I'd hoped to be doing more of these Pantry Prep posts. Some days, it's really hard for me to come into the office and focus when sitting at the table playing cards or dice games with Bob are much more inviting.
courtesy of Ray Shrewsberry - Pixabay
One thing you will never see on this blog or my YouTube channel is a pantry tour. In one side, people talk about safety then on the other side they show everything they have stored and where! While I don't buy into the apocalyptic scenario (completely), that doesn't mean I want people to know what I have and where I store. That said, let's move on. ;-)
So what is #jaritupjuly? Well, the easiest description is to visit Angela @TheInquisitiveFarmWife on her YouTube channel. You'll find the video with all of the information and participants links HERE.
I'll be talking about my complete list in my video HERE.
For now, here's the overview:
Since I have no desire to boot up either canner nor the dehydrator in summer heat (why make the AC work any harder than necessary) I'm going to focus on Meals In A Jar, Mixes, and dry canning such as oatmeal, flour, rice, cereals, etc.
Next week is Week 5 in the Fly Lady cleaning zone so Bob and I will be doing an inventory of the shelves and making a list of what needs replaced. My #jaritupjuly list will grow from there.
Leisa at Suttons Daze has a VIDEO explaining how are food supply is going to affected and seeing price hikes this fall, so we're out to get ahead of that. If you missed that post, HERE is Leisa's video. She doesn't spout nonsense, or believe in fear-mongering. She gives you statistics and where she gets her information from - reputable sources. I love her.
I hope you'll join the rest of us squirrels and start stocking your pantry.
I almost wrote a couple of posts out of order as I try to get everything scheduled before I leave Sunday. I'm starting with a three-day crafting retreat with friends in Independence Kansas. From there I'm back to Springfield for 5 days to finish the first draft of Book 2 in my Planned To Perfection contemporary romance. Days of no other duties except to write. I'm so excited.
Thankfully, I've prepared meals, leftovers and simple things Bob can put together while I'm gone. The 1950s housewife in me always makes sure Bob has what he needs while I'm gone.
The next category on our list is general household supplies and personal items.
Now is the perfect time to clean out the bathroom cabinets. Pitch old medications, restock cold & flu meds, analgesics, beauty products such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc.
Cleaning products are also a necessity. Regardless of what types you prefer, have them on hand. Especially disinfecting type items to wipe away all those cold germs.
Lastly, lets not forget this paper product. You do remember when this was a thing, right?
Also nose tissues, paper plates (for when the power goes out but you still want to put your sandwich on something), and personal hygiene items. If you have pre-teen girls, make sure you have items on hand for them. You don't want to be unprepared and a blizzard or ice storm prevents you from making her comfortable.
Next week wraps up our Pantry Preparedness series. Are you ready for whatever lies ahead? Remember, at any time you have questions, please leave them in the comments section. I check them every week.
I will only be posting the Fly Lady posts for October as I'll be doing 31 videos on my creative channel the whole month.
November, I'll be back to start that retirement series. In the mean time...
How is your pantry coming along? Have you noticed lean spots and made a plan to fill them in? Remember, we're going into holiday season so some things will come up on sale. Holiday sales usually mean baking supplies, ham, turkey, bread, eggs... things you'll use as families gather. If you can make room in your budget, now is the time to stock up on those items.
I eat a lot of ham lunch meat, but the packaged stuff is so expensive and full of stuff I'd rather not eat. Instead, I watch for Kretschmar. For lunchmeat, I get this on sale and sliced usually on a #1 or shaved. I love shaved for grilled ham/ egg/ cheese sandwiches for breakfast. An I can eat either of those settings without my dentures (which I don't wear much when I'm home - I like comfort LOL) I also look for sale on the bone-in, such as COOK's, and have it sliced about a finger's width for breakfast ham steaks.
Okay, with that in your thinking cap, I wanted to talk about Dehydrating and Canning foods for your pantry. If you've never done either one, don't be afraid to jump in. I will link you to people I deem qualified to walk you through the process of all three; water bath canning, pressure canning, and dehydrating. Freeze drying is a topic all on it's own and not as inexpensive as the others I've mentioned.
When it comes to water bath or pressure canning, you absolute best two sources are the Ball Canning Book (I'm still using the one I learned with at 12) and your County Extension or Home Economist office. If you can read and follow directions, you'll be fine. Yes, there's also Youtube but not all of them are as knowledgeable as they pretend. For canning/ pressure canning my go-to Youtubers are, Linda's Pantry and, you guessed it, Leisa at Sutton Daze.
As the temps (hopefully) begin to cool down, I'll be using the dehydrator a lot. Bob will be gone the first weekend in October and I plan to give the pressure canner a work out as well. I want to can potatoes and the turkey stock I have in the freezer.
That's another thing...
Have you taken a good look in your freezer? Maybe that's a discussion for next week and I'll share a video from Leisa at Sutton Daze.
In the mean time, think about what you still need to get you through the winter. Make a shopping list, watch for sales and decide what you can do TODAY... tomorrow's prices may be higher or product inaccessible.
How did you do with your pantry inventory? Are you more aware of what you have, or more importantly what you're missing?
Today is a bit more of that. While cleaning stuff up in my office this week I came across a couple of printouts and a magazine article. I can't reprint them here but I can share the information from them. At some point I'd like to create my own based on their recommendations. When I do, I'll share them. At the end of this post, I'll share a pantry preparedness book by Leisa from Sutton Daze. But first,
Have you ever watched Guy's Grocery Games on FoodNetwork? Here's a short video below from one of the episodes:
While the contestant chefs are given specific items they must use in their dish, they also have a BASIC PANTRY to work from. Staple items in most every kitchen items at the ready. Usually, you can pull together a quick meal from these staples, even if it's just pancakes and eggs.
One article I found was from several years ago. May have come from a Taste of Home magazine by the looks of the picture on the back page of this border article. The article was titled Save Yourself Time... With A Shortcut Pantry.
The list includes things that while might not have been in your grandmother's pantry, they are staples for the cooks of today. Here's a brief list:
Bouillon cubes or granuales
Bread crumbs
Cake mixes
Canned vegetables
Canned pie filling or fruits
Canned meats
Tortillas
Grated & shredded cheeses
Condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tarter or bbq sauce
Refrigerated pastry dough
Pizza crusts or mix
Taco and other basic seasonings
Think of all the quick dishes & desserts you could put together by only adding a couple of things for a particular dish.
The other item I found was from Digital-Women.com back in 2005. I checked the link and it doesn't seem to have the same content as before. the complimentary printable was called EveryDay Pantry.
The sub-paragraph says:
"Think you have it? check first - you'll need not only the freshest meats, fish, fruits, and veggies, but also these standbys and staples to fill your recipes with flavor."
The printable goes on to list foods by the following categories:
BREADS/ CEREALS
DAIRY
FRESH FRUITS & VEGETABLES
DESSEERTS
BEVERAGES
CONDIMENTS
BAKING GOODS
FROZEN FOODS & MEAT
NON-PERISHABLES
HOUSEHOLD NECESSITIES
If you want something you can hold in your hands, I recommend Leisa Sutton's Pantry Preparedness. You'll find it by clicking the link ----> AMAZON
That's it for me this week. I'll have another Pantry Preparedness next week when we'll talk about how to stretch your money and still have a workable pantry.
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.
