Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread July 23--July 29, 2023

[SouthernBreeze]

I find doing or learning something new or useful helps me when I don't have money to spend on preps or even when I have that panicky feeling of "do I have enough". I do have enough!! One of the things I do is research recipes for using rice, lentils etc. because in a SHTF situation I don't want to be stuck eating the same things over and over.

I do the same thing, Anna. Knowing that I have enough, I turn to reading what others are doing prep wise, and looking for new recipes I can generally make from what I already have stocked in my pantry. Looking for new recipes, online, has become a hobby of mine. When you have enough, it's good to know all the different ways to use it in a SHTF event. Food fatigue is going to kill a lot of people if they aren't prepared for a wide variety of food choices. Most don't even know what food fatigue is, much less prepare for it.

I have a book with all my pantry meal recipes in it. When I find a new one we like, it's added to the book. I now have over a month's worth of pantry meals (over 30 different recipes) that I can choose from using basically what's already in my pantry. All it takes is a bit of inventory, list making, and organization.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We just got home from Cary's checkup. Dr. said he was in good shape. Praise God! We needed some good medical news for a change. Cary stopped in to ask about getting a trailer hitch put on our SUV. He has to take it in, Monday morning to have that done. Ate Mexican and came home. He wants the trailer hitch in case we have to bug out, so we can hook up our trailer and take it, loaded down, with us should the need arise.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Am I the only one whose garden gets a second wind in the fall? As soon as temps start dropping, in about a month, the peppers, cucs, and tomatoes will go insane again. That is actually when I get my largest harvest. I just have to manage to keep the plants alive through to then. And they will keep going gangbusters until the first frost. Sometimes until the first freeze, if the frost isn't too bad.

Our garden does this as well.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Our garden does this as well.

My peppers go gangbuster, too, when the weather starts to cool. I've always had better success with them in the fall. We had late tomatoes last year until a heavy frost got them.

 

[anna43]

Yellow Rice

3/4 cup regular white rice
1½ cups chicken stock or bouillon
Pinch of saffron or tumeric
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions were for pressure pan, but I will use my usual rice cooking method.

I hope this tastes similar to the packaged stuff. The ingredient list on the package is quite long and includes rice, dehydrated onion, red & green bell peppers & tomato, salt, garlic, corn meal, sugar, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed corn protein, MSG, dehydrated chicken, spices, saffron, sodium aluminosilicate and several artificial colors, celery extract. Knowing what's in it makes me reconsider eating it!! MSG gives me headaches which hasn't happened so the amount must be small.

Knowing the ingredients will allow me to experiment and tweak to arrive at something close to what I want. At least the recipe is basic enough to do so.

 

[kyrsyan]

Yellow Rice

3/4 cup regular white rice
1½ cups chicken stock or bouillon
Pinch of saffron or tumeric
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Instructions were for pressure pan, but I will use my usual rice cooking method.

I hope this tastes similar to the packaged stuff. The ingredient list on the package is quite long and includes rice, dehydrated onion, red & green bell peppers & tomato, salt, garlic, corn meal, sugar, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed corn protein, MSG, dehydrated chicken, spices, saffron, sodium aluminosilicate and several artificial colors, celery extract. Knowing what's in it makes me reconsider eating it!! MSG gives me headaches which hasn't happened so the amount must be small.

Knowing the ingredients will allow me to experiment and tweak to arrive at something close to what I want. At least the recipe is basic enough to do so.

Oh... I know that recipe. I just knew it as saffron rice, not yellow rice. And son loves that as well. I can added the dried onions, peppers, etc. And I can test with turmeric to find out how much of that to add. But that gives me a base to start with. Thank you.

Luxardo Cherry Jam with cheesecake is gooooood. Not perfect because I probably need to get a recipe that let's me cook them together. But that was good. All my allowed carbs for the day went in that because I didn't make the cheesecake. But it was worth it.

And I need to make sure I go to bed early tonight. I did not get a lot of sleep last night. And tomorrow is one of the few mornings where I must get up early.

 

[kyrsyan]

I finally had a chance so I went out to check the van tires. The problem tires, the ones the tire shop put on the rear, are both the new tires. One from '21, one from '23. The '23 tire was put on after the problem started, which means that the '21 tire is likely the problem tire.

