Painting: Gathering Almond Blossoms, John William Waterhouse.
That farm we lived on was two hours from stores. We shopped once a month, for our family of 9. We drank 6 gallons of milk a week, and there was no way to fit 24 gallons of milk in the fridge after shopping. So Mom bought 6 gallons each month. She always kept a storeroom full of basic foods, including powdered milk. As we needed milk, each jug was mixed with 3 gallons of powdered milk, to make 4 gallons. That way the 6 gallons became 2 dozen.
We raised beef cattle, so we had our own beef. A neighbor across the river raised hogs, and we’d trade him beef for pork. We had a huge garden- we grew almost all of our vegetables, and Mom was insistent on that 5 or more servings a day of fruits and vegetables. The only vegetables I remember buying were frozen peas and tomato sauce. Elderberries, chokecherries, and currants grew wild on the farm, so we picked and made jelly from them. We grew strawberries and had a huge raspberry patch. We stored our garden carrots  through the winter in an insulated pit in the garden. We canned and bottled a lot, froze corn, zucchini, asparagus, spinach. If we didn’t have something for a recipe we wanted, we came up with a substitute, or went without.

It was a different mindset, a different way of living.  What we’re seeing now reminds us of how fragile our modern way of life is, and helps us better appreciate traditional ways, including making and filling a family storehouse. Now I live in a valley with one million other people, and I can’t do all the things we did on the farm.  But I can grow food and preserve it, store and waste less.

What about Hoarding?

People who store are sometimes accused of hoarding. And sometimes they ARE hoarding.  So what is the difference between preparing and hoarding?
​
‘Hoarding’ involves selfishness or coveting on one or both sides of the equation. On one side, it could merely mean somebody is upset at what you have-- coveting-- and on the other side, you might be acting like a dragon clutching its pile of gold and belching fire at anyone who comes near. There’s God’s way of preparing for the future, and there are a whole bunch of other ways.  God’s way includes loving your neighbor as yourself. Use that as your guideline for building and using food storage. Don’t build in a way that takes from others who need it.  Building a godly family storehouse is “is founded on the doctrines of love, service, work, self-reliance, and stewardship”.

What is the ideal to work towards in building a family storehouse?

A two-week basic water supply, a financial reserve,  a three-month supply of everyday food and recipes to use it, a good supply of basic foods that store a very long time, and the skills to use them. That will give you stability and security, and helps you be calm through new adjustments.  That supply of basic foods that have a 10-30+ year shelf life will help you and your neighbors weather some of the worst life-storms.
Real peace comes through loving and serving God and your fellow men. Sometimes ‘feeding his sheep’ is literal, especially with those in your house.

How to do it

You’ll want to make a plan and implement it carefully, wisely, and lovingly. Don’t go into debt for it, purchase more when prices and demand are low. Purchase less when prices and demand are high.  Learning to waste less will go a long way toward helping you build your family storehouse.
Details of how to do this are on the page called “52 Weeks of Building Storage”. Read through the links beginning on Week 1.  There are more helps on that page, including- charts for how to build a 3-month supply in 6 months or less, and a buying schedule for building a year supply in 6 months or less.

How do I begin building my family storehouse? Find info from Week 1

First, be determined that this is going to happen, starting today. "All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place"!  Pray to see how to do this. 

The next step in getting your family storehouse is to  take inventory of what you have.   (All stores have to take inventory! At least yearly.) Get a notebook or a clipboard, and write down all the food you have in the house.  Group them in categories that make sense to you.  

Go through your budget and see where you can free up some money; you can build a 3 month supply in 6 months , under normal circumstances, with about an extra $15-20/person/week.

My experience has been that because of the way you ideally shop for this short-term storage, it costs considerably less than your regular-meals budget.  Can you afford it?  The way I see it, I can’t afford NOT to have a family storehouse.  Most of my shelf-stable grocery items are purchased when each is on sale, usually at 30-70% off the regular price.

Where Do I Get the Money?

-Waste Less
-Cut money somewhere else. Vacations. Gifts. Extras. 
-Grow and Glean
-Buy Smart!
.

• Waste less—the average family of 4 throws away more than $2000 of food every year. That alone could fund your food storage!
• Budget it in. This is much easier when you’re shopping sales and reducing what you waste.
  • Replace more meat with a cheaper protein source like beans or eggs.
  • Cut your entertainment or eating-out budget.
  • Sell a ‘luxury item’
  • Skip a vacation; buy food and supplies instead
• Grow and Glean
• Shop Smart – SOS method
  • Buy when others don’t want it
  • Shop sales—for what’s on your list. Stick to the foods on your plan
  • Know your prices.  Then you recognize when something is a stock-up price.
    ​

​Now where in the world are you going to fit the necessary food into your house?  If you have a cool, dark room available, that's perfect. 
find a place you can store shelf-stable food, Get a shelf, and Set it up.
That's it!

There are posts on my website with FAQs, including what you need to know about expiration dates on cans and packages. Skim through that 52 Weeks page to find them.

What is the point of being more self reliant?

The most obvious is family security. But if we stop there, we’ve missed the point. We’re all family.  Self reliance allows us to help and strengthen others.  Our families are the basic foundation of society. How goes the family, goes the nation. 

You can be a chayil woman, a powerful force for good in your home and in your neighborhood.


Do you have any questions?  Leave a comment, or email me at [email protected] 

“Self-reliance is a product of our work and under-girds all other welfare practices. It is an essential element in our spiritual as well as our temporal well-being. Regarding this principle, President Marion G. Romney has said: “Let us work for what we need. Let us be self-reliant and independent. Salvation can be obtained on no other principle. Salvation is an individual matter, and we must work out our own salvation in temporal as well as in spiritual things.”
(In Welfare Services Meeting Report, 2 Oct. 1976, p. 13.), quoted in “In the Lord’s Own Way” Elder Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, May 1986

2. New Ideas for Cooking with Home Storage (also found here)--
​created to be used with the foods at the dry-pack canneries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You can no longer dry pack food there, but can still purchase products already packaged.   ​

To help with building your year's supply (this is Week 12 of 26), see this chart. 
 

