Pantries and Preparedness with Glenda. Making things last as long as possible.

This week Glenda is adding some information that will help with making stored food last much longer. I hope you find her tips as helpful as I do.  I note that many times it is a combination of things that work to maximise shelf life.  I am learning a lot in this area as it is my first year of really needing to rotate goods on a large scale.  Food is expensive and also a major asset so this is really important information.


Over to Glenda...

   There are a few more things, along the way, I would like to share with you about preparedness, so I hope you don't mind it coming in a little at a time :).

   Basic storage has always been a primary goal for us. If we needed three days, three months, or a year or more, we needed to consider what foods we could survive on and how to store them long term. Grains, Beans, Pasta, dehydrated vegetables and fruits, sugar, salt, and sourdough all have a lifespan of over thirty years, if properly stored. The biggest enemies of food are: light, heat, and air. 

   Some people put their food and emergency stores in a garage, but this is unwise, unless it is temperature controlled. Most garages, especially in the U.S., are hot in summer and cold in winter. The temperature extremes will affect the quality of the food, herbs, or medicines. It is best to keep a stable temperature year around. Dark, temperatures between 50 to 60 degree F, and lack of oxygen will keep foods fresh and usable for a very long time.

   I mentioned dehydrated foods as a long term storage item. This is true if the moisture has been thoroughly removed and the items are vacuum sealed once dehydrated. I have found that just putting them in jars will work for several years, but they do dry out more and some become too hard and tasteless to use. It's a learning process over the years. 

   When we started buying in bulk, eating healthy, grinding our own grains, and baking and cooking from scratch, almost four decades ago, we did not have the internet or all of the sources people have now to help them prevent mistakes. Having said all of that, I still believe each family has to see what works for them in their own environment and situation. We live in a dry climate that is not bothered by mold, bugs, or dampness. If we lived in S.C., where my mother was from, we would have another set of conditions to consider when storing food.

    Grains and a grain grinder will supply wheat (or similar grain) for baking all forms of muffins, breads, cakes, etc. Salt, sugar, water, powdered milk, and powdered eggs are all that are necessary for most breads. The spices add a lot of flavor, but again last a very long time if sealed properly. Everything I have mentioned here are very long term storage items; most thirty years or indefinitely. White Flour, at the most, stores one to two years with oxygen absorbers and stored properly. The bran and germ have been removed from white flour and unless it states unbleached it has been chemically bleached. The health issues with white flour can be found on a search on the internet.

   The LDS website is a good source to find shelf-life lists of foods. There are other sources also, but the LDS calculator is on the internet for anyone to use as a guideline for food storage.

    According to their list: Wheat, Corn, White rice, sugar, some beans, oats (I consider this under grains when I speak of grains), pasta, dehydrated potato flakes (easy to make at home), dehydrated apples slices, powdered milk, and some dehydrated vegetables will last 30 years or more. 

   To make dehydrated powdered potato flakes, we buy organic potatoes because potatoes are highly pesticide contaminated in the U.S. Peel, slice, and blanch the potatoes for about three minutes in boiling water. I like to use a steamer because it eliminates the potatoes from being submerged and it is easier to transfer them to the ice water. Immediately plunge them in ice water to stop the blanching process. We lay them out on either paper towels or dish towels  and dry the slices as much as possible without breaking them. Then we place them on the dehydrator trays and turn it on. After they are thoroughly dried, we leave them in a pan and once a day stir them gently to make sure they continue to air dry for two days. If we want slices we vacuum seal them in canning jars and put them in the food storage room. If we want powdered potato flakes, we grind them in the Cuisinart until they are like powder and then vacuum seal them in canning jars and store them in the food storage room. We always label the jars with item name and date we sealed it.

   There are some tips when sealing powders in canning jars in order to not plug up the tubing to the vacuum sealer. Make sure that the canning jar is only about 1/2 to 2/3 full, depending on how fine the powder. I usually shoot for 2/3 full, but have had that not work at times with powders. It's important to make sure the rim is really clean, just like in canning. 

