We are taught in the Doctrine and Covenants 88:119, “Organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing…”
In today’s blog I want to present a practical part of preparedness and discuss a very needful thing. Having been through many different kinds of disasters, including being without employment or a paycheck for over eighteen months, I have a different perspective than many on what is needed to really be prepared. But prepared for what?
For hard times and down times it is extremely important that you are able to have comforting things, and that includes comforting things to eat.
With that in mind will you ask yourself a question? What will be your stash? Before any emergency arrives at your door, consider having a “stash” of goodies. (Not to be confused with supplies on the pantry shelf. “Stash” meaning kept in reserve, or as in kept from view or common knowledge.) Know what your comfort foods are whether they are chocolate covered raisins, hard peppermint candies or granola bars. Then when the worst of the panic calms down, the crisis is finally handled and the dust begins to settle you can sit for a moment and take stock of the situation with a comforting treat to help get you through. A rule while you munch is to be sure to count your blessings!
While going through the above mentioned financial disaster of “no work, no money”, one of the things we did as a family was to often have a fire in the fire place, spread a blanket on the floor in front of that fireplace, and then pop popcorn with an old fashioned, long handled popcorn popper. We would talk or tell stories or play “pretend,” play board games or anything else that came to mind. The only light in the room came from the fireplace while we munched. It was a together time. The important part was that it was a time to concentrate on something positive, be happy and be grateful for popcorn. ‘Tomorrow” we could return to dealing with the “no work, no money” situation. Today when our family gets together and we reminisce, our children mention the popcorn and fireplace evenings far more often than the “no money.”
A storage tip is to remember that chocolate or anything with chocolate as a main ingredient will melt, mush and warp if exposed to heat. Even an especially warm cupboard will be considered “being exposed to heat.” A stash in a box, large gallon bottle or large plastic bucket, labeled and kept in the coolest closet corner will keep your “comfort foods” much longer. Another keeping quality key is to make sure the items you are relying on are edible. For longer storageablitiy stash only items that are without nuts. Nuts have a high rancidity factor as well as a high “bug factor”. If you are counting on a treat to help lift your spirits, bugs and bad taste are not what you want to find.
Of course the hard part of this is keeping your family members and yourself out of the stash until it is needed. Perhaps you will need to specifically qualify need.
I think that even in the examples given to us in the scriptures such as found in 1 Nephi 17:6, where Nephi and his family ‘go down into the ship” with their “provisions,” surely they were blessed to have things that would allow them to have something that was a treat for them.
That’s what you need to do, as you try to be practical in preparation. Have something “stashed” or prepared to lighten your tough times, something that is a comfort food for you. Believe me, it will be needed.
