I am not one who lives in the conspiracy theory world. I have been around the block way too many times to believe everything I see on the news or on the internet. And half the time I am skeptical of what I am told by some individuals.
But something is going on. Something that does not bode well for the average citizen. Something bad.
Me...I refuse to take chances with the welfare of my family. There are a lot of us. With good appetites.
7.5 lbs. of shredded hash browns are dehydrated and packed for storage.
24 half pint jars of chicken breast are in the pressure canner. About 3 lbs. of meat are in the freezer until I can get my hands on enough for another canner load.
15 lbs. of russet potatoes are waiting to be peeled, chopped and canned. I'm trying a new to me method of canning. Potatoes canned in water turned out awful for me. I dislike the taste, texture and the buggers mostly turned gray in color. So, this go-around will be canned without liquid. Can't be any worse.
The plan is to can or dehydrate whatever is on sale. This time I got 3 lb. bags of frozen chicken breast for $5 each. Granted, they are not pretty. The meat looks pretty rough. I would guess these bags are full of the 'seconds' while the pretty meat is packed on Styrofoam trays, covered with cling wrap at an also very lovely price. I don't care. I cut the chicken breasts into about 1-inch cubes to pack into wide mouth half pint jars. Doesn't have to look nice.
The only negative thing I can say about the grocery delivery service I use is unless an item is listed in the weekly sale ad, I don't know the cost of anything until it arrives in my kitchen. I was in for a shock when I looked at the grocery receipt.
When did a can of pear halves become worth $2.39 each! A box of a dozen wide mouth canning lids runs $5.99 each! The hashbrowns I dehydrated were $5.49 for a 30 oz. bag!
Don't even try to tell me those in power care one hoot about us. I have to wonder how in the world those folks who are raising kids and working their fingers to the bone for wages that don't even come close to covering all they need - how are they managing.
My days of wimping out simply because arthritis rears its ugly head from time to time, are over. And yeah - I know that's what I tend to do. But that isn't going to get the job done. I still do it - but slower. A turtle's pace. As a dear friend likes to say, "Turtles of the world. Unite!' :)
Stack it high and wide. If this country continues down the path we are on, nobody but the elite will be able to keep food on the table.
God help us!
What brand of canner do you use again, Vicki?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post.
You all be safe and God bless.
LindaG...My canner is nothing fancy - a Mirro 22 quart. Holds 8-9 quart jars, 16-18 pints and 24 wide mouth half pints in 3 layers. The difference in numbers depends on if I am using regular or wide mouth jars. I have to say that although many prefer the All American canner, this one has been a workhorse for me.
DeleteTake care. Seems to be getting more ugly out there.
Yup - the All American is the cadillac version. Me -- I'm a VW kinda gal. i do have a pressure canner - a Presto and need to kick into gear one of these days and use it. For now, I'm stacking it deep with hauls from the grocery store and big box store.
DeleteSJ now in California
SJ...I have had Presto canners in the past and they worked well. I have the one I use now because my oldest son gifted it to me so I could can more at one time than in the smaller canners.
DeleteI am using your method of using grocery store items to fill in the blank spaces. I pressure can some, but am realistic enough to know my limits. Turtles, and all of that. :)
Oh my goodness - what grocery delivery service doesn't tell you the price of things ahead of time!??? As for canning potatoes 'dry' - I have done that! I do both water and dry, as well as dry with butter. I like all of them - but while the texture and taste of the 'dry' and 'dry with butter' are really good, they do turn gray in color as well. Like when the potatoes canned in 'water' are above the water line and turn that gray color. Taste perfectly wonderful but... yep, sometimes grayish.
ReplyDeleteMer...The grocery delivery service I use is geared toward seniors. After my son had a stroke, he tried out several delivery services, none of which gave him prices of groceries and all of whom refused to haul groceries up the stairs to the apartments. There is not an elevator in our old building. I do stairs only in an emergency. (My son lived in the apartment next to mine at the time.) My service not only carries groceries to my apartment, but the delivery guy also takes the items from the tubs he uses to hold them and sets them out on my kitchen table for me. He would also put them away for me if asked, as he does for other clients who are disabled. And, knowing I do home canning, he phones me if canning supplies are available (we have had shortages) or if there is something on sale he knows I would buy. All of that is worth not knowing prices in advance.
