Today was a busy day. My groceries were delivered this afternoon. Part of the order was frozen vegetables. Carrots and corn are in the dehydrators. Tomorrow green beans and mixed vegetables will follow. After that there are 10 lbs. of onions to dry.
9 lbs. of chicken breast are thawing to be canned tomorrow. 9 lbs. of hamburger will follow.
I was able to get 2 cases of pint jars this time. A year ago the jars would have cost me under $10 per case. Today I paid $18 per case.
A year ago my entire order would have been under $150. My bill today was $352.
Looks like I am going to have to cut back on my food orders if I want to pay my rent.
And that is precisely what those in DC - the ones who don't give a rodent's behind about the people who put them there and who pay their salaries - want.
Well, guess what. I will not slow down. I will not give in or give up. I will find ways to keep preparing anyway. We didn't get to be this old by being stupid.
Brandon and Company - stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
My daughter picked up 20 lbs of chicken breasts for me today, and we'll probably get another 25 lbs on Saturday. I've got ten pounds of corn in the freeze dryer now, chicken waiting to go in, zucchini and bananas waiting their turns as well. And I'm really hoping and praying that the tomatoes and peppers produce well this year, but we're going on our second week of unseasonably cool weather. It's making me a bit concerned. I really do not want to have to pay 59 cents for an 8 oz can of tomato sauce, especially at the rate we go through it. Now is definitely not the time to slow down.
ReplyDeleteJennifer...Praying for good weather for your garden. Actually, praying for help for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI am working on ways around the hellish prices. A 16 oz. can of pork and beans is now $2.59. I will not buy another at that price.
You are spot on. Now is not the time to slow down. The groceries I bought today will cost more tomorrow. I have to wonder what those in charge have up their sleeves to do to us next. God help us all.
Vicki~ I found out that the online store for Bob's Red Mill is shutting down, since their products are now in several stores Nationwide. My final order of flour, masa, cornmeal, rye flour and wild rice were delivered today. We're getting more frozen veggies tomorrow and a few other items. Here in California, Gruesome put a law into effect regarding water usage per person per household. It's 50 gallons a day per person. Go over and there will be fines should you not listen. We had a new hot water heater put in with a recirculating pump that has a 5 minute timer. It push hot water through the system back into the water heater. Even with watering the garden and family visiting, we are still under the 50 gallons a day per person. No $100 a day fines for us. Those of High and Mighty attitude will have to deal with days of reckoning for their transgressions. Red
ReplyDeleteRed...Even with the high prices, now is not the time to slow down. Good for you on getting another order. I fgure that whatever I buy today is going to cost more tomorrow. We have our problems here in Minnesota, but nobody is restricting water usage yet. We have an idiot running the show, but I think your idiot in charge has ours beat. You have my deepest sympathy, my friend.
DeleteVicki, I am so glad to know you were able to get your groceries and canning jars. Yes, the prices seem outlandish, but how much higher will they be down the road or will things even be available? Food plants continue to burn down, pipelines continue to be shut off, and more regulations concerning water usage all paint a scary future ahead. You are doing the right thing. Praying we are all able to outwit the evil ones who wish to do us harm.
ReplyDeleteCW...Luckily I got everything I ordered and paid through the nose for it. You are spot on. It will cost more next week.
DeleteThose who think they know best may be surprised to find out that not everyone buys into their bs. Our citizens may have grown soft, but there are still pleanty of us who know how to say 'Hell, No.' There are ways to go around the blockade. :)
Can you please remind me, Vicki, do you thaw your frozen veggies before dehydrating?
ReplyDeleteThe government wants us eating fake food. Soylent green may not be exact, but close.
You all be safe and God bless.
LindaG...Frozen veggies can go on the dehydrator trays either still frozen or thawed. Makes no difference at all.
DeleteThe government may want us to do a lot of things, but that doesn't mean we will. I doubt I am the only ornery old lady who has just had enough of their foolishness.
Take good care and God bless you and yours.
ReplyDeleteY'all can count me in as another ornery old lady who's had enough of their shenanigans. Let's start a club!
I bought $50 worth of beef last week, and spent Monday canning up beef stew. Figure it'll be a real treat when they dry up the beef supply.
chipmunk...Ornery Old Ladies of the World - Unite!!
DeleteThe crap that they pull ticks me off. But that they think we are dumb enough to believe it ticks me off even more.
Beef stew is a great way to stretch $50 worth of beef. I have done the same with beef and chicken and even pork. I don't know how you can your stew, but I thicken it when I go to use it. That way the meat/veg mix can be soup or stew or pot pies or casseroles, etc. Keep stacking it.
Ah! Thank you for the tip, Vicki. This is actually the first time I've canned Beef Stew; in the past i've canned just the meat and combined it with other ingredients later. That was back in the days when a pint of beef was much more affordable.
DeleteYou are welcome, chipmunk...I actually can several ways. Sometimes meat and veggies as soup or stew. Sometimes just meat in pints or half pints to add to a dish or for sandwiches. And sometimes just the chopped veggies to use as a base for something else. It is all good. Food in jars is good no matter what! And good for you for canning!!
DeleteI overdrew my checking account for the first time in about 30 years last week. It wasn't that I hadn't moved money into it like I usually did. it was because the money went out so fast! I had just paid the bills. I THOUGHT there was still plenty of money in the account. My wife went grocery shopping twice and ran it dry! One item consistently stands out in my mind; a can of coffee. A little over a year ago, that can of coffee cot $9.75. ...It now costs $15.00... It's like that with almost everything... except alcohol... Funny how the cost of a bottle of wine or a case of beer hasn't followed everything else into the sky... 'Almost like certain people want other certain people to be too drunk, stoned, or stupid to see what's going on...
ReplyDeleteIndeed, "buying tomorrow with today's dollars" is driving a lot of that "red-hot economy" crap we keep hearing about on the "news." People aren't buying because of "pent-up demand." They're buying because the cost of what they're buying will probably double in the next few months... if it can be had at all...
No, now's not the time to sleep...
Pete...Sometimes what might be considered a hardship turns into a blessing. As you are probably aware as a long time reader here, I am basically housebound. That means I am not in Walmart or Target or anywhere else where there is temptation to spend. And Amazon usually will not climb the stairs to deliver to my door, so I don't order there. And I am convinced that this is the only reason my checkbook is not in the red. :)
ReplyDeleteI think that many are now noticing their grocery bills are significantly higher than they were a year ago. My partial solution is to find items I can make at home rather than buy prepackaged. Scalloed potato mixes, taco seasoning, cream of whatever soup, Bisquick mix, etc. are just a few of the things I can make at home that cost less than buying at the store. Canning soups and stews and whatever else I am able to can helps.
I am just too ornery to go down without a fight. Whatever I can do to work around what those who live for power have planned for us, the better. Perhaps if we haven't done it before, it might be a good time to study the old ways of doing things.
And you have my sympathy, my friend, for having to deal with your governor. Mine is an idiot, but yours, sadly, is in an idiot's league of his own. God bless.