Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: September 6 ~ 12, 2020

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Good Morning, All! Hope everyone is doing well today :)

Another, slightly larger (110cc vs 70 cc) dirt bike made it's way into the shed last week - older Grandson got to ride it for the first time yesterday - popped a wheelie that startled him when he took off as he was used to the much lower powered one that we got for younger grandson, but then he took right off at a slow pace. Papaw had to drive back and forth on it to show him how to shift, and the kick start is still a little tight for him, but he did well. He told me "This one vibrates more than the little one." More engine, Bud - learn to love it. (And keep your butt off the seat so much lol!)

Younger grandson is such a loving, giving soul - he gave the older one a few laps; then rode about 12 feet away and shouted encouragement to the older one. And, once stopped, told us that older grandson needed a flashy helmet like his and could they get pants that matched their bikes and and and - he was very excited to have someone to ride with.

Older grandson and I went to the store late (aka: 7:30, it closes at 8 lol) last night to pick up some cookie baking items - I have some in stock, but he wants to have an ice water and cookie stand on Labor Day as there are supposed to be rummage sales in town, so we bought new so he can price out the costs vs sales.

The chicken that the store had on sale last week 6# for $5 was all Italian seasoned - I had bought some the week prior and it was good, but I wasn't sure I wanted a lot of it. Trying to decide if I want to pick up another couple of bags - my freezer space has minimal openings and those few are being saved for apples for pies; guess I could pick up two bags to can and see how we like it - maybe it will give a new taste to chicken salad, or I could just mark those jars to be used in chicken Alfredo or minestrone. Hate to not take advantage of a good sale, but want to make sure I can and will use what I buy. From the amount in the store's freezer case, I'd say the sale is likely to run again this week. I'll have to wait until later in the week to pick it up because I don't have the freezer room to hold it frozen until I have time to can it - it will have to thaw it in coolers of ice water, which will only take a day or so as they are flat slices like you would cook for sandwiches. Maybe I'll pick up some Italian bread crumbs when I go to Aldi Tuesday morning and try frying some - anyone have any other ideas for using them??

I got out and cleaned up some of the garden yesterday in preps for tilling it up and planting at least a small fall garden - didn't get it all done, but I at least made a good start on it. I'm going to go out and salvage the tomatoes that are left, and have Hubby help me pull all the posts but 4 - I'll leave those to make a sort of cold frame for a few things to keep the salad veggies going for at least a little while. I'm also going to try to find some treated 2x8's to add height to some of my raised beds; I took down the upper boards on the ones that were 4 or 5 frames high, and used them to make raised beds all along the back of the garden - wish me luck on finding decently priced lumber.

Looks like I'll be spending my September vacation at home - I'm a wee bit cranky about it, but maybe I can get some things done around here that really need doing - like cleaning and organizing the bigger freezer in the shed, gathering up more boxes and getting ALL the jars in the shed in one place, getting rid of the boxes of old sheets, etc... by cutting them into rags for the shed, making that Kindle Unlimited subscription pay for itself by sitting on my fanny in the porch rocker and reading until my eyes bleed.... Whoops! That one snuck in there - maybe I'm crankier about it than I thought :lol: :lol:

And speaking of cranky - I'm about to have some hungry, cranky boys on my hands if I don't start prodding Hubs toward the stove to make them pancakes, so I'd better get on it!

Take care all; stay safe out there, and try to have a good week!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We have our group home fellowship coming over this morning, so no prepping for today.

I did want to post that we got another call from LifeLock last night. Apparently, someone in WV tried to open another bank account using Cary's name. This makes twice in 4 days!!!!!!! Now, we have two investigations going with LifeLock.

As if we needed something else on our plate right now.......
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
DH got all the lard rendered yesterday and had two big bags of bones to boil. We ended up with 12 qts of lard and 12 qts of liquid from the bones. DH put the bone liquid boiling hot into the jars and they all sealed. Does this mean this is shelf stable or would it have to be pressure canned? All the jars pinged.

