Imagine my delight when I saw a sign that said, “Grocery Store Clearance Outlet”.
Those words in combination made my little prepper’s heart go “pitter patter”.
We actually had to go up to the next exit and then turn around to come back to stop at the store, but the detour was well worth it! I walked in and I think I heard harps playing, angels singing, and all that good stuff when I saw the bare concrete floors and the sky-high piles of cans and boxes. The warehouse-style organization generally means excellent prices and we were not disappointed. Best of all, this is fairly near my daughter’s new school so I can drop in once a week without a big detour.
Today’s Shopping Trip
- 3 boxes of graham crackers $1.49 ea
- 2 boxes of organic whole grain and chive crackers $1.49 ea
- 2 cans of organic black beans $1 ea
- 2 cans of organic butternut squash puree $1 ea
- 4 pounds of dried beans $2.09
- 1 pound of organic turbinado sugar $2.99
- 2 packs of organic blue corn taco shells $1.49 ea
- 2 squeeze bottles of olive oil mayo .47 ea
- 1 bottle of bbq sauce $1
- 1 jar of peanut butter $1.79
- 1 gigantic canister of saltine crackers $2.47
- 2 cans of organic mixed vegetables $0.79 ea
- 10 pounds of flour $3.99
TODAY’S TOTAL WITH TAX: $32.02
GRAND TOTAL THUS FAR: $65.74
Want to learn more? My new book is now available!
Lots of us like to have hard copies of information that we’ve found helpful. Because of this, I’ve expanded on the information included in this series and put it all in one handy primer, available on Amazon.
The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months
In case you missed them, here are all of the articles in this series:
The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months
The Pantry Primer: Grocery Outlet Victory
The Pantry Primer: Meal Planning While You’re Building Your Stockpile
Sweet!
Are you taking any steps to mouse-proof anything?
Flood resistant in any way?
Is there anything you’re really tempted to get but don’t?
If so, why?
Is a taste test the only way to determine if oils (such as olive oil) has gone rancid?
Awhile back a person mocked me when they spotted a mouse trap I’d placed in the basement. They asked in a condescending way if I had mice.
I told them, no.
But if or when I do, that’s how I’ll know.
About a year or so after that, I heard a snap!
I can keep squash for about a year, sometimes. I think it depends upon the conditions of the growing season more than anything. But I’m not certain.
Do you have any special techniques for storing squash, pumpkins and the like?
I never thought I’d like squash, but the stuff is great, especially acorn squash.
So far I haven’t found a hole chewed through one. But I’ve read about it happening to other people. Pumpkin tenants that don’t pay! A whole family, no less.
I noticed last year that Big Lots had a Big sale on Christmas tins after the holiday. They are good for storing nuts and bolts in too.
I bought a metal cake pan with a lid at a yard sale this Summer for 25 Cents. I was going to use it for storing nuts and bolts, or nails.
Do you suppose those containers would be useful for other things?
I can’t tell from the photo how big your pantry is.
Is there a recommended minimum size?
Do you use, or plan to use a chest freezer?
Are you storing water too?
Do you keep an inventory?
That seems like it wold be hard.
As a child I remember drinking very expired and very rock hard Tang. Is that a good thing to have? I would think it might be something to get, don’t use, and hope you never have to use. But I don’t know. You’re probably not buying anything like that.
Reading about sailors or pirates the two big worries were scurvy and … oh I forget what they call it, a deficiency of IP6 rice bran. Seems to me those would be big problems to deal with. I wonder what the minimum requirement is needed to avoid those two problems?
I wonder how people will deal with a lack of nutrients like magnesium if (when) that Codex deal gets to be enforced? Can you can Brazil nuts?
Fantastic questions! I will try to address all of these in upcoming posts! 🙂 Thank you so much – it is a huge contribution when you ask these questions. 🙂
Daisy
Your welcome.
My pleasure.
I just read an article about making tea from pine needles to prevent scurvy.
You can dehydrate pumpkin and squash. Peel, cube, cook, mash. Spread out on plastic wrap or the teflon sheets that come with a dehydrator to about one eighth inch thick. Dehydrate until very dry and brittle. Break up pieces into a food processor and turn into powder. Vacuum seal in one half cup measurements. Rehydrate one half cup of powder with two cups boiling water. You will have enough for one pumpkin pie.
