$10 Plan
Store 4 cans corn
$20 Plan
Store 4 cans corn and 2 cans peas
We're storing tinned veggies now. These veggies require no pre-cooking. They're ready to go. If you don't have the resources to heat them up, they can be eaten straight out of the can in a desperate situation. Of course, in a 'normal' situation you could use them in a Tuna Mornay, in a Risotto, a meat pie/shepherd's pie, in savoury mince, fritters or in a soup.
Cans last longer than frozen vegetables if you are without power. Personally, I have both. I don't use my canned veggies as much but I am glad they are there. They will lose nutritional value over time, just as all canned and jars of food will do so it is a good idea to keep rotating your food storage.
If you don't like these canned veggies, you can always store something that you will use. There are so many alternatives; carrots, mushrooms, beans, capsicum, baby corn, creamed corn, beetroot, asparagus etc.
$10 Challenge
Store 2 large cans of tuna
$20 Challenge
Store 4 large cans of tuna
Yes folks, we are storing more tuna. This is the last of it though, I promise!
We actually go through a lot of tuna in my household, even though my husband doesn't particularly like the stuff. My children and I would quite happily eat tuna mornay a few nights a week and my son definitely loves the small tins of flavoured tuna with crackers.
To digress, because we are so tuna'd out already...
I realised today I am very glad I am doing this food storage challenge. My husband (and in no way am I bagging him out...but it dawned on me today) that he very much lives in the here and now. Sadly he has very little concept of meal planning and shopping on a budget.
He wanted to know why we didn't have any garlic bulbs in the cupboard with the onions today. Well...because I don't cook with them, and he only does about twice a year. Why would I purchase something that we wouldn't use and would have to be thrown out? His answer "Well, because I like garlic and would like to use it sometimes".
My compromise: I will purchase him a tube of garlic and keep it in the freezer for such occasions.
He had a similar whinge about basil about this time last year (our basil died off over Winter). I had managed to freeze some and they came in handy today. Deary me *puts on a Texas accent* It seems I have some educatin' to do!
So it is my job to organise the family food storage, ensure we have enough resources to get us through difficult times. It does make sense to me. I am the better spouse at Home Management, and he is the better spouse at providing (money-wise). Yes, I have worked full time and he has been a stay-home Dad so we could 'cover' each other if we needed to, but I'm happy with the 'roles' that we have. They work to our strengths.
But I will seriously donk him over the head with that frozen tube of garlic if I purchase it and he can't find it in the freezer (right in front of his nose)!
And then I can get him this T-shirt :D (It's a line from Star Trek, folks).
Does anyone else suffer the same thing; when you wake up with a migraine and your brain is halfway between the real world and the world of Nod?
A couple of weeks ago I had the distinct feeling that there was a man in my room. Trying to kiss me!
In my non-coherent state I had taken a trip back 13 or so years ago and was dreaming a former boyfriend was trying to kiss me goodbye but my conscious state was telling me I was married and there was no way this young man's face should be anywhere near me, let alone in my bedroom!
Finally I saw reason and realised it was PHIL trying to kiss me goodbye, as he does every morning and that I didn't have anyone there who shouldn't be.
Ahhh poor Phil. What he has to put up with. Lucky I didn't resort to defending myself!
I'm asking Spring to hurry up and arrive. I need that weather pattern in order to my head to be in some sort of 'normal' again.
$10 challenge
Store 2 kgs milk powder
$20 challenge
Store 4 kgs milk powder and 5 kgs lentils
Check the use by dates on the powdered milk you have stored. Make sure you are able to use it up because when it goes off, it doesn't smell very nice, and certainly won't be pleasant in your tummy!
Here are some ideas for using it up: http://denleydiaries.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-to-do-with-powdered-milk.html
It is your choice as to which lentils you store. There are many different varieties and they come dry or canned. I love canned as I don't have to worry about pre-soaking them. You can rinse them under the tap and they're good to go straight away. I have some dried lentils as well, but my family doesn't eat them very often.
