Meal Tins

I spent the past month cleaning up the travel trailer and again getting it ready to use at a moment's notice.  After having it for a while now, I've accepted the fact that there is nothing I can do to keep mice out.  Maybe it's not much of an issue in the city, but out in the sticks it's an entirely different matter.  The situation got entirely out of hand when our tabby cat Cougar decided to take early retirement--without informing us, naturally.

The acquisition of two barn cats has remedied the problem, and I think the super powerfully fragrant dryer sheets placed all over the interior of the trailer help as well.  But cats out here are notoriously short-lived (most people blame coyotes, when it's more likely to be owls) and we never know when our own cats will disappear (or opt for early retirement).  I don't want to have to clean every item in the cabinets and drawers and on the beds again.  So instead of having the ideal trailer that was theoretically ready to sleep and cook in, and when needed finding it was in no shape for either, we have made some modifications.  In our trailer the mice can't get into the upper cabinets or the upper bunk; they can get into all the lower cabinets and drawers and on the lower beds. To deal with this, we put everything into Rubbermaid totes on top of the upper bunk.  Then drawers get put on top of the totes.  Bedding is also put into those plastic bedding bags and on top of or next to the totes.  Fortunately, it's all pretty lightweight, so there's no worry about collapsing that upper bunk.

Unfortunately, we can't put any food in the cabinets under the sink, because that area is a favorite hangout for vermin.  So all the food needs to be placed in the upper cabinets.  And we really want at least a two-week supply.  And we haven't been able to pull that off in the past.

But while cleaning, I had a stroke of genius.  Two or three years ago Nestle was celebrating their 75th anniversary and marketed commemorative tins of their chocolate chips.  They went on deep discount at the grocery outlet store, so we bought a lot.  Like 28 tins.  I so wish I'd gotten more.

Yep, these are the tins.  Someone on eBay is trying to sell two tins (empty!  no chocolate chips!) for $45.  If only I'd known they'd be worth their weight in gold....

The tins hold about eight cups each, and fit perfectly in the cabinet seven across.  With two high, there is about three inches to spare on top for paper plates and cups.  And with two deep there is just a little space in front.  So now these rather tall cabinets have no wasted space and a lot of room for food.

What do we have?

Staples:  flour, sugar, oats, instant rice, instant oatmeal, powdered milk, hot cocoa
Mixes:  biscuits, pancake, muffin, cornbread, bread, tortilla
Meals:  spaghetti, pizza, chicken and biscuits, shepherd's pie, soup mixes
Snacks:   granola bars, nuts, dried fruit, jerky

In addition, my husband developed a fondness for some cookies that came in smaller round tin canisters.  They aren't what I would initially have considered an ideal size, but I've come up with a remarkable number of uses for them as well.

Staples:  salt, popcorn, dried onions, baking soda, dehydrated butter powder
Treats:  tea, spices, candy

To keep the canisters clean and the food bug-free, each is lined with a light-weight food storage bag and then filled.  Twist, tie, and replace the lid.  We now have a wide variety of meals for two weeks--meals that are quick and easy to fix, with a minimum of clean-up.

Bucket Wrenches

So I'm sitting in bed here, as I do most mornings, banging out another post.  The house is quiet; my husband and daughters left for the favorite archery tournament of the year in Nevada City over an hour ago.   Without interruptions, I ought to be able to write quickly, which is good, because I'm a little more pressed for time than usual.  I've got the usual Saturday morning stuff to do, plus a bridal shower this afternoon.  For my soon-to-be daughter-in-law.  My very first.  :)
Anyway, KOTPE and Buttercup's primary wedding gift from us is a year's supply of food storage, plus some furniture.  I'm not wrapping up any of those items to take to a shower.  However, at the same time, giving them food storage without a bucket wrench reminds me a bit of one of the best Far Side comics ever.  You know, the one with the old couple in a basement bomb shelter full of canned goods, and a mushroom cloud in the sky above the house.  And the wife says to her husband, "How many times did I say it, Harold?  How many times?  'Make sure that bomb shelter's got a can opener--ain't much good without a can opener.'"

So what will Buttercup be receiving from me today?

Bucket wrenches.  Yeah, I guess I'm that kind of mother-in-law. 

For the more tool-oriented readers, these are also called bung wrenches or drum bung wrenches.  Now, most men don't actually need these bucket wrenches.  They've got all the finger strength in the world to open bucket lids.  However, it is a totally different matter for women.  And while I could open these bucket lids with great effort without a wrench in my twenties, by the time I hit thirty, that was no longer an option.  It can be hard enough to rotate food storage when it's easy.  Don't make using your long-term storage in buckets any harder by not having a bucket wrench.  And just because these wrenches are inexpensive, don't assume that they're indispensable.  You really need at least a couple.

They come in several colors, and while I would like to have gotten blue (Buttercup's favorite color), our WinCo only had yellow last night.  Amazon and every food storage company on the planet sell them for somewhere between five to ten dollars, but WinCo's got them for under two dollars. 

Unless you are using gamma lids on everything, you'll probably want to have a few of these on hand to get into your buckets.  Some choose to spend the money for gamma lids, but at seven dollars per lid, well, say you've got a hundred buckets.  One for each bucket would be $700.  Or get a couple of bucket wrenches and spend the difference on more food.  That's not a difficult decision to make.

