Today was working thru produce & meat from the food pantries this week. I have one more pantry this week, so I must get the fridge empty enough to deal with any produce I might get tomorrow.


~1 entire bunch of celery washed, diced, and in the dehydrator. Trimmings saved for stock later

~Walmart bag of massive carrots {seriously - these are as big around as my wrist}. Got thru the first bit of them, they are now peeled, quartered & in water in the fridge. Again, trimmings saved for stock.

~Two small whole chickens roasted, boned, and bones now in for stock along with the half of the celery & carrot trimmings. Out of fresh onion, so used 1/2 cup or so of older onion powder.

 

Today was working thru produce & meat from the food pantries this week. I have one more pantry this week, so I must get the fridge empty enough to deal with any produce I might get tomorrow.


~1 entire bunch of celery washed, diced, and in the dehydrator. Trimmings saved for stock later

~Walmart bag of massive carrots {seriously - these are as big around as my wrist}. Got thru the first bit of them, they are now peeled, quartered & in water in the fridge. Again, trimmings saved for stock.

~Two small whole chickens roasted, boned, and bones now in for stock along with the half of the celery & carrot trimmings. Out of fresh onion, so used 1/2 cup or so of older onion powder.

Those carrots can be cut into carrot sticks and turned into dilly carrots. If you don't have the vinegar and dill you can use pickle juice from a jar of pickles. We never dump out pickle juice after just one use.

I'll be following this thread for sure. I think it's going to be a really good and helpful one.

 

Sporks,

You're going on the right route and doing what's necessary - and way ahead of the "Judy Bag crowd".

If you're near your municipal health department, it could be worth considering stopping by for some pamphlets on your ailments. This allows you to see what handouts are available. In various areas I frequently see next to the large punch bowel of condoms other additional handouts / freebies eg packets of band aids (different brands of course), the donated samples of the ointments. I'm loaded with Gold Bond brand of their products. Depending on time of year, there's typically stacks of poly bags w/ tote handles to carry the company's literature eg to buy their Medicare coverage, etc.

"Where one can live, one can live well." Anon.

Keep up the quality prepping.

 

Here it's not out at the health dept much, but you can watch for the free or low cost "community expo" or "Health fair" and load up on those samples.

When my youngest was little & things were tight {single parent also caring for my elderly parents}, we would go to the "baby expo" & load up on all the samples {not taking extra, just it was a massive event with usually around 400-500 vendors}. It charged I believe $5 to get in. Usually got enough diapers for a couple of weeks and all the toiletries for the baby for the year. Plus the coupons to buy items usually made it worth it alone - lots of times they'd hand out a free full size coupon, figuring most wouldn't redeem it.

Same thing for my parents - we'd go to the "diabetes expo" and get things like syringes, alcohol wipes, glucose tablets, lotions, etc.

After we move, I'll be reacquainting myself with similar stuff up there.

 

Following.

Ever since we had a massive food giveaway during the covid lockdowns I've thought about the pros and cons of using public resources for prepping. Our town has a major restaurant food distributor, running about 150 trucks outbound daily and (probably) several hundred partial loads inbound. When the restaurants all shut down it took a couple of weeks to destroy the supply chain. But the food was still pouring in with no place to go. So they did huge giveaways in the city park in our and surrounding towns.

We were getting cases of steaks and even lobster (once). Cases of eggs (like 8 or 10 flats of 24. Everyone was sharing with neighbors and even a Facebook page popped up to swap items. We got several cases of canned beef and tuna that has been the core of our emergency preps for the past 3 years and will be for another year or so until they date out. Then it will be our backup and decoy food for maybe another five years.

I think so long as it's not taking away from the truly needy food pantries can be a useful resource. I was reading the other day that 1/3 of our landfills are left over food. There really needs to be better management.

For the past several years we've made batches of banana bread from old bananas the .99 cent store would mark down to .25 lb. They'd cost me about $1 to make and we'd make about a dozen at once and give them as little gifts. But now the .99 Cent store is throwing them out instead of having a reduced rack. Sugar and flour have doubled in price and for awhile eggs were $4 so we just stopped.