God is good all the time,

Judy
 

ginnie6

Veteran Member
We're home this weekend. Dh is doing some fall cleaning outside and I'm still putting food up. Today I need to get some figs and peppers going in the dehydrators. We also have an appraiser coming this week since we got an even lower interest rate by refinancing. I'm not happy about having a complete stranger come in my house though, not only this chinaflu crap but dang I've been prepping like crazy and there's just no way to hide it. The really bad part is they take pictures of everything. I've covered as much as I can so it won't show what it is in pictures.
Sometime this week hopefully I need to do some work in the garden and get some fall plants out. Oh, and I am OUT of pint jars and have maybe 2 dozen qts left.
 

ginnie6

Veteran Member
DH got all the lard rendered yesterday and had two big bags of bones to boil. We ended up with 12 qts of lard and 12 qts of liquid from the bones. DH put the bone liquid boiling hot into the jars and they all sealed. Does this mean this is shelf stable or would it have to be pressure canned? All the jars pinged.

God is good all the time,

Judy
Definitely pressure canned!
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
DH got all the lard rendered yesterday and had two big bags of bones to boil. We ended up with 12 qts of lard and 12 qts of liquid from the bones. DH put the bone liquid boiling hot into the jars and they all sealed. Does this mean this is shelf stable or would it have to be pressure canned? All the jars pinged.

God is good all the time,

Judy
NO!!! Bone broth MUST be pressure canned!

Summerthyme
 

psychgirl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I’m doing nothing today.
:)

I did, pull out the pack of pork chops and sausage from my hog meat to thaw though!

Today’s the day!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
NO!!! Bone broth MUST be pressure canned!

Summerthyme
Even though the liquid was boiling hot and the jars sealed right away?? so if I pressure canned it what do I do about the sealed lids, would I have to put new lids on??

God is good all the time

Judy
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Even though the liquid was boiling hot and the jars sealed right away?? so if I pressure canned it what do I do about the sealed lids, would I have to put new lids on??

God is good all the time

Judy
Yes, even if... all you've done is what used to be called "open kettle canning"...and we now know that's not safe even for stuff like tomato sauce.
I'd leave the lids on... they should re-seal fine.

The reason for needing to pressure can is that the botulism *spores* aren't killed off until the food temp reaches 255 degrees. That (obviously) can't be reached simply by boiling. The food is safe to eat *immediately* after boiling, but putting it in an anaerobic environment (ie a sealed canning jar) lets the spores break dormancy, and the botulism bacteria multiply. In that process, it releases the botulinum toxin, and it's extremely dangerous.

Boiling food for a minimum of 10 minutes at a full rolling boil will deactivate the toxin, but most people these days are accustomed to the safety of commercial canned products, and often just heat to a comfortable serving temperature.

Summerthyme
 

amazon

Veteran Member
I am still cleaning and organizing. I am putting some more bulk goods in 5 gallon buckets. While looking for a new shower curtain for dd found 36 quart jars, $34 total. That was all they had, but it was a surprising find. Target, if you're wondering. BTW. I was back at WM and those 2 pressure canners are gone. I did get a couple bottles of rubbing alcohol, 70%. There was more left. Its surreal to walk around with everyone in those stupid masks, seeing limited stock and no one is concerned. People have just accepted things so readily. Makes me concerned for the future. What else will people accept easily?
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Yes, even if... all you've done is what used to be called "open kettle canning"...and we now know that's not safe even for stuff like tomato sauce.
I'd leave the lids on... they should re-seal fine.

The reason for needing to pressure can is that the botulism *spores* aren't killed off until the food temp reaches 255 degrees. That (obviously) can't be reached simply by boiling. The food is safe to eat *immediately* after boiling, but putting it in an anaerobic environment (ie a sealed canning jar) lets the spores break dormancy, and the botulism bacteria multiply. In that process, it releases the botulinum toxin, and it's extremely dangerous.

Boiling food for a minimum of 10 minutes at a full rolling boil will deactivate the toxin, but most people these days are accustomed to the safety of commercial canned products, and often just heat to a comfortable serving temperature.

Summerthyme
In that case I'm going to leave them like they are, I was going to add them to soups so I'll just boil the heck out of it before I put anything else in the pot.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Work tomorrow, then will rush home and try to cover plants. High is 91* tomorrow, then a low of 33* overnight. One forecast is calling for 2 inches of snow on Tuesday. I'm just hoping to save as much as I can. To tell you the truth, I can tell you I'm off Tuesday, but I don't even know after that. this early freeze/heavy frost is kinda weirding me out.
 

amazon

Veteran Member
I finally found canned pumpkin. I'm sure a lot of you can grow and can your own. At this point, I cannot. They only had the larger cans, but only 1.60 each. I had to go to the Walmart that is not my favorite. It's kind of rough and always smells like BO. The employee of a different race that I asked a question was less than friendly. Wont be going back. They had security guards walking the store. This is not the case at my usual WM. Only a small bag of cornmeal found, no poultry seasoning. I did get canned goods, dry milk, extra detergent, chocolate chips to hide. I need more shelving. Ollie's had some metal ones, I may get another one next weekend. Hope everyone had a good, long weekend.

