Having taken some time off over the holidays, I am back at the preparations, full force.
I was able to score two pork shoulder roasts on sale for 99 cents per pound. The ones that arrived with my grocery order totaled 18.25 lbs. I slow baked one of them today and will cook the other tomorrow. Both will go in the freezer until I get my hands on the BBQ sauce preferred by my family. My son said he would pick up a gallon of Sweet Baby Ray's sauce for me next week. The shredded pork in sauce will be canned in half pint jars, which is just the right amount for sandwiches for one.
This afternoon I transferred 20 lbs. of sugar and 35 lbs. of flour from the paper bags they come in to ziploc bags. Bugs and mice like paper but are less likely to get into plastic. I have never had a bug or rodent problem here in my apartment, but I am not willing to take a chance. The ziploc bags are safely stashed away.
To my delight I found that my grocery delivery service will allow three items each order that are not listed in the catalog. Since the store where they do the shopping carries canning supplies, I do believe cases of jars are in my near future. This will be welcome news to my kids who have before carried countless cases of jars up the stairs to my apartment!
I was pleased when Oldest Son told me that he was also buying extra food each time he shops. This week it was more coffee. In my opinion, one can never have too much coffee. Or chocolate.
The past few days have included rearranging shelves in order to make space for more canning jars of food. When I described the process to a friend, she remarked that it sounded like a game of Tetris. Move this here - fit something else in there. I think she is right. Thankfully Oldest Son helps me with storage.
That's pretty much what is happening in my little corner of the world. Things around us look somewhat dicey. Keep on prepping!
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I'm sure that you already remind your kids to rotate their stock.
ReplyDeleteThat's easy, Gorges. I have only one out of four who preps. Sigh.
DeleteSo nice to hear from you again, Vicki. You are kicking off the New Year with your goals in mind and that is terrific. I hope to do some major grocery and household supplies shopping early next week. I really needed another week of recovery from
ReplyDeletethat nasty Influenza A before heading out for an all day shopping expedition.
Since I was homebound this past week, I concentrated on cleaning out drawers and putting the holiday decorations away. Almost done with that. I also made the decision to put forth more effort to acquire more first aid supplies, over-the-counter meds, and prescription meds. The first aid supplies and OTC meds should be fairly easy, but accumulating extra Rx meds is a bit more challenging. I truly appreciate you adding Jennifer's Prep School Daily site to your listing of other great blogs. She has really inspired me to focus on this area of concern.
Pray for our Country and stay on high alert as things are ramping up, CW
CW...I am glad to hear your road to recovery is ongoing. That really must have been a nasty version of influenza! I have been blessed in that sickness has not found me, but I did take a few 'rest days' that seem to be necessary these days.
DeleteThe medical supplies are one area that I am not as strong as I need to be. I have plenty to take care of specific needs, but it is in the everyday supplies that I fall short. Those are on my 'hurry up and get it done' list.
I just love Jennifer's site. She has so much good information. God bless her for sharing it with us.
Things are indeed ramping up! I find it sad that our president has to not only fight the enemy without, but also the enemy within. Pray - and keep on prepping, my friend.
Awwww, you two are so kind! I'm really glad you find it useful.
DeleteYep, things are definitely ramping up. 2020 should be really interesting. Election years always are, but I'd have to agree with recent polls suggesting we are getting dangerously close to civil war here.
I'm so glad prepping is a way of life for all of us here.
We truly appreciate all you do, Jennifer. You are one of the very best sources of good information around.
DeleteI totally agree that things are ramping up and it does not bode well. I think those in the prepping community will find their efforts are not in vain. I wish more would get on board.
I can make a bag of chocolate chips last for months by eating just a few, 5-7, when I need chocolate.
ReplyDeleteLinda...You have much more will power when it comes to chocolate, than I do!
DeleteI'm giving you an A+ for effort and completion, as well as extra credit for being 70-something, and knowing what Tetris is! Keep on truckin, Vicki!
