I finally made it over to Macey’s to take advantage of their Spring Case Lot sale. (You can see what fun things I bought…I’ll let you know how they turn out) A lot of people ask me how I know what to buy at these sales or to buy in bulk in general. It is SO important to buy in bulk and have things on hand especially since the economy is starting to inflate (I’m sure you’ve noticed that each time you go to the grocery store it seems prices are going up and up and up) J. Rueben Clark said, “… when we really get into hard times, where food is scarce or there is none at all, and so with clothing and shelter, money may be no good for there may be nothing to buy, and you cannot eat money, you cannot get enough of it together to burn to keep warm, and you cannot wear it.” (Church News, November 21, 1953, p. 4.) I’m not telling you to panic, I’m just saying that with the interest rate on your savings account going down, it is a good time to “invest” in food. When you do this you are always living off last year’s economy, giving your income some time to match the cost of living. We’ve already saved tons by doing this. Here are some tips of what I do:
1) First I went through my most often made recipes to note patterns like: I use A LOT of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, canned chicken or even that we have a couple meals that I serve applesauce as a side dish (yep, you guessed it…pork chops!) but we can’t ever finish off a whole bottle before it goes bad so I bought some cans of applesauce to try.
2) The other important thing to remember is that you want food stored in a couple different states. Meaning you don’t want all your meat, fruit, and vegetables to be in the fridge/freezer in case you can’t get to it. So I also bought canned fruit, vegetables, and meat that my family would eat.
3) I’ve been keeping track of what has gone quickly and what hasn’t gone quickly enough and I adjust what I buy at the next case lot sale/bulk.
4) If there is more “traditional” food storage items on sale then I will buy those as well. I don’t always know what is really tastey so I’ll buy one can to start with and if I like it/use it then I know for next time. (That is how my love affair with dehydrated eggs started.) Macey’s has other food storage items on sale then they advertised in their circular (thank goodness!) so I would suggest perusing the items they have showcased along with venturing into their food storage section to see everything on sale. (For those of you out of Utah you can shop places like http://www.bluechipgroup.net/ or http://www.preparedness.com/)
5) Shop sales. No matter where you live things go on sale and it is a good time to stock up. Before we moved back to Utah we lived in Orange County, CA and stocked up at Costco and grocery stores during the holiday months. Now that we live in Utah we are regulars at the case lot sale. If you have a contact in Utah and live within driving distance, you may want to strategically plan visits around September when all four local stores have their case lot sales. (That is what my parents do.)
***Stay tuned, I’ll post on where you can put your food***
Good luck shopping, and let me know what you found, are going to try, and how it turned out for you!
For more tips and tricks for using your food storage in everyday ways, please visit www.everydayfoodstorage.NET
I love the caselot sale. I just went this week too. I didn’t see the dehydrated eggs but I got some other stuff. I love this blog! Thanks for the ideas!
I love the caselot sale. I just went this week too. I didn’t see the dehydrated eggs but I got some other stuff. I love this blog! Thanks for the ideas!
I love the case lot sale also. My kids love spaghetti-o’s…and you can’t beat .50 cents a can! I also got my cream of chicken…gotta love it!
Lindsey J
I love the case lot sale also. My kids love spaghetti-o’s…and you can’t beat .50 cents a can! I also got my cream of chicken…gotta love it!Lindsey J
What are you going to use the raspberry gelatin for???
Lindsey J
What are you going to use the raspberry gelatin for???Lindsey J
Lots and lots of salads. 🙂 I’ll let you know what other things I can come up with.
Lots and lots of salads. 🙂 I’ll let you know what other things I can come up with.
Oh Crystal I am so excited you are doing this. Please keep sharing your wisdom with us sorry saps.
Oh Crystal I am so excited you are doing this. Please keep sharing your wisdom with us sorry saps.
Crystal,
I just went to Wal-Mart in AF they have gama-lids, bukets and other things that help with food stroage. I bought the Dr. recomended gama-lid. It was $4.37. Also do you keep things like sugar and flour in buckets or do you keep them in smaller containers?
Deli
Crystal, I just went to Wal-Mart in AF they have gama-lids, bukets and other things that help with food stroage. I bought the Dr. recomended gama-lid. It was $4.37. Also do you keep things like sugar and flour in buckets or do you keep them in smaller containers?Deli
For Christmas I got a wheat grinder. I am wondering if it is ok to open my big bucket of wheat to try it, or if I should keep that sealed and get a smaller bag or container of wheat. I guess my questions is…will the little oxygen eater packet keep working if I open and close my bucket a lot?
