10 Ways to Protect Your Food Storage Against Pests {Guest Post}

By: Lee Flynn

There's no time like the present for starting to prepare for tomorrow. Preparing for emergencies or times of need by buying food storage is a worthy pastime. Gathering any amount of food storage is no small task and it costs money. Money that you don't want to see go to waste by having food spoil due to lack of protection. Trust me, there's nothing worse than needing to use your food storage, opening it up, and finding that it's infested with some little bug or rodent. It's happened to me, so here are the best ways to protect your food against invaders.

1. Freeze What You Can. Freezing foods like flour, rice, and other grains can prevent a bug infestation. It also helps prevent any larvae from hatching which may already be in the food. The problem we run into is that freezer space is limited, and storing everything in a freezer is not practical. So pick out the most coveted grains and freeze them. You don't necessarily need to leave them in the freezer forever; freeze them for a week and then take them out. All the bad bugs should be dead.
   
   
2. High Density Buckets. Professional-grade thick plastic buckets are rodent-proof. That means there's no way those little rats and mice can chew through a bucket containing your food storage. I recommend the 5 gallon premium food storage containers that meet FDA standards.
   
   
3. Mylar Bags. Mylar bags are made of a thin metal material that have been created for lining food storage bins. The great thing about mylar bags is that they can be sealed with heat creating an oxygen barrier to the outside. You need to place low moisture foods, like beans, with oxygen absorbers in your mylar bags. Then put your mylar pouches in rodent-proof containers.
   
   
4. Carbon Dioxide. For those packing their own food storage, making sure your product is free of pests before you seal it up is important. The big companies fumigate food using a series of chemicals which works very well and kills lots of the insect larvae. For the home food storage packer, dry ice is a great way to do the same thing. Dry ice will fumigate products with carbon dioxide gas. It's heavier than air so it stays low in the container. Simply place a sheet of dry ice at the bottom of your food storage container and let the gas cover the food and all the bugs should die.
   
   
5. O2 Absorbers. Oxygen is not your friend when it comes to keeping your food pest-free. Oxygen absorbers or silica packets work great when preparing your food storage. Simply place them at the top of the food before they are sealed and it will soak up all the oxygen. Insects need oxygen to thrive, so by removing oxygen they can't thrive and they will die.
   
   
6. Bay Leaves. Spreading bay leaves throughout the food storage container is a popular way of deterring pests. Bugs don't like the smell of bay leaves. You don't need very many leaves to do the trick. Just add 5 to 10 leaves for a 5 gallon bucket. You can also spread the leaves throughout cupboards containing the food storage. Bay leaves will not affect the taste of your food.
   
   
7. Temperature. Proper temperature is crucial to food storage. The most ideal temperature to keep your food safe for a long time is 75°F or 24°C. This comes into play when people decide to store their food storage in the garage or shed. Sure there's more room out there, but the temperature fluctuates way too drastically for the food to remain safe for a long time. Keeping temperature consistent will not only protect your food against spoilage, it will also protect it against those nasty pests...bacteria.
   
   
8. Diatomaceous Earth. Mixing Diatomaceous Earth into your food storage, like beans or grains, can control insects. When purchasing your Diatomaceous Earth, make sure it's approved by the FDA for human consumption. There are companies which make it for swimming pools and this type can contain lots of harmful chemicals. Using this method is really easy: for every 40 pounds of grains, add 1 cup of Diatomaceous Earth. This should kill the bugs and you can still eat the food mixed with this product.
   
   
9. Use Glass. Glass containers work really well to create an airtight oxygen-free environment when combined with oxygen absorbers. The nice thing about using glass containers is that you can store things in "every day size", as some people hesitate to open a 5 gallon bucket of sealed grains unless it's absolutely necessary.
   
   
10. Vacuum Sealing. Vacuum packaging your food storage is another great way to get the oxygen out. Remember without oxygen all the little critters will die. I put vacuums sealing at the bottom of the list because honestly it's hard to vacuum seal food really well. The food needs to contain less than 1% oxygen, and that's not easily done with vacuum sealing. That said, it is still a good idea to vacuum seal your food but you will want to supplement this approach by using oxygen absorbers.

