The 3 EASY Ways to Lower Preparedness Anxiety

With so much going on in the world to worry about, we can feel overwhelmed—almost paralyzed—wondering what the best first step is to prepare for the unexpected. The good news is I have three simple steps you can take to lower your worries and anxieties—what I call Preparedness Anxiety. After implementing these easy steps, you’ll feel better equipped for whatever the world might throw your way.

So watch the video chat below and learn how these easy ways can help quell your worries and make you feel better about taking action in no time!

The Importance of Preparedness

During the pandemic of 2020, so many people rushed to fill their pantries with food, home remedies, and other supplies as fast as they could. Store shelves cleared out within hours! Too many people were completely taken off-guard and sometimes had no more than a week’s worth of food in their house and, at best, an expired bottle of aspirin and an out-of-date emergency radio.

Hopefully, people have learned they never want to be in that position again. But how many have fallen back into a false sense of security and have let their pantry supplies dwindle now that the pandemic has passed? Are things getting back to normal?

During your last grocery store visit, you saw that $100 doesn’t buy what it used to. In addition to concerning economic news, you also hear about serious world conflicts and international instability that seem to escalate daily. All this bad news can cause people to spiral down into a world of worry and anxiety. They may become paralyzed and not know how to help themselves and their families.

So what should you do? Prepare and continue to prepare. Don’t stop. You can take your first steps today to lower your Preparedness Anxiety with these three simple actions. These easy ways empower you to take control of your future.

3 Easy Ways to Lower Preparedness Anxiety Video

Tip #1: Taking Care of My Pantry

If you have been with me for a while, you know that I spend a lot of time talking about the Four Corners Pantry. The Four Corners include your main everyday Working Pantry, Refrigerator, Freezer, and Extended Pantry—what we nickname the Prepper Pantry. Although the Prepper Pantry has various aspects to it, I want to focus on stocking the Backup Pantry section of our Prepper Pantry.

A lot is going on in the world that causes us to worry, but having a good supply of food and water in your pantry can considerably lower your anxiety. Knowing that you can feed yourself and your family in the event that you can’t get to the grocery store can be comforting. So, if all you have on hand right now is about one week of food, you want to start building at least two weeks of non-perishable backup food to fill your main working pantry when it runs low.

Now, don’t worry. I don’t expect you to run out tomorrow and buy two weeks of food. Purchasing everything you need immediately with all the high grocery prices would certainly bust your budget! However, you can start small by adding an extra can or box of food each time you go to the grocery store. Maybe even forgo a treat you might like to buy—just for one week or two—so you can divert that money to buy a few cans of soup or baked beans. Before you know it, you will have your two weeks of backup food and begin to be able to take a sigh of relief.

• Learn more: How to Stock Your Prepper Pantry for $5 a Week with a Prepper Pantry Grocery List

As my sweet husband Ted always reminds me not to let the big picture overwhelm you—just focus on what you can control. We can all focus on the pantry in our own kitchen. And we can focus on adding some extra food to it each week. (Adding a few bottles of water is a good idea too!)

Once you start adding to your Backup pantry each week, you’ll begin to lower your anxiety and feel less overwhelmed. Instead, you’ll know you are taking charge of your and your family’s well-being.

Prepper Pantry Videos

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3 Crucial Pantry Questions You Need to Ask

Ask yourself these questions to ensure you have the essentials in your pantry to prepare for emergencies.

How to Prep a Pantry That Can Withstand Price Controls – The 3 Essential Foods to Stock NOW!

Learn about foods you should stock in your pantry that would be the most affected by future price controls.

10 Essential Prepper Pantry Items to Stock Up On Now

As traditional foods cooks, our pantries are usually well stocked, but did you forget these essential items for complete preparedness?

Tip #2: Stock Medication for Piece of Mind

In addition to ensuring you have enough food and water, you also want to make sure you have enough medications for yourself and your family in case of an emergency and you can’t get to the grocery store or pharmacist for an extended period. (Or worse, that there are supply chain disruptions and there’s a shortage of a medicine that you need.)

When I talk about storing medication, I mean your:

• Homemade herbal medicines, such as your salves and tinctures
• Over-the-counter medicines, such as aspirin and ibuprofen
• Prescription medicines

In today’s video, I discuss my presentations at this year’s Modern Homesteading Conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I talked about essential items for your pantry, which includes beeswax. This ingredient is essential to helping you make herbal medicines, such as salves. So, to relieve your prepping anxieties, review your herbal medicine supplies and ensure you have backups of the essential ingredients you need in your Herbal Medicine Cabinet.

I also keep a backup supply of over-the-counter medicines. For example, if I have a strong headache, I may need aspirin and a cup of caffeinated coffee to help get some relief. You may also suffer from arthritis and need ibuprofen to help you relieve your symptoms. So be sure to also review your supply of over-the-counter medicines.

