INGREDIENTS to be ss in hard times?

[valmom]

Kingsfarm- I hear you about my kids never actually having to deal with hard times. I sheltered them from any that I had raising them for the most part, and they have my ex's example on how to NOT do without! But, I think I raised them to think and work and, if it occurs to them that times could get hard, they will do OK. An awful lot of making it in hard times is attitude. And, they know I am a nut and know how to do stuff- they might just ask me how if they needed to!

 

[Wifezilla]

LOVE the recipe book idea. I am working on scrapbooks of stuff I found in books and on the web right now.

 

[Kingsfarm]

Marianne, am starting a notebook today, thanks...G

 

[freemotion]

Don't forget to scour used book stores, garage sales, antique stores, and online resources for OLD cookbooks. These have recipes based on ingredients that people generally raised themselves, foraged, or bought once a year and stored. I LOOOOVE my WWII era encyclopedic cookbook. It has amazing recipes, based on the frugality necessary during and after WWII. Including recipes for foraged foods and wild critters like possum and squirrel. And detailed instructions on building several different versions of dehydrators, smokers, root cellars and clamps, etc.

I thought I had a pretty good handle on this stuff until I got this book.....so many new ideas and delicious recipes!

 

[so lucky]

As you are stocking up, don't forget to devise a way of rotating your stock, so you can continue to have fairly fresh staples. My son built shelves with bins for the cans to roll down, so the oldest is always the first one used. There are also some great storage systems you can buy, but they are pretty pricey. I am terrible about rotating stock. I need to have a pantry built because our main food storage area is under the counter/bar. I have to sit on the floor to see what is in the back, then I can hardly get up!:/

 

[lorihadams]

Lots of good tips!

I'm thinking of doing something like that with my grandmother. It's a good project for kids to interview their grandparents/great-grandparents that may have experience in this kind of living. I cannot tell you how much I have learned just by picking up the phone and calling my granny. I want to get her on video telling stories. She lived on a farm and never saw a tube of toothpaste or a toothbrush until she was 15 yrs old. When her older sister moved off the farm and got a factory job she bought "convenience items" for the family and brought them when she came to visit.

They quilted, made their own clothes (including underwear), had an outhouse, milked cows, had bee hives, chickens, pigs, smoked and cured their own meat, put up their own hay, raised corn and tobacco, and had a huge garden every year. I can remember some of that lifestyle when I visited them as a child and I want my children to experience that now....in some ways it is becoming a lost art.

I agree with the tip to stock up on what you like...not what you think you ought to have. I usually buy quite a bit of laundry soap ingredients at a time so that I can make several months worth of laundry detergent. I stock up on white vinegar too cause I use that for everything.

There's not a lot of food items that we stock up on a lot of....we don't have the storage space for lots of pantry items but we do try to stock up on freezer stuff cause we use a lot of frozen foods versus canned foods. We also try to put up enough meat for the year in the fall.

 

[BarredBuff]

We are workin on storeroom pantry type thing but someone said they kept track of what all they used from wake up to bedtime. So Im gonna make a list now and find homemade alternatives.....Thanks whoever said that!

 

[savingdogs]

This is an interesting thread.

I thought I'd make you a little list of things I have here that I think are good SS items for your lists:

Vinegars
baking soda, baking powder
honey
molasses
rolled oats
rice
beans, several varieties
quinoa
freezer full of meat
stock of canned goods of all varieties
jams and jellies
peanut butter
sugar
vegetable seeds of all kinds, some heirloom
books on how-to on many topics
basic tools of all kinds
power-outage supplies (batteries, radio, candles, water, etc.)
wood for the woodstove
propane for the outdoor grill
well
septic
livestock and pens and areas for freeranging, their supplies
things to defend oneself
camping supplies
bug out bag and a way to transport your animals, emergency exit plans
large supply of water
As many appliances and such that run without electricity, ie, hand can opener instead of electric, whisk instead of just electric beaters, etc.
good dog or two
supply of friends and neighbors with similar attitudes
Paid for home (this last one is a WISH on my part)

I hope you like my list!

 

[k15n1]

As you are stocking up, don't forget to devise a way of rotating your stock, so you can continue to have fairly fresh staples.

Apparently, chlorine bleach ages and must be rotated on a yearly basis. I found this while I was reading about purification of water in emergency situations. Low temp, low light storage extended the shelf life, but I don't know how long.

 

[Britesea]

As you are stocking up, don't forget to devise a way of rotating your stock, so you can continue to have fairly fresh staples.

Apparently, chlorine bleach ages and must be rotated on a yearly basis. I found this while I was reading about purification of water in emergency situations. Low temp, low light storage extended the shelf life, but I don't know how long.

I read that pool shock is a better way to store chlorine