Lee Flynn is a freelance writer and expert in outdoor survival food storage and freeze-dried meals.

Precious Car-N-Go Poncho from Jeni Lynn Designs {Etsy}: Giveaway! (Closed)

If you were following Manager to Mom earlier this year, you may remember my Ridin' Safe Poncho review and gift code giveaway from Etsy shop Jeni Lynn Designs.

Now that we're well into October, it's time for those of us in cooler climates to start thinking about keeping our little ones warm and safe over the upcoming winter, and shop owner Jeni A wants to help out! She has generously offered to give away another poncho to one lucky Manager to Mom winner! Thanks Jeni!

So what's the deal with car seat ponchos, and how are they a safer option than regular coats/jackets? Well, with a regular coat you may feel like the car seat buckles are providing a snug fit, but in an accident, the coat material compresses much more heavily than you can feel with your hands, leaving an unsafe amount of space between the straps and your child. (You can view an effective demonstration of this here.) A poncho, however, goes on top of the buckles so the material does not interfere, however the child remains warm and snug. The best of both worlds!

Jeni's been busy rebranding her store and her own poncho offering now has a fresh new name (Precious Car-N-Go Poncho - cute, huh?) but it's still the same practical, high-quality product she sent me to review several months back. A few details:

This poncho is 2 layers of super soft fleece, and includes a 4 inch zipper at the neck to make getting it on and off super easy! There is an attached hood for extra warmth, too!

The poncho measures approximately 34 inches square. It will be longer on smaller babies; more blanket-like. On taller kids it will provide more upper-body- only coverage, like a traditional poncho. The corners are situated to point to the front/back and down each arm to provide the best possible coverage.

Add on a 3rd layer, spikes or a mohawk, and see many more patterns here.

These ponchos can definitely last a child through two winters, if not more! (Another advantage over standard jackets.) Here's our daughter S sporting hers back in February (14-15 months old) - indeed it was quite blanket-like, draping down almost to the floor.

And here she is now, at 22 months. She's still getting close to full-body coverage, so will be able to wear it for many months longer. It remains in great shape too after several washes.

View more information on Jeni Lynn Designs and read my complete review of the Precious Car-N-Go Poncho here.

Buy It:

Want a Precious Car-N-Go Poncho of your own? Or how about some totally adorable leg warmers or practical shirt saver bibs? Shop for these and many other great hand-made baby & child products at Jeni Lynn Designs! (Note: Etsy policies apply to all purchases.)

Win It:

One lucky Manager to Mom reader will win a Precious Car-N-Go Poncho of their own! Open to Canada and the United States.

To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow all instructions within each entry option to ensure your entries are valid.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  The prize is being provided to the winner by Jeni Lynn Designs.  I received no financial compensation for offering this giveaway.  This is my completely honest opinion above and may be different from yours. 

Jeni Lynn Designs (Etsy): Ridin' Safe Poncho Review & $30 Giveaway! (Closed)

Back in January, I found myself searching for a better way to keep our daughter warm & comfy in her car seat without putting her safety at risk. I decided to make this the topic of a FB QOTD post and you guys shared some great tips! I felt particularly compelled by the concept of a car seat poncho (noted by two readers), which is designed to keep a li'l one warm from head to toe without interfering with the seat buckle. Rather than loosening the straps to adjust for a bulky winter jacket (which isn't safe), the poncho goes overtop the restraint system, allowing the straps to fit securely over your little one's indoor clothes. 

I had to try one of these out for myself!

One of my readers mentioned she'd made her own poncho, however I'm not exactly skilled with a needle & thread myself (understatement of the year?) so I consulted my friend Google...

...and promptly stumbled upon Jeni Lynn Designs, a sweet Etsy shop based in Castle Rock, Colorado and owned by Jeni A, a full-time working mama (of a baby boy born early last year) and, unlike yours truly, an obviously talented seamstress! Jeni has always enjoyed sewing and crafting, and decided to turn her hobby into a business in 2011 as a step toward becoming a stay at home mommy - a goal she is very passionate about!

