# Weekly Prep Thread, January 21-27, 2008



## Guest (Jan 21, 2008)

After days of gloomy overcast weather with one good, brief rain the sun is finally out strong this morning and it looks wonderful. I hope everyone else's Monday is starting out well, tolerable at least.

I'll be making the weekly grocery and feed run today which will finally bring the food storage back up to 100%.

The feed storage won't be back up to snuff just yet, but that will have to wait until I can buy some more plastic drums in a couple of weeks. Every time I expand the flock it expands their feed storage requirements. Sure makes one think hard before ordering more birds.

Bringing the fuel storage back up to 100% is next for me.

How's the prep week looking for you folks?

.....Alan.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

Keep researching, working on lists to help prioritize (these are a constant thing), have the paperwork to get copies of birth certificates, will probably finish that today. I am working on my seed order and looking to get extra heirloom type for storage and a few new ones to try. Interesting to note that the companies do not say anything about GM seeds, etc. Keep throwing out little bits of info to DH. DS has some books he wants me to read, he wants to borrow my copy of Alan's book  . I have to remember to pick up a local swap sheet, place ads to get rid of some things and need to place a wanted one for jars, worth trying, needs lots more.


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## Collinsfarm (Oct 30, 2007)

To get a jumpstart on this year's garden, I fabricated a greenhouse/growhouse this weekend. I did it by enclosing a portion of the back deck of the house with clear 6 mil plastic. To augment the skylights, I built two racks from PVC pipe to support clamp on grow lights. We got te starter trays ready and are now taking inventory of seeds and mapping out a planting schedule.


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## missysid (Feb 21, 2006)

Went to a local estate/farm auction this and picked up a bunch of storage food tupperware containers really cheap. Also was able to get a water bath canner complete with the tray funnels and a bunch of new in the box lids for $8. I was so excited. I have the Ball Blue Book on canning and can not wait to try a few things from the garden this year. 

Finally made it to Aldi's and bought all 33lbs of ground turkey they had on stock. We use this instead of ground beef.


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

Instead of actual supplies, this week I got trash cans & rubber maid tubs to put some of my supplies in. Now I can safely put the boxes & bags into the garage and get into my pantry.

I did find fruit .75 a can and hamburger 1.59 a pound, so those were added in, too.


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

Stokely's corn, creamed corn, peas or carrots, 49 cents a can. Gonna get some more when I go through Thursday. Got a heifer I couldn't get bred going to the butcher Thursday and a hog I bought off my uncle.


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## shellycoley (Mar 6, 2003)

Dh got a load of wood Sat and had another one delievered today. That will be enough wood to last the rest of this winter I think. Still the next time the pallet mill sales we'll get another load. It will keep.
The freezer is full now so I am going to start buying canning jars every week.
I have a couple of dozen on hand, but not near enough.
Dh wants to order baby chicks, but after loosing ALL of them from last year
I'd rather put my money into the garden. Need to run back by the Piggly Wiggly and buy more sugar while it's on sale. I added up and had 32 lbs want to bring that up to 50. Butter also still on sale I'll pick up 5 lbs and cram that in the freezer. 

Shelly


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## ai731 (Sep 11, 2007)

Bought some candle-making supplies, a good cast aluminum pillar mold and 1/2 pound (186 yards) of regular ply wicking. Figure that'll last me as long as I can still see to read by candle light  Still looking for a cheap taper candle mold - but tapers can always be hand-dipped of need be.

Also picked up an extra bottle of multi-vitamins with a July 2010 expiry date for the medicins storage box.


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## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

Butchered a goat sat A.M. he is hanging in the unheated garage stiff as a board. Sunday morning temp. was 2* so we will need a bit of a warm snap before cutting him up.


