Economic Times

I believe what Glenn Beck says is coming down the pike. Not because Glenn Beck said it, but because I have eyes.

I went to Walmart yesterday (my kids wanted to spend their allowances), and a pair of men's pajama pants caught my eye. My oldest child is 20 (going on 6, but he wears men's sizes) and last year they would have cost $9.99. They were $12. I wouldn't buy them. That's outrageous. That's almost a 30% raise in price.

Since my garden is done now, I'm going to focus on stockpiling. I don't really know anything about it; I'm learning as I go. I'll be composting in the garden spot so I can raise a garden next spring. We tried to cut down the pompus grass, but it had a bee's nest in it. We're going to wait until it's cold. I got stung in my "bad" arm (the one where all the lymph nodes were removed when I had breast cancer surgery). Next time I deal with it, I need to have long sleeves on. I'll keep you posted on my progress with the composting, too.

So, Glenn says to have a 3 month supply of food on hand. I know the Mormon's are much better at this than I am, so I first went to their sight. I can't remember off hand which site it was, I just googled Mormon food storage. That got me started.

Here's what I learned, in a nut shell. Don't just start putting away cans of green beans and tuna. Sit down and make up menus of things you can eat without adding any fresh ingredients (or very little). The more you come up with, the greater variety you will have. I came up with 11. You also have to remember breakfast, lunch and snacks. You can put away condiments (like mayonnaise) for tuna fish sandwiches.

I believe an economic crisis is coming. I believe that food prices are going to go sky high and almost won't be able to be bought. My husband doesn't want me to raise a garden, because he believes we'll have to protect it. THAT'S why I'm storing food.

I was sort of stuck at this point. The Mormon site also lists everything that a family needs (per person) of staples, like wheat, oats, rice, etc. I and both my children have a gluten intolerance (celiac disease), so it wasn't much good for me. I found a great site that explains everything in detail. I am not affiliated with this site in anyway. It's called www.foodstoragemadeeasy.net. Remember it's NET and not COM. Com gets you to a different site.

So, I am almost to a 3 month supply of food. I actually believe I am, if you include the stuff that I put away before I decided to do menus. My husband wants to have a ton of sardines, oysters, canned meat on hand because you can survive on sardines and crackers. I told him, my crackers are expensive! I do, however have a cracker recipe, so I'll store the ingredients to make that recipe. That's if the power grid doesn't come down. We have a gas stove so I cook with the power off (I've done it before, just have to light it manually. HOWEVER, you can't use the oven because it's electronic on temperature control. I'm not sure how to bake bread without an oven. I guess in a dutch oven on a fire? Something I need to look into.

Another thing I happen to have on hand, and is good in an economic emergency, is a grain grinder. I had it for grinding my own rice flour. That way you can put away grains instead of flour and it lasts longer. I also picked up a cheap meat grinder at a local thrift store. They had 2, and I'm kicking myself for not getting them both. What would you use a meat grinder for? Well, if meat prices get beyond reach, which is possible if Cass Sustein has his way, you could catch and eat squirrels, rabbits, deer, etc. The grinder is to make ground meat. It just might be squirrel instead of beef. But you can substitute it in your recipes that call for beef, like hamburger noodle casserole. I haven't come up with a substitute for sour cream yet. I make my own cream of mushroom soup mix, mostly because every one on the market is either with wheat, or already too high. I also have a dehydrator, and I dehydrated my own mushrooms (bought from the store). If your bananas are getting a bit ripe and no one is eating them, throw them in the dehydrator and you have banana chips. I also do that with tomatoes that are about to go bad, as in getting a bit too soft for my husband. Then later, you can add them to stews.

Water. They say everyone needs 3 liters to 1 gallon of water a day. That's just for drinking/potting water. One idea for water conservation is to use the water that you cook noodles in to flush your toilet. If you don't have water service, any water you can save is useful.

But, I'll be keeping everyone posted on my personal progress. We have to buy water, and every time we go to the store we buy a bit extra food that I need for recipes. I said I have 11 recipes. I need to multiply that times 3 (at this point) to get a month's worth, than times 3 for 3 months. You also have to remember that power may fail, so don't count on refrigeration. I thought of buying a chest freezer, but changed my mind for that purpose. I found one on line (Ebay) for around $250, but thought the money would be better spent on food.