 

@sporksradiant I've not noticed the second half of your sig line until now. I think there are a lot more of preppers like you than you think. I know I do good to keep up with what's going on this afternoon ... Much less anything farther out than the weekend ... Lol

 

We're not quite poverty-stricken but we certainly can't afford to do many things which others here on SB can do, such as buying a BOL.
One source for preps, which we never imagined, years ago, is to volunteer at a private school near us helping variously with the kids and the building needs. When the staff finally got to know & trust us and we them, we started to ask about certain things they were throwing away. And they threw lots of things away-- from folding tables, to printer paper, to books, to toilet paper (wrong size for new receptacles), and foods--especially at the end of the school year or when their freezers broke down, but also during the school year we've gotten half-gallons of milk, and large bottles of ketchup where the lid broke off partway, you know the kind of things that make you go, Darn! and most people chuck it, but we see a value in it.
I'm not going to suggest people just volunteer for the freebies because that is unknown and imho sort of immoral because you're supposed to volunteer for the giving nature of it all. But we've come to enjoy any little bits which might come our way, however we don't count on anything and we still volunteer even if there hasn't been any free stuff in awhile.
So, maybe if any of you have extra time and a nearby private school or other facility where you can volunteer, consider it.
The other reason to do it is-- most food shelves will not accept a half-pan of lasagna, or dated milk, or a mixed box of printer paper and such. So these items would truly be thrown away. Best if someone makes good use of them!

 

Bulk food may or may not be great deals. Right now a50# bag of onions at restaurant supply is $12. That's a lot of onions and a35 mile round trip unless I happen to be in the area.

 

In terms of gardening (since we are doing a food forest)........I purchase starts and cuttings from small growers......plants that normally sell for $5-$7 I'm getting for $1-$2....... starts cut short the germination time dramatically over seed and establish a garden that produces food much more quickly

HK

 

agree starts can get better production going quicker, even if you are just growing in containers, I buy peppers/tomatoes already started because its easier

another thing is being able to propagate plants ,,,then it is often a advantage to buy a plant/bush to be your "mother" plant so you can expand production in time with that type of plant ,,,raspberries ,everbearing strawberries ect.

in two years I have went from 1 everbearing strawberry plant to over 70,, I am loosing track of how many bushes/plants I have started over the last few years ,some from seed [asparagus] or cuttings/runners [goose berries, strawberries]..this spring I transplanted 90 asparagus plants that were started from seed in a 2'x8' bed,, there is another 4? 5? beds left to transplant that are thicker with plants,, so if it works out to 100 plants a bed x 5 beds can you imagine the cost savings compared to buying the crowns to start that many? true if I had just bought them it would of been quicker[if all the bought crowns lived ,most of the time they do not]

 

You are an inspiration and proof that, no matter if you're a millionaire or a hundred aire, we can ALL do SOMETHING!

Thanks, and looking forward to your progress.

 

With all of the talk about prepping that goes on in the SB....gardening / growing food has the smallest amount of interest and posts.....but boy if you talk guns and ammo....it's all about this......

For preppers that have hit the limits of what they can store.......I'm pretty shocked more people have not moved into a mode of self sustainability.

HK

 

yes I agree,, a lot of the problem is so many rent where they live and are restricted on what they can do,, so buying is about the only option they see open to them,, if they are looking to buy and "homestead/garden " they can gain ground now by starting/propagating plants so if in a few years they get the property there is a "stockpile" of plants that are ready to go into the ground at a lower cost compared to buying when you get the place.

a example of such prepping the "homestead" before you are there ,,,a few years ago I bought a raspberry plant that cost 25$ and put it in my "propagation " area[in ground] ,but if I did not have the ground yet it could of just as easily went into a 1.5 bushel tote with some topsoil ,,,and in a few years there would be a bunch of new starts in there to be planted at the homestead,,,25$ sounds like a lot of money for 1 plant, but if you turn it into 25 plants it becomes a great deal!!

 

Positive Update: spouse helped a church friend move today (downsizing, retired) and she gave him about 10 doz canning jars and an entire tote full of new lids and new lids/hands! Oh my goodness! And I had already used up all our pints and was grudgingly putting salsa into quart jars, thinking we wouldn't be able to eat it all before it went bad. Time to make more salsa and put into pints!

