To help with building your year's supply (this is Week 6 of 26), see this chart. 

How do you keep your dry foods safe?  That depends on a number of factors, including the local climate, humidity levels, if your storage area is cool and dark or not, and how long you need to store it. 
  
One good option is the ‘dry pack’ method. 
You pack (or pour) dry food into an airtight food grade container.
 
There are better and worse ways to do this. (See here for ALL about it!)
 
Several years ago I attended a class at a local grocery store where the teacher showed us how to extend the shelf life of dry foods.  Some of those foods were wheat and rice, but she included chocolate and nuts.  You can store peanut M&Ms?!  She said this was an experiment, but they’d stored beautifully for a year and she didn’t know how much more to expect.
 
She used glass canning jars, lids, and a seal-a-meal (vacuum packaging)  attachment for canning lids. 

I don’t have the attachment, but discovered something else that works-- oxygen packets!  A 300cc oxygen pack will remove oxygen from filled containers up to a gallon in size. The cheapest way I’ve found to buy these is through the Church’s website, in quantities of 100.  If you’re buying them elsewhere, know that a 100cc oxygen pack is powerful enough for any container of one quart or less.

Oxygen packets are little squares—about 2” across and mostly flat—that contain iron powder.  Oxygen crosses through the packaging material, where it causes the iron inside to rust.  This permanently locks up the oxygen. 

Oxygen packets are recommended for dry-pack canning for two reasons-

1. their use quickly removes oxygen that could keep insects alive in what you’re storing, and
2. removing oxygen extends the shelf life of a food.

 
Three things, more than any others,  shorten shelf life of foods once moisture has been reduced--oxygen, light, and heat.  If you can remove the oxygen, the food will last longer. This is especially true if you store it someplace dark or cool, and preferably both. 
 
But removing oxygen also creates a vacuum, which can seal the jars for you.  No seal-a-meal vacuum attachment needed. 
I’ve been dry-packing food in glass canning jars, as well as PET and PETE plastic bottles, for about ten years.   
PETE plastic bottles include those you buy juice in.  Check the bottom of the bottle, and if it says PET or PETE, you can use it.  You can also use food storage foil pouches, which can be cut to whatever size you like, and sealed all the way around.

Make sure your containers are clean and dry, then fill most the way with whatever food you’re placing in it.  Add an oxygen packet, screw on the lid, label, and store somewhere cool and as dark as you can find.  (I like to run a band of masking tape around the lid edge, so I can tell at a glance later if someone opened it—a real possibility in a houseful of children!) 

Simple, right?

But dry-canning in glass jars—vacuum canning-- has been a game-changer for me. You can use any size of canning jar, from the little 4-oz ones to the big 2-quart size.
 
Here’s how I do it:
Get jars, lids, and rings ready- they need to be totally clean and dry. 
Get your food ready- totally clean, with moisture levels below 10%
Get your oxygen packets ready- keep them in their sealed package or airproof jar until the last minute. 

Fill the jars up to the neck only, or a little below the neck.  You’ll need a little bit of extra space in there, and overfilled jars don’t seal well.  Set a new lid and ring (band) to the side of each one. Wipe off the top of each jar, to be sure you have a clean surface for the lid to seal to. Open up the oxygen packets, and, working quickly, drop a packet into each.  Quickly top each jar with a lid and screw the band on.  Label each jar with the contents (if not obvious) and the date (always).

Oxygen packets will start to absorb oxygen immediately, and you don’t want them using up all their power before they’re in the jar!  You can tell the packets are working because they warm up.      
Store the leftover packets in a glass jar with a lid and band firmly screwed on.  They’ll be ready the next time you need them.

The oxygen packets will do their job in the food jars over the next 48 hours, dropping the oxygen content down to .1%.  As this happens, suction is created inside the jar, making the lid seal.  It’s not as secure of a seal as you get with regular canning (steam, water bath, or pressure), but it almost always holds.  Avoid bumping the tops of the jars, since this can knock lids loose.  Leave the bands on for at least the full 48 hours.  You can leave them on the whole storage time if you like. 


I’ve have learned a few things along the way. 

Removing oxygen makes a huge difference, and I can even store foods with a high fat content (peanut M&Ms!) for a few years without them going rancid. 

