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could you survive? challenge

3K views 46 replies 15 participants last post by  forestdale 
#1 ·
could you survive? UPDATED

I am going to be very busy over the next three weeks, so busy that I've decided not to waste any time shopping.  I decided last night that we'll survive on what we have in the house and the backyard for those three weeks.

Does anyone care to join me in this challenge?  How long could you survive without going out to shop for groceries, bread, milk etc?  I see it as a very useful exercise to test my stockpile, my abilities for planning and resourcefulness and just making do with what I have.

Every day I'll post what we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner the previous day.  I'll also tell you if we need something we don't have and if I make do with what we do have.

Last night I made a huge pot of vegetable and barley soup with herb dumplings.  DH is now having tea and tomatoes on toast for breakfast, I'll have crumpets and tea soon.  I'll post about lunch tomorrow.

Anyone else onboard?
 
#27 ·
Day 10 of the 21 day challenge. It seems like I've been doing this forever! LOL.

We took DS Shane out to dinner last night at the new restaurant he'll be cooking at soon, and we had a most excellent meal. I'll tempt your taste buds before I go on to what we're having today. lol

I didn't have a starter. We all had a beer, DS had spinach, fresh ricotta and pistachio tart and DH had garlic and herb calamari. Main course - DS - fillet steak (it was three inches thich) with red wine sauce, a ****** of beans on hollandaise sause, and a thick slice of roasted potato. DH - grilled snapper on a bed of prawn risotto. Me - garlic prawns on safron rice - this was the best meal I've had in years, although it was too big and I had to give away two prawns. Dessert - we all pigged out. DS - chocolate and macadamia tart and a creme anglaise, DH - midori mousse with passionfruit sauce and strawberries, me - brandy snap filled with chocolate cream served with lots of berries - cranberries/blackberries/raspberries/strawberries. We had a bottle of wine with the meal. The bill came to $242, which is what I'd usually spend for weeks of normal food.

Now on to today's menu :rolleyes:

I'm working at our store today so that presents an extra challenge. For breakfast today DH and I are both having scrambled eggs on toast, and tea. Lunch - I'll take a Thermos of tomato soup, a rye cheese sandwich and a small container of canned peaches. I'll make tea at the store. DH will probably have sandwiches. Dinner - potatoes from our garden, canned salmon and salad - with no tomatoes :( .
 
#28 ·
Day 11

I really feel like getting a pizza on the way home from the store tonight but I'm on this blasted challenge. Grrrrr. It's not a good morning for me. DH almost cut his finger off yesterday so he can't cook tonight, I'm really busy, and working today and I feel like taking shortcuts on everything.

OK, rant over.

Breakfast will be crumpets and honey, and tea for me. DH is have grilled cheese on toast, and tea. I'll make ham sandwiches for DH before I go to work and put them in the fridge (he can't use his right hand for a day or two), my lunch will be the rest of the tomato soup and some cheese and crackers. I'll take the rest of the peaches too if they are still in the fridge. Dinner will be a tuna bake. Most of the ingredients for that are in the stockpile and fridge and it's quick and easy to make when I come home tonight.

Tomorrow I'm going to make a big pot of soup so I don't have to cook for a few nights. ;)
 
#30 ·
Rhonda- I think your exercise will be a very useful one for me as we go into our emergency budget- I don't know how long we will be without a paycheck, so it really behooves (sp?) me to pay attention to this stuff!

Infact, it couldn't come at a better time- Thank you!
 
#31 ·
Day 12 and I'm feeling really good again. :)

I'm making a big pot of pea soup at the moment. I'm using split peas and vegetarian stock cubes from the stockpile, onions from the cupboard and celery, carrots and herbs from the garden. This afternoon I'll make some hot wholemeal bread to go with the soup. All make enough dough to freeze three batches for small loaves, hopefully it's enough to see us out with the soup. Quick and easy meals, that's what I like.

We have a tree full of lemons. I'll pick some this afternoon and make lemon meringue pie for dessert. I'll make a pastry shell with flour from the cupboard and butter from the fridge. The filling will be made from eggs and lemons from the backyard, sugar from the stockpile and a little flour.

