Canning...

Our storage room. Chris built the shelves. (Way to go, Babe!)

The other night Chris and I pulled an all nighter (ok, not an ALL nighter, we wrapped things up about 1am) canning a big batch of powdered milk. We usually make canning a family affair. Our kids love it. Funny huh? They love scooping things into the cans and pouches...they think it's so fun. This time we did it without them though because milk is so messy. The powder flies everywhere and it's sticky too. Even without their help, my house is covered in a layer of white powder, I can't believe how far it spread. But I did save the labeling for them to do the next day.....they absolutely think it is one of the funnest things...I suppose because it's the only time they are allowed free reign with Sharpies and they love those big sticker labels. The labels are usually upside down and sideways and some are even ripped, but we can tell what the contents are. And everytime I get something from our storage room, I just have to smile at the flower drawings on the flour. Anyway, this milk was the last thing we needed for our year's supply...woohoo! I wish you could see my happy dance! We can now officially say we have our year's supply of the basics and a little extra (like freeze dried strawberries (yum) and extra oatmeal mmmmm...) Anyway, our next big project is going to be our water.....so I told our food storage specialist because she was putting in an order to Emergency Essentials that qualified for free shipping and I wondered if we could add 55gallon barrels to the order and if they would be shipped for free too. Anyhoo...she wasn't sure, but called me back within 24hrs and said that she had just stumbled across the information that we can get 55gallon barrels from the Pepsi bottling place for $10 each!!! (they were going to be more like $85 from EE) So, if any of y'all need to get your water stored, call Pepsi in Powell or Worland. If you are feeling discouraged and overwhelmed by the whole process, don't! You can do it! We were overwhelmed when we started a few years ago, but it feels great to finally have it in place. And we have learned and saved a lot along the way. I use powdered milk quite a bit now when I am cooking...or making macaroni and cheese...you cannot tell the difference. And I sneak wheat into rolls, muffins and pizza crust, my family actually prefers whole wheat pizza crust now!