ReplyDeleteAw, shucks, Pete...It takes me so long to accomplish anything these days, it sometimes feels like two steps forward and three steps back! I will accept the extra credit for managing to live this long, but have to admit when my friend likened my moving stuff here in order to store more stuff there to Tetris, I had to look it up. And 'keep on truckin' - yeah, most likely. I just haven't got it in me to sit on the couch, remote in hand. :)
DeleteHello Vicki~ Time off to recharge always helps. we broke down 20 pounds of pintos into 2 cup pouches. There are 90 pounds of soft white and hard white wheat coming. Ground up 10 pounds of pork for whatever I decide. Ordered onions and garlic for planting, plus other seeds packed for deep storage. Zested and juiced 20 pounds of home grown lemons. The squirrels finally stopped eating my tomatoes. God bless. Stay well. Red
ReplyDeleteWow, Red...You have been busy!! I have a sneaking suspicion that before the years is out, we may need every bit of it.
DeleteMy pork roasts are cooked and in the freezer, waiting for the bbq sauce so I can can up bbq pork. Two boneless hams (5 lbs. total) plus the leftover ham bone come out of the freezer tomorrow to use in a big batch of ham and beans to can - hopefully on Tuesday. Another 25 lbs. of bacon will arrive in a couple of weeks.
Glad to hear the squirrels have finally decided they have eaten enough tomatoes. Years ago when I had a garden, I never did have trouble with squirrels, but the white tailed deer liked to stop by for a midnight snack now and then.
Everything we can put away will keep us going just that much longer. It just isn't looking good, is it! Take good care.
Tetris?? Here all these years I called it being a baggage handler. Big bags on the bottom smaller on top. Unless your loading the mail, then small letter trays on bottom, letter totes on top of that followed by sacks of mail. My kids are always amazed at my packing skills when we go grocery shopping.
ReplyDeleteQuestion you could also place flour, sugar and etc dry goods in glass pickle jars?? We have gallon and half gallon jars..Mostly sitting empty currently.??
Rob...With all that experience, you are probably pretty good at the game!
DeleteSure, you can store dry goods in jars. I use ziplocs because my jars are either for canning or for dehydrated foods. And I don't have all that many jars right now. I store at least a couple hundred lbs. of flour, put it in ziplocs and store them in 5 gallon buckets or plastic totes. Same with sugar, pancake mix, instant mashed potatoes, etc. Glass is the best way to store dry goods, though.
We enjoy eating pickles as a snack besides in addition to meals. I buy the gallon jars so I have a better chance of getting my share,,,LOL
DeleteSome time back I bought several gallon jars full of pickles and re-canned them into smaller jars. That works well for me and the jars are great for storage!
Deletei put masking tape around the pickle and other jar lids used to live in florida and tiny bugs can walk up the screw threads they stick to the tape and cannot get in
DeleteWe juiced and zested another 20 pounds of lemons from my tree to get 2 quarts of lemon juice and 4 cups of zest to fill two trays for the dehydrator. The price of a 1.5 oz of lemon peel/zest is over $6. One thing I noticed is when I ordered the wheat one site was out of stock for the soft white wheat. I've also noticed some sites have more "out of stock" items listed. What you can't grow, get now and properly store it away. Imagine the scene when someone driving a new expensive car shows up needing a meal because they spent their money on an ego booster, rather than a couple of years worth of groceries. You can't fix stupid. Red
ReplyDeleteStupid is pretty tough to fix! I love the shocked looks on the faces of acquaintences who tell me, "If anything bad happens, I will just come to your house." And I tell them, "No, you won't. Go home and start prepping." I'm afraid I have no sympathy for those who refuse to do the work. I am sure I do not want to be one of those people who has to have the best of everything and then when times get bad, look in the faces of the kids or grands and tell them there is nothing to eat. Stupid doesn't even come close!
DeleteGood job on the lemons! Anything that I can make at home is a plus, even when I have to buy the ingredients, it still comes out costing me less than the finished product.
A couple of years ago the store was never out of whatever I ordered. Now I get calls at least once a month from the person who does my shopping, telling me the store is out of this or that and would I be OK with a substitute. I am not surprised and fully expect it to get worse.
Pray - and keep on prepping.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=_0kAeJ_X1Ok&feature=emb_title
ReplyDeleteFrom Ice Age Farmer. Red
Thanks for the link, Red...I hadn't seen that particular video. Ice Age Farmer has some really good stuff! I have been hearing about food shortages and about the solar minimum, but didn't realize just how critical they have become. And the elites would like nothing better than to keep us from being self sufficient and to have to depend on them for our food. I think I will use this video for my blog post tomorrow. So a double thank you.
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