A Prepper's Pantry

When I was a child, my father (single parent to five kids) kept an incredibly well stocked pantry.  It wasn't a "plan for a big emergency" pantry.  It was the way people used to manage groceries.  Keep more on hand than you need in case.  In case of what didn't really matter.  It wasn't all about gloom and doom.  It was comforting.  It was normal.  You always knew you had food, and what you had.  As a kid, I always knew we didn't have a lot of money, but it never, ever felt like we didn't have enough food.  I am amazed now looking back at how my dad managed it, but he did.

After I got married, I never managed to keep on hand what we needed.  Part of that was the newlywed phase of "I don't really know what we are going to be eating every day" thing.  But after 15 year, I don't think you can claim newlywed anything.  So I, or rather we, decided that I needed to do a better job of buying a little extra (despite my cheapness, as mentioned in previous posts).  I began the simple task of buying one or two more of long term storage items than I need and one extra on perishables if it would last until it was used (I have had a bad habit of running out of creamer 2 days before grocery day).  Little by little I began to get a better stock of items.

I began to see why my dad did this.  Just in case finally made sense.  Just in case their is a flood and you can't get out (happens quite a lot around here).  Just in case the van breaks down and I can't run to town tomorrow.  Just in case money is a little short next week.  Just in case my husband looses his job.  Man, there are a lot of cases to be preparing for!

After a while, my pantry (such a blessing to have a 10x4 walk in pantry) was unmanageable.  I couldn't find anything.  Now, this is not do solely, or even largely, to my preparedness (or "prepping").  This was due to my lack of ability to organize, tidy or clean anything.  But, even at that, when my pantry was clean it still seemed over stuffed.  After all, not only does it house food, but the occasional tool and/or ammo related item does tend to find residence there. 

When a good friend announced that the retail store at which he works is going out of business and selling fixtures, our collective lightbulbs came on!  Metal shelving from a store would make a great way to add storage!  Brilliant!  Cheap, movable, cheap, sturdy, cheap, and did I mention cheap?

Well, as projects do around here, this one became not so much a weekend revamp as a month long (not so cheap) remodel.  I don't think I will record here all the details as to what all ended up happening and changing.

These before pictures actually look quite decent.  They are ones I took on the rare occasion that it was clean.  I actually took these long before I began prepping.  They don't look too overrun yet.

Notice the hideous shag orange and nasty colored carpet.  My one request in the ever evolving plan was that the nasty carpet disappear.  As you can see we had shelves down both walls, but they were narrow and spaced such that there was a lot of gap where I could have had more shelves with food rather than empty wall space. 

We left the wall on the right empty and placed double the number of (deeper) shelves along the wall on the left.  We then added shelves along the back wall.  In this picture you can see that we had run out of the size used on the back and still  need to add the extra.  Even with removing the shelving from one side, we were able to increase the storage quite a bit with the addition of wider, more closely mounted shelves.  The bottom shelves were spaced high enough to allow 5 gallon bucket storage for long term food storage.

The hideous carpet is gone, with plans for tile when the funds are available.  The empty wall now has a place to store the step stool, a hanging rack (out of view) for brooms and mops and room for the vacuum.  The far back corner will eventually have a custom built shelf for the ammo that is stacked there. 

We also greatly increased the light by adding a long florescent light instead of a small incandescent bulb.  The light had been on the same switch as the hallway light, which gets left on most of the day.  My husband put the light on its own switch and installed a motion detector switch that turns off after 5 minutes so the pantry light won't be left on unknown all day!

There is a lot of information out there on prepping, disaster preparedness, long term food storage.  I am sharing this as encouragement.  Whatever your "just in case" may be, there are easy ways to begin your prepping journey.  It doesn't have to consume your life.  It may take some adjustments, such as my added pantry shelving, but it doesn't have to look like the shows you see with rooms and rooms of stores.  Start where you are, make adjustments as you go.  Begin small and add as you can.  Determine your needs and what "cases" you are planning for and start.  It will get less scary and easier as you go!

 Please check out other great blogs at the Welcome Home Link-Up.

Saving Money With Convenience Foods

I previously posted my cheap laundry detergent recipe here.  I explain in that post that I am extremely cheap.  Toward that end, I want to share another money saving tip that goes against what most people will tell you: Convenience Food. 

What!?!  I know.  When reading "101 Ways to Save Money", they always tell you to avoid pre-made, prepackaged food.  And I agree.  Mostly. 