Non-US resident here. I can’t believe the prices your goods are. I couldn’t buy non-organic goods for those prices even at a discount store, let alone organic. I know you all complain about your food prices rising but you’d die if you saw our food prices. Anything organic is really expensive.
I always wondered why prepping sites said you could buy this much food for this much money. It makes sense now.
I wonder what country Rebecca is in to make that comment and what price she is paying?
Anyway, I was just talking about my encounter with a local farmer and how regulations are affecting him, here:
http://ericpetersautos.com/2013/08/09/offending-activists/#comment-102395
And then I remembered a bit you all might find interesting.
Apparently (according to my local farmer) ‘they’ are going to try… no, make that: ‘they’ have now made it so you can’t buy or barter food from the farmer unless the farmer can prove the garden has been covered.
You know, like the fish farm is enclosed in a warehouse and the garden had been covered by wire mesh. That kind of stuff.
It’s worse than that, it is simply flat out illegal for the farmer to barter with you for the meat he has.
This is some serious sh..stuff.
It seems clear to me ‘they’ are intent on shutting down the family farm and your local farmers market, or working their way into heavily and intensely regulating the family farms of Amerika.
I mean, did you know it’s illegal for a farmer to barter his beef or pork or lamb? RIGHT NOW. This isn’t SHTF, I’m saying, right now, you cannot legally barter with your local farmer for beef or any other meat.
I didn’t know that.
I didn’t know things have gone that far already.
…Just another day in the land of the flea.
Then you just give the beef, pork, or lamb to your neighbor.
Next day, you find a few dozen eggs on your porch. (wink–wink)
Govt. is the stupid one–not us.
Seriously, I’m IN LOVE with Grocery Outlet! We just moved to Washington, and I go to GO for so many pantry essentials. They have this great whey cream butter that’s fabulous ($1.99/lb from Cabot) and so many of my natural sugars for way less. I do have to be a bit cautious with some of the ingredients, but it’s been a huge help to me.
I found a grocery outlet, it was Florida, it was so great, then about 6 months later,,,, mealy bugs ,,reproducing and I had pantry pest traps all set up just in case,There by last count had been over 100, bugs. I had my year pantry, but all the dry goods had to be thrown out, bugs larvae and flyers. now when I buy any dry stuff in bulk into the freezer it goes for at least a week. hopefully killing off any crawlie critters. was so disappointing, I still go buy in bulk. have not bought any cereals in discount outlet stores though still a little leery .sticking to oatmeal, if it moves throw it out! I guess I should use the mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.
You really should get a vacuum sealer. Bugs cannot survive with no oxygen. I vacuum seal all dry goods in two to four cup measures. Years later still just as fresh as the day I sealed the bag and no bugs.
Hi Daisy,
congrats on your blog! it is so needed.
I just have one problem about buiding this pantry…70% of the items you stock up we don’t eat! On the above list we consume beans and peanut butter (org). Of course I would eat veggies and soup out of a can if I had to in a crisis, but not by choice today. I haven’t bought anything packaged of canned in years. If I was to build this pantry, what to do when the items are expiring? Most of them are not even nutritious, like crackers, cereal! If we are to stock these items up we would probably end up discarding them when they expire! Am I missing the point? Believe me I love the idea, I just don’t want to spend money on food that I will have to throw out next year. Any feedback on this?
Cristine:
I definitely agree with you. In our family we rarely use packaged foods also. They were purchased at this time for two reasons:
1.) At the time of the purchase our cupboards were completely bare, so in order to save money to buy staples and begin cooking from scratch, we needed some items to get us started. (Like the soup and crackers, for example.)
2.) In the event of an off-grid emergency, you might not have the ability to cook like you normally would. In such a situation, it is helpful to have items that don’t require cooking.
These are not the backbone of my pantry, but just a starting point and a helpful addition for unusual situations. I generally work them into my menu when they are nearing expiration or donate them to a food pantry. For example, the butternut squash soup can be combined into a tasty chicken and rice casserole. My daughter is happy to eat cereal occasionally and it’s good to have on hand when her friends sleep over.
The idea is to customize your pantry to the tastes and diets of your family, though. I hope this offered some good starting points. 🙂
Thanks for reading.
Best wishes ~
Daisy