For Christmas I got a wheat grinder. I am wondering if it is ok to open my big bucket of wheat to try it, or if I should keep that sealed and get a smaller bag or container of wheat. I guess my questions is…will the little oxygen eater packet keep working if I open and close my bucket a lot?
Crystal,
Dehydrated eggs? You’ve really fallen in love with them? Pease tell. I find we use a lot of eggs and I worry because I don’t have powdered eggs in storage. I’m sure brand makes a difference too. Do you have a favorite brand?
Melissa,
On wheat…I store mine in a large white bucket. If you use oxygen inhibitors it “ruins” the wheat and you won’t be able to sprout it later if you need to use it for a form of protein. FYI
Crystal,
Dehydrated eggs? You’ve really fallen in love with them? Pease tell. I find we use a lot of eggs and I worry because I don’t have powdered eggs in storage. I’m sure brand makes a difference too. Do you have a favorite brand?
Melissa,
On wheat…I store mine in a large white bucket. If you use oxygen inhibitors it “ruins” the wheat and you won’t be able to sprout it later if you need to use it for a form of protein. FYI
Melissa,
I have heard that it is an old wive’s tale that you can’t store wheat with oxygen absorbers and still have it sprout. I know of people who have their wheat stored that way and still sprout it just fine.
As far as opening and closing the bucket frequently, once you open the bucket and introduce oxygen into it, the oxygen absorber packet will be quickly used up and do you no more good. So whether you open your bucket or not will likely depend on how quickly you think you will use your wheat. If you will use that bucket up within a year or so, I wouldn’t worry about it. But don’t expect to open and close it frequently and still have it keep for 30 years. It might, but it might not, and you probably don’t want to take that chance. Personally, I always have one bucket each of hard red wheat and hard white wheat in buckets with gamma seal lids (screw top lids for storage buckets). When I use that wheat up, I open a new bucket and pour it into the bucket with the gamma seal lid. I use that wheat fast enough to not worry about long-term storage conditions any more, but still have my other buckets of wheat stored un-opened for long-term storage. Hope this helps.
Melissa,
I have heard that it is an old wive’s tale that you can’t store wheat with oxygen absorbers and still have it sprout. I know of people who have their wheat stored that way and still sprout it just fine.
As far as opening and closing the bucket frequently, once you open the bucket and introduce oxygen into it, the oxygen absorber packet will be quickly used up and do you no more good. So whether you open your bucket or not will likely depend on how quickly you think you will use your wheat. If you will use that bucket up within a year or so, I wouldn’t worry about it. But don’t expect to open and close it frequently and still have it keep for 30 years. It might, but it might not, and you probably don’t want to take that chance. Personally, I always have one bucket each of hard red wheat and hard white wheat in buckets with gamma seal lids (screw top lids for storage buckets). When I use that wheat up, I open a new bucket and pour it into the bucket with the gamma seal lid. I use that wheat fast enough to not worry about long-term storage conditions any more, but still have my other buckets of wheat stored un-opened for long-term storage. Hope this helps.
Does anyone use their FoodSaver to seal food in glass canning jars? It’s my favorite, favorite thing for food storage! It’s great for things like my chocolate chips (won’t get the white powder on them for years) and when I open the big can of dried banana chips for my daughter, I can reseal them in pints or quarts and then only use them a little at a time. It’s also perfect for my brown sugar, keeps my pecans perfect for baking, and I can seal fragile things like cookies without the cost of the FoodSaver canisters that cost so much. I just use the sealing lid, don’t need the canning ring, and can reused the lid over and over again. I have the handheld sealer on my counter and can get things sealed and put away quickly! Maybe everyone’s already doing this, but I thought I’d share anyway.
Does anyone use their FoodSaver to seal food in glass canning jars? It’s my favorite, favorite thing for food storage! It’s great for things like my chocolate chips (won’t get the white powder on them for years) and when I open the big can of dried banana chips for my daughter, I can reseal them in pints or quarts and then only use them a little at a time. It’s also perfect for my brown sugar, keeps my pecans perfect for baking, and I can seal fragile things like cookies without the cost of the FoodSaver canisters that cost so much. I just use the sealing lid, don’t need the canning ring, and can reused the lid over and over again. I have the handheld sealer on my counter and can get things sealed and put away quickly! Maybe everyone’s already doing this, but I thought I’d share anyway.