When we were early married, I would try to save money by not buying ice cream at the grocery store.  Have you seen how much that stuff costs?  But, as I mentioned before in a previous post, I LOVE ice cream.  It is my happy food.  So, when the craving overtook me (usually at least once a week), I'd go to the local ice cream shop, too conveniently located, and buy their (expensive) ice cream.  Usually I'd have to take the kids or hubby.  This trip would cost me at least $10.  At least once a week.  So I'd spend at least $20 on ice cream saving in order to save $6 at the grocery store.  This is NOT saving.  I eventually learned to just but the ice cream.

Fast forward half a dozen years and an equal number of kids.  In an effort to save money, I have tried to get as "basic" as my limited culinary and organizational skills will allow.  I've tried making homemade bread for sandwiches (which we loved to eat, but really didn't work for sandwiches for us). 

I have gotten to the point where I can't stand to buy box dinner mixes because I know that even though they may only cost $2, I could make it for $1.  So I quit buying most convenience foods. 

Then I noticed that we run such a busy, hectic life, that we were grabbing a bite to eat out, or getting a quick fast food snack, more and more often.  It was too hard to get home for lunch after church (we can't get home until 2) so we would eat out.  We'd have a 4-H meeting and have to leave as soon as daddy got home, so we'd grab a bite after, because I was hungry.  I am very unpleasant when I'm hungry. (Very unpleasant)

Then it hit me.  This was the ice cream issue all over again.  I realized my need to start buying some very quick preparation food items, such as those detested box dinners (not detested for taste, just price).  A $2 box dinner is much cheaper than the $25 (or more) it costs to feed my family fast food.

I realized that if I splurge on some fresh fruit for after church on Wednesdays, I won't have to grab a snack after when the kids are starving and it's too late to fix a snack after we get home.  If I buy the good deli meat, we don't mind a picnic lunch after church because it isn't peanut butter. 

So, my official advice for busy families with a tight budget, splurge on some food items that can be prepared quickly.  Take one or two "fast food" meals worth of money and buy some nicer convenience food that will free you.  If you are like me, no matter how often you tell yourself that you can fix and freeze some of your own "convenience foods", you never seem to get around to it.  If you continue to find yourself eating out due to schedules, realize that you aren't going to get around to it at this point in your life, release your guilt, splurge on a few quick meals to keep in your pantry and enjoy!

Why Sin?

*** Warning ***  I am not a theologian.  I have no theology degree, training, have taken no theology classes.  I make no claims as to the theological validity of my post. 

This morning, as I sat holding my sleeping 1 year old, having struggled for several days through a mire of ugly darkness stealing all my joy, I was suddenly blessed with a new understanding of the darkness and pain in this world.

I have had my children ask, have asked myself actually, "Why did God give Adam and Eve a choice?  Why did He allow them to choose sin?"

I have heard many good and insightful messages on this topic.  Explanations that we cannot fully love without choice, that without choosing to love we aren't really loving, etc.  Those are great messages and great reasons. I will not attempt to recreate those messages, as I would not do them justice.  But today I realized another reason, or perhaps more of a byproduct. 

I like chocolate.  I like ice cream.  I really like chocolate ice cream.  I like broccoli, too.  But broccoli is NOT ice cream.  I do not like fish (except tuna salad and there is a case to be made that that isn't really much in the way of fish).  I wonder what life would be like if fish, broccoli, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and the like all tasted like chocolate ice cream?  Would we enjoy ice cream so much? 

I wonder, could we enjoy with quite the same depth of joy the birth of a new child without having experienced the loss of a grandparent (uncle, parent, friend)?  Could we find the depth of joy in life without the contrast of the sorrow?  Would we appreciate the smile of a 4 year old if we didn't know they would end?

I realized that with parenting, life is a paradox of joy and pain.  I know without a doubt that I enjoy my younger two in their young years more than I did the older two.  Why?  Because of the ache of seeing them too old to giggle maniacally when I tickle under their chin.  There are new joys that come with each age and stage, but they are a sharp contrast to the ache that you feel realizing that the new phase necessarily requires the loss of an old one.

I believe that because of death and pain, we more fully have the opportunity to embrace love and joy.  I do not believe that we could really have the fullness of the joy God intends for us without the sadness that came into the world with sin. 

I'm not saying that God could not have found a way in a perfect world for us to fully enjoy an ice cream flavored world.  I know that He has done so in Heaven.  But I believe that one of His blessings in this world is this schism between dark and light, grief and joy, pain and happiness, death and new life.