But I'm going to a tire shop that Dad recommends, that should honor the warranty, for the change this time. I just don't want to deal with the lack of training and knowledge at Sam's Club at this point. I'm very tired of this problem.

 

[anna43]

Saffron rice instead of yellow rice -- that's probably why I was unable to find a recipe!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[connie]

Good idea on recipes SB.

I guess I always thought in SHTF situation we wouldn't be eating like we do now and that I couldn't rely on freezer
foods etc. We tend to eat fresh more in summer so canned things aren't in rotation. A lot of variables.
But I can make a list of recipes using only pantry foods.

 

[kyrsyan]

Good idea on recipes SB.

I guess I always thought in SHTF situation we wouldn't be eating like we do now and that I couldn't rely on freezer
foods etc. We tend to eat fresh more in summer so canned things aren't in rotation. A lot of variables.
But I can make a list of recipes using only pantry foods.

Almost everything in my freezers can be canned. And over the years, I've worked out our common recipes so that there are shelf stable versions we will eat. But that will only hold for so long.

Right now, I add as much fresh food in as I can. I do this to extend the food in the freezer, help us eat healthier, and to realize the limitations on what is available as fresh food that I am growing. Sure, yellow squash and zucchini are plentiful but that gets boring quickly. Same with cucumbers. The result is that I am putting in larger varieties of food crops and looking for perennial ones that don't require the same level of intense maintenance as the annuals. This year has seen asparagus, more strawberries, and sunchokes added. I've also added a lot more herbs and medicinals. And I'm working on growing vegetables that I historically haven't had much success with. Fingers crossed.

 

[ReneeT]

Good Morning, All!

It's going to be a couple of miserably hot days here - temp is supposed to reach 96*F here today, 99*F tomorrow; then drop down in to the high eighties for a few days before heading back in to the mid 90's. Ugh. Daughter has conscripted me to walk in a parade on Saturday ( It's her idea of keeping an eye on me ) to hand out ice pops and flyers. At least this one is at 9 am instead of noon I think I'm going to find some of those small, lightweight cold packs to put under my hat.

I'm so very glad that I didn't buy a bushel of peaches when the neighbor lady and I went up to the nearby orchard a few days ago as I know I wouldn't have wanted to can them today and tomorrow (they need to sit for a day or two before canning.) But since I'll be close to the orchard after the parade, I might run on up there for a half bushel, at least as I don't think daughter or anyone else has any major plans for me next week. I might not can them - I cleared out the chest freezer to make room for daughter's ice pops and there is room enough for probably 20 pint bags of peaches.

I'm supposed to take the middle grandson to football camp - if they even have it - on Friday. Then again, if it's 99*F and they don't cancel, I might not let him go anyway - the area where they do camp is out in the sun. I should probably make up a batch of homemade sports drink for him to take with him. Here is the recipe for it:

1 pkt Kool-Aid powder drink mix
1/8 tsp salt substitute
3/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 gallon water

Well, my housework is calling my name, so I guess I'd better post this and get to work!

Take care all; stay safe out there!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Good idea on recipes SB.

I guess I always thought in SHTF situation we wouldn't be eating like we do now and that I couldn't rely on freezer
foods etc. We tend to eat fresh more in summer so canned things aren't in rotation. A lot of variables.
But I can make a list of recipes using only pantry foods.

When I started my pantry in earnest, I wanted to be able to make at least 2 meals a day from what I could stock in the pantry. I wanted us to be able to keep eating like we've always been eating, more or less. Most of my recipes are ones that I already made on a regular basis, so I bought enough to store of all those ingredients to last a couple of years, etc. I did that for each recipe. I only store what I know we will eat, not a "might eat if I get hungry enough" thing. Also, most all my recipes use cross over ingredients, such as cheese, Cream of "something" soups, salsa, tomato sauce, etc. with rice or pasta of some type. Recipes that use ground beef, chicken, tuna, Spam, canned smoked ham, canned roast beef, etc. I also have other meats stored in my freezer, such as wieners, bologna, sandwich ham, smoked sausages, steak, pork chops, chicken breasts, etc. that I can also choose from.

All of my recipes are based on short cook times, too. In a SHTF situation, there will be so much more manual labor involved that I wanted to make sure I don't have to spend hours in the kitchen cooking a decent meal. One pot or one skillet meals, plus a canned veggie on the side are what I have planned for. Added fresh garden veggies in the summer will be great to have, too.

