Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: September 29 ~ October 5, 2019

[ReneeT]

Another work weekend, so getting the thread started before I head out to get the donuts. I only have a few mores weeks to pick up donuts as it looks like it's solid that I will be going back to night shift; only thing left up in the air is when it will happen. I am looking forward to the change - and the extra $$! - as I'm going to need to pick up a couple of saxophones, it seems. Lord, I do love my grandkids if I'm willing to go through saxophone practice again!!

In the prep area, I take older grandson to get registered and attend his first 4-H Shooting Sports Club meeting this week; the date snuck up on me so I've got Hubby scrambling around this weekend to pick up the assorted items that he needs; and we will take him to watch some of the older kids shoot trap on Monday. It's not quite as active of an after school sport as Ninja school or basketball, but I think he will enjoy it.

Also in the prep line up this week is picking up more apples to make applesauce - when you've got two big 'boys' that just discovered Grandma's bright red cinnamon applesauce, and two little ones who are jealous of their stash; something's gotta give - and that something is Grandma Guess I'll go dig out some quart jars and WM lids since a pint isn't enough for them to share - and then I'm putting all four of them to work on the apple peeler/corer!

It's fall clean up time around here - we've gotten most of the canning jars that aren't in current rotation in the house packed away in wooden crates and stored in the shed. Monday, we will be picking up black walnuts and laying them out to dry - betting (hoping!) the squirrels get most of them! I've got several corn fields that I have permission to pick up downed corn so I'm trying to get Hubby to put sideboards on the bed of the old Mule. I've got to get out into the field across the road and cut some corn tassels to use in fall decorations as well - they make good filler in wreaths and bouquets.

Well, dang! I could type half the morning but my alarm is going off so I reckon I'd better get ready for work! You folks all take care out there - stay safe, and keep prepping!

 

[Freeholder]

I ordered some of that canned beef from Walmart, and added some canned corned beef to the order. Need to get ready for church in a bit. This week will be busy, bringing home the old travel trailer I just bought so we can camp in it for a few weeks while the house is worked on, having the electrician out to see the house, and starting to pull down the ugly old paneling on all the downstairs walls. I'm also going to have to move most of our furniture to the middle of rooms. Hope my back holds up.

Kathleen

 

[moldy]

Our tenants are out!! So excited to have the place back. I plan on starting to clean tomorrow (although all the curtains are in the washer at the moment and the windows are open to air it out), and start moving things into it so I can open my herbal practice.

I've done some canning this weekend and need to finish it up tomorrow. Of course, I always need to cut firewood, do laundry, etc, etc.

This week, a friend and I are also taking a girls' day and going to the big city. She's into herbs as well, so I'm very excited to go. A stop by the Celestial Seasonings factory might also happen.

 

[20Gauge]

Started my Fall cleaning up keep on the yard. It is too hot between June and middle September to do so around here.

Began with power washing the back and eves of the house. We seem to get a bit of mold growing on the north side of the house...lol. It has been 5 years since I last did this. I now remember why. My arms are like putty after doing half of the first part of the back. It is going to be a long week.

We are still picking peppers, but they are now starting to be more of the tabasco version and not so many of the larger ones. Picture attached. We are now at 5570 peppers so far this year. The new plantings are beginning to grow. We only need one in the new planter to do well, but planted three just to be sure.


If all goes well, we will be picking for 10-11 months this year.

 

[Freeholder]

Started my Fall cleaning up keep on the yard. It is too hot between June and middle September to do so around here.

Began with power washing the back and eves of the house. We seem to get a bit of mold growing on the north side of the house...lol. It has been 5 years since I last did this. I now remember why. My arms are like putty after doing half of the first part of the back. It is going to be a long week.

We are still picking peppers, but they are now starting to be more of the tabasco version and not so many of the larger ones. Picture attached. We are now at 5570 peppers so far this year. The new plantings are beginning to grow. We only need one in the new planter to do well, but planted three just to be sure.


If all goes well, we will be picking for 10-11 months this year.

