This is a simple and inexpensive week so take this opportunity to stock up on items you may have missed in past weeks or items on sale this week that you may be short on. Even take this opportunity to replace any foods you’ve used and not replaced.
This is an important week even though it's inexpensive.
Food - Yeast & Salt
This week add 1 pound of yeast and 1 one pound of salt per person to your storage. If you don't use yeast now, now’s the time to learn to bake even if it is just one type of bread. Bread is filling and a must have during a time of limited food supplies. You can make easy breads with all-purpose flour. You can find one-pound packages of yeast at Costco, many grocery stores, and bulk food sellers.
If you haven’t tried my recipe for Easiest Ever Bread, try it this week. It really is easy.
Easiest Ever Bread
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 5/8 cups water
1. Using a spoon mix together all ingredients in bowl.
2. Cover and let sit for 18 hours.
3. Drop dough onto a floured surface. Let sit for 15 minutes.
4. Mold into a round loaf. Do not knead or squeeze. You want those bubbles left in there. Drop on floured surface. Put towel over it and let sit for 2 hours.
5. Heat covered oven proof dish or Dutch oven in 450-degree oven. Take pan out.
6. Place dough into hot pan. Again, do not knead or squeeze, just plop it in.
7. Bake for 30 minutes with lid on.
The bread comes out with a wonderful crunchy crust...yum. This can also be made with 2 cups of white flour and one cup of wheat flour. Substituting more wheat will not produce an acceptable result. This is a great recipe for a beginner who is caught off guard and forced to learn quickly.
Parmesan Garlic Herb : Add 6 Tablespoons dry Parmesan cheese, 1 1/2 tsp. basil and 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder to flour before adding water. Mix well. Add water and finish as usual.
Olive Herb : Add 2 tsp. Italian herbs and 1 tsp. garlic powder to flour before adding water. Mix well. Add water and finish as usual. After 18 hours place dough on floured surface stretch dough until thin. Slice olives and scatter over dough. Fold dough in small segments from opposite directions enclosing olives. Let dough rest and raise 2 hour. Bake as usual.
Cheddar Cheese: Prepare dough following directions. Grate 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese. After bread raises for 18 hours place on floured surface and sprinkle with grated cheese. Fold dough over randomly, a few inches at the side, then a few inches from a corner toward the opposite corner, and so on until all the cheese is covered. Let rest 2 hours and bake as usual.
Store - Toilet Paper
This is an important week for stocking up. My favorite! It’s toilet paper week. If you have not learned the importance of TP this past year where have you been? I heard from so many people who thanked me for encouraging them to stock plenty of toilet paper. They never had to worry about running out or being forced to purchase the awful one ply scratchy kind. Unfortunately, I also heard from a few who were sorry they have not listened. I want to be able to barter for things I need, and everyone needs TP and will be willing to trade! This is one item I really over stock not only because I want it but because everyone else will too!
When we began, I asked you to collect toilet paper rolls for a few weeks. Now is the time to collect them from all your bathrooms and to count. If it has been three weeks and you have used 10 rolls then you will need to store 40 rolls for a three-month supply (12 weeks). When planning, if you work outside the home and the kids are gone all day at school you will need to store at least ½ again more than you have calculated. We have learned that during an emergency school and work can be canceled and you will all be home all day.
If you did not take the challenge because you are fairly new here, I’ll explain. It’s simple. Each time you finish a roll of toilet paper save the cardboard roll. Place it in a drawer and save it. Do this in every bathroom in the house. At the end of three or four weeks count the rolls to better understand how much you really use. Use this information to determine how much is the minimum you will need to store for a three-month supply. Again, don’t skimp. Purchase plenty.