Everyone is different. Everyone's situation might be different, so it's important to plan with what works for you and your family.

 

[connie]

When I buy ground beef at Costco I freeze some raw and cook and freeze some. You can also buy bags of the cooked rotisserie chicken pulled off the bone. I divide and freeze that too. I have canned meats too but don't rotate through them as fast.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

When I buy ground beef at Costco I freeze some raw and cook and freeze some. You can also buy bags of the cooked rotisserie chicken pulled off the bone. I divide and freeze that too. I have canned meats too but don't rotate through them as fast.

I have both kinds of ground beef. Some, I have fresh frozen from the grocery store, and I have a year's worth that I brought home and canned myself, plus a lot of Keystone ground beef, beef chunks, and pork. I don't like depending on my freezers, but it's the only way I can store some meats, cheeses, butter, and other items that need to be kept frozen like store bought and home grown frozen veggies. I go through a lot of canned meats in our meals, so I'm always replacing with new. It stays in good rotation, too. I'll cook meat from the freezer once or twice a week just to keep it in rotation, too.

This is one of my pantry meals that we are having, tonight, along with breaded and fried yellow squash from the garden.

Spicy Salsa Mac and Beef

1lb ground beef
1, 10 1/2 oz can of beef broth. I use bouillon cubes to make 2 cups of broth.
2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup chunky salsa
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 1/3 cup water

Brown ground beef and drain. Put back in skillet. Stir the broth and 1 1/3 cup water and the taco seasoning mix into the ground beef. Heat to a boil and add macaroni. Reduce heat to medium and cook until macaroni is tender and water is absorbed. Stir in salsa and cheddar cheese soup. Cook and stir until hot and bubbly. It's quick and easy to make, and it can be cooked over an open fire if that's the only way you have to cook in the future.

 

[connie]

Thanks for sharing that recipe.
I never learned to can. Bad, I know.
I do have freeze dried beef crumbles And Costco has good shredded beef sometimes in vacuum sealed bags. Think it is 3# so have to freeze some when I open the package.

 

[nomifyle]

DH saw the bags of beans I bought and said "why", I just shrugged, oh well. Makes me feel better. Its a good thing I didn't buy more rice, he would really have flipped.

We got our second boxes of commodities. More canned foods, green beans, pintos, fruit cocktail and that dreaded vegetarian soup, 8 more cans of it. Third month we have not gotten potato flakes, but did get powdered milk, the packages have really gotten smaller, but I'm greatful for it. We also get boxed milk. I use that in cooking.

 

[anna43]

I see a lot of preppers trying to store enough of the food they currently eat in a huge variety. I guess there is nothing wrong with that, but I'm not sure it is practical in the long run. I think it makes more sense to store the basics with enough of the special foods to include one meal a week. Now is the time to get your family used to pantry meals. For instance, my late dh and I preferred frozen peas, but I started introducing canned peas once or twice a month for us to get used to them. I store a few cans of peas but mostly use frozen.

As well as the ingredients for pantry meals, I store pudding mixes, brownie mix, cocoa mix and jello for treats. Jello can be used with other fruits to stretch to more people. I have a popcorn ball recipe that uses jello! Shredded carrots and crushed pineapple mixed into lemon jello makes a sort of salad -- kind of a combo salad/dessert! I also have a few bags of M&M's, butterscotch and peppermint hard candies vacuum sealed in my pantry.

Store ingredients for cookies that don't have to be baked. High calorie treats for snacks are needed if we are working harder and burning the calories. Treats are also a great way to avoid food fatigue. I think if I had children, I would want to make at least one day a week special with treats. Macaroni and tuna will go down much easier for the 5th time with a treat at the end!! Perhaps a pizza night or simply letting them choose which pantry casserole they want. Popcorn is a perfect low calorie treat that could be available daily for snacking.

Also, even though you don't ordinarily eat pantry meals, you should incorporate them into your current meal plan to get the family used to having them. In a SHTF situation it will be extremely unpleasant for all involved to suddenly have a completely unfamiliar diet. It will also give you the opportunity to tweak recipes to make them more to your family's taste and allow you to eliminate ones that are totally unacceptable.

