After a year of stockpiling

[dcompton]

I started working on a stockpile last summer. After a year, I've learned a few things.

I see what I overestimated and what I underestimated. I can adjust that based on actual experience now rather than theory and guesswork. Some I have shared, but virtually all of it can still be used up.

I have decided I want a smaller stockpile over all. It was too much. I dislike having a lot of things hanging around, so I will keep it trimmed down.

But the real light bulb moment was that this is something for the summer. It has been so blazing hot I can hardly ever force myself to go grocery shopping, and with the stockpile, I haven't had too. That has been a huge bonus.

So the plan: The freezer is almost empty, mostly chicken and sausage left. I'll keep working on that and then give the freezer a good cleaning and start over.

I'll keep a small stockpile through the fall, but then will gradually build it up through the winter. By the end of April I want a substantial one to see me through the next summer.

So it's been a good stockpiling year, very educational, and I have figured out now how best to manage it to my advantage. Thanks for all the inspiration on this site to do it!

[jas]

I know what you mean it does take time to fine tune stockpiling. In the beggining for me I bought anything and everything on sale. Well a lot of it we didn't use, or use fast enough. The snack thing was a big thing too. We ate it all and finally everyone said "no more". Only on occasion do I buy chips and things like that. Drinks too.

I am buying more ingredients and less processed foods and dehydrating veggies and some fruits when on a good sale.

[bumplett]

I'm working on using my stockpile up to the bone so that I can deep clean and start over.

[MaryCarney]

Doesn't it seem like winter is the time you WANT to stockpile, too? I think it's part of that 'nesting' or maybe 'hibernation' thing - it is for me anyway.

Personally, I like to shop in summer because it's air conditioned. I HATE going out in the winter, and having the kitchen door opened continuously bringing in stuff from the car. Brrrr....

[dcompton]

Well, it gets a lot colder in Indiana in winter than in Louisiana. But the thought of getting out in the heat, and then putting eggs and frozen goods, even in insulated bags, in the trunk of a car that's been sitting in the sun when it's 100 out.... The store I used to go by at night after work which made that less of a problem has started closing at 10, so that's not an option anymore. Bad words. But I understand why they did - I usually had the store pretty much to myself.

And it's really nice little by little getting some shelf space back too.

[Contrary Housewife]

I'm working on trimming mine back some, too. I had so much in the freezer I was losing stuff.

I like to have a good stockpile over the winter because when it snows here I can get stuck in the house for a day or two. They don't regularly plow our residential street, and if we get more than a few inches its impassable until it melts.

[frugalfranny]

I'm working on using my stockpile up to the bone so that I can deep clean and start over.

Me too and it sure seems to be going slow.

But unlike dcompton, I like to have my freezer 'down' in the spring so that I can put all the goodies from the garden in it during the summer. And this also gives me time when it is still fairly cool weather outside (my freezer is in garage) to clean it out....around May. (didn't get done this year!) This year I had to give away the second cutting of rhubarb.......didn't have room for it in my freezer.

[Jakk]

Not me. I have a BAD feeling about this fall/winter flu season and I plan on NOT shopping or going out at the peak.

This summer I have been canning/freezing and stocking up much more so than usual for this reason. I have 3 of my 4 kids that have medical issues and the flu seems to be hitting very hard. My 4 yr old has a heart condition and any flu could be deadly for her. I am counting on my stockpile this winter to keep me out of stores, lowering the risk of bringing deadly germs home.

[Karen1]

yea I eat down the freezer.
I just can't stand meat in the freezer a long time at all.
So I stock and use.
Then stock and use but meat never lingers tooooo long.

I love to shop in summer vs. winter. I hate cold. I am in NC and while hot, the stores are AC and warm weather is just nicer "to move around in" then winter. I hate bulky jackets and all that nonsense...LOL

So in fall I am sure to stock up more staples in the pantry so when I do have to shop, I can run in and out and get home and be done with it...LOL

[nuisance26]

~Sounds like your year learning about and using a stockpile was worthwhile!
I mainly stock-up, not stockpile but I still want to learn some stockpiling techniques. Getting better informed about longer term food storage is on my to-do list. Knowledge like that may come in handy someday(especially in a day when we have more space to house a stockpile!).
I hate shopping in the heat too. I eat out of our pantry and freezer as much as I can and supplement with produce from my parents' garden. Dh picks up other things we may need at the store on his way home from work. I go out to grocery shop less than once a month in summer!~

