Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: March 22 ~ 28, 2020

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Good Morning, All; I hope everyone is doing as well as possible this morning.

The temperature started dropping here yesterday - we did get a bit of snow then, and have had short flurries off and on this morning, but it all melted as soon as it hit the ground. The thermometer is still sitting on 32*F, but I think the high is supposed to get up to 37*F. I so want to get out in the garden!!

Hubby and I don't drink milk (though there are times I think I keep a cow in business producing the half 'n half for my coffee), so I had only picked up a half gallon when I snagged the boys this weekend; it was down to about 2 cups. Hubby was making pancakes for the boys' breakfasts and had it sitting beside the box of pancake mix; I moved it back to the fridge so they could have milk to drink, and plopped down the bag of dry milk in it's place. He was reading the directions on reconstituting it when I dumped 1/3 cup in with the pancake mix and advised him to mix it up a bit, then add the water called for instead of mixing up the milk - save a step. I checked the back up box of pancake mix and it is complete, so we won't have to bother with milk when we switch over to it. I had picked up 2 each of baking soda and baking powder to rotate in to stock the last time I went to Aldi (they were fully stocked at the time) so we are good to make pancakes when the mix runs out.

Prepping this week has been pretty much limited to standing back and watching other people freaking out. I did add some 2 gallon plastic buckets with lids from Home Depot, but could only get 5 as they had more buckets than lids. I'm using them to repack a couple of buckets of the heavier stuff that I'm now barely able to move when it's in a 5 gallon bucket. The grand-dog and I also went around the yard and picked up sticks, divvied them into two piles under the shed porch - kindling and firewood. Once it dries out some, the grandsons and I will do hobo packets on the grill or in the coals, and make a 'Boy Scout' oven to bake some biscuits or cookies.

Speaking of biscuits, I did snag a couple of cartons of whipping cream on my last Aldi run, so I will be making up a couple batches of sweet cream freezer biscuits later in the week. I'd just as soon have biscuits or corn bread as yeast bread; Hubby still has half a loaf of yeast bread in the bread drawer so I'm not worried about having to make any for a few days.

Well, the granddog has dropped his tennis ball in my lap three times since I started typing and I'm having trouble saying no to those beseeching puppy dog eyes, so I reckon I'd better post this and go let him run off some energy!

You folks all take care out there, stay as safe as you can!
 
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prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
Had to pick up a prescription for me and one for a disabled friend, so visited two different drugstores. Managed to get more laundry detergent, some milk, and some snack items. At home all of the laundry is done, the bathrooms have been cleaned, and the SO is working on the yard. We have been destressing at night by watching some favorite old movies.

Had to go see a client today and it was a drive. Saw a lot of people out walking, families out walking the dogs, etc. Few cars on the road. Restaurants are only open for takeout. Just about everything else is closed. Got gas, though our prices have not dropped at all. Went over to see the grandkids yesterday (twins, almost 5). They are having a hard time keeping them busy as all the parks are closed, as are the museums, etc. We had a backyard pool party picnic (blow up pool for the kids) and had pbjs, chips and oreos. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time and it was nice just to sit in the backyard and chat. Will probably do the same thing next weekend if we aren't on complete lockdown.
 

BinWa

Veteran Member
I have really concentrated on prepping as a priority these last two weeks.. only after working & sleeping! Been trying to do some quick shopping every other night after I am off work but there’s been little to no basic pantry items left. Did get a lot of soups and canned fruit & vegetables by grabbing them after a supply came in.. on my lunch hour before they were wiped out.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I was going tomorrow to pick up commodities, however there is now a case in my parish (county) so we are not leaving home. There is nothing they could be giving out that I need. I did order some pickling spices from Amazon, need to do something with some of our excess eggs. Other than that I need to get up off my behind and get back to getting things organized.

I saw a video of a fellow that has a garden. He said the three things that he grows that gives the best return are green beans, potatoes and butternut squash. I ordered some butternut squash seeds for fall planting.

Judy
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Today starts our 3rd week of self isolation. We haven't left our property, and no one allowed in. We're doing fine, and have plenty of work to do inside and outdoors. We are not wanting or lacking anything. With at least a year's worth of storage foods, there has been no need for us to keep going out in public for more groceries or other items. We prepped for just a time like this, and am grateful to God that He allowed us to do so. Very thankful!
 

zookeeper9

Veteran Member
I had to pick up my daughter from her university the school has shut down for on campus for the rest of the semester. That was an interesting trip. :/

But I have been stocking and prepping since this first hit the radar in January, so I really don't have much to do. I am keeping an eye on things and the stock, I figure we are good for at least 3 months. But I will continue to monitor.
 

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We are in isolation for the third week. We are getting FedEx and UPS shipments here though. I move the boxes into the garage with a two-wheeled cart and leave it for several days before opening. Nothing coming here is needed now items. But while shipping is still available I will take full advantage of it even though we are good for a year. I am now planning for additional people if family shows up here.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We are in isolation for the third week. We are getting FedEx and UPS shipments here though. I move the boxes into the garage with a two-wheeled cart and leave it for several days before opening. Nothing coming here is needed now items. But while shipping is still available I will take full advantage of it even though we are good for a year. I am now planning for additional people if family shows up here.

Yeah, we're waiting on some packages to be delivered, too. Will take necessary precautions when they arrive. Our prescription drugs come through the mail, and I have ordered things from Sam's. The items from Sam's isn't anything people have been rushing out to buy, though. Vitamins, mostly.
 

anna43

Veteran Member
For me this is self-quarantine week two. No shopping or going anywhere and no visitors welcome. I've been prepping since pre-Y2K and will now see how good a job I've done. I live alone so no one else to worry about or to listen to complain about food I fix or how bored they are.

