PANTRY PREPAREDNESS - Part 1

 Good afternoon!

Coming in late this morning as I wanted to take advantage of another beautiful day in the Ozarks. Was even getting a bit sticky in the house so I conceded to turning on the AC after breakfast. I remember when Bob would be gone for twenty-one days and I seldom turned on the AC this late in the year unless I were cleaning and the house would be too sticky. Hopefully, this will be the final week of this. 

I should have posted last week but I was looking for a starting point. There is so much to consider when planning for winter. Before I continue, I'm going to leave Leisa's video on Pantry Preparedness where she talks about having one month to a winter-ready pantry. Some points for you to consider as you go through my posts. They will run for the next four Wednesdays, with the fourth one posting on October 1st.

Assessing the pantry.

The first thing you need to do is clean everything in your pantry. Check for loose seals on jars, bulging tin canned food, and bugs invading your dry goods. Dust the shelves and wipe down everything with a damp cloth. Sanitation really is a thing, folks. 

My #1 TIP for dry good storage: 

Never ever store dry goods in their packaging. Unless it came in a jar. I also don't recommend plastic - unless you're storing in Gamma Lid buckets. Glass jars. When properly sealed, NOTHING is getting into your food. Regardless of where you live, critters can potentially be a problem. Even the common house fly. There are some good videos on YouTube for proper storage of pastas and grains. For me, I run almost everything in those categories through my oven for dry canning/ sealing. That includes my oats. I buy a year's supply from the overstock market then spend the next few days getting them sealed into sanitized jars.

Once everything is clean, make sure to pull everything to the front of the shelf. Next, think about how much of each item you need to get your family through the winter then start your shopping list. Think about the types of meals you regularly prepare. Do you have favorites you rotate through? Shop for those first. If you can't get everything right away, that's okay. This is to give you a list of what you need to acquire preferably over the next two months, to get you through the winter. From there you can add to the shelf until you are where you want to be. 

Watch for sales! This is the time to be stocking up. 

When I began planning for Bob's retirement last year, I kept a close eye on sales and always slid money back when I could so I'd be ready. One week, our local small town market had pasta 10/$10, Italian sausage 2/$5 and my preference of spaghetti sauce on sale for $2.50 a jar (normally almost $4 a jar!!)

I buy a particular brand because I reuse their jars to store baking supplies that don't have to be sealed, per say. Did it crimp the budget a little bit that week, but I was more focused on what we needed, as opposed to stuff we DIDN'T need right at that moment. We had plenty of groceries in the house. We weren't going to starve.

I'll be talking about Preparing for Retirement in another series.

Now that your pantry is clean and tidy. You have a list of where you want to go. Remember, ONLY stock the foods your family will eat. Think in terms of meals. Here's an example from our pantry:

To make a batch of Chili, 1 each of the following

15 oz. can tomato sauce

14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

28 oz. can Keystone ground beef

6 oz. can tomato paste

28 oz. can Bush's Baked Beans

30.5 oz. can Brooks Chili Mix

Everything is stacked together on the shelf so when I send Bob to the pantry for Chili fixin's, everything is stacked together. He doesn't have to hunt the pantry over and possibly coming back upstairs without something. I do the same thing for my Chicken Pot Pie

1 each of:

12.5 oz. can Chunk Chicken

15 oz. can mixed vegetables

10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup.

I learned this method from Tiffany Spaulding - craft organizer extraordinaire. Her concept is to "Keep Things Together You Will Use Together".  The system really works. Once you put your pantry in 'meal' order, you could send the seven-year-old down to grocery shop from the pantry and know they'll come back with everything you need.

That's it for this week. Next Wednesday we'll talk about other areas of your pantry. Dehydrating, Canning, Freeze Drying and additional purchases.

In the meantime,

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 2 - Living room/ Dining Room & Meal Plan Monday

 Good morning!

Just when I was getting used to the fall temperatures, they say we'll be back in the 90s this week. Well, I guess we need the Indian Summer to finish clearing the gardens and outside chores before things go back to fall.  How's the weather where you are?

Sadly, I'm still on the same tasks as last month.

The sofa WILL get cleared this week and the floor a good cleaning. 

