My name is Becky Goodrich. In 2006, I got tired of hearing the
prophets tell us to be prepared. I had worked on the committee to provide
$25 disaster kits to each family in our ward, but I had not gotten any long-term
food storage in my home. So I bit the
bullet and took the money out of savings to buy wheat, cornmeal, oats, pasta,
rice, beans, dry milk, oil, sugar, etc.
I had those white, 5-gallon buckets stacked all over my house: up to the ceiling in the office; on their
sides under beds; in the back of closets; down in the cold basement; underneath
tablecloths as night stands! But I had gotten
food into my home. That was the easy
part.
Then I needed to know what to do with everything I had purchased. I had a mentor in my ward who taught me to
make 4 loaves of wheat bread in 1.5 hours.
I had made white bread on a Montana ranch during my high school years,
but hadn’t touched it since. So I got to
learn all over again. Once I had bread
under my belt, I moved on to the other items the LDS.org website told me to
buy. I started with beans, which I knew
something about from the ranch, and moved on, finding recipes from the
thousands available that tasted good, worked in high altitudes and didn’t break
the bank to make.
I allowed myself to
fail again and again on these recipes, which is really hard for an OCD perfectionist
to do! But I knew that, once I got it
right, not only would I know how to make things, but they would be edible in an
emergency. My family were my guinea pigs, so much so that now they ask what
class I'm doing when something new shows up on the dining table!
I didn’t just try recipes--people do that everyday. I also did
my research on each of the food items. I wanted to know what I was
dealing with, so I compiled information from my parents, neighbors, the
internet and books about where the food came from, how it was processed, its
nutritional value. When a piece of information was the same from multiple
sources, I considered it gospel. I wrote all those notes down and thought
maybe other people would be interested in knowing what I had found out.
So I started teaching classes in my home for free to anyone who would
listen. I figured we didn't ALL have to reinvent the wheel. I had
already done the hard part in finding the information and testing all these
recipes; why not let everyone benefit from that? So I began with Beans
101 in January, Oats/Corn 201 in February, Rice/Potatoes in March, Non-bread
Wheat in April, 1.5 hour Bread making in May and Water Storage in June (when
everyone is spring cleaning their garages). I wanted people to taste how
good the food could be and see how easy it was now that the testing stage was
over.
We tasted black bean brownies; pinto bean bread, cake and fudge; bean Orange
Julius; our own oatmeal packets better than Quaker; scrapple; corn waffles;
British flapjacks; rice cakes; potato cakes; Spanish tortilla; English scones;
German pancakes; our own sweetened condensed milk for Key Lime cheesecake; dry
milk meatballs; SOS mix for sauces and soups; and a WHOLE bunch of other, yummy
items.
We have learned how to grind beans into flour and use that for gluten free
food. We've learned how to use gelatin when we don't have eggs. We
know the protein count of the different grains. We found out how powdered
eggs taste and which powdered milk tastes the best. We learned how to
extend our ground meat with cracked wheat. We've used butane stoves to
cook these items. We've discussed how to get our kids (and husbands!) to
eat these items.
We've learned which containers NOT to use for water or food storage. We know
now what documents we'll need in an emergency and how to make a family
evacuation plan. We've made household inventories for emergency and
insurance use as well as ID cards for each person to put in their disaster kits. We know how to shelter in place, seal off a room and maintain
sanitary conditions in an emergency.
I have modified that schedule to add gluten-free items, including bread, to
the oats/corn class. I added Dry Milk in March and put rice/potatoes with
the wheat presentation. I summarized before, during and after emergency information from multiple websites into a book that I
sell for the printing price only. I teach my disaster/first aid kit, water storage
and food storage presentations all over the valley to religious, civic and
county organizations. I do all this for free because I don't want anyone
to miss out on good information just because of money.
It's important to me that I have done all I can do to inform, motivate and
assist others in preparing their families for the eventual emergency. It
hurts my heart to think of moms and dads telling their kids they don't know
where to find food or how to stay warm when an emergency hits. Not if
there's anything I can do about it.
Becky Goodrich, The PrepLady
preplady911@gmail.com and preplady.blogspot.com
The Preplady Preparedness Blog
Friday, January 2, 2015
Printing documents from this site...
There are a couple of ways to print documents from this blog. Printing straight from
the site will result in UGLY copies, only worth using as fire tinder!
*******FYI: My Water storage and my Food storage presentations are so large that Blogger won't let me put them on. Also, my presentations (the information I give while cooking) for the classes change each year. They also are not posted on this blog. You can email me for them or use the computer savvy directions below.*******
Not comfortable on a computer? Use these directions:
All the pages on this site are listed on the right-hand side. Click with the left button on the document you want. Now right click on the document with your mouse, click "Save As" when it comes up and then print from that document.
Computer savvy? Use these directions:
Go to the last page in the right column named "Preparation Documents." This will take you to Dropbox, where all my files are. Left click the file you want, then click the blue DOWNLOAD button in the top right-hand corner. Choose "Direct Download" and either open with or save the document. Then print as you normally would. There will be a pop-up about registering that you can "X" out again and again--you don't need to register.
There are 3 "picture" documents there right now. Just click any picture and you will get all 3 of them that you can right click, choose "Download" and open with or save. Then print.
*******FYI: My Water storage and my Food storage presentations are so large that Blogger won't let me put them on. Also, my presentations (the information I give while cooking) for the classes change each year. They also are not posted on this blog. You can email me for them or use the computer savvy directions below.*******
Not comfortable on a computer? Use these directions:
All the pages on this site are listed on the right-hand side. Click with the left button on the document you want. Now right click on the document with your mouse, click "Save As" when it comes up and then print from that document.
Computer savvy? Use these directions:
Go to the last page in the right column named "Preparation Documents." This will take you to Dropbox, where all my files are. Left click the file you want, then click the blue DOWNLOAD button in the top right-hand corner. Choose "Direct Download" and either open with or save the document. Then print as you normally would. There will be a pop-up about registering that you can "X" out again and again--you don't need to register.
There are 3 "picture" documents there right now. Just click any picture and you will get all 3 of them that you can right click, choose "Download" and open with or save. Then print.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
FRUIT HEIGHTS UTAH PREPAREDNESS
The lovely lady, Fran, set up my temporary location for the food cooking classes in 2014. Unfortunately, the City made her stop her monthly
classes in order for me to use the room.
So please LIKE her Facebook page FRUIT HEIGHTS UTAH PREPAREDNESS where she puts out the information she has taught in her classes. It has great information and pictures about preparedness and LIKING her page will be a great way to thank her for her sacrifice.
So please LIKE her Facebook page FRUIT HEIGHTS UTAH PREPAREDNESS where she puts out the information she has taught in her classes. It has great information and pictures about preparedness and LIKING her page will be a great way to thank her for her sacrifice.
Welcome to All Things Preparedness!
I'm so excited to have this blog--
--Where you can get great information at home or on your phone about preparedness
--Where you can print and download all the handouts I give in my classes
--Where I can remind you to COME to the classes
--Where I can tell you about great prices on preparedness items
Thanks for joining me in this journey to be prepared in all areas of our lives. It's a fun and tasty ride through food, 72-hour kits, sheltering in place, stop, drop and roll, etc.
Bring your friends and let's go!
--Where you can get great information at home or on your phone about preparedness
--Where you can print and download all the handouts I give in my classes
--Where I can remind you to COME to the classes
--Where I can tell you about great prices on preparedness items
Thanks for joining me in this journey to be prepared in all areas of our lives. It's a fun and tasty ride through food, 72-hour kits, sheltering in place, stop, drop and roll, etc.
Bring your friends and let's go!
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