Blessings Darlings!
Food is no longer FLYING off the shelves in the grocery stores. Most things are now stocked when you try to shop. Not flour, or the mixed veggies I want, not always toilet paper or paper towels, but fresh foods are now easier to find.
If you have the finances, it would be a good time to re-stock your pantry.
Yes, I'm one of those folks who are worried about our food supply. And our economy. And ... let's face it, it's fair to say that I'm 'a worrier.' The fact is that my family has had some hard financial times, and it shows. And with farmers right now dumping milk and letting veggies rot, because our food distribution system isn't easily switching from getting the food that used to go to restaurants to grocery stores, I see this as a problem that isn't going to go away soon.
And, yes, I think that quarantining the population is the ONLY reliable tool we have against the Covid 19 pandemic. So I support that being in place, while pushing congresscritters to support the 'essential' workers ... with protective gear and better pay and dismissing the student loans of all medical personnel.
And yes, I'm unemployed due to Covid 19. So just maybe I feel the financial issues sharply right now. But I'm restocking as best I can anyway.
The 'pantry' is just the regular grocery stuff. I want at least a couple of months of reserves there, at all times. Pasta. Pasta sauce. Flour. Sugar. Coffee. Canned veggies. Dry Chinese mushrooms. Soy sauce. Taco Seasoning. Rice. Beans. Canned tomatoes. You know - the stuff you can make meals out of and survive well enough on.
But the 'pantry' is just one part of our food reserves.
I'll post about our 'deep reserves' tomorrow.
Frondly, Fern
Showing posts with label pantry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pantry. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
The Spirits Laughed.
Blessings Darlings!
Today is just a typical day at Chez Fern, with the Big Cooking Project making bone broth (don't worry, it wasn't anyone you knew). So I add the baked bones to the water, throw in a little vinegar, and add some peppercorns, and I notice that the pepper mill is kind of low on peppercorns.
No problem. I trot upstairs to the pantry to grab the big bottle of peppercorns. Ooops - knocked the basil plant, that I had clipped at the soil line and hung up to dry, off of it's support. Many, many dried basil leaves on the floor.
"Oh, gosh", says I, "What can I store those up?"
Every freaking spirit in the house laughs. Because that pantry is where about half of my canning jars are. Apparently the spirits found the rhetorical question amusing.
Insolent Spirits!
Frondly, Fern
Today is just a typical day at Chez Fern, with the Big Cooking Project making bone broth (don't worry, it wasn't anyone you knew). So I add the baked bones to the water, throw in a little vinegar, and add some peppercorns, and I notice that the pepper mill is kind of low on peppercorns.
No problem. I trot upstairs to the pantry to grab the big bottle of peppercorns. Ooops - knocked the basil plant, that I had clipped at the soil line and hung up to dry, off of it's support. Many, many dried basil leaves on the floor.
"Oh, gosh", says I, "What can I store those up?"
Every freaking spirit in the house laughs. Because that pantry is where about half of my canning jars are. Apparently the spirits found the rhetorical question amusing.
Insolent Spirits!
Frondly, Fern
Friday, March 15, 2013
Cycles....
Blessings Darlings!
So, I'm slowly getting better. But now the Chubby Hubby is ill. At least it got him after we made some progress on consulting projects in the business, and we have enough money to get thru' the the next month. I'm quite fond of being able to pay the rent and utilities and such you know. And our grocery spending will only be $100 below food stamp levels. Whoo hoo!
I even made it to the stores for the 'big monthly shopping trip' yesterday. I wasn't able to buy everything I'd have liked to (you can check my ideal monthly shopping list here) but I also hit the corned beef and beer on sale for St. Paddy's day and got wine to cook with, all for my $100. I'm really low on sugar, but, let's face it, until I'm better I'm not likely to bake. I've even been relying on store-bought cheap styrofoam bread since getting sick.
Being able to rely on the pantry while sick is of course making life easier. We rely on apple juice when sick - it's sort of a family tradition. When the Spawn started this round of illness I grabbed another bottle as insurance, even tho' we already had bottle here. We're opening that bottle today for the Chubby Hubby. The Spawn, who is working a 12-hour double shift today, won't have to drag his sorry butt to the grocery store after work to help his Dad out.
Frondly, Fern
So, I'm slowly getting better. But now the Chubby Hubby is ill. At least it got him after we made some progress on consulting projects in the business, and we have enough money to get thru' the the next month. I'm quite fond of being able to pay the rent and utilities and such you know. And our grocery spending will only be $100 below food stamp levels. Whoo hoo!