Edited to add: pumpkin is even hard to find online. Its outrageous on amazon. I didn't realize it was in short supply. Also, Aldis had different label canned items. I can't remember what it was, but I'd never seen it before. Maybe they're having to look to different suppliers...
 
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aviax2

Veteran Member
amazon- We’ve grown and canned a lot of the things through the years but we only grew pumpkin for pies, bread etc. once. I didn’t can it and it was one of those things that I’d rather buy already canned although I’m sure home canned would be great. I just bought a 6 pack of canned pumpkin a week or so ago online from Walmart for $10.**, but I see you can only get single cans now for a little over $2.00 for the same size and brand. It seems like things are constantly changing on what you can get and if they’ll ship it or you have to pick it at the store *shrug*.

I’m not sure what I’ll get done this week but I do want to plan a trip to the Mennonite store. I want to get a supply of canning gel (they call it Thermo Flo) even though I’ve still got close to a full half gallon jar. Also want to check out the grains and get some more barley, soup weather will be here and beef and barely is one of my favorites. DH is planning on moving some of our paper products from our basement storage room to the room over the garage. It’s so hot up there most of the time, so it’s not used much. I got my gamma lids in last week, now I’m just waiting on the buckets to get here. I need to do so much moving, rearranging and organizing it just feels overwhelming.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I have a pound of ground venison and a pound of ground pork almost ready to take out of the dehydrator and and another go round of each on the stove cooking and then into the dehydrator after while

God is good all the time.

Judy
 

moldy

Veteran Member
We managed to get 3 five gallon buckets of peppers, a few tomatoes, a few butternut, 5 watermelons, and a dozen pumpkins. I didnt' even look at the root crops (I'm hoping the freeze is light and not long). DH turned on the sprinklers in an effort to save the rest of the pumpkins and spaghetti squash. I hope it works.

I"ve heard pumpkin is in short supply again this year, so I'm hoping they will make it. If not, I will take the frozen ones, clean and chop and cook down in roasters. I figure the pulp won't really go bad if it freezes as long as I can get them cleaned and frozen/dried/freezedried in a timely manner.
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
DH and I had our 6 month dental checkups today so that’s out the way. I still need to get into see my eye Dr. This was the first time I’ve left the farm since June for my physical and mammo appt.’s.

We went to the Mennonite store after our appt. and bought more canning gel, some soft white wheat berries, popcorn, barley, celery and parsley flakes, dill and caraway seeds.

We also bought a loaf of sour dough whole wheat bread and we each picked out a small container of candy. I chose maple ‘cos every so often I just need the taste of maple candy in my life in honor of my paternal grandfather, he always kept a small dish of maple candy. They make a wonderful spicy/smoky wrap there so we ate those for our supper on our way home.

Finally got the Ro-tel tomatoes I ordered from Sam’s a few weeks back today. I’m still waiting on the brown sugar from a different order. It’s seems odd of all the things I’ve ordered online that was IN stock, those two items have taken so long.
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
Dropped off my two boxes of food donations at Catholic Family Charities. They still had food on the shelves, so I was pleased to see that.

Then stopped at Walmart. Got individual baking mixes, some pasta sauce, some rice, some rice mixes (like that Dirty Rice from Zatarans!), soup, canned roast beef (first time in ages), and a few misc. things. Walmart was well stocked for a change, but prices on canned veggies had gone up, so I decided to wait until I hit Aldi's tomorrow to get more veggies and beans.
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Made some stuffed peppers and put in freezer, canned the banana peppers (and saved the seeds). I'm still trying to re-arrange the pantry and straighten up things before it gets too cold. We continue to work on the retirement project - so far, so good.
 

briches

Veteran Member
I haven’t gotten a lot of prepping done the last couple of weeks. Weekends are spent at the new (to us) vacation home (eventually full time home) going through it and getting it organized (it’s a smallish 70 year old house on the Chesapeake bay). During the week, I’m working full time.

The business has helped my mind. I haven’t been here as much by we have no internet at the Bay house (we will eventually).

I did schedule an appointment to have the oil changed in my Jeep as well as a state inspection.

