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Monday, April 13, 2009

The Top Shelf


I am continuing sharing some of my food storage. Food storage will be something that YOU will not regret having. I have a zillion reasons why I began being one who tried to prepare for any scenario, but why I am glad I still have food storage is because of one word: ECONOMY.

Now I must point out here that I am only 5'0 short. The top shelf of my pantry is nearly 8 feet high, and my footstool barely allows me to reach it(hence the appearance of tossing items up there- it is because I did!).

Now to what I have on the top shelf : dehydrated milk, sea salt, baking soda, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and instant potatoes. Anywhere you would use milk you can use powdered milk. I am not suggesting that you have powdered milk in your pantry if you have not used it- please, please get familiar with using it. I use it for all my needs in milk. I have about fifteen boxes, as we have two goats we also milk, and soon can supplement our milk needs as a family. Currently we use the milk for the babies on the farm.

I have fifty pounds of regular salt- but the sea salt is in my food storage for more medicinal and hygienic reasons. I make my toothpaste with sea salt...and if you have a sore throat you can gargle with warm water and sea salt- the same thing can be done if you have a cold sore in your mouth. Baking soda- this is four fold for me 1) for baking, 2) for hygienic reasons-toothpaste 3) medicinal- make a paste if you are stung by a bee, and 4) cleaning- I use baking soda to scrub tubs, toilets and to sprinkle on the carpets as a carpet freshener, to add to the wash to freshen the load, add to the litter box to remove smells...and I am sure there are many more uses.

Brown sugar- can be used in baking all kinds of goodies, breakfast(oatmeal, arroz con leche), even making some drinks. I am short of my goal of 15 lbs, but should meet this by next month. Instant potatoes- This is a quick fix item that ensures potatoes in your diet if you don't have fresh. They are not as healthy for you, but I like that to complete the dish you can heat a pan of water on the woodstove, and when it is boiling take it off, and add the instant potatoes. I need not mention the ton of recipes you can make with potatoes(except this- you can make potato bread with instant potatoes!)

Shelf two: Well this shelf is mostly condiments, but I will point out some important items. Peanut butter: this is a protein source if you have no other readily available source. Of course it requires no cooking so you can eat it as is from a spoon or like some of my children used to-with a finger dip! Mapleine- this is a flavored syrup that is to make syrup. Of course it is not syrup but my family enjoys this. It takes up little space that a gallon of syrup may take up, and it is a per serving mix. On Saturdays I make up a batch, and it last for the weekend of pancakes and waffles. My syrup, especially in the summer, used to crystallize. Mapleine does not and is a great item to add to your food storage if you like pancakes and the likes. Oh and I bought this at my local Wal*mart. Molasses-it is a wonderful forgotten cooking aid with several uses outside the home.

The rest of the items include Italian dressing which we love during the summer to use on our summer salads. Barbecue sauces and steak sauces, because-well my kids love them.(I found the BBQ sauce at the local store for $. 33 each, so I bought a dozen of them.) Be sure to load on on items that are on sale that you use. I have several jellies, some of grape, and the others are jalapeno jelly, elderberry jelly, crab apple jelly, and blackberry jelly.

Please do not minimize the importance of condiments in your food storage, as in times of crisis, it may be difficult to have a child eat something, unless it is the old standby of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I believe that the time to increase and build up your pantry is NOW. Times are rapidly coming where the economy will make little affordable to us all, whether we are Canadian or American.
(c)double nickel farm


Original: http://northwestterritoriespreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/04/top-shelf.html

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