When storing my homemade tomato powder the first year, I used oxygen packets with some jars, and not with others.  Dried foods are listed as ‘best within a year,’ though that depends a lot on storage conditions.  Two years later, there was a visible difference between the oxygen-free tomato powder and the untreated powder.  The ones with oxygen removed were still as brightly colored—and nicely flavored—as at the beginning, while the others had lost both color and flavor. 
 
How long does sealing and removing air extend shelf life? 

That depends.
 
When stored in my cool, dark basement, nuts have remained great for about 5-6 years.  I recently opened two jars of walnuts canned in 2010! One jar had remained sealed, but the other hadn’t. While the sealed-jar nuts were definitely better three years ago, they were still in the realm of ‘OK’.  Barely.  But the ones that had lost their seal?  Awful.   Really, truly awful.  The smell of rancid oil assaulted my nostrils as soon as the lid was lifted, and those nuts—stored side-by-side with the other jar—were several shades darker.  (I gave those to the chickens.  Not sure whether they got eaten or not.)   So the moral of the story is to ROTATE your food.  Use it.  I try to store the right amount of food to be able to go through it in the next two years, and that would have been great.  Try to use any high-oil-content food within at least five years.

But low-oil foods like rice and wheat?  They’ll store nearly indefinitely.  20, 25, 30 years or more are the estimates from BYU’s food studies. But still rotate using it.

Things I’ve successfully home dry-packed (stored in airtight containers with oxygen packets)
→Rice
→Vegetable powders- tomato, zucchini, pumpkin, beet
→Citrus sugar (dried zest from orange, lemon, or lime, added to sugar and run through the blender to form a powder.  I use it in place of orange or lemon extract.) https://www.theprovidenthomemaker.com/1/post/2010/10/garden-seeds-homemade-orange-flavoring-and-easy-marmalade.html
→Dried candied orange peel (also used to flavor recipes- see the same link as citrus sugar)
→Thoroughly cooked and dried crumbled sausage (all dry packed foods MUST be below 10% water content, or you risk botulism)
→Raw almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, pecan meal, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, pistachios, smoked almonds, honey-roasted peanuts …
→Sesame seeds, flax seed,
→Spices
→Bridge mix
→Trail mix
And probably more that we’ve long since eaten and forgotten about.
 
I don’t dry-can dried fruit, because it lasts a few years anyway, we’re pretty good at rotating through it, AND I haven’t wanted to do the measuring and weighing to determine if the moisture content is low enough to dry-can it safely.
 
The things people usually dry can at home are wheat, rolled oats, beans, lentils, rice, etc.

So why did I put these other things in jars with oxygen packets?

There are 3 typical reasons- (1) something was at a really good price and I wanted to have it last, (2) I naturally had a lot of that thing, or (3) I was curious to see if it would work! 
 
In the case of all those nuts and seeds, there used to be a local nut packaging company that only allowed its wholesale customers to keep any particular product on the shelf for six months.  Whatever didn’t sell in that time was returned to the company, who would resell this ‘expired’ product for $1 per one-pound bag… no matter if the bag contained gummy bears or macadamias.  Most of the time the nuts were still very good—depending on how and where the store displayed them—in a hot window or on a cool, darker shelf.  As you can see from the photo and list of things I’ve vacuum-canned, my friends and I took full advantage of this!  

​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!

The week 4 assignment:
Going off your new Inventory Shopping List and this week’s sales, buy the 3 months’ worth of as many different items as you can as your new budget allows. This plan calls for buying your 3 month foods each week over the next 18 weeks. From now on, I'll refer to this as B for 3. 

My friend Heidi recommends this inventory app- you scan items and they’re automatically entered.  I can’t vouch for it yet, but she loves it.

How can you afford to buy all this extra food?

Waste less- this saves $$ on your regular food budget, freeing up money. Did you know the average family of 4 throws away more than $2000 of food every year?  (See ways to waste less, here.)  This alone has the potential to completely fund your food storage!

Budget it in- in addition to freeing up money by reducing the food you waste, there are other ways to find money you already have.    Plan on finding $14/person/week.  Vaughn J. Featherstone gave a talk years ago on how to get your full year’s worth of food within just one year.  He recommends sitting down as a family and deciding on ways.  Some of his suggestions include

-skip going on a vacation; use the money for food storage, and spend the time on growing a garden.

-at Christmas time, designate 25-50% of the regular gift budget for food storage.
-make your clothes last longer.  Don’t replace anything that still has good use in it, and mend or repair what can be.

