"The best food storage is not in welfare grain elevators but in sealed cans and bottles in the homes of our people. What a gratifying thing it is to see cans of wheat and rice and beans under the beds or in the pantries of women who have taken welfare responsibility into their own hands. Such food may not be tasty, but it will be nourishing if it has to be used." (President Gordon B. Hinckley)
At the time of this writing it is December 17. We have temps that are nice, melting all that snow - I love it!
It sure has been a busy time...
I thought you would love elf here, he is cheering up his friends. My friend Kathy had a candleholder like this. One evening I stopped by, she had it on with candle and lights out - it was like their own little bonfire. They cast big shadows, I loved it. Then a few years later, I found this at a yard sale and snatched it right up.
I hope that by the time you are reading this you finally are resting. Now we can crack down on our storage and skills. Remember, goals are the stars to steer by, not sticks to beat ourselves with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYbSR6T4OW4 - here is important information on cans with past-due dates. They are still good, don't throw them out unless they are bulging or leaking they are still good. This brings us to always rotating your food. Put new in the back and use up the older. This is a huge saving on those dollars you spend on food. But knowing the food is good helps you with your pantry.
Our Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently discovered that some things we were getting and putting in storage was good for way longer than first thought if properly stored. I get my powdered milk through the church's storehouse as I like it better than what you can get at your stores. They said it is good for 25 years. Well, I can tell you mine is going on 26 years and is just as good as the day I got it all those years ago.
So what I am saying is, don't throw out your expired food, it is still good.
https://preparednessmama.com/expiration-dates-on-food/ - more info on dates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSDTpb0i3dY - you could get ideas here but prices have gone up and will continue to do so.
If you find a good sale on salmon (let's say) and if you are like me and don't eat it, don't get it! I know you hear all the time, if you are hungry enough you will eat it. I wholeheartedly assure you I would eat grass first, I won't eat salmon. So only store things you and your family eat now - that is very important!
Now you maybe eat store-bought bread and want to be able to bake bread - if you do, introduce this new thing to your family. Make cinnamon rolls then cinnamon swirl bread. It's to perfect your skill at baking bread.
I use vital wheat gluten and I use an electric knife to slice my bread. I slice it all at one time before I put it into a bag. I find the reason most people complain is because it is sliced too thick and with electric knife, I can slice it any thickness - so thin you can see through it. Of course, I just use a regular slice but I am telling you that you could go that thin. I slice it all at once because like store bread, the whole loaf is sliced, you can just reach in, grab slices and make your sandwich. If you slice as you go, first day is okay but each day after that it crumbles.
https://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2015/07/monday-message.html - there is a lot of bread information here.
https://www.fromvalerieskitchen.com/easy-pantry-staple-recipes-food-stocking-storage-tips/
https://food.unl.edu/article/how-cook-dry-beans-scratch/ - you probably have beans in your storage.
How are you doing on building your skills? They are going to be more important in the new year.
I finished spinning my yarn...
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I finally finished spinning the project I was working on.
It came to 324 yards, it is drying now in the last picture.
When it is dry, I will twist it into a skein and attach a tag with the yardage on it. Sadly, I got the fiber long ago. The store is now closed. I think a lot of things will be closing.
It was my plan to get it finished as a gift to myself for Christmas.
I have plans yet to make a new bonnet for my sock machine as well for Christmas.
I had stirred up cookie dough that I still have three kinds to bake off.
I encourage you to get a budget drawn up and work on your goals and your storage and your skill building.
I was given a five pound bag of carrots. I have never seen that size of bag before. I decided to clean and slice and blanch well and put in the dehydrator. While I had it going, I diced up old apples, giving the squirrels the peelings and cores - they ate them right up. I diced the apples into lemon water to keep them from browning. These will be great in oatmeal and the carrots great in soups, so don't throw out things, dehydrate them.
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Missy says make a good plan to tackle the new year!
Tippy Longstockings says keep putting in supplies and building skills, this will be a tough year.