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## 3ravens (Mar 16, 2006)

I sent in an order to Pinetree for seeds, and got the screws to make at least 3 more raised beds. (the metal for the sides was already here in the junk the last folks left.  ) DD and I need to inventory the rest of the seeds. 
We are slowly working up our prep storage levels. We are up to 3+ months on most stuff and higher on some things, but we started with nuttin'....... :shrug: I have finally got her on board the stocking up train..... she saw how it was when NOBODY was bringing in a paycheck for 3 months and we still survived..... 'course, she made sure to stock up on her fave pricy shampoo, LOL!!!! :hobbyhors


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## JGex (Dec 27, 2005)

Finally ordered my manual coffee grinder and the kitchen store had everything 30% off of the sale priceas this weekend. Stocked up on all the baking pans I've been wanting.

Also ordered medicinal oils and the rest of the spices I wanted to store.

:hobbyhors 

Life is good.... now, if the economy will just hold out another few months so I can pay off the business loan......


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## mj1angier (Jan 3, 2006)

Gun show this weekend :hobbyhors 
Picked up another Bersa .380 for my conceled carry- wife got tired of me taking hers :shrug: 
New stock for Ruger 10/22 and 2 mags for it. also 2 boxes of subsonic .22 rounds.
Got 2 mags and an adjustable stock for the ar15.
Also found a Cree LED light that I like.
Getting a seed order together. Hope to rip out some grape vines that didn't work out to good to make more planting room.


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## ROSEMAMA (Jan 12, 2007)

Well, this week I got in my Honeyville order (finally) for some wheat (hard and soft white) as well as storage for it. 
I ordered new steel burrs for the mill (secondhand, it only came with stone). 
DH and I went to an estate sale over the weekend, where we got salvage rights to an old farmhouse (stuff for our new house), and some more fruit jars for a pretty good price. (But boy was it cold outside for an auction!)
Got my seed orders ready, just have to send them off.


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## wantabunch (Jan 7, 2008)

Got seed starting supplies. Need to find some sort of rack for them, going to hit the thrift stores up. Got my seeds from Martin's offer (thank you Martin) and looking through catalogues trying to decide what else to order. I'm going to the LDS cannery today to buy wheat, I can get hard white for $6.25/25 lbs. :clap: I got a wheat grinder for Christmas and have been baking all our bread products, I've used 25 lbs in the last month, so figure 300 lbs should last a year. Need to organize the garage to make room for it.

Edited to correct price - hard white price increased to 6.25/25 lbs. Hard red is still 4.75/25 lbs.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

Oh yes, have to get to the city to get a couple of extra chains for the saws, I can't sharpen them ya' know  just have to trade them out until DH can do the deed, spark plugs and files, too. Maybe if I hit a couple of equipment stores I can get 4-5 chains ahead without looking whacky  .
Funny, I can't seem to find the stuff in bulk, even on line.


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## Henry (Mar 1, 2006)

Hey Tab, buying lots of chains is expensive and not the way to go. If you can not sharpen them then save 2 for yourself and get an electric sharpener for them. The electric sharpener is not as good as hand filling but works well enough. You have to dedicate a couple of chains just for this as once you use an electric sharpener you can not go back to manual. These electric sharpeners have clips for your car battery and are not that expensive.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

The point being I want extra chains. I can sharpen them just fine....


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## sapphira (Mar 24, 2003)

Accumulating cash and especially metal money at several branches of my bank but not too noticeably. Bought and buying baby formula and food for charity. Already had children next door come for some milk. I buy canned evap milk in quantity and was glad I had it. I did notice the man next door - not friendly - is home so much more. Employment? What is good nutritious cereal to buy? I am not a cereal eater and have no clue what's in the cereal isle except oats for oatmeal. This week also will get more sugar and salt and oil. Get my bicycle out of daughter's basement and bring it over here. Getting my shed later this week.


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

Henry said:


> Hey Tab, buying lots of chains is expensive .


For chainsaw chains try Baileys http://www.baileysonline.com/ You can usually get them for $8.95 each or less when they are on sale. Shipping isn't to bad either. 

Try this link for premade chains 

http://www.baileysonline.com/search.asp?CatID=86&skw=wpl+wxl


Request a catalog

Mike


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

sapphira said:


> What is good nutritious cereal to buy? I am not a cereal eater and have no clue what's in the cereal isle except oats for oatmeal. This week also will get more ...


