Mother

MT3B,  I believe it is a great challenge and it isn’t inconceivable that we could have rationing.  I have been trying to get an idea of what we spend on groceries a week.  At first it seemed like a whole lot more than that but then I remembered that part of my grocery money was for household goods,  

When we camped we often cooked oatmeal overnight by digging hole beside the fire pit where the ground was hot from the evening fire.  It was just the size of our Dutch oven.  The oatmeal, dried fruit, nuts, and sugar were mixed ahead of time and brought along in recipe sized bags.  You just dump it into the Dutch with water, bring it to a boil, out the lid on and place it in the hole.  I covered the pot with aluminum foil or something to keep the dirt from getting o the lid and then filled in the hole with soil or ashes.  Perfectly cooked breakfast oatmeal in the morning.  You can do that with a supper meal too.  Make sure the ground around the fire is warmed, or if you use the oatmeal hole put coals in it to make sure it’s hot.  Place a pot of stew or soup into it, cover it, and by supper it’s cooked. 
 

By the way, these and the hay box cooking are old chuckwagon and trail cooking methods.  

  I found some interesting tips in this thread.  I thought you might too.  If nothing else, revisit some much loved members. 

I bumped a few oldies just to get us all thinking.  I love these old posts.  So much info.

LS, you really don’t need hay or straw to make an insulated cooker.  A cardboard box would work but  A Cooler makes a good one, even a styrofoam one as long as you fill it with something to nestle the pot into that will keep the contents hot.  Quilts, blankets, quilt batting, insulation, and etc.  insulated, thermal, or hay box cooking works best with more liquid foods as they need to be boiling hot when placed in the cooker.  To make sure your food is safe be sure to cut it in bite sized pieces and bring it to a boil and boil a few minutes. I usually don’t leave the food in the cooker more than six hours if there’s meat.  If it’s not done I simply bring it to a boil again and replace it for a Couple more hours.  I love oatmeal made in them or in a wide mouthed thermos.  I use rolled oats, chopped up apples or dates or raisins and/or nuts, bring it to a boil, and place In the Cooker overnight.  Perfectly cooked the next morning.  

I occasionally used them camping for the topping on top of a cobbler. Fruit on the bottom, sprinkle the mix in the top and dot it all over with butter.  Bake until golden brown.  I’ve used them to make ‘cake mixes’ for the kids easy bake ovens and I would imagine you could make individual microwave mug cakes with them.  You wouldn’t have a big cake to use up that way.  If you can do waffles with them you could also do pancakes. And of course there are the cookies. 
 

I’m sure you could use them as the flour part of quick breads (Sorry Euphrasyne, I didn’t see your post) and perhaps even yeast breads.  Baked donuts, maybe even fried ones or   Dumplings on fruit.  You might need to add regular flour in some uses as cake mix flour is usually finer. 

The container meals do not store as long but they are convenient for when cooking is not an option.  The containers are usually freezer to microwave.  I figured in a power outage I could transfer them to tins to be heated in my Dutch oven on the wood stove.  

That cutting board sure helps. 

7 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Actually more like I'm His co-pilot. He seems to know a little more than I do.  

That is so true.  We always seem to be reading His map and trying to see His path for us.   Good thing He knows where we are going. 
 

Safe journey, Jeepers.

Jeepers. 👍. I was pretty sure you wouldn’t leave it to chance.   By the way, I love the vision of God being your copilot. 

Euphrasyne, been there done that.  Mine were 18,17,16, and new born, back in 1980.  By the time I got to go to the bathroom on my own I had a service dog Ho never left my side.  Just wait until the grandkids come along.  By then you are afraid to go alone. 
 

Since my fall I have been using short cuts in the kitchen like precut veggies, and already washed and finding it does help but I’m not sure the cost is worth it.  I do like frozen veggies though. 

Jeepers, I am sending prayers with you.  Be safe   Ine home feeling much better. 
 

um, did you turn off the water just in case? 

I am envious!!!  🤢  We eat a lot of fresh produce and it is especially pricey now in the Midwest.  Even frozen is costly.  Organic is even higher.   

  While I can’t eat.a lot of the food you will be having, your Walmart list has really opened my eyes to possibilities for lower costs on the foods I can have.  Walmart doesn’t deliver out here  but I will sit down and compare prices from my last HyVee order and see if there would be a significant savings.  Already I know I pay $1.09 each for small avocados?  Twice WM.    Then I might have to have a grocery challenge of my own to lower our costs.  
 

With the prices of food I was skeptical of your $20 per person per week at first but it really does look possible. 👍

MT3B,  That’s a great weeks worth of menus.  The Walmart buys are good but even better if you find some bargains.  Will you need avocado?  I have found them really pricey lately .  Wondered if they were cheaper at WM.
 

Great start!

Thanks for this thread.  It will help make us all aware of our grocery spending.  
 

