Week 12 Deep PAntry/Food Storage Challenge

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A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. Proverbs 27:12

Remember having a deep pantry isn’t just about having extra food on hand. It is also about having the means to survive in an emergency situation, having all the extra food isn’t going to do you much good if you can’t cook it when the power is out. If you are having a hard time trying to afford to fill a deep pantry read my post on having a Deep Pantry on a tight budget.

 

Don’t forget to share what you were able to do this past week to have a deep pantry/food storage. Let’s encourage each other. And if you have a question feel free to ask or if you have the answer to a question feel free to answer. If you have a tip or idea you can share that also. As I said let’s make this a place where we can share and encourage others to get that deep pantry.

 

This first month was a jump start to get a little ahead so if things go south before you can get everything you want, at least you have something to survive on. If you are just starting you will want to go back and start with January’s challenge.

 

The amounts are for two people If you have more just double to what you need.

 

Also while you are doing this if you see something on sale that you think you will need to pick it up. You can catch up with the list later. Always better to buy when on sale than not.

 

This week you will want to get.

10 pounds of pasta / Spices and Herbs

10 pounds of pasta, I try to make most of my pasta except for macaroni and I do try your store a lot of that. I store mine in buckets with a few bay leaves added. And I keep them in the shed where they will stay frozen during the winter. I haven’t ever had trouble with bugs storing them this way. If you live in a warmer climate you will need to store in mylar or an airtight container with an oxygen absorber.

Spices and herbs, Store what you use the most, and remember you can grow a lot of your own herbs. You can grow your herbs in your flower beds. I try to make all of my landscaping productive. I hate to water something that doesn’t produce anything. You will also want to store in airtight containers and store in a cool dark place.

If at all possible buy your herbs in bulk they are a lot cheaper that way. With your herbs, you can make your own blends eg. Taco seasoning, spaghetti seasoning.

Don’t forget beef and chicken base. With this and your spices, there is a lot you can make.

 

The action item for this month is to learn C.P.R. and some 1st aid. A lot of fire departments and Red Cross centers will offer CPR and basic 1st aid classes for a small fee and sometimes for free.

 

The extra item this month is packs, we use our hunting packs for this and we take them where ever we go. Each one of us has our own. These would be the same thing as bug out bags. I will try to get a post up soon on what to put in them. If you already have your packs take this month to go through them and add or replace what needs to added or replaced.

 

Every week you will want to put back water. You can buy it, or fill your empty juice and soda bottles. You can also store water in your empty canning jars, as you empty your jars just add some water and put the lid back on. You don’t have to can this water but if you wanted to you could. You can also put water in bleach and detergent bottles ( this will be non-potable but you could flush and wash dishes with it.). You can go here for more information water

 

Every week you will also want to put back a few dollars, even if it is a small amount it will add up. Save your ones and if you can your fives and all your loose change from paying with cash. It will add up pretty quickly.

 

Continue planning your garden and getting it ready.

What were you able to get done?

4 Replies to “Week 12 Deep PAntry/Food Storage Challenge”

  1. Kellie

    Thank you Connie for your continued posts! So glad you are feeling better.
    We are way North of you in the State, and last Wednesday the local store was out of so much! So thankful I had stored up some in my pantry. No eggs at all in the store but thankfully I am able to get them through a local dairy.
    We are praying for everyone.
    I’m going to attempt sourdough bread again! Any tips you have would be appreciated and thank you!