"Instant" oatmeal is good, as is semolina (wheat) and polenta (maize/corn meal). All of them make "porridges" with minimal cooking, which means inexpensive cooking.

Small cooks quicker. Brown or green lentils make a "solid, meaty" meal that cooks fairly quickly. If you want beans, "adzuki" beans (Japanese match-head sized red beans) cook quickest. Chick-peas (garbanzos) cook quicker than regular beans, particularly if you pre-soak them for half-a-day first. You've got to cook beans a bit though (except for mung beans - the ones they sprout. Regular beans have a poison that needs cooking to inactivate.

Powdered milk is good too. Just about anything is okay on cereal with sugar, but mix it (e.g. blender) to incorporate lots of air, let it stand even a little, and it tastes much better. Chill overnight after that and it approaches natural milk pretty closely in taste.

Another good buy is cheap fish. We (mostly) all like tuna, but there are other fish, stronger-tasting, that are cheaper, and spread further. Thing is, they're healthier too. Better for your heart. Mackerel is a prime example, but there are others. Buy a one-pound tin, mix it with boiled rice or pasta, maybe a packet of generic French-onion or even chicken-noodle soup (adds salt, so maybe cancels the good-for-heart), chopped onions, maybe herbs. Maybe put some sort of sauce over it instead of the soup-mix (I like Worcestershire, but HP, soy or low-salt soy, chilli, tomato, barbecue, ketchup would work). Serve it beside vegetables. Cheap, nutritious, enough protein, the cooked bones give calcium. Some people just can't stomach the srong fish taste, others can. Try a can a week until until it's standard fare, then stock up. Those neighbour kids could eat well on it while you're all learning to adapt.

Eggs are good too. Don't know your comparative costs there, but mashed boiled eggs in a sauce over rice or pasta, or whipped eggs stirred into soup to make "egg-flower soup", are good.

Google "Kurt Saxon". The man is... has... heck, he's a bigot. However, he has good instructions on cooking cereal whole grain overnight with hot water in a thermos. The instructions are good, provided you can ignore his racial politics.


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## RockyGlen (Jan 19, 2007)

My trip to the big city today was profitable and educational.

First stop: Kmart. They have changed their hours and now open two hours later, and close an hour earlier, so their new hours are 9 to 9. Their shelves were half empty and chaotic. When I went to pay, my check was for $104.00 and they had to get manager approval as the new policy is only managers can accept checks over $100. I got:

20 packages of socks at 20% off (came to 48Â¢ per pair)
20 packages of underwear at 20% off (came to 70Â¢ per pair)
10 bottles of shampoo for 69Â¢ each
100 pony tail elastics for $2. (they are red and green, but who cares)

Then went to Sams Club, where the prices had risen enough that I only bought toothpaste and diapers - everything else can be had cheaper elsewhere.

Walmart - bought 20 of these self heating hot chocolate and coffee drinks. They were on sale for $1 each, and are great for the car emergency kits, hunting bags, and BOB bags.

Safeway - 15 large bags of red and green M&Ms for 75Â¢ each
Knorr rice mixes 33Â¢ each (I got 12 each of spanish rice and chicken rice)
2 boxes of fruity pebbles for 99Â¢ each (big treat for the kids)
Old Bay seasoning for half off

While there I noticed that the cheapest eggs were 5 dozen for $9.19! And butter was $4.29. Thank you Lord, for chickens and cows. Anyway, I got other stuff, too, but those were the good deals. 

I noticed that none of the stores were as fully staffed as normal, and none of the parking lots were crowded. I drove past McDonalds at 12:15, and there were only two cars at the drive up. Now, it was only 7 degrees, so maybe that had something to do with it? Anyway, I heard alot of grumbling about prices, and did not see a single person with a heaping cart.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Just got back from the Amish store. Good deals included: 50 lb bag of nice big onions (for the dehydrator, mostly), $10. Gal of unsulphered blackstrap molasses. Lots of red pepper flakes. They also had a pretty good formulation of dogfood in the 50# bag for $13 (much better than China-mart and higher protein/fat for this colder weather). Dry milk had gone up by about $2 in the past couple weeks so didn't stock up as I'd planned on that.


