Contrary to popular belief, I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth. I have just been busy.
Ten lbs. of onions have been dried. My son stopped at a small Farmer's Market on the other side of town and brought me a few carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes. I sliced the cukes, sprinkled them with coarse salt and dehydrated them. I had done this once before and liked the flavor of them as a snack.
I still have the carrots and plan to shred them to use in making a few loaves of carrot bread. Haven't decided to use the recipe that calls for raisins or the one that has crushed pineapple. I am leaning toward the one with pineapple.
The tomatoes were a delight. It has been a long time since I had home grown tomatoes. They reminded me of a time as a young girl when Dad and I would grab a salt shaker from the kitchen and head for the tomato patch in the garden to eat our fill of fresh tomatoes. One of the simple pleasures in life is a tomato sandwich for lunch.
My groceries will be delivered tomorrow. So far I have received everything I have ordered, but not always the brand ordered. The choices are becoming limited as far as brands go. I am having to cut back on the size of my orders due to skyrocketing prices. Frozen chicken breast has gone from a little over $3 per pound to over $5 per pound. My delivery guy tells me about a few bare shelves that once held items I don't buy. I am grateful to have shelves full of home canned meat that was put up well before inflation hit us so hard.
I believe those who have ignored what is happening around us are going to have a much tougher time as the food shortages increase and prices continue to climb. Especially those like me who can no longer plant a garden or raise meat animals. If they are just now realizing what we have known all along, they are nearly out of time and it will be way more expensive to buy the food they need.
I am off to work on finishing a quilt for my new Great Grand. I want to get as much done on that as possible before my groceries arrive. The order includes a boneless ham to dice and can in half pint jars for adding to dishes like scalloped potatoes or to use as sandwich meat, and potatoes and celery to dehydrate.
It would be so easy to say "I told you so" to those who haven't prepared, but as tempting as that might be, I think they could use prayer more than ridicule. Continue to prepare. Continue to pray. Keep on stacking.
I like the idea of your dried cucumbers, Vicki. Can you estimate how you slice them? Thin or thick?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, prayer for us all. You all be safe and God bless.
LindaG...The cukes I sliced using my mandolin were too thin and just curled up in the dehydrator. The ones I sliced a scant quarter inch using a knife curled a bit on the edges but stayed flat enough to look like chips. Just something to do for fun. The grands might like them.
DeleteTake good care and God bless.
I bet they will like them! :) Thank you, Vicki!
DeleteLindaG...Once in a while we need to do something just for the fun of it. :)
DeleteYou probably have this link already but just in case you don't, Darcy over at "The Purposeful Pantry" has loads of videos on dehydrating.
https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePurposefulPantry
She is my 'go to' for all things dehydrating and is the source of neary all of my dehydrating experiments. Enjoy.
I did not have that link, so thank you for that, Vicki. I have it saved now. :)
DeleteHello Vicki! I like the cuke idea. I'm going to try it. Just got through drying more veggies and some bread for bread crumbs. I've got peppers for cutting and freezing and meat for grinding into burger. Did a Sam's order for TP , nuts and coffee. Everything arrived. Anyone want Candy for the Holidays, get it now and vacuum pack it into smaller bags or jars. Then HIDE it. Start getting into a Rationing Mindset. Someone says they are hungry, tell them what they can have. Don't let them loose as you might find what was going to be your dinner was eaten as a snack. Lock it up so you can maintain what you have when it is no longer available. Red
ReplyDeleteHi Red...The cukes were just for fun. I hear the same can be done with salted zucchini slices. I haven't tried that as yet.
DeleteI am, however, finally going to try dehydrating cooked rice to make instant rice. All reports are that it works well And with the possibility of having to conserve fuel at some point, it just makes sense have rice that just needs to be soaked for a short time in hot water rather than using fuel for the regular cooking time.
I find myself getting into sort of a rationing mode. Cooking enough at one time for two or three meals. Using it up instead of tossing leftovers. Finding ways to make much of what I need using what I have instead of buying all sorts of convenience mixes, etc.
But the candy. The only way I will ever save any is to send it home with one of my kids. If sweets are in the apartment, I eat them. I have zero self control when it comes to sweets. :)
Thank you for introducing me to the Purposeful Pantry. I've already learned something about dehydrating, and am looking forward to trying a few new things. It makes me feel so productive when the dehydrator and the pressure canner are going at the same time. Tomorrow, God willing, the tomatoes will be canned, then a day or two of rest to recharge my batteries. I will need it for the next job, butchering and canning chickens. When we were younger, my husband and I could do 20 in an hour easily. Now it will take us days, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteKeep at it everyone! Things are not improving and it may be a long while before things return to what might be considered normal. Trusting "the system" or expecting it to help you when you are in need may not work out well either.
ReplyDeleteI have done the zucchini chips and they were a nice little treat. 😊
CW...I am not sure if we will ever again see what we would consider normal. Taking a look at the prices on my grocery bill today makes me wonder how people are going to be able to afford food if this keeps up. Take good care and stack it high!
Deleteanon...I have added The Purposeful Pantry to my side bar. She is so very knowledgeable about all things dehydrating. And she comes up with ideas that I likely would never have thought to try.
ReplyDeleteI would say you are very productive. Whatver we manage to get sealed in jars now will surely be a blessing down the road. And I can so relate to taking days to butcher and can chickens. That's a job not for the faint of heart! Don't tell anybody, but I took a rest day yesterday so I would have the energy to deal with my grocery delivery today. :)
Still - we do what needs to be done, even if it is a slow process.
Vicki, don't ever want to have to ell anyone "I told you so." My coworkers know I prep, and I have no problem telling them why. What they do after that is up to them. I'm sure a few of these guys heard my words echoing in their ears when the Plandemic started and the runs on groceries and things like toilet paper started in earnest. No need for me to rub things in!
ReplyDeleteEven my adult, still-at-home sons chided me on my prepper behavior. They even said that there was no real shortage during the Plandemic. I told them that no, there wasn't a shortage for US because I PREPARED! ...I think I followed that sentence with something like "You did NOT come from MY loins!"
One of my sons actually COMPLAINED that there was NO ROOM in the FREEZER! I know plenty of people ran short on just about everything, and continue to do so now because of Obidenflation. His plunking over $300 BILLION in student debt onto Mr. and Mrs. Main St. yesterday is only going to make things worse.
...Brace yourself as "our betters" run the ship further onto the rocks!
Pete...I can so relate to dealing with those who don't understand why we prepare. Some think my canning and dehydrating of food is just a hobby run amok. What they fail to understand is that the preparing we do today could very well save their butts tomorrow.
DeleteI often hear that nothing bad can happen here and even if it does, it won't happen in their back yard.
I recently watched some videos of Holocaust survivor testimony. I'm pretty sure those people didn't think anything bad was going to happen in their back yards either.
It is full speed ahead onto the rcks. We damn sure had better be as ready as we can be.