Some goals I have are learning to make flour tortillas and there is an India pocket bread (can't recall the proper name) that a friend made that would be good to add to my skill set. Neither requires an oven. I am debating purchasing a tortilla press but would like to try with a rolling pin first.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Store ingredients for cookies that don't have to be baked. High calorie treats for snacks are needed if we are working harder and burning the calories. Treats are also a great way to avoid food fatigue. I think if I had children, I would want to make at least one day a week special with treats. Macaroni and tuna will go down much easier for the 5th time with a treat at the end!! Perhaps a pizza night or simply letting them choose which pantry casserole they want. Popcorn is a perfect low calorie treat that could be available daily for snacking.

Totally agree, Anna. My meal plans are what we already like to eat. We don't eat pantry meals every night. We eat out once a week just to get away from it. I often make meals that aren't pantry meals, too. I do use my meal planning enough to keep everything in good rotation, though. I like walking into my pantry room and have everything I need to make a good meal that's quick and simple.

I have a special section in the pantry for just "sweets" or treats as you call them. Cary loves sweets and he never gains weight from them. He works hard so is burning plenty of calories. I make him a "sweet" at least once a week. I keep different flavors of cake mixes, different kinds of cookie mixes, muffin mixes, jello pudding mixes, graham cracker pie crusts, frozen pie crusts, canned pie filling, and lots of ingredients if I want to make a sweet from scratch, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, peanut butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips, popcorn, chopped pecans, Eagle Brand milk, etc.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

It's going to be another scorcher, today. Heat index right now at 8:52 am is 101 degrees. Shooting for 111, today. Our power has been blinking on and off for several days. I think the grid is getting a strain from the temps we're having. I hate to see what happens in August.

I didn't get much from the gardens this morning. A few banana peppers, 2 bell peppers, 2 tomatoes, and that's it. I'll still be able to get a few more yellow squash and cucumbers, and we're waiting for the watermelons to ripen. Green beans, I think, are a lost cause. The vines look like a jungle. So, healthy and lush, but not many blooms. I counted only 5 green beans out of all we planted. I think it's just too hot for them to make anything. I'll have to add more cases of store bought green beans to the pantry to make up for what I haven't been able to can for myself this year. I haven't been replacing what I use, because I was hoping to be able to can lots of them this year.

I need to do ironing, today, but I don't know if I'm going to have the energy to do it. This heat is draining everybody. I'm just planning to have a chef salad for our supper, tonight. It's going to be too hot to do anything else. I haven't been sleeping well, ever since I got the diagnosis for my eyes, and it's hard to get motivated to do much.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Totally agree, Anna. My meal plans are what we already like to eat. We don't eat pantry meals every night. We eat out once a week just to get away from it. I often make meals that aren't pantry meals, too. I do use my meal planning enough to keep everything in good rotation, though. I like walking into my pantry room and have everything I need to make a good meal that's quick and simple.

I have a special section in the pantry for just "sweets" or treats as you call them. Cary loves sweets and he never gains weight from them. He works hard so is burning plenty of calories. I make him a "sweet" at least once a week. I keep different flavors of cake mixes, different kinds of cookie mixes, muffin mixes, jello pudding mixes, graham cracker pie crusts, frozen pie crusts, canned pie filling, and lots of ingredients if I want to make a sweet from scratch, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, peanut butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips, popcorn, chopped pecans, Eagle Brand milk, etc.

I keep basics on hand to fix treats too. If our kids want cookies, cakes, or pies we have what we need to make them. It's so much cheaper and tastes a lot better to make homemade.

 

[Barb]

Vegetarian vegetable soup works well in rice-a-roni or ramen. I had a friend that always added a can to sloppy joes to get some veggies into her kids.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I keep basics on hand to fix treats too. If our kids want cookies, cakes, or pies we have what we need to make them. It's so much cheaper and tastes a lot better to make homemade.

Yeah, I like the "made from scratch" goodies best, too. Cary absolutely loves my homemade from scratch peanut butter cookies. I use chunky peanut butter. The same with chocolate chip cookies. All of my custard type pies are all made from scratch, and I have several cake recipes that I make from scratch. Making just plain old cakes, I use box cake mixes and canned frosting. He's still working on the chocolate cream pie I made for him a couple days ago. I usually don't eat sweets but do so every now and then. I'd rather snack on chips and dip.

