# Prepping on the cheap - No poison?



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

After reading the prepping on the cheap thread, I had to start another. 
I look at my food stock and look at the list of things people have stocked and are stocking, and the prices of such and cringe.
I guess I don't understand. Maybe its just me being overly picky, I don't know. It was a great thread, but I see a lot of things posted as stockup items and well, I couldn't force myself to buy some of them. 

I think my pantry must be very lacking or I am on some other stocking planet.

You couldn't PAY me to put this stuff in my body. Have you seen the ingredients? Poison! No offense doodlemom. To each his own. 



doodlemom said:


> This creamer is excellent and cheap Great Value: Coffee Non-Dairy Creamer - Walmart.com


This was just the item that put me over the edge. There are others. Bullions, Instant this and that. Powdered Lipton noodle mixes. Cheap peanut butter (surely loaded with sugars and hig-fructose corn syrup). Other things.

These are the sort of items that don't come into our home, although they are great, cheap, instant prep food ideas. I try very hard to make sure we eat healthy. I don't buy foods that have corn syrup or dough conditioners, or poisonous preservatives in them. 

Maybe I am under the false assumption that others on this site also try to avoid those things? Maybe I am just a food goody-goody?

So what do you stock and prep, especially for cheap when you don't buy these things? I did buy some pudding and jello mixes and some country time lemonade mix.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

After reading, I'm not inclined to want to post because I don't like having others stand in judgment of my choices. If you can only afford to prep "on the cheap", your choices are going to be limited to whatever is "cheap".

And I think most of us indulge in occasional guilty pleasures, even if they aren't too healthy.

If people are putting away food that is non perishable for times when they can't buy more, I'm happy that they are doing that, even if all of their choices don't comply with other's sensibilities. They are feeding their families.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

I don't prep things like that. In fact, I stock up on very little store bought goods at all, preferring to keep much of my prep on the hoof and in the ground. And I agree with you that if the means allow, one should probably seek to avoid the chemical and sugar-laden foods that have become so common in most American diets today. 

That said, we also had a member recently post that her consumable preps took her years to accumulate and were consumed in one week. ONE WEEK! That's one shopping trip for my family and that was her stockpile. That's some scary sh... right there. Now it could have just been a lack of organization and/or effort, but it also could have been a clinging to ideals when the means won't allow it. Given the option between chemical and sugar laden food and starvation, one should obviously choose the former. If the means do not allow someone to build a stocked pantry without relying on the cheap options that are out there, they should buy the cheap stuff and only once stocked fairly well switch over to putting up the more ideal items, imo.

ETA: But yes, to answer your question, assuming that people here avoid those things as a regular part of their prepping, is a mistake. It's one I made in the past as well.


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

You have to start somewhere, both with prepping and with good nutrition. I understand that others don't all do things the way we do - but we eat from our preps and keep a continually rotating supply. My husband is the die hard prepper and I've put my foot down on one thing - no big supplies of long-term storage "only for SHTF" foods. We eat what we prep and prep what we eat!

When you're in a big hurry to get a year's worth of food stockpiled, you might go ahead and stock up on very inexpensive food that's not nutritious and has a lot of chemicals in it. If that's what you're going to stock up on, then that's really what you should be eating. Then you can save money on your current grocery bill and learn what such a diet would be like if you were stuck eating it for survival. If you're not satisfied eating that way, start rotating in some better foods when you find them on sale. Better yet, get your garden into full production and start stockpiling REAL food. Hopefully by the time you actually need your preps, you will have had time to learn to garden and preserve and put away lots of healthy delicious food that you couldn't afford to buy a 1-yr supply of.


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## bama (Aug 21, 2011)

personally, i DO keep instant items, and convenience canned foods. that is because it will use less fuel, and less heat generated, for a short term emergency (think weather related). if it is 100+ degrees, and my region has been devastated by storms, i don't want to spend time cooking dried beans, rice, etc. i would much rather be able to boil a packet of instant rice for 8 minutes, dump in a can of meat and veggies, and be set. 

i am okay feeding my family "poisons". at least i will be able to feed them.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

Don't complain! The thread gave you a full list of people you can feel superior to and look down on, without you having to do any work! It's not like anyone is being judgmental about your choices and telling you to stock what they like.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

bama said:


> personally, i DO keep instant items, and convenience canned foods. that is because it will use less fuel, and less heat generated, for a short term emergency (think weather related). if it is 100+ degrees, and my region has been devastated by storms, i don't want to spend time cooking dried beans, rice, etc. i would much rather be able to boil a packet of instant rice for 8 minutes, dump in a can of meat and veggies, and be set.
> 
> i am okay feeding my family "poisons". at least i will be able to feed them.


To assume those who do not stock convenience foods from the store have no convenience foods is a mistake. There are tons of convenience foods that can be homemade and stored. Canned beans and meats. Canned ready-to-eat meals such as chili and soups. Homemade spaghetti sauces, salsas, etc. Even fruit leather can be made at home and vac packed, nixing all the additives. 

Aside from homemade there are also many convenience products on the market that do not contain all the additives of the cheaper products.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> After reading the prepping on the cheap thread, I had to start another.
> I look at my food stock and look at the list of things people have stocked and are stocking, and the prices of such and cringe.
> I guess I don't understand. Maybe its just me being overly picky, I don't know. It was a great thread, but I see a lot of things posted as stockup items and well, I couldn't force myself to buy some of them.
> 
> ...


I guess you are wealthy enough not to have to worry...I guess you have the choice. If some of us on a daily basis chose to buy the expensive all natural stuff we'd not be able to sleep for lack of food. Must be nice, and I'm happy for you. Believe me, it kills us to have to buy the cheap stuff, but when you have $35 after paying bills and meds, and still have to put fuel in the car to get to work, you don't buy the 100% natural.

I just want to add, that we do generally eat healthy, we buy big packages of oats, flour, etc when we do buy as they last much longer for the $$ but things like meats, pb, etc....you tend to skimp on. And If I can't grow it, we don't get it unless someone has extra to give away of fruit and veggies.


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## sandsuncritters (Nov 18, 2011)

Well Bless Your Heart!

In His Love
Mich


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I always thought that this forum was about helping each other in prepping. Offering suggestions, offering encouragement. 

This thread seems like it was started to mock other posters for their buying choices. It even names a poster for her choices! I have to say, this really saddens me. This isn't what S&EP is supposed to be about. But if this is what we've been lowered to, I'll leave.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

I'm not a purist but I try to stock ingredients which always cost less than prepared items. My system doesn't like foods with corn syrup. Period. This makes most prepared items useless to me. I can whip up a meal in less time than these expensive prepared items take anyhow. For instance, homemade mac and cheese takes no longer than Kraft....while boiling the macaroni make a simple white sauce,add cheese. Yum. No ingredients you can't pronounce! Plus it doesn't taste icky when reheated for lunch tomorrow. Taught my DIL to make white sauce last weekend and she proudly made that part of the meal. 

Canned soup is another example.With the recipe "for creme of anthing" soup found on this site you don't need those expensive little cans. Heck,hardly enough in one can for one person anymore. Canned beans are expensive,too. But easy to home can and very frugal. Black,navy,pinto,lentils,garbonzos...the garbonzos were near $2 a can when son wanted to whip up some hummus. Not mine. 

When buying storage food I still buy basics. Three cases of potato flakes, for instance, in case our potato crop is a failure like it is in this years' drought. Stock lots of spices. Grow herbs in the garden. Basics can still add up to quick...try making your own homemade Bisquik mix. Sooner or later all those lovely pre-packaged items will be gone and it will be what we can grow or barter for.


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## Rocktown Gal (Feb 19, 2008)

Common Tator said:


> I always thought that this forum was about helping each other in prepping. Offering suggestions, offering encouragement.
> 
> This thread seems like it was started to mock other posters for their buying choices. It even names a poster for her choices! I have to say, this really saddens me. This isn't what S&EP is supposed to be about. But if this is what we've been lowered to, I'll leave.


I agree. If you (lonelyfarmgirl) didn't like the other thread...so be it. But to start another thread and belittle people because of their choices...is just down right ridiculous.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Common Tator said:


> I always thought that this forum was about helping each other in prepping. Offering suggestions, offering encouragement.
> 
> This thread seems like it was started to mock other posters for their buying choices. It even names a poster for her choices! I have to say, this really saddens me. This isn't what S&EP is supposed to be about. But if this is what we've been lowered to, I'll leave.


Na, it's just a thread.. They happen.

Not nearly so funny as some older "incidents". Like the pantry picture thread where a fellow posted a picture of his 6 jars of marshmallow fluff. 


To the OP. We all put aside what we can and when we can. I for one have convenience foods, as well as longer term storage.


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## whodunit (Mar 29, 2004)

I don't think the OP meant any disrespect. I have thought the same thing when someone posts meal plans for eating cheaply that include mostly canned, store-bought garbage (not that we don't sometimes eat that way, too).


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

I hope to only point out that ingredients cost less. A big bag of macaroni has possibilities. A box of mac and cheese will hardly feed two people anymore. Have studied the diets of other cultures and you can find how they eat well for pennies. Library cookbooks have taught me alot. We are retired on a tight budget but if,by eating well, we can keep our health we won't have to spend our few dollars on drs. and meds. Doubt there are many store foods you can't duplicate at home. But,hey, I like a bag of chips as much as anyone....or an ice cold soda. But we try to keep our diet to 90% healthy and save many dollars doing so.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

whodunit said:


> I don't think the OP meant any disrespect. I have thought the same thing when someone posts meal plans for eating cheaply that include *mostly canned, store-bought garbage *(not that we don't sometimes eat that way, too).


While I tend to agree that the OP didn't mean to ruffle feathers, Maybe it was just the choosen words that were offensive to those who can't afford to buy other things. I am one who is on the same boat with the others who buy and eat as you put it "store bought garbage" I have a garden and do can alot of things and I am just learning how to can things like chili, soups, stews and beans.


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

Everyone has to stock up on what works best for them directed by budget and dietary/ allergy restrictions and sometimes according to if you will be staying put or bugging out.. My kids both have food allergies so I have to be a little more picky with my purchases, mainly with boxed items that have sauces etc. and frozen foods with certain preservatives. I make most of my food from scratch and can many things and I do can meat,chili, spaghetti sauce, soup, etc. Due to the fact that we live close to town and if a major nasty event occurred making it 100% necessary for us to immediately leave our home it would be real hard to pack up and carry glass jars of food. For that reason, I do stock metal cans of meat, chili, soups, vegs, fruits and beans. I also have home dehydrated foods and purchased long term dehydrated meals and MRE's. I have gone through great trouble to make sure none of those items have anything that will make my kids sick. I have no allergies so I do have some items that were a good deal and may not be what most people consider good food (cream of chicken soup and canned tamales come to mind) but if I am eating out of a can then things have gotten bad, I have probably had to leave my home and I am hungry enough not to care about preservatives and artificial colors for my own tummy.

As for the OP, I think you could have asked your question a little bit nicer, we are all here to help and support not to be snarky and to judge. You could have asked "Aren't some of you worried about the ingredients in some cheaper foods that some people like myself consider to be poison?" It really wasn't necessary to call out any one person either. You don't know that person or any of us to know what we can afford, what our situations are or our priorities. If my kids were not so allergic I would actually buy a few more items I see on sale a lot. Noodles with some kind of sauce that you just add water to and boil then add a can of meat and veggie is very filling when times are tough.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

lol IF I could afford a pressure canner, I would be canning my own beans and soups and stews.  So for now, I must buy the canned garbage for my stock-pile or do without and in a disaster situation, I think it would be better to have that garbage (which can be eaten without cooking if need be) then to be without it.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

whodunit said:


> I don't think the OP meant any disrespect.


Implying that people are deliberately trying to poison their families is pretty much the epitome of disrespect, IMHO. Deliberately naming a poster and mocking one of their comfort foods is obnoxious. 

Just because someone is buying processed foods doesn't mean they aren't stocking up on stables. A bag of rice is pretty cheap, but when it's been raining nonstop for two days, the power's out, and everyone's nerves are a bit frayed - then that convenience food can double as a comfort food. 

And, really, who cares what someone else eats unless you plan to go over there and raid their stash? It's their food, not yours. (Generic you, there.) It's their life, not yours. It in no way impacts anything about you, so why even waste time thinking about it. They're preparing in whatever way they can for whatever bump on the road life throws at them.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

I think that when just starting out- as others have said- it is best to be able to prep something- anything- so that you feel that you have your own destiny- ie- ability to feed your family something- anything- in a SHTF scenario... to not have a lot of $$- I know I don't - yea - prepping oddles of noodles - ravioli ect- is more responsible than not being prepped at all


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

NickieL said:


> lol IF I could afford a pressure canner, I would be canning my own beans and soups and stews.  So for now, I must buy the canned garbage for my stock-pile or do without and in a disaster situation, I think it would be better to have that garbage (which can be eaten without cooking if need be) then to be without it.


Took me a longtime to be able to get that pressure canner and even after I got it I was scared to use it for the longest time. I've had it 3 years and have only tried meat in it. Turns out great. This year I vow to get off my lazy butt and try more things. But like another poster said, I can't carry all those glass jars with me so I too will contine to buy the garbage LOL.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

If we think about dire circumstances, such as a famine or a severe depression like happened in the thirties, any food calorie is something good to have. Look at the African famines. Those starving people are thankful for rice, even if it is high glycemic. They are thankful for corn which really isn't a healthy vegetable/grain. Any calorie will keep their children alive for the short term. Pure protein is better, HFC is bad, but if cheap peanut butter keeps them alive, then that is what matters.

When it comes to clothing our bodies some brands are better. They last longer, they have higher thread counts, they are just a better product. But any brand, WM or anything, will cover our body. 
And that is like storing food. If things are bad, really bad, any food is better than no food. In storing food for long term storage, you are talking about pure survival in times of destitution. It's great to have a few weeks of your normal groceries. But if you cannot financially do that, then store something, anything, just to get you through to provide for your family. Bad things can happen. Look at history. People do die of starvation, even here, in severely bad times. The Great Depression and Dust Bowl are an example of that. Even today, in this society, people do go hungry in bad times. That is what food storage is about. Just storing some food to make it through a really bad time if you don't have access to what you would want to eat. 
So store your normal foods as much as you can. But it is ok to keep an extra 20lbs of white rice just in case of a severe emergency too.


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## Sara in IN (Apr 2, 2003)

Adapt, adapt, adapt. 

Try keeping a pantry filled for a family with multiple food sensitivities/allergies : wheat, rye, peanuts, citric acid, beans, eggs, shrimp. Alternatives have to be stocked for the common items : flour, pasta, most box mixes, condensed soups, soy sauce, crackers, cookies, most drink mixes, as the "regular" versions are *poison* to some family members, resulting in varying stages of incapacity : constant sneezing and congestion to severe joint pain to bouts of IBS.

Rocktown Gal's OP list is just a starting point - store what _YOU_ eat, _EAT_what you store. The list is not gospel truth, but a starting point, tweak things for your situation. Very few of you are going to store bags of rice flour or tapioca starch, which are essential items for one of our family to have something resembling bread, or rice noodles as a pasta replacement.