   I vacuum seal spices, herbs, and medicinal herbs. I opened some basil I grew three years ago and dried, then sealed, and it smelled  and tasted as fresh as the day I dried it.

    Lavender for soaps, room fresheners, and other uses is wonderful and fresh smelling for years when vacuum sealed in canning jars. We try to grow a lot of lavender and culinary herbs during the summer. 

Next time we are going to cover my least favourite subject which is being prepared if you have to evacuate your home.

Glenda also mentioned that having seeds to sprout is a good idea as sprouts are power houses of nutrition and I really hope we will have a post on this subject coming up. 

Another consideration is getting the best value for money in the food we are storing. Glenda costs out how much things are in various sized packs. Here she showed me how she buys cheese in bulk and freezes it.

I mentioned above that often there are a combination of steps that maximise shelf life. Here Glenda is vacuum sealing butter to go into the freezer... (after being purchased on a big special.)

Knowing how to make things last also allows us to take advantage of good prices when we see them!  I note that butter has a long history of being greatly sought after and valued and hard to get at times. 

I will add that in Australia we have the same situation with most sheds being way to hot in the summer to use for food storage.  Over time I realised if I had the right type of cupboards outside or in the shed I can store toilet paper, cleaning products and many things out there and in turn free up lots of space in cooler places inside for food storage. It was a bit of a change around but made a lot of space I didn't know I had! 

When our bathroom is finished I will have room for a set of shelves in there. It will mean my linen cupboard will no longer have towels. I can see a heap of space coming my way!  I plan on having baskets in my shelves to store supplies like shampoos etc.  Each area that I organise ends up having much more storage space than I thought. 

How are you progressing with building up your pantry? If you have any tips for making things last, long term storage and making the most of great prices please share them! 
If you have any questions for Glenda she is a wealth of information! 

Have a wonderful week! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday, 14th April, 2017. Good Friday.

I have a lot to report!  I hope you had a good week.  The last couple of days have been beautiful here with perfect sunny days and cool evenings. I love Autumn!

Firstly, my new clothes line is up!  

If you remember seeing the wrought iron when we were given it,  this is what it looks like now...

It is difficult to take a photo of a clothes line! But it is lovely and I hung out a giant load of sheets after this and they dried in no time in the sun.  I said "it works, it works!" to Andy and he laughed. 

It is now covered in linen again as it is so sunny and beautiful. I love the sight of linen in the sun and the breeze. You cannot buy anything in a bottle that smells as good.  Also this gives me about twice the line space that I had before.  I love it!

I cleaned out and organised my freezer. I am NOT showing you a before!  Lets just say I had a fair few near misses with things falling out and nearly hitting me in the head. Mum said "that's nothing" as one time a frozen pork roast hit her foot and cracked a toe!  You get the idea...

I emptied it, washed the shelves and baskets...  measured up the spaces and found suitable baskets.

I don't know why I didn't do this before. Baskets instantly turn shelves into drawers.  You just pull them out  and can see what is in them instead of trying to rummage around and see what is in the back.   And it is working as many things have come in and gone out and it is easy to keep going. 

Big difference!  Actually it is one of those things that I get a surprise every time I open it! 

This week I had a cook up and made two Lasagna's and lots of serves of spaghetti sauce.  One lasagne was a present.  

Lynette said to me to take photos and turn them into a recipe and I did!  It is very versatile and easy to  make and when I am cooking up mince it gets me loads of meals.  I will post this all soon.  I love to get ahead with meals and put some in the freezer.  We basically never need take away because of this.

I made a batch of zucchini soup, my first soup of the cooler season. I love soup!  

Also a butter chicken and tripled the recipe (for the same reasons as above) and a raita from our garden mint.  This was delicious and made two dinners and one freezer meal.

Andy is making over an area of the back yard. There was soil to be removed and this went on to my hydrangeas that needed the soil to be built up. 

We got more done on the bathroom. Progress. 

I have been going through my wardrobe for a giant clean out, organise and making up outfits for the cooler days. I still have a way to go on this... 

