What are you stocking in the pantry?

[Emerald]

Emerald, i have lots of yaupon holly. I know it contains caffeine, but have never made "coffee" from it. It is volatile and the green leaves flare easily. It makes a great fire starter! Have you ever drank "coffee" made from this stuff?

I only had it once and it was in a tea bag. I have a friend who is into "weird stuff" like I am and she ordered it off the internet. to me it won't ever ever ever taste like coffee or even tea, as it hasn't got a lot of tannins it has no bitter taste at all. hers was mixed with mint and it was rather nice. Not super strong flavored either. and since I hadn't had my morning coffee and was missing it I did find that it took the edge off the "I NEED COFFEE NOW" feeling. lol.. probably would have been better if I had more than one mug full.

and the reading I did on it says that if you toast the leaves before brewing it makes the caffeine more available. And many of the sites had links to where you could buy tea all made up so that all you had to do was brew it. and I have had good luck with things in my zone 5 that are a bit tender. I"m sure that I could find a good spot for them. And the fact that they make good tinder would be great too! I love multi-use things. I may have to go check on Amazon! if you dont' hear from me in two days call the Amazon patrol!! lol

AWWW.. they dont' have it!

Yaupon also makes good winter feed for livestock. My horses mow it down. I kept a cow on our 16 acres with no feed and no grass and she got roly-poly fat on yaupon! I cut it for the horses sometimes when I get low on hay.

I wonder if the chickens would like it? Plus I think I am one zone too high for it to really thrive.. but with my caffeine addiction I may have to have about 6 plants!

 

[wooddustmaker]

We store what we eat, and eat what we store. Both home canned, as well as store bought. Rotation is the key. Need to get more buckets, and GAMMA lids. Those things are the bomb. Easy in, easy to seal back up. If you don't know what they are, check them out. Well worth the money, buts thats just my opinion.

 

[Emerald]

Okay one update and then I'll stop hijacking your thread Liz!!! The yaupon holly tea samples came today! when I try them out tomorrow(or even later today it is soooooo darn cold) I'll start a new thread.

Back to pantry stocking! The dehydrated potatoes from this summer are sure coming in handy from our pantry. Any excuse to turn the oven on! I just make a cream sauce with a bit of cheese in it and pour it over the potato slices(I do pour a bit of boiling water over them for about the time it takes me to make the sauce and then drain) pop them in the oven on 350f and about an hour later yummy cheezy potatoes!
So if you can picking up the potatoes on sale and processing them and storing in the pantry is another great item.

 

[baymule]

Sorry to hijack the thread also, but Emerald, if you want yaupon tea that bad, I will be glad to dig up a rooted piece and send it to you!

 

[Emerald]

Sorry to hijack the thread also, but Emerald, if you want yaupon tea that bad, I will be glad to dig up a rooted piece and send it to you!

I may just take you up on that -well once it isn't -4 outside haha!

 

[mythreesons]

I started to stock my pantry with a wide variety of everything...It took me a long time to build my pantry to where it is today..I love knowing that if I find a recipe that I want to make 99% of the time I have all the ingredients to make the said recipe..I make alot of foods from scratch..I make my own taco spice mixes,fajita mix,salad dressings,maple syrup,light corn syrup,yogurt,vanilla extract,Kahlua,Baileys Irish Cream etc..

I learned to use a WB canner & a Pressure canner,Dehydrate this past year..I have canned several quarts of Meatloaf,Chicken breast,Beef in a wine sauce,Cole Slaw,Applesauce & Blackberry Jam from my own blackberry patch...I dehydrated shredded potatoes ( love the convience of this...plus they just seem to taste so much better then store bought) carrots,celery,peas,corn,blueberries so far...I hope to can alot of my own vegetables from my garden this year...If I dont get all kinds of diseases like last year..I lost pretty much everything.

I keep my freezers full,pantry filled...I have several shelves my dh made me in our basement that holds all my canned foods,jarred foods,non parishable items,cleaners,paper etc..

I have several buckets with grammar lids to store my flour's,sugar and pasta's in....

I also learned to keep subs like powder milk,dehydrated potatoes,dehydrated onions and so on..

I dont know about everyone else but I know I feel alot more secure having lots of food at all times...its like having money in the bank at all times..kwim?

 

[wooddustmaker]

My3sons, it does take a while, but it is better than money in the bank! As nice as it is to shop the case lot sales, the home canned sure is much prettier on the shelves, and tastes better. I love walking into the pantry, and knowing that we are close to being able to go a year without major shopping, if need be. Next step will be 18 months, than 2 years. Storing what you eat, eating what you store are the 2 key things. Rotating stock is also important. Glad you are stocked up, and using what you have to keep life moving.