It's still too hot here to do outside work (95 F today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, 92 on Thursday, finally cooling off to the 70's on Friday). And I NEED to do some outside work, sigh.

Kathleen

 

[20Gauge]

It's still too hot here to do outside work (95 F today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, 92 on Thursday, finally cooling off to the 70's on Friday). And I NEED to do some outside work, sigh.

Kathleen

As do I. The forest needs to be moved back about 3ft. Grass needs to be cut, etc.

I did replace all the smoke detectors downstairs. Now for upstairs

 

[prudentwatcher]

Picked up prescriptions at Walmart and came home with lots of canned veggies. The prices are going up. The diced tomatoes, WM brand, have gone up from 49 cents a can two weeks ago to 64 cents a can today, a 28% increase. That's a big jump all at once.

 

[nomifyle]

We had to go to the VA yesterday and stopped at a Dollar Tree store, I didn't get much because they were out of baskets and I can't carry much in the hand held baskets. I did add 6 more cans of tuna to my growing stash of canned meats. I've got 12 cans of the small cans of ham coming today. It doesn't look like I'm ever going to get my order of Keystone beef. Fedex just can't seem to get the order delivered to me.

Judy

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We've been in Texas with our son for the past week. I haven't done anymore prepping, other than being happy to get the canned beef order in. If all goes well, I will make a run into town tomorrow to add more canned meats to my stash. I need to pick up some things at Walmart to help winterize the house. I need another insulated curtain for my kitchen. CaryC wants to buy more gas cans, and get them filled up.

No yard work here. Everything is dead due to the ongoing drought. Temps are record breaking here. 100 today and tomorrow! No rain in sight, either.

 

[ivantherussian03]

We had first frost two weeks ago. I have been splitting and re stacking firewood, nearly daily. My garden harvest seems good: several hundred pounds of potatos, acorn squash, pumpkin, red onion, garlic. We shared harvest with neighborhood to build good will.They had sale on frozen chicken for half off; we bought it all. It should be enough for winter. Thinking we should buy pizzas one night a week to give wife cooking break.

I am think now to prepare house for winter.

 

[20Gauge]

We picked up 4 cans of the Keystone Beef earlier this week. They tasted excellent!

The beef is now on a 2 can limit. As Amazon was acting weird when we tried to order, (kept resetting quantities), we ordered 5 cans of the ground beef with points, we paid $6.

Thanks to all who pointed this food item out.

We may take a trip to Jacksonville today. We are after #10 cans of sausage gravy. They normally sell for about $9 per can. This is much cheaper than the 14 oz cans for $4-$5 each. Once we open it, we can then can the balance. Each #10 can is about 104 oz each. So they are worth about $28 of the smaller cans.

We are trying to spread out the types of food we have....our problem is not enough variety.

If you haven't tried eating just from your pantry for a month or so, try it. Others have pushed the idea for a long time. We finally did it and things got old after about 3-4 weeks. So, we are redoing the pantry once again. LOL

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We picked up 4 cans of the Keystone Beef earlier this week. They tasted excellent!

The beef is now on a 2 can limit. As Amazon was acting weird when we tried to order, (kept resetting quantities), we ordered 5 cans of the ground beef with points, we paid $6.

Thanks to all who pointed this food item out.

We may take a trip to Jacksonville today. We are after #10 cans of sausage gravy. They normally sell for about $9 per can. This is much cheaper than the 14 oz cans for $4-$5 each. Once we open it, we can then can the balance. Each #10 can is about 104 oz each. So they are worth about $28 of the smaller cans.

We are trying to spread out the types of food we have....our problem is not enough variety.

If you haven't tried eating just from your pantry for a month or so, try it. Others have pushed the idea for a long time. We finally did it and things got old after about 3-4 weeks. So, we are redoing the pantry once again. LOL

For our breakfast variety in storage, I bought 20 cans of Libby's Country Sausage and Gravy. It's really good, too. Serve over hot biscuits. I also picked up a few more cans of BBQ Pulled Pork, but Walmart was still out of the canned Seasoned Fajita Steak strips. They still had several cans of Roast Beef in Gravy, but all of them had those awful pop top lids, and I refused to buy them.

