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We have discussed the Siege mentality and the Practical mentality and now we will look at the Provident mentality.
The Provident storer is a combination of Siege and Practical storer with one big difference. Instead of just storing what the Siege storer stores (i.e., wheat, dry milk, sugar, etc.) the Provident storer uses it. The Provident storer will also have a large garden and will bottle, freeze, and dehydrate the foods they grow. They will raise animals where they are able to and will do their best to not rely on the grocery store.
When they go grocery shopping, they buy in bulk, taking advantage of sales and only go to the store once in a while for fresh foods like milk and eggs (unless they have a cow and chickens). Some Provident storers will even make their own cheese (which, by the way, is A LOT OF FUN!)
A Provident storer will incorporate foods in their everyday diet that most people wouldn’t consider taking on like wheat and powdered milk. Which, if you started to incorporate these “gotta’ have, but don’t ever actually use” items into your diet, you would be surprised at how easy and tasty they can be, not to mention how much cheaper and healthier your diet would become.
I’m not advocating that everyone goes back to the pioneer days of becoming completely self-reliant, but I am saying that you can find a balance between your food storage and the way that you build it, use it and rotate it. I find that I am a Practical storer with tendencies of the Provident mentality.
I love trying to find different ways to use what I have stored. I know that wheat, whole grains, and beans are healthy for us, but how do I use it? Well, I just jumped in. I started grinding and blending and going to classes to learn more about how to use everything that I knew was good for my family’s health. I also did it because I wanted to know that my family would enjoy the food that I had stored and that it wouldn’t make them sick.
To introduce wheat to your family, try using wheat flour instead of white flour when making the tortilla shell recipe that I shared with you. (3 cups flour, 1-tsp. salt, 1-tsp. baking powder, ¼ cup oil and 1 cup warm water.) We actually prefer the wheat tortilla shells to the white tortilla shells. The way that I started to incorporate powdered milk was to take a class on how to use powdered milk. What a fun class! The teacher gave us lots of wonderful recipes (that are available at the USU Ext. Service, Darlene Carlisle milk pamphlet) and I will never be able to look at powdered milk the same.
After trying this pudding recipe, you will be hooked and will want to sign up for her class the next time she teaches at the USU Extension Service in Provo.
Basic Pudding (or pie filling)
1 cup of sugar 2 eggs 5 Tbsp. flour (6 for pie) 2 Tbsp. butter 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (2 for pie) 2 tsp. vanilla ½ tsp. salt 2/3 cup non-instant powdered milk 3 1/2 cups of water (3 cups for pie)
Bring half of the water to a boil, take the other half of water and blend in a blender with the dry ingredients and the 2 eggs, add to the boiling water. After it comes back to a boil, cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Stir in 1 Tbsp. of butter and the 1-tsp. of vanilla.
Chocolate: add 4 Tbsp. of baking cocoa to dry ingredients. Coconut: add 1 cup shredded coconut. Can use coconut flavoring instead of vanilla. Banana Cream: use banana flavoring instead of vanilla.
This recipe is yummy and soooo very easy to make and a lot cheaper than if you bought it in a box or pre-made.
THIS is good food storage.
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