I made my cards and gift tags for my supplies. 

Today is just beautiful. I am baking honey gingerbread biscuits and these are most of my Easter gifts. I made an Easter nest for Harper and this is her present...

It is her family in little kangaroos.... Mummy, Daddy, Harper and little sister! haha!  The girls had these Sylvania families when they were little. They are just gorgeous.  I still have some I kept too.  I must get those out. 

I haven't worked out my Vicky Challenge yet.  We both have had coughs, sore throats etc all week and not sleeping very well.  I think a restful weekend might be in order...

Now I want to add some things....

First of all we all prayed for Kelley's Mum. Kelley wrote to say how well her Mum is doing and thank you! Really she is doing so wonderfully!  This is such good news.

A couple of weeks back Anne had commented about doing up her daughters room. I asked he if she would show me pictures. Well, she did! She emailed me photos and they were lovely!  There was an idea she had with little birdcages which I LOVED. Now she has shown it on her blog so her is the link.... Simply Living the Dream.

Maria wrapped up chocolates for her family Easter celebrations.  I thought these were lovely and something I should show now as there is still time! 

These are just lovely!  Overall,  blocks of chocolate are usually much more chocolate and better value than eggs and with wrapping and a personal touch they are amazing!  I remember Mimi did this a while ago as well and I love the idea.  They would be good anytime as a gift as well. Beautiful Maria thank you! 

There were requests for the recipe Kelsey used for her fizzles that she made in her cleaning present. 

This is the recipe she used here.  Kelsey added that you need to keep these in a container that is NOT airtight so something with a loose lid or a little basket maybe.  Thank you Kelsey! 

How did you build up your home, save or get ahead this week?

Have a wonderful Easter!xxx

The Christmas Challenge. My projects so far for April.

After my big present cupboard clean out I could see I have a lot of work to do to fill it up!  All my wrapped soaps went in on a tray ready for gift giving.   That helped!
This month is a bit of a mess really. I have a toilet in the box in the dining room, a shower screen on the floor in the lounge room, a ripped apart bathroom and a bath in Andy's office. Anyone who has renovated knows what it is like!

I am working on a crochet rug in the evenings.  This is lovely to sit down to and add a bit to each night.  I hope to make a few rugs through the rest of Autumn and Winter. Mostly I am using up yarn I have.  I would like to make a few scarves for myself... I like the ones that are a loop or a longer loop that you twist like a figure eight.

My card supply is very low so I decided to get on to cards.  Harper's Birthday is coming up so I started on cards for children. Suddenly I need a heap of new baby cards and also cards for little ones. I like doing things in batches and I found four fairly beaten up (secondhand) Beatrix Potter books for ten dollars in total.  I love these kind of images so this was perfect!
From these I got 28 cards and 18 gift tags with a few images still to spare.  One book also had stickers which I thought I could use to decorate parcels so they were a bonus.

Harper is mad keen on cats so one of the cat ones will be her Birthday card I think.

The tags are quite large so they could also be bookmarks or labels.  

These were really lovely to make as I know all these stories so well and they are so sweet.

I made up some of each into packs to give as gifts...

And I have finished some very soft little cheesecloth/muslin washcloths with crochet edgings.  These little cloths are lovely for babies and for makeup removal. They are double thickness. I get them in Ebay for the grand price of 35cents each and free postage. Seems too good to be true but really true! 

(If you want some look on Ebay for 10x cotton facial cleansing muslin cloth towel you will see quite a few... check postage is free. I just noticed some of mine were 26 cents each as well) 

These would also look lovely with little grub roses in the corners... that might be next.

Given the prices of cards in stores this all would have cost a lot to buy. Now I have a big supply.   Next I will get on to some cards for adults.

Over Easter I am getting out the sewing machine. This will mainly be to do some alterations but I will also make up some heat packs. They make lovely gifts and we all use them so much that a fresh supply is good.

