Self Starting "Old Fashioned Girls" by Choice!!!

[Terri O]

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Are you talking about the little packet things (desiccant) that come in shoes and purses? I guess I dont know what you mean....I dont really store that much food at a time though. You have to remember that stuff does, and will, go bad on you and that is a waste of money! Unless you have a large walk in type freezer to store your buckets in I would be hesitant to store more than one full of one thing. Even that might be too much depending on how many people you are feeding.
When my kids went to college and my DH started working out of town all week I had to relearn how to cook, shop and store things! Now I dont buy too much at a time 'cause all my brown rice went rancid and I got moths in my flour!
When I started making things on my own (I grew up like you with twinkies and hot dogs) my Mom called me "a throwback" and told me I was doing things the hard way! Now I am glad that I raised my kids on REAL food...the best thing was when we were at my Mom's and she asked them if they wanted a twinkie, they looked puzzled and didnt know what she was talking about! (and they were in their late teens!) My kids are healthy and happy adults but sadly, only my son seems to have "the cooking gene." This is what we call it now...good luck! Terri O

Edited to add: Man can I ramble!

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

The oxygen absorbers are not a necessity however I use them because they suck the last bit of air out of the 1/2 and 1 gallon jars I use for storage. For bucket storage I use a mylar bag that lines my 5 gallon buckets and throw in a handful of OA's (because I bought a large bag of them) and seal the mylar seam before lidding my product. The most important step I do with my dry goods is before storing throw them in the freezer for a week or so to make sure any larvae/bugs that may be residing are killed off. I just opened a bucket of sugar after two plus years and it is like the day I stored it, same with rice, etc. I bought my mylar bags at emergency essential www.beprepared.com I noticed they now sell the oxygen absorbers as well.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

What's OA?

My buckets are 3- 5 gallons and I wasn't going to fill them all the way, these ones are for storage and use in the kitchen, I am hesitant to seal them as we will be using them. The lids fit tight and have a seal ring.

 

[LALASD4]

Don't buy too much grains, they can go bad after a few months.

I think if you want to buy in bulk, you might want to try businesses that suppy restaurants.

Quote:

 

[Frogdogtimestwo]

Quote:
Oxygen absorbers =OA sorry. Also I would not bother with the mylar if this is everyday use flours, etc but you may want to invest in some Gamma Seal lids they are a lot easier for access and you won't strip the cheapo lids taking them on and off frequently. http://beprepared.com/search.asp?t=ss&ss=lids&image1.x=8&image1.y=10 There are other sources and you may be able to get a cheaper price elsewhere I just wanted to show you what they were.

 

[FloridaDoulaMama]

re knitting: find a cool knit shop with a "stitch'n'grump" night, and go to that and if you buy supplies the first night the shopkeeper will prob show you for free. some of the shops can be pricy, but I make sure to support them when I can, and it pays off in help/lessons! many have a lot of young ladies there, with many older as well. I have a circle of friends with a weekly knit circle, and we're all young mothers who stay home/work little from 22-40

 

[dsc6]

I don't know if anyone has added this, but: add some food-grade DE to your grains in storage. That kills any bugs that might get in there. And use the OAs and get the special sealing lids. I have grains that I have had for more that a year that are perfectly fresh and uninfested. Most whole grains will keep for an awful long time if you store them right. We've all heard about the grain taken from pharoahs' tombs that actually sprouted lo, these millennia later.

Things I, in suburbia, do to get to a more self-sufficient lifestyle:

make my own yogurt from raw milk from my food co-op
sew clothes--a great thing to learn to do--though won't save much money when you can get clothes dirt cheap these days
save rain from roof in rain barrels
have chickens
buy whole grains and grind them myself
grow sprouts
make my own soymilk from organic nonGMO soybeans
organic gardening
grow fruits
weave fabric
can food
root celler
make own pasta and noodles
bake bread
homemake christmas gifts--where sewing comes in real real handy
use essential oils for home remedies
make soymilk

Since I live in suburbia, I can't have even a micromini (the size of a Great Dane!) milk cow, nor goats. And I could never kill rabbits. I would dearly love a milk cow, but you have to have a minimum of 1 acre of pasture, even for the tiny cows (they give 1.5 gallon of milk a day, btw). So, I do what I can. I also work full-time, lol. I don't do all these things all the time, but I could and would if I had to. I am not a catastrophist, and don't believe that society is going to dissappear one day and leave us to our unelectrified devices. I would like to live off the grid and be totally self-sufficient, but that's not in the cards for me. I, like most of us, do what I can. I envy those of us who are self-sufficient. It's a lot of work, and my full-time profession is in the high-tech medical field, not in farming.

This is a nice thread

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

It is a wonderful thread and I have been going through it page by page and checking out all the links everyone has posted.


DSC6- I would love to know how make yogurt. I can get raw goats milk here would that work?