Before we left for Denver I did get the a box and a half of lemons juiced and canned and got 18 pints of lemon juice and two pints of lemon and honey.,
and dried a dehydrator full of lemons.
Got the rest of the orange peels candied I have almost a gallon of them.
I put some of the lemon peels and orange in vinegar to soak for cleaning vinegar.
Our local store had gold fish crackers on sale for 99 cents so I got 20 bags I will use these in the 72 hour kits and in the car kits. They also had pasta on sale for 49 cents ( you have to buy 10) I got 10 macaroni’s the other types of pasta I can make myself.
I was lucky and found a few 100 watt bulbs they were not on sale but since they are going to no longer be making them I am trying to get as many as I can because we use them on our animal waters and in the chicken coop in the winter to keep everything from freezing up.
I also got 300 pounds of pinto beans I traded these out for daycare one of my parents farm beans. I will can a bunch of these so in the summer when we are so busy I can just open a jar of beans for supper.
This next week I will try to get the rest of the lemons done and I have a few grapefruits that need to be worked up.
I have a bunch of lemon peels left that I want to get candied.
Work on onions and potatoes.
I will try to finish up the 72 hour kits they are taking a little longer then I had wanted with being gone and sick and all that has been going on.
I am almost out of laundry soap so I need to make some up.
What are some of the things you were able to do this week towards a self sustaining pantry?
Stocked up on medicinal herbs, beeswax for making salves, #10 cans powdered tomatoes, (Honeyville Grain had a 15% off sale), put up organic black beans, pintos and garbonzo beans. I bought seeds for this growing season and some to long term store.
ReplyDeleteElle,
DeleteHave you used the powdered tomatoes? I dried a little year before last but have not used any and I hate to buy some unless I know how good it is.
Connie
I would be interested in knowing how you can pinto beans? Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJoani,
DeleteI will do a post on that in the very near future.
I will try to get it sooner than latter.
Connie
This month, I canned pinto beans seasoned for refried beans. I followed the Ball Blue Book instructions for canning dried beans and will mash them when I open a jar. I also dehydrated sweet peppers, potatoes, and mushrooms, which will be a great additional to my pantry. I bought a few bags of penne pasta on sale and butter was 3/$5 so I bought 12. I also bought two 25# bags of wheat, one 25# bag of pinto beans, and 25# of sugar. I juiced a big bag of oranges and still need to slice and dry the peels. I work at a bakery, so I haul home the empty 5 gal. buckets, wash and use for storage. I also use canning or recycled jars to store my dehydrated foods in. I canned black beans too and will try a hummus recipes with them this week.
ReplyDeleteThanks, again. I gain so much from your blog. Teri
Teri,
DeleteSounds like you are coming right along. It is so nice you have a easy access to buckets. I buy mine from the local supermarket when they have them I think a lot of people have the same idea I do because they don't have that many anymore ( of course I told a lot of people about the buckets lol)
Connie
I didn't do much for the pantry. We had Christmas in January this past weekend. We mostly get together to visit and eat. No expensive gifts - usually just small token gifts or homemade items. I took small bags of homemade toffee, homemade outdoor fire starter, a canister with sea salt as a pantry starter, and various copies of prepper type lists: 10-day car survival kit, Jackie Clay's emergency stores notes, other lists and instructions. Everybody likes the candy, but "no comment" on any of the preparedness items. I never know if I'm wasting my breath, or if one day something will click. Glad you're better. brenda from ar
ReplyDeleteBrenda,
DeleteSounds like a nice Christmas, that is kind of what I did just small homemade things for everybody and a bag of beans for there food storsage. I have been trying for a few years to get my family in the prepardeness mode no one wants to hear it. I do have two brothers that I think are finally starting to see the light now if I could get the other six to listen. just have to keep on about it and hope that someday they will get it (before it's to late)
Connie
This is from a different anonymous, call me Anonymous 2:
DeleteThank you for your comments about trying to reach extended family, as I too am struggling in this area. And I do mean struggling!
Instead of keeping my mouth shut when mother/father-in-law wanted to take 10 of us "kids" to dinner at Texas Roadhouse at Christmas (the bill would have been about $200 plus), I suggested we all bring a dish to the family gathering and I volunteered for cooking and bringing a turkey that I picked up on sale for $7, plus I volunteered for mashed potatoes/gravy. Sharing preparations of the meal would be no strain on any one person.
Mom-in-law insisted that going out to dinner was to be "part of" their Christmas gift to us. I asked if she would instead use the money she would have spent on Texas Roadhouse and instead put up "4 cases of canned goods" in her pantry for the coming hard time. She said she would think about it.
In laws phoned back and agreed to gathering together and I brought my assigned dishes plus other dishes. Sister in law brought nothing because I think they assigned her nothing. There was more than enough food to go around. Our family received NO GIFT whatsoever and the in-laws gave no verbal statement of what they had put into reserves for the pantry.
Fast forward to January 1st. Mom-in-law called to wish us a happy new year and we chatted. When asked had she put up food she responded, "Uhhhh,(long pause)...yeah!" Which meant she did not intentionally shop for any food storage but rather had been to the grocery store as usual.