Last week a friend kept calling to ask if I needed anything so when she called on Saturday saying she was going to town I asked her to pick up potatoes, bananas and bread for me. I was out of the first two items so was happy to have them but definitely could have survived without them. I have instant potatoes, canned potatoes, frozen potatoes and dehydrated potatoes. Freeze dried bananas. I have milk in the freezer, shelf stable milk in the pantry and dried milk someplace in storage.

Although I do have more than adequate food storage for several months, I'm trying to be very careful with using it. As I saw on a blog I follow, we should use our food as if it was WWII rationing. I also have adequate tp, otc meds and RX meds on-hand for a couple months and will be careful about not wasting anything. This isn't the end of the world, but it very well could be a drastic new world once we come out the other side. The economy has taken a huge hit and will take time to recover -- perhaps a very long time -- or maybe a total new reality -- we just don't know.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Since I'm not adding to my preps I'm working on getting what I have squared away. Its a long hard slog to get it all done, I really ramped up my prepping almost a year ago, thinking about things that might be affected by crop losses in 2019. I just stacked it all up and didn't get it organized. If I don't have it and can't get it we will do without. Been there done that through the years.

I just pulled out a couple of cases of shaklee snack bars that expired about 10 months ago, I'm putting them in mylar and will put o2 in the packages. These packages along with a variety of other goods will be stored in strong totes and I may stack them in an empty space in my closet.

Judy
 

onmyown30

Veteran Member
We moved my sons stuff from the dorm yesterday and plugged his mini fridge in the back room. So I did go get a couple jugs of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Also got a few nut pod coffee creamers for me. That was going to be our last Walmart trip for awhile but we did go out this afternoon looking for tomato cages. Found some at tractor supply in town and came home. We done we can live happily on what we have for about 4 months maybe longer
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
In hindsight, I wish I had stored more canned and powdered milk. I sure don't want to run out. I guess I'll have to ration what I have for awhile.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Judy... I dunno about putting stuff that's already almost a year past it's expiry date in mylar... I'd put it into the pantry (in the front) and start using it. Mylar and O2 absorbers aren't magic... they preserve whatever freshness is there when you seal them up, but old food will be older food in a few months or years.

At the LEAST, label it with a notation that they were sealed when out of date...

Summerthyme
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Judy... I dunno about putting stuff that's already almost a year past it's expiry date in mylar... I'd put it into the pantry (in the front) and start using it. Mylar and O2 absorbers aren't magic... they preserve whatever freshness is there when you seal them up, but old food will be older food in a few months or years.

At the LEAST, label it with a notation that they were sealed when out of date...

Summerthyme
these are snack bars and we have four cases, my thinking is they would be better off in the mylar than on the shelf in boxes, they have been in a fridg since we got them at an auction. Each bar has 9 grams of protein and we burned ourselves out of them soon after we got them. I need the space in the fridg.

Judy
 

moldy

Veteran Member
A bunch of days off in a row!! Trying to organize, DH got laid off so he is out working on the garden (it will be expanded a lot!!). I'm trying to get some tinctures done, but they take time and can't really be rushed.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
Hubby got the hay pastures sprayed yesterday. I sold more hay over the weekend. Today if it is not too windy, we need to spray fruit trees.

I am steadily working on the garden. None of my spinach came up. I a replanted from seed out of my freezer. Maybe it will do better. Potatoes, snow peas, and onions look good. I found the first 3 asparagus spears yesterday. I built a cold frame to start tomatoes, peppers, and a couple early squash plants. I had slacked off on the garden the last year or two and did not can as much. But it was still plenty for the two of us. This year I am trying to grow all I can to share with the kids. Daughter has started a garden. But our sons family just started out at a new place and has not gotten that far along.
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
Popped into Aldi's yesterday. Managed to get bagels and english muffins (limit 2 on bread items), raspberries and a whole pineapple, roma tomatoes and some cucumbers. They still had a fair amount of produce at decent prices, so that was nice. The canned foods were limited to 2 or 4 of each kind, so I got 2 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of evaporated milk.

I was mainly there for the dairy stuff--1 gal milk, 1 doz eggs (limit of 2, but I had some already), 2 lbs of shredded mozzarella cheese. Low on eggs, but plenty of everything else. I also got some pork sausage, a pound of bacon, 2 packages of beef hotdogs, and a family size package of chicken tenderloins that were on sale. Chicken was the only meat they had in abundance, everything else was pretty much gone. Got some canned biscuits, some frozen pizza, some orange juice, some chips, and some frozen apple strudel and got out of there.

I really just wanted to see how things were. Some holes (no tp, etc) but not bad. We are more than prepped, just a few "nice" items. Planning on staying home for now.
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Doing lots of canning. There is so much stuff to try to organize around here!! You'd think people had been living here 100 years or something!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Cleaning, organizing and packaging up boxed foods, either in jars or mylar, depending on what it is. I cleaned out the dehydrator from last fall, yucky, and getting ready to dehydrate all of my frozen veggies and fruit. I've got flour and rice in the fridgs and freezers that need to be stored properly. Any flour that I am currently using has to be refrigerated, due to my climate, even in the winter. No commodities this month.

Judy
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It's been a bright and sunny day here with temps in the mid 80's! It's dry enough outside to weed all my flower beds, and the raised beds for my yellow squash and zucchini, once the ground is warm enough to plant. That's kept me pretty busy today. Cary has been splitting firewood and stacking it. He has 3 large piles left to do. We should have 9 cords by the time he's finished to start on next winter.
 
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