What is powdered milk?. 
Why store it?. 
How much powdered milk is recommended? And how do I store it?. 
How do I use powdered milk?. 
What if it gets old?. 
What dairy-free substitutes can I store?. 
 

What is powdered milk? 
Milk begins with a very high water content—about 82%.  The water is removed in a couple of steps- a low-temperature evaporative boil is first. Doing this in a vacuum allows the boiling to happen at 135° F rather than the regular 212°. Then it’s sprayed from a very tall tower into very hot, swirling air. A tiny particle of powdered milk is all that’s left when it hits the bottom. (See this article for super-interesting details.)  This milk powder is made of very small, nearly dust-sized specks.

Since fat turns rancid quickly and drastically shortens shelf life, powdered milk for long-term storage is fat-free. It’s skim milk that goes through the drying process. That’s also why it tastes watery.  Adding a little extra powder when mixing up the milk will help with this. And adding a bit of vanilla helps give it some flavor.  Serving it chilled helps, too.
 
Full-fat powdered milk is available if you know where to look. The only brand I’ve seen widely available is Nido. It’s a whole milk powdered milk you can find sometimes in the Hispanic foods section at grocery stores. In the U.S. it’s mostly used in the food industry, but tons of it per year are shipped to third-world countries, where they have few dairies, little way to transport the milk, and no refrigerators to store it in anyway. If you buy whole-milk powder, use it within 6 to 9 months unless it’s in sealed cans and stored under 75°F.  And then use it up within, say, five to seven years.
I have some that’s older than that; I can report later this week on what it’s like, if I remember…

Instant powdered milk is made by making the tiny particles clump together to make a little bigger granules. There’s air between the particles, which allows water to better penetrate when you're reconstituting it. The air also makes the powder less dense. That’s why you’ll sometimes see recipes that specify which kind to use- ‘non-instant powdered milk’ or ‘instant powdered milk’. It takes a larger scoop of instant powdered milk to be equal to a smaller scoop of the regular.  (Of course, you can go by weight measurement and get it right every time!)
 
One pound of either instant or regular nonfat milk powder will make about one gallon of milk.

​This talk was originally given on September 22, 2019.

Cheerfully do all that lies in our power

Up the road from us in Kaysville, Utah, the Church owns a large grain mill along I-15-- Deseret Mills, now also a pasta plant.  The buildings there were dedicated a few days after the Teton Dam disaster, in June 1976.  President Spencer W. Kimball spoke at the dedication of Deseret Mills.  This is what he said.

“I hope, and this is my brief message to you today, that no one ever reads one word about that terrible flood and the sadness that it has brought… without saying quietly to himself,
 ‘No moment will ever pass when I will not be prepared as the Brethren tell me to do.’ One year’s supply of commodities, well cared for, well selected, is a minimum.

It’s the minimum [President Kimball hit the pulpit for emphasis], and every family, if they have only been married a day or a week, should begin to have their year’s supply. 

Now that’s basic, and we mean it!  [He hit the podium again.]

There should be no family under the sound of my voice who isn’t already prepared for whatever eventuality may come. We can’t anticipate it, of course. We don’t know where another dam is going out, or where a river is going to flood, or whether an earthquake is going to come, or what’s going to happen.

We just are always prepared because the Lord said, ‘If ye are prepared ye shall not fear’ (D&C 38:30). And the only way to have peace and security is to be prepared.
May the Lord bless us that not one family of us will go from this room without a determination from this moment forward that there will never be a time when we will not be prepared to meet the hazards that could come.” (Pure Religion p. 266-267)

More recently, Julie B. Beck, then in the General Relief Society Presidency, declared, "We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being.”[1]

My main message today comes from Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and Timothy, and the Doctrine and Covenants-

“The Lord loveth a cheerful giver” (from our Come, Follow Me reading this week,2 Cor. 9:7, and “therefore, dearly beloved…, let us cheerfully do all that is in our power. (D&C 123:17)  “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (1 Timothy 1:7)
 
There are lots of reasons for having food storage as part of our emergency preparedness – power outages, earthquake, economic crisis (this can be widespread but is more often in our own house with sickness or job loss), health benefits (incl. cooking for those with allergies), ‘everyday emergencies’ like quick dinners, last-minute food assignments for neighbors who need it, and having no time to shop). Ezra Taft Benson declared, “The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare as the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1980/10/prepare-for-the-days-of-tribulation?lang=eng
 
  But the biggest reason is that self-reliance can help our spiritual growth.

At the October 2011 General Conference, then-President Uchtdorf told us a little more of why President Kimball had such a testimony of self-reliance.
 
“In 1941 the Gila River overflowed and flooded the Duncan Valley in Arizona. A young stake president by the name of Spencer W. Kimball met with his counselors, assessed the damage, and sent a telegram to Salt Lake City asking for a large sum of money.
Instead of sending money, President Heber J. Grant sent three men: Henry D. Moyle, Marion G. Romney, and Harold B. Lee. They visited with President Kimball and taught him an important lesson: “This isn’t a program of ‘give me,’” they said. “This is a program of ‘self-help.’”
 
Many years later, President Kimball said: “It would have been an easy thing, I think, for the Brethren to have sent us [the money,] and it wouldn’t have been too hard to sit in my office and distribute it; but what a lot of good came to us as we had hundreds of [our own] go to Duncan and build fences and haul the hay and level the ground and do all the things that needed doing. That is self-help.”10
 
By following the Lord’s way, the members of President Kimball’s stake not only had their immediate needs met, but they also developed self-reliance, alleviated suffering, and grew in love and unity as they served each other.
 
Pres. Uchtdorf continued, "Too often we notice the needs around us, hoping that someone from far away will magically appear to meet those needs. Perhaps we wait for experts … to solve specific problems. When we do this, we deprive our neighbor of the service we could render, and we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to serve...
 
