pantry

[Mr_Yan]

First weekend of the month usually means our large grocery trip to restock our pantry. While we don't have a single large pantry closet in this house it is really nice to have a fully stocked pantry.

Our "pantry" is scattered around the house - a double door base cabinet in the kitchen, a tall cabinet next to the fridge, some shelving in the basement (things that humidity won't hurt), and some shelves upstairs (things that humidity will hurt).

Some of the guys at work accused me of being a prepper when I was talking about my pantry. They think 6 jars of apple sauce is absurd. But come on two toddlers can finish a jar in about 4 days.

 

[w_r_ranch]

We have a pretty large pantry in the main house & a small one in the guest house. We also store our canned stuff in the guest house's walk-in closet, as well as cases of paper products.

Your work friends would freak if they saw ours, but then again, I'm ex-military & have been a full-blown 'prepper' all my life (we won't get into talking about a 'safe room' or the underground bunker), LOL!!!

 

[Mr_Yan]

I was in a meeting with a vendor and supplier rep last fall. As we were waiting for another engineer the others were talking about where everyone was from which apparently necessitates what pro football team you like. When it got to which team do I like (Lions or Bears, I'm from metro Detroit but live near Chicago) I told them I didn't have the time for football. The LED vendor instantly said "you must be a prepper".

I'm not a prepper but my wife sees that I could easily fall off into that group. Rather than trying to keep and maintain a stockpile of stuff I'm trying to cultivate a broad skill set and learn a new skill / craft each year. With that I also try to read both a fiction and non-fiction book at a time.

I recently started storing dry stuff in 5 gallon buckets (flour, beans, rice, dog food, etc) and just found screw on Gamma lids.

 

[Lost in mn]

We have a very large pantry here with about 2 years of food, both canned and dried. We got into doing it more because of the costs of food keep rising so dramatically. Especially here where we live out in the sticks 100 miles from the nearest large grocery store. We buy a lot of things in bulk and repackage for long term use. I wouldn't call it "prepping" as much as I would call it buy cheap eat cheap lol. Everyone should have at least a 1 month supply of food in their homes at all times "Just in case".

Warning about storing dog food, Dry Dog food is not manufactured with the same care as people food and can be contaminated with worms or other critters. Be sure you are storing it away from your food products and in a very tightly sealed air proof container. I've seen more than once where someone tried to store it long term and it blossomed with creepy crawly critters. If it's canned you are good to go.

Also be sure you are keeping available a means to cook the food. Dry items are great but you don't want to be outside in a -40 winter trying to rehydrate your rice because the power is out lol. I have 4 butane rocket stoves which work great for this and can be used indoors without too much worry of carbon monoxide. Fuel canisters will last 100 years if stored properly and they are relatively cheap. A food sealer machine is another awesome tool for storing items. In a situation you don't want to be opening a 50lb bag of beans to eat 1/2lb of them. It's better to repackage bulk into useable quantities so when you open the bag you are not opening it all to contamination.

 

[Mike]

I really need to get a food sealer, preferably the one @w_r_ranch suggested to me a while back and learn how to can food too. Rocket stove is another good suggestion but now that I have a generator I could always use it to power the stove if needed.

 

[Rahab222]

I'm quickly becoming a "minimalist." I keep some bottled water in case our water is turned off for repairs. I eat a lot of things raw, so I really like having a grocery store in the back yard. We put up so much jam last year for Christmas baskets, we still have a lot left. It's so nice to have a little gift ready when people stop by or visit. I grew up with a Dad who was a Coach/Teacher and a mother who taught, also. They only got paid once a month, so we'd go to Shoppers World and buy groceries for the month. We lived on a farm with a 30-acre garden, so we canned or froze most of what we ate. My siblings and I always followed my Dad with his cart, because it was the "junk food" cart, while Mom picked up the necessities. They would slaughter a calf a few times a year and hunting kept us in venison, doves and ducks. To me, that was prepping. Once all the cookies were gone, my siblings and I would attack Dad's peanut butter and crackers.

 

[ErnieCopp]

You young folk storing food for the long term have a problem i do not have, as i even hesitate, at my age, as the old story goes, to buy Green Bananas.

So i am trying to use up the jam and dried fruit and such from each year's garden before summer comes with more to put up.

Ernie

 

[Treeca86]

I am Mormon, and we have a food supply up to 1 year. So, you and your pantry is by no means a prepper compared to us! Haha! We stock up to at least 30 cans of our most used items. A couple times a month, I stock up on staples, i.e., carrots, bell peppers, whole potatoes, mushrooms, oranges, apples, onions, garlic, etc.
We are preppers by getting dozens of items, and more of what we use most often. I love Costco, because I can buy in bulk most everything I need, and can put foods that need to be frozen in the free standing freezer after separating what we will use for the week.