WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS WEEK TO PREPARE? PART 30

[Stephanie]

(((Tracie)))) you're right, you CAN do it!

 

I know what you mean about MrsSurvival being the best thing you've done towards preps.

 

 

 

 

Earlier this evening I went to our brand spanking new WalGreens on my way home from church. I did pretty good. I needed an rx and they had a promotion that they would give you $25 to spend in the store if you transferred...so I did that.

 

Then they had a bunch of sales and rebates and stuff.

 

I ended up getting 5 items that I'll get totally free after the rebate that I send end. Vitamins, ecotrin, etc.

 

Plus they had a big basket full of vegie seed packets that were 10 for $1...I got 30!!

 

 

[Jules]

Crazycanner, 3 might not sound like a lot to anyone who hasn't gone berry picking before but that really is a good amount. I hope you can get more.

When I was a youngin I spent my summers up in the mountains with relatives and we'd all go berry picking. Us kids (6 of various ages), my aunties, my mother, and my great grandmother. We were all instructed to keep an eye out for bears who might want the berries we'd picked. My aging great grandmother always picked with us, laughing and talking the morning away. We always filled coffee cans and she'd make the most wonderful cobblers with it.

One time we'd lost sight of her and there was a brief panic as we feared she'd been taken away by a hungry bear (a child's reasoning lol) but no, she hadn't been 'grandma napped' she had tumbled into a blackberry patch as was attempting to free herself when she realised she spilled berries, so she began to pick them up. We quickly organised a search party only to find her within fifty yards of us reclaiming her berries and insisting no bear would be crazy to attempt to take them from her. After a couple of scotches she was known to swear in German so I believed her completely.

Anywho, having hijacked I will also include in my story how I canned several quarts of sloppy joes and added them to my preps.

[TeamBettendorf]

We have been busy this week. Using the Excel spread sheet found at www.simplylivingsmart.com I put in all the food we currently have on hand and found that I have about 1% of the recommended total for one year. LOL And here I thought we were making great strides!!

 

Really we are and we keep plodding on.

[Tracie]

Today I bought two cases of quart canning jars. The price wasn't great $10.99) but considering the price of gas, running around to price check isn't ideal either. I also bought 4 packs of regular lids and 1 packs of wide mouth. I bought a bar of fels naptha soap. I bought a large bottle of crisco vegetable oil that doesn't expire until September 2010.

 

Every week, I'm going to buy a bar of the fels naptha and either a borax or a washing soda. For this summer, I'll buy at least 2 packs of lids every time I go to the store.

 

tonight I'm going to pack the instant milk and sugar I bought at Aldi into some glass jars. It's okay to wait to put oxygen aborbers in with the milk, right? I don't have any yet. I'll fill the jars as high as I can and put a warm lid on them and hope for the best. I figure if I tap on the jars as I'm filling them, I'll get a pretty good pack with a minimum of air..

 

:-)

[Stephanie]

If I EVER find the washing powder, I'm stocking up on it!!

 

I can't find it anywhere!!.

[CrabGrassAcres]

I've used powdered milk from jars up to three yrs after packing with no O2 absorbers. Be sure to put it in the proverbial cool dark place.

[Tracie]

Originally Posted By: CrabGrassAcres

I've used powdered milk from jars up to three yrs after packing with no O2 absorbers. Be sure to put it in the proverbial cool dark place.

Oh yes. I'm going to cover the top of the "case" so no light can get in, then it's going in the nice, cool basement. Thanks!!

Originally Posted By: prayed2baMom

If I EVER find the washing powder, I'm stocking up on it!!

I can't find it anywhere!!.

If you don't mind paying shipping, there are sites that sell it. http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/category_s/15.htm

I saw Arm & Hammer Washing Soda at my local grocery, and the 20 mule team borax. The fels naptha was only $1.09 a bar (compared to $1.75 on that website). I go to a regional grocery store, not Walmart or a national chain.

Good luck!

[Tracie]

Originally Posted By: TeamBettendorf

We have been busy this week. Using the Excel spread sheet found at www.simplylivingsmart.com I put in all the food we currently have on hand and found that I have about 1% of the recommended total for one year. LOL And here I thought we were making great strides!!

Really we are and we keep plodding on.

I just checked that out -- how cool!! thanks for the link!

[Mt_Rider]

Wellllll, I've been saying for two years that I needed to get the hand-crank base to my Family Grain Mill. We bought it ...7 yrs ago with the electric base and it's wonderful. But just*in*case..... However, the price is so HIGH for a bit of metal and laminated wood.

 

It arrived last yesterday.

[MtRider crossing that off The B List]

 

Also

a gallon of waterglass (solution mixed 1:10 with water to preserve our duck eggs without fridge)

hand grass sickle...harvest forage for penned goats

light-weight and SHARP hoe for garden

 

 

STILL not working out to get to my big grocery trip yet..... but God will Provide the opportunity. The sales this week are not spectacular...

 

 

 

 

MtRider [shoot, now I've got boxes and packing paper all over my finally-cleaned living room...oh WELL ]

 

[JCK88]

I am tired so I didn't do much today. However, I cranked up my dehydrator and dried an entire bottle of parsley from a batch that I picked today. I picked peas, and we ate them for dinner. I picked basil and we had pasta pesto tonight. I also dried some basil in the dehydrator..well it's my oven but it has a convection fan and dehydration setting and I love it..it's the first time I tried it. So my prep is that I learned how to use this thing and got over my fear of preserving food this way....(yeah, anything that doesn't boil for long periods scares me)

 

So now I'm not scared of the dehydrator and will venture forth into a frenzy of drying as the season progresses.

