Monday, August 9, 2021

I Should Have...

taken my own advice.

Some time back I talked about the importance of an inventory of preps. And I did that.....for a while.

And then I didn't.

I can't even come up with a good excuse.

So now I am going through and straightening up the room where I store my food. I find I have enough spaghetti sauce to open my own Italian restaurant. And there is enough popcorn to last my lifetime and that of maybe one or two other people. And I don't even want to talk about the number of cans of tuna!

And if that weren't bad enough, I find I have less of some items than I thought I had.

With shortages happening and prices rising, now is not the time to slack off. And knowing what I have and what I need make a big difference in the size of my grocery bill.

So now if you will excuse me, I am off to count cans and jars and packages of food.

And to put into practice what I preach!!

22 comments:

  1. At least you haven't been hit by an avalanche of cans raining down on you.

    I'm right there with you. Some how the bookkeeping/inventory side of things gets dropped. I need to do the same and get more organized. I made a start at cleaning out the chest freezer today. Baby steps.

    Oh, and I have enough laundry detergent for a long time...
    SJ in Vancouver BC

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    1. SJ...Haven't been buried under a avalanche just yet - but it was close. :)

      For me the bookkeeping side of preparing is drudgery. I would much rather be canning or dehydrating than counting. Looks like I'm going to have to do both, like it or not. :)

      At least laundry detergent doesn't have an expiry date!

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  2. My wife came home from h big box store with six 2-packs of giant refills for liquid hand soap. I gently said "Y'know we have eight of those 2-packs in the barn; right? That's how it happens, Vicki. No worries though. We will use the soap... and the tuna... and the spaghetti sauce... Well, at least TP and PT doesn't expire...

    I've often said that STAYING prepared is harder than GETTING prepared. The inventory. The storage. Going through everything to see what's gone over to Valhalla. That's the hard part... Last time I went out to the barn to check expiration dates I realized one thing; the Vikings in Valhalla are eating well...

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    1. Pete...I do the same thing, but for the life of me I can't figure out why I thought I needed to order the same things over and over and over. Might have something to do with - Oh boy - spaghetti sauce is on sale this week so I will order a case of it - and before I know it, I am swimming in the stuff! And there are about 147 things I would rather be doing than inventory.
      So if I am not more careful, those Valhalla Vikings are going to be very well fed!

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  3. But now you know. :) Good luck and God bless you all.

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    1. LindaG...Thanks! It is going to take a considerable amount of luck to finish this project. :) God bless you and yours.

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  4. Vicki~ I'm right there with you. I found a 5 gallon bucket with flour from 2015. It has been added to the compost along with some almond flour. I had another order of bread and all purpose flour delivered totaling 160 pounds, and long term storage winter, spring and red wheat totaling 105 pounds. My Husband asked could we plant this if needed. Yes, there is the front lawn that never grew. And I know of a local Farmer that might be interested. I was able to get another 20 pounds of veggies dried and stored away. I found an organic vegetable shortening that is soy free. Some more than enough extra items can be used for barter or as a gift to your local church or food pantry. The larger sizes can be broken down. Most everyone has some type of squeeze container with a little something in it.It's a great way to keep people healthy that might get sick without it. Red

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    1. Red...It is comforting to know that I am not alone in forgetting just what I have stored! Sometimes I am my own worst enemy when it comes to doing something I really don't want to do, but then it ends up biting me. I am just going to have to work a bit harder at keeping things organized - not my long suit. :)

      Good for you on the flour and wheat order! I'm not using much flour now but will be when I get back to baking bread if this heat wave ever ends. May have to bake anyway, considering the price of a loaf of bread just now.

      So far I am OK on expiration dates. It is good to donate when possible. With prices rising as fast as they are, I think the food pantries will need whatever they can get - soon.