As for eating out of storage, we eat everything we store on a rotation basis. That way, we keep a variety of things we normally eat. If there isn't enough of food variety, you will get food fatigue in a hurry if in a SHTF event. As an example, we can eat for 2-3 weeks out of our storage without eating the same thing twice. Good for you on adding more variety.

 

[20Gauge]

For our breakfast variety in storage, I bought 20 cans of Libby's Country Sausage and Gravy. It's really good, too. Serve over hot biscuits. I also picked up a few more cans of BBQ Pulled Pork, but Walmart was still out of the canned Seasoned Fajita Steak strips. They still had several cans of Roast Beef in Gravy, but all of them had those awful pop top lids, and I refused to buy them.

As for eating out of storage, we eat everything we store on a rotation basis. That way, we keep a variety of things we normally eat. If there isn't enough of food variety, you will get food fatigue in a hurry if in a SHTF event. As an example, we can eat for 2-3 weeks out of our storage without eating the same thing twice. Good for you on adding more variety.

We did a combination of eating out of the pantry and newly purchased items. Our ratio was about 40-50% pantry use each day. We are attempting to move that to 90%. There are fresh things we like that we have not gotten good enough to make / produce ourselves.

Up to now our pantry method of operations was to buy in bulk one item at a time and build from there, though we do have 6 months of food. It has worked, but it is not good enough yet. For example,we have 2-3 years of veggies, but they are either corn or peas. both items we eat, but no variety. We are now growing enough peppers to add a 3rd item, but even that needs to improve.

We have rice, beans and pasta. Yet you can only eat so much rice or mac and cheese. So we just started making our own spaghetti sauce. It works well, so we now have a 3rd option for the main dish.

I like beans, but haven't gotten good at making them without spending the next two days dealing with the gas effects. So even though we have bulk beans in storage, they have limited value at this point in time. Yes, I do know about soaking, but have not gotten good at it yet. This goes back to the practice, practice and then practice method of getting things done.

Thus, we are looking at what people here on the forum are buying and evaluating if they would work for us. The Keystone cans was an excellent option. I had enjoyed the video previously, but it did not click as something we should try.

Also, we are trying to expand our ability to make meals that are quick from scratch. I expect it will take 2-3 years before we transform our pantry to one that has 6 months of food with a solid bit of variety and does not rely on it being 100% purchased in cans.

For some reason, having a pantry that is just cans or store bought items, strikes me as poor planning in the long run.

As an example, being able to make pancakes from flour and other ingredients is better than just buying 4 boxes and checking it off a list.

I may be wrong, but time will tell. Sorry for the rambling.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We did a combination of eating out of the pantry and newly purchased items. Our ratio was about 40-50% pantry use each day. We are attempting to move that to 90%. There are fresh things we like that we have not gotten good enough to make / produce ourselves.

Up to now our pantry method of operations was to buy in bulk one item at a time and build from there, though we do have 6 months of food. It has worked, but it is not good enough yet. For example,we have 2-3 years of veggies, but they are either corn or peas. both items we eat, but no variety. We are now growing enough peppers to add a 3rd item, but even that needs to improve.

We have rice, beans and pasta. Yet you can only eat so much rice or mac and cheese. So we just started making our own spaghetti sauce. It works well, so we now have a 3rd option for the main dish.

I like beans, but haven't gotten good at making them without spending the next two days dealing with the gas effects. So even though we have bulk beans in storage, they have limited value at this point in time. Yes, I do know about soaking, but have not gotten good at it yet. This goes back to the practice, practice and then practice method of getting things done.

Thus, we are looking at what people here on the forum are buying and evaluating if they would work for us. The Keystone cans was an excellent option. I had enjoyed the video previously, but it did not click as something we should try.

Also, we are trying to expand our ability to make meals that are quick from scratch. I expect it will take 2-3 years before we transform our pantry to one that has 6 months of food with a solid bit of variety and does not rely on it being 100% purchased in cans.

For some reason, having a pantry that is just cans or store bought items, strikes me as poor planning in the long run.