I actually did set myself a challenge last year to cut our grocery bills by 20% and managed to do that even though I have special diet needs.  (Gluten free and etc.) I did grow quite a bit of greens, tomatoes, and beans last year but not more than the year before so I didn’t have to take that into consideration. Because I keep records of my grocery spending I was able to compare last year with the year before and found I did save about 23%.  
 

Strangely enough I believe it came about more because I was not in the grocery store very often.  Since May neither DH nor I drive any longer so our DD did most of our shopping from a list and I ordered more from Amazon and other web sites.  Later in the year I was able to get set up to order groceries delivered from our local HyVee grocery.  Even with the delivery fee I saved because I could compare and more importantly shop online at my leisure.  
 

Here are some random thoughts. 
 

Spend less time in the store to limit impulse buys. 
 Plan menus ahead, basing them according to the sale items for the week.  

Conversely, make dozens of menus and choose what fits the sales that week. 

If there is a good buy on what you might use in several recipes, ( like rice) buy extra and subtract that amount from future weeks

Compare prices between sale items and buying in bulk.  
Try to stick to a list ( you will have to decide if you are going to use some of your preps like condiments or staples) 

Frozen veggies are much healthier but sometimes canned veggies will be cheaper, ounce for ounce, and are good for soups. (I admit I don’t care for them but keep them on hand.)

Make your own pasta, bread items, wraps, tortillas, etc. Be sure to compare prices of bought to homemade.  A good sale might be cheaper.  

I also save by growing sprouts in a jar on the kitchen sink.  Designated sprout seeds are pricey but go a long long way and they are sooooo easy. I also grow sunflower and pea shoots.  They only need a window sill and peas like the cold. I use dry whole green peas from the grocery store for the pea shoots. Most stores only carry split ones, which does not work, but if you can find whole ones they are cheap and will give you weeks of shoots for salads and stir fries. (You can find lots of info about sprouts and shoots online) 

I probably don’t have to say this but don’t waste anything.  Use every part of a product.  Veggie peelings for broth, root ends can be regrown to make greens, bones make broth, leftovers make lunches or breakfasts or reformulate them into another meal.  
 

Unfortunately many of these ideas take work and time. They might not always be doable for some.  But planning ahead will probably be key to cutting spending.

I wonder, too, if some of the Mrs S threads for stocking up cheaply might help.  Maybe those by Nana?  
Good luck….
 

👍

8 minutes ago, mommato3boys said:

Starting Feburary I am doing a grocery challenge of $20 a week per person.

MT3B, can I ask please that you share that challenge with us , perhaps in the kitchen forum?  I wouldn’t mind trying that challenge myself though I’m not sure, with my specialized needs, I could get that low.  Still, any challenge that has us being frugal would be a good one. 
 

 Cat.  It is so nice to see you on.  Thanks to Mr. Cat for helping.  

My mom was a neat, organized person but her house always had a comfortable ‘lived in’ look and feel. If something was needed she almost always had it somewhere. She was the quintessence of improvisation.  She always said  “a messy house is a sign of creativity.” 
 

We preppers certainly are creative people.  We so often can look at something and see it for more than its intended use.  We see future possibilities. We see future needs. ‘Messy’ in this case doesn’t men dirty or even unorganized.  It means lived in, worked in, provided for. Look at how creative we are even in the storage of our preps. 

The old adage is true. “One mans junk is another man’s treasures.”  Sometimes our homes become too full and we need to take stock of our ‘treasures’.  Sometimes we decide we still need those treasures. Sometimes we need to make room for different treasures.  Ones more appropriate to our circumstance, our needs. 
 

Now, if I can just keep my own words in mind I might be able to accomplish some greatly needed changes here……

I had a thought about canned goods.  Our temperatures are supposed to be unheard of below zero numbers.  At those temps and with the predicted 40/50 MPH winds if we lose heat the canned goods would most likely freeze.  We don’t have a basement and though our house is well insulated I would hate to leave them unprotected. Glass and cans alike could be ruined.  
 

Jeepers, what did you find when your house lost heat?  Were your canned goods frozen? 

They will keep pretty well. Remember, if you are bartering then you most likely are living in a cooler home too. Things would most likely be vastly different than now. If you run out of supplies you use what you can find or barter for.  Lard or animal fat or tallow can be clarified and used.  Remember the old goose grease remedy?  You can use vinegar instead of alcohol for tinctures and you can make that yourself.  Think how did your ancestors make these things without the nice shelf stable oils and such?  
 

More questions….Ask yourself….how did  my ancestors make socks without going to the general store and buying skeins of yarn?  How did they make clothes and blankets and such without being able to run to Hobby Lobby for material?  
 

I highly doubt things will ever get that bad. After all we are a nation of plenty and even if the power goes, they’re are still Lot of ‘things’ out there both new and used. Someone will likely have something we want and will be willing to barter. Or even just share. 
 

Skills and knowledge will most likely be in great demand.  If that’s the case, we Mrs. S people will be in ultimate demand.  

👍