Joyfilled

Can someone help her? Her application to join here is still pending, so she can't post anything. Is there is something else she's supposed to do?

Oh, good! Yes, growing stuff indoors will save on our grocery bill. We love eating salads in the summer months, and hubby likes to blend lettuce and spinach with orange juice and blueberries. It's an acquired taste, trust me, haha! He buys those tubs of greens, but growing our own will be so much cheaper!!

So...I'm not sure I'm understanding the challenge correctly, but let me see if I am: challenging to grow something where you have it, even if it's small, indoors, on a ledge, porch, etc?

We will have a larger garden this year, and we are hoping for a lot of produce. Probably will all be ready right at wedding time, haha! But I think I can still participate in the challenge!

We are wanting to keep some plants indoor for multiple reasons, and it's always been a challenge for me. Does that work? Lettuce and some herbs, mainly.

Lots of great ideas, ladies....keep 'em coming, please! 😊

So...I have an idea, but I'm not always sure it's a good one. Our church has a good sized kitchen with a gas stove. I was thinking about asking if I can use it for canning and making it a community event of sorts. 

Has anyone done this before? If so, what does it look like? Do people bring their own food, jars, kids, etc? Combine it all together or is it better to do all this separate? 

Any thoughts or ideas on this?

I came to Mrs Survival to post a question about biscuits...and look at this that I found! Thanks for reading my mind. 😊

2 hours ago, Cricket said:

Y'all inspired me to inventory our chest freezer. My tracking was wayyyy out of date. I asked DH to help me, knowing I cant reach down into the bottom.

 

It took us almost four hours to empty, remove frost/ice, inventory, and repack. We were both so tired out that we just had sandwiches for dinner, but it was totally worth it! I'm trying to reorganize and re-inventory all my shelf-stable storage with the idea to plan meals accordingly, for even distribution of meal-types over the coming months. 

That's awesome!! I think worth it to know what you have and be able to plan!! 😊

2 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Over the years I had forgotten about the meals stored in a bag. But I can see the value in it. I like the idea of knowing I would always have a month of suppers on the shelf. Or if I was down sick all someone would have to do is grab a bag and fix a simple meal for me. Probably with leftovers to boot. Humm.  

Yes!! I like the idea of knowing that I have a month worth of easy breakfasts, not just flour and baking powder. I want to know that a good meal can be put together with little to no preparation, for at least the first part of an emergency. I'm for long term storage, too, of course. But a month or so of ready to go meals I think would be good. Space, though.....🤔

1 hour ago, mommato3boys said:

Well, my storage is a mixture of ideas. My working pantry is arranged by hubby, in other words it is all just stuffed in the cabinet (OH MY OCD BRAIN) My storage is a little different since it is all over the apartment. You know I had to find room in this tiny apartment.  Long term is by product, yes, all my green beans are together, soups are together, and they are arranged by kind of soup, ie all veggie soup are together, all potato soup etc (you get the idea). Then my favorite, my oh crap I forgot to put something in the crockpot or I really don't want to cook. I too saw the bags with meals and incorporated those into my food pantry. I have about two dozen that I can grab and throw together a meal. It may be as simple as meatless spaghetti or mac&cheese tuna casserole. I call these my oh crap meals. They are not my favorite meals but they are my quick and easy meals. I went to the Dollar Store before it became the 5 Quarter store and bought the bags with handles and put everything needed for the meal in the bag. Wrote on the bag what the meal was and set it on the self above the washer. There is also a 5x7 index card in each with written instructions so that hubby can prepare the meal. Got to love him he tries LOL.  When I use one I take the bag go to the storage bins and gather the ingredients and restock the bag. One this helps rotate my food and two when the work day as whipped me good we still have a decent meal in minutes. 

 

I have learned one system will not work for everything. My working pantry is arranged by hubby because he does most of the cooking during the week and he likes things grouped a certain way. My food storage, we both agree, needs to be by item so we can see the holes. Then we have our camping food, aka get the heck out of Dodge meals, these are for when / if we have to grab and go in case of natural disaster or an emergency (and when we do weekend camping trips just to have a break). These are mostly no cook meals or take little to no prep and can be eaten cold ...camp food... like beanie weenies. soup, cheese and crackers, pop tarts, granola bars and beef sticks. We keep these in Bug Out Bags so they are easy to grab and go. The BOB has about 10 days worth of food for the two of us. I am trying to figure out how to make it a whole month. I figure it would take that long to get the supplies again if we are lucky. Then there is my oh crap bags as explained above. Food storage a multi facet system and it takes time to find one that will work for you. 

A lot of good ideas here....thank you!!

If you have goat's milk available, I believe that's a good option, too. Something to research, anyway!

Aww....you guys are so sweet!! I just saw this now. I appreciate your thoughts!! 

6 hours ago, Midnightmom said:

 

RoseRed Homestead does that but not necessarily for herself. Those bags are "ready" for her to grab and give to friends and family who may be in need. This is not to say you couldn't do the same thing for yourself, but, it's hard to see through paper to know what kind of a meal you are grabbing.  

I think adding a cute tag would do it. But truthfully, it's in the basement where no one sees, so....I may need to stick with practical. What I want is to KNOW that I have a month or so of decent meals, ready to go, not just carrots and pasta and meat. I want to know that it will all blend into a meal, something good, nutritious and comforting. 

50 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

The best way to do it is...the way that is easiest for you. You already knew that didn't you. 