Last week there was something missing from Show and Tell!  Jane made a gift for Kelsey who is expecting a baby boy!  So I had this picture but could not show it as Kelsey didn't have it yet and I would wreck the surprise!  But now she has it so I am good to go!

This was such a lovely thing to do Jane. It is just gorgeous and perfect for our little baby Bluebird!  What stunning work and Kelsey was just so thrilled that a parcel could come all the way to her from Australia with such a kind and custom made gift! 

I had to share this as it's so beautiful! 

I hope you are having a good week.  I am off to Aldi then having a big cook up for the Easter long weekend and Easter gifts. 

Also the sun is shining and my new clothes line is up! Photos coming on Friday! xxx

Pantries and Preparedness with Glenda. Storage buckets etc.

This week we are continuing on with help from Glenda.  She said to me how pleased she is that we have a good pantry and also several income streams rather than just one.  
When we started building up the pantry I mainly focused on storms and power outages as they were my main worries.  Now here I am surrounded by a series of good reasons to be prepared...  the cyclone and seeing what happens in the aftermath, rising food prices as a consequence, Andy's job loss and now they tell us we might be in for a mouse plague!  
I couldn't make this stuff up!  And I won't even get into what is happening in the world right now...  (which seems to be escalating even since I started to write this)
I will just get back to my goal and that is to get ahead as we can, learn as much as I can, and encourage you to take every opportunity to have a well prepared household.  And to make hay while the sun shines! 

Now over to Glenda and to where we left off last week.  We are looking at pantry storage.  (The photos are all Glenda's pantry and storage that she and her husband took for us!)

The large food safe buckets with air tight lids (whether tight seal or gamma) can be purchased in various sizes from businesses that sell them brand new or bakeries that sell them used. If purchasing new, the bucket and lid are usually sold separately and they can be costly. The new one's, though, are BPA free and the buyer can choose either the regular tight seal lid or the gamma lid to go on it. We have a mixture of both. If using the tight seal lid, remember to purchase a Bucket Lid Wrench to open it. The gamma lids are great for people with arthritis or if someone is going to be getting in and out of the bucket frequently. Once purchased, the buckets last a lifetime, whether they are used bakery buckets or the new BPA free buckets.

    When we first started buying in bulk to save money, about 35 years ago, we went to the bakery section of the grocery stores and they gave them away at that time. They were used for frosting, so we took them home, washed them up thoroughly and dried them really good. We would let them sit out to continue air drying for a couple of hours just to make sure there was no moisture left. The lids were the hardest to completely get dry. It's important to make sure the lids have the rubber rings on them and that they are removable for washing. We ultimately replaced all of those buckets with the BPA free buckets, but no one should feel that is necessary to do. The buckets allow for large poundage storage. 

    A five gallon bucket holds about 37 lbs. of wheat berries.  The same size bucket holds 37 lbs of popcorn. We use the organic popcorn, instead of purchasing cornmeal. The popcorn will store for 30 years in the bucket and when we want to make corn muffins or cornbread, I can just grind what I want; it's delicious. It is, also, much less expensive to buy the popcorn in the bulk and grind it than to buy cornbread muffin mix or cornmeal. Freshness is an issue with store bought ground grains that have sat on the shelf. 

   The Sam's Club, near us, sells 50 lbs of Premium popcorn for $23.98. That amount of popcorn will last a very, very long time, unless a family eats a lot of cornbread, corn muffins, and popcorn as a snack. When storing items, it is always wise to consider their versatility. Whole Popcorn can be used for a snack; ground for breads and muffins; and it stores very long term safely. For us, that makes it a wise investment in storage. I don't have to worry about running out of that grain and I have a variety of ways to fix it. Plus, by buying it in the bulk, now, it saves me money, time, worry, and effort in the future. Any purchase now is a hedge against future inflation.

We will leave it there and wait until part three and part four... 
Thank you so much Glenda.