 

Pantry run this morning. This pantry is twice a month. I'll give a rundown of what I got:

• 1 whole chicken, frozen
• 10 dry goods items of my choice
  • 6 cans of canned tuna {2 cans counted as one item}
  • 4 cans pork & beans {4 counted as 1}
  • Box of Thin Mints {my treat}
  • 5lb Sysco Reliance cornbread mix
  • 1 can ravioli
  • 1 can spaghetti & meatballs {tossed when got home as it expired early 2022 & I don't know storage conditions}
  • 1lb dry navy beans
  • 1 can sweet peas
• Gallon ziplock of cat food
• 3 Non-food items of my choice. I got:
  • 12pk microfiber towels
  • 1 holiday spatula
  • 1 large can alcohol based spray sanitizer
• 10 soda cans of my choice
• Handful of carrots
• 5 large shallot sized onions. Slightly past prime but I'll pull the worst, trim off the bad bits and put in my stock bag
• 1 pack of tortillas
• 1 large pack of school hamburger buns

Very happy about the sodas, chicken and onions. as well as the non-food items.

Now to deal with the stock I made last night, portioning out & freezing for future use.

ETA: Also got a watermelon that I forgot to note.

 

Be very careful with soda. Most have high fructose corn syrup. HFC is basically a poison. It is terrible for humans.

What Is High Fructose Corn Syrup?

High fructose corn syrup is a boon for food manufacturers because it’s sweet, cheap and shelf stable. But here’s why it’s not doing your body any favors.

health.clevelandclinic.org

How High Fructose Corn Syrup Destroys Your Body (It's NOT a Pretty Picture)

From mercury poisoning to fueling pancreatic cancer, find out the top 9 reasons you need to get HFCS out of your life!

draxe.com

 

Be very careful with soda. Most have high fructose corn syrup. HFC is basically a poison. It is terrible for humans.

That was the best part of the sodas today. I got half sugared & half not {I have to watch sugar amounts overall or it does odd things to me}. But the sugared ones for my youngest? They're ALL cane sugar ones from HEB.

 

anyone here tried Switch Away? it's some type of a Made in USA buying club, not entirely sure, when you request more info and give them your phone/email they call you back to set up a time to have a tour of their website....hmmmm... I found out about this while watching a Poplar Reports video on u-tube, where the host Steve Poplar claims it is a way to switch away from mainstream companies (which there are very few, but they have bought out dozens or hundreds of brands, so they can control prices...er, profits). I guess I will go along with their "tour" and let you guys know how it goes!

 

I had the Switch Away presentation just now, and, it is actually just the Melaleuca company. Not sure why they are calling it Switch Away. They require you to pay $19/year fee, set up an account (probably with CC) and buy on subscription basis. I was not allowed to see current catalog without signing up, which I feel is disingenuous. They had a little quiz to get a score on how much you would save....it had categories for cleaning supplies, soaps/lotions/cosmetics, vitamins, energy drinks/bars, and beef. My score was mid-200's which they translated into $2400/year "savings" based on 30-50% lower prices. A brief screen flashed with prices, the only one I recall was a $3.50 or so on toothpaste (couldn't see what size). They emphasized "no caustic chemicals" and all is Made in USA (not sure if that includes the plastic bottles....). It did finally have a screen with Melaleuca on it...whereupon I did a search on who owns Melaleuca, and he is the wealthiest person in Idaho with an impressive business record, and has donated millions to campaigns like Romney, and despite being LDS has also been twice divorced and on his 3rd wife. Hmmm.
Anyhow, we decided that we would not be actually saving very much money on their stuff since we honestly don't buy many cleaners or vitamins, zero beef, and our biggest expenses where we could use actual meaningful savings would be on taxes, insurance, home repairs, you know--the big stuff. Our grocery bill isn't terribly high but we do get rewards points to apply at the gas station.
We will continue to buy Made in USA as much as possible, but also we unfortunately have to balance that with costs. Saving $1 on 4 tubes of toothpaste per year isn't going to matter that much (and I have no idea what the shipping costs would be on those 4 tubes! plus another 4 on the subscription plan which we wouldn't actually be needing).