If you don't want to store lentils, how about something like barley, rye or oats?
$10 Plan
Store 1 kg honey
$20 Plan
Store 2 kgs honey and 2 kgs sugar
Yay! More honey and sugar.
I won't be storing the honey this time though because I have LOTS of the stuff. I will get more sugar because I use that in my baking.
Don't forget that there are different sugars out there - not just white sugar. You can store raw sugar, brown sugar, caster sugar, icing sugar if you really want to. It depends really on what you use as a family and what will work best for you. You can also store things like maple syrup, golden syrup, glucose syrup. I classify these under 'sugar'. My children would live on pancakes and maple syrup if they could!
I was fortunate enough to get good quality honey just before honey prices went through the roof. I purchased a few kilos of it (4 or 5 - I can't remember) and it is stored away until we go through the bucket of honey I have in my pantry cupboard. That bucket has lasted us 5 years so far (it was a 2 kg bucket). Mmmm I can feel some honey jumbles needing to be cooked!
Honey doesn't go off, but it may crystalise. Simply leave it out in the sun for a little bit (with the lid on). I don't really recommend putting it in the microwave but it is possible.
This will be the last of the honey and sugar we store for this year.
Some of you may know that I have arthritis and RSI in my hands. This can make many things I do incredibly painful and just plain difficult.
I don't do much gardening these days. I hire some wonderful menfolk who maintain my yard and do a great job. Phil just cannot do it with the hours he works, so I swallowed my pride and called 'Strong Steve' (my kids nicknamed him that). They have been doing my lawn for over a year now and I think it's one of the best decisions I've made. Something I don't have to worry about.
I can't give up teaching music - that's my 'pocket money' but it also keeps my musical talent up and running. I love being able to share my knowledge with others, and that's the main reason I do that.
Cooking...hmmm now there was a problem. I love cooking, but with the arthritis spreading to my shoulders and back, I couldn't stand and stir things anymore. Phil decided that I needed something to 'help' me with my work. Perhaps a really good food processor?
We searched around for a bit but weren't happy with the cheaper ones we saw. Phil wanted something that would crush ice easily - apparently the sign of a really good processor! That, and he really likes Slushies.
Then I got wind of Thermomixes. I did a bit of research and found I really liked them but didn't know where to get hold of one, how much they were or how they actually worked. A year later when a friend had a demonstration and unfortunately I was unable to attend, I booked in my own demonstration
The funny thing was that Phil was already sold on them. He had watched videos and read the information I showed to him and he was completely hooked. It was me the demonstrator needed to impress. Needless to say we have been the proud owners of a Thermomix for about a year now and I don't regret purchasing it at all.
It's about the price of a laptop. Not cheap at all, but as Phil said "If I can have a laptop (or two), you can have a cool kitchen appliance. Nice thinking Phil!
Yes, it really does take a lot of the work out of mixing, and my hands and shoulders are thankful for it.
I made beef chow mein in it tonight, and all I had to do was peel some carrots and an onion (it acts as a slow cooker too, and a steamer).
Thank you Phil, for agreeing to purchase my kitchen 'toy'. I LOVE it!!
Either purchase or make or learn how to make soap/dishwashing liquid. Store 4 bars of soap and 2 big bottles of dishwashing liquid.
The bonus of the Internet is that you can research how to make soap and liquid soap with the click of a button (or you can visit your local library and borrow some books on the subject).
Rhonda at her Down-to-Earth blog has some great step-by-step instructions on soap making here: soap-new-recipe. She also has some other links at the bottom of that post to guide you to more of her soap making posts.
If you have young children or pets around you and you're not keen to use caustic soda, I have posted a re-batched recipe here: Re-batched soap. Just be careful not to add too much fragrant oil. The one batch I went overboard with the apple-scented oil ended up going mouldy, but I haven't had any problems with my other batches.
I purchase all my liquid soap. At this point I don't have the hours during the day to try making my own. That may be a Christmas Holiday activity.