Adapt comfort and convenience foods to your family's needs. If you can't handle the sodium in bouillon cubes, can your own chicken broth, or buy cases of your preferred brand at Thanksgiving time sales. For others, bouillon is merely another source of salt in heavy physical labor conditions. In other instances, canned tomato soup is something familiar that elderly and children will readily eat. You might not like condensed mushroom soup, but if it's the only way the kids or Aunt Mary will eat canned beef glop on mashed potatoes, grab a case or two.Pick your brand of peanut butter or almond butter if need be - none of it's cheap these days, whether Jif, organic, generic or Trader Joe's. Buy and store only what your family will eat - two cases of something no one including the dog and pig will eat is no bargain.

And one more big chorus of "rotate, Rotate, ROTATE!"


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## Becka (Mar 15, 2008)

olivehill said:


> That said, we also had a member recently post that her consumable preps took her years to accumulate and were consumed in one week. ONE WEEK! That's one shopping trip for my family and that was her stockpile. That's some scary sh... right there. Now it could have just been a lack of organization and/or effort, but it also could have been a clinging to ideals when the means won't allow it. Given the option between chemical and sugar laden food and starvation, one should obviously choose the former. If the means do not allow someone to build a stocked pantry without relying on the cheap options that are out there, they should buy the cheap stuff and only once stocked fairly well switch over to putting up the more ideal items, imo.


Yes, I was the member you're referring to. 

If some of you have the means to stockpile good quality, healthy foods for a shtf, good for you. One thing I learned from EXPERIENCING such was that we didn't WANT to cook and eat dried beans, oatmeal, sprouted grains, etc. When stressed and inconvenienced, we wanted comfort foods--the "garbage" as some of you put it. And ya know what? I was darned GLAD to have some of that "junk" on hand, because it sure helped soothe some discomfort in an otherwise miserable situation.

Our finances are very tight, and we were thankful to have any easy, convenient foods on hand to help us survive.

Once you experience what we did, y'all feel free to come back and let us know how "healthy" you ate, cooking over a fire in 100-degree heat after cleaning up tree limbs and running on very little sleep. I think you'll find you'll want to include some "garbage" in your preps, too!


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Just ran across a relevant thread on the Preserving The Harvest board for anyone curious or interested: What Kind of Convenience Foods Do You Can?


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Becka said:


> Once you experience what we did


I think anyone would be thankful for any calories they could get if they were in a dire situation. It's better to be able to feed your child cheap PB that has HFC rather than feeding them nothing. It's better to eat ramen than to eat nothing. It just comes down to basic survival.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Becka said:


> Yes, I was the member you're referring to.
> 
> If some of you have the means to stockpile good quality, healthy foods for a shtf, good for you. One thing I learned from EXPERIENCING such was that we didn't WANT to cook and eat dried beans, oatmeal, sprouted grains, etc. When stressed and inconvenienced, we wanted comfort foods--the "garbage" as some of you put it. And ya know what? I was darned GLAD to have some of that "junk" on hand, because it sure helped soothe some discomfort in an otherwise miserable situation.
> 
> ...



I wasn't saying you were eating junk... or maybe you are, I don't care. I was just pointing out to the OP that some people may not even be ABLE to prep at all without using cheap foods. Running out in a week (regardless of reason) is scary so I just thought it a good example. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. 

Over the past 10 days we've had numerous personal mini SHTF experiences, one right after another. (One of which WAS being without power in 104 degree heat and with an infant that we normally do not have and have not prepped for, no less) It's been a long week and a half, but one thing I actually found kind of empowering was -- as a self-professed emotional eater -- to find that I can get through the compounding stress and deal with it without eating my emotions. I didn't do it because I don't have anything with which to do so... we're not perfect by any means and I could probably list some pretty junky stuff that's in the house right now (not in large quantities, but here)... but because I'd been following a diet and didn't want to go off it just because life threw me too many curve balls. 

Comfort food is nice and I'm certainly never going to have some again, but one thing MY experience has taught me is that we Americans tend to rely on it far too much and it's amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to not depending on it to fix the stress.


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## shannsmom (Jul 28, 2009)

If your children are truly hungry, you will feed them what food you can. I am just happy that people are prepping, that means less people skulking around to beg or take other people's food. Everyone makes their own choices, but it is unfair to call other people's choices "poison".


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## cvk (Oct 30, 2006)

I was just thinking about scratch cooking--I don't cook from boxes and cans generally buttttttt--I do store that stuff. Why? Well, because, I can only store fresh cheese for just so long and then no cheese but a few boxes of mac and cheese will last pretty much forever. I raise my own chickens and eat my own eggs plus make my own soup but I have a whole bunch of Honeyville dehydrated eggs in # 10 cans and will still have them long after my chickens might be dead because I can't find them feed. Boullion--I have jars and jars of bouillion--it keeps FOREVER. I seldom use it in anything but it is here if I ever don't have a drop of meat to season something and I don't want to eat tons of white rice with nothing for flavoring. It is well in good to eat well but it isn't always possible and if we were to rely on only storing things that are 100% good for us we could be in a world of hurt. I would much rather have a package of Ramen noodles than to have nothing or have a half rotted piece of meat because the frig and freezer died and my jars broke because there is no heat. We must never put our eggs all in one basket. That said--to each their own.


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## Rocktown Gal (Feb 19, 2008)

I just wanted to come back and say that I do cook from scratch every single day. I have meat on the hoof, I have chicken for meat and eggs and I have grains stored and I have canned goodies also. BUT...and that is a so very big word. There are times when for instance a couple of months ago when I had two teeth pulled and I felt like crap and the medicine had me loopy. I was ever so grateful for that "poison" on my selves. My husband and son didn't come home to a home cooked meal...but they came home to a meal none the less...and for that I was grateful. They didn't complain and their bellies were full. So I will take that "poison" when necessary.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I store a combination of 'ingredients' for cooking from scratch, home canned foods, and store bought foods, many of them junk, or 'poison' as some here would say. I usually cook from scratch, but sometimes can't or just don't feel up to it. I'm grateful to have options!

My son is a Marine. He is stationed close enough that he comes home on weekends. He has PT very early in the mornings, and skips breakfast. Sometimes he works late and gets off work after the mess hall has closed. As a Mom, I can't bear the thought of my baby going hungry. So I put together a couple of totes with a combination of heat & eat prepared meals, cans of his favorite soups, chili, canned ravioli, etc. He has a microwave in his room, so these things can be heated up. 

I promise, I'm not trying to 'poison' him. I am trying to do everything in my power to see that he doesn't go to bed hungry.


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## Becka (Mar 15, 2008)

olivehill said:


> I was just pointing out to the OP that some people may not even be ABLE to prep at all without using cheap foods. Running out in a week (regardless of reason) is scary so I just thought it a good example. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings.


I'm not offended with you, Olive. My comments were directed more to the OP. And you are right, it IS scary to use up your preps in a week.

For the record, I did have some healthy foods because we have food allergies and I do lots of "scratch" cooking. We ate what we could, but much of it was frozen and got ruined despite our efforts. 

So much of the info I've read about prepping just didn't apply to what we faced. We've all heard the hard-core survivalists bragging about how they can live on beans and rice and bullets. Maybe some preppers are truly at that stage and if so, good for them. For the rest of us, though, we DO have habits, behaviors, etc. that we tend to resort to for comfort during a crisis. This could be alcohol, tobacco, food, video games, etc. That doesn't make it RIGHT, but it may help us cope during a short-term situation. 

I'm glad you were able to cope without resorting to using food as a crutch. Maybe (hopefully) someday I'll be at that point, too. But until then, it would be nice to feel like we can ALL share our experiences without being snobbily judged for it, as the OP did.


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## cvk (Oct 30, 2006)

If you look at evolution you will see that what survives will be the things that are adaptable. They adapt to their situation. Those that will not adapt perish when things change. There is probably a lesson to be learned. I don't like salty food but I can see where in hot weather and out of table salt then boullion would be welcomed and I would be so glad to have some on hand, I don't eat pasta generally but when it is cold I crave carbs for body heat. All foods have their place. We need calories to survive and when it comes to starvation we will die faster from starving then we will die from a vitamin or mineral shortage or having perservatives etc in our storage foods. Person has to look at the big picture.


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## partndn (Jun 18, 2009)

Well..... hmm. 
I for one understood the OP without being offended. Geez people. Some of the posts in reply contain the *exact* type of comments that are forbidden. ? ? 

The OP left room for everyone to understand where she was coming from by stating, "maybe I'm a food goody goody."

Maybe it could have been stated a little better, and left the member name out referring to that one item. Ok. I, myself ain't eatin' instant creamer either. Never have. But I don't care if one person tells another where to get a good buy on it.

There was a sincere question in the OP that very few have offered answer to.

What do you prep if you're avoiding these types of items?

I recently got a dehydrator for the first time. I have found there are a lot of resources for recipes on what measurements to use from food storage that basically make a lot of the mix type meals without any additives.

Dehydrating will take less space in my storage, certainly be a whole lot lighter to carry, and probably cost less than jars. I do can items, but want to mix it up. 
For example, I've learned on youtube how to make beef buillion powder, etc. by using the juice after cooking a roast.
I have standard buillion cubes in my storage also. I'm not throwing them away, but will now attempt to make my own to add to the preps.

I also store a few poisons. I like variety. I agree it's not great for health, but like I said, I think multiple options are good. I don't want 100% of my preps to be one single category.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

Better to eat "garbage" than to starve. While I agree that most of it is "garbage", I also have a good bit of it in my house. It's not great for you, but I still like it. I like the GV creamer (liquid kind). Sure, there is the natural stuff that tastes the same, which I buy when I can afford it, but I can't anymore, so I buy the cheaper, "garbage" stuff. Beef is so outrageous that it's not even funny. I don't even buy beef anymore, simply because I cannot afford it. Even the marked down, half brown crap is too expensive. At this point, I won't buy it, but if it truely came down to it, hell, I'd be eating roadkill. To knock someone who is prepping, because it's not as healthy, well, that's kind of silly. They are prepping to help their families, even if it's food that if eaten every day for six decades might cause liver damage... Well, die in sixty years from liver damage or die much sooner after your body has broken down whatever reserves it had... As it is, for me, right now, I'm in a bit of a rough spot, so, when white bread goes on sale for cheaper than I can make it, I buy it. When I make it, it's healthier because of no preservatives, I use a variety of grain (rye, whole wheat, buckwheat, barley, etc). I have the supplies to make it, but like I said, if I can buy white bread for cheaper, I do it. Even though we're in a tough spot and I have the flour to make bread without spending money, I'd rather go buy some cheaper stuff so that if it really gets bad, I still have the flour and supplies to continue on. I HAVE lived off of ramen noodles before. Actually, when I was pregnant with my first, the only thing I ate for two weeks was ramen noodles and white cheddar cheez-its, because that is all that I had, it was what was in my car when disaster hit and was the only food we had. It sucked, no doubt about that, I felt like total crap, my body was suffering, but you know what? If it hadn't been for those two "poison" items, I might have lost my son because I wouldn't have had ANYTHING. 

I also like the fact that someone pointed out that in a true SHTF situation, sometimes you just don't have the time or energy to cook from scratch. Safety/shelter is number one, it comes before food in the basic rules of survival. If you're worried about your safety, those quick prep foods may come in handy. Watch the survival shows... Shelter is almost always first, then hunting/foraging comes afterwards. So, to have the quick prep foods to help you keep calories in while being able to spend more time to get safety in order, is actually very smart, even if it's ramen noodles or something.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Luckily I don't give even one small poop what anyone else thinks of what I've stocked. We've got everything from spam, creamer and nutella to wheat berries, seeds for sprouting and live animals for meat. We've got it covered so we can eat lots of calories, fast, while crouching under a tarp during an emergency, or simmer a stew from scratch in the dutch oven while sitting around the firepit during good times.

This forum is for learning and sharing knowledge, and what each person wants to learn or can afford to do is their choice. Not everyone has the money or time or health to do as much as others. I owe just about everything I know about prepping to the generous sharing of other posters in this forum. 

I found the OP's post a little offensive. I'm also aghast at the ingredients in many convenience foods, but pasting a post with someone's name in it is rude.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Well, my stash is a combination of my delicious home-canned veggies and some fresh veggies such as potatoes, carrots and beets. But, let's face it: One would like to have an occasional meal of "garbage foods". If one has a good cook book, any cheap, garbage food can be quite delicious. That being said, here are pictures of my favorite preps:


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

sally can you re post 2nd picture so i can read the text please....lol...i wanna see what it says about woodchuck


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i wrote this post earlier this morning and then decided against it since everyone seems to be all touchy feely and upset easy or maybe i am reading some posts wrong...but anyhow i am going to post it now and wade on in i think the OP wasnt putting down...just saying once you eat a homegrown mater..them store bought things suck....lol...or anything homegrown or homemade compared to store bought...except mtn dew...roflmro...


post....

i do everything myself now from my homestead. i am learning more and more each day.melissa the moderator up in CF said it best... once you start making things yourself from homegrown foods you become a food snob...she is sorta right..my salsa makes store bought seem awful.for me i refuse to spend the 5 a week on anything.so dont think i am looking down or judgeying cause i am not..i am actually poorer than all of you .but am debt free ...so i can roam field and forest and garden at will and this is how i live for right now.i hope that made sense...my poison is mtn dew...lol


i have been making my own hot pepper powders.mainly jalapeno as its not available in stores here.dry and grind and jar its awesome. i also made my own sweet tater powder.dry..grind and jar.

i will be doing onions and potatoes this week .


heres a frugal tip...instead on top ramen..buy a box of angel hair pasta...boil as directed and add your own spices.this is better cause you customize it to your own taste.

jerky...make my own jerky from deer.jalapeno deer jerky is awesome.

one thing i seen a lady doing is making her own bullion.i will for sure be doing this come fall with the ribs and bones from deer i kill.

i have a very well stocked pantry but to be honest i couldnt use it all or rotate threw it fast enough before it got real out of date.i am headed towards more and more dry goods and less store bought goods.

frugal tip...last night i had about 12 boston pickling cucs ready in garden. so i sliced them along with onion.fixed a brine and in 2 days i will be eating my own pickles from the fridg and it cost me pennys for a half gallon jar full.

working on growing 4 kinds of mushroom here too.


dont buy any kind of cream of soup to add to things.flour and dry milk wisked in does it for me.

last fall i turned one deer into a balogna/summer sausage type sticks.packaged in 1 pound bags.now on these hot days when food wont stay on my stomach while working i eat a slice of this along with homegrown pickled egg and i am good for a few more hours of work.

i hope this helps someone out and doesnt come off snobbish.i just actually live off the land mostly.

p.s. if anyone runs across mtn dew seeds please pick me up several....lol..i love the dang things...as bad as they are for me.


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Limon said:


> Implying that people are deliberately trying to poison their families is pretty much the epitome of disrespect, IMHO. Deliberately naming a poster and mocking one of their comfort foods is obnoxious.
> 
> And, really, who cares what someone else eats unless you plan to go over there and raid their stash? It's their food, not yours. (Generic you, there.) It's their life, not yours. It in no way impacts anything about you, so why even waste time thinking about it. They're preparing in whatever way they can for whatever bump on the road life throws at them.


I totally agree!!!

How rude!

When I want the op's (or anyone else's) opinion on the quality of my preps, I will ask them. Self righteousness is ugly, regardless of whether the subject is religion, politics, or food preferences. 

I make my choices based on what is right for me and my family. I try to share information that I think could help others. I don't want to be publicly called out regarding my choices. If another forum member considers my M&M's to be poison, fine. She and her family don't have to eat them. As a matter of fact, unless they have stored some of their own, they won't have to face the dangerous possibility. Because I certainly don't plan to share any of mine with anyone who felt it their place to ridicule me for stocking them.

