1/05/2011

Food Storage Challenge

Plans4You



JANUARY ASSIGNMENTS

I am taking part of this challenge because I need to be more organized! I need to plan my meals farther in advance. We have always had a stock pile of food. I was raised that way. I do not live in fear of what might happen but know that things do happen. Growing up we did not live close to the store, When I first married we were 89 miles from the store. We now live in the east were hurricanes and power outages are part of life. We also like to help others in need. Having a stockpile enables us to give more.
I just used Lori’s outline to get started. Looking forward to learning from others! ( no photos yet gals! It looks a bit too unorganized!)

PART A ~ PRAYING
Always, always, always pray before undertaking any kind of project for your family! Ask God to watch over you. Ask Him to help you make wise decisions. Ask Him to lead you. And, if you are married, ask your husband if it's alright for you to do this.
I did this indeed! Since I already have a stockpile I prayed for wisdom on how to be more efficient in the storage of our stockpile. I am frustrated at times because I am sure I have an item and cannot find it.
I also ask for wisdom on how to better serve my family this year. We need meals that are nutritious, smaller in size, ( fewer leftovers), and with much more variety. I also prayed that the Lord show me how to better use the resources I already have in my planning. ( I have a lovely collection of vintage cookbooks that just sit on the shelve and collect dust)


"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. ...She looks well to the ways of her household..." (Proverbs 31:25, 27)


PART B ~ THINKING
(1) Take a walk through the house and decide where you will keep your stored food. How much space will you need? It depends upon what foods you choose, and what form they come in (normal size packaging vs. bulk, flour vs. wheat berries that you'll grind later, boxes, cans, etc); that said, I have read that a super basic storage would fit under the average twin-size bed.
We already have a good place to store our food. I would however like to come up with more and or better storage containers. Glass or very hard plastic ( because of bugs). We buy in bulk. ( rice 50# bags, flour 25# bags and so on) We do have 20 water storage containers. These reside under the house until they are needed.


(2) Decide, realistically, how much additional $$ you have or could free-up to spend on this food you'll be storing. The reason I'm advocating taking a year to build up only a 3-month supply is because I know many are already falling on hard times. You actually could, in one year's time, build up a one year supply of food. But the food that we are storing is in addition to the groceries we are purchasing to consume each day and week in the here-and-now. So we are baby-stepping into the food storage world.
Our budget does not allow for any extra cash above and beyond monthly expenses. However I think that through long term meal planning I can better search for and find items when they are on sale. Currently we have a three month stock of dry goods. I took inventory yesterday and found we were short on canned veggies, syrup, bread flour and powdered sugar. These items are within grasp to buy in bulk and bring the pantry back up to a 3 month stock. I also learned that I have way too much noodle product, jams and jellies ( we just do not use them much), and box dinner mixes. So I will give the excess away.



PART C ~ DOING
(1) Now it's
time to do some research. I have no idea where you live, or what resources you have available to you for purchasing the best quality food at the lowest prices.
We have already done this and take advantage of bulk buying. Because we work a food pantry we also have access to free food.

(2) For the other 3 weeks of this month, we will take some time to work out what meal ingredients you want to store, and how much. NOTE: We will NOT be buying anything for a while yet...we are planning, planning, planning!
This is where I need to work!!!! I tend to fall back on the same o same o stuff because I do not plan ahead and prepare. I am sure my family will love it!

4 comments:

  1. Wow, this is wonderful, Tina! Since you are already a food-storer, there's a lot I can learn from you :-)

    Water under the house...where? Do you mean something like a crawl space? Storm shelter?

    Christine told me today that she wants to do more than 7 meal cards, because she wants to have more variety. So you could do more meal cards for dinnertime, if you want. Again, this "method" isn't so set in stone, especially for "old pro's" at food storage! We tend to eat the same things over and over for b'fast and then have great variety for dinner. That's what I like about the card system, though, is that you can have whatever you want.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Blessings and {{{HUGS}}},
    Lori

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  2. Hi, Tina,
    You have some excellent ideas; I will keep these in mind as our family makes preparations. My hardest issue is keeping track of everything I have. I have tried various systems in the past, and they always fall by the wayside.

    LOL on the pastas and jams--my boys love these and I'd accept them from you if you lived nearby! I'm always restocking these items in my pantry. :)

    Blessings,
    Christine

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  3. When you buy flour and rice in such large quantities, how do you keep meal worms and chiggers from hatching?

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  4. I thought in someways this would be a breeze, lol. But when Lori said to have a meal plan. YIKES...lol. I have to work at this one. I will post this week about how that is all going. I am having a lot of fun.

    Keep us posted on your dd. Lifting her in prayer. ((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))

    Blessings and ((HUGS))
    In Him<><
    -Mary

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