My family think the zombie apocalypse is coming real soon due to my recent obsession with stockpiling. Before I go any further I’d like to assure them that I don’t have the inside knowledge on any forthcoming catastrophe or society breakdown and I do these strange things just because you have a weird Mum and I feel comfort in being prepared…. thank you 🙂
Cleaned up my pantry a bit today and added in some additional staples, did a count, checked my storage tubs and was pleased to see that infact I now have about 3 months worth of basic staples to hand. I’ve now written a list of the small stockpile and whatever I use from the pantry I will replenish once a week making sure to rotate foods because of the best before dates.
The majority of my day to day food is fresh (with the addition of canned or dried beans or lentils) but it does feel nice to have this supply that I can reply on. I’m sure I will tweak and adjust it but I wanted to store foods that I really do use in addition to fresh veg.
What do you keep in your pantry as staples?
C xxxx
One tip, if you’ll have your flour for more than 6 months, keep it in the freezer, especially wholemeal, the oils will go off unless the oxygen is removed or it stays very cold. Great ideas, you never know what might happen.
Thanks for that tip…some of my flour may be out of date in that case by now I think!!! LOL! 🙂 xxx
Bottled water.
Olive oil.
Dried legumes, dried fruit.
Tinned foods – veges, stews,fish, fruit.
Salt, seasonings.
Onions, carrots, apples, eggs.
Rice, flour, sugar.
Long-life milk. Tea, coffee, cocoa.
I also have a supply of soap, detergent, hand-sanitiser, tissues, TP, matches, candles – the essentials if one can’t get to the shops for any reason, or if there’s an interruption to supply of electricity or water.
Best wishes for the New Year 🙂
Some good items there!!! I went and got toilet rolls and toothpaste today and I definitely need candles!!! xxxx
Lovely work Caroline, you never truly know what could happen, severe storms or flooding. Natural disasters happen so easily without warning. We’re living through that here in Australia now with our cyclones and here in the south bushfires.
I also keep one of those little portable gas burners with the pressure pack cans of fuel. No good having all the food if you have no gas or electricity to cook with!. And candles or oil lamps are a must.
Hi KC, I’ve found a nice little cheap gas burner on Amazon with 8 refills (I used to have one like this in Canada and used it everytime we were without power after storms!) and I’ve added that to my Amazon basket so hope to purchase that this week… am getting a bit carried away but I’d rather get it done and sorted. Hope there are no bush fires near you xxxxx
Look for hobo cookers online. They are a simple, easy to make cooker that work really well. We used one for ages while camping and then purchased a nicer version (still incredibly inexpensive). I love it better than my gas cooker (for camping). It takes up less space when cooking and works really well. http://lireos.com/blog/kitchen-remodeling-should-you-buy-new-appliances/
That was a bad link – sorry https://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-9957-Folding-Stove/dp/B0007L8108/ref=sr_1_7?s=outdoor-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1546878295&sr=1-7&refinements=p_36%3A1253555011
This is such a smart thing to do! You never know what could happen and having enough food to feed yourself and your family for awhile is a wonderful thing. 🙂
I really need to get better about this, especially when it comes to non-perishable food items. I have a ton of batteries, flashlights and candles in case the power goes out, and some non-perishables but I definitely need to get to work on getting more organized about it. After a couple of tornadoes destroyed homes and knocked the power out in my city for days last year, I don’t want to be caught unprepared again.
I love your blog by the way!
Before we moved to the Arctic I had never experienced going into a grocery store and not being able to buy everything that I needed or wanted. Just a couple such experiences when the winter weather and spring washouts prevented trucking deliveries taught us the importance of keeping a stockpile.
We have all the basics so that we can cook or bake whatever we need however it is also important to keep some ready-to-eat foods on hand that require no cooking. Even if you have a wood stove there may be times when you do not have the time or the fuel to cook.
Wow gosh, I remember a friend in Canada doing a presentation at the library once about her trip into the arctic and how communities really did rely on having supplies trucked in, even water and gasoline. It sounds like you prepare very thoroughly,,,, xxxxxx
Hi, sweetie!!!
I apologize for being absent as of late; as much as I enjoy the holidays, I appreciate in January being able to catch my breath! Plus, I always feel energized as a new year begins. I think 2019 will be a GREAT year.
I also stockpile, especially at the start of the year. I suppose that there is that in me that wants to snuggle down in winter’s soft-as-a-blanket quiet, knowing that I have all the provision I need for a long while. I currently have a stockpile of cooking oils(coconut, olive, canola, sesame), non-perishable boxes of tofu, split peas, barley, rice, vegan beef bouillon, vegan no-chicken broth, flax seed meal, textured vegetable protein, vital wheat gluten, seasonings, condiments, bread, noodles…there really is too much for me to remember!