 

[mythreesons]

My3sons, it does take a while, but it is better than money in the bank! As nice as it is to shop the case lot sales, the home canned sure is much prettier on the shelves, and tastes better. I love walking into the pantry, and knowing that we are close to being able to go a year without major shopping, if need be. Next step will be 18 months, than 2 years. Storing what you eat, eating what you store are the 2 key things. Rotating stock is also important. Glad you are stocked up, and using what you have to keep life moving.

Thank you for your kind words & wisdom! We are a family of 6 with 5 being all males..Oy..I don't think I have a years worth of food yet.. I know I have at least a 6-8 month supply of food along with "years"worth of HBA's,OTC Meds..A 3-4 yr. supply of Toilet Paper..Lol..

I intend to get to a years supply...I have one of my Sons leaving in September to join the Marines...another Son moving out this spring..Come to think of it with them leaving the nest I probably do have a years worth of food stored..

I'm also trying to turn our property into a edible landscape..Last year I used my unemployment money to upgrade my food supply by planting a asparagus patch,strawberry patch,mint garden,herb garden..added several grape vines,raspberry bushes,blueberry bushes,blackberry bushes, a mulberry tree,3 more peach trees to our Fruit Orchard..

Im going to add some Nut trees...a few Elderberry bushes and a Mushroom patch this year..

I hope to be looking at a lot more of my own canned food in my pantry this year..

 

[wooddustmaker]

My3sons, it does take a while, but it is better than money in the bank! As nice as it is to shop the case lot sales, the home canned sure is much prettier on the shelves, and tastes better. I love walking into the pantry, and knowing that we are close to being able to go a year without major shopping, if need be. Next step will be 18 months, than 2 years. Storing what you eat, eating what you store are the 2 key things. Rotating stock is also important. Glad you are stocked up, and using what you have to keep life moving.

Thank you for your kind words & wisdom! We are a family of 6 with 5 being all males..Oy..I don't think I have a years worth of food yet.. I know I have at least a 6-8 month supply of food along with "years"worth of HBA's,OTC Meds..A 3-4 yr. supply of Toilet Paper..Lol..

I intend to get to a years supply...I have one of my Sons leaving in September to join the Marines...another Son moving out this spring..Come to think of it with them leaving the nest I probably do have a years worth of food stored..

I'm also trying to turn our property into a edible landscape..Last year I used my unemployment money to upgrade my food supply by planting a asparagus patch,strawberry patch,mint garden,herb garden..added several grape vines,raspberry bushes,blueberry bushes,blackberry bushes, a mulberry tree,3 more peach trees to our Fruit Orchard..

Im going to add some Nut trees...a few Elderberry bushes and a Mushroom patch this year..

I hope to be looking at a lot more of my own canned food in my pantry this year..

Noticed your "Oy" in there. Don't happen to be from Minnesota, do you?


Give your soon to be Marine son my best, and I do wish him many safe returns, and a huge Thank You for his service.

We do have some holes in our storage, that we are working on filling. We just moved to a new place, so we are starting from scratch on the orchard, etc. I now have irrigation water, and better soil, so really hoping for a good garden this year. Things do take time, but it is worth it in the long run.

 

[mythreesons]

I live in New York...I will be sure to tell my son..We moved here going on 5- yrs ago ..the lawn is a little less than 2 acres with a bunch of trees and nothing else planted..I knew that I wanted a Fruit Ochard along with a Greenhouse with lots of raised beds..so within the first year we planted several raspberry& blackberry bushes & a few raised beds plus 1 plum & 1 peach tree, 2- 4yr old blueberry bushes that I planted in huge containers..the following 2nd year we bought a Greenhouse and added another cinderblock raised bed...the following 3rd year we added 2- more cinderblock raised beds (fenced in the whole area so my chickens couldn't destroy all my hard work) added to the fruit orchard 1-sour cherry tree, 3- dwarf pear trees,1- dwarf cherry tree,1- dwarf peach tree,2-dwarf apple tree,2- blueberry bushes,rhubarb,,last year we added several more raspberry bushes, grape vines,strawberry patch,mint garden,herb garden,asparagus bed,6- blueberry bushes 2- being a lemonaid blueberry,1- dwarf Mulberry tree(so excited over this tree)3- dwarf peach trees,2- echinachea plants & several bee balm pkanted for medicinal purposes...


This year Im adding elderberry bushes..raspberry bushes,grape vines, a few nut trees once I figure out what grows best in my area..I just bought 8-baby chicks last night..I also want to start growing mushrooms..

I hope this didnt go to far off topic? However,most will be preserved to add to my pantry stock..