KAYSVILLE — When Michelle and Trent Snow advocate bagging food storage, they don’t mean give up on getting prepared for diaster.
They literally mean “Bag it” — put all of the ingredients for meals into bags and store them ready to go.
They have so much confidence in their “easy, affordable and doable approach” that they’re put more than 100 recipes and tips into a new book, “It’s In the Bag,” recently published by Cedar Fort Inc.
Michelle Snow lists 12 reasons bagged meals are a better idea.
• They save time and money.
• The meals are complete and ready as needed.
• Bag meals have shorter prep time.
• Anyone who can read can fix a bagged meal.
• The ingredients are pre-measured (again a time-saver and neatness factor). A sandwich bag holds two cups of whatever. A snack bag holds one.
• The Bag Meal system baby steps one to food storage.
• All of the necessary ingredients are in the bag.
• Bag Meals save space, the Snows say.
• Even outside of disaster, there’s always a meal ready to grab.
• It’s easy to rotate food stuffs.
• The meals are balanced and enjoyable.
• If it’s necessary to evacuate the home, even a young child can carry a bag meal.
The Snows use square-bottomed 8-by-5-by-10-inch plastic gift bags with handles, bags that will easily hold the ingredients needed for a meal that serves six to eight people. A plastic CD sleeve holds the recipe for the meal, the expiration date of the first item that will expire and a color-coded label that helps even the nonreading child “pull” the right meal.
In addition, the Snows share Trent Snow’s sprouting tips and his pattern for a sprout drainer.
There are hints of storing, freezing and using “fresh” eggs.
Michelle adds her design for a suburban chicken coop.
The book is available at local book stores for $14.99 and from the Cedar Fort website.