I must say this is going better than I thought it would. I am missing tomatoes and milk but other than that I'm happy and content with what the stockpile is providing. DH hasn't complained and neither did our guest when she was here.

:cheergrl: :cheergrl: :cheergrl:
 
#32 ·
I've just done a price breakdown of today's food. I thought some of you may be interested. The menu is pea, carrot and celery soup, homemade bread, lemon meringue pie.

This is the nutritional table for pea soup similar to mine:
Calories 204
Protein 12 g
Carbohydrates 40 g
Fiber 11 g
Total Fat 1 g
Saturated Fat 0 g
Iron 2 mg
Sodium 362 mg
Folate 114 mcg
Calcium 32 mg
Magnesium 61 mg


1 kg package split peas - $1.80 I used about 750g. So $1.35 for what I used.
Carrots from the garden
Celery from the garden
Parsley from the garden
Onions - $1.50 for 1 kilo. I used 2 onions, approx. 40c
1 pack stock cubes - $1.50. I used 3 - 20c
Salt and pepper - maybe 5 cents

$2 for about 8 litres of soup. Some (4 litres) of this soup will be frozen for next week. We'll have the remaining soup over three days. It works out at 16 cents per serve.

With the soup we are having hot bread. That costs around 80 cents per small loaf. Butter on the bread=10 cents. I've made one loaf for tonight and I have dough for 2 more loaves in the freezer for the next 2 nights.

Lemon meringue pie. Lemons and eggs free. Sugar approx 10 cents, flour, say 5c, butter 80c, half can of condensed milk - 60c. Cost of pie=$1.55c.

Cost of fuel for cooking. I have no idea but lets say 50c.

Fuel for cooking 50c
Pie $1.55
Bread/butter 90c
Soup $2

It's costing $4.95 for enough food for 3 days main meals, with 6 serves of soup for next week. The meals are healthy and nutritious, very tasty and will leave us both satisfied. :cool:
 
#33 ·
Day 13

DH commented on how delicious our meal was last night. He said: "I could eat like this all the time." I replied: "Good, because we will." lol ;)

This mornings breakfast for DH is spicy raisin toast (from the freezer) and tea. I'm craving fresh fruit and there are only two apples left. I'm having an apple and I'll open a can of apricots and have some of them. I wish I had yoghurt to go with them. I might have a piece of toast too, and tea.

Lunch - DH will take the last apple, and ham and cheese sandwiches. I'll have a small bowl of pea soup and a piece of toast, and tea.

Later this morning, I'm going to check out our passionfruit vine, there might be a few on the vine. I went searching for bananas yesterday. We have two green hands out there that won't be ripe for yonks. I'll have to settle for carrots and celery from our garden for snacks. They are nice enough but I'm really craving a sweet juicy orange.

Dinner - pea soup and lemon meringue pie which is already made. I love days like this when all I have to do is reheat food.

I'm going to check out whether I can make junket with powdered milk, if so, I'll make junket this afternoon - I have junket tablets (rennet) in the cupboard. It's very close to yoghurt and I can have it with my canned fruit. I'll keep you posted on that one.
:hocus:
 
#34 ·
Some info on the powdered milk.

I tried to make junket with the milk, it says fresh milk on the instruction sheet, but I tried anyway. It says not to use condensed or evaporated milk, some powdered milk is ok. Not mine though. It didn't set. I'm going to try to drink it later. :eek:

I'm guessing that you can't make cottage cheese from powdered milk either.

HOT MILK
I made the powdered milk up in hot chocolate and it was delicious. I couldn't taste the difference from fresh milk.
 
#35 ·
Day 14

This morning we both had semolina and milk for breaky (powdered). I think our semolina is your gruel, maybe not. I'm not sure. Semolina is like fine corn meal.

DH took sandwiches to work. I don't know what he put on them today. I'm having salad on a wholemeal roll. The salad is lettuce, cucumber, onion, shredded carrot, beetroot and radish. All from the fridge or the garden. I'll have a cup of tea too.