You probably only need a couple, but if you've got a daughter like mine ("QOTPE"--Queen of the Picky Eaters), she'll say something to wig you out and make you get more.  I can't remember her exact words, but I already had six wrenches and whatever it was she said, I had to buy two more.  It is nice to have them in all the locations where we have the buckets.

Links to related posts:
Long Term Food Storage  

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

Food Storage Calculator--The Best Ever

As the title suggests, this is, hands-down, the best food storage calculator I have ever seen anywhere.  If anyone has a link to a better, or even just a different but good one, please post it in the comments section below.

Before you go over to check it out, or worse, totally ignore the information, let me tell you what's so great about it.

• People.  It lets you plug in the number of people you are preparing for. 
• Months.  You then enter the number of months.  Most food storage calculators include these two.
• Lifestyle.  This is where it begins to shine.  Do you want to store enough food to be "hungry but alive," "satisfied," or "living comfortably"?
• The food.  Not only does it cover the basics--grains, legumes, sugars, oils, milk, and salt--but it also includes fruits, vegetables, baking essentials, and water, and it has several sections for each category with recommended amounts of each item.  

All you do is enter your little bit of info and it shoots back the recommended amounts faster than you can blink. Of course, you may not be interested in some of the food category suggestions.  I don't store powdered fruit drink, but I do store hot chocolate.  I don't store mayonnaise, but I do store extra oil for making my own mayonnaise.  You get the idea.  You can make your substitutions and make it work.

Food Storage Calculator

The site that hosts this food storage calculator is run by the Highland Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And everything they have on their site pertaining to food storage and preparing for emergencies is fabulous.  I mean, really, really good.

If they could come up with an app that would calculate all the food we have everywhere in the house (and elsewhere), my life would be complete.

Expanded Food Storage: French Fries

One of the primary challenges in becoming prepared to deal with future events, and especially in getting family members to join enthusiastically with us in our planning, lies in facing the fear of the unknown, like what are we really going to have to eat, as well as the fear of the known--AACCKKKKK!  YOU DON'T REALLY EXPECT ME TO EAT THAT, DO YOU?!?!

And you know, it's been my observation in the many food storage classes that I've attended, and much of what I've seen online (fortunately, there are some notable exceptions), that most people are going to be really sad when TEOTWAWKI hits.  The vast majority will be sad that they didn't store enough; and many of those that did store enough food calorie-wise will wish they'd put a little more thought into what they were going to be eating.

When the trucks stop rolling, life will definitely change without fresh produce and frozen foods.  But just because doom and gloom are on everyone else's menus, doesn't mean it has to be on yours.  And that's exactly where the focus of the weekly blog post on expanded food storage will be.

Today's star is home-canned potatoes.  The kids actually beg for them.

("How can this be?" you ask.  "Did the woman raise her children in a cave?  Do they only get ice cream at Christmas?"

Truth be told, plain cut up and canned potatoes don't actually send tingles down anyone's spine here.  I like canning and I like having all my jars full all the time, and canned potatoes don't do anything for me, either.  They're kind of a hassle to can because they have to be peeled first, and if you're using them for mashed potatoes, well, the texture just isn't quite right.

But is there anyone in your world that doesn't like French fries?  Probably not.  (But even if there is, great.  That's more fries for everyone else.)

So the first step in winning "Mother of the Year" is to buy a French fry cutter (you can get a cheap one from Amazon for about $13--I think mine lasted 2-3 years, probably 60-80 quarts of fries).  Use the large blade (1/2"); the smaller size fries will break too easily.  Then buy a bag or box of No. 2 Russet potatoes; these are large potatoes, but not the monster size they serve at church dinners.  You need to scrub the potatoes well, but they don't need to be peeled.  (In canning, potatoes that will not be eaten as French fries must be peeled to remove all dirt.  Dirt is where we get botulism spores.  Botulism kills.  However, French fries will be fried at very high temperatures--350-400 degrees--for several minutes, creating conditions to render harmless any botulism toxin that may have developed.)  Cut the potatoes with your French fry cutter.  Follow instructions from your Ball Blue Book (you do have a copy, right?) but reduce the initial boiling time for the potatoes from ten minutes to three minutes.  Drain the potatoes and let cool until you can handle them comfortably.  Carefully stack the potatoes on their sides in a wide mouth quart jar, add one teaspoon salt per jar, and fill to within one inch of the rim of the jar with boiling water.  Process per instructions from your Ball Blue Book  and your pressure canner.

When it's lunchtime, open the jar and shake the fries out into a strainer.  Rinse and drain well to remove any excess starch.  Deep fry in peanut oil at 350-375 degrees until fries are golden brown.  The amount of time this takes is going to vary based on how many fries you put in the fryer and how large your fryer or pan is.  I usually cook 1/2 quart at a time.  (One more tip:  If we're in the middle of TEOTWAWKI and you are having to guess as to whether your oil is hot enough for frying yet, drop a few kernels of popcorn in the oil.  When the temperature hits 350 degrees, the popcorn will pop.)  Salt, eat, and prepare yourself to be showered with praises.

Related posts:
Hamburgers
Hamburger buns
Ketchup
Mayonnaise
Milk shake  
Tomatoes  

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  04.19.20  11.06.21