“…the Lord’s way of caring for the needy is different from the world’s way… He is not only interested in our immediate needs; He is also concerned about our eternal progression. For this reason, the Lord’s way has always included self-reliance and service to our neighbor in addition to caring for the poor.” [1]              
                                             
Doctrine and Covenants 105:5 tells us that Zion can only be built up by living celestial law. 
 
Oh, how we want Zion! 
 
There’s a conference talk that President Marion G. Romney gave that is so central, so important, that it’s been printed in the Ensign three times.  It’s called “The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance”. (Study it sometime!) In it, he explained, “the principle of self-reliance is spiritual, as are all the principles of the welfare program. This is not a doomsday program, but a program for today.[2] One of the… mission[s] of the Church is to perfect the Saints, and this is the purpose of the welfare program. Today is the time for us to perfect our lives.”[3]

It’s about learning to consecrate ourselves.
Neal A. Maxwell told us this “is a deliberate expanding outward, making us more honest when we sing, ‘More used would I be’.[4] Consecration… is not shoulder-shrugging acceptance, but, instead, shoulder-squaring to better bear the yoke."[5]
Living providently -- which includes "preparing for eventualities" and storing food-- IS PART OF THE GOSPEL.
 
If each of us are going to focus on “cheerfully do[ing] all that is in your power,” what is in your power to do? The question isn’t ‘what do others do’, but what can you do right now.
 
Have you already done the things that cost little or no money? 
You can store water in cleaned soda or juice bottles. 
Inventory what you have. 
Find ways to use leftovers and reduce food waste. 
Get better at making and keeping a budget.
Gather and preserve food from those who have extra. (Anyone want to make applesauce?  I have extra apples ripening, and so do half the people on my street!)
Avoid debt.
And then prayerfully consider what you can do next.

Brigham Young said, “I need the Spirit of the Lord continually to guide…and the more I have to do the more revelation I need, and the more acute [sensitive] my spirit must become… Never worry about anything, but have the Spirit of the Lord so as to know what to do, and when you have done or counseled right never fret about the result. It is in the hands of the Lord, and He will work out the problem”. (Journal of Discourses 13:308)

President Nelson has told us, “Pray … And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions you are prompted to take. As you continue to be obedient, …Every blessing the Lord has for you—even miracles—will follow. That is what personal revelation will do for you.”
 
THE DETAILS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
If you look on the Church website under “Topics”, “Food Storage” is listed and says this: “Our Heavenly Father …has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others.”     

This is part of ministering!

I saw an example of this kind of ministering from a friend. Our first home was in Cache Valley, and Sherrie Schiess lived up the street from us.  Her husband loved to fish—he even took a trip to Alaska and caught  lots of salmon, and Sherrie bottled most of it.  One lovely Mothers Day, the nearby Blacksmith Fork River overflowed its banks. It flooded homes that had stood dry for decades, and the local bishop sent out a call for neighbors to help. Sherrie ground wheat, made a few large batches of fresh bread, pulled jars of home-bottled salmon out of her basement, and fed 50 displaced people. 

That’s caring for your neighbor.
 
Earlier this year, the bishop asked me to create a get-your-food-storage-in-one-year plan that anyone in the ward could use. The current Church counsel on food storage is found in the “All is Safely Gathered In” pamphlet, on the Church’s “Provident Living” site.  In addition to 2 weeks of basic water storage, the counsel includes “a three month supply of food that is part of [your] normal diet” + “a longer-term supply of food that will sustain life”.[6]  Elsewhere on the Provident Living website, it clarifies this as at least one year’s worth—this was not rescinded-- in countries where it’s legal.
 
It’s legal here.
 
Most of us don’t eat whole wheat, rice, beans, and powdered milk as part of our daily diet.  If we switched over suddenly, it would put us in the hospital.  The three-month supply gives your body time to adjust if your crisis lasts that long, and gives you time to improve your cooking skills!
 
Any thorough food storage plan has to include more than lists of food. It needs to help build skills to cook, rotate, and preserve the food, ways to waste less and make your grocery money go further. There’s a new post on the blog most weeks.  (The Church site is Provident Living.org; mine is The Provident Homemaker.com).  If you forget, or want to see what’s up, it’s listed in the ward bulletin each week.  The plan listed on my blog takes 6 months to build your 3 month supply, then 6 months to build your long-term supply.  You really can do it!
 
The Home Storage Centers are a good resource. The one nearest us is in Sandy.  Now we don’t have to can our own food there; you walk in and buy it ready off the shelf. They even have monthly sales.

In March this year, we had a special 5th-Sunday lesson from the First Presidency on finances.  They said,

“Heavenly Father cares about how we manage our financial resources; to Him, temporal matters are also spiritual matters.” (see Doctrine and Covenants 29:34)
Two financial principles and practices to consider, listed in the lesson, are “Be a good steward over spiritual and temporal blessings. Remember that we are accountable for our actions toward ourselves, our families, others, and the Lord.”[7]
Let us cheerfully do all that is in our power.

 Ezra Taft Benson stated, “The Lord has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to the prophet and stored at least a year’s supply of survival food.”
 
Sometimes we think that the General Authorities don’t say anything nowadays about food storage.  They do, just not always in those words.  Again, it’s a major piece of self-reliance and consecration, which are celestial principles. Last Conference, for instance, we heard these statements:

President M. Russell Ballard- “Loving God and loving our neighbors is the doctrinal foundation” of all programs in the church…Teach members to provide for themselves and their families and to assist the poor and needy in the Lord’s way.”
- “The True, Pure and Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ”
 
Elder Neil L. Anderson --“I try to keep the focus off what I don’t have and instead on what I do have and how I can help others.” (quoting then-Elder Nelson,) “Prophets see ahead. They see the harrowing dangers the adversary has placed or will yet place in our path. Prophets also foresee the grand possibilities and privileges awaiting those who listen with the intent to obey.”
- “The Eye of Faith”
 
Sister Becky Craven- “There is a careful way and a casual way to do everything, including living the gospel.” 
-“Careful Versus Casual”
 
Brigham Young said it this way: “My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pigs, bread already buttered, etc. He will give us the ability to raise the grain, to obtain the fruits of the earth…and when harvest comes…it is for us to preserve it—to save the wheat until we have…enough of the staff of life saved by the people to bread themselves and those who will come here seeking for safety.”[8] 

The overall goal is preparing to serve by becoming more self-reliant; the point of self-reliance is the increased capacity to help others.[9]
 
Let us cheerfully do all that lies in our power.[10]
 
INVITATION TO ACT

Ponder how you will apply what you’ve heard. What did the Spirit tell you?  The most important thing you get from this talk is what the Spirit tells you while you’re listening (reading) and thinking about it. Counsel with the Lord this week and seek His help. As President Nelson shared, Pray, Listen, Write, Act.