Lastly, most of us have some prescription medicines, and we need to make sure we have enough of them. This could range from blood pressure medicine that you can store at room temperature or to other medicines that require refrigeration to retain their efficacy.

How to Keep Food and Medicines Cold

I was a participant on a webcast about the pantry, and the question of how to keep food and medicines cold was a hot topic. Based on what I learned and researched, I recommend you have the following:

• Portable Cooler – I use Kalamera. I can plug my portable cooler into an electrical outlet.
• Power Station and Solar Panels – I use a Jackery. I can plug my portable cooler into the power station if I don’t have any electricity, and I can plug the solar panels into my power station to recharge my station.

If you have any concerns about keeping food or medicines cold during a long-term power outage, I recommend you have these items in your Four Corners Pantry. I also recommend you test your entire backup system so you don’t have any surprises, such as missing cables, in case a real emergency occurs.

Also, if you have to travel with medicines and keep them cold, you can use the 4All Family Medicine Thermos.

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Disclaimer

Note: I am not a doctor or medical professional. This information is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any type of illness. If you are not feeling well, please seek professional medical attention and medicine. And if you are thinking of supplementing your treatment with home remedies, be sure to talk to your medical professional about them. It’s important that you get the medicine and treatments you need to get back to good health.

• Mary’s Nest Website Disclaimer Text

Tip #3: Stock Backup Energy for Your Smartphone

In the previous tip, I talk about having a backup generator to power your portable cooler and other appliances in case you lose electricity during a storm or other mishap.

What about ensuring your smartphone also has all the power it needs, especially when your phone’s battery runs low? There may be plenty of electricity where you’ve traveled, but if you have no way to transfer the electrical power to your phone, your mobile lifeline to the outside world may be cut off when your smartphone’s power dwindles to zero.

It’s always nice to have your smartphone available to watch YouTube videos, check on emails, text friends and family, and yes, of course, make phone calls. Because I sometimes need to travel quickly to places, such as to the hospital to help my parents when they were still alive, I may not always remember to carry all my smartphone supplies with me. These supplies ensure I always have a working and powered smartphone in case I need to look up something for a loved one or contact someone for help.

To reduce my anxiety about not having what I need when I’m out of the house, I make sure I carry a charging cable and plug for my smartphone. (I use an Apple iPhone.) This enables me to plug my phone into a nearby electrical outlet, such as in the airport or a hospital room.

I also carry a power bank portable charger with me in case I can’t access an electrical outlet. The portable charger has plugs for me to attach my smartphone’s charging cable to so it can tap into the power bank’s reserve charge.

In today’s video, I show you my cable, power plug, and portable charger. I also mention I should get a larger recharging plug so I can charge my phone faster. Here are the items I recommend to help you stock backup energy for your smartphone:

• Long recharging cable for Apple iPhone with power plug
• Portable charger

Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List

For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!

And if you’re looking for a printed book full of my traditional foods recipes that shows you how to create a traditional foods kitchen, be sure to order your copy of my new bestselling book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.

Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy

Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.

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Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.
2. Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free 36-page eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.
3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.
4. Order The Modern Pioneer Cookbook (Optional Paid) - Get a printed book of Mary's nourishing recipes from a Traditional Foods Kitchen. This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House with their DK imprint.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Prepper Pantry Supplies

• Wireless Fridge and Freezer Exterior Thermometer
• Life Straw
• Water Disinfection Tablets
• Water BOB Tub Liner
• Cast Iron Trivet
• Tea Lights
• Glass Kettle
• Manual Can Opener
• Battery Powered Can Opener
• Long Lasting Ice Packs
• Igloo Cooler
• YETI Cooler
• Electric Cooler
• Jackery Solar Power Station
• Jackery Portable Solar Panels
• 10 Gauge Power Cord
• Kill A Watt EZ
• Hand Crank Flashlight
• High Powered Flashlight
• Hand Crank Emergency Radio

Favorite Kitchen Supplies

• Favorite Aprons
• Spice Grinder
• Countertop Burner (On my kitchen island in many recipe videos.)
• Handheld Vacuum Sealing System
• Vacuum Lids
• Whisk
• Silica Gel Packets (Helps keep moisture from building up in your mix)
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 8-Quart Slow-Cooker
• Fat Separator (Clever kitchen device to help you decant bone broth)
• Flour Sack Towels
• pH Strips (Helps you check on the acidity of your vinegar)

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

• Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
• Visit my Shopping Guide page
  Get up to 15% off for stocking your Traditional Foods Pantry and equipping your Modern Pioneer Kitchen, including discounts from US Wellness Meats, Farmhouse Teas, Lehman's, Masontops, Cultures for Health, Survival Garden Seeds, Redmond Real Salt, Plan to Eat, and More!

Recommended Reading

• The Modern Pioneer Cookbook
• Nourishing Traditions
• Books by Rosemary Gladstar:
  • Medicinal Herbs – A Beginner’s Guide
  • Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health
  • Family Herbal
  • Herbal Healing for Women