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## tab (Aug 20, 2002)

Mike,
Thanks for that link. Even Oregon didn't have prices for chains when I looked. 
TAB


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## sparkysarah (Dec 4, 2007)

Rockyglen...don't you just love K-Marts in Wyoming. I know ours here in Sheridan is a disaster. I try to avoid it. I wish they would tear it out and put in a Target!!!!

Anyhow,
I am putting in an order to www.alisonspantry.com 
I am getting 50 pounds strong flour, 25 pounds rice, 25 pounds pinto beans, 20 pounds macaroni, 20 pounds fettucine, 10 pounds egg noodles, 1 pound yeast, 24 cans tropical fruit salad and some bread bags as I will be starting homemade bread this next week when our store bought runs out....I'm excited about that. I will have to bake every couple days. For Sheridan, Alison's Pantry has phenomenal prices. This will be my first order.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Just got a grain grinder I bought on eBay, and an extra water barrel. Plus my new chickenhouse comes tomorrow - a guy builds them as cheaply as I could buy the parts. I'll just need to fence in the run and mount the perches I've built. And order the chicks.


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## missysid (Feb 21, 2006)

Our order from Honeyville's sale came in today and it is all put away in the basement. Feels great knowing we have that extra for the months to come. And best of all we found 2 other people in our area to order with so we split shipping cost. Everylittle bit helps. 

I have learned how to make homemade bread this week. Mainly thanks to this board and the cooking forum for all of the help they gave. I really enjoyed it and it went much better the 2nd time around. 

Other than that we have just been staying in where it is warm. Our temps bottomed out here at 15-25 below with the wind chills. Burr I want spring and soon!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

All the seed orders have arrived and sorted into their expected planting dates....now only problem is the greenhouse that blew down in high winds/tornado a couple of weeks ago...pulled it from rebar 3' in the ground! All the parts still there but mangled so waiting on a warmer less windy day to try and sort it out. Just when you think things are going good! Have been working on upping my medical stores after discovering the lack of cold meds when I came down with this horrid flu thing...my kids use me for a pharmacy and left me defenseless! DH had all last week,me this and not a darn thing accomplished around here but the basic animal chores. DEE


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Been trying to get ditches dug so some of the standing water can drain off. Won't have a garden if things stay soggy this spring like last year. If it gets too dry, I can dam the ditches easily enough. Just getting them done, tho is taking ten forevers.

Making batches of whole wheat bread in the $5 bread machine, trying to get a good bit put by in the freezer. Somehow, I never seem to get whole loaves into the freezer. They all have at least one big hunk off the end and most are only half loaves. LOL


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## Wildwood (Jul 2, 2007)

I've been working like a mad woman to replenish my preps lately and bought probably twenty cases of canned veggies this week along with 64 pounds of sugar among other things. I did all this on my lunch hours and did get some funny looks when I checked out but to their credit, nobody made any comments. In our small town you have to visit every store to get what you need and I can't seem to get to the city. Maybe next week I can because I feel an urge to get everything topped off and there is so much I can't get here.

DH and I made a rare trip to WM together last night and he found a neat rechargeable lantern on clearance in the camping section. It's solar powered but can also be charged with with the lighter plug in your vehicle and has an adapter for an electrical outlet too. It's been on all day and still going strong. We plan to charge it using the solar charger tomorrow and see how it compares to charging it with electricity.

I took my day off to get my preps rotated, my new purchases added and an inventory with some adjustmetns to what we need for a year so I can get a new list before I go to the city.

We don't usually have this much extra $$$ but since we've lived off preps and couldn't even get away to spend any of our bonuses from work this year due to my mother's illness, we are able to really top our preps off and I can't think of a better way to spend it. With groceries going up, it's like money in the bank...which may or may not be there if I need it.