Focus on what you have power to DO- have I done what is free? Have I sat down and figured how to make the food budget allow for building storage? Can I spare extra from somewhere else for a little while?  Have I taken time to inventory what I already have?
 
President Gordon B. Hinckley, in Oct 2002 and again in April 2007, said, “The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes…We can begin ever so modestly.  We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months… I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.  Begin in a small way, … and gradually build toward a reasonable objective.”[11]   “Regardless of where we live or our financial situation, the path to preparation will open before us as we comply with the counsel of the prophets and go forward as means and circumstances permit.”  -Gordon K. Bischoff, Sept. 1997 Ensign, pg 67

“The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church; such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord’s interests on earth… Now I think it is perfectly clear that the Lord expects far more of us than we sometimes render in response. We are not as other men. We are the saints of God and have the revelations of heaven. Where much is given much is expected. We are to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom.” (Bruce R. McConkie, April 1975 General Conference)

I hope that each of us will go and “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power”, turning to the Spirit of the Lord to guide us to know what IS in our power—and then to do it today, tomorrow, and always.  He will open the way and give us miracles, as we grow in capacity to serve our family, neighbors, and God.
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------
[1] This description of self-reliance is shared in at least three places within Church materials—in “The Eternal Family” manual, in the “Welfare and Self-Reliance” manual, and in the Ensign/Liahona as part of a Visiting Teaching message.

[2] President Kimball said, “No amount of philosophizing, excuses, or rationalizing will ever change the fundamental need for self-reliance."[2]
https://scriptures.byu.edu/#:tc0a:g94 

[3] Elder L. Tom Perry taught, “The principle of self-reliance is spiritual as well as temporal. It is not a doomsday program; it is something to be practiced each and every day of our lives.”   https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1991/10/becoming-self-reliant?lang=eng

[4] Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency explained, 
“I do not want to be a calamity howler. I don’t know in detail what’s going to happen in the future. I know what the prophets have predicted. But I tell you that the welfare program, organized to enable us to take care of our own needs, has not yet performed the function that it was set up to perform. We will see the day when we will live on what we produce.

“We’re living in the latter days. We’re living in the days the prophets have told about from the time of Enoch to the present day. We are living in the era just preceding the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told to so prepare and live that we can be … independent of every other creature beneath the celestial kingdom. That is what we are to do.

“This welfare program was set up under inspiration in the days of President Grant. It was thoroughly analyzed and taught by his great counselor, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. It is in basic principle the same as the United Order. ***When we get so we can live it, we will be ready for the United Order.*** You brethren know that we will have to have a people ready for that order in order to receive the Savior when he comes.

“I know from my own experience and the witnesses by the thousands that I have received of the Spirit that this is the Lord’s work. It is to prepare us. If you’ll think of the most sacred place you ever have been, you’ll remember that the final thing that we are to do is to be able and willing to consecrate all that we have to the building up of the kingdom of God, to care for our fellow men. When we do this we’ll be ready for the coming of the Messiah.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1975, pp. 165–66.)
https://www.lds.org/.../section-78-consecration-an...
 
[5] “More Holiness Give Me,” 1985, Hymns, no. 131

[6] See All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, 3.
This pamphlet with its prophetic counsel was distributed about 6 months before the worst financial downturn in 60 years (October 2007), and Vaughn J. Featherstone gave a very helpful talk, appropriately titled “Food Storage”, along with a challenge for each family to get it in place within a year, shortly before the recession of the late 70s.  But if you want to have your eyes opened to this being a PATTERN of timely revelation from God through our leaders, read this talk by Harold B. Lee in April 1943, “Hearing the Voice”. It's a remarkable thing to have living prophets! 
https://scriptures.byu.edu/#:t47:j01
 
[7] Also see “Top Ten Food Storage Myths” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tzkTKfOuz6YXaWjtiAtKEsQvKf4epET5bVFqhAMQ9is/edit
 
[8] Brigham continued, Will you do this? “Aye, maybe I will,” says one, and “maybe I won't” says another; “the kingdom that cannot support me I don't think of much account; the Lord has said it is his business to provide for his Saints, D&C 104:15 and I guess he will do it.” I have no doubt but what he will provide for his Saints; but if you do not take this counsel and be industrious and prudent, you will not long continue to be one of his Saints. Then, continue to do right, that we may be His Saints; sow, plant, buy half a bushel of wheat here, and a bushel there, and store it up”.
 
[9] See The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance, by Marion G. Romney, and another statement from him: "As we prepare for the building of Zion, we must not and we shall not abandon the basic principles upon which our Church Welfare Services are founded: love—love of God and neighbor—and work, or labor."- "Church Welfare Services Basic Principles", April 1976 General Conference

[10] You all know the verse in Proverbs 31 that says, "Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." I've never looked up the Hebrew word translated "virtuous" before; I sort of assumed it was mostly based in moral purity.  And that is a piece of it.  But the verses following indicate it's much more. I looked up the Hebrew this week. The word is chayil. It means power. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/pro/31/10/t_conc_65901 A 'chayil' woman is one who is active in doing good, one who taps into God’s power to increase her ability to serve.[11]
Who can find a 'powerful, able' woman? For her price is far above rubies.

[11]  President Monson said, “The best storehouse system that the Church could devise would be for every family to store a year’s supply of needed food, clothing, and, where possible, the other necessities of life.”  Treat it as you would a storehouse – inventory!