I need to “up my prep game” this week and get back to devoting time for that as well.

I always enjoy reading this thread and appreciate everyone’s input.
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
I picked up an 8 foot ladder from the pawn shop. The wife got the price down to $60 which is not too bad considering ladders last about an hour or two at the pawn shop. One painter sells his as another one buys it. They are all on crack. and sell their tools between jobs to finance their habits. Then take the down payment to buy them back....

So never give a sub money in advance......

Property taxes are almost here.... 15th
Wife needs a new compressor for her car AC
We are buying a new lawn tractor (1st new one ever) as the last one literally fell apart.
and a few other things....

A darn good thing we have been saving money as it will be an expensive month for sure...

Also finally finished the rental so I can put the sign up this week. I am not looking forward to that mess....
I have $300 can I rent it? No I told you it is $500 plus a deposit of $500! Can I just owe you?

It goes on and on like that....lol
 

Dinghy

Veteran Member
I found another brand of reusable canning lids, and placed my second order. The name is Harvest Guard, and they are the same as Tattler lids, but l think they’re less expensive. They come in a 50 pack for around $30 to $34 dollars. I got 10% off because they won’t get here until Sept 25th.
I went to 3 Goodwill stores yesterday, and made out real well. I got 3 pairs of shoes... Sketchers, Thom MaCan, and another brand I don’t recall, all for $11. I also got a capsule filler that I’ve wanted for ages for $1.29.
I’ve been canning tomatoes from my garden finally. First time in years that they’ve grown good. I made pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and Rotell type, and there are still a lot of tomatoes yet to ripen.
I made an appointment to have 3 recalls fixed on my car while I’m visiting my daughters next week. I don’t have a dealer close to me, and they have one near them. I was getting nervous that the parts might be unavailable soon, so I couldn’t put it off any longer.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
DH is still grinding fresh pork. We found a great way to freeze it into patties.


Woopie pans, make a great size patty, put it in the freezer covered with wax paper, when it frozen you have individual patties to cook. DH put the first batch in a zip loc, now we are waiting for the second batch. He had me order two more pans.

We have several pork steaks that are tough as hell that he is going to grind up. I like to mix pork with venison to make meat loaf, spaghetti, and dehydrate.

I have the larger size that I cook corn bread in, works well if I remember to spray the pans. Grid down I will fry the corn bread.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Cary put his Jeep into the shop for a tune up, and to replace a part. Wants to get that out of the way. The Jeep will be used as our bug out vehicle if the need arises. Need to keep it in tip top shape. He will be doing the same with our lawn tractor as soon as he gets the Jeep back. Needs the Jeep to pull the trailer with the lawn mower loaded onto it.

As soon as our weather cools a bit more, we have more yard work to get done, before winter sets in. More firewood to split and stack, and I have two more old fences that have been being used for running roses that I want taken down. Roses have died, and the old fences are no longer useful.
 

amazon

Veteran Member
I'm having a hard time finding larger quantities of cornmeal, 50# ish. Have any of you used the masa flour? It seems more refined. Didn't know if it was a suitable substitute.
 

briches

Veteran Member
I did forget to add that when I was taking a truck load of stuff to the local thrift store, I did find a large cast iron kettle/ cauldron for $2.00.
I’m honestly not sure I’ll ever use it, but it was in great shape, and I feel is worthwhile to “tuck away”.
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
So I did the Aldi's run today. Stopped by Save-A-Lot first as they had potatoes on sale. Everyone else around here wants $4-5 for a 5 lb bag of potatoes. They had their yellow potatoes for $2.99 for 5lbs and they were nice ones. I bought two bags. They are in a box with newspapers dividing them as it is very hot and humid still here in Florida. I wanted to see if that would make them last longer.

Aldi's was mainly for meat and dairy stock up, but I did get 2 of the 2 lb boxes of spaghetti at 99 cents each, 4 cans of beans, and six boxes of a limited edition apple cinnamon quick bread mix. They also had banana bread mix, but I already have a lot of those. The limited edition stuff doesn't last long, so I grabbed a lot, as I make about a loaf a week for weekend consumption. The store was generally pretty well stocked, but there were still limits on things, which is why I only got 2 boxes of the spaghetti.
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
I'm having a hard time finding larger quantities of cornmeal, 50# ish. Have any of you used the masa flour? It seems more refined. Didn't know if it was a suitable substitute.
I found cornmeal at Sam’s online in 25 lb bags. If memory serves, I believe they have both self rising and plain, and a choice of yellow or white cornmeal. I ordered the white self rising and the cornmeal actually is shipped from the mill. I think it’s Prairie Mills but I can’t remember what state. I also ordered flour from them through Sam’s. We have a plus membership so we get free shipping.
 