I'm determined to be on full cleaning routine by the end of the month and not just on catch-up.

I keep forgetting to post the link to my Monday YouTube video - #MealPlanMonday.  You'll find it by clicking HERE.

How's your cleaning coming? Anything you would like to change, or improve?

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly 

FLY LADY - Week 1

 Good morning, friends.

Fall is definitely in the air and I'm so ready to start decorating. But first, the rooms must be clean!

I'm ready for this week. My replacement Black & Decker Steam Mop arrived Friday!

I also purchased fall-colored throw rugs from Menards to go under the litter box in the laundry room.

I'd love to use throw rungs in the kitchen, particularly in front of the sink and the stove but Bob can not pick up his feet and is always either tripping on the edges or turning them up into a bunch. 

Picture this in pumpkin orange and browns and no fringe.

This week, I'm going to focus on giving the laminate floor across the two rooms with the steam mop. We didn't think about the groove textures in the floor when we bought it, just the 'wood' grain texture. But the grain catches everything! So, I'm pulling everything I can out of the laundry room one day then doing the kitchen area another day. 

By the end of the month, I want to have cleaned the fan blades, wiped down all the shelves/ top of the freezer and brought in the fall decor. 

What is your cleaning task for this week?

September is Pantry Preparedness Month so I'll be posting pantry things on Tuesdays, beginning tomorrow.  I hope you'll come back.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 4 - Office

 Good morning, friends!

I'd love to say I'm diving hard into the office this week, but there's a slight change. The weather is finally cooling down here in the southern Ozarks and I can work on the 'warehouse' where the overflow of craft supplies as well as holiday decor is stored. I am sooo ready to dive in to see what can go to the thrift store, trashed or reorganized. Primarily the Christmas decor.

We've been in this house twenty years and have figured out the decor for each holiday in the various rooms that I am happy with. Everything else can get donated so maybe someone else can use the items.

Reorganizing the Christmas decor will also make room for the four big village tubs I have in the basement in our 'safe' corner. I'd love for Bob to be able to build a storage bench where they are now that we can put stuff to be protected in case of a tornado and that we can sit on. 

Over the course of forty-one years of marriage we've developed an amazing working relationship. Either I design something and he builds, we design and he builds, or we design and build together. This office desk I'm working on was an 8' kitchen island with storage I designed and he built over 35 years ago. Nothing fancy but served as a kitchen island initially that could seat 12 people if needed as well as store all of my baking pans. Then it served as an island against one wall in our first purchased home turning our narrow kitchen into a galley kitchen. In this house it was a crafting/ sewing table downstairs before we built the office/ studio almost 11 years ago. Here it remained a craft table until about 3 years ago when the cat took over my writing desk and I moved my 'office' space to this huge work table. I can move stuff easily enough if I need the 4'x8' space to cut fabric and one side still functions as space for my die-cutting machines when necessary. 

That's me for the week. Next week, I'll be back in the kitchen/ laundry with a bit more of a detailed list of what I do there.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLY LADY - Week 3 - Bedroom/ Bathroom

 Good morning!

After getting the bedroom temperature down to between 65*-67* (optimal sleeping temperature for diabetics) I finally got a really good night's sleep - the first in weeks! Poor Bob, I'm pretty sure he thinks he sleeps in an igloo. hehe

Speaking of the bedroom...

While I love naps, I don't think I'll need one today. Doesn't mean I won't WANT one. LOL Too much to do.

I'm still in sorting mode in the office. 

Last all, we had a split unit (heating ac) put in my office. That required moving everything out of my sewing corner. Guess where to. Yep.

I did the bedding on Saturday so that's done. We also did my shoe shelves last month to make room for Bob's shoes/ boots. I think I mentioned last month all of his were on five bake rack shelves in the closet. now that baker's rack holds all of the last three orders from Thrive Life. (I'll have freeze dried info coming Friday) 

So, my gal this week is goal this week is to get the sewing stuff out of the bedroom, back into the office, and my night stand tidied up. This whole sorting thing has been a process. Getting those two things done will be a major accomplishment. Getting my small roll top desk into the bedroom where my clay cart sits now will be a major improvement. 