“Prophets see ahead. They see the harrowing dangers the adversary has placed or will yet place in our path. Prophets also foresee the grand possibilities and privileges awaiting those who listen with the intent to obey.”
-Neil L. Anderson, quoting then-Elder Russell M. Nelson, in “The Eye of Faith”, April 2019 
 
Recently, I ran across a talk that Harold B. Lee-- then of the Twelve Apostles-- gave during the middle of World War II.  He shared several things that the First Presidency had asked the people to do in the few years before, and what happened afterwards nationally that made it apparent that our prophets were prophetic in their counsel. The biggest takeaway for me was the pattern of counsel given and how it later proved them prophets, though not given in a manner we'd usually consider as 'prophesying'. I highly recommend reading it; there was a lot of Church history that meshed with bits I knew of WWII history.  And there were pieces I had to look up.

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”(2 Peter 1:19-21)  "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)  "Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments."(D&C 1:17) 

Prophecy most often comes in the form of commandments, not as "thus saith the Lord" or "this is going to happen" statements.  (President Nelson has, however, given plenty of prophetic promises too. I have a list you can see if you want it.)

Here's more of the pattern.

In 1998 and 2000, President Gordon B. Hinckley said he couldn't get Pharoah's dream of the seven good and seven bad years off his mind, and said, "There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed."    In 2001, when the Twin Towers were destroyed, the stock market fell a huge amount.  It wasn't a huge deal economically for long, but it was for a little while. And 7 years later, a huge shift in the economy occurred.

In 2007 the church (First Presidency) published the "All is Safely Gathered In" guides for financial safety and food storage. They created food storage packs at the Home Storage Centers- those boxes with 6 big cans in them. Each included wheat, rice, milk, the All Is Safely Gathered In booklets. In January 2008 this information was shared again through the Church News.

Do you know what happened at the end of September 2008?

It was the stock market crash, followed by 'the Great Recession', from which the nation has only recently recovered.

Have you ever noticed that the Church is always ahead of the curve, whatever the curve happens to be?

A couple months ago, the First Presidency sent bishops a letter and a lesson outline, asking them to use one of the two next possible 5th Sundays (2nd hour block) to teach "Being Wise in Managing our Finances" to their ward members.  This included an impressive amount of cautions concerning investing, like this line- "Do not invest if you cannot afford to lose your investment".  

The Lord works through small and simple means- including through living prophets' counsel and commandments.
 
As Harold B. Lee said in his talk,

"We as a people seem to be willing to accept many of the ancient prophecies as having been literally fulfilled but when we see prophecies fulfilled in our own day we are prone to question and to express some doubts. As the Master said, ' . . A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country'  Mark 6:4 and he might have added, 'Save in his own time'."

What else have our modern prophets said? Here are several quotes.

“Liv[ing] principles of self-reliance and provident living… are essential things which must be done before nonessential things. … What a different world and Church this would be if every Latter-day Saint sister… was self-reliant enough to be able to give freely of her knowledge, talents, and resources”.  -Julie B. Beck, "What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best"

“Loving God and loving our neighbors is the doctrinal foundation" of all programs in the church.  "Teach members to provide for themselves and their families and to assist the poor and needy in the Lord’s way.”
-M. Russell Ballard, “The True, Pure and Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ”

“A cardinal principle of the gospel is to prepare for the day of scarcity. Work, industry, frugality are part of the royal order of life… Inspired preparation rests on the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, obedience, and a provident lifestyle. Members should not go to extremes, but they should begin. We call upon priesthood bearers to store sufficient so that you and your family can weather the vicissitudes of life.” 
-Keith B. McMullin, https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/lay-up-in-store?lang=eng  
 
“There is a careful way and a casual way to do everything, including living the gospel.” 
-Becky Craven, “Careful versus Casual”
 
"We no longer have the luxury of spending our energy on anything that does not lead us and our families to Christ. That is the litmus test . . . for our lives. In the days ahead, a casual commitment to Christ will not carry us through." 
-Sheri L. Dew, "We Are Women of God"

“How do we become self-reliant? We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being”.
-Julie B. Beck,  Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance, 4)

"Self-reliance is taking responsibility for our own spiritual and temporal welfare and for those whom Heavenly Father has entrusted to our care. Only when we are self-reliant can we truly emulate the Savior in serving and blessing others. It is important to understand that self-reliance is a means to an end. Our ultimate goal is to become like the Savior, and that goal is enhanced by our unselfish service to others. Our ability to serve is increased or diminished by the level of our self-reliance.”
-Robert D. Hales, "Becoming Self-Reliant"

“There may be…times when we recognize a need but feel inadequate to respond, assuming that what we have to offer is insufficient. To do just as He did, however, is to minister by giving what we are capable of giving and to trust that the Lord will magnify our efforts to bless our “fellow travelers on this mortal journey.” … Although we may feel that our efforts are inadequate, … small and simple acts are powerful because they invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost”.
-W. Christopher Waddell, “Just as He Did”

“the Holy Spirit affirmed two things to me. First, the work of ministering to temporal needs is vital and must continue. The second was unexpected, yet powerful and clear. It was this: beyond selfless service, it is supremely important to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
-D. Todd Christofferson, “Preparing for the Lord’s Return”

WHY?
“Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see Doctrine and Covenants 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others.”
“We encourage members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise, and do not go to extremes. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.” (See All Is Safely Gathered In.)  

Personal preparedness and provident living are part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They allow us to handle more of our own needs, and to serve others. 

An earlier Presiding Bishop declared, "The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment, for every Latter-day Saint family to have a year’s supply of food reserves by [a year from today]. All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place; the way will be opened, and next April we will have our storage areas filled. We will prove through our actions our willingness to follow our beloved prophet and the Brethren, which will bring security to us and our families."  

This 52-week blog series is designed to help you get your 3-month and year-supply over the next 12 months.   If you already have your short-term storage, start at Week 26, with the long-term storage foods plan.