Dinner will be pea soup and hot bread, lemon meringue pie and tea. Short and simple, like me. ;)
 
#36 ·
Day 15 Sorry, I didn't have time to post yesterday.

We both had porridge and hot powdered milk for breakfast. DH took egg salad sandwiches and celery sticks to work. I had baked beans and toast for lunch.

LOL! We had enough pea soup for our dinner and that finished off the soup - except for six serves in the freezer. ;) I made hot wholemeal bread to go with it. We also had warm stewed apricots and custard. I used dried apricots from the pantry and soaked them during the afternoon. Then I just cooked them with a little sugar. I made custard with custard powder and powdered milk from the pantry.

The lady next door came over and asked if she could buy some of our eggs. I told her the price was a kilo of tomatoes and 2 oranges. She's buying them today. :)

Day 16

Today we're having eggs and toast for breakfast, and tea. Lunch will be ham and tomato relish for DH and some sort of sandwich for me. I picked 4 passionfruit off our vine yesterday. We'll both have 2 each for lunch.
Dinner will be pasta with homemade canned tomato and herb sauce and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. We'll have the rest of the apricots and fresh custard for dessert.

Everything is still going fine. I'm defrosting meat for DH tomorrow, I think I have some pork chops in the freezer. He says he's been very happy without meat though, so that's good.
 
#37 ·
Day 17

I have to add that yesterday afternoon I ate an orange. It was so good to experience that fresh fruit taste again. It's the thing I miss the most in the challenge. DH had his orange after dinner.

I'm at the store today. Breakfast will be porridge with the last of the apricots. DH will have tomato soup and a sandwich of some sort for lunch. I'm taking tomato soup in the thermos, along with some crackers and celery sticks. Celery is from the garden, the soup and crackers are from the stockpile.

Dinner for me will be the rest of the pasta and tomato sauce, DH is cooking pork chops for himself. He'll probably also have potatoes and some swiss chard.

Yesterday afternoon I made a date and walnut cake - most ingredients in the stockpile, eggs from our chooks.. We'll have some for dessert tonight and I'll take a piece to work.
 
#38 ·
Day 18

We have another visitor! I got home from work last night and my sister was here! She came up to see if I needed help with the exhibition.

Today will be scrambled eggs for breakfast, plus tea and toast. My sister is coming to work at the store with me today. I'll make us cheese and chili jam sandwiches and some date and walnut cake. DH is making a pizza tonight for dinner. All ingredients from the stockpile, fridge and garden.

This will be a stretch now that my sister is here. She's a carnivore and generally spends lots of money on groceries. I'll keep you posted.
 
#40 ·
Hi Tina! So glad you looked in on this thread.:cowwave:

Day 19

I explained the challenge to my sister yesterday while we were at the store. I told her that I'd get some meat for her if she wanted it but DH and I would be continuing the challenge. She said: "Rhonda, I've been your sister for 58 years. I know how strange you are. If you think I can't go without meat for a few days, you don't know me as well as I know you." LOL!! Me, strange! :scratch:

We're all having porridge for breakfast. I'll open a tin of peaches to have with it, we'll also have warm powdered milk. I'll make tea too. I didn't realise how much tea Tricia drinks. She motors through about 10 cups a day.
For lunch I'll make hot bread and we'll have cheese and tomato sandwiches, and tea. DH is taking tomato soup in the thermos, crackers (last of) and some carrot and celery sticks. I'll put aside some dough to make hot bread again for dinner.
DS Shane is coming to dinner tonight. I'm going to search for some of our new potatoes - these are the potatoes that are ready for picking well before the other much deeper ones are. You just have to make sure the soil is fairly soft and you put your hand in and feel around until you find them. These potatoes, especially if eaten within a couple of hours of picking, are the sweetest, most delicious potatoes of all. I'm going to make a spanish omlette and salad.
Spanish Omlette
10 fresh eggs
½ cup milk
parmesan or mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper
pinch of chili flakes
about 4 medium potatoes, cooked and thickly sliced
chopped parsley and chives
diced celery
one thinly sliced red pepper
about 6 stalks of swiss chard or spinach