DeleteI have only seen videos about dry canning potatoes with a bit of butter in the jar. I didn't know they could be dry canned just plain. As I am canning potatoes tomorrow, I will try both ways. Thanks for the input.
Thanks for the answer on the delivery service. It's wonderful they do so much but I can't even comprehend placing orders and not knowing how much anything will be. I also bought another 10 lb. bag of potatoes to can this week. Mine that I canned 'dry' with butter almost 2 years ago are still tasty and good. I still can both ways though. This batch will be large cuts with water.
DeleteMer...It took me some time to get used to ordering groceries without knowing the exact prices. But now I have it down to knowing if I buy meat or paper products, my bill will be high. Having used this service for a few years, I have a feel for what I can order without wrecking the budget. :)
DeleteI'm afraid my potatoes still aren't in the jars. One of the delightful things about retirement is that I don't have a schedule unless I want one. So the past couple of days I have been going through my quilting supples instead of canning. Makes for a nice break and I found the pieces for a couple of quilt tops I had forgotten about. (Of all the things I ever lost, I miss my memory the most. :) ) Canning will happen in a day or two, using the dry can with butter method. Take care.
I've been going through the deep larder, looking for stuff that needs to be replaced due to age. It's amazing how quickly a few years go in the prepper world! My original plan was to go through the canned goods ahead of their "Best By" dates, and freeze-dry them to keep them viable for a while. That changed when Nanny Newsom raised our electric rates by 60%! ...He just went ahead and did it! Given the cost of running the freeze-drier, often for over 24 hours, and the labor involved, I decided to relinquish the expired canned veggies and meats to the chickens. They get treats, I get eggs, and the feed bin gets a break.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Vicki, the cost of EVERYTHING has gone through the roof. I remember reading about the "Campbell Soup Standard" when it came to inflation. Reason being, Campbell Soup has sold the same items, the same size, since its start in the 1800's. From the beginning until the early 70's, when Nixon debased our money from gold, a can of soup cost between nine and ten cents a can. From that point on, it's been going up. That can of soup now costs $1.88!!! Meat? We only buy when it's "on sale." When it IS "on sale," we stock up and shrinkwrap it with the Foodsaver. Anything we CAN buy in bulk we DO buy in bulk. It's cheaper, and leaves us with more food on hand. The frozen stuff has its limits though. The freezers will only hold so much. We try not to pack them full though. Reason being, if one of the freezers fail and you can't divvy the contents between the stuff that's still working, you've lost A LOT of money and A LOT of food!
I never lose sight of how blessed I am to be able to stock up. I live in a town where most folks are doubling up on the work and halving up on the food. I truly don't know how they're getting by, even if they're getting "food stamps." Our country's truly sinking to the 3rd World level as we speak. My take is "Brace yourself. Hungry people are DANGEROUS PEOPLE!"
...No, our "political class" doesn't give a pile of bovine BM'S about those they "represent..." ...Truly sad, Vicki... Truly sad... 'Time for "new management..."
Pete...I have been doing the same as you - going through my stash - making sure everything is still good - filling in the gaps. Hence the canning of chicken and dehydrating of shredded hash browns. I am lucky that my basic utilities are included in my rent, and so far, there have been no complaints about the amount of gas or electricity used. Might have something to do with the fact that I have lived here for over 25 years and have a good relationship with my landlord!
DeleteMy son called me earlier today and said gas prices in the Minneapolis area took a pretty hefty jump today. When I get groceries every two weeks, there are always a few items that go up in price or some that the price remains the same, but there is less product. Meat and paper products are the main items that send my grocery bill through the roof. And I am noticing there are fewer brand choices each month. I honestly think the powers that be are doing their level best to starve us into submission.
