shannsmom

I have never heard of bacon flavored Spam, but now I gotta try it! I buy our bacon from Zaycon, and have found there is no "cooking ahead to freeze" in this house.....if I cook it, someone will eat it! We keep at least 9 pounds in the freezer, uncooked, at all times, though.

Again, a belated response, but Thank You! It was one of the first birthdays I ever had to work, but since we own our own store, I can't complain much! But this year I decided we will close on each of our birthdays so the birthday person can sleep in and be lazy, or we can go wherever we wish! Three days a year won't kill us.

Way to go, Stephanie! I have read the stories in Fireside multiple times and always thought it would be great to publish and make into a movie!

A very belated thank you, Shadow!

I have always kept a "sick kit" of tissues, paper plates and cups, plastic utensils, OTC meds and gatorade in addition to the food storage. I was a nurse for 20 years, so also keep medical supplies on hand along with fishmox. I do all of the cooking and cleaning, so in the past when I have been sick, DH thinks the answer is McDonalds. We don't tend to keep frozen meals, but I have learned to keep a frozen lasagna or a couple of pizzas just for these occasions. In fact, I picked up a lasagna last weekend, and BAM! DH came down with the flu monday, with me and DD right behind him. While we had everything here in the house we needed, I am adding 1 thing to our flu preps...telling even our dearest friends to keep back if they smell like cough drops or show any signs of illness. We had a couple of friends come back form the Phillipines and as they hugged us hello, I smelled cough drops. They went on to tell us about the terrible crud they caught there! Hey, next time, bring me a tshirt, not a 104 fever! FIL also was sick, we saw him 2 days prior to seeing them, he did not say a word ahead of visiting, but I smelled the cough drops again. In the past I have always worried about hurting someone's feelings or seeming uncaring, but after how horrible this week was, we will not worry about that.

Also, Staples has run a deal for the past 3 weeks where you buy a 16 pack of AA or AAA Duracells and you get the full purchase price back in Staples Rewards. I know this is good through Saturday, but, they may run it again next week, you never know.

As for the snacks, do you make your own popsicles? The popsicle molds can often be found for 1.00 or so, especially if you find an end of summer sale. Just use sugar free koolaid or fruit juice and water. And I am not sure about Costco, but Sams sells a 50 pound bag of popcorn kernels for about $25, which lasts a looongg time when you make your own homemade popcorn on the stove. Pennies per batch!

Also, save your leftovers to make your own frozen dinners. We only have 3 people in our family, so often there is 1 serving of the entree and a little bit of each side dish left over...into a container and into the freezer they go! I have a whole section of the smallest freezer full of 1 meal portions of all kinds of things, then if I am too sick or tired to cook, there's still food that can be just popped in the microwave. Almost like having free dinners on hand!