Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: March 11 ~ 17, 2018

[ReneeT]

Whew - up since around 0100 with a sick little boy; low grade temp, emesis x 7 (so far), plus diarrhea. Fun, fun, fun! On the plus side, I haven't had any problem adjusting to the time change this morning I've got the little guy sipping orange Jello water to help with the diarrhea - 1 pkg of Jello mixed with 1 cup of hot water - good thing I had his favorite flavor! Glad I have plenty of children's tylenol, Gatorade, ingredients to make homemade sports drink, Jello, Pull-ups, towels and laundry detergent on hand!

Picked up some extra hours at work one day this past week - which was good luck as my co-worker who keeps watch for good deals on silver/gold coins sent me a text that same day, so I had the extra cash to join the group buy.

Had to run the boys to their ju-jitsu class yesterday, so hitched the trailer to the van and went to the yard waste site to load up some free mulch - I only got about half a trailer load as it was still partially frozen, plus I got tired pretty fast - need to work out a little more with the weights, I guess. I used the extra time to run to Dollar Tree to pick up some emery boards for work, plus 3 bath foofies to use in making the grandkid's Easter baskets this year. I'm going to use beach towels folded in half to make a bunny shaped basket - here is a video explaining how to make them with washcloths: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8wXAKSy-oI I will use the bath foofies for the tails; still have to figure out what to use for eyes CVS has regular and Easter candy on sale this week, so I will check prices and coupons and probably pick up a few things as it's just 3 weeks until Easter.

There was a benefit dinner in our closest little town last evening for a Veteran who'd lost his home and belongings to a fire, so we stopped in on the way home from town and bought 4 meals, 2 firearm raffle tickets, and donated an additional $20 - the gallon pickle jar had already been emptied twice so I'm hopeful that the benefit went well for him; the place was packed when I went in at 4pm and it still had hours to go. I had to park the boys in between a popcorn machine and video poker game, then tag the retired police officer at the nearest table to keep an eye on them while I fought my way to the serving line for the meals - he was amused by their Dollar Tree handcuffs The boys didn't care for the meals so settled for pb&j sandwiches and raw veggies with dip for supper, so Hubby & I will have their meals for supper tonight.

Have spent some time this morning paring down my closet a bit - boxed up quite a few 'dress' clothes for the thrift store, put a stack of fancy sweatshirts in a bag to carry to our clothing pantry at work, cut up some worn/stained long and short sleeve t-shirts that I'd worn to work outside and tossed them in the metal trash can in the shed for rags, then moved some tops that were looking a bit tired from the closet to the work clothes drawer to replace them. Pared the boys' closet down a bit as well - too small T-ball cleats, size 3T pj's and clothes, and - shhhhh..... some toys as well (I have to shop at one thrift store in town and donate to the other one so that the boys and I don't buy my donations back )

Guess I'd better go get that third load of laundry put in the dryer - amazing how much laundry one sick little boy can create!

Take care all; hope you all have a happy and peaceful week!

 

[anna43]

Do you worry about your son's not accepting different foods? To me it would be a huge worry with picky eaters in a SHTF situation. Not saying yours are picky eaters, but in general that is a worry. I have a step-grandson who is a teenager and still will only eat boxed mac & cheese and a few other foods. Even adults can have issues with different foods and I just don't see how its possible to keep everything the same post SHTF. Obviously our goal is to store what we eat and eat what we store, but long term things will inevitably change and probably change drastically. The man who wants a slab of meat on his plate at least once a day or someone who wants salad every meal won't be happy with the fact eating from storage 100% means the fresh stuff will disappear until/unless we have it from the garden. Where I live garden produce is only available in a narrow window of maybe three to four months.

I had to go on a diet of plain white boiled rice as a child until my hives (head to toe and everywhere in-between) went away and have not cared for rice since. Prepping for Y2K I decided I had to learn to eat rice so started collecting recipes to try. I still have a very hard time with plain rice, but add any kind of "extra" and I can eat it. I keep two Britta pitchers going on my counter and drink my way thru both each day. I don't drink much else other than water -- which again is a disciplined change in behavior.

I no longer have children at home, but when I did I stored chocolate and strawberry flavoring for milk to make powdered milk more palatable for kids. Also, pudding mixes. I don't drink milk (see hives above!), but do use it for cooking and occasionally pudding or cereal. I've been storing shelf stable milk from Dollar Tree and find it tastes okay for my usage. If someone is a milk drinker and has tried it, I'd like to hear what you think of it.

Hope your little one is feeling better and no one else caught his bug.