I can say that in Australia you can certainly get free food grade buckets and large containers pretty easily.  Ask at any bakery,  restaurant,  cafe....  if you know someone with any kind of food business you are set.  Vicky covers her buckets with vinyl or you can use contact if you like as well.  You are getting a lot of food storage containers for free this way. 
It is also very possible to get free glass jars especially if you know instant coffee drinkers who will save them for you.  I have always saved jars and the old style ones with screw top lids that I just love I have mostly found in op shops.  I have been to plastic ware type sales parties where you could buy a small car cheaper than outfitting your pantry with plastic containers,  pfft!  I would rather fit out my pantry for free or very little and spend the money on stocking it.  But storing things properly is vital so that they last and are not raided by pests etc. 

We are going well and finding ways to use our time wisely, getting lots of things done that need doing. Now my clothes line is up!  
I want to encourage you to be like a little ant and work on your preparedness.  Also to be watchful and prudent!  
Have a good week! xxx

Feather your Nest Friday. 7th April, 2017.

What a week! It wasn't all good.  To get the bad things out of the way first, Andy lost his job Tuesday. He went to work at 8 am and was home at 9:30.  He was upset.  Now,  it did not come as a huge surprise but we were shocked anyway.  Weeks ago we started seeing the writing on the wall and knew this company was not paying it's bills and it's supplier  stopped supplying them... and other obvious ominous signs.... but still it caught us off guard on Tuesday.

It is a blow and a problem but we do not have all our eggs in one basket and Andy has his drafting, designs and other skills and regular clients who use these.  So we just have to fill a gap.  

He is using his time well and when not applying for jobs he is getting on with what needs doing around the place which includes working on the bathroom.  On Saturday we pulled out the old spa bath in our bathroom as the first step to a big makeover.  With a giant hole in the bathroom we are kind of committed to continuing now.  

So as cheer up therapy here is my new bath...

It is sitting in the office right now! In fact we have a toilet in the lounge room, a vanity on order,  a shower in the van...    Tomorrow we get on to the next step which is levelling the floor space where we took out the spa.  This was old, not working and huge.  I am going to have space for a beautiful set of shelves or a cabinet for all my towels and bathroom things...  which will be lovely! 

Some of they ways I built up my home this week include:

Mum had given me bananas. I had frozen them and it was the boys fishing weekend so I defrosted them and made a big banana cake.

Everyone loves this cake. I make my cakes in giant slabs in my biggest baking pan.  That way I can cut it up and freeze a lot for work lunches etc.

I also made my sour dough into pizza bases and several pizzas.  This made dinner,  lunch box fillers, and accompanied the cake on the fishing trip. Pizza is still one of my best use-it-up recipes.  

This all worked out well as the boys returned with fish and Andy actually had fish and chips for dinner! 

Plus this day is a beautiful relaxing day that they enjoy and it all costs very little.

I finally cooked my Quinces. They start out hard with a whitish/yellowish colour flesh. They end up ruby pink.  I used some as stewed fruit and then I made three crumbles. I already had crumbs mixture in the fridge I made when I had peaches. It used up random cereals, crumbs, nuts etc. to make a big supply.

Well, it worked out to be yum! 

I made three so two will go in the freezer. 

One of the best things of the week was our local  Aldi opened!  I didn't go on the first day as I don't like crowds. But I went on the second day!  It is just a few minutes away and will now be my weekly supermarket.   I found that it is a really big store and it had extra special buys.  

This is a game changer for us!  Unless our other local supermarkets respond with some huge specials they won't be seeing me again. Thanks to Cath Armstrong from  The Cheapskates Club and Wendy I know how to cut my grocery bill in half with Aldi.  Best thing ever!  

I haven't figured out my Vicky Challenge savings yet but it will be a fairly reasonable amount so I am glad of that.

We hare having a burst of warm weather so the clothes line is covered in linen.  And Andy has made my new clothesline with he wrought iron corners and it is all painted.  Now it just has to be put up! It is going to be so beautiful!

I have to show you a picture. Chloe has been bottle feeding three lambs. They love her.  If she is on the phone in the house they can hear her talking and come to that window.  Or they wait for her at the back door...

