April 24th- What have you done to prep this week

The store had a sale on London Broil again this week.  I don't need to can anymore but i just can't let a sale like that go by.  Got 20 pounds and have 7 quarts in the canner now...probably anoth 6 pints.  I will finish them today.  I also got a dry mix cake icing and 2 more packages of lemon crystals.  That should be enough lemon for me to do about anything i need to do for a couple of years.  I am thinking about canning another 20 pounds of lard....was amazed at the price of other oils on the shelf, lard is a lot cheaper and adds more taste...lasts for the next thousand years too. 

Nothing.

I took all of our "spare change" jars to the grocery store, dumped them into the Coinstar machine, and collected over $100!    Which I spent on preps of course...

DH and I bottled 6 more gallons of homemade wine
started another 6 gallons
canned 2 more batches of jelly
caught 2 limits of perch to freeze
bought more:
dried blueberries
seasonings
25lbs pinto beans
tooth paste
tooth brushes
Listerine
shampoo
conditioner
OTC meds
soap
Lysol spray
TP
propane
bleach

Mountainwinds wrote: I really don't have anything left to do. I have food for three years, gas storage, medical supplies (lots) .....I can't think of anything else to buy. All I need to do, is top off propane tanks and a last minute trip to the store, when I hear it has started.

Get a grain mill (grinder) for all that wheat you've got.

I wasn't planning on storing wheat. I bought a lot of cases of stuff from a guy who had a Y2K store. I had to buy everything he wanted to sell, which was about 75 cases of stuff. For $10 a case. At retail, was over $6000. The freeze dried stuff is really expensive. But anyway, I wound up with a lot of wheat, and I wasn't sure what to do with it.

We went shopping last night. Got a lot of items! Spent $312 total. But that is including our regular "daily" items as well as prep items. Still just my second trip in prepping. I bought two large cans of baked beans, Chef Boyardee Ravioli (8 cans), 4 cans of spaghetti-Os (the kids love 'em, and you can eat them right out of the can) Lots of ramen, canned soups, veggies, fruits. Looked at the powdered milk,my only problem is that it was all non-fat milk. My baby needs whole milk and my older son needs 2% for the calories and calcium.  I'll have to shop around for some whole powdered milk. If there is such a thing. We bought a huge pack of matches. 1,000 total! Batteries (we'll be buying more). Candles. We're going to costco this weekend and buying toilet paper and paper towels in bulk. Cheaper and you get more for your money. So far,so good. Bought extra laundry detergent and drier sheets.  They're doing a "Bulk sale" in a couple of weeks here at the Commissary. We'll be going to that. Awesome deals! My husband flinched a bit when he saw it ring up to over $300. Guess he wasn't expecting that preparing for BF would amount to so much. And we're just starting! We're being re assigned in August to somewhere else, and we don't know where. So, all the stuff we buy now will have to be moved then. And military won't ship canned foods. So that makes prepping a bit difficult for us.

Iron,it's been a pain in the butt trying to figure out what we're going to do. We don't know WHERE we're going. We could end up in Guam for all we know! If that happens, we wouldn't even be able to haul our canned items ourselves.

Not done much today.  In the guest room i have a bulky wicker chair angled into a corner...found i could stack 48 juices, 24 cans of veggies and 24 jars of homecanned meat behind it.  More room on the living area floor!

Alaska - Since this Nido stuff is produced by Nestle, you might be able to find it locally or get a better price. I read a few discussions about it and people say it tastes good.

I checked Amazon.com and they sell it through the mexican grocer.

I hear you about the limited funds. Hubby is still rolling his eyes over the boxes I've received. LOL!

AlaskaAquarian - I have no idea if this tastes like real whole milk, but I found these instructions for making non-fat powdered milk into 1%, 2% and whole milk.

Turning Your Non-fat Powdered Milk Into 1%, 2% Or Whole Milk

The powdered milk we sell is non-fat milk, or skim milk and only offer this type because of it’s long storing qualities. If your family pretty much refuses to drink skim milk, there is a relatively easy way to add some fat back into your milk giving it a much closer taste to whole milk. Or, if you like, you can make 1% or 2% milk. Here is how you do it.

The Concept: Emulsify some vegetable oil then add it to your reconstituted milk. The word ‘emulsify’ means 'to suspend small globules of one liquid into a second liquid with which the first will not mix.' Two examples of this are the fat in regular milk and using soap to dissolve grease. In both cases, fat is broken up into millions of microscopic particles which are prevented from coming back together again by the emulsifying agent. Eggs are one of the best known food-safe emulsifying agents. In fact, mayonnaise is nothing more than a lot of oil and a very little bit of egg and vinegar that have been emulsified together. We are going to do the same thing. Caution should be taken not to use fresh, raw eggs because of the fear of Salmonella. Use powdered eggs instead. The manufacturers claim powdered eggs are Salmonella-free.