Spencer W. Kimball taught,

“Zion is a name given by the Lord to his covenant people, who are characterized by purity of heart and faithfulness in caring for the poor, the needy, and the distressed. (See D&C 97:21.)
‘And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.’ (Moses 7:18.) This highest order of priesthood society is founded on the doctrines of love, service, work, self-reliance, and stewardship, all of which are circumscribed by the covenant of consecration.” (General Conference, Oct. 1977; or Ensign, Nov. 1977)


What should you have in your food storage?  
1- Food -- a 3-month supply of things you eat every day, and a year's worth of foods that store well for a long time.  The 3-month supply will be used on a daily or weekly basis; the long-term foods can be used any time-- but do spend time learning to cook with them!  Here's a little-known secret: Once you get your 3-month supply, you're more than halfway done; a year of long-term basic foods are cheaper and simpler to get.  

2- Water-- at least a two week's supply.  A gallon per person, per day, is the minimum.  That's fourteen gallons per person, as a starting number.  I like to keep some of it under each sink in the house.  2-liter bottles and plastic 2-quart juice containers, washed out and refilled, are the perfect size for this.  This is great for the times the water is off for a little while, and the sinks are exactly where you'll want to have containers you can easily pour.  Bigger water storage containers may be kept in the basement, the garage, or in a protected area outside.

3- Financial Reserve   This will likely take a few forms. One is to have some cash on hand, in small bills, in event of short-term emergencies like widespread power outages. Another type of reserve is a personal emergency fund.  A thousand dollars, sitting in a safe and accessible account, will be enough to deal with most emergencies.  A third kind of reserve is to have is enough savings to cover bills for at least 3-6 months.  A year is even better. 

See the ProvidentLiving website for more details on these. 
​
How do I begin?
First, be determined that this is going to happen, starting today.  As Bishop Featherstone said, above, "All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place"!  Pray to see how to do this. Bishop Featherstone lists several ways to find the money.

The next step in getting your family storehouse is to take inventory of what you have.  (All stores have to take inventory! At least yearly.) Get a notebook or a clipboard, and write down all the food you have in the house.  Group them in categories that make sense to you.  Put it in a safe place that you'll remember, whether digital or hard copy. You'll use this list in the next two weeks.  

Go through your budget and see where you can free up some money; for food prices in my area, you'll likely need $12-24 per person, per week, to get the 3 month + year's supply within a year. If that seems out of reach, read the Featherstone talk, and remember that the Lord can multiply your efforts.  

There are lots of fresh foods you can store without needing a freezer, canner, or fridge.  I haven't built a root cellar, but discovered that different places in my yard, garage, and house have the right conditions for several of these foods.
Potatoes are happy on my bare garage floor until late January. After January they have to be moved up 1-2 feet, onto the cement stairs, to avoid freezing. Same with onions. Apples are better in the garage on the workbench, which is a couple feet off the ground and a few degrees warmer (but still cold). Pumpkins are happy in the basement or in a dark closet, off the floor so they avoid moisture. Carrots and parsnips are fine to leave in the ground, covered with a pile of dead leaves or a thick layer of straw if I want any hope of digging them during the winter. Otherwise they can be dug in spring, after the winter cold has made them sweeter.The link below is a 5-page handout from the University of Wisconsin which lists types of foods, their ideal storing temperature and any necessary humidity, expected length of storage, and plans for creating your own root cellar.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/store/wisc_vegetables.pdf

What will you store this year?

Week 4- make a plan to obtain the food storage. Do something to start. What you do depends on where YOU are and what your circumstances are.  This article is a good starting point.  
This post is longer, in order to try to give pointers and resources to everyone in every stage of preparedness.  Use what's useful, ignore the rest until you're ready for it.
If you're trying to figure how on earth to buy that extra food... case lot sales are going on right now, where items are often half the regular price. Some places- like the Bosch Kitchen Centers in Orem, Sandy, and on Highland Drive--  have Conference sales for long-storage items like wheat and honey.  Plus the Home Storage Center has fantastic prices on wheat, beans, and more.  You do not need to be a LDS church member to purchase items there.
Set aside a certain amount of money each month, and use it. For more ideas, see this Conference talk by Elder Featherstone.

Do you need your 3-month supply?  Do you have that in place and are ready to move on to building your long-term ("year") supply?  Do you have long-term storage but just need to get organized or fill in some gaps?  

To build a three-month supply, you and your family decide on 2 weeks of meals that they like.  Figure how much of each food item you need for that two weeks, and multiply by 6.  This gives you three months!  Remember that what you already have counts towards this amount.  I have a series of blog posts on a three-month supply, too.

To build long-term storage, first figure how much you need.  I've compiledinformation about that, here. There's even more, here.  It really is not as overwhelming as it sounds.  You'll likely spend as much money on the three-month supply as you will the entire rest of the year's worth; basics are cheap.  Last time I ran numbers, getting that 9-months-more of storage was under $250 per adult, and less for children. (See the link earlier in this paragraph for children's quantities.)  There is a useful spreadsheet here; feel free to change quantities for the different grains, as long as the total remains 300-400 lbs.

"Food storage is often characterized by worldly critics as eccentric — just steps away from building a nuclear bomb shelter under your house and stocking it with guns, ammo and dehydrated rations.

If you have held back from applying your imagination and effort to storing some necessities for a rainy day, let me ask this: Have you ever saved for your child’s education? Have you ever hurried to buy airline tickets a month in advance of Christmas, because you knew that available seats would disappear if you waited longer?

Do you pay for health, disability, auto, or life insurance, even though you are healthy and able, you don’t plan to be in an auto accident, and you are indeed alive and well? Then you are a candidate for food storage and a provident lifestyle.

Even if you never use your food storage for an emergency if you store what you eat and eat what you store and you will always be eating at last year’s prices. You will never have to pay full price for food in the future. Even food goes on sale. It is really that simple. Who wouldn’t love that?" -Carolyn Nicolaysen

President Monson said, one year ago, "We should remember that the best storehouse system would be for every family in the Church to have a supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, other necessities of life... Are we prepared for the emergencies in our lives? Are our skills perfected? Do we live providently? Do we have our reserve supply on hand? Are we obedient to the commandments of God? Are we responsive to the teachings of prophets? Are we prepared to give of our substance to the poor, the needy? Are we square with the Lord?