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  5. I would be lying if I said I am not guilty of something very similar. We all start out with good intentions but somehow get distracted. I bet you will get it all inventoried and organized in due time. Mean while enjoy some spagetti or tuna noodle casserole...CW

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    1. CW...Sometimes I think I have the attention span of a gnat, especially when it comes to chores I dislike. But when your storage area looks like someone set off a bomb in a 7-11, it is past time to fix it. And yes, spaghetti and tuna noodle hot dish are both on the menu this week. :)

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  6. Ninety pounds of salt....husband kept thinking that we were out. Oh well, there are plenty of uses for it besides using it in food, thawing ice on the driveway in winter, sprinkling on slugs in the garden, mixed with baking soda as a toothpaste.

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    1. OK. That's funny! But at least husband brought home something with many uses. And seriously - better too much salt than not enough.

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  7. Keeping an accurate inventory is probably my biggest failing. I think I'll remember what's there (cue the laughter).

    I do have a plan to remedy the situation; I just need to execute said plan,

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    1. sbrgirl...Yeah...I should have known better than to count on my memory. I can go from my living room into the kitchen and forget why! I think what finally lit a fire under me was watching my grocery bill get bigger at an alarming rate. I tend to be more careful when the dollar is being stretched to the limit. :)

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  8. I would trade you canned chicken for some of your canned tuna. Also, once 6 year old flour is baked in bread it still tastes good.

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    1. Tewshooz...If I didn't have a shelf full of home canned chicken, I would be tempted to take you up on your trade. Seems like I use more chicken than any other kind of meat. I get the 12 packs of tuna at Sam's Club where it is cheaper than the grocery store. Good thing I like tuna salad. :)

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  9. friend of mine had dish soap stashed and eventually the plastic bottles degraded she stashed it on the attic steps where the temps wee terribly high and may account for the failure of the containers

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    1. deb...Heat is the worst possible environment for storing anything. Most of my stuff is stored in the coolest and darkest room in my apartment. So far I have had no failures of plastic containers. Too bad she lost the dish soap, to say nothing of the mess that might make.

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  10. I did some stocking up yesterday, but there were a few items I could not get. I will be checking other stores this week.

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    1. Kristina...In my area there doesn't seem to be a huge number of shortages. More like a gradual unavailability of one or two items each week.

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  11. I need to go inventory the basement supplies. I know there are things past time to go, things that need used soon, and things we have lots of or not so much of. The biggest kick in the head will be the home canned corn and tiny white peaches. After all that work to can them, DH seemed really hesitant to actually eat them. And being in the basement - out of sight out of mind for me. Last time I tried the peaches - tasteless mush. The corn is looking rather sad. It's no wonder, while I like to know how to can just in case I ever *have* to, I really don't want to do it in reality any more, except for tomatoes. It seems like picking up an extra few cans during supply runs makes more sense for my time and energy.

    I found wide-mouth jar lids again at WM a week ago and picked up a couple more packages. Still no sign of regular lids. The latest grocery item missing at my regular grocery is Boetje mustard and we're on the last jar :-O

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    1. JustGail...I have corn that I canned several years ago that is still good. Peaches - not so much. After a couple of years they turned dark and are mushy. I think, however, my biggest disappointment in home canning was russet potatoes. I found I don't like the texture and after time has passed they turned sort of gray in color. Not exactly appetizing! For my food storage I am going with instant mashed potatoes and dehydrated diced or sliced as well as dehydrated hash browns. I have had really good luck with the dry potatoes.

      For me, the one home canned food that remains consistently good over several years time is meat. Chicken, turkey, beef, hamburger, pork, bacon. No problems with any of it.

      Wide mouth lids can be found here but only in the boxes that include the rings. I was able to get several cases of both pint and quart jars a few weeks ago.

      So far I have been able to get everything in my twice monthly grocery deliveries, so I know the store the service uses is pretty well stocked. As I don't get out, I can't say what Walmart or any other grocery store looks like. But I expect shortages will get worse before they get any better.

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