Mix the eggs and spices together with the milk and pour it into a non-stick frying pan. Wait for a minute while the bottom sets slightly and with a wooden spoon, stir the edges of the omlette away from the sides of the pan. While the eggs are still soft, place the sliced potatoes on top of the eggs and then all the vegetables on top of the potatoes. Everything should sink into the egg mixture and almost cover it. Sprinkle the cheese on top and sit the pan on a very low heat for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn't burn. Then put the pan under your broiler or in the oven (if it's a suitable pan) for the cheese to become golden. You slice it up in the pan and serve in pizza-style triangles.
We'll have that with salad of lettuce, tomatoes, celery and shredded carrot.
I'll make a lemon syrup cake for dessert. :dishes:

I still havent been to the grocery store and I'm happy to say that we've eaten well with what's in our fridge, garden and stockpile (and a little bartering). I'm so pleased we have the chickens as they supply most of our protein and the eggs can be made into so many savory and sweet dishes.
 
#41 ·
I have to tell you all that last night's dinner was a big success. Everyone commented on how nice it is to have fresh and healthy food. :cool:

Day 20

We'll never run out of bread so we're all having toast and tea for breakfast. I have one last jar of black cherry jam that I'll get from the stockpile, that will be sitting on the table with the vegemite. ;)


Lunch will be toasted cheese sandwiches for my sister and I, with pineapple juice. DH will take ham and chili jam sandwiches and some lemon syrup cake.
I doubt I'll have time to make dinner tonight so I'm defrosting the pea soup I made last week. I'll make hot bread to go with it. I'll also make some sort of dessert, the cake is almost gone. I might make a jam roly poly or a peach crumble. I'll tell you tomorrow what happens with dessert.

:apple: :ban: :cherry: :lemon: :ice: :tom: :munch:
 
#42 ·
Day 21 - last day of the challenge. :)

Breakfast today will be baked beans on toast, and tea. Lunch will be egg salad and lettuce sandwiches for DH and maybe some date scones if I have time to make them before he leaves. My sister and I will have salad sandwiches, and tea.

My sister flies back home today. DH and I will have mac and cheese for dinner. I'll make this from scratch with ingredients in the stockpile and fridge.

Today and tomorrow will be really busy for me so I'm not sure if I have time to make cakes or scones. We'll have to see about that later.

I doubt whether I have time to shop this week. I'll get some milk and fresh fruit at the local store tomorrow but apart from that, everything else will have to wait.
 
#45 ·
This was an amazing thread to read. Congratulations! It makes me realize that I really need to get better control around here. And frankly, the food sounds delicious! All those wonderful desserts and fresh bread would keep me happy for days!
 
#46 ·
I have a question - when you started stockpiling, how much money is a good amount to get you REALLY stocked? Because this is a problem in my house (always need to run out for something, makes it easier to grab fast food) and we're moving soon - one of my goals is to become a stockpiling queen :) I was thinking to get me started, $400 or so?? I realize the amount will vary, but I guess I'm just looking for some tips.
 
#47 ·
First let me say thank you to everyone who wrote words of support. It helped over a couple of bad days when the last thing I wanted to do was to make bread and soup from scratch.

Overall though I have to confess that the challenge was quite easy. I am mostly vegetarian (I eat fish and take emu oil capsules), I think it would be harder for meat eaters. However, having said that, if you had a freezer full of meat and chicken, you'd be able to live off your stockpile with no worries. It would also be more difficult with kids, but not impossible. My sons are grown and living away from home now. You'd have to think of snacks and drinks for small children but as long as you planned you'd be able to do it.