I told her that the Lord had given me a series of WARNING dreams (4 dreams, 2 visions while awake, and 3 times instructions while awake), all dealing with food, water, urgency, "sudden" change, and that there is coming hyperinflation. Now I can think of several reasons she should have heard me out. #1 She is a fellow Christian. #2 She is a deacon's wife #3 She is a Sunday School teacher and #4 She's my mother-in-law/family. Instead she cut me off and said, "We can talk about this later."
Fast forward 41 days and I have heard not one word from her. That "we can talk about it later" conversation will never happen. I'm not whining to you ladies whom I have never met, I'm just expressing sadness and I'm not sure what to do with the information I've been given, other than just to be obedient and DO what I've been told to do. How easy it is to share light and fluffy stories, chat about the weather, etc. It takes courage to talk about the hard issues, and when that courage is countered with rejection...well, let's just say it is a sad day indeed.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I do appreciate hearing that I am not alone in trying to reach (perhaps unsuccessfully) family members. Thank you for your posts!
@ Anonymous 2,
DeleteThanks for stopping by.I do understand how frustrating it is for family members to not listen I have been trying to get mine to do some food storage it is alway we know or we are going to work on that but they never seem to get to it.
It is funny you should mention the dreams I also had dreams about 5 years ago telling me to get prepared. There seems to be more of an urgency now I really wish our family members would listen. Some of my family are Mormons and their church has told them to prepare but I am more prepared then they are. Feel free to come and vent because I do know how frustrating it can be.
Take care and know you are not alone.
Connie
We (well, mostly my dad and step-mom. I was dealing with a very sick kid most of the day) canned 17 quarts of potato soup for my house. They already canned 30 quarts of potatoes and 21 quarts of potato soup a few days before for themselves. Last week we peeled and cored between 84-90 pounds of apples (we sort of lost count on the number of bags) and made 28 quarts of apple sauce. Then boiled the cores and peelings and made about 12 gallons of juice. A lot of that went into apple jelly, with some leftover for cider and drinking juice.
ReplyDeleteI've just now made laundry soap for the first time and started using white vinegar for rinsing. Just using the vinegar while finishing up my old detergent has drastically improved how clean my clothes are looking. I bought 3 gallons of vinegar for making household supplies. We go through a lot of laundry here.
We're also experimenting with improving the quality of what we eat. So far it is mostly through making home made versions of foods we like that we know are awful for us.
Miah,
DeleteThanks for stopping by.Hope the kiddo is better. Sounds like you all have been busy. How do you can your potato soup? I have been using my own laundry soap and vinegar for a while and I sure like it better not to mention it is cheaper.
Homemade is so much better then store bought. seems like you have to get in the habit of doing it. There is still a couple of things I need to make myself but don't.
Connie
We cooked the soup, kept it boiling while jarring it, and sealed it up. Then waterbathed it for 10 minutes. The recipe we used is: potatoes, onions, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, cream. One pot also had home smoked ham chunks in it.
DeleteWe live near a congregation of Mennonites (my step-mom and possibly my little brother are officially joining the congregation instead of just attending as visitors), so we have an uncommon for this area access to things like home butchered meat and real milk. It really does make a huge difference! I made yogurt in the crockpot with their milk and then didn't have time to get to their store to buy more, so used regular commercial brand for the next batch and it was barely edible. The smell was even drastically different.
Miah,
DeleteThanks that sounds good. Have you had a problem with the cream in them I have heard not to can with milk or cream so I havn't tried it. I know there are a lot of theings that they say not ot do that I do anyways So if your has worked I may have to try it.
Connie
I hadn't heard that, but my family quit canning when I was about 14, and we just never had any kind of creamy soup period, so it was never brought up. Now it is like I am brand new at it again, so I have a lot to learn. So far everything seems to be fine.
DeleteWhen you write: "Work on onions and potatoes." I hope you don't mean dehydrating onion. I tried that a few years back and boy, the SMELL!!! Our house reaked for days. It was terrible! Now we buy freeze dried onions from srmarketplace.com. That is not only less smelly but also a great timesaver even versus using fresh onions. No more pealing, chopping and crying for me. Just open the can of freeze dried onions, take out a table spoon or two and I am ready to cook. I use them all the time.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
DeleteI do dry some of my onions my dehydrater is in my laundry room so it dosn't smell up the house to bad. I also can and freeze a lot of them. At the price I can get them for I can't justify buying dried ones. I like having a jar in the fridge of frozen or canned then I can just get what I need. And my family knows that once a year when I get onions the house is going to be a little smelly lol
Connie
That is very impressive! I would love to have a self sustaining pantry, I just haven't taken the time to plan it out. But it is a goal of mine. Thanks for sharing your progress with us!
ReplyDeleteVisiting from the Country Homemaker Hop :)
Tammy
ourneckofthewoods.net
Tammy,
DeleteThanks for stopping by.Just start by getting as much on sale as you can I try to get 6 months to a year of something that is on sale. (be prepared to be looked at funny when in the store I bought about 200 packages of kool aid when they were on sale,A kid checked me out I think he thought I was nuts lol I use them to flavor yogert and other things) and learn to do as much your self as you can.
Connie
Thanks for sharing this on Wildcrafting Wednesday!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/01/wildcrafting-wednesday-7.html