Goodness, what a jerk.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

It's hard for me to take clear up-close pictures because my up-close vision is so poor (I have to wear two pairs of reading glasses stacked on top of each other to read). Here is what it says:

_After field-dressing woodchuck and hanging it for 48 hours, skin as for rabbit, but watch out for and remove 7 to 9 small kernel-like glands under the forelegs. Soak, refrigerated, overnight in salted water. Drain and wipe dry. Cook by any recipe for rabbit or chicken_.


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2012)

This thread is why you should prep what you eat, and eat what you prep.
If you don't like some thing don't buy it. Oh my.
Some things might be good if you don't have your prefered item. You never know.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

deleted


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

suitcase_sally said:


> It's hard for me to take clear up-close pictures because my up-close vision is so poor (I have to wear two pairs of reading glasses stacked on top of each other to read). Here is what it says:
> 
> _After field-dressing woodchuck and hanging it for 48 hours, skin as for rabbit, but watch out for and remove 7 to 9 small kernel-like glands under the forelegs. Soak, refrigerated, overnight in salted water. Drain and wipe dry. Cook by any recipe for rabbit or chicken_.


thank you.....i thought it was telling about the glands .


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

While, yes, homegrown food does taste better, it's still a slightly different situation. If it comes down to emergency preps, that ramen that's a year past expiration date is going to taste pretty danged good if it's all you've got. In optimum situations, I'm a total food snob as well... Locally grown (or home grown) foods, multigrain breads, free-range eggs, venison, duck, etc. My tastes lean to the expensive side, but at this point, I'd be happy if I could find 70/30 beef at a reasonable price! Even now, I cannot eat store eggs. If it were the only thing available, of course I'd choke them down, but I'm not quite there yet, lol. I don't like white bread or white sugar either, but at this point, I've downgraded to eating those things.


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## partndn (Jun 18, 2009)

elkhound said:


> p.s. if anyone runs across mtn dew seeds please pick me up several....lol..i love the dang things...as bad as they are for me.


:grin: LOL same for me if you find SunDrop seeds.


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## dranger1108 (Aug 7, 2010)

stanb999 said:


> Not nearly so funny as some older "incidents". Like the pantry picture thread where a fellow posted a picture of his 6 jars of marshmallow fluff.


You can make some yummy stuff with that Marshmellow fluff... :whistlin:


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

I believe you live on a farm, have livestock, should have a garden, could have milk. So if you believe this prepping food is important, increase you garden can and dry excess you know what is in it then. Store what you can not supply.
I made a list of things that I could not supply on my farm
rice, flour, spices,bleach, t-paper,cleaning supplies, oranges, pineapple, tenderquick.
If I couldn't buy for a couple of months my diet would hardly change. If is is TEOTWAWKI, then I will have to learn to get along without some things, you can't store enough for ever.
I was amused after your refusal to buy certain food because of the poison they contain, then admitted to buying pudding mix and jellow. From the box of Jello pudding mix I have ingredients sugar, cornstarch, salt, disodium phosphate and tetrasodium phosphate, mono and diglycerides,artifial color and BNA perservative. I don't see anything on that list that would be considered nutritious, maybe more like um, um poison? The peanut butter with added sugar or bullion would be better than this.


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## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

I give the OP the benefit of the doubt, too. There's so much hype nowadays about eating natural and organic, that sometimes folks can get caught up in hyperbole.

That said, I'm glad she has the wherewithall to make good choices. We have to do what we can, with what we have. 

As others have said much better than I can, if it's a choice between starving and a can of cheap ravioli, guess what I'm going to choose?

And, under the 'right' circumstances, anyone's store can run out. Desperate people will eat _anything_; grass, bark, leaves, pets, animals, bugs, rats...I won't go on.

So, *I hope no one will ever have to go through such suffering*, but *when it comes to true, genuine hunger, all biases will fly out the windows!**[/*COLOR]


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

'Possum, beaver, bear, squirrel and even assorted roadkills are not garbage foods. Nobody has ever complained or gotten sick from my kitchen and they come back for more. I have 3 different editions of Joy of Cooking.

Garbage is the non-food psychotropic chemical cocktails dumped into the American food supply by the same corporations who peddle the chemical "treatment" for all your family's problems.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

Laura said:


> 'Possum, beaver, bear, squirrel and even assorted roadkills are not garbage foods. Nobody has ever complained or gotten sick from my kitchen and they come back for more. I have 3 different editions of Joy of Cooking.
> 
> Garbage is the non-food psychotropic chemical cocktails dumped into the American food supply by the same corporations who peddle the chemical "treatment" for all your family's problems.


When I mention roadkill, I mean half rotten crap. My family makes fun of me all the time because in the winter, I pick up freshly killed deer all the time, that to me is perfectly good food and actually quite welcome, because I LOVE venison. All the better when you don't have to waste a bullet and it was someone else's vehicle that took the damage (I know, awful thing to say, but I really would rather someone else hit it and my car didn't sustain the damage, lol). However, I am picky about it, only taking freshly killed deer, but if it came down to it, I'd take groundhogs or whatever else was out there.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

groundhog was a main meat source during the depression here in my area.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Laura said:


> I have 3 different editions of Joy of Cooking.


I must have 30 hardbound cook books. I have 2 editions of Joy. My fave by far.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

suitcase_sally said:


> I must have 30 hardbound cook books. I have 2 editions of Joy. My fave by far.


I haven't counted the cookbooks. My favorites include the old Herter's Game cookbook. It has the recipes for Baked Bear Paws, Beaver Tails and the best of the 'possum recipes.

And yeah, I'd rather somebody else make the kill on the road than me. If I can't avoid it, I know how to take it with as little damage to the animal and my vehicle as possible. I carry 2 sharp knives, box, bags, tarp and a good light.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

suitcase_sally said:


> I must have 30 hardbound cook books. I have 2 editions of Joy. My fave by far.



i hate you ..:nana:...you made me spend money today...i just had to have that book to see whats all in it......got a hardback copy on the way for $2.50 plus $4 shipping....i am such a book whore...:whistlin:


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

almost hit a few geese on the road today but DH managed to stop in time. I'm a bit dissapointed.....havn't had any bird in a while


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

Laura said:


> And yeah, I'd rather somebody else make the kill on the road than me. If I can't avoid it, I know how to take it with as little damage to the animal and my vehicle as possible. I carry 2 sharp knives, box, bags, tarp and a good light.


I'm lucky enough to drive a Subaru Baja. When I find roadkill, all I have to do is pull over and toss it in the back. I don't have a butchering station for red meats here, but I do use ropes. I toss some rope over a sturdy tree branch, tie the tendons and then tie it to the one part of my car and hoist it up that way. I've tried doing it by hand and even with all of my 150lbs pulling down on it, the deer just won't go up high enough. The front quarters are still on the ground, lol. Of course, it'd take gas to get the job done. Granted, in a SHTF scenario, I now have a boyfriend who is quite capable of helping me out. Though he might be locked up in the prison to keep the inmates under control if something bad happened here. I can't imagine what the prison would be like here... They recently took self-serve ice away from them and had some major issues... Imagine if something more than the convenience of self-serve ice was taken away because they didn't have it... Half of my family would be working over time in that prison in dangerous conditions. :/


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

If you can't get the deer off the ground, you might need to get a come along. We have one, and I would also have to use something to get a deer off the ground.

Four Ton Come Along - Cable Puller | USCargoControl


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

Honestly, I'm thinking that a pulley system would be great. I haven't priced it out yet, but I can't imagine a three point pulley system would be all that expensive to put together. Even a one point pulley system might help tremendously.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

a small block and tackle works to get heavy things lifted with no effort at all.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

heres mine down ay my shed.its a pully in the roof with a old boat winch mounted on shed pole.the new one i build will be taller as the bear will try to pull deer down.next day after i cut a deer up the bear was noseing around....oops sorry this is the old sytstem i had its a small block and tackle with a metal single tree for a gambrel.the new one is round rope with out the extra block in it and has a wooden gambrel made from oak.i cant find a pic of new for some reason.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

ok found the new pics....this new system saves my back totally it has a long rope to reach out from under shed and get a deer from loader bucket.























































i also have a extra tall table for cutting up deer


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

My, My , My, some touchy people here. One of the first rules about online forums is to not take what is written so personally. Or if you do, don't reply for a day.

Now, the OP also could have exercised discretion in her wording, but I would take it with a grain [or several] as hyperbole. 

My wife can say the same thing to me sometimes, and because I do have 10 lbs of extra weight I don't need, I just may be responding a mite touchily. Ease up folks.

As far as cheap prep items go, bulk foods are your friend. And, as has been mentioned, canning your own soups, beans, etc from the markdown sections is a FANTASTIC way to save on the cheap.

Personally, most convenience foods taste too harsh to me, what with the excessive sodium, MSG and artificial colors which detract from the taste.

I was at Big Lots a couple weeks ago, and they had clearanced packages of Power Ranger whole grain pasta for 40Â¢/10 oz box. I bought like 10 boxes. Just make it a habit to go to several stores, and they usually have a bin/shelf for markdown canned/dry goods. Do this regularly, and you can usually find something to purchase at a good price.

Just today, we are in IL visiting, and we went to a HyVee store and I found their 24 oz sour cream marked down to 25Â¢!! I only bought 1 since we are only visiting, but there were about 10+ on the shelf. Sell by date was 17 July.

The other good place it Dollar Tree. They have had 32 oz soy milk for $1, and 16 oz salsa for $1, which have no unhealthful ingredients.

We hardly ever shop at Walmart, they usually don't have good markdowns. [On foods any way, I usually can find some clearance in hardware at the end of seasons.]


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## gardenmom (Dec 31, 2004)

One of the drawbacks to posting on the internet is that you don't hear tone of voice or see facial expressions. I don't think the OP meant to be offensive at all, but just putting her point of view out there. That being said, I'll bet not one of our pantries looks anything like another. Everyone is going to go at this differently and that, to me, is the strength of this forum. I get new ideas on here all the time and I also read things on here that would NEVER work for me. Glean what's useful and discard the rest.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

cheap food....90 grain black powder...245 grains of pure lead and my time.its better than just sitting on the couch or at computer.

end result..........


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## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

elkhound said:


> cheap food....90 grain black powder...245 grains of pure lead and my time.its better than just sitting on the couch or at computer.
> 
> end result..........


Please don't think I'm dumb, but is that smoked sausage? Venison?


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Stef said:


> Please don't think I'm dumb, but is that smoked sausage? Venison?



what it is actually is deer bologna that i decided to smoke just a tad and its something in between bologna and summer sausage.its delicious too.always ask away...i do my best to answer.i used a bologna kit i had in my preps that was getting old.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

another cheap thing i do..its crazy to let grapes go to waste and then buy frozen concentrate.so for a few years now i make my own in ball freezer cups.pick grapes...wash..stick in steam juicer and its done and ready for freezer.i done 78(i think...lol..dang memory it was a bunch) last fall..just add sugar to taste and water for a pitcher of juice.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

elkhound said:


> cheap food....90 grain black powder...245 grains of pure lead and my time.its better than just sitting on the couch or at computer.
> 
> end result..........


That's a beautiful thing! Brought a tear to my eye!

Please share the recipe!:clap:ig::happy:


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Common Tator said:


> That'sa beautiful thing! Brought a tear to my eye!
> 
> Please share the recipe!:clap:ig::happy:


sorry theres no recipe.it was a kit....but i can fix you up with place that has tons of recipes.i have my own casings now and will be using my own recipes from this site.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm#DRY

kit i used...


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

The point of these forums is educating each other. If folks choose to be offended when others try to educate, I don't know what to say to that.

Food chemicals cause mytochondrial dysfunction and neourological damage. They cause "unexplained" weight gain along with the low quality foods they're in. Clean up your diet, clear up your problems. Depend on this garbage as your survival food and you won't survive long.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

frugal tip..i bought a smoker box so i could use my own fruit woods that i trim from orchard on gas grill...i am doing even more to be frugal in using my woods and will be making charcoal soon.its crazy to buy gas and own 1000's of trees.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks for the link Elkhound!


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Becka said:


> Once you experience what we did, y'all feel free to come back and let us know how "healthy" you ate, cooking over a fire in 100-degree heat after cleaning up tree limbs and running on very little sleep. I think you'll find you'll want to include some "garbage" in your preps, too!


Here is a picture of the DW during the last 1 week outage. You can eat well with planning. 










Here is the horrors of what the kids experienced. The radio is a "Wind-up". Disaster need not be hard. In fact you better up your preps if a power outage is real tough. 

[YOUTUBE]Uoh8W-tdceg[/YOUTUBE]

If you look close at the video... You can see the cord on the floor. That is from our tiny generator going to the basement pump. Because it's a hole in the mountain top. Holes in mountain top fill with water. At least it's not "flood water" just clear cold mountain spring water.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

There are several points this thread brings up. This is going to be long, so feel free to skip over it or go grab a bowl of popcorn.

First, if the majority of posters responding to a post find that post offensive, then it's time to admit it's an offensive post. Whether it was intended that way or not is besides the point; it's offensive. There is nothing educational about being condescending to someone who is doing the best they can with what they have.

Second, not everyone knows how to cook. There's a generation plus of folks who never learned how to cook. I can't recall when the public schools in this area last offered Home Ec or any similar classes. Like anything else, cooking is a skill. I find it a fairly easy one, but not everyone does. It's a great skill to have, but it takes time to learn it. And it takes time to get the family used to home-cooked food if they haven't been eating it. Should these people be forced to starve because the food they do eat doesn't meet some stranger's standards?

Also, it's wonderful to grow and can your own food. I just picked a mess of cukes and tomatoes. But there is no way I can grow a year's supply of food on my property. I can't come close, but the little I do is a lot more than the average person is capable of doing. People who live in apartments, rentals or in marginal land areas can't plant big gardens. People with any number of health issues can't grow a year's worth of food. What are those people supposed to do? Starve rather than stock store-bought foods? 

This is a thread to help people who are just getting started and don't have a lot of money. Have you priced a pressure canner lately? Or what it would cost someone who has never canned before to get the equipment they need, plus the food to put in it? You can buy a lot of canned goods for just the cost of the empty canning jars. Long-term, home canning pays off. Short-term it doesn't. 



Laura said:


> The point of these forums is educating each other. If folks choose to be offended when others try to educate, I don't know what to say to that.
> 
> Food chemicals cause mytochondrial dysfunction and neourological damage. They cause "unexplained" weight gain along with the low quality foods they're in. Clean up your diet, clear up your problems. Depend on this garbage as your survival food and you won't survive long.


See above about the educational value of condescension. 

Do you have a link to a peer-reviewed study from a reputable source to back up those assertions? There's all kinds of wonderful "facts" on the Internet based on nothing but what people want to believe. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. And the fact is chemicals have been added to foods for a couple generations now. If they were really poison, then there would have been massive a die-off in the population. If you take a look at the world population numbers, you'll see it's not happened.

Besides, if that is true, you should be happy. All the people who don't live up to your standards and live exactly the same way you do will die off! Utopia!


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2012)

i don't know if it's required but here we boil our home canned veggies and meats for 3-5 minutes before eating.
I would never eat them straight from the jar, even though all the food comes from my organic garden.
So I do keep some of the store bought items that could be eaten straight from the can if i had to do so with out heating them. Tuna, ravioli, soup, vegetables, ect.
You could do the same for organic eaters with some of Amy's canned goods..
We make alot of home made pasta and the batch usully is twice what we need, so we hang it to dry and it stores forever. make it with the best flour you can buy for your tastes and home grown eggs.
Basically store what you eat.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

Google mytochondrial dysfunction and click the link @ UC Davis. I will help educate, but I won't do your work for you.