 

[nomifyle]

Vegetarian vegetable soup works well in rice-a-roni or ramen. I had a friend that always added a can to sloppy joes to get some veggies into her kids.

This vegetarian vegetable soup tastes disgusting. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, I have several cases of it. DH suggested pouring it over the dog's dry food, she'll eat just about anything.

 

[John Deere Girl]

This vegetarian vegetable soup tastes disgusting. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, I have several cases of it. DH suggested pouring it over the dog's dry food, she'll eat just about anything.

Your chickens could eat it too.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

This vegetarian vegetable soup tastes disgusting. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, I have several cases of it. DH suggested pouring it over the dog's dry food, she'll eat just about anything.

I bought up several cans of corned beef hash that turned out to be something we just couldn't eat. It was nasty, lol. I was determined that it wasn't going to go to waste, so I used it, little by little, mixed with our dog's dry dog food. He loved it. It already looked like canned dog food, anyway.

 

[connie]

Donate things you don't like. Give them back to food bank or a church pantry that helps needy families.

I don't understand keeping or storing things you don't like. Unless you are seriously short on food storage. I have culled things we don't like or eat. Reality check..
I learned the hard way to rotate and eat what you store and not let things get too old. If you don't eat rice or dried beans, for example, find someone who does, or toss , or feed to pets. Tough love. But food storage space is limited for most of us and we can't waste it storing old or expired food. Don't just throw food into storage and forget about it.

Adding- SB has a great set up. She can see what she has and is easily accessible. Accessibility is key as we age. My knees aren't what they used to be.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Donate things you don't like. Give them back to food bank or a church pantry that helps needy families.

I don't understand keeping or storing things you don't like. Unless you are seriously short on food storage. I have culled things we don't like or eat. Reality check..
I learned the hard way to rotate and eat what you store and not let things get too old. If you don't eat rice or dried beans, for example, find someone who does, or toss , or feed to pets. Tough love. But food storage space is limited for most of us and we can't waste it storing old or expired food. Don't just throw food into storage and forget about it.

Adding- SB has a great set up. She can see what she has and is easily accessible. Accessibility is key as we age. My knees aren't what they used to be.

I don't understand it, either, Connie. Why would I want several hundred lbs of rice stored when I never, or hardly ever, eat it, as an example, or dry beans? It's just taking up storage space that I could use for things we do like and eat on a regular basis. That's reality. It will rot before it's ever used. You just can't store food away and forget about it. There is a reality check needed if one has more stored than they can easily access and rotate through on a regular basis. Not to mention keeping it all clean and bug free. I could not live with myself, Cary either, if I had so much storage food that it was taking up our living space making it hard to get to anything, much less stumbling over it. None of our food stores are stored in non-climate controlled areas, either. With the heat and humidity, we have here, it would ruin rather quickly. Cans rust in our climate, and things can go bad, but you wouldn't know that if it was stored and forgotten about.

Reality check. There comes a time when one has to say, enough. If I couldn't stop myself, Cary would put his foot down and stop me.

eta.....Before I learned the lesson, I had about 5 glass green canning jars vacuum sealed with rice and egg noodles. Not temp controlled. When I opened the jars, what was on top looked good and fresh, but right on bottom, it was all molded. Heat and humidity had caused the jars to accumulate condensation inside them.

 

[hd5574]

Before the price went through the roof...I purchased a good amount of red feather salted canned butter.. requires no refrigeration...they make both salted and sweet....it is delicious....
They make it for people who live in the outback with no electricity....so I don't need to use freezer space for butter

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Before the price went through the roof...I purchased a good amount of red feather salted canned butter.. requires no refrigeration...they make both salted and sweet....it is delicious....
They make it for people who live in the outback with no electricity....so I don't need to use freezer space for butter

I've often thought about buying that butter, but the expense has kept me from ordering any. I've also heard mixed reviews about it. Some like it, and some don't. Same with the canned cheese.

 

[kyrsyan]

People are taught to put back somethings because some people just need lists. I did best with guidelines. And I have quite a bit of rice and beans put back - because we eat that. Although, now that son doesn't insist on eating rice every single day, I'm letting the pile of rice decrease. Also because he has the markers for diabetes in the future. So I'd like most of the pantry to come into line with possibly having to control diabetes mostly through diet, or at least reduced medication usage.

