Zaycon deal on ground beef!

Zaycon foods is having a deal on very lean ground beef. This is lean enough to can. Besides it being great in our food storage, I love having ground beef already cooked to throw in spaghetti, tacos, etc. Such a time saver! And canning it is easy! I also love how easy it is to get the meat from Zaycon, you just "drive up" & they put it in your car!
http://www.zayconfoods.com/refer/zf76778

Prep expo in Utah

http://www.freefood2go.com/expo.php
April 6-7 UVU event Center
$12 for preregistration for both days.

Shelving for your #10 cans

The next question after you have your #10 cans is how to store them.  I bought some supposedly heavy duty shelving to put ours on.  3 days later, we heard a loud sound that went on & on as part of the shelf broke & the cans came cascading down!  We had to haul all the cans back upstairs, build new shelves & haul them all back down again!  Frustrating after thinking all the work was done!  The next shelves started to bow outwards after a few months.  We caught it before everything fell off, but again had to haul everything upstairs, start again!
We did find one set of shelves that work (so far) at Lowes.  The vertical pieces lock into not just the shelf but the vertical pieces below it.  This must give it extra strength as I haven't had any trouble with those.  However I didn't think to anchor them to the wall for earthquakes before I filled them, so at some point I'm going to have to take everything off again!!
My brother on the other hand built some heavy duty wood shelves that are securely anchored to the wall.  He has had no trouble & they will probably be great in an earthquake too.  The materials cost was comparable to buying shelving.  If you have somewhere you don't mind permanent shelves, this would probably be the best option.  I may have to go back & do it that way myself!

food storage deals this week

If you live in Utah, many stores are having food storage deals this week.  For instance Macey's has a lot of things on sale, including 55 gallon water containers for $29.99.  Or a 50 lb bags of oats for $22.99.  So keep an eye on your ads!

More free batteries

Once again Staples has batteries this week that you get 100% back in rewards on your card.  AA or AA, 7 packs per customer.  I always pick these up to put in my storage, & then use the rewards for something I'd have to buy anyway.

First aid bundle kit

Link to first aid kit

2 Johnson & Johnson 150-Piece First Aid Kits

2 12-Piece To-Go Packs

$5.99 each set, $5 shipping for up to 3 kits.  Great way to stock up, & great presents!
These sell out fast though, so if you want some, get them NOW!

Putting your food storage in #10 cans at home

Have you sealed any of your food storage in #10 cans?  If not, here's some information!
One way to do it is make an appointment at an LDS cannery (you don't have to be LDS), buy bulk food there, & can it there.  It is non-profit & they have a some great basic food items.  Here's a current price list:
http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/123141_HSC_OrderFormUS_EngNov2011_pdf.pdf

The other thing you can do is "check out" the can sealer for a few days & seal cans at home.  This is what I've been doing once a year.  I let family & friends know too, & they schedule a time to come seal their cans while I've got it.  The cans with a lid & oxygen pack come out to about $1 each.  The cannery can help you figure out how many cans you need for what you have, but an example is, 5-6 cans for 25 lbs of flour.  I do it at home because I can work for a few hours, stop & then do more.  I can also put in things I've bought myself out side the cannery (the cannery can't let you bring in outside food because of government health regulations).  So I can put in the chocolate I bought on clearance, or our favorite noodles, or what have you.  It also is easier to get friends & family to participate if I have the cans for them & they just have to come over to my house.  They will show you how to seal the cans when you check it out.  It's not hard, my 8 year old sealed all our cans last time, & loved doing it.
I had some friends who were just starting on their prep efforts.  In all they spend around $100 on the cans & things like flour & rice from Costco.  When they plugged what they had into Emergency Essentials food storage calculator, they were excited to find out they had 3 months worth of food!  It took them about an hour to can it all.  Now that flour & rice will keep for around 30 years, in earthquake proof cans!
I collect food on sales, etc all year, & then get the canner once a year.
A couple of tips:  sugar doesn't need oxygen packs in.  Salt doesn't have to be preserved in cans, it's a preservative itself.  And be sure & "shake" the cans after you fill it.  The food will settle in & leave you a lot more room at the top to put more in.  This is especially true of flour.
So start getting food before prices go up more & then go get some cans!!

