Pantries and Preparedness. Saving money with Glenda. Part 1.

Last week was a week of extreme weather, a Cyclone in Queensland, flooding and mess.  Everyone here is accounted for although some have had a fairly hard time of it.  Now other areas are still being flooded and the scenes of devastation are terrible.
I have also seen ordinary items being sold for ridiculous prices like a few bottles of water in a pack for $44 and many scenes of completely bare shelves.  These things are a good reminder. Basics like water, batteries, fuel, bread... all become worth so much when you cannot get them!  We need them on hand as trying to find these things after a disaster is just awful and your chances are slim!

This week we start a series by Glenda.  Glenda is one of the most experienced people I know for her knowledge of food storage and preparedness.  She is the most experienced person I know by far with her knowledge of herbs and the person I go to when I have a question to ask.  She has to put up with a lot of questions from me!  😊

This week we are starting with some ways to save money with your food storage.
I will get to my week of activities at the end of this post.
The photos are from Jane. (thanks Jane!)

Shoe hangers for extra storage. 

I had one inside the door of my last pantry for packets. 

Jane has hers in the craft room.

Over to Glenda!

 I wanted to share some cost savings tips on long term storage with you.

 Frozen vegetables aren't long term if they stay frozen. Purchasing frozen vegetables, when on sale, or in large packages is a cost savings. We buy the organic frozen vegetables and fruits on sale or in the five lb bags at Sam's. Since frozen vegetables are already blanched before freezing that step is eliminated when dehydrating them. Nothing could be easier than opening the package and spreading them on a dehydrator tray; that's it. We have a ten tray stainless steel dehydrator, so we can do a lot of frozen vegetables at one time. That saves electricity, also, so we look at kitchen appliances as investments. Appliances that will allow us to eat long term with stored bulk items; save us electricity in the long run, and extend the life of the foods we purchase are better than money sitting in the bank.

   A grain grinder allows us to buy the whole berries or groats, which is by far less costly than buying the already ground flour. It provides the advantage of us having fresh flour when needed and long term storage of the basic supply. As mentioned, grains last, when stored properly, 30 years or more.  So for a long term investment and cost savings a grain grinder is a bargain. There are electric and hand crank; we have one of each. We purchased them several years ago before we had a full house back-up generator. We could probably eliminate the very large hand crank now, but we will keep it to share with others who don't have a grain grinder, should things turn bad.

   A dehydrator is another really good investment for cost savings and long term storage. Frozen vegetables last about six to eight months in the freezer and take up a lot of space. A freezer requires electricity to run. Dehydrating fruits and vegetables extends the storage life to four or five years if stored properly and dehydrated properly. The key to good dehydration is making sure all the moisture is out of the product. We dehydrate, then store vegetables in labeled canning jars, which we vacuum seal. They easily stay fresh for five years that way, when stored away from heat, light, and moisture.

   I don't know what I would do without my Food Saver Vacuum Sealer. We buy five pound bags of organic broccoli at Sam's. Normally, it will last, if placed in a Ziploc bag and sealed tight, about six months in the freezer. When I divide the large bag up into serving sizes and vacuum seal it into the food saver bags, the same product will last two to three years in the freezer with no freezer burn. I do the same thing with chicken, cooked turkey meat, beef, etc. If we want to extend the life of it and prevent freezer burn, I vacuum seal it and it is good for two to three years easily.

   Many people don't realize that butter and cheese freeze really well. We buy butter when it is on sale for a good price and buy enough for six to eight months (until we think the next sale might come around). I vacuum seal the container and put it in the freezer. I have used butter three years old that way and it was perfectly good.

   Use by and sell by dates are arbitrary anyway. Most foods are good well beyond whatever date is stamped on them, if they have been stored right. Dehydrating, freeze drying, and vacuum sealing extends the life of the food and helps cut costs in the long run.