Yep, she is loved! Her chooks are also laying and she can let them out and they put themselves back to bed at night. This means they have a huge area to free range in the day. They are having the best fun time!

 How did you build up your home, feather your nest and get ahead this week?

Have a wonderful weekend! xxx

The Christmas Challenge, Show and Tell for March. Part 2.

How is your week going? Today we finish Show and Tell for March and there are such nice things to share!  Thank you to everyone for your photos and emails!  I hope I haven't forgotten anyone!  If I have it was not intentional, I am having an "interesting" week which I will tell you about on Friday.

Kelley made Easter gifts. She says she has made these for years and they can be lovely to use at the table as name cards or little presents. They are so pretty!  I love the colours!

I am going to include Kelley's instructions as these would be inexpensive to make and fun as well. I can just thing of many ways to use these! 

Kelley says....

Write what you want on posterboard or cardstock egg-shaped cut-outs.  Use some junk mail or a cereal box to make the egg-shaped pattern.  Cut matching pieces for each cardstock egg from thin, clear table protector vinyl.  (This is sold by yard in fabric stores.). Each pouch requires one cardstock egg and one vinyl egg.

On the egg-shaped pattern, evenly space and mark the holes.  Punch the holes on the pattern.  Mother has a marvelous tiny hole-punch here at her house where I made these yesterday, but at my home on Guam, I'd use a regular hole punch.  Lay the pattern over two sets of cardstock and vinyl eggs in order to punch four layers at a time.  Use the pattern to guide the punched holes.

Using narrow ribbon, cut a length of it long enough to yield a "tail" at both ends for tying a bow.  I used my arm to measure this and cut one length from my fingertips (holding the ribbon) to elbow + 3/4 of that length more (1 + 3/4 from fingertip to elbow).  Thread ribbon into a tapestry or other needle and "stitch" the vinyl egg to the cardstock egg. Stitches should be taut, but not so tight they pucker or tear the cardstock.  Leave four or five holes unstitched at the top.  Use a spoon to fill pouch with pastel colored candies.  Twelve pieces fit perfectly in mine so my sentiment is visible, "Jesus is risen indeed!"

The idea to use clear tablecloth material is amazing... I love this! 

Maria finished a blanket for her Grandson. Last year she shared the one she made for her Grand Daughter.  

Maria also added his initial.  These blankets are just beautiful and full of love. Plus the size will always be useful either on a bed, on the lounge when snuggling, in the car etc. Lovely.

I have noticed even quite small children seem to feel special and important when you make them something.  These will be cherished, well done Maria they are beautiful!

Jane made gift tags. She says she combined bits and pieces on plain tags... well they look gorgeous!

Jen in NC made her Father a beautiful gift...

This is known as a Seafarers set (which I love) plus in front there are gloves made for her Mother in Law.  Amazing gifts Jen!  She has also been sewing!

Kelsey has been busier than a bee nesting and getting ready for the baby!  She made a set of cleaning cloths for her home plus room spray and toilet cleaning fizzles....

Also a gift for a friend having a baby. There are reversible burp cloths and a blanket all to match the new nursery. And the gift bag and label! 

Just lovely Kelsey and how much fun to be making baby things. I can't wait to see what you are making for your own nursery!  

I have a few crafts on the go. I started a rug to use up some wool I have and this will go to someone in need,  I will see where it ends up.  
Also I am working on lots of cards and gift tags.  With Harper and Scarlett plus quite a few babies arriving soon I decided to make a series for little girls and little boys suitable for baby gifts and little children.  Once I got started this has been beautiful!  I will show them next week.  The price of cards and tags in the stores are just crazy.  I think I will end up with a big supply.

I hope your week is going well!  Now we need to keep busy on our present making and have a good April!  We have a couple of birthdays this month as well.  And Easter!  My plan is to bake my Easter gifts and package things up in yellow tissue paper with little chickens as decorations.  I think I have everything I need for that.  I have a chicken and an egg cookie cutter ready to go!

See you on Friday. Lots to report! xxx

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