- cut your entertainment budget by 50%.  Find memory-building activities that are free.

-Sell a ‘luxury item’ like a snowmobile, ATV, boat, camper, etc.  (Modern note: If you have a storage unit, sell what’s in it; use the proceeds --and the rent savings-- for food.)

-watch the grocery sales, buy extra when what you need is on sale.

-reduce the meat you buy and switch in a protein source that costs less. Buy less ice cream, candy, chips, magazines… whatever is tempting to you there.  Spend the difference on what’s on your inventory purchase list.
 
If after going through Elder Featherstone’s suggestions it still looks impossible, pray to see what you can do.  Ways will open. God is still a God of miracles!

Grow and Glean- Grow the food you can- berry bushes can fit easily in a landscape, as can fruit trees, herbs, and vegetables.  Gleaning- when a neighbor has too many zucchini or tomatoes, volunteer to take some.  Use them in recipes, freeze them, bottle them, dehydrate them-- seasoned dried zucchini slices are great for snacking! Very often there are people around who have fruit trees they don't harvest. Knock on a door and ask!  Usually they're a little sad about it going to waste otherwise, and grateful to have someone use it.

Buy smart – My dad laughingly said he learned in college about the ‘SOS’ Method. This can mean Stay Out of Stores or Stock up On Sales.  Both have their place and their limits.

Stay Out of Stores-- the fewer times a week or month you visit stores, the less money you will spend there!  

Stock up when things are on sale- know what the regular prices are, so you can recognize a good price.  Buy as much of your 3 month's worth as you can fit in the budget.  (Remember it’s only a ‘deal’ if you were going to buy it anyway.  Don’t buy stuff just because it’s on sale. Be intentional!)  If chicken is an amazing price, you can buy a case or however much your family will use; divide it into meal-size freezer bags, raw or cooked, or bottle it to store on the shelf.

Buy when others don’t want it.  Buy foods that are marked down because they are at or near the ‘best by’ date.  (The date matters much less on some foods than others.)  Work this week’s sale produce into your meals and snacks.  Ask the produce guy at the grocery store if they have too many bananas; several times I’ve been able to buy a 40-lb case of bananas for $10 or even $5.  That’s enough for about three rounds of filling my dehydrator with sliced bananas, plus a batch or two of banana bread for the freezer.  (My kids adore home dried bananas.)   Some stores give away their day-old bread and other bakery items rather than marking them down.  If you’re local, give me a call; I have access to some of this and am looking for people to share with!

Know the best places to buy things - call around or look online. But don’t spend too much time running from place to place. Remember the first SOS.

Two places you might not have considered that have great deals are the Home Storage Centers -- you can buy in person or order online-- and NPS-- a store that sells inventory overage, lost and missing freight.(This is in Salt Lake and Utah counties only.  Other areas may have similar stores.)
Again, if you’re local, I’m glad to show you around at either place.  NPS has amazing deals- including on GF and dairy-free items-- but not everything there is inexpensive. I tend to shop there once every couple months, and get a lot of what’s good.


How can you afford to build your food storage?  
-Waste Less
-Budget it In
-Grow and Glean
-Buy Smart!

​Now that you've decided it's time to prepare for your family and neighbors, 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.  If you're struggling to come up with a place to put food storage, read through these reader-generated suggestions: 
​
​Small spaces solution list 

Wherever it is—a spare room, a spare corner of an occupied room, a corner of a basement, in an insulated garage or shed, in a closet—you will certainly want at least one shelf to store on.  Find one and set it up.  Strong shelves (ones that can handle at least a couple hundred pounds per level) can be purchased at stores like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Costco. One 4’x2’x8’ shelf will typically cost between $70-120. 

If you'd like some ideas on earthquake-proofing your shelves, see here.

To sum up, your task this week is to find a place you can store shelf-stable food,

Get a shelf, and

Set it up.

That's it!

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"

September is National Preparedness Month.  Each week this month I'll post a weekly challenge of something simple you can do, with no money at all if that's where you are.

We should be prepared for what?
Emergencies. Job loss.  "Eventualities"... like that earthquake we've been told to expect someday.  Illness.  Unavailability of water because somebody broke a water main.  Power outages, long or short.  You name it.
Life.  