These threads have become a bunch of whinefests filled with excuses of can't or won't.

The truth is, it's not a priority.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Wealthy? WEALTHY! :hysterical::hysterical: Right. Wealthy. Self-righteous. Ok.

Now, reality check. First, my apologies for making it look like I was putting down a particular poster. Not at all. As a matter of fact, I said 'no offense ___', because I was talking about the product, not the person.

These are the ingredients in the product. Corn Syrup Solids, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Sodium Caseinate (A Milk Derivative), Dipotassium Phosphate, Mono- And Diglycerides, Silicon Dioxide, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavor, Artificial Color.

None of these are things that should be in your body. The thought of eating something like this is frightening to me. 

MSG, nitrates, BHT, all these things make me terribly ill. Corn syrup, white breads, etc, give me headaches that would put the average person on their knees in agony. Yes, if things DO go terribly wrong, any food is better than no food, and survival over comfort would take precedent. But why would I inflict these terrors upon myself? 

I admit, I am somewhat lacking in people skills, everyone has their issue, so forgive my people skills, if you (as in the crabbys) have the ability to get past that and view the subject matter and the question for what they are.

I just have a hard time understanding why people eat things with such ingredients in them, knowing that they are chemicals, or poison, or damaging, etc..Knowing what they do to a body. The people on this forum aren't stupid. Human, but not stupid. 

Unfortunately, my prep stock is terribly lacking. For me to buy the kinds of things that are on the 5$ list would be a waste, because in the spirit of eat what you store, store what you eat, the stuff would simply go rotten. That does NOT mean I CAN afford to buy expensive butters and other things, because I can't. Heck, we don't even have peanut butter at all, can't afford it. We are just as poor as the next person. 

I only began using a pressure canner for the first time this year, and have been reading the threads here about convenience foods. I find it quite interesting and encouraging, since one of my 'handicaps' is I lack the ability to come up with things to eat. I can cook, but I'm no planner. 

I would like to thank the four people who bothered to answer my question, as it was quite helpful.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> Now, reality check. First, my apologies for making it look like I was putting down a particular poster. Not at all. As a matter of fact, I said 'no offense ___', because I was talking about the product, not the person.


I've never met an adult who really thinks that you can say "no offense" and then say something offensive without hurting feelings.

"No offense" is a prelude to saying something offensive. It is just telling you to brace yourself for what is coming because it is going to hurt.

I explained this to my kids when they started doing this, when they were about 12. Once they grasped the concept that you can't get away with offending people by saying "no offense", they stopped doing it.

What you said was offensive. Calling out an individual poster because you don't like her choices is offensive. Looking down your nose at other posters is offensive. Accusing others of poisoning their families because they buy foods that don't pass your muster is offensive.

But "no offense", right?


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

frugal tip........enjoy....i am cooking deer bones down fron now on.

[youtube]E2km4vIZZmg&feature=plcp[/youtube]


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2012)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> Wealthy? WEALTHY! :hysterical::hysterical: Right. Wealthy. Self-righteous. Ok.
> 
> Now, reality check. First, my apologies for making it look like I was putting down a particular poster. Not at all. As a matter of fact, I said 'no offense ___', because I was talking about the product, not the person.
> 
> ...


Part of prepping is knowing any specil items each person in your family needs, and making sure they have them.
if the $5 lists don't work for you it's probably a good thing you know it now rather than later. But they are good for those who can use them.


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## Rocktown Gal (Feb 19, 2008)

I think the concept of the $5 list was lost along the way. The list was a stepping stone...all you had to do was make your OWN list...and spend $5 a week. The whole purpose of the list was to show you that you can buy items for $5 a week and stock up.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

Yup! I don't think anyone thinks that they have to buy the exact items on that list to stock up. I think this is actually a really good topic, just served a little cold. Nothing for anyone to get all excited about though. There are some amazing tips and such in here that I personally appreciate. 

I LOVE the idea that you can use a hefty stick to spread the legs of a deer. I always just hung them by one leg because I had nothing to spread them with and was too cheap to buy something specifically for it.


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## TNnative (May 23, 2004)

Limon said:


> Second, not everyone knows how to cook. There's a generation plus of folks who never learned how to cook. I can't recall when the public schools in this area last offered Home Ec or any similar classes.


You are right there. I took home ec in 1978-79. We had 6 weeks each of sewing, cooking, child care, decorating & something else. We would have been better served if we had had a full semester each of cooking and sewing. The little dab they taught us didnt' last long.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

I took a lame home ec in middle school. They did NOT teach us to cook from scratch. They tought us how to roll out pre-made grocery store biscuits and sprinkel them with sugar. seriously. And the sewing part? for a class of 30, we had ten sewing machines and half never worked right. I eneded up with a poor grade in that class lol


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

TNnative said:


> You are right there. I took home ec in 1978-79. We had 6 weeks each of sewing, cooking, child care, decorating & something else. We would have been better served if we had had a full semester each of cooking and sewing. The little dab they taught us didnt' last long.


Honestly, I think some of the stuff in school should be switched around. I took a class in highschool that taught us necessities... How to budget, how to search for an apartment or home, how to save money, how to grocery shop, how to find the cheapest ways of grocery shopping, balance a check book, etc, etc. Now, why that wasn't a REQUIRED class, I'll never know. I really feel that classes like that should be a requirement for graduation. Ironic that learning a second language seems to be more important than that class. Heck, I took German, and while it was a neat learning experience, I just don't find myself using what I learned there nearly as much as I find that I use the skills learned in the non-required class. Yeah, sure, another language might help in certain parts of the country or might help with certain jobs, such as working in the prison, police or something like that, but really, I don't find the need to speak Spanish or German, but DO find the need to budget and do everything else I learned in that other class.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I think we have a different view of unhealthy, is all.

If something is loaded with sugar or chemicals I generally avoid it, both at home and in my preps, but I have never worried about foods with SMALL amounts, like peanut butter.

We cannot avoid chemicals entirely: they are in the air we breath and the water we drink. We cannot avoid all of it. So, I eat somewhat healthy but I have never tried for perfection.

My preps include canned chicken(Water, chicken, salt) and canned beef (Has a few chemicals) rice, cake mixes (a few preservatives) and so forth. I avoid anything with heavy chemicals. I do not try for perfection now: I will not try for it after SHTF.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Bettacreek said:


> Honestly, I think some of the stuff in school should be switched around. I took a class in highschool that taught us necessities... How to budget, how to search for an apartment or home, how to save money, how to grocery shop, how to find the cheapest ways of grocery shopping, balance a check book, etc, etc. Now, why that wasn't a REQUIRED class, I'll never know. I really feel that classes like that should be a requirement for graduation.


My son had this for economics in high school and YES it was required!---- but it won't be next year! This is a shame: I mentally dubbed it "survival economics"!


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

NickieL said:


> I took a lame home ec in middle school. They did NOT teach us to cook from scratch. They tought us how to roll out pre-made grocery store biscuits and sprinkel them with sugar. seriously. And the sewing part? for a class of 30, we had ten sewing machines and half never worked right. I eneded up with a poor grade in that class lol


I think cooking from scratch might be a weird one. Some people just don't "get it". I dated a guy for about a year who honestly was just learning how to use the microwave... He was 35. Of course, that was more from him never having to do anything of that sort, his ex wife catered to him in that regard. BUT, some people just can't seem to cook from scratch. I am lucky enough that I can bake and cook without measurements. Once, my ex husband's grandmother thought she'd be snarky and teach me a lesson about how it was better to measure the ingredients. She removed my main ingredient and measured it. I turned out to be less than a tablespoon off of the 3C measurement that was required. She then realized that I wasn't a complete idiot and for fun decided to test everything out and I was spot on with everything else. Now, judging distances? I can't do that for the life of me! BUT, for the most part, you cannot just buy ingredients and hope to throw something together if you've never cooked from scratch before. Once you start though, the internet is awesome for recipes. I don't use many cook books because I can search exactly for what I want online. Speaking of which, I need to get off my butt to make some more pizza dough up and make my first lye pretzel rolls!


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Rocktown Gal said:


> I think the concept of the $5 list was lost along the way. The list was a stepping stone...all you had to do was make your OWN list...and spend $5 a week. The whole purpose of the list was to show you that you can buy items for $5 a week and stock up.


Exactly.

The list was meant to give you ideas: It was never meant as an ideal for stocking up! I dislike spam so it doesn't matter what list it is on: I am not buying any!


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Becka said:


> cooking over a fire in 100-degree heat after cleaning up tree limbs and running on very little sleep. I think you'll find you'll want to include some "garbage" in your preps, too!


True enough.

I have never liked spagettio's, but when we lost power for 3 days they really *WERE* a comfort food!


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2012)

If you cann't eat the stuff on this list and don't work out a way to prep for yourself. Just think of what an MRE will do to you. if your not ambitious to make sure your not dependant on the goverment.
They do pass out MREs still don't they?


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## alpacaspinner (Feb 5, 2012)

So many on this thread seem to have a totally "either - or" mindset on this subject. Sure, the OP might have broached the subject a little more tactfully, but she (?) had a valid point. Why would you stockpile less than optimum foods to feed your family in a stressful situation? Others also have good points - in an emergency _anything_ is better than _nothing_. But that avoids the point of why stock it in the first place? There are perfectly healthy foods out there, that store well, and are not particularly expensive, especially when bought in bulk. Reading labels can take you to the canned/packaged food with the least objectionable (whatever that means to you) ingredients. It doesn't have to be organic to not be filled with chemicals. _Anything_ is better than _nothing_ in a pinch, but few of us are in a SHTF type pinch at present, so why would we not store the best that we can manage at this point. Unless you particularly like ramen noodles why would you buy them when you are in a position to buy something better? I consider good food (tasty, but also good for me) to be a "prep" for my health. It may cost me somewhat more, or take me longer to accumulate, but that just means I have to try a bit harder. It doesn't mean that I have to spend my hard earned money on what I consider to be junk, just so that the shelves are fuller faster. We all have our weaknesses, and they need to be addressed too, especially in a stressful situation; as was pointed out, comfort foods are important. I figure as long as the majority of the food in the house is as healthy as I can manage then a few treats won't do much harm, and will do a lot of psychological good. But I would not want to depend on sweets and treats entirely.


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

Hey Elkhound! No offense (lol) but you know how I get so grossed out the idea of eating groundhog! 
I love how some of you will eat road kill but not packaged food!!! You really do practice what you preach! (That was a compliment folks, and Elkhound knows I am just teasing him!!!)


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2012)

"especially when bought in bulk"
"but few of us are in a SHTF type pinch at present"
"cost me somewhat more"

I agree, but the excuse from some has been they can't afford to prep. That is why the budget list. Supposedly they don't have enough money to buy in bulk. I don't think i can agree, many are in a SHTF situation already. The economy has hurt alot of people.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

I agree veggie canner. If the whole tight budget thing is not your case, then feel free to purchase whatever your budget will allow.  Or perhaps point some folks in to alturnatives that are JUST as cheap but healthier if you have a source.



Nickie<----eating egg salad with store bought stgore brand mayo on store bought store brand white bread tonight for supper cause she hurts and is not up to making anythign from scratch tonight. Sometimes eating convience is well, convienient.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

shanzone2001 said:


> Hey Elkhound! No offense (lol) but you know how I get so grossed out the idea of eating groundhog!
> I love how some of you will eat road kill but not packaged food!!! You really do practice what you preach! (That was a compliment folks, and Elkhound knows I am just teasing him!!!)


LOL! I never really thought about it that way... Roadkill can be a real treat here (some people think it's disgusting), while a lot of store food is disgusting to me (while others find it to be a real treat). It is pretty funny actually!

As for prepping, I very, very highly doubt anyone here has a pantry full of "garbage" food for prep. Just because one might have coffee creamer or ramen noodles or something doesn't mean that it's all they have in their pantry. I mean, really, I just cannot see someone stocking up with twinkies, doughnuts, coffee creamer and ramen noodles. Someone having twinkies IN their pantry as a stocked good isn't really that big of a deal. Then there are some people who might have to work two full time jobs making crap for an hourly wage, so they do not have the time to prep homemade goods, yet also don't have the money to buy $6 cans of beef. Just because I wouldn't be caught dead with twinkies or those "instant" packaged meals in my pantry doesn't mean that I should judge someone else for it. Every person is different, every situation is different. I'm sure that person working two jobs and still poor as sin would MUCH rather stock up freshly canned beef and homemade dinners and such, but really. There's no way for anyone to know anyone else's full situation, so judging it is a waste of time.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Ok, so now that everyone has :bdh: about the fact that I have no people skills, I would still like some answers to my question, if you don't mind.
As said, I can cook, but I'm no planner. 

What is there out there that can be bought on the cheap for stock and prep that is not full of chemical preservatives, and corn syrups? One thing I do buy for prep is chef boyardee ravioli. It has no preservatives, and although I am sure its mystery meat, the ingredients aren't bad. I also buy Bush Baked Beans.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> Ok, so now that everyone has :bdh: about the fact that I have no people skills, I would still like some answers to my question, if you don't mind.
> As said, I can cook, but I'm no planner.
> 
> What is there out there that can be bought on the cheap for stock and prep that is not full of chemical preservatives, and corn syrups? One thing I do buy for prep is chef boyardee ravioli. It has no preservatives, and although I am sure its mystery meat, the ingredients aren't bad. I also buy Bush Baked Beans.


Noodles, dry beans and rice


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## alpacaspinner (Feb 5, 2012)

How cheap does it need to be? A few months ago I made a bet with myself, to see if I could do an adequate job of feeding my DH and myself on $70/week. I started with the premise that I had no food in the house except for a few basic spices, and no garden. As I do actually have food in the house, and a garden, I did not actually buy any new food, but I did price check the supermarkets around, and figured out what I could buy for the money allowed. And then I used what I had "bought" (just taking it from the pantry/garden) to feed us. Lots of room for cheating, but I didn't; I tend to play by the rules, even if I am the only person watching . The first week was tough, but do-able. By the second week I had a surplus, and by the third I could "buy" for storage. So, with care, $35/week/person isn't that hard. With a larger family it probably would have been easier, as an extra $35 or two that first week would have made getting the basics an easier task. Now if it needs to be less than $35/week/person then I sympathize for any in that situation, but am convinced that by cutting everything to the bone for the first week or two - beans and rice, or spaghetti, no matter how boring and one-sided it is - one could gather together a few dollars to make the next week easier, and the one after that even more so. If the budget say's $35, and you spend $33 then the next week you have $37 - simple mathematics. This is not to imply that people with only a small amount of money for food have it easy; I know this isn't so, and have a high regard for those struggling in a tough situation. I've been there myself, though thankfully never for long. 
During my experiment I "bought" things that would not be my first choice when I have a choice, but I did stick, for the most part, with basic ingredients, and away from highly processed foods. Now, I did not pretend that I didn't have a stove, or a pot to cook in. That would have raised the stakes to a whole other level.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Sorry group, I've only read a bit of this thread, and apparently I should have been reading more. 
I will have to go through it from start to finish now. I saw posts that upset me to be in this forum and me not do something about it.