Jeni's flagship product is her Ridin' Safe Poncho, which was what brought me to her store in the first place. She also offers numerous other baby items geared toward making parents' lives easier and more convenient - for example full-coverage "shirt saver" bibs, sippy-savers and wet bags. And let's not forget her super-adorable leg warmers, taggie blankets and Boo Boo Buddies! All of her products come in an awesome selection of styles/patterns.

Jeni is happy to accept custom orders, so if you want a different size, shape, quantity, etc. of an item, just send her a message and let her know your preferences!  

So let's take a closer look at the Ridin' Safe Poncho.

From the product description:

This poncho is 2 layers of super soft fleece, and includes a 4 inch zipper at the neck to make getting it on and off super easy! There is an attached hood for extra warmth, too!

The poncho measures approximately 33 inches square. It will be longer on smaller babies; more blanket-like. On taller kids it will provide more upper-body- only coverage, like a traditional poncho. The corners are situated to point to the front/back and down each arm to provide the best possible coverage.

How to use: When you sit your baby in their car seat, simply drape the back of the poncho up over the car seat back (do NOT leave the poncho behind baby's back!) Lift up the front, buckle the straps underneath and lay it back down. When it's time to get out of the carseat, simply unbuckle your little one and go!

Jeni also offers stylin' hood accessories such as spikes or a mohawk, and the option to add a third layer of fleece for ultimate warmth!

For review purposes, Jeni sent me a Ridin' Safe Poncho with double layer fleece in the butterfly pattern. She made it a bit larger so that our daughter can continue to wear it next Winter when she's 2.

Here's a close-up of the cozy hood and partial zipper.

And here you can see the two layers of fleece which create a nice, thick barrier against the cold!

The fleece is, indeed, super-soft and the construction of the poncho is extremely solid.

Here's our little munchkin all set to "ride safe", giving us her best ET on Hallowe'en impression!

And here we have her secured snugly into her seat, swimming in a sea of butterflies! Notice that the back of the poncho is pulled up over the top of the seat rather than bunched in behind her. (As a side note - no, she didn't rip off her bandage between the last photo and this one; the two photos were taken on separate occasions. I'm all about full disclosure! ;)

See how the straps get secured over her regular clothes, underneath the poncho fabric.

We have now been using the poncho for over a month (up until the current week, that is, during which the record temperatures have convinced me that March is the new June! :) This has given us ample testing time and we've put together the following thoughts and observations:

• The poncho does a wonderful job keeping our daughter warm. She's always toasty (but not overheated) when it comes off, even after a short ride during which the car didn't get to warm up fully.
• It doesn't quite cover her tootsies, so on colder days we throw an extra blanket overtop. 
• Admittedly, the poncho isn't quite as easy to use as I'd hoped for/expected. Putting it on is certainly dirt-simple; the challenge is in getting the straps in place under all that material. It helps to have a "buddy system" (where one person holds up the front of the poncho and the other person secures the restraints), however if you're on your own your best bet is to be able to work the straps by feel, underneath the material. Alternatives include holding the front of the poncho over your child's face so you can see what you're doing (which they surely won't appreciate) and temporarily removing the poncho during the strap-in process (which'll leave them shivering unless you already have the car fully warmed up!) So all in all, there's a learning curve involved here, but, as with most things in life, practice makes perfect! (And it certainly helps to have a user-friendly car seat and/or helper accessories such as Lula Clips.)
• Our daughter will sometimes get annoyed at the poncho and try ripping it off. That said, this tends to happen when either the face "window" isn't aligned quite right, or she's bored. Distraction is helpful here to shift her focus to something else.
• On milder days, the poncho works nicely as a blanket (and this is obviously much quicker/easier!)
• The poncho also works well in a stroller, on milder days (e.g. about 6 to 15 degrees Celsius). Same concept - back of the poncho over the top and straps underneath. But since you don't need to be quite as precise with stroller straps, securing things by feel is quite easy in this case.

• Finally, the poncho is super-easy to care for; just throw it in with your child's regular laundry. (I machine wash on warm/cold and machine dry on low.) It comes out slightly less plush than it went in, but this is unavoidable with fleece.