 

[ReneeT]

Well, Anna - I came down with the lousy bug about 7pm last night lol! Whatever it is, was quick to catch; and quick to go away as well; grandson was able to go to school yesterday. Luckily I have great co-workers and one was willing to swap days with me, so technically, I didn't miss a day of work today. I knew I wasn't up to climbing up and down stairs, and would likely knock myself senseless on the top bunk frame if I tried to rest in older grandson's bed and had to get out of it in a hurry, so I just triple layered the couch and recliner with old sheets, snagged the oldest pillows and double cased them, set a bucket handily by the couch, then crashed. Hubby brought me a 12 oz Gatorade this morning before he left for work, I sipped on it from about 10am - when the worst was over, until noon or so. Just mixed up a batch of strawberry jello, filled two 8 oz canning jars and put them in the fridge to chill, then drank the little that was left in the measuring cup. Also put a pot of tea on - I'll need the caffeine to fend off headaches since I DO seem to need my coffee but don't dare try it yet.

Peanut butter is the fall back at our house for when the grandkids don't like something; older is a pickier eater than the younger one, but he will always eat peanut butter. One wants jelly, the other one doesn't - and they both like them cut into circles like those ones from the store. I'm fond of crusts and peanut butter, so I eat the cut off pieces We can raise peanuts hereabouts but it would probably take a quarter acre to keep those boys in peanut butter lol! I honestly didn't expect the kids to enjoy the benefit supper meal - smoked cabbage and baked beans (what, no weenies!?) and pork bbq, so was prepared with options. They are good about eating spaghetti, meatloaf, homemade chicken strips, tacos (messy!!), home canned fruit and homemade fruit leather, and just about any fresh fruit - our season here starts in May with strawberries and ends in October with apples, pears, persimmons, etc...

I keep a good stock of pudding mixes and Jello at home - as well as served the way they are supposed to be, they make good pudding/ice pops, and the Jello is also used for flavoring the apples and applesauce I dehydrate for fruit snacks. I keep lots of cocoa on hand for making Hubby's hot cocoa mix for work, it's been known to sneak into hot cereal and other items when they seem blah. Vanilla extract is kept on hand for general needs, and a drop or two in a half gallon of mixed up powdered milk improves the palatability quite a bit. I keep other extracts on hand as well such as orange, lemon, pineapple - things we wouldn't be able to grow around here and would miss the taste of.

 

[Barb]

My cousin and her hubby use dollar store shelf stable milk and they like it.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

I keep other extracts on hand as well such as orange, lemon, pineapple - things we wouldn't be able to grow around here and would miss the taste of.

Mint comes in a pineapple flavored variety and there are lemon flavored herb substitutes for temperate climates.

 

[ReneeT]

I raise peppermint and spearmint, OGM; they do fairly well around here as long as I keep them in a shaded, moist area. I also grow lemon balm which grows like a weed and populates it's self by seed and runner both to the point that it is a weed lol! I've tried to grow some of the other flavored mints - pineapple, orange, chocolate, but they do not seem to make it through the winter outside, even when mulched heavily. I may try again this year...

Well, one bonus came out of missing work yesterday - both RNs on the shift called in, so the boss ended up covering my job, and he didn't enjoy it one bit! He told me that he missed meds (caught by the other RN), didn't chart off on some others that he gave, begged someone else to to the tube feedings, had a heck of a time charting, forgot to put in notes, etc.... It's good that he now has an understanding of what we actually do! Then some people came in from the new program that is supposed to figure out our staffing/acuity - which didn't work the way it was supposed to. They kept me sitting at the desk until I got fed up and said (more than once) "This is WAY more complicated than it needs to be." At 8am, I finally said "Get it working and I'll do it, but I don't have any more time to waste on you - I have patients whose meds and other treatments are due and past due NOW and they are my priority." and walked away. I have no clue what happened after that; they had disappeared by the time I made it back to the nurses' station 1.5 hours later... You'd think they'd trial this stuff and work the bugs out instead of just throwing it out there and irritating people!

Okay, I think I'm over it now

And thank you all for allowing me to vent

There was one bright (and shiny!) spot in the day- the silver I'd ordered through the group buy was delivered at work today. The organizer of the group buy said he had some spares, so I dug in my pocket was able to pick up a few more than I'd ordered; and still had enough $ left to stop and pick up a few groceries on the way home. I guess 2018 will be the Year of the Maple Leaf for the grandkids and great-nephew...

Reckon I'd better start winding down; have to be on the road by 0730 for a dental appointment; will take advantage of being in a 'Big' town to hit Staples, plus pick up a couple more sets of shelves for the pantry from Menard's - Summerthyme has me wanting to get buckets organized instead of stacked, so I'm going to get some lighter stuff off the heavy duty shelves so I can move the buckets in their place.

Take care all; have a safe week!

 

[anna43]

I planted peppermint, spearmint and a third variety I don't recall in an area where the sump pump from the well pit emptied. It was a wet year and that stuff went crazy growing over waist high! I can't seem to keep it going where I am now. Maybe I need to add more water or move it to another spot. Because of its spreading nature I don't want it in the main garden.

 

[moldy]

Not posting a lot due to time restrictions - just so busy! Things here are VERY dry. There were 6 fire calls for our county (all volunteer FF) in the last 2.5 hours. Lightening is setting off fires and the poor FF are working double time to try to control them. A storm front is coming thru,but now is just wind - no moisture.

 

[ReneeT]

Prayers for your safety, Moldy; and that of your community...