Saturday, February 24, 2018

More Food


  Flour, sugar, salt, and spices. Flour is harder to store. I did package some in 5 gallon buckets with trash bag and oxygen absorbers. I have a good amount of pancake mixes and Bis-quick. I shrink wrapped these and put them in the freezer. One advantage to these is they are pre-mixed. All you do is add water. In the same manner, I packaged some powered milk. Sugar and salt packaged in 5 gallon buckets . I believe you need a good amount of both. I probably have 250 # of sugar. And 150 # of salt. I may buy some more . I bought these bulk, in 50 # sacks. A lot cheaper.  Remember to package these to protect from moisture.  
    Pasta stores fairly well. It does have some oils in it so if possible , shrink wrap and keep in a cool dry place. Spaghetti is one that stacks well in the freezer. Romain noodles are cheap. 
   Remember breakfast foods. Oats, grits, Cream of Wheat, or Malt-o-Meal. We used to eat mush which is boiled cornmeal. You should try to store some cornmeal any way.
     Instant potatoes. Freeze dried foods ( expensive). MREs ( also expensive but store long term very well ). MREs are available online from 4-5 companies. They give you a breakdown on calories and price per meal. These are great and well balanced to keep you alive. If you can afford them. Also , you don`t have to worry so much about rotation. So, probably cost effective. If I was starting over, I would probably invest more on these and less on canned and packaged foods. 
    Spices, I bought at Sams. They have larger containers available. I shrink wrapped these just to add protection from the elements. Give good consideration to these additives. When you are eating a steady diet of something, a little change in taste can make a big difference. Maybe some Rotel in the beans. Or some chili powder. Mrs. Dash, Cajun season, powered garlic, and you use regularly. I have some powered Nestles Quick to add to powered milk, another way to make powered milk more palatable. Don`t overlook these "feel good foods".
   Honey stores pretty well. If it is kept long term, it might turn back into sugar. You can look at it and see that it has. Not a big problem. Put container in a pan of warm water , it will return to it`s natural state. Do not overheat. Overheating will destroy the enzymes in it. 
   Jelly last for a while, but not what I would consider long-term. It will last beyond the expiration date. Depending on the environment you keep the in ( temperature ? ).  Expiration dates are put on by manufacturers to protect them from liability. 
   Look around your pantry and see what you use now, and how you might embellish it . 
   Staples are very important, but you are going to get tired of rice and beans / beans and rice.
   Again, this is getting long.
 
   

Sunday, February 18, 2018

FOOD


  You will probably have to supplement your prepped / stored food with renewable sources. Hunting, gardening, and livestock kept on premises. 
   Stored food is rice and beans, canned food, and staples like flour, salt, sugar, and spices. 
   I have stockpiled a good amount of rice and beans. Simply because they last pretty good if stored right. I purchased 50# sacks of rice and beans at Sams, ( Costco, etc. ). Bought new 5 gallon plastic with lids at Lowes. I put a plastic trash bag in the bucket and filled with commodities . Added a few oxygen absorber as I filled. Twisted off the sack and put the lid on. You might need a hammer to whack the lids and insure a good seal. Mark the bucket to identify what and how much is inside. Also date the bucket. After beans age, they harden and are a little harder to cook. Adding a little baking soda during the soaking process will help soften them up. A good soaking will help here and shorten cooking time. Rice, I have some Minute Rice, but it is a little pricey . Although it does save fuel in the cooking process. I opened some Minute Rice that had been in the freezer since 3-2011, it was perfectly fine. Had some for supper last night. If you have renewable fuel available, ( wood , etc ), regular rice is a cheaper option and is easier to store. 

   Storing ANYTHING remember, sunlight, temperature, and moisture are your worst enemies.


   Canned foods. We used to own a restaurant so we had an account with nearby wholesalers. Sysco, Food Service, and the like. We bought a good amount of # 10 cans of , vegetables, fruits, cheese, spaghetti sauces, puddings, and so on . Canned meat ( beef )is harder to come by and expensive. Canned fish, ham, or chicken  is a good option. Some stores have a limited selection of these larger cans at a reasonable price. Smaller cans are fine, depends on how many you are prepping for and price per serving is cheaper in the larger cans. I have had some of these cans for 7+ years and cant tell they are compromised. Shelf life depends on your 3 enemies. especially temperature. If and when you do use them, just use a little common sense. Notice if can is swelled up or rusted. When you open it, look for any visible signs of something wrong. Smell . Taste a little bit to check for any kind of off flavor. 

   One mistake we did make. We bought a new upright freezer. Stocked it with cheese, hams, hens, turkey, peanut butter, wieners, and cooking oil. Over $800 worth of food. Completely packed. Guess what ? About 6-8 months latter I noticed something running out the bottom. Everything ruined. Maggots everywhere. What didn't spoil, was ruined buy the odor. For instance, the peanut butter. Normally it would have been alright but the smell permeated the plastic container. Same with the Crisco containers. Its almost impossible to buy anything packaged in glass anymore. Notice the next time you are in the store. All plastic or paper. The cause ? This was a frost free freezer. Something happen to the defrost switch and it stuck on defrost mode. The power light on the outside was still on. It was getting power...just warming mode to defrost. I have a friend that this happened to. I still have a larger chest type freezer. I do open it up to check it. Lesson learned. 
   This is getting kinda long, so, more on food later.
 

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Water ... P S.

Just a postscript to yesterdays post. You think your water is always going to be there ? A lot of things can happen.

https://thepreppingguide.com/cape-town-water-supply/