Prepping In 2021

As most of you know we began a prepper pantry last spring and it has been great.  Not only was it a fun project for us to take on but we now have the peace of mind that we are much better prepared for whatever life might throw our way.  Because, honestly, one never really knows what the future has in store. 

In a previous post I talked about managing our food storage and how we plan to utilize a pull and replace method so items do not go to waste.  Right now our pantry is designed for three adults to provide us with two go sized meals daily.  Most of what is in there is considered long term storage with long shelf lives.  Other items like condiments and canned goods have shorter shelf lives and will be “shopped” more often.

 

As far as expansion goes, I do not have a lot of plans for expanding as in the next couple of years I’ll actually be downsizing.  A lot of what I currently have will go to my girls so they can get a head start on their own pantries.  Until that happens however I will be in maintenance mode except for one area that I do have plans to expand.  I want to dehydrate more foods.

 

Dehydrated foods are impressive.  Simply by removing the water content you extend the storage life far beyond that of canned or frozen.  You can also store a whole lot more food in a smaller space (like an RV for instance).  And I’ve started to really enjoy adding dehydrated foods to my regular cooking, especially onions which dehydrate and have all the same flavor and texture as if I had freshly chopped them.

 

As I come across really good buys on produce or find things in the markdown bins I plan to bring them home and prepare them to dehydrate.  Then once they are done I can store them in canning jars with oxygen absorbers or vacuum seal them for the prepper pantry.  I find dehydrating food is fun and interesting.  And cooking with it is very convenient.  I’m sure another 50 pounds of onions will be in my near future.  I chop them and dehydrate them for regular cooking plus once they are dry I can whiz them round in my mini food processor and make my own onion powder.  Which smells just heavenly.

 

The other area to expand for the prepper pantry will be our water storage.  I have an area in our garage set up for it and I’ve been working to purge and reorganize the area next to it so I can add more stored water.  Water purification processes is another area I wish to explore as well as alternate power supplies.  Mostly this year it will be dehydrating more foods and expanding our water storage though.

 

So there you have it.  That is what I have planned for prepping in 2021.  Are you planning any additional preparations or stockpiling at your home?