   In summary, if a family owns a good quality grain grinder, a good quality dehydrator, a couple of vacuum sealers (one for back up), a non electric coffee pot or water boiler, plus stores all the basics in their long term form, no one needs to run out of food or fear the future. Granted, for a years storage the amount is astronomical in quantity, but when broken down by quarters, it is doable for everyone. 

   John and I were just discussing water storage this morning. We have a stainless steel Berkey, but there is no filter for that to take out calcium. For most people that wouldn't be a problem, but for me, due to genetics, the calcium doesn't go into the correct places and ends up in the wrong places. So, we have to have alternatives and it's important to think that out ahead. For two people and two dogs, for kitchen and drinking use alone, we need five gallons a day. That is 150 gallons a month, and more is needed for washing. We don't live in an area with much rainfall. The snow melts down to virtually nothing. We have to think seriously about water. 

   Most people don't think of how much they actually need of something, which is why having the inventory with maximum amounts to store is so important. It's easier to figure with food and water, than with medical supplies. Household supplies are pretty standard in usage, so that is easier to figure, also. For instance, if I know we use six rolls of toilet tissue a week and there are 52 weeks in a year, I want to be sure to have 312 rolls of toilet tissue in storage. Some people are okay with using rags and rewashing them; my husband is absolutely not going to do that, so I have to calculate wisely. 

   Space or money seems to be the reasons people give for not stocking up on necessities. Space is often taken up with less important things that can either be boxed and stored or eliminated. I think people's budgets will most often allow picking up a little here and there for extra food storage. If there is a food co-op in the area where someone lives, buying in bulk yield's huge savings.

   If I can buy 50 lbs of organic wheat (shipped to me for that cost) for $50, that is $1 per lb of berries.   Each cup of wheat berries grinds into 1.5 cups of flour. It is of huge benefit to me that I can grind the amount I want, still have the germ and bran in tack, and use it right away. Nothing is diminished by storing any grain berry or groat. Plus, I know that if I don't use the berries within the next 30 years, they are still as good as the day I purchased them (stored correctly) and as nutritious (until ground).

   Flour can be found on sale frequently, but the shelf life is very, very short. White flour might last a year when sealed properly and whole wheat flour is truly only good for three days after grinding if the germ was left in it. After that time, the germ is rancid. Too, often, whole wheat flour is sitting on the shelf in a store and people think they are buying healthy, but, in reality, they are buying rancid food. 

Jane's portable clothesline. I love it! It reminds me of play ones! 

It folds up and disappears into a carry bag. 

We will stop there for this week. Next week will go on to storage buckets and storing large amounts of grains and corn etc.

You will be like me... I zoom in on things I did not know and think we could really use.

As I have been working to rotate my pantry Glenda's information about use by dates is vital to me.  Many things that I store have use by dates I can ignore such as sugar, white rice and powdered milk.  

Jane and Bluey's battery fan. It runs on a power tool battery.

In a power outage these are brilliant. 

Last week I made some more progress on rotating things in my cellar.  This is a week by week project. If any project is just too big I decide I will do ten minutes a day or a session once a week. Because of having to go down the steps I made it every weekend I will work for at least an hour on rotating, organising and cleaning the cellar.  This hour a week is working!  
My new habit is to keep a jug of mixed up powdered milk in the fridge and use this in all cooking and add some into the regular milk.  I have quite  bit to use up and then I will just have to keep doing this to keep powdered milk rotating.  Last night I used three jugs of it in tuna mornay that I made. The day before some went in to banana cakes. 

When the girls were little I used some powdered milk as it was often cheaper. The trick is to mix it up and let it sit for an hour or so.  The ultimate trick is to mix it 50/50 with fresh milk... then no one notices the difference!  But in cooking it is not noticeable at all. 

If you have been through the cyclone and have power and communications then please feel free to share your experience and tips. There is no teacher like experience!

How did you build up your pantry last week or improve your preparedness?  
Little by little we are making it a year of major progress in this area! xxx