As an example, being able to make pancakes from flour and other ingredients is better than just buying 4 boxes and checking it off a list.

I may be wrong, but time will tell. Sorry for the rambling.

You're not rambling. I love to read what others are doing. The prep threads are my favorite. Sounds like you and your DW have a great plan that you're working towards.

I didn't mean to sound as if we were solely eating what we have in storage. We still have fresh garden veggies and I continue to buy several treats that we like on a regular basis that I don't include in my storage items. I still buy things that I need to make special meals from time to time, too. We didn't have a garden this year, but I have lots of canned veggies from years past. And you are completely correct. Buying, storing flour, and knowing how to make bread, biscuits, cakes, and pancakes from scratch with it is better than buying store bought mixes.

Wishing you the best in all your endeavors!

 

[nomifyle]

Good ideas ladies. I'm not that good at eating from my storage because I want it to be there for an emergency. I know that's the wrong way of thinking. So I'm working on changing that.

DH is very picky, although I do have a good amount of things in cans that he will eat in the winter. Chili, beef stew, beef and chicken soups. Chef Bordee has a good tasting Chicken Alfredo that I've gotten at the dollar tree for $1 a can, same with the other foods for DH. He won't eat the Chicken Alfredo but I will. I have the sausage gravy also, very tasty. I have Mary B's biscuits in the freezer, plus I recently made biscuits from scratch and the were also tasty. I have a good recipe for pancakes from scratch. We really don't need much in the way of breakfast foods because neither of us eat an early morning meal. Although we do eat breakfast foods for our midday meal.

I've stocked up on the small cans of ham, chicken, and turkey. I can add the ham to a can of great northern beans for a meal for DH or me, although I eat a variety of beans and he does not. I get canned Lentils from Vitacost for $1 a can.

One thing I like is boxed stuffing with canned chicken, DH does not. He likes green peas but I do not. I can make scratch flour tortillas, we both like them but neither of us are bread eaters.

I need to learn to make pizza crust, we both like pizza, but then I'd need a good supply of cheese, freeze dried cheese is pretty pricey.

I like just about any kind of home made soup, DH won't eat much unless it has lots of meat in it.

I've gotten some beef TVP that I need to sneak into some foods and DH will probably eat it. I used TVP many years ago and its can be tasty. My only issue is its made from soy, and I avoid soy. However, when its all there is I'll use it.

One thing I've gotten from Thrive foods is freeze dried green onions and I use them almost daily, they are delicious. I'm sold on using freeze dried foods and some dehydrated. Although I like the freeze dried better, but I'm stocking those foods a little at a time as the initial cost is more, but it can last a long time using them every day.

Ten years ago I bought cases and cases of #10 canned food and I've never opened any of them because I was "saving" them. In those cans I have some meals and I plan on dragging them out and trying some of them.

I love this subforum also and check it every day.

Judy

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I've stocked up on the small cans of ham, chicken, and turkey. I can add the ham to a can of great northern beans for a meal for DH or me

We don't eat a lot of processed foods, but I have many boxes of the Betty Crocker Scalloped, Au Gratin, 3 Cheese Potatoes. For a variety, I use them to make basic casseroles with. I follow the directions of the package, and add one can of either smoked canned ham, diced and fried Spam, canned chicken, or ground beef (browned) depending on which flavor of potatoes I use. I also add sautéed onions and bell peppers. They make a meal in itself, and is very filling, but I usually add a veggie as a side, or a simple green salad.

 

[nomifyle]

We don't eat a lot of processed foods, but I have many boxes of the Betty Crocker Scalloped, Au Gratin, 3 Cheese Potatoes. For a variety, I use them to make basic casseroles with. I follow the directions of the package, and add one can of either smoked canned ham, diced and fried Spam, canned chicken, or ground beef (browned) depending on which flavor of potatoes I use. I also add sautéed onions and bell peppers. They make a meal in itself, and is very filling, but I usually add a veggie as a side, or a simple green salad.

