another time.) That's $156 a year instead. With what you save, you can easily pay for a 3-month supply. I know that baking bread is a sacrifice, and quite honestly, I don't bake as often as I should, but every little bit helps. If it's about time, premeasure the dry ingredients into ziploc baggies and use a bread machine. I found a bread machine on KSL for $10. 

Bread for 3-month supply (depending of recipe)

3 blocks of SAF yeast

2 bags of bread flour

1 bucket of wheat

3 bottles of lecithin

box of salt

Tip #2

Make your own laundry soap

Each batch yields about 32 ounces (between 32-64 loads based on how many Tbsp used per load)

1 bar of shaved bar soap (Ivory, Zote, Fels-Naptha)

1 cup of Borax

1 cup of washing soda

Mix thoroughly, that's it folks! Use 1 Tbsp per load, 2 Tbsp for a really dirty load. If you have an HE Front-load washer, your in luck because this recipe works because it is a low suds recipe. If you prefer a liquid laundry detergent, here's another recipe:

Homemade Laundry Detergent

1/3 bar Fels Naptha Laundry Soap, grated
6 cups water
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

To make homemade laundry detergent, heat 6 cups water and soap in a large pan until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and Borax. Mix and heat until dissolved. Boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat. (It will have the consistency of honey.*) In a 3 or 5 gallon bucket, add 1 quart of hot water, then add the soap mixture. Mix. Add enough cold water to make a 2 gallon mixture. Mix until well blended. Let sit 24 hours. The soap will gel*. Use 1/2 cup for each load.

Makes 2 gallons. (Approximately $ .40 per gallon) *If the homemade laundry detergent doesn’t gel or reach honey consistency it will still work. You'll save quite a bit with this simple change. 

Thank you and please feel free to respond with questions or to share your ideas as well,

Mary McBride

Food storage specialist

*Here is a link to the three-month supply worksheet (I've also attached a PDF):

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxSU-7TK4PO9MjVmYWQzM2EtODEyOC00YzJkLTliNmUtNDMwZDQ5MTdkZWE5&hl=en&pli=1

*Here is some additional reading:
Church Website on Family Home Storage - http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html
Family Home Storage Pamphlet -http://www.providentliving.org/fhs/pdf/WE_FamilyResourcesGuide_International_04008_000.pdf
Family Home Storage - A New Message - http://lds.org/ensign/2009/03/family-home-storage-a-new-message?lang=eng&query=three+month+supply
Lay Up in Store (Elder McMullin) - http://lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/lay-up-in-store?lang=eng&query=three+month+supply