Here's a quick overview of some good recommendations for Personal or Family Emergency Planning

Items to consider may include:
•Three-month supply of food that is part of your normal daily diet.
•Drinking water.
•Financial reserves.
•Longer-term supply of basic food items.
•Medication and first aid supplies.
•Clothing and bedding.
•Important documents.
•Ways to communicate with family following a disaster.

See providentliving.org for more information.

WEEK 1 CHALLENGE:
Create a family emergency contact plan and share it with your immediate family so everyone knows what to do, where/who to call or text, who will be your out-of-state contact, what are the emergency plans at your kids' schools, workplace, how to get people back home... 

The link below has a simple form you can use, and the second page of it has cards to fill out with the info you need, for you or your children to carry.

http://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/Family_Emegency_Plan.pdf

Will you accept the challenge?  I'd love to hear what you did.

Yogurt Cheese

This is 'strained yogurt', the same thing as authentic Greek yogurt;  use it like cream cheese in recipes, or eat it with a little jam or fruit.   Add a bit of salt if subbing this for cream cheese.  
Since the whey- which contains the lactose, or milk sugar- is drained off, you end up with a product that has twice as much protein and quite a bit less milk sugar.

All you do is pour plain yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined colander, set it over a bowl overnight, and check on it in the morning.  You can either leave it on the counter or do this in the fridge. The longer it drains, the thicker it gets.  It works best with homemade, unthickened yogurt, since added thickeners make it hard for the whey to separate away from the solids.  If you don't have cheesecloth, use something else that liquid can drain through but the solids won't, like the superstrong paper towels, or a clean flat-woven dish towel.
16 ounces of plain yogurt will yield about 8 ounces each of yogurt cheese and whey.  You can substitute whey in place of buttermilk in recipes.  I use it for part of the liquid when making bread.

Sweetened Condensed Milk- use it to make my favorite, Two-Minute Fudge recipe.  For the closest version to a 14-oz can, use

1/2 c. powdered milk*
1/2 c. water
1 c.  sugar
2 Tbsp. butter, optional
To read more about making it or how to use it, see here.
If you happen to need it, here's a recipe for dairy-free sweetened condensed milk 

*If you happen to have some old food storage powdered milk, and it's labeled 'instant,' check to see if the milk has larger particles.  If they're more the size of coarse sand, it's fluffier and you're need to increase the powdered milk in this recipe to about 3/4 cup.

Easy No-Bake Cheesecake  

Another great way to use sweetened condensed milk!

Actually, some of the newer "instant" powdered milks taste pretty good.  However, the non-instant dry powdered milk is generally less expensive.  It's just not so great for drinking straight.  There's more on that in the printable.

The first couple recipes are below and the next blog post will have the others.  You can get all of them without waiting, plus some extra stuff, in a two-page printable format right here.  For even more great powdered milk recipes, download the Bee Prepared Pantry Cookbook or the Wooden Spoon class booklet (see here for corrections & notes for the Wooden Spoon booklet.)

Lasagne using powdered milk?  You bet!  You can make homemade cottage cheese in 5-10 minutes.  There's even a recipe for a mock mozzarella that melts beautifully, in the Bee Prepared book.

All cost estimates are based on paying $1.89/lb for powdered milk, which is the 2013 price at the LDS Church's 'Family Home Storage Center'.

Homemade Cottage Cheese- makes about 16 oz., $ 1.00/batch

4 c. hot water                                                                          6 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 ½  c. non-instant dry milk powder                                           ½   tsp. salt, to taste

            Stir together water and powdered milk in a saucepan, heat until it starts to steam, stirring.  Drip vinegar around the edge of the pan and gently stir; it will immediately start to separate into curds and whey.  If it doesn’t, heat it up some more.  Let rest one minute.  Pour into a cheesecloth-lined colander over a bowl. Save whey, then rinse with hot water, then with cold water and break apart into the size curds you want.  Rinse for one minute or until all the whey is out. Add salt. To make it creamy, add 4-6 Tbsp. sour cream, yogurt, evaporated milk, or cream.

  The whey may be used in place of liquid (milk or water) in baking.  It has vitamins, minerals, some protein, no fat, and some milk sugar (lactose- very low on the glycemic scale.)  Since it has the acidity of the vinegar in it, you can add a little baking soda to neutralize and get extra leavening power- use 1 tsp. baking soda per 2-3 cups of acid whey; reduce any baking powder by three times the amount:  if using 1 tsp. baking soda, the baking powder is reduced by 3 tsp.

