Thursday, March 14, 2019

Simple Foods = Good Eats #3

Today let's talk about fruit and veggies.  There are just basics that we all need in our pantries for being prepared for any occasion/problem.  Life can throw some strange moments our way and we need to be prepared.

Many of us garden and during the appropriate months we can have plenty of fresh veggies and often times fruit available.  Not everyone has the space or ability to garden.  You can be prepared as well.
I do garden, but I am limited in garden size, therefore I do keep a lot of store bought veggies and fruit available.  Much of it is canned.  Frozen is wonderful, but I want to be prepared in the event of loss of power.  We can eat veggies and fruit straight from  the can in an emergency.

I can as much of my home grown as possible.  I like to dehydrate many items as well.  Both keep for very extended periods of time.
I think we need to look at all our options!  Store bought, home canned or frozen and dehydrated.  IT IS ALL GOOD!

Things I can't grow - I get at very exceptional sales and prepare myself - like pineapple, mushrooms & apples.
Dehydrated mushrooms that were found very cheaply on sale.  Super easy to do
Zucchini and yellow squash are easy to dehydrate as well.  I slice and place ONE squash per tray - therefore I know how much to put into a baggie.  Great for soups in the winter.

DO NOT FEEL BAD if you can not garden or can.  It isn't for everyone.  Store bought is perfectly OK.  I do not understand people criticizing others for having store bought 'anything'.  Sometimes it is just easier.  It is OK.  If you have dietary restrictions, you may have to rinse store bought food well before preparing and you may have to really watch and read the ingredients.
Remember you can keep it simple - just basics will be a wonder to have in an emergency.

Even I keep a great supply of store bought goods on hand.  I watch sales and mark down and add to my pantry when I can.  I am not ashamed to have prepared goods on hand - it could save a life.

A super sale on fresh pineapple yielded much goodness for our pantry.  Canning pineapple is very easy to do and it tastes so good in the dead of winter! 

There are just many ways to add to your fruit and veggie pantry.  Grow what you can.  Can what you can - then fill in with all the other goodies.

Also - think about looking at LDS and prepping sites for large quantities of dehydrated foods.  Most of those sites carry the #10 size cans of just about anything you can think of and these cans of food last for years and years.  (you just can't be too prepared in this world today).

But start slowly and build up your deep pantry as you can.  If you garden, you have fresh goodies all summer and hopefully can put some back for winter.  Remember you can even grow some things like lettuce, herbs and onions in the house in the winter.
Purchase canned goods you will use whenever you find a good sale or markdown.  Add to your stock and you will be prepared for about any problem.  It may save you and your family.

I know I repeatedly say this stuff - but folks it is important.  Not one of us can predict the future and anything can happen.  
Loss of job, low finances, illness, acts of nature or government turmoil.  I am sure the people in countries that are in  utter chaos at the moment - didn't think it could happen a few years ago either.  ANYTHING is possible.

Get your pantries stocked.  Work slowly but steadily - persistence pays off!


14 comments:

  1. Hi, Cheryl!
    I agree with you. We have a stock in our pantry, that we keep adding to. I've been a little behind stocking on some items, but we'll get there.
    God bless and have a great weekend!

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    1. It is so important - I wish everyone realized just how important.
      Have a good weekend

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  2. I am in total agreement with also. We never know what cold happen and we can bless others with our abundance if things really do go wrong for someone else.

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    1. Exactly. Friends, neighbors and other family may need our assistance someday! We just never know!

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  3. We are still using the fruit and veggies I grew last year. I also bought a bushel of corn and 100 pounds of potatoes from a local farm. I don't have enough room to grow everything so I buy it local. It takes work to preserve it but I also enjoy doing it.

    I have been thinking about buying a dehydrator. Can you recommend one? I have money from my birthday last year and Christmas that I have been saving up.

    I, like you, shop sales and hit clearance racks. I stock up when I find items that will help with my food storage. I have an emergency fund why wouldn't I have emergency food. It is all items we eat regularly. I rotate my storage so everything stays fresh. I don't buy items we won't use unless they are free and then I donate them. I like to keep a large variety on hand. My one tip about food storage: Don't go into debt to build it up. You are not doing any good that way. Slow and steady wins the race.

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  4. I am still using things I put up last year as well. It is a nice feeling. I like to buy local items as well to fill in with what we can not grow.

    My dehydrator is a Nesco (add a tray) it cost about $40 at Rural King a couple years ago.. There are more expensive ones available and Excalibur is a big brand. This one works just fine for us and I have had no problems with it.
    You realize you can use the oven to dry as well. Probably not as cost effective though.

    WISE WORDS - don't go into debt to prep. Good reminder. Yep, slow and steady! I think we are all works in progress!

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    1. I currently use my oven. In the middle of August , I would prefer not to.

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    2. I can definitely understand that. A dehydrator is nice to have for sure.

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  5. Excellent advice, Chery. We need to build up our pantries while we are able to because we do not know what the future holds Your pineapple is so pretty in the jars.

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    1. The future seems so unstable at this moment. It is kind of scary.
      Thanks, it tasted yummy too!

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  6. Menards recently had Libbys fruit in 23 oz bottles for 1.99 with a $1 rebate on up to 10 of them. Definitely! With spring nearly here, using that rebate will be easy.

    I'm not a gardener so we depend on canned. I do make my own jam tho! I watch for those great fruit deals and pounce. I just opened the last jar of strawberry.

    I agree with everything you said. Deep pantries are so worth it.

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    1. Wow that was a great deal. I remember seeing that they recently had canned veggies 3/$1 as well. That is a good reminder that we might keep an eye on those unconventional places when stocking up!

      Buying fruit at a great price makes for great jellies and jams. It is about strawberry season!!!!!

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  7. Cheryl Thank you for saying DO NOT FEEL BAD if you can not garden or can. I am so glad somebody has wrote this on a frugality blog. One of the reasons why I don't have a frugality blog because I do things so differently. I think I would get the side eye from hard core frugalists, lol. I have seen a lot of frugal food shaming in my years being online in the frugal world. I get so mad about it because I think that shaming deters people from trying frugality or even preparing for emergencies.

    Do you peek over at Frugal Measures? She is a master of drying food. I love her articles. Especially because she has fibro so she does a lot of store bought and is very honest about the limits she can do with gardening. That lady can prep, I am telling you, lol.

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    1. You are welcome. No one should be shamed if they can't or don't garden. You really have to have a knack for it and enjoy it.

      I think that staying frugal is what it is about - however you do it. There are many ways - not just one way to be frugal. No one way is perfect.
      Do what you want - how you want - just be penny wise about it!

      I have seen that blog in the past - I will recheck it out. Thank you.

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