The past two years jeff and I have tried to live off our food storage from Jan.-March in order to save some money and just to see if we can. We only went to the store to buy fresh produce, milk products, and eggs. We did it again this year and I have learned some things I want us to remember.
First of all I can make bread without a bread maker! Not much to others, but a miracle I thought I would never achieve. Though I love the bread maker when I am in a rush and have no time. I enjoy doing it without if I make the time. I made about 3-4 loaves twice a month depending on our appetites. I simply can't resist the smell of freshly baked bread. Maybe its from working at Old Grist Mill one summer during college, I wish I could just bottle it up. I have used two recipes I enjoy, Emilie's Whole Wheat Bread, and a recipe I found from Sister Hinckley in her Small and Simple Things book. I love both.
Second I realized I don't have near enough wheat stored up! I am thankful I learned this because I thought those calculations for your family had to be off, but you really need a ton if your making bread every week.
I also learned that we must purchase a cow yearly. Our family does this and shares the meat and it has less fat and it so nice to have in the freezer. We have buffalo also, and it is surprisingly good.
We decided this time to not buy any special snacks for the kids like fruit snacks, etc... Though I did cave a couple of times. The funny thing was is that they started eating their meals so much better and healthy fresh snacks. I had a good habit when Jaxon was little but it was so easy with the other stuff. I am sure we will still buy those goodies, but it showed us how much it affected their appetites.
I learned to plan ahead, each Sunday I would plan our week's menu including side dishes. It was hard to prepare ahead of time with having a baby around again, thankfully I had some casseroles in the freezer.
I learned that I need a checklist of exactly how much I have of each thing, so I can keep a list of what I need to buy to keep our supplies up. I learned I need to write the year on each can so I rotate through things better as well.
I also need to stock up on cleaning supplies and water. We don't have nearly enough water and it is what keeps us going!
All in all it was another good experience and has made us appreciate what we have. Food as well as devices like microwaves and bread makers! Prepare every needful thing!
3 comments:
I loved this post! I have worked on our food storage for almost two years and making sure we have things so its nice to hear what other people do. I just bought us a cow and pig (eighth and fourth) and am excited about that. I have been planning meals for two weeks at a time since we got married but I am always seeming to make trips to the store that I need to work on cutting out. I love that you guys do the food storage thing for 3 months.
Such a great example of preparation and discipline! Good for you.
Buying a cow? Not sure how that works...but it sounds interesting.
I agree that the less snacks our kids eat, the better the appetite for real food.
Holy cow, you're amazing! And holy cow, you buy a cow?? How does one go about doing that? This was a great post to read. We've been working on our food storage, but no way could we live off of it for three months. You're a great example and it makes me want to do better.
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