I even made it to the stores for the 'big monthly shopping trip' yesterday. I wasn't able to buy everything I'd have liked to (you can check my ideal monthly shopping list here) but I also hit the corned beef and beer on sale for St. Paddy's day and got wine to cook with, all for my $100. I'm really low on sugar, but, let's face it, until I'm better I'm not likely to bake. I've even been relying on store-bought cheap styrofoam bread since getting sick.
Being able to rely on the pantry while sick is of course making life easier. We rely on apple juice when sick - it's sort of a family tradition. When the Spawn started this round of illness I grabbed another bottle as insurance, even tho' we already had bottle here. We're opening that bottle today for the Chubby Hubby. The Spawn, who is working a 12-hour double shift today, won't have to drag his sorry butt to the grocery store after work to help his Dad out.
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Pantry Stuff
Blessings, Darlings!
My son just finished making a sheet cake, and I've just started a sponge for a loaf of bread. All this yummy use of on-hand ingredients leads to a question - do you know how much of what you use in a typical month? At least of staples like flour, sugar, coffee?
I've been thinking about that, and compiling next-month's shopping list. So I'm going tobore treat you to some of my figures. Most are a bit more than I use in a typical month, but buying this month allows a LITTLE natural accumulation of supplies.
Minimum purchases from Aldi's (staples, no name brands, store profit goes to Germany, but GREAT prices):
Flour - 5 5-pound bags
Sugar - 2 5-pound bags
lunchmeat 3 pounds
croutons 1 bag ( really should make them myself)
soup - cream of mushroom 5 cans
peas 2 cans
canned mushrooms 9 cans
canned tuna 5 cans
canned ham 1 can
onions 6 pounds
potatoes 10 pounds
canned tomatoes 6 cans (pints)
cooking spray 1 can
oil 2 bottles 48 oz
napkins 2 packages
hash browns 1 package, frzn
frozen veggies 9 bags
Milk 10 gallons
eggs 9 dozen
half & half 4 quarts
OJ 4 half gallons
cereal 4 boxes
mac & cheese mix 3
scalloped 'tater mix 1
canned nuts 2 cans
bar cheese 1 1/2 pounds
sliced cheese 2 pounds
butter 4 pounds
Coffee 4 pounds
salt 1 round
Brown sugar 2 lb
saltine crackers 1 lb
apples 15 lb
oranges 8 lb
bananas 11 lb
hamburger buns 2 packages
hoagie rolls 1 or 2 packages
yogurt 1 qt
lettuce 5 heads
carrots 8 lb
cabbage 2 of 'em
celery 1
green peppers 1 package
garlic lots
paper towels 2 rolls
And those are just the 'normal' purchases I make each month. The meat, meds, cat stuff, etc are all at other stores (and on sales if possible). I didn't even include chocolate of ANY type!
What are you 'every month' purchases? How much money do you need to allot to those, before you can even think of buying other stuff?
Frondly, Fern
My son just finished making a sheet cake, and I've just started a sponge for a loaf of bread. All this yummy use of on-hand ingredients leads to a question - do you know how much of what you use in a typical month? At least of staples like flour, sugar, coffee?
I've been thinking about that, and compiling next-month's shopping list. So I'm going to
Minimum purchases from Aldi's (staples, no name brands, store profit goes to Germany, but GREAT prices):
Flour - 5 5-pound bags
Sugar - 2 5-pound bags
lunchmeat 3 pounds
croutons 1 bag ( really should make them myself)
soup - cream of mushroom 5 cans
peas 2 cans
canned mushrooms 9 cans
canned tuna 5 cans
canned ham 1 can
onions 6 pounds
potatoes 10 pounds
canned tomatoes 6 cans (pints)
cooking spray 1 can
oil 2 bottles 48 oz
napkins 2 packages
hash browns 1 package, frzn
frozen veggies 9 bags
Milk 10 gallons
eggs 9 dozen
half & half 4 quarts
OJ 4 half gallons
cereal 4 boxes
mac & cheese mix 3
scalloped 'tater mix 1
canned nuts 2 cans
bar cheese 1 1/2 pounds
sliced cheese 2 pounds
butter 4 pounds
Coffee 4 pounds
salt 1 round
Brown sugar 2 lb
saltine crackers 1 lb
apples 15 lb
oranges 8 lb
bananas 11 lb
hamburger buns 2 packages
hoagie rolls 1 or 2 packages
yogurt 1 qt
lettuce 5 heads
carrots 8 lb
cabbage 2 of 'em
celery 1
green peppers 1 package
garlic lots
paper towels 2 rolls
And those are just the 'normal' purchases I make each month. The meat, meds, cat stuff, etc are all at other stores (and on sales if possible). I didn't even include chocolate of ANY type!
What are you 'every month' purchases? How much money do you need to allot to those, before you can even think of buying other stuff?
Frondly, Fern
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