Friday, January 18, 2013

preps, preps and more preps!!!

everyone who knows us here at the interwebs already knows that we are preppers. you can't really live out in the middle of nowhere and not be a prepper. but one thing that we usually don't go yakking about is our food storage. there are tons of other interesting sites out there that talk about food rotation, food storage, etc. - and since we follow the normal standards in regards to those kinds of issues - us talking about expiration dates of medication, etc., would just be us repeating what most of you probably already know...and it would be boring to read about that here...and i know that all of you come here for exciting sky pics that i take for my sweet sister Helga. like the one below:


however, a couple of weird circumstances have happened in the last week or so. maybe not "weird-weird" but weird enough for me to take notice. call it "the heavens aligning" or something.

when we first got involved in the American Preppers Network and the Canadian Preppers Network several years ago, one of the first people that i might who i felt had much to teach me is someone listed on our blogroll, SciFiChick of the Bacon and Eggs blog. if you don't already follow her, you really should. we met so many warm, interesting and funny preppers and survivalists on the APN and CPN - there are just some really awesome folks out there on the webs! but SciFiChick and her husband seemed to be on the same path as jambaloney and i were on - all of us were working towards a common goal of getting on our own land and then learning to become as self-sufficient as possible. i am happy to say the both she and i are living on our land now and i am sure that she and her husband feel just like jambaloney and i - waking up everyday and realizing that we are living our dreams.

anyway, she did a re-post of  one of her previous posts the other day that really got me thinking. her post, here (please go and read it),  provides a grocery list, a recipe if you will, for one year's worth of food storage for under $300. most of us never have $300 dollars laying around, especially if you are on a fixed income, so it may be out of reach for most people. but we try to live as frugally as possible - and it's easy when you live in the middle of nowhere as we don't have an entertainment budget, nor a clothing budget - bahahahahahha! and we stick to the basics, we try to grow as much of our own food and preserve that food which cuts down on our grocery budget. and we try to save money every month to always have emergency cash on hand for - you guessed it - emergencies.

continuing on, we had to take our truck in for some repairs and to get it safety-ied (we have to safety our vehicles every 2 yrs here. Craig/Mayberry, if you are reading this, i know that i just made you groan and put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. sorry buddy!). because we always have our emergency money, we are able to pay in cash. however, and here is the big windfall, the stars aligning and all of that jazz....our warranty covered waaaay more than we thought it would, so we had some extra money that had already been accounted for. i call this "found" money. and what do you do when you find money? you buy preps!!!!




and although i don't normally show pics of our preps and whatnot, i wanted to share with you all what we purchased. because the recipe that SciFiChick provides on her blog is attainable and does provide some good staples (in conjunction with your other food stores of spices, preserved/canned fruit and veg, etc.). and it is waaaaay more than a year's worth of food for the both of us (in conjunction with our other food stores).

the above food cost $161.16 - not a normal food purchase for us at all - but this was "found" money!!! i love "found" money!!! (and we were able to put the $8 additional bucks back into our emergency fund - woohoo!)

pictured above is:

17lbs of sticky rice
9lbs of basmati rice
17 pounds of calrose rice (for a total of 43lbs of rice! we eat a lot rice - we love rice! but that is waaay more than one year's worth of rice for 2 people!)

12lbs (at 2lbs each) of Maritime Grown Jacob's Cattle beans, Yellow-Eye beans and soldier beans.

12lbs of kidney beans
12lbs of chickpeas
8lbs of navy beans
and 2lbs of green lentils

12 cans of kidney beans
and 12 cans of chickpeas

all for $161.16!!!! waaaay more than enough food for a year in conjunction with our current food stores!

the point of this post is - a lot of people think it is difficult to stock up and store a year's worth of food. it isn't - you just need to change your mind-set. stop buying your daily coffee and put that money in a jar - do it everyday! don't eat out - bring snacks with you when you are out and make delicious home-made meals. if by not stopping at McDonalds (gross!) will save you $12 - put that money in a jar. and if you follow simple steps like these - that money will very quickly grow into $100 and then you can very easily go out and get yourself a year's worth of food. and keep adding to your food stores - if you only have $10 extra dollars this week - buy some dried beans or spices or frozen fruit or whatever. add it to your food stores. when your income tax checque comes in or you "find" money in another way - spend it on your food stores!

it brings great relief to me to know that we have several years worth of food stored. great relief. thanks SciFiChick for re-posting the recipe - it was the first thing i thought of when we got our money back!

47 comments:

  1. Awesome! Let me be the first to say that will all those beans you should invest in gas masks.

    That food, with your tire taters' and maters will go a long way to spending next to nothing on food if you choose... especially with fishing in the fram!

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    2. bahahahahaha at Max! and you are so correct, buddy - we are still eating our own potatoes and a bunch of our own home-canned/preserved/frozen food which means our food budget is relatively low and therefore we are able to save money. it's win-win!

      Matt, thanks a bunch buddy!

