In building an effective food storage, it is imperative that you make it accessible.  I started thinking about this when I asked one of my kids to go downstairs and fill the counter-top salt container.  They groaned.  Oh brother.  I have 50 lbs. of salt in a container downstairs, so what is the big deal?

Read our Ready or Not #53: Storage and Accessibility to find out what the big deal is — and to learn what you should do about it.

Think that it’s a good idea to keep a chocolate bar (or M&Ms for that matter) in your 72-hour kit? No, no, no!  Read our Ready or Not #52: Using Your 72-Hour Kit to find out why not.  You’ll also find out just exactly when to use your kit (in case you don’t truly understand).

I had no idea what a proverbial can of worms I opened when I wrote about Shepherd’s pie.  Everybody has their favorite way of making it and even different names for it.  (Hamburger Plop?  What kind if name is that?!)  Everybody is quite ready to defend his or her favorite recipe.  Well, if you think that is controversial (if a casserole can be controversial), then just wait until we talk about this weeks subject – Funeral Potato Casserole.  Please don’t get in fisticuffs.  Just take a moment to read our Ready or Not #51: Funeral Potatoes.

I’m sure that you have heard the expression, “Kill two birds with one stone.”  Well, that is how I like to look at my food budget – using my money to do twice the job.  Read about it here in article our Ready or Not #176: Buying Food and Storage Containers.

How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions?  Have you accomplished everything and are ready for new ones?

Pull out your resolution list, dust it off, set it aside and get a new sheet of paper and write “Goals for 2010” on the top.  (It doesn’t matter that we’re five  months into the year.  ANY time is a good time to set goals!)

Now, read the article Ready or Not #91: Water Resolutions to see what you need to do with this new sheet of resolutions.

It isn’t easy to learn that you have diabetes.  Nor is it easy to learn what all the numbers mean or how to keep track of everything.  It can be very overwhelming in the beginning.  Our Ready or Not #175: Diabetes Forms and Worksheets can help you track food consumption and glucose levels and hopefully make life easier as you deal with diabetes.

My neighbor has already started to plant seeds in her garden, the early seeds like beans and peas.  I, on the other hand, have done nothing.  I know that there are a lot of talented gardeners that have itchy green thumbs that really want to get our there and get started – I’m not one of them.  Thankfully, my husband was born with a green thumb and so we will have a garden.

Read our Ready or Not #50: Planning a Garden. Am I going to explain how to prepare your soil?  Nope.  Which plants you should buy?  Nope.  I’m going to ask you to do something else.  Read our article and find out what.

Yup.  You read the title correctly.  No shopping for 3 months.  Have you ever had someone challenge you to live off your food storage for an extended period of time?  Did you take up the challenge?  How did that go?

Read our Ready or Not #174: No Shopping for 3 Months to lean about one woman’s determination to feed her family of 10 without going shopping for 3 whole months!