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## Smalltowngirl (Mar 28, 2010)

_LFG, the chef boyardee ravioli may not have preservatives but it has some other ingredients that I'm not sure qualify as quality ingredients including HFCS & MSG(another name is soy protein concentrate). I also checked on this and it gave me the creepies_. Disodium guanylate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

*Ravioli Ingredients*
Water, Tomatoes (Water, Tomato Puree), Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Folic Acid), Beef, Crackermeal (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Folic Acid), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Wheat Flour, Soybean Oil, Salt, Carrots, Textured Soy Protein Concentrate (Soy Protein Concentrate and Caramel Coloring), Onions, Flavorings, Caramel Coloring, Potassium Chloride, Oleoresin Paprika, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Enzyme Modified Cheese [Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), and Annatto (Color)] and Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate. *CONTAINS: MILK, SOY, WHEAT*


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

shanzone2001 said:


> Hey Elkhound! No offense (lol) but you know how I get so grossed out the idea of eating groundhog!
> I love how some of you will eat road kill but not packaged food!!! You really do practice what you preach! (That was a compliment folks, and Elkhound knows I am just teasing him!!!)


you will eat and clean ya plate before you get up from this supper table young lady....lol


it doesnt bother me when people say no offense...its just another way of saying i dont agree with you.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

AngieM2 said:


> Sorry group, I've only read a bit of this thread, and apparently I should have been reading more.
> I will have to go through it from start to finish now. I saw posts that upset me to be in this forum and me not do something about it.



uh oh...mommas home and some of us are in big trouble......:flame:


ready ...set...go...last one to the woods takes the whoopin....:grin::angel:


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

I buy large cuts of tough beef, cut it and can it in it's own broth in pressures canner bought at rummage sales. I make chili without beans and can it. I make my own soups and can it. I raise poultry and can it in it's own broth. I can't afford to buy commercially canned meats and we can't have the MSG and chemcals without health consequences.

My water bath canner is a 36 quart tamale pot. It holds a lot of jars. Berry season is on. DD and I will be picking and canning produce from now until it is gone, then we will start on meat and fish again. 

Wanna talk about working in extreme heat? Try my kitchen with two pressure canners going, or the other huge kettles. Adverse conditions? Go blackberry picking with us.

My dehydrator puts out heat.

I don't have a lot of grocery money and I never did. I can afford to eat healthy and feed my children a clean diet because I don't shop the interior isles of the grocery stores. I don't buy package foods, processed foods, pre-made foods, single-serve anything. I can't afford those things, financially or physically. 

I spend $60 a month on groceries for two of us and I live in an area where groceries are expensive. We have an additive free diet.

The best survival preps you can do for yourself and your family is to get educated and get healthy.


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## Liberty'sGirl (Jul 7, 2012)

One can prep all they want, but IF a person had to bug out he/she wouldn't be grabbing a cow, a bushel of tomatoes (with canning supplies) or a barrel of wheat. He/she would grab the most convenient, easiest to move, tasty item found. Food purist, or not, IF you were hungry I'd be sure to NOT offer you any so-called "poison" from my bug out bag.

(BTW, not new here, just changed my name)

There is "educating" and then there is being a food snob.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

veggiecanner said:


> If you cann't eat the stuff on this list and don't work out a way to prep for yourself. Just think of what an MRE will do to you. if your not ambitious to make sure your not dependant on the goverment.
> They do pass out MREs still don't they?


Only if they know you are there and they can get to you. They may not get to the rural areas for weeks in a big enough disaster. It seems that they will probably be tied up trying to feed the masses in the cities.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

People bring up a good point. I think the absolute number one thing one can do for free to prep is to educate yourself. Knowledge is the best prep you can have. If you have to bug out, your house burns with all of your goods and you can only manage to get your family out, you're screwed if you haven't prepped yourself with knowledge. Learn your local wild foods, clean water sources, etc. That will help in the ultimate SHTF situation, plus it helps even in a non-SHTF situation. Foraging for food costs you the gas money to get to a forage area. In a major SHTF situation, walk. Last year, I collected enough berries in about four hours total to can up over 14 pints of jam. I'm still going through them. Half were thinner and we've been using them as either a thin jelly (easier to spread it thinner for sammiches for the boys so they don't glop it out of their sandwiches while eating) or as a mixer for cottage cheese and such. That was all for the cost of sugar and bulk pectin and of course the lids. I think it was about $0.50/pint. 


As for the actual question posed in the initial post, you can eat on the cheap and eat healthy. Buy bulk, raw ingredients. Buy when it's on sale, use coupons, etc. As was already mentioned, variety is best... Have some dried foods, some canned foods and some frozen.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

Liberty'sGirl said:


> One can prep all they want, but IF a person had to bug out he/she wouldn't be grabbing a cow, a bushel of tomatoes (with canning supplies) or a barrel of wheat. He/she would grab the most convenient, easiest to move, tasty item found. Food purist, or not, IF you were hungry I'd be sure to NOT offer you any so-called "poison" from my bug out bag.
> 
> (BTW, not new here, just changed my name)
> 
> There is "educating" and then there is being a food snob.


This site is Homesteading Today. If we have to bug out, of course we're taking the cow and the other livestock. Why would we leave animals behind? That would be irresponsible. I would also be throwing in the neccessities of my life. We've timed it, loaded and bugged out in 1/2 hour, prepared to live Johnny Sasquatch indefinitely. 

And my neighborhood is the evacuation destination for north of the river. I planned that, too.

Advanced planning minimizes the possibility of getting hungry needing to rely on others to take care of me, or worse. Would you be offended if I said, "No thank you." to the food you offered us, even if you didn't know we would be incapacitated by it?

What some of you consider Comfort Food is actually Chemical Addiction. I think that's why this thread became so emotionally charged.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Well, to read the thread completely through I had to go get and eat one of those Little Debbie blueberry cake rolls chased down by a Coke. I know, I'm poisoning myself.


And this has been an educational thread, even if it has had bouts of offensive, seems lonelyfarmgirl thinks putting a disclaimer on her post allows for being offensive to others - not any longer. 

We can all learn a lot here, but sometimes adjectives to the food we buy or make can be mutually exclusive. (good and cheap, are sometime self eliminating of one of them)

There is some very good information on this thread, is one of the main reason it's still standing. A few of you just about went over the line in my mind, but considering the whole thread. Overall, it's got good information.

We can help each of you with ideas to prey YOUR WAY, but putting down someone that is doing it their way, which may or may not be what they want to do, but at least they are doing something - that is to be applauded, even if you would not eat a bite of it. They are not preparing for YOU. (hey guys, remember this lesson when you have a relative that says they are coming to your house - what not to have, might keep the picky away).

If I had read this earlier, maybe I could have directed it a bit better, but there are some good people here that did a fine job of it, and even in disagreeing you did it rather civilized - thank you for that.

And for doing it basic and with few preservatives and such, Check out Tracy Rimmers web site....
New Century Homestead - Home

and read her "More Month Than Money: Tightening Your Food Budget While Feeding Your Family Well (.pdf)"
New Century Homestead - Documents By Category - Food Planning

that should fill the original poster's question of prepping without poisons.


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## Smalltowngirl (Mar 28, 2010)

AngieM2 said:


> eat one of those Little Debbie blueberry cake rolls chased down by a Coke. I know, I'm poisoning myself.


Thread drift but have you tried the Little Debbie Lemon Meringue cake rolls; they may be poison but what a way to go! I love them with a cup of strong coffee. :lonergr:


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

elkhound said:


> you will eat and clean ya plate before you get up from this supper table young lady....lol
> 
> 
> it doesnt bother me when people say no offense...its just another way of saying i dont agree with you.


No offense, but your groundhog casserole is nasty!!!

Hey, I am not a fan of road kill OR poison, but if I was hungry enough then I imagine I would anything. I even eat food from the school cafeteria if I am really hungry. Heck, if the SHTF and we ran out of food, we would go from 4 dogs to 3 dogs real fast...just sayin!

*One man's poison is another man's pleasure!!!*


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Laura said:


> This site is Homesteading Today. If we have to bug out, of course we're taking the cow and the other livestock. Why would we leave animals behind? That would be irresponsible.


It may not be as simple as that. In my case, it is horses and my little donkey. Our ranch is in the mountains in a heavily forested area. If there were a forest fire headed my way, and I couldn't get them trailered by myself, I would open the gate for them to leave and flee ahead of the fire, if horses are that smart. As cold as it sounds, I would save my own life if I couldn't trailer them by myself. They are animals. Human life is more important.

And the liklihood is that I wouldn't be able to trailer them by myself. They hate the trailer and rear and buck and they are much bigger and stronger than me. And you may have the same problem with your livestock. Especially if they can smell the smoke and see the flames and they are terrified.

This would fall under the "survival" portion of Survival & Emergency Preparedness. 

So what I am saying is that I will save myself, but it would be even more critical if I had kids to save. Don't risk your life saving animals if you don't have a reasonable chance of surviving the ordeal. And make sure that you are there for your kids.


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## sustainabilly (Jun 20, 2012)

shanz...don't you know? "Dog makes a fine meal!", 'The Patriot'


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

sustainabilly said:


> shanz...don't you know? "Dog makes a fine meal!", 'The Patriot'


Oh my! I hate to admit it, but once we were down to only a few chickens and rabbits for breeding, the dogs would be next. Especially since they require food...my cats can fend for themselves if they had to.
I wouldn't want to eat my milk goats, but the wethers would be eaten right away. 
Hard to think about, but it could easily become a reality.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

I won't be bugging out for a fire, I'm on the fire department.

There is Evacuation Standby and Evacuation. You get ready to evacuate just in case you have to leave. Then you go work the fire line, or whatever your duties are. 

Horses have the horse sense to run through the fire into the already burned area. Cows will stand there and become crispy critters.


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

Laura said:


> Horses have the horse sense to run through the fire into the already burned area. Cows will stand there and become crispy critters.


I just had a conversation with my kids about what to do with the animals if there was a fire...I have directed them to let them all out of their cages/pens to fend for themselves. Hopefully they would have the sense to run away from the fire!!!


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Laura said:


> I won't be bugging out for a fire, I'm on the fire department.
> 
> There is Evacuation Standby and Evacuation. You get ready to evacuate just in case you have to leave. Then you go work the fire line, or whatever your duties are.
> 
> Horses have the horse sense to run through the fire into the already burned area. Cows will stand there and become crispy critters.


All I can say is thank you for your service.


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

Thank you for your acknowledgement, Merks.

Releasing your animals to run away from a fire is rather risky unless you live on open range where there are no fences to trap them. Even then they will drop from exhaustion and become a crispy critter.

Horses are the only ones I know who are smart enough to run through the flames and survive. Some dogs are smart enough, many die.

There is a fairly long period of time between knowing a fire is moving your direction and a evacuation order. Why not be PREPARED for all who depend on you for their care?


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

As a pharmacist I can say this is the best tasting poison thet never killed a rat. The creamer stays lol.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Common Tator said:


> It may not be as simple as that. In my case, it is horses and my little donkey. Our ranch is in the mountains in a heavily forested area. If there were a forest fire headed my way, and I couldn't get them trailered by myself, I would open the gate for them to leave and flee ahead of the fire, if horses are that smart. As cold as it sounds, I would save my own life if I couldn't trailer them by myself. They are animals. Human life is more important.
> 
> And the liklihood is that I wouldn't be able to trailer them by myself. They hate the trailer and rear and buck and they are much bigger and stronger than me. And you may have the same problem with your livestock. Especially if they can smell the smoke and see the flames and they are terrified.
> 
> ...



This is why we practice. I won't have a horse that wont load. We used to live near the gulf and any animal that wouldn't load got left during hurricanes. Our horses load almost with out being asked. Took lots of practice. We have one horse someone left in a fire and he heads for the trailer and will load himself if he smells smoke. If the trailer door is open, he will get in and wait. If we smell smoke, I hook up the trailer and put the halters on the horses, the kids get the rabbit carriers ready. If we hear sirens I load the horses, kids load the rabbits and open chicken coop, the dog will beat us to the truck and we leave.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

doodlemom said:


> As a pharmacist I can say this is the best tasting poison thet never killed a rat. The creamer stays lol.


I'm not a coffee drinker, but last week I had both kids home on leave. We took them out to breakfast, and they had a small bowl on the table filled with coffee creamers. French Vanilla, caramel and a couple of others. I started looking through them and thought out loud "Oh my goodness! These look good enough to drink without any coffee at all!" You should have seen the looks on my kids faces! :gaptooth:

And seriously, It wouldn't hurt to have things like that around if the SHTF. If I have coffee drinkers around, they will certainly be comforted by it. How about being able to put a little on oatmeal for the kiddies if there is no milk? Not the healthiest choice, but if it stores well, it could be a delicious treat to get them to eat something from long term storage that IS healthy, like oatmeal.

Sometimes kids get extremely stubborn about what they are willing to eat. Sometimes a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, as the best Nanny I never had (Mary Poppins) used to sing.


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

Laura said:


> There is a fairly long period of time between knowing a fire is moving your direction and a evacuation order. Why not be PREPARED for all who depend on you for their care?


You are correct and now I have something to think about...there seems to always be something I haven't planned for yet. I thank the posters here for bringing things to my attention....

Maybe start a thread and give some advice/suggestions? I am sure I am not the only one who doesn't have a fire evacuation plan for their animals....

(Sorry for the thread drift)


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

My livestock trailer easily because I'll back the trailer into their paddock and put their feed in there for week. I'll do that a couple of times a year. Once in awhile, close the gate and take them for a ride around the block and home again.

All I have to do to load 'em up is put food in the stock trailer. Once the first one is in, everybody hops in.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

shanzone2001 said:


> You are correct and now I have something to think about...there seems to always be something I haven't planned for yet. I thank the posters here for bringing things to my attention....
> 
> Maybe start a thread and give some advice/suggestions? I am sure I am not the only one who doesn't have a fire evacuation plan for their animals....
> 
> (Sorry for the thread drift)


Practice. That way everyone knows what is expected. We have had several false evacuations due to fires up wind from us. I look at those as practice. If any of the horses refuses to load, they get left. They don't like being alone and if I start to leave with out them the change their minds pretty quick. We drive to town and wait it out, if there is anything more serious I'd call the extension office in the next town, 60 miles away, to open the fair grounds.

I also keep enough hay/feed in the hay rack to feed for a week and keep the water tank full. My trailer has a home made weekender LQ and we have some clothes and cooking supplies in there for us. That is also where I store my generator and put the rabbit carriers when we have evacuated. I need to put water bottles for the rabbits in there but there is food stored in rodent proof containers.


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> ....... Maybe I am under the false assumption that others on this site also try to avoid those things? Maybe I am just a food goody-goody?
> 
> So what do you stock and prep, especially for cheap when you don't buy these things? I did buy some pudding and jello mixes and some country time lemonade mix.





lonelyfarmgirl said:


> ..... I would still like some answers to my question, if you don't mind.
> As said, I can cook, but I'm no planner.
> 
> What is there out there that can be bought on the cheap for stock and prep that is not full of chemical preservatives, and corn syrups? One thing I do buy for prep is chef boyardee ravioli. It has no preservatives, and although I am sure its mystery meat, the ingredients aren't bad. I also buy Bush Baked Beans.


I'll answer your questions, but I also want to ask you what do you stock up on that is preservative and chemical free? What foods do you eat that you feel are safe foods?

