Perhaps it is because I grew up with shelves in the basement, huge freezer, and cupboards crammed full of food....a mixture of store bought and what was canned or frozen from the large garden. I use to love seeing all that food growing up and never was really ever concerned we may go hungry. There was an abundance of food and we were really ready for just about anything........at least for awhile.
Perhaps stocking food for up to a year, recommended by preppers and survivalists......well just makes plain sense to me!
So I have always had this nostalgic dream of having 6 months to a year stocked food supply.
This month I spent way over my typical food budget......around $720, add another $200 for dining out to that! My goal was to boost our pantry, this is NOT the first time I have tried this but may well darn be my last time I try! Or I really need to review exactly what I need to store that the family will leave the heck alone!
My family LOVES food it all it's forms and are really food junkies, I mean really they are AL:L ABOUT FOOD.
So what did all that spending on food this month accomplish? ZILCH!
They simply ATE MORE and at the end of the month we are really not much better off than when I spend $150 to $300 in a month!
The one thing it did do was I still have plenty of whole wheat, sugar, flour and rice. I have plenty of peanut butter and molasses. I have a few cans of salmon and about 5 lbs of chicken breasts in the freezer. I have plenty of honey and syrup.
so in a few bulk ways it did help but really not by much.All the dried fruit is mostly gone, I am left with one bag of banana chips and one bag of dried cranberries. I also still have a bag of coconut.
But really they ate their way happily through most of what was spent on food.
Unless I got a huge chest that locked I think it is time to either admit defeat or re- evaluate how I could build up a stock pile that they won't eat up all in a month!I mean REALLY?
Sigh it was a nice though but a very expensive experiment of trying to attain to me, a worth while goal!
If this was any other family.......it may of had a chance!
Perhaps stocking food for up to a year, recommended by preppers and survivalists......well just makes plain sense to me!
So I have always had this nostalgic dream of having 6 months to a year stocked food supply.
This month I spent way over my typical food budget......around $720, add another $200 for dining out to that! My goal was to boost our pantry, this is NOT the first time I have tried this but may well darn be my last time I try! Or I really need to review exactly what I need to store that the family will leave the heck alone!
My family LOVES food it all it's forms and are really food junkies, I mean really they are AL:L ABOUT FOOD.
So what did all that spending on food this month accomplish? ZILCH!
They simply ATE MORE and at the end of the month we are really not much better off than when I spend $150 to $300 in a month!
The one thing it did do was I still have plenty of whole wheat, sugar, flour and rice. I have plenty of peanut butter and molasses. I have a few cans of salmon and about 5 lbs of chicken breasts in the freezer. I have plenty of honey and syrup.
so in a few bulk ways it did help but really not by much.All the dried fruit is mostly gone, I am left with one bag of banana chips and one bag of dried cranberries. I also still have a bag of coconut.
But really they ate their way happily through most of what was spent on food.
Unless I got a huge chest that locked I think it is time to either admit defeat or re- evaluate how I could build up a stock pile that they won't eat up all in a month!I mean REALLY?
Sigh it was a nice though but a very expensive experiment of trying to attain to me, a worth while goal!
If this was any other family.......it may of had a chance!
Dried beans are an amazing way to stock up on bulk and they don't get eaten before you put them on a menu.
ReplyDeleteMost cooked beans can also be frozen, which means you can soak, cook, and divide between immediate eating and future meals all at once.
When all of our girls were home I kept my stock up food in a separate room. On Friday's I would reload the kitchen pantry with what we ran out of, if we ran out of something during the week to bad to sad we were out until Friday. It takes time to build up a good size pantry and lots of time to rotate and watch the sales but I know we save lots of $$ in the end
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI stock a large pantry and I still tend to say what my mother did to us, a weeks worth of canning or whatever brought up, with a jar of fruit per day for use etc
If you want something, you ask, and if it was worked into the menu, you are not allowed it.. it took a good six months of training when i married hubby but he knows to ask now, and never to just take something out of the fridge, cupboard or pantry, unless its in the "use it" this week space and then its portioned out for how much daily.
It works well for us, as an example, I have many jars of dried fruits for baking etc, They are NOT allowed to be snacked out of it.. I do sometimes fill small jars with half cup or one cup portions and move them over to the eating spot as treats but again its controlled, and planned out.
Thankyou ladies for your comments they are all well worth considering. I do stock up on dried beans and actually have to replenish them in March as I have almost gone through all my stock on them. I do not limit my son as we are having a difficult time keeping him at a good weight as he is growing taller faster than his body can keep up! He really NEEDS the food he eats or he gets underweight quickly and is hard to put it back on.
ReplyDelete