 

Well, I didn't get to the stock tonight on account of containers. Had to dig out my muffin tins & wash them before I can portion out the stock and freeze it. Been using disposable ones from the food pantry and finally ran out after several years.

So instead, I dealt with the grapes from Thursday's food pantry. 2 bags out of 3 are now sorted, washed, split and in the dehydrator to become raisins. The last bag will go in after if they're still good by the time these two are done. Per online, it appears these will likely take 36-48 hours. When I move, I really need to get a larger dehydrator or {fingers crossed} a freeze dryer. I wonder how freeze dried grapes would be?

And yes, my current dehydrator is QUITE old lol. Old enough the plastic is a bit brittle and several of the trays have missing spots. But it still works well, and it was free to me so I'm okay with it.

 

Well, I didn't get to the stock tonight on account of containers. Had to dig out my muffin tins & wash them before I can portion out the stock and freeze it. Been using disposable ones from the food pantry and finally ran out after several years.

So instead, I dealt with the grapes from Thursday's food pantry. 2 bags out of 3 are now sorted, washed, split and in the dehydrator to become raisins. The last bag will go in after if they're still good by the time these two are done. Per online, it appears these will likely take 36-48 hours. When I move, I really need to get a larger dehydrator or {fingers crossed} a freeze dryer. I wonder how freeze dried grapes would be?

View attachment 546760

And yes, my current dehydrator is QUITE old lol. Old enough the plastic is a bit brittle and several of the trays have missing spots. But it still works well, and it was free to me so I'm okay with it.

Sporks,

Some of the duper-duper Preppers know how to complete the grape cycle after the raisins that involves fermenting and distilling.

 

I have the exact same dehydrator that I got at a yard sale....What works works..
I haven't tried freeze drying grapes myself ....i tend to chop everything small so each grape would have to be cut just like on the dehydrator so i would tend to just make rasins.. If freeze dried they would be crispy and need to be soaked to eat very many...

We just did some jeruslehem artichokes or sun chokes and they came out of the FD as crispy slices that probably be great mixed in a salad...
Have done the apples off our two producing trees and can't wait for the other five to get bearing.
The wife made a big pot of split pea with ham and carrot soup so after eating our fill the rest filled the trays of our harvestright large. I do enjoy a nice bowl of split pea on a cold winter evening.
For dinner I tried a small packet of roast beef I freeze dried that was the canned stuff we get from Costco. It tasted just fine and had full favor.

 

I have one of those! Hey, it works even if it's not perfect and that's what matters. I admire you for making the best use of what you have. The huge problem I see with most people, especially the food bank crowd, is that they don't know how to preserve food or stretch a whole chicken into one week's meals. I hate chicken, but if that's all I had I'd eat it with gratitude! Quickly, so I don't have to taste it much LOL.

I've found that when dehydrating high water content things like blueberries that I have to check (a quick blanch) or poke a hole into the fruits or they'll be forever on the dehydrator. My dehydrator book, the Dehydrator Bible, mentions this. I've found it to be an OK resource but not stellar. Pretty much everything I've dehydrated this year needed a higher temperature and more time than this book gave. I wonder if a similar process would help with your grapes?

 

@citykittyatheart Grapes are the same as blueberries. These are cut in half because of that - given most of these are oversize, just splitting was the fastest option. The few that were too small to halve, I poked thru several times with a knife tip.

 

That's what I thought. If you didn't do something they'd be on the dehydrator for the next decade! No one's got time for that!

 

I was very involved with soup kitchens and food banks in my 20s in Cincinnati and Columbus. I was the strong back for stocking, doing trash runs and mopping up, usually for a gallon container of soup/stew leftovers. Sometimes they would shoot me a cut of grains overstocks too but rarely. I always suspecected that a fair number of the elderly customers put back some for "hard times", though being destitute and elderly was hard times in my book always. I think prepping from food banks is an excellent plan. I saw alot of young, mostly minority females doing that for the inevitable gaps between thier baby daddies releases from current incarceration periods. Definitely the urban version of SHTF prepping. Girl's gotta eat, kiddies too. Dead serious. Heard that many times from the ladies running the operation, and once or twice from those moms as well.


