Food storage

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Since diving into our food storage we found several things we sure wouldn't had enough of ....like catsup. Didn' realize how many things we use it for besides burgers. And vegetable oil. The TP is holding out well since the two girls moved out though !!! Anyone else have some storage surprizes??

-- Diana Smith (mutti66@hotmail.com), February 23, 2000

Answers

We have been using (rotating storage) powdered milk. Now - before you say YUK...it has turned out to be very good and convenient! The best two brands (will buy more for storage) we found were the #10 cans from a dairy storage food site on the net and Milk Man from the store. If we want to alter the taste we add condensed milk or cremora. We won't be going back to being tied to the grocery store every few days for milk. We can make up as much or little as needed anytime.

-- Sammie (sammiex0@yahoo.com), February 23, 2000.

I think I got a little carried away on canned ham. But I manage to get rid of a can a week by frying it for chubby hubby's breakfast and the remainer makes two sandwiches for his lunch. I do the same with WalMarts spam like product, which I feel is FAR SUPERIOR to Spam. I got carried away with Velveeta though I only bought 4 boxes...its 4 boxes too may. Can't gag the stuff down. Fortunatly, MIL and hubby thinks its great macaroni and cheese. All in where you come from! I think I could have collected a little less seed from last year, however, was prepared to provide for neighbors. Am going to give some of the comfort food, such as cookies, to the food bank. Its one of those things we don't eat much of anyway and I needn't of bought to begin with. Other than the 40 kw generator and a new well with a $750 hand pump on it, we are doing ok with our preps. LOL Taz...who wishes she had bought that little red truck instead!!!!!

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), February 23, 2000.

Diana, I have enough catsup to set up a mom and pop grocery store! I smother my fried potatoes in it, so it's a top priority-not that I have fried foods that often. Salad dressings are another surplus of mine- couldn't resist those sales, when we thot things would be tough to get. Oh well, prices sure have gone up, and experience has taught me that they keep much longer than their expiration dates. I also bought a lot of spices (enough to last me the rest of my life...in case shipping would be affected. They're good a long time, despite what I've read about replacing them every year. Not sorry about anything I got, tho I did go overboard on some of the freze dried foods, thinking I might have to put up some of my kids. They still might come in useful, and they keep a LONG time.

-- Jo Ann (MaJo@Michiana.com), February 24, 2000.

We've started expanding our pasta/macaroni holdings to give more variety to our grain product stores. Expanded the amount to ketchup we keep too, as a matter of fact. Never used to keep more than a bottle or two of reserve but condiments of various sorts are one of the areas we're going to increase since they can be used to change the flavor of basic food stores.

We're going to cut back on the amount of dry eggs but the only reason we got twenty five pounds in the first place was that we got quite a deal on it. By the time we come to the end of it I'll have the hen house and yard built and the chicks should be close to pullet size. After that we'll just keep a couple of pounds on hand for emergencies.

The one area I've decided we came up short in was over the counter medications. The week before New Years my daughter and I both caught this very persistent chest congestive cold and it stayed with us for seven weeks. We went through our entire store of cold medication pretty fast. Not that we'd have died without it but it sure could have turned something manageable into a test of endurance if the date rollover had been what many was afraid it was going to be.

........Alan.

The Providence Cooperative - free preparedness & survivalism FAQ's

http://www.providenceco-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), February 24, 2000.


Taz...I hear ya on that red truck thing. I'd love one too! And thanks for the Walmart spam tip. I confess to liking Spam. Think it's an early childhood thing, ha!

-- Mumsie (shezdremn@aol.com), February 25, 2000.


Cereal - we definitely understimated how much we eat. Milk and cereal are quick and easy fixings in our prep cupboard and our morning standard. By mid March it is looking like we'll have to buy some. I thought we would be good to June.

At the other extreme, our carrot supply is holding very well. Our late y2k crop was planted in six to ten inches of pure compost. Some of those monsters came in at nearly a pound (15.2 ounces). Have been giving them away and still have still have bushels of them under hay bales in the garden. jh

-- john hebert (jt_hebert@hotmail.com), February 28, 2000.


Well, we overdid it on the canned chicken. Or should that read canned banty chicken? When we opened the first can, I was surprised at how small the chicken was. Duh! Good taste, and certainly would have been better than the alternative (no chicken meat at all), but not my favorite thing to mess with. And I only have...20 more cans of it...yuk! Oh, and the canned (purchased) bulk sausage?? Nasty. I think I would rather have done without.

I was surprised that I did not have nearly as much soap as I thought I did, and I am not too sure there was enough detergent either.

My y2k chickens are performing admirably. Would have had plenty of eggs for family and neighbors. In fact, I can barely get rid of them all.

Thankfully, I had emptied my chest freezer, so all the flour and cornmeal, rice and grits are in the freezer. I did not realize just how much pasta I bought. I know I was planning on sharing with neighbors (anybody need 1 cup seasoned bags of rice, with a side order of beans?lol) but I doubt my neighborhood could eat all the beans and rice I bought! We ought to be set for the next millenium with rice and beans.

All in all, I think I did okay. There are items I should have bought less of, and other items I should have bought more of. It is still like a treasure hunt at my house. I open a storage container, and "whoa! I forgot I bought that!" I'm glad to know others are still rotating. I must admit, I bought more flavorings the other day (at 2/1.00 I could not resist!). Of course I smuggled them into the house. Dear hubby might have been driven to murder if he had seen more spices coming into the house. LOL.

Thankfully, no one that I convinced to stock up has been angry. Most of them have commented that they do not go to the grocery store often. Nearly all mention rising prices. I don't feel foolish (at least until I open one of those canned chickens!), and I am glad that I prepared.

Dian

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), March 01, 2000.


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