Karen Morris - A Year Without the Grocery Store: A Step by Step Guide to Acquiring, Organizing, and Cooking Food Storage

Copyright 2018 Karen Morris

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

To Steve, my wonderful husband: without you none of this would have been possible. I depend on you. I am so thankful for you and your support through this process. The Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he gave me to you.

To my kids, Ian, Jordan, Shannen, Ethan, and Nathan. Thank you for your snuggles, hugs, kisses, patience, and support during the process of writing this book.

Ally, you are such a huge part of this book. You kept me on track when it was easy to bail. You reminded me that missing a self-imposed deadline wasnt the end of the world. I cant wait to see your book finished and published. It will be amazing!

Niki, thank you for your craziness! Its exactly what I need when I get tunnel vision.

To my launch crew: Valerie Jones, Joanne Jones, Johanna Repke, Whitney Creath, Heather Malone, Angie Cornell, Melissa Edens, Jessica Crosmun, Noreen Dreste, Heather Estey, Miquilaue Young, Marcie Eubanks, Raquel Evans, Clarinda Olenslager, Amenda Friedl, Ryder Church, Blythe Edwards, Audrey Burke, Jennifer Moore, Steve Melton, Jennifer Hill, Sheri Duff, Jill Gevjan, Jull Kirby, Catie OMathers, Jill Underwood, Gayle DosAnjos, Tracy Lynn, Torbjorn Karisen, Coral Emerson, Theresa Gerdes. Thank you all so much for making this dream a reality. Youre the best!

A year without the grocery store really? Is that a thing? And even if it is a thing, why would I want to do it? Could I do it? Do I need to do it? HOW do I do it? Where would I keep all the food?!

Maybe the thought of not having to set foot in a grocery store for a year seems like more of a fantasy than a tangible possibility. Maybe even the thought of planning three hundred and sixty-five meals makes you freeze in your tracks.

But what if I told you that you dont have to come up with three hundred and sixty-five different meals to eat? What if I told you that in a ten-foot by sixteen-foot part of my basement, I have a years worth of foodand a months worth of water? Now, what if I told you that it didnt cost me as much as a years worth of food costs most people? If I wanted to, right now, I wouldnt have to set foot in a grocery store for an entire year.

Its not a fantasy for my family; its a matter of reality.

But why?

What would possess me to go out and purchase extra food for my family? I dont believe the world as I know it will end tomorrow or next week. I dont have a super-secret bunker into which my family and I will disappear for ten years and then re-emerge hoping to find the world a better place. Im just a mom of five children (ages fifteen, fifteen, eleven, eleven, and six). I make sure my kids get up, get ready for their day, and do their schoolwork. I run them to their various activities. We attend church. If you met me on the street, youd never know what was in my basementnor would I tell just any Joe what I stash down there, but I will tell you.

Are you ready for my super-secret formula to what I keep down there?

I keep peace and confidence down in my basement. I keep a sense of security stashed next to my barrel of I can rest well tonight. I keep the smiles of my children on the same shelf as my hubbys sighs of relief.

All of those things are a result of my years worth of food storage. I have planned and stored a years worth of food, so I can sleep well at night because of my sense of peace. I have confidence in our situation no matter what may happen at my husbands job. I know my children will smile because they will be well fed even during a power outage or an ice storm, and my husband will sigh with relief knowing that he still has coffee even if we wake up without electricity.

Other things I keep hidden away in my basement are extra free time, significant money savings, variety in my familys diet, a calm evening (even with unexpected company), and the light in my kids eyes when they find out they are having their favorite meal for dinner.

My food storage saves me significant money over my familys regular grocery menu. I dont have to spend time each week incessantly planning new menus or shopping for hours on end, giving me extra free time. Unexpected company is no problem at all. I can always double (or, if need be, triple) any recipe that Im making. I keep plenty of my childrens or husbands favorite meals on hand because I know it will make them smile.

Thats a pretty tall order for a ten-foot by sixteen-foot space in my basement.

Yes, it is true, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, that 83 percent of current twelve-year-olds will experience a violent crime sometime in their lives . Its much more likely that that same twelve-year-old talked about in the article is going to experience a power outagemaybe even in the middle of the winter. They will be without electricity at some point in their lifeprobably within the next year. At some time in their life theyre going to experience inclement weather that will affect their plans by trapping them in. Maybe they live in a hurricane-prone area or tornado alley. Maybe someday they or their spouse might get laid off from a job, or work hours or pay could be drastically cut. What if a wage-earner gets hurt on the job and cant work for six months or more?

Well, that depends. I know that our family would have a food cushion if any of those things ever happened to us. What about you?

Lets talk about something a little more common. What happens if theres a snowstorm? You cant get out because the roads are thick with ice or snow. The power has gone out. How are you going to cook? How are you going to prepare the food that you have in the house? How much food do you have in the house? When you hear theres going to be a snowstorm, do you run through the stores, grabbing the last loaves of bread and gallons of milk? Wouldnt it be a lot safer for you to already have food in your house so you can prepare healthy and delicious meals without having to leave? Knowing that you can even prepare them without power is a bonus so that you dont have to be one of the ones out there scrambling to get bread, milk, candles, and rock salt.

If theres a power outage in the summer, depending on where you live, it can get very, very hot. How do you cook your food and not heat your house further? Which food should you use? You dont want to open your fridge because youll let out a lot of the cold air.

Besides being sensible and important, one of the best reasons to work on building your food storage is that, depending on how you go about it, food storage can actually save you money compared to regular groceries. For example, if I buy a canister of oatmeal at Aldi, I pay $0.20/cup of oats. If I buy the same type of oats in bulk through a co-op called Azure Standard, I pay $0.11/cup of oats.

Thats almost half the price!

Learning to follow sales and only stock up on whats on sale saves a lot of money. Add learning how to use coupons effectively on top of those sales and you save even more. There are economical ways to stock your pantry for a fraction of what you would normally pay.

Food storage is about being proactive and taking steps to keep my family safe because somethingcould happen. Be Prepared is more than just the Boy Scouts motto.

And anyone could do iteveryone