 

[kappydell]

finally! found one of those deer-carts that hold about 300 lb and are balanced like a rickshaw so they are easy to pull-push. made for overland use (getting deer from woods) it folds for storage, too. $49 and worth it...been looking for a comparitively cheap one for bug-out just in case I have to haul hubby cross country and cant use wheelchair! Looks like it could also be rigged for a bicycle trailer with a little work.

(from the sportsman's guide)

[dustyboots]

I was blessed to get in on a group buy of hard white wheat so I picked up 400 pounds today. I was also able to go with a friend to the LDS cannery the other night. I began to sweat upon hearing how much stuff they were out of. If the LDS don't have it that means big trouble in my book. So I stocked up on canned sugar and some beans as best as possible. But,the best thing is that on the way home from picking up my white wheat today I made a wrong turn and ending up driving for many miles before there was a place to turn around. The good part was I passed by BOB's RED MILL. I have always wanted to go there, so I took another detour and went in. I picked up the whole yellow corn I have been looking for and a few other goodies. I am a happy prepper today!! Oh yeah, I also ordered my little grain grinder for all my wheat! Doin' the happy dance tonight!

[Stephanie]

kappydell...is there a link?? I'd like to see that.

 

dustyboots ... cute name and welcome!! Sounds like you have good reason to be doing a happy dance.

[Mt_Rider]

I was curious about this deer cart thing too...cuz sometimes I can't walk.

 

Here's a pic of one on Amazon:

 

www.amazon.com/Guide-Gear-Gear®-Deer-Cart/dp/B000UNKQ7Y

 

Interesting BugOut possibilities, kappy!

 

 

 

MtRider [course I'd really like to see a deer or elk riding home on one of these this fall..... ]

[Jasminegirl]

We always buy a large package or two of spaghetti everytime we go shopping. We make homemade spaghett/cheese, spaghetti and meatsauce, put in soups etc. So no, you can never have too much of them. When I open 1 pack, I buy 2 more, so we are always adding to the freezer each shopping trip. Same thing with rice, if I find I have used up 4 bags b/f next trip to town, I buy 4 to replace and 4 more to add, unless I have extra money that trip I may add an extra 5 lb. bag. That is basically how I have added to my pantry every trip to town.

[Vipper]

Quote:

Crazycanner, 3 might not sound like a lot to anyone who hasn't gone berry picking before but that really is a good amount. I hope you can get more.

My children and their friends do the elderberry, service berry, blackberry, mulberries and raspberry picking here a lot. The number of cobblers or ice cream's they get in exchange is robbery if ya ask me LOL... It is a ton of work... Be proud of what you got... Slave labor would eat it all or at least a lot of it from my experience...

Kath

[Crazy4Canning]

A friend of mine has an 'in' with a butcher and can get 40# of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for around $60. I got a box and have spent MOST of the afternoon cutting them up and just took 7 qts out of the canner & put in 7 more.

 

I also was able to buy 50# of hard white wheat at a really great price.

 

I also found a few bargains this week:

 

10# of carrots for $5 (I'm going to dry them if I don't eat them first!)

4 tubes of Colgate for .50 each

Aging garlic and jalapenos for a couple of $$ - I chopped them up and froze them to use in salsa when my tomatoes ripen.

Instant oatmeals - $1 a box

 

 

[HannaLee]

Originally Posted By: prayed2baMom

If I EVER find the washing powder, I'm stocking up on it!!

I can't find it anywhere!!.

I'm going to make your day!

You can find it easily, almost anywhere...

At any pool supply store! It's called soda ash and (at least in CA) is well under $20 for all my family needs for a year (and there's ten of us).

[Stephanie]

 

 

I was just about to send in my pool order. Thanks!!!

 

http://www.intheswim.com/Pool-Chemicals/Wa...s/pH-Increaser/

[LaBellaVita]

I loved the comment made by one woman in the videos of the Mormom women showing their preps about her storing paper plates. Saves water, and you can burn them, so I bought a bunch of paper plates (not foam) and paper cups (again, not foam or plastic).

 

More TP, bottled water, canned goods, replacement globe for our lantern, more fuel for the lantern, more bags and rolls for the vacuum sealer, 15 boxes of wooden matches, 2 cast iron dutch ovens, two big jugs of oil (for our cars, will go back and get more), 2 big jugs of olive oil, lemonade mix (to give variety to water), and more spices (peppercorns, cinnamon, etc). Also, placed an order for mylar bags.

[pricklypear]

Originally Posted By: prayed2baMom

If I EVER find the washing powder, I'm stocking up on it!!

I can't find it anywhere!!.

Hi.

I found it at Walmart, in the pool care section,
as pH Plus balancer....sodium carbonate listed as the active ingredient. It's a five pound plastic can for seven or eight dollars. Maybe it would be cheaper at a pool supply place.

[LaBellaVita]

OK, my DH is going to flip when he sees how much money I'm spending

 

Just ordered my All-American 921 Canner **and** my Excalibur Dehydrator.

 

Its all good, its all good...

[DenimDaze]

phew.

 

I have over 3 face cords of wood on my property again. If something happens to the natural gas supply, it'll be a while before we get cold here.

 

That is a big prep up here in the snowy North!

 

 

 

 

[Simplegirl]

Got my Harmony House order in today and also went to Aldi to stock up on a few things. Filling those shelves!

[DoubleD]

Stocked up on 40 lb bags of rock phosphate, green sand, and dolomitic lime. Have enough on hand now to keep the gardens in good order for about 8 years using my normal application rates.