Now beans, we still use beans quite frequently.

I have to tell you, a long term, diet controlled, diabetic pantry is not easy to pull off. It's going to take me a while to get there. And most of what is going in it is items that I'm having to make.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

People are taught to put back somethings because some people just need lists. I did best with guidelines. And I have quite a bit of rice and beans put back - because we eat that. Although, now that son doesn't insist on eating rice every single day, I'm letting the pile of rice decrease. Also because he has the markers for diabetes in the future. So I'd like most of the pantry to come into line with possibly having to control diabetes mostly through diet, or at least reduced medication usage.

Now beans, we still use beans quite frequently.

I have to tell you, a long term, diet controlled, diabetic pantry is not easy to pull off. It's going to take me a while to get there. And most of what is going in it is items that I'm having to make.

You're making another point that doesn't make much sense to me. If a person has to have a special diet, why on earth are they storing years and year's worth of piles of foods that they can't, don't like, or won't eat. It leaves me shaking my head at the waste.

 

[kyrsyan]

You're making another point that doesn't make much sense to me. If a person has to have a special diet, why on earth are they storing years and year's worth of piles of foods that they can't, don't like, or won't eat. It leaves me shaking my head at the waste.

Panic. Some catch it quick. Others don't. Some people start prepping before the special diet comes into play. And they just have to adapt.

Before I started any form of prepping, I had to clear my pantry several times to adapt to new food allergens for my son. And a few times I had to get replace different cooking equipment.

Life changes. You adapt or don't. I don't regret that I had a large pantry. Several people have received gifts of food to fill in their pantries. I just adapted recipes and replaced things.

Although, there wasn't as much of the giving away as feared. Because I rarely put stuff back for me alone. And son can still eat most of those things. Now I just refill the pantry with items that are safer for a diabetic diet. Those are harder to find for him than me.

But it also gives me tapering time. Because son doesn't take sudden, severe changes very well. So I can slowly reduce the sugar in his diet to tiny levels, if not completely gone. And reduce the high carbs.

That will actually give him more time with the few high carb items he loves (pretzels and oreos), hopefully. And make the change less drastic later in life.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Panic. Some catch it quick. Others don't. Some people start prepping before the special diet comes into play. And they just have to adapt.

Before I started any form of prepping, I had to clear my pantry several times to adapt to new food allergens for my son. And a few times I had to get replace different cooking equipment.

Life changes. You adapt or don't. I don't regret that I had a large pantry. Several people have received gifts of food to fill in their pantries. I just adapted recipes and replaced things.

Although, there wasn't as much of the giving away as feared. Because I rarely put stuff back for me alone. And son can still eat most of those things. Now I just refill the pantry with items that are safer for a diabetic diet. Those are harder to find for him than me.

But it also gives me tapering time. Because son doesn't take sudden, severe changes very well. So I can slowly reduce the sugar in his diet to tiny levels, if not completely gone. And reduce the high carbs.

That will actually give him more time with the few high carb items he loves (pretzels and oreos), hopefully. And make the change less drastic later in life.

You're using common sense which needs to be greatly commended. If there are things in your and your son's diet that you can't eat, or won't eat for whatever reason, you're replacing those with things that ya'll can eat and tolerate. Not leaving stuff stored for years in a pantry knowing full well it most likely will never be eaten. Giving to food banks, church kitchens, families in need, etc. are good ways to get rid of it all, before it is ruined. Getting rid of and replacing a few things at a time is the way to go.

 

[nomifyle]

When DH isn't drinking coffee in the summer time the sugar supply doesn't go down. Although I still buy a bag of cane sugar from time to time. I no longer buy walmart sugar because its not cane sugar. I rarely bake, probably not even once a month, DH likes his sweets but he certainly doesn't get sweets on any kind of regular basis. But I still stock sugar, quite a bit of it. Because we both have good health beans and rice are not an issue to have. Even if we did eat beans and rice every day or so we'd only eat maybe 1/2 c at a meal.

DH had great northern beans for dinner the other night and I decided to make corn bread to to with it. I dug around and found a pint jar of jiffy mix that I'd put up in 2020. It tasted and cooked just fine.

I have things stored that I don't eat very often and quite frankly would not want to eat all that often, I don't dislike them, there are just other things to eat that are in the freezer. I have a couple of freezer that I really need to go through, rarely open them.