Like you, I love fresh ingredients, so in addition to dry goods I have squash, onions, sweet potatoes, red cabbage, carrots, lettuce, greens, and various dressings and vinegars for them all. It is my New Year’s resolution to eat healthier, and not depend so much on meat replacements like wheat gluten, so I find this an exciting challenge when it comes to cooking. I actually have often said to myself, “What would Carolyn do?”, because you have that fantastic ability to see unassembled meals from various ingredients. In fact, I was thinking to myself this morning about what you might see among my kitchen stockpiles, and what meal could be prepared from them.
And so, trying to see the potential in ingredients as you might, I sliced a yellow squash and set it to cook lightly in olive oil. I then noticed some red tomatoes that I had which were starting to look a bit soft, so in true 1940s spirit I chopped them and added them, along with onion, to the skillet. A little garlic, a little rosemary, some gentle cooking time, and the result was actually very good! I felt enormously pleased that I had been frugal and healthy and clever and dashingly handsome as I sliced and diced, and…well, if I keep complimenting myself, I will be so puffed-up and prideful that I would be difficult to live with. 😀
But it WAS a very good and tasty meal, and the inspiration of Carolyn Elkins is due credit for it. My dear, you are always in my heart, and often in my thoughts, especially when I look around my kitchen and need an extra bit of inspiration and cheer. You always bring a smile to my face, and your posts warm my heart against the terrible winter cold of the Southern California desert…today, in fact, we are supposed to top out at a bone-chilling 62 degrees, Fahrenheit….
Okay, to ME that is cold! 😀 😀 😀
Much love,
~ Jack
Truly a shame that I cannot delete this.
Hi Jack, oh gosh so sorry I didn’t see this until now. I’ve been working 11-12 hour days doing a little extra job at work before I start my regular job so it’s all been a bit of a blur, get home, make dinner, in bed early, up at 4:15am! Anyway, as always it’s such a pleasure to read your lovely comments. They are always so full of interesting details that want me to read more and more. I’d like to utilise squash more like you do, the times I have baked or used this veggie have really loved the taste.
PS: Bone chilling 62 degrees! Hahaha! How wonderfully balmy!
C xxxxx
I grew up in rural Canada, and even when I lived in Toronto, I still had a small stock of emergency food and water in storage.
I currently have: at least a week’s worth of water for washing up, several days’ worth of water for consuming, at least a month’s worth of rice, oats (for oatmeal), pasta, flour, sugar/honey, tea, coffee, canned soups, canned veggies. I have a couple of loaves of bread in the freezer, and meat, of course (I’m mostly vegetarian/vegan in that I am allergic to dairy and corn, so I tend to make a lot of meals at home, but I still eat some meat). I have two ten lb bags of potatoes, a five lb bag of carrots, a three lb bag of onions. I have some dried beans, but I rarely get to use them, since I’m the only one who will eat them. I also have several jars of homemade tomato sauce that I put up last summer.
Hubby thinks I’m crazy sometimes, but even he had to appreciate that I had the stored water when construction broke a water line not far from us, and we could not use the water that came out of the faucet….
OH! And what I did for a ‘stove’ was I found an old fondue stand (no pot with it) and a burner. I have a couple of bottles of the fuel, as well as the ‘canned’ fuel. Both will work well, and I had to use it the autumn to make myself my morning coffee when the electric was out! It worked quite well.
I stockpile too 😁 so glad to know that I’m not alone! I love your blog and I’m going to try to do a week on rations myself to get a feel for my dearly departed grandma’s way of life back then. I’ve been peppering my family with questions and they seem to think I’m quite mad but it’s important to me to give this a go. X
Awww what a lovely thing to do in memory of your Grandma xxx Yes I know what you mean, when the urge to prep happens there is no stopping us!! C xxx
My Mum was a war baby so stockpiling is in my blood. Be prepared! Could you point me in the right direction for rations on tins etc, I’ve googled all over the place but can’t find anything official x
I just love your blog. I think you do so well. I’m wheelchair bound an can’t do a lot but reading an imagining does a lot for me. Previously I have tried a lot of your recipes. Don’t give up.
My grandmother and mother both used a pressure cooker quite often. Then I rarely ever saw them as I became an adult.. Now, out the blue, they are the latest rage around here. Do you plan on any new pressure cooker dinners?