Yogurt – makes 2 quarts of plain yogurt at $ .57 per quart if using your own starter
1 ¾ c. regular nonfat dry milk, or 3 c. instant                         7 c. hot water (not over 120 degrees)
1/3 c. plain yogurt, with active cultures

Combine dry milk and 4 cups of the water.  Whisk or mix in a blender.  Add yogurt and whisk.  Add remaining water or divide the remaining water evenly between your containers; stir well after adding the milk mixture!  Pour into containers, cover, and incubate in a warm place for 4-8 hours or until set.  Tip a container after 4 hours to see if it has set.  If the yogurt is still liquid, wait 1-2 more hours.  It will set up a little more when chilled.  Store in fridge.  The ideal temperature range for culturing yogurt is 105-120 degrees.  The lower of these temperatures you begin culturing at, the sweeter the yogurt will be.  The higher, the more tart. Above 120 degrees will kill the bacteria you’re trying to grow.  Save 1/3 c. for culturing your next batch.

To flavor your yogurt after it’s made, add fruit, jam, juice concentrate, chocolate milk mix, etc., before eating.

To flavor it before culturing, use 6-8 Tbsp. of sugar per 2-qt batch,  or 4-6 Tbsp. honey (dissolve this in your water first, or it will sink to the bottom), or a 3-oz. box of flavored gelatin, or 1/3-1/2 c. jam, or 1 c. chopped or mashed sweetened fruit. The syrup from canned fruit can be used in place of part of the water.  If it’s not sweet enough, you can always add sugar when it’s done.  1-2 tsp. vanilla added to the batch is also a nice addition.  Make your own combinations- chopped cherries with some vanilla and a little almond extract, blueberries with cream cheese added, toasted coconut with caramel sauce swirled in… let your imagination run wild!

To make firm yogurt that doesn’t become thin after stirring, use 4-6 tsp. unflavored gelatin, or two envelopes, per two-quart batch.  Soften it in part of the recipe’s water, then heat gently on stove, in microwave, or over hot water, until the gelatin melts.  Add along with remaining water.

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. 

 How about another zucchini recipe?  Any summer squash can be used in the recipe.  Since I don’t have zucchini this year, (the seedlings were stepped on...) I’ve been making my lemon-zucchini bread with yellow summer squash, too. “Bisque” usually means a thick, creamy soup thickened by pureeing it, instead of by adding flour.  We made some yesterday using an immature Hubbard squash (picked by an enthusiastic child…), and it was delicious. The recipe came from the Ukraine; my sister ate it- and loved it- there on her mission.   In the bisque, the curry powder is great, but you can also  try other spices you like-   using basil or ground coriander  to taste, or a half packet of ranch dressing mix powder (Remember dressing mix is salty, so leave out the salt in the recipe).  The soup really shines when served with “Best Drop Biscuits” (archived under Quick Breads) or homemade French bread; something with some crunch to contrast with the silkiness of the soup. 

Here’s a video on YouTube about food storage, a lady from Arizona… this segment is “top 10 reasons for not starting food storage”: here if the link didn't work.  The sound doesn't work really well, but it's still worth watching!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGaTlwYs-s      I thought it was pretty funny, but it makes you think.  Just remember that when she says ‘year’s supply’, that you don’t worry about that part until you reach Step 4 from the All Is Safely Gathered In booklet on providentliving.org. How much you store, on that step, is up to you to study and pray about.  Here are the four:

1. Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet until it is sufficient for three months.

2. Store drinking water.

3. Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable amount.

 4. Once families have achieved the first three objectives, they are counseled to expand their efforts, as circumstances allow, into a supply of long-term basic foods such as grains, legumes, and other staples.

 Happy storing! 
-Rhonda

 
Curried Zucchini Bisque
2 Tbsp. butter
2-4 tsp. curry powder- or use other spices you like
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ tsp. black pepper
3 c. chicken broth, or 3 c. water and 1 ½ tsp. chicken bouillon
1 (7-8 oz.) potato, cut in ½” cubes
1-1 ½ lbs. zucchini, trimmed and cubed
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ c. cream or evaporated milk (12 oz. can)  or a 12-oz. can of coconut milk

            Combine butter, curry powder, onion, and pepper in a medium saucepan.  Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat.  Add broth, potato, zucchini, and salt.  Simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender.  Add cream and puree the soup until smooth.         Serve garnished with croutons if you like.  Cubed chicken is also good in this.