Part of the preparedness mindset is being flexible. And I’m the perfect example of that. When I started this blog series, I had a full outline of what I wanted to write about each week. There is a logical plan to how I’m laying out the homework outlined in Week One and Week Two.
But things are changing quickly and I want to step back to review and jump ahead a bit. First, I want to recap the homework.
In Week One, we are using our three legal pads to do our homework. First, we’re doing a whole house assessment. This includes a light clean up/decluttering so we can evaluate the details of each room: how many interior/exterior doors, how many windows, type of electronics, proximity to water/bathrooms, etc. This is an enormous project so please take all the time you need. This first step is crucial to setting up a plan.
Week One’s second assignment was to make a list of all the possible disasters that could happen in your area. Anything floods to hurricanes to blizzards to riots. On the second half of the page, keep a list of the disasters that have happened to you or your family personally. Keep this list on your refrigerator or someplace where it would be easy to add to. This will be an ongoing list we’ll use later on when we begin long-term planning.
Week One’s third assignment was to start a meal list–listing every meal you eat in a month. So this is ongoing homework until you feel you have a good idea of what meals and foods/snacks you eat and drink every day, every week, every month. (this is not a grocery list!)
Week Two’s first assignment was to make a list of all the cleaning supplies you use in every room of the house. And note those products you love and don’t love.
Week Two’s second assignment was to schedule when you’re going to do a deep review and clean of each room. And don’t forget to set up meals and rewards ahead of time!
Now that it’s Week Three, I’m changing up the plan a bit. I just got back from the grocery store and spoke with my butcher. I mentioned the empty shelves and he suggested that I begin to stock up on whatever I need for my holiday meals now. Like everyone, I’ve noticed the supply chain issues throughout the economy, along with the rising inflation. So today we’re going to jump ahead and do some pre-planning for Thanksgiving (and maybe other holidays like Christmas and Hannukah). That way, if you have the time and money, you can buy some of your food/supplies early and won’t have to get caught in the rush closer to the event.
So this week’s homework is pretty easy. With your Legal Pad 2 (Food and House Inventory), take a blank page and mark it with a page flag. First, note if you’re having any visitors around the holidays. Mark the dates and number of people. Include the college kids coming home because they eat a lot!. Then, once you have an idea of who’s coming home when, decide how many large and small meals you need to make. (If you’re not entertaining or cooking a large meal, are you going to someone’s house and want to bring an appetizer or a dessert? If so, mark that down.)
If you’re not doing any cooking or entertaining or bringing anything to a party, you’re don’t need to do the next activity. But if you are doing any of these things, use the legal pad to jot down any meal ideas besides the big ones like Thanksgiving dinner. Are you doing a dinner for guests the night before Thanksgiving? Breakfast on Saturday or Sunday? Or on Friday night after a long day of shopping? Or will you be snacking while watching football games? It doesn’t matter the meals look like–write down any ideas.
Here’s a brief example of my meals idea list that starts Tuesday before Thanksgiving and ends on Sunday night:
Tuesday night: Black Bean Chili party around the fire-pit (6 adults)
Wednesday: Breakfast is coffee cake and eggs & lunch is sandwiches (4 adults). Dinner of Ham Chowder and homemade sourdough bread (8 adults)
Thursday: Breakfast is an egg casserole (4 adults) Thanksgiving dinner, including apps and dessert (18 adults & 2 children under 8)
Friday: Breakfast casserole (8 adults) lunch is leftovers for the men (3 adults) while the women go to Thanksgiving Tea. Dinner is leftovers (10 adults)
Saturday: Breakfast is pancakes (6 adults) Lunch is sandwiches/football snacks for the men (5 adults) while the women go thrifting and have a pub lunch. Dinner is crockpot pork sliders and leftover apps and desserts.
Sunday: Brunch at our favorite cafe (11 adults). Dinner is leftovers (6 adults)
So…. that’s a lot of meals to plan for!
Now, still using Legal Pad 2, itemize all of the meals and do a quick ingredient list. Once you have your list of ingredients, check the pantry, freezer, etc to see what you have or what you can use, even if you end up changing your menu plan. Once that’s done, take another blank page and make a shopping list.
Once you have your shopping list, highlight the ingredients you can buy now. Canned goods, meat you can freeze, baking goods, etc. And make a separate list for last minute items like fresh veggies. There’s no getting around buying fresh veggies closer to the date until you can have a farm/CSA deliver them to you. Meanwhile, if you collect coupons or sales flyers, begin to look for the best prices and start shopping. Now, I don’t mean run out and buy everything all at once! If you do that, you may miss out on sales that happen closer to the holidays. What I mean is take your list and your coupons and every time you go to the store, see if there’s anything on your list you can pick up now. If the shelves empty again, you’ll be happy you started now.
Prices are going up and I do love to use coupons. So sometimes I play roulette with supply and price, where I’ll wait to get something so I can use a double coupon the next week. But this year I’m marking my shopping list with things I MUST have and buying them when I see them. Not everyone has that option, but if you figure out what you need now, and start shopping around, you’ll have a better chance of getting it at the best price. If you can’t find things at a good price, you’ll have time to determine how important each ingredient/food/drink is to your celebrations. But by making this list early, you’ll have more controlled flexibility over your decision-making. And that’s the goal of Prepping & Planning!
Okay. So that’s this week’s assignment. Figure out your menu for the next month or two (depending on the holidays you celebrate and all the things/visitors you have planned). Make an ingredient list and, from that, make a shopping list. Don’t forget to include any cleaning supplies that you might need (from last week’s list), especially any specialty or seasonal items like silver polish and lysol.
Next week I’ll have some printables/downloads to help you get started with other holiday prepping, including a chart on how to decide how big of a turkey to buy. Hope you all have a great week!
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