    1. Toni (in Niagara)

      Hi Kellie,
      Keep at it on the sour dough. It took me many tries to finally get it to work. I kept trying from time to time, but the stuff never seemed to be much more than a grayish paste. Not one to waste, I would eventually add some yeast and do the baking. BUT, last week when I tried it again, on day 4 or 5 it looked kinda of light and foamy. So I went ahead with great hopes and BAM! it worked! The recipe I used was from Melissa K Norris’s book “Hand Made: the modern guide to made-from-scratch living” and it involved 2 cups of starter along with 1.5 cups of water and just a few other ingredients. She does mention that the rising can take hours. Because I jumped on it a bit late in the day, I had the choice of staying up very late to complete the second rise, or going to bed and dealing with any over-risen mess in the morning. Doing things late at night is not my forte, so it ended up spending the night as the second rise in the bread pans for about seven hours. The result was that the dough had swollen up so much it was hanging over the sides of the tops of pans. YIKES! Rather than punch it down and try again, I used a very sharp bread knife and gently sliced the poofy overage off the sides level vertically with the slide of the pans. The top fell only slightly and both loaves baked up beautifully. WOW! That bread was is so good it should come with a warning! I kneaded the cut off dough (it was about a cup and a half worth) a bit and left it to rise on a flat pan. After several hours it was about 4 inches high and about ten inches in diameter. It made a very nice loaf too!
      The only other thing I did differently with the sour dough dough, was to knead it for a full 15 minutes prior to the first rise, using less flour than usual (the dough was a bit stickier that I usually would have it).
      Connie suggests that we learn to do things (i.e., have options!) before we need to rely on these skills. The day after I mastered the sour dough beast, I had to be in our local bulk store for something: I overheard the clerk telling a customer that there was no more yeast – it was a hot commodity because of Covid. I have been trying to follow the deep pantry stock up list Connie shares, and because of that, I do have a supply of yeast in my cupboard and freezer (thank Connie!) wow – it is a very nice feeling to know I don’t need to rely on yeast to make bread.
      So keep trying, and eventually it will work! Be encouraged! You might make a few batches of chicken treats, compost, or yeast-bread ingredient, but it will definitely work!
      Hang in! Or hang out, as the case may be 🙂 !
      Best wishes,

  2. Quail

    Hi Connie,

    Good idea canning water. I have been working on canning most things in my deep freeze. I do not trust the power to stay up consistently through all this since our power gets turned off when hot and dry anyway. We stuffed the freezer to the brim when we saw what was coming and figure we have a few more weeks of stability, at least with power.

    We are in suburbia about an hour out of San Francisco. We went into lockdown a week and a half ago. At first people still gathered when walking their dogs and the teens wandered aimlessly in groups, but all that has changed this week. People stay apart and look nervous. I am quite concerned about the coming social disruption aspects of this. Nervous/angry people out of work looking for food/shelter/something to do. Not good.

    I saw what was coming back in January and planted a large garden. It is producing lots of greens now. At the same time I got quail chicks, and held back some female rabbits and bred them. I have a feeling I’ll need the food later this year. My husband didn’t see what was coming but luckily I have full run of the animals and garden. Now he says he is really happy I was a paranoid prepper. Everything we eat from the garden saves the canned items on the shelf. The grocery stores are open but we are not venturing out.

    He does the shopping and didn’t get that last month when I said I wanted ‘lots’ of something, I meant LOTS. We had cut back over the last year because we were planning a move for retirement and there were some holes in our basics. (I think there is no move in our future any more.) Anyway, after a few times of me sending him back to the store again, he caught on. There are a few things I could use more of now, but not much.

    I don’t know anyone yet who has the virus. They say there are active cases and community transmission in our valley so it’s around. Yesterday the schools said they will stay closed until May 1 so I think that is a sign that the shelter in place is going to be extended. They are not testing many people who have the symptoms and just send them back home so we have no clue how many cases there really are or where.

  3. Miki

    Thank you for the reminder on storing up water. We have a cased well, but no pump. We hope to connect it to our house as a backup (currently on co-op water) at some point in the future. We do have a well bucket for emergencies though. I wasn’t able to get any more pasta last week, but with just two of us what I have should last a few months. We plan to do no shopping for as long as possible, except for produce which we will get through Bountiful Baskets. Pick up last weekend was a drive-thru to minimize contact. Praying we all stay healthy and virus free.