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Post by susan on Mar 1, 2008 20:25:13 GMT -5
Well, I went through my very well organized (Mike did it) storage cabinet and restocked what was missing. I really didn't buy any extra, just brought it back up to the level I previously had it at. Now, I'll begin to stock it a few extra cans at a time. I really want to concentrate on getting some meats canned and more veggies dehydrated. I didn't run the dehydrator the whole time the kids were here because of it sitting on the table. I got one round of potato slices done this past week.
Susan
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Post by christy on Mar 2, 2008 17:00:35 GMT -5
How do you all store all that flour? Our climate helps, alot. We are very cold and dry. I store the flour in rubber maid tubs. (Mainly to keep little buggers out.) Then my husband stores them out in his shop on these commercial shelving units he has. Looks like a mini wharehouse store in there right now. This is where I also stoe mos tof my #10 cans. Our house is very small but we have plenty of room out in the shop and gameroom.
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Post by gayla on Mar 3, 2008 15:46:05 GMT -5
I use those food safe bucket one store will give them to me free and Walmart I get them free or one lady charges me $.50 I have a shed that has shelves I keep my storage or Larder I am also blessed with a root cellar
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Post by Patricia on Mar 5, 2008 15:40:22 GMT -5
I really want to stock up, but haven't started yet. I have a great fear that keeps me awake at night of job loss combined with a recession.
Can you ladies help me? If you were just starting to stock-up, what item should be first? I'm thinking maybe protein such as canned tuna or peanut butter...or would you just stock up by sales and loss leaders?
My goal is to have at least a 6 month supply of food in the pantry by Fall. And I have to do this on a tight budget.
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Post by Granny Smith on Mar 5, 2008 19:41:41 GMT -5
Patricia, the first thing I'd stock up on is something to fill your belly. I would go for dried beans, cornmeal, and flour right off the bat. After you have a reasonable supply of those, then start adding more variety and a wider range of nutrients. We never know when an emergency might arise and we'd have to depend on the foods we have stored, so it's best to have something to keep you from starving to death first, then add more, as time, money, and space allow.
After you have a good supply of food, then you'll need to think about cleanliness, first aid and medicines, gardening (seeds and tools), heating, home repairs, clothing, and much more. But concentrate on basic foods first.
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Post by Patricia on Mar 5, 2008 21:58:37 GMT -5
OK, see I never would've thought of things like dried beans and cornmeal. Thank you.
It will be such a relief to have a well-stocked pantry.
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Post by Granny Smith on Mar 5, 2008 22:30:48 GMT -5
It's a big money-saver, as well as a sort of insurance policy, in case of emergency. I try to stock at least a year's supply, more if I can. I add to mine every week. We've had some great sales on basic foods the past couple of weeks, so I've been loading up. I don't stock junk food or anything I can make myself (which is how I got interested in making commercially available foods at home). It's surprising how few ingredients you really need if you know how to put them together.
I posted my baking mix recipe in the cookbook, under homemade mixes. I use that instead of Bisquick. Not only is it less expensive, but it's healthier, too. And it's convenient, not only to use, but for me to make, since I don't have to go shopping for any of the ingredients. I already have them in storage.
That is just one example. If all my homemade mixes were in boxes, instead of ziplocks and jars, my cupboard would look very much like the average person's. But I know what's in all of mine and can make more anytime I choose. That knowledge is very freeing, not to mention very frugal.
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Post by christy on Mar 6, 2008 21:08:23 GMT -5
I just got back from my stockup store. I bought another 50# wheat flour, 50# rice 12# (case) red beans, 2 #10 cans apple sauce and 2 pears 1 more tomatoe sauce and 1 crushed tomatoes 12lbs baking soda, 25lbs salt and 5 gallons of oil.
You can make alot of filling meals of rice and beans using the 2ricex1bean ratio and through a bit of tomatoe sauce on it and some spices.
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Post by carla on Mar 7, 2008 9:26:23 GMT -5
Absolutely. I made a Mexican style casserole with just 1 lb. of hamburger, brown rice, black beans and a can of Rotel tomatoes. Very cheap and tasty.