[monkeywrangler71]

I'm in the process of eating through the stockpile now as well and it's going very slowly. I usually have the freezer emptied by June. I typically clear out in the spring and stock up in the fall, I think it's instinctive.
There are a lot of things I'm not going to stock up on anymore, and a lot of things I'm going to buy less of. Usually having lots of food keeps me calm, but I'm feeling the opposite now. Emptying cupboards is reducing my anxiety, I want less of everything, including food. Obsessive purging, probably because I want to move.

[Grainlady]

Stockpiling really works best when you have a plan that suits your personal needs. When I first started stockpiling, I mistakenly filled shelves with bargains - and LOTS of them. Then I did enough study on the subject to change to "target" foods. My next shift in stockpiling focused on ingredients. Ingredients that I use to make foods, rather than shelves lined with processed foods in bags/boxes/cans. Ingredients that have a long shelf-life and multiple uses.

I never buy pancake mix, pudding mix, cans of cream of _____ soup, packaged soup mixes, cans of cooked beans or refried beans, and many other things, because I make homemade mixes from ingredients I have in my pantry or in storage and cook from scratch. I don't buy Bisquick, I make a wholegrain version from ingredients in storage. The same handful of ingredients can become a plethora of things including tortillas, tortilla chips, biscuits, flatbreads, crackers, cookies...... With homemade kefir (using real kefir grains that last forever and milk) I use it as a substitute for buttermilk, plain yogurt, soft cheese, sour cream and cream cheese.

When you have the Seven Survival Foods (grains, legumes, oil, salt, sweetener, sprouting seeds and powdered milk), you can create an amazing amount of foods. All other foods in storage after that are just a plus to enhance the use of the Seven Survival Foods.

I sprout seeds/grains/beans for a source of fresh LIVE food, high in nutrients. Sprouts replaces lettuce on sandwiches at our house, unless we have fresh lettuce from the garden. Sprouts are a VERY important part of our diet in the winter because so-called "fresh" produce from store is all but worthless in the nutrition department.

I can extract the gluten from freshly-milled wheat and make "fake" meat and a number of other high-protein foods. The number of foods you can make from wheat alone is almost endless. Couple it with beans or dairy and you have a complete protein.

Add other WHOLE foods, like fresh/frozen/dehydrated fruits/vegetables and fresh/dried herbs for more variety. Tomato powder quickly replaced a large number of canned foods formerly taking up shelf-space (tomato paste, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce....)

In the fall I make enough dehydrated sweet potato powder to last the entire year. You wouldn't believe how many dehydrated tomatoes you can stuff into a quart canning jar, and then vacuum-seal it shut with the FoodSaver. The same with all those free-for-picking apples we dehydrate and use for snacking, and in cooking and baking.

[Jakk]

Grain lady, how do you dehydrate the tomato? Do you cook them first or lay them in the dehydrator raw?

[Grainlady]

Grain lady, how do you dehydrate the tomato? Do you cook them first or lay them in the dehydrator raw?

I purchase tomato powder, but I dehydrate tomato slices and tomato cubes. I think you can make tomato powder if you blend peeled/seeded/drained tomatos to a slurry and dry it on fruit roll-up sheets until crispy dry. Place in a blender to make it a fine powder.

How to:

Dip tomatoes into boiling water for 1 minute, then into cold water for one minute. Slip off skins and cut out cores (of large tomatoes). Cut into 1/8-inch slices or in 1/4-inch cubes. Drain well. (Grainlady note: I give them a s-l-o-w spin in my lettuce spinner to remove the seeds.)

Spread slices or cubes over trays so pieces are not overlapping. Dry for 8 to 10 hours at 120°F, then turn slices and continue drying for another 6-8 hours until brittle (source: Making & Using Dried Foods - by Phyllis Hobson).

Another great resource for all kinds of dehydrating:
National Center for Home Food Preservation
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry.html

[jas]

grainlady how do you store surgar long term? I have a few #10 cans. I would like to buy a big bulk bag from sams club and divide it up. I have honey for sweetener, what other kinds do you reccommend to have? TIA