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  2. Great post....thanks for sharing:) I'm so happy for you that you "found" some money...it always feels good to add a little bit more to the food stores :)

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    1. your very welcome MM! ya, found money is a real treat! and slowly adding a few things to our food stores always feels good - but when you get the chance to add a huge amount all at once - it feels fantastic! especially if it's from found money - bahahahaha!

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  3. Great job, good friends ! Love to you both.

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    1. thanks so much Jane - and love back to you always!

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  4. Yay! Food storage! I never thought of putting the $ from choosing not to eat fast food aside. Great tip!

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    1. Ops! I meant to say more, but Renoman arrived home from work and I got distracted.

      I love having food storage and to go shopping in my own pantry. I keep a basket in there to carry everything I need for a recipe into the kitchen. It's a lovely feeling especially when we are snowed in!

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    2. teehee - that darn Renoman and his distractions!!! yep, when we go in to town and bring our snacks and whatnot with us, when we get home we always put the $12 dollars that we saved by not eating out in a jar. and yes - it is so great to go to your pantry and gather everything you need - although our pantry is a crawl-space and nothing like your gorgeous one! we have yet to get snowed in here, thank goodness and can easily go 3 weeks before we start running out of fresh produce. that will be fixed this year by building our greenhouse - i can't wait for the greenhouse!

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  5. Sweet Kymber,

    I love the idea you and Jam were able to save money on your safety maintenance to put extra toward additional food prep storage. Bulldog Man and I so agree with you and Sci. We've been prepping ourselves and putting things away.

    Make a snack pack and water or a drink before heading out any where. This will save you all kinds of money and time. As for coffee, instead of going to the coffee shop make coffee at home and fill a thermos. There are so many ways to be frugal and prep that don't require much money what so ever.

    Thanks for the great posts on food prepping my friends (Kymber and SciFiChick).

    Your Friend,
    Sandy
    P.S. Give Jam a hug from us here :-)

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    1. Sweet Sandy - as always, jam appreciates the hug and sends it right back at you! we were thrilled when we were told what it would cost to safety the truck - i loooove found money! and food stores are so important - especially living out here! and you are so right - we bring snacks and our own water whenever we go in to town. and you are very welcome for the post, my friend! lots of love and hugs to you!

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  6. How long does rice last for before it goes off? It's always nice to get some 'found' money!!

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    1. Joey - it really depends on how you store it, where you store it, what the general humidity/temp is like in your area, etc. i have read of people who kept rice properly stored for up to 15 years. we have been using rice that is about 2yrs old and it is still fine. if you are really interested, i can get you some links. and found money is the best money in the world! bahahahah!

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    2. How do you know when it's gone off? What does it look like?

      I never eat rice! Well I never cook rice. Sorry I'm not a good person to talk about food to am I? :D

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  7. I had to laugh at your rice comment. We go through almost two 50 lb bags of rice a year.

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    1. holy moly Ed, buddy - THAT is a lot of rice!!! how many people are you feeding?

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  8. Hey hon - Love the sky pic with its calming effect ! Thanks. I'm a prepper too - I prep myself to go to the store each day. Bahahahah !

    Now I know what to get you for those occasions - found money or bags of beans and rice. You've made this easy - bahahahah ! Seriously though, good tips and a wise way to spend the found money.

    Love always ... forever and a day sis !
    xoxoxoxo

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    1. hey sweet sister - i will always take pics of the sky for you! bahahahahah - you sure are a prepper! and ya - i think that i have told you before that i love found money, rice and beans and in that order too - bahahahahahah! and ya, when you are on a fixed income and live in the middle of nowhere you have to make it count how you spend your money! much love back to you sis - always, forever and a day! xoxoxoxox

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  9. I cannot help looking at your preps and thinking that when Kymber is finished, the food (all that rice and the beans etc.) will look and taste so much better than mine !

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    1. teehee. thanks Jane. we tend to like our rice plain but we do make nice stir fried rice often as well as aromatic rices with spices and veggies and stuff. we do a ton of different things with the beans - bean salads, soups, stews - the usual suspects! we love our rice and beans!

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    2. You are both so wonderfully creative with food, and this is so very important ! Love to you both !

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  10. C'mon now Kymber. You know I've been around the block a time or two and was once owned by a heathen chinee who loved her sticky rice. I agree it was mighty fine eats, but I never did figure out how to cook it palatable. Offer up a couple receipts for this fine job.

    As for the rest I could not agree more.

    Winston

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    1. Winston buddy - sorry about that heathen - teehee! i loooove my sticky rice and i'll tell you my secret: i couldn't cook rice if my life depended on it - i never could cook rice. but jambaloney is a rice cooker extraordinnaire so it's his job to make the rice and his rice is the best in the world. he might even be able to rival the heathen!!! he also cooks all of our pasta - i can never tell if it's done or not!

      do you want me to take a pic of the receipt?

      thanks buddy. nice to see you here!

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  11. Some weeks, I only buy one small thing. But, all those puny purchases add up.

    That was a great windfall.