I have a bonus item for you this week. 

I invite you to check out Clutterbug.com. Take their quiz to find out which friendly 'clutter' bug you are. Don't over-think the questions. Just go with your first instinctive answer. You may (or may not) be surprised but the results either way may help you on your journey to a 'company's coming and the house is suitable for visitors'  home.

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

FLYLADY - Week 2 Living Room/ Dining Room

Good morning, friends.

Trying to get the day started when a nap sounds really good. LOL I had a long three days of late nights.

Friday night, I saw the Bellamy Brothers in concert at the Mountain Grove Heritage Festival. Not often you see these guys in a free show (though I always did as an entertainment journalist) The weather was 100* until about 7 p.m. when they took the stage. Then it was only in the 70s. LOL I got home after 10 p. m. (I normally find my pillow by 7:30)

Saturday Bob and I went to Poplar Bluff to Ollie's in search of some of the amazing craft deals people are finding. Me, not so much. That location didn't have hardly any of the stuff the East coast stores have. Apparently American Crafts is closing their doors and Ollie's bought ballets of everything from the AC warehouse. We went to dinner and got home after 9 p.m.

Then yesterday, I just spent all day on one project, not realizing until I started supper how time had flown by. I found my pillow at 8:30.

Today, I'm trying to get work done here in the office and just want a nap.

I'm on Living Room/ Dining room detail this week. I didn't get everything done in the kitchen last week but made a little progress. I managed to get some laundry done and unpacked eight boxes of Thrive Life and organized on the pantry shelf. I'm really going to miss Thrive Life Freeze Dried Foods. Sad that they are closing their doors in a couple of weeks.

With those boxes out of the way, my focus this week is to get the sofa cleared. I have boxes of spice mix bases to do up and get in jars and jar meal (think hamburger helper but healthier) to get made up and put in the cabinet. Neither of those will take long. 

For the dining room, it's time to clean out one side of the game cabinet. That side also has candles galore that need gone through. We'll see what I decide to keep to turn into wax melts and which ones go in the thrift store box. I'm trying to fill those boxes so I can take them with me on errands Friday.

That's it for me this week. What are you working on? Remember... even if you only spend fifteen minutes on an area, that's progress - Progress is all that is Required. Baby steps.  We got this!

Be safe, Be prepared, Be Blessed!

~ Kelly

 

FLYLADY - Week 1

 Good morning, everyone!

Looks like I have one more 'cool' day to accomplish something. The cooler weather sure has made a difference in my energy level. I got a lot done in the office yesterday, prepping for my work week.

Temperatures are to start going back up this week after a very fall-like feel the past four days. I am so not ready. I have an outdoor concert on Friday to meet up with friends, The Bellamy Brothers. We're to be back in the 90s. Those temperatures and hot pavement are not a good pairing. Hoping most everyone crowds under the trees. LOL

As usual, I start the month out with the kitchen and laundry room.

Laundry room:

sweep/ mop floor

wipe down appliances

put away anything that's not been put away properly over the past few weeks.

The laundry room is pretty easy for the most part. I really go deep on the weeks I switch out the holiday decor, which comes up next month when the task list grows a bit.

Normally, this room would include taking recyclables in but Bob took care of that last week. I just need to temporarily move them out to the deck so I can do the floor. 

The kitchen is another matter. 

My main focus is to get the spice mixes done up so I can revamp that cabinet.

I also need to pull everything off the counters, give them a good clean then back again.

I can get the card table down this week, I think. I used it for sorting/ cleaning a couple of months ago. I wanted to leave it until I get the last of the Meals In A Jar put together. My second-to-last ThriveLife order should be here Wednesday. 

I had the last order still in their boxes sitting on the card table, waiting for this order so I could rotate the stock only one time. Bob got antsy and moved them to the bedroom closet where the ThriveLife pantry baker's rack is located. Cook, dry, dark.

The only non- kitchen thing I want to get done today (not later in the week) is to take HoneyB's kennel apart, wash/ air out his bedding and clean the floor good around there. 

What's on your cleaning agenda for this week? Are you following along? What is your main focus?

Until next time...

Be safe, Be prepared, Be blessed!

~ Kelly