I confess I'm a food goody-goody and a purist about what I eat. I mostly stock up on foods that my body needs, not on what I want for my emotional comfort levels because comfort foods aren't very important to me. I eat to live, I don't live to eat. I'm a scratch cook and about 95% of all the foods I eat are fresh, not frozen and not from pre-packaged foods from the store. Very few of the foods I buy at the store have many chemicals or extra preservatives in them and I do make a point of checking the labels for ingredients. There's a few little luxuries that I enjoy once in a while (ice cream, cherry pie for example), but it takes me a long time to get through them - 2 or 3 months for a small block of ice cream, 8 or 9 days to eat a pie. It can take me a whole year to get through one jar of peanut butter. An opened bag of potato chips will last me 2 weeks, by which time it's gone stale. A small jar of Miracle Whip lasts me 5 months or so. That's because I'm in the habit of only eating one large meal a day and snacking on several small fresh foods at intervals through the rest of the day. That's just the way I am but I wouldn't expect other people to be purists and small eaters the way I am. 

I do a lot of dehydrating and preserves of foods in season and I stock up extras on canned fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, fruit preserves/jams, pastas, flour, sugar, coffee, assorted teas, oats, cornmeal, rice, vinegars, cooking oils, assorted herbs and spices. While I do eat and recycle all of them over the course of time so they don't get a chance to become too outdated and stale, the stored food preps are mostly only there for emergencies and it takes me a long time to cycle through them.

What I mostly eat are fresh foods - eggs, cheese, milk, meat & fish, vegetables and salad makings, fruits, some kinds of nuts, bread, butter, a few home baked goods from scratch, freshly cooked porridges, lots of soups and stir fries that I make from scratch. None of the food is cheap here in Canada but that's not a big issue for me because I don't eat a lot of food and it's only me eating it so I end up not really spending a great deal of money on food anyway. 

I don't drink carbonated or flavoured bottled beverages of any kind and don't drink powdered & packaged stuff like koolaid or iced tea mix (too many additives and artificial junk in all of those and besides which they don't taste good to me) - only drink 100% real juice (infrequently), lots of herbal infusions and teas, coffee, milk, buttermilk, real cocoa and wine - and I think the wine probably has more additives in it than most other foods that I consume. :grin: 

I refuse to ever knowingly consume anything with aspartame in it. That stuff is deadly toxic and any product that says "diet" or "sugar free" usually has aspartame in it.

So what kinds of foods do you eat and stock up on that are free of preservatives and chemical additives?

.


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## gunsmithgirl (Sep 28, 2003)

Stock up what you eat now. I don't eat very much processed food either. I do a lot of canning from our garden which pretty much covers a year of veggies. I can some chicken and convenience foods that I can just open & heat to serve also. I buy organic flour,rice,oatmeal and other staples in bulk.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

Starting this thread was good. 

Naming names: No, No! 
Of course unless you and you-know-who are cyber friends, and she didn't mind.

I agree non-dairy creamer and truthfully anything but milk in my coffee is not for me. Even milk isn't my best choice and I practice drinking it black. Now that's prepping too.

But recently I decided if I am going to be ready, I will have to break down and buy the peanut butter that tastes SOOO good, but is SOOO NOT what I eat on purpose. This goes for many other long storing, calorie rich, easy to prepare foods. Gotta bite the bullet on that.

Every 2 or 3 years when they come to date, instead of eating them, I will donate the majority to a Food Pantry, and re-stock.

I will continue to store as much truly healthy food as I can.


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## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

Will try to answer the OP's question:

Dehydrating is a great way to stock up on veggies and fruits. I make a soup mix using dehydrated veggies, tomato powder and dried herbs. You can add home canned stock or just keep it vegetarian, add some pasta or rice which also keep well and are cheap to stock up on. This soup can be made in minutes and stores a long time in minimal space.

My local stores brand of organic products go on sale about once a month and according to the label have water, salt and vegetables. At 89 cents a can, you could buy $5 worth of these beans and veggies and not break the bank. I have also found organic soups and chilis at less than $2 a can and bottles of organic apple juice for less than $2. Organic fruits are a bit more at about 1.50 a can.

Same store had rice, 3 pound bag buy one get one free, $3. a bag so that comes up to 50 cents a pound and another good buy on that $5 budget. Even when rice is not on sale around here it is about 89 cents a pound. Often the ethnic food isles have some decent cheap choices, dried fruits, shaped pastas (39 cents for 10 ounces) and crackers.

Consider using grains and foods you have never used, like couscous or quinoa. These can be bought on the cheap, cook fast (in case you are in 100 degree heat) and they are healthy. Oatmeal is another healthy food that cooks quick, is not expensive and I personally love it for dinner when it's cold outside 

As for planning, familiarize yourself with the prices of some of these foods then you can make a menu using these choices. Plan whatever amount you can spend and spend that amount on a meal's worth of organic or healthy foods.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

I just want to say that the same ingredients are in survival prep items a lot of people here probably buy from prepper sites. I have yet to see a thread complaining about provident pantry's creamy select drink mix which contains the same ingredients. Silica to promote flow and preservatives are going to be found in your prepackaged dry preps for survivalists with dairy and they will match the creamer. Your body sees corn syrup, sugar and honey the same. The mitochondrial claim made my mouth drop at how far out of context it was. If you bought cheese blend for survival and you buy into what the OP and a few others saying then you must throw it away because that is what it contains.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I haven't read all 5 pages, but I do see where the OP was coming from and I have thought the same thing.

I don't have any of the convenience foods in our storage either. I just don't.

If I were to try to feed boxed mac and cheese etc.. to my son or myself during a time of crisis, it would make a bad situation worse.
Even old DH would suffer.

We eat fairly healthy and from scratch around here. Our bodies can no longer digest 'modern' foods. I took DS out to lunch with friends a few months ago and we ate some really greasy fries. He and I were bloated and in crippling pain as our stomachs tried to do something with all that grease. I mean really bloated. We looked pregnant.

And if we try to eat a store/restaurant bought pizza or Doritos (gag) etc.. the sodium is awful DH's face turns beet red and his heart races etc..

Our bodies are just not used to dealing with foods like that and the diarrhea etc.. would not be helpful in a time when you need all your strength etc...

And we have discussed whether or not we should try to incorporate bad foods back into our diets as a pre-caution. Seriously, it has been a discussion.
And I think about it.
But when it comes time to buy a box of mac and cheese with that yellow powder stuff (I have never actually ever eaten boxed mac and cheese) I just can't do it.

So.. call me a snob or laugh that I will die off if TSHTF.. If I do, then I do, I guess.
But I do know how to eat weeds and am not above eating a rat (as long as it is not an outhouse rat) etc... and can and do dehydrate etc..
But I will sorely miss cheese!!


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## Laura (May 10, 2002)

Doodlemom, you are correct that "Survival Food" marketed to preppers are no different than the stuff off the shelves as far as food additives. In many instances, the MREs have way more preservatives, flavor enhancers and chemical additives than their grocery store counterparts. I've read the labels on all the different brands and products and very few are chemical free, they are very expensive.

Since the 10 year study by UC Davis was released, two different disciplines of working with people are applying the knowledge of mytochondrial dysfunction besides those of us with children with autism and other neourological disorders.

Returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are having serious, sometimes extreme neourological, mental and emotional difficulties when they return home. More so than an any returning veterans in past conflicts. Not only did these men and women live for weeks at a time eating "Puke in a Bag" MREs, it was exposed to extreme temperature fluxuations many times before consumption. Our local veterans' shelter is aware and addressing the issue with the residents. The old C-Rats and K-Rats did not have these chemicals and tasted pretty darn good!

Chemical dependency, drug and alcohol addiction rehab centers are now including seminars for their directors and counselors on the effects of food chemicals and their role in addictions. I have a friend who owns a residential treatment center. Since implementing an additive-free diet at his center for his clients, he's noted a vast improvement in their behaviors. Their cognitive functions, self control and self awareness return much more quickly on a clean diet, and the program's success rate has vastly improved.

Chemical dependency is chemical dependency. It doesn't matter if you get 'em from your doctor and pharmacist, self-medicate through your drug dealer or off your grocery store shelves or Survivalist Preps Dealer.

Taking it to the next level. Is it enough to simply stop the mytochondrial dysfunction and stop the damage to your body's organs by refraining from ingesting these chemicals? Working with my little band of rebels with a cause, medical doctors who practice soley in the field of naturopathology, psychiatrists, psychologists, chemical dependency counselors and other People Helping People friends, all of us willing to be our own lab rats, are going "WOW" with the results of two years of going super-nutrition at the cellular level while refraining from ingesting food additives and foods that trigger auto-immune responses.

Yeah, THAT was a run on sentence! I'm one of the many people who prompted the UC Davis study years ago. The report confirms what we already knew, but it gave us the back-up to not only lab rat ourselves and children into radical good health as living proof of this truth, but mainstream the knowledge with the people in our community who want it.

So yeah like all knowledge, take it or leave it. {snarky rest of post deleted by Angie}


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

chickenista said:


> I haven't read all 5 pages, but I do see where the OP was coming from and I have thought the same thing.
> 
> I don't have any of the convenience foods in our storage either. I just don't.
> 
> ...


When I read this I had an image of me snaring a rabbit or chipmunk from the cat or dog in the worst of times.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

doodlemom said:


> ............The mitochondrial claim made my mouth drop at how far out of context it was......


Is mitochondria mentioned on this thread? I did not see it.


If you have 18 minutes and an open mind, see how far Dr. Terry Wahls was able to rebound from MS by eating on an extremely fundamental level.

Minding your mitochondria. [VIDEO]

I am not trying to change your mind on your preps, but this Video made MY jaw drop! That is the day I threw away the powdered creamer.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

Double blind placebo controlled studies are the bottom line. I never hopped on the eggs are bad or coffee is bad bandwagon either. Vegans like to tear it up on meat eating too. A vegan doctor will tell you how many ways you're gonna pay for eating meat. Do I care?


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

The number one rule, IMHO, of food storage is "store what you eat, eat what you store". In our case, we don't eat processed foods, so I seldom stock them. I admit that I store (natural) peanut butter, because my son likes it, and tinned tuna, because my DH likes it, but most of what we store is as close to natural as possible, and 80-90% of it is grown right here on our property, or within a few miles by people I both know and respect. 

There is an old saying that you can invest time, or money, and get pretty much equal results. I invest time in order to store the highest quality food possible (because that's what we eat), and it is a FULL TIME job.

I have several large gardens, and put by between 800 - 1000 jars of food each year, on average. Last year wasn't quite as good, due to the extensive flooding here last spring, but this year, so far, so good. That is all food that I have grown or has been grown by people I know.

I store grain. I make large grain orders twice a year, and stock, on average, 1500-2000 lbs. This year, DH has asked me to triple that. I also store beans, rice, and a few other bulk items, such as couscous. Yes, couscous is processed, but I buy the organic variety, and it's a tradeoff for the convenience of it.

I have a root cellar (where we store about 600lbs of potatoes, squash, pumpkin, turnip, onions, apples, etc.) and three large freezers for meat and those fruits and veg that I want frozen rather than canned (I despise canned corn -- MUST be frozen!!!  ) I buy staples annually or semi-annually, or when I find a particularly good deal on them. We have between a year and a year and a half worth of staples, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc., on hand at any given time.

It's not a matter of storing SPECIAL food "just in case" -- it's a matter of storing a year's worth of what we normally consume and cycle through it. 

Also, if I were to buy a year's worth of "organic" food, yes, it would be expensive, but we eat basic, buy direct from producers, and enjoy a great diet without going broke by knowing the people who produce our food, and cutting out the middle man, or producing it ourselves. Organic Cheerios are expensive -- organic quick oats are not.

Some, I feel, *HAVE missed the point. It's become about ACQUISITION to many, rather than a lifestyle choice. I see the pictures of things that people buy because they got them "free" by "points", and I ask myself why, but to be perfectly honest, I'm not them. I wouldn't eat half of it, either, but each and every person has to prep to the best of their ability, and if this is how they eat normally, it's what they SHOULD be stocking up on. 

If, God forbid, I'm wrong, and some sort of apocalyptic situation does arise, that is not the time to be changing to an "organic" diet. Dietary changes of that kind are enough of a shock on your body, and doing so in a time of stress is probably a really, really bad idea. 

Again, it comes down to "store what you eat, eat what you store". Prepping organic and basic healthy foods is possible "on the cheap", but you have to be willing to invest the time, if not the money. Few people have that kind of time. Food storage planning, organization, prep, ordering, pickup, processing, and tracking, probably take up at least 40 hours a week for me, on average over the year. During the height of harvest and canning season, I work from 6AM to 10 or 11 at night EVERY DAY to do this, whether that is doing barn chores, gardening, picking, cleaning, canning, culling, butchering, etc. For someone who doesn't have that time, I'm certainly not going to judge them for investing in cases of processed foods -- at least they're aware that they have the responsibility to feed their family, and are doing something about it, even if what they're doing isn't what *I* would do for *MY* family.

Every single story is different. Every single person on this forum has had a very different life experience -- that has to be part of their personal prepping equation.


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## nostawmama (Dec 29, 2011)

Tracy- I was about to say the same thing in different words


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Thank you Tracy - I appreciate your input and explanation of the time and effort it takes to be that close to natural all the time.


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2012)

The thing is, a person has to want to prep to be able to do it. Once they want to, they will find a way.
over the last few years we have spent birthday and christmas money for preps. Gone with out fun stuff to make sure the preps were there.
And have found the preps pay for them selves, because we shop the sales.
It's a choice, you either make it or you don't.
I am one that spends time instead of money too.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

I only read the first page of replies so far, but I didnt take the OP as many did. Some people are just passionate about not eating the processed junk. just like some here probably offend those who dont prep if they told them they might be hungry one day or something related. I wont eat those things either when I have a choice, but I dont care who does. 

Im not sure why people think you need to buy junk foods to prep cheaply though. If you want ready made foods and such, go for it. Certainly makes sense. But the idea its to expensive to stack wholesome foods just isnt true if your getting just the long term staples. Of course you might not have the diversity some might desire, (if your noot producing it yourself anyway) but it can be done if it matters to you. If it doesnt oh well. To each his/her own.


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## cvk (Oct 30, 2006)

Also not everyone considers alot of those foods "junk" it is a matter of opinion. I was reading and thinking about people in apartments--where would they store 1000 glass jars of home canned food? Even if they could buy the ingredients. They can buy the boxes and mixes and store a bunch of it relatively easily. How would those of us that have our own animals for food and milk etc feel about people that consider what we are eating poison to our bodies, all the saturated fats etc. It is just better to discuss prepping and not worry about how somebody else goes about doing it. We can keep our judgements to ourselves.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Rick said:


> Is mitochondria mentioned on this thread? I did not see it.
> 
> 
> If you have 18 minutes and an open mind, see how far Dr. Terry Wahls was able to rebound from MS by eating on an extremely fundamental level.
> ...



i seen this on youtube...last 2 years i been eating more kale from my garden as i found i really like the taste...to be honest i feel different since eating it.i was eating it before seeing video and felt different...so i know its not my head.i have less muscle fatigue overall.....and no i dont have MS.


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## Groene Pionier (Apr 23, 2009)

I am prepping on the cheap, I guess. According to my countries social standard, I live WAY below that for years and years now. I stock up on wheat, legumes which I buy at an organic whole sale. I buy my veggies and fruits in bulk and can and dehydrate. 
I buy raw milk from a farmer and make yogurt, gouda cheese, ricotta, camembert, neufchatel and of course butter. 
I make my own herbal tisanes and other things. It is a lot of work but it is very much worth it. I only store for a year or so. 
During mid december-end of april I don't have work nor much income so I live almost fully of my food storage which I replenish during the spring and summer. 
On the cheap that is. I have to make photos and keep lists of what I buy and what i make from my accountant, otherwise the officials don't believe I live well from such a budget.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

elkhound said:


> i seen this on youtube...last 2 years i been eating more kale from my garden as i found i really like the taste...to be honest i feel different since eating it.i was eating it before seeing video and felt different...so i know its not my head.i have less muscle fatigue overall.....and no i dont have MS.