With regards to my own stockpile, I found that most of the things I had met our needs. I never buy on impulse when I shop for my stockpile and I never buy things I haven't eaten and enjoyed before. Whatever is in that stockpile needs to be tried and true. If you're stuck and can't shop for a month, the last thing you'll want to do is to eat food that no one likes. I also thought it was a good idea to provide reward food like pies and cakes when we had such a plain diet. So homemade soup with hot bread, followed by lemon meringue pie or canned salmon with salad with pineapple and coconut cake satisfied everyone. Making those desserts also provided morning or afternoon tea treats and well as snacks if anyone wanted them. So make sure you have cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, powdered milk, canned fruits etc in your stockpile

The thing I missed the most was fresh fruit. We have a vegetable garden so I got plenty of fresh vegetables but when we ran out of oranges and apples, I was unhappy. I had canned pineapple juice in the stockpile but that didn't satisfy my cravings for fruit. neither did making lemonade from the fresh lemons in the backyard. We've recently planted an orange tree in the back yard so in the future I hope to be able to go outside and simply pick and orange. In the meantime, does anyone know how long supermarket oranges can be stored for in the fridge? I'm guessing they would last a good 2 months.

The one thing I will add to my stockpile is a recipe folder with recipes using the stockpile goodies. I found I had to search through my recipe books a lot and I didn't like doing that. I think if you had to live on your stockpile in an emergency or if you're sick, it would be an added burden to look for recipes. I'm going to have a list of different recipes for a variety of soups, casseroles, breads, snacks, cakes, pies, vegetarians curries and drinks. I have a spare A5 three ring binder, I'll write recipes in that and add to it over the coming weeks. Then I'll just have that folder poked in the side of the stockpile cupboard. This will help also if it's not me doing the cooking.

STARTING A STOCKPILE
I started mine by allocating $5 from my grocery budget for items on sale and loss leaders. I only ever buy things I know I'll use and what will keep. When I built the stockpile to a reasonable size, I spent whatever was left over from the grocery budget on stockpile items.

Alternatively, if you can afford it, allocate a set amount for your stockpile. Karen, I think $400 would give you a huge start to your stockpile. Sit down and work out what your family uses and eats. Look at your menu plan and your grocery list and write a list of every item that will sit on a shelf for a long time without an ill effects. Turn yourself into a squirrel - stockpile those items that are on sale, go searching in your neighbourhood for bargains and when you find something, snap it up and add it to your cupboard. Things like:
toilet paper, toothpaste, tooth brushes, tissues, tampons, shampoo, conditioner, soap
anything canned - like soup, chick peas, beans, tomatoes, fruit, fish, condensed or evaporated milk (good for desserts and treats) etc
anything dry - pasta, beans, rice, milk, flour, sugar, spices, oatmeal, cornmeal, stock cubes, tea, coffee.
things in jars - honey, jam, pasta sauce, tomato paste.
cleaning and laundry items: suppies for homemade laundry soap (soap flakes, washing soda and borax), white vinegar, bicarb soda,
medical supplies:
aspirin or panadol, bandaides, antiseptic wipes or cream, any medication your family needs - asthma puffers etc, your contraceptive pill

Only you know what you'll need. So study your buying habits and start putting away those items you buy every week as well as those you use occasionally.

Of course, one of the great side effects of stockpiling is that theoretically, you should never have to pay full retail price for anything in the stockpile. You can "shop" from your stockpile, knowing that you're paying less than most other people who are shopping each week. So always keep your eye open for loss leaders and then stock up on that item when you have a chance. If you can buy 20 cans of tomatoes for $5 (25c/can)and have them sitting in your cupboard waiting for the day you make spaghetti sauce or tomato relish, it's better than rushing out to the supermarket and paying full price for that same item, in my case 89c for normal retail canned tomatoes.

Just a quick work on dried goods. When you bring home things like flour, rice etc., whack it in the freezer for a week or so to kill any pantry moth lavae it might contain. I had an outbreak of pantry moths a few months ago and I had to throw out most of my dried goods. Always make sure you put dried goods in a sealed container when you open them as well. It's better to be safe than sorry.

I hope I've inspired some of you to start stockpiling. It's a really good way of saving money, providing meals in hard times and saving time by not shopping at the supermarket when you're busy.
 
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