All in all, despite the learning curve we did experience, our Ridin' Safe Poncho has become our "go to" cold weather car seat solution for our daughter (and potential future children :)  Its ability to keep her safe, warm and comfortable is certainly worth the extra minute or two of fiddling "by feel" to get the straps in place, and the quality of the poncho is (surely) second to none. We also appreciate its versatility as a stroller solution, or, simply, as a warm 'n' fuzzy blanket.


Buy It:

Want a Ridin' Safe Poncho of your own? Or have your eye on the ultra-practical "Shirt Saver" Bibs? Shop for these and many other great hand-made baby products at Jeni Lynn Designs! (Note: Etsy policies apply to all purchases.)

Win It:

One lucky Manager to Mom winner will receive a $30 credit to Jeni Lynn Designs, good toward the purchase of any item(s) of their choice! Jeni has also generously offered to include free shipping on the winner's order.

To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Comments do not count as entries, however feel free to add a comment to remind yourself that you entered!

10 Childproofing Safety Tips for the Kitchen {Guest Post}

By: Jakob Barry

Kitchens have gone through many changes over the last 150 years; their modern design being mostly a result of technological advances. With utilities like gas, water and electricity now intricately woven through its walls and cooking appliances and devices providing never ending aid, the kitchen is now a wonderland for the household chef.

At the same time, underneath all the culinary euphoria and excitement is a potentially perilous zone for small children. It’s not that merely being in the kitchen will cause them harm, but the simple truth is they just aren’t familiar with some of the dangers that exist.

The following are a few suggestions for providing a more user-friendly space for our children when joining us in the kitchen:

1. Knives: It takes a few years before children begin understanding that knives and other sharp objects aren't toys. When not in use, return them to knife blocks, wall mounted magnetic bars, or cases - all in those hard to reach places. This will help prevent serious accidents.
   
2. Stove top/oven: Heat is dangerous, but again, if you're a small child you may not realize it soon enough. When cooking, keep kids away from the stove, turn pot handles inward so they can't be grabbed or caught on something, and when the oven is baking keep kids out of the kitchen altogether until it has cooled off.
   
3.  Insecticide: Unfortunately, the kitchen can be a prime location for infestations that may require an exterminator. Nevertheless, we often choose to plant poison or traps and get rid of pests ourselves.  If this is something you're considering, keep the following in mind: both sprays and dry products may give off toxic fumes, and if you go the eco-friendly route many products still cause bodily harm if ingested by humans. Whatever you use, make sure it's out of reach of your children.
   
4. Counter space: Counters should be clear, open spaces with little chance of anything falling and injuring a child.
   
5. Trash: We don’t always think about some of the things tossed in the garbage, but there could be broken glass or filth from cleaning agents. For this reason, use a closed container so if a trash can tips over your child won’t be easily exposed to unsafe substances.
   
6. Furniture: A good precaution when it comes to furniture is to select pieces that have round edges. Furthermore, since kids sometimes scale tables and chairs, they should be sturdy and solid to help prevent a fall.
   
7. Cabinets/drawers: Child proof cabinets and drawers that contain equipment, dishes, or other items which should be kept away from children. These include oven and dishwasher doors and other appliances that may be unsafe. Also, be cautious about hanging towels or aprons on handles or knobs, as kids can grab on these and start climbing. They may think it's fun, but this could allow them to reach areas that are supposed to off-limits, or worse, have a serious fall.
   
8. The floor: Many kitchen floors can be very slippery when washed. Set up a barrier so if kids are running around they don’t pass through the kitchen until it's dry.
   
9. Kitchen gate: It happens all too often that kids get hurt on stairs. If your kitchen has a door with a connecting stairwell, set up a childproof gate to block their passage.
   
10. Table cloths: Although presentation says a lot, using tablecloths with toddlers can be a problem as they love to tug and pull on them which could send your dinner flying across the room. If you eat meals in the kitchen, placemats have good staying power and are a great alternative. Otherwise, find a permanent covering to protect the table that won't easily move around.

Jakob Barry is a home improvement journalist for Networx.com. He blogs about practical kitchen topics for pros across the U.S. like Salt Lake City, Utah tile contractors.