Kale - greens in general is something I want to grow more of.

I've seen lots of folk on here who've been eating kale lately. How do you prepare it?


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Rick said:


> Kale - greens in general is something I want to grow more of.
> 
> I've seen lots of folk on here who've been eating kale lately. How do you prepare it?


Rick, kale is awesome...I use it in soups, (cream of kale soup, veggie soup) in smoothies, braised is really good too. Its very easy to grow and is very winter hardy too.

I have a ton of kale seed I've saved from my own chemical free plants.....send me a PM so I can give you an address for a SASE if you want some.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

I've been edible landscaping for 19 years and sold my dairy goats in 2006. I grow a years worth of apples,pears,cherries,raspberries,rhubarb,strawberries,asparagus and many other edibles. My pics were all on the single tree. I eat stinging nettle and other wild edibles from my yard on a regular basis. My herbs are dried by the van full. I have my chickens and recently gave up rabbits after a lifetime of raising them. I grow just about every edible perennial you can grow in this zone. All my salads/veggies are growing here now. I've posted my pics on the singletree in the past. I've raised goats,sheep,ducks,chickens, and rabbits. A container of creamer defines who I am? I like to share the knowledge I have of food foresting and eating the weeds and don't get offended if someone says it's odd and they'd rather go to McDonald's. Nor do I bash them for choosing to eat out all the time or buy take out coffee. I feel that certain people like to put down others to make themselves feel bigger because they do not conform to their ideals.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Rick said:


> Kale - greens in general is something I want to grow more of.
> 
> I've seen lots of folk on here who've been eating kale lately. How do you prepare it?



rick the main variety i have grown is spring kale....its so good i eat it raw in the garden. i use it in stir fries a lot mainly.the spring kale is only a 30 day till harvest the others are longer.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

doodlemom said:


> I've been edible landscaping for 19 years and sold my dairy goats in 2006. I grow a years worth of apples,pears,cherries,raspberries,rhubarb,strawberries,asparagus and many other edibles. My pics were all on the single tree. I eat stinging nettle and other wild edibles from my yard on a regular basis. My herbs are dried by the van full. I have my chickens and recently gave up rabbits after a lifetime of raising them. I grow just about every edible perennial you can grow in this zone. All my salads/veggies are growing here now. I've posted my pics on the singletree in the past. I've raised goats,sheep,ducks,chickens, and rabbits. A container of creamer defines who I am? I like to share the knowledge I have of food foresting and eating the weeds and don't get offended if someone says it's odd and they'd rather go to McDonald's. Nor do I bash them for choosing to eat out all the time or buy take out coffee. I feel that certain people like to put down others to make themselves feel bigger because they do not conform to their ideals.


you food snob......lol.....:catfight:  :help: :grin:

atta girl....you do a good job doodle !


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Groene Pionier said:


> I am prepping on the cheap, I guess. According to my countries social standard, I live WAY below that for years and years now. I stock up on wheat, legumes which I buy at an organic whole sale. I buy my veggies and fruits in bulk and can and dehydrate.
> I buy raw milk from a farmer and make yogurt, gouda cheese, ricotta, camembert, neufchatel and of course butter.
> I make my own herbal tisanes and other things. It is a lot of work but it is very much worth it. I only store for a year or so.
> During mid december-end of april I don't have work nor much income so I live almost fully of my food storage which I replenish during the spring and summer.
> On the cheap that is. I have to make photos and keep lists of what I buy and what i make from my accountant, otherwise the officials don't believe I live well from such a budget.


atta girl.....good job !!!!!!


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## rainy5 (Oct 28, 2011)

As a child I had horrific allergies and they have only became worse over the years. To the point I had to go organic or not eat. I am by no means rich. We eat organic chicken and I also pressure cook it. I try to stock as much as I can organic but financially it is hard recently I had to also go gluten free. So I have pasta stocked for my family now I need to start to stock for myself first now. My goal would be to have my family gluten free but as my hubby said. You will even eat the wheat foods we have if you need to. I will eat dandelions if I need to. 

That's one reason my lawn is chemical free. I use coupons as much as I can on organic and junk foods as they are called. I grow my own lettuce, veggies etc. I just planted blueberry and raspberry and cranberries in raised beds. I have a few mre's and a few cans of mountain house. I know with my food allergies that they will make me feel like crap. My muscles will hurt and I will barely function. So that is why I am trying to store both I cannot afford to stock just healthy foods. If I ever get to the point where I can buy just healthy food. I will give my stock of junk foods as it is called to someone who had just started or cannot afford to stock.

We have planted non gmo and organic foods to avoid and cut grocery bills. So I can afford to buy what I need. I will still sneak m & m's. I would love to try deer meat.I am waiting for hubby's friend to give me some. I have my great aunts cookbook how to skin cook and eat any animal. I cook from scratch everyday like my mom and dad did also. I do buy box brownies and I do stay away from nutrasweet diet etc. I cannot afford to feed my kids organic cereal everyday but I buy organic oatmeal and eggs etc. I will say this I have a four and a half year old that was sick for the first time last week. He had a sore throat and I used pineapple,coconut milk and tylenol and clean foods like brocolli and chicken and honey. It took seven days but no antibiotic still My peditrician is amazed he wanted him on antibiotic. I said if he gets really bad we will. Most of us realize how tainted our food supplies are and are doing our best to eat healthier and store healthier.

We grew up having some junk foods and comfort foods are hard to break. I applaud those who are very strict and stick to their totally healthy diets. I need my comfort food every now and then. I love ice cream. I store what I eat and I also store stuff I would not normally eat. Like spam and spaghetti sauce mixed with pasta and I store foods that are going to cook quick and foods that are not. If you store all of these items you are doing yourself a favor. 

What will happen if you are sick and cannot make a healthy meal a packet of lipton soup will seem like a godsend. If some kind of chemical event wipes out your garden and you need to start from scratch. you will need other food supplies. Organic peanut butter can be found on sale and stocked that is how I have purchased all of mine and I have skippy we are giving away you can taste the gunk and I grew up on skippy. I no longer like the taste but I will not put down someone who does. My husband deals with cardiac and other health issues everyday and I can tell you eating healthier is better but I will say it is not easy. It can be cheap if you grow it all yourself. No matter what if something happen to taint outdoor foods supplies. I will not have fresh pineapple or my blueberries grapes etc. I will have canned while not as good for you it will be better than having nothing. Will The cans go bad no I will donate them before they expire. 

Funny my four year old just ask me for marshmellow's. Earlier today he had strawberries, blueberries, yogurt and eggs. My kids will generally take a piece of fruit over junk but The food is not just tainted with preservatives the wheat is gmo and so are the fruits etc. then compound that with kids shots etc. This is what is causing all the Illnesses etc. drug filled water etc. not just bad food it is a combination and Although I agree eating healthier will help cut back I am proof of that. Some people just cannot afford it and others don't believe it and some people don't have the means like an apartment dweller to grow their own. To have what some consider junk preps is better than people who have no preps. Trying to prepare to care for your family by whatever means how ever you can do it is what's important. I am all in for discussing clean food storage and ideas and items even brand names. These are the reasons I need to prep the way I do and some reason I prepped the way I did when I started. 

It is easy to look and think wow I would never eat that junk but I think some things haven't been thought about That may be missing in peoples preps. Just a suggestion. I think #10 canned veggies would be better that radiation filled veggies. We have drought conditions what if something happens to your healthy fresh food. If something like that happened. Having canned veggies will be better than none and trust me I hate canned veggies I will gag and possibly bring them back up. I would rather have canned milk than no milk and I buy only organic milk. you can buy almond milk and coconut milk better than no milk especially for those recipes that need it. My point is I would love some healthy food options on the cheap. Someone make a list post ideas but remember your going to need other options just in case. I store packets of lipton chicken noodles soup. If they are going to expire I will donate them to a food bank. I figure better to have some than not. I store what I eat and rotate but I also store quick items for if we are all under the weather. I pressure can now for days we spend at the pool I come home and throw the chicken with some other foods and we are rotating it that way and it is way better than going to mcdonalds.


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## rainy5 (Oct 28, 2011)

I wanted to post this in here for some people to think about before it happens. 
I know you wanted to have healthy food but in the begining of a disaster you may want to read what becka has posted in the other forum this is from. Some things to think about to help everyone better prepare. 

This is from becka and I hope she doesn't mind I placed it here to help others think about how we all need to have diversified food storage. 

I always thought if we lost power I'd just can the frozen stuff, etc. I stocked beans, rice, wheat, flour and sugar and used little. It just wasn't practical at the time. The store bought canned meats and soups were much easier, not to mention I didn't need to use water to wash out jars when we were done--we just tossed the empty cans in the trash basket. Now if the outage had lasted much longer, we would have been forced to eat and cook differently. I think there really isn't a shtf that goes by the book, so to speak. One size does not fit all. So, it's best to diversify food storage. Maybe have some canned, some dry, some frozen, etc.

When the disaster first happens you are running on fight or flight response as is stated in that forum and if it is long term those so called junk foods will be easy to prepare until you get a routine down to live a different way if ever needed to long term. especially if you would lost outside food. Outdoor foods can be wiped out from a bad wind storm even. There is alot to learn from what happen to becka and not just with food but diversified supplies also. HTH


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> After reading the prepping on the cheap thread, I had to start another.
> I look at my food stock and look at the list of things people have stocked and are stocking, and the prices of such and cringe.
> I guess I don't understand. Maybe its just me being overly picky, I don't know. It was a great thread, but I see a lot of things posted as stockup items and well, I couldn't force myself to buy some of them.


OK...so what would you buy for $5 a week? I noticed you didn't offer any suggestions......just told us you didn't like the options given.


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## ChickadeeL (Dec 10, 2008)

elkhound said:


> sally can you re post 2nd picture so i can read the text please....lol...i wanna see what it says about woodchuck



elkhound, thanks for making me laugh out loud!  I love this forum....


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Everyone has a different set of circumstances. If I wanted to prep something that was healthy and only had $5 to work with each week, I might have to do something like buy bags of dried beans in the grocery store...or rice in boxes. However, brown rice doesn't store as well as white and I think that white rice is nasty.This method would work for the large tubs of oatmeal, too.

At my local grocery store, I can usually find chicken legs for 99 cents a lb. $5 will buy 5 lbs of chicken for the freezer or you could can it and make it shelf stable.

Spread out over two weeks, you could buy all of the ingredients to bake bread. It will make far more loaves than you could ever buy with $10.

$5 will buy quite a bit of bulk popcorn. You can use it for snacks or grind it for making cornbread.

Apple season will be here before you know it. Grocery stores sell bagged apples fairly cheaply and they are easy to store in a basement or easily canned into apple sauce or dried into chips.

Since I own a dehydrator, I could buy bags of frozen vegetables and dehydrate them. I could even do organic veggies, but my money wouldn't buy as much.

When I find cheap celery, I buy it and dehydrate for use in soups. I do the same with onions, peppers & mushrooms, too.

There are a lot of free ways to stock up. For meat, you could put the word out that you are interested in scooping up deer that were killed by cars.

You could plant a garden with $5 worth of seeds and reap far more than you invested in the harvest. Squash, cukes, zukes, tomatoes etc... produce an abundance from only a couple of seeds.

Even if you don't use table salt now. It is a cheap prep item and one that no household should be without. When money is tight, salt is something that can be bought with the change that you find in the couch cushions.

Here's another free prep item...Bottle tap water in old, clean juice bottles. Some people add a bit of peroxide or a few drops of bleach to keep it from growing bacteria. If you have a municipal water supply, you can just bottle the water in clean juice bottles and store it since it is already treated.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2012)

This is a funny thread!! I like it when people buy their own food, with their own money, eat it, and enjoy it. And let me do the same with mine.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

I do have fruit from our orchard, pears, peaches, applesauce. I can the basic pickled things, cukes, beets, 3 bean salad (for me). I have plenty of jellies and apple butter.

I just learned to can beans this year, so the one batch I did, we ate. I have bought quite a bit of dried beans in the last 6 months, so those will be canned later this fall. 

I buy all tomatoe products, ie spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. I am highly allergic to raw tomatoes and cannot process them because of the fumes. Canned tomatoe sauce goes on sale at save-a-lot for 3 for a dollar sometimes.

We get spaghetti sauce and condiments from the salvage grocery that is open two days a week in the next town. So I have several dozen jars of condiments. We get the no-HFCS ketchup and bbq sauce. Mustard is pretty safe, in general.

I also just learned about canning meat, so I will be working on that this fall also. I have canned green beans, but that is all I've done for veges.

One thing I have bought that is cheap is salt. Everyone needs it and you can't make it. It about 35 cents a quart and doesn't go bad. 

I have some dark chocolate and cocoa and a small selection of spices. 
I have dried nettle and kale, and the lambs quarter is picking now, but I mostly freeze that. 

We have plenty of freezer meat and a fair amount of juice. I also have an amount of wheat berries and yeast.

That about covers it. I am no good at planning or choosing. The 5$ list was good, but then I go to the store and look at what is there so I can buy something every week for prep stock. I look at things and reject 9 out of 10 items because of whats in them, then I get frustrated and get nothing. 
I REALLY hate to shop. Shopping is a waste of time, IMO.


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Laura said:


> This site is Homesteading Today. If we have to bug out, of course we're taking the cow and the other livestock. Why would we leave animals behind? That would be irresponsible. I would also be throwing in the neccessities of my life. We've timed it, loaded and bugged out in 1/2 hour, prepared to live Johnny Sasquatch indefinitely...
> 
> 
> 
> ...What some of you consider Comfort Food is actually Chemical Addiction. I think that's why this thread became so emotionally charged.


Bugging out in half an hour with stock is great. However, do you also have a plan for bugging out with only 5 minutes' warning? What will you do with your stock then? I have 2 acquaintances who got such short timelines. They responsibly determined that the safety of their children was a higher priority than the safety of their livestock. It was an incredibly hard choice for them to make, but they did not get the luxury of 30 minutes to load. One had 5 minutes, the other had almost none. She told me the state trooper pounded on the door, yelled that they had to get out immediately, and that was it. She woke her sleeping family and they ran for their car. They only got seconds. (The emergency was due to a toxic gas cloud from an overturned tanker truck. The gas was heavier than air and was literally rolling down the valley toward them. Several of their animals became sick, but IIRC, they lost only a couple, from respiratory distress.)

The blanket statement that anyone who would leave their animals behind is irresponsible is crossing the line again. Because it is not irresponsible in all cases. There are times when we don't have the time/money/things we want and we have to do things that we would prefer not to do. But that does not make us irresponsible. Your statement is untrue.

Also, I would ask, what qualifies you to make the judgement in the last paragraph of your post that I pasted? Are you a medical doctor? A nutritionist? A research scientist? Anecdotal evidence based on a small sample size, such as yourself or your family, particularly when also based on a subjective measurement such as food preference, is largely disregarded by the scientific community and the medical one.

The fact is that you do not know the extent of what I consider to be comfort food, nor do you know whether or not it is a chemical addiction hazard or whether I have actually formed an addiction to it. It is an affront for you to presume that you do.

