What Does the Preparedness Pro Want for Christmas?

Kind of funny, but I have been asked non-stop this past month what I’ve asked Santa Claus for Christmas.  So, I’m going to tell you.

1. An Aero-Garden- so that I can grow more goodies inside the home. It’s more convenient for me to handle them indoors and I like having more living plants in my home to provide more wonderful oxygen.
2. Molasses– I simply can’t seem to get enough of this stuff and there are so many wonderful goodies I can make with it such as ginger snaps and ginger bread. It’s a bit pricey so I don’t buy it for myself much. But I never mind it when Santa splurges on things like that. However, you should try the molasses powder! It is shelf stable, easy to use, and a great addition to your preparedness pantry.
3. Cold-pressed coconut oil– This oil will store indefinitely. It simply doesn’t go rancid and it doesn’t flavor the foods that I use it in.
4. A super “hotel sized” Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker—I have three varied sizes of these pressure cookers now—standard sizes from 5 liters to 7 liters. But if I ever find myself cooking for an army of refugees, I’m certain that I will want a bigger pot. I spotted this “hotel” size years ago.  I must admit, my Christmas list has surely changed over the years. It used to be that I expected my husband to give me some kind of a “sparkly” for Christmas every year. Sparkly as in jewelry. But my “sparkly bling” of choice is now that which you get from a large pot or solar oven reflectors. *grin*
5. More ammo-can a girl ever have enough ammo? Not if she regularly practices, she can’t. Gotta keep up the skills.
6. Liquid Soy Lecithin—Ok. I admit, I am not a fan of the stuff when it comes to clean up. It’s so dang sticky. But I have discovered that I can simply use a squirt top lid on the bottle and then only eyeball 4 tablespoons of the stuff in my bread dough instead of using ½ to ¾ cup of vegetable oil. It’s only $8.99 a bottle here. And four bottles will last me a whole year. That’s a lot cheaper and a lot less expensive than vegetable oil. So I’m a newly converted fan.
7. A marble rolling pin—I’ve discovered so many wonderful things I can do with my bread dough that I’ve coveted my mother-in-law’s marble rolling pin. I think Santa got the hint on this one.
8. A gift card to Amazon.com—I can never get enough books, especially those on cooking, preparedness, the US Constitution, and homeopathy.  I’m really studying up on the use of essential oils lately. That’s my 2010 goal—to master the use of essential oils for health care.
9. More Mason Jars—especially the wide mouth size so that I can bake breads and cakes in them and then store them. I also like how I can cut up steak that I get on sale to fit just inside and then have a recognizable shaped steak after I can them. Yum. There’s nothing like canned steak meat that’s essentially marinated for 3 years!
10. And last but not least, I could always appreciate more grains for my food storage. This is one woman who wouldn’t be upset if her husband gave her some more wheat which is packaged properly in Diatomaceous earth or some more freeze-dried sweet corn.  If things keep going the way I fully expect them too with the grain shortage, any one of you could end up being a millionaire in grains if you simply had a years supply in your home right now.

Ultimately this list may sound so very, very boring to most of you. Frankly, if you had told me that I was going to get this kind of stuff for Christmas—let alone ask for it—10 years ago, I would have been so depressed. Really! And my husband probably would have been exiled to the tiniest, most cramped of dog houses back then too.  But nowadays, my focus truly is preparedness. I love preparedness. I love creating recipes and easier ways of doing things.

I got so dang excited last night as I got boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for only $1.48. I brought them home and had them canned and in the pressure canner in less than 20 minutes!  I also was giddy after finding large eggs on sale for only .50 cents a dozen! I bought 24 dozen and brought them home. On Christmas day I’m going to begin a three day weekend by putting the mineral oil on my eggs and replenishing my egg storage downstairs! And I’m actually excited that I get a few days off from writing and teaching so that I can organize my preparedness supplies!

Am I crazy? Nope. I’m just super content with what’s important to me. Preparedness doesn’t mean doom and gloom for me. It means being ready for whatever may come that I have control over. I love knowing that I’m providing comfort and safety for my family.  To me that is the ultimate peace.  Isn’t that what the Savior does for us? Bring us Peace?

Merry Christmas to all of you this year. May you have a bountiful supply of Peace and Joy!