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amazon

Veteran Member
I found cornmeal at Sam’s online in 25 lb bags. If memory serves, I believe they have both self rising and plain, and a choice of yellow or white cornmeal. I ordered the white self rising and the cornmeal actually is shipped from the mill. I think it’s Prairie Mills but I can’t remember what state. I also ordered flour from them through Sam’s. We have a plus membership so we get free shipping.
I looked at Sam's online earlier and couldn't find it, because of your post I looked again. It's there! $14 for 25 #'s. Yippee!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
DH found a source of lumber on Marketplace, probably about 40 miles from here. He stopped there on his way home from the VA on Wednesday. $9 for a 2x12x12 foot board. He can get three 2x4's and then a 2x12x4 foot piece, he got 10 pieces. We are going back today to get 20 more. He's using part of it to build a smoke house. I'm going to a liquor store and get a bottle of B&B, in case I need to drown myself to get through the election. If its not horribly expensive I might get two bottles.

God is good all the time

Judy
 

amazon

Veteran Member
At Sam's today they gave me 5 icing buckets. Woo hoo! I'm getting some vodka today to go with my elderberries. I bought 4 bars of Zote, an extra canning rack (last one), some #10 cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, and some buckshot. I need some lamp oil, but can't find it in stores. Probably will just order online. Oh, the handheld bidet attachment arrives tomorrow. Hope y'all have a good, safe weekend!
 

psychgirl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
As soon as I get home my plan is, to finally get the canned goods and preps on those shelves in the basement hub put up for me.

He stabilized them and screwed into the wall since they’re old, and metal.

Thennnn , clean out my sloppy, huge pantry aNd get rid of some stuff that I think went rancid. I’ll feel SO much better getting those two things DONE!

Right now I’m getting my headlight fixed on the car. Just left work for the day.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
As soon as I get home my plan is, to finally get the canned goods and preps on those shelves in the basement hub put up for me.

He stabilized them and screwed into the wall since they’re old, and metal.

Thennnn , clean out my sloppy, huge pantry aNd get rid of some stuff that I think went rancid. I’ll feel SO much better getting those two things DONE!

Right now I’m getting my headlight fixed on the car. Just left work for the day.

Yeah, screwing those shelves into the wall is a good idea. Cary did that to ours. I'm short, and have to climb up on a step chair to reach higher shelves. I have a habit of reaching up and grabbing a shelf to help pull myself up on the chair. I didn't want to take a chance that the whole shelving unit would topple over on me. I'm trying to break myself of that habit. I'd prefer a ladder.
 

psychgirl

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Yeah, screwing those shelves into the wall is a good idea. Cary did that to ours. I'm short, and have to climb up on a step chair to reach higher shelves. I have a habit of reaching up and grabbing a shelf to help pull myself up on the chair. I didn't want to take a chance that the whole shelving unit would topple over on me. I'm trying to break myself of that habit. I'd prefer a ladder.
I’m only 5’1 myself lol!
These are about a foot taller than me maybe(?)
And they aren’t huge, but I’ll take any improvement over the unorganized mess I had going lolol!
I won’t need a ladder and plan on only using boxed/ dry items on the top shelf anyway. I’ve learned my lesson trying to reach heavy canned goods from the top shelves.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I’m only 5’1 myself lol!
These are about a foot taller than me maybe(?)
And they aren’t huge, but I’ll take any improvement over the unorganized mess I had going lolol!
I won’t need a ladder and plan on only using boxed/ dry items on the top shelf anyway. I’ve learned my lesson trying to reach heavy canned goods from the top shelves.

I'm 5 ft, so we're almost the same, LOL! Our shelving units reach from floor to ceiling. That's why I need help in getting to the higher shelves, and forget me reaching the very top one. I won't climb that far up. The top shelves are used mostly for our long term storage food, anyway.

Sounds like you're doing a great job on the improvements! I'm happy for you.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
I poured up the chicken feed I bought last week. The scratch has always been chopped corn and millo. When I opened the sack this time, there was no milk and my much less corn,But wheat and oats were added. The chickens love it though. But it let's me know that there are issues showing up in the grain supply.
 
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