The reason the thread became emotionally charged is that this forum is largely populated by people who do not accept others telling them what they should be doing, based solely on the opinions and experiences of the one sitting in judgement. The emotional response has nothing to do with food addictions and much to do with resentment of offensive and loaded implications that those who do not eat as some do are poisoning their families and are a bunch of addicts.

Store what YOU eat and eat what YOU store. The word choices seen in a couple of posts here create a very condescending tone, which does not help educate others at all. Although my family does eat some processed foods, the majority of our foods are not. I expect that if we could chat calmly, we would be in agreement about many concerns regarding chemical additives. 

However, instead of starting at that point and discussing our mutual concerns, the op started out by publicly attacking people. she had the nerve to not help/encourage/positively educate people who really are trying their very hardest to prepare and provide for their families, but instead, to embarrass them, to say that they are poisoning their families, and you add that they are addicts. And you wonder why your posts are not being well received?


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

The saying is "eat what you store and store what you eat". For someone who uses prepared foods on a regular or even semi-regular basis, prepping those same foods makes good sense. It is simply idiotic to store hundreds of pounds of grains and other scratch ingredients if/when someone isn't familiar with cooking with them. I also think it is perfectly acceptable, even for a scratch-foods storer, to have a few simple ready to use ingredients on hand, like pudding mixes (our church makes pudding mixes where you add water instead of milk), creamer (if you are used to using it), and even things like Kool-aid, (helps kids accept water that has been "purified" with chlorine, iodine, etc.) As long as someone is making the effort to prep, and they are willing to eat what they prep, I don't care in the least what they choose to store in their preps.


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## blooba (Feb 9, 2010)

ok, after reading thru all 6 pages I just had to respond.

I am one that eats and stocks lots of "poison" I know its bad for me but alot of the time I don't feel like cooking from scratch or am too tired from working all day. Hey someone has to make payments on this place...lol 

I live in a 350 yr old house and it requires more "upkeep" than normal so I spend a ton of time patching holes in the roof or fixing plumbing issues or whatnot and when I need something to eat I just grab whatever is easiest sometimes.

I think part of it is I used to cook for a living (kitchen manager) and that has made cooking more like work. I used to enjoy cooking but depise it now. 

Would I like to eat more naturally? Sure, but I prioritize shelter over food. I do grow and can some things but more often than not I eat a Subway or other fastfood if in a rush.

If someone here is willing to do my shopping, tending to the garden,canning, cooking then I'll be more than happy to PM you my address but in the meantime I will continue to "poison" myself.

Edited to add: And unfortunately I think there are more people out there like me vs "food goody-goodies" or else there wouldnt be such a big fast food business and there would be more healthy options available


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## Chickensittin (Mar 26, 2012)

Ovsfarm makes a good point about short notice evacuations. We recently had a wildfire in our area and the home owners had at most 10 minutes to get out. Those who were not at home were not allowed to return. The fire crews cut fences to allow the animals to escape in an attempt to save them, but many domestic and wild animals were burned. As many have stated before, we don't always know what we are prepping for. 
We do try to eat healthy by raising our own beef and some fruits & vegetables, but we both work full time and it is difficult to can/preserve as much as I would like. I canned sour cherries from our tree this week and was shocked at how much time it took to pick, pit, and preserve. So, we do purchase items that are quick to prepare. These products have been developed with convenience in mind (Campbell's soup) and the grocery stores are full of "value added" products such as peeled baby carrots. In my life, preparation time is a reality of prepping.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

Sometimes I think that people who are extremely organized are shooting themselves in the foot. They plan stuff out, have to work it to a T and if it doesn't go as planned, they panic. Someone who has been practicing loading/unloading in half an hour for years and COUNTS on that plan to work (and in fact seems to believe everyone else is dead wrong if they cannot manage this) is going to be like a bear with a sore grits when something doesn't go along with their strict planning. I mean, really, isn't that what we're supposed to be prepping for? ANY disaster? Not just ones that work with our planning? Mother nature doesn't work around us, we're supposed to be working around mother nature. What happens if you're grocery shopping and some fire starts and you are not allowed to return (as someone else mentioned) to retrieve your livestock? Yes, many things give forewarning, but not every disaster gives you a warning. Like the East coast earthquake. We were living everyday life here in Central Pennsylvania and all of a sudden the house starts shaking, the stacked washer and dryer are trying to jump off the wall, the entire neighborhood smells of gas and nobody has any idea what the heck is going on. There was no warning. We were fortunate enough that we weren't close to the explosions, downed powerlines, etc. But, we could've had our entire property destroyed. To think that life is always going to follow your strict planning is going to be a big shock.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

NickieL said:


> Rick, kale is awesome...I use it in soups, (cream of kale soup, veggie soup) in smoothies, braised is really good too. Its very easy to grow and is very winter hardy too.
> 
> I have a ton of kale seed I've saved from my own chemical free plants.....send me a PM so I can give you an address for a SASE if you want some.


Thanks, PM is on th way!


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Yup...if I had more time/money my preps would certainly be diffrent. But I work 50-60 hours a week outside the home, plus a 45 minute commute each way each day, on my off time I work the garden, take care of the dog, and try to cook from scratch and take care of other things I can;t do while away from home. Not everyone has the luxurey of excessive time (or space) to raise a huge self substaining garden, to can everything, and to drive to several towns away to a place that offers bulk/ organic ingrediants. If you do, Then great! go ahead and feel good about it. But to be condencending to others who don't have that time/money/ability is pretty low. You don't know thier situation and you likely can't even imagine what life is like for them if you've not lived in thier shoes. As long as people are prepping, thats a plus!


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

This thread is just like the Organic versus GMO threads:

I'm a better prepper than you because..........


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

Bettacreek said:


> Sometimes I think that people who are extremely organized are shooting themselves in the foot. They plan stuff out, have to work it to a T and if it doesn't go as planned, they panic. Someone who has been practicing loading/unloading in half an hour for years and COUNTS on that plan to work (and in fact seems to believe everyone else is dead wrong if they cannot manage this) is going to be like a bear with a sore grits when something doesn't go along with their strict planning. I mean, really, isn't that what we're supposed to be prepping for? ANY disaster? Not just ones that work with our planning? Mother nature doesn't work around us, we're supposed to be working around mother nature. What happens if you're grocery shopping and some fire starts and you are not allowed to return (as someone else mentioned) to retrieve your livestock? Yes, many things give forewarning, but not every disaster gives you a warning. Like the East coast earthquake. We were living everyday life here in Central Pennsylvania and all of a sudden the house starts shaking, the stacked washer and dryer are trying to jump off the wall, the entire neighborhood smells of gas and nobody has any idea what the heck is going on. There was no warning. We were fortunate enough that we weren't close to the explosions, downed powerlines, etc. But, we could've had our entire property destroyed. To think that life is always going to follow your strict planning is going to be a big shock.


I always thought that being creative and able to think on your feet in tough situations was a skill that is #1 in prepping. We were tought this a lot while training for Search and Rescue and wilderness first aid. You have to be flexible and think of ways to do things without the usual tools at hand. In classes there were usually several people who were pretty clueless when faced with a task where they had to think quickly and outside the box...


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## windhound (Mar 18, 2008)

Just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed this thread. Plenty of good information, cool pictures, and alot to think about. And I like the fact that the person mentioned in the first post has had a great sense of humor about the whole thing.
I just realized that there is a box of old cookbooks I inherited up in my attic that probably has The Joy of Cooking in it. So now I'm going to have to go look. My attic is about a million degrees right now. I sure hope it's worth it.


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

I am of the mindset---I dont care what and how you prep or what foods you store whether they be pre-made or homegrown as long as you do it, because I dont want you coming for my preps...to each to own. It is not any of my business what anyone eats or doesnt eat. I cant comprehend why it would make a difference to anyone what someone else eats..

Personally I try to keep a balance--some easy to fix canned stuff etc(with the horrid poison)homegrown stuff, frozen or canned or dehydrated and emergency freezed-dried food that I purchased. We store what we eat and eat what we store except for the EFDFs.


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## Oma2three (May 5, 2012)

the queensblessing,would you please post the recipe for the pudding mix made with water? My grandson is lactose intolerant so it be great to have.Thank you


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

I was assuming that it had powdered milk in it, but that'd be great if it didn't!


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Oma2three said:


> the queensblessing,would you please post the recipe for the pudding mix made with water? My grandson is lactose intolerant so it be great to have.Thank you


Actually, our church puts out a pudding mix that we can buy that uses water, however, that being said, you can make good pudding at home, with no dairy. Here's an example: (I used to make this for my grandson, who was lactose intolerant.)

Dairy-free chocolate pudding

3 T. cornstarch
1/3 cup and 2 T. sugar
Â¼ cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 cups plain unsweetened almond milk
1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Â½ t. vanilla


In a small cup or bowl, combine the cornstarch with 2 T. cold water, mixing to dissolve. Set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Over medium-low heat, gradually add the almond milk, about Â¼ cup at a time, stirring constantly until smooth. Cook until a thin film develops on top of the liquid and steam rises from the surface, but do not let the mixture boil. Remove the pan from heat and add the chocolate chips, swirling the pan to keep the chips from resting on the bottom of the pan and burning. Allow the pan to sit off of the stove for about 3 minutes, then stir mixture with a wooden spoon to incorporate the melted chocolate.
Mix in the cornstarch mixture and vanilla until well incorporated, and return the pan to the stove over medium-low heat. Stirring constantly, cook until the mixture is thick but just slightly thinner than desired (the pudding will thicken as it cools). Transfer the pudding into individual heatproof dishes. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and set on a wire cooling rack to cool for about 20 minutes.
Once puddings have cooled slightly, place them in the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours before enjoying.

There are several other recipes on the net for dairy free puddings and custards.


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## Bat Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

Rick said:


> Kale - greens in general is something I want to grow more of.
> 
> I've seen lots of folk on here who've been eating kale lately. How do you prepare it?


Kale is yummy baked with a spritz of olive oil and some salt, let it get brown and crispy and enjoy!


As for a disaster destroying non processed preps, it will destroy processed preps as well...


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## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

Personally, I don't care what anyone else eats. Just as I don't care what they watch on TV, what they do in the bedroom, or what kind of car they drive.

To the OP - if you tend to make the same meals over and over again, keep track of what you eat and the ingredients for a couple weeks. Then multiple that by 26 and you'll know how much of your specific ingredients you'll need for a year. Then you can gradually build up your pantry as you see things on sale, even if you only spend $5 extra a week.

Bat Farm - are you baking them at 350 or 400? About how long? The only way I ever had kale was steamed with pickle juice on it.

We planted swiss chard and then didn't know what to do with it so we have been eating it raw in our salads. It is really good, a little bit of a bite. If you like arugula, you'd probably like swiss chard.


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## Bat Farm (Apr 21, 2010)

Cindy, we bake it at 350 - mostly because we do a lot of bread type baking and that tends to be 350  I think the other temp we use most is 400 for bacon and tortillas. 

I think it takes about 15 min, but it will depend on how fresh the kale is. If it is just out of the garden it will take a little longer due to the higher moisture. I am spoiled and have a light and window in the oven so I can just keep a casual eye on it while the rest of dinner is being put together. We tend to make it with sausages (venison and pork, yum) or burgers instead of chips and they take about the same amount of time. Hope that was of some help... sheesh I can be confusing. 



Cindy in NY said:


> To the OP - if you tend to make the same meals over and over again, keep track of what you eat and the ingredients for a couple weeks. Then multiple that by 26 and you'll know how much of your specific ingredients you'll need for a year. Then you can gradually build up your pantry as you see things on sale, even if you only spend $5 extra a week.


Now that was some simple, clear, and good advice :clap:


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## Oma2three (May 5, 2012)

thequeensblessing,thank you so much.


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

Cindy in NY said:


> We planted swiss chard and then didn't know what to do with it so we have been eating it raw in our salads. It is really good, a little bit of a bite. If you like arugula, you'd probably like swiss chard.


Swiss Chard loses it's bite and becomes a bit sweeter when it's lightly steamed. I steam it and eat it like steamed spinach, or chop it to go into soups and stews just a couple of minutes before ready to take the pot off the heat.

.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

we prefer kale or collards to swiss chard but I grow it anyway as it tends to fill in the time between the crops. We had some braised the other night in chicken stock with garlic from the garden...but it was quite bitter. Edible, but bitter. Yes, we like kale better.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

On the topic of greens (besides wilder ones which I prefer to grow) many of you would probably really like orach AKA mountain spinach. Very tasty and its and easy to grow annual that grows in summer when many greens arent doing well.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

silverseeds said:


> On the topic of greens (besides wilder ones which I prefer to grow) many of you would probably really like orach AKA mountain spinach. Very tasty and its and easy to grow annual that grows in summer when many greens arent doing well.


I like New Zealand spinach does very well, too. It isn't a true spinach and it doesn't bolt like the regular varieties.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

TheMartianChick said:


> I like New Zealand spinach does very well, too. It isn't a true spinach and it doesn't bolt like the regular varieties.


I have seeds for that but havent grown it. Isnt it perennial??


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Most people around here grow collards, and we do too. It grows almost year round since we don't have a really cold winter. I think nutritionally it's similar to kale, and it grows in our poor soil. I usually chop and fry it in olive oil with garlic, onions, salt and pepper, and then squeeze a little lemon juice on top before serving. It dehydrates well too - so easy to toss a handful into soup. Broccoli is another one that does well with the heat and poor soil here. We eat the classic broccoli tops, but I also chop and dehydrate the stems for cream of broccoli soup or casseroles, and we've stir fried the leaves too.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

silverseeds said:


> I have seeds for that but havent grown it. Isnt it perennial??


I'm not sure if it is a perennial or not. I plant it each year because I have a lot of seed. The seeds are kind of odd looking and don't quite look like traditional seeds. I'm thinking that it likely would re-seed itself if given the chance. The leaves of the plants are thicker so they aren't as affected by the sun. I just noticed that I have a NZ seedling in one of the pots on my front porch. I remember planting it, but it took so long to grow that I'd forgotten about it!


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## debbiekatiesmom (Feb 24, 2009)

store what you eat, eat what you store". my grands eat some junk and are very picky eaters. soooo...it is being stored until they would make a transition. i wouldn't force them to eat something they do not like and would rather see them eat something than nothing and go hungry. i would just start adding little bits of the good stuff till they got used to it. also, i am sure you know how bad the drought is. many of us, me included, have had our gardens dry up. so we do the best we can and not always the choicest of foods. but i do have lots of beans and grains, etc stored and i can and dehydrate. i am just glad to hear people are prepping in some form. takes the heat off me. rather to die later from poison than sooner from starvation i guess. may as well enjoy themselves.


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## Wags (Jun 2, 2002)

If you have livestock you have to prep for them too - if that means teaching them to trailer then that is something that should be worked on now. That is one of the reason I like my little Nigerian Dwarf Goats - I can pick up all but one buck by myself. They fit in lg or xl dog kennels which makes transport easy. If we had to leave on foot they are all trained to walk on leash - they would be coming with us. The chickens - maybe not. Hmmm.... maybe I should start training the pony to carry chickens in cages on her back. May not be the whole flock, but a few is better than none. 

I don't personally like boxed Mac & Cheese, but made with fresh goats milk it is tolerable. My family loves cheese, but in an extended SHTF situation I might not have time or facilities to make any so having the blue boxes means they can have an occasional cheese fix until I can get cheese made & aged. And at present it means there is something quick and easy for dh to fix the kids if I'm not home.


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