NEVER did I ever in my life seriously contemplate having a
long term food storage or as a lot of people refer to it, a prepper pantry. I've always been really good at making sure
we've had enough, more than enough, to keep our household going for at least
six to nine months in case of a natural disaster or financial crisis. But, I have to admit, as I've struggled
lately to find basic pantry staples like beans, rice and flour that I'm
changing my tune about it.
While I personally do not consider COVID-19 to be a SHTF situation
I will say it is a pretty good test run for one. And I do know for a lot of people this is
their SHTF experience and they are struggling.
So even though grocery shopping at the moment is tenuous at best I am
getting started on my prepper pantry right now.
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| Canned and dry goods |
I made a lengthy and detailed list of what I want to keep in
my pantry as well as how much. I also
made a list of supplies that I will need and currently do not have. The first thing I did was to order a food
vacuum storage machine, a commercial Seal-A-Meal, and two bulk rolls of
material to make vacuum bags. I ordered
it from eBay and received it last week.
Next on my list is a food dehydrator.
I have loads of canning jars and supplies in my garage so I do not have
plans to purchase anymore of that at this time, but I am contemplating a
pressure canner. Right now all I have is
a water bath canner. I haven't decided
yet just how much canning I plan to do.
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| Every time I go to the grocery store I pick up some items |
I plan to purchase quite a bit of food items in bulk and
process it in a way to last a long time.
I will most likely be doing a working prepper pantry where certain items
will be used and replaced in order to keep it fresh and reduce the chance of
any spoilage. The bag material I
purchased is reusable and resealable which will make having a working prepper
pantry much more cost efficient.
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| I bought 100ft of vacuum bag material I have ordered a vacuum sealer that should arrive soon |
If you are at all interested in what I am doing and want to
hear more about it as I get going let me know and I will be happy to
share. This is going to be a big
learning experience for me and I am kind of excited about it, just not excited
about the reason why necessarily. But
for me this seems like the proper course of action. I've been doing a ton of research but I'm
open to any tips and advice you may have as well.
Very interested to hear about your preparations for long term food storage, assuming you are going about in a frugal way (as of course I'm certain you are). I know of a family who simply ordered all the RTE meals, supplies and equipment (to the tune of thousands of dollars) they felt they needed all at once. All well and good -- but I'm sure there are lots of ways to build a long-term pantry slowly, gradually and frugally.
ReplyDeleteYou can count on me doing this on a thrifty budget. I'm certainly not about to go into debt over it. Ha! Hope you are enjoying your day. :)
DeleteI would love to know more about your prepper planning, so I hope more of your posts will contain information as to what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear it! Yay!
DeleteYes, I would love to hear more about your journey with the "prepper pantry". I'm always interested in what other people are doing. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteColeen
That is great Coleen! :o)
DeleteI am excited to read your steps as well
ReplyDeleteOh good! I'm excited too!
DeleteThe reason I do not buy more tuna or anything at one time is because the best by date is all the same. Before my house was destroyed, I had over 50 cans of tuna and half that many cans of salmon. Crider's chicken is good. I am quit sure you will do a good job and be happy with the results since you think things out and are methodical.
ReplyDeleteGood point. Canned goods always need to be rotated.
DeleteOne suggestion that has helped me. I put the year, like 21 or 22 on the top of the can with a marker and also on the front. That way, the date is visible so I can read it in marker instead of that tiny writing on the top.
ReplyDeleteGood idea!
DeleteWould like to hear about your plans for a pantry prepper-
ReplyDeleteWill definitely be following along with you!
red2red
Fantastic!
DeleteLove to hear about it! Excited to read your perspective
ReplyDeleteThanks Lee Ann. I'm excited about it.
DeleteWould love to be able to follow your journey for your long term pantry. I started a couple years ago by buying a few items each time I went to the store. One thing I did was I would buy a pack of bottled water until I had enough bottle water for my family to have 3 bottles a day for 3 months. We rotate the water now. If something like a tornado came through, water would be hard to come by. Paula in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI do keep a stash of water, but I don't think I have as much as I probably should. It is going to be a process. :)
DeleteI live in New Zealand we are in Level four lock down, hoping for Level three next week. This emergency has made me think it's time for my family to get better prepared. We are prone to earthquakes and if you ever visit Christchurch you will see we survived but with massive devastation of large parts of the city. I have already looked on line for food sealers and only last week did a pantry count. We are fine if we want to live on brown rice, pasta and tinned chicken and or tuna. I am going to do more research once the shops open, only supermarkets open, an you get in line, only essentials by online shopping, and of course prices have risen. I shall be taking tips from you as I have always admired your approach to living a frugal, debt free life, so unlike my own scatter gun style.
ReplyDeleteThis pandemic has definitely been an eye opener for me. I used to think of prepping as overkill never imagining a day when I couldn't go to the store and just buy what I want. I've totally changed my tune now. I am so glad you will be joining me on this journey. :o)
DeleteIt is never too late to start prepping. I fear the coronavirus is the first domino to fall and things are going to continue to get worse.
ReplyDeleteTwo things that have made a world of difference in my preparations:
1. Reusable Tattler canning lids. I have used the same lids over and over for years. There is a learning curve as to how tightly to turn the band on the ring but when you once figure out the right tightness, you won't have any failures.
2. I recently purchased a Nesco electric canner, (which looks like an instapot) and it is the best investment I have ever made. It sits on my counter because I am using it constantly to can beans, soups, meats. It is 1,000 times better than a regular pressure canner. You can push the button and walk away. It only does 3 or 4 quarts (depending on the height of the jar) or 5 pints at one time but it is so easy to use! You end up using it more often because of the convenience.
I send it to my sons to help them with their grocery bills. For them, I often can chicken, smoked hams, beef, in the jelly jar size and the soups in the pint size cans. It is also very easy to cook and can dried beans to store in the cabinets.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
ps: Ignore the negative youtube videos of people who mistake the electric canners for instapots. You can NOT can in an instapot. Follow the manufacturers instructions exactly.
Thank you, thank you! I've been looking at them a lot lately and I think I would really enjoy having one. I have tons of jars in the garage that I'd like to put to good use. I've also looked at the tattler lids. If you say they are good I will try them. :o)
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