"We live in turbulent times. Often the future is unknown; therefore, it behooves us to prepare for uncertainties. When the time for decision arrives, the time for preparation is past." 
("Are We Prepared?", Sept. 2014 Ensign magazine)

"It requires faith even among the Latter-day Saints to believe the revelations of God, and to prepare themselves for those things which await the world… And what I wish to say to the Elders and to the Latter-day Saints is—Have we faith in God and in his revelations? Have we faith in our own religion? Have we faith in Jesus Christ? Have we faith in the words of the Prophets?...
If we have faith in these things, then we certainly should prepare ourselves for the fulfillment of them.'
-Wilford Woodruff, "The Parable of the Ten Virgins"

Food storage challenge of the week:

Take inventory of what you have.   Include your fridge,  freezer,  pantry,  basement, ... wherever you have food on hand.

Years ago,  Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone suggested three steps to building your food storage:
1- Inventory what you have

2- decide what you will need to bring levels to where they should be.  That gets broken into a couple steps because now the Church recommends having a 3- month supply of your everyday food,  in addition to the long - term storage foods for a year's supply.   More on that later.

3- Work out a time schedule for when you'll have that 3- month and/or year of food.   I'll send more on how to afford that,  next week.

Then,  of course,  begin.   Or, rather,  continue: you already have begun if you have even one can or box of food on hand! 

- Rhonda

"The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment, for every Latter-day Saint family to have a year’s supply of food reserves…. All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place; the way will be opened… We will prove through our actions our willingness to follow our beloved prophet and the Brethren, which will bring security to us and our families.” 
-Vaughn J. Featherstone

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/04/food-storage?lang=eng

Week 2's challenge is to determine how much water YOU should store, and begin working towards that.

Recommended water storage quantity:  14 gallons per person.  This is enough to meet basic needs for two weeks:  1 gallon per person per day.  Read more about that here.

Free water storage options:  use 2- or 3-liter soda bottles, 2-qt juice bottles, or any other food-grade plastic container that says PETE on the bottom and has a tight-fitting lid. Do not use milk jugs; they eventually weaken and leak.
Other options: You can often find 35- and 55-gallon blue water storage barrels for sale on the local online classified ads; in Utah they’re also at Macey’s grocery store, Industrial Container, emergency supply stores, and sometimes at Walmart. Used barrels are usually sold for one of two reasons:  someone is moving or just tired of storing the barrels, or they’re being sold by a business after having syrup or other liquid in them.  They are the containers soda companies have their syrup in when it comes to them.  Clean them out and they’re great.  There are also larger size containers you can find—100 gallons or more--, either new or used. 
When purchasing new containers, typically count on $.75-1.50 per gallon capacity, i.e. 55-gallon barrel may cost about $50-75.  You can find them cheaper if you watch sales and ads, or sometimes if you join a group buy.                

 -Rhonda

Bakeries boast if they use a brick oven for their breads.  Why? 
These ovens cook using multiple forms of heat- conduction, radiant, and direct heat.  Add some steam, and you get some seriously fabulous crust on your bread.  Pizza?  You better believe it.  You cook it at an ideal 700 degrees Fahrenheit; a thin-crust pizza is done after only 3 minutes, emerging bubbling and with a lovely smoky flavor.
Cook anything in this that you would in a regular oven.  And when it's cooled down, it can remain the ideal temperature for incubating yogurt, clear through the night.

This type of oven has the fire built on the cooking floor.  Fill the oven with wood, light it, and let it burn for 2-4 hours, until the oven walls glow white-hot.  My thermometer doesn't measure high enough to know how hot this is; it only measures to about 1400 degrees!

Scrape out the fire, quickly scrub off the oven floor, and let the heat "soak"- you're letting the temperature equalize all over the interior.  When the temperature has dropped to what you want, add some steam (for bread baking) by swabbing the oven floor with a wet cloth or mop.  Load it up with your bread, or turkey, or squash, potatoes, casserole, or whatever-- and close the oven door to bake.


It's called an earth oven because it's made using packed earth; in other words, mud.  This makes it very affordable!  I highly recommend Kiko Denzer's book, Build Your Own Earth Oven.  It was invaluable to me, and has many excellent suggestions for making do with what you have locally.  He also has a great overview on Mother Earth News, right here.
You can make a fabulous oven out of nothing but dirt, sand, chopped hay or leaves, and some bricks or tiles.  There are even simpler versions around, using just rocks and dirt. 

Since I opted for several upgrades on this oven, it cost about $200 total. 

Items I got for free:
cinderblocks (a stack was in the yard when we bought the house)
sand (huge sandbox, in the photos' background)
bricks for the oven face

Items purchased included:
bags of cement for a foundation pad
rebar for reinforcing the foundation
rebar for reinforcing the cinder blocks
cement for reinforcing cinder block construction
one used steel entry door
one circular saw blade to cut the steel entry door
about 45 firebricks
1/2 cubic yard of dirt
a couple small buckets of refractory cement
portland cement and a bag of vermiculite, for the insulation layer.
12" of 1" diameter steel electrical duct tubing
one dial-gauge thermometer
mortar, used with the oven face, and some gaps in the cinderblocks

If the pictures below seem overwhelming, here are the steps in short form- prepare an insulated base for the oven; build a sand dome on it; pack moist earth all around  the dome (thermal layer); pack insulation around the thermal layer.  Finish with a breatheable plaster, for longest-lasting results.  The doorway can be molded in as you go, or carved out afterwards.

Sorry, I didn't take any photos before this point.  I poured a slightly sloped foundation pad, reinforced it with rebar, and dry-stacked cinderblocks, leaving some slots for drainage between cinderblocks at the low part (the back) of the pad.  To reinforce the cinderblock walls, I stuck rebar down every 2-3 cells, then filled those (with rebar) with cement.  (I did this because I have roughhousing boys, and live nearby a major  fault line.)  In this photo, half of it is in shadow; the oven floor is meant to be just above waist-high.  The area under the oven is to store wood.  To support the block over the opening, I found a piece of hardi-backer (cement) board.  The top course of cinderblocks were narrower than the ones below, which gave me a spot to place some kind of support for the oven floor.  I bought a used steel entry door and a special saw blade, and cut the door to fit.  On top of that went a layer of sand, for insulation, filled even with the top of the blocks (packed really well).  Firebricks were set snugly together for the oven floor, and a circle scribed in chalk.  This would be the inner diameter of the oven.