Free wipes!

Wet wipes are something you can't have too much of in your prep storage.  Right now you can get this 75 pack for free after rebate.
Rebate form at:
http://www.lysol.com/special-offers/dual-action-wipes-rebate/

$10 amazon gift card for $5

http://local.amazon.com/salt-lake-city/B007KCX25Q?cid=share_em
Lots of prep stuff you can buy on amazon!

Current price list for LDS cannery

http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/123141_HSC_OrderFormUS_EngNov2011_pdf.pdf
The last time I checked prices at the LDS cannery was about 6 months ago.  This can be a great place to stock up as it's non-profit, & you don't have to be LDS to buy there.  (Although sometimes I can find an item cheaper at Costco).  But prices have definitely gone up since last August...some such as wheat & powdered milk have almost doubled.  That means half as much food for your money.  So if you don't have some essentials, don't wait while until this happens again!  With the droughts & other natural disaster in the last year, it's unlikely the prices will go down for some time.  There are still some things you can get very inexpensively.

Great deal on Ibprofen

You can get a super deal on Kikland Ibuprofen on the Costco website right now.  The website sells two 500ct bottles of Kirkland Ibuprofen for $10.99.  But there is also a $5 discount offer that applies at checkout that makes your total $5.99.  If you are not a Costco member you pay a surcharge of 55 cents which makes your total $6.55 before taxes.  This item also ships for free.

Free prep items at Walgreens this week!

Here's the pile of items I got at Walgreens today.  The Neosporin & Carefree are great items to put in your storage.  This pile was not only free, but I'll make $5 on it after I mail in the rebate.  Look on sites such as Money Saving Mom to find details on the rebates & coupons necessary to get these deals!
The normal cost on this was $33.

Deseret News articles on Utah Shake Out

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700222612/The-Great-Utah-ShakeOut.html?s_cid=s10
Collection of weekly articles.

Earthquake help for your canning jars

Here are the tips I learned for your canning jars at a recent earthquake safety class:
Put them on the bottom shelf.
Have the shelves secured to the wall.
Put cardboard in between all the jars.  The canning jars I used to get already that that, but I often threw those away.  My recent purchases don't have that anymore.  She said that having cardboard between will really help reduce jar breakage when they are shaking.  So I've started saving empty cereal boxes & cutting them up.  1 cereal box does 1 box of jars.  It's quite easy to put these in after the jars are cool.  But it's going to take me a while to get enough empty boxes to do all the jars I already have canned!  I'm going to work on this though.  Besides loosing the food, the clean up would be terrible!  Obviously, if this is a big enough quake to destroy your home, this won't help.  But smaller earthquakes, this can be a big help!

Utah Earthquake Prep Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69NUE0QyoZQ
This is part of the Utah Shake out!

Earthquake straps for water heater

I recently attended an earthquake safety meeting given by the Dept Homeland Security.  One thing she stressed was earthquake straps for your water heater.  I know people in California have these.  I live in Utah where earthquakes are a risk too, but I'd never heard of them.  She said that the most common reason you have to turn of your gas is because the water heater tips over & breaks the gas line.  I looked online when I got home, & you can get these for under $20!


Something so simple & inexpensive, that can save so much expense later!  Not to mention the safety issues of a broken gas line!  I bought some, & a friend installed them for me.  I feel such peace of mind knowing it's done!

Utah earthquake drill

http://www.shakeout.org/utah
April 17, 2012, 10:15 am
They are trying to get at least 25% of Utahns to participate.  You could get your business to all join, do it as a family, tell your child's school about it.  Spread the word & sign up to participate!  I'll be posting more info, & things I've learned about earthquake prep.