Education Week at BYU in review: Leslie Probert

(Image courtesy of www.mormontimes.com)

Well, the LRH finally took time off from work etc to go to Education Week with her mother and sisters. It was fun to spend time with family and also to visit with friends and acquaintances that I had not seen for some time. For the next few posts, I will share with you some of the great information I gleaned while I was at BYU this past week. I have not had such a fun (and exhausting week) in a while. It was well worth the $50.00 admission fee that was charged. I encourage you to try to attend next year if you can make it happen.

We will first discuss some of the things that I took away from Leslie Probert's classes. Her overall title was: Food Storage A.S.A.P. (Amazingly Simple and Practical). Here are some of the highlights that I wanted to share with you all:

• 3-month Food Storage: We all should know by now that we should have 3 months of foods that we know and like on hand. She also suggested that we include some instant meals that do not require cooking for times when we are out of power or we just don't have time to cook.
• Grains: After we have our 3 months supply, we all should know by now that we should store some long-term food storage. In regard to Grains, she suggests that 65% of our grain storage should be in whole grains. The whole grain (not milled) can store for as much as 30 years of stored properly. Flour can store up to 10 years and Corn meal can store up to 5 years. She also stated that very young children and elderly folks need mild grains due to their dietary needs. Rice overtime can develop yellowing and be slightly rancid (smell and taste). I learned in another class that you can rinse the rancid rice and eat it.
• HALT: She used the acronym "HALT" which guides you in storing your foods. They should not be placed in a "Humid" place, should not be exposed to Air or Light and the Temperature should be cool. She suggested that any bottles that are clear (oil etc) be placed in a paper bag to protect the contents from light. She also stated that insects at any stage are destroyed when they are without oxygen for 20 days......so use Oxygen packs!
• Buckets: Reportedly plastic buckets can absorb Oxygen over time. The heavier the plastic, the better protection you have. She recommends that you seal your food items in a Mylar liner inside of your bucket to protect them. Some Mylar bags now come with zippers! I was excited to learn about that! It makes them reusable.
• Canned Foods: She stated that it is safe to eat almost any caned food indefinitely if they are dented or bulging. If they are quite old, you will loose nutrients, but they can sustain life. For ideal color and texture, use caned fruits/vegetables within 2.5 years and canned meats in 5 years.
• #10 Cans: They can old 13 cups of dry material. This is not equivalent to a gallon, which I had thought the #10 cans can hold.
• Simply Gathering Calendar: This is a calendar that lists items when they go on sale. (I will post more specifics on this later). Use the calendar to plan your purchases during the year. When the year is over, do it again as you will have used some of your supplies. You can plan and save precious funds by using this strategy.
  
  

This information was just from her first class! I will share more later. Learn from this "very smart Chick"!