Fall is upon us here in Utah. The air is cooler and General Conference is just around the corner. It’s also a great time to gather oils and fats into our food storage. As we enter the holiday season, many oils and fats go on sale.
All oils are not created equal. Shelf life varies. Gather what you like to use so you will use it. This is NOT a long-term food item, so be careful to read your container. I like canola because of its shelf life, but you may like olive oil. Anything works here. There is a huge variety of coconut oils. Don’t assume it has a long shelf life. Check the label.
Here is the October handout I made for the Relief Society sisters in my ward. You’re welcome to print the pdf to see what we are focusing on this month.
Other types of fats you may want to store are peanut or almond butter. There are soooo many differences here. Again, read the label. Maybe you should be refrigerating your almond butter and you didn’t know it.
Another fat is chocolate. Yep! Love it! I store semi-sweet chocolate chips since they have a 2-year shelf life, whereas milk chocolate has about a year shelf life. I store my chips in the freezer, but they can also be in your pantry. I love to find my stash of cold chocolate chips!
Other fats are mayonnaise, salad dressings and shortening. Store whatever your family uses.
It’s best to store oil & fats in a dark, cool location or closed cupboard. Always smell oil before using it and write the date you open a container on the label.
Fire Safety is my emergency focus this month. It’s Fire Prevention week in the U.S. next week, but I vote they move it to June ahead of the fire season. How about you?
The October Costco ad, has smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers on sale for $7 to $10 off. That’s cool!
It’s that time of year when those of us in Davis County, Utah drain our water systems because we don’t want the water to freeze in the pipes during the winter. We use mountain water to irrigate our yards. It’s very economical, but we rely on the snowpack. We had a drought this year and my vegetable garden suffered, so I’ll figure out a better way to water next year.
I hope some of these ideas help you during the month of October. The key to food storage is gather what you eat and eat what you store. Not buy it and forget about it. Food does NOT last forever and requires rotation or use. So, use it and buy some more!
Best wishes,
Valerie Albrechtsen, The Food Storage Organizer