    Now, I would not try to criticize anyone's rice choices, but I store brown rice instead of white. I just love love love brown rice. There is a certain brown rice that will store as long as white rices. I have a post about that if anyone is interested. The nutrition is 80% of the original rice and high nutrition.

    http://practical-parsimony.blogspot.com/2012/09/whole-grain-brown-rice-for-longterm.html

    When I read the "recipe," I wondered how many helpings it made and how often during a year.

    Just curious--how do you store this food? Mylar? Glass jars? I love fruit jars and already have them.

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    1. PracticalP - that's exactly it! every little bit that you add, will eventually add up. and it was a great windfall for us - we were so happy to get money back!

      as for the brown rice, i know that it is better for you but i just can't make myself eat it. it's a silly visual thing - i loooove my white rices!

      as for the recipe, it would depend on how many people, how many helpings per day, etc. to figure out. for us, by adding this windfall to our other food stores will easily keep us in food for years - especially when we build our heated greenhouse and grow our own food year round - woohoo - i can't wait!

      large purchases of food like this will be stored in food-grade buckets, in mylar and sealed, etc. and that will go to the pantry. i like to use mason jars to hold daily-use things like pasta, rice, dried beans, etc.

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  12. Another GREAT and inspiring post!

    Jamb-man inspired me to build a bike trailer that I have yet to post but have found to be very useful.

    Our best to both of you. Keep it in drive, we know reverse sometimes takes us where we don't want to go... ;^)

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    1. thanks so much Mo! and jambaloney can't wait to see your bike trailer - it's really cool that you built one! our best back to you guys - how are the dogs doing? oh and bahahahha - he's never allowed to back up again!

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  13. "rice and beans" are "the basics" in many larders about

    stored away in glass or metal containers with a good lid keeps away mice, insects, and mold

    may you never undercook the beans or overcook the rice

    Wildflower

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    1. Wildflower - if you got a good store of rice and beans, then you won't go hungry! and we will store all of this food properly so as not to waste a drop. and thank you for that kind wish!

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    2. and two other cheap items one can stick away are oatmeal and dried pasta

      peanut butter can be stored for several years

      whatever you perfer; a starving corpse is not an option ever....

      Wildflower

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  14. Wow! What a wonderful windfall. I just love it when things like that happen. I think one of the greatest things about the "scotch broth" is that it can be changed to suit your own tastes and in any size batches you want to do. (And it helps if you don't have a clothing expense < wink > )
    Thanks for the link-up. :o)

    Oh... your email had me seriously laughing! You guys have a wonderful weekend.
    Hugs,
    Sci

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    1. ya, it sure was a windfall Sci and it was by seeing your re-post that i knew exactly what we were doing with it! we would have added to our food stores regardless, but the scotch broth really got me thinking. as for the email - yep, i am a bonafide idiot - bahahahahah!

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  15. I can't help myself either - anytime I see dried goods on sale I HAVE to buy as many as I can fit into my shopping trolley. I figure that if I don't use them during my lifetime, my kids will use them when I'm gone LOL

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    1. Dani - that's just it - if stored properly, dry foods can last a goodly long time!

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  16. Thanks for reinforcing the obvious. Dried beans and rice are the basis to build an oversized pantry for our less than brave new world.

    They are simple, almost infinitely customizable and little windfals of meat make the meal a feast.

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    1. Degringolade - thanks for stopping in. and you are right, Sir, we are living in a less than brave new world and one can never be too prepared. and yes, you can do a million different things with rice and beans - and by adding foraged wild food, your own home-grown food and adding hunting and fishing to the mix - you can have delicious food for years!

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  17. Lucky you! I agree that it's so nice to have extra $$ when you least expect it. I have become addicted to Bob's Red Mill bean soup mixes. They have them at the Big Lots stores. I put them in jars & then vacuum seal them.

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    1. thanks DFW - we sure felt lucky and once we got all the goodies home we were dancing around like little kids giggling and high-fiving each other - it really felt good to increase the food stores!

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  18. You can never prep too much. And you def. Can't have too much rice. I am starting to stock up on evap. milk too. ND actually loves the taste of it, so i thought it would be good to keep on hand...

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    1. there's no such thing as prepping too much and there is certainly no such thing as too much rice - we love rice!!! i have also been stocking up on evaporated milk - it works wonders when you don't have milk and it is good for you.

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  19. I do a lot of "buying a little here and there"- get a couple extra cans/bags of something and stash it. I like to have a few canned things in case there was no water and/or fuel to cook in a real emergency. I know some people also create "bean flour" to use. Good ideas and it all helps! And keep spices on hand!
    Nancy
    Little Homestead in Boise

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    1. hey Nancy po - thanks for dropping by. we usually pick up a bit of this and that at a time, but with this found money we were able to get a huge haul. i will look more into bean flour - what a great idea! and yes, we have tons of spices in our food stores - they will make all of the difference!

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  20. great haul..and it is ALWAYS nice to pay less to get vehicles fixed..A* and I have a stockpile of food which needs revisiting now that it is a new year so we don't waste any now that I think about it!

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