The Recipe:
        Amount            Reconstituted
Milk     Milk      Egg     Powdered     Vegetable
Desired Desired   Powder Milk        Oil--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Cup      1/8t    1/4 C        1/2 t
1%     Quart     1/4t    1/4 C        2 t
        Gallon    1t      1/4 C      2 T,+1-1/2t
       
          Cup      1/4t    1/4 C        1 t
2%     Quart     1/2t    1/4 C       1 T,+1 t
        Gallon     2t     1/2 C       1/4C,+1T

Whole     Cup      1/2t    1/4 C        1-1/2 t
3.4%    Quart      1t     1/4 C       2T,+1/2t
        Gallon   1T,+1t   1 C        1/2C,+2t

In a gravy shaker add milk then egg powder. Shake until well dissolved. Add vegetable oil and shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Your oil should now be in a fine emulsification. Add this to your ‘Amount Milk Desired’ and shake briefly.

Your oil will stay in suspension for a long time. However, much like cream in raw, unhomegenized milk, over time the fats in the milk will float to the top. The oil will be cream colored, though, and still emulsified with the egg. A quick shake of your milk jug will mix them back up for several hours.

I chose a gravy shaker in these instructions making this possible without electricity. However, under normal conditions, a blender will create a much finer emulsion. Mixed in a gravy shaker, it took about 2 hours for the emulsified fat to raise to the top of the container. It took 6-8 hours for the much more finely emulsified fat to rise in the container that had been processed in a blender. You will have better luck mixing the larger batches than smaller batches. This is because the egg powder and oil won't be so diluted in the milk, permitting the emulsion process to work better.

If you'd like to re-fat your powdered milk with real butterfat, you could also add a small amount of sweet cream to your reconstituted milk and shake it vigorously or quickly blend it. Over time, you can decrease the amount of fat you put in your milk and gradually wean them off the richer milk.

link to page is:
http://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information/reconstitutedmilk.htm

Yesterday April 30th

I bought tuna, mac and cheese, more rice. And cereal.
I also stocked up on chicken and hamburgers. I live in the U.S. and I'm stocking up on chicken and turkey b/4 the bird flu birds get here. I also asked the butcher where the chickens are raised. He gave me a really funny look and told me Pennsylvania.

Komet, where did you buy the 50 gallon water tank and may I be so bold to ask how much did it cost?
Thanks
Scott

Hi Missipi Mama.  I couldn't comment on bread specifically.  But I work on 2000 cals per person per day.  Thats right for young women.  Men probably 2500.

Edited by Beth - April 26 2006 at 5:44am

Today I organized my preps and order a radio...This radio has

Hi Penham!

Hubby sprung 13 surprise overnight guests on me last weekend and they used up a few of my preps.   

They at all of the summer sausage, much of the crackers and I had to dip into the TP supply to satisfy them.

Time to get out there again for me too.

Just had a wonderful thought(yes, occasionally i do get them).  Have been desperately trying to come up with more room for preeps and I'll bet I can find some shelves to hang on doors.  I have two closets with doors that open and do not slide.  That will be my project, hunting for something to affix to them.

Thanks Avantarts - I have another crew of who knows how many coming in 3 weeks from Wisconsin. Mostly old friends who ride. We moved here from Wisconsin and there's a rally here in May and September that people ride down for.

Between trying to find places to stash the preps and putting up so many houseguests, it's a challenge.

AlaskaAquarian - sorry you haven't found any Nido locally. The bad part of ordering online is paying for the shipping costs. I was hoping that Amazon sold it directly because they have their $25 or more and shipping is free deal, but they only offer it through the other site.

My new supply of canning jars arrived yesterday so it's time to stock more, if I can just figure out where to put it.

I should post in whatever area people offer things - but if anyone is interested in a soymilk maker and tofu kit, I'd make them a good deal. It works great, but I don't drink milk and my hubby is hooked on Silk brand vanilla.

Deb (oknut)

Ordered in bulk to pick up tomorrow!
100 lbs sugar
50 lbs brown sugar
15 lbs dried banana chips
25 lbs granola
50 lbs blueberry muffin mix- just add water- taste fabulous

working towards a well rounded 6 months then hopefully to 1 year

Tuesday: Found a super deal on Folger's instant coffee at the drugstore, of all places. The use-by date is sometime next year so I don't know why the coffee was priced for clearance. Bought 5 jars at $1.49 each.

Wednesday: Well, no worries about the hot water tank malfunctioning during a pandemic or other disaster. The old one died today and replacing it was a shock to my wallet. Looks like I'll be eating food from my emergency pantry for the next couple of weeks. Buying anything for prepping has to cease for now but this will give me a chance to better organize what I have already.

I take offence to that comment , we are not prepping because of some silly rumor . We have been imformed and warned by several experts on the subject to prep.

We arent planning on waiting for a goverment handout and feel our families safety is our issue.   I will never stand in line for a bottle of water and live on a cot in a stadium. Dont call me foolish .

If Im wronge I will be donating my extra food to a food bank and proud that God made me stronge enough to do that . I would rather give to charity than get it. If your wronge your children will suffer ands you will be lining up for a handout .    

Edited by Deanna - April 27 2006 at 8:47am