I, also, don't use much in the way of boxed, packaged processed foods, however, in recent months I've added some for the sake of variety. I've added boxed potatoes that have some seasonings that can be added. Knorr pastas, very little rice, and things like that. Just something for variety, not an everyday thing.

Judy

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I, also, don't use much in the way of boxed, packaged processed foods, however, in recent months I've added some for the sake of variety. I've added boxed potatoes that have some seasonings that can be added. Knorr pastas, very little rice, and things like that. Just something for variety, not an everyday thing.

Judy

I know a lady from another forum. I don't go there anymore, but she was a prepper, too. She mentioned that she had bought 52 boxes of Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, and Chicken Helper, each in all the different varieties. She also had stored enough of ground beef, tuna, and chicken for each box! She wasn't too concerned with eating processed food, though. IIRC, she also had other food stored as well, but that was her basic storage plan. I like cooking from scratch, so I don't depend too much on processed stuff. It does add a bit of variety along the way, though.

 

[sssarawolf]

Good job folks .

 

[Digger]

The weather has turned a bit cooler. Yay! I have a lot of outside work to do. Hubby got me new tires and tubes for my yard cart. It has been down for too long.

Hay season is in the books for another year. Again, I sold all of it out of the field. I have enough customers now that I may not have to advertise on Facebook anymore. I only have a little in the barn to sell over winter. If it stays nice and we can get the tractor looked at, we might cut the front half of the field again. It would be a light baling, but would add to our total in the barn.

We paid our taxes yesterday. They were due on the 15th. I am glad that is done. We were also able to lower our interest rate on our Farm Credit loan for the property we bought last year. That brought our interest rate down 9/10 of a percent. I will keep making the same payments and just keep paying extra on the premium.

I have been getting the bees ready for winter. I added their mite treatment. I need one more week, then pull it for the season. I had hoped to get a little more honey, but the bear messed that up. There was some uncapped honey in the hive the bear didn't get into. But I just gave it to the little hive that didn't have enough. It is coming back slowly from the bear attacks. If I baby it, I think it will make it.

Hubby will need cataract surgery in December. Both eyes have some. His vision is blurry in his right eye. My check up showed no sign of any beginnings of cataracts. I pray my eyes stay healthy.

 

[nomifyle]

The weather has turned a bit cooler. Yay! I have a lot of outside work to do. Hubby got me new tires and tubes for my yard cart. It has been down for too long.

Hay season is in the books for another year. Again, I sold all of it out of the field. I have enough customers now that I may not have to advertise on Facebook anymore. I only have a little in the barn to sell over winter. If it stays nice and we can get the tractor looked at, we might cut the front half of the field again. It would be a light baling, but would add to our total in the barn.

We paid our taxes yesterday. They were due on the 15th. I am glad that is done. We were also able to lower our interest rate on our Farm Credit loan for the property we bought last year. That brought our interest rate down 9/10 of a percent. I will keep making the same payments and just keep paying extra on the premium.

I have been getting the bees ready for winter. I added their mite treatment. I need one more week, then pull it for the season. I had hoped to get a little more honey, but the bear messed that up. There was some uncapped honey in the hive the bear didn't get into. But I just gave it to the little hive that didn't have enough. It is coming back slowly from the bear attacks. If I baby it, I think it will make it.

Hubby will need cataract surgery in December. Both eyes have some. His vision is blurry in his right eye. My check up showed no sign of any beginnings of cataracts. I pray my eyes stay healthy.

I had cataract surgery a year ago and ultimately the results were great, I wear bifocal readers and only have a vision problem late in the evening when I've been on the computer too much. Good luck with that.

Sounds like you have a good farm.

Judy

 

[ivantherussian03]

I have been trying to figure out why my satillite tv is not receiving good signal. I replaced the LNB and checked the connections. Today I trimmed willow that are going in front of the dish, but nothing really helps. I am going do more trimming. A buddy is calling technical service man for advice. I am going to look into a new dish to catch the 110 signal, if is not cost prohibitive.

I hauled trash and burned used engine oil. Then I put away guiding equipment. It is time to hunt small game and relax. I am getting vehicles ready for winter, or to be sold.