Welcome to week four of our Summer Inventory Challenge. If you haven’t already signed up to participate you can learn more and sign up at this link.
This week we are focusing on Basics, Fruits & Veggies and doing an inventory of all our supplies. Remember each challenge will walk you through these three questions:
- What do you want to have?
- What do you already have?
- What do you still need to get?
Introduction Video
What Do You Want to Have?
For a general overview of this weeks topics, please check out the Babystep 7: Baking Ingredients page and the Babystep 8: Fruits & Veggies page. These pages are a good starting point for the basics of what you SHOULD be storing. However, it’s always important to consider YOUR family’s individual circumstances and what will work best for you and your space.
In this week’s video I put out a challenge for everyone to figure out their favorite bread recipe and calculate how many times you would need to make it in one year to feed your family. Multiply that by your ingredients list to get a total amount you need of all the wheat, salt, sugar, oil, etc. Share your calculations over on Facebook with the group!
For a basic calculation of fruits and veggies you can use the calculator I shared back in week 3. Basically it tells you to store 24 #10 cans of fruits and 24 cans of vegetables per person for a one year supply. You can also store canned produce, dehydrated, frozen, etc. Figure out what you WANT to store and HOW MUCH per day per person.
Helpful Resources:
Modified Calculator with Meats, Fruits, and Veggies
What Can You Do With YOUR Food Storage (blog post)
BEST Bread Recipe, Yes I Said BEST
Basic No-Yeast, No Kneading Bread Recipe
Basics of Sprouting
How to Can Peaches
How to Can Applesauce
How to Cook Dry Beans
Thrive Life Freeze Dried Fruits and Veggies (my favorite!)
Meals in a Jar Group (August recipe coming soon!)
What Do You Already Have?
These categories are a bit difficult to inventory, especially if you store things in multiple formats (i.e. some freeze-dried, some home-canned, etc.) Even though most calculators go by pounds I really like to think about my storage in terms of servings. So if I’m aiming for 3 servings (1/2 cup each) per day per person I can calculate that no matter what format my fruits and veggies are in. Grab your spreadsheets and let’s figure out what we’ve got!
My commonly used fruits and veggies go on my rotating shelf. The other random ones are going on a regular shelf. My home-canned items are on a shelf across from this one. I don’t have a lot right now since I tried not to move too many full jars across the country. But I will be adding to it in the future!
What Do You Still Need to Get?
Once you have your list of what you HAVE, cross-reference it with what you WANT. The difference is going to become your shopping list for the next few months. Stock up on things when they come on sale, set aside a little bit of money each month to go towards your long term storage purchases, or save up now and wait until the Black Friday sales can give you more bang for your buck!
An easy and inexpensive way to start storing fruits and vegetables is to can them. You can do basic water bath canning with minimal tools to get started. If you grow a lot of your own food you may want to branch out and do some dehydrating too.
If you don’t have a lot of time or fresh garden veggies, it may be more efficient for you to buy freeze-dried foods. As I mentioned in the live, Thrive Life is having a BIG sale this month if you order through their delivery service. I would love to help you learn more about that if this is an option you are leaning towards.
Follow me on InstaGram (@Jodi_foodstoragemadeeasy) if you want to see more behind the scenese details about my week three plans and progress.
Week 5 Giveaways
Freeze Dried Fruit/Veggie Snackies
Get a sample of some of my favorites fruits and veggies in these great little snack bags that are perfect for disaster kits, car kits, kids lunches, etc. Winner will receive one fruit and one veggie pouch of my choice! Side note: ALL Thrive is on sale in August for at least 30% off retail if you order in the delivery service.
Real Salt Fine Bulk Bucket (10 lb)
Real Salt is salt exactly as nature made it – and the best-selling sea salt in America’s health food stores. Its unique flavor and unrefined mineral content, Real Salt will make everything you eat taste better. This 10 lb bucket is a year’s supply for 2 adults and a perfect start to your food storage.
Earn entries by participating in the challenge in the following ways:
– Post about your progress in the Facebook Group (share your want list or pics of your process)
– Comment on InstaGram on any of the posts for this week
– Email me photos of your project for me to share (I will keep them anonymous) (info @ foodstoragemadeeasy.net)
Winners will be announced in next week’s email!
-Jodi Weiss Schroeder
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net
Hi there! I’m Jodi. I share my preparedness adventures via the blog and social media so you can see what I’m working on day to day.