So far, my suburb - more like a small town - has been relatively free of crime. But in the city - not so much. I am hearing about mob shoplifting and other crimes. Lately a DFL leader who earlier proposed defunding the police, was injured when she was carjacked at gunpoint. Her main complaint - her neighborhood needs better protection!!
Although we have been slower to see crime escalating here than on either coast, it is still happening. And I worry it will come to the outlying areas.
It is one giant mess, Pete. I know there is little this gray-haired granny can do about it except to repeat "I will not comply" and keep on stacking.
God bless you and yours, my friend.
...Gas is $5.20/gallon here... for REGULAR! Diesel is sitting at $6.00/gallon... You would think I lived in Beverly Hills or something, but no, my town is a mix of blue collar Joes, welfare bums, and illegal aliens... Between the price of gas, the price of food, and the price of carrying all those illegals and welfare bums, there's going to be nothing left very soon... except some REALLY PO'ed Americans... God help us all...
DeleteI'm not certain what gas prices are here, but I think perhaps around $4 per gallon. I'm thinking if diesel is at $6, the flow of goods by truck may slow down if they haven't already. Having spent a few years of my mispent youth in the trucking industry, I can say for certain that a load is going to have to pay top dollar before an owner/operator will haul it while paying that much for fuel. Which, of course, we will pay for in the end.
DeleteI don't understand why more people are not mad as a wet hen about all that is happening. I wonder if the population has just become that complacent or if they have been dumbed down to the point of not noticing. Seems to me, from those I talk to, that it is those of my generation or just a it younger, who are upset. Perhaps that is because we remember how different things were back then.
Vicki, "The Young," whether in body, mind, or both, are just making believe it's not happening, and are running up their credit cards to perpetuate the illusion. Y'see, these people are comfortable being up to their eye teeth in debt. Why? Because they've been taught over many years by "society" that they can just walk away from it. ...They can't even see they're being enslaved...
DeletePete...I wonder if the fact that younger generations are being taught that they are victims has anything to do with the current attitudes. I see very little consequences for actions. Shoplift up to a certain dollar amount before being charged with a crime. Expect those who never owned slaves to pay those who never were slaves. Want the latest gadget? Here's my card.
DeleteMy father believed it shameful to owe money or take handouts. Remember when government was giving away cheese? He would have none of it. Did without before asking anyone for a dime.
Those who refuse to see what is roaring toward us like a runaway freight train are in for a huge shock.
Since hubby passed in April, I've been using his little bit life insurance to pay off what debt we were foolish enough to incur. I kept one small card to pay off because I remembered somewhere hearing that if you had no debt you were considered a credit risk and would pay more for insurance, etcetera.
DeleteWhat gets me is now that I have almost no debt except for the mortgage we had to get two and a half years ago, the credit companies, like Experian, keep trying to get me to "increase my available credit" by looking at "new credit card offers". I get them almost daily.
I agree that younger generations are being brainwashed into more credit; just as they are being taught the "wrong" way of living.
You all be safe and God bless.
LindaG...I'm not sure just how the credit thing works any more. I have one debit card that I use for groceries because that is what my grocery service accepts as payment. Being on Social Security and Medicare and no longer owning a car that would need payments or insurance, the credit card companies don't bother with me. But I do get nearly daily calls wanting me to sign up for for supplimental Medicare plans. Being ornery, I either waste their time by letting them go through their scripts before declining or I just swear at them and hang up. :)
DeleteMy sincere sympathies on the loss of your husband. As you are well aware, that is not an easy place to be. Kudos for paying down debt. Not an easy thing to do, but well worth it. God bless, my friend.
Thank you, Vicki. It is not easy. But like you, I am blessed with sons that help and I thank God for that.
DeleteThank you for your blessings.
Many back to you.
Thanks for the pep talk, Vicki! Guess it's true -- there's no way out but through! Have a great weekend! Robin
ReplyDeleteRobin...It is tough to change anything when those who govern have zero interest in the welfare of the people they are elected to represent. I can't protest in the streets, nor can I get a much needed revolution going. What I can do is keep preparing for my family and to get us as far from government control as possible. But you already know that, don't you!
Delete