On the other, happier commeny though.....Raisins are the original sugar added for fermentation, especially of low sugar ingredients like grains of all varieties. Cant distille something that has failed to ferment. From a historical basis, I have always wondered if that held true for fermentation of chestnut meat as well? That would make an interesting, spicy beer and an even more interesting jar of Clear. Often wondered if that was either a precursor to the spiciness popular in rye whiskey or a contemporary fellow traveller to it, sharing the spicey texture and reinforcing its popularity?

Off base on that. Apologies to all.

 

On the other, happier commeny though.....Raisins are the original sugar added for fermentation, especially of low sugar ingredients like grains of all varieties. Cant distille something that has failed to ferment.

Grains are only low in sugar until they're malted.

 

Since it's the season I'd like to remind people that pumpkin cans well. Sure you have to can it in chunks and puree afterwards for a pie, but you can just heat those chunks up and serve them with a little butter and salt or nutmeg or cinnamon as a side also. I lightly mash mine with a fork.

Right now everywhere has them marked down. We just bought 20 of them from the grocery store 4 for a $1. While some pumpkins are bred for pies and eating few people can tell the difference. You can always add a touch more seasoning.

We've never frozen them although I don't see why you couldn't freeze puree, anybody with experience want to chime in on preserving them that way?

 

I freeze pumpkin purée almost every year. Yes it’s some work but I have fresh purée for bread, hummus, and whatever else I want. Quick breads such as pumpkin and zucchini also freeze well. Muffins too.

Basically, to make pumpkin purée you have to cook the pumpkin, then scrape out the insides, purée in a blender, and stick it in a freezer bag. I measure mine and mark how many cups on the bag so I can easily grab what I need for a recipe. Squash of all kinds freezes the same way. Grab a bag, microwave, and eat.

 

Hmmm what is pumpkin hummus? I've seen chocolate hummus at the store...but never tried it LOL. How do you make pumpkin hummus?

 

It’s like chocolate hummus, only with pumpkin. There are many recipes out there. I googled, then found a couple that sounded good, then stuck with one that tasted good too. Go for it!

 

Well, the grapes into raisins experiment appears to have been a fail. They absolutely taste nothing like raisins and the texture is off-putting. They just taste burnt and flavorless, even though they're still quite moist, but the skins are hard.

Not sure what to do with them now. Probably compost. Chalk it up to a learning experience. It may be my dehydrator, honestly - there are no heat settings and it was running quite warm.

 

Well, the grapes into raisins experiment appears to have been a fail. They absolutely taste nothing like raisins and the texture is off-putting. They just taste burnt and flavorless, even though they're still quite moist, but the skins are hard.

Not sure what to do with them now. Probably compost. Chalk it up to a learning experience. It may be my dehydrator, honestly - there are no heat settings and it was running quite warm.

Please be sure to keep any grapes / raisin attempts away from dogs as both are toxic for dogs.
As far as raisins-- I suspect it may be only certain varieties of grapes are used to make commercially available raisins, I bet you could research this to find out. We grow about 4 or 5 grape varieties but have only ever used for wine since there are seeds in 3 or 4. I stupidly put the labels down at the base of each vine and now can't find the labels but somewhere have them written down....🤔

 

Mid-Missouri Our garden is done for the year. Most stuff goes in the freezers, some in the Freeze Dryer and a lot on wire racks in the barn. Gave a big sack of pears to SIL, which will come back as jam or pear preserves. I also started 5 gallons of pear wine and added a few raisins.
A batch of apples was put in the Freeze Dryer , two big sacks given to a friend and another 5 gallons of apple wine is brewing.

The wire racks are full of sweet potatoes, winter squash and onions.
Chestnuts were mentioned earlier; I may make some chestnut wine next year; sounds good to me.

 

Stuff happens Spork. If you don’t get DQ’d you’re not shooting enough! Same goes for any other activity. Carry on!