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## fostermomma (Feb 26, 2007)

I got my first order of powdered eggs and powdered butter. I also got two big cans of Nido. I am still looking for a source of powdered lacto free milk. If anyone knows where I might get some please let me know. Right now I am keeping lacto free baby formula on hand since I can't find the powderd lacto free milk.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Whey is considered lactose free, IIRC, Morning Moo is the brand name of a whey based milk powder. I know Walton's carries it and Alison's Pantry may still have it.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2008)

The empty half-gallon jars have overflowed their storage space so I bought some flour, rolled oats, salt, and dark brown sugar to fill them so I can put them back into the storage cabinets. 

.....Alan.


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

Having gotten used to and disgusted with the high prices at the grocery store (and thus not paying any attention to the "sales" fliers), I discovered that this weekend one of the stores is having a decent 'stock up' sale on canned goods. Guess who's on her way to take advantage? I mean, all that space under the new bed needs to be filled somehow, right .


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## FalconDance (Feb 4, 2007)

_VERY_ good time at the store today. The ticket rang up to well over a hundred dollars (_several_ flats of canned goods, peanut butter and a few rolls of sausage) - then the clerk applied the sale savings. I paid only $65!  Saved as much as I spent. Now _that's_ a sale .

When I told her that I'd appreciate the bagger leaving the cans in the flats as I intended to put it all under the bed, she calmly said, "Oh, you going to use these as stock-up?" I replied yes, and she said that was probably the smartest thing she'd heard for a long while especially given the current state of the economy. Phew, ain't it nice to not be considered a crazy for a change.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2008)

When the cashier asked me last night "what are you making" as she rang up the flour, sugar, salt and rolled oats I replied "lots."

.....Alan.


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## 54BelAir (Jan 10, 2008)

Early in the week I put in a big order with Walton Feed when my tax refund check came in. Today I took the rest of the check, and bought spam, spaghetti sauce, oil, and half a gallon of soy sauce. If I'm going to end up eating a lot of rice sometime down the road, it's going to have some flavor to it.

OK, you probably will laugh about this one, but I ordered a pellet gun from Amazon. I live in an apartment, and don't need the problems that could arise if a real gun discharged accidentally and the bullet went through a wall. But a pellet gun (with a red-dot sight) could bring in a bit of meat, if TSHTF. Even in the city, there's plenty of squirrels, pigeons, rabbits, and other small game that I'd be more than willing to turn into Squirrel Fried Rice or Pigeon Casserole. 

:lookout: 

Sue


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Every now and then, I like to bring an old thread or two forward to see how we thought things were going to be and then how they are now.

This shows Alan as 'guest' as there was an accident with his account and we got the threads back, but never quite got the rest of it figured out.

And I've searched the internet and even his blog is not active, so I have to figure he's living it and not talking about it now.


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## wottahuzzee (Jul 7, 2006)

I sure miss Alan and I wish him well in his current endeavors. He has given me many enjoyable hours with his writing. His blog was also a favorite of mine. I wish he would come back but I understand his need to move on. God bless you Alan and your family.


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## NancyWVa (Mar 7, 2014)

I am still looking for that self reliance, preparedness and the ability to survive man to marry!


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Not only do I miss having Alan around, but in reading back through this thread, I was really struck by how much wheat prices have increased in 6 years.


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

MGM, Not just wheat prices...hamburg $1.59/lb, for example!

Thanks for doing this Angie! 

Alan, you ARE missed!


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Whey is considered lactose free, IIRC, Morning Moo is the brand name of a whey based milk powder. I know Walton's carries it and Alison's Pantry may still have it.


Walmart has it, on line anyways. I just ordered some of the chocolate. My kids call it cocoa moo.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Actually, whey is very high in lactose. Generally, lactose intolerant folks have less trouble with hard cheeses than whole milk because the whey carries off much of the lactose from the cheese. Keeping a good supply of dairy digestive tablets is an essential prep at my house!


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