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I'll be the first to admit my family's food storage is nowhere near what it ought to be. Yet, I feel that for a shorter-term disaster, we would be fairly comfortable for a time. If nothing else, those days where grocery shopping has been neglected, it's easy enough to pull out some rice and beans from the pantry and a bit of meat from the deep freezer, maybe top if off with some canned veggies. Some might say we are privileged enough to have such on hand. And yet, it seems such an odd privilege. I'm hearing about people who have their car break down or something and within that day they are desperate for food. I certainly appreciate the perks of buying food fresh and frequently, but these people are asking for stuff like ramen and mac-and-cheese, hardly the pinnacle of nutrition but certainly stays on the shelf for awhile. How hard off are you to have absolutely nothing in the house to eat within a day of an emergency? So this all leaves me wondering, am I spoiled by having a bit of food storage? I feel like this should be a common thing: not just the year-or-two food storage goal or your bunker for the apocalypse, but to have some shelf-stable basics in the pantry and a loaf of bread in the freezer. This should not just be something members of our church should do. This should be common sense and a common aim. This isn't to say I want to just dismiss true food insecurity and poverty. That's part of my thought process here. With all the inconvenient inflation, it's likely more difficult than it was to even get a few cheap basics to have on hand. Perhaps it's that time when, food storage speaking, those lamps ought to have been lit.

One day I made it just because I didn't know what else to make for dinner. Got out some chips and tortillas, the kids loved it. It's the new cheap meal at our house.

No, you have sacrificed something else to be self reliant.

I've had homemade chili as a regular lunch staple for over a decade now. I just got back from shopping with almost 30 cans for just under fifty bucks. Some of that was $0.59 WalMart store brand beans and corn. Five years ago it would have been rare to have any of those ingredients reach a buck a can, now most of them are over that. But yeah, pretty much everyone is making more now than they were 5 years ago, so some of the inflation is offset by rising wages. The less picky you are, the more effort you're willing to spend on it, the cheaper it is to cook and store healthy. I could get the same result for even cheaper if I used more dried ingredients and less canned.

One of my sons intentionally makes beans and rice a major part of his diet. Another served a mission in Brazil, and so likes beans and rice fine, even if it's not his preferred meal.

Lots of things you can add to them for flavor too.

I don't actually like canned beans. Oh, they're handy enough in a pinch, but I feel like I can do a lot more adjustment if I cook them myself. I feel like beans and rice get a bad rap. "How dare you fail to help me beyond rice and beans?!" But at the end of the day, they're super cheap, filling, and easy to customize.

I don't know if you're joking, but I agree. I can't get my family to understand that you're SUPPOSED to eat the skins of kumquats. Their logic is that we don't eat citrus skins - period. Then they complained that it was too difficult to peel. Too bad my trees died in the frost.

It certainly has most of the flavor. The truth is that I've always thought kumquats were cool in the abstract, but I've never been a huge kumquat lover in actual reality.

But...but...the skin is the BEST part!

Yeah. You know I don't really understand this. I've done it a few times myself. And each time, my wife looks like she's going to hurl. And she politely asks if I could put that in a bowl or something. Somehow just seeing someone eat directly from a can does not sit well with her.

This actually reminds me of a story that was related to me. Some woman brought to the office for her lunch a can of pork and beans as she was feeling super lazy that day. So lazy she didn't even bother to heat them up, just opened the can and dug in. A coworker was apparently deeply offended by this. It amused this lady so much a cold can of pork and beans is now her daily work lunch, just to be an office pest.

I wouldn't have known about it if my son weren't serving in Japan right now. He had to have a license. And he mentioned that he was only eligible because he got a certificate of graduation from seminary and an ordination certificate stating he was ordained as an Elder in the Church.

Burnet...carol...Carol Burnett...

I served in Brazil and this is all news to me. They did give me, at the MTC, a certificate of ordination or some such thing and told me to carry it in my white bible along with some government document affirming that I had a local visa; but no one ever asked to see it. (It was a good thing, too, as the visa doc had to be renewed every six months but I only ever got a chance to renew it once. I was technically an illegal alien in Brazil for most of my mission.)

It’s an eye opening experience. I’m sure there are disabled people out there who whine and complain all the time, but the majority that I know are friendly, funny, and have great senses of irony and wit. Makes me wonder why so many non disabled people whine so much about their circumstances or have so much anger.

Absolutely. My family was learning wisdom from one a while ago, who talked about the intentional choice to be a "ha-ha cripple" instead of a "boo-hoo cripple". She just radiated good humor, and defiance against the gloom that so easily comes to folks experiencing severe chronic hardships.

I think the word "privileged" is overused to the point it has no meaning anymore. Are you privileged to have a job? Are you privileged to have space in your home for a pantry? Are you privileged because you have a car where you can go shopping at a grocery store instead of a convenience store (food desert)? Common sense has never been common. Today it is a rarity. I remember a long time ago when an acquaintance told me that one reason the US military couldn't do well in Vietnam is that the natives were perfectly content eating rice three meals a day. I wondered why Americans could not. But he told me "we just can't. We'd go crazy eating the same food every day." Sure enough, I survived for about a year on just a single 50lb bag of rice (with various seasonings, vitamins, and other supplements) while I was in college. Everyone else wondered how I lived on so little. Well, I didn't gain any weight back then. That's for sure. But I made it.

Some of the best comics I've seen are those with disabilities that make fun of themselves and their disability. Not that anyone is laughing at their disability but it's great to see that they can find humor even in their situation. It makes me love them more and have so much more respect than moaning about their injustice.

Why stop at kissing her? Take her out to a movie the night before. Maybe a little make-out, maybe more . . . Why torture yourself? After all, we know that the sum total of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (and Him crucified) is “if it feels good, do it.”

stay warm!

Many years ago, when I just graduated from college and I had my first job, I was quietly eating a few kumquats and this co-worker became enraged over it and said that she found it very disrespectful to eat this without asking first because some people don't like the aroma of citrus fruits. 🤨 Take a guess who brought oranges the following week?

Not me, I stare at the person in the pump next to me and watch them squirm.