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Post by Granny Smith on Mar 7, 2008 19:17:48 GMT -5
I didn't get a lot of 'stock-up' foods today. I was kind of in a hurry to get back home, since they're predicting a bad winter storm - the worst in 10 years. Also, the store didn't have much of a sale this week. The flour and cornmeal mix I've been paying $1 to $1.28 for (on sale) was 'on sale' for $2 today! I hate to see how much it is when it goes back to regular price, since $2 is higher than the regular price, before the first sale. I expect it to be over $3 a bag. Gold Medal has been $3.19 for months. I should have checked the price on that.
I DID get a case of tomato soup (3/$1) and bought a lot of beef (roasts and London broil) because it was around $2 a lb and my list was small. We should be good on the meat for a while. I guess that's all the stocking up I did this week. If the weather cooperates, I'm planning on hitting Save-A-Lot next week. I kept back some money this week to add to next week's grocery money.
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Post by Granny Smith on Mar 9, 2008 13:16:33 GMT -5
A friend of Dan's wanted him to ride to Morehead with him yesterday, so he went. They stopped at a store and Dan saw that they had 50 lbs of potatoes for just $7, so he bought a bag. I'll be dehydrating them this week.
He and I have been talking about the prices of groceries, and I've been showing the sale papers and having him help make grocery lists, so he is seeing how high things are getting. He mentions, almost every day, how glad he is that I've prepared our family for what's to come. He used to be a 'live for today' kind of guy, which is why he turned all the finances over to me. I try to make good use of the money. I guess he thinks I have.
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Post by christy on Mar 13, 2008 20:16:47 GMT -5
We grabbed a couple more 50lb bags of wheat flour today. We also bought 50lbs of rice, up $2.06 a bag in the last 2 weeks. 2 lbs of coffee. A case of green beans and 2 cases of corn at $5.28 a case. A case each of carrots, mixed veggies and apricots for $6. a case. 12 bottles of shampoo and conditioner. 3 more bottles of hand sanitizer. 4 bags of banana chips and a bag of dried cranberries. I also bought 50lbs of popcorn for $17.81. I figure I can grind what I need for corn meal (DH bought me a cool corn grinder a couple years ago). It is not something that stores well as it has the endosperm which will go rancid after it is ground but I don't mind grinding what I need. I do have a very large electric stone wheat mill but I am afraid to put corn in there for fear of tearing up the stones. So I just use it for wheat and other soft type grains.
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Post by Sheila on Mar 13, 2008 22:03:49 GMT -5
What if you don't have more then one freezer then what and there is only two of us but i think we will most likely have my daughter and her children here if it gets bad Sheila
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Karla
Dishwasher
Posts: 8
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Post by Karla on Mar 14, 2008 0:45:05 GMT -5
Ok I just have to ask ...how much are you paying for flour? I easily go into "sticker shock " LOL . At our local super wal-mart flour was almost $13 for 25# since it is now mostly just the 2 of us I'm still using up the flour I paid $4/25#.
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Fla Gal
Prep Cook
Bunny Poo Monger
Posts: 213
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Post by Fla Gal on Mar 14, 2008 5:07:25 GMT -5
A few days ago I made it to the grocery store. I found 5# bags of grits on sale, Yelton's brand for $2 a bag. There were only four left. I bought them all. The Quaker brand was on sale of $2.18 for 5# so I figure I did pretty good. I also got 4# of dry Pinto beans, 4# of dry Speckled Butter beans, 8# of dry Yellow Eye beans and found some spices on sale. A week or or two before I was looking for Cream of Tarter and saw only a very small jar of it in the spice section for $4.59. I just kept on going. This trip, I found a display with spices on sale for .99 cents each. They were in the produce section in a small grocery cart and marked "Manager's Special". I think I did pretty good with what I got. 5 - 1.75 oz packages of Cream of Tarter (5 packages for just a little over what one small jar would have cost) 1 - .50 oz pack of Bay Leaves, that's a good sized hand full of them. 3 - 1.75 oz packs of ground mustard 5 - 2 oz packs of mustard seed 2 - 2 oz packs of Dill Weed And... the best deal of all was free food grade buckets from the bakery to store my dry goods in after a week in the freezer! 4 - 2 gallon 3 - 3 1/2 gallon 2 - 5 gallon I plan on beginning to stock up on some white and brown rice, flour and cornmeal at the rate I can get the free buckets.
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