As for that soup, its going for the dog or if needed as liquid in a very well seasoned soup.

We all do what we feel is necessary for us. People have put recipes on here that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot poll. I just have different food preferences and tastes than many people have. My food choices have served me well through my healthy life.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

People have put recipes on here that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot poll.

Do you have to be so insulting? I would never eat what you eat, so there's that. You don't seem to be a very healthy person from all you have shared in these threads.

 

[aviax2]

I’m still putting up some garden produce along as I can. DH and I worked up all the extra tomatoes the other day and made 8 quarts of tomato juice, processed 7 and put the other one in the fridge to enjoy this week. I just had a lovely, cold glassful. I occasionally will drink a small amount of orange juice but I’ve never cared for sweet juices. But homemade tomato juice is wonderful. I craved it so bad with my second pregnancy and hubby laughed at me because I couldn’t get ahead with canning tomato juice for the shelf because I drank it so fast.

DH got a full 5 gallon bucket of green beans the other morning and thankfully one of his aunts wanted them. I think his cousin may take some next if they do anything in this heat. Once it cools off they should keep producing and I may can some more but we’ll see.

Our squash/zucchini plants aren’t doing so well although we’re getting a few along. DH has planted some more along with more cucumbers.

Local store had a sale on BS chicken breasts for $1.60 a lb bought a couple of packs, then today they advertised it as $1.10 a lb so DH went by and bought 4 packs. Definitely fits into my stock up price!

School is soon to be back in session so my DD’s are back at work. We just had the Princess yesterday but today she and youngest grandson are here. They’ve helped to make and eat some banana bread that turned out really good.

 

[nomifyle]

Do you have to be so insulting? I would never eat what you eat, so there's that. You don't seem to be a very healthy person from all you have shared in these threads.

I'm sorry I had no intention of being insulting. As far as my health is concerned I've had balance problems and allergies, although they are both pretty well controlled for a 76 year old person. Guess I just need to keep my opinions to myself.

 

[hd5574]

I've often thought about buying that butter, but the expense has kept me from ordering any. I've also heard mixed reviews about it. Some like it, and some don't. Same with the canned cheese.

We purchased one can of butter and one can of cheese and tried them before we order more. We liked both. So we purchased more.

 

[summerthyme]

Hey, guys... I wasn't going to say anything, but I think I need to. This has been a great "back fence" chat for so long. Let's not ruin it with hurt feelings.

First, unless your post is quoted, or your name is specifically mentioned, any post that refers to "people" or "you guys" or even "members" does NOT constitute criticism of you, personally! And yes, everyone has their own ways of doing things, and their own priorities, and they may be just right for them. If you don't agree, fine!

Second, I think the heat is getting to people... lots of sparky, even rude comments on the board (not this thread necessarily, which is why I'd like to head this off at the pass!) and in the meat world. Add the stress of the political situation, inflation, etc, etc, and we all need to try to be a little kinder. But we also need to be less touchy. We've all got a lot more in common than differences...

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Hey, guys... I wasn't going to say anything, but I think I need to. This has been a great "back fence" chat for so long. Let's not ruin it with hurt feelings.

First, unless your post is quoted, or your name is specifically mentioned, any post that refers to "people" or "you guys" or even "members" does NOT constitute criticism of you, personally! And yes, everyone has their own ways of doing things, and their own priorities, and they may be just right for them. If you don't agree, fine!

Second, I think the heat is getting to people... lots of sparky, even rude comments on the board (not this thread necessarily, which is why I'd like to head this off at the pass!) and in the meat world. Add the stress of the political situation, inflation, etc, etc, and we all need to try to be a little kinder. But we also need to be less touchy. We've all got a lot more in common than differences...

Summerthyme

I agree, Summerthyme. This is my peaceful place on the forum. I come here to get away from all the crap on "Main". Most days, I read here in the prep threads, mostly. My eyesight won't let me just sit here and read for hours on in.

That being said, can we all please stop talking down to each other about what we all choose to eat? The words "disgusting", "not healthy", and "nasty" are thrown around a lot. Just because one person doesn't like what others eat doesn't make their food choices superior to everyone else's. Let's just try to let everyone make their own choices as to how they prep and what they choose to eat without the fear of someone making snarky comments about it. I'm sure we can make that happen if we all try.