Prepping Ideas For
Cold Winter Days

My friend, Sharon, at SimplyCanning.com started my thinking about prepping in the winter when she posted on FaceBook about canning beans. Now I've never thought about canning beans before, but what a great idea!

You know how long it takes to cook beans (pinto, navy, red, black). There's the soaking, then the rinsing, then the cooking, then you can use them in a recipe. But what if you did all that beforehand (canned them) and they were ready whenever you wanted to include beans in your dinner menu? (Sharon has a canning book, Simply Canning: Survival Guide to Safe Home Canning, available on Amazon that will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about canning. It would make a great gift for someone.)

Invest in emergency food storage now and enjoy peace of mind for the next 25 years. Don't miss out on the savings! 

But that's what started my thinking - besides, what else can you do on a cold snowy day? So here are a few ideas:

Read a book or two.

Read with your children to help them understand what preparing means to them.

  • The Boxcar Children Series - You may not think reading fiction can help children learn about preparedness, but this series will keep their attention as well as help them to think about being creative when survival is at stake. I read these books as a child, read them to my children and still love them!

  • Playful Preparedness: Prepare Your Children--For Life - 26 Games for Teaching Situational Awareness, Prepping, Emergency Preparedness and the Survival Mindset to Children of All Ages.  Today’s children can recognize over 1,000 corporate logos but can’t identify 10 plants native to their region. They live in an artificial world—one where they spend less than seven minutes per day playing outdoors and over seven hours per day staring at a digital device. But the threats our children face are real, from random violence and terrorism to natural, manmade, and accidental disasters.

  • Little House on the Prairie Series - This well-loved series can teach all of us how to be creative and survive without all of our electronic gadgets.

Inventory Your Survival Supplies

You won't even have to go out in the cold to accomplish this task. Just grab a clipboard, pen and paper. (Need help doing an inventory? Check here.)

Can or dehydrate produce from the grocery store.

Costco and Sam's Club have large containers of already fresh, cut-up fruits and vegetables. It's so easy to just throw them into the dehydrator and then vacuum pack them when they're finished. (I just dehydrated some sweet potatoes. Read about it here.)

Or can some beans, apples, meat, or any other product that might be on sale. Save money and, add to your food storage at the same time.

Do your preparedness shopping from your computer, tablet or phone.

I seriously did nearly all my Christmas shopping last year from my computer. It's just too easy to take a few minutes, find what you want, and they ship it to you. (Let UPS do the driving!)

As you well know, there are plenty of sales available during holidays. Then check again in January — usually lots of sales at the beginning of the year.

Good Reading For a Winter Day:

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