Good morning!
I have been sewing, gardening, preserving like a crazy person. I've also been cutting grass. Mowing the lawn these days takes on more of a work out routine due to our riding mower being temporarily out of commission. In addition, our little push mower, while doing very well, tends to struggle getting thru taller grass; especially when the grass is wet. These days we are high humidity and heat, so by the time the grass dries out from the nightly dew that falls, it's too hot to be outside. As a result we've been cutting wet grass in the morning, but only about an hour at a time. Once we complete the yard, it's time to start over again with what was cut at first. I'm hoping soon I can get the yard to the point we can cut all at once.
But lawn mowing isn't my topic at hand.
This is:
In the long list of things learned from this past 18 months, having food on hand seems to have stuck in everyone's mind. All the naysayers that laughed and said "I'm coming to your house", are now seeing the wisdom of having food on hand. Gardening and canning supplies are selling out, as are shelf stable foods. Even chicks are a sought after commodity. This is all great to me, don't get me wrong. I think we all should keep food, first aid, and toiletries on hand "in case". It doesn't have to be because of a pandemic or other end of the world as we know it situation. It can be in case of a job lay off, an illness that puts someone out of work, an unexpected large bill or to help out others who may need it. It also helps save money, because you can buy large amounts of items when they go on sale; at least 6 weeks worth to get to the next time they go on sale.
So, are you interested in starting a pantry? Are you wanting to get it sooner rather than later? Emergencies aren't usually announced until they happen. I know it seems daunting to try and do it in this climate of higher prices, smaller supplies, and a shared wide spread interest in doing the very same thing. It can be done! I know it can be done, because I had to do it this go round. (sigh) Yes, I had become complacent. I had about a 6 week supply on hand mainly because I just happened to have purchased my normal monthly groceries a few days before shut down happened. It lit a fire in me though, and I've spent the last 18 months getting things back to where they were.
So if you're interested I will share what are some steps to take to start.
1) Take inventory of what you have at the moment. You have a rough guestimation of how long that will last. I'm trying to resist the urge to tell you to run out and buy pinto beans and rice. You actually can get them pretty easy right now. If your family eats a lot of pinto beans and rice type meals, then by all means go for it. It is a great way to have at least something in the pantry, but if your family won't eat it, well....One of the reasons for an inventory is to make a list of things your family eats NORMALLY.
2} If you are limited for space like we are, spending that space and your money on premade mixes, boxed meals or other processed food will limit how much you can store. Plus cause you to spend more in the long run. It's best to focus on ingredients and put them together yourself. It's cheaper, healthier, and takes up less space.
3) Time for choices here. Until you get your pantry stocked, you'll need to make a trade of certain things in your grocery list for the ones needed for your pantry. What are your little splurges? Might have to switch from soda to tea. Not a bad switch FYI. On the flip side of that coin, it may be once you cut out the premade stuff, you find you have a little extra to spend on a splurge or two. The main point is to make stocking the pantry a priority.
4) Okay, unless you have a stockpile of money( Kudos), you will not be able to get everything all at once. If it makes you feel better, get a large bag of beans and rice so at least your family doesn't starve. I mean, I don't care how picky an eater you are. If you're faced with beans or starvation, you'll eat the beans. So once you have the beans and rice and feel you can take a breath, focus on staples; Flour, sugar, salt, fats, baking items, canned meats ( or frozen if you have the space), and peanut butter. It doesn't take much money to grab a few of these in your normal shopping trip. In fact for $15 ish you can snag some of each of these. For instance in my area, Walmart has unbleached all purpose flour regularly 1.22 for a 5 lb bag. It's good flour and a good price. Grab a few extra each trip and your pantry will grow.
5) Watch for sales! Sales run in cycles. Thanksgiving to Christmas have the best sales on cooking and baking items. You can get some really good deals. When you do, take advantage of them and buy what you can. Labor day, 4th of July, and Memorial day seasons are great times for anything cookout worthy; meats, condiments, etc. Easter is great for Hams, and eggs. Also produce sales will be based on growing seasons. Strawberries, cold weather vegetables, and grapes are big from say Feb to April. Corn, tomatoes and peaches are big here in the summer. Pumpkins, sweet, and white potatoes are great in the fall. Learn the sale times and price ranges in your area. It's healthier to eat seasonal anyway. Buy these fresh items in bulk and learn to can! Or you can freeze them. Most veggies will need to be blanched before frozen, but can be frozen.
6) Okay, your pantry needs fun stuff! Now with sugar, salt, flour, fat, and soda you can make a good cookie, but chocolate is the order of the day. Nothing like chocolate to make your day. Watch for after Halloween, Christmas, Valentines day, and Easter sales. I don't care what shape the chocolate is in, it taste the same and bakes the same. Also, Christmas is a great time to stock up on chocolate chips and nuts.
7) Increase your skill level during this time. It will do you no good to have all these staples on hand and have no idea how to use them. Even dried beans have a process to cook them. Learn things like gardening, canning, baking bread, and increasing your cooking skills. You would be amazed at the number of items we buy at the store that can be made at home. We've been trained into thinking that's the only way to have them, but it isn't. You can check out some of my recipe pages and see things like : Pancake syrup, Chocolate syrup, Taco seasoning mix, Season salt, Ranch dressing, Granola, Granola bars, Ketchup, Sausage, Dog treats, Yogurt, Bread, Bagels, English Muffins, and Crackers.
9) Since you're buying items your family uses anyway, it's important to rotate out your stock. That means you use the items that will expire the soonest. For example you will pull flour from the first bags of flour you stored and use that first before you pull from the next bags of flour.
10) Few tips: Freeze your flour, rice, and beans a few days before storing in your pantry. This will kill off any buggy eggs and such that might be lurking. I know, gross, but factual. Storing large amounts of items in a 5 gallon bucket is handy. Unless you are storing outside in a barn or for multiple years, 5 gallon buckets with tight fitting lids and maybe an O2 absorber are sufficient. I wouldn't worry about mylar bags and gamma lids. The lids that come with the buckets are fine, but invest in the handy lid opener for $4 or so. It's worth it! Now if your are storing for Armageddon then maybe get the mylar bags. If you freeze the above items before storing, rotate them out, and are only storing a pantry for say 6 months, then just go with the buckets.
11) Okay ,last thing. Once you get an item to the level you want, then you get to the maintenance phase of pantry storage, That is, you only replace what has been used that month. That's great in that now you can replace only when the items is on sale. You will always get the good deal! Oh and a side perk, no crazy trips to the store when bad weather is on the way. You get to stay at home in the nice warm house while everyone else is running to the store for milk, bread, and eggs.
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