 

I keep my storage with like products together. Corn in one stack, peas in one stack, green beans in one stack, carrots...well you get the idea. I have a 'slight'   case of OCD and I need things lined up in order. Plus it's easier for me to see if I have missing products. Those holes stick out at me like a sore thumb and need to be filled. 

 

But I did see where a woman put meals together and put each complete meal in a paper bag and sat them on her storage shelf. All she had to do was grab a bag and all of her ingredients, except for refrigerated items, were all right there. I kinda liked that idea and it looked nice on her shelf. But I still need to see what is missing to keep on top of things. 

I'm a bit like you....I like to see what I have. But for the three weeks that I want to have easy meals put aside, it's really attractive to think of having it all in one bag. Bonus points for making it attractive! Do you know where you found that? Pinterest perhaps? Thanks for the idea!!

Well, I guess I need to behave now....oldest DD is on the board now! She's young and wanting to learn, so I suggested she join the board. She's getting married in mid-July!! We're all excited, and wondering if we will have WW3 full blown before then, but for now we're just enjoying the process. Looking forward to learning with her!

Not sure if this should go here or not, but feel free to move it if it doesn't.

So....storage of food. We have long storage (dry beans, rice, wheat, etc) and short term (canned goods, both homemade and store bought). My question is for short term storage, mainly.

I'm wondering how you store yours. Do you put all your tomato products together, your soups together, your fruit together, or do you make meals? Put some canned tomatoes with pasta, etc. I'm now wanting to prep for a nuclear event that I pray will NEVER happen, not just for our sake, but the world's. We estimate that to be safe, we need to be in our basement for about 3 weeks, as we are downwind from Denver area, but don't live in an area where we would worry about a direct hit. We would worry about nuclear winter after. I want to have 3 weeks of easy to make meals, as we don't have easy access to cooking in our basement, and having a camping stove down there would be dangerous. We would come up to use the stove if we have electricity or use the grill or outdoor kitchen if not. Not ideal, but what we have.

What are your thoughts? I am a list maker, so have lists with meal ideas that would be relatively easy to put together. I plan on making dry mix for pancakes, biscuits, etc. I appreciate your ideas, you always seem to think of things that I don't!

On 5/7/2022 at 4:14 PM, Darlene said:

Is there any way to preserve zucchini or yellow squash?

I've been shredding our zucchini and freezing it for the last couple of years. I then use it for chocolate chocolate chip zucchini muffins, and it's worked just fine. So nice to have them in the middle of winter knowing they came from our garden! That said, that's the ONLY way we've used them, so I don't know what they would be like if used some other way.

Recipe, please.

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How about toothpicks and mini marshmallows? Lots of shapes can come from there....and yummy, non-healthy snacks, too!

Thank you, ladies. He just passed away about half an hour ago. Our family appreciates your prayers!

...he's 85, has stage 4 cancer, has recently had 4 strokes and tonight he coded in the hospital. They were able to bring him back, but he is DNR. Hubby is okay....he's been expecting it. He was a rock for me last fall when my mom passed away, I hope I can be one for him as well. We went to see him today with the kids (about an hour away). It was tough to see him like that, and he was barely with it and has lost a ton of weight. We were able to tell him that we love him, and he was able to tell us he loves us.

I feel for my hubby. He's a strong man....but it's his dad. And he's having to carry this on his own, as his sister has no relationship with his dad. If you think of it, please pray for us. It's a lot for the kids, too, as they just lost their grandma last fall.

Just needed to vent. Thanks for reading.

22 minutes ago, Mt_Rider said:

Yeah, Joyfilled.  It really IS a lot.  Africa is a long way away.  Easier now with all the electronic means of communications but... 

 

Praying that God will give us all His Peace and discernment.  Which way to we step next?

 

MtRider    

Thank you, MtRider....makes me tired just thinking about it. I'll rest in Him.

As most of you know, my Mom passed away unexpectedly in Oct of last year. Then earlier this year, my Dad went to Africa to visit my missionary sister there, and has decided he would like to go back there, long term, as a missionary. At 79 years old. And now my oldest daughter, 21, will be getting engaged soon, and married most likely in the fall. All in all, it's a lot, and then add potential of WW3 to all this, and it's just a bit crazy.

All in all, God is on His thrown, and I will not be shaken.

Thank you all so much. I'm convinced that prayer help carry us through this difficult time.

@Snowmom, it's good to hear from you. I feel like I've known you forever. Hugs! Joyfilled aka HappyGirl.

We had terrible wind today in Central KS. We have quite a few downed branches, but other than that, are okay, praise God! About 3pm we lost power, and it didn't come back until just after 5pm. While it was out, we stayed warm (almost too warm) with our new wood cooking stove....and, I made supper for the first time on it!! I'm so excited! I did almost all of it, but DS (10) wanted to help and melting cheese was involved, so I had him do it over the "real" stove as he can be a bit messy.

It was WONDERFUL!! We baked cookies too (at the same time, and they came out so, so yummy. I need to practice more, but I'm so excited!!

9 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Joyfilled, you have a very smart thinking man there.

 

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach him to fish he'll eat for a lifetime. 

 

 

Or in Mr. Joyfilled's case...

 

Buy a cord of wood he'll stay warm for a winter. Get that old chain saw working and he'll stay warm for a lifetime. And well fed too! That probably lost something in the translation but you get my drift.  

 

He is a smart man....good looking, too! I'm thankful for that, as he comes up with good thoughtful ways to care for us.

And....I wasn't sure if I should have laughed, thanked or loved your response!

He liked being called Mr. Joyfilled.