The sand was free, but it had lots of rocks- and small toys- mixed with it.  A frame with 1/2" hardware cloth stapled to it worked well for sifting.  If you notice my expanding waist in the next photos, it's because I was 8 months pregnant when I started this project, and 9 months along when it finished.

Build a dome of moist sand; this will be your oven's hollow part later.  There's a height-to-width radio that works most efficiently, but about ratio will give you an oven that cooks. 
The pipe in the middle was to show my required finished height.  Pack the sand really well, or it won't support the weight you're about to put on it.

TIP:  this takes a TON of sand, which you'll have to scoop out later.  At about this point I started added cinderblocks and other large items to the dome. That saved a lot of scooping.  And sifting.

Once the dome is as big as you want, pack and smooth it as best you can. A little water helps, and a board to press and smooth. 
If you want a layer of refractory cement, to help hold heat and protect the inside walls, add it now.  A thin layer, 1/8 - 1/4 " thick, is all you need.

Once that's in place, mix your dirt- er, I mean 'earth'.  It needs to be moist enough to hold together, but not so wet it squishes when you pack it.  You can mix it on a tarp with your feet, or in a wheelbarrow with a shovel.  Starting at the bottom, tightly pack this earth in a layer about 4" high, and the width of your hand.  Use your closed fist to pack it, and a small bucket of the dirt to keep it handy. Spiral your way up the dome, always packing hard onto the layer below.  Don't apply any pressure to the sand dome.  Let this sit for a few days, then scoop out all the sand.

Once the earth layer is complete, add an insulation layer in the same way as the earth layer.  This makes a huge difference in how well your oven retains heat.  You can use more mud, mixed with any organic material- chopped leaves, straw, horse hair, you name it.  They will burn out when the oven heats up, leaving insulating air pockets behind.  This oven's insulation is a mixture of portland cement and vermiculite; I wanted it to be very durable.  Shape this layer with your oven door in place so it fits. 

The pipe sticking out in front of my face is a piece of metal conduit with a fitting to screw on the temperature gauge.  Next time I'll put it down close to the oven floor, which is where the bread bakes.  There's actually about 100-degree (Fahrenheit) difference between the oven floor and where the oven probe sits. 

If you want the oven to dry with as few cracks as possible, build a low fire and let it burn for several hours.

For a brick face-  a chisel and hammer yielded a really poor keystone for the arch.  Improvise to support the arch until it dries.   A bucket and cinderblock came to the rescue here.

The completed oven. 

More completed, with flagstones set around it. 

When using the oven, keep a bucket of water handy. 

I still intend to make a roof for it- Utah winters are rough on it.  There are two eye bolts embedded in the top of the oven- all it will take is a piece of sheet metal, creased at the center to make a sloping roof, and two slits cut in it to slip over the eye bolts.  Twist them, and it should stay on.

Tiny Spicy Chicken is great over rice, with a little fruit to help balance out the heat.   Bok choy is great on the side.

Do you have children or grandchildren who are afraid of what’s lurking under their beds?  Here’s the perfect solution, found on Meridian magazine online a couple months ago:


The Monster Under the Bed
"I overheard my two young adult sons talking.  One asked, “Do kids really think there are monsters under their beds?”  The other one answered: 'I never did.  There was always so much food storage under there that I knew there was no room for a monster.'”

 So let's all chase out those monsters!  For a lot of suggestions on storing food when you have little space, see the Food Storage Made Easy page.

______________________________

This recipe came from a class at the Macey’s in Logan, back when I lived there.  “Tiny Spicy Chicken” was one of the entrees at Mandarin Gardens, a local Chinese restaurant.  Maybe it’s a Cache Valley specialty, because I haven’t run into anyone not  from there who has had this dish. 

 

Tiny Spicy Chicken

3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 1 ½ “ cubes
garlic salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup cornstarch
¼ c. oil

            Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt, let sit for 1 hour in the fridge.  Heat oil in a large frying pan.  Dip chicken into eggs, then roll or shake in a bag with cornstarch.  Brown chicken pieces in the oil, until golden brown.  Put in a greased 9x13 pan.

Shortcut method: use 1- 1 ½ lbs. fully cooked chicken nuggets, frozen is OK.  (Don't use 3 lbs nuggets; they have too much breading that soaks up this sauce.)

 Sauce:
½ -1  tsp. chili paste*
1 c. sugar
½  c. ketchup
2 tsp. soy sauce
Dash of salt
½  c. chicken broth
¼  c. brown sugar
½ c. vinegar

 Sauce will be very runny.  Pour over chicken (if using chicken nuggets, mix the sauce in the 9x13 pan, then add the chicken) and stir to coat.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time.  Serve over rice.

Alternate cooking methods: bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, stirring a couple times, or put in a crockpot and cook on low for 5-8 hours.

*Sambal chili paste can be found in the Asian section at Macey's grocery store, it probably can be found at most other grocery stores.  If you don't have it, or can't find it, substitute red pepper flakes.  Start with 1/4 tsp., put it in the sauce, then taste to see if it's as hot/mild as you like.

Chili paste is made from whole, hot chilies, ground up, and mixed with a little vinegar.  It includes the seeds, so it packs a punch.

If you use raw chicken breasts, the recipe takes about 1 1/2 hours to make.  If you start with these, you can have it done in 20 minutes.

Aren't cans and oxygen packets great?  I opened this can just yesterday.  And yes, 6-21-93 was when it was sealed.

The chicken, coated with sauce, ready to bake.

Baking it condenses the sauce and helps it soak into the coating on the chicken.  It's a little sweet, and a little zippy.