Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: July 28 ~ August 3, 2019

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Home from our short trip to southern Illinois - it was a fun trip with two women I grew up with (one lived a mile east, the other a mile south), but it is also good to be back home - where I don't have to be tense about having minimal preps on hand :lol:

On vacation this week, and have knee/meniscus surgery planned for Thursday so will spend the next few days getting things ready for that - finishing up the school supply shopping, picking up some fresh stuff at the store, and prepping and freezing a few oven ready meals. Will also need to check the ads to make sure I don't miss any good bargains. One of the ladies on the trip is a dept manager at WM and says they have been running out of stock on canned veggies for several weeks now; she was putting it down to a new manager in that dept not ordering correctly, but after a discussion is now going to check in with that person to see if it's a supply issue instead.

If it cools down this week, I will probably pick up a few bags of mixed frozen veggies to run through the dehydrator; that's something I can do with minimal standing time. I can't recall at this time how many 12-16 oz bags of dehydrated veggies I could vacuum seal in a quart jar; reckon I'll pick up a half dozen and start from there...

Off to curl up in my recliner for a nap; just don't sleep well in a strange place - especially one with raccoons knocking on the door at 3 am to ask why you didn't put your trash out :lol: (Well, that's what it sounded like they were doing!!)

Take care all; have a safe and happy week!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
We are ending our trip to Illinois (from Louisiana) in the morning and heading home. We have been visiting DH holder, his middle son and his lovely wife just had twin boys. They are all doing great, but a bit overwhelmed as these are their first children.

I have some favorite thrift stores here and scored several nice things for myself. I’ve gained about 15 pounds in the last few months and have been desperate for something to wear, I’m in good shape now, even bought a few long sleeve shirts to tide me over until I can get the weight back off.

Went to a dollar tree and found things there that are not in my local dollar tree stores. No shortage on the shelves there or in the huge Walmart I went to in Decatur.

Judy
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
I found some things for the short term pantry on sale, so stocked up. Put up my first items in gallon mylar bags--3 of rice, 2 of pasta, and 1 of oatmeal. I used the ziplock mylar bags and bought a hair straightener today to seal them after I popped in the oxy absorbers. I was quite pleased with the results and with how easy it was.

When cleaning out and tossing out-dated food, we got rid of a lot of very old flour. We just don't use it in regular rotation, but would mix it with fresh ground wheat for bread if needed. I decided to just store 50 lbs (all in one spot) and just rotate it out after one year. If things were going downhill fast, I could add another 50 lbs with no problem. Flour is still fairly cheap at the moment (but a lot more than what I paid for it last time!)
 

moldy

Veteran Member
We hit the big city Saturday and I got a bunch of new to me clothes. I need something a little dressier than what I own. Also hit a discount grocery (sure didn't feel like discount!) and a 'farmer's market' type of place. Bought 40 lbs of organic bananas for $15.

Sunday, I spent cooking up turkeys out of the freezer. These were 3 year old birds, so after cooking, I ground the meat and it is currently in the freeze dryer. DH wants me to clean the poultry specifically out of the freezers - so that is my chore for the next few weeks. I can only do so much at once. When I"m done with what is currently cooked, I have another 5-8 old birds to finish, then I will can the chickens (after I cook and debone them. Canning bone-in just seems like such a waste of space). Nephew came to visit with one of his friends. They didn't manage to get rid of any raccoons for me, but got one of the cars running again and the tractor worked on.

I went to the dentist today and had a filling done and a crown replaced. When TSHTF I don't want to have dental issues!!
 

Digger

Veteran Member
I see bee larva in the split hive I made. I ended up having to buy a laying queen. The queen that hatched from my brood was not there after a week. I am thinking she did not come back after her flight out of the hive to mate. So, I paid $35 for one bee. �� But it is still much cheaper than a nuk of bees cost. I plan to try again next spring to do another split. I have learned a lot this year.

We bought a 50# sack of sweet corn. I shared some with my sister and both my kids. The rest I put in the freezer. I am not canning much this year. We have a lot that needs to be used up. I will be canning some chicken when it cools off a little. I have some old birds I need to butcher. I need to order some new ones too. I had 4 hens sitting on eggs and not one hatched. I think my roosters might be duds. I know one is too old, but I thought the other two would still do the job.
 

Illini Warrior

Illini Warrior
I found some things for the short term pantry on sale, so stocked up. Put up my first items in gallon mylar bags--3 of rice, 2 of pasta, and 1 of oatmeal. I used the ziplock mylar bags and bought a hair straightener today to seal them after I popped in the oxy absorbers. I was quite pleased with the results and with how easy it was.

When cleaning out and tossing out-dated food, we got rid of a lot of very old flour. We just don't use it in regular rotation, but would mix it with fresh ground wheat for bread if needed. I decided to just store 50 lbs (all in one spot) and just rotate it out after one year. If things were going downhill fast, I could add another 50 lbs with no problem. Flour is still fairly cheap at the moment (but a lot more than what I paid for it last time!)


if you want to save the extra $$$$ for buying the zip lock feature on the mylar >>> a handy dandy tool for packaging are the 1" binder clips you can find at your local office supply store ....
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Question.....

I came across two jars of dehydrated bell peppers in the back of one of my pantry shelves. The jars were still sealed, but the peppers had turned dark, not green. Are they still good to use, or should I toss them? These were bought at Walmart, not something I dehydrated myself.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Dried peppers will darken with age (actually, almost all dehydrated foods will... the sulfuring pr9cess often used commercially delays the process but doesn't prevent it entirely). However, they are probably still fine... open a jar and sniff... they should smell like peppers, and not have any hint of musty odor.

Summerthyme
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Dried peppers will darken with age (actually, almost all dehydrated foods will... the sulfuring pr9cess often used commercially delays the process but doesn't prevent it entirely). However, they are probably still fine... open a jar and sniff... they should smell like peppers, and not have any hint of musty odor.

Summerthyme

Oh, ok, Summerthyme. I don't use a lot of dehydrated stuff, so had no clue about the peppers. The ones I've bought pretty recently (within the last year) all still look fresh. The older ones had a expiration date of 2012, so thought there was possibly something wrong with them even though they were still sealed. I try not to let things get that far outdated, and was surprised when I found them. Thanks!
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
I don't use a lot of dehydrated stuff either... the exception being onions, garlic, celery and peppers. Two years ago, I dried eight bushels of assorted colored sweet bell peppers... green, orange, gold, red. They are so pretty in jars! I managed to get all 8 bushels into 12 quart jars! I keep one smaller jar in my kitchen pantry, and use them in casseroles, Spanish rice, omelets and other dishes. They're really pretty indistinguishable from fresh in cooked dishes.

Summerthyme
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I don't use a lot of dehydrated stuff either... the exception being onions, garlic, celery and peppers. Two years ago, I dried eight bushels of assorted colored sweet bell peppers... green, orange, gold, red. They are so pretty in jars! I managed to get all 8 bushels into 12 quart jars! I keep one smaller jar in my kitchen pantry, and use them in casseroles, Spanish rice, omelets and other dishes. They're really pretty indistinguishable from fresh in cooked dishes.

Summerthyme

8 bushels!!!! I don't think I've even grown that many peppers in my lifetime! Peppers are one thing we have never been able to grow well here. What little I do manage to get from my garden are chopped and put in my freezer. I use a lot of peppers in cooking, though, so I buy them already dehydrated from Walmart in 3 oz glass jars. Dried green onions, regular chopped onions, and chives, as well.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Summerthyme, dried bell peppers are one of my pantry staples - how nice to have the multiple colors! I like to throw some chopped onion in the mix when I dehydrate them so that I only have to have one jar in the cabinet for that type of seasoning.

This week has been focused on adding more Ensure to Hubby's shelf, and more laundry detergent, dish soap, bathing, and personal hygiene supplies to the store room. Cut the amount of my usual order for the group buy in half due to the surgery and not knowing exactly when I will be going back to work. The group buys used to come up about monthly, but they have been happening more often as the bargain hunter in charge has been getting antsy and has been really searching for the good deals - we are so blessed to have him to do this for us.

School supply shopping is nearly done and the group of children that I was originally taking care of are all bagged up and ready to go. I'll need to make one more quick trip before school starts in two weeks as daughter asked if I could add another child to my list. It's amazing how much shorter the lists get as the child gets older - those calculators are crazy expensive though!

Have a great day, All!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Today is payday for the first shopping trip of the month. I don't have anything in mind for storage today, but will probably end up adding a few odds and ends.

I've been in the process this week of clearing some meat out of one of my freezers. We plan to make a run a few counties over in the next week or so to the butcher shop to stock up on more pork. It's the cheapest place around to buy meat. All kinds and cuts. We take two large coolers when we go, and fill them up.

Happy prepping, everyone!
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
For those who can't grow peppers, or just want the convenience of buying them, unless I'm very wrong about Wal-Mart's prices, you'll probably do better here...

https://www.atlanticspice.com/Peppers-Mixed-Bell--1-Lb_p_70.html

They also have all green ones a few cents cheaper per pound.

I've been developing several varieties of colored bell peppers from my own breeding, which is why I had so many... I save the seeds from the best fruit, but I can't bear to toss out the edible fruit! We do eat a lot of fresh raw peppers in season... I can't wait for them to be ready in a few weeks.

Summerthyme
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
8 bushels!!!! I don't think I've even grown that many peppers in my lifetime! Peppers are one thing we have never been able to grow well here. What little I do manage to get from my garden are chopped and put in my freezer. I use a lot of peppers in cooking, though, so I buy them already dehydrated from Walmart in 3 oz glass jars. Dried green onions, regular chopped onions, and chives, as well.

Try the Tabasco pepper. If you keep the deer off of it, you will get a tree in about 3 years. Lots a d lots of peppers also.
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
For those who can't grow peppers, or just want the vinvenience of buying them, unless I'm very wrong about Wal-Mart's prices, you'll probably do better here...

https://www.atlanticspice.com/Peppers-Mixed-Bell--1-Lb_p_70.html

They also have all green ones a few cents cheaper per pound.

I've been developing several varieties of colored bell peppers from my own breeding, which is why I had so many... I save the seeds from the best fruit, but I can't bear to toss out the edible fruit! We do eat a lot of fresh raw peppers in season... I can't wait for them to be ready in a few weeks.

Summerthyme

As do we. We can our extra peppers for salsa, etc later.
 

Marseydoats

Veteran Member
I had just switched my cats to Friskies last month and now I've got like 50 cans I've got to toss. My Walmart won't let you return anything without a receipt. It's just money loss and aggravation, I'm very grateful none of my cats have gotten sick.
I don't know if it's old age or stress or what, but I managed to forget that I have to pay property tax next week. So probably no prepping for the next few weeks.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thanks for the link, Summerthyme! For a 1lb jar, that seems a reasonable price. I don't know how much Cary paid for those at Walmart for the 3 0z jars. I'll have to check.

The only peppers we eat are sweet bell and banana . No hot peppers for us.

For storage, today, I only picked up more gravy mixes, taco seasoning, coffee, and a new chicken rub I've been wanting to try on baked chicken all from Sam's.
 
I live in a small town with two nice sized grocery stores....I haven't seen shelves that are bare or close to it, so far, although maybe by the end of the week, that could be the case. No Walmart here, either, though there is one about ten miles away. I prefer shopping locally, most of the time.

Today, I ran across the following article on stocking up....and how shortages are really beginning to show up. There are lots of photos, and ideas on what to get for your preps, as well as places to get long term storage foods. Below the article are two videos...the first is about 26 min., the second close to ten min.

Because the article is quite long, I chose to just give the link and the description.
http://allnewspipeline.com/Trucker_Bust_Food_Shortages_See_The_Big_Picture.php

Aug.1, by Stefan Stanford
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Oh, I forgot to mention. Thursday, while doing our shopping, I noticed that pork had taken a huge jump in price at our local Walmart. Was 4.68 lb for boneless rib-eye chops. 14.98 for a family pack!
 

Night Owl

Veteran Member
Noticed every produce fresh and canned goods took a big jump in price from last week.

Can goods averaged about 12¢/ can and same per pound with fresh produce. It isn’t going to get any cheaper unless there is a overstock of items from now on.
 

SAPPHIRE

Veteran Member
noticed price hike here front range CO up to 50 cents an item...no specifics since I didn't write it down...…

picked up some clearance cereal organic corn flakes for 99 cents a box and for short term 85/15 ground beef for 1.99/lb...…..

my prepping will diminish (sigh)...rent just boosted $100.00 month and my medicare